Tag: The Cramps

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds Release a Rocking and Loving Tribute to L.A.’s Sean DeLear

Brian Tristan is a La Puente, CA-born, Tucson-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, best known by his stage known Kid Congo Powers. The 62 year-old La Puente-born, Tucson-based singer/songwriter and musician has a lengthy career as a sideman and as a solo artist with stints in The Gun Club, The Cramps, Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, Divine Horsemen, Angels of Light, Die Haut, Knoxville Girls and Kid Congo & The Flying Monkey Birds, with whom he has released four albums — 2009’s Dracula Boots, 2011’s Gorilla Rose, 2013’s Haunted Head and 2016’s La Araña Es La Vida.

Tristan’s latest Kid Congo & The Flying Monkey Birds effort is the recently released Swing from the Sean DeLear EP. Thematically, the EP celebrates a dreamlike bridge between life and memory — with two of the EP’s four songs dedicated to dear friends and bandmates, who have since passed: Tristan’s Gun Club bandmate Jeffrey Lee Pierce, who died in 1996 and Sean DeLear, a beloved, underground Los Angeles non-binary punk rock singer/songwriter, artist, fashion maven and scenester, who died in 2017. Interestingly, the EP’s second and latest single “Sean DeLear” is a gritty garage rock ripper centered around a slashing guitars, a steady backbeat, a propulsive bass line, a shout along worthy hook and Tristan’s boozy Fred Schneider-like shouts and feral howling. Lyrically, the song plays a bit on DeLear’s name while featuring a playful metaphor of our dead loved ones swinging from a chandelier at a wild, never ending rager.

Directed and edited by DC-based filmmakers and musician Jonathan Howard with visual development by Jordan Albro, the recently released video for “Sean DeLear” features The Pink Monkey Birds playing in a bric-a-brac stuffed house that Wes Anderson would love, moving to room to room while Kid Congo is on the rooftop serenading a dear friend on a starry night — with the idea that the music will have DeLear rocking wherever his spectral journey takes him in the cosmos.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: The Death Wheelers Perform “Ditchfinder General”

With the release of their full-length debut, 2018’s I Tread On Your Grave, the rising Canadian act The Death Wheelers — Max “The Axe” Tremblay, Richard “Bastard” Turcotte, Sy “Wild Rye” Tremblay and Hugo “Red Beard” Bertacchi — have developed a sound that’s largely inspired by the aesthetics and ethos of bikesploitation movies like The Wild Angels, Werewolves on Wheels and Psychomania — and Dave Allen, The Cramps, Motörhead, The Stooges, and Grand Funk Railroad.

The Canadian metal act’s forthcoming album Divine Filth is slated for a September 11, 2020 release through RidingEasy Records, and the album will reportedly continue the band’s reputation for crafting, sleazy, head banging instrumental anthems that also simultaneously serve as the soundtrack for fictional bikesploitation films. While naturally centered around power-chord driven riffage, the album sonically finds the band drawing from Motörhead, The Cramps and Dick Dale.

Recorded in a breakneck series of live sessions, Divine Filth is all killer, no-filler, no bullshit scuzzinness with a layer of juvenile crassness that happily recalls Troma Films. Their sophomore album is loosely based around a fantastically dumb yet pretty fucking awesome plot synopsis: It’s 1982. Spurcity is run-down,The crime rate is up and so is drug use. A new kind of kick has hit the streets and it ain’t pretty. DTA, a powerful and highly addictive hallucinogenic drug, is transforming its loyal citizens into undead trash. Its users experience an indescribable high, but it leaves them rotting away within days, craving human flesh. No one knows who is dealing this new potent drug, but rumour has it that the motorcycle cult, The Death Wheelers, is behind this concoction. Could this be the end of civilization as we know it? What is motivating this group of psychotic individuals?

