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.
For this very special episode of Retrosonic Podcast we caught up with all four members of the legendary Canadian Garage Rock band The Gruesomes as they rehearsed for their upcoming debut London show at Weirdsville on July 2nd, hard to believe this will be the first time the band have ever played the U.K. since forming in Montreal back in 1985. In this comprehensive and thoroughly entertaining show, singers and guitarists Bobby Beaton and Gerry Alvarez, bassist John Davis and drummer John Knoll take us on a wild ride from their formation in 1985 to their split in 1990 and right up to their resurrection and classic comeback album "Cave-In!" in 2000. Along the way we discuss their debut E.P. "Jack The Ripper" and how it became a favourite of The Horrors, along with their first album, the impeccably titled "Tyrants of Teen Trash". We play tracks from each of their albums and their latest single alongside a pick of various influences and favourite songs from The Haunted, The Chords, Kit & The Outlaws, The Prisoners and The Sorrows. We also cover Canadian culture and music including the Montreal scene that spawned The Gruesomes. There's life threatening road accidents, Buddy Ascott's drumming, touring Europe for the first time, why Spain loved The Gruesomes and the band's love of lemon curd! All this and lots, lots more in this teen-trash packed episode of Retrosonic Podcast. You can subscribe to Retrosonic for free at Spotify, iTunes, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music or direct from SoundCloud below:
The Gruesomes play their first and only UK show at Weirdsville at the Fiddler's Elbow in Chalk Farm on Saturday July 2nd with support from Retro Man Blog favourites The Jack Cades and DJ's Keb Darge, Mr A and Miss A. Psychotronic visuals will be provided by Dave Taylor at Enjoy Yourself. Tickets are available from We Got Tickets here. Don't miss out! For more information on The Gruesomes please check out their official Facebook page here. With sincere thanks to The Gruesomes - Bobby, John, Gerry & John and especially to Grant Fisher.
Wanda & Dottie in front of Dave Taylor's lighting - Photo by Retro Man Blog
Hipsville, our favourite musical (and social) event of the year never disappoints and although I probably say this every time, I think this really was one of the best so far. Despite various setbacks with location and venue changes over the years, I believe that the tireless and enthusiastic organisers Andrew, Ade, Alexandra and their team hit on a winning formula that managed to combine all the very best Hipsville elements that we have grown to love. Hipsville is the perfect antidote to all the current greyness, bad news and depression enveloping Brexit Britain – it is a bright and colourful splash of Hawaiian shirts, fez’s and fancy dress. Bands and fans from all over the world congregate to enjoy the music, make new friends and basically, party! After two years at Margate’s vintage Dreamland funfair, Hipsville has relocated to the town’s Cliftonville area to the Lido and the nearby historic Winter Gardens, which once hosted Laurel & Hardy and The Beatles.
The Jack Cades at Hipsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
I thought both venues worked perfectly – the suitably scuzzy Lido was ideal for this year’s Soho-A-Go-Go theme with its red upholstery, dark nooks and crannies and sticky carpets – just like an old-school Soho boozer or afterhours drinking den. Dave Taylor from Enjoy Yourself provided stunning lighting and visuals and his impressive oil projections transformed the Lido into a seething multi-coloured Psychedelic dreamworld. This all made for a perfect backdrop for the gorgeous Hipsville Go-Go dancers to strut their stuff - Wanda de Lullabies, Miss Diabolik, Alexandra Beat Girl, Celia Formica, Tina Tuna, Nocturna, and although sadly there was no Miss Ge Veve this year, we did have the welcome return of Dottie Gooseberry. This year saw the official introduction of two Go-Go boys too, Steve and Khalid from The Action Men, who both seemed to thoroughly enjoy the whole experience. The Jack Cades opened up proceedings in the Lido on the Friday evening and despite only just releasing their excellent debut album “Music For Children” on Dirty Water Records last year, they included a few really promising sounding new songs in the set. I sincerely hope this means that there will be more good stuff released by the band very soon indeed.
The Jack cades at Hipsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
The Deadly Spirits from Sweden were great fun and their raw Rock ‘n’ Soul went down really well with the crowd. The band are from Karlstad so it was nice to bump into a couple of them and chat about mutual friends and bands such as Tonbruket, Cat & the Underdogs, Nymphet Noodlers and Mattias Hellberg. The final band, The Anomalys, powered through a set of fast and raucous Punk Rock and then it was over to our favourite Hipsville DJ's who over the weekend included Neil ‘Sick’ Smith, Adam Diddy Wah, Carl Combover and Fritz Buzzsaw who all ensured the party never stopped.
