Welcome to the ramblings of a man who really should have grown out of listening to "that sort of music" a long, long time ago...A place to share thoughts and photographs on music and related paraphernalia.
The Embrooks celebrated the release of their brand new LP "We Who Are" with a cracking value for money State Records showcase and launch party at The Lexington featuring special guests Les Grys Grys and The Dirty Contacts. Of course Mole and Lois of The Embrooks are the brains behind the fabulous State Records who have recently completed work on their very own recording studio North Down Sound in the grounds of their HQ in Folkestone, which is certainly paying dividends.
The Dirty Contacts at The Lexington - Photo Retro Man Blog
The Dirty Contacts at The Lexington - Photo Retro Man Blog
Opening the show after an excellent selection of songs from DJ Suzy ScreamCheese, the Hastings based Dirty Contacts were also celebrating a new release. Their debut single "The World's End" was recorded at North Down Sound and is out now as a heavyweight gatefold sleeved 7" vinyl single. They played a great set of scuzzy Garage Punk with some promising original songs rubbing shoulders with some familiar cover versions such as Wimple Winch’s "Save My Soul" and a superb take on The Wailers "Out of Our Tree". I recognised the Fratcave and Beatwave weekender organisers Ian Greensmith from The Dentists on drums and Justin from The Sine Waves on keyboards. In fact, Justin's futuristic keyboards add another dimension to their sound and give The Dirty Contacts a welcome and original angle that sets them apart from many of their contemporaries.
Les Grys Grys at The Lexington - Photo Retro Man Blog
Les Grys Grys at The Lexington - Photo Retro Man Blog
The fantastic Les Grys Grys have been over from Montpellier to visit North Down Sound to continue work on their forthcoming album. They took time out between recording sessions to headline a riotous New Year show at Weirdsville which featured crowd-surfing, PA climbing, Go-Go dancing full-on mayhem. Tonight they put in a rather more sedate performance that is as tight and rocking as the Weirdsville show was chaotic. They really are one of the best live acts on the circuit and tonight’s set promises that the new LP will be a sure-fire classic, can't wait to hear it.
The Embrooks at The Lexington - Photo Retro Man Blog
The Embrooks take the stage and tonight, with his striped trousers and tasselled hat, frontman Mole reminds me of the Psychedelic shopkeeper in the Mr Ben cartoon, promising us a fantastical adventure ahead. Indeed, there is an element of the unknown to come as Mole announces that they will only be playing songs from their brand new release “We Who Are". I thought it was a brave move by the band to play the album in sequence from side one, track one, however, it all worked out perfectly in the end. This was mainly down to the fact that “We Who Are” is expertly sequenced with each song capable of being released as a stand-alone single in its own right. In fact, I found myself singing along to numbers as though I'd listened to them for years rather than just a couple of weeks. I noticed there were a fair number of people around me doing likewise. You see, “We Who Are” is one of those rare albums where everything just clicks. From the beautifully packaged limited edition 180-gram vinyl LP with its lavish gatefold sleeve and accompanying CD, right through to the production and the sheer quality of the song writing, it’s all here.
The Embrooks at The Lexington - Photo Retro Man Blog
Only one song breaks the three and a half minute barrier but they still manage to cram in loads of intriguing twists and turns into each number, which gives the album a thoroughly satisfying depth. Drummer Lois kicks things off with the snake hipped groove of “Going But Not Gone” and Mole's elastic bass riff is bubbling away nicely underneath. The previously released State Records single "Nightmare" was the only familiar song in the main set and it has a great stinging guitar riff intro from Alex. "Don't Look At Me" is one of my highlights on the album, it starts off as a Garage Punk stomper before shooting off at an unexpectedly pastoral tangent with some wicked flute played brilliantly on the album and at the gig by Tom Hodges. Suddenly a mighty bass riff slaps us back on track and then it all goes off with a crunching guitar riff and the flute going haywire.
The Embrooks at The Lexington - Photo Retro Man Blog
For me the album's centrepiece is the magnificent "Human Living Vampire" and on this track in particular, you really get the feeling that the band are definitely utilising their own studio to its full potential as the multi-layered guitar work from Alex blew my mind. It starts with a beautifully intricate twelve-string motif and then in comes some furiously strummed, almost flamenco styled acoustic. There is so much going on that your ears won't know which way to turn. “We Who Are” certainly distils all of The Embrooks many and varied influences perfectly. From the quintessentially British 60’s Freakbeat era of bands such as The Sorrows and The Attack, they cross the Atlantic to embark on a mammoth Psychedelic road-trip. The journey takes in the dirty waters of the East Coast Garage Punk scene to the Texan Psych of the 13th Floor Elevators and then onto California and the sun-kissed harmonies of The Byrds and "Mr Soul" period Buffalo Springfield.