Last month, I wrote about the sludgy, The Sword-like album single “Corps Morts.” Interestingly, the album’s latest single “Ditchfinder General” is arguably the most expansive ripper they’ve released to date as it features elements of Dick Dale surf rock, crusty Headbanger’s Ball-era riffage  and dashes of prog rock experimentalism — thanks to an atmospheric and brooding bridge. Continuing their reputation for a cinematic take on metal, “Ditchfinder General” sounds as though it would be part of a movie’s key scene — in my mind, it’d be early on, when the protagonists and antagonists are introduced and defined to the viewer. 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Canadian Sleaze Rockers The Death Wheelers Return with a Scuzzy New Single

With the release of their full-length debut, 2018’s I Tread On Your Grave, the rising Canadian act The Death Wheelers — Max “The Axe” Tremblay, Richard “Bastard” Turcotte, Sy “Wild Rye” Tremblay and Hugo “Red Beard” Bertacchi — have developed a reputation for a sound that’s largely inspired by the aesthetics and ethos of bikesploitation movies like The Wild Angels, Werewolves on Wheels and Psychomania — and Dave Allen, The Cramps, Motörhead, The Stooges, and Grand Funk Railroad. 

Slated for a September 11, 2020 release through RidingEasy Records, the Canadian act’s forthcoming sophomore album Divine Filth continues the band’s reputation for crafting sleazy, handbanging instrumental anthems that simultaneously serve as the soundtrack for fictional bikesploitation films. Centered around power chord-driven riffs, Divine Filth reportedly finds the band riding the line between Motörhead, The Cramps and Dick Dale. 

Recorded in a breakneck 48  lives setting, Divine Filth is all killer, no-filler, no-bullshit scuzziness with a layer of crass that recalls Troma Films. This time, their sophomore album is loosely based around this fantastically dumb yet fucking awesome plot synopsis: It’s 1982. Spurcity is run-down,The crime rate is up and so is drug use. A new kind of kick has hit the streets and it ain’t pretty. DTA, a powerful and highly addictive hallucinogenic drug, is transforming its loyal citizens into undead trash. Its users experience an indescribable high, but it leaves them rotting away within days, craving human flesh. No one knows who is dealing this new potent drug, but rumour has it that the motorcycle cult, The Death Wheelers, is behind this concoction. Could this be the end of civilization as we know it? What is motivating this group of psychotic individuals?

Divine Filth’s first single “Corps Morts” will further cement the band’s reputation for sleazy headbangers, as its centered around thunderous drumming, grungy power chords-driven riffs, enormous hooks and an expansive song structure. Sonically, the track will bring The Sword to mind, as much as it does Motörhead and others but with a nasty crustiness on the surface. 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

Over the past year or so, I’ve written quite a bit about the London-based garage punk quartet The Cavemen, and as you may recall, the band can trace its origins to when its founding members, Paul Caveman (vocals), Jack Caveman (guitar, vocals), Nick Caveman (bass) and Jake Caveman (drums) met attending high school in Auckland, New Zealand. Reportedly, the members of the band bonded over a shared love of sniffing glue and wild rock ‘n’ roll. After spending several years drinking and loitering in their hometown’s basements, graveyards and parking lots, they honed their sound, eventually spending the better part of 2014-2015 recording their full-length debut. Interestingly, their debut album received attention locally for their ability to craft furious, face-melting power chord-based punk, inspired by The Ramones, The Cramps, The Stooges, and The MC5. Thematically, the material found the band making references about grave-robbing, necrophilia and other perverse, Troma Films-inspired shit but with a sneering sense of humor.

Just two weeks before the band was about to relocate to London, they went on a national graveyard tour that became infamous for its tackiness and for being ill-fated: the band’s Nick Caveman died in a tragic car accident, which forced the cancellation of the rest of the tour. Since then, Dirty Water Records released their debut across the European Union and elsewhere — and as a result of album single “Stand By Your Ghoul” and their “Burn Out For Love” 7 inch, the now London-based received international attention for boozy and filthy punk rippers.

They built upon their growing reputation for old-school-inspired punk rippers with the release of last year’s Nuke Earth and the “Lowlife” 7 inch, which featured the Johnny Thunders‘ “Born to Lose,” Highway to Hell-era AC/DC and New York Dolls-like “Lowlife.” Interestingly, this year has been a rather busy year for the London-based punk rockers, as they quickly followed the “Lowlife” 7 inch with the breakneck, filthy, troglodyte stomp of “My Baby Knows.” Centered by buzzing power chords, a rousing, mosh pit friendly hook, shouted vocals and a boozy Chuck Berry-like solo, the track is frenzied and furious take on ’77 era punk, compete with Troma Films-like lyrics.

