TrashPit Magazine Issue 8

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issue 8

Talkin Trash with New York's Kings of Sleaze Interviews with All American Rejects, Danger Danger, Glitterati Eric Singer - KISS / Alice Cooper Band, Idlewild, Queen Adreena

KISS Drummer

Live performances from: Top U.K. KISS Tribute Band U.K. melodic rockers KISS Songwriter / Silent Rage's Along for the ride again, our host

All the usual competitions, signed memorabilia raffle, face painting etc...

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Another (late) issue arrives and TrashPit is officially two years old this Autumn - yay! And get us with a free covermount CD - makes us look all proper and everything! This cool freebie is courtesy of the great people at Fading Ways Music who you may have read about in a previous issue of TrashPit. Check out the tunes and let us and them know what you think. We're very proud to bring this to you and thanks go out to Ash and Neil at Fading Ways for constantly supporting TrashPit and making this happen - we salute ya!

This we hope is just the beginning of loads more cool stuff that's beginning to take shape. We've launched our own MySpace page which has already brought us to the attention of a whole new batch of music fans and the live 'TrashPit Presents..' Nights continue to grow. If things go to plan you could also see more things happening on the

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TrashPit Records front too so fingers crossed.

So onto issue 8 and I'm very happy to have such a cool band like The Erotics on the front cover. It's been so great to get to know these guys over the summer after hooking up with them and kicking ass on their UK and US shows and if you've not heard them yet - get on it people! If you've enjoyed the bands we've covered in the mag up to now, you're gonna love them. Also, it's another mixed bag issue this time round (you keepin' up?) with one of my all time favourite bands Danger Danger alongside the likes of Idlewild and Queen Adreena! Who'd have thought it, eh?

Only in the pages of TrashPit people!!

• TRASHPIT Issue 8 - Autumn 2005 • Editor - ROB LANE • All Articles, Reviews & Photographs by ROB LANE unless otherwise stated. © 2005 For What It’s Worth Promotions The Erotics Promo Shots - Dino Petrocelli Photography • Erotics Live Review Photo - Jamie Campbell • Danger Danger - Junko Kambara www.d2stationjapan.com • All American Rejects - courtesy of Jade Burelli • Eric Singer - courtesy of Matt Coddington • Idlewild - courtesy of Infected Glitterati & Queen Adreena - courtesy of Ian Cheek • Keri Kelli - Ian Dowdell • AJ Superstar - James Wright • Wednesday13 - Steev Cowled

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w e v i D Re s All American Rejects Move Along

Bon Jovi Have a Nice Day

Interscope / Doghouse Records

Mercury

The fact that Kerrang! totally slated this album in a review pretty much guaranteed that I would totally fall in love with it and I wasn't wrong! The band's debut album from a couple of years ago showcased this scarily young band as extremely talented song writers with a massive ear for melody and the ability to truly nail a killer hook. Whilst the self titled debut carried a likeable demo feel with it's programmed drums the Rejects have successfully stepped things up several gears and adapted a much more produced feel on 'Move Along'. Things dig in right from the start with the infectious 'Dirty Little Secret' and throughout the band prove you don't have to trade in the hook to be clever.

The whole album is a treasure chest of experimentation in sounds and arrangements but never at the cost of the song.

Although it does take time for some of the real rewards to surface 'Move Along' is still a fine return for a band that could have very easily disappeared in an overswamped business run industry before they got a real chance but have instead returned to jump into the big league as real melodic rock saviours.

Babylon Bombs Cracked Wide Open and Bruised Smilodon Rock and Roll has never seemed to die in Europe and Stockholm's Babylon Bombs are a sure fire product of that. Grabbing on to the coat tales of Hanoi Rocks and The Hellacopters with their smoky, blues drenched riffs and rock swagger the Bombs tear through a series of guitar led stomps which make up this debut album. Giving the occasional nod to both The Rolling Stones and classic KISS on tracks such as 'Let's Roll' and 'Lady Deny' (which has a real Donna's style chorus) the band can also throw some vintage British feel into the classy sounding 'Crucify' which would surely turn the heads of any Whitesnake or Thunder fan. 'Cracked Wide

I’ve got to be honest here. I was expecting to hate this album but what I heard pleasantly surprised me. Don’t get me wrong this is not a perfect album, far from it, but I do like it! Lead track ‘Have A Nice Day’ is basically 'It’s My Life/Everyday' - Part 2 but hey, if the formula works! You know the theme - the underdog! It makes me cringe to think of Jon and the boys as underdogs fighting for survival but it is still a great sing-a-long radio song! Next track destined for repeated plays is ‘Last Man Standing’ which anyone who has seen the ‘This Left Feels Right’ DVD will know in it's acoustic format but here in full ‘Rock’ mode it truly shines and will be a great song live, if not an awesome show opener! Although the songs tend to get a bit samey in the middle of the album, the last couple of tracks are diamonds! Bonus track ‘Dirty Little Secret’ is amazing and why it's not on the album listing properly is criminal! It has everything that any fan wants melody, hook, a great sing-a-long - this song has it all! Yeah, this album has flaws but all in all it's easily the best Jovi album since ‘These Days’!

DAVE PRINCE

Alice Cooper Dirty Diamonds Spitfire Following up one of his most rewarding and satisfying albums in decades, 'The Eyes of Alice Cooper', the original King of Shock Rock has returned with 'Dirty Diamonds'. The album comfortably picks up where 'The Eyes' left off continuing Alice's newly reacquainted love and return to his Garage Rock roots. Coming out of the plate with the sleazy AC/DC-style opening riff to 'Woman of Mass Distraction', courtesy of songwriting partner and longtime band member Ryan Roxie, the album swings along with a cool swagger and care free attitude in classic Alice style. The flow and big style hooks of the last album are traded in for a more rough edged attack and retro feel which perhaps earn it the title of the evil twin brother of 'The Eyes'. Alice continues to deliver his sly blues rock anecdotes on 'Perfect' and the Tom Petty tinged 'Zombie Dance' which compliment the massive chant along of the brilliantly titled 'Sunset Babies (All Got Rabies)'. They say things get better with age and Cooper continues to prove he still holds a legendary command in a field he was the first to own.

Enuff Z'Nuff One More For The Road Cargo Records / Livewire Recorded live back in August 2003 at Hollywood's tiny Cat Club on Sunset Strip this was the closest there's been to the original Enuff Z'Nuff classic line up reforming in many years. With the exception of bassist Chip Z'Nuff, vocalist Donnie Vie was joined on stage by drummer Vik Foxx and Derek Frigo for a set of Enuff Z'Nuff classics and the inevitable Beatles cover tune. This would be the last time fans would see Frigo perform these songs as several months later he sadly passed away leaving this as something of a closing chapter in the EZN story. There is a definite energy on this truly raw recording as the band crank through 'Rock N World', 'Baby Loves You' and the classic 'New Thing'. The sound quality can be excused as no planned recording of the show was put in place instead it's has been salvaged from digital video cameras from the night which give it something of a bootleg feel. What is a shame is the throwaway, cheap packaging and poor layout which give the impression this has just been put out as a quick cash in which it should definitely not be.

The Erotics Rock N Roll Killing Machine Cacophone Records Considering how popular bands such as The Murderdolls, Marilyn Manson and Wednesday13 currently are along with the resurgence of interest in the legendary Motley Crue it's surely only a matter of time before New York sleaze monsters The Erotics begin to earn their own legions of rock fans. Simply put, Mike Trash and company bridge a perfect gap between the classic songwriting and catchy choruses of the Crue and Alice Cooper but add in a modern day dollop of sleaze without having to resort to attention grabbing ridiculous shouts and screams of 'aggression' that seem to litter many modern rock records. Songs such as the title track and 'Drop The Bomb' are pure and honest kick ass tunes that deliver each and every time. Add to this a blistering and scarily explosive cover of WASP's 'I Wanna Be Somebody' with Trash delivering some of his finest vocals and the ultimate rock n roll anthem 'Drink, Fight and Fuck' - a song to unite the entire rock population along with anybody who goes into a bar - means The Erotics could be totally unstoppable!

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Foo Fighters In Your Honour Sony / BMG / RCA Many will be familiar with the genesis of the fifth and double album from the Foo Fighters, but if not, here’s a quick recap: 2004, US elections - President Bush uses a Foo Fighters track, 'Times Like These' at his campaign rallies. In response, front man Dave Grohl joins the Democrat campaign performing acoustic material in front of John Kerry’s supporters. Angered by the result of the election, yet inspired by the hope and faith present in WWII vets, teachers and blue collar workers, Grohl wrote some of the songs present on the new album, including the title-track. The first CD, the one with all the rock, contains the passion and energy that was sometimes missing from the previous album. It never gives up, it never slows down - it’s what the mythical number 11 on your stereo was designed for! The second acoustic CD includes the Kurt Cobain-inspired 'Friend of a Friend', originally written and recorded as part of Grohl’s 'Pocketwatch' album (under the name 'Late!') during his time with Nirvana. This new version is one of the more touching tracks on the CD, given the circumstances surrounding Cobain’s death. An album which marks a triumph for a band confident to both confront and move away from the shadow of Nirvana. TRIS WALKER

Forty Deuce Nothing To Lose Frontiers / Cargo There are two things you can count on from Richie Kotzen.

