Lemmy, you glorious bastard!

Early '77 and me and my mates are started to get exited

about the PUNK ROCK we were hearing about. We

made our first of many trips to Rough Trade records in 

Portobello market and I came away with 4 punk singles:

New Rose by the Damned, White Riot by The Clash,

Blitzkrieg Bop by The Ramones and Motorhead by - 

of course - Motorhead. 

The Motorhead single was everything that I wanted and indeed

had heard about punk. Fast, dirty, distorted, sneery and all with

a feral energy piled into a sound that was glorious. Then I was

told they were not punk.......huh? Fuck that, their first album 

became my blueprint for heavy. The only other albums I got

around that time that ever measured up were:

Never Mind The Bollocks, Raw Power and Inflammable Material.

Living in London put me in the very lucky position  of being able

to see Motorhead every time they played there. The Roundhouse

after the first album came out. The Overkill tour meant Hammersmith

Odeon, The Lyceum then down to Brighton at The Dome and a quick

Trip up the M1 the the Birmingham Odeon.

In the meantime, Lemmy was always in a pub halfway down

Portabello Road on a Sunday - cannot remember what it was

called now - Kings Head/Arms? - and as long as he was kept

supplied with Vodka and Cokes + as much money as he

wanted to put into the fruit machine, he would regale me and

my friend Andy with tales about Hawkwind, touring England

with the 'Head and generally shooting the shit with 2 fan boys.

He never knew our names but knew we were avid fans who

would turn up to his boozer quite a lot. He would always want to

see which records we had brought and seemed to know everyone

in the music scene. He was also fucking great to us - 3 times

he told us to turn up to venues early and he would get us in the

back doors. The last Overkill date and 2 dates on the Bomber

tour we turned up thinking that we were gonna be stiffed but

he - or a crew member would stick their head around the door,

tell us to shift some amps and get us in. He did not have to

do that but fuck me, what a glorious bastard, he did. After

the Bomber album came out, the organisation and world tours

we never got to really mingle with Lemmy again but who

cared - for 7/8 months we were hanging around the edges

of Lemmy and Co and no-one can ever take that away

from me. Although I wish that someone would take away

the time we went to The Lyceum 2 nights in a row

and in a drunken fit of headbanging climbed as close as

we could to the PA stack the bass went through and

stayed there all night. Lemmy killed my left ear .............

for ever!

Every year Motorhead would try to play a gig as close as

they could on Nov 5th - normally at Hammersmith Odeon.

With the Bomber tour, they had the massive fucking massive 

metal bomber lighting rig. There were some fireworks that

were attached to wires and I suppose would fly over the stage

but for some reason, they just stopped over Philthy's head

and exploded as he was playing Overkill. God fucking bless him,

even though his kit appeared to be burning, he still played on

laughing like a maniac. God bless you sir.

Ho, bloody ho!

Doom Charts albums of 2015

We wrote stuff for the Doom Charts and here is what

we like lots!

Go here.

Witchskull - The Vast Electric Dark

Wrote this review for the December Doom Charts and

realised that I not not featured it here. So here it is.

These Aussie rockers have come up with a compelling and 

addictive slice of heavy sounds that just gets better the more 

you play it. NWOBHM rubs shoulders with Motorhead and Trouble 

giving them a template from which they launch blistering 

salvos of hook laden riffs and fist pumping tunes. 

This is rumbling Stoner/Doom with it’s own identity – not just 

another band ripping off some shit from the past and thinking 

that is enough. The album sounds like live jamming or is the fact that a 

power trio has enough space in the music to let the tunes breathe with 

atmosphere and feeling? Whatever the case, you can feel the sweat of the 

players and hum of amps being overloaded. Oh yeah, if that ain’t enough, 

the brain frying solos that overlay the lyrics of misty, murky 

Lovecraftian terrors are sublime.

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Doom Charts - December

Hey you reading this - here are the top albums
that have made us elite team of bloggers, writers and
self proclaimed experts groove out.

Get your doom on here!

The Shrine - Rare Breed

The Shrine have a new album.

If you do not know about The Shrine

stop reading this blog.

What's it like?

Lip smacking, fuzz stomping, amp humping,

solo shredding, MC5 riffing, crowd surfing,

bass throbbing, beer drinking, drum pounding,

drug snorting, sweat flying, fist punching,

head banging, chorus shouting, throat straining,

foot stomping, Flying V playing, ear bleeding,

rabble rousing fucking rock'n'roll.