 

 

 

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Join London’s Booze Fueled Punk Rockers The Caveman on Tour

Last year, I wrote a bit about the now-London-based punk rock quartet The Cavemen — and as you may recall, the band originally formed in Auckland, New Zealand when its initial lineup of Paul Caveman (vocals), Jack Caveman (guitar, vocals), Nick Caveman (bass) and Jake Caveman (drums) met while in high school — with the band’s founding members reportedly bonding over a shared love of glue and wild rock ‘n’ roll. After spending several years drinking and loitering around Auckland’s basements, graveyards and parking lots, the band’s founding lineup honed their sound. And over the course of 2014-2015, the band recorded their full-length debut, which received attention locally for material that at the time could be described as furious, face-melting power chord-based punk inspired by The Ramones, The Cramps, The Stooges, and The MC5 while thematically touching upon grave-robbing, necrophilia and other perverse shit with a sneering sense of humor; in fact, when the band was based in Auckland, they developed a reputation for being infamous — or as the band claimed at the time, they were a “great band to clear a party.”

Just two weeks before the members of the band were to relocate to London, they went on a rather infamous national tour to support their full-length debut. Unsurprisingly, the tour included an ill-fated graveyard tour that had to be canceled when Nick Caveman died in a tragic car accident. Dirty Water Records released their debut album across the European Union and elsewhere, and from debut album single “Stand By Your Ghoul” and their “Burn Out For Love” 7 inch, the band revealed that they specialized in a boozy and filthy punk rippers centered around fuzzy power chords, amphetamine-fueled drumming and howled vocals. Building upon a growing reputation for grimy, old-school-inspired punk, the London-based band released, the pummeling full-length Nuke Earth last year, which they followed up with the “Lowlife” 7 inch earlier this year. The 7 inch’s A-side “Lowlife” manages to be reminiscent of Johnny Thunders‘ “Born to Lose,” Highway to Hell-era AC/DC and New York Dolls with howled lyrics, a Chuck Berry-inspired guitar solo and a furious, booze-fueled nihilism.

The recently released video is split between raucous and sweaty, beer and shots-fueled live footage shot while the band was on tour and intimate, behind the scenes footage of the band goofing off while on the road. Of course, the band will be hitting the road with a French and Spanish that will run throughout this month.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Cavemen Return with a Scuzzy and Boozy New Single Paired with Debauched Visuals

Earlier this year, I wrote about the Auckland, New Zealand-based punk rock quartet The Cavemen, and as you may recall, the band which was originally comprised of Paul Caveman (vocals), Jack Caveman (guitar, vocals), Nick Caveman (bass) and Jake Caveman (drums), formed while in high school — with the band’s founding members bonding over a shared love of glue and wild rock ‘n’ roll. After spending several years drinking and loitering around their hometown’s basements, graveyards and parking lots, the band’s original lineup honed their sound and over the course of 2014-2015 or so recorded their full-length debut, which received attention locally for material that could be roughly described as face-melting and furious punk that drew from The Ramones, The Cramps, The Stooges, The MC5 and others but thematically focused on grave-robbing, necrophilia and other weird shit with a sneering sense of humor; in fact, they’ve developed a reputation for being infamous — or as the band once claimed they were a “great band to clear a party.” 

As the story goes, just two weeks before the members of The Cavemen were to relocate to London, they went on an infamous national tour to support their debut album, and unsurprisingly, the tour included an ill-fated graveyard tour that had to be canceled when the band’s Nick Caveman died in a tragic car accident: their tour van’s engine exploded, and as Nick Caveman was trying to see what was wrong, a passing motorist hit him. Now as you’d also recall, the British record label Dirty Water Records re-released their debut album for release in Europe and elsewhere, and from album single “Stand By Your Ghoul,” the band specialized in filthy, cretinous punk, centered around fuzzy power chords and howled lyrics. Unsurprisingly, the band has released the “Burn Out For Love” 7 inch and it’s a boozy, grimy and filthy punk ripper, full of power chords, amphetamine-fueled drummer and howled vocals. Sonically speaking, the song brings to mind, punk’s riotous boozy and revolutionary roots. 

