The Routes – Tune Out, Switch Off, Drop In

Still where it's at! Japan-based psych-garage trio hit the spot!

I still remember the epiphany of catching the garage-rock bug as a teenager. While the majority of my fellow sixth-formers were content to have Dire Straights' Brothers In Arms on constant repeat on the common room cassette deck, (or worse - Pink Floyd's The Wall), I was introduced by my pals Chris and Sean to the Nuggets and Pebbles compilations along with a raft of reissues on Bam Caruso Records. Here was music that was punky, soulful, and psychedelic. A rich seam to explore. It was colourful and fun, which went against the grain of being a goth, seemingly the only other rebellious strain available to to us sheltered young pups in our small market town. I was smitten, and remain so to this day.

The Routes' latest album, their seventh, which came out just before Christmas, is a reminder of just how valuable that epiphany has been in forming my musical tastes and outlook, and also highlights that while the basic sonic template of psychedelic garage-rock may not have shifted much over the years, if you have something to say it will serve you well. And if you're a savvy enough musician you can add touches of other genres – R&B, surf-rock, folk-rock, Krautrock, shoegaze, even house or techno. It's no surprise that shape-shifting bands such as Primal Scream started out as a bowl-haircutted garage band with a pointy shoes, paisley shirts and a tambourine player.

The Routes are a trio led by Chris Jack – a Scottish born musician now resident In Hita City, Japan. While they too have a fondness for paisley shirts, skinny jeans, and teardrop-shaped guitars played through vintage fuzz pedals, there is more going on in their music than the retro bubble letters of their band logo would suggest. Within these grooves are experimental sonic threads – be it the tremolo and drone of album opener 'The Ricochet', 'Up and Down' with its shimmering layered guitars, or the title track's chromatic chord progression in the chorus recalling the works of Syd Barrett.

The album's more traditional garage-rock tracks such as 'The King Of Loose Ends' and 'You Cried Wolf' are equally thrilling, full of riffs, hooks, snarly vocals and ear-splitting trebly guitar solos. Dick Dale gets channelled on surfy number 'Split Personality', and there's plenty punkish attitude throughout with nods to artists such as Loop, The Jesus And Mary Chain, Spaceman 3, The Seeds and 13^th Floor elevators. Tune Out, Switch Off, Drop In is no pure retro trip though, it lyrically addresses current global concerns, pointing out that as a species we are without doubt regressing rather than progressing. The CD version comes with an extra four taken from the Driving Round In Circles EP, which originally came out on Ghost Highway Recordings in 2018. Whether your musical first love is '60s garage-rock, '90s indie, or simply great guitar bands from any era, this is an album worthy of your attention. Switch on and tune in!

Click here for The Routes on Twitter.

Click here for The Routes on Facebook.

Click here for The Routes on Instagram.

Click here for Groovie Records.

The Neighbourhood Strange - Russian Spy / Many Secrets (7"/CD)

The Salisbury psych-rockers are back with a single about recent hometown events.

Without wishing to make light of the seriousness of dosing someone with Novichok, at the two minute forty seconds into 'Russian Spy' there's a discordant guitar break which attempts to render in musical form the disorientating effects of the life-threatening nerve-agent. Undoubtedly safer than imbibing, it highlights The Neighbourhood Strange's growing confidence, as well as signalling the healthy state of modern psychedelic rock. With a melody that draws from eastern European folk and a brash swagger that's distinctly a “British-dudes-with-guitars” thing, 'Russian Spy' is modern musical reportage at its finest, from a band uniquely placed to commentate on such matters.

On the flipside of the vinyl is 'Many Secrets', an equally enjoyable if more trad Brit-pop affair; guitar-driven but with a big chorus. Vocalist Marcus Turner turns in a performance that's both melodic and punkish, while the band sound like they've mastered the art of ensemble playing, countless gigs having helped gel and hone their collective sound.

