This time Fighting Boredom bring you three EPs and an album. You get the ‘Inner city psycho-delia’ of The Rollocks who say they are ‘a little bit hairy, a little bit lairy (a tiny bit fairy…)’. The ‘Post Punk Electro Filth’ of Das Fluff. The ‘Dynamic, Anthemic, Solid, Punky Rock n Roll’ of Thee Acid Tongue and the ‘Brash, boisterous antithesis of ‘chill” that is Wave of Sheep.
The Rollocks – Up The Rollocks EP
The Rollocks look like Johnny Thunders, that isn’t a problem, everyone should make more of an effort to look like Johnny Thunders, I certainly did when I was their age. However they don’t sound much like Thunders, they sound like a fuzzy, bass driven swinging guitar grooving monster, spoiling for a fight and swigging whiskey. They sound like rock’n’roll always has, like they give a damn about stuff you haven’t even thought of, like they have forgotten what sunshine feels like and burning the candle at both ends is a way of life.
I’m not calling them wasters, I’m calling them kids, and the attitude is admirable.
The vocal echoes Grace Slick in it’s ethereal strangeness and when it slips into the strong nasty growl it’s harsher and cooler than anything that hippy chick did. I like the post hardcore flicks, the calmer grooves and the post punk grooves of the first three songs. The New Wave of British Heavy Metal infused chug and distortion of Diamonds in the Wax take it up a notch. The loud, quiet, loud vibe makes it even better. This lot know subtlety and class.
Yo’ Mama gives you massive wobbly psychedelic guitars lazily growing and a hugely confident female centric song then at almost five minutes in it welds itself onto a massive grunge stoner groove, then I Need Somebody is a slow measured boogie oozing sensual attitude.
I want more, and I want it now, an excellent EP.
Das Fluff – Screaming Dawn
This is filthy, sleazy and lost, electronics dripping with sweat, lust and neon, a voice that sounds both seductive, desperate and terrifyingly angry. It’s what’s playing as the rubble burns, when the water rises and the sun fades. It’s the music that plays as the dancing goes on even when hope fades, is glamorous but lost and tarnished. Brilliant but flawed completely. Open the curtains onto the night, watch the moon explode and the tides wash over it all as the Dawn screams.
Thee Acid Tongue – Kinky Liquorice
This is what happens when you have been a punk since the beginning, you carry on making music, ace music that spins out from all the punk, glam, stomping loveliness you’ve watched and absorbed and you produce great releases like this. This is as much the spirit of 76 as the feeling of being thrown around at the front of an Idles gig. It’s adrenalin fueled gravelly noisy singing and guitar and a rock solid backbeat and bass holding it all together. The burp at the start of Monkey at Sea is perfect but the best track is Lorraine, all yearning, lost love, hope and despair, brilliant vocals from Tracey too.
This is well worth a punt, an ace addition to your collection.
Wave of Sheep – How Much
Someone told me that someone else was in a band and I should listen to it. Like I’ve never heard that one before. But every fifteen bands that are just a bit meh, there’s a brilliant slice of old school punk battering taking the piss out of everything they are doing and being suitably scathing about their world. Not your world, they don’t give a toss about you. This is what they shout at each other about at the pub. The lack of work and where they have to go to get it. The brummie mechanic condemning your car over another bloody MOT, the age old nothings fucking open on a Sunday and a vaguely serious song about liars and getting caught out. These kids are just doing what they want and getting people to jump around and shout at them while they do it. Two of my mates saw them supporting some band and ended up buying tee shirts. A great little EP.
The Rollocks’ website is the-rollocks.com they are on Facebook.
Das Fluff’s website is dasfluff.com they are on Facebook, Bandcamp, Instagram and X as @DasFluffTwit
Thee Acid Tongue are on Facebook, Instagram and Bandcamp.
Wave of Sheep are on Facebook and Bandcamp.
All words by Adrian Bloxham.
