Three more albums we rather feel are worth your time, there’s always more albums, we are pciky about the albums we chooose to pick…
USA Nails – Feel Worse (OLI) – Some of this does sound kind of like they’ve got a sawn off shotgun up there in the bathroom, some of it sounds like a rather urgent washing machine that’s about to escape the moorings and take over the entire kitchen. They are relentless, perpetual, they’re probably not going to be keeping the country that clean, clean and yes it is cathartic entertainment. USA Nails are like a rather colourful rather relentless pack of dogs, relentless really is the word, cleverly relentless though, there has always been an impressive depth and it is here again with these new USA Nails pieces. Hang on, need a second, five seconds, six seconds, there’s something about this band that can’t ever easily be pinned down and is this really the London quartet’s sixth album? They still kind of feel like a new band. Feel Worse. is the first album on their new label One Little Independent and the washing machine is on concrete mixed mode right now with the title track. Six albums in and they’re sounding as fresh as ever (never did get their name though)
“The band have forged a considerable reputation since their formation in 2013 from their South London base, comprising of members of Kong, Future Of The Left, Blacklisters, Death Pedals and Silent Front. Feel Worse explores schadenfreude; the pleasure derived from another person’s misfortune. With this, they use new material to attack austerity and UK authoritarianism, consumer culture (particularly the consumption of quick fix reality TV and hyper-capitalist agendas), youth culture and bullying, and more. They do so with their intense and unmistakable brand of abrasive, chaotic post-hardcore. There’s a raw and uncompromising energy to USA Nails, and ‘Feel Worse’ is their most powerful and vital album to date”.
There is an argument that says all their releases have been kind of vital, they’ve never let off, they’ve never slowed down, there’s always squirrels in their water tank, they are sounding as powerful as ever, maybe even more so, intense, gloriously so, as vital as ever, squalor all alive, pigeons everywhere and that rhythm section is glorious. Here come another helicopter, what is the meaning of pleasure? What is the meaning of misfortune? Holiday Sea is a kind of respite, or maybe not, are things getting darker, Holiday Sea is Idles-like dark. Do like the way the way the way the way this is all flowing… Relentless.
High-energy crackles, telephone wires, count those seconds, new ave no wave punk rock, noise rock, whatever you want to call it, whatever makes you perspire or conspire, whatever the jostle for social positioning and the laughing together, do you like it? They changed the picture… And another and another and another, relentless. You know the score, you don’t need our words, this is 2024, there’s the linktree, there’s another, they are one of London’s vital bands, apparently they’ve been doing this since 2013, it doesn’t feel like it, relentless.
The Sex Organs -We’re Fucked (Voodoo Rhythm) – They’re either from Bern, Switzerland or Amsterdam, Netherlands, I guess it depends which of the two of them is playing at home, they don’t seem to like wearing their under garments and they’re a little careless with their dildo, they say they like to fuck around. What we have here is some kind of gloriously primitive delightfully fast, heads down race tou to the end garage punk rock ‘n roll orgy of of exactly what it says on the tin. The message that came with the link to their new album read something like this, “hey, I’m working with a Voodoo Rhythm Records band called The Sex Organs, who have a new album coming out next month. The new record is called We’re Fucked, a title that has a double meaning given they dress up as a penis and a vagina for their shows, plus with the state of the world. The band is a two-piece with Bone (from The Anomalys) on guitars/vocals and Jackie Torera (from The Jackets) on drums/vocals). Along with their debut, the band has released two singles on Voodoo Rhythm and their own Orgiastic label, and they have done multiple tours across Europe and Canada”.
