Hey Ho Glasgow - Joey Ramone Tribute

The Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, the Hollywood sign, Route 66 and stars on pavements are just some of the iconic images that jump into our heads when we think about the good ol’ US of A.

Or it is for most of the population here in the UK.

For me it’s a little bit different and on my personal flights of fancy the land of our colonial cousins is filled with juke joints, teenage hops, and rock and roll.

It’s one where the roads are filled with shark-finned cars, where kids drink in malt shops and at night watch b-movies at the drive in.

It’s a romanticized view and one I expect others of a certain age will share with me.

It’s not strictly a dream world that is rooted in the fifties though.

Within that stereotypical framework it’s easy for me to slip in the Doors kicking about in the desert tripping on peyote, the MC5 storming a stage as the cops fire smoke bombs into crowds of students, and no one would bat an eye at a junkies body being lifted from the pavement outside of CBGBs.

My surreal potpourri is in all honesty not one that could be easily transferred over here, and most definitely wouldn’t sit comfortably in Glasgow, but for one night only a bit of that magic is coming to town.

Why is that I hear you ask?

Well on the 19^th of April in River (Old Barfly) they will be hosting a night in honour of a man who is about as American as Mom’s apple pie, and that man is of course Joey Ramone.

It’s all for a good cause to as the night will also incorporate a fundraisers for ‘The Glasgow Roller Derby Irn Bruisers' who are looking to raise some cash to help cover their costs for there trip to Indianapolis where they will compete in the Spring Roll.

So if some live bands playing the songs of Da Brudders, dj sets of CBBGS era punk, and ladies who Alice Cooper may or may not have been referencing when he sang Under My Wheels kicking about demanding money from you is something that tickles your fancy then it’s happening, and all for a fiver.

If you are lucky I might even show you my Ramones tat, but only for a donation to the ladies.

Facebook event invite page.

Against Me! - Transgender Dysphoria Blues

I fuckin’ love this album.

I love the bare nerve endings that are on display, the raw power of its brutal honesty, the unflinching challenge to what is perceived as the norm, the unapologetic public lancing of a lifetime of pain and confusion, and I love how it provides an alternative voice within a genre of music that can often pander to a jock mentality.

Today, right now, right this very minute, Laura Jane Grace is my heroine.

Over recent years the critical voices of the mainstream music press have managed to strip emotion from pretty much every single word that is written.

No one may dare say how much they love a song, or how it impacts on them, or how it makes them feel.

It’s seen as uncool.

It is something that has to be avoided at all costs.

Everything is judged from a distance and the emotional tactile nuances of music are ignored.

Well I have to say fuck that.

Seriously, I mean fuck that, because the honesty displayed on this album deserves an honest response.

It can’t be wrapped in a discussion about chord changes and it has to be reacted to in a similar manner to how it was written and performed, and the response should be from the gut.

After all we are all in this game together, and we all feel, and we can all empathize, and we can all love, and we can all want to be accepted as the person we are, and that is fundamentally what this album is about.

It’s about living, breathing and existing.

It is about the abrasive journey we are all on.

It is about the need to be seen as a worthwhile person who can be loved.

It is the outsider opening up and letting everyone see how damaging it is to be held at arm’s length, passionately sharing how hurtful it is to exist on the fringes because society embraces strict parameters that keep them locked out, and pushing that into the faces of people should be lauded. 

Here I am, a forty something who is creeping ever closer to cashing in on a half century chip, a heterosexual father of two, and for all the differences that there may appear to be between a transgender person and myself I feel an affinity to the message expressed and the questions asked.

I fundamentally get it as Laura Jane Grace is the bearer of truths.

There is a right and a wrong aspect to it all to.

Is it right to create a word where transgender people are fair game for hate to be spewed in the direction of?

Of course not, and what close minded arsehole can ever defend hate.

So far the punk word have embraced this release, and rightly so to.

Just as US birthed pop punk was edging every closer to being a parody of itself here we have Against Me! saving the day, even if it was unintentional on their part.

In opening herself up like this to the world I hope that the biographical content touches others and in some way opens the doors to a future that accepts transgendered people with open arms.

I'm going to say it again.

I fuckin' love this album.

XSLF - Pivo Pivo Glasgow - Oct 3rd

XSLF have been using the tag line 'The fire still burns' to promote their current run of live dates, and the proof that the statement is no idle boast was apparent from the first chord being struck right up until the last shook the plaster from the ceiling of Pivo Pivo in Glasgow.

It is without a shadow of a doubt that Henry Cluney, Jim Reilly and Petesy Burns could never be accused of going through the motions, as the material from the first few SLF albums were delivered with far more passion and commitment than most would have realistically expected.

It was as if they had been told that they only had one shot at this and something kicked in and took it to a level that left the audience physically and emotionally spent.

In the aftermath I lost count of the sweat drenched men who stated that the performance surpassed that of the current SLF line up, and while that will be hotly debated, those who have seen these guys firing on all cylinders will find it hard to disagree.

That's not to demean the Burns fronted line up, but to highlight just how much energy was expelled in delivering the songs.

It did no harm that the set was made up of what most would claim to be the best in the SLF back catalogue either.

