THE DAMNED 40th Anniversary Tour Sydney Australia LIVE REVIEW

THE DAMNED  + The Hard Ons

10.3.17 Metro Theatre

The Hard Ons were a spot  on choice as openers tonight. Seemingly evergreen, they ripped through a set that included classics Dull and Just being with you. There was a new one in there that sounded pretty  good as well. A grinning Keish could barely contain his excitement at being on the same stage as The Damned, despite the mix giving them a bit of a muddy sound unfortunately.

Tonight’s show was sold out, and the atmosphere is thick with anticipation.  After a not-too protracted wait madcap keyboardist Monty Oxymoron is the first on stage to play the piano intro to Melody Lee. He’s followed by drummer Pinch, bass player Stu West, and then of course Captain Sensible and Dave Vanian to rapturous cheers, and when they launched into the aforementioned song, the energy was palpable, and the energy continued unabated   through the entirety of tonight’s set. They were into Generals next from the “Strawberries” album, one punter shouting  “play some punk”. It’s been a long time though, since The Damned were simply a “punk” band having long transcended genre boundaries, yet  somehow retaining their unique sound and identity.  As with a lot of gigs you can’t tailor the setlist to your own preference so there’s always going to be someone disappointed.  (They ain’t gonna play all of the first album tonight are they? And those that love ‘em know they are always going to throw in something that they haven’t done for a while or something left field. Like Generals. That’s The Damned). The Damned did however treat us to a nice little snapshot of their extensive and varied oeuvre with  plenty of crowd favourites. And every song crackled with intensity. A cracking Damned  set really.

Suited and gloved, Dave Vanian clutches his classic microphone and owns the stage. Vanian’s appearance as always only adds to The Damned’s enigma and effortless dips into different styles.  He’s flanked by the ever irrepressible  Captain Sensible to his right, swirling and snarling, showing his mastery of the guitar and interacting with the audience, later falling into the front  of the crowd. The whole band are on fire. Monty is jumping up and down, singing along when not playing his keyboards, Stu and Pinch holding down the rhythm section with enthusiasm and precision. 

The classics come thick and fast. Disco Man is next, and there’s a good swathe of songs from “Machine Gun Etiquette”; I just can’t be happy today, Love Song, Machine Gun Etiquette, and later on Plan 9. Spliced in are Street of Dreams and Eloise, perhaps again not every fan’s choice, but both of which still have an undeniable command. During Ignite they get the crowd to sing along the “Whoa  Whoa” chorus, taking the tempo down and then going full tilt again.  Wait for the blackout is greeted of course enthusiastically, as is the crowd pleasing double salvo of Neat Neat Neat and New Rose.

We all know we’re gonna get an encore, so the throng is hanging for more. They come back sans Dave for Captain to do Jet Boy Jet Girl, and then Dave returns and we get Noise Noise Noise and Smash it Up. Then they’re back for a second encore with Antipope. So with all those songs,  you couldn’t’ t help but have a smile on your dial right? Anyone that says they were “boring” or “didn’t play enough punk” – Come On! There was quite a good vibe amongst punters though, everyone is happy, chatty and friendly, and there were no dickheads which is always a bonus.

This was not some by the numbers 40^th Anniversary tour gig going through the motions. This was a celebration of 40 years of triumph, and doing things as themselves, their own way. It was also an example of how good a band can be after 40 years, despite various and expected line-up changes. This particular line up has been together for 13 or so years, and it’s well evident. It’s also a good reason to look forward to their new album, likely to be their swansong. It’s been hinted that it will take on a new direction, but head into more psychedelic territory, and “offer some of the old and a lot of the new. Hopefully with Captain’s melodic guitars, we’ll have some good pop songs on there” Dave has said in a recent interview. Sounds Damned good.  

