The Forty Fives @ The Borderline, London on 30th August

Playing frantic RnB with a nod to UK influences - the set included covers of "Midnight to Six", "Daddy Rolling Stone" and "Shake" via the Pretty Things, Who and Small Faces - the Forty-Fives had a modest crowd jumping at the Borderline on Monday night. It's always a good sign when members of a band give so much that fifteen minutes into a set their shirts are drenched in sweat and which made this show yet another example of why Americans make so many UK bands seem so lifeless. Warning: These guys play loud and fast, obviously enjoy what they are doing, and are not afraid to give any girls in the audience the come-on. Which all sounds like a healthy way of approaching RnR to me and one that harks back to the original template as developed by Elvis, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis et al. Playing a selection of tunes from their three discs, other characteristics of the Forty-Fives approach included Keith Moon / Kenny Jones style drumming, a Rickenbacker guitar played like an electric guitar and not a "Mod banjo", and keyboards that went from Remains-like electric piano tinkling to cheesy Farfisa. Together with killer hooks and a positive attitude to getting up on a stage it all added up to one hell of an evening. The Borderline appears to be booking Yep Roc acts of late, SCOTS played last month, with said acts making shorting tours of the UK and Holland. Far be it for me to suggest that this arrangement might be of interest to the Fleshtones should they wish to stop moaning that everyone still hates them in England.

I can upload from here but not from home... bloody typical...

It was "old home week" yesterday as END OF THE CENTURY hit the Edinburgh Film Festival for the second screening in two days. The first was at the UGC Megaplex on Friday night but this one was at The Cameo, a much more suitable venue by far. It was good to see so many familiar faces there and it'd have been even better if they'd sprung to bring the guys that made the film but that's another can of worms entirely.

Both screenings were sold out and the reaction to the digi-beta version of the doc was very favourable. The sound was a little gubbed in places and some of the images were a tad pixelated but those things didn't detract from the overall experience. Overhauled to include more Joe, I think that they could add at least another hour. The early stuff is exhaustive but the later years are covered in less detail. There are some people who I'd have liked to have seen in the film - Andy Shernoff, Handsome Dick, Kevin Patrick, Sam Elwitt etc. that didn't seem to be involved at all but Monte Melnick is on hand as is Arturo Vega and the absolute best bit for me is when an old neighbourhood friend of Joe's, Mark Rafin (Ralin?) does an impromptu impersonation of our departed friend. Utter magic.

All of the stuff that's being made about John looking like a real bastard is somewhat overblown. In contrast, I think he's being very candid and real, just being himself. I don't think anybody can prosecute him for that. The conflict between he and Joey made the band dynamic. Add Dee Dee to that stew and who was pounding the tubs becomes totally irrelevant. Tommy's contribution illustrates that he has and had a lot of sense, he didn't get caught up in the maelstrom. Not really. This and RAMONES RAW should provide enough for anybody who went nuts over the brudders and then some. There can never be their like again and maybe that's not an altogether bad thing.

EOTC is mandatory viewing then, Mike Gramaglia and Jim Fields did a great job in the face of untold adversity. They've made a heckuva deposit in the karma bank and if they gave out medals for service in the punk rock wars then these guys would be in the running for more than 3 purple hearts.

News just in from Cap'n Eugene himsel' - REZILLOS playing at London Astoria, December 4th.

In a Lindsay-like turn of events I lost all mail send to me on Friday 27th. Whatever you said, say it again...

Whatever people find attractive about picture-discs is beyond me, but this one really should win prizes for being ugly to the point that it actually hurts to look at. Yes dear readers, the new Nitwitz 10" EP is out and ready to scare away prospective buyers. Too bad, 'cause the sounds included are up to the band's usual high standards. If, like me, you've long lost track of the several dozen line-up changes within' the Nitwitz, rest assured that the Slugman's signature is easily recognisable in all four tunes, 'cause no matter who else is involved it remains his band. Riff heavy as always, all songs are winners, but for me 'Nuke Rock City' (co-written with Turbonegro's Happy Tom) tops the lot, pounding to the point of bein' almost glamrock-ish, this should help 'm sell at least another dozen copies. 'Cause if this thing gets the same kinda distribution as previous Nitwitz wax, all I can say is "happy hunting".
(BTW: Anybody out there able to land me a copy of the N's split 10" w/ Holy Sheep?).

