Hey hey rioters!

We thought it would be good to update you all on the next rather wonderful issue of Riot on the Rocks. We’ve got loads of cool stuff going in it, new writers on board and some great new bands you might not have heard of.

 This weekend we are bravely going where few journalists dare – and interviewing the ridiculously raucous Black Lips (above) before their headline NME show in Islington, London. Here’s hoping they’ve got posession of their passports after being chased out of India the other week. We’ve heard the new album (out 16th March), and it falls somewhere between Let It Bloom and Good, Bad, Not Evil – shambolic and pointedly unpolished one minute, and upbeat pop the next. They’ll be showcasing it at SXSW so fingers crossed for some crazy shows in Austin this year.

Also on the way in issue 4 one of our new writers, Rohan, is interviewing two-girl Canadian blues rockers The Pack A.D, I catch up with the long-locked legend that is Sebastian Bach, plus The Cut in the Hill Gang- the new project from the Soledad Brothers’ Johnny. Add to that a spot of obscure Japanese psychedelia from Boningen, the ever entertaining Jay Reatard, King Kahn and a whole lot more besides.

 The hard copy zine is due out Friday 13th March – get in touch now to pre-order a copy!

Over

SBR x

This is a segment of a review I started writing of ATP Vs Pitchfork last year… never got around to finishing it off posting it. As you will see I didn’t get very far. 

ROTR were nothing short of jubilant when it was announced that the first of this year’s ATP weekends was to return to its roots at Camber Sands, after growth led the festival to the sprawling and soulless Minehead in 2006. Rather than doing a blow-by-blow run down set by set, ROTR have selected their highlights. Enjoy.

 Thrown in at the deep end on the opening afternoon, Memphis’ garage punk wunderkid (although he’s now 28) Jay Reatard’s set became instant legend among those there in time to catch it, and a sore point for those who were not. Ploughing through an album’s worth of material – which didn’t make for a long set given most of his tracks are around a minute long – he cut quite a figure, all long brown curls and thrashing flying V. Garth-a-like drummer Billy Hayes and  bass boy Steven Pope sealed the deal on this Bermuda-triangle of fast-forward Adverts-inspired punk noise, heavier in the flesh than on record, and over before you had time to wonder what he looked like under all that hair.

 The other day a friend asked me “Is it okay to like Vampire Weekend? I can’t work out if it is or not”. A few months previously I had faced the very same internal struggle when the band’s self-titled debut found its way on to my iPod. If they were from London I would hate them. I really hope they don’t wear trouser braces. Are they posh? There must be a reason for me to hate this band. All these issues scuttled through my mind.  The fact is that when I was asked the question, I didn’t even take a breath before answering. “Yes. Of course it’s okay. They’re amazing.”

And amazing they were taking to the main stage Friday teatime. Ivy League indie dressed in head-to -toe Gap (with the possible exception of the keyboard player – American Apparel til he dies) doesn’t look too good on paper, but in practice Vampire Weekend are nothing short of boy wonders – writing superbly crafted, catchy African-tinged pop songs  laced with witty observations of college life. Live the tracks are stripped back yet maintain detail where it is important, and a set that is essentially a shuffled run down of the album in its entirety falls together perfectly.

Yeah that’s it.

Well, it has been a while. And Riot on the Rocks has been busy. 2007 turned out to be pretty god damn cool. After SXSW we took a rock and roll road trip around the USA spreading the rock, shifting some zines, and checking out even more great bands.

In LA we caught up with Bloodcat Love again, who were supporting the UK’s Whitey at the Echo, a great venue in Echo Park. It took a while to find it – and a $40 cab fare – but it was worth it. Bloodcat Love’s Myles Hendrik strutted and pouted and Iggy-ed it up to the Hellacopters-esque guitar wailings of ex-D4 man Dion. The crowd were there for Whitey though, whose strobe-laced performance from a darkened stage was lapped up by Silverlake scenesters and British ex-pats alike.

A few days later and we were at the Troubador, where Italy’s Afterhours did a lot of hand claps and the more impressive Outlines filled the legendary venue with a combination of brooding post-rock and emotional punk vocals. Imagine Interpol for the under-18s.

A couple of weeks later and no sooner had we arrived in San Francisco, and we were down at 12 Galaxies to see a sold out show by the brilliant Ponys, from Chicago, supported by Deerhunter. The later don’t look a day over eighteen, and play a chaotic set punctuated by badly received jokes, hushed discussions between band members and complete spaz-outs.  The Ponys on the other hand had more of an air of sophistication, lacing their post-punk revival sound with mature yet poppy melodies. There’s something strangley comforting about see great bands with couples in (and I don’t mean the Subways), a reminder that you don’t have to be a bunch of heartbroken nymphomaniacs to shoot from the hip when it comes to rock and roll.

 Down at Annie’s Social Club a week later were Irish-born, San Francisco-residing The Hooks, whose unabashed pop punk was devoid of the arrogance and immodesty of many of their big-balled US counterparts, and strangley reminiscent of the Wildhearts in their seamless blend of the two P’s.

 At the Rickshaw Stop we were greeted by two mop-topped Macunian ex-pat teenagers who make up two thirds of Pop Noir, a beat-driven, rapture-esque three piece now living in California. From the moment you clap eyes on them, on stage and off, it is pretty damn obvious these kids have it made – identical twins, tall, skinny, black-clad and with matching shocks of ridiculous hair makes for enchanting viewing. Couple this with a youthful, Gang of Four-inspired, beat-driven sound and one thing is clear: we need these guys back in the UK. Keep your eyes peeled for the boys in the next issue of the zine.

