The Cremators, “s/t”

Artist: THE CREMATORS / Title: “S/T” / Genré: PSYCHOBILLY / Format: CD-EP / Label: HEP TOWN RECORDS /

I received this record some months ago, but haven’t reviewed it until now. It’s not that it’s bad, cos it isn’t. They’re a good bunch of lads who have played with the likes of The Last Resort and if you like psychobilly, I think you’ll like this. It’s just that over the last few months, I’ve grown tired with fast and loud music. I’ve listened to punk and it’s subgenrés for 20 years+ and want to explore some different music, so recently, I’ve been listening mainly to country, bluegrass and cajun. In fact, this review marks the end for now (maybe I’ll come back!) of this blog.

But enough about me.

I really like this record, they play a good mix of punk and psychobilly. Some tunes are more punky in their energy, whereas some are more 50′s rockabilly in their sound. You can’t review this record without mentioning the guitars either, cos I really like ‘em, as do I the voice of the vocalist. He could easily sing with an oi! band as well as with a psychobilly band, he’s got loads of bollocks to it, as well as a melodic singing capacity which I like.

If you like psychobilly, you’ll like this record, so get it if you’re smart!

The Cremators gig in HBG Saturday July 31st

The Cremators play live at Musikparken in Helsingborg, Sweden at 11 pm.

An interview with the Cremators

OFTB: Introduce the band and give us a bit on your history!

C: Well hello there, we’re The Cremators and we play kick ass, flamin’ hot rock’n’roll. There’s five of us, all handsome devils of course…Lucas Arson (Lead vocals), Rev. Hellbound (Double bass & backing vocals), Boogie Ollie (Guitar & backing vocals), Mac Gayver (Guitar) and Mad Max (Drums).
The band was formed in 2004 in the southern swedish city of Hellsingborg, when the Rev. started learning how to play the big bass and pulled some people together to play psychobilly. We released a couple of demos but had some trouble with first one guitarist and then the other quitting, but since we found Mac and Ollie it’s been no further problems like that. This is the ultimate Cremators-lineup and will hopefully stay that way!

OFTB: Do you find inspiration in your music from psychobilly only, or do you look to punk and rockabilly as well? What do you think of artists like Hasil Adkins?

C: Oh yes. To just restrict our influences to ”pure” psychobilly would make the music we write too fucking boring. We draw inspiration from all the kinds of music we listen to. Psychobilly sure, but also punkrock, hardcore, metal, surf, country, rockabilly etc etc…
One should always remember that psychobilly has always been a blend of different styles, and that’s what makes the music so cool.
Hasil Adkins…ahh he was a true hillbilly nutjob, his stuff is so crazy you gotta be normal not to like it. And we for sure are not! Only sad part is that none of us ever got to see him live before hi died. But I bet he’s waiting for us in hell, so I don’t worry too much!

OFTB: A few years ago, a lot of skinheads became psychobillies. Have all or some of you been skins and, if so, what made you change subculture?

C:  I (The Rev.) is the only one in the band who has ever called himself a skinhead. I was also punk before that, but I don’t bother too much about labels nowadays. It seemed more important when I was younger. None of us in the band calls themselves ”psychobilly” either, we’re all grown up individuals and don’t feel the need to be a part of a conformist subculture anymore.
The reason I ”hung up the boots” was just that I got sick of the whole scene and the narrowmindness within, and then the same thing when I quit calling myself ”psychobilly”. Now I’m just me and the music I listen to, the clothes I wear and the people I hang out with is a mix of all the different subcultures I’ve been through.

OFTB: Where do you see the band in a few years?

C:  Hmm. Since we have started to get some attention in Germany, which is the first step on the road to world fame, I guess it wouldn’t be an understatement to say that we’ll be the new Nekromantix or Mad Sin in a few years…hehehe
Seriously, we’ll see what happens. We’re gonna start recording our first album this fall, and hopefully some label will sign us, but if not we’ll just release it ourselves. No use in just sitting around waiting for something to happen.
And yeah, we want gigs…lots of them. It’s on stage we’re at our best!

