Death Disco

The Disco Zombies
From: The Past

The Disco Zombies compilation Drums Over London is one of the more surprising albums to be reviewing in 2011. Having released a couple of singles in the late 70s to mass indifference and poor record sales they’re more obscure than an 8 track in a pimped up gangsta wagon. But, thanks to those musical historians at Acute Records, The Disco Zombies have been rescued from obscurity for a new generation to explore.

The band are perhaps best known (although in this case ‘best known’ is a relative term) for their controversial single ‘Drums Over London’ from which the compilation takes it’s name. With lyrics that could have been co-written by Alf Garnett and Enoch Powell or taken direct from a Daily Mail editorial it adopts the persona of a racist, right wing, little Englander, a risky move in the days of Rock Against Racism and the rise of the National Front. In these more politically sensitive times it is even more open to misinterpretation, misrepresentation and misunderstanding than it was over 30 years ago. Its ability to shock remains as strong today as it was back then and, given the recent riots, it’s re-emergence couldn’t have been more poorly timed. Hearing lyrics like “And then you have the Indians replacing our doctors and factory owners. Who do they think they are they’re taking us over” in 2011 chills the blood. Morrissey got crucified for much, much less.

‘Drums Over London’ apart the first two thirds of the album is unsophisticated quasi-humorous topical punk pop taken from their rare 7” singles, which hasn’t dated well. It’s been done much better, wittier and more intelligently by Half Man Half Biscuit and Art Brut. Their ‘Top Of The Pops’ is a poor man’s imitation of the Rezillos classic of the same name, ‘TV Screen Existence’ sounds like a low budget Television Personalities tuning up and ‘Target Practice’ just sounds like pub rockers jumping on the punk bandwagon.

Towards the end of the album an altogether artier and sophisticated sound emerges culminating in album closer, ‘Where Have You Been Lately Tony H’, which sounds like the missing link between Half Man Half Biscuit and The Teardrop Explodes. It’s the best track on the album and probably the only track that I’ll be listening to again and again.

The Disco Zombies are little more than a very minor footnote in the history of British punk more notable for spawning an editor of Mojo, Dave Henderson, than the music they produced.

5/10

This article was originally written by the Devil for The 405 and is published with permission.


Go Try

If you want to check out the controversial Drums Over London, for yourself then here it is...

MP3 - The Disco Zombies - Drums Over London
This track is linked from the Killed By Death Records site and is published for review purposes only

Go Visit

They're an obscure punk band from the late 70s do you really think they've got an internet presence?

Fan Mail

Teenage Fanclub
From: The Past

It has become de rigueur with young up and coming bands to name drop Scottish indie legends Teenage Fanclub and NME favourites Yuck have gone as far as taking their template and reselling it to the 21^st century indie masses. So the timing of this re-issue of their collection of rarities and oddities, Deep Fried Fanclub couldn’t be better timed. Unfortunately, while it’s an interesting collection of the bands odds and sods, highlighting the band’s progression from grunge to indie and beyond, it’s not the best introduction for newcomers.

The album starts well with the timeless brilliance of perhaps their best known song ‘Everything Flows’ and is sustained with some imaginative and innovative cover versions, from their enthusiastic, energetic and entertaining reworking of the Beatle’s ‘The Ballad of John and Yoko’ to their deep, dark and dangerous cover of Beat Happening’s ‘Bad Seed’. Although the inclusion of a cover of ‘Free Again’ is perhaps ill advised merely adding fuel to the fire of those long forgotten critics who accused them of being little more than Big Star copyists.

Ultimately, Deep Fried Fanclub is let down by the inclusion of too many lacklustre tracks from the bottom of the Fanclub’s barrel. While this is perhaps to be expected from a compilation album of the lesser known tracks from the band’s oeuvre it doesn’t make it any easier to listen to. The vocal harmonies on second track ‘Primary Education’ for example are closer to the drunken warblings of an out of tune street performer than you’d expect from their later records.

