The Barracudas “Mean Time”
Trente ans déjà … Une réédition historique pour deux raisons : – La mutation du gang surf-punk-sixties en orchestre classieux et élégant. Virés de chez EMI, ils renaissent donc en 1983, suite à la rencontre avec Chris Wilson, légende vivante ex Loose Gravel et Flamin’ Groovies 2eme formule. Un album parfait, intemporel, qui ne comprend que des originaux, à l’exception de “I Ain’t No Miracle Worker”, reprise d’un obscur combo sixties,The Brogues, immortalisée dans la compil’ “Nuggets”. – La renaissance , trente ans après, du label “Closer”, qui avait su prendre à l’époque le risque de sortir cet album en exclusivité mondiale. Closer ressort aujourd’hui, en version “picture-disc” collector, ce fameux “Meantime”. Vous n’êtes pas venus sur le site de Closer par hasard … Dépêchez vous avant la rupture de stock !…
Thirty years already… An historical reissue, for two reasons: – The mutation of a surf-punk-sixties gang into a classy and elegant band. Fired from EMI, they do reborn in 1983, having crossed Chris Wilson’s pathway, the ex Loose Gravel and Flamin ‘ Groovies (Mk 2) living legend. A perfect and timeless album, including only originals, with the exception of ” I Ain’ t No Miracle Worker “, from The Brogues, a dark sixties combo of “Nuggets” ‘ fame. – The revival, thirty years later, of the “Closer” label, which at that time had handed the risk of issuing this album as a world exclusivity. Closer has today re-issued this famous “Meantime” in a ” picture-disc ” collector’s version. You did not visit Closer’s website accidentally … Get it while stocks last !
http://shop.closerrecords.fr/fr/vinyle/11-the-barracudas-mean-time.html
Album en édition limité
"POIZNED HEART"
9 titres sur un disque vinyle purple !!!
LP 9 titres et CD 9 titres + 6 titres (cession enregistrée avec Chris Bailey)
"the devil’s never late"
6ème album
"The men who take sweetbread to a funeral"
8 ème album
LP et CD 11 titres
Chers adhérent(e)s, chers ami(e)s,
Il arrive enfin après de nombreux rebondissements.
Eh oui, le live des Saints.
Pour ceux qui ont fait des précommandes, désolé pour ce très long retard et toutes nos sincères excuses.
Merci de votre patience, ainsi que votre soutien à travers les événements survenus.
Pour ceux qui ont changé d’adresse, merci de nous transmettre vos nouvelles coordonnées afin de vous envoyer votre commande à bon port.
Musicalement
Closer Records
Tote Bags et T-shirt CLOSER toujours disponibles.
"Out of the Bayou" 2ème album
Album enregistré en 7 jours, du pur son 100% analogique, Roccio et
Matt Verta-Ray aux commandes pour 10 titres (+2 sur la version CD)
qui sortent le groupe du Bayou et l’amène à un son beaucoup plus
urbain. Les trajets matins et soirs du fin fond du Bronx à Lower East
side en guide d’inspiration, mais aussi une influence un peu plus
punk, plus brute que sur le premier LP. Un album avec uniquement
des compositions, des tranches de vies : de la pandémie aux
différents enjeux politiques ou climatiques, mais aussi des
introspections plus personnelles.
Quartet, 4 musiciens- NO Jazz, qui font du Rock.
Si les 4 protagonistes se connaissent depuis des lustres, ils n'avaient jusqu'en 2018, jamais joué ensemble. De leurs formations antérieures (ELEKTROLUX, THE HOLY CURSE, KEITH RICHARDS OVERDOSE, MOCKERS…), ils conservent et partagent une expérience de la scène et un goût pour un rock de haute énergie qui s'offre sans fard. Leur musique est frottée à tant d'influences qu'elle est devenue un être propre.
Du rock, le NO JAZZ QUARTET prend l'expression directe, qui parfois emprunte des chemins sinueux, pour le plaisir, mais sans jamais se perdre complètement. Les tempos démarrent lentement puis s'accélèrent, trouvent toujours leur rythme de croisière. Les deux guitares qui parlent des langues différentes dialoguent pourtant volontiers, tout comme les deux chanteurs dont les voix parfois s'entremêlent.
Après s’être enfermés de longues sessions durant au Local 54 à Marseille sous la houlette exigeante de Jearc, le maître des lieux, le NO JAZZ QUARTET est en mesure de vous présenter « You’re gonna leave the building soon », son premier album produit par l’historique label CLOSER Records.
Rock !Épisode Zéro :
Années 2.0. Le duo electro-pop LADY GODIVA : Tallulah X et Krees D. (ex-Nitrate) livre une cascade de hits potentiels en deux albums dont un titre, "September" sera charté outre-manche classé entre Blur et Oasis dans les charts indies ! Le tandem est rejoint sur scène par Mekanikman (ex-Nitrate lui aussi). Malgré des promesses porteuses et d’indéniables qualités, Lady Godiva mettra accidentellement fin à ses activités…
Saison 1 :
Années 2.1. Pas question de stagner… Que nenni ! La musique constitue l’ADN propre à ce couple sauvage ! Retour à une formule... plus organique : chant, guitare, basse, drums… et claviers. BELPHEGORZ est né ! Un premier EP voit le jour en 2012. Un cinq titres mâtinés de glam, de punk et de pop, sombrement intitulé « BelpheGorZ » et qui contient déjà un hit : « Vintage Girl ».
Après moult changement de personnel, le groupe se stabilise autour de Tallulah X (chant/machines), Krees D.(chant/guitare), Fred.L (basse), Mekanikman (drums/backing vocals) et Guino de Saint Zach (orgue Hammond/ Synthés et théremine).
Le groupe tourne sans cesse, rodant sa nouvelle formule jusqu’à en faire une machine de guerre parfaitement huilée. L’historique label havrais CLOSER RECORDS les repère. Leur premier LP sort en 2019. « Vintage Girl » est réenregistré et ouvre l’album. Les réactions sont dithyrambiques. Succès critique. Mais Talullah etKrees ont de l’ambition ; ils ont une vision et veulent aller plus loin encore : expérimenter sans cesse, et surtout… écrire et graver dans le marbre des titres mémorables, des hits…
Chers adhérent(e)s, chers ami(e)s,
CLOSER RECORDS is still alive.
Depuis le début de l’été, nous avons subi de gros problèmes de maintenance sur nos sites, vous empêchant tout accès et commandes.
Les sites du label et de la boutique sont désormais accessibles avec de nouvelles adresses.
Attention: Nous vous invitons à modifier les adresses finissant par .com dans vos marque-pages ou favoris si vous tombez sur une page Huge domains. Toutes les adresses sont désormais en .Fr
Nouveaux Tote Bags disponible. Le T-shirt CLOSER est de retour, y compris celui des BELPHEGORZ.
Profitez de compléter vos disques manquants ou passer la précommande du double SAINTS édition limitée. « Y’en aura pas pour tout le monde ».
Encore un peu de patience pour le double LP des SAINTS, il sortira au 4ème trimestre 2022. Sachez que ça devient très compliqué de sortir un vinyle. Depuis le retour de celui-ci, les délais de fabrication et les coûts de production ont augmenté.
Le futur : de Suède, de France, on verra, celui-ci se fera avec votre mobilisation.
Amicalement
PH DEBRIS
Pour le label CLOSER RECORDS : https://www.closerrecords.fr/
Pour la boutique en ligne : https://shop.closerrecords.fr/fr/
Contact : phdebris@aol.com
Belphegorz est à l'origine un duo formé par Krees D. (guitare) et Tallulah X (chant) qui aguisèrent leurs machettes ensemble dans Lady Govida, gang electro-rock coupable de deux magnifiques albums, oscillant entre glam rock et indus, en 1999 et 2004.