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Kick Out The Jams and the MC5

Albums that burnt my soul - by  guest writer Doug E Dogg

       "IT TAKES 5 SECONDS OF DECISION......"

This is an album that is, to me, a constant source of pleasure no matter how many times I listen to it or handle and look at the sleeve. I bought an original 1969 UK release on the orange Elektra label in the late 70's from a second hand record shop in Ealing, West London for the princely sum of £3. The record was far from mint with quite a lot of surface marks making it crackle most satisfyingly when played, but the wonderful gatefold sleeve was in really nice condition. I bought this mainly out of curiosity as I had seen MC5's name appear in various punk related articles and also being frequently name dropped when the new wave of artistes were asked about their influences. I was familiar with the title track but hadn't heard anything else nor did I know anything about the band itself. I think I was a bit shell shocked after the first listen.......I'd not heard anything like it before and was astonished at how "punk" it was.....I wanted to know more....however these were pre Internet days and the local library wasn't exactly jam packed with info on the MC5 !!! There were of course sporadic articles in the music papers of the day (MM, NME and Sounds) and you would occasionally get a bit of in depth info in magazines like ZiGZag. The best article I found was in Record Collector which gave a potted history and of course a complete discography. It explained about the censored version of KOTJ , both the song and the album cover. My gatefold album opens out to reveal a long "revolutionary" rallying call by John Sinclair (their manager of sorts) ending with the words ".....Kick Out The Jams Motherfucker !...and stay alive with the MC5 !" all over a black and white photo of the bare chested 5 looking particularly surly. Sinclair's original message was not reproduced on the re-issued sleeve. The uncensored version of the KOTJ track only appeared for a limited time on the original 1969 US release until Elektra realised what they had released (didn't anyone bother to check ??!!) and withdrew it asap. It was soon back on the shelves with the offending lyric "Motherfuckers" being replaced by the words "Brothers and Sisters"...you can clearly hear the drop in volume and change in vocal style. Only the censored version was released in the UK. In the 80's RIOR Records released a great compilation of rare outtakes and versions of MC5 songs which included the uncensored version of KOTJ ....what a joy it was to hear it for the first time as it was originally intended........anyway ...I digress.......The gloriously colourful front and back covers are intriguing and somehow convey a feeling of movement ,excitement and add to the mystique of the band.

The songs are simply superb......they have grown on me over the last 30 odd years to the extent that I always have a copy to play in the car and indeed do so probably once every 6 or 7 weeks !! I never tire of joining in out loud with the wonderful band introduction by Brother J C Crawford at The Grande Ballroom Detroit before we are aurally assaulted by these angry men !! I should say at this point that the overall sound makes this about the best "live" album you will ever hear....the whole performance and mix is superb......the guitar sound, especially considering this was recorded in 1968, is astonishing....a wall of noise and distortion from start to finish (They weren't the first band to use such heavy distortion on a record release...that honour probably goes to The Sonics but the Boys from Detroit took it all several giant steps forward). Ramblin' Rose begins proceedings.....and sets the tone for the rest of the trip to the final wind off groove.....it is a savage way to start even if Wayne's vocals make you wonder if he had had some sort of nasty accident with the zipper on his trousers !! KOTJ is next.....an anthem for anyone with a bone to pick for whatever reason....one of the great riffs....it is just so so so powerful..... Come Together carries on the slow destruction of your sound system before the final track on side one....the wonderfully named Rocket Reducer No 62 (Rama Lama Fa Fa Fa) which is simply brutal. It almost comes as a mild relief if you are listening to this on vinyl that you can take a break from it for a minute or so as you turn it over for the other side....no such respite when its on tape or cd in the car !!

Side 2....and first up is Borderline.....the guitar intro to this track defies working out !!....any of you budding guitar heroes out there give it a go and see if can get anywhere close !! The uniqueness of this intro is further highlighted by a list of released cover versions of their songs on the Official website.....there are multiple entries for most of their songs but only one brave band has ever attempted a version for release of Borderline.....perhaps getting into the same state as Wayne was in when he did this would be the solution but probably not good for your health !! The rest of the song is another excursion into unrelenting guitar distortion..........there follows a slow blues number entitled Motor City's Burning.......tremendous guitar licks throughout and features some of my favourite vocals from Rob Tyner whose performance throughout the whole album is faultless.....his pronunciation of the word "siren" is a wonder to behold !!