If the two tracks on the vinyl single aren't enough the CD version contains both 'Russian Spy' and 'Many Secrets' along with an extra three tracks. 'Mary Mary' has a neat quiet/loud dynamic and errs towards the band's West-Coast garage rock side. 'Walk On Water' has a languid, rolling feel, with plenty of space for organ runs and swells. 'Desert Sand' bookends nicely with 'Russian Spy', it's a short instrumental interspersed with occasional vocal shouts and encouragements. It too has a melodic feel that comes from somewhere between Eastern Europe and the Silk Road. Packed with plenty of surfy guitar, kind of like Dick Dale meets the Arabian Knights.

If you want to catch the band playing live, they have a hometown gig at the Market Square, Salisbury on August 23^rd. Or if you can't make it check out this rather fine disc instead.

Click here for The Neighbourhood Strange's website.

Click here for The Neighbourhood Strange on Facebook.

Click here for The Neighbourhood Strange on Bandcamp.

Bananas Magazine #16

New issue of our favourite inky 'zine!

2018 is rapidly approaching its midway mark. It's been a weird one for me so far, a few profesional breakthroughs but more than enough day-job ennui, usually experienced with the added impairment of a hangover. So yeah too much booze, too much work and moments of true joy few and far between. That said the new music I've heard this year has been pretty special. I've spent more money on vinyl this year than I have the previous few years put together and I've not regretted a penny. I'm not sure how you readers (I'm presuming there are some!), come across new bands and records. Don't get me wrong, the internet can be a wonderful thing and I use Spotify, Twitter, YouTube and all the rest of it and occasionally come across new music and bands that way, but there's no substitute for good old printed paper, curated content and stylistic parameters.That's why it's always such a pleasure to read a new issue of Bananas Magazine. For the latest in global garage rock nobody does it better.

The latest issue dropped through my letterbox last Saturday and truly brightened my day. I took it along to the pub that night and read through some of the great record reviews and interviews while my mate's band were soundchecking. Great to see HD faves The Blind Owls get a feature. Their latest Four EP was one my recent vinyl puchases by the way! There are also some fabulous pieces on Archie and The Bumkers, Les Sullies, The Creation Factory, Reverend Beat-Man and more. Bananas magazine always has the greatest illustrations, the artist spotlight interview with artist Matt Adams is fabulous too. Makes me wish I could draw! As ever the've put together a Bandcamp compilation to accompany the issue. Check it out below. In a time when politicians from every country seem to be getting more and more insular, protectionist and nationalistic, it 's encouraging to see musicians and music fans in favour of disregarding boundaries and borders and fostering a truly global inclusive attitude. More of it please!

www.bananas-magazine.com
www.facebook.com/bananasmagazine

The Outta Sorts - The Outta Sorts EP / The Trouble With Love EP

 

(This review first appeared in issue #69 of Shindig! magazine.)

The first two releases from this San Francisco garage-punk trio compensate for their lack of subtlety with speed, attitude and spirited enthusiasm. The eponymous debut has two tracks of '77 style melodic punk on the A-side - 'Good With Bad Habits' and 'Hot Ticket' both setting the scuzz factor high. The flip-side has two tracks featuring the band's more twangy, dark rockabilly side with plenty of Bigsby tremolo action on the guitar solo of 'Feeling Difficult' and some Scotty Moore-style moves on 'Party In The Sky'.

Follow-up The Trouble With Love EP contains a format-stretching five songs, the title track channelling early Kinks via both melody and the ripped speaker sound. Then a couple of short punky blasts before 'Snow Covered Dreams' with its folk-punk Nuggets feel. Also of note is the should-I-stay-or-go homesick love-letter to Georgia in 'San Francisco Is An Iceberg'. It won't change your life but is pretty good fun.

Paul Messis - Songs Of Our Times

Third album from the garage punk outsider! 12 new tunes on a 12” piece of plastic!

Paul Messis is a man who knows how to achieve a biting guitar tone. As a student and aficionado of '60s US garage-punk, his attempts at re-capturing the sounds made by mid-west teens in thrall to British Invasion bands are pretty much unrivalled. Whether it's a biting bridge pick-up lead break, a Byrdsian 12-string chime, or a fuzz-guitar motif inspired by a copy of a copy of The Rolling Stones' 'Satisfaction', Messis seems to nail it each time. More than the sounds though it's the spirit of those records he captures. That sense of being at odds with the mores and prevailing attitudes of the times.

