So here’s the last of the Yeah God! vinyl I own, which ironically according to the catalog number was actually their first single on Chapter 22. There’s an air of optimism on this E.P. which I definitely wouldn’t associate with the band, with tracks titled ‘Love Is Like The Sun’ and choruses singing “Lift up your head and say that tomorrow will be a better day”. OK, so one of the tracks (the best one) is called ‘Eat Plutonium Death’, but the other tracks sound like Blink-182-ish uplifting skate-punk. So yeah, not my favourite release by the band but it’s not terrible either. Just a bit too conventional (verse, chorus, verse, chorus, solo, chorus) and optimistic to be the same band who would frequently use samples and pitched-down vocals and went on to record “Everything’s Not Fucking Irie, Man“.
Track list
01-So Far Down
02-Look Better Gone
03-Eat Plutonium Death
04-Love Is Like The Sun
In late September I took an epic trip from Hong Kong to England to see Gaye Bykers On Acid. It was a crazy, amazing trip and worth every penny. As it happened GBOA were playing Indie Daze 3 with my other favourite band Pop Will Eat Itself, which certainly sweetened the deal!
I was really excited to see the Poppies, in particular because Kerry “The Buzzard” Hammond (Yeah God!) was playing guitar with them along with PWEI V.1 drummer Fuzz Townshend.
Anyway, by the time PWEI came on the jet lag hit me like a ton of bricks and I was absolutely knackered. Furthermore I was emotionally drained after seeing (potentially) the last GBOA gig ever! Anyway, I watched the show but couldn’t get into it at all – the tiredness was crippling and I could think about was whether or not I was about to collapse!
I left the show barely remembering the Poppies set.Thankfully, bootleg extraordinaire Stef recorded the show and I’m happy to say it’s great! I remember watching live and noticing a few slip-ups with bassist Davey Bennett running around on stage trying to keep Fuzz in time for the new songs, but listening to the recording you can barely notice any issues.
The set list was mostly classics but they showcased a few songs from their fantastic latest album Anti-Nasty League. Anyway, enough rambling, here’s the show!
Set list
01-The Incredible P.W.E.I. Vs. The Moral Majority
02-Dance Of The Mad Bastards
03-Preaching To The Perverted
04-R.S.V.P.
05-Director’s Cut
06-Nosebleeder Turbo TV
07-Everything’s Cool?
08-Watch The Bitch Blow
09-Old Skool Cool
10-Def.Con.One
11-Ich Bin Ein Auslander
12-Wise Up! Sucker
13-Can U Dig It?
14-Get The Girl! Kill The Baddies!
15-Their Law
Prior to the release of their sort-of debut album D*nce Like A Bastard!!, Ugly Noize Inc. (formally Yeah God!) released the E.P. Nitro Injected Thrash Pop For The Def! This release contains one album track (A Prayer…) and three non-album tracks, the best of which is probably Bomber. I must admit, I was a slightly disappointed with this E.P. as the songs seem a bit lazy and generic. It’s not bad, but it’s a mile away from the creative wackiness of D*nce Like A Bastard!! and Noizgasm. To be honest, tracks 2-4 almost sound like a different band. Maybe I’m being harsh – I’ll give it a few more listens – but it’s definitely not up to the band(s) prior and future releases! Anyway, vinyl rip with HQ covers (the front cover is a work of art!) in the link below.
01-A Prayer To The God Of Obscure And Skint Independent Artistes
02-Ded Set On Destruction
03-Bomber
04-! (No More, Waste Of Time)
Yeah God! decided to change their name for some reason to Ugly Noize Inc. following the release of Noizgasmin 1989. Not quite sure why, but maybe someone out there knows? Anyway, in 1990 they released the humorously titled D*nce Like A Bastard!! The album is quite a departure from their previous one. While Noizgasm was rooted in thrash, and quite experimental at times, featuring unusual song structures, loads of samples and down-pitched vocals, Bastard is a lot more like conventional metal/hard rock. This is anything but an insult as the results are fantastic. The tracks are tighter and the album flows better. The lyrics are easier to hear and the riffs are fantastic.
While The Buzzard’s vocals were often death growls and shouting on Noizgasm here he sings quite a lot, and it works better in my opinion. Not to slate Noizgasm, I love that album and the vocals suited it, but I have to say I prefer this one as the songs are more memorable and the album is more accessible in general.
There are some outstanding tracks, complete with The Buzzard’s amazing guitar playing and darkly funny lyrics. Stand out tracks for me are “A Prayer To The God Of Obscure And Skint Independant Artistes” (“I ain’t too proud to take charity, gimmy all you got just as long as it’s free”), “Bitch, Bitch, Bitch”, the dubby/metal mash up of “Everything’s Not Fucking Irie, Man” and the rap/rock track “Dance Like Your Ass Is On Fire”.
Overall an excellent album which has been on constant rotation on my phone for the past few weeks. I’ve just ordered their E.P. Nitro Injected Trash Pop For The Deaf and I’m very much looking forward to hearing it! If anyone knows if the band had anymore releases please get in touch through the comments!
Edit 12/08/16 – Paul from the band had this to say –
We recorded and mixed this in just over a week at Brian Tatlers studio (the fridge?) in Stourbridge. All I can remember of it was there was a trivial pursuit coinop that I never got to play on!
