Carol Hodge - Savage Purge Review

Carol Hodge is incredible! There we are, I've said it, it's out there!

I've been a fan for a number of years through her work with Steve Ignorant in Slice Of Life and amazing vocal work when he revisited his C.R.A.S.S. catalogue live.  With Ryan Hamilton & The Harlequin Ghosts she has made a wider impact on the Alarm fan base and many have sought out her excellent solo album "Hold On To That Flame" released a couple of years ago.

I'm not quite sure when she's found the time but she has recorded "Savage Purge" a new album featuring 10 diverse tracks dealing with some pretty emotional subject matters, that's not to say it is heavy going or preachy as neither could be further from the truth.

Photo by Mike Bennett

The difference in styles from striped back, heart laid bare singer songwriter piano laden tunes rub shoulders effortlessly with uptempo full band numbers and that keeps the album flowing very nicely and all the fresher for it. Carol is definitely at home in a multitude of styles and has created a wide palette to show her songwriting skills and there are plenty of moments that will have you singing along, whether that be the tender "In Case Of Emergency" or the absolute belter of a chorus of "Magic Bullet" which is a track that is crying out to be heard live!

Lyrically the album runs through a full gauntlet of important social themes such as domestic abuse, alcoholism,  beauty standards , self love and mental health but as Carol says "It's an album full of hope,energy, self discovery and positivity" and that is very true as passion and integrity are here in abundance. 

This is an album full of discovery and keeps on giving the more you listen - I highly recommend that you do!

"Savage Purge" can be pre-ordered in a variety of packages directly from Carol HERE!

Smiley Gig!

Smiley will be supporting the launch of his new book "Clang, Smiley Drops A Few!" with a gig at Jagz in Ascot on April 17th.

Gaz Top will be on hand to host a Q & A session and former England Cricketer turned singer/songwriter Mark Butcher will also be playing!

Tickets are available now priced at £13.75 which includes booking fee. Head over to We Got Tickets to order yours by clicking HERE!

The Escape Club live UK date!

We all know how important getting a support slot can be and back in the days of the Strength tour The Escape Club proved very popular with Alarm fans before landing their own hit "Wild Wild West" and other top 40 singles in the US. 

For the first time in 30 years the band will play live in the UK performing their debut album "White Fields" in full plus other tracks at Nell's in London on 27th June and whats more Dave Sharp will open proceedings as special guest for the evening.

General admission tickets as well as VIP "Golden Tickets" are available via the bands web page by clicking HERE

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Chris Summerill @ 3rd Space Gathering Thursday

There's been lots of talk from those attending this years Gathering about what will be happening on the Thursday "Thirstday" evening as there is no Smiley/James gig this year......... Well Craig Judd decided to make something happen (with the help of a few local folk to do the boots on the ground work!) and now we have a great night lined up with Chris Summerill providing the music!

Chris has provided tunes on many Snowden Rocks walks as well as previously appearing at The Gathering where he went down a storm so it promises to be a great night!

The evening will be held in the relocated 3rd Space Kitchen & Bar so food will be available for all those that avoid the motorway services en route!

Capacity is approx 150 and sales after one night have seen 98 of us take up the offer so if you want to go be quick! Tickets are pay what you can/want but please consider that Chris is doing an 8 hour round trip to give us a great night! Email Craig for the ticket link craig.judd@id7.co.uk  

Smalltown Glory New London Show

Smalltown Glory @ The Black Heart November 2019 Pic Courtesy of Pete Cole 

Eddie Macdonald follows on from his sold out  Smalltown Glory show at The Black Heart in November with another London gig confirmed for March.

Tickets for the gig at The Water Rats at Kings Cross are on sale now priced at £16.50 and the gig itself is on March 5th with another Special Support promised but not yet revealed.

Book your ticket by clicking HERE!

RT-Zed "Honour The Barbarian" review

I'm guessing a fair few of you own or have heard the Punk Tribute To The Clash album which was released in the early 2000s as it has a few Alarm connections, Mike Peters contributes a couple of tracks, Chelsea's Gene October one and of course James Stevenson not surprisingly is on there too! Then there was RTZ Global featuring Steve Grantley who provided a storming version of the classic "Guns Of Brixton" which for many was one of the albums stand out moments. After the albums release the label responsible approached the duo commissioning them to deliver an album of punk standards which the band would choose themselves but unfortunately during recording the label went under and left the project in limbo....