One is an album that's completely different from anything he's done before; the other is that collection of songs will be of a blisteringly high quality. This is Kotzen's first band since Mother Head's Family Reunion, the powerful and electric sound honed on the live circuit oozing a delicious confidence, style & quality. Easiest comparisons would be to Audioslave, but whereas Morrello can't solo for toffee and Cornell sounds bored, Kotzen just plain excels on both fronts. Even within such a hard attack, there's no escaping the Motown tinged soul of the man, within the sheer amount of dexterity and flourish that he brings to each project. Production wise it's a mixed bag, whilst the guitars and vocals are as big as they deserve to be, disappointingly the same biscuit tin drumming of Richie's last release 'Get Up' is still in evidence. Still there's no denying the fabulous songs. The stand out is the massive 'Oh My God', but it's a shame that one of the MySpace preview songs 'Free' didn't make the disc - a wonderful song that would have added yet another texture. Forty Deuce is another sterling addition to the reputation of one of this generation's most accomplished and under appreciated musicians.

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Fountains Of Wayne Out-Of-State Plates

Goaded Goaded

Virgin Records

Spooky G Label

Remember a time when you got your money's worth when you brought a single or 7" record?

Other than the main track you'd get a brand new song, maybe a cover tune or something which didn't make the album rather than a bunch of remixes or album tracks. Few bands today realise how cool this is but Fountains Of Wayne are one of the few exceptions and since 1997 have built up something of a huge catalogue from their many singles. Here they are, all compiled on 2 CD's along with a bunch of new tunes and live recordings. Albums like this are somewhat outweighed by tracks which, let's face were deemed 'not good enough' for the real album but not in this case. FOW are aware though that the thirty tracks on show here are a lot to digest in one go and request the listener to 'Enjoy in Moderation!' The two brand new songs 'Maureen' and 'The Girl I Can't Forget' are vintage FOW and great summer pop. Elsewhere there's the bands Christmas tunes, diverse cover songs by Jackson Browne, Aztec Camera and Britney Spears and this is all packaged with some great comments from songwriters Chris and Adam making it totally recommended for any fan of Power Pop.

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Gene Loves Jezebel Exploding Girl Track Records Gene Loves Jezebel have a long history, spanning back to the 1980s with romantic-gothic roots.

Originally the band featured twin brothers Michael and Jay Aston but a bitter falling out, and subsequent legal battle over who owned the band name, saw Michael as victor and sole Aston in GLJ. The title track tackles the issue of female Palestinian suicide bombers in a sensitive and grown-up way while still managing to avoid sending the listener into deep depression. Politics and intelligent lyrics mix together almost always successfully, but there does seem to be the odd track where polemic has the edge over melody to the detriment of both the band and the listener. Exploding Girl has plenty to recommend especially to those who dislike the commercialised edge of music culture and desire songs which mean something, rather than being the bland imaginings of a pop song writing committee.

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Ex-Dio guitarist Tracy G has teamed up with Larry 'Bones' Dennison, another Dio-veteran, frontman Timm Saxton, and David Lee Roth drummer, Ray Luzier, to form Goaded, an experienced band of moshpit fillers. The album opens with a disclaimer from Saxton repeating the old aphorism – “opinions are like assholes, everybody’s got one”, then adds that if you don’t like his opinions you can consider him an asshole as well. This frank, spoken introduction to the record segues into the second track, and first song - 'Stand', a healthy start to a pedigree rock record. 'Feed the Fire' is a hymn to the power of mosh, with cracking, soon to be classic, solos. Later on we get 'Gray', a toned down, melodic tune reminiscent of Led Zep’s quieter moments, but it’s not long before we’re into the louder, realms of rock with 'Solid Ground'. Angry politics seep into 'World Power', fuelling a bout of revolutionary shouting and what could be thought of as The Goaded Manifesto.

Sisyphus, the King of Greek myth who suffered so cruelly in the afterlife (he was condemned to rolling a rock up a hill for all eternity, but whenever it got near the top it rolled back down) has track 9 named after him. I think he’d approve of it's heavy bass, roaring vocals and killer guitar - assuming that he’s a fan of the heavier end of the rock stick!

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Hooligan No Apologies hooliganonline.com Causing havoc on the Vancouver live circuit for over ten years are hard rock band Hooligan. Sounding like a band very much from the era they came when rock acts struggled to cope with the musical climate change and adopted a more hard edged sound to combine with their bubblegum pop choruses, Hooligan carry that same work ethic right up to the present day. It's a sound that is occasionally dated but one that is perfect Friday night rock bar entertainment with a drink in your hand and the whole weekend in front of you. Hooligan fail to show their experience in their performances on this EP and the whole thing would benefit from more time spent on nailing more solid takes of each song but you can't help but succumb to the bands sheer passion and love for all things rock and roll with tracks such as 'Not My Fault' and 'Eye To Eye' which bring on board elements of early Skid Row with a sprinkling of Van Halen riffage. It sure ain't perfect but Rock n Roll never was!

Metal Mania Stripped

Nasty Kixx Hometown Blues

Albert Productions

Shotgun Generation

It's quite scary how many of these songs I had on my own 'mixtape' back in the early nineties whilst rocking out to Poison and Warrant.

Occasionally next to your hit rock tapes you'd compile you're very own ballad tape just in case you'd maybe get a date with that girl at school or college and you get to show your 'sensitive' side! What we're presented with here though is far from a trip down nostalgia boulevard but a well thought out (photos of some of the bands today could have been avoided - ouch!) and packaged compilation of some of the finest Hard Rock power ballads ever - some brand new re-recordings and others taken from VH-1 Unplugged sessions. Pretty much every track is a true classic and there's certainly no doubting the power of tracks such as Winger's 'Miles Away' alongside 'The Ballad of Jayne' by LA Guns, Warrant's 'I Saw Red', a shockingly epic 'Silent Lucidity'

by Queensryche and the staple ballad which pretty much started it all - 'Every Rose Has It's Thorn' by Poison. Elsewhere there's brand new recordings of classic tunes by Night Ranger, Cinderella and Alias. These are songs in their true bare boned format and a truly awesome collection which showcases the crowning moments in many bands careers.

Motor Ace Animal FM Records / Mushroom Records Seeing Motor Ace live back in 2001 and hearing their debut album 'Five Star Laundry' affirmed my belief that Australia is an untapped hot bed for hard rock and power pop talent. The bands honest and passionate songwriting was expanded on their follow up release 'Shoot This' back in 2002 seeing them dive inside and bring out the subtler side of their talents and shedding some of the big guitars which initially attracted me to them in the first place.

Whilst something of a disappointment to a 'Rock' fan it was a 'real' sounding record which the band have built upon with 'Animal'. Unfortunately this will be the bands final offering after recently calling things quits shortly after the records release.

Whatever the reasons behind the break-up, 'Animal' will act as an awesome goodbye for a band that could put the likes of Coldplay and Keane to shame. Instead of forced emotion, Motor Ace are pure songwriters and musicians who effortlessly deliver mini epic songs. 'The Time, The Place' and 'Not So Blue' are fine examples of what a great band Motor Ace were and one that deserved a lot more mainstream success beyond their homeland.

With band members going by the name of Trashcan Dan, Dr Denial and Bastard! - you can be sure that France's Nasty Kixx have either totally missed the mark with picking rock names or they're just out to have fun. I'd opt for the latter as 'Hometown Blues' is a foot to the floor collection of straight ahead rock tunes doused in portions of The Who and Hanoi Rocks. It's far from ground breaking yet 'The Clown', 'The Story Continues' and 'The Next Girl In Line' all have a no mess approach and could easily appeal to fans of old school guitar rock and indie kids who like Jet and Kings Of Leon. Rarely walking far from the initial blueprint of turning up the guitars and having fun, Nasty Kixx know what they're good at and stick to it.

Overvibe Lite Revolva Daddy Teen Records Electro-rock duo Overvibe release their debut album Lite Revolva. Computerised drumbeats and synth sounds fuse together well with solid vocals and guitar riffs. Overvibe - vocalist and guitarist Simon Aljewicz and Simon Claridge on synths, bass and programming have managed to resist the temptation to press every, damn effect button on their computer and let the music dictate the sound. A sound which wouldn’t sound out of place in today’s charts but is still

Mark Owen How The Mighty Fall Sedna Records

Mark Owen continues to walk his own path in today's fickle music industry, making his own decisions and making 'his own' music which means his new album is yet another chapter and direction following the wonderful 'In Your Own Time' from last year. Released on his own label, 'How The Mighty Fall' is a somewhat difficult listen on the first few plays and takes time to warm to. The acoustic backbone is still present but this time Owen adds in some interesting twists and turns into the arrangements along with occasional swing and retro overtones. Where his former band mate Robbie Williams went all New York, Owen opts for more vintage British Sunday afternoon style as displayed on 'Waiting For the Girl'. The

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highlight is the fantastic 'Makin Out' which is an instantly likeable radio tune with Mark's friendly personality shining through and holds a Soul Asylum gone pop feel in the vocal.

This is another triumph for a much overlooked UK songwriter who continues to grow and challenge himself.

Raising Sand Riding the Blinds Catfish Entertainment Good old fashioned rock and roll infused with dirty blues and a talent for even dirtier riffs.

Raising Sand have been receiving significant airplay on BBC 6music with Bruce Dickinson giving the band his seal of approval. Their debut EP, 'Riding the Blinds', is made up of four well-crafted and immediately enjoyable rock songs. This is a compelling collection of retro-rock tracks that rather than just emulating, builds on the work done by masters of rock decades past, leaving the listener eager for more from the lads from Guildford.