It's a relentless run of classics that has the audience punching the air, pogoing wildly, crowd surfing at one point, roaring out the lyrics, and in addition helped many lose some weight with a serious aerobic workout. ;)

Fans are aware that Henry has had some health issues, very serious health issues, but it can be seen that he has left them behind as his delivery of the material is a powerful testament to his talents, Jim is a machine, behind the kit he is the engine that never flags, and Petesy dominated the bass.

It would be an act of folly to try and pinpoint one singular negative as there were none.

No one dropped the ball on this, and it is simply stating a fact when they say that ' the fire still burns'.

This was no flickering light in the darkness, but instead a fire that when burning at its brightest could be seen from space.

Outstanding.

In support 4 Past Midnight and The Red Eyes showed why they are both considered the big hitters in the Glasgow punk scene, and new to Pivo The Puzzlers opened the night with a set that would leave the majority of headline acts wondering just how they would follow it.

It could be said that the night was book ended by magnificence and filled in the middle with sterling performances.

If a famous beverage did gigs then this would have been it.

A special shout out has to go out to The Media Whores for stepping aside to allow The Puzzlers to play.

It can't be said often enough how much that meant to the band and myself.

New Found Glory - Mania

I love the Ramones.

Always have done.

From the very first time that I heard them I was bowled over, and their music has been a constant companion throughout the vast majority of my life.

I am such a fan that I even have the legend 'gabba gabba hey!' tattooed around my right ankle.

So if there's ever a body needing identified on crimewatch, and all they have is a right foot and a bit of an ankle and that's what is written around it, then you can safely pick up the phone and say that there's a good chance it's me.

I also like New Found Glory, but not to the extent that I would bother getting anything to do with them tattooed on me.

So as I love The Ramones and like new Found Glory there's a good chance that if you pair them then I'll get along fine with whatever the outcome is.

Well that's what I thought, but 'Mania' is just a straight take on the bands classics, and each time I listen to it the tracks beg the question why I'm not just listening to the originals.

New Found Glory to great versions of the songs, but so what?

It's all a bit pointless really.

If they were to encore a live set with this collection of Ramones tunes I would drag my carcass to the front of the crowd and even at this late age I might even indulge in some crowd surfing, but without the live environment and the excitement that is embodied in a band going for it with big shit eating grins I'm not really seeing the worth in this.

The Vox Dolomites - Japan ep

When I first heard the Vox Dolomites I was a bit lost for words.

The first thing that sprung to mind after the initial blank was how the hell had I never heard of them.

Via a free download of three demo tracks I was welcomed into a small world where punk rock was still flirting with ska, still saying something relevant and still throbbing with life.

To say I was impressed really doesn't convey the excitement that I felt.

There was an old style visceral thrill to the tracks.

They could have been written by a punk supergroup featuring a revolving door of the most talented, and sometimes iconic figures, from year zero and beyond, but with the added bonus of avoiding the pitfalls of nostalgia.

Now with their 'Japan' ep they have just reinforced my faith in them as being the cream of the current crop of guys who define that melodic punk sound.

Not pop punk, or that UK 82 style, but punk as I remember it.

The Ruts, The Clash, The Jam, The Specials and more.

Every song is hugely accessible.

They just hit you in the chest and keep the beat going.

It's as if they instinctively know how to hit every button.  

Live I bet they just nail it.

If they ever venture across the border and wind up in Glasgow they better give me first shout at booking them or I'll be royally pissed off.

Band Website plus link to three track demo and 'Japan' download

Fire Exit - United and Strong

While punk rock is currently an amorphous entity that pervades every nook and cranny of modern culture on a global scale there was once a time when it hadn't been absorbed into everyday life.

Hard to believe huh?

Yet back in the day it was deemed a dangerous and perverse twist on rock and roll that would corrupt the youth of our not so great nation.

Teenage rebellion had rarely been as nihilistic, or as seductive to the disenfranchised.

It was around then, in the cauldron of punks difficult birth, that Fire Exit were formed.

They were one of the very first punk bands to form in Scotland, and are one of the very few remaining from that time who are still flying the safety pinned flag.

That's not to say that they have been there since day one and managed to avoid the trials and tribulations that any band with that length of history would have to face.

There's been lean years, empty years, line up changes and more, but here they are, still kicking against the pricks with Gerry Attrick at the helm in 2012, and that's pretty impressive when you think about it.

Thankfully the current Fire Exit aren't stuck in the past though.

It would be a blatant lie to claim that they don't have one foot firmly occupying some of the ground of yesteryear, and there would be no point in pretending otherwise, but the other one is most definitely heavily placed in the here and now.

With the addition of some of the most talented young guns in Scotland....well young compared to Gerry....the band are a solid unit of contained fury that would have any self respecting punk drooling in anticipation prior to hearing them strike a single chord.

I could argue that huge chunks of 'United and Strong' could easily be mistaken for twenty-somethings tearing it up, while the rest is rooted in experience, and the rich history of rock and roll.

From Chuck Berry to the unmistakeably ghost of Alex Harvey making his presence known there is a large melting pot being stirred here.

From fifty-something pot bellied and bald punks, to teenage mohicaned renegades, the punk faithful will rejoice when they hear this album.

If you want it then Fire Exit have got it.

You don't have to take my word for it though. For a fiver you can check it out yourself.

Contact Fire Exit here for the album, merch and tour dates

(Here at itsaxxxxthing we extend our best wishes to Gerry who is currently a little unwell. Rest up Gerry. Rebellion needs you.)