I Want You Right Now is probably my favourite track of all....if ever there was a precursor to Heavy/Stoner Rock then this is it. Massive slabs of guitar.....desperate vocals....and the solid rumbling growling rhythm section make this a song to slowly nod your head off to !!

The final track on the album also shows their more experimental side....the first half of Starship is on the lines of what has gone before until it takes on an almost mystical quality....this is probably the hardest track to listen to on this album but repeat playings soon make it an old friend to be savoured along with the rest. If you get the chance to listen to any of the unofficially realised live stuff that's out there then you will come across some of their freeform stuff that makes the end of Starship sound like a Pop tune !!

There we have it......my words cannot really do this album justice...for that to happen you need to listen to it again and again and it will always reward you. It never ever fails to put a smile on my face and a spring in my step.

I hope that like myself you will be intrigued by this band and decide to find out more and discover the rest of their catalogue and rare live footage that has fortunately survived for us to marvel at and enjoy. A word of caution.....their 2nd album "Back In The USA", whilst full of great songs, may come as a bit of a shock after listening to their debut offering as the production on this is of the same gutless quality that spoils the first Clash album !!

Their 3rd and final "proper" album "High Time" is absolutely brilliant and features some tremendous songs that are well produced. 

The live stuff I spoke of is rather hit and miss....more miss actually...not from a playing or content point of view but simply due to the poor quality of most of the recordings. This is of course understandable given the equipment that was available and the likely state of anyone who may have been trying to record it !! The best is probably their gig at the Sturgis Armoury on 27th June 1968.....about 7/10 on sound quality but well worth a listen. An interesting cd covering their very earliest performances is '66 Breakout released by Total Energy....try putting yourself in the position of a member of the audience hearing Black To Comm in all its glory for the first time in the mid-60's !!

My final recommendation is a brilliant little book called "Kick Out The Jams" by Don McLeese ...one of the 33 1/3 series of books on albums published by Continuim....highly informative and interesting to read , this gives a good history of the band and the political and social climates of the time.....and of course an in depth look at their debut album.

There you have it.....if you've never heard the album I urge you to do so without delay....if you are already a convert then ....go and listen to it again...right now !!

Thanks Doug, this was a fucking amazing post!

Moon Curse - Spirit Remains

Moon Curse come stomping into the cosmos with their

first full length on Kozmik Artifactz.

The five song album clocks in at almost fifty minutes of skull crushing 

heavy grooves and guitars that summon the spirits of Norse gods 

when played at volume.

With clean vocals dripping in reverb throughout, these dudes play 

intricate passages that mange to keep your attention from wandering. Big 

hypnotic grooves give you a trip into the more psychedelic realms of doom

by riffing to an almost mantra like refrain that lodges deep into your cortex

fluids on a primal level to make your body slowly jerk and move to the

primitive and shamanistic tunes that have clearly been spawned by unclean

thoughts and in-pure impulses to damage people with slow, fuzzed

guitars and low-end tuning.

Monolithic is a phrase sometimes overused in this genre but I will make

an exception for Moon Curse. Huge sounding with killer refrains give this
band a massive edge over other bands within this genre. Wah fuzzed solos
fry your brains and scream through the air - this album will surely take some
 beating for pure doom and riffage this year.

Thanks to Kozmik Artifactz for sending me the promo.

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Bersærk - Mulm

Bersærk take the stoner template and stomp all over it with

a hardcore attitude giving you 9 tracks that start off fast and

furious and that do not stop until the end.

Hailing from Denmark, this has had the same effect on me when 

I first heard Kvelertak - jumping up and down with a stupid grin on 

my face.

This is dirty fucked up rock'n'roll at its best - Bersærk keep

the riffs rolling along at white knuckle speed, economical

solos stop anything getting too overblown or long, besides

they ain't got time for pointless fretboard wanking 'cause

here comes the next song, come on people, fucking jump

on board this express train of stomping rock, Bersærk

want to show you how this sort of thing should be done - 

in a genre that can be very boring in the wrong hands, this

album is a breath of fresh air."

