Thee Spivs on Damaged Goods Records

I was glad to see this single from Thee Spivs after hearing that track on that World's Lousy comp. They're taking right back to the loose manic late '70s English punk....all the best things from the Buzzcocks, Exploited, Sham 69.

Then they go and do something like "T.V. Screen"... a nod to all the homages over the years, Ex Lion Tamer, TV party tonight, ...the list goes on and on, and rack up the classics, make some room on the countdown because this A-Side from Thee Spivs is another winner. I don't even know what it is about this sound... they have that punk attitude without being purely about the snotty anti-talent just to piss off anyone that likes them. These guys are talented and making jokes while really singing in this complex narrative. Surprising, it even started out as an acoustic number! It's like they're consciously distancing themself from the usual noisy chords.

punch me once / punch me again
gonna knock my eyes out from the back of my head

Asking 'what are you watchiing on the television screen?' We know you are, it's not right or wrong its just a reflection of that chaos of these millions of channels and flipping around, taking in the bits and pieces and then... oops, this comes vomiting out of thee Spivs in only the way these guys can do it. It's a party punk sound and I'd still avoid them in a dark alley. They probably don't give a shit about too much, I can hear it, these harmonies come out of despration. Punch me again! Cathcy riffs made out of nothing, fantastic. Stick my knife in my brain. I'll go find some more on the television screen. They have this post cold punk sound like the Soft Pack, rowdier and in the spirit of Joe Strummer RIP.

"I don't like the man that I am" more acoustic!?? (and billy childish cover - ed) This is bordering on sensitive, but this vocal is so dirty and completely cockney, baring it all, abreviating all kinds of words, dropping consonants, in that kind of tough guy let down the sheild for a second. Half joking but maybe being sincere in this kind of sea shanty bar song feel that might as well be a capella. I like it when these guys go more balls out punk, but then I appreciate that they're also defying expectations with something pretty personal like this. Way to go guys... one for the ladies.

Thee Spivs are back with their second album ‘Black And White Memories’ in November, following their critically acclaimed debut ‘Taped Up’ from 2010.
This is the lead single from the album called ‘T.V. Screen’, it’s a limited edition 7” with an exclusive b-side, a cover of the Billy Childish classic ‘I Don’t Like The Man That I Am’ which weirdly enough has also been covered by Pete Molinari and the Singing Loins, both on Damaged Goods!

On white vinyl from Damaged Goods Records, US distro...Red Eye.

The World's Lousy with Ideas - Volumer Nein on Almost Ready Records

The World's Lousy series from Almost Ready reads like a greatest hits collection of an era, starting way back on Volume One in 2007 with Home Blitz, Boys Club and Nothing People...then checking out Volume Two,a year later has Nobunny and Wax Museums among others. The incredible thing Harry is doing here aside from putting these out on seven inch vinyl is making all the tracks exclusive to the series. To me, that's what seven inches are all about, discovering new music from artists by taking a chance on this cheap artifact. Even in an age of 'sampling' everything online, if you want to seriously consider something, you have to sit down with the record....and the length of this format forces you to consider nothing but what's happening musically. It's one thing to put out a split between two artists who might be related but looking at the series as a whole it's clear he's been documenting/curating a cultural movement of garage, punk...just plain great music. Back catalog names I don't recognize need to be examined based purely on their inclusion in The World's Lousy. It's only looking back it's clear that Almost Ready has becomes a trusted source of taste, and a new addition to the World's Lousy collection is going to be the cutting edge, the canary in the coalmine...hopefully they continue to be repressed forever.

A-Side finds the Cheater Slicks doing what sounds like a live version of a track, "Silver Fox" which comes off like a slower drunken country sounding number, the lead on this one is stumbling all over the place loud and up front, the vocals are sloppy, jamming back out of the PA, barely hitting those notes, like some kind of cover that they know just well enough...and the mere fct they are attempting it is meaningful. Out of tune hoarse sounding delivery those vocals...giving these drunken notes to the foundation of trash rock to come back with those crunchy deep reverb chords, just another night with the Cheater Slicks. They've been at this for twenty years, and have a massive discography. You don't have to go home but you can't stay here. Slow scattershot rhythm to the end of this side.

The 'R' side has Thee Spivs doing "Men don't cry", I loved their other single from Almost Ready and have been following what they've been up to from across the pond...glad to hear more from these guys. Here they're exploring more of their surf shitty as hell sound, that Cramps style yelling blues melody, Ben can barely even stop and take a breath, which he spectacularly does on this one. They have that romanticized English punk authenticity and are as massive and raw as OBN III's (my new standard for balls out recordings). AR says they are the ones to watch. I've heard enough of their garage, surf punk to be on board for something longer, fitting right slongside that Ty, Useless Eaters, nashville crunch sound with a nod towards those early days of English punk who took things to a whole new level.

Psandwich rounds this out with a thin reissue sound, like something you'd find on Harry's other label, Last Laugh that finds us in a rehearsal space...sounding like Liquor Store, blasting goofy melodies, sing a long chorus, "Singing in the shower"
All with that classic punk gritty distortion and three chord high melody because they're going to win you over like Wounded Lion or The Hunx by being a little vulnerable....let's make fun of ourselves and we're going to win you over because we're irresistible. Snare rolls, belting steady vocal rhythm, repeat that chorus because they're having a good time and they're asking for the audience to do the same.

Get this one from Almost Ready...no bandcamp samples...go buy it.

Thee Spivs on Almost Ready Records

Here we go kids gather around it's time for another release from Almost Ready Records, this one from Thee Spivs sounds like it should be on their Last Laugh reissue imprint, but noooooo, these guys just got together like 5 years ago...in the UK, you dummy, and I'm hooked on their stripped down garage-y pop ways. I think I got a little too comfortable not looking farther than Nashville for the pop punk, and this is reminding me of the rest of the freaking world...like what happened to the french punk stuff that was happening not too long ago on Les Disques Steak? These guys are holding it down overseas and reminding me about that punk history.

A-Side's, "It's True" has the most raw energy, somehow it stays stripped down and raw as hell but with a big, really full sound. The crashes are still just peaking out, but there's lots of low end....I think it's just a weird sound to have the best of both worlds like this, the separated lows but still dabbling in the low-fi gunkyness that is just classic punk...building on those roots, not reinventing anything, but unpretentiously looking back at that era again, borrow and build. This three piece delivers on what I'm hearing about their live energy, getting it down on this record. When they count it off, it explodes, every verse from Ben Edge is matched by the rest of the band, back and forth, the classic call and response, paying homage to everything I've ever heard coming from this part of the world in the late '70s.
When a single can capture a performance like this, and elude to a tiny sample of what they must be like live, it's going to make you want to catch them live or immediately after the show you go find the merch table...that's the point of the 7" format. Making even more sense when looking back at what this sound is paying homage to.

"Taped Up" is another study in being able to straddle this solid, put together/spontaneous, raw sound. Keeping it short, they power chord away the punk, getting poppier this time.
I wanna go home / but it's taped up.
I get the feeling these guys had some experience with the police tape, the fact they would write about that says something. There's a surfy 'oh yea' chorus stuff that's really glamming up this track, make a party out of the beach ghetto sound. I can't help but hear the Clash or The Adverts here either. They're really working in the footsteps of all those classics, and headed there themselves.

Get this one from Almost Ready records.