Laura Cantrell's Edinburgh show t'other night was a big success and featured a wad of new material that will grace the third album (to appear sometime in 2005). The audience was attentive and the sound, first class. It was a rare treat not to have to listen to chattering gimps who seem to attend shows these days to have a chin wag. Among the fresh produce showcased was L's breeze through Emily Spray's "14th Street", destined to become a classic. A number entitled "Khaki and Corduroy" didn't slouch none either. The event was recorded for broadcast by the BBC so I'll keep you posted on when to expect that. The night ended on a highpoint with Amy Allison joining them onstage for "The Whiskey Makes You Sweeter" during the encores. Not a dry seat left in the house mateys...

Paris festival (at a club called La Maroquinerie) that looks very promising:
Thursday Oct. 21: THE DOWNLINERS SECT (U.K.), THE BLUESKINS (U.K.) tbc, THE DEFECTORS (DK) tbc, THE JESSICA FLETCHERS (N) (tbc).
Friday Oct. 22: THE BARRACUDAS + special guest Chris Wilson (U.K.), NIC ARMSTRONG (U.K.), HUSH PUPPIES (F).
Saturday Oct. 23: THE CHESTERFIELD KINGS (USA), THE NOMADS (S), DENISE JAMES (USA).
(with thanks to Nick Vahlberg for the info)

Limited edition 10" of the Blasters Trouble Bound? Only 1000 copies, available from RAUCOUS.

I know there's people out there into Elvis Sightings, but we here at NBT keep an eye out for H.D. Manitoba, who is alive and well livin' in N.Y.C. and last seen at the opening of 'End Of The Century'.
On a related note: the film's directors, Michael Gramaglia and Jim Fields were interviewed by Dave The Spazz on WMFU alongside original Ramones manager Danny Fields. And there's yet another review of the film in the New York Press.

Announcer who coined the expression, "Elvis has left the building" leaves the building.

Last night’s schlep into Edinburgh for the Film Fest was actually worth the effort. While the event itself seems like something of a damp squib, the documentary “I LIKE KILLING FLIES” was an absolute gem. It’s about a restaurant in NY called SHOPSIN’S which was in the process of losing it’s lease and relocating at the time of filming. This is no ordinary joint though, with 900 items + on the menu and a full set of rules, Shopsin’s is the kind of neighbourhood place that could only really exist in New York. The owner, Kenny Shopsin looks like Michael Moore going to a Halloween Party as Jack Osborne. He rules the roost and cusses everything in his path like a culinary Lou Reed dishing out barrack room philosophies as he goes. The term “character” doesn’t exactly sum this guy up but somewhere deep inside he’s a top humanist. “…FLIES” is a fine piece of cine, it’ll hit the spot guaranteed and I defy anybody who sees it not to want to find a table there straight away. At one point in the movie, Kenny’s daughter Minda is wearing a Rezillos T-shirt. This place certainly rocks and do what you can to see this. Kudos then to the person who brought this one to the table. This is the person who should be running the festival. Check out this New Yorker article and finally the piece de nae resistance, the MENU!

The soundtrack for Victory Tischler-Blue's 'Edgeplay/A Film About The Runaways' is available now from Hip-O Records. According to the press blurb the movie itself has been on the festival circuit since June 29, but after diggin' around a bit I didn't notice more then a couple of screenings in California. What is obviously needed is more a full scale distribution or DVD release. Anybody out there in the know?. (A short review of sorts can be found here). with thanks to SJ Bink for the initial waypoint.

From The Dirty Water Club in London...

"A leading fashion magazine is putting together a music issue and have asked for some photos to illustrate an article on Dirty Water. What we need are photos of you people looking cool and groovy. All the pictures I have are taken digitally for the website and so the resolution isn't high enough. If you have anything scanned please send it to us at this address, 10cm wide at 300dpi, either colour or b&w. Let us know which, if any, name should be used as a credit. Thanks."