SETLIST

Melody Lee

Generals

Disco Man

I just can’t be happy today

Alone Again Or

Love Song

Machine Gun Etiquette

Street of Dreams

Eloise

Stranger on the Town

Ignite

Wait for the Blackout

The history of the world (Part 1)

New Rose

Neat Neat Neat

Encore

Jet Boy Jet Girl

Noise Noise Noise

Smash it Up

Encore

Antipope

2016 TOP TEN better late than never.....
 In no particular order
LAST CRUSADE - S/T LP. Great Oi! document from this now defunct English-Canadian Oi! Mob. A nod to the past, a tip of the hat to the Templars, whilst looking ahead. Great cover art.

HOSTILE OBJECTS - Negative Space. Long awaited album from these hardworking Sydney sonic hardcore thrashers. Injected with grit and flavour. Great cover art as well.

CROWN COURT -Capital Offence. What a bloody great LP. Following on from their singles, this somehow reminds me of the greats and heavyweights of Oi!, yet sounds completely fresh and non deriviative. Tellin' like it is on the streets 'o London Town, no frills, no crap. Twists and turns of melody,  and singalongs. All killer no filler from these unparalleled Oi! champions.

STANLEY KNIFE - Sydney O Sydney. If Crown Court tell us what the streets of London are like, Stanley Knife  give us the dirt on old Sydney Town. Whilst the subtleties of Sydney life may be perhaps lost on the wider populace, never mind, this is great rockin' streetpunk. This was my end of year beer soundtrack with plenty of "Oi Oi"s  to raise a glass and sing along.

DESCENDENTS - Hypercaffium Spazzinate. The Pop punk legends return with their classic trademark caffeinated energy to keep us all happy. Another amazing LP, can't wait to see 'em in February. Old punks rule!

ALTERNATE ACTION - The Thin Line. Technically a reissue. Absolutely great melodic punk/oi! from this pre - Bishops Green band. Great to finally see on vinyl and glad I was able to score a copy.

HEAVY DRAPES -Should I suck or should I blow EP. Probably my favourite release of the year. 4 songs of Pistols inspired punk rock. Perfect as an EP, 4 songs of magic. With the "hit" that perhaps could have been, "Into the blue" (great vid also), this still gives me spine tingles and still on high rotation. Other people in my house are sick of this record.

RIXE - Les Nerfs a Vif EP. French Oi! Missed their first one. Powerful and melodic. It doesn't matter that they're not singing in English and you can't understand the words, you'll want to sing along.

THE BUSINESS - Complete Studio Recordings 1980-81 I had my eye on this for a while but hesitated; a few of these songs I have on LP or CD 3 or 4 times over. However, this was totally worth the $$, a gem of a record. Great collection of songs, and there's certainly a few diamonds in the rough here. This is kind of an improved version of the"Official Bootleg LP that's been around forever in various formats. The original  vinyl one has the same songs as the  first side here, with live songs on the B side, and there's a CD with all that, all this, and more. However for vinyl junkies this is the shit. Side  1 is studio recordings with classics like  "Out in the Cold", "Harry May",  and "Suburban Rebels", with the bonuses for me being "Streets where you live" and "Step into Xmas" which I didn't have. Side 2  is demos, as said, with some real diamonds here, played this side quite a bit. Even the "slower"  60's moddish type songs are good. All up, a great payoff, and a well selected collection of songs divided into two sides. I got this a few weeks before Micky Fitz died, so I dunno how that all fits into the universal scheme of things...... RIP Micky Fitz, elder statesman of Oi!

DAG NASTY - Cold Heart 7"   Not quite in the league of their earlier stuff, but a good document of the early of the early lineup, as is now. The "then and now"  pics on the inside cover are worth a look.