So much for the sonics and spirit then but what of the subject matter? As we've come to expect from Messis there's a similarly biting lyrical barb that permeates this album. An attack on apathy here, a shot at governmental failings there, and expressions of disappointment in society's mores throughout. He's no killjoy though. Such pessimism merely point out that Messis believes in a better world and much like punk rock in '77, his lyrics call for more care and compassion, beginning on a one-to-one level and resonating throughout the wider world.

A hippy in garage-punk clothing? Perhaps not but it's clear Messis believes in the power of music to voice something, be it inner pain, critical diatribes against those in power, or day-to-day dissatisfaction. At the heart of this is a desire for communion and community. It's a thread that's present in all Messis' solo output as well as in the records he's made as a member of home-counties bile-punk band The Suburban Homes.

There's more to this LP though. Evidence of more mellow and nuanced sounds than we've previously heard on his solo LPs. 'Apathy's Calling', which closes side one of the LP's vinyl version has a more reflective and folksy vibe. A possible pointer to music he may make in the future, and proof that he's as adept at introspection as he is at protest. Other highlights include 'The Ballad Of A Strange Cat' which contains a neat autobiographical twist, and 'Mainstream Lifestyle Blues' where he channels his inner-Dylan and goes for that thin wild mercury sound. 'Don't follow The Man' also branches out into raga-psych territory.

Aside from his solo work and The Suburban Homes Messis continues to run the small but perfectly formed Market Square Records, specialising in limited edition 7” singles. He's also a member of The Higher State, whose latest album we covered here last year. It's in these solo records that Messis is truly himself though and we're glad he finds the time to make them. 

Click here for Paul Messis.

Click here for 13 O'clock Records.

The Slow Slushy Boys - Whelk Time!

(This review first appeared in issue #66 of Shindig! magazine.)

Larsen LP

Slow and slushy by name, not by nature. This French band have helped popularise revivalist beat music not only by the many sides they've released since their 1990 debut, but also via Larsen, the record label and magazine started by the band's leader Denis Oliverès. This collection collates the best of the band's releases from 1994-97, twelve tracks previously only available on limited-run 7” singles and 10” LPs. Firmly rooted in hip-shaking garage-y R&B, the band pay homage to their inspirations with covers of The Real Kids ('Do The Boob'), The Sevens ('Seven'), Shindiggers ('Say You Will') and Dutch band The Outsiders ('Won't You Listen'). The original tracks are equally as taut and snappy and contain a contender for the best song title ever with 'Can The Poseur Do The Whelk?'

With ace sleeve notes by Shindig!'s own Lenny Helsing this is a fine introduction for uninitiated toe-dippers and a handy collection for long-time fans.

The Creation Factory - Let Me Go / You Got It (Ltd. 7")

Limited edition 7” from LA's hottest underground psych band!

In a week where, on both sides of the Atlantic, the political shit heads towards its proverbial fan, it's reassuring to know that America still makes great music. And it's similarly reassuring that a small record label on our side of the pond is willing and able to press this music onto black vinyl. The Creation Factory are the latest Los Angeles band to have the kudos of a 7” release on Market Square Records, the small but perfectly formed bespoke label based in West Sussex.

The band's sound harks back to an earlier period in the city's musical history, a time when fuzzy guitars, reedy organ, three chords and a whole lotta snotty attitude was the order of the day. The A-side is pure riot on Sunset Strip, the sound of US teens' take on Them & The Rolling Stones. (Who were themselves imitating US blues musicians! Hell what's the point in nativism and shoring up borders when internationalism sounds this good!) Shot through with that garage-punk vibe we all dig, the track culminates in a band freak-out complete with wailing police sirens. Get diggin' it!

The flip-side is an altogether different beast. A dancefloor instrumental containing funky drummer beats, organ and guitar solos. A surefire smash down your local garage club-night. Don't leave it too late to bag a copy of this 7”, it's limited to 300 copies only and I'm not having you coming round here a-cryin' on my shoulder if you miss out!

Click here for The Creation Factory's website.

Click here for The Creation Factory on Facebook.

Click here for Market Square Records.

Mojo Brothers - Don't Lie To Me/Marie Ann (7”)

Garage brudders debut 7” - OUT NOW!

