Les Diggers - Terre à la Lune

 

1. Who are Les Diggers? 

Les Diggers are a French surf/punk rock band from Hossegor, France, formed in 2019.  Terre à la Lune rolls off their second album Atmosphérique (March, 2024). 

2. What kind of song is Terre à la Lune? 

Terre à la Lune is the kind of playful, simple yet catchy punk that bands like The Ramones or FIDLAR set the bar for. Four to the floor, no surprises all smiles, sweet pop punk.

3. Who do Les Diggers sound like? 

Teen Mortgage, Bad Nerves, and The Ramones. 

4. Which bands have influenced Les Diggers? 

I don't know but they are chesting Nirvana and Stupeflip while sounding like The Ramones so that's a start. 

5. What have people said about Terre à la Lune?

"It's a fucking banger" - YouTube Comments.

"We want more guys" - YouTube Comments.

"Go, go, go" - YouTube Comments.

Chubby And The Gang - Company I Don't Want To Keep

 

1. Who are Chubby and The Gang?

Chubby and The Gang are a punk rock band from West London, England. They are Charles Manning-Walkers' band and he formed it in 2019. Charles used to play in hardcore punk bands and still is the guitarist for punk rock's latest and greatest band The Chisel. Company I Don't Want To Keep (Oct, 2024) is an album cut from his third album And Then There Was ... (Chubby and The Gang) (Sept, 2024).  

2. What kind of tune is Company I Don't Want To Keep? 

Company I Don't Want To Keep features abominable production, organ that is as useful as tits on a bull, vocals that might as well have been shouted down a phone and a chorus like an old man rooting; a shadow of his former strength and it comes far too late. I loved songs from the first two albums and I genuinely wanted to find something I liked about this album. This song is a reasonable addition in my opinion. It grew on me slowly like Chlamydia. But Chubby will always be a legend to me.

3. Who do Chubby and The Gang sound like? 

Something pub-rockish, Ian Dury, Dr.Feelgood, maybe even The Stranglers. I don't know, it's not great. Chubby's vocals are very Joey Ramone though.

4.  Which bands have influenced Chubby and The Gang? 

Some of his influences include Lightning Hopkins, The Bobby Fuller Four, Dr. Feelgood (huh, I got one), The Ramones (two), and Coloured Balls. it reminded me of a Japandroid's song for some reason.

5. What have people said about the album And The There Was?

"Rage and vulnerability that blends hardcore punk with the most infectious element of 70's rock'n'roll" - Punk Rock Theory. 

"A mix of control and chaos, love and loneliness" - Flatspot Records.   

"A much more refined effort taking influence from a myriad of genres" - Punktastic.

The So So Glos - Dancing Industry

1.    Who are these hard chargers?

The So So Glos are a punk band from Brooklyn, New York, started in 2007. Dancing Industry (Feb’16) is the second single from their third album Kamikaze (Sept’16).

2. What's the low down on Dancing Industry? 

The tune comes bouncing out of the traps at heartbeat pace, with a fire truck siren sense of urgency and an anthemic gang chorus. Light, upbeat, passionate and joyous.

3. Who do The So So Glos sound like? 

A mix of The Clash, The Ramones and The Strokes. 

4. What's the good word from the press?

“Brilliantly uplifting tune” – Kerrang.

“Giddy and scuzzy” – Stereogum.

 

“Charged up” – Consequence Of Sound. 

5. Which bands ignited The So So Glos' fire?

Some of the bands that have influenced The So So Glos are The Clash, The Sex Pistols, Nirvana, Green Day and The Kinks.

6. Why should I give Dancing Industry a crack?

There is a fresh energy to Dancing Industry, with it's combination of frenetic punk rhythms and garage band, that equals the best new thing at the minute.

7. Do The So So Glos have any more bangers?

Missionary bangs a bit harder.

8. Any more words?

Kamikaze was recorded with John Reis (Rocket From The Crypt) and Mike Mogis (Rilo Kiley).

 “If you’re gonna keep up you’re gonna have to dance,

And drive an ambulance at the same time”

Larrikin Love were a London indie rock band that played music with elements of punk, reggae, folk and calypso. They lasted from 2005 - 2007 and were most often compared to The Clash, The Libertines and The Pogues. The bands biggest inspiration was The Waterboys. The band only released one album The Freedom Spark (2006) and it had the band's most popular song Happy Annie which broadens out from the reckless speed of the start into a swinging Dexy's Midnight Runners' Come On Eileen-esque barn burner.

