A bumper crop on the album review page this time. Here for your perusal is the new CD boxset of the first five and ‘most commercially successful years of Punk legends the UK Subs.’ The ‘strange and complex sonics’ of Plan Pony. The Garage Freak Outs of The Best of Rebels Volume Five. The ‘haze of purring synths and spacious beats’ from Rosie Tee. The ‘silvery motorik beats and driving harmonies’ of Corridor and the ‘ sample-a-delic, jazzy hydroponic pop delight’ of Tibshelf. Read what we thought below…
UK Subs – The Albums 1979-1982
The UK Subs have been playing their straightforward punk rock for the best part of fifty years and have released an alphabetical series of twenty six albums and dozens of singles. They’ve been in the charts, on top of the tops, toured everywhere and are still going now, I saw them in Coventry a month or so ago. This is the first five albums, four studio and one live, in a nice little CD box set. Any punk worth his or her chops already has these so this is more of a replacement for those scratched old records to play in the car than an essential release. Having said that, these are the best albums that Charlie Harper made as the UK Subs. Bluesy Punk Rock, simple and clear, ready to be danced to, punched around at and shouted along to for years to come. Highlights are the singles, Warhead easily being the best song they ever did. Low points are the live album, pissed up and sweary just rough as old boots and less appealing. As I said, you’ve probably already got these records but if not or you just like the whole box set thing, then this is for you.
Plan Pony – Electric Swampland Home
Cruel Nature
This is strange, and yes if I’m saying it’s strange then it must be bloody odd. In my head it goes from being drunk underwater to walking through a haunted village in Asia then you are inserted into an old eight bit computer game before heading underwater again, hungover this time. This segues into a bubbly, wonky madly groovy track which then moves to lying in a quiet meadow by the sea at midnight. The last two tracks are in turn weird and dark then high crackly and sunny. I’d like to pause here and say that all this is what’s in my head when I listen, yours may be slightly different, or indeed totally opposed to my view. That’s what music’s for, to move your headspace around and this release does it brilliantly.
Freak Yer Ears Out! (The Best Of Rebels Volume 5)
Raving Pop Blast
This is volume five of the Rebels series, a modern day take on the Pebbles or Nuggets series. The cat who puts these together has both earned his chops playing all round the world and by championing bands and music worth listening to and having scathing words for those he doesn’t, and for God’s sake don’t mention Record Store Day!! Anyway, for your money you get a gorgeous thick slice of yellow vinyl, a matt finished sleeve and sixteen tracks of groovy garage goodness. There is excellent fuzziness, blues rock stomping, twangy rockabilly, dog rough cowpunk, distorted psych outs and trebly hip swinging, just an ace collection of goodness really. Plus all the profits go to charity so really, it’s one to buy, trust me.
Rosie Tee – Night Creature
This is a record to listen to in the dark, alongside all of your friends, scattered across the countryside or city streets calling to each other, running around and shouting boo behind someone, watching the shadows take shape and send chills down your spine like a dose of cold water and listening to the chaos of nature in the night living and dying around you. It circles and waves, it calls up images of hedgerows in chaos, the sounds of jazz mix with slow delicate beats and it all comes together into a shadowy ode to the hours of darkness. But what distinguishes it from the usual is Rosie’s beautiful voice, conjuring up images that are different for everyone. I wish I’d made the launch party but life got in the way. Next time.
Empty House – Bluestone
Cruel Nature
This sounds old. Fragile, brittle and delicate old, like a dried bone or a shard of desiccated soil. It feels old like folk tales and shadows in the woods, forgotten lost things and dark corners. It’s warm in places as the music shelters by a crackling fire but more often it’s invoking the antlered man on the moor. An enveloping, ancient feeling piece of music.
Corridor – Mimi
Sub Pop
This album is bright, reflective and dazzling. The production is shiny with just a touch of grit thrown in for good measure. The vocals are soft, laid back, in French and perfect. The music is electronics based and goes from circular synth patterns to angular slices of guitar. It feels warm and welcoming and will both comfort and lift you up.
Tibshelf – In The Ellington Conception
Cruel Nature
This is all about repetition and taking sounds as far as you can, the chaotic squeeze box and trumpet on the first track settles you in gently. It’s not loud and nasty but it’s definitely got an anarchic edge in that nothing is set in stone, there are no rules and the music goes where it wants to. You can almost see Tibshelf shrugging as the sound takes on an entirely different direction yet again. When it hits though, you will find yourself dancing while asking, what the fuck is that vocal sample?
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UK Subs website is uksubs.keekmerch.com, they are on Facebook, Instagram and X as @UKSubs.
Plan Pony is on Instagram.
Empty House can be found on Bandcamp.
Corridor are on Bandcamp, Instagram, Facebook and X as @corridormtl.
Tibshelf are on Bandcamp
Rosie Tee’s website is rosietee.uk, she is also on Instagram, Bandcamp, Facebook and X as @rosieteeuk.
Raving Pop Blast! are on Bandcamp and Facebook.
Cruel Nature are on Bandcamp, Facebook, Instagram and X as @CruelNature
Captain Oi!’s website is captainoi.com, they are also on Facebook.
All words by Adrian Bloxham
