Wild Zeros - Motormouth

If you didn't know it already, know it now: Nerve Centre Records is one of the rising stars in the world of punk record labels! The label may have begun as a vehicle for Charlie Murphy to release his own bands' music. But having also put out singles by The Hipshakes and now Wild Zeros, Nerve Centre is quickly becoming one of my go-tos for quality punk rock.

Wild Zeros, from Bordeaux, France, recorded Motormouth to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the band's formation. It's the first time we've heard new music from this trio since 2011! Recorded in Toulouse by the great Lo'Spider, these four tracks find Wild Zeros sounding as good as ever. The title track is some good straight-ahead garage punk rock n' roll to get you grooving and shaking. Never mind asking if Wild Zeros can still manage to capture their 2007 sound. They're still stuck in 1997, and thank god for that! That guitar solo is a thing of trash rock beauty. "Damage Your Health" is a cover of late '70s U.K. mod-punks The Cigarettes, done in a style reminiscent of The Infections' version. "Squid Balls" is something you don't hear as much as you used to: a budget rock instrumental! I like it. To finish off the record, "Bare Facts" is probably my favorite track of the four. It's got this trashy '77 punk style that's right up my alley - with handclaps and snotty vocals that really drive it home!

Is it wrong to call Motormouth a "comeback"? Either way, this is killer stuff from a damn fine garage punk band. You get four tracks, and each one stands out in its own way. Those of you in the southwestern part of England should look for a release show in April!



-L.R.

https://nervecentrerecords.bandcamp.com/album/wild-zeros-motormouth-e-p 
https://wildzeros.bandcamp.com/album/motormouth-7-nerve-centre-2018 
https://www.facebook.com/wildwildzeros/ 
https://www.facebook.com/nervecentrerecords/

Murph & The Gazorpos - Too Scared To Rock 'N' Roll

Charlie Murphy is one of my favorite people in rock n' roll. Even if he went out and started an a cappella quartet or a Haircut 100 tribute band, I would want to own every record he made. I first came to know him from his dynamite power pop project Murph & The Gazorpos, but I've quickly become a huge fan of all of his other bands as well. I'm hearing that the next Freak Genes album is gonna blow all of our heads off! While we await that LP, we now get to enjoy what could be the last Murph & The Gazorpos release for a while. Charlie is stepping away from this project to focus on other things, so as a parting gift he's given us a six-song digital EP that is the band's best yet in my humble opinion. Too Scared To Rock 'N' Roll wonderfully combines all of the things I love about Murph & The Gazorpos. It's chock full of A-grade power pop hooks, hyper-caffeinated punk energy, heartfelt vocals and lyrics, and enough scorching rock n' roll guitar to power a major metropolis. Just push play, and it's instant happiness! The title track was a standout of the recent Nerve Centre/Girlsville Neon Maniacs compilation. But even if you own that already, the remaining five tracks make this EP well worth the £6. Songs like "All Or Nothing" and "Wolf" are first-rate numbers walking those oh so fine lines that separate punk and pop and good old