| SNOTTINESS... Punk Rock Classic - World Contender - Worth A Listen - Average - Plastic - No Future |
| INTENSIVE CARE 'Danger These Animals Bite!' CD 2000 These cheeky guttersnipes from North London ain't the early 80's Oi! incarnation that came out in the 80's at all, but a totally different brand new set of Intensive Care units. And they sound a lot fucking better in my humble opinion. They've got a young Jimmy Pursey on vocals courtesy of Brendan who gives it that loud mouthed, jack the lad sort of appeal. It particularly comes out on the memorable 'Bank Job', a song about getting your mits on some dosh, and is probably the outstanding track of the bunch. A lot of their sound is tongue in cheek and being backed by a fresh sounding punk rifferama means they can only get better with practice. They have a ska-ish overtone on some tracks specially their 'muff diving' song, the oral 'Don King'. And I like the way they ain't scared to state the blindingly obvious in life, which is a fucking god send in today's squeaky clean catholic punk scene. I like the fresh honest sound of Intensive Care coz they sound like they're capable of having fun with just enough snot to keep em from being a complete joke. Another feather in their baseball cap was the mid-paced salute to their drinking buddy and punk artiste. 'Blasphemy Ben'. Yep it seems Ben is a deserved punk celebrity in the 'Golden Shoe' pub! And all due to his splendid Bug Central artwork and alcoholic inspiration. The Bug Central 'family affair' don't end there though, coz drummer boy D. Rummer bangs the drums for this mob as well! And must be light respite from putting the world to rights in his other outfit. Some of the 8 tracks are pretty average punk with weak guitar solo's but that just adds to the simple effect which is their best quality. If they tried doing loads of over-dubs they just might sound contrived and anyway the clean production and energy is evident on this debut street view of life. This debut culminates on the speedy 'Couldn't Happen Here'. WORTH A LISTEN so go to their site to hear for yourself! It's at INTENSIVE CARE |
| THE RABID GRANNIES 'Pirate Songs & Zombie Love Songs' Tape 2000. This barrel of laughs starts off with a windswept lament from these amateur Hammer horror film buffs, which sounds like it's recorded on some remote Cliffside location overlooking the River Severn (snigger). Yeah The Rabid Grannies have really gone all out on this village-hall production, giving it an hysterical nautical setting. Imagine pirates from long ago toasting the delights of cheap 'white cider' by a moonlit campfire? Well that's how this tape grabs ya, as they serenade their favourite tipple 'Attack of the Frosty Jacks'. In fact on hearing of it's medicinal purposes by these Welsh punk pathetiques, you'd wonder whether the gross selling technique ain't the brainchild of some lowly adman from the local Spa shop. But it's more likely these deranged nutters stuck in some god forsaken little town in the Welsh countryside need some form of entertainment to break the ice! Well this is it! Lead singer, the well suited and bunged up Undead Ted has snotty vocals straight out of some Walt Disney pirate yarn! And along with the thick blood curdling riffs that steer this ship along, makes for a fine dose of punk mirth. What really takes the biscuit on this tape is the between song ad-libs and snippets from TV and film. They could retire from punk tomorrow and take up an editorial job with this kinda CV. And to hell with the copyrights coz these boys pilfer en masse and so they fucking should, real cutthroats eh lads? Piss takers to a man, they zoom through a Batman spoof called 'Black hair' along side other homegrown anthems like 'I'm in love with a zombie'..."called Valerie". Which has some great wooden bass playing that Gaye Advert would've killed for. And again this is another song by em where they could actually become some cult hit with the right backing on some TV ad!!! Stranger things have happened look at The Toy Dolls. The spiffing tale of 'Psycho Mike' all about some backpacker they met up with one dark night in the mountains, had some splendid harmonica added, pointing to another hit in the making. They end with 'Gentlemen Of Fortune' that really sounds very English considering their Welsh background and another chorus of "day-ohhh day-ohhh". This tape like their previous 3 is funny as fuck and by cripes once you've got used to the really homemade recordings you'll be playing this to amuse anyone with a sensa yuma, they're fucking mad!!! As always it comes with some great collage cut 'n' paste plus lyrics and a slime green badge! Any promoters take note they don't do kids parties! aaahhhhh wot a shame!!! WORTH A LISTEN Available for the knockdown price of £1.50 Postpaid from 17 Cornford Close, Osbaston, Monmouth, Monmouthshire, South Wales, NP25 3NT, UK. |
