THE SKIDS - HYMNS FROM A HAUNTED BALLROOM

Released as part of the Working For the Yankee Dollar double pack 7" in 1979, this still sounds great.

 

 

The Skids - Hymns From A Haunted Ballroom

 

THE THREE JOHNS - ATOM DRUM BOP

The brilliant Three Johns are back on the road and playing the Adam 'n' Eve in May. 

Atom Drum Bop is included below.

 

 

The Three Johns - Atom Drum Bop

 

THE BIRTHDAY PARTY - DEEP IN THE WOODS (LIVE)

Taken from the 1982 Bad Seed e.p. this a great live video.

 

 

The Birthday Party - Deep In The Woods (live)

 

THE MEMBRANES - SPIKE MILLIGAN'S TAPE RECORDER

Released in 1984 on the Criminal Damage label this is a power horse of a post punk classic!

 

 

The Membranes - Spike Milligan's Tape Recorder

 

THE STRANGLERS - NICE 'N' SLEAZY

40 years on and The Stranglers are still one of the best live bands around.  The current Ruby tour sees them dipping into each one of their 17 albums and playing two hour sets.  Nice 'n' Sleazy below is taken from a 1978 Top of the Pops performance.

 

 

The Stranglers - Nice 'n' Sleazy

 

FRIDAY 21st MARCH - GBH - DRONGOS FOR EUROPE - BRASSICK

GBH - Sick Boy

 

 

Drongos For Europe - Freedom

 

 

Brassick - Pelt

 

 

 

THE SHOVEL PLAYLIST - 19 / 03 / 14

What's on the Shovel playlist this week

Brassick - Broke & Reckless e.p.
Where have I been these last 6 months! 5 tracks of punk n ska excellence.

Spirit Bomb - Killer In Your Stereo e.p
Following on from their recent debut gig this e.p. sets the bar very high indeed

Daniel Johnson - Lost and Found Album
Daniel is an interesting and inspiring person, releasing many of his early albums on self recorded cassettes - love the chaotic feel to his recordings and wish I made homemade cassettes when I was young

Discharge - Hear Nothing, See Nothing, Say Nothing LP
It's been over a month since I saw the D-Beat wizards and this has not been far from the stereo since.  

Johnny Cash - Live at St Quentin
Playing to a captive audience Johnny had the crowd eating out of his hands from the get go.

 

 

The Hold Steady - Spinners

Not heard the album yet but the lead single from Teeth Dreams is pure anthemic Alt Country pop.

 



Against Me - Transgender Dysphoria Blues - LP
Laura Jane Grace's tales about the issues she has faced over the last few years - for me the album is truly full of soul and hope apart from being a great fucking punk record to boot.

Hook Line Riot - Sirens
Just got a copy of the debut album by Hook Line Riot and with songs as catchy and anthemic as Waiting Room Exit it's no wonder it's been on the stereo all week.  Album review to follow.

Courtney Barnett - The Double E.P. - A Sea of Split Peas
Compilation of the first two e.p.s by the Melbourne guitar playing singer song writer.  Got a great lo-fi feel to it and a tinge of humour too.

The Clash - Combat Rock
Probably my least favourite Clash album back in the day but the Sound System remaster of Combat Rock is the album that benefits the most and the album sounds fresh & exciting.












 

VIOLATORS - SUMMER OF '81

Released in 1982 this is another classic single from the No Future records label

 

The Violators - Summer of '81

 

NEU! - HALLOGALLO

It's hard to believe this was recorded in 1971, nearly 10 years before electronic music became the next big thing.  The title Hallogallo is a German phrase used to mean wild partying. Way ahead of it's time this was used as the intro music on Siouxsie & The Banshees Seven Year Itch tour.

 

 

Neu! - Hallogallo

 

START - ANGEL SOLDIER - LIVE

Start were a short lived power pop / punk 3 piece formed in 2012 featuring Pascal Briggs, Chris Brief and a dude from Front Kick.  Managed to catch them once at Rebellion for a brief but great set joined by TV Smith. Loved the imagery and they sounded great. 

 

 

Start - Angel Soldier

 

MENACE - G.L.C.

Nice little ditty dedicated to the very now defunct Greater London Council.  At the time of release the GLC had a resolutely right-wing administration, cutting spending, selling council housing and deprioritising London Transport.  But worst of all they tried to ban all punk gigs in London - luckily they failed!  Originally released in 1978 on Small Wonder records and Menace's second single.

 

Menace - G.L.C.

 

HAMELL ON TRIAL - WHEN BOBBY COMES DOWN / CHOOCHTOWN

The fuckin' genius that is Hamell on Trial

 

 

Hamell On Trial - When Bobby Comes Down / Choochtown

 

Spirit Bomb / Angry Itch / Complete Dysfunction / The Nerks - Live 1st March 2014

If you are standing outdoors at the beginning of March sipping cold lager then it must be another punk rock night at the Wagon & Horses. 

Tonight was a special night being the debut gig by Spirit Bomb but more on that later. 

The evening kicked off with Complete Dysfunction, with a slightly different line up to the one I’d seen last September.  Despite a few on stage sound problems they put in a good performance with their politically tinged songs. 

Next up were Angry Itch and these guys quite literally are going places.  2014 has got off to a busy start, already playing gigs in Birmingham and further afield in Portsmouth and Derby and sharing stages with the likes of 2 Sick Monkeys and Paranoid Visions and other local bands such as Rotunda and Brassick.  They have been picking up some extremely positive live reviews even featuring on John Robb’s Louder Than War blog and the word is spreading so much so that they have been invited to play on the new band stage at the Rebellion festival in Blackpool In August. 

 

 

And tonight’s performance was excellent.   The songs come at you fast and frenetically but have a sing along quality that pulls you in then grabs you by the jugular, refusing to let up until the trio have expended every last drop of energy out of them.  If they are this on form come August, then the Rebellion weekend is going to get off to one hell of a start. 

Although not actually headlining the evening was all about Spirit Bomb, tonight was their debut gig and the entry fee included a copy of their Killer in Your Stereo e.p. (and it's a corker).  Made up from members of local bands Drongos For Europe, The Liarbilitys and Vincent and the One Pots.  They entered the stage like a band of bad mother fuckers and from the opening notes they sounded like they meant it. 



A large and enthusiastic crowd saw them plough through a set of high octane punk rock n roll blending elements of their other bands and in their own words they wanted 'to make the kind of music we love, with passion, power, rock 'n' roll with a punk rock soul" and on tonight's performance they succeeded.  Exciting times ahead with Spirit Bomb.

(the rather cool Spirit Bomb photos courtesy of T.C.B. Photography / Chris Hill Photography)

Unfortunately I had to dash for the last train so left to the opening strains of the Nerks but hope to catch them soon.

Tonight really highlighted that there is a really great punk scene in Birmingham at the moment with regular gigs at a number of venues with lots of newish band such as Angry Itch and Brassick mixing it with the old guard like GBH and Drongos for Europe.  If you need any further proof check out how many Birmingham bands are on the line up for Rebellion and on tonight's performance it's gonna be epic.  Bring on the Birmingham Invasion! 

Links:
https://www.facebook.com/SpiritBomb4
https://www.facebook.com/AngryItch
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Nerks/328504867170942?fref=ts
https://www.facebook.com/ChrisHillPhotographyuk  
 

THE CRAMPS - I'M CRAMPED

 

The Cramps - I'm Cramped