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Grime Studio Update

Justin Curtsinger from the mighty band ZUD  is heavily involved with 
Grime Studios. If you are in the area or just wish to help a great cause, 
read below.

To all friends and supporters of Grime Studios,

While there has been a bit less online presence for the past month or two (from me at least), there have been a LOT of things going on behind the scenes with Grime.

First off, a donor who requested to remain anonymous, privately threw in $5000 towards the cause a few weeks ago (note that it does not appear on the current gofundme page).

Though this donor did indeed request to remain anonymous, one thing I will say about this guy is that though he has never been to Portland or even to Maine, he clearly recognizes that the ripple effects of Grime opening and doing it's thing, go way beyond our cute little city up here. No one knows what bands will be born at Grime over the next 20 years, but when considering the current roster of bands which are stuffed into the temporary Phase Zero rooms, not to mention those who were at the old building (both as Grime and even back through the "Prime days"), the possibilities are pretty infinite.

This donation has been floating the built out along, but make no mistake, this thing is not over. With this recent donation coupled with what has been raised on the gofundme page (linked below) Grime is still about $18k short of finishing construction and getting it's occupancy permit for the 20 new rooms which are being built. This is a LOT of money, but I want to remind anyone who may look at that number and skeptically roll their eyes how much less it is than $150k, which was the original goal a year ago. Over $110k has been raised since last October, mostly via means which do not include crowd funding.

I don't think that it's much of a secret that I do not believe these online fundraising things are very effective towards anything that does not include either alcohol, sex or some joke that happens to go viral and probably has something to do with some celebrity, but..... this thing is so close that it is at a point where every little bit REALLY DOES COUNT. www.grimestudios.com (currently redirects to the gofundme page)

Anyone with questions is always welcome to get in touch. Thanks to everyone who has supported and believed in this project, from the beginning and those who jumped on along the way. It has been a wild ride, through all kinds of turbulence, times of uncertainty and almost downright hopelessness, but this thing is almost clear for a safe landing. From that point on, things are looking pretty bright. The waiting list of bands waiting for the rooms to be finished is more than 50 deep and the landlord of the building continues to show a huge amount of enthusiasm towards the project and it's long term effects. For those who truly believe that Portland, Maine should have more to be proud of than it's restaurants and micro breweries Grime is what will turn this place into a real music town. But, without a place to rehearse, there is nothing to bring to a stage or to record later.

Please support and thank you.

Justin Curtsinger

grimestudiosportland@gmail.com

www.grimestudios.com

Doom Charts - November

And here we are again - a chance for a motley collection of bloggers
and writers to tell you which Doom/Stoner albums you should be
freaking out to.

Read our words of wisdom here - Doom Charts

Swamp Ritual - Ritual Rising

Oh yes indeedy - Swamp Ritual have delivered a thick, sonic brew
of stoner and doom which goes down a fucking treat. 

With riffs so catchy and groove-ridden that you want to start 

nodding instantly, the heaviness of the music makes sure that you do 

not forget the feeling of pervading creepiness that seeps through the songs. 

The clean vocals ensure the lyrics of the occult, drug worship and horror 

movies are heard and play an important part in establishing the 

atmospherics of this great album. Fuzz spreads its presence throughout 

(which of course is a good thing!) and combined with the general powerful 

and dark tones which the riffs are cranking out, make the tracks epic, 

majestic and crushing. 

Lead guitar is suitable distorted and has a psychedelic, stoned sound 

which just kills me. Mid-paced songs sit alongside slow burning prayers 

of destruction and due to the track order and song compositions, make

this a highly recommended album.

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Back from the dead.

After wandering the wilderness for over a year, I have finally 

passed enough levels at my hospital to be able to move up to the 

lofty position of Rehabilitation Assistant which means not only do 

I get to lay my hands on the crippled and lame and cure them, more 

importantly I am not doing fucking 12 hour shifts at weekends,

nights, public holidays etc but am returning to the more normal  

pattern of 8-4.00pm, Mon to Friday.

This means that I can again help you, the little people, 

in deciding which music you should be listening to.

I would like to thank the very generous Joop at
Stoner HiVe for letting me post my occasional rants about the
various albums that have kept me me going over the last year.
Check his site out - very generous reviews with a nice skewed
humour - very unlike my drunken, sweary shouty drivel!

And a hello to Lucas at You May Be Dead And Dreaming
who encouraged me to keep on blogging.