                                                    chrismccousin@gmail.com

LAST CRUSADE and ALTERNATE ACTION vinyl releases

THE LAST CRUSADE - SELF TITLED ALBUM

LONGSHOT/REBELLION

This Canadian-English Oi!  group managed to squeeze out this LP before their unfortunate demise. Calling it a day due to singer Karl’s job in the UK ceasing, and also having to return to Canada for visa reasons, this is a more than worthy statement and documentation on their shortish existence. Its been out a while

This is melodic  “twangy” Oi! with a nod to The Templars.  The catchy  “One of us” sets the tone (and with a start that is reminiscent of “Love will tear us apart”).  I loved their 7” (which was actually a demo) and “Morally Bankrupt” which appears again here gets a new life with the beefier production. There’s a salute to fellow ( also defunct) Oi! Canadians with a cover of “Who the fuck are you?”  “Deadbeat”, also from their 7” is ramped up here.

This is great catchy singalong Oi!   The artwork is great, nice innersleeve with lyrics. Cover is totally 80’s, love it! On high rotation. It's been out a while (released late last year).

ALTERNATE ACTION –THE THIN LINE; THE COMPLETE DISCOGRAPHY

LONGSHOT/REBELLION/BORDS DE SEINE

I first stumbled upon this a while back when it cued itself up on youtube after I’d played something else, and it immediately caught my ear. I’d heard about AA through them having a split with MARCHING ORDERS ages back, and through singer Greg Huff being in BISHOPS GREEN. Anyway, I was taken with this straight away when I first heard it, and kept playing it on youtube, swearing I’d break   the vinyl only code and look for a copy (was originally only released on CD in 2008). I kept spending more $$ on records, and would often play it still on youtube. So when I found out it was being released again on vinyl, well, fuck me, wasn’t  I a happy little camper? Even better, managed to get it here in Australia thru Resist before it was sold out. Happy Fricken days eh?

Still can’t get enough of this shit. This is top shelf catchy, melodic singalong Oi!/Streetpunk. Whatever, it’s just punk rock eh?  The jewels in this treasure chest are the two openers “Dead End Street”, “Keep Running”, “Plastic Society”, “Nowhere to go” on side 1, and “Thin Line”, and “Wasted Lies” on Side 2, but hey, it’s all good. Greg Huff’s trademark yowl and underdog/working class lyrics combined with snappy melodic guitars and choruses  make this a winner. (Inspiration from the likes of Sparrer and the Test Tubes are evident).

This is well worthy of a re-release on vinyl. I’ve waited a while to get this, and worth the wait. Top shelf release, as per usual from Longshot/Rebellion. If I could fault this in any way, I would have liked to of seen a bit more info on the songs etc as this release is culled from various releases and unreleased stuff, and perhaps lyric son the innersleeve. This works well a standalone release album though (as a “proper album”, and not a comp). For me, probably (re)release of the year.

chrismccousin@gmail.com
    

R.I.P. LEMMY

R.I.P. Lemmy

I’ve always liked Motorhead.  For most of my life (well approximately 2/3’s of it anyway, and the last 30 odd years) I’ve listened to Motorhead.  

I first heard and saw them playing “Iron Fist” one night on the “Rock Arena”  music program in 1982. I loved it, thought it was the best thing my 14 year old ears had heard. I went and found it (on cassette tape!) in the local music shop the next day. I liked stuff like Iron Maiden’s “Number of the Beast”, but this was better, harder,  and faster! I still like Iron Fist – it’s got a real punk edge to it, and it’s their last with “Fast Eddie”. I traded that cassette, but I “upgraded” to a vinyl copy a few years later. I got into the “Another perfect Day” album after Iron Fist, and I still like that one as well.

Motorhead are the band I’ve continuously liked for most of my life. Sure there’s been periods where I haven’t listened to them much, or at all, like when I wanted to mainly listen to punk or hardcore, or something else. But they have always been there.  There’s been other stuff that I got into in my later teens and early twenties that while I still own it, doesn’t resonate with me so much anymore. But  Motorhead  of course does, and  will continue to do so.

