The Sux Pastels are at the watershed point artistically.
Hovering at a point where they are entertaining people with
a fifty-fifty set of originals and covers they are certainly touching all the
bases, but it is equally obvious that they are also pressing hard on the
tipping point as their self penned songs are starting to muscle the much loved
classics to the side in the set.
Covers of early Antz and Clash tracks may well have people
singing along, but the songs that are about to surface on their debut ep are
the real attention grabbers.
Live the four piece power though their set and it’s damn exhilarating
to watch them take the year zero punk template and give it a reboot so that it
is ready for the twenty first century.
Very often there’s an inordinate amount of attention paid to
youth in the music business, but experience trumps it time and time again.
You only have to give a couple of minutes of attention to
The Sux Pastels to appreciate that.
They have all been there and bought the t-shirt, and while
some very talented young musicians are out there doing a great job of emulating
their heroes there is a certain something that the peer group of the greats has
that can’t be grasped.
Maybe it’s a fundamental and organic understanding of the
roots of the punk ethos that seeps into everything they do.
Regardless of what it is it sounds authentic and evergreen.
If the term punk rock conjures up an image in your head of
well crafted songs that have attitude, swagger and aren’t afraid to challenge
the listener then The Sux Pastels are for you.
Party Asylum are once again taking things to another level.
With each show they play you can literally see that a fan
base is building.
Slowly and assuredly they are making converts and it is obvious
why.
It is simply that they are becoming ever increasingly a
better act.
We are seeing and hearing evolution in progress here.
There’s still a garage rock element to their set, and the Ramones
ramalama that was inspired by Phil Spector is still there, but everything is
tighter, more vibrant, more self assured and more, more, well just more really.
There’s a point in a bands career where they go from being considered
a good club band to taking on the mantle of just being a good band, and that’s
where Party Asylum are now.
They may still be playing clubs, but they are no longer
defined by the venues they play.
Take them out of a small club right now and place them on a
big stage and they will command it.
You only have to look at the calibre of the support slots
they are tucking under the belts to appreciate that the hard work they are
putting in is starting to deliver rewards.
And justifiably so.
Go and see them and enjoy your favourite band of tomorrow
today.
The horror punk/rockabilly sound isn’t one that has been
widely picked up on in Scotland .
While we do have a few excellent bands ploughing that
particular field it is basically true that the fans of the bass being slapped
and b-movie lyrics have often had to get their kicks from touring acts who are
willing to take a chance and venture north of the border.
So all hail The Bloodstrings, who were making their debut in
Glasgow .
It has been a while since I had a fix of this particular
genre so it was a very pleasurable experience to get the opportunity to get reacquainted
with it.
From the beginning they put their foot down and played a set
that rarely had a foot near the brake.
You want it hard and fast? Then this was it.
At points Doc Nics hand was blur on the double bass and the
guitar licks were an inspired mix of heavy rock and rock and roll.
Just what the doctor ordered, two great supports and then
the icing on the cake.
Surprisingly enough the audience was not made up of the
usual psychobilly suspects, and instead a very mixed group of music fans, but
not playing to what would be a traditional didn’t seem to matter at all as both
the band and audience were operating a mutual respect deal.
The band came to rock, the audience came to be rocked and
everyone went home happy.
This ability to entertain out with the genre that they exist
in is something that has to be credited.
It draws attention to the crossover appeal that they have
and on the cover of the Sonny Bono penned Bang Bang they just hammer home that
they have a broader appeal than some of their peers.
Quality entertainment and you should keep an eye out for the
bands return.
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