The Adjusters
Reckless Relations
Zodiac Killer

Snarky, shameless, sleazy, Bator-bitin’ rock n’ roll from a bunch of finicky young upstarts that, by all accounts, oughtta be playing video games or workin’ some mindless part-time job after school, not signing themselves up for dereliction duty, cursed to mumble and stumble their way through a life of whiskey-swillin’ and ne’er-do-wellin’. The righteous punk rock that drips off of Reckless Relations, The Adjusters’ debut full-length, easily does their homeland proud (that’s England, in case you’re wondering) and will ignite in you a raging flame of hope for rock n’ roll’s oft bleak and soggy future. I mean, just dig all that twinklin’ ivory, man! And those teenage riffs with the blues-infused solos and glam pop hooks. Killer! The Adjusters hand out fistfuls of silk scarf pomp and back alley stomp in equal measures here; name your favourite old school degenerates and I guarantee they sound just like ‘em. But the kicker with these lads is that they also sound like the best part of every decade since the 50s, which includes, but is not inclusive to, Chuck Berry, The Stooges, The Joneses, and hell, even Social Distortion. I don’t think I’ve heard raw, glistening energy like this since Silver’s 2004 debut, White Diary, and that album is fucking brilliant. If they keep this up, The Adjusters are well on their way to being bloody brilliant as well.

Listen to “Kickin’ Down the Doors” from Reckless Relations!

Bloodlights
Simple Pleasures
Silversonic Records

Simple Pleasures, the second album from Norway’s Bloodlights, led by the voraciously-named Captain Poon, best known for his outstanding work with punk n’ roll stalwarts, Gluecifer, comes as advertised, which means it’s easy, sweaty, catchy, and positively bursting at the seams with the kind of loose-lipped attitude a sex phone operator employs to get you to spend another $4.99. The ease with which Bloodlights fuse arena-sized hooks and slinky backroom riffs is absurdly admirable, and if they didn’t sound like rotten cock rock bastards, I’d be hard pressed not to admit that their hip, sing-a-long sound is way too good for me. But it’s not, of course, and songs like “City of the Dead,” “Simple Pleasures,” and “Just One More” contain all the boogie glitter of bands like Chinatown, The Flaming Sideburns, or Slideshaker, while songs like “Blasted,” “Sticky Handshake,” and “Wipe it Off” contain the high octane sin of bands like the Revolvers, The Bones, or Social Distortion. Every song here is a genuine sleaze pop article, equal parts sugar and snark, like only  Scandinavians can pull off. I don’t know how they do it, but I fucking love it.

Listen to “City of the Dead” from Simple Pleasures!

Legendary Canadian drummer and punk extraordinaire, Chuck Biscuits, has passed away. Chuck was awesome, man, doing some serious skin work for D.O.A. and Danzig, most notably, but also had stints with the Circle Jerks, Black Flag, and most recently, Social Distortion.

I was also a big fan of his brother, “Dimwit” (who died in the early 90s of a drug overdose), a great drummer in his own right with D.O.A. and The Four Horseman.

Anyway, a big beardy salute to Mr. Biscuits.

Here he is in all his Biscuit-y glory with Social Distortion. Amazing!