Since the late 90’s, something clicked back, and they have been a staple on the stereo. My Motorhead collection is far from complete, and I still look for certain albums. Some (horror of horrors, haha) I got on CD because I couldn’t find ‘em on vinyl.

My biggest regret for a while was that I didn’t see Motorhead when they first came to Australia in the 90’s. I can’t even remember the reason. When I read Lemmy’s autobiography and he said that he wouldn’t tour Australia again, I despaired. But wonder of wonders, they came out with fuckin’ Motley Crue in 2005. So I paid for the Crue JUST to see Moorhead’s support set. Which was amazing. I couldn’t understand why Motorhead were supporting Motley Crue. (I was going to leave before the Crue’s set, but was talked into staying. It was one of the crappiest gigs I’ve ever seen). But then Motorhead came back again with a headline tour in 2007 with the excellent  “Kiss of Death” album.

I’ve been playing loads of Motorhead for the past year. I think I kinda knew something. I dunno. And then started to hear stuff about his ill health, and cancelling shows.And I recently got a vinyl copy of “Bomber” – ‘cos I only had a burn of it, and wanted to complete my early Motorhead vinyl collection.  And just got a new Motorhead T-shirt ‘cos the old one is full of holes.

So thanks Lemmy for all the great punk 'n roll you gave us.

Love the new album, “Black Magic”.

I’ll still be listening to Motorhead when I’m 70.................

TOP PUNK and Oi! VINYL for 2015

My favourite pick of the vinyl I got in 2015, in no particular order;

BISHOPS GREEN  -A Chance to change One of my favourites and possibly the best  punk/oi! release of 2015. Bishops Green follow up their self titled EP and the “Pressure” LP with their trademark  melodic  oi! infused punk with a bit of a nod to some of the UK 82 stuff. Great black and white artwork and splatter vinyl. Combined with Greg Huff’s heartfelt vocals and lyrics make this a complete winner.

RAZORCUT – Rise Again. Another favourite, again great artwork from Rebellion, great Aussie Oi! drawing influences from the past with a modern feel. Contains a bona fide modern Oi! classic in “Raise your glass” that rivals anything from the 80’s glory days of Oi! 

POISON IDEA – Confuse and Conquer. They’re back with a vengeance. Completely eclipsing their last effort “Latest will and testament”, this is classic Poison Idea in 2015.

MOTORHEAD –Bad Magic. One of their strongest perhaps since “Kiss of Death”. Not so into their cover of “Sympathy for the Devil” though. Nice Gatefold cover, and interesting track listing on the back with the CD track list (comes with  CD) –which is the same as the vinyl, just without two sides . RIP LEMMY.

AGNOSTIC FRONT – The American Dream Died AF are well and truly back again with this one. AF’s last release “My Life my Way” was  heads down, business as usual, but it had an upbeat feel to it. With this one their anger has bubbled back up to the surface with a vengeance.

REDUCERS SF – “Essentials”  4 LP Box Set  Reducers drew  inspiration directly from the likes of the original UK  Oi! - Cock Sparrer, Chelsea, The Adicts, and The Business, filtering and digesting them to produce their own sound which has a distinct US slant. The result over the 4 LP collection is a unique brand of good time, singalong, melodic oi!/streetpunk. Package wise this is an absolute winner. The box slipcase that contains the LP’s  is well done with a great cover. The albums themselves have all the artwork and inner sleeves with good quality cardboard and stuff with nice quality printing. Each album has a different colour heavy vinyl.

COSMIC PSYCHOS –Cum the Raw Prawn Your friendly  Aussie neighbourhood punk-yobbo psychos are back with an arse tearing ball ripper. This record is heap of fun. Piss is taken, as I imagine a fair amount of piss was drunk during its making. This is Oz yob punk rock lunacism at its best. Package wise you can’t complain; beer coloured vinyl with an insert pic of the Cosmic Yobbos. Nice, chunky sound but without   any glossy polish, suiting the Pyschos  perfectly.