The Deady Spirits at Hipsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
Mighty Tsar at Hipsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
On Saturday afternoon, the Glass Jar hosted the Tiki cocktail Bar and we enjoyed a drink while being serenaded by The Mighty Tsar and theur swampy Skiffle Calypso and some suitably mellow tunes courtesy of DJ Ian Greensmith. We then wanted to see Das Clamps for the first time and just managed to squeeze our way into the superb, but tiny, Fez Bar that was so packed it resembled a Tokyo subway train at rush hour. The duo comprise Miss Tangerine Tassels on guitar and vocals and then there is her sidekick on drums and vocals, Tina Marina who for some reason reminds me of Tina from Oh! Gunquit...anyway, they played foot stomping stripped back Cramps inspired songs from their forthcoming album “Shit Music For Shit People” which is out soon on the excellent Trash Wax Records. Unfortunately, French band The Scaners had to pull out at the last minute due to one of the members breaking their leg, which was really bad news as I was looking forward to seeing them very much. However, the good news was that The Baron Four stepped in at short notice and proved more than capable substitutes with their own brand of upbeat Garage R'n'B.
Das Clamps at Hipsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
Das Clamps at Hipsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
Autoramas at Hipsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
Then it was over to the grand Winter Gardens and there were more excellent visuals from Dave Taylor – movies of Swinging 60’s London and Soho Street signs and the stage had red telephone boxes on either side for the Go-Go girls, boys, and gorillas to dance in. The DJ booth was imaginatively transformed into a seedy sex shop. Tonight’s opening act were the fabulous Autoramas and as regular Blog followers will know, the Brazilian space age retro rockers have fast become one of our favourite bands ever since we first saw them play courtesy of Hipsville back in 2015. Their unique blend of Bubble-gum Garage Rock and B-52’s/Devo style New Wave with crunching bass sound and Gabriel’s trademark vibrato effects pedal was simply mind-blowing. The always glamorous Erika adds keyboards, Theremin and guitar and dances non-stop, even getting down to dance with the audience too. They are a fantastic band, one of those that you really have to try to see play live and such lovely people too.
Autoramas at Hipsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
The Night Times with Celia & Wanda at Hipsville - Photo Retro Man Blog
Next up it’s the U.K. debut for the hotly tipped Californian band The Night Times who wowed the crowd with their traditional nuggets era Psych. They have a superb drummer who was a blur of hair as she thrashed away behind her kit and the lead vocalist/bassist was throwing himself about so much that his bass kept going out of tune. They were such a great live act and there was a tangible buzz about them throughout the whole weekend. Next on stage it was the turn of MFC Chicken who played a thoroughly entertaining set of Fabulous Wailers songs that had everyone dancing along. Classics like “Mashi” and “Out of Our Tree” went down a storm and they even made the perennial classic “Louie Louie” sound fresh. There was also a surprise appearance by Elsa from The Jack Cades who joined the band to wow everyone with a soulful vocal performance.
The Night Times at Hipsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
MFC Chicken at Hipsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
The Action Men entertained us with an amusing dance routine, which featured a cameo from Mr A, and then the winners of the fancy dress competition were announced. In the sad absence of Davros and his Deep Space Deviants, this year saw The Stags put in a hilarious performance with a Mary Whitehouse lookalike on vocals and a band comprising Policemen in a uniform of helmets, tunics and suspenders. What a perfect ending to a fabulous day. On Sunday, it was back to the Fez Bar to be serenaded by Professor Baba and His Invisible Band who bewitched us with some entertaining Voodoo Blues and general mumbo jumbo. I thought it was strange how the Professor reminded me of Simon from Oh! Gunquit – that band must have many lookalikes running around Margate. We made it into the Lido just as Spanish band Los Wilds were finishing their set and the wild-eyed frontman was down to his underpants and cowboy boots. A normal Sunday afternoon at Hipsville then.
