The Fallen Leaves: Paul Slattery Photos from the New Album Launch Party at The Hope & Anchor with The Killer B's & The Nu Vandals

The Fallen Leaves at The Hope & Anchor photographed by Paul Slattery

Hot on the desert-booted heels of their "Best of" compilation "Punk Rock For Gentlemen", The Fallen Leaves have just released an album of all new material entitled "What We've All Been Waiting For" on their own Parliament Records. The band put on an excellent launch party as part of their residency at the legendary Hope & Anchor venue in Islington where copies of the album were on sale for the first time. It's on CD only for now and if we get any news of a vinyl release of course we will let you know. Some of the new songs have featured in the band's set over the past couple of years now and have become firm favourites alongside all those much-loved classics. New titles including "Motorcycle Girl", "All That Glitters", "Lavender Girl" and "Prodigal Son" are particularly impressive. We've played exclusive pre-release versions of a couple of the new songs in various episodes of Retrosonic Podcast and you can hear the brilliant "Funny World" in our latest Episode 26 here. The band had just got back from a mini-tour of the UK, taking in Manchester and another Marc Riley session and gigs in Glasgow and Middlesbrough and tonight they were on top form. Vocalist Rob Green pulls out all the stops and props - the cool shades, the flask of tea, the maracas, the blowing of smoke rings and even gunning down the crowd with a walking stick! Bassist Matthew Karas looks cool with his cravat and velvet smoking jacket, a bemused Cheshire Cat grin playing on his lips. Rob Symmons' assault on his guitar is still one of the most exciting visual treats you will see at any gig and Buddy Ascott's mightily impressive drumming once again proving that there's much more to these "Simple songs for complex people". Here's some great photographs from Paul Slattery...

The Fallen Leaves at The Hope & Anchor photographed by Paul Slattery

Rob Green of The Fallen Leaves at The Hope & Anchor photographed by Paul Slattery

Rob Symmons of The Fallen Leaves at The Hope & Anchor photographed by Paul Slattery

Buddy Ascott of The Fallen Leaves at The Hope & Anchor photographed by Paul Slattery

Matthew Karas of The Fallen Leaves at The Hope & Anchor photographed by Paul Slattery

The night started off with some down and dirty good time Rock 'n' Roll from The Nu Vandals which certainly put a smile on everyone's faces. A Punky cover of "The Harder They Come" was ambitious but they pulled it off thanks to some great drumming from Richard Grealish and impressive sax work from Natalie Lane. Vocals are shared between guitarist Alan Blizzard, who oozes Keith Richards style and imposing bassist Dale Senior who looks like he's stepped out of a Martin Scorsese movie. In fact the band do bring a touch of that New York Johnny Thunders Lower East Side Manhattan to Islington. One of my favourite songs was the short, sharp Ramones tribute "Ask Me No Questions" but "Feeling Good About Feeling Bad", "Have You Seen My Mama" & "My City" are all great tracks and I would thoroughly recommend catching The Nu Vandals play as soon as you can.

The Nu Vandals photographed by Paul Slattery

The Nu Vandals photographed by Paul Slattery

Next up it was the welcome return of The Killer B's who's raw, hypnotic R'n'B really went down well on the night. There's a slightly off-kilter twist to their take on the Blues to keep things interesting particularly on "You Don't Bug Me". It was when Chris Thompson started off that stuttering, scratchy Wilko Johnson style guitar on the superb "Unforgiven" that it reminded me of his old band The Screaming Blue Messiahs. I knew bassist Ricky McGuire had been in The Men They Couldn't Hang and I just found out he had also been in the early 80's Punk band The Fits, if I'd have known that I would have taken along my old "Last Laugh E.P." for him to sign...! He's a great bass player and both him and his rhythm section colleague, the dapper and laid back drummer David Morgan Mathias, keep things effortlessly in check. They don't play any songs at all from their only album "Love Is a Cadillac Death Is a Ford" so I'm hoping they will get round to recording some of this excellent new material very soon and not forgetting getting out there and playing some more gigs too.

