COVENTRY Music Museum curator Pete Chambers BEM writes for the Observer
Strip Search Tramp- B-Movie Disaster
It’s only March, but already this album is in line for the best album on 2024.
From the start to the finish B-Movie Disaster rocks the fillings outa’ your teeth, you have been warned.
It’s not often I can’t pick a favourite track, but this album is loaded with so many classic rockers, it’s hard to delegate any of the songs.
The band consist of: Tracey Skarzynska (Thee Acid Tongue, Revolt Chix USA, ex Army of Skanks), Mr Dibs (Evil Blizzard, Krel, ex Hawkwind), Sharif Anwar (Annex UK), DOC (ex Annex UK, Cross Buzz Safari) and Niall McCloud (The Pact, Rawhead).
You can see by their band history what pedigree we are talking about here – this is what the band says about itself: “SST are a Sci-Fi punk n roll outfit. Industrial, catchy riffs, dark lyrics, a B-Movie soundtrack for today.
“Crash Landing near you!!”
This really is a slab of dynamic wonderfulness, and it deserves to be in your collection, Coventry has some amazing bands and this is one of them.
The Boy Who Invented Everything
Sam McNulty is back in the guise of his alter ego The Boy Who Invented Everything, as he says: “A Coventry songwriter hopelessly consumed with the power of pop.
“He understands the simplicity and beauty of the three-minute pop song.”
If you are new to Coventry then you have the joy of listening to this master musician for the first time (lucky you), for us well established Coventrians, I first heard Sam back in 1978 playing bass on Squad (Terry Hall’s first band) single Red Alert.
Beyond Coventry’s prime punk outfit, Sam has had a musical career that has stopped at life junctures like The Giraffes, The Two Giraffes (with the late great Steve Edgson), on to being an integral part of Godiva Festival and its acoustic stages.
Plus there is loads more in between, so a new release from Sam is a big deal – especially when producer Paul Sampson has worked his magic on it.
Along the way he formed Love and Madness, a record label as a vehicle for their brilliant, beautiful pop eccentricity.
So I give you ‘Maybe With You’, featuring The Sekine Strings.
It’s a rousing, foot stomping, pop classic. ‘Northern Soul with strings’.
Lyrically, and musically, it references Bowie, Lou Reed, The Velvet Underground, Roxy Music and Be-Bop De Luxe.
‘Maybe With You’ is available on all music platforms now, it really is a superb song from a superb artist.