Professor Baba at Hipsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
The Night Times at Hipsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
Next came The Day Tymes, the not-so-subtle alter ego of The Night Times who blew the Lido apart with their ‘secret’ show. During a wild version of “Gloria” the singer put his bass down and jumped into the crowd for the duration of the song prompting David Arnold of The Stags to take over on bass duties, he should have quickly tuned it up while he was about it. The good news is that the band are hanging around in the UK for a couple more weeks and as I write they are in North Down Sound Studios with Lois and Mole from State Records recording songs for a new single. They will also be playing Brighton on May 17th and Weirdsville in London on Saturday May 18th so if you missed Hipsville be sure to catch them play if you can, you will not be disappointed. The Hipsville team could finally relax and let their hair down at the Sunday night after show party at the Cinque Ports pub – they had invited legendary DJ Mike Gunn (himself no stranger to a bit of sleaze) over from L.A. to close the weekend in his inimitable style. We all kept our eyes on our wallets and our whisky and ensured that no Go-Go dancer was left unchaperoned in the presence of the lascivious titan of the turntable! What a great weekend, I just cannot wait to do it all again next year.
DJ Neil 'Sick' Smith & Hipsville Organiser Mr A
Hipsville organiser Ade, or is it Mike Gunn...with Dave Taylor
Please take the time to click on the highlighted links throughout the feature to check out more information on the relevant bands. You can find more photos of the Hipsvile Soho-A-Go-Go weekend at our Facebook page here and more videos over here at our Retro Man Blog YouTube channel. Check the Blog archive for lots of features on previous Hipsville weekenders and Weirdsville club nights. We have also played tracks by many Hipsville/Weirdsville related bands in our Retrosonic Podcast and all episodes are available to listen to or download from our Soundcloud site here.
The Night Times at Hipsville - photo copyright Retro Man Blog
The Hipsville Go-Go Dancers
For news and announcements on future Weirdsville and Hipsville shows please keep an eye on the You Got Good Taste web site. Dave Taylor runs the Enjoy Yourself club nights in Swanage and more information on this and his lighting can be found here. Finally, once again huge thanks to Andrew, Ade and Alexandra and their team of helpers for once again putting on such a fantastic event.
Hipsville, always Retro Man Blog's event of the year, is back in Margate over the May 3rd-5th Bank Holiday weekend and this time they are taking the mean streets of Soho to the seaside town. Check out the Hipsville web-site here for full details on the line-up of bands, DJ's, Go-Go dancers and happenings over the weekend along with info on tickets and venues. Let's hand you over to organisers Alex, Mr A and Ade for the lowdown on what you can expect. "Shady ladies! Spivs! After-hours nightclubs! Neon! All-night coffee drinking! Underground drinking dens! Dirty magazines! Held in the magical, old-school seaside town of Margate, the UK’s biggest trash party is set to celebrate seven years of mayhem by channeling the spirit of London’s seediest neighbourhood – this year’s theme is SOHO! Join us in the dark, neon-lit streets for a bold, brazen, bizarre and wild weekend amid the gangsters and good time girls that frequent the area’s late night clubs and coffee shops. ‘Ello darlin’! Garage, titty twisting' rock’n’roll, tiki, punk and hot slop! fans descend annually on the south east of the UK for a wild, riotous weekend of bands, Go-Go girls, gorillas and DJs for 3 days of crazed partying through the night and into the morning. Each year Hipsville has a theme; previous years have seen partygoers dress up for jungle, space, horror and carny parties, and this year’s Soho theme is set to be sleazier than ever – our guests really do put the world’s most jaw-dropping costumes together! This year’s travelling revue will take in Margate’s most incredible venues and showcase some of the world’s finest rock and roll bands, just look what we've got planned for you!"
This year one of our favourite bands Autoramas will be returning to Hipsville and they will be joined by a top selection of international Garage Psych Trash Tiki Punk bands such as Das Clamps, The Jack Cades, The Night Times, The Scaners, The Stags, MFC Chicken, Mighty Tsar, The Deadly Spirits and The Anomalys and more - check out the Hipsville event page here for links and info. Check the Blog archive for Hipsville and you can uncover features on previous Hipsville weekends over the years including loads of reviews and photos. The Retro Man Blog YouTube channel has loads of original 'down the front' action packed videos and various episodes of our Retrosonic Podcast include a host of Hipsville and Weirdsville related bands and too. Here's an episode from 2018.
It's going to be tough to beat last year's mind-blowing Hipsville (read our feature here) but every year I say that and they always do manage it! Here's the superb Schizophoncs from last year's show.
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.