The Killer B's photographed by Paul Slattery

The Killer B's photographed by Paul Slattery

The Killer B's photographed by Paul Slattery

The Killer B's photographed by Paul Slattery

Thanks to Paul Slattery for the excellent photos (copyright Paul Slattery 2017). Paul started off taking early photos of his heroes Dr. Feelgood and Link Wray and was inspired by Lemmy of Motorhead to dive head first into the music world. Over the years he's produced iconic shots of The Flamin' Groovies, Ramones, The Clash, The Fall, Joy Division, Manic Street Preachers, The Stone Roses and many more besides. Paul has had two books published "The Smiths: The Early Years" and "Oasis: A Year On The Road" which are available from Amazon. For more photos of the album launch party please head on over to the Retro Man Blog Facebook page and hit "Like" to sign-up and check out the exclusive photo albums. You can see some videos of all three bands filmed on the night too at our Retro Man Blog YouTube channel here. You can order copies of The Fallen Leaves new album  "What We've All Been Waiting For" from band's web-site here and don't forget our very special Fallen Leaves Podcasts where the two Robs talk us through their fascinating history and play a pick of some of their influences and favourite Fallen Leaves songs along the way. Episode 1 is here...

The Jam - New Book "In Echoed Steps: The Jam and a Vision of The Albion" by Derek D'Souza, Paul Skellett & Simon Wells

The Jam photographed at Chiswick House by Derek D'Souza

"In Echoed Steps, The Jam and a Vision Of The Albion" revisits Britain in the early 1980s through the words and pictures of The Jam. Using Derek D’Souza’s estate of rare and largely unpublished photographs, designed by Paul Skellett and written by Simon Wells this 12" square book will sit nicely inside a hard slip case and can be stored alongside your vinyl (or book) collection. Deluxe editions of the book come with exclusive prints, each photograph measuring 11×11 inches is printed using the revolutionary high definition LumeJet print system. The five curated images in each folio feature an embossed watermark of authentication, and they are presented in a uniquely designed commemorative LP album slipcase. Each folio comes with a certificate of authenticity, signed by Derek, Paul and Simon and the sets are numbered 1-150. Photographer Derek D'Souza spoke to us about the book and his work with The Jam in our latest episode of Retrosonic Podcast which you can listen to or download below from our Soundcloud site or subscribe at iTunes or Mixcloud.

By 1981, The Jam was undoubtedly Britain’s most popular band. With a string of top ten singles and albums and a fan base that was measured in the hundreds of thousands, the loyalty shown to them by their fans was akin to what the previous generation had bestowed on The Beatles. Nonetheless, the group’s lead singer and writer Paul Weller, was not in a hurry to sit back on his laurels. A sharp observer of the inequalities of life, through his songs he’d noted the appalling and dire state of Britain in the early 1980s. Weller’s observations, told of a nation depressed and despondent – the opportunities for the young seemingly ring-fenced to a select few. Hailing from a working-class background, he’d escaped the predictability of a mundane existence and had followed his dream – and yet he never left the world he came from behind. Despite the dismal and unforgiving landscape, the poet within Weller was receptive to the beauty within the country he evidently loved.

In the early 1980s, he’d read and adored Geoffrey Ashe’s extraordinary book, “Camelot and a Vision of The Albion”. Ashe’s book looked at how King Arthur’s wondrous and magical template for Britain – loaded with truth, honesty and integrity – was being eroded. The ever inventive and receptive Weller saw a parallel with Arthur’s quest of embodying chivalry and integrity, qualities patently missing from the Britain of the early 1980s. Weller’s lyrics on The Jam’s Sound Affects album echoed heavily with his observations. With tracks such as “Set The House Ablaze” and “Man In The Corner Shop” Weller’s writing was elevated to a new level. Soon after would come “Absolute Beginners”, “Tales From The Riverbank” and “Funeral Pyre” – remarkable and precise dispatches from a broken Britain at street level. In 1981, few were expressing the decaying state of Britain – not least the pitiful organs of the mainstream press.