The Embrooks at The Lexington - Photo Retro Man Blog
There’s some superb Fuzz guitar on "I'm Coming Home" with a melody reminiscent of The Brian Jonestown Massacre's classic "Not If You Were The Last Dandy..." Next up it's "Baby From The South" which has a nice upbeat rhythm and a touch of The Equals Rock'n'Soul about it. A cover of The Lost Souls "Peace of Mind" based on a hypnotic slightly sinister riff, fits in seamlessly among the original material. The excellent "Hang Up" features some classic stabbing organ chords and a great guitar break. "You Can If You Want" closes the album and the main set with Kevin CK Smith joining the band to play some astounding harmonica. I remember seeing Kevin's very first appearance in London when he guested with The Dustaphonics to play harmonica and he blew everyone away. Since then he has gone from strength to strength, joining The Baron Four and The Voo-Dooms as well as DJ’ing.
The Embrooks with CK Smith at The Lexington - Photo Retro Man Blog
The Embrooks encore with a couple of oldies including a vicious version of “Jack” which goes down a storm and then it's over way too soon. The only downside of the Lexington show is that for some reason they omit their superb cover of The Hollies "Have You Ever Loved Somebody" which was a shame as they managed to transform it into the embodiment of a perfect Embrooks song on the album. To be honest, I don’t think they did themselves any favours by officially releasing the album just before Xmas as it was too late in the year to feature in many of the “Best of 2018” lists. Anyway, I'm going to cheat and consider the LP was released on the day of the Lexington launch party as that was the first time I nabbed my very own copy and in that case, this is already a nailed-on “Best LP of 2019”. Now, I know it’s only January but I really can't imagine a better album will be released this year. If it is, I am very much looking forward to hearing it as it's going to have to be something pretty damn special to beat “We Who Are”!
For more photos of the night please check out the album in the Retro Man Blog Facebook page here and you'll find videos of all three bands at our YouTube channel here. Please click on the highlighted links above to access more info on the bands. Finally, "We Who Are" and The Dirty Contacts new single can be ordered from State Records here along with many more of their releases.
It has been a busy time in the convent as Ye Nuns, the premier all-girl tribute to The Monks, have two new releases out and available for sale right now. First of all, State Records have released a brand new 7" single on heavyweight vinyl “I Don’t Want To Do This Again”/”Don’t Worry” which is limited to 500 copies and it has a very special unique selling point…so let’s get the low down from the label itself…"State Records are very pleased to announce a new 45 from legendary Monks tribute act, Ye Nuns. These seven ladies have been blowing minds for a good few years now, with their spot-on renditions of classic tracks by Garage legends, The Monks, whose story is pretty well known now. Five American GI’s stationed in Germany formed a fairly typical beat band in the mid-60s before hooking up with some avant-garde existentialists who persuaded them to change their image, drop their repertoire and embark on a twisted journey into an originality that set them apart from every other band at the time. Stinging fuzz guitar, bass from hell, electric banjo, barked nonsensical lyrics - these guys were NOT messing around! Fast forward 40+ years and Ye Nuns picked up the baton with a mission to keep the fine work of The Monks alive and out there. Now, they've upped the ante again, recording two previously unreleased songs written by original Monks bass-player, Eddie Shaw. Both sides are deadly, sounding for all the world like “Black Monk Time” outtakes! The single comes packaged in a super cool double-sided fold-over card sleeve and is limited to 500 copies". You can order yours now from State Records at their Ebay store here.
Next up, the Manchester based label Crocodile Records has just reissued Ye Nuns “Nun More Black” album on vinyl in a limited pressing of just 300 copies, so don’t hang around if you haven’t yet got a copy of this work of twisted Garage Psych genius. This reissue follows the original and now out-of-print 2014 release on Tuff Enough Records, which saw Ye Nuns faithfully reprise and update The Monks’ one and only official long-player (1966’s mind-blowing “Black Monk Time”) to a swathe of critical acclaim. It also received the seal of approval from fellow Monks fan, the much-missed Mark E Smith from The Fall, someone not known for dishing out praise lightly. Even The Monks’ original Bassist Eddie Shaw was suitably impressed and went on record to express his admiration for Ye Nuns album: “These songs have a personal significance to me and to see how someone else treats the material and expresses it, was a distinct pleasure and joy. I thoroughly enjoyed the album, it was fun – I laughed and pranced. It is such an honour to be able to have a part in this opera inside the cloister. Thank you, Ye Nuns!” You really can’t get a much higher recommendation than that so please head on over to the Crocodile Records store to order your copy here.