TRIS WALKER

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Razorwire A Bullet Called Pride Psychophonic Records

No formality, no foreplay, Razorwire open their second album with 'Dipole' an earexploding, roaring sound that immediately brings Rage Against the Machine to mind. This is a comparison which holds up for most of the record. At times you would be forgiven for guessing that Zach de la Rocha was guesting on vocals. However, this shouldn’t be used to put Razorwire down. Rap metal seems to have gone into hiding recently and it needs someone with the skill to evoke the greats of the genre to breathe new life into it. Razorwire seem to be those people. They weave all the elements of heavy hiphop and metalcore to create an album that deserves not only repeat listens, but repeat, louder, cranked right-up listens. A strong album with promising signs for future releases.

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Rockets To Ruin Rockets To Ruin rocketstoruin.com Rock n Roll doesn't come much more straight forward and honest than Atlanta band Rockets To Ruin. Holding true their timeless influences from Guns n Roses, Aerosmith and AC/DC they deliver a six song assault on their latest CD which mixes attitude with thumping riffs. The Guns n Roses stamp is permanently tattooed on almost all the songs here but particularly 'Helpless' and 'Revolution' which has vocalist Cleveland doing his best Axl Rose snarl. Elsewhere, Rockets To Ruin throw a Cult-ish, even Danzig feel to 'Because Of You' but at times the dirty, plodding riffs and often unchallenging lyrics do become a little repetitive and the band fail to push the boundaries of their talents instead favouring to keep things plain and simple throughout this six track EP. Overall though it's delivered with a likeable passion and energy that instantly warms you to a band who openly love rock music and it shows.

Sassy Scarlet What Were Once Vices..

Are Now Habits!

Loop Sonic Records Long before the world saw the arrival of Robin Black & The Intergalactic Rockstars, guitarist Ky Anto was the larger than life frontman of Montreal glam punks Sassy Scarlet. Causing havoc on the live scene at the turn of the nineties Sassy Scarlet were a complete alternative to everything that was happening at the time with a rabid following turned on by the bands moulding of David Bowie, The New York Dolls and the sleaze of Hanoi Rocks. Now their electrifying, much sort after and highly collectable back catalog is being remastered for a whole new generation becoming aware of what real rock and roll is all about. This first release is a great opening chapter and introduction to this classic band with a mix of originals and a splattering of great cover tunes ('What a Wonderful World', Abba's 'SOS' and 'Chinese Rocks' by The Heartbreakers) that still sounds as vital and fresh as the time it was released well over a decade ago!

There are many elements of IRS riffage evident throughout which made 'Planet Fame' and 'Instant Classic' such epic albums and Ky's great song writing and razor edged vocal is brought to the forefront on the likes of 'Electric Dollroom', 'Lollipop Bitch' and 'Sick Things'. An eye opening, kick in the teeth lesson in rock excess and attitude!

Slunt Get A Load Of This

3 Ring Circus Between The Lines

Repossession Records

Nova Bomb / Lockjaw Records

The bands own description of their sound as 'Post Punk Bitch Metal' pretty much nails the sound of New York band Slunt - a word not found in the dictionary but we're asked to use our imagination for the meaning! Slunt come packaged incredibly well - they certainly look great and the attitude is there aplenty but does the album live up to the hype it promises? At times it does and more, 'Loved By You', 'Never Say Never' and 'The Best Thing' are The Donnas with extra attitude and sleaze but elsewhere things begin to ramble and songs blend into one.

For the most part 'Get A Load Of This' is great no brainer punk rock and roll with a great looking dirty exterior that is primed for the moment and ready for anything.

Starwood If It Ain't Broke, Break It! Metal Blade Records Realising that the once electrifying Hollywood rock scene had become a shadow of it's former self since the heady days of late eighties and early nineties decadence were trampled underfoot by a swing in musical tastes, Starwood along with a new crop of bands set about reviving a whole musical movement. Armed with a more modern image and attitude, a plan to bring back real rock and roll was put into action. The bands debut album certainly comes out kicking and screaming but the modern approach of bands like Brides of Destruction and Velvet Revolver which Starwood promise is hard to find in a collection of songs that do little to take things forward and sound more like Twisted Sister with an Iron Maiden gone Glam vocal.

'Social Zero' and the title track hold some cool

Proudly wearing their influences on their sleeves, 3 Ring Circus walk the same path adopted in the mid nineties by bands such as Counting Crows, The Gin Blossoms and more recently by the likes of Matchbox 20 and other middle Americans. Rather than hailing from the back waters of Indiana or Ohio, 3 Ring Circus come from our very own UK but could comfortably and convincingly sit on any American radio playlist. 'Between The Lines' is a mixed bag of alternating rock numbers and touching ballads. It's this format that is both the album's strong point but also it's downfall. The bands heavier, darker sound on tracks such as 'Closer To You' and 'Inside Out' often comes across as over clinical and structured which rarely allows the band to let the song come alive. Thankfully when the band do strike gold they do it big style and it's on slower songs such as 'Until Now' and 'Hold On' where they truly soar. Few bands of this genre could match this combination of melody and arrangement in such a subtle format and it's this that is the album and band's true colour and power.

Zan Clan We are Zan Clan...

Who The F**K Are You??!!

Black Egg / GMR Music You should truly never judge a book by it's cover and Zan Clan are a definite testament to that! To the unknowing rock fan you'd imagine from the sleeve photos that this band, fronted by Ziny J. Zan, they would be some slightly ropey Euro Speed metal band. Perhaps song titles such as 'Heart n Soul', 'So Damn Good' and 'Mess Ya Up' which all sound like they're taken straight from a Bulletboys album should have given me a clue of musical direction. My preconceived vision is immediately blasted out of the water once 'Go Go Go' kicks into gear and what we have is one of the finest and most honest hard rock records released in a long time. Zan Clan hold the same feel as Gemini Five - a huge modern production sound welded to the biggest rock riffs and a wall of melodic magic imaginable. This is a Def Leppard, KISS or Winger fans wet dream and a must buy for any fan of good time hard rock. I seriously can't emphasise how much of a great blast of fresh air this was but with a brilliantly likeable nod to times gone by. Even the bonus track, a blistering cover of Cheap Trick's much over done classic 'Surrender' sounds absolutely awesome and brings up goose bumps with it's new found sleazy injection. Go buy and turn up loud!

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Allll A i m r can i m r can e e A A s Rejeect cts Rej

Keeping Keeping Secrets!

Secrets!

Few people would think that musicians with influences as diverse as the frantic Screeching Weasel could work comfortably alongside fans of Bon Jovi or Def Leppard! Well this is certainly the case with Oklahoma's All American Rejects, the young band that released their stunning debut album seemingly out of nowhere and at the same time delivered some of the most infectious and melodic pop rock heard in a very long time. Now several years later they've returned with yet another collection of energetic and powerful power pop in the form of new album 'Move Along'. TrashPit spoke to guitarist Mike Kennerty about the new album and tour.

The new songs have again been written by Tyson (vocals/bass) and Nick (guitars). How complete are they when they're presented to Chris and yourself?

A lot of the songs were just acoustic and vocal demos which they had done so we just got together in a practice space, hammered it out and jammed on the songs until we could have gone and played them live.

What did you and Chris get up to whilst the new songs were being written?

During our time off when Nick and Tyson were writing, Chris and I had a band called These Enzymes and we did an EP on Dog House Records - more hardcore punk stuff. A friend of ours from Oklahoma called Andy played bass and Neil Rubenstein who used to be in a bunch of Long Island hardcore bands sang on the record - he also did on bunch of screaming on the Taking Back Sunday record.

What did producer Howard Benson (My Chemical Romance) bring to the new record?

He was very concentrated on the vocals and sees songs as forever making them 'Hits' so he really focussed on that and made sure nothing stepped on the vocals. He was pretty cool for letting me and Nick just do our own thing guitar wise though and he's really good with arrangements and always has good suggestions. We'd talked to a few people about doing the record but Howard actually came out to Atlanta were we were practising to talk to us and he was just a cool dude, so it worked out great.

One of the unique features from the debut album was the programmed drums which you incorporated into your live show. This isn't as evident on the new record so will it still be integral to your new live set?

We have a keyboard player who tours with us so he alleviates some of the taped electronic stuff but there's still a few fun things here and there which we have programmed. Some of the songs really rely on that so there's no real way around it.

How did the Warped Tour go earlier this year?

It was awesome. I have so much fun on that. It must be hell though if you're a Crew guy but when all you have to do is get up there and play for half an hour and the rest of the time just hang out with your friends it's just great! We did the first half of the tour and it's tonnes of fun and there's so many different bands it's just crazy. There's bands on the road who we've been friends with for years and you always meet a tonne of new bands. We haven't had chance to play many of the new songs yet so to be out on our own doing a headlining set now is a lot of fun. It's exhausting though 'cause it's been so long since we've done that.

You're a big touring band. Is there a particular tour you'd like to be part of?

I know for each of us it would be a different answer. Nick's the Rock guy so he'd pick someone like Def Leppard or Bon Jovi but I'm a punk rock kid so I would love to tour with The Descendents or Screeching Weasel of course, just any punk band like that I would kill to play with. Like 'No Use For A Name' when we played with them on the same stage at the Warped Tour every day - that was amazing!