RT-Zed (let's use that name as that's what they became and is the name on the sleeve for this release!) finished the album but then with no means of releasing it at the time it was shelved. 15 years later it has finally seen light of day and we get to appreciate what an amazing album it is!

Looking at the track listing nearly all the songs will be familiar to those with even a casual interest in punk pulling in tracks such as The Damned "New Rose", X-Ray Spex "Germfree Adolescents", Ramones "Blitzkrieg Bop", The Jam's "Pretty Green" and of course "Guns Of Brixton" from the Clash tribute. The only semi deep tracks are the Sex Pistols "I Wanna Be Me" which was the B-side to "Anarchy In The U.K." and "Safe As Houses" by Grantleys Stiff Little Fingers found originally on the "Go For It" album which was obviously before his time in the band. What is massively noticeable is that despite their familiarity these versions are in no way carbon copies of the originals and sound pleasingly fresh. It's great to instantly be able to sing along to every track whilst also discovering them for the first time.

The electronic nature, which isn't quite EBM but certain flirts with it, works well in adding something different to the source material and then of course you have Grantley's vocals which are always on point! The only track which made me initially question it's inclusion was the Siouxsie & The Banshees classic "Happy House" which starts with RT-Zed radically deconstructing it but just as you get into the groove and sparseness it begins to pick up speed and mirror the rest of the album.

This is one of those great releases where it has the ability of taking your expectations and knock them out of the park. It is destined to be one of your go to albums when you want to sing your heart out and have a great time doing it.....if only all cover albums were this good!

"Missing" RT-Zed CD released!

After recording a stand out cover of "Guns Of Brixton" for a Clash Tribute album as RT-Zed Global in the early noughties Steve Grantley and John Magner were asked if they would be interested in producing an entire album of punk cover versions. 

Choosing some of their favourite tracks they went to it deciding on 11 absolute classics however during recording the record company went under and left the project in limbo. They finished the album but now had no means of releasing it so it sat shelved for 15 years....until now that is!

"Honour The Barbarian" by RT-Zed is now available at long last! 

Get yours for £12 HERE!

Own Smiley's kit!

While everyone is busy plucking and strumming their Auden Deceiver guitars here's a great opportunity for all the tub thumpers out there to get yourself a truly special drum kit and a great bit of memorabilia at the same time!

Smiley is selling his Pearl Reference Drum kit that he played during his time with Bruce Foxtons From The Jam. The kit is a in a very distinctive Red & Oyster White Pearl finish (prototype) colour scheme and was used throughout the All Mod Cons and Setting Sons tours.

Bidding starts at £850 with a buy now option of £1300 and is collection only from Fleet in Hampshire.

If you want to own this amazing kit then head over to eBay by clicking HERE!

Smiley in Xmas Slasher Shock!

Smiley has decided to play Santa this year by giving every one the opportunity of picking up all of his "Friends" albums for just £5 each!

Each album features a whole host of well known names who also feature on Santa's naughty and nice lists and are a great addition to any ones music library. So whether you are taking the plunge or plugging a gap what better excuse do you need ?

Even if you have all 5 albums (which coincidentally have all been reviewed on here) then why not gift someone your favourite and let them in on the action!

CD's & Downloads can be ordered by clicking on any album cover below!

The Rebelles release debut album

Many of you might have come across The Rebelles in the past, a vocal harmony group fronted by Tracie Hunter & Elizabeth Westwood who put a different spin on punk standards. They even supported The International Swingers at the bands only UK gig to date back in 2013 albeit with a slightly different line up.

For years there has been promise of a guest laden debut album and after much patience it is finally available to order!

Amongst the many familiar names that feature on the album those that will be of particular interest to Alarm fans are James Stevenson, Clem Burke, Glen Matlock & Slim Jim Phantom who appear alongside Mick Jones, Ian Hunter, Earl Slick, Kenney Jones, Chris Spedding, James Hallawell, Chris Musto, Neil Gabbitas and Paul Stacey.

Order the CD directly from Tracie Hunter for just £12 inc postage in the UK, £13 for Europe and $20 for those in the USA. Paypal traciehunter@icloud.com remembering to give your address!

As you can tell by the track list the original punk idea has broadened to take in a wider range of genres and the album features the following songs:

All The Young Dudes
Cracked Actor
Hanging On The Telephone
Motor Bikin'
Stay With Me
Should I Stay Or Should I Go
Stray Cat Strut
The Last Time
Sorrow
Walk On The Wild Side