Reviews

Splattered

Barry Rolfe Look the Business / Molly Molly 7″

Tough-as-yer-like hobnail boot glam rock stomper from Baz on the A side here; I have a real fondness for this type of proto-punk bovver boy throwaway rubbish from this era, all pomp and bluster and latent menace. A paean to being a top dresser from a time when any kicking you’d receive on the terraces was likely to be administered by someone with a feather cut and bellbottoms. Scuzzy, mean and very silly. The B-side is a slightly different tempo, a slinky and saucy number replete with slide guitar, to suit the lyrical content; the joys of getting your leg over.

Möwer Möwer LP

MÖWER are loud, dirty MOTÖRHEAD worship from Pittsburgh. You can practically smell the live show through this record, and it reeks of cheap beer and day-old cigarette smoke. The grinding guitars and vocalist’s horrifying cackle on “Outlaw Heathens” let you know the kind of thrashy horror show you’re in for just after it’s too late to save yourself. This Japanese version of the band’s debut on Splattered Records is the definitive, must-have edition. For one, they up the artwork 1000% by adding Death riding a motorcycle and proudly declaring themselves “Motor Speed Punks from Hell,” in both Japanese and English. The two added live tracks are also the perfect enticement to grab this as soon as you find it. This is the kind of album you learn to sing along to if you want to develop that perfect “I live above a bar” snarl.

The Nerves Hanging on the Telephone EP reissue

What is there to say about one of the most classic 45s of all time?! Up there with the UNDERTONES Teenage Kicks for total power and feeling and pure hooks, with a desperate message direct from the heart to the minds of the youth ready for new sounds and visions. A deconstructed pop dream made with just the bare essentials; that nervous guitar and shattered rhythm and Nuggets/Bomp! California take on the ’60s invasion sound. A wild combination of ideas and ideals somehow making old dreams sound brand new. Anyway this is a pretty perfect reissue, a close to exact replica of the OG with a much lower price tag attached, except of course by the time you are reading this the reissue has sold out! And the really cool looking Japanese language version they made is long gone!