It’s not easy to see why Deep Fried Fanclub has been re-released in 2011. As an historical record of the nether regions of the band’s output it’s ok. As a cash-in on their new found popularity it’s a puzzler. If you’re new to Teenage Fanclub (where have you been?) then it’s not the best introduction, you’d be better checking out ‘Bandwagonesque’ instead, and long standing fans will surely already have it in their collection.

6/10
This article was originally written by the Devil for The 405 and is published with permission.


Go Try

Teenage Fanclub - Everything Flows by Pearlz_boy


Go Visit

Teenage Fanclub - Website

Banking On A Holiday

It's bank holiday Monday in the UK and to celebrate a day off work today's post has a distinctly bank holiday feel.

Go Try

The Bank Holidays - Folded In Half by EardrumsPop

The Lanskies - "Bank Holiday" by AddItUp

BankHoliday by nartystation


Go View

The Grammar Club
Bank Holiday

Video Killed The Radio Star 28th August 2011

Picture courtesy of deviant art by sixhundredsixty for more check out http://sixhundredsixty.deviantart.com/

All the videos in todays post have been suggested by Radar Music Videos

Rue Royale
Guide To An Escape

Rue Royale - Guide To An Escape (Official Music Video) from Duncan Guymer on Vimeo.

St. Spirit
Build A Life

St. Spirit - Build A Life from Max McCabe on Vimeo.

Fulton Lights
Staring Out The Window

"Staring Out The Window" - Fulton Lights from Ninian Doff on Vimeo.

Tony Cannam
Suzie On A Summers Day

The Devil's Round Up 28th August 2011

This week's round up of the tracks that I haven't had the space to post...

Howlin' Woods
From: Santa Barbara, United States

Retro, soulful yet so on trend they could have been styled by Philip Treacy.

Go Try

Stone eyes by Howlin' woods

Mild Mannered
From: Cleveland, Ohio, United States

Mild mannered indie from the appropriately monickered Ohio trio Mild Mannered

Go Try

MP3 - Mild Mannered - The Demand

This track is published with the permission of The Planetary Group so please don't claim breach of copyright

Parties
From: The Internet, World Wide Web


Parties take Stalin's philosophy to it's logical conclusion with socialism in one song.

Go Try

Black Budgets by Parties

Sun Hotel
From: New Orleans, United States

Classic rock filtered through fuzzy felt.

Go Try

MP3 - Sun Hotel - Talks

This track is published with the permission of Banter Media so please don't claim breach of copyright

Give It Up For

The Give It Ups
From: London, United Kingdom

London quartet The Give It Ups are not the easiest band to track down. Their cyber space presence is restricted to a bandcamp page and the obligatory twitter page. I can't find a video on youtube a facebook page or even a solitary review of their work. They did once have a myspace site but, like a lot of sensible bands, they've deleted it. Well either my googling skills are not what they used to be or the Give It Ups have not yet made an indent on the consciousness of the wider world.

Surely there time will come. With a collection of fuzzy, loud, short pop songs with hooks so big they could reel in a whole shoal of duffel coated indie pop lovers it can't be long before they're a part of the staple diet of music lovers the world over.

Go Try

MP3 - The Give It Ups - Dinosaur Song
MP3 - The Give It Ups - Be My Cat
MP3 - The Give It Ups - Four Day Week
These tracks are linked direct from the Give It Ups Last.FM site and are therefore already freely available so please don't claim breach of copyright

Go Visit

The Give It Ups - Bandcamp : Twitter

Whitewashed

Nishwasher

From: Florida, United States

I don't know what a nish is or why it might need washing. I also know absolutely nothing about Nishwasher, their on-line presence is lower than a technically illiterate castaway on a remote desert island. They have a bandcamp site and, er, that's it. But when you produce songs like For Josephine, a lovely piece of pop that slides effortlessly into your ears, who needs Facespace, Mybook and Twitty ? The music speaks for itself.