OFTB: What is a ”good gig” for you? Where is the ideal place to play and what is the ideal crowd like?

C: The ”ideal” gig is somewhere with people who understand what we’re doing and who are juiced up enough to go nuts in the pit.
If it’s psychos, rockabillies, punks, skins, ”normal” people…we don’t give a shit. As long as you dig us, we dig you!
Oh, did I mention, we want more gigs!!

OFTB: What do you think of ”raggare” (Swedish for ”teds” for our international readers)? Do they listen to your music and come to your gigs?

C:  Well, here in the south you don’t see too many of them so I can’t say much about it. There might have been one or two on some of our gigs but since no bottles were thrown at us, I guess they liked it haha

OFTB:  Which football clubs (if any) do you support? What do you think of this year’s allsvenskan?

C: None of us are active football supporters, but of course it’s great that Helsingborg is doing so well this years.

OFTB: What do you think mr Hamrén must do in order for Sweden to qualify for the 2014 world cup of footie?

C:  I know too little about football tactics to have an oppinion on this, but it sure is gonna be interesting how the new generation of swedish players will be doing in the qualifications. And hopefully Hamrén will make the traditional swedish football a thing of the past. Somewhat effective, sure…but sooooo boring!!!

If you wanna contact The Cremators, don’t hesitate… We have a six song EP out now + great looking t-shirts, patches and pins. So if you’re interested in buying anything, offering us a gig or just writing us loveletters, please do so through myspace or thecremators@hotmail.com

Over & out!

Prins Carl wants a guitarist

Top Swedish oi! band Prins Carl has lost their guitarist and need a new one. If you play the guitar and live within commuting distance of the band (Västerås, Sweden), get in contact with them! You’ll find their myspace among my links.

Antipati, “Frågor som rör det allmänna”

Artist: ANTIPATI / Title: FRÅGOR SOM RÖR DET ALLMÄNNA /Genré: OI! /Format: CD / Label: KJELL HELL RECORDS /

In Swedish, we a saying which goes “He who awaits something good never wait too long” and that is certainly a fitting saying for this record, firstly, cos it was delayed, secondly, cos I have long awaited an all-Swedish language oi! record from Antipati. On their last full-length, they had a few English and a few Swedish songs, but my lasting impression from “On repeat” was that the Swedish ones was the best.

In fact, I would say (no offense to the visigoth Gatans Lag) that they are the best who’s dunnit in Swedish for a long while.

Musically, then? Well, in my review of their first full length, I said they had Agent Bulldogg and West Side Boys for schoolteachers in music class and I still sense some WSB in their more melodic numbers and there is some Bulldogg too, but over all, I think they’ve developed a sound of their own and it would be unfair to compare them with others and say “oh, they sound just like…”. No! Fuck that! Antipati is a proper band with a style of their own. Sometimes melodic, always hard and with a hoarse voice from Robban what really does the trick.

Lyrics, it’s just what one would expect from Robbans fairly misantropic views. He’s doing a lot of booting this time, handing out slaps and kicks to politicians, the telly, mainstream “punks” and society in general. The irony behind all this is that Antipati does not hide their contempt for politicians, but I do believe quite a few would like to vote for them if they was a party. To be fair, there’s a few subculture and drinking songs too in there.

A great record! Get it, even if you don’t know Swedish, the music alone makes this a Swedish oi! classic.

2nd Pint, “Take us home”

Artist: 2ND PINT /Title: “TAKE US HOME” / Genré: OI! / Format: CDR / Label: NONE (DEMO) /

I received this record weeks ago and have actually had a bit of a bad conscience for not having reviewed it in proper time, but it’s summertime and you know how it gets, aight?

On the other hand, I have mostly listened to country this summer and my mind is a bit blank when it comes to punk/oi!, so they have the advantage of being the first punk band I listen to for a while.

This band is, like Prins Carl, connected to Anarkopunx records, but, like Prins Carl, they have not released this darling on that label, but distribute it themselves. I hope this is not the end for non-political bands on AP records, cos Robban has a good ear for good nonpolitical music.

This band, then? They’re good.

