Wire - Just Wire or maybe Harpooned

In 1977 .......

And In 2015

Wire is the band I admired a lot especially in the late 80's and early 90's, Started in 1976 as the raucous punk rock group with their first eponymic record "Pink Flag" (Harvet, SHSP 4076), but soon they developed their own music style, full of multilayered structures built on sophisticated sounds with greater use of guitar effects and synthesizers.Their masterpieces were albuns "The Ideal Copy" (from 1987, Mute STUMM 42), "A Bell Is A Cup ... Until It Is Struck" (from 1988, Mute STUMM 54) and "It's Beginning To And Back Again" (from 1989, Mute STUMM 66). The personell responsible for these records were : Colin Newman (vocals, guitar), Graham Lewis (bass, vocals), Bruce Gilbert (guitar) and Robert Gotobed alias Grey (drums). But the assumpt for this post is the brand new album by Wire which was released in April 2015. It's titled just simply "Wire" (Pinkflag - PF22). There was one change in band's line-up, Bruce Gilbert was replaced by Matthew Simms, a very talented young guitarist from London. In my opinion, this album's highest point is its last track named "Harpooned", an almost nine minutes long, vastly athmospheric, hypnotic, drowned in a shrill melancholy.

Varsovia - Postcard from Peru

Quite an unusual stuff for this post. I must say that I have been observing Peruvian indiependent music scene for more than thirty years and I discovered many interesting musicians and bands throughout this time. One of these projects is Varsovia, trio from Lima, the capitol town of Peru. Its members : Sheri Corleone (vocals, guitars), Fernando Pinzas (keyboards, guitar) and Dante Gonzalez (keyboards) formed this band in mid 2011 and were performing mainly in their hometown area. They also recorded some tracks and collected them on their debut album „Recursos Inhumanos” (Buh Records – BR65) which was released on 11th November 2014. The sound they create may be decribed as synth punk or noise wave, it’s very ecclective and stepping into various musical territories. More info on their Facebook page : https://es-es.facebook.com/varsoviasynth

 

Hanoi Rocks - Rock'n"Roll Divorce

Today’s post is a reminiscence of Finnish export rock band  Hanoi Rocks.  Formed  in  Helsinki,  Finland in 1979 by Micheal Monroe ( Matti Fagerholm, vocals, saxophone ) and his friends Andy McCoy ( Antti Hulkko, guitars ), Nasty Suicide ( Jan Stenfors, guitars ), Sammi Yaffa ( Sami Takamaki, bass ). Last addition to them was Gipsy Casino ( Jesper Sporre, drums ) who joined the band in Stockholm in 1980. After some hard time when they struggled due to lack money or contract with record company finally in 1981 they released their first full-length album “Bangkok Shocks, Saigon Shakes, Hanoi Rocks”. In the meantime they were touring extensively all over Finland and Sweden. By 1982 they moved to London and released albums “Oriental Beat” and “Self Destruction Blues”. Then Razzle ( Nick Dingley, drums ) replaced Gipsy Casino and it was beginning of their worldwide career. Following two studio albums “Back To Mystery City”, “Two Steps From The Move” and a lived album “All Those Wasted Years” were well accepted and sold in million copies all over the world. The band went on tours in Japan, mainland Asia (India, HongKong, Vietnam) and Europe ( UK, Norway, Sweden, native Finland ). But gigs in America in 1984 seemed to be their breakthrough tour. They played west coast in November and looked for Los Angeles shows which were all sold out in less than half an hour. But then came the tragic death of Razzle in a car accident nearby Redondo Beach, California. Tour dates were cancelled, the worldwide success passed them by. Hanoi Rocks disbanded next year after the short tour in Poland with Terry Chimes (ex-The Clash)on drums. Their last concert in Poznań, Poland in May’85 was recorded and released as a live album titled “Rock’n’roll Divorce”. The band was reactivated in 2003 by Michael Monroe and Andy McCoy, released next two albums, made some gigs and finally came to an end in 2009. In conclusion, I recommend to watch and listen to live versions of their classic songs recorded in Poland in 1985. Personally I saw one of their last concerts, I must say that was truly great show.