Who came up with the concept for the 'Dirty Little Secret' video?

It was the director Marcos Siega who had searched on the internet for 'Secrets' and he found a site called postsecrets.com which has all those Postcards on there and he used that as the base for his idea. We actually got all the postcards in the video from that actual site so they're all real.

Our web guy actually came up with an idea so people can post 'secrets' onto our own site too - that thing is really cool!

The ones I've seen haven't been too intense though - more funny really but it's such a cool thing because every day you go back it's a completely new set on there.

'Move Along' is out now on Interscope/Doghouse www.theall-americanrejects.com

How will the older songs change on tour?

Since we've been playing the songs so long we've beefed them up a lot more than what's on record. We've always kinda played them like that really but compared to the album they're definitely more guitar heavy and rockin'.

What's been the reaction to the new album back home in Oklahoma?

The response as been really good and people are liking it. My parents keep telling me about how they go to the stores in town and it's always sold out so I guess that's a good sign! I think we're going to play there in November when we do a big headlining tour. There's like a two thousand seater venue in town which we always do okay at and manage to sell out.

People have been turning up with AAR tattoos - how do you feel about that?

It's always a surprise and I'm always like 'Wow!! That's fuckin awesome!' I have tattoos of some of my favourite bands too so I'm very flattered when someone has ours done because I know what kind of dedication it takes to get to the point of wanting to tattoo a logo on yourself. I even have a Screeching Weasel tattoo.

TRaSH.

IT

Danger Danger Still up to Monkey Business Following an almost ten year absence from UK shores, New York melodic rockers Danger Danger are back for the second time in as many years for yet another series of live shows. This time around though there is a new yet familiar face in the line up. After recording awesome albums for almost a decade with Canadian singer songwriter Paul Laine, the Danger Danger core foundation of songwriters Steve West and Bruno Ravel have reunited with original vocalist Ted Poley who sang on the bands infamous debut and it's follow up - the much loved 'Screw It!'. TrashPit had the pleasure of chatting to drummer Steve West just prior to the band's debut return UK show with Ted earlier this year in Sheffield.

You didn't visit the UK for over 10 years and now you're back for the second time in just two years? Do you feel like this proves hard rock music is making it's long overdue comeback?

I think it's getting a little better but mainly I don't think we took the opportunities we had in the past or realised how many good fans we have over here in the UK. People want to see us so we're gonna try and come back every year. Especially now we've got Ted back on board. The first rehearsals we did went great, just like the old days - real easy and it felt good. It just sounded like it was 1989 all over again!

What about songs you'd not done live before and maybe new material for the future? Are you still writing?

At this point No, we're just trying to play as much as we can, get out there live and maybe we'll see about some records afterwards. We're doing the 'Live & Nude' CD though which is something we did with Paul (Laine) as our singer. It's live stuff we did over here a couple of years ago with Paul and it's the last thing we did with him so we're glad we've got that. He's back in Canada now doing his own thing, Shuugazer.

With the new line up we don't get to play as much as we'd like so we'll do a couple of days and then take some time off. It's

good when you play all the time though as you can get into a groove. We just did some warm up shows in New York and it felt real good so it's getting there again. We're doing stuff off of 'Cockroach' which no one has heard us do with Ted and we're doing songs like 'Crazy Nites' off the 'Screw It' album which we never even did the first time around! 'Don't Blame It On Love' is in there too 'cause a lot of the fans like that one.

There's a lot of things no one has heard us do with Ted. What other projects have you been doing? I'd imagine you'd all make great managers or co-writers for young upcoming rock bands? Would you consider having a band re-record a D2 song?

Management's hard - I don't want to be a manager, that's a bad job! I have a lot of friends who manage people and it's not any easier than being in a band. I like to stay more creative and Bruno's been doing a lot of engineering and side projects like Westworld. We do a lot of writing on the side too which we're gonna concentrate on when we get back home pitching a lot of songs to movies and stuff like that. It'd be nice to write with a lot of young people too or have a younger band do a Danger Danger song. I'd love for that to happen, I think the songs are great and there are some that would translate really well.

Has there been anything or anyone that has reignited your fire for Rock Music over the past few years or have you never really lost that drive?

What I listen to is a lot of the pop stuff. Butch Walker is a friend of mine and I love the stuff he does with Avril Lavigne and all the pop bands. I love all that pop punk stuff too as long as it has a good hook. I'm just glad that 'Melody' is back!

Grunge was not fun then all off a sudden groups like The Backstreet Boys came along and although it was Boy Band stuff you had all these great melodies and arrangements.

Next thing you know you've got all these Pop Punk bands who are doing the same kind of songs as us eighties 'Hair Bands' did but with shorter hair!

It's been well over a decade since you performed in the UK with Ted. What are some of your most vivid memories of that time - the first visit then returning with KISS. I remember that as a real cool time even though music was going through something of a transition.

It was all still good. Even though it was right at the end of the whole scene the KISS Tour was amazing and we were on top of the world. 'Monkey Business' was like Number 2 video and written about in all the newspapers, 'God Gave Rock & Roll 2 U' by KISS was all over the place and we ended up having 3 singles in the UK Charts! We did some really great shows over here and it really built our career in the UK for us to come back.

What's the music scene like in the US at the moment?

It's a lot of the Emo bands who are mixing that with elements of Goth like My Chemical Romance and The Used. Bands like that are really big with the kids right now - they're melodic but kinda Gothy, Punk but not too Punk. It's cool though, it's all good rock music - not just droning crap you know? People are starting to look like Rock Stars again too which is cool!

'Live & Nude' is out now on Low Dice Catch D2 live at FireFest - Rock City, Nottingham Saturday November 26th, 2005 www.dangerdanger.com

TRaSH CLA

Danger Danger Screw It!

SSIC

Sony 1991

The Band Ted Poley - Vocals Andy Timmons - Guitars Bruno Ravel - Bass Steve West - Drums Kasey Smith - Keyboards Standout Tracks Crazy Nites, Don't Blame It On Love, I Still Think About You Overview Whilst the world was worshipping the overrated and dubious talents of Kurt Cobain and Eddie Vedder in September 1991, New York cock rockers Danger Danger released their second album 'Screw It'.

Unfortunately their brand of highly infectious, good time melodic party rock had become redundant almost overnight which meant that 'Screw It!' alongside countless other great albums went completely unnoticed by the music buying public. For me this album was a fine example of everything I've always loved about American Radio-friendly pop rock. Huge choruses, great production, sincere ballads and most importantly hook after hook, after glorious hook! One thing's for sure - they don't make 'em like this anymore! From the moment opening track 'Monkey Business' kicked in you knew you were onto a winner. It's probably one of the best feel good rock songs you're ever likely to hear! The same could be said of 'Crazy Nites' (a song that to this day puts a huge grin on my face for no apparent reason), 'Everybody Wants Some' and the tongue in cheek classic 'Slipped Her The Big One'. The band also showed they had a more sincere side with brooding melodic rock monsters 'Beat The Bullet' and 'Don't Blame It On Love'. Imagine combining all the best parts of Def Leppard, Warrant and Journey and you won't be a million miles away. This album could have appealed to so many people - the AOR fans, the Glam fans (mainly to do with their ultra cool image), the Melodic rockers and just about everyone else in between but was criminally ignored yet five years earlier it would have easily rivalled the likes of multi-platinum selling artists such as Bon Jovi or Poison. It comes down to wrong time, wrong place but today though you can do yourselves a favour and pick up a copy of this truly classic album. I swear you will not be disappointed!

ROB WYLDE Rob Wylde is singer / guitarist for Teenage Casket Co. Find him at www.myspace.com/robwylde

TRaSH.

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When it comes to low strung, down and dirty rock and roll few people do it better than Albany, New York's The Erotics. The band have been raising hell all over the US East Coast and beyond in several different guises for several years but always with ring leader Mike Trash at the helm as master of ceremonies! Onstage, Trash is rock and roll to the max, managing to mix rock excess posturing with a cool, calm swagger that has been honed through years of playing gigs in sweaty rock clubs up and down the country. Off stage, this quieter more relaxed side is brought out as Trash becomes quietly spoken and shy - a complete role reversal. 2005 has seen The Erotics take in their busiest year to date. With the release of the awesome EP 'Rock N Roll Killing Machine' the band, completed by drummer Johnny Riott and new bassist Billy Belaire, who recently replaced Jamie Hangover, have performed from New York to Los Angeles and managed to take in tours of the UK and Italy too. As things continue to be on the up for the band it was time for TrashPit to talk Trash with Trash!

First things first...... Who the FUCK is Mike Trash?

Mike Trash is a straight to the point guy, who loves and breathes Rock n' Roll!!

Can you tell us what The Erotics are currently up to?

You recently recruited a new bass player right?

Right now, we're just doing a few gigs a month on the North East and probably won't be doing any extensive touring until the Spring of next year. We recently re-recruited Billy Belaire on bass who actually played on 'All That Glitters Is Dead' and our latest CD 'Rock N Roll Killing Machine'. Soon after we'd finished the CD he needed to take a break from the band so we got Jamie Hangover to play bass. Originally it was

planned that Billy was gonna return as a second guitarist 'cause he's a great guitar player but unfortunately things really went south with Jamie, and were we are now, with Billy back on bass it's like he never left. It's really great to hear the songs being played properly again.