Un hold up psychédélique sur les terres mythiques de l'Ouest Américain
Portée par des vagues de guitares claires emplies de la même reverb que le chant nonchalant de Polar Younger, la musique de Jim Younger's Spirit est parfois menaçante, souvent bienveillante. Elle est surtout si harmonieuse que l'auditeur ne réalise jamais réellement le passage d'un état à l'autre.
« No human tongue can tell » est le 3 ème LP d'un concept : tous les titres traitent de l'histoire de Jim Younger, partenaire de braquage de Jesse James pendant la guerre de sécession, qui combattit pour la guérilla confédérée menée par Quantrill, pour finalement finir sa vie avec des idées humanistes, avant de se suicider. Qu'elle soit ici décrite à partir de témoignages historiques, ou bien fantasmée par Polar, la terrible épopée de cet homme violent et torturé procure une trame de fond presque sans limite pour traiter divers sujets qu'ils soient historiques (guerre de sécession, conflits Indiens…) ou bien introspectifs (les regrets, la rédemption…). Ce récit captivant est mis en musique sur une toile de fond Rock-Psyché de laquelle transpirent en permanence les différents courants Americana mais aussi des teintes irisées de Blues, de Folk…
Un fascinant voyage garanti à tous !
«A Thousand Endless Nights» a été enregistré à l’été 2017 à Sète, «à la maison» donc, au studio de la Butte ronde de l’ami Guillaume. Produit par Jim Diamond, alias le «Magic Fingers» de... Detroit (White Stripes, Fleshtones, Andre Williams, Sonics, BellRays...), le cinquième album de LGF est édité chez Closer.
Bruce Joyner, le Rossignol de Georgie.
Né en 1956 au milieu des plantations dans un petit bled de Georgie, Bruce Joyner biberonne dans le bar de sa mère, les oreilles collées au juke-box maison où se catapultent les grands anciens, de Hank Williams à Roy Orbison, en passant par Fats Domino ou Bo Diddley ... Une vraie "gueule cassée", ce pauvre Bruce ... Les cordes vocales sérieusement bousillées, dès l'âge de quatre ans, par des "bonbons" offerts par une stupide camarade, en fait des cristaux de révélateur photographique, sa voix en sera à jamais altérée, mais il en fera peu à peu une force singulière, étant capable, après moults exercices de se balader d'octave en octave, avec un phrasé si particulier ... Six ans .. il perd un oeil ! ... Quatorze ans, il se retrouve partiellement paralysé après un accident de voiture ... Pas de bol donc ...
Plutôt que de rester dans son trou maudit, en attendant un nouvel accident de la vie, direction L.A. vers la fin desseventies, THE place to be, où la crème des groupes Angelinos ou exilés, X, Wall Of Voodoo, Creeping Ritual puis Gun Club se disputent les scènes les plus interlopes, Madame Wong's, Club Lingerie, Starwood, Whisky, etc... C'est dans ce marécage urbain que Bruce Joyner, le petit gars des swamps de l'Okkefenokee, développe, avec son deuxième groupe The Unknowns (un premier groupe, The Stroke Band, sortira un album qui plongera rapidement dans les bacs des soldeurs), un étrange et hypnotisant garage rockabilly, habité de huhulements tout en vibrato à la limite de la fracture, sur un lit de guitares Mosrite vintage et une rythmique en perpétuelle déconstruction ... Un truc aussi effrayant qu' attirant ... La bande-son d'un remake improbable de "La Nuit Du Chasseur" ...
La poisse aurait pu le suivre, les Unknowns, qui commencent à avoir une petit succès, y compris à l'international (un maxi et un LP chez Bomp!, ici Disc'AZ ou Line records), splittent une première fois en 1982 (on les verra ré-appa-raître quelques années plus tard pour un dernier album chez New Rose). Mais c'est sans compter sur l'opiniâtreté du personnage... Une filiale de Bomp! le récupère (et Closer -déjà- en France) pour un premier album ; Bruce s'engage alors dans une carrière plus erratique, en mode "artisanal", pourtant épaulé tantôt de Peter Buck, Ray Manzarek eu encore Steve Wynn, multipliant les projets (The Plantations, The Tinglers, The Reconstruction, Atomic Clock), désormais suivi et appuyé quasi uniquement en Europe et notamment en France (Closer, New Rose, Bang!, puis à nouveau Closer).
Son dernier album "Love And The Blood Vodou" , enregistré avec The Netherglades, avec le désormais fidèle Tom Byars (une vieille connaissance dont Bruce avait produit l'unique LP de son premier groupe "Out Of The Fire" dans les années 80). Vous apprécierez ce genre de "Vibrato In The Grotto", pour paraphraser un autre bien bel artisan US, Ben Vaughan... Le rossignol de Georgie, descendant direct de Roy Orbison et de la Créature du Marais, a encore frappé avec ce nouvel album , "Love And The Blood Vodou", peuplé d'alligators, hanté d'ombres nocturnes, de couchers de soleil glauques, de valses désuettes et autres flamencos saumâtres...
Les 2Sisters délivrent des riffs incisifs et entêtants, habillant leurs compositions d'un son brut de décoffrage et de soli rageurs. De la fuzz, de la wah-wah, de la sueur; leurs concerts sont à l'image de leur musique: sauvages et habités. Ce n’est pas un hasard s’ils revendiquent comme principales influences le sacro-saint triptyque : MC'5, Stooges et Motorhead.
Les 2Sisters existent depuis 2009 et, écouter leurs méfaits soniques équivaut à revisiter avec une délectation certaine les quarantes dernières années dans ce qu’elles ont de plus excitant et de plus farouche. Les 2Sisters sont une véritable fontaine de jouvence que l’on pourrait qualifier, si l’on voulait trouver coûte que coûte une étiquette sous laquelle ranger cet OVNI dégénéré, de « power punk garage on LSD »…
Les 2Sisters éructent un son over-pourri qui grince à tous les étages, un rock vénéneux qui sent le cambouis et la chaîne à vélo, le stupre et l’alcool frelaté... S’ils lorgnent souvent vers les contrées du garage punk 60’s comme Billy Childish, les Cynics ou autres Morlocks avec qui ils partagent un goût prononcé pour les structures basiques pontuées de refrains à brailler sous la douche, les 2Sisters aspergent leurs morceaux de décharges électriques incandescentes et incontrôlées issues du punk le plus primal.
Les 2Sisters ça sonne comme les Cannibals qui auraient bouffé la bigmuff de Mudhoney... Voici un premier album dans toute sa splendeur, un disque inégalable de par son authenticité, sa production minimaliste, son énergie vitale préservée, bille en tête et tous les potars dans le rouge !
On en connait quelques-uns qui vont adorer...
Le sixième album de Tio Manuel, « Dios Tios », est une petite révélation en soi.
Le rock’n’roll c’est de la musique mais pas seulement. Pour faire une véritable chanson qui marque les esprits il faut bien évidemment une mélodie mais aussi et surtout une histoire.
Manu Castillo l’a bien compris, il ne souhaite pas faire de chansons « à moitié », amputées de tout sens… au sein desquelles sa voix ne serait qu’un instrument de plus s’ajoutant aux guitares.
La voix offre à voir, traduit des images, des ressentis, des émotions en mots, elle sert à communiquer avec celui qui écoute, à parler à son âme.