Ye Nuns photo by Jeff Pitcher
You can check out more of Jeff Pitcher's excellent photography at his Facebook page here.
The Razerbills at Weirdsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog 2016
Well, yet another superb night courtesy of Weirdsville and testament to why I wanted to pay my own little 'tribute' to their fantastic set up at our next Retro Man Blog Night at the Half Moon Putney on November 18th with The Masonics, The Baron Four and The Beatpack. Mr A and Alex just keep on putting together stunning line-ups of international Garage Rock, Surf, Psych and Weirdo acts from the far flung corners of the globe at the Fiddler's Elbow in Camden on the last Saturday of every month. At the regular Weirdsville club nights and their yearly version - the Hipsville Weekender festival - I have seen acts, mostly for the first ever time, from places as diverse as France, Brazil, Switzerland, Japan, Italy and more. Tonight was a great example of their eclectic and multi-cultural pick 'n' mix that always seems to blend together perfectly as we had bands from Japan, Germany...and Bradford! This was a Halloween special with a Mexican Day of The Dead fancy-dress twist and as usual loads of people really went for it and some of the outfits were stunning and pretty damn scary too! I must admit as I went to the venue straight from the football, I didn't have chance to dress up and I felt a little bit out of place - although the comments about me winning the scariest Halloween mask of the night have been noted...!
Weirdsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog 2016
The Ladybugs at Weirdsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog 2016
So, starting off tonight were The Ladybugs, a three-piece all girl Punk Rock band from Japan featuring Ai on bass, Miyuki on Guitar and Junko on the drums and lead vocals. They charmed the crowd with their huge smiles, police outfits and tuneful Punk Rock. Of course it's easy to draw comparisons with their fellow Osaka residents Shonen Knife but then they don't have a monopoly on catchy buzzing guitar pop tunes with singalong choruses do they? Well the choruses would be singalong if the lyrics weren't in Japanese I suppose but we gave it a try nevertheless! With songs like "A Pint of Bitter" and "A Cup of Tea in Baker Street" - you can sense the girls were happy to be in London and they proved their musical influence was also somewhat Anglophile with a cracking version of the Buzzcocks "I Don't Mind" too.
The Ladybugs at Weirdsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog 2016
The Ladybugs at Weirdsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog 2016
Their last song "Hello, I Love You" was a great way to end their short, sharp and sweet set, they are a great band and lovely people too and we will definitely keep a check on what they get up to in the future. To get up to date news and order their CD's and 7" vinyl releases please check out their official Facebook page here. Guest DJ's Mole & Lois from State Records, The Embrooks, Galileo 7 and The Baron Four (not sure how they have enough hours in the day...!) played a great selection of 7" vinyl before, between and after the bands and their choices went down a storm with the crowd.
The Razerbills at Weirdsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog 2016
Next up were The Razerbills from Bradford who took the stage decked out in capes, mysterious masks and black fez's and then proceeded to send shivers up and down our spines with spooky organ driven instrumentals, dropping in special effects and clips from Sci-Fi and Horror movie soundtracks along the way. They put on a great show and their take on the Joe Meek sound mixed in with a pinch of Garage Rock and Horror & Sci-Fi theme music really went down well on the night.
The Razerbills at Weirdsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog 2016
It was a mostly instrumental set but they did throw in a great version of The Legends late-60's Fenton Records garage stomper "I'll Come Again" which really hit the spot. I think the band have a bit in common with Speedball Jnr, The Sine Waves and Graham Day's recent side-project The Senior Service but at the moment they don't have any records out unfortunately but hopefully that will change soon so keep a check on their news at their Facebook page here.
The Satelliters at Weirdsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog 2016
Headliners The Satelliters from Germany are just one of those bands that have 'it'. They have the look and the stage presence and they certainly got the beat but most importantly they have the songs! And what superb catchy songs they are too, with their own compositions such as "Lost In Time" and "Outta Here" quite rightly holding their own among those more well known 60's Garage & Psych classics that must have influenced them along the way.
The Satelliters at Weirdsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog 2016
The band remind me of The Music Machine and Shadows of Knight with their spindly intricate guitar riffs which lead you on a merry dance and stick in your head for days after. Lead vocalist Steve is kept busy all night, juggling the organ, harmonica, maracas and tambourine - unfortunately not all at the same time - and this all adds to their ultimately danceable rhythm. A truly great live act and I would really recommend seeing them as soon as you get chance. The band's latest album "More of The Satelliters is well worth getting hold of too. For more info check out their web-site here.