Go Try

Nishwasher - For Josephine by Nishwasher

Go Visit

Nishwasher - Bandcamp

Palin To Insignificance

Alberteen
From: Leicester, United Kingdom

Imagine Sarah Palin or Michelle Bachman with their finger poised on the nuclear trigger. It's a frightening thought which is not as far fetched as it sounds. While a UK based, and largely unknown, pop band releasing a catchy single satirising the rise of the moose shooting political right isn't going to change the direction of American politics it's good to see that there are bands out there prepared to have a go.

Go Try


A Girl and a Gun - Alberteen (5th September 2011) by milkpress (music) PR

Go Visit

Alberteen : Website : Facebook : Last.FM

Go View

Alberteen
A Girl and a Gun

Knox On Wood

John Knox Sex Club

From: Glasgow, Scotland

With a name that conjures up images of puritanical clergymen indulging in illicit and nefarious practices in a dingy back street basement Scottish contrarians John Knox Sex Club are nothing if not daring. This risk taking extends to their music, they're not your average, run of the mill, rock troupe regurgitating the sounds from the bottom of the indie landfill.

William is a well crafted tune that sounds like a muscular Wild Beasts practising in Biffy Clyro's front parlour. The Devil In Your Hands is a piece of post rock with a melodic undertow, kinda like Mogwai with a sugar coating. But it's the strangest, strongest track, Katie Cruel, that marks JKSC out as contenders. Synths throb and violins cry while singer Sean Cumming spouts mournful poetry in his Scottish brogue building to a cacophonous climax that hurts the ears. It's captivating stuff.

Join the John Knox Sex Club today, you have nothing to lose but your innocence.

Go Try

John Knox Sex Club - The Devils in Your Hands... by sways

08 John Knox Sex Club - Katie Cruel by sways

John Knox Sex Club - William by sways

Go Visit

The John Knox Sex Club - Bandcamp : Last.FM

Go View

The John Knox Sex Club
John The Revelator (Live)

Milking It

Milk Maid
From: Manchester, United Kingdom

Ex Nine Black Alps bass player Martin Cohen and Milk Maid songwriter took time out from perfecting his fuzzy pop to talk to the Devil about his insomnia and gymnophobia and his alternative career options.

The Devil: Why Milk Maid?

Martin: You don't want to know.

The Devil: What other names did you ponder before deciding it had to be Milk Maid?

Martin: It was the only one.

The Devil: Who are the biggest influences in your life and on your music?

Martin: Steve Gullick and Alex Chilton.

The Devil: What was the first record you owned and what was the first record you ever bought with your own money?

Martin: I got Live Magic by Queen and Bat Out of Hell II by Meat Loaf on cassette for my 10 birthday. Then I bought The Great Escape by Blur a year later on CD.

The Devil: What makes Milk Maid stand out from the millions of other bands across the world? What makes you unique?

Martin: We're the only one called Milk Maid....oh, wait, there's another band called Milk Maid....

The Devil: Which bands or artists on the current music scene make your spine tingle for joy?

Martin: The Mantles, Kurt Vile, Cass Mccombs, Thee Oh Sees, Women.

The Devil: Favourite song?

Martin: I've been listening to Lon Chaney by Garland Jeffreys a lot this week.

The Devil: Favourite book?
Martin: American Psycho.

The Devil: Favourite Movie?

Martin: Down by Law.

The Devil: Favourite word?

Martin: Twatter.

The Devil: Tell me something that you've never told anyone before.

Martin: I can't sleep naked.

The Devil: If you weren't in Milk Maid how would you keep yourself occupied?

Martin: I'd be a famous photographer or a bus driver.

The Devil: If you were interviewing yourself what would your killer question be and how would you answer it?

Martin: I'm worse at asking questions than I am at answering them.

The Devil: Is there anything else you'd like to tell the Devil Has The Best Tuna readers?

Martin: I can't get to sleep.

Go Try

Mostly No by milkmaid

Milk Maid - Girl by Fat Cat Records

Go Visit

Milk Maid - Facebook : Website : Myspace

Go View

Milk Maid
Girl



Here are some tracks from bands or artists on the current music scene making Martin's spine tingle with joy...

