Posted on April 11, 2010 - by Editor

Album Reviews: GBH / Robb Blake / Paddy And The Rats

GBH - Perfume And Piss

Perfume And Piss
GBH
Hellcat Records

An eleventh studio album is pretty impressive no matter who you are, but add in one of the most common leather jacket, ripped jeans adorning letters of GBH and the name rings global punk rock respect. No doubt many people might not know who they are but the mere ever presence of the GBH logo has given the band an eternal presence at punk rocks shows around the world since punk rock came into being.

The fist pumping and fast paced record is in the words of vocalist and founding member Colin Abrahall the “best album we’ve done in a long, long time.”  It’s mocking, serious, and observant; tracks like ‘Kids Get Down’ a showcase of that. It’s a mix of punk rock of old but the dirty rocking ala Lars Frederikson and the Bastards (Lars production maybe showing there?) is pretty obvious and the record signals a more mainstream but gritty offering to please fans spanning more than one generation. ‘San Jose Wind’ is probably my favourite song.

The record has taken a while to come out and the songs are a collection over eight years worth of writing; ‘Polytoxic’ was written just after the last album [2002's Ha Ha] came out while ‘Time Flies’ was written in the studio.  ‘Ballads’ is also a fine song and the chorus are incredibly apt, “you got to enrage them, engage them, but do anything to explain to them. Sedate them, frustrate them!” In that sense the length of time it has taken and the backing of Hellcat has resulted in a more finely tuned but poignant punk rock record.

Ain’t Got No Soul
Robb Blake
Do the dog

Robb’s third solo output is another great selection of this time more soulful rocksteady songs; still singing with his rich voice but throwing in the throaty sections to add variety. It’s upbeat and hips swaying danceable as you would expect but there seems to be a matured and slow cocktail summery sipping mood to the record especially on the third track ‘Warm Me Bones’. The record also benefits from some variety on ‘Hit The Bottle.’ with Liam O’Kane of (Jimmy The Squirrel) providing guest vocals as a contrast.

Make no mistake I enjoy the album, much as I did his previous offering but for whatever reason it’s a record that I fear will fade away after a few weeks. “Everybody is Leaving” is a much more uptempo and enjoyable song and the chorus is catchy and sticks in the brain. The record as a whole probably does not though which is a pity because I can’t quite put my finger on it.

Paddy And The Rats - Rats On Board

Rats On Board
Paddy And The Rats
Nordic Records

It’s amazing how many Irish tinged punk rock bands are out there, yes the Pogues laid down foundations and more recently Flogging Molly and The Dropkick Murphys are the obvious flag bearers but there are a number of other quality bands who share similar roots but based in other cultures  who occupy the genre alongside many crappy ones that shouldn’t. I know it’s easy to say they are all doing a similar thing, but that same throwaway comment can be said of punk rock! It is their individual take on these Irish/folk/punk tunes that keep things evolving.

So what do I make of this six piece Hungarian based, pirate themed folk punksters, well it’s not bad. There are some really great songs actually and the guitars, mandolin, accordion, fiddle, tin whistle, bass, pipes, drums, bodhran and vocals are all delivered with two key elements; fun and enthusiasm.

By including their gypsy elements but thematically still focusing on drinking and pub fuelled stories there is risk of the cliché but songs like ‘Freedom’, ‘Hurry Home’ the comedic ‘Ugly Drunken Woman’ and finale ‘Bully in The Alley’ provide enough evidence of a band that can mix it up but still engage in mug filled drinking sing alongs, while getting the dance floor heaving and offering a entertaining pub like vibe.