The Jam photographed at Chiswick House by Derek D'Souza

As a result, it was left to the likes of the NME & Morning Star to voice the disquiet. But it was the fanzine writers and artists who depicted better than anyone what was really going on in the country. Naturally, Weller was in tune with this mood of dissent, and he had established Riot Stories a small publishing outfit that would give voice to the many who shared his viewpoint. While The Jam weren’t the only band really communicating the disquiet, they were clearly the most outspoken group to occupy the top end of the charts, and their clarity of truth swept up legions of fans across the nation. On the group’s frequent concert tours of the UK, Weller took a sharp view of the landscape of Britain – especially beyond Watford where the so called beautiful South dissolved into the monochrome of the neglected and largely abandoned North of England.

What he, and many others witnessed, was a truly broken and divided country. While the ruling classes put on a grubby show of decadence and unbridled wealth, the reality of over 3 million unemployed back-dropped by a diminishing industrial landscape, was a more than apparent nightmare for many. “In Echoed Steps, The Jam and a Vision Of The Albion” revisits Britain in the early 1980s through the words and pictures of The Jam. Using Derek D’Souza’s estate of rare and largely unpublished photographs, it’s a remarkable journey back to a remarkable time.

Paul Weller photographed at Chiswick House by Derek D'Souza

Please check out the various options available at the Pledgemusic site here and for regular updates and news on the book then please check out the Facebook page here. Words from "In Echoed Steps" publicity. All photos copyright Derek D'Souza, you can check out more of Derek's excellent portfolio of photography at his Blinkandyoumissit web-site here and don't forget our Podcast with Derek!

Graham Day & The Forefathers + The Len Price 3: Paul Slattery photos from the Medway Weekender at The 100 Club

Graham Day & The Forefathers photographed by Paul Slattery

The Medway Weekender at the 100 Club saw some of the now legendary area's biggest names performing over three nights. Friday saw the return of The Claim with a special guest appearance by Jim Riley from Wipeout (and now head of Ranscombe Studios) along with ex-Dentists guitarist Bob Collins and his new band The Full Nelson. Also on the bill were Theatre Royal who will be releasing a new album "...and Then It Fell Out of My Head" on March 31st. Unfortunately we couldn't make the Friday but we were there on the Saturday to witness Graham Day & The Forefathers and The Len Price 3. The Forefathers played a slightly different set to usual, after all they do have an absolutely huge back catalogue of classics to pick from. They kicked off with The Prime Movers scathing "Good Things" and took in early Prisoners tracks such as "Don't Call My Name" and "Till The Morning Light" as well as lots of classics such as "Reaching My Head", "Melanie" and "Whenever I'm Gone" along with a couple of Gaolers tracks and of course a heavy dose of The Solarflares including "Sucking Out My Insides", "You Want Blood" and "Can't Get You Out of My Mind". They threw in the (recently) rarely played "I Just Wanna Be Bad" a cover of Fire's Freakbeat classic "Father's Name Is Dad" and "I Drink The Ocean" which morphed into "Hush". They ended the set with a raucous run through of the Ramones "Glad To See You Go" and left a very satisfied audience baying for more. 

Graham Day & The Forefathers photographed by Paul Slattery

Graham Day & The Forefathers photographed by Paul Slattery

Graham Day & The Forefathers photographed by Paul Slattery

Before that, The Len Price 3 opened proceedings to a nicely packed club and played a great selection of tracks that took in oldies including "Dorolia" and "Lai Ha Lam" as well as some of their singalong classics like "Rentacrowd", "Billy Mason" and "Pictures". They also treated us to a couple of really promising new songs entitled "Ride On Coat Tails" and "Man In The Woods" which will hopefully appear on the band's forthcoming fifth album. This will be the follow up to the critically acclaimed "Nobody Knows", which they are currently mixing and preparing for mastering for a vinyl release. Of course we will keep you updated on news of the official release date as soon as we have it and even better, we may have an exclusive new track or two to play on Retrosonic Podcast. 