Les Kitschenette's at Weirdsville - Photo by Retro Man Blog
It was great to see our friends Les Kitschenette's over from France again, it seems such a long time ago since they played their very first U.K. gig at one of our Retro Man Blog Nights at The Half Moon Putney and tonight they were back, headlining another superb Weirdsville, which had the added attraction of the excellent DJ Tracey ScreamCheese. There has been a line-up change since I last saw them with only dual vocalists Ludo Kitsch and Lucille and drummer Claude remaining but the new members take to the task perfectly and they sound as good as ever. Some of my own personal highlights of a thoroughly enjoyable set included a fuzzed up "Psycho!" with Lucille on the flute and Ludo on a stylophone and a great version of Serge Gainsbourg & France Gall's "Dent de Lait, Dents de Loup". Then there's covers of Andre Verchuren's quite bonkers "Le Jerk à Pépé" and that timeless classic by Delphine "La Fermeture Eclair" with its stinging guitar riff intro which sends a shiver down the spine, all given that unique Les Kitschenette's twist.
Les Kitschenette's at Weirdsville - Photo by Retro Man Blog
Les Kitschenette's at Weirdsville - Photo by Retro Man Blog
Les Kitschenette's at Weirdsville - Photo by Retro Man Blog
However on their latest EP - the snappily entitled "C'est pas d'la Physique Quantique, du Chant Grégorien, ou du Lapon" which is the third in a series of 10" red, white and blue vinyl releases (a tricolore-trilogy I suppose) - they break with their usual tradition of mining the vaults of 1960's French Yé-yé to include some English language originals all given a Gallic twist. These include a rockin' "Route 66" ("Jusqu'en 66"), The Kinks classic "Well Respected Man" ("Un Jeune Homme Bien") although Petula Clark got in there first with that one, and Shocking Blue's "Send Me a Postcard" ("Envoie-moi un Sexto"). Ludo teases us, "you might know the words to this next one, but do you know them in French?" If they were ever to make a French remake of Austin Powers, Ludo would be nailed on to play the lead role, with Lucille as his glamorous side-kick and as if to reinforce my idea they play a cracking version of Ming Tea's "BBC" from the Austin Powers movie as their final encore. A very fitting way to end a truly uplifting performance.
Les Kitschenette's at Weirdsville - Photo by Retro Man Blog
Les Kitschenette's at Weirdsville - Photo by Retro Man Blog
Beforehand, The Voo-Dooms opened proceedings with a superb show that was befitting the launch of their excellent debut album "Destination Doomsville" which has just been released by the Trash Wax label on suitably splattered coloured vinyl. I'm a bit surprised they didn't hang back a bit to get it out on Halloween as it's a deviously fiendish collection of mighty fine horror-tinged tunes. However, copies of the LP sold like hot cakes on the night and there was an abundance of Voo-Dooms T-Shirts being proudly worn by their sizeable following. Not bad at all for a band that only formed in January earlier this year by Mick Cocksedge on lead vocals and guitar, Dave Prince on drums, ex-Milkshake current Masonic Bruce Brand on bass and guitarist Kevin Smith, who you might recognise from The Baron Four. The spooky "Teenage Ghoul" is followed by the equally danceable "Doing The Plague" which you can hear played in the latest episode of our Retrosonic Podcast.
The Voo-Dooms at Weirdsville - Photo by Retro Man Blog
The Voo-Dooms at Weirdsville - Photo by Retro Man Blog
I thought they were much tighter since I first saw them at the Beatwave weekender back in July and they seemed to be enjoying themselves as much as we were in the crowd. It's not all death, gloom and horror though - "Meet Me Here" is a heartfelt country-tinged number and "Come On and "Von Devil's Girl" are classic examples of catchy Rock'n'Roll. They up the pace again with a great version of Shel Naylor's 1964 stomper "One Fine Day" which is powerful enough to raise the dead. There's a sudden crisis though, "Oh no, I've dropped my shrunken head" says Mick, "you don't hear that every day in Camden do you?" and someone in the crowd replies "actually, you probably do!" So, all in all a great set from a band that promise a lot more ghoulish fun to come in the future - get doomed!