Currently taking pride of place on my turntable is this stomping 7” from Mojo Brothers, a two-piece garage band outta Germany. While a claim to be the world's smallest garage band may be disputed by The White Stripes, The Black Keys, Cowbell et al, they may well be the loudest! And unlike The White Stripes they can truthfully claim to be siblings. In your face Jack White!

Raucous fuzzy soul is the order of the day on the single's A-side, all pounding beats, snarly guitar and the pair's trademark harmony vocals. Imagine if the Everly Brothers had been punk rockers and you get the idea. Flipside 'Marie Ann' taps into a more '50s rock 'n' roll vibe complete with mid-song guitar wig-out.

So how do they manage live as a two piece? Well the drums and organ sound all come from Roman's keyboard. Neat huh! Anyways check out the video for 'Don't Lie To Me' below and head over to their lablel website to order a copy of the vinyl. Rock on!

Mojo Brothers are -

Roman (Drums, Bass, Organ, Vocals)

Matthias (Guitar, Vocals)

Click here for Off Label Records.

MOJO BROTHERS - Don't lie to me from MOJO BROTHERS on Vimeo.

Bananas Magazine - Issue #14

Latest issue of the coolest zine around! Garage, punk and psych inky available from all good stores & distros!

I think we can all agree that 2016 has been a heinous beast of a year. Brexit, Trump, all those deaths and the murder of a forward-thinking, kind-hearted MP. A seismic year, the effects of which have yet to truly affect us. Where the hell do we go from here?! It's a point well made by editor Christophe in his column of the latest issue of Bananas Magazine. What we do need to do is pick ourselves up, dust ourselves down and continue to stand up and fight for what we believe in. As a musical community, (especially one as uniquely small yet global, as the garage scene is), is to keep the "citizen of the world" ethos alive, despite what Theresa May and nativist politicians the world over want to do. Hey, maybe here's not the place for politics but I just wanted to get that off my chest and try and remain positive.

Anyhow, one bright spot at the tail end of the year is issue #14 of the best garage 'zine around, a timely reminder that there are still good people, good events and great bands. If Ian Dury was around today it would be one of his reasons to be cheerful. Packed as usual with interviews, reviews, awesome illustrations that'll have even the most rural dwellers hip to the scene. Grab a copy from your local store or distro, or via the mag's website. And also check out their latest online comp, (see embedded player below). A soundtrack for your New Year's Eve party. Here's to 2017, stay strong brothers and sisters!

http://bananas-magazine.com/

Alex Maiorano & The Black Tales - Everything Boom!

100% pure dynamite! Good time rock 'n' soul from Berlin!

Hey boys and girls, you lookin' for a good time? Well who the hell isn't these days?! If the news ain't depressing enough the weather is! Fortunately there's always the sweet delights of music. And they don't come much sweeter than this here garage and soul belter from Alex Maiorano & The Black Tales. I only recently got tipped off about them but their debut album has been blasting out from my speakers for the past few weeks. I may be late to the party but I'm hoping to make up for it by playing this belter loud.

With their mix of soul, rock 'n' roll and garage rock they sure ain't no soul-searching navel gazers. This is music to be played loud, music to soundtrack the good times, music to party to, music to get drunk to. It's an album that'll have you phoning your mates up at 3am to tell them you love them. Better still, invite them over to share in the good-time party vibes. With 100mph drums, wailing saxophone, crunching guitars and Maiorano's feelgoood songs and lyrics it's bound to get the party started.

If you like what you hear you'll be pleased to find the band have some UK and German gigs next month, hopefully in a town near you. Leave yer blues and the door, get down the front and have a blast. It would be impossible not to!

Upcoming Tour Dates

19.10.16 – Hamtorkrug, Neuss, Germany

20.10.16 - St. Moritz Club, London, England

21.10.16 - The Zanzibar Club, Liverpool, England

22.10.16 - The Lexington, London, England

26.10.16 – Yorckschlösschen, Berlin, Germany

04.11.16 – Komplex, Schwerin, Germany

24.02.17 - Wild At Heart, Berlin, Germany

Click here for more on Alex Maiorano & The Black Tales.

