​The Belgian The Grave Brothers present on their full debut album a mix of psychobilly, punk, outlaw country and a little bluegrass. The latter is greatly emphasized by the beautiful banjo work.

​Punk will never die.  Meet agression as exhaust in Oakland.  Quinn Walker proves to be a die-hard, a survivor with a lot of skills.

Never heard of The Kids? What a shame, they were better than The Sex Pistols or Ramones.  Time to lift up your knowledge of punk in rock ’n roll.  They still are energetic and naughty boys.

Let’s be honest. In this dark age, Jo Carley gives us positive energy with The Old Dry Skulls.  Vintage music poured with a modern sauce.  Perfect for a good feeling and a must in every club, any festival.

We sometimes forget the influence of punk/hardcore on the music scene. Well, now you can focus on one of the most expressive punk-drummers of the ’80 and ‘90. London May will be heard!

Very nice lesson in (punk)history. A must-have for every music fan, not only for punk fans!

The Bonnevilles are a punkrock/bluesrock duo. Andrew McGibbon’s songs are rough and granular, but melodic and catchy too. Those who love North Mississippi All Stars, Black Box Revelation, The Black Keys or the White Stripes can buy this album for sure.

Felix Huybrechts of Starman Records has a nose for music. Without equal, he knows how to cast his pearls before swine (i.e., us). Take Red Zebra, for example. Belgium’s punk conscience, together with The Kids en X!nk. Evergreen 'I Can't Live In A Living Room' is the first track, and that’s a smart move. The other songs won’t have to stand in its shadow, and can impress with their own merits. 'Graveyard Shuffle' is a Shadows-esque western ditty. An unexpected treat. Both 'Man Comes From Ape' and 'The Art of Conversation' evoke a sardonic pleasure, one in which discomfort and uneasiness come out on top. Very nice. 'Lust' is a little too wearisome. 'The Beauty of the Beast' disappoints, and that’s a pity. The title, with King Kong and Disney echoes, was promising. 'Transmission (Live)' impresses with a hard, relentless soundscape that trumps the backings. Much obliged. The lyric 'Why don't you dance, dance, dance' is a repetitive, but hey, that’s punk for you. The closing track of the compilation is an esoteric, otherworldly reprise of 'I Can't Live In A Living Room', as if performed by Everything But The Girl or Hooverphonic. Weird and out of place. Red Zebra has earned its place in the Belgian music history, just as this best-of package has earned its place in your record collection.

The German pop/punk records made between 1970 and 1990 are a reputable source of cunning fun. Trio, DAF, Falco (from Austria), Kraftwerk, Peter Schilling, etc. Sometimes profound, but always amusing. Fred Banana Combo, however, didn’t ring a bell, but judging from this combination of old and new, I dare to compare them to Devo or Madness. Wacky and talented. Great album title, too. Reminds me of the honest R.E.M.-compilation of goodbyes, ‘Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage 1982-2011’. Included in the Banana boxset are one full cd of classics, one full cd of newbies, and one DVD called ‘The Live Shit’. Quite bold and refreshing to dub your own work ‘shit’. Way to lower expectations.
CD 1, then. ‘The Old Shit’. The bagpipes in the intro of ‘Krauts’ (top title!) resemble the end of Meat Loaf’s ‘Good Girls Go To Heaven (Bad Girls Go Everywhere)’. A ‘Johnny B. Goode’ cover takes balls, but the result is lacking. ‘I was sitting on the sofa with Idi Amin’ is a great phrase from ‘Idi Amin’, a 1:06 track. Wow. That’s even shorter than your average The Kids song. ‘Last Dance’ tops that by a good margin with a mere 40 seconds. Brilliant! The lyrics are just ‘last dance’ over and over. Other highlights: ‘I Don’t Know’ (with a scorching guitar beginning at 00:45), the mysterious ‘Nowhere Bei Mir’ (two languages, one title) and the rousing ‘The Heartbeat And The Train’. Songs come and go, and never take the time to bore the listener.
Next up, CD 2. ‘The New Shit’. Recent ditties, written by ‘Mines-Brown’. Brown is singer-bass player Bill Brown, but who may Mines be? A pseudonym for singer-guitar player Gottfried Tollmann? If ‘Songs Of Condition’, ‘Song Of Inland’, ‘Song Of Dog’ and ‘Song Of World’ are anything to go by, the band prefers their titles to include the word ‘song’. Coming out of musical retirement after 27 years is no mean feat, but Fred Banana Combo does it with aplomb. Opener ‘Songs of Condition’ - ominous, intense and jittery – would not sound out of place on ‘The Old Shit’. ‘Saint Pancras’ waltzes towards cosiness with its folky influences, whereas ‘Manana’ is vintage punk. No one trick pony, this band. Is ‘Freddy Mercury’ an ode or a joke? The sentence ‘Freddy lives for me’ implies they miss him, and want him back among the living, so I’m guessing it’s an ode. Closing track ‘That’s The Place To Be’ gives the spotlight to singer Nicolle Meyer. A little repetitive towards the end, but a pleasant song nonetheless.
The third disc is a DVD, with a registration of a gig in the acclaimed television show ‘Rockpalast’ on the WDR. From 1980! Covers dominate the setlist (‘Midnight Hour’, ‘Runaway’, ‘Land of 1000 Dances’, ‘Please Please Please’, ‘She Loves You’, ‘Yesterday’), but own songs are present during the 35-minute occasion. The performance is chaotic and inventive, exactly like their output. The Beatles-covers are a weird testament to the size of their cojones. And everything’s live, not a guarantee in the German television tradition (for evidence, check ‘Musikantenstadl’)! The picture quality is acceptable (full screen format, the standard from yesteryear), and the audio quality is quite good.
‘The Best Of The Old Shit And The New Shit’ offers a wealth of material. To be discovered!