2005 has been one of your busiest years so far, particularly with touring. What's been the highlights?

Most definitely coming to the UK, hands down! We can't wait to come back next year. We'll most likely be touring with Teenage Casket Company again - they're great mates of ours. They also toured the US with us as well, back in July.

That was a blast too!

Trash Talk!

Visiting England was the first time you've toured outside of America did anything shock or surprise you?

Yeah, it was the first time I'd ever played out of the States or even been out of the country! I was shocked a little at how everybody knew our songs from the first show on. It even shocked me more in Italy, when the kids knew all our lyrics to the songs!

What was it like playing this years Cruefest in Los Angeles, particularly with the renewed interest in Motley Crue? There were some really cool bands on the bill - anyone in particular impress you?

This years Cruefest was a great turn, probably, as you said because of the re-interest in them.

Trashlight Vision were exceptionally great that night, as were a band from Sweden called Veins Of Jenna. When we hit the stage it was great hearing a packed house at the Whiskey chanting "Drink, Fight, Fuck"!

How do you feel LA compares to the LA of the late eighties and early nineties?

Not much has changed at all, it's almost they're in a world of their own over in LA. I don't know if that's good or bad, I guess it depends which way you look at it? I always liked the late eighties Sleaze Rock stuff of that time like LA Guns, Faster Pussycat, Zodiac Mindwarp - you know the dirtier stuff rather than the poppier bands.

Do you think things will ever return to that over the top rock lifestyle?

I see it happening already!!

You also hooked up with Vince Neil's son, Neil, to play guitar in his band. Can you tell us about that?

I played two shows with him in Cleveland. His permanent guitarist couldn't make the gigs, so he asked me to fill in. He basically plays all Motley tunes, it was a blast. It's crazy how much he sounds like his dad did twenty years ago!

Is there anyone else who you'd like to perform with?

Alice Cooper - I would love to play guitar with him for a tour.

I'd love to tour with the Crue too. I met Nikki Sixx when we

supported Brides of Destruction and he was really cool. You know most people of his status you don't even get to meet when you play shows with them cause they're either always on the bus or at the hotel and he just came up to me after we'd finished our set, shook my hand and said he really liked the show.

Can you give us a bit of run down on some of your earlier bands, particularly Lethal Lipstick. What that band achieved? That sound seems to be coming back into fashion - any plans to re-issue some of your 'vintage' material?

I joined Lethal Lipstick in 1988 and we were on the verge of breaking when an MCA based label picked us up but I think at the end of the day we were maybe a year or two too late. We recorded a full length album but it never got released 'cause we're talkin' about 1991 here, and we all know happened in 1991 don't we? Because of stuff like Nirvana the label wanted us to change our look and sound but we said 'No' and that would be stupid of us to do that because it wouldn't be us. We were in a bunch of magazines back then. We were in Metal Edge and RIP a bunch of times.

Our sound wasn't really much different from what The Erotics are doing right now. At some point, I would love to release that material.

You regularly perform acoustically - is that something you'd maybe like to pursue a little more and maybe record a new side to Mike Trash?

If my schedule permits, I'd like to get in and record some of my acoustic stuff. I write a lot of songs that probably wouldn't fit with what The Erotics do.

We'll see. Live I do a lot of The Erotics stuff which sounds really cool but I do a lot of covers too like a lot of Alice stuff which works really well and some Dead Boys and KISS. So what's next for Mike Trash and The Erotics?

We're working on some new material already, maybe in January of next year we'll get a chance to get in the studio and lay down some tracks. See ya, in the spring of 2006!

The EP 'Rock N Roll Killing Machine' is out now on Cacophone and is available from www.fwmusicstore.co.uk For more info visit www.eroticrocknroll.com or www.myspace.com/theerotics

TRaSH.PIT

INTERVIEW BY TAZ MILLER

queen adreena Always one to court attention due to her rag doll in torn dress appearance and quirky off the cuff personality, vocalist Katie Jane Garside has always been the centre of attention in whatever band she has performed in whether she liked it or not.

Dropping into the public eye in the early part of the 1990's in Daisy Chainsaw, the band released just one album before Garside disappeared for almost a decade until returning with a new band, Queen Adreena, in 2000. The band have built upon a somewhat cult reputation and now boast an ever growing underground following. Following the release of their new album 'Butcher & The Butterfly', Taz Miller caught up with Garside prior to the bands show at Rock City in Nottingham.

‘Taxidermy’ and ‘Drink Me’ were very different albums, how do they compare to ‘The Butcher and the Butterfly?’

There’s a sort of….. oh god I don’t know how to answer those questions! You know the 'How are you?' questions? I think it's a lot easier to do interviews when they're written down so that you can be foxy with words rather than being spontaneous! I don’t know what the albums about really, it’s just the one that survived. There was a great storm, some things survived and some things were washed away for better or for worse!

What are your musical influences?

(A humming noise is coming from a fridge in the corner) Sounds like that! The white noise all around us, the sound of the sea, anything around us, the sound of blood pumping through my ears. I mean I have extremely developed tinnitus so I have my own high pitched squeal and that kind of white noise cancels it out. If you cut out the outside noise I think voices, but it's not that. It's too easy to say you hear voices.

That’s what my influences are anyway it's just white noise and pulling out external noise and then figure out what it's trying to say whether it's the spirits or the gods or the fucking nut case I don’t know!

What’s your favourite song to perform?

Ummm I don’t know, I really don’t know because it comes and goes. That’s a tight rope as well, if you can cut down those external extractions it becomes like some physic ballet and then you can find it, and if you don’t find that place it can become a living nightmare like a pendulum blade.

What do you like to do outside of your music career?

I’m trying to figure that out right now, there has to be another way…there has to be!

What did you do before you started singing?

I was a child I suppose. My mother and father looked after me and I moved to London when I was 16. I met Crispin when I was 17, and I always did this, always. Being bought up on a boat we had a lot of time to talk to ourselves and sing to ourselves.

You’ve been working with your sister (Melanie Garside Maplebee) this year how has that been for you?

It's been an interesting year. She’s gone on to much better things, for her own sanity really! Mel’s doing great, she’s doing things with Medieval Babes and her own Maplebee Records so she’s a really busy chick, but it was really nice.

What is the best thing about being in a band like Queen Adreena?

It's damned if you do and damned if you don’t. There’s a gorgeous seduction about it and it can also get down on you.

A cliché question I know but do you get nervous before a show?

Yes, I do I think about it before I go out and it's one of the things you get sick of, I get very tired of it. I don’t know if I’m confused about the whole process, taking things for granted and things taking you for granted. I found a stack of fan mail and I think as a woman you shouldn't look at that stuff - I found it a bit distorted when I read it. Maybe I'll see you afterwards and tell you how it goes this time, maybe it will make more sense because I’ve let the fog clear a little bit and I haven’t been drinking. That’s left a big question mark so I don’t know much about nothing right now. I want to go to the beach and look at the sea for a bit - something like that!

For more information visit www.queenadreena.com

ivE

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rash

Collective Soul

House of Blues, Los Angeles

The HOB on Sunset Strip is one impressive venue, stylishly decked out as an old concert hall it sets a great atmosphere to catch a band I've waited over ten years to see live.

Following an enjoyable opening set from Low Millions who played a safe yet lively batch of tunes, we are unfortunately subjected to one of the most blatant acts of commercialism I've ever seen. This concert billed as 'The Road To Vegas' Tour is 'sponsored' by Camel cigarettes and for some unknown reason we get three sets of dance routines by Vegas Style dancers in front of Camel posters! Okay, at any other time this would be great but tonight it is totally inappropriate and even the crowd who I thought would have lapped it up even begin to show their disdain at this joke on stage. How much say the headliners had in this I don't know but it's all forgotten as Collective Soul finally launch into 'Counting The Days' from the latest album 'Home'. Singer Ed Roland looks quite scarily like Chad Kroeger (but cooler) with his new bleached blonde hair but his stage manner is all his own as he throws unique body shapes along to the crunching alternative backbone his band provide. 'Where the River Flows' with perhaps one of the heaviest, dirtiest riffs you'll ever hear follows and is a great surprise. Things rarely let up for over two hours and we get a set of songs which are great to hear after such a long time and new material from 'Home' such as the title track and 'Better Now' sound particularly massive. Collective Soul have always stayed true to their original vision and perhaps their songs may, to the unititiated, have a very similar style but tonight neither the set or crowd ever lose their energy right up until the band leave the stage. Over ten years is a long time to wait to see a band but it was certainly worth it!

Motley Crue NEC, Birmingham

Many thought this tour would quickly self destruct as members tore each other limb from limb, but today the Crue are still in one piece and finally bring their Rock circus to the UK. Who'd have thought they'd be headlining an arena when a few years ago no one really gave a damn? Clever marketing, a resurgence in rock or perhaps some book these guys wrote recently I don't know but you do get the feeling that a large majority of the crowd are here because they think they 'should' be! For the rest of us it's a chance to see a truly legendary and notorious rock band kicking ass! We are given a Rock Show of epic proportions. Strippers, Dwarves, Flames, even the crew are decked out as circus ghouls - all to one of the most sleazy and debauced, good time soundtracks put to disk! Splitting the show into two - the first vintage Crue mainly from the 'Too Fast' and 'Shout' eras, the second kicking off with 'Girls, Girls, Girls'. We get to 'Primal Scream' before things are brought up to date with 'Sick Love Song', and things come to an end with 'Kickstart My Heart' and 'Anarchy in the UK' (okay not original but the Crue did start doing this way back in the day before Punk became Profit!). Motley have effectively shed ten years off themselves coming back looking stronger and more exciting than anyone ever thought possible. Rock and Roll is certainly back and the Crue are at the head of the pack!