The accompanying video is a cheap and scuzzy cut and paste job on the Mexican punksploitation film Intrepidos Punks featuring the prerequisite debauched orgy of car crashes, breasts and gratuitous biker violence. Enjoy! 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: The Death Wheelers Return with a Bruising and Face Melting Single

The Canadian instrumental band The Death Wheelers, comprised of  Max “The Axe” Tremblay, Richard “The Bastard” Turcotte, Sy “Wild Rye” Tremblay and Hugo “Red Beard” Bertacchi have largely been inspired by theaesthetics and ethos of bikesploitation movies such as The Wild Angels, Werewolves on Wheels and Psychomania, as well as Davie Allen, The Cramps, Motorhead, The Stooges and Grand Funk Railroad — and the end result is incredibly sleazy, primal and downright bruising and face melting rock.

Now, as you may recall, the band’s soon-to-be released album  I Tread On Your Grave is slated for a May 11, 2018 release through RidingEasy Records, and the album was devised to serve as the soundtrack for an imaginary B-movie with an incredible plot: Decimated in 1972 by local authorities, all members of The Death Wheelers, a notorious motorcycle club, have been buried at the Surrey cemetery. After some time, the motorcycle club has risen from the grave for their last ride — and of course, they’re hungry for blood, mayhem and violence. This brutal, living dead motorcycle gang travel from coast-to-coast to find and recruit the nastiest, filthiest, trashiest individuals to join their ranks with the goal of assembling a legion of 13 discycles (disciples + cycles, of course) to see revenge on the pigs that dismantled the club and sent the dead members of the club to their graves.” Earlier this year, I wrote about “Black Crack” a raw, swampy and bluesy track that sounded like a bluesy lovechild of  ZZ Top, Howlin’ Wolf and Portland‘s R.I.P thanks to some boozy, guitar pyrotechnics and a forceful immediacy. The album’s latest single “Roadkill 69” features a hilarious sample featuring the iconoclastic actress Divine, known for her insane roles in John Waters’ legendarily perverse films as an apt introduction to a face melting bruiser that sounds as though it were written by Rob Zombie.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Psychedelic Visuals for Plague Vendor’s Punchy and Anthemic “ISUA”

Much like the material on Free to Eat, the material off their latest effort Blooddsweat is comprised of material that had been written, revised, road-tested, further revised and re-imagined before the members of the quarter went into the studio. Produced and engineered by Stuart Sikes, best known for his work with The Walkman, Cat Power and Modest Mouse, Sikes encouraged the band to embrace a minimalist production with each member aiming to capture each track, each note in as a few takes as humanly possible and with little to no overdubs. Ultimately, the intent was to have their recorded sound hew as closely as possible to their live sound. Interestingly, Bloodsweat thematically is inspired by the last couple of years of each bandmember’s life, and the dedication and sacrifices being a serious artist must make and how that’s influenced them as a band as people. And when you listen to tracks on the album, it’s evident that their sound has grown, it’s also evident that their sound is still subtly influenced by At the Drive-In, Liars, The Cramps and others.

The album’s first single “ISUA (I Stay Up Anyway)” is an anthemic and punchy bit of punk rock with a furiously insistent bass line and a forceful stomp — and it’s the sort of single you can practically picture concertgoers in a small, dark and sweaty room yelling aloud to with upraised beers.

The recently released video features footage of the band playing a live gig but set in wild, psychedelic negatives — that almost makes it seem like going to a Plague Vendor show would be a trippy experience.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Although they derive their name from a mischievous pun based off Stephen King‘s stark, vampire novel Salem’s Lot, little is known about the mysterious Swedish psych rock act Salem’s Pot — except for the fact that their sound and aesthetic seems to draw from old horror movies like The Last House on the Left, El Topo and Blood Feast, as well as The Cramps, Pentagram, Roky Erickson, The Stooges, Deep Purple and others; in other words, murky psych rock with an unsettling sense of menace just underneath the surface. Interestingly what is known is this:  between the release of 2014’s Lurar ut dig pa prarien and the forthcoming album Pronounce This! the band has gone through a lineup shuffle in which their previous drummer took up guitar, allowing the band to recruit a new drummer — and with the release of album opener and latest single “Tranny Takes A Trip,” the lineup shuffling has allowed the band to expand upon their sound as layers of scorching and acidic guitar chords played through copious amounts of wah wah pedal and other effects are paired with soaring organ chords, arena rock-friendly hooks and ironically snarled vocals. Sonically and structurally the song seems to equally draw from Black Sabbath and much more contemporary fare including Ecstatic Vision, Slow Season and others; in other words, much like those bands the mysterious Swedish act specialize in mind-altering songs consisting of several different sections held together by a propulsive rhythm section.