Ainsi, une bonne partie de cet album est chantée dans la langue maternelle de Manu Castillo : l’espagnol. Chaque chanson devient alors une tranche de vie, une petite nouvelle qui se dévoile à l’auditeur en créant une forme de dialogue dans lequel Manu Castillo se révèle un redoutable conteur. Que Manu parle de Rosita la gitane qui dépouille les gringos, de la misère des gamins des rues rencontrés au Honduras, du salvadorien Roque Dalton assassiné par erreur par ses anciens camarades révolutionnaires ou de son amour viscéral pour le blues espagnol « qui joue dans ses rêves et danse dans son esprit », chaque mot est senti, vécu, chaque syllabe a du sens tissant des saynètes d’une authenticité et d’un réalisme déchirant.
Même si la part belle est faite à la langue de Cervantès, l’anglais est aussi bien présent pour rappeler que l’univers de Tio Manuel est un mélange de sonorités et d’images s’étalant de John Lee Hooker à Paco de Lucia en passant par Jimi Hendrix et Muddy Waters.
Musicalement, Manu Castillo n’a pas sorti l’artillerie lourde mais à opté pour une formule en duo toute en finesse accompagné de son vieil ami Gilles Fegeant qui excelle dans l’art du Dobro.
L’idée était de revisiter le répertoire de Tio Manuel avec un son plus intimiste, plus proche de l’os, il en résulte une succession de chansons déconcertantes par leur pureté au sein desquelles s’entremêlent voluptueusement les guitares acoustiques.
Tout est millimétré, savamment agencé de manière à créer un opus organique qui résonne et respire par lui-même, qui ne doit rien à personne si ce n’est au talent et à la sincérité de ses auteurs.
Revolving around singer/songwriters Johanna Brockman and her partner Dimitri Kucharzewski, Midnight Scavengers are a unique and compelling presence.
Situated between sinister violent beauty and volatile fragmented shyness,
Johanna Brockman, once a member of James McCann’ s Dirty Skirt Band, and The Brian Hooper Band (who opened for Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds on their 2009 Tour) met up with now partner in songs Dimitri Kucharzewski (Nikki Sudden’ s Last Bandits, The Hollowmen) in Berlin in 2011 to create the core of what would become Midnight Scavengers.
After relocating to Melbourne, Australia in 2012, they grew to a five piece with the addition of Jeff Hooker (Brian Hooper’ s band, Kim Salmon, The Darling Downs) on bass, Tim O’Shannassy (MJ Halloran, Paradise Motel, Penny Ikinger) on drums, and Andrew Watson (The Man Who Wasn’t There, Charlie Marshall) on violin and guitar. Midnight Scavengers have become an extremely well respected and recognized band, playing alongside legendary figures such as Spencer P Jones, Kim Salmon, Hugo Race and Ron S Peno among others.
With contributions from well established artists such as Sacri Cuori virtuosi Antonio Gramentieri & and Francesco Valtieri (Toni Delone/ Sacri Cuori), MIDNIGHT SCAVENGERS album is now due to be released in September 2016 on CLOSER RECORDS as a VINYL/ CD + CD BONUS TRACKS & CD Digipack ( featuring Autoluminescent by Rowland S Howard, All The World Is Green by Tom Waits, to mention a couple), and will be touring Europe in September/ October and early December with new songs that will feature their second album that already made it to impress their label contractors Closer.
Imagine, if you can, two outerspace-rednecks gone beserk; two freaks who proudly channel the spirit of "Deliverance" and "2000 Maniacs", but with a fuel injection of humor and cheap space-comics etiquette in place of ultra-violence...
But make no mistake, if they have opted for the duo formula, that is by no way a sheeplike followership nor surfing in the wake of the minimal gang or other one man band trend en vogue during the past years among garage or trashy blues alumni, hungry for easy sensations. If –undoubtedly- one could notice some Hazil Hadkins traces in their attitude, as well as in the tortuous meanderings of their disturbed minds, they go much further ahead of the simple musical caricature song, and are perfectly able to distill hits with vintage choruses and melodies.
Our two lads are setting the house on fire with their second album (the first ‘self-produced’ title released two years ago was adopted by the whole Closer staff! ), whose nutty cover is again designed by "Kab", a pure hit crazy gonzo too, reminiscent of either Dubout, Margerin or Gilbert Shelton! ...
Their loony world wouldn't be complete without a series of furious and inhabited video-clips, which alone should deserve the release of a DVD / Blu-Ray.
The album, rough around the edges, was recorded by their pal Dimitri (IDC-image and sound - mobile studio) in their "Le Galion" headquarters (a famous bar/concert hall which has hosted for more than seven years the likes of touring artists, Kid Congo, The Cosmic Psychos, Ben Vaughn, and various bands from Closer or Beast labels (example : The Curse), Henry's Funeral Shoe , The Bonnevilles -, and so on ...), giving this noisy enclave of a once prosperous port city a small cosmopolitan and interloping mood, worthy of Sixties' Hamburg ...
Give the devilish storm which is this "Two Man Band", and they will prove to you that Lorient is just not about herring fishing*
( * frenchy private joke based on an old naughty song..)...
Conceived over cocktails, wine, and beers in 2011, The Split Squad is one of those “perfect storm” rock and roll bands that comes from a bunch of musicians who have done it all and have nothing to prove. While that may sound a bit boastful, the pedigree here covers about 140 years of collective rock and roll experience, from the most rarified of concert halls, down to the seediest of underground shit holes. These guys have both reveled and wallowed in it:
Eddie Munoz: Most famously known as the flash guitarist from LA’s legendary Plimsouls, Eddie has more recently been spotted in Magic Christian (alongside Flamin’ Groovies legend Cyril Jordan) and PA’s power pop stalwarts Parallax Project. Eddie’s “chaos theory” approach to rock and roll guitar is unique and immediately recognizable, yet squarely rooted in the timeless swagger of The Stones and The Yardbirds.
Clem Burke: Arguably one of the greatest living rock and roll drummers on the planet, Dr. Burke (Google that…it’s cool) boasts a resume that starts at CBGB’s in the 70’s and ends at The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. As a founding member of Blondie and a highly sought-after session musician, Clem has experienced nearly every aspect of the music business, but still has more passion to “climb in the van and take it to the fans” than most musicians half his age. To put it bluntly, there is no one on Earth like Clem…
Michael Giblin: Bassist/singer Giblin is the mad scientist behind The Split Squad, having assembled the project after his current band, Parallax Project, had crossed paths with all of the others on various tours and recording projects. Known in underground pop circles as a member of the much loved 90’s power pop trio Cherry Twister, Giblin has spent many years toiling away in the bowels of the music biz as a session bassist, band leader, producer, and generally good guy.
Keith Streng: Known far and wide as a founding member of one of rock and roll’s greatest (and longest running) institutions, The Fleshtones, guitarist Streng sets a standard for passion and dedication that few are able to follow. 30 years on (and counting), The Fleshtones remain one of rock’s greatest “sure things”: never a bad show; never an off night. They are as dependable as they are exciting. His rock-solid musicianship, combined with his high-wire stage antics, combine to anchor one of rock’s most joyful live experiences. He’s had books written about him, and documentaries shot on him. In a word…an institution.
Josh Kantor: Keyboardist Josh Kantor brings the wildest diversity to the mix. As a member of Boston’s Jim’s Big Ego, and the critically acclaimed supergroup The Baseball Project (featuring members of The Dream Syndicate and R.E.M.), Josh has rubbed elbows with a number of rock luminaries, but he still manages to find time to excel at his day job, which just happens to be as the organist for The Boston Red Sox. Yes, THOSE Boston Red Sox. As such, Josh possesses a skill level and musical vocabulary that few can match.