TRaSH.

IT

Metal and Hard Rock only bonds this band even more with the crowd and ending with the inevitable 'Youth Gone Wild' (which I don't care what you say, has one of the most legendary live openings in Rock - We are the Youth 'BOOM!!'

Gone 'BOOM!!' WIIIILLLD!!!) ends a show which proved to me that Skid Row can match any band around today and are more than welcome back anytime regardless of who is in the band!

Teenage Casket Company & The Erotics Junktion 7, Nottingham

Skid Row

Rios, Bradford On paper this tour should have been something of a potential disaster. Okay, we all know that Skid Row have long since parted company with their original larger than life frontman Sebastian Bach and very few bands make the shift in lead singers convincingly but to loose your founding member and lead guitarist just prior to the start of the tour leaving just two original members means things begin to turn into something of a joke right? Wrong!! Vocalist Johnny Solinger had already proved on the bands last visit to the UK that he could easily front this power house rock band and when your guitarist can't tour due to injuring his hand who do you call? 'Rock Star for Hire' Keri Kelli is the man for the job and as a member of Skid Row things simply go through the roof! From opener 'Thick Skin' it is evident this band mean business and any cynics are immediately blown away with the energy displayed as the band rip through their set. Kelli works tremendously well alongside bassist Rachel Bolan (looking no older than he did back in 1991 with his newly grown hair) and manic underrated guitar legend Scotti Hill whilst Solinger rips up a frenzy on the Saturday night crowd.

Solinger isn't stupid either, he knows this crowd loves the old Skid Row and he isn't gonna put down the past. Instead he salutes it as a call to arms.... 'Who put on their Slave to the Grind album before they came out tonight?' he asks. 'Well didn't that fucker sound just as good as the day it was released or what?!!' A genius move which the crowd eat up as the band launch into 'Monkey Business'. Salutes to the bands long lost friend Dimebag Darrel and an acknowledgment to the UK as being the home of Heavy

There was a certain anticipation in the air as New York rockers The Erotics had flown all the way across the pond from our partners in crime to spend a short period of time playing the first half of a tour swop, gigging with UK pirates of punk-pop Teenage Casket Company. Stepping in to support both was Short Wave, who provided a feast of industrial grunge, featuring pre-programmed eletronica, deep throat bass lines, catchy 4 string bass hooks, short skirts and sunglasses. Three piece wonder boys The Erotics hit the stage next throwing down a great contrast of rock, punk and kick-ass blues. Distinguishable tracks, a few squeaky solos and a beer check later, the fans were in sing along mood, providing a feedback of good feeling between the preachers and the preached. Buzzing from a week of blood, sweat and beers, TCC took the headline slot, opening with their classic ‘One Thing You Don’t Need’. A collection of pop powered punk rock with catchy lyrics, face pulling and air punches, these boys had the crowd in the palms of their sweaty hands. This has to be the best live performance I’ve seen from Teenage Casket Company - tight, keyed and they were loving every second. If listening to their album 'Dial It Up' doesn’t stir your tea, get up, go out and go see live for yourself. Look out USA, we’re sending a dose your way!

DAN LACEY

Wednesday l3

The Corner Hotel, Richmond, Australia

Vain

JB’s, Dudley

Davy Vain and co. are back on these shores for their first UK tour since ‘89. The fans gathered inside JB’s have a little longer to wait before they get to see the guys in action as Teenage Casket Co. and New Generation Superstars take to the stage first both managing to tear people away from the bar and get them down to the front - a great accomplishment for support band’s at this Dudley venue! TCC are particularly impressive dealing out their upbeat, infectious songs and where they are injected with glam rock n’ roll, New Generation Superstars are etched with more sleaze. ‘Been Done Before’ and ‘Rock Star’ are an infusion of punk and quick paced rock & roll. Not as instantly likable as the openers but they still keep the crowd entertained nevertheless. A bare footed Davy Vain walks onto the stage soaking up the applause before getting the show on its way with ‘Secrets’. A big chunk of the set is made up with tracks from the debut ‘No Respect’, leaving a bit of room for other tunes from the back catalogue including ‘Push Me Over’ and ‘Breakdown’, there is a taster of forthcoming album ‘On The Line’ slotted in along the way. The San Francisco five-piece still ooze down and dirty sleaze attitude and frontman Davy struts his stuff, looking every inch a rock star. Highlights include ‘Beat The Bullet’ which has everyone singing along and a cover of AC/DC’s ‘Down Payment Blues’. Vain caught the tail end of the 80’s hair metal phenomenon, had ‘No Respect’ been released a couple of years earlier things could have been quite different for them but as it turned out Vain were never as hugely successful as their peers Poison, Motley Crue, etc. However, as this tour proves they still have plenty of faithful fans around and now those fans finally have a renewed live memory shot to store until next time around.

PENNY GOWER

Laser Guns, 13 dollar bills, talk of zombies and aliens, plastic skulls… For those of you who think this could be a review of an upcoming sci-fi horror flick you are wrong. These were just some of the goings on at The Corner Hotel with the first show of the Wednesday 13 '6 Feet Down Under Tour'.

Previously visiting Australia in 2003 fronting The Murderdolls at Big Day Out, Wednesday returned with his new band and performed a full on rock assault for the senses. Blasting their way through devilishly catchy rhythms and scream along choruses, all the while pulling off moves that make schlockrock what it is - such as bassist Kid Kid spitting into the air and catching it again in his lip-stick smeared mouth. The sleep deprived, jet lagged and mostly drunk rockers opened with 'House by the Cemetery' from the debut album 'Transylvania 90210', letting the crowd know that they were not going to hold anything back before busting into the more upbeat 'Scary Song'. The crowd became a sea of devil horns as their ghoul-scout leader asked that no one take it personally when he said 'I Want Bad Things To Happen To You' and broke into one of the heavier songs on the album.

More familiarized fans were treated to several Murderdolls and Frankenstein Drag-queens tracks such as 'Rocket-ship Oddity 13', '197666', 'Die My Bride' and 'Love at First Fright'.

Whereas new and old fans alike were awed when Wednesday put his hands together, held them up to the sky and informed them that 'God is a Lie'. After screaming, shredding, spitting and bashing their way through several more songs the band left the stage only to return shortly, a novelty top hat upon Wednesday's head, buying his votes for the next election with 13 dollar bills, before 'Elect Death for President'. The use of the middle finger and the word 'Fuck' were highly encouraged during 'I Love To Say Fuck' and then ending the show with the bouncing single 'I Walked With A Zombie'. After a short meet and greet with the fans afterwards I’m sure more than a few ghoul scouts returned to their caskets with smiles on their pale faces. Catch Wednesday 13 where ever you can.

STEEV COWLED

TRaSH.

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Idlewild Idlewild

INTERVIEW BY TRIS WALKER

Fair Fair Warning Warning

Ten years after they formed, Scottish band Idlewild are on their fourth full length album, 'Warnings/Promises'. Their sound has evolved from the mosh-heavy tracks of their earlier albums into a more folk-like, calmer one. These days comparisons are mostly made with REM. In a corner of Nottingham’s Rock City, Idlewild’s Rod Jones talks to Trashpit about unusual riders, poetry and not sounding like REM.

We saw you play at The Future Club in Derby about five years ago, supported by Turn, I don’t know whether you can remember that gig?

I can remember that gig like it was only yesterday. It was an interesting gig made more interesting by the fact that the owner of the club was having to hold up the PA stack. The floor was moving and he actually told us to stop playing so noisily. It was the only rider where we’ve ever got an onion, a tub of margarine and a loaf of bread! Which was quite an interesting rider!

You were supported by Turn when your current bassist Gavin (Fox) was still performing bass duties for them, had you played many gigs together before that?

Yeah, in Ireland and over here as well. We’d been friends with them for a long time and kept in touch with him we all knew he was a good bass player and he could sing and he was a nice guy as well.

How did they feel about you stealing their bass player?

There was definitely some animosity around the time, well not

maybe animosity but I think just disappointment. At the end of the day, you know we didn’t steal him we asked him “do you want to do this, ya know, we realise you’re in a band but…” and then you know it was a difficult thing to do, obviously, I think for everybody. It was very difficult for Gavin as well, because they were his friends in Turn. He was a big fan of our band and was a friend of ours. He just felt, I think, that it was the right thing for him to do at that time in his life. It was the right thing for our band definitely. It was just a big decision and I think things have calmed down.

How was working with Wim Wenders on the “Live In Hiding Place” video?

It was great. He was a really dry, sort of witty character, a very unusual character. I love his film 'Paris, Texas' it’s one of my favourites. He’s just a really cool guy, it was an unusual day really. It was a day spent in the desert in a cowboy town dressed as cowboys. Which is something you don’t do every day. It was just a worthwhile experience.

Are there any plans to work with any other famous film directors?

Not really at the moment. I think one thing we learnt from the last record was that if you approach people quite often you can do things if you’re nice about it and if you actually ask the question, people are into doing things. Like Edwin Morgan on the last record writing the poem “Scottish Fiction” and Wim Wenders.