So we have an orgy of not suitable for work proto garage punk tunes about fucking – nothing subtle, a bag load of attitude and whatever they bought in the sexshop (rather inspired shopping list they have there). The Sex Organs are a bit of a one trick pony, a kind of 60’s flavoured garage thing and hey, I guess someone had to do it themselves, they’re press person went on about Organs and what they’d do to get some coverage and well, you can work the rest of it out for yourselves. I;d say they were fun but punk rock is of course far too serious to just be fun and yeah, I’d take them up on their offer when next they’re in town, bring on The Sex Organs and their lubrication, they’re the sweetest cutest nicest… (sw)
Rated Eye – Rated Eye (Wax Donut) – A self titled debut album, all that time thinking about your first album and you can’t even come up with anything more that it being self titled? Gawd, even I know what my debut album will be called and I haven’t even got (or for that matter want to be in) a band! Come on, show some imagination, give you album a title, you’ve got some great lyrics. Their people talk of post-hardcore, math-rock, they kind of hint at Slint, Sicbay maybe, a touch of the good Captain Beefheart in their raw yet rather refined stew, a far from empty husk, a shell going straight to hell? A touch of early AC/DC (or ZZ Top) or maybe those Skingraft takes on AC/DC that people like US Maple came up with. They say there’s a whole lot of nothing, that is almost the first line, sounds like a whole lot of wholesome goodness from where I stand. Hang on, have they really got a singer called Albert Hall? Over here we’d be calling him Royal and going see the next Stravinsky Prom inside him. Question is will he ever get to play the Albert Hall? Okay, enough of this early hours of the morning flipancy, they may not have come up with a decent title for their debut album but this is good and it gets better with every play. I like their economy, i like there direct way of going all round the block in that way the crow flies to the ice cream parlour just to scream or a deer running straight into plateglass, glass, everything you ever wanted laid out there straight in front of you but it does’nt look too good. Hang on, let’s dip into the press release for some facts….
“Rated Eye, a dynamic musical ensemble comprising seasoned talents from various musical backgrounds, is proud to announce the release of their debut album “Rated Eye.” Featuring John Roman (Microwaves, ex Night Vapor) on drums, Albert Hall on vocals (ex-Night Vapor), Anthony Ambroso on guitar, and Dan Tomko on bass, Rated Eye delivers a captivating blend of classic hard rock, New York no wave, jazz, and proto-punk
The genesis of Rated Eye traces back to a chance encounter between John Roman and Anthony Ambroso. “John reached out to me and we got coffee. I checked out their earlier work with Microwaves, Brown Angel, The 1985, and Night Vapor, so I knew where they were coming from and thought it might make for good chemistry.”- Anthony reflects on the band’s origins.
With each member hailing from diverse musical backgrounds, the creative dynamics within Rated Eye is nothing short of remarkable. Anthony sheds light on their collaborative process, sharing, “The writing process is very collaborative. The longer we play together, the better we get at communicating our ideas and writing songs that play to our strengths.”
Albert Hall, the band’s vocalist, reflects on the creative journey of “Rated Eye,” stating, “Writing this album felt great. From projecting what the Earth will be like for the next billion years, to the catharsis of writing about living with body dysmorphia, to the conflict between man and nature when a deer runs straight through the front window of a bank, it was a very rewarding experience.”
Drawing inspiration from a wide array of influences, including jazz legends like Miles Davis and rock pioneers like Black Sabbath, Rated Eye infuses their music with rich thematic depth. “High-level expressive improvisation and swinging cross-rhythms are two things I wish I heard more often in rock and heavy music.” – remarks Anthony. “So I make an effort to include those elements in music that I make.”
The recording process for band’s self-titled debut LP was a testament to divine intervention. “The studio we used is a little spot on the second floor of a community center, and funds to build the studio were donated by a Pittsburgh entrepreneur Professor Amos,” Anthony recounts. “A few years ago, God spoke to him and told him to build a recording studio in this building, and he did so, paying for all the renovation and gear with no strings attached.”
Band’s self-titled debut explores a myriad of themes, with Albert Hall’s introspective lyrics delving into childhood reminiscences and personal emotions. The album resonates with authenticity and raw emotion, inviting music enthusiasts and aficionados alike to experience the sonic tapestry of Rated Eye”
So you’ve got the background, you’ve got some information, they kind of sound like just another of those Slinty Shellac, Big’n type bands of which there were far too many back there but then you start to let them dig a little more into your head and the band from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania really do start to make an impression, the gnawly colour starts to crawl out from beneath those big riffs, their musical personality, their own identity, their own golden goose starts to emerge from out of the pig sty. The more you play it, the more you find, they might not get you at first but give them time…
Rated Eye’s self-titled debut LP is coming out this May 10th via Wax Donut Records. Here’s the Bandcamp
THE ORGAN 