Len Price 3 Live at The Fiddler's Elbow London Saturday April 23rd

Glenn Page of The Len Price 3 - Photo by Steve Worrall

Well, I finally got round to seeing The Len Price 3 last night and, with many glowing reports from friends lucky enough to have caught them before, I was really looking forward to the show.  I can say that they exceeded all expectations, in fact I'd go so far as saying they were one of the best live bands I've seen in years.  The Fiddler's Elbow was the perfect venue to catch them, a great old style boozer decked out with gig posters and vinyl pinned up all over the walls.

The Len Price 3 Live at The Fiddler's Elbow London - Photo by Steve Worrall

The band looked dapper in their matching Breton tops, surrounded by Union Jacks and Mod Targets, perfectly suited for their high octane 60's influenced power pop classics. The harmonies lodge in your head, "Rentacrowd" and "After You've Gone" have choruses that you'll be singing to yourself for days.

The Len Price 3 Live at The Fiddler's Elbow - Photo by Steve Worrall

It's easy to see why Little Steven is a big fan with his love for garage rock, playing them on his Underground Garage radio show and signing them to his excellent Wicked Cool Record label. The band take the Nuggets garage psych sound also championed by their Medway compatriots Graham Day (of The Prisoners and The Gaolers) and Billy Childish, but they also inject the tuneful punky energy of Buzzcocks and The Jam along with their own cheeky humour.

The band take a well deserved breather - Photo by Steve Worrall

Singer Guitarist Glenn Page charges off the stage into the audience, climbing on tables, dispensing some superb riffs as he runs around making Wilko Johnson seem laid-back. Latest single "Mr Grey", a menacing "Comanche!" and my personal highlight "If I Ain't Got You", which Roky Erickson would have been proud to have written, were played with such unbridled joy and energy that the whole venue was filled with smiles. A faultless gig, well actually not quite, as they didn't comply with my screams for "Viva Viva", maybe next time,  and I guarantee there will be a next time as I am not going to miss them live in London again!

The Len Price 3 Live at The Fiddler's Elbow - Photo by Steve Worrall


Just a quick  P.S. to mention the great Support band The Past Tense, might sound a bit weird but although I enjoyed them a lot - unfortunately it wasn't until after the gig had finished and I checked out some of their tunes on Reverb Nation did I realize how much I'd enjoyed them! Anyway, I hope to catch them again and will review.

Here are two great "Retro" style videos...enjoy Easter!

Tipp-Ex and Letraset: From a Fanzine to a Blog

I'm muddling through this Blog thing, as you might have guessed, and in the process of setting it up it took me back to the early to mid-80's when I used to put together a fanzine called "Out Of Step". I was in a band at the time and originally we thought doing a spin-off magazine might be a good way of promoting us whilst throwing in a few of our interests along the way. I got hooked on it and it grew from there to include reviews and interviews with other bands and general articles - swapping contacts and helping to promote other like-minded souls. I then started releasing cassettes of bands featured in the fanzine and it opened up a whole world of cooperation between bands and other fanzine editors, actually editor sounds a bit too grand..."makers" would probably be more appropriate. I was on a Youth Opportunities Program - funnily enough the Careers people didn't think I was being serious when they asked what I wanted to do and I replied "play bass like Jean Jacques Burnel" - and I used to sneak into the office after working hours with my letraset, tipp-ex, stapler, glue, a stack of photos and cuttings and position myself at the typewriter.

Even back then the technology was too much for me as most of the evening would then be spent kicking and un-jamming the laser printer or trying to work out the best way to get the double-sided copying to work, always a tricky feat. I would then take a carrier bag full of the finished fanzines to gigs and try and palm them off to people in the queue outside or approach likely looking suspects at the bar like some sort of punk rock Arthur Daley,  "pssst, do you wanna buy a fanzine? Only 20p guv". It used to work though, there was a big appetite for fanzines at the time, some bands would make a point of only speaking to fanzines as they "didn't trust The Press" or was it "The Man"? No, mainly it was "The System", so it might be the only chance you had to read an interview or catch up on a band's news.