1 Back 2 Reality
2 A Prayer To The God Of Obscure And Skint Independant Artistes
3 Offin’ The Good Guys
4 Scheherazade Jones
5 Hindsight Binoculars
6 Betterways
7 Bitch, Bitch, Bitch
8 Beirut Timeshare Love Affair
9 Everything Is Not Fucking Irie Man
10 Dance Like Ya Ass Is On Fire
11 Worst Bad
12 Ogres (My Guitar Dies Screaming)
Released on Chapter 22 records in 1989, Noizgasm explodes with heavy metal riffs and raw growlllllllllls. It storms along at about 400 bpm with The Buzzard (who featured on PWEI albums and wrote the riff for The Prodigy’s track “Their Law” which also featured PWEI) shreading his guitar like a mad man. Expect lots of heavy riffing, dive bombs, samples (I spotted the beat from “She Drives Me Crazy” more than once!) and a tongue-in-cheek sense of humour. A great LP to bang your head to.
Edit (12/08/16) Paul from the band had this to say re: the recording of the album –
Some good (and bad) memories of the making of this album … The funniest (story) I remember is that we had traveled to the studio under the impression that it was a residential place that fed the band too. Why we thought that on our budget I’ll never know! So inevitably we arrived with no food or even much cash. Towards the end of the album when we were surviving one piece of toast and Marmite each per day Pete’s (the owners) wife took pity and us and fed us ‘proper food’ ! bless her! I’ve been good friends with Pete ever since – nice guy.
Recorded during their last (?) tour before their initial break up in 1996, this set features songs such as 100% Is It, Out of Darkness…Cometh Light, Hangman and I Am The One, which would go unheard for over 15 years until 2013’s release of ‘A Lick Of The Old Cassette Box‘. By this point Graham Crabb had left the band leaving Clint Mansell as the sole vocalist. Clint does a good job here and it helped out by the ferocious Kerry ‘The Buzzard’ Hammond on the occasional harmony who lays down the riffs (yeah!) with flair. While the quality isn’t amazing, it’s well worth a listen as it’s probably the only chance fans will get to hear the ‘unreleased’ album live.
Setlist
1. Everything’s Cool?
2. Fatman
3. Hangman
4. 100% It Is
5. Underbelly
6. Wise Up! Sucker
7. Easy (aka. Out of Darkness…Cometh Light)
8. I Am The One
9. Kick To Kill
10. RSVP
11. Ich Bin Ein Auslander
12. Their Law
Hyperhead were a British alternative rock band formed by former Gaye Bykers on Acid singer Mary Mary (aka Mary Byker) in the early 1990s. After Gaye Bykers on Acid split up, Mary Mary joined Pigface before forming Hyperhead, which included his Pigface colleagues Martin Atkins (also formerly of PiL and Killing Joke) and William Tucker (also previously of Revolting Cocks and My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult), along with bassist Karl Leiker and guitarist Paul Dalloway. The band released the album Metaphasia in 1992 on Devotion Records.
(Source Wikipedia)
Here are the b-sides tracks from Hyperhead’s Terminal Fear CD single. All are non-album tracks – love it when non-album tracks were included on singles. B-sides rule man. Anyway, Divine Individual is a jazzy sorta track with Mary’s growling “You’ve got the looks, not the lifestyle!” (A reference to the PWEI album ‘Looks or the Lifestyle?’?!), Thank You God is a humorous satirical “thank you” to God herself, but the stand out track for me is No Illusion (Vox) which combines a harmonica along with an almost Latin sounding metal riff. Good stuff
Great quality recording of PWEI 2.0 playing on the New Noise Designed By A Sadist tour.
Set list
01 Intro
02 Back 2 Business
03 Wise Up! Sucker
04 R.S.V.P.
05 Chaos & Mayhem
06 Wasted (Part 1)
07 Everything’s Cool
08 Get the Girl! Kill the Baddies!
09 Seek & Destroy
10 Oldskool Cool
11 Ich Bin Ein Auslander
12 Cape Connection
13 Disguise
14 Preaching to the Perverted
15 Nosebleeder Turbo TV
16 Captain Plastic
17 There Is No Love Between Us
18 Their Law
No idea who recorded this but I downloaded it from pweination.com/. If it’s your recording, drop me a comment and I’ll credit you 🙂
ps. if you haven’t bought PWEI’s new album Anti-Nasty League you should! It’s fantastic. The box set comes with an extra track and stems of all the album cuts so you can remix to your hearts content. Take the plunge and get it from here – http://shop.popwilleatitself.net/collections/anti-nasty-league
Fantastic set from the incredible PWEI. Recorded by yours truly last summer when visiting home. Sound quality is a bit muddy at times but if you know the tunes already you’ll be fine.
01 – The Incredible PWEI v Moral Majority
02 – Back 2 Business
03 – Wise Up! Sucker
04 – Chaos and Mayhem
05 – Everything’s Cool
06 – Dance of the Mad Bastards
07 – Radio PWEI
08 – Nosebleeder TV Turbo
09 – R.S.V.P.
10 – Can U Dig It
11 – PWEI-zation
12 – There’s No Love Between Us
13 – Ich Bin Ein Auslander
14 – Reclaim The Game (Funk FIFA)
15 – Get The Girl! Kill The Baddies!
16 – Babylon R.I.P.
17 – Watch The Bitch Blow
18 – Old Skool Cool
19 – Preaching To The Perverted
20 – Def. Con. One
21 – Their Law
Ps – PWEI have a new album out entitled ‘Anti-Nasty League’. You can pre-order a physical release exclusively from their website and enjoy an instant download. The album is absolutely mega and easily among the best stuff they’ve ever recorded. My album of the year so far! Get it here: http://shop.popwilleatitself.net/collections/anti-nasty-league
Another Boring B Side 