Poetry seems to be quite important to Idlewild.

I think musically and lyrically we’re a thoughtful band. So, yeah, it is really important to the band. I think it’s one thing that sets us aside from a lot of bands, it’s not just a sort of a reliance on dynamic there’s a real heavy reliance on melody and lyrics and arrangements and things like that, which is why I think probably we’ve had comparisons to people like REM. The single 'Love Steals Us From Loneliness' did have shades of REM. Well, yeah, that’s the one song on the record that does. I find it quite bizarre sometimes when people say to me you sound like REM because I really don’t think we do. I don’t think Roddy’s voice, certainly, sounds anything like Michael Stipe. I think perhaps on our earlier records maybe he sang in a slightly American accent.

into the band and dedicated a song to us, which was probably the one time in the history of the band that I’ve seen all five of us with collective smiles on our faces in public, not that we’re miserable people but you know it was definitely a big thing for us, I think we’re all massive fans of the band and I just can’t wait to see them five nights in a row, for really selfish reasons.

Listening to your first album 'Hope Is Important', Roddy does seem to have more of a nasal, American sound to his voice.

Yeah, I think that’s a confidence thing, not singing in your own voice. I think we weren’t confident in our ability as musicians, as singers, and songwriters. I think that’s gradually got better and better as we’ve gone on, so this record it’s basically been stripped down so you can hear five people playing individual parts and three people singing like that as well, four in places (with) Anna. I think that really is just a confidence thing, confidence and I suppose the amount of time, spending so many years, on tour and writing together and playing together. I think that really has an effect on a band in a positive way.

What can we expect from Idlewild in the future?

I don’t know. I don’t know what to expect to be honest. I think in the near future you can expect us to play simply everywhere that you can possibly play with this record, as many times as we possibly can, until people don’t want us to any more and then we’ll write a new record but as to what the direction of that record is at the moment I have absolutely no idea. We’re a real trial and error band, we’ll try a lot of things out and see where it leads us, we’ll definitely do an album out of that again, I think this time though we will maybe sit down and try and figure what we want to do a little bit more, I’m sure we’ll end up doing the same thing which is – writing twenty songs, scrapping them and then writing another ten, which is what we’ve always done (laughs).

'Warnings/Promises' is out now For more information visit www.idlewild.co.uk

You’re on tour with REM. Have you played with them before?

We have, we went on just before them at T in the Park a couple of years ago and then played a gig with them at Old Trafford. They’re just lovely people, really. They’re really encouraging and watched the set and seemed to be really

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Few musicians get the chance to say they've played in legendary rock bands that have changed the face of music forever but Eric Singer is an exception - several times over! Gaining notoriety playing in bands such as Badlands and Black Sabbath, he was asked to join KISS back in 1992 for their 'Revenge' album and world tour, and once things became unstable on their recent reunion tours with original drummer Peter Criss, Singer was the guy who got the call to fill the vacant drum stool. If that wasn't enough to make an impressive CV, Eric has also been recording and performing with legendary shock rock king Alice Cooper for the past few years.

Currently on a worldwide tour with Alice in support of the recent 'Dirty Diamonds' album, the highly talkative and friendly Singer took time out whilst on a week off from shows to talk to TrashPit from his home in LA. You grew up being very influenced by British bands what was it that attracted you to them compared to American acts?

I was so influenced by British music whilst growing up as a kid. All my favourite bands were British bands, not that I didn't like American bands but I always like the way British bands talked and I liked the way they dressed - they always seemed to have a better fashion sense! Whilst you're a kid you're never really aware as to what it is you like about them, you just know that you do! Mott The Hoople was always one my favourite bands of all time. I loved the way Ian Hunter actually sang with an English accent which very few people did. One thing I always thought was weird was why everybody would speak with an English accent but when they sing everybody sounds the same - they all sound American! But with Hunter, the way he phrased things, his vocals and English accent always came through and I always thought that was really cool! I liked the way the band dressed too because they were kind of glammy but more of a street tough glam.

You didn't play on the latest Alice album - how do you feel it compares to 'The Eyes of Alice Cooper'?

I went back to play with KISS last year so Tommy (Clufetos) played on the record. I personally like 'The Eyes' better and that's not because I played on it, it has nothing to do with that I just think the overall production and sound of the record to me is just that little bit more of what I like. I like the songs better and feel there's more of a continuity between the whole record and style of the songs. To me 'Dirty Diamonds' is in the same vein and I like songs like 'Woman of Mass Distraction', the title track and I also really like 'Pretty Ballerina' which I didn't realise was a cover tune because it almost sounds like a song Alice would have written a long time ago. It reminds me of the mellower, quirky type songs he'd occasionally do and it kinda fits that bill. 'The Eyes' album though had a good vibe and it was Alice kinda going back to a more stripped down, straight ahead rock and roll sound - it was more back in line to what I remember Alice being like.

Eric Singer Photography Š Matt Coddington

Is there a younger crowd coming out to the Alice shows these days?

I've noticed in Europe it's a younger crowd especially this year which is cool. When you're younger it's so important to have your own identity especially with your music, you don't want to have your Mom and Dad's music or your brother's music - you want bands to call your own and I totally remember feeling that way too. So it's cool to see that kids are still open minded enough to realise there was a lot of really cool stuff that came before whatever is popular now and that all has everything to do with what's happening now it's all connected and influenced. It's cool when a young audience can re-discover people like Alice and realise he was one of the first people to do all this theatrical and visual stuff. Bands like Marilyn Manson, Rob Zombie, Slipknot and even KISS would have probably not even existed if they hadn't seen Alice Cooper first!

What is the current KISS situation - do they just call you up to go out with them?

That's kind of what happens but recently Paul has been working on a solo record and he just had hip replacement surgery which kinda put things on hold for a while. Those guys have more money than they'll ever need so they don't have to do anything if they don't want to. It's really about if they choose to do anything musically or playing wise. I think they'll get the bug or the itch that's got to be scratched and be out playing again! The bottom line is Gene and Paul are entertainers who really like going out so eventually at some point it'll come together and they'll want to tour.

When you joined KISS originally it seemed to be a time when KISS became really focussed again.

Eric (Carr) had become ill and passed away and I think they felt it was time to really hone in on the band, get the right producer and make a great record. They really spent the time working on the songs unlike the previous record 'Hot in the Shade' which was kinda done in piece work and not getting together and making the record as a band. Getting Bob Ezrin was really good because he's a real musical, song orientated guy who has great ideas - kinda like a mad professor who hears the completed piece in his head then goes to the band and gets the best out of each guy to put the pieces together and complete the puzzle.

What drummers do you really respect in today's scene?

There's always a lot of great players out there regardless of what era it is. Some of the guys out there are pretty amazing technically with what they can do. What these guys got to grow up on and what was available to them was much different to when I grew up. We didn't have MTV, we didn't have drum instructional videos, you didn't get drum clinics all that information wasn't available. You had to figure it out by yourself by putting on a record or going to a concert and seeing them live which might be once a year. To me at the end of the day though it's not about how technically great someone is it's about how that person plays stylistically and how well they fit with the material they're playing - in other words playing for the song. I don't judge a guy by how technically good he is or if he's better than this other guy, I just look to see if that person is really good in that particular band playing those songs. At the end of the day that's what it's all about. When we played with Cheap Trick the sum is absolutely greater than the parts, individually they're not amazing players but together each guy is essential to the whole sound, style and feel of what they do. Watching them every night was great because it really drove that point home to me.

Doing a lot of session work and having to learn other people's material - has any drummer surprised you?

I think whenever you go and learn someone else's music wether it be KISS, Alice Cooper, Black Sabbath or playing Queen songs with Brian May and you have to sit down and listen to the material you realise there's a lot of subtleties to the way drummers played especially in the older days that you sometimes didn't realise were there. It's like AC/DC, their songs are simple yet it's that simpleness that makes them hard to play correctly and accurately! Sometimes playing a simple song is harder because you have to know when and when not to play and their stuff is so open that a lot of times you have to make sure you get every stop and start and pull and push in the right spot or you'll mess it up! You really have to learn the stuff well if you want it to sound good.

Catch Eric on Tour with Alice Cooper in the UK this November and making a guest appearance at KISS EXPO III at Nottingham Rock City - November 19th 2005 www.eric-singer.com

All things things KISS KISS and and Cooper Cooper All All things KISS and Cooper

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INTERVIEW BY JAMES WRIGHT

Glitterati the the

All that Glitters...

Back in 2003 the music scene seemed to be poised on the beginning of a mainstream return to prime quality, sleazy rock’n’roll. OK so to state the obvious The Darkness may have won over the hearts of an entire nation with their camp tomfoolery, but there were other signs too - the devotion shown to a little known Canadian singer called Robin Black, Sanctuary picking up a new act called Hurricane Party, and the beginnings of a band of Leeds rockers under the cocky moniker of The Glitterati. In the intervening years that promise of a revolution has not quite come to fruition thanks to an appalling glut of EMO bands and rock wannabes, however The Glitterati are in it for the long haul and with a batch of festival appearances under their belts, videos achieving heavy rotation and a critically and commercially well received first album things seem to be going well for them ...

The Glitterati seem to have played on just about every festival bill this summer, how have these shows compared to the more intimate club gigs?