The Satelliters at Weirdsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog 2016
Weirdsville is held on the last Saturday of every month at the Fiddler's Elbow in Camden/Chalk Farm, for more information on their upcoming shows please check out their facebook page here. The yearly festival version Hipsville-A-Go-Go has now been confirmed for 2017 in Margate on the bank holiday weekend April 28th, 29th and 30th. For more info and announcements on the bands who will be appearing please check out the great Hipsville web-site here. Our next Retro Man Blog Night at the Half Moon Putney on November 18th is a kind of 'tribute' to Weirdsville. It's the launch party for The Masonics brand new album and features special guests Miss Ludella Black, The Baron Four and The Beatpack, who will also be celebrating the launch of their new E.P. on State Records, so we hope to see you there! Book in advance to save money from the ticket link here.
The Satelliters at Weirdsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog 2016
Here's some videos of the three bands, there are more up at the Retro Man Blog You Tube channel.
I'd like to say a big "Thank you!" to all who came along to the last Retro Man Blog Night at The Half Moon Putney on September 25th, it was a great turn-out and very much appreciated. I'm sure you'll agree that all three bands - The Galileo 7, Les Kitschenette's and The Len Price 3 were on top form, there just seems to be something about The Half Moon that brings out the best in all who play there. I hope you liked the State Records stall too. Here are some exclusive Paul Slattery photos of the evening...Paul has two books published "The Smiths: The Early Years" and "Oasis: A Year On The Road" both available from Amazon...and all good book shops!
The Galileo 7 - Photo by Paul Slattery
The Galileo 7 - Photo by Paul Slattery
Les Kitschenette's - Photo by Paul Slattery
The Galileo 7 - Photo by Paul Slattery
The Galileo 7 - Photo by Paul Slattery
The Galileo 7 - Photo by Paul Slattery
The Len Price 3 - Photo by Paul Slattery
The Len Price 3 - Photo by Paul Slattery
The Len Price 3 - Photo by Paul Slattery
The Len Price 3 - Photo by Paul Slattery
The Len Price 3 - Photo by Paul Slattery
Thanks to all the bands and the staff at The Half Moon. Also thanks to Paul Slattery for the excellent photos. Great quality videos of the full sets from all three bands can be found on Steven Tagg-Randall's "London Archivist" YouTube channel which you can also follow on Facebook. For more photos please head on over to the Retro Man Blog Facebook page and, if you are not already following, hit "Like" for access to the Photo Album.
Retro Man Blog Night at The Half Moon Putney - Photo by Paul Slattery
We are extremely pleased to announce that the next Retro Man Blog Night at The Half Moon in Putney
will in fact be the launch party for The Senior Service's debut single
"Depth Charge" on Saturday January 30th. This will be in conjunction
with Damaged Goods Records and also on the bill will be very special guests French Boutik and Of Arrowe Hill. Please keep a check on The Senior Service official Facebook page, the Damaged Goods Records web-site or, of course here on the Retro Man Blog, and we will announce details of tickets as soon as possible.
The Baron Four at Weirdsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
It's always difficult to review Weirdsville club nights, and I mean that in the best possible way. It's just that there are some gigs when it is nice to go along, relax and not worry about taking photos, notes and videos all the time. Kind of defeats the object of doing a music Blog I know, and of course I want to promote the bands and all that, but sometimes you just want to go with the flow and enjoy the acts to the full, and I certainly did that tonight. I did start off with the best intentions however as I had never seen The Teamsters or The Baron Four play live before and I was really looking forward to seeing both. I knew what to expect from Les Grys-Grys as I had seen them play a quite stunning set at Hipsville Weekender back in May. That night I had to compare them to the full-on visual and sonic assault of my favourite ever live act The Soundtrack of Our Lives.
The Teamsters at Weirdsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
The Teamsters at Weirdsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
The night started off with The Teamsters, the London based band fronted by singer-songwriter-guitarist Tom Wing. Retrosonic Podcast listeners will know that I have already played the band and I am a big fan of their excellent self-titled debut album and "Play Along With The Teamsters" E.P. both of which are well worth getting hold of. Tonight Tom and Bassist Daniel Fell are joined by the legendary Bruce Brand of The Milkshakes, The Len Bright Combo, The Pop Rivets, Suzi Chunk and Groovy Uncle, Thee Headcoats etc etc etc...Oh, and The Masonics of course...! Bruce is filling in on a part time basis but on tonight's showing it would be great if they could make it a more permanent appointment. Tom apologizes that tonight's set includes a fair smattering of slower numbers, but he doesn't need to, it all sounds great. There's a lot of new songs too, well I'm guessing they are new as I don't recognise many, and I'm hoping that means there is a new album on the horizon.
