Vampire Junkies Featuring Texas Terri - New E.P. Out Now

Vampire Junkies featuring Texas Terri are a London based Punk Rock & Roll band. The line-up consists of Texas Terri Laird (Texas Terri Bomb!, Scabies/James) on vocals, Kevin de Groot on guitars, Stephen Reddihough on bass and drummer Steve Pegrum from  The Machines. The band have quite a history of past associations and wanted to put together a new outfit that exemplified the best elements of the artists they loved, such as Iggy Pop, Stiv Bators, New York Dolls, The Ramones, Social Distortion, all combined with their own sound and style to play new, fresh and pure blitzkrieg Rock 'n' Roll.

Steve Pegrum approached Texas Terri at a Walter Lure (Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers) gig in London with the intention of joining forces, and the band set about recording the songs contained on their debut release. Texas Terri hails from Austin, Texas and has often been compared to the female Iggy Pop, Lux Interior, as well as Wendy O'Williams, Joan Jett and has Rock 'n' Roll running through her veins. She's worked with a variety of artists, and her 2004 Texas Terri Bomb album "Your Lips", was produced by Jack Douglas (Aerosmith, John Lennon, Patti Smith etc.) and featured guests such as Wayne Kramer (MC5), Cherie Currie (The Runaways) and Ryan Roxie (Alice Cooper). Most recently she played several shows in the UK and Europe with Rat Scabies and Brian James of The Damned. You can check out our Retro Man Blog report, including exclusive Paul Slattery photos, of a blistering show she performed with Scabies/James at Westbourne Park's Retro Bar here. Texas Terri has also appeared in several films including "Prey For Rock 'n' Roll" starring Gina Gershon and Drea de Matteo. 



Texas Terri by Giacomino Parkinson

The brand new self-titled E.P. is a snarling blast of down and dirty, street tough Rock & Roll. It features five storming original compositions with song titles including "With My Machines", "Mainline", "Rocket Red", "Denmark Street" and "Tokyo Rubber". The E.P. is released on Steve Pegrum's own Angels In Exile Records and can be ordered from there or the band's official web-site. It features an excellent booklet designed by Sophie Lo, who has previously designed some superb posters for our Retro Man gigs and for The Len Price 3 too. Of course we thoroughly recommend Sophie Lo's amazing Rock 'n' Roll designs - her posters, postcards, album cover and booklet artwork are well worth checking out. In fact, you can start off your Sophie Lo collection by getting hold of a copy of the latest issue of Vive Le Rock magazine as it comes with two free Sophie Lo posters of Adam Ant and Johnny Thunders.

Steve Pegrum is not only the boss of Angels In Exile Records, but he is also the drummer in The Machines, one of Southend's earliest Punk Rock groups, who played at the Roxy and Vortex. You can read more about The Machines history in our previous Retro Man feature here. Steve also runs the excellent web-site archive Southend Punk, as well as helping as a joint promoter for our Retro Man Blog/ Podrophenia/ Southend Punk special gigs for TV Smith at The Railway Hotel in Southend.

Here's a great Paul Slattery shot of Texas Terri at the Retro Bar with Scabies/James:

Texas Terri performing "Damned, Damned, Damned" with Scabies/James - Photo Paul Slattery

Retro Man Blog Photographer Paul Slattery with Texas Terri - Photo by M.

Here's the video to one of the tracks on the E.P. entitled, "Denmark Street".

At the moment there doesn't seem to be any live dates in the pipeline, but I certainly hope they can get some shows sorted out soon, as I am sure they would be an amazing live band.

With many thanks to Steve Pegrum and Paul Slattery.

The Machines - New album from 1977 Roxy and The Vortex Punk Rock veterans

The Machines, Southend's first Punk band, were formed in 1977 by Nick Paul, and are known for their infamous "True Life" E.P. (Wax Records 1978). This record  is now listed in Record Collectors 100 Most Collectible Punk records and with it, they reached the upper reaches of the Alternative Charts, with the late John Peel playing the title song many times on his late night show. The band burned brightly for a relatively short time between 1977-78, and together with the aforementioned E.P. they also managed to play the twin Meccas of London Punk - the Roxy and The Vortex. Fast forward to 2006 and the band regenerated with Nick Paul joined by Steve Reddihough on Bass and Backing Vocals and Steve Pegrum (aka Steve Machine) on Drums. The two Steves lay a driving, solid rhythm to which Nick adds his infamous crazed Guitar playing. In 2006 the band played a special show at The Boston Arms celebrating the release of a compilation CD featuring two rare Machines tracks from 1977.  

The band have played solidly around the U.K. since re-forming and in 2008 they played the Rebellion Festival in Blackpool, as well as The Brighton Fringe Festival. They have also managed to record new songs such as "Girl In Black" (dedicated to Johnny Thunders) and "Weekend", as well as recording lost '77 classics such as "Parents Zone" and "Don't Be Fooled". This debut CD by The Machines, and the first release on new label Angels In Exile, collects all the recordings the band have made, including the 10 songs that they have recently recorded with Barry Gardner. Also included are the two rare 1977 demos "Racing" and "You Better Hear" as well as all the tracks from the "True Life" E.P. which receives its first official release here since 1978. 

The Machines - Photo by Giacomino Parkinson

For further information please check The Machines official site, Angels In Exile Record Label or email: angelsinexile@gmail.com

It's a great album of uptempo, catchy Punk Rock 'n' Roll, no frills but lots of thrills with a sound that resembles Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers New Yorks Punk meeting The Clash's first album head on. The new recordings, such as the brilliant "Cyclone" and "Girl In Black", stack up well against the remarkably fresh sounding tracks of 1977 and '78.

Here's the track "Weekend" from The Machines

The Machines in 1977

Angels In Exile are also responsible for the superb web-site Southend Punk Rock History 1976-1986, which is an excellent local resource featuring loads of bands, fanzines and photos of the period. From local heroes such as Dr. Feelgood, Kursaal Flyers and Eddie & The Hot Rods to later post-punk bands such as Anorexic Dread and The Prey, you'll find a comprehensive archive on the site.