The group came together in Boston in the summer of 2012 to record an album, which ended up being a raucous and hilarious good time. Produced by Scott McCaughey (R.E.M., Minus 5, Young Fresh Fellows), the album features guest appearances by McCaughey, fellow rock & Roll Hall of Famer Peter Buck (R.E.M.), Hugo Burnham (Gang of Four), and Mike Gent (The Figgs). The resulting set of songs is a spirited and diverse trip through the influences and record collections of a ridiculously experienced set of musicians. And man, you should have heard all the stories….
Ladies and gentlemen….The Split Squad…
A sublime, multifaceted esthetic lands on the doorstep of Closer Records in the form of Manu Castillo; aka Tio Manuel.
Having made his debut with the legendary Parisian punk combo, Wunderbach, Tio Manuel prepares his fifth album due to be released this November.
A departure from classical writing, this project provides a musical setting for the poems of webmaster of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's Ian Ottaway: high-wire American underground poet. Incendiary ink, born of the pen of Rimbaud and Bukowsky, Ian usually throws away his writings to the Net like message bottles to the sea. Fearing the thought of this dark and tormented prose might be tirelessly lost to the Web's nebulous maze, Tio Manuel decided to perpetuate this universe by embodying it in the form of a songbook.
Tio Manuel is a mature artist, accomplished, who is able, caught by the wind, to chart a musical course along these literary explorations and experiments. In this initial, maiden voyage, he visits the great, free territories of Punk, Clashy-Reggae, Jamaican Ska , Blues, while altogether not losing sight of Country music. He composes, as well when fancy takes him, in his mother tongue, that of Cervantes'!
But far from having wandered aimlessly and without purpose, he knows how to extract the quintessence of each stream, integrating and sublimating , restoring and transcending all to the incandescent light of his own sensitivity and limitless creativity.
Today Tio Manuel reaches a crucial stage of his journey as he rises to the spheres that touch the soul. His latest compositions vibrate in unison with his ideal and conspicuously glowing depth, haloing with such crystal clarity that would not have been denied by the likes of OP8 or Calexico's Howe Gelb, nor darker icons such as Johnny Cash , Chris Bailey, Nick Cave or Jeffrey Lee Pierce.
Keith Richards overdose's -"Krytonite is alright" - second fix is ready to shoot, get a needle.
New record, same old shit: Leather, pointed shoes, skinny jeans and drug abuse.
Crack addict Eddie Cochran playing Hamburg era Beatles stuff with high-end ear crushing guitar solos, what more could you ask for?
Play bad and loud, but sure know how to kill themselves with style.
If not the kind of stuff you are in, no worry, we don't like you either.
No need to see them live, no need to buy no records, better save your money for crack.
What message? Ok: Use drugs, spoil your life, disappoint your friends and go get fucked… But stay high-class.
What’s rock'n'roll if not a tradition taking its deeper roots in the Delta blues and perpetuating since through a myriad of more or less cursed artists, tirelessly striving to reinvent teenagers' hits on the groundings o the same lines of mythical chords?
The Jones , a quartet originally created in 2010 to serve as Chris Wilson's backing band, which today includes former members of Bad Losers and Les Dogs, stands as the worthy guarantor of a high lineage going back to Robert Johnson and spreading over the last century , from the Stones to the Pretty Things through the Flamin' Groovies and other T.Rex .
Don't expect mad originality nor herd followership, as The Jones are set exactly the opposite of dark opportunistic fashion victims. No years nor fads have control over Thierry Jones and his mates who, far from any hint of mercantilism, from any ephemeral temptation local vanity, never vary one iota their gear ratio . Modern times are not their concern. If they can probably hear today's music, it's certainly not what they take pleasure in listening , much less to do. But who can blame them ?
Indeed, why succumb to the temptation of progress when we see where the latter leads us inexorably ? Why get caught up in the illusion of the necessary benefits of novelty when every day we see degeneration of values, the cultural decadence putting banished artistic creativity in favor of stereotypical mass production ?
Thus, The Jones preach classicism in its most refined elegance, in the manner of conscientious craftsmen confident in their expertise, they invite us , through a host of vintage standards, decorated with complex brass and strings arrangements , to a refreshing and rejuvenating experience, a pamphlet against time passing by.
Listen to " The First Shot" and you will be 20 forever !
Grand Guru is into the one man band thing, but not by fashion nor by particular affinity for the genre, but much rather out of obligation. Indeed, who could play with him?
His first album, " Collective Suicide ", is such a personal item that it could only arise out of one man only's tormented brain.
Absolutely black, resolutely extremist, metallically chaotic, at the crossroads of experimental garage and industrial boogie, blues and psychotic Transylvanian noisy, this first Grand Guru opus is brought to the world, without an epidural, in form of birth of the monsters and nightmares that haunt our Rouen-based sorcerer.
Each piece is a delivered polyptic table, freed from all academicism, and Grand Guru therefore allows himself every liberty in the musical setting of his singular universe: he juggles with the tempo, complexifies structures, juggles with harmonies according to his mental distortions.
Always kinda trash, epileptic, even psychotic, our showman has achieved an impressive effort on this album's arrangements, all in tension, sometimes on the merge of territories haunted by Wipers' Greg Sage or even Birthday Party's Nick Cave, evoking as well the darkest moments of The Beasts of Bourbons.
"Collective Suicide" is a surprising album in many ways, worthy of a black mass, of an ecstatic trance of a Voodoo ritual that will lead you to some obscure and unknown territories.
So here comes Olivier "Bratch" Nemejanski’s third album, of cult Dum Dum Boys’ fame, and sometimes singer / guitarist for bands such as Bratchmen, Groovers and Warmbabies.
Recorded between the Riviera and the Caribbean, in collaboration with the soundboard wizzard / multi-instrumentalist John Wayne Supermarket (aka Philippe Gilard), this album, in addition to recurring telescoped influences of Dean Martin Lee Hazlewood, Alex Chilton, or Suicide and The Jesus & Mary Chain, does not open ,as Antoine Blondin would say, a tunnel between Wang-Ho and Yang-Tse-Kiang, but draws a virtual air bridge between the Trade Winds and the Tramontana, for a deliciously opiate indolent bacchanal, which in turn will invite musicians from different backgrounds (Indian Ghost’s Don Joe, Bang Bang Girl Band’s Sheri Corleone, Cantharide’s Pierre "Choum" Chaissac, Canadian Franco Caré, Memphis Electronic, Karyn "Brunella No!", Marc Galliani, Fabien Molina and Cédric Lauer & his magic trumpet ...). Bratch’s voice both deep and candy, drives us into shifted noisy pop environments, "Think About It"and its tart organ, "Hard To Believe", "Do not Want To See You Here At All" where ghosts Lou Reed and Peter Perret come gently tickle us. We do not wish to enumerate all titles one by one, but how one can resist to the delicious fuzzy and geometric rockabilly of "Higher And Higher", to the cover of that other fake dilettante genius (Kevin Ayers) "Singing A Song In The Morning”, or that of “Kathryn" , which captivating refrain sparks from a dark compilation of a low-fi DIY genius, Charles Douglas.
It is now available to you via Closer Records, and not, albeit close to, reimbursed by Social Security!
With a mixture of surprise and excitement, on a beautiful morning last March, we discovered, The Trap’s “Is Set! ”, the Helvetian combo’s first album, exquisitely and deeply rooted in the 1970’s: as if the sands of the space-time hourglass had been instantly reversed, aided by the fresh, isolated Alpian air…
These five rowdy characters, sporting the “Captain America” and “Billy” look straight out of “Easy Rider”, through some witchcraft are able to preserve time and their unwavering beat - the carnal, bastard child of Steppenwolf, J. Geils Band and Mott The Hoople!