 

Jack Off Jill - My Cat

It might be said that Florida based band Jack Off Jill was an American response for a British punk rock revivals Daisy Chainsaw. We can see clearly quite a lot similarities between these groups, especially their female vocalists used the same kind of scenic expression. 

 

Daisy Chainsaw - Last True Rebels

Trudno zdefiniować jednym zdaniem jaką muzykę tworzył zespół Daisy Chainsaw. Określano ją jako punk rock, garage rock, noise rock z elementami folku i muzyki eksperymentalnej. Zespół stworzyli w 1989 roku Katie Jane Garside ( vocals ) oraz Crispin Gray ( guitars ), a owocem ich spotkania był album "Eleventeen" oraz single "LoveSickPleasure", "Pink Flower", "Hope Your Dreams Come True", które osiągnęły umiarkowany sukces na listach przebojów. Do historii przeszły natomiast ich ekspresyjne, dzikie koncerty, ocierające się o szaleństwo. Katie Jane Garside opuściła Gray'a w 1993 roku, a zespół z nową wokalistką w osobie Belindy Leith wydał jeszcze jeden album "For They Know Not What They Do" z 1994 roku uzupełniony singlem "You're Grousome" z 1995 roku, które jednak były mało udane i przeszły niezauważone. Konkludując, polecam do oglądnięcia i posłuchania trzy utwory zespołu w składzie z Garside : 

Daisy Chainsaw - Love Your Money

Daisy Chainsaw - Pink Flower 

Daisy Chainsaw - Hope Your Dreams Come True

P.S. Katie Jane Garside i Crispin Gray utworzyli w 1998 roku zespół Queen Adreena, który do 2009 wydał kilka albumów i szereg singli, udanie również koncertując. Obecnie Katie Jane Garside mieszka wraz ze swoim mężem Chrisem Wittinghamem i ich dziećmi na łodzi, którą w 2012 roku przepłynęli Atlantyk. Jednocześnie wraz z mężem nagrała trzy albumy pod nazwą Ruby Throat.

Ruby Throat - Barebaiting

It’s hard to describe what kind of music was created by english band Daisy Chainsaw. It could be classified as punk rock, garage rock, noise rock with elements of folk and experimental music, etc. Daisy Chainsaw came to life in 1989 when Katie Jane Garside (vocals) met Crispin Gray (guitars). The result of their meeting was one full-length album "Eleventeen" and several singles "LoveSickPleasure", "Pink Flower", "Hope Your Dreams Come True", which achieved moderate success on UK hit charts. But they were notorious mainly of their wild concerts which touching madness. Katie Jane Garside left Gray in 1993, and the band with a new singer in the person of Belinda Leith released another album, "For They Know Not What They Do" in 1994 and another single "You're Grousome" in 1995, however they were gone completely unnoticed.

Manufactured Romance - You

Today we come back to the punk era. One of the most energetic bands of those creating the second wave of punk in the late 70's was London based group Manufactured Romance. Formed in 1978 as Fourth Reich, soon they changed their name to Manufactured Romance. The band lineup was : Nina Spencer (vocals), Nick Medlin (bass), Mark Chapman (guitar), Bob Moore (guitar) and Benny Di Massa (drums). Although they were active in years 1979 - 1982 they released only one single "Time Of My Life"/"Room To Breathe" (Fresh Records, FRESH 016, 1980) and two more their songs "You"/"Long Distance Love" were featured on compilation "Back Stage Pass" (Supermusic Records Co, 1980). Worth to mention fact is that album was also released in Poland in 1985 and achieved some kind of success. In all these years they were frequently supporting UK Subs on their tours, as also they appeared in film "Punk Can Take It". After Bob and Benny split from the band in 1982 and Nina had serious health problems it seemed that Manufactured Romance became history. However, when Nina restored to health in 1983 they reformed once more but they only managed to record several new tracks, as also make some gigs under the name "Foreign Flags". The band reunited in 2008 and released on Jungle Records a CD titled "Time Of My Life" containing all their songs, both from studio sessions, as well live tracks (album's tracklist : "Chameleon", "Deja Vu", "You", "Time Of My Life". "Easy", "Long Distant Love", "Twist The Day", "When You Said", "Criminal Mind").