Who is Gary Gilmore? Beats me, no idea, not the slightest. I know 'Happy Gilmore', and I wish I didn't know 'Gary Glitter'. The intro to the first track has a man declare the following 'We were all lined up in a half circle, and the warden went over to Gary, says 'Do you have anything else you wanna say?' and he says 'Yeah, let's do it' ..." Sounds like a man on death row, doesn't it? Almighty Google, help a journalist in need! Ah. Okay. Forgive my scandalous ignorance. Gilmore happens to have defied the American justice
system when he didn't oppose or fight his death sentence. Should have known that. A nice trivia nugget to show off during a dinner party with friends. This extended play (four tracks on one vinyl, with a free cd copy included) is a Starman Records production, in a joint venture with Tracks&Traces. Four tracks, and four times the same song. At first, I thought my hearing was damaged or impaired, or I dared to think the first song took a while to reach the finish line. But no, it's really 4 times 'Gary Gilmore's Eyes', each in a different mix. Too bad the 70's original isn't included, to compare for laymen like yours truly. For what it's worth: track 1 (the 'KGB "Half Circle" mix') is the best, if only because the electronic intro reminds me of Jan Hammer or Harold Faltermeyer. Or Kavinsky on speed. Or the soundtrack to 'Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon' or 'Tron Legacy'. TV Smith is the song's author, and the frontman of the former British punk band 'The Adverts' who released the track way back when. Fans will welcome this extended play without a doubt. Unfortunately, I had never heard of this band, so I do miss a little reference or history. The song, however, is fine and dandy. And, eh, given the subject matter, deeply disturbing. That's punk for you, I guess.

'This band needs no introduction' is a tired cliché used by tired reviewers, but it's very apt when introducing The Kids. Belgium's number one punk band (without disrespect to Red Zebra, Janez Detd. or X!nk) has been going strong since 1976. They took one extended break in the eighties, but reformed in 1996. Guitarist Luc Van De Poel told me: "Director Marc Punt wanted to use our music in his motion picture 'Dief!', but the master tapes were gone or sounded like crap. So we re-recorded everything in a few hours and felt good about ourselves. After the film's release, we were bombarded with offers. We didn't mind a reunion, but everything had to be and remain jolly. That's our credo." That's as good a credo as there'll ever be, me reckons. And jolly they still are, as anyone who has seen and will see The Kids in the near future can testify. Ludo Mariman still thinks talk is cheap, and let's the music do the talking. 'Flabbergasted! Live at AB 2001' is a testament to their power, energy and high spirits. The compact disc sold out years ago, but Felix Huybrechts - the godfather of the Belgian musical history - came through once again. A special vinyl release for Record Store Day 2015. Thanks, man! The setlist is as strong as ever. 'Bloody Belgium' is probably their best song ever, but it's still too short. Ah, well, that's punk for you. The last three songs are covers, including 'Blitzkrieg Bop' by the genre's founding fathers The Ramones. 'Flabbergasted!' is a gem. A statement from the last angry band Belgium has to offer. Cherish them. Hug them. Admire them.