Add to these noble foundations a dash of dirty punk oil à-la Motorhead, the zeal of The Datsuns, some vicious gusts of Rhythm'n’Blues harmonica in declining mode, and then drop the entire happy mess into a heavy Jurassic Park hype and you will get close to this testosterone-filled elixir of youth that The Trap, within these 13 vintage tracks, have captured.
Not hard to understand why we couldn’t resist, for one second, the chance to release a French edition of this Rock'n’Roll album: full of boldness and roughness that will tug at your gut while scratching your naked ears with gritty sandpaper!
Indian Ghost is a discreet group from Toulouse, of rare elegance, always at the border of obsessive perfectionism and chronic dilettantism. They have delivered "Long Far Gone", their fifth album in 22 years. With a lack of concern over productivity, and a discography spanning over two decades, as always, the product is high quality as we are dealing with artisans, whose care and perfectionism we oft see in fine silverware or even precision watchmaking; our Helvetii neighbors.
As is the case for each of their releases, Indian Ghost offer us an album as complex as it is simple. Each wall of this musical construction has its own illumination, its unique architecture, yet all aspects fit together methodically in the end to form a singular monument, scintillating, emotionally powerful with an obvious harmony and inaccessible correctness.
From the outset, "Lost Far Gone" sets the tone with "Land of my Father" a shapely, lanky anthem, languorous and sexy. Soon followed by "Psycho Medicine Blues”, which focuses on a more intimate side of their art, ornamental with its hypnotic backwards loops, to remind us that we are not dealing with average soldiers but rather with pop music veteran builders.
The very Supersnazzian "Everyday You Have to Die”, has you expecting an encounter with Roy Loney’s restless ghost at each verse’s corner. Then comes the highlight of the album, "Girl on a Motorcycle", with its slow and grounded beat into which collides, in a Spectorian colorful pigmented carousel, lush twelve string guitars scrolls, trumpets and a vaporous piano copulating envy and contempt of the most basic morality, bathed in syrupy reverb vocals. Closing the A side, "I Whistle You Come to Me", carried by a Farfisa whose Transylvanian waves spice up the refrain, acidic and decadent flavors that would not have been disowned by those big stakes 22-Pistepirkko.
Swinging to the B side, we come back full speed ahead with "06 77 Club", whose unstoppable refrain easily wins the status of the second bankable hit off of "Lost Far Gone". "Statue Girl", a hymnal ballad Lee Hazlewood could have delivered during an autumn twilight prayer between the Great Plains and the Ozarks, which sprinkles the atmosphere with a little contemplative nostalgia before the next track, "Killing Gold Loving", whose sunny transalpine organ plays against a surprisingly Neil Youngish guitar riff. "One Day in the Summer", a mid-tempo nagging stroll, reminiscent of early Indian Ghosts, when the architectural logic was built around an upward structure gradually guiding you to serene valleys and steep peaks in a haloed choir of chorus.
As if to wrap things up with an arrow shot straight to Heaven, a vestibule to the spiritual spheres, along comes the sumptuous "White Horses", a poignant and ethereal ode this side of Nick Cave, that gives you the ultimate thrill whilst greeting you very low.
In fact, if you attempt to put into words the emotional depth that emanates from the lovely grooves of "Lost Far Gone" is an exercise in futility ... Listen to it and live it all!
Here comes one of this year's major events from Closer Records: the release of the new Cantharide album. After "Do the Bzzz !!!", their epic debut, which astounds with both quality and freshness in its collection songs or by the intelligence inherent in its orchestration, we could no longer wait for their follow up, “A Bridge to Build"!
Not to judge a book by its cover, Cantharide some might describe as a pop band, but it would not do them justice... Certainly, the scholarly amongst us would make some velvety Neil Young, edgy Guided By Voices or Hüsker Dü comparisons, the ectoplasm of the latter has never stopped lapping around Peter "Choumy" Chaissac. Yet the most important is not there as the inhabited Cantharide spectrum is wide and extends from the Beatles to the Buzzcocks via Syd Barrett !
This quartet is actually as free as air, void of any influences; with tracks penned by Peter, the tribe operates as a mini kolkhoz; like a real team that never stops the search for the most appropriate, effective solution, always remaining at the songs' disposal, the cornerstone of the Cantharide project.
Nearly six months of recording and mixing went into this home-made album, between Charente-Maritime and the Caribbean. Composition and performance went into every detail of this album so that each element has its place. Now, as everyone knows, simplicity can sometimes be quite hard; in that respect this album is the result of relentless toil, almost Stakhanovite, looking for some kind of perfection in evidence . "A bridge to build" leaves no room for contingency, shoplifting, it goes to the point, to the nectar, by avoiding any illumination that would not flow naturally.
"A Bridge to Build" in its entirety, is an engine of a luminous clarity that knows how to enact the verb, engrave the vinyl with the original concept of playing with sounds, harmonies, placement of voices and rhythms, the song structures and their atmospheres, so that the result is as legible as possible, most faithful to the musical ideal that emanates from our four acolytes.
Either skin and bone, aerial when the song requires, rigorous, humble and adventurous at the same time, this album is a string of pearls, dazzling, a series of intimate but noisy tunes, a slice of life in a confusing authenticity including one girl story per track, be she sad or joyful ...
A snapshot of the absolute sincerity of a band that shall be urgently discovered !
Increasingly fierce, the Closer Records Team has it in mind to comb the world over: Europe in particular to find the wildest R'N'R pearls and offer them up to you; Bruce Joyner (USA), The Curse (Sweden), Peter Zaremba (USA), Crummy Stuff (Canada) Primevals (Scotland), The Dark Rags (Greece), The Trap (Switzerland) ... Now here they are ... The Last Killers, a shaggy and bloodthirsty quartet from Ravenna, Italy.
If their background, in addition to the gang's recent efforts, smelt of the noblest of 60's Garage persuasions, The Last Killers channel the history of the Rock'n'Roll groove as homage to the classic savagery of Little Richard or The Sonics and bear the torch last carried by none other than the Jim Jones Revue.
With "Dangerous", our Trans-Alpiners unleash their demons without restraint and fire off a flurry of hits right out of the gate! The 60's organ lines that haunted their first release leave more room for frantic piano parts (à la "The Killer", Jerry Lee Lewis), the beat gets straight to the point without embellishment or flourish, the guitars spread in all directions, fuzzy and distorted, the nasty and rabid vocals erupt, reminiscent of the good ol' Gerry Roslie days...
As you can see, all the ingredients are gathered here for a pure & wild Rock'n'Roll album, combative and extremely tense, like Jake Lamotta on speed!
Closer Records presents : Three Headed Dog !
Three Headed Dog « Howling at the sun »
LP (9 tracks) + CD (9 tracks) included
Disponible ici / available here : http://shop.closerrecords.fr/fr/home/304-three-headed-dog-howling-at-the-sun.html
Ecoutez ici / Listen here : http://3headeddog.bandcamp.com/track/danger-zone
Three Headed Dog, a trio stemming from the sulfurous ashes of Dimi Dero Inc. and Holy Curse, distances itself from the rest of the pack by its perfect equity. Indeed the combo is built on the shoulders of three stout men, the drummer of which is required to make intricate contortions to master his manly beat from such an awkward position. Furthermore, everybody in the band sings, the three spirits joined to make one voice to emit a continuous flow of fuzz-filled music, chock full of tribal rythms ideal for your orgies in the heart of the bush.
