Reaction - Accelerator

The wheel doesn’t need to be reinvented, and neither does punk rock.

It just needs some fresh tires on it, and a foot put down hard on the accelerator so that it can leave a stretch of burning rubber in its rear view mirror as it peels away from the kerb.

And Reaction, from Airdrie - a breeding ground for disenfranchisement in all its shades of grey - fundamentally understand this premise, and on their debut album – after only being together for thirty odd years – deliver a fresh amphetamine fuelled history lesson to anyone that cares to jump on board for the ride.

The sign post that says UK82 is thankfully ignored as they speed down the highway, and the stops they do make to refuel on the road are more Stooges friendly, Dead Boys loving, and Ramones adoring, than any band from the back of beyond have any right to be welcomed in, but welcomed they are as the quality needle never dips below ‘make my day punk.’

Accelerator is not just the band delivering their homage to the sounds of the US punk explosion in the early seventies though.

Clash fans are going to bask in the shadow of some of the flavouring, and of course with the Damned ploughing the same source material so many years ago that same Anglo angle on it is there too.

Of course it would be very easy to continue listing the influential sounds that float to the surface on each and every song, but that would detract from the taking a step back and letting the whole damn album wash over you and letting it sweep you away with its passion for waiving the punk rock flag.

Okay. ‘Can’t help falling in love with you’, the sole cover and live favourite may have been a better b side on a single than an album track, or maybe it should have just been left for gigs, but who knows, maybe it is the unskippable track on the album for someone else.

It’s all subjective after all, and it’s inclusion doesn’t have them swerving off the road into a ditch they can’t get out of so who cares?

Not me.

I’m happy to take a dab of this and try and keep up with them.

Out now on Tarbeach Records (www.tarbeachmusic.com)

There’s also a split single with Heavy Drapes on the label too punk rock fact fans.

The Sux Pastels - General Chaos EP.

When punk rock first reared its ugly head in the late seventies its flag bearers instinctively knew that the short sharp message had to maintain some appeal.

Go back and listen to them and there are hooks a plenty.

Crudely formed some of the material may be, but that was part of the attraction, and as long as the pioneers kept sight of the structure of the song being listenable then all was fine and dandy.

That is until the eighties started to bite in and the shouty shouty brigade took the baton and ran down a cul-de-sac with it screaming anarchy at no one in particular.

Unfortunately their influence cast a shadow over what most perceived punk rock to be and when the name is uttered in the present day a sizeable amount of people paint a picture in their heads of Mohican sporting cider swilling dog on a string individuals acting antisocially.

And while that stereotype certainly does exist it’s only a small part painted into a corner of a very large canvas.

A small part that very often has little to do with majority of musicians who shelter under the punk umbrella.

Bands like The Sux Pastels who originate from East Kilbride in Scotland.

With a credible amount of years under their belts, and participation in more projects than they would probably care to admit to, the four piece have banded together to share their cumulative experiences and see what they can rustle up, and what they managed to rustled up is a rather grand overview of punk rock and roll in its entirety.

With nods to SLF, Buzzcocks and many others who carved a trail the guys have created a solid skeleton to flesh out with their own talents.

From the opening chords to the last guitar string being plucked the whole ep is punk rock ear candy.

The cover of Adam Antz Christian D’Or is supremely well delivered, but it is to the bands credit that this well established, and much loved, fan favourite doesn't manage to overshadow their self penned material.

Instead it’s more the icing on an already impressive slice of punk rock and roll.

The EP is due for release within the next few weeks and pre-orders can be taken on their facebook page.

It will be a limited run for physical copies so consider the pre-order tip your chance to secure a copy. 

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Duncan Reid & the Big Heads - 13th Note - 18/01/14 (Glasgow)

A matinee show you say.

Oh why not. In for a penny, in for a pound, and with that itsaxxxxthings first gig of 2014 was booked.

So not long after lunch time on a Saturday - while others were adding to the rising stock shares of Primark - here we all were in the 13^th Note sheltering from the reality of the outside world and looking to indulge in the fantasy of rock and roll for a few hours.

Monsterpop – the solo alter ego of Jimmy Devlin – opened the day with an unsurprisingly accomplished set of power pop originals. (Unsurprisingly accomplished as he’s been around the block a few times and has an excellent ear for a hook.) Anyone who had pulled themselves away from the upstairs bar early doors was certainly provided with an aural treat.