 A five hour plane ride later and we are in NYC, where we manage to cram in visits to the Gramercy, Bowery Ballroom, Mercury Lounge, Filmore East and Arlene’’s Grocery. The highlight was The Grails supporting Mono at the Bowery, who deliver a rapturous and moving set bathed in red light and punctuated by wall-of-sound crescendos.

 Needless to say by the end of the trip we were all rocked out. Well, nearly….

The annual Joey Ramone charity Birthday Bash at the Filmore East was the ultimate last night show – with the New York Dolls heading a bill of NY old timers. The modest venue and well mannered crowd mad for a surreal evening, as through the delirious exhaustion the throws of Jet Boy and Trash placed a suitably rock a roll punctuation mark at the end of our USA oddessey.

One of the highlights of Friday was TINY MASTERS OF TODAY. Picture it: two twelve-year-olds on guitar, bass and vocals, Russell Simmins from the Blues Explosion on drums (he also produces) and a nine-year-old girl dancing mid-stage like some kind of playground Bez. Read the rest of this entry »

Friday – half way through the festival, and we started off slowly with a short set from the BUZZCOCKS, which was being filmed for internet television. The four tracks were over before they started, but were a good hangover cure at 1pm. Read the rest of this entry »

We strolled over to the Ale House where we saw JOAN AS POLICE WOMAN, whose one woman show had the venue packed to the rafters and totally mesmerised. Parts were truly touching and heart felt, but as one of us commented, there is something – something that Regina Spector has – that Joan does not, a special spark that never quite lights here. STEPHANIE DOSEN was up next, playing sweet acoustic music but not managing to evoke anything more than mild enjoyment.

Hurrah! It was time for SSM! It is hard to articulate how much ROTR loves this band, who were interviewed in issue 3 of the zine. As a general rule we love Detroit. SSM are scuzzy and futuristic keeping the garagey edge. Read the rest of this entry »

It was surreal to start the day with a set from the wonderful MOONEY SUZUKI at the Red Eyed Fly. Although it was 3pm it felt like we had only just had breakfast, and next thing we know we are at the front of the crowd for New York City’s finest rock and rollers. ROTR first saw them five years back in a tiny club in Brighton, where we instantly fell in love with them. Read the rest of this entry »

We heart the YOUNG KNIVES. While NME affiliations will usually have us running a mile in the opposite direction, seeing that this band were on the bill of the NME afternoon party persuaded us to swallow our pride momentarily – and we are glad we did. Playing witty, danceable music that shouldn’t really be lumped in with ‘indie’, the Young Knives look like cynical young science teachers. Their ever-growing popularity on the back of their Andy Gill-produced album is more than justified – and Gang of Four influences are apparent. The Loughborough charm seemed to go down a storm with the US crowd, even though, as the band said, a large proportion of the crowd were British. We were surrounded by not only people who had been on our flight from London, but a spattering of familiar faces from back home.

MUMM-RA were up next, who looked far to young to have travelled so far from home, to play what was their first ever show in the USA. They may look like they should be being taught chemistry by the Young Knives, but they make great pop music oozing with personality thanks to a charismatic frontman – who disappeared on to the balcony bar of the outdoor arena at the end of the set, only to re-appear some minutes later.

We caught the end of a set by Detroit psyche-blues boys the SIGHTS at Bourbon Rocks at around 6pm, where we bumped in to James Iha of Smashing Pumpkins fame. He was in town with his record label – the Sights are currently on his roster along with upcoming band Office.

We stumbled in and out of a few more venues before heading back to the Red Eyed Fly, where the wonderful LES SAVY FAV were headlining the French Kiss Records showcase. First up though were the FATAL FLYING GUILOTINES, a group ROTR first heard on an Estrus compilation three or four years ago. Then too they were one of those bands you never thought you would get the chance to see live in the UK, so it was good to have the opportunity. That said, while they had all the live presence you would expect from a high-energy garage punk band, by half way through the constant stage diving became nothing but a boring gimmick and the highlight was a track sung by the drummer rather then the two members sharing vocal duties.

Les Savy Fav are regarded fondly by so many and it is obvious why – it’s pop-punk for grown ups and the hilarious on stage antics – not to mention the leotard and leg warmers – of singer Tim Harrington. There wasn’t a person in the room that wasn’t enjoying themselves, barman included. It was the perfect end to the day, as drunkeness had turned to exhaustion and then to delirium, Les Savy Fav has us punching the air to songs about having sex with a horse rider. Harrington did, ROTR noticed, very much resemble Richard from Guess Who.

‘Overwhelming’ doesn’t do justice to the feeling on the first morning of SXSW. We arrived on Tuesday evening, and a wonder down the neon-lit strip of bars and venues on Sixth Street was about all we could manage. The next morning, we scanned the guidebook with wide eyes. We headed back to the Sixth Street area to find some breakfast and gear up for the day. In the coffee house we found, on Congress Avenue, we were served by a singer songwriter whose picture was plastered around on flyers for his own shows that week. In the live music capital of the world, it looks like you have to have a day job.

We headed for the Mohawk on Red River, where a party called ‘Gonna Goona Get Get Down 2′ was the first opportunity to see a band, starting at 11am. Read the rest of this entry »