Paul: We just want to get out there and play in front of as many people as we can, so we have been supporting as many bands as we can - this is our first headline tour for quite a while - they are all different, but festivals are always a really good chance to grab people who have probably not seen you before whereas the tour at the moment is people who have seen you before and know your stuff.

At Download you played on what was a very metal orientated day, how did you get on with that?

Paul: If anything I think it works in our advantage, because on our day it was very much the heavier side of the bands, but a lot of the people were there for bands like Velvet Revolver and Billy Idol. On our day there wasn't so much of that on so we had a really good crowd so we got those people who weren't so interested in seeing Slayer.

What's your expectations for your first headlining tour?

Paul: There are 35 nights on the tour and we wanted to play to as many people as we can. We could have just done 10 nights in places that we've played a lot and always do well in, but this is about getting to places we haven't played and to people who maybe don't get the chance to see so many gigs - sometimes those are the best crowds. We like doing long tours, but we didn't even know there were 35 places to play!

You played on the New School of Rock Tour last Spring, do you feel that the tide is turning for British rock?

Paul: I don't think from our experience it is quite there yet, especially with all the shitty Franz Ferdinand type bands. I don't necessarily think that your Radio 1's are that accepting to that rock n roll style because it is still quite underground though things are definitely improving. Our tours are getting bigger all the time, but some bands are playing huge places on their first tour because of Radio 1. There are quite a few bands out there now taking those rock n roll influences. I

think that a lot of people are bored of bands that look like plumbers because I think for a lot of years nobody was doing anything that looked like they enjoyed being in a band as that died out with the grunge thing - but people want to see a good rock'n'roll show again.

Which bands have been the most fun to tour with and who have you learned the most from?

Paul: Just as a tour - The Wildhearts! They are one of my favourite bands of all time, and getting to play with them and them being into us and bigging us up every night was amazing. It was our first big tour and was still the most fun I've ever had - that was a band I never got tired of watching.

Jamie: David Lee Roth was cool too, but for different reasons! You know when you are in the company of David Lee Roth - he is a great character, like times ten everyone else. He is for real, but he is absolutely mad! He was good to us, but there are definitely some issues there! The Quireboys were really cool too - Spike drinks more onstage than I could in an entire night!

Paul: I remember one night he was so pissed he kept thinking I was Nigel Mogg because of the hair!

When did you start playing in rock'n'roll bands?

Paul: We all started playing in Leeds. Me, John and Billy were in one, Nick was in another. Jamie is from Leeds but was playing in London. We all got together from various Leeds bands and decided to move to London. It wasn't a "Let's go and get a deal in London" because we knew it would be just as hard because it's saturated with bands, it was the fact that Jamie was there and it was either him move up here or us move there, so we went down and all started living together.

hasn’t changed really - we got a great review in NME and absolutely slated in KERRANG! That has set us up nicely, because everyone has got an opinion about us and either love us or they do not like us in any way. The worst thing could be no reaction, and the ones that we pinned up on our wall were the really bad, hilarious ones! If you're gonna read the stuff that is good, you have to read the bad because to read that you are the greatest band on the planet is just not healthy. If we'd been a band that had great press and then suddenly shit press it would have been bad - we've had mixed press all the way even when we were unsigned.

How long were you unsigned for?

Paul: We never had a plan - we just moved to London with no money and then realised how expensive it was! Then we thought if we don’t do something soon we're gonna have to get jobs or move back to Leeds with our tails between our legs. We had a lot of interest, but they were taking a lot of time so we ended up signing a publishing deal with Universal first which gave us the money to live off and do our recording. That was after about six months, and then we signed to Atlantic about a year after that. We never actually sent out a demo to anyone, a couple of people got their hands on them and they got passed around. Before we knew it we had managers, record companies and publishers ringing up. We hadn’t actually played live so we wanted to take a step back and get our shit together so we had it right, because if you have the best demo in the world but are terrible live you're not going to get anywhere. We went and played really out of the way places under different names and that built up more interest because we weren’t playing in London. It sounds like an amazing plan, but it was never the plan, it's just the way it happened.

Was the move to London instrumental in you getting picked up for a record deal?

Nick: With us all living in one house it helped to focus us because in Leeds there was bands, friends, family and background, and in London we could do away with all that and make a fresh start. It wasn't a conscious decision it was just a natural thing to do.

Paul: I don’t think it would be the right thing for all bands, but for us it was the right thing. We needed that kick up the arse to do this 24 hours a day, because we had no money we had nothing else to do really apart from the band. In Leeds there was jobs, going ou,t and girls and all that shit. A lot of bands end up with the band being a hobby and we didn’t want it that way. We just gave up everything and went to London.

What is the most remarkable lengths a fan has gone to for you?

Paul: Two girls we met last night are coming to 16 shows on this tour. Some are even coming to every single show.

Jamie: One guy has a tattoo of our logo on his arm! That’s the first one we've seen - the only one we think!

Paul: It still amazes us, because to me when you see things like that it is so heartening because it makes any bad reviews irrelevant when you have got people willing to come round and see you anywhere and it makes it all worthwhile. Our fanbase is not like Metallica’s, it's still growing, but it is pretty hardcore. It's kinda the way we wanted it.

Do you feel that making an effort with stage image is integral to a true rock’n’roll show?

Nick: Yeah, at a show you are doing something above the music - you're bringing a presence to the stage and it goes hand in hand to show you care about that show.

Paul: It's true. You look at the great bands throughout time Sex Pistols, Rolling Stones all had a great image - even the bands that were anti-image like Nirvana probably took longer getting that look! It's a look, it's a package that goes with the music. The worst thing for me is a bunch of guys up there who look like bricklayers.

Where do you see yourselves right now and where do you see yourselves going?

Paul: We're growing and we always love to be progressing, whatever we're doing we are moving forward and more people are getting into us. We've always just gone out and put on a great show. It's a kind of old fashioned way of doing things but it's the way all the bands that we love did it, and it's healthy because you get a real following not just people who like one of your songs. We're happy with where we are and we want to go on and be the best band that we can possibly be. I haven’t a clue where we’ll be in a years time, but I just want to keep doing this as long as possible, because how big you get is totally out of your hands really.

Do you read your own press?

Paul: We do, yeah. When we first came out we were kind of an NME band of the moment and Kerrang! hated us - which

The Glitterati's self titled debut album is out now on Atlantic For more information visit www.theglitterati.com

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rashin

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s n e Zi

No! We're not gonna be litterally 'trashin' other Fanzines! It was just way overdue that we tell you about some of the other great Zines out there that continually put TrashPit to shame in their hard work and passion - thanks for the nudge Shari!

Drop them a line and pick up a copy! Any other Zine Editors out there who want a review in a future issue please send a copy to the address at the front of the mag and we can set up a trade.

Black Velvet #45 Contact: Shari, 336 Birchfield Road Webheath, Redditch, Worcs B97 4NG £1.80 & 75p SAE The mecca of rock fanzines! Running for over 10 years now Black Velvet is a great mix of modern day punk pop, emo and sleaze but still gives a nod to hard rock.

Issue 45 features Finch, Wednesday 13 and a Download 2005 report.

Bubblegum Slut #20 Contact: AlisonB, 27 Stores Lane, Tiptree, Essex, CO5 0LH £1 & 35p SAE Covered in fake fur and exceptionally well written, Bubblegum Slut is always packed to the max with interviews and reviews plus art and fashion. Birthday Issue 20 checks in with Gemini 5, The Mission and Backyard Babies.

Satan's Fish Tank #16 Contact: Dan Morris, 17 Eyton Close, Winyates West, Redditch B98 0JY £1 & 35p SAE Great modern day fanzine that continues to grow in size and is packed to the hilt with articles and loads of fun. Always first to discover what's cool on today's metal scene but big on the classics too!

Issue 16 is a Download special.

Noisy #1 Contact: Sophia, 143 High Road, South Benfleet, Essex S57 5HY 50p & 35p SAE Brand new zine born out of the lack of music promotion in Essex. Noisy has set about promoting the local scene and bands that perform in the area. Issue 1 has an interview with Trash Monroe and the future looks bright and 'loud'!

Long Gone Loser #10 Contact: Damo, PO Box 18, Modbury North, S.A. 5092 Australia £4 PayPal to: buy@longgoneloser.com All the way from the other side of the world comes this awesome mag. Written with a great sense of humour and a great diverse mix of bands, wrestling and even a bidda blue f't dads! Highly recommended!

Beat Motel #2 Contact: Beat Motel, 71 Rectory Road, Ipswich, Suffolk IP2 8EQ £1.50 + SAE Fairly new zine but one that is already building in profile. Superbly laid out but with a cool old skool feel to it. Punk based in it's reviews but there's plenty more for everyone to enjoy. Watch this space - Beat Motel is gonna be huge!

Devolution #6 Contact: Nickie & Phoenix, 137a Brasenose Rd, Didcot, Oxon OX11 7BP £1.50 + 80p SAE I consider Devolution to be Black Velvet's evil twin sister! Similar in layout and style but with more focus on all things Goth.

Issue 6 has interviews with Theatres Des Vampires and My Ruin plus loads of fashion news and reviews.

Anarchoi #13 Contact: James Gemmell, 3 Hazelgrove, Kilwinning, Ayrshire KA13 7JH £1 + SAE Proper old skool Punk DIY Zine that uses the timeless cut and paste method.

Pretty chaotic on the eye but loads to be going at. Mainly featuring unsigned and underground bands which may limit it's appeal but loads of passion involved.