The Len Price 3 photographed by Paul Slattery

The Len Price 3 photographed by Paul Slattery

The Len Price 3 photographed by Paul Slattery

Thanks to Paul Slattery for the excellent photographs, all pics copyright Paul Slattery 2017. For more photos of the Saturday and Sunday night, which featured Russ Wilkins (from The Milkshakes and more...) and The Mindreaders, The Galileo 7 and The Masonics - please visit the Retro Man Blog Facebook page, hit "like" if you are not already following, and check out our Photo Albums.

The Len Price 3 photographed by Paul Slattery

Retrosonic Podcast Episode 26: "You Sing Badly, But No One Cares, You Are Elvis"

Welcome to Episode 26 of Retrosonic Podcast. Steve from Retro Man Blog and rock photographer Paul Slattery with the usual eclectic mix of Psych, Punk, Power Pop, Mod, Indie and well...just good old fashioned Rock 'n' Roll. Plus waffle and chat about Paul's forthcoming photo book on The Skids and working with Mark E Smith and The Fall. There's music and reports on recent gigs with Michael Head, The Fall, The Blue Aeroplanes and lots of brand new releases including The Past Tense, The Fallen Leaves, John Hoyles, French Boutik, TV Eye and an EXCLUSIVE track from 5 Billion In Diamonds - an amazing collaboration featuring Garbage drummer and 'Nevermind' producer Butch Vig, James Grillo, Andy Spaceland, Ebbot Lundberg, Damian O'Neill and various members of Spiritualized, Massive Attack and others! There's oldies from Shack, The Bit 'A Sweet, Johnny Thunders, Tours and Manufactured Romance...Enjoy! 

The Bit 'A Sweet "Out of Sight Out of Mind" 1967 MGM Single.

The Blue Aeroplanes "Elvis Festival" taken from the new album "Welcome, Stranger!" Review of the Islington Academy gig on January 21st can be found in the Blog archive here.

French Boutik "Le Casse" taken from the current album "Front Pop". Review of the Retro Man Blog Night featuring Paul Slattery photographs of French Boutik can be found here.

French Boutik photographed by Paul Slattery

Five Billion In Diamonds "Broken Wing" exclusive track featuring Ebbot Lundberg on vocals from the forthcoming debut album to be released by 100% Records on July 14th. Paul Slattery photographs from recording sessions with Ebbot at Press Play Studios can be found here.

5 Billion In Diamonds photographed by Paul Slattery

Shack "Dragonfly" taken from the 1995 album "Waterpistol". Michael Head & The Red Elastic Band will release their debut album "Adios Senor Pussycat" on Violette Records later this year. Review of Michael Head & The Red Elastic Band at St. George's Hall Liverpool last December can be found in the Blog archive here. Photos and videos of Michael Head at The Social on January 25th can be found in the Blog archive here.

Michael Head & The Red Elastic Band - Photo Copyright Retro Man Blog

The Past Tense "Never Enough" new self released limited edition 7" vinyl single available now, for more information check out the band's Facebook page here.

The Past Tense photographed by Paul Slattery

TV Eye "Repartee" taken from the limited edition red vinyl album "TV Eye 1977-1978" to be released by Seventeen Records. The album can be pre-ordered from Easy Action Records here.

The Skids "Circus Games" 1980 single. Paul Slattery & Ronnie Gurr's Skids photo book will be available at the merchandise stall on the band's forthcoming 40th anniversary tour. For dates and ticket info please check out The Skids official web-site here.

Tours "Tourist Information" 1979 Virgin Records single, can be found on the compilation album "Album of The Year (That Never Was)".

The Fall "Wolf Kidult Man" taken from the 2008 album "Imperial Wax Solvent". Photos from the Southampton Engine Rooms gig on January 27th can be found in the Blog archive here.

The Fall at Southampton - Photo Copyright Retro Man Blog

Johnny Thunders "Leave Me Alone" taken from the Remarquable Records release of "Real Times" E.P. available from the label here.

John Hoyles "Talking About You" taken from the brand new album "Night Flight" available from Crusher Records here.

John Hoyles - Photo Copyright Retro Man Blog

The Fallen Leaves "Funny World" taken from the new album "What We've All Been Waiting For" available at the band's regular Minimum R'n'B Club nights at The Hope & Anchor In Islington or from the band's on-line store here.