With just his voice and an electric guitar he’s able to run rings around some full bands.

Usually the idea of one man doing power pop raises a few eyebrows as it is a sound that lends itself to a full band, yet five minutes into a set and any preconceived concerns are very easily brushed off as the material and delivery speaks for itself.

As is the norm when an original artist is looking to draw some appreciation from a cold audience they throw in a couple of familiar songs, and both the Sex Pistols and Welsh rockers Badfinger were given the Monsterpop treatment to great effect.

With the future plans for the project including some full band shows it would be fair to say that those who are already impressed with the solo outings so far are going to have a great deal of awesome to wrap their heads around soon.

Party Asylum are a band growing up in public, and with that those who have witnessed them a few times are seeing an incrementally improvement with every gig.

There’s a bit of the Runaways in the sound, but it’s still comfortable residing in the garage, and then without missing a beat the band can step up close to the punk grunge of L7 while maintaining an eye on some bubblegum pop.

It can sound a bit schizophrenic, but pretty much all of it is working, and the bits that are maybe falling a bit short are reaching for the prize so it’s all good.

Songs seem to be getting dropped from their set while newer ones are being added at a rapid pace with this highlighting that artistically they are going through a growth spurt.

Given the opportunity to be in the right place at the right time Party Asylum could surprise a few people and break out from the local scene in the way The Amazing Snakeheads have.

Keep an eye out for their name under the ‘ones to watch’ headlines.

There aren’t that many bands who can blaze their way through twenty odd minutes of music and in doing so draw the reaction of one promoter and a record label to them, but that’s what Party Asylum did.

It’s with no hint of embarrassment that I can lay claim to publicly shouting from a few rooftops that the Media Whores released one of the best albums of the year in late 2013, and as it is still bedding in with people it’s continuing to garner one rave review after another with each positive word lending credence to my early ravings.

I’m personally very pleased to see a band that I placed some faith in consistently proving me right.

Forget mainstream success, and just simply consider artistic credibility and the band are there.

One of the reasons that the band are doing so well is very obviously down to them being able to walk the walk though.

If you deliver in the studio you have to add a dimension to the songs live that gets an audiences blood pumping and the boys are doing exactly that with every show they play

With every gig that they tuck under their belts they are killing it.

Their ability to use punk rock as a springboard to leap from into a melting pot of influences is a joy to experience.

The day was always going to belong to Duncan Reid though.

I could be wrong - it is known to happen – but I think the last time he graced Glasgow with his presence was when his band The Boys opened for the Ramones in the legendary Apollo.

Since then he’s hit every corner of the globe wielding his bass and scissor kicking his way across stages large and small.

However the sidekick role has now been firmly set aside, and with his band ‘The Big Heads’ he has set out to grab some of the spotlight for himself.

It only took thirty five years of writing, but with his debut he has the material, and the band, to make more than just a credible effort at keeping it shining on him.

What he is doing is far less than the busmans holiday that some may think. Instead it’s a clear move to lay the foundations for a career move that couldn’t be described as one that simply wants to tread water.

I will hazard a guess that during the process of writing and recording, and now playing live, the thought at the forefront of Duncans mind was/is how he could take an attitude and sound that some already think of as perfect and take it to the next stage, or ultimately that the project wasn’t worth doing at all.

If I am right then he can rest easy at night knowing that he, and his band, have achieved just that.

The proof, as they say, is in the pudding though, and on a dreacht* Saturday afternoon he shook the foundations of the 13^th Note and garnered fistfuls of younger fans who until that day probably didn’t have much knowledge of his past endeavors, while keeping the faith of those a bit longer in the tooth.

A more difficult balancing trick than some may think.

It is this ability to take original music out there and secure peoples attentions from cold that can’t really be stressed enough though.

Past efforts meant little and everything they played was judged in the here and now and was found not to fall short in any way.

With a blistering set that had confidence in the material from his debut they took those who were there by the hand and led them on a merry dance.

The Boys tracks were of course a welcome addition, but refreshingly there was no move to hang the rest of the set off them as if they were a nostalgic coat hook.

If there was ever a gig that deserves to reside in the ‘you should have been there’ conversations then this was it.

First gig of the year for me and the benchmark is already set ridiculously high.

Outstanding.

* Scottish word for an overcast, dull and wet day.

