I'm a seventies kid.
I was born in the second half of the sixties and cut my
teeth on the glam rock of Slade, T-Rex and Sweet.
And unlike the eighties when the term was usurped by our blow
dried, kohl eyed, hog driving cousins from across the pond our glam rock was a
whole different beast.
It has some muscle, some street smarts and it was all backed
up by the stomp of the terraces.
While the bands strutted about in their glitter finery their
fan base were the shaven headed denim clad and monkey booted lads whose
Saturdays were made up of football in the afternoon, a pint in the early
evening, and the dancing* at night where they would roam in packs and dance in
as manly a fashion as they could to the sounds of the latest chart hits from
their heroes.
There was certainly something in the air and while I was
only of an age to participate in listening to the music rather than getting
right in about it at the dancing it was still heady stuff to be part of.
Hell. I think my first moment of a sexual awakening was when
watching leather clad Suzi Quatro straddle a hefty motorcycle on Top Of The
Pops, but that’s another story.
As it is the whole scene is now looked back on with
nostalgic wonder, and in some ways relegated to being less artistically inspiring
than it really was, but at the time it was those bands that led to Bowie, Roxy Music
and the like to bridge the gap, and joined at the hip with the pub rock scene, give
birth to punk rock.
So with that being the case – although others are welcome to
disagree – maybe we should be considering seventies glam in a more positively critical
light in the present.
Especially as we now have Italian rockers Giuda flying the
flag for the sound in the here and now.
Sans the glitter and stack soled boots they walked onto the
stage in Glasgow ’s
Broadcast dressed like they had fallen out of the door from an away supporters
bus in 1973 and then they proceeded to take the roof off.
With fists pumping the air and a few dance moves last seen
being thrown out there by MUD they had no intentions of talking any prisoners
and Ramones like ran through a set with barely a break, or breath, between
songs.
There’s no fat attached to what they do.
It’s all lean and meaty rock and roll fired from the hip.
Much of the set is reminiscent of the working class blue
collar rock of AC/DC circa ’75 with an additional nod to a melting pot of the best
of the best of the era to.
It’s difficult to actually convey how good they are, but if
I was to invent a time machine, or discover a wormhole in the fabric of the
universe, and magically return these guys intact back to the mid seventies then
they would have given the giants of the time a solid run for their money.
And I doubt they would break a sweat doing it.
In fact that is exactly how good they are.
Not a mere facsimile of the bands of the past, but equally as
wonderful.
It could be said that they are up there with the greats, and
just separated by a few decades.
Right now they are mainly attracting a punk following and
playing on punk bills, but a support to a legendary band such as AC/DC as mentioned
could conceivably jettison them onto the big stages of the world.
It’s not that they don’t fit with the audience they are
attracting, but rather that the cross over appeal is immense.
This is no idle comment either.
Five minutes in a sweaty club is all anyone would need to
understand that they are a step away from grabbing a glittering crown, but only
if people near and far get on board with a glam, or rock, revival.
That may sound a bit unrealistic, but right now I am increasingly
hearing more people express some dissatisfaction with the current crop of major
label pushed artists and the time seems ripe for change.
So why not?
Best to check this band out no matter what happens.
File them as your latest favourite act.
*The dancing - Events held in youth clubs, social clubs, working mens clubs.
Mainy.
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