UK four-piece Silver Arm bring plenty of punch and absolutely no padding to their 2014 EP ‘He of the Slow Creep’. The result – four slabs of fantastic guitar driven post-punk noise in a fraction over ten minutes; four numbers showcasing a band who really know how to hit a sound home as directly as possible. Naturally, there’s some obvious recycling from a couple of classic influences along the way, but Silver Arm ensure these sounds will thrill listeners who weren’t even around to hear the first wave of post-punk and goth rock bands in the early eighties.
Tag Archives: garage
BLACK BISCUIT – Up All Night
In 2008 US bar band Black Biscuit released their debut album ‘Blueline’. It was ragged (often in a bad way), had odd attempts at novelty material and – most memorably – included a shameless rip-off of The Beatles’ ‘No Reply’. It was hard to tell whether, as a band, they were playing things for laughs, or just not especially good. Either way, ‘Blueline’ was a notoriously bad DIY record – in misguided terms, beaten only by the staggeringly awful 2010 effort from the now defunct Quakers on Probation.
DETROIT REBELLION – Detroit Rebellion ’67 EP
In the first quarter of 2013, blues duo Detroit Rebellion (once again, not from Detroit) dropped a release that captured a real sense of energy and grit. Across it’s four songs vocalist/guitarist Jeff Toste and drummer Mikey Lams proved themselves worthy of standing alongside other similar duos. It’s more than fair to say – at least on the lion’s share of the material – with regard to their swiftly delivered follow up ‘Detroit Rebellion of ’67, those who loved ‘Fork In The Road’ will find more to love here, while those unmoved by lo-fi blues sounds remain equally unmoved. You’re either with the Rebels or you’re not – and if two men tackling the lo-fi blues is your bag, man, you’ve come to the right place.
THE END MEN – Play With Your Toys
In the role of carnival barker, The End Men’s mouthpiece Matthew Hendershot beckons us into his tent of musical curiosity at the beginning of the New York duo’s second release. His voice is curiously like that of Tom Waits with its gravelly tone, a comparison heightened by the sideshow setting, while the minimalist music recalls spiritual chants of the deep south. The setting isn’t original, but no other backdrop best highlights the journey on which the listener is about to embark… “If you join us, I promise you this: an adventure you won’t wanna miss.”
BLOODLIGHTS – Stand Or Die
Coming almost ten years after Gluecifer’s swansong ‘Automatic Thrill’, this third album from guitarist Captain Poon’s Bloodlights is a record which could match his previous outfit’s claim to be the kings of rock. Not in a stadium filling, household name way, you understand; more in a bringing it back to the sweaty clubs sense. Far rougher around the edges than Gluecifer in their later days, Bloodlights are ugly, mean and fully charged.