Photographs by Gobo Photography. More form the show and Hi Res versions can be found here

Duncan Reid Website

Healthy Junkies/In Evil Hour - STP Records

Healthy Junkies - The Lost Refuge

I like a band who look at a nice neat genre hole and resolutely refuse to be pushed into it.

That attitude shows a certain degree of courage, faith in what they are doing, and respect for the audience as they are aware that most of us don't need anything dumbed down for us.

Healthy Junkies are that sort of band.

A mish mash of influences, a clear understanding of who they are, and enough attitude to carry the material across with conviction.

Calling them a punk band would possibly lead others to mistakenly consider them as being of a certain limited sound, but that would miss the point as they are what I would call a 'real' punk band.

One who grasp the idea of free expression, of foregoing glancing at a rule book, of setting out to chart their own path.

They operate on the edge of something a bit more meaty, but keep the melody in sight.

Sort of a new wave post punk angle on it.

Interesting, entertaining and full of chutzpah.

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In Evil Hour – The World Bleeds Out.

Everything about 'In Evil Hour' screamed stereotype when the CD slipped from the envelope.

Lowest common denominator punk that is frankly starting to bore the arse right off me, but then I placed the disc in the tray and all my preconceived notions were hammered into submission.

Political sussed - and intelligent enough to get the anti establishment message over without resorting to using words of one syllable - the band have restored a bit of my lost faith in hardcore.

Just in time to.

The US influences are stamped heavily across the tracks, but personally I would rather have Bad Religion, or even AFI, over the Exploited so you wont find a complaint from me in that department.

It is of course early days for the band, so who knows what lies in the future for In Evil Hour, but they've certainly kicked off in fine style with an album that can grab the attention from the first chord and begs to be played again and again.

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Goldblade - The Terror of Modern Life (Overground Records)

Having followed the mutation of Gold Blade from the gold lame suited “Hometurf” through the sing-along-punk n roll follow ups it’s finally come to this. These guys are seriously pissed off. The heavy overdriven  bass of the opener “This Is War!” lets you know you’re in for more than you bargained for. This is no easy listening album, nor is it a recording for the sake of a band having something to promote at their shows. This definitely is war.

There’s also a few political digs in there with “We’re All In This Together” and “Sick/Tired” having a pop at the current state of good old Blighty but it’s all done in John Robb’s clever lyrical style rather than coming across as all party political broadcast. “They Kiss Like Humans Act Like Machines” is probably the track you could liken to the recent offerings but even so, it feels like they’ve taken a track from 2008’s “Mutiny” and kicked seven shades of shit out of it. “Someone Stole My Brain” is a darker grungy metal affair which works in the overall context of the album. Don’t ask me why – it just does ok? It sets the sights nicely for “My Life Is Like An Atom Bomb” to make a clean headshot with its balls to the wall punk rock hooligan blues and for me the stand out track on here but it’s had to go some to get that honour.

Don’t get me wrong there’s still the trademark get-the-crowd involved sing-alongs like “Psycho Takes a Holiday” and “Hey You Elastic Face” but there’s more than one surprise along the way to make you sit up and take notice and much as I love the previous albums it’s been a while since I’ve been as surprised as this by a Gold Blade album.  Being one of the very few bands I have managed to follow since their debut I normally judge any new release by what would make it onto the Gold Blade mixtape and from the reggae infused “Serious Business” to the 8 minute behemoth of the title track you could probably make a case for any of the 13 tracks to warrant a place on there. The Blade has been sharpened and they’ve cut themselves of punk rock perfection. It’s raw, it’s real, it’s a belter. (9/10)

(Billy Buzzbomb)

Vampire Junkies featuring Texas Terri

Oooh. Vampire Junkies featuring Texas Terri.

When that dropped on the matt I was very surprised.

I hadn't even heard a whisper about it.

With the cellophane wrapper trailing in my wake I had it on the stereo within seconds.

Guess what?

It's everything I wanted it to be.

The music is exactly what needs to be backing up Texas Terri.

In gang parlance the guitars are screaming we've got your back.

The drums are pounding out a war cry.

There's only five tracks, but that's plenty to get your teeth into.

It's got the blood of the Stooges and the New York Dolls painted over its scraped knuckles.

You would swear that it had crawled from the gutter of the Bowery after washing up there when it was chased out of the Motor City.

That's not that it sounds like a lost master tape from the seventies though.