If you got 'em, contact info@dirtywaterclub.com

If you're not sick to the teeth of Randall's Island reviews by now, check out this one.

What do you reckon to this 3 band bill carry on then? Hardly anybody has just an opener and headliner anymore. Any more than 2 acts should constitute a "festival". The headliner should do the middle spot because attention spans are way on the slide before the last act comes on these days. Hanging about is pish. At my late stage in these life proceedings I don't want to be standing like i'm waiting for a bus. This is especially annoying when the band or act in question has entirely nothing in common with the main attraction. Whilst I applaud the fact that The Strokes took Stereototal on tour a while back, what could they think that their boneheided following would make of something so outright great. Their reception had to be hostile because they're like oil and water. I like the idea of 10 - 20 minute sets too. How many time have you seen something recently that just doesn't cut it over that? Too fucking often in my case mateys. So let's hear what you think, let's use this comments facility? Life is short and filled with stuff as the great bard Lux of Interior said. So let's cut to the chase. Always.

Caught the 5678's in Barfly, Glasgow last night. Between Tarantino and the Carling ad, the Tokoyo trio has attracted a jam packed to the point of stowed crowd. These shows were booked before the hysteria started and could quite easily have been moved but the deal was honoured. Had to catch a train back so we only caught half the set but their organic to the point of shambling take on this stuff we call rock and roll is pretty intoxicating when they get going. The momentum kind of slips with lengthy between song breaks but if they ever get it together to blast a Ramones type segued set then we're in trouble. I hope this audience will learn from their brush with this and that at least some of them will catch the sickness that the band's records are steeped in. As it is, leaving early on a "school night", did no chuffing good whatsoever as I didn't hear the alarm this morning. This music is evidently a bad influence and it made me skip work today, that - as much as anything, must mean that they're doing something right.

Show openers OBE were woeful. Imagine Franz Ferdinand fronted by one of the Farm to create some kind of baggy, angular take on The Music or that ilk of awful faux cacophonous twaddle. Next up were The Needles from Aberdeen who whilst I don't mind them, they weren't exactly appropriate for the occasion either. What was appropriate though was Neil MacInnes between song disc spinning. I need to find out when his club night is on and post some info on that. If you're in Glasgow to coincide then that'd deffo be worth catching.

A quick update for alla you Dutch readers:
Local heroes the Stilettos have a new LP out soon on Sounds Of Subterrania (CD version later from Stardumb).

Some dates:
Thu 26: Forty-Fives (Utrecht).
Sat 28: The Yum Yums and Ghetto Ways (Rotterdam).
Sat 28: Saints and Green Hornet (Amsterdam).
Mon 30: Ghetto Ways (Amsterdam).

DTK/MC5 at the Paradiso, Amsterdam.
It was close call but I nearly missed this one. But as it is, I made it to the Paradiso in record time by bus, train and taxi. And was it ever worth the bother!.
I missed the first part and came in durin' 'Call Me Animal', havin' seen the 'A True Testimonial' film I didn't need to adjust to Five's current looks and only had to wonder if the hippy guy on stage was or wasn't Evan Dando (he wasn't). The sound was great from where I was standing, and there's obviously no complainin' as far as the songs go; 'Lookin' At You', 'Shakin' Street', you name it. The addition of Nicky Royale was a cool move, he really took songs like 'American Ruse' and 'Gotta Keep Movin'' to another level. Excuse the incoherence here, but the adrenaline is still flowin' as I'm writin' this. 'I Believe To My Soul', 'I'm The Man For You Baby', 'Highschool' and even 'Starship' were beyond believe. Kramer, Thompson and Davis deserve all the credits due to 'm and more.
At one point I realized I was standing next to Lisa Kekaula, who is to join the band for the next leg of the tour, she was groovin', almost casually, to the band, applauding', singin' along, and suddenly I got a hunch that you Brits might be in luck gettin' to see her on stage in the next few days (and this comin' from someone who can't stand the Bell-Rays!).
OK, I really gotta go get some sleep. Final note: got to see the Forty-Fives in the upstairs bar afterwards and they rocked!. They're tourin' Euroland right now, and you owe it to yourself to go 'n check 'm out.