“Children please beware,

I’m choked with fear”

The Crispies - Bad Blood

     1.    Who are these posers?

     The Crispies are an indie pop rock band, with a dash of punk, from Vienna, Austria. The Crispies started rocking it in 2014 and have one E.P to their names. Bad Blood (June’16) is the band’s debut single and the lead single from their debut album Death Row Kids (Oct’16).

       2. How does Bad Blood stack up? 

     Bad Blood is a stripped down, skeezy, punk track that sashays it's way into your heart full of confidence and with it's seductive hips swaying. The classic sound of a guitar plugged into an amp kicks this bitch into action followed by a slow stomp with sharp lead licks tossed off willy nilly. Bad Blood reeks of piss and blood in a basement gig where the music is propelling a heaving mass of humanity toward divinity.

     3. Who are The Crispies similar to?

     The Crispies have been compared to The White Stripes by Critical Pixie, The Ramones by Home At The Heroes and The Arctic Monkeys by Music Austria.

     4. What’s the good word on Bad Blood?

    “Fuzz, Hooks, Reverb” – Noisey Vice.

    “Completely mad and boisterous” – Music Austria.

    “Sound as a pound” – You Tube Comments.

       5. Which bands influenced The Crispies?

     The Crispies have expressed love for Bass Drum Of Death and Ezra Furman.

  

           6. Why should I give Bad Blood a lash? 

Bad Blood captures the gritty escence of garage rock and the moment that visceral music transcends this earthly realm and launches us into nirvana.

      
7. Do The Crispies have any more crackers?

Mercy isn't too shabby.

     8. Any more words chief?

     The four band members all graduated from the same music school together at the same time and are all left-handed.

“We're gonna cough blood”

      

     APES are a garage rock band from Ballarat, Australia, who fight out of Melbourne at the minute. The band have been compared to Foals and Queens Of The Stone Age and have an E.P and a single on their roll call of honor. A debut album is due in October. APES are a raw, gut punching band that have scored support slots for luminaries such as Royal Blood, Band Of Skulls and FIDLAR. Pull The Trigger (2014) is APES at their best; a tune with a cracking riff up front, a raw, stripped back sound and a massive chorus. Get some.   

“So kill me”

The Thermals - Thinking Of You

1.    Who are these heroes?

The Thermals are a punk band from Portland, Oregon. Making magic music since 2002 they have seven long players on their roll of sublime honor. Thinking Of You (March’16) is the third single to come swinging off We Disappear (March’16).

2. What’s on offer?

Thinking Of You has a choppy punk riff and pop harmonies. Both of which are utilized to perfection for two minutes. Nails it. Down tight. Tight.


3. Who are The Thermals like?

Titus Andronicus with a lobotomy. Pop Matters were feeling Green Day's When I Come Around.


4. What is the good word in the rags?

“Blistering offering” – Stereogum.

“A rousing anthem” – Pop Matters.

“Simple, honest, brimming with energy, and catchy as fuck” – Wind Rose Music.



5. Which massive bands had a play in the artistry that is The Thermals?

The Thermals influences include Green Day, Weezer, The Ramones, The Breeders and Speedy Ortiz.


6. Why should I give Thinking Of You a whip through?

The riff.


7. Do The Thermals have any more blinders?

Oh yes. A triumvirate. The first single from We Disappear is the killer Hey You. Now We Can See is stellar. Amazing. Returning To The Fold is essential.


8. Any more words spanner?

Chris Walla, former guitarist for Death Cab For Cutie, produced the new album We Disappear.


 

“I’ve been thinking everything I want to say”

Death Cab For Cutie are an alternative rock band from Bellingham, Washington. Stealing peoples hearts since 1997 they have eight fine long players to talk of. You Are A Tourist was the lead single from the seventh album Codes and Keys (2011), a number one hit and far from a favorite with the critics. Good but.

“When there is a burning in your heart,

Don’t be alarmed”

Public Access TV - In Love and Alone

1.   Who are these grips?

Public Access TV are a post punk rock band from New York City. They have a short player behind them and a new album to be released soon this year. In Love and Alone (Nov'15) is a double A-side single with Patti Peru.

2. What kind of tune have Public Access TV got?

An indie punk rocker with gang vocals that bangs along like the car they are driving. Not fast but with grit and style.

3. Who do Public Access TV sound like?

In Love and Alone is playing in the same sandbox as FIDLAR’s Why Generation, VANT’s Parking Lot. The Vaccine’s Handsome is over on the swings and Palma Violets' Danger In The Club is having a durry, chatting up a young'un by the slides.

The good bastards at Itcher throw out Spring King, Rory Wynne, The Jacques, Weezer and The Strokes as their go to bands.