Following their first single, saturated and tense to the extreme, "The Gospel of the Iron Groove ", the triumvirate confidently and deftly deliver us a highly stripped down collection of 9 epic tracks. Unlike Cerberus, the mythical keeper of the kingdom of the dead, there's no taming them with the offer of a honey cake; their music imposes itself brutally, these guys don't deal with sweet pop nor honey-coated candy, but rather with merging and biting rock'n'roll, one that grinds the hock without ever loosening its grip.
The peculiar shape of the drums brings a completely innovative note to the rhythm section by creating extra deep bass tones, the scrap metal making general sound thicker, the beat becomes more mechanical and grave, and any guitar riff, any sharp projection reaches achieves dramatic effect.
Three Headed Dog plays on this dichotomy and continuously juggles between contradicting ambiences, antagonism, oppositions throughout these 9 heterogeneous tracks where the band can pass from a groove stretching over more than six minutes in a title of a peremptory classicism calibrated on three verses / refrains in less than three minutes.
Our Cerberus, without being transformed therefore into a three head kangaroo, today remains the most Australian of the French groups.
The shadows of The Beasts of Bourbon, of Spencer P. Jones but especially of The New Christs glide always omnipresent above the cradle, and if we add that the guests on the disc are none other than Brent Williams (New Christs), Tamara Dawn and Stacey Coleman (Hits), everybody will understand that "Howling at the Sun" moves it's eyes up towards Brisbane's or Sydney's stormy turmoil than towards the monotonous drizzle of the perfidious Albion.
Guards and guarantors of one rock’n'roll crude and without concession, born in the far southern steppes, Three Headed Dog knocks, quickly, heavily and especially where it hurts!
A MILF of a record; as hot as mature!
GUTTERCATS
"Beautiful Curse"
LP (10 tracks ) + CD (12 tracks + 2 bonus tracks) included
Disponible ici / available here : http://shop.closerrecords.fr/fr/home/303-guttercats-beautiful-curse.html
Ecoutez ici / Listen here :
https://soundcloud.com/guttercats-1/without-you-im-nothing
https://soundcloud.com/guttercats-1/aint-goin-nowhere
Following two albums of highest interest, " Pandora' s Box " (2008) and " Black Sorrow " (2011), the protean gang, articulated around Guts Guttercat makes a strong comeback with this third opus of a class hardly reached in our lands. Recorded in Paris, mixed in Brittany by Jean-Louis Réglain, mastered in Birmingham in the famous John Rivers' studio (Swell Maps, Jacobites, Coils and Rockets, Buzzcocks), the mechanics is irrefutably well oiled on this third album. Acoustic and electric guitars most naturally melt to raise a sumptuous layer to a complex tangle of ballads and Rock n'roll songs in the pure English tradition. Subtle piano or viola arrangements confer nobility and melancholy to the works. Therefore let you catch by this strange carousel put together to leave only thin instants of respite, so much the lulls of this album are present only to better drive you in the whirls which follow them relentlessly. Different stages of this journey, in form of a crepuscular Road Movie are named «Ain' t Goin' Nowhere», illicit crossing between Johnnys, E. Morricone and J. Thunders, «Death & The girl», " Dead Love' s Shadow ", " Black Sorrow ", elegant triptych of captivating atmosphere circa Only Ones and other Nick Cave, " Nobody Knows ", surrounded by the ghosts of N. Sudden and B. Dylan, "Night Of The Vampire", the Roky Erickson's cover in the spirit of Mink Deville with its burning saxophones licks, " Fire ", "Way Down In Hell" which wobble dangerously between The Gun Club and The Stooges, «Without You I' m Nothing» on which the alchemy between electric guitars and acoustic ones reaches a symbiosis close to the best Dogs D' Amour's , " Slow Down ", acoustical intimist ballad flirting with late Nick Drake or Elliott Smith, "Black Sorrow" hinting The Spiders circa 73 …
Add to this two bonus tracks such as very Dollsy western "Hot On Our Trail" and the splendid acoustical version of "Dead Love' s Shadow" where Guts Guttercat's piano and voice draw us back into the first L. COHEN, or even forgotten J. JARMUSH's soundtrack, and you get one of the brightest atmospheric rock’n'roll albums of these last years!
There reign shadow and light in perfect harmony, "Beautiful Curse" is a spiritual album which speaks to your soul without ever falling in the high-flown or the reverential, with the necessary dose of intelligence and reflexion which enable it to rise up in a higher grade and to share the most famous' pantheon.
This record shall be discovered without moderation, the more you'll listen to it, more new territories it will reveal you !
DUM DUM BOYS
"Nothing means nothing"
LP (7 tracks + 2 tracks from SP "Real Cool Trash") + CD (18 tracks / 9 unreleased and live songs) included
Disponible ici / available here : http://shop.closerrecords.fr/fr/home/296-dum-dum-boys-nothing-means-nothing-real-cool-trash.html
Ecoutez ici / Listen here : http://www.reverbnation.com/closerrecords/song/22670392-dum-dum-boys-real-cool-trash?1336410755
Video : http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x444gg_the-dum-dum-boys-real-cool-trash_music
Releasing in the beginning of 2015 a reissue of the first DDB mini LP, augmented by the first 45t and by some bonus unpublished live tracks from the same era.... but why???
Simply because this 30 years old still active Nice-based band surely represents the best French rock’n’ roll group of all time!
You think that we're going too far? Then, without entering comparisons with other nice hexagonal jewels it will be enough to raise some questions and to answer them in the most simple way :
Who's the most original?
Who's the most authentic without any copy or reverential pumping? Who's the most clear of its influences, who's most free, the most stubborn?
Who has a unique sound between all ? Who can be recognized from the first chord ? Who drove mad the best rock'n'roll Bordeaux studio's sound engineer during this recording?
Who has a so personal, anti conventional and extreme sound that it could appear straightforwardly unrecordable with the average standards of the time?
Who knew how to evolve its style style in an always progressive and renewed way, whilst always remaining faithful to the mythical 3 E/A/B chords? Who knew to dig its obsession against winds and tides, hits initial concept, never ever deviating from its route ?
Who can sing just as easily in French that in English without denaturing themselves or being sold with the big market ?
Who has a discography spread over 30 years without any break, diversifying release after release ?
Who has never been concerned by their records' sales figures , never daring to even think of accepting any kind of concession? Who has
always made its music without caring about the rest ? Who knew to remain faithful to rock'n'roll as the devil's music and not like a consumers' product ?
Who can produce similar stroboscopic shows on stage? Who releases such a hypnotic power, such a personality at the same time haughty, dandy, possessed and near-to-psychotic?
Which group could legitimately claim cult status in our regions?
Who has a real international stature ?
Who else than The Dum Dum Boys ??? !!!
Listen and listen again to the album, which time corrosion can't affect at all, as it's so timeless, uncategorized, beyond fashions !
If we are strong enough to live till then, we even take the bet to release it again in 2045!
Hallelujah and long-live Fuzz!!!
THE PLASTIC INVADERS
"Who's number one ?"
LP (12 titres) + CD (15 titres) inclus
Ecoutez ici / Listen here : http://www.reverbnation.com/closerrecords/song/22422551-plastic-invaders-cherry-go-round?1336410755
Video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0KUAwBV7PM
Peter Marvel: voice
Nomi Gorgeous: voice
Vince-O-Matic: guitar
O.O. Micho: Farfisa, voice
Philo B. Jones: bass
Ian Clavezziolli: drums
"Beware of the attack of the Plastic Invaders!
From their plastic saucer, they atomize our cities and irradiate our land with spurts of ionized acid, desintegrating riffs, spiky multicoloured tremoloes and interstellar waves.