Otherwise the fanzines would be sold at our own gigs or mail-order via adverts in the Melody Maker or mentions in other fanzines and it was always very satisfying when you received a letter from overseas such as Germany or Japan. Usually these didn't include the regulation SAE either so you'd be out of pocket straight away as the postage would be far more than the cost of the fanzine itself.  It certainly wasn't a profit making enterprise put it that way.

Although the technology may have changed enormously over the years, I can certainly see the similarity between today's Blog culture and that of the old-school fanzines of the early 80's, when I first brandished my Tipp-Ex and Letraset.

The Soundtrack of Our Lives - New 7" Vinyl Ltd Edition

The Soundtrack of Our Lives - The Point of No Return 7" Single

French record label Longfellow Deeds have released a limited edition 7" vinyl single of the previously unavailable track "Point of No Return" b/w "Second Life Replay" (live) - this was to commemorate Record Store Day and was available at the band's In-Store appearances in Paris and London last Saturday.

Here's a link to Longfellow Deeds  http://www.myspace.com/longfellowdeedsrecords they might even have some copies of the 7" Vinyl version of the "Immaculate Convergence" E.P. in stock too.

The Len Price 3 at The Fiddler's Elbow London Saturday April 23rd

I'm looking forward to catching The Len Price 3 for the first time on Saturday, I love their albums and heard great things about their shows. They are part of the so-called Medway Delta scene, home to garage rock legends Graham Day and Billy Childish and play catchy, no-nonsense 3 minute nuggets.

Here's a taster...

Little Steven is a confirmed fan, featuring the band on his Underground Garage radio show and Wicked Cool Record label - here's a link to the band's web-site for more info,  I'll report back after the show.

http://www.myspace.com/thelenprice3

The Soundtrack of Our Lives London Record Store Day April 16th Part 2 - 93 Feet East

The Soundtrack of Our Lives at 93 Feet East - Photo by Steve Worrall

After the set at Rough Trade East the band make the short journey (it's just across the road...) to 93 Feet East via a swift pint at the Pride of Spitalfields. Ebbot takes up the guitar again and this time it's far more effective especially on "Just A Brother". A short set follows including a jazzy run through of "Galaxy Gramophone", "The Passover", the 'unofficial Swedish National Anthem' "Instant Repeater '99" and my personal highlight "All For Sale".

The Soundtrack of Our Lives at 93 Feet East - Photo by Steve Worrall

Ebbot Lundberg at 93 Feet East - Photo by Steve Worrall

The Soundtrack of Our Lives at 93 Feet East - Photo by Steve Worrall

The Soundtrack of Our Lives London Record Store Day April 16th Part 1 - Rough Trade East

The Soundtrack of Our Lives at Rough Trade East - Photo by Steve Worrall

The Soundtrack of Our Lives, well half of them anyway, appeared at Rough Trade East as part of the Record Store Day extravaganza.  I wasn't sure how it would come across when I heard that the line-up would not include any guitars - just singer Ebbot Lundberg, keyboard player Martin Hederos and drummer Fredrik Sandsten - but it really worked. Might have been a bit strange for the first timer to the live Soundtrack experience as they are usually all action on stage, guitarists wind-milling and leaping about, but the stripped down, occasionally jazzy versions of some of their classics were a joy to hear.

The Soundtrack of Our Lives at Rough Trade East - Photo by Steve Worrall

Ebbot did attempt to play along with an acoustic guitar but after technical problems - why Rough Trade only had one working guitar lead is beyond me - pretty much gave up, concentrated on singing and let Martin's superb keyboards and Fredrik's drums lead the way.

Starting off with a cover of "Hurt", they also played some Soundtrack classics such as "Jehova Sunrise" and a fantastic version of "Mantra Slider" and thew in a unusual take on The Stooges "Sick Of You".

Ebbot Lundberg at Rough Trade East - Photo by Steve Worrall