Click here for Alex Maiorano & The Black Tales on Facebook.

Click here for Off Label Records.

The Missing Souls – Sweet, Sweet Sadie / The Alligator (Ltd 7”)

Storming garage soul 45 out now on State Records!

State Records further their reputation as the leading garage label du jour with this latest release from The Missing Souls. It's the band's first for the label but they already have a couple of 7” singles to their name along with a self-titled LP on Dangerhouse Skylab Records. The band hail from Lyon, France and have been together just under two years, in which time their stuff has been well and truly got together. This single recorded in-house at State's custom built studio is ample proof at that.

Both tracks here are covers. 'Sweet, Sweet Sadie' (originally by The Teardrops) centres around a fuzz guitar riff with a Phillicordia organ solo that takes the track into freakbeat overdrive. 'The Alligator' is a dance craze track originally by The Us Four, driven here by punding drums and complete with hand claps, a truly wild guitar solo and trademark boy/girl vocals.

This is a record that deserves to be played loud. A must have single for any self-respecting garage 'n' beat DJ. Freakbeat a-go-go baby!

Limited to 500 copies on monophonic black vinyl.

Click here for The Missing Souls' website.

Click here for The Missing Souls on Facebook.

Click here for the State Records website.

The Missing Souls are -

Zaza Sharps – lead vocals, bass guitar

Little Big Ian – lead vocals, guitar

Ricky Bilbao – organ, bass guitar

Lester Mizzi – drums, vocals

The Higher State – Volume 27

Folksiness, Farfisa and fuzz guitar on fifth LP from Kent's garage stalwarts!

The Higher State's fifth long-player is on store shelves now (or more accurately available to order online) and does not dissappoint. Ten years into their tenure the band is now distilled to a three-piece; Marty Ratcliffe on guitar/vocals/organ, Paul Messis on bass/guitar and Scarlett Rickard on drums. With the writing split between Ratcliffe and Messis.

The touchstones of The Byrds, Love and The Electric Prunes are here to satisfy the faithful, but despite their love of US garage the band have a distinctly (English) personality of their own. To call Volume 27 a protest album may be a step too far but there is a state-of-the-nation thread that runs though the record.

Musically there's folksiness, Farfisa and fuzz guitar, with production values geared towards treble-friendly AM radio. The ear-splitting guitar solos and frantic drumming are balanced by the gentler folk-rock type tracks which helps hold it together as an album. (Unlike a lot of garage LPs which all too often sound like a cobbled together collection of A and B-sides)

For a musical form that was supposedly crystalised and archived on Lenny Kaye's Nuggets compilation it comes across here as in pretty good shape and the perfect tool to kick against thepricks of today.

To paraphrase The Who - “Garage rock is dead they say. Long live garage rock!”

Click here for The Higher State on Facebook. 

Click here for 13 O'clock Records.

The Neighbourhood Strange – The Neighbourhood Strange/Wytches Sky (Ltd. 7”)

Is there something strange in your neighbourhood? Who you gonna call?

If your postcode has an SP prefix there's definitely some strange in your neighbourhood, namely The Neighbourhood Strange, a six-strong gang of '60s loving renegades who are on the verge of releasing their debut 45 on their own £.s.d Records imprint.

Pressed on reassuringly heavy black vinyl, with the band's circular logo on a similarly dark sleeve. Retro? Yes, but in a good way! The eponymous A-side harks back to the '60s purple patch, when psychedelia gripped the world's switched on youth. Though it's not the fully bloomed '67 flower power era the band echo, they're more attuned to the tightly clenched fist of 1966's dark satanic psych, with a sound propelled by nascent guitar fuzz, Farfisa solos and Jagger-inspired swagger.

The flipside 'Wytches Sky' takes a further step into the darkside of garage-rock. Not so much riot on Sunset Strip as strange rituals in darkened rooms. This is a record for fans of the Nuggets and Pebbles compilations, Aftermath-era Stones, Them and early Love. With the band already getting airplay on BBC6 Music, their future looks ironically bright! Look out for the band coming to make your neighbourhood that little bit stranger soon.

Click here for The Neighbourhood Strange on Facebook.

Click here for The Neighbourhood Strange on Bandcamp.

