When you release an album as strong and visceral as “Vultures” as your début calling card which British rock band God Damn did in 2015- then you might forgive the band for heading their bets when it came to their second offering. It would have been very easy and very tempting to deliver another slab of their corrosive, howling rock’n’roll. In this age of not really being able to take real risks, giving the punters another Vultures might have been a very good idea indeed.Continue reading
Tag Archives: Husker Du
The Nopes – Nectar of the Dogs EP
If your vision of California rock n roll begins and ends with lap dancers on the Sunset Strip, riding your steel motorcycle into the romantic sunset or worrying about dockside industrial relations, then California punk upstarts The Nopes are about to light a bomb under your preconceptions.
Nectar of the Dogs (admittedly, a decent play on words), out now via Magnetic Eye, is five songs of sonic terrorism it’s acidic, acerbic, scabrous punk rock which, if he is listening, Bob Mould should be getting on the phone to his lawyer about as it sounds like his old band, Husker Du. Wait: check that. It sounds exactly like Husker Du – from the layer upon layer of guitar distortion, some of it amp-led, some of it studio twiddling, this is college rock à la 1985 writ large. Or, as Bob might have it, large writ.
I hope he’s not that grumpy though. He needn’t be. This is an EP full of piss and vinegar, in the nicest possible way. Nectar of the Dogs is eight minutes (yes, you did read that correctly) of furious, life-affirming noise. From the opening bars of ‘Matinee at Market’ to the closer, ‘Jingle Berries’, this is the aural equivalent of falling downstairs drunk- bangs, crashes, wallops and a big shit-eating grin whilst it’s all happening.
If you care about this sort of thing, you might be interested to know that production comes from those guys who twiddled knobs for Deafheaven and their début album Sunbather (Deathwish, Inc.). Whether this matters or not, I couldn’t tell you. What I can tell you though is Nectar of the Dogs is a punk record that genuinely sounds punk. Amen to that.
7.0/10
MAT DAVIES
Prong Streaming “Banned In DC”
Prong is streaming their cover of the Bad Brains classic “Banned in DC,” off their forthcoming covers album, out in the US on March 31, 2015 via eOne Music (SPV/Steamhammer special CD and LP edition available in Scandinavia on March 25, in Germany on March 27, and the rest of Europe on March 30), here.
The track list is far from traditional. With covers of artists like Neil Young, Black Flag, Bad Brains and Sisters of Mercy, the band casts their net wide. The goal, says Victor, was to explore the vast landscape that makes up the bands sound, stemming from their roots. “Since the record explores Prong’s roots, musically and geographically, this needed to be expressed visually and this was attained.”
TRACK LISTING:
1. Doomsday (Discharge)
2. Vision Thing (Sisters Of Mercy)
3. Goofy`s Concern (Butthole Surfers)
4. Kids Of The Black Hole (Adolescents)
5. Bars (Black Flag)
6. Seeing Red (Killing Joke)
7. Don`t Want To Know If You Are Lonely (Husker Du)
8. Give Me The Cure (Fugazi)
9. Banned in DC (Bad Brains)
10. Cortez The Killer (Neil Young)
The band has also announced their upcoming US tour this fall.
Apr 17: VERA – Groningen (NT)
Apr 18: Poppodium Volt – Sittard (NT)
Apr 19: De Kreun – Kortrijk (BL)
Apr 21: O2 Academy 2 – Birmingham (UK)
Apr 22: O2 Academy 2 – Liverpool (UK)
Apr 23: O2 Academy – Islington (UK)
Apr 24: O2 Academy – Bristol (UK)
Apr 25: L’Empreinte – Savigny Le Temple (FR)
Apr 26: Konzertfabrik 27 – Pratteln (SW)
Apr 27: PPC – Graz (AT)
Apr 28: Szene Wien – Vienna (AT)
Apr 29: Feierwerk – Munich (DE)
Apr 30: Huxleys Neue Welt – Berlin (DE)
May 01: Underground – Koln (DE)
May 02: Turock – Essen (DE)
May 03: Knust – Hamburg (DE)
Oct 23: Ramona Mainstage – Ramona, CA
Oct 24: Las Vegas Country Saloon (LVCS) – Las Vegas, NV
Oct 25: Club Red/Red Owl – Mesa, AZ
Oct 27: Bluebird Theater – Denver, CO
Oct 28: Aftershock – Shawnee, KS
Oct 30: Jake’s – Lubbock, TX
Oct 31: Tree’s – Dallas, TX
Nov 01: The Korova – San Antonio, TX
Nov 02: Scout bar – Houston, TX
Nov 03: Siberia – New Orleans, LA
Nov 04: Orpheum – Tampa, FL
Nov 05: The Haven Lounge – Winter Park, FL
Nov 06: Jack Rabbits – Jacksonville, FL
Nov 07: The Masquerade – Atlanta, GA
Nov 08: TBA – Birmingham, AL
Nov 09: Centerstage Bar & Grill – Kokomo, IN
Nov 10: Expo Five – Louisville, KY
Nov 11: Empire – Springfield, VA
Nov 12: Upstairs at the Palladium – Worcester, MA
Nov 13: Trickshots – Clifton Park, NY
Nov 14: Gramercy Theatre – New York, NY
Nov 15: Foufoune’s – Montreal, QC
Nov 16: L’Agitee – Quebec, QC
Nov 17: Ritual Nightclub – Ottawa, ON
Nov 18: The Garrison – Toronto, ON
Nov 19: Hard Rock Café – Pittsburgh, PA
Nov 20: Rt 20 Outhouse – Racine, WI
Nov 21: The Token Lounge – Westland, MI
Nov 22: Agora Theatre & Ballroom – Cleveland, OH
Nov 23: Mojoe’s – Joliet, IL
Nov 24: Spicoli’s Grill & Reverb Rock Gardnen – Waterloo, IA
Nov 25: Fubar – St Louis, MO
Nov 27: POV’s Sports Bar & Grill – Andover, MN
Nov 28: Zoo Cabaret – Winnipeg, MB
Nov 30: Pawn Shop – Edmonton, AB
Dec 01: The Nite Owl – Calgary, AB
Dec 03: Venue – Vancouver, BC
Dec 04: El Corazon – Seattle, WA
Dec 05: Hawthorne Theatre – Portland, OR
Dec 06: Thee Parkside – San Francisco, CA
Dec 07: Whisky – West Hollywood, CA
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