CRUX/CRASH  -Split EP Been looking out for the Crux EP in some form for a while. Here it’s paired in  its orginal split EP Form backed with The Crash, the greatest UK82 band I’ve never heard.  Original copies go for a bit on ebay. Both are solid melodic oi! in the case of Crux, and Melodic UK82 in the case of The Crash. Great artwork and packaging, glad I was able to snap this one up.

SOCIAL DISTORTION – Mommys Little Monster - Ltd Edition Reissue. This was one I’d also been looking out for a while, only had a CD of this one, and a little expensive for first edition pressings. SD’s first, and their “punkest” LP.

STRANGELHOLD Self Titled  10” EP  Female fronted razor-throated buzzsaw oi!/punk. Taking their cues and inspiration from 70’s and 80’s oi! and punk,  they have a sound all their own, fusing those elements with both melody and grit.

7”S

CROWN COURT -  Ruck and Roll 3 song EP, back to basics no bullshit Oi! from London. 

LAST CRUSADE – Self Titled EP. Reissue of their sold out debut 7”, originally their demo. Great singalong Oi! from this London-Canadian band now unfortunately defunct

THE SQUATS – “Noise Overdose” Reissue.  This band would later go on to  morph into “The Magnificent”. Great snotty punk originally from The Netherlands, 1982. I saw an article where a bloke from the Netherlands town of Nijmegen (There is a song on the EP “Chaos in Nijmegen”) searched for a copy of this EP for 15 years. And then it was reissued.

Honourable Mentions; Hard Evidence  - “Last One Standing” EP, Vanilla Muffins -  “The Triumph of Sugar Oi!” Reissue, Lions Law -  “A day will come”, The Vile – S/T 7” EP, Cro-Mags – “Age of Quarrel” reissue on the Boss City Sounds label.

Oi! THIS IS STREETPUNK VOLUME 5 VINYL out now

Oi! This is Streetpunk Volume 5

PIRATES PRESS///LONGSHOT MUSIC

2015

Latest instalment of this long –running  compilation series returns with another strong line-up of bands.

Good to see the Aussies leading the charge here with a one-two punch on the first two cuts; Razorcut kick off with the flat-out take no prisoners attitude of “Never Die”, followed by Black Ball’s 70’s pub-rock flavoured “Running from You”. 

English Lads Grade 2 keep the pace up with ”Nothing to Lose”. Late 90’s/early 00’s San Francisco streetpunk heroes Reducers SF return with one of their melodic singalong anthems in “For all the times”. Bats Out channel something akin to the Adicts with the fun punk of ”Flying Blind”. Another late 90’s streetpunk San Francisco mob,  Workin’Stiffs also make a welcome return with the punchy “Painting my nails” (It’s like they’ve never been away, and it reminds me to give their “Liquid Courage” LP a spin). Brick Assassin  take a bludgeoning hardcore approach with “Ruled by You”, and another Aussie band Plan of Attack close side 2 with the tough as nails oi! of “Take the Pain”.

Darkbuster’s more melodic/pop tone commences Side 2, followed by the more aggressive straight up punk of Roadside Bombs with “Angry People”. Longstanding  US punkers Generators are often at their best with their melodic anthems, as here with “Castaways”. Rile 9 Collective keep things amped up with the singalong chorus and guitar hook of “Delusional”,  and Victory  keep  it up again with the upbeat, razor-throated “Enemy of the State”.  Antagonizers ATL are next up with the back to basics punk of with “Dead to Us”, and The Struggle close with the rocky, hard hitting “Once Bitten”.

This is simply just a great  comp of oi! and streetpunk  bands with a great collection of bands and songs. All have pretty good production, the vinyl gives a great sound to everything here.  This one’s splatter vinyl.  Patch and download code included. I’m already lookin’ out for the next one!