This is so fresh that if it was meat then it would be so rare it would look like someone had just introduced it to a grill before slapping it down in front of you.

Remember when there was a resurgent of glam rock bands who melded a punk attitude to sleazy rock and roll?

It was something that you can hear on a few bands debuts before the major labels watered it all down and packaged it as hair metal.

Well there's a whole lot of that lipstick smeared fuck you attitude going on here as well, but it's all 2013 baby.

In my head this is the sort of album that should be riding high in the charts.

It certainly shits all over the pre-packaged and passion free dross that I keep hearing being pushed at people.

More info and where to get it.

The Machines - The Machines

There's a few of them kicking about.

Punk bands from the late seventies that is.

A rule of thumb for most people is that if they didn't make it big then it would maybe be good idea to leave the lone demo tape and press cutting in the memory box and keep the stories of the glory days for sharing over a pint with mates.

However there's always those little diamonds in the rough that shine as the exception to the rule, and that's where The Machines come in.

Formed in 1977 they lasted for about a year and did a hit and run on all the legendary clubs, and managed to get an ep out that Record Collector has in it's top 100 rare discs to grab if you can.

Not a bad innings really, but the story didn't end there, as late in the noughties the reformed and managing to neatly avoid going down the UK82 punk dead end street and released a fresh ten track album that highlighted that there was life in the old dog yet.

Quite a lot of life in fact.

Now both the ep and the album, along with four unreleased demo tracks from the seventies, has surfaced on a one stop for the lot CD simply entitled The Machines, and there's very little on it that the band would need to hang their heads in collective shame about.

You really don't have to consider the songs in the context of their time to wring out any enjoyment from them as they sound as good as anything that the young retro whipper-snappers are releasing just now.

This is punk rock from when it was still taking rock and roll and giving it a bit of a boot up the arse. There's no post punk meanderings, or the nonsensible smash the system roar that was to come, just good honest rockin' with a snarling street level slap to it that the world needed at the time.

That stuff never grows old really.

Buy it here.

Buzzbomb - Secondary Objectives

The punky goodness just keeps coming today.

This time it's the turn of Buzzbomb to blow the cobwebs away, and it's something that they do with relative ease on 'Secondary Objectives'.

It's pretty much a pedal to the metal release. A Mach-II assault on the senses that manages to keep a firm grip on the melody.

It's that grip that elevates it above the vast majority of self professed punk bands who seem to consider that shouting loud in an aggressive macho manner is all that's required.

It's not.

In fact it's a boring dead end of creativity that those who pander to it are stuck in.

Some would argue that I'm wrong, but I care not a jot.

One dimensional punk rock bores the tits off most people, and thankfully this is the polar opposite of that.

This is fast and aggressive, but at the same time full of rollicking good fun.

Take the US bands of the eighties who were the bastard offspring on The Ramones and filter them through the history of the UK punk scene and the end result is Buzzbomb.

Pretty much the perfect balance between the two sounds.

A transatlantic behemoth of impressive stature that given the audience should impress on both sides of the ocean and everywhere else for that.

Full kudos goes to the guys in the band for breathing some fetid breath into the classic Sonic Reducer as well.

BUZZBOMB

The Zips - 19 FOREVVA

When punk rock exploded onto the headlines of the nationals in the late seventies the effect would be seismic.

The aftershock rippled across the whole of the UK and the disenfranchised youth from everywhere answered the call to arms.

Of those who immediately stuck a safety pin through their heart and formed a band there's not that many from the provinces that are still around, and sadly those who are seem content to celebrate their own past glories and little else.

One of the exceptions is of course Scotland's very own The Zips, a band who have been kicking about in one form or another forever, and one who appear to have a fire that simply can't be extinguished.

I'm sure that a young Jon Zip, who watched the seventies give way to the eighties, could never have imagined that in 2012 he would still be fronting a band he formed then and would be continuing to release pent up energy through punk rock.

Yet here he is proclaiming he will be '19 Forevva', and along with his band-mates doing it with a great deal of heartfelt panache.

Music wise there's echoes of The Clash and Stiff Little Fingers that are evident throughout, and both influences allow the listener to comfortably slip into the groove without the need to acclimatize themselves to a sound that is initially completely unfamiliar.

This is what most would describe as traditional punk rock.

It's passionate, it has a point and it's sparks with life.

You could have a list and tick points off on it.