The Mantles - Bad Design by Slumberland Records

Kurt Vile - Freeway by freemusicarchive

Thee Oh Sees - The Freak Was Clean by freemusicarchive

Cass McCombs - County Line by DominoRecordCo

MP3 - Women - Group Transport Hall
This track is linked direct from the JagJaguwar website and is therefore already freely available so please don't claim breach of copyright

Video Killed The Radio Star 21st August 2011

Picture courtesy of deviant art by sixhundredsixty for more check out http://sixhundredsixty.deviantart.com/

Funeral Club
A Soapbox Serenade



The Absent Centre
In The Valley



Appetite
Tussy



Sarah Blasko
[Explain]

Sarah Blasko - [explain] from Lucy Dyson on Vimeo.

The Devil's Round Up 21st August 2011

This week's round up of the tracks that I haven't had the space to post...

The Young Knives
From: Ashby De La Zouch, Leicestershire, United Kingdom

After a summer of rioting on the streets of London it's good to have the Young Knives back with their whimsical and oh so English pop. New single Vision In Rags harks back to a simpler, kinder and altogether less aggressive age.

Young Knives - Vision In Rags by PIAS Entertainment


Givers
From: Louisiana, United States

Upbeat, sun, sea, surf and sand friendly remix of Givers Up Up Up by Duologue to fill your ears, hips and heart with joy.

Go Try

Givers - 'Up Up Up' (Duologue remix) by Stayloose

Hey Sholay
From: Sheffield, United Kingdom

Brilliant track from Sheffield five piece Hey Sholay which sounds like the Cold War Kids at their imperious best. A genuine contender for the Devil's top ten of 2011.

The Bears, The Clocks, The Bees by Hey Sholay

Cold Specks
From: London, England ' Toronto, Canada

Cold Specks serves up a perfect mix of gospel and the collected works of Tracy Chapman.

Go Try

Holland by Cold Specks

Moustache Of Insanity
From: London (via Brisbane and Gothenburg), United Kingdom

Totally and utterly insane in a way not seen since the Bonzo Dog Doodah Band went mad.

Go Try

Argh! No! - Moustache of Insanity by FollyOfYouth

LightGuides
From: Glasgow, Scotland


Sounds like early Snow Patrol after an Idlewild transplant.

Go Try

Old Bucket Seats - LightGuides by alcopop

Going Deaf For A Living

Deaf Club

From: Wales

At seven and a half minutes long Deaf Club's Postcard, from their debut EP Lull, is at least three times as long as the average attention span in 2011. It's also probably at least three times as good as most songs you'll hear this year. It sounds like a long lost classic from the late 60s and possesses one of the best female vocals of the year so far. At four and a half minutes long Forest/Shore is merely double the average attention span but is just as good recalling the Sundays at their most alluring.

Get your ear plugs out because the media clamour about Deaf Club is about to get deafening.

Go Try

04 Postcard by GilesThomas

03 Forest/ Shore by GilesThomas

Go Visit

Deaf Club - Facebook : Bandcamp

Go View

Deaf Club
Forest/Shore

Glam Rock

Post War Glamour Girls
From: Leeds, United Kingdom

In an increasingly artificial world, a world of photoshopped pictures and auto tuned vocals, Leeds foursome Post War Glamour Girls are like an oxygen rush of soulful reality. They sound a world apart from the rest of the musical world and are all the better for it.

If you don't believe me check out Crrreep a song that wears it's hearts on it's sleeve and leaves you emotionally drianed. It's the sound of Nick Cave's grandchildren performing the soundtrack to Tom Waits the Musical.