The Voo-Dooms at Weirdsville - Photo by Retro Man Blog
The Voo-Dooms at Weirdsville - Photo by Retro Man Blog
You can check out more photos of the gig at the Retro Man Blog Facebook page here and there are some more videos at our YouTube channel here. You can also hear a track from the Voo-Dooms new LP in the latest episode of our Retrosonic Podcast, which you can stream or download below:
Thanks to Mr A & Alex for yet another great night of Weirdsville entertainment! Don't forget to check out the You Got Good Taste web-site for what's up next! You can order The Voo-Dooms album "Destination Doomsville" from Trash Wax Records or signed copies direct from the band at their Facebook page here.
The Courettes at Weirdsville - Photo by Retro Man Blog
Hot on the heels of the recent bonus mid-week Weirdsville featuring The Schizophonics came another knockout show courtesy of Mr A & Alex. This time round it was The Courettes, the Brazilian girl/Danish boy duo who were over here promoting their excellent new LP "We Are The Courettes" which is out now on Sounds of Subterrania Records. The band had the unenviable task of following the night's opening act Oh! Gunquit who were on fire, treating us to a powerful all-action set of their unique blend of Voodoo rhythms, Garage Rock rumblings and Surf shenanigans – all topped off by Trumpet, Sax and Hula Hoops! They were the perfect start to another great Weirdsville night.
Oh! Gunquit at Weirdsville - Photo by Retro Man Blog
Oh! Gunquit at Weirdsville - Photo by Retro Man Blog
So, The Courettes certainly had a tough act to follow especially as there was just the two of them. Martin Couri’s drum kit was set up right at the front of the stage next to his wife and partner in crime, guitarist/vocalist Flavia Couri and after a couple of songs, they certainly banished my fears of how they would cope after Oh! Gunquit. They were simply superb. Martin was a blur of thrashing arms as he pounded around his drum kit, often bashing the floor tom with maracas or tambourine for added percussion. Flavia is a stunning front-woman with her shock of jet black hair and Vox Phantom guitar. When she was not singing or flinging her guitar around she was leaping into the crowd or kneeling down in front of her amp, coaxing out screams of feedback.
The Courettes at Weirdsville - Photo by Retro Man Blog
The Courettes at Weirdsville - Photo by Retro Man Blog
I was talking to Mr A about how good the band were recently and he described them as 'Bubble-gum Garage Pop' so I told him I would nick that comment for my review (thank you!) as it kind of sums them up perfectly. They take the melodies of The Shangri-La's and crank them into timeless fuzzed up three-minute classics. In particular, more familar songs such as "I’ve Been Walking" and "The Boy I Love" from their 2015 debut mini-album "Here Are The Courettes" are delightful slices of Ronettes meets Ramones pure pop perfection. The new songs are catching up fast though, growing on you immediately from the very first chord, in particular the melodic "Time Is Ticking" is something that sticks in your head for days. "T-C-H-A-U" is an adrenaline-fuelled 100 miles per hour stormer and another of the nights highlights was "Boom! Dynamite!" which proved a great example of singalong audience participation. "All About You" is a catchy melodic delight with some great backing vocals from Martin. "Strawberry Boy" slows the pace for a minute only to highlight a beautiful heartful vocal from Flavia which shows a real soulful side to the band.
The Courettes at Weirdsville - Photo by Retro Man Blog
The Courettes at Weirdsville - Photo by Retro Man Blog
They are joined by a saxophonist for the encore "Voodoo Doll" and this adds a great dimension to the sound. The Courettes also have a cool 'look' and Mr A was telling me that the band design all the covers and artwork themselves. They have everything off to a tee starting off with their super cool tour van right down to Flavia’s black leather jacket with the Courettes' logo on the back. Their videos and record covers all have an immediately familiar look and the merch table at the gig is bulging with an array of goodies including vinyl LP's, CD's, plectrums, badges, T-Shirts and even stick-on Martin Couri sideburns! All items are beautifully designed, packaged and presented. However, like the Schizophonics and Oh! Gunquit, The Courettes can certainly back up their strong visual concept and exhilarating live performance with some mighty fine songs. Go buy their new LP now and you'll see exactly what I mean...
The Courettes at Weirdsville - Photo by Retro Man Blog
You can order the "We Are The Courettes" LP from the band’s web site here or it is also available via Rough Trade in the UK. The next Weirdsville promises to be another cracker with Les Kitschenette’s and The Voo-Dooms on Saturday September 29th. We’ll be featuring The Courettes in our next episode of Retrosonic Podcast. For more photos of the gig please check out the Retro Man Blog Facebook page here and we also have videos at our YouTube channel here.