REDUCERS SF BOX SET RE-RELEASE

REDUCERS SF

"ESSENTIALS" 4 LP BOX SET

PIRATES PRESS 2015

First up, I have to admit to being pretty much a “freshcut” when it comes to the Reducers SF. I didn’t have any of their stuff before getting this. I’d heard one or two of their songs way back one way or another somewhere somehow, and was aware of them courtesy of their association/relationship with perhaps better known San Francisco bands such as the Swingin’ Utters and Workin’ Stiffs in the late 90’s. The songs I did hear kind of stuck in my head. I spotted this box set in a record shop and had my eye on it, and when my wife asked me  what to get me for my birthday I asked her to get it for me. I’ve been dining out on it for a good few weeks now. It’ll be a while before I get bored of this lot. Let’s be clear straight off the bat; this is all great stuff. All the original albums here warrant a reissue.  

What I like most is that Reducers SF tap the source so to speak –drawing inspiration directly from the likes of the original UK  Oi! - Cock Sparrer, Chelsea, The Adicts, and The Business, filtering and digesting them to produce their own sound which has a distinct US slant. The result over the 4 LP collection is a unique brand of good time, singalong, melodic oi!/streetpunk.

The debut LP Backing the Longshot has some great  (Reducers classics) songs in “Never hear a word” (although it’s not entirely representative of the band’s sound) and the second song “Let it go”, as well as “A few rounds” , “Die like Me”, and “SF United”.  It’s probably the most melodic of all the collection, and consolidated  the band as a 4 piece with mainstays Glen McHenry (vocals/guitar), Kevin Doherty  (guitar), Mike Crowell (bass), and  Scott Nicol (drums).

Crappy  Clubs and Smelly Pubs is more of the same. Except it’s  not. They’ve eased back on the production a tad, and It’s a bit leaner, zippier and faster overall than its predecessor . The signature  melodic singalongs and guitar melodies are all there. Highlights here are “We are the enemy” and  Another day older”.

2001’s Raise Your hackles sees the lineup expand to a five piece with the addition of Ryan Allen on guitar to give Glen McHenry free rein on vocals, resulting in a  tougher  and  more direct sound.  Again, The signature  melodic singalongs are all there still. They’ve upped the ante with production, and everything has a smidge more clarity. Raise Your hackles  mixes their UK 80’s  Oi! influences with a bit of a US hardcore  flavour.  “Fading Away” sets the tone,  we’re  off again, and there’s plenty more to hook you in once more.  Likewise side two, which closes with the classic “We are the same” with its prickly guitar loop solo.

1995 – 2001 Demos/B-Sides/Live/Outtakes rounds up non LP extras.  It’s good enough as a standalone LP in itself . The only (minor) gripe I have here is that 8? of the 12 songs are represented elsewhere, or here  on this LP.  Little consequence though, as classics such as “Let it go” and “We are the Same”  have  a different sound when presented here in their original versions of the band  with a more stripped down, rougher sound. Side two documents the pre “Backing the Longshot” era of the band with original singer Jim Martinez’s tenure, and you can see how the band developed their sound from more basic streetpunk roots. They also wear their influences on their sleeves proudly  with three top-notch covers (2  by Cock Sparrer and one  by Slaughter and The Dogs).  (And where is their cover of The Pogues “The Broad Majestic Shannon”? With the downloads somewhere? And that other single that coulda been chucked on here?)

For me throughout this 4 LP collection the  guitars shine and complement each other fantastically. Glen Mc Henry’s raspy drawl suits the songs,  he sings with conviction, and doesn’t stretch it. The rhythm section holds it all down solidly throughout.

Package wise this is an absolute winner. The box slipcase that contains the LP’s  is well done with a great cover. The albums themselves have all the artwork and inner sleeves with good quality cardboard and stuff with nice quality printing. Each album has a different colour  heavy vinyl. Some? Of the collection has been remastered, and  all the vinyls have  good stereo sound with plenty of dynamic.  Download codes included.