Go Try

Crrreep by Post War Glamour Girls

09 Post War Glamour Girls - Ode To Harry Dean (concrete hearts) LIVE by sways

Go Visit

Post War Glamour Girls - Facebook

On Your Bike

Oregon Bike Trails
From: Santa Monica,California, United States

Had your fill of whimsical pop music that sounds like the Beach Boys filtered through a 21st century gauze? Getting fed up with your Best Coasts, your Wavves and your Cults? Well look away now because after last night's serving of the languid Youth Lagoon tonight I bring you yet another with the oddly monickered Oregon Bike Trails. When it works it's sunny day music that lightens your hearts and gives you a spring in your step when it doesn't it just sounds like inconsequential watered down surf pop. Oregon Bike Trails hit the mark more than most.

Go Try

Oregon Bike Trails - "Swimsuit" by indiemusicfilter

Go Visit

Oregon Bike Trails - Bandcamp : Website : Last.FM

Go View

Oregon Bike Trails
High School Lover

Youth and Young Manhood

Youth Lagoon
From: Boise, Idaho

Amateur psychologists must be having a field day with all these young bands choosing names which evoke thoughts of sun kissed idylls. Beach House, Beach Fossils and Summer Camp. Is it a desire to escape the pressures of a stressful world? Is it a rejection of the previous generations work hard play hard philosophy? Is it a wish to permanently extend the freedom of the gap year to their life. Or is it just coincidence?

Today's featured band Youth Lagoon, aka Trevor Powers, is yet another artist seeking inspiration in the laid back vibe of the tropics and boy does he pull it off. The languid, reverb heavy music sounds like sun, surf and sand, sandals and khaki shorts, moonlit nights and back-packs, unfamiliar surroundings and new experiences.

Dip your toe in the Youth Lagoon and soak in the vibes of a stress free world.

Go Try

Montana by Youth Lagoon

Cannons by Youth Lagoon

July by Youth Lagoon

Go Try

Youth Lagoon - Facebook : Website : Last.FM

Go View

Youth Lagoon
Montana

Old Age Music

Pensioner

From: Dundee, Scotland

Dundee quartet Pensioner are unlike any math rock band I've yet to encounter. All the usual math rock components are present. The complex rhythms, the angular melodies, the dissonant chords but there is something in the mix that you don't see from many, or any, of their math rock peers. Check out the song titles, Enter Shakira, Annannannawiddecombe, Bruce Forsyth's 'Chin It To Win It'. This is a math rock band with a sense of humour, it's math rock in a Half Man Half Biscuit stylee.

With their combination of wit and artistry Pensioner have a free bus pass to the top of the Math Rock tree.

Go Try

Enter Shakira by Pensioner

Annannannawiddecombe by Pensioner

Go Visit

Pensioner - Facebook : Bandcamp

Go View

Pensioner
Enter Shakira

Face The Music

Ouch My Face
From: Melbourne, Australia

Melbourne noiseniks Ouch My Face have made it their mission in life to make your ears bleed and your brain melt. On Junkyard they succeed within about 5 seconds of the song starting and then proceed to batter you senseless with an aural assault worthy of Quentin Tarantino. Eyeball to Eyeball opts for a grunge meets riot grrrl noise that is a little kinder on the ears. It sounds like a skipping song for girls with a penchant for the films of Wes Craven. On Build A House "singer" (a term used in it's broadest sense) Celeste Potter screams until her lungs burst and your ear drums crack. More ouch my ears than Ouch My Face.

Go Try

Junkyard by Ouch My Face

Eyeball To Eyeball by Ouch My Face

Build A House by Ouch My Face

Go Visit

Ouch My Face - Myspace : Facebook : Website : Last.FM

Go View

Ouch My Face
Obscena



Ouch My Face
Obscena Misdemeanour

Video Killed The Radio Star 14th August 2011

Picture courtesy of deviant art by sixhundredsixty for more check out http://sixhundredsixty.deviantart.com/

Marina & The Diamonds
Fear and Loathing

The Devil's Round Up 14th August 2011

This week's round up of the tracks that I haven't had the space to post...

Sea of Bees
From: Sacramento, California

The sound of flowers in hair, loose fitting diaphonous dresses and bare feet on wet grass.