These loony cannibal aliens with their war drums, excited by the vociferating incantations of their hallucinated shaman sprawling on his stucco-pâté-en-croûte spatial throne, don't give no quarter. They decryonize the best of 60's and 70's hi-energy sexy rock, aspire it in the psychomagnetic spiral of their orgiastic vessel, mix and melt it with the rest of their sonic preys, swallow it in gruesome ceremony, digest it through their Cosmic Gut and spit it out as spectral faeces lying on the synthetic carpet of a Lego manor..."
Lucas "Kaiser" Trouble, 2009
Discography:
1st album: "Greatest Hits" (Nova Express Records 2009)
Compilation: "The Decap Sound" (Nova Express 2011)
2nd album: "Who's Number One?" (Closer Records 2014)
Born in 2008 in Clermont-Ferrand, France,from the ashes of the Plastic Gangsters, relentless combo alas known for disrespecting various classics of the Stooges, Hives, Cramps, Sonics et al, the Plastic Invaders once decided to draw on their unfathomable life story to write themselves The Most Beautiful Pages Of Their History.
Ensued the two aforementioned albums, recorded in the fouled and inflammatory atmosphere of the deliciously infamous Kaiser Studio, home of the crypto-punk burgundian record company Nova Express, ruled with a vampire hand by the infernal Lucas Trouble (kisses and cuddles). Those albums were unanimously praised by the most influential critics (Mange-Disque, Dig It, Abus Dangereux, Inrockuptibles, R&F) and followed by a flock of epic concerts, facing delighted, captivated, overexcited, hostile, dubious, stunned, exhilarated or weeping audiences. Most of the time very drunk anyway.
After a line-up change and a spanish mercatoesque recruitment (Elderberries drummer Ian Clavezziolli, Suppositorz organist David 'Organ Orgasm' Micho, Jack & les Eventreurs bassist Philo B. Jones and So Many Little Sexy Meringues statuesque singer Nomi Gorgeous ), they have just released their new album 'Who's Number One?', recorded at Studio Palissy, Beaumont, France by the herculean Pascal Power Mondaz and mastered at Studio Basalte, Beaumont, France, by Professeur Simon Capony, for Closer, legendary rock record company from Le Havre, France.
Universally recognized guests on this album:: Zaza Soprano, Suzy Bo (Wendy Darlings), Thomas de Pourquery (Supersonic).
Do the Cyber Twist!
Do the Ding-A-Ling Kong!
Do the Astro Groove!
Do the Elevator Chop-Chop!
THE DARK RAGS
"Paranoia blues"
LP (11 tracks) + CD (13 tracks) included
Ecoutez ici / Listen here : http://www.reverbnation.com/closerrecords/song/22409241-the-dark-rags-miserys-my-name?1336410755
Video teaser : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyXEYFmmtlo&feature=youtu.be
Closer Records follows its international explorations and offers you to the chance this Christmas to discover one flamboyant Greek quartet: TheThe Dark Rags !
Formed in May of 2010, our favourite Athenians scoop out their influence from Garage/Punk and Rock 'n'Roll. Their first EP, "Drunken Angel ", released in 2010, followed by their eponymous album released at the end of 2011, and, as well, the CD "Underground" single , put in full light their spontaneous attraction to the 70' s New York punk scene as well as the Australian Garage of the 80's.
Continuous touring on many stages in Greece and elsewhere, honed their explosive but always classy sets. The Dark Rags then focused on the writing and the recording of this last opus: "Paranoia Blues".
Throughout these 13 tracks, The Dark Rags explore territories much more obscure than before without denying the essential ingredients of such a particular sound: snare drum forward, more melodic than rhythmic bass lines, always rare but insistent riffs, crystalline arpeggios à-la Chris Wilson, simple and efficient solos, scratchy vocals akin to the Dead Boys', Stiv Bators.
If the overall sound is catchy and powerful at the same time, impeccably produced and studded with impeccable arrangements, the diligently worked out vocal melodies make this object of continuous care.
Both raw and wicked, "Paranoia Blues" reveals the intelligence of people who are self-assured, raw and crude when it has to be, but whose uncommon elegance will charm everyone!
Even if it makes sense to file this record alongside the Johnnys, Hoodoo Gurus', Gun Club's , Johnny Thunders, Barracudas, Miracle Workers and the Beasts of Bourbon’s, The Dark Rags are a million miles away from a sterile revivalist recitation, and they take us there with an album of staggering authenticity, which oozes Rock n'Roll from all it's pores!
Peter Zaremba’s Rock Delegation / Crummy Stuff
Split maxi (4 titres / tracks)
Peter "The Count" Zaremba requires no introduction!
For four decades he's been the singer of the best "party band" of all time!.... Of course we mean The Fleshtones ! Forever young and exciting, the Brooklyn Four never stopped hitting the international stage, while still finding time for this electric singer to occasionally enjoy some of his own side projects. Besides his recognized talent as a graphic designer (including several ROIR's covers), a producer (The Last Drive, Los Mescaleros, Los Straitjackets, etc…) or even his gigs as a TV host, we especially remember Peter Zaremba's Love Delegation back in the 80's (starring-among others- Barrence Whitfield, Wendy Wild, Keith Streng), whose two albums and a maxi-EP remain relevant and memorable in party circles.
Today, at the insistent request of Canadian singer/guitarist Rob Sweeney (ex-Boneyard Devils, Purple Toads, among others), Peter Zaremba, without abandoning his partners in crime, accepted Crummy Stuff's invitation to support him as his backing band.
The fruits of this union are now on Closer Records, one side dedicated to Peter Zaremba's Rock Delegation (ie. Zaremba + Crummy Stuff) , and the other to Crummy Stuff.
Two so hot and festive entities that we were not able to resist.... Which includes a reversible cover ... No side A nor side B ... Just side "Crummy Stuff" and side "Peter Zaremba's Rock Delegation"... so much that the record production line went nuts by inverting the labels....
The ultimate collector!
ASPHALT TUAREGS
"Sexes"
LP + CD included (11 tracks)
Formed around stainless François Lebas a.k.a. Francesco, whose incisive deftness colored with inventiveness and savagery is unanimously acknowledged, The Asphalt Tuaregs are releasing their new album on Closer Record fall 2014!
Ex-Fixed Up and Backsliders frontman, Francesco, is supported in his quest of collective wilding and sonic sulphating by his faithful woodcutter pal Oliv ' on drums (ex Backsliders as well) as well as by sulfurous Dee Dee on bass (who once joined forces to the Lille based Ashtones). The trio claims no specific influences but Punk Rock and Wild Rock 'n' Roll... Listeners may hear some Dead Babies, Motörhead or Fun Things in their songs... The Asphalt Tuaregs actually don't give fuck about who you think they sound like; They're not here to theorize on the music, but rather to make their amplifiers roar without any premeditation... inescapably dragged in a kind of cathartic release, driven by an guttural anger which to seems to exceed them, consume them, they navigate by instinct, following their intuitions. The compositions, each one wilder than the previous, often find its source from a messed, tortured, turned wrap guitar riff, deconstructed and reinvented to the extreme ... on which the rhythm section, in rapture, grafts itself naturally, indefatigably attempting to bring order and structure to high-voltage unstoppable volcano riff streams courtesy of Francesco, once he gets plugged. Our Havre based trio most often come close to hysteria and have definitively banished any kind of half measure; their odd mechanism only has two switches: OFF and ON!!!