Out soon on £.s.d Records.

The Fallen Leaves - Out In A Forest b/w The Inside Of A Chair (Ltd. 7”)

South Londoners' latest 7”, very limited and very very good!

There's a lot of fuss currently about 1966, due in no small part to Jon Savage's book, 1966 The Year The Decade Exploded. Those of us in the garage world have always known that the year represented some sort of high water mark for guitar bands before fragmenting into either drug addled psych, overblown proto-metal, or back-to-the-country navel-gazing.

Which brings me to The Fallen Leaves, whose latest single on Market Square Records harks back to that classic and timeless '66 Beat Explosion, all taut riffs, snappy beats and guitar jangle. Neither overproduced or overblown, just great taut songwriting and playing which evokes every era of back-to-basic bands, from the '60s garage scene, through punk and onto the DIY ethos of '80s indie.

B-side 'The Inside Of A Chair' is a more aggressive affair, all instrumental apart from the spoken “Hello” and “Goodbye” that bookend its short sharp blast. All in all this 7” is a cracking double header, managing to bring together all the threads and strands of what a great four piece band is all about. Get it while it's hot!

Limited to 300 copies complete with a hand-numbered postcard.

Click here for The Fallen Leaves' website.

Click here for The Fallen Leaves on Facebook.

Click here for Market Square Records.

The Wrong Society – She Destroyed Me b/w Without You (Ltd. 7”)

A double pronged ode to love gone wrong from Hamburg's newest garage band.

One of the garage scene's default lyrical themes, (hell one of life's themes I guess!) is love gone wrong, being mystreated by a lover who you'd put all hope and faith in. With this in mind it could be a case of treading (dirty) water for German garage band The Wrong Society whose second single, and first for Paul Messis' Market Square Records, has this staple subject at its core.

Through sheer spirit and conviction however this is not the case. She Destroyed Me is a four chord stormer charting the love-gone-wrong aftermath. It's bolstered by high-in-the-mix tambourine and a Vox Super Continental keyboard solo. The Hamburg based quartet have a more measured, reflective take on the situation on the flipside Without You, where the protagonist's feelings turn from anger to sadness. A nice addition to any deejay's 7" box.

On 7” black vinyl, limited to 300 copies complete with a hand-numbered postcard.

Check out The Wrong Society at one of their upcoming German gigs -

September 22^nd - Molotow Skybar, Hamburg

October 1^st - Feinstaub, Frankfurt

October 2^nd - Goldgrube Kassel

October 3^rd - Sonic Ballroom, Cologne

October 16^th - Roadrunner's Paradise, Berlin

Click here for The Wrong Society on Facebook.

Graham Day & The Forefathers - Good Things

Medway garage legends take a trawl through their own back pages on new album.

Don't look back. So have said such wise luminaries as John Lee Hooker, Bob Dylan and Oasis through rock's history. Admirable sentiments, but in their defence they probably weren't familiar with the recorded output one Mr. Graham Day. As a member of The Prisoners, The Prime Movers and The Solarflares, as well as more recently in The Buff Medways and Graham Day & The Gaolers, Day has lit up the garage rock firmament for over 3 decades.

For the Medway mod-rocker's latest LP he's teamed up with two of his old musical cohorts to breathe new life into some of the best songs of his 30-year career. New band Graham Day & The Forefathers sees Graham re-unite with bassist Alan Crockford (also ex-Prisoners/Prime Movers/Solarflares) and drummer Wolf Howard (Prime Movers/Solar Flares/James Taylor Quartet/Buff Medways).

After a debut single earlier in the year (Love Me Lies on State Records), the band are now releasing Good Things, an album that's made up of newly recorded versions of Day's songs from his time in The Solarflares, The Prisoners and The Prime Movers. There's also room for a couple of tracks from Day's most recent band, Graham Day & The Gaolers.

Good Things is the first LP on the newly resurrected Own-Up Records and is everything you'd expect from a Medway garage record. A mix of '60s R&B, mod-rock swagger, and incendiary power trio bite. With the backing tracks recorded quickly and live in one session and vocals added later via computer, (the one concession to modern techniques), it has that eternal raw garage feel that never seems to lose its appeal.