The Baron Four at Weirdsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
The Baron Four at Weirdsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
Next up is The Baron Four, who have been raved about and recommended to me for a while from various people with impeccable taste in music. The band were formed following the sad circumstances that led to the end of the respected Garage Rock band Thee Vicars, I'd heard about this from a friend and although I knew the name I hadn't really got into them. Following all the raving and after getting a copy of their superb new 7" single "Walking Out" on State Records, I was really looking forward to seeing The Baron Four. I guessed they would be good but I didn't realise just how good! They came bursting out of the blocks, and proceeded to run through most of the faultless debut album "Out Of The Wild Come...The Baron Four" with a couple of choice covers thrown in such as Bo Diddley's "I Can Tell" and The Swinging Blue Jeans "You're No Good". In fact these two songs shine a light on The Baron Four's sound - there's the raw and primal riffing of early R'n'B coupled with bouncing Merseybeat pop and its chiming guitars and catchy backing vocals.
Joe of The Baron Four at Weirdsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
The Baron Four at Weirdsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
The Baron Four have some great songs - there are so many highlights from tonight's set with the double whammy of "Be My Girl" and the Cavern Club freak-out of "She Said Yeah" in particular sticking in my head. However it was the next song "Wild Angel" that really blew the roof off the Fiddlers Elbow and the gig suddenly shifted up a few gears. You could sense this was the turning point as the crowd really responded, the temperature also went up a fair few degrees and I was chuffed that I managed to capture the song on video. I didn't recognise it, and was disappointed that it didn't feature on any of their recordings. I later found out it was an obscure cover of a old James Bond & The Agents track, and I really hope the band consider recording a version of it.
Troy & Mole of The Baron Four at Weirdsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
The Baron Four at Weirdsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
When they slammed into "Walking Out", that was it, any chance of writing a lucid and complete review went out the window it was just too good. "Yes I Do" was the final nail in the Blogging coffin as the superb lead guitar work of Troy Lowin-Green, alternating between fuzzed up chords and almost Surf style riffs, really hit home. The band were all great visually - Troy pointing his guitar out into the crowd, rhythm guitarist Joe Eakins is a live-wire, he seems to spend more time out in the audience playing than on the stage. A bottle of vodka gets passed around the band and the front row, one of the monitors goes flying, it's bloody great. Front-man Mike Whittaker is one of a rare breed, a lead singer who plays bass and makes it look cool, a difficult thing to carry off!
Mike of The Baron Four at Weirdsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
Mole of The Baron Four at Weirdsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
When he's not singing he's on his knees bashing hell of his bass one minute then scraping the fret-board against the mic stand the next. Then we get to drummer Mole, who I have raved about enough here on the Blog already with his performances in the new re-jigged line-up of The Galileo 7. Resplendent in fez and huge white rimmed sunglasses he is worth the entrance price alone, a non-stop blur of flailing drumsticks, a veritable Keith Moon of the contemporary Garage Rock scene! He also adds some top notch backing vocal harmonies along with Joe that elevate the songs to another level. So now I can join the already converted and preach the greatness of The Baron Four!
Les Grys-Grys at Weirdsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
So by the time Les Grys-Grys came on I had definitely deserted my post and despite sneaking a few snaps here and there, all thoughts of doing a feature had gone. The band are just unbelievably good live, and rather like TSOOL, each band member has a distinct character and it's all mesmerising to watch. Their supercharged and authentic take on the Sixties Blues and R'n'B sounds of Richmond, Twickenham, Eel Pie Island merged with their love of The Flamin' Groovies is a joy to behold, and for a young band from Montpellier that's no mean feat. It's a relentless groove that doesn't let up on the energy for one minute, it's simply stunning. I was totally absorbed so I will hand over the quill and ink pot to Megan to sum it up better than I can at this point..."Instant review - If Les Grys-Grys are playing anywhere near you just go. No excuses. Go!" Thank you Megan. If you want to read more about Les Grys-Grys then please check out the feature on their appearance at Hipsville in the Blog archive here, which also includes some great pics by the Rock Photographer Paul Slattery.
Les Grys-Grys at Weirdsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
Les Grys-Grys at Weirdsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
Les Grys-Grys guitars at Weirdsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
Thanks to Mr A, Alex, Mole, Megan and Hugh from The Beatpack. For more photos of the gig then please head on over to the Retro Man Blog Facebook page and if you are not already following, hit "Like" for access to the photo album. There are also videos up on the Retro Man Blog YouTube channel, including lots of stuff from previous Weirdsville and Hipsville gigs. Here's a little taster of The Baron Four performing "Wild Angel". Enjoy!
