Chubby and The Gang - Coming Up Tough

 

1. Who are Chubby and The Gang?

Chubby and The Gang are a punk rock band from West London, England, and formed in 2019. The band members have played in hardcore punk bands and Chubby and The Gang have Oi and pub rock sensibilities to boot. Coming Up Tough (June, 2021) is the third single from their second album The Mutt's Nuts (August, 2021). 

2. What has Coming Up Tough got?

Coming Up Tough has a rock riff that wouldn't embarrass an early Acca Dacca (AC/DC) album and hardcore vocals that are furious about the brutal injustice of the prison system. A relentless rhythm reminiscent of a street beating pounds the message home but it's far from one dimensional. This is apex Chubby and The Gang.

3. Who do Chubby and The Gang sound like?

The Chisel of course (Chubby and The Gang singer Charles "Chubby Charles" Walker is the guitarist in The Chisel) but also Motörhead, Blitz, Conservative Military Image, and The Chats.

4. Which bands have influenced Chubby and The Gang?

The Ramones, Dr. Feelgood, Coloured Balls.

5. What have other people said about Coming Up Tough?

“A fist-pumping punk rager” – Louder Sound.

“A prickly take on the older, more melodic genres that punk derives from”- Tune Of The Day.

“A ripper”- Stereogum. 

"They sent you down for far too long"

8. Anything else?

Listening to Chubby and The Gang and The Chisel remind me of this Australian punk gem by Royal Headache. Royal Headache were a garage punk band from Sydney, Australia. They were critical darlings and released two albums, Royal Headache (2011) and High (2015). The band remind me of Cloud Nothings. But Royal Headache never achieved any mainstream success and imploded in 2017. Little Star is a low-fi scuzzy song that has gained punk anthem status among some and has remained one of my all time favorites if only for the lyric...

"What's the point of living if we can't understand the truth?

Not worth it!"

Night Beats - No Cops

1.   Who are these likely looking lads?

Night Beats are a garage rock band who fight out of Seattle, Washington, by way of Texas. They catagorize their genre as experimental rhythm and blues. These hard cases having been making noise together since 2009 and have three long players in the bag. No Cops (Nov'15) is the second single to roll off their third album, Who Stole My Generation (Jan'16).


2. So what kind of tune do we have on our hands?

An instant garage rock classic that throws back to the golden oldies. If it's not on a Tarantino soundtrack you've got the feeling it soon will be. It's got a Dylan-esque vocal over a stomping four to the floor and reeks of whiskey, bar fights, leather and gas. The lead has surf rock trimmings but like a car in a drag race the song has gone past before you've soaked in all it's glory.


3. Who do Night Beats sound like?

No Cops is cinch match for Hold Tight by Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich. More contemporarily Animal House and Figure It Out or Allah La's Every Girl are playing in the same ball park.

In general Night Beats music sends out a Black Rebel Motorcycle Club or Allah La's vibe. Django Django's retro feel even, in the far left field. Recourse to the experts tells me Consequence of Sound name checked 13th Floor Elevators, Red Krayola and The Cave Singers. Heavenly Recordings added BRMC and Black Angels to the mix while Clash Music were the ones tripping when they threw down T.Rex.


4. What is the good word from the cut and paste jackals? 

One would hope in vain to read a review without a reference to acid. Nothing against acid, everything against the reviewers who should be sent to climb dick mountain one painful gobble at a time. Clash Music were to the fore of this shit storm saying No Cops is “a dirty-as-hell piece of blues-driven psych, reminiscent of T-Rex at their preening best yet filtered through the haze of a bad trip.” Another of their reviewers threw a dart at the board describing No Cops as “broody, vastly atmospheric psych-punk.” Consequence of Sound took a novel approach and listened to the song, hearing a tune that “straddles the line between rollicking fun and frustrated disenfranchisement.”

Who Stole My Generation “sounds like it has been created against a backdrop of burning Stars and Stripes flags and with the whiff of napalm hanging in the air,” according to Heavenly Recordings and is “a contemporary take on the psychedelic experience, a heady set of hoodoo voodoo songs.” If you are reading Live And Die Music. DIY Magazine were listening to an album that is “a collection of scorching fuzz-rock.”

5. So who are Night Beat’s influences?

The band are on record as having love for Buddy Holly, Fela Kuti, Etta James, James Brown, Leonard Cohen, Ray Charles, Jimi Hendrix and Quincy Jones. Their frontman also said that he became a singer and formed a band because of the The 13th Floor Elevators.

6. So why should I give No Cops a spin?

A song that confronts a serious social issue like police brutality in an increasingly violent police state is always worth one listen but it's the garage rock meets a V8's wheels slapping the black top sound, married with impassioned vocals, that will bring you back for seconds.

7. Have Night Beats got any other belters?

Ain't A Ghost has a dash of The Kinks but refuses to go the full hog and Burn To Breathe has a lazy funkiness to it. Short answer no.

8. Any good gossip to share?

Indeed. Singer and lead guitarist Danny Lee Blackwell said, “There’s a big problem in the US with people being killed for no reason. Men with egos, power, and too much responsibility abuse it. Our single ‘No Cops’ is a direct attack on the police system in the US.”

Who Stole Our Generation? is produced by Nic Jodoin who has gotten busy for Desert Noises, Black Rebel Motorcycle and Amusement Parks On Fire. The album also features co-production and guest bass playing from Robert Levon Been of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club who collaborated extensively on the long player.

The Night Beats have been on fluffer duties for bands like The Zombies, The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Black Lips, The Strange Boys and The Growlers.

 

“Even the cops gonna give me a hard time

ain’t going to lose my cool I just gotta find a good line”

Todays dessert  comes with a cherry on top and is courtesy of a garage punk rock band from Sydney, Australia. Royal Headache have been kicking arse and taking names since 2008 and have two stone cold classics in their pocket. High (2015) received rave reviews including a five stars from five from The Guardian who knew they were listening to “Australia’s best rock band.”

Royal Headache’s fans and shows are famously rowdy and last May they stormed the stage and forced an early end to one of their concerts at the  Sydney Opera House prompting their singer to say “drunk rock’n’roll fans are dumb and police are even dumber.” High features a triumvirate of songs to die for, the title track High, Carolina and Little Star. Little Star (2015) is the diamond in the rough. A garage love song.

“What’s the point of living?

If we can’t understand the truth?

Not worth it!”