There's a rare level of intuitive playing and understanding between the trio that can only have come by having shared countless gigs. By covering songs from your own back catalogue there's always a danger of treading water, but there's more attitude and sonic attack on this album than most bands half their age could muster. Make no mistake, this is no half-arsed re-hash.

It's an album that works well as a alternative greatest hits set, though if this is your first experience of the Graham Day sound it will certainly whet your appetite for a more detailed delve into his previous records. You could argue that by re-visiting their own songbook Day & The Forefathers are resting on their laurels, but when the results sound this good frankly who cares.

Click here for more on Graham Day & The Forefathers.

The Youth - I'll Call Your Bluff / You've Done Me Wrong (Ltd. 7")

Blistering beat 'n' garage 7” from Denmark's latest suit wearing combo!!!

State Records' latest release sees label owner Mole at the control desk, this time at Ponswood Hit Factory up the road in Hastings as opposed to the label's usual in-house facilities in Kent. The results are no less impressive, with both sides of this limited 7” hitting a sonic sweet spot.

Though the band hail from contemporary Copenhagen, The Youth's sound is pitched somewhere between 1961 at Liverpool's Cavern and 1963 at Eel Pie Island. The Youth have a classic two guitar, bass and drums line-up, the vocal are shared between the band's frontline.

“I'll Call Your Bluff” features some Lennon-esque vocal bite from guitarist Lasse Tarp. Like a raw out-take from A Hard Day's Night deemed to rocky for the Fabs' teenybopper fanbase. It's just the ticket for today's garage community however.

Flipside “You've Done Me Wrong” has an equally attacking lead vocal from bassist David Peter Jørgensen, over a groovy take on the Louie Louie riff. Available now on limited 7” vinyl with a push-out centre. Back to mono indeed!

Click here for more on The Youth.

Click here for The Youth on Facebook.

Click here for the State Records website.

Bananas Magazine #9 - OUT NOW!

Spring is here, and for garage rockers that can only mean one thing! The latest issue of the NYC-based garage zine is available now!


Great news for fans of fuzz, pych, garage and lo-fi punk. The latest issue of the scene's best quarterly magazine is ready for your perusal. I love this mag, it's a great read that always manages to point you in the direction of great new bands as well as reminding you why you fell for garage rock in the first place. And it has a sense of the genre's humour that other zines sometimes overlook in their quest for that all elusive authenticity.

On top of the comprehensive and informed reviews the mag has interviews with King Salami, Viv And The Sect, Shag Rats, Dead Ghosts, Giant Robots and more. There's also a feature on Benidorm's Funtastic Dracula Festival, as well as a spotlight on the artwork of Lluis Fuzzhound. (www.lluisfuzzhound.com)

The guitarists among us will have fun trying out the issue's psych-themed tabs which this time round have riffs and breaks by Iron Butterfly, The Troggs, The Attack and Teddy And His Patches. Plug in and play indeed! Hit the link below for a list of the magazine's ditributors or order direct from their website.

NB. As well as being an ace read, Bananas also features many amazing illustrations by the mag's editor, Christophe Lopez-Huichi. Check out the link to his website below to see more of his work.

www.bananasmag.com
www.clopezhuici.com

My Goodness - C'Mon Doll

It wasn't all that long ago that blues duos could only be found in juke houses of America's deep south. However since Jack and Meg White saved rock 'n' roll 10 years ago in the time honoured fashion of re-packaging  music of black origin for white folk, it looks like the duo format is here to stay. I'm all for it. Just geetar, drums and voice. Such a stripped down sound means you better have something to say and it better be said succinctly, make people feel good, and be punky and funky. There's nothing extraneous. No overdubs, no hiding behind smoke, mirrors or massive production so you'd best make it good punks.

A pleasure then to learn that Seattle garage duo are currently on tour in the UK this May supporting We Are Augustines. A double pleasure to find that their debut single C'Mon Doll is released at the end of the month. If you dig Fat Possum Records, The White Stripes, The Black Keys, The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, raw blues, or gritty and grainy garage rock this is right up your alley. There's to be a full length album later in the year but for now this will do nicely.


Click over the jump to see the video for C'Mon Doll by My Goodness.