Manufactured Romance "Time of My Life" 1980 single on Fresh Records. The band's vocalist Nina Spencer is starting up a new musical project entitled Stella and there is a crowd funding page here. 

R.I.P Nick Medlin.

Retrosonic Podcast has a valid PRS licence. You can subscribe for free on iTunes, Mixcloud or at our official archive at Soundcloud.

The Fall & Bo Ningen - Photos from Southampton Engine Rooms Friday January 27th

The Fall at Southampton Engine Rooms - Photo Copyright Retro Man Blog

The last time I saw The Fall was at a rather shambolic show in Stockholm - Mark E Smith was in a foul mood and the amp-fiddling, annoying his band-mates and constant walking off stage wound everyone up. At one point he got himself trapped Eric Morecambe style in the curtains behind the stage and then proceeded to sing the encore from back in the dressing room. Before that I saw them at the Islington Academy where we were bombarded with the cut-up video DJ Safi Sniper as support, a seemingly endless and hideous nails-scraping-down-blackboards aural and visual assault that drove grown men to try and scale the barriers to inflict actual bodily harm on the culprit as bottles and glasses and foul-mouthed invective rained down on the stage. It's something that still haunts my dreams to this day. I was fearing another similar performance but tonight there was no such shenanigans - first of all what we got was a brilliant and surprisingly high profile support act in the Japanese Psychedelic guitar band Bo Ningen who went down really well with the crowd. 

Bo Ningen - Photo Copyright Retro Man Blog

Bo Ningen - Photo Copyright Retro Man Blog

The Fall took the stage promptly and launched into "Wolf Kidult Man" one of only three songs I was to recognise all night, its searing Stooges style riff almost lifting the tin roof off the venue. Mark looked well and I am sure I saw him smile once but that might have been a trick of the light. The amp-fiddling was kept to a bare minimum and I must admit that on one occasion I found myself thinking, "hey, that actually sounds better..!" What followed was a set of mostly new and unrecorded material and it was all pretty intense full-on hypnotic driving stuff. Here's some photos of the gig...

The Fall at Southampton Engine Rooms - Photo Copyright Retro Man Blog

The Fall at Southampton Engine Rooms - Photo Copyright Retro Man Blog

The Fall at Southampton Engine Rooms - Photo Copyright Retro Man Blog

Bo Ningen - Photo Copyright Retro Man Blog

Bo Ningen - Photo Copyright Retro Man Blog

For more information on The Fall please check out their excellent website and archive here and Bo-Ningen can be found at their official Facebook page here.

Michael Head at The Social January 25th - Photos & Videos from the Shack Front-Man's Recent London Show

Michael Head at The Social - Photo Copyright Retro Man Blog

Ex-Shack and Pale Fountains front-man Michael Head took a break from his current outfit The Red Elastic Band to make a solo acoustic appearance at the Heavenly Social in London and it was yet another stunning show from one of the U.K.'s most underrated songwriters. The Social was packed to the rafters with tickets selling out in minutes and for those of us lucky to find a vantage point we were treated to an intimate performance full of Mick's usual self-deprecating good humour and of course, loads of those great songs. The set-list was another intriguing crawl through the immense back catalogue with some nice suprises such as "Al's Vacation" rubbing shoulders with classics like "Comedy" and "Streets of Kenny". A couple more new songs made their debut live appearances and as previously mentioned in my feature on the St. George's Hall Liverpool show, they promise that the forthcoming Red Elastic Band album "Adios Senor Pussycat" will be something very special.

Michael Head at The Social - Photo Copyright Retro Man Blog

Michael Head at The Social - Photo Copyright Retro Man Blog

Here's a video of "Mood of The Morning"

Michael Head at The Social - Photo Copyright Retro Man Blog

Michael Head at The Social - Photo Copyright Retro Man Blog

And another video of "Stranger", for more please check out our Retro Man Blog YouTube Channel.

"Adios Senor Pussycat " will be released on Violette Records mid-2017.