I like a bit of nihilism in the morning and Mama Doom sound like a band who would share my preference for gloom for breakfast with their muscular, if relentlessly, downbeat riffs and stadium style drums complementing those witchy vocals nicely.
With their angst amplified and looped into the oblivion of spiritual deconstruction, Moni Jitchell invoke both shadows and strobe lit highlights as they unleash “Aware” as a sonic assault on your clean living sensibilities. Intense but nonetheless intriguing.
Ian Donaldson throws away his bus pass, and with The Red Eyes, he breaks out the chants to evoke the sounds, and perhaps even the sentiments, of the days when punk was new. “Gerry Said” is duly derivative but devilishly so.
Tommy Arch plunders the sentimental side of that old timey (and very British) rock and roll sound to season his song “Lovehearts” and, fortunately, he has the voice to make his musical recipe work. It’s a song to be sung in the moonlight.
Dropkick - those jolly jingle janglers from Edinburgh - lay down their trademark harmonies over a solid backbeat just like they always do. “It's a Long Way to Fall Down” may well have some added melancholy but their sun is still shining.
I like a bit of anguish in the morning and it would appear that Sorry Darling do as well with “Like You” positively resonating with emotional discontent and, with power chords and a chorus never far away, this song could prove to be a crowd pleaser.
Well, don’t be expecting subtlety from Pain of Truth because that just isn’t their thing. “Fed by Fear” comes straight in with a muscular riff and continues on in a manner just short of sonic brutality. Worryingly, I found this song distinctly invigorating.
So excessively retro in sound and in obviously in awe of the borderline charm of old style Eurodisco, Mirrormouth uses “My Genes are Shouting” to strike a blow against the current fascism of politically correct lyrics. This must be irony but without the rust.
Apparently this is a 35 year old song yet the political content contained in the words of “Allarme Rosso Nel Golfo Persico” (Red Alert in the Persian Gulf) remains relevant to today with Fiori del Male successfully seasoning their social commentary with guitars.
Csalogány’s song “F3160” certainly doesn’t lack artistic direction with the heavily looped construction supporting the vocal interjections as the music turns what could have been artificial into something effectively atmospheric.
I can’t say that I am a fan of black metal yet even I noticed that, with “Chains of Slavery”, YHWH have taken all the genre tropes and mutated them into something that does actually sound like it may have been the result of mystical intervention.
Despite the passing of the years, I still find it kind of endearing how The Rezillos can kick their song “Cranium” about the park for over three minutes and still have enough energy to put it right in the back of the net.