4. So what have the press goons got to say?

The sycophants are licking this shit up. Public Access TV have “... already proved the goldmine of rock'n'roll classics has yet to run dry,” according to those venerable scribes at NME who went on to lap more up, In Love and Alone is  “... backed up by clattering, cacophonous guitars. It's noisy, chaotic and a true-to-life reflection of the tumult of emotions that comes with unrequited love.” DIY were wanting some of the same action, “bombastic,” they reckoned and, “their most unhinged, all-out rock and roll single yet.” “Rambunctious, loud, full of guitars,” straight batted The Most Definitely and Clash Music sensing they might be left only watching this love fest hurled themselves into the fray with “he American band are seemingly equipped with snappy anthem after snappy anthem.”

 

 5. Who are Public Access TV influenced by?

The band have said they got wood listening to The Strokes and were influenced by Interpol. Front man John Eatherly has talked about having some love for The Ramones, David Bowie, Lou Reed, Bob Dylan and Johnny Thunders.

6. So why should I give In Love and Alone a fair crack of the whip?

Do you like The Ramones? If not jog on. Slow Ramones with better production values. Raw but modern.  A song about un-requitted love. Universal themes. 

7. Do Public Access TV have any more red hot numbers?

Did cancer have a hard on for The Ramones? Try In The Mirror. It doesn't blow goats.

 8. Is there any more invaluable information to impart?

The bands apartment was blown up, up up, by a gas explosion you might remember.

The band have been on fluffer duties for good bands like Weezer, The Strokes, FIDLAR, WAVVES and Twin Peaks. 

“She is lost and she is scared now,

I should ask myself why and how”

Slippery seconds today is courtesy of another post punk New York band Interpol. Started in 1997 they have found critical acclaim, fame and fortune. Everything Is Wrong (Jan'15) is one of four singles from their fifth, and most recent, album El Pinter (2014). The album got rave reviews.

“Think I know why, what I say,

Inverse achievements, I rule the daze”

The Best Indie Songs of 2015 - The Vaccines

The Vaccines Handsome (Jan’15) isn’t just an English version of a Ramones song but its cunt hair close. Two minutes and thank you ma’am? Check. The singer’s phrasing and r-r-r repetition? Check. Recycled 50’s pop melodies. Check. Instrumentation? Well I don’t remember the Ramones for keyboards but fuck knows. Three chords? Actually four you tired old clichéd hack. Tongue planted so firmly in cheek a change of wind would leave ‘em with a cock sucking face. Check. A tune as sticky as a rapist in church… fuck this, my job is done here.

More bop than blitzkrieg, The Vaccines have created a blast of deceptively fun pop with copious handclaps that just won’t quit. The tune is about pricks they have met who have celebrity thanks to not hitting all the branches on the ugly tree when they fell down, and yet wanna whinge about it. Handsome is blow job on a Saturday night driving through big city streets exhilarating and a dead cert one of the best indie songs of 2015.

“…my body is a temple you can worship at my feet

But I might kick you in the teeth…”

 

 

The Vaccines are an indie rock band from London, England and Handsome is the first barrage off their third campaign English Graffitti (May’15). The band have been extracting the urine since 2010.

Shit you need to know:

The new album was produced by Dave Fridman who’s put his nose to the grind forWeezer, The Cribs and Tame Impala.
The band have been compared toThe Ramones, Elvis and The Kinks. Others mentionThe Jesus and Mary Chain and The Strokes.

The band have saidtheir main influence is the Phil Spector sound and 1950's rockabilly.

The new album English Graffiti was inspired bySleater-Kinney and the singer has mentioned early influencesbeing The Monkeys and The Strokes.

Quite complicated souls The Vaccines are. In one breath, deep as a puddle,“music to meis entertainment and escapism” and describing their lyrics as “…stupid fucking clunky lyrics” and then saying the album title references the singer's counter-intuitive concerns about globalisation and online socialisation, "We live in a really weird time. We're voyeurs. We're constantly looking at this constructed reality online. We feel super-connected but I don't thinkwe are". 

The singer Justin Young fully supportsillegal downloading and despises their music being diminished by labelling it‘lad rock’.

Need another shot? Here’s a trifecta of classics from The Vaccines, Norgaad, Teenage Icon and Dream Lover.

 

Slippery seconds goes to the Canadian punk band Needle//Pins who, without a lick of fuckin proof, I’m gonna say are named after the Ramones song of the same name. Almost the same fucktard.

The song is Drop It (2011) and is actually a clever low-fi gem with a killer melody and not a million miles away from the Vaccines.

 

“I still got your photograph in a heart shaped locket

I’ll still follow you my friend…”