Go Try

MP3 - Sea of Bees - Marmalade
This track is published with the permission of Riot Act Media so please don't claim breach of copyright

Ganglians
From: Sacramento, California

In a world of second rate slacker surf popsters Ganglians are the real deal. Once again they capture the essence of sunshine and reproduce it in MP3 form.

Go Try

MP3 - Ganglians - Drop The Act

This track is published with the permission of Banter Media so please don't claim breach of copyright

Water Signs
From: Manchester, United Kingdom

Water Signs sound like an agitated, nervy New Order.

Go Try

THESE WEAPONS by WATER SIGNS

Jordan Bolton

From: Manchester, United Kingdom

Impressively mature poetry in motion from a 19 year old Mancunian with a future brighter than a solar flare. Unfortunately I don't have a photo of the boy genius so a pic of a huge organ will have to do!

Go Try

City Daze by Jordan Bolton

Here Comes Summer

You can tell it's summer in the UK because the rain gets warmer. So forget the grey skies and the persistent rain and indulge yourself in some songs to brighten your day courtesy of the Devil...

Go Try

Summer Camp - Ghost Train by The Drift Record Shop

Summer Cats - Your Timetable by Slumberland Records

Heart Safety Error - Summer Rain by Heart Safety Error

Good Friends by Summer Twins

'All The Lovers I've Wronged' - The Summer Wardrobe by musicforasuperhero

Sunny Summer Day - So much fun by Southeast Asia Indie

Sunny Day Real Estate - Seven by subpop

Splitting Hairs

Bitches / Yuppies
Split 12"

FatCat record’s Brighton based sister label, Palmist are a beacon of principle in a sea of compromisers. They cling to vinyl in a digital world and they work with artists they love not those from whom they could make a quick buck. They’re made the way independent labels used to be made. After the idiosyncratic coupling of US Girls and Slim Twig their latest split 12” is a more complimentary affair. London based thug pop duo Bitches (first featured on the Devil's blog last February, Queen Bitches) and American four piece garage punks Yuppies take the punk template and bend and twist it into something they can call their own.

On their side of the 12” Bitches make an unholy racket that sounds like Huggy Bear being bated by rednecks. On Heimlich Blake screeches ‘I was touched by a beautiful angel’ while the duo make a noise akin to pushing a narrow selection of instruments down the stairs. It’s like being caught in the middle of a particularly vicious cat fight.It’s angry, it’s noisy and it spits like a tormented cobra.

In the best punk tradition few of the tracks on the Bitches side of the 12” make it over the 2 minute mark. They come; they beat your ears to a soggy pulp and then bugger off before you know what’s hit you. There is nothing polished, poised or professional about Bitches it’s music raw in tooth and claw.

Like Bitches, Yuppies use punk as their starting off point but where the London duo pump it full of ear splitting dissonance the Nebraskan four piece mix it with late 60s fuzzy garage rock and the lo-fi rock of Pavement. Take ‘Let Me In’, a blast of nihilistic noise that sounds like an echo from under the floorboards of the Roxy in 1976.While sonically Yuppies tick all the right boxes lyrically they’re closer to the Ramones than Morrissey. They’re unlikely to make the shortlist for the Pulitzer prize, but it works. The lyrics of ‘Sunglasses’ for example are so inane they could have been written by a lobotomised Katy Perry or taken from an unreleased Stranglers track, but when screamed by Jack Begley they take on an importance that belies their inanity.

Overall the split 12” is another success for those preeminent people at Palmist. Bitches just about shade it courtesy of their uncompromising aural assault, but it’s a close call.

7.5/10

This article was originally written by the Devil for The 405 and is published with permission.


Cholula by BITCHES

MP3 - Bitches - Wallet
This track is linked direct from the Palmist website and is therefore already freely available so please don't claim breach of copyright

Getting Out by yuppies

MP3 - Yuppies - For The Futures Sake
This track is linked direct from the Palmist website and is therefore already freely available so please don't claim breach of copyright

Go Visit

Bitches - Myspace : Website : Last.FM
Yuppies - Myspace : Last.FM

Go View

Bitches
Jesus Sweat