Political commentary, tick.

Outsider angst, tick.

Anthemic choruses, tick.

It's all there, and all very well done.

Especially on the track 'Straight to Helmand' that eloquently questions the loss of life in foreign lands and how we perceive it in society.

Who says modern music doesn't say anything anymore?

Here's the proof that they're wrong.

Get on this. You wont be disappointed.

The Zips

Choking Susan - I was a teenage tranny

Choking Susan with their evocatively titled 'I was a teenage tranny' release are without a doubt worshipping at the alter of 'Da Brudders'.

There's no way around not mentioning it.

Every track could have been spawned from the pen of Dee Dee, but only after he's spent a night on the town with Jayne County and fried his brain with amyl nitrate.

It sounds like a filthy audio travel guide to the sex clubs of the Bowery. And that's a good thing.

Can you imagine Joey singing 'Oprah's Sweet Tampon'?

No, neither can I. So that's where Colleen Caffeine fearlessly comes in and kicks the shit out of the song.

In parts it's like the Lunachicks with balls.

In other parts it's just like a dirt bomb going off in a strippers closet.

This is actually what I want from my punk rock.

A fistful of real songs with a sense of humour that I can bounce about punching the air in time with.

Fuck all that testosterone fuelled heavy metal bollocks that masquerades as punk rock.

This is far more anti authoritarian as it pushes its outsiders status with it's tongue firmly in its cheek.

It's a debauched classic that stinks of the morning after the night before.

A glorious celebration of pushing the envelope of good taste, whatever that may be.

Somewhere the moral majority can feel their bowels loosening in fear at the thought of Choking Susan coming to town, and that pleases me.

Choking Susan.   STP RECORDS.

Dirt Box Disco - Legends

As mad as a box of frogs who have participated in too many hallucinogenic drug trials they may be, but Dirt Box Disco are no mere novelty act.

Underneath the greasepaint, and behind the post apocalyptic graphic novel imagery, is a band who can write and delivery material that given half a chance would put the majority of punk and rock media darlings that magazines like Kerrang promote firmly into the shade.

If this was a movie then they're the band playing on the radio as the anti hero barrels down a highway littered with burnt out vehicles as he leaves the ruins of a city in the rear view mirror.

Remember when My Chemical Romance released Danger Days and mixed some Mad Max. Jamie Hewlett and glam trash punk rock together?

Well while most punks wont have a clue what I'm talking about, I was actually very impressed with that, but this might have been the album they were really reaching for.

If that album was the foreplay, but this is the money shot.

'Legends' is Dirt Box Disco channeling the spirit of Turbonegro in a Clockwork Orange bar covering the UK Subs in a suburb of the City of Oz with amps whose lowest setting is eleven........and then they burst into the next song and you're transported somewhere else, somewhere that Twisted Sister are professionally arm wrestling with Sigue Sigue Sputnik as the Ramones look on.

Every song is a phasers set on stun party.

'Legends' indeed.

STP Records

Band Website.

Turbonegro - Sexual Harassment

It's been a long journey with members appearing, disappearing and then reappearing with alarming regularity over the years.

It's rumoured that as part of their rider – above the bit about denim clad midgets, but below the part about everyone having to speak like Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean for one hour of every day - they insist that the dressing room doors are removed and replaced with revolving ones just to keep everyone on their toes.

No one is indispensable in the world of the Turbonegro.

There's been madness, drug issues, some cross dressing, huge dollops of crazy rock and roll and cult like adulation along the way, and do you know what?

They still rock like a motherfucker.

A big neon lit nightmare of seventies glam stomp and punk rock motherfuckery.

They're the Rolling Stones, The Ramones, The Dead Boys and the New York Dolls celebrating the apocalypse, and Sexual Harassment is the definitive proof if anyone ever needed it.

The guitars howl, the bass and drums are thunderous and right to the fore is every single politically incorrect thought that has every crossed your mind.

Turbonegro are the glint of switch-blade steel in the dark alley, the leer on the face of the carnival barker, and the money shot at the end of your favourite moment of adult celluloid entertainment all rolled into one.

Remember the promotional comment of 'you pay for the whole seat, but you will only use the edge of it?'

That should have been about Turbonegro.

In the words of Happy-Tom "Most rock 'n' roll bands start as a riot but end up as a parody. We started up as a parody but ended up as a revolution."

Vive le revolution.