MYSTERY MACHINE
« Sunset Fatal Songs »
LP (+ CD included with 2 bonus tracks)
Following their first album, reissued in red vinyl on Closer, Mystery Machine are back with a hard & strong release! This quartet, on these 11 killer tracks, never stops its assault, never letting up to allow you a chance to catch your breath: a kind of "Battle Of Pyramids" orderly attack…
They proudly effuse a Garage Rock tone, a Hardcore power and lightning speed execution, reminiscent of Les Thugs' early efforts and the Burning Heads.
Regular and branded (?), Mystery Machine know how to take their place at the feet of their forefathers, The Ramones, with songs of simple and unstoppable melodies and quick and austere bass/drums stays true to the lineage of New York faux-bros: all for one for energy!
That said, there are some brighter moments on "Sunset Fatal Songs" storm-filled skies of electricity; Mystery Machine allowed themselves to venture into reggae territory on this new record owing more to the Ruts and Clash than to Toots and The Maytals or Jimmy Cliff. This visible calm has the merit to prove that the Nogent-based combo is not just a rock steamroller!
This record is “full guitars ahead”, replete with a direct, fun loving urgency: After all, why should we sit back and think when we only have a minute to lose?
PRIMEVALS "Tales of endless bliss"
LP (10 tracks) + CD included (10 tracks).
Not a load of us were remembering the group that accompanied the Cramps throughout their "Smell of Female" European 1986 tour. These were The Primevals, originally a kind of Scottish Gun Club crossed with Captain Beefheart, signed by New Rose two years earlier, and they had then perhaps confused some of their followers with a rock that had became a bit more melodic and aerial. That time is now far away and even totally gone, if you keep an ear on the "back to basics" turn used by the group in recent years. Under Michael Rooney’s leadership, suspected by some guilty of a Faustian pact, the flame was never extinguished, and to the contrary, the Primevals are liver than ever whilst tumbling on Closer Records with their new album "Tales Of Endless Bliss." We are witnessing a dramatic change , a mutation which of course has not been done smoothly, so you can’t cross easily from one spring, light, carefree and captivating sound to the heavy twilight chills of autumn. Over time the Primevals’ machine has gained weight, mutating into a mechanical dark and menacing power, ornamented with abrasive guitars, massive, rhythmic having shunned any hint of impulsive up tempo to make way for a much posed, swamp and haunting beat. By opting for such a seat both serious and solemn, knowing expose the very substance into furious compositions, vindictive and increasingly "raw to the bone," this quintet is now able to achieve the quintessential of his art. If You are into possessed and crazy Expressionist paintings, into relentlessly leaded backgrounds, emaciated lunar landscapes or, more simply, a fan of black and primal rock'n'roll, "Tales Of Endless Bliss" will no doubt be your new Grail !
EYES ON YOU VOLUME 2
20 mighty french bands are ready to storm the house with the help of some glorious veterans!
Twenty seven years later, Closer prepare a second run of the best current scene's french bands', but also a selection of unissued tracks and assorted rarities from their rich 80's / 90's period, helped by combos that built Le Havre based label's legitimate pride and by a squad of bad mercenaries.
Eyes On You compilation vol. 1 was so stunning in those days that it was impossible to avoid repeating now this tumultuous, innovative and unifying experience. Hexagonal Rock'n'Roll sacred flame never came fully extinguished, but in order to revive it, it was necessary to gather all scattered experiences spread around, to strike hard at the right place. Shall this double compilation be the detonator, unifying determined activists' common efforts to at long last spread the message among a larger audience. All regions from this country joined hands for this rebellion : from Le Havre to Nice, including Paris, Dijon, Lorient, Toulouse, Decazeville, Nogent…
Those fierce , ferocious and fearless warriors , the worthy descendents of a musical tradition built on Rock'n'Roll, Punk or Power Pop foundations, are fully ready to point their sharp-edged riffs to the darkened skies, shadowed by so many years of starvation!
Goddamn Rock'n'Roll !
Double LP (20 contemporary bands from the label Closer Records) :
Guttercats, Hope, Red Eye Ball, Indian Ghost, Dum Dum Boys, Cantharide, The Bratchman, Mystery Machine, The Sonic Invaders, Radiocity shakers, Kitchenmen, Midnight Movers, The Fab Mods, BBC, The Romanée Counteez, Asphalt Tuaregs, Whodunit, Skin a Buck, Little Green Fairy, Black Luna.
Double CD (20 contemporary bands from the label Closer Records helped by 18 bands from the 80/90’s) :
Shifters, King Size, Les Coronados, The Boy Scouts, Stéphane Hermlyn, Le Prehistoric Pop, The Jekylls, The Batmen, The Holy Curse, Real Cool Killers, Scuba Drivers, The Chasmbrats, Les Shtauss, Bad Losers, Wild Child, OX, Nito, Totsonic.
The Curse "World Domination" (Lp 12 tracks / Cd 15 tracks).
Following their first album subject to de-horn the Vikings of Creation, “Suck it in, Spit out it”, Swedish raiders, The Curse, sign on to Closer Records for their comeback masterpiece in the form of a sound maelstrom called “World Domination”! Leather hardened by years of touring, this quartet turns it up full throttle and nothing can stop this wild invasion filled with electric fronts and ravaging beats! As with their Viking ancestors, they worship no church, no bell-tower, no dogma… they believe in the might of their own power and this is their driving force. Indeed, one cannot peg The Curse to any particular style: neither garage, nor punk, nor high energy… they are all that at the same time but much more still. They know how to transcend the rules by digesting their best influences to produce a unique sound: ultra-powerful, gorged with fuzz and solid in fusion. Recorded and produced, as their first opus, by the excellent Rick Trivellini, this second album has achieved the quintessence of what Rock'n'Roll should be: direct, brutal, acid, electric, disrespectful and without compromise!
These heathens definitely aren't joking, they will savagely invade Europe from September 18th to October 19th in a bloody, sonic raid intent on pillaging not colonizing. Soon enough they will be drinking the dregs of mead from your hollowed-out skulls; be certain of it!
The Curse "World Domination Tour" !
SEPTEMBER
Jeudi 18 ESSEN (GER) / Freak show
Vendredi 19 HASSELT (BELG) / Carpe diem
Samedi 20 CALAIS / MPT + Forehead
Mardi 23 ROUEN / 3 Pièces musik club
+ Whodunit
Mercredi 24 LE HAVRE / Mac Daids
+ Whodunit + Succubs
Jeudi 25 CAEN / Le Quai des brumes
+ The Sonic Invaders
Vendredi 26 LORIENT / Galion
+ Skin a buck
Samedi 27 SIBIRIL / Ty Jean Bart
+ Skin a buck
Dimanche 28 NANTES / Dynamo
+ Swallbangers
OCTOBER
Jeudi 2 NIORT / Alternateur
+ Cantharide
Vendredi 3 PERIGUEUX / L’Ecume des jours
Samedi 4 RODEZ / La Guinguette
+ Radiocity Shakers
Mardi 7 PAU / Café du Parc
Mercredi 8 TOULOUSE / Le Ravelin
+ Indian Ghost
Jeudi 9 PERPIGNAN / UBU
Vendredi 10 NIMES / Acoustik Café
Samedi 11 SETE / Maryse et Lulu
+ Little Green Fairy
Dimanche 12 SAINT ETIENNE / Thunderbird Lounge
Mardi 14 THIERS / Le Métro
Mercredi 15 CLERMONT FERRAND / Le Franky
Jeudi 16 CHALON SUR SAONE / Purple Bar
Vendredi 17 NEUFCHATEAU / Private Show
Samedi 18 NAMUR (BELG) / Magick
Dimanche 19 SINT TRUIDEN (BELG) / Cafè del mar