First thing which strikes one is the vocalist, he has a good cockney accent, in fact, it’s so good I wonder if he is actually a real cockney. Come to that, he’s got a hoarse voice that at times remind one of Hodges of the 4-skins.

That is where the likenesses to the 4-skins end though, cos this is not aggro music. Musically, it reminds me of either a harder Chron Gen or a more melodic Ejected.

Lyrically, it’s closer to Vicious Rumours, drinks, birds and some violence stuff.

Best tune on this disc is “Paul the guru”.

All that being said, it’s not a very good record, just a good one, I like it, but I’m not overenthusiastic about it. I think they sound like a lot of other Swedish bands sound right now and I would like to hear some variety.

Still, the record is that good that I can recommend it to fans of oi!/punk. I would rather listen to stereotypical oi! than some emo shit.

High Hopes, “At the end of the day”

Artist: HIGH HOPES / Title: “AT THE END OF THE DAY” / Genré: HC / Format: CDR (DEMO) / Label: NONE (DEMO)

This is a good little record, I really like it.

What you get on this ‘un is 80′s inspired HC. Musically, it reminds me of bands like Bold and Turning Point. The usual youth crew stuff, that is.

Which is perhaps why I am surprised to see (or hear) no straight edge references on this ‘un. Do these geezers drink and smoke? That’s their biz and I won’t let it affect my view of them.

Lyrically, it’s posi-stuff, the wonderful idea (which I fully subscribe to) that one man can make a change.

So, to sum it up, what you get is fast, but not too fast, HC with a few semi-melodic bits to it, plenty of good moshing can be made to this, there’s a few sing-along momenets too.

Not groundbreaking in any sense, but they’re really good at what they’re doing.

Best tune on the record is the title tune.

Vindicate This!, “Stronger than yesterday”

Artist: VINDICATE THIS! / Title: “STRONGER THAN YESTERDAY” / Genré: OI! / Format: CD / Label: AT THE POORHOUSE PRODUCTIONS

Right, before I had heard this cd, I had understood that this would be a skinhead rock & roll band that was influenced by The Templars, who in their turn have always had a rac-influence going and with the title to this album, I was expecting something like Brutal Attack, minus the politics.

How wrong I was, the title tune is a tune about hard drinking and this is much better than most of what Brutal Attack have managed to put out over the years. There is still a definite rac feeling, though, I mean, they sound a lot like The Small Faces meeting 70′s rock & roll, meeting Cock Sparrer, meeting early Skrewdriver, which is another way of saying that they sound a lot like 80′s rac bands. For some reason, I keep thinking of aussies Fortress when I hear them.

In other words, this is a rocking, fairly melodical powerhouse with growling vocals and some fine singalong moments.

I like it.

What I also like is the fact that lyrics come included and I find myself agreeing with most of their views. I have myself been unemployed for some years during the 90′s and can recognise myself in what they have to say and their view of society. More than so, I find myself in complete agreement with them on having one’s pride and not asking for handouts. Myself, I’d rather starve than beg strangers for spare change.

Which is perhaps why I find myself in non-agreement with them on alcohol. Alcohol is not your friend when you exist at the bottom of society, it kills off your hatred and bitterness.

I like this record a lot, I especially like the shorter, hate-driven songs  like “I hate my time”. If there is something to be not so over the top enthusiastic about, then it is the songs “Fed up” (nice lyrics, but far too long) and “Glory days” (cos of the oi! oi! oi! chorus that just end up stereotypical).

If you like this kind of music, you can’t get wrong with this ‘un! Get it!

Keep yer fingers crossed!

Tonight’s the night.

An interview with Social Distrust

Social Distrust is an interesting band from Germany. I reviewed and fairly liked their latest record, “Who is my killer?” and decided to interview them as well and they turned out to be good guyd with interesting takes on everything from society to football, as you will see in this interview. Check them and their music out for yourselves! http://www.myspace.com/socialdistrust

Oftb: What made you decide, at such a young age, to start a band? Have your influences changed over the years, or have you always sounded the same?

SD: Well, we are from the countryside and it can be pretty boring there. So either you just hang out and bother old people by playing playing tricks with them or you terrorize your neighbourhood by playing punkrock in a garage. We did both, but with a bigger focus of the noiseterror. Haha.

Of course our influences have changed. We started as a streetpunk band with a pretty rough sound. I’d even say that the sound of our early days was pretty close to hardcore.

But when you grow up, you get to know more bands and listen to different kinds of music, instead of being a 14-16 year-old anti-establishment punk rock kid. Views and taste change. Progression never stops.

Oftb: You sing in English (and are doing a helluvva good job at it too!), although the punk scene in your, like my, country have a long tradition of singing in one’s native tongue. Why did you decide to sing in English and have you received a lot of bullshit for it?

SD: Thanks for the compliment buddy. We sing in English because you can reach more people with that. We are not a band that just plays in the practice room. We like to travel and meet new people, in Germany as well as abroad. And the German language is not too popular abroad, people wouldn’t care about us. We used to have a couple of German lyrics back in the day, but those songs are almost forgotten…

Oftb: Which band was the best to play with live that you have played with?

SD: That’s a good question…we had already a lot of fun with a bunch of bands. The Real McKenzies are pretty cool and laid back, it’s always a blast to party with them. We played a couple of shows with them in 08, as well as with Far From Finished. 2nd District and Radio Dead Ones (both from Germany) are also pretty cool backstage. Then we played with this crazy Japanese band, ‘Maximum the Hormone’…that was sick! It was their first Euro Tour, we were asked to open for them. We didn’t know them and their sound didn’t match to our sound at all, so we thought about not playing. But we said yes, just for fun, an it turned out as a badass show in a sold out venue with 600 or 700 people. And the band was super friendly. Good times!

Oftb: Would you like to play in Scandinavia and how does one book you?

SD: Of course, we’d be super stoked to play in Scandinavia! Just contact us on myspace or write us an e-mail, we do the booking ourselves!

Oftb: Where in Germany are you from and what’s the scene like there? Split over animal rights and straight edge or a real sense of unity?

SD: We’re from the countryside, 90 km south of Dortmund respectively 80 km east of Cologne. In Dortmund, there’s a strong anti-fascist movement and a lot of alternative people, vegan style and stuff. Cologne…no idea…pretty much indie-music there and yuppies. Dortmund is definitely more punkrock.

Oftb: At your age, you’re just about as old (or young), give or take a few years, as reunited Germany. What has it been like growing up in a country where people of the same nation were not only split by a wall, but told by it’s leaders that they were mortal enemies?

SD: Actually it was like growing up like everywhere else I think. I don’t know how it’d have been with the border. I think this question would be a good one for people in their mid 30′s. They could tell you something about it. I just can say that I have a bunch of relatives in the eastern part of Germany and me and my family used to visit them pretty often when I was a kid. So I could get an insight in the process of rebuilding the eastern part. The economy in East-Germany was subsidied by the taxes of the West, it was pretty expensive and you always could hear people complain about it (not in my family), sayin the money would be better for other purposes. People in the West made jokes of the Eastern folks and the other way around as well. But all in all it was like growing up in ONE country.

Oftb:  Do you support any team in the Bundesliga (or lower divisions)? What do you think of your team’s chances this season?

SD: Manuel (singer) and me (guitar) are fans of Borussia Dortmund. They ended up on 5th position, which means they will be back in European competition. It’s good to be back, it was about time! They played a good season and with a little less stupidity they could have reached the 3rd position and thus the Champions Laegue Qualifications…but they lost some energy in the last games of the season.

Oftb: What do you think of Germany’s chances at this year’s world cup of football? Will you go all the way to the final?

SD: Yeah, the world cup…always a good question. Our team is always strong when playing tournaments, the last two world cups were not too bad for us! I’m more than confident that we survive the first round and usually we should make it at least to the semi-finals but that will be a hard way. It is possible that we would have to play against England in the eigth-finals. And the matches against England are always real fights. Then maybe against France or Argentina, would mean ‘hard-times’ again. But when we played against Argentina the last World Cup, we proved that we can keep up with the best teams of the world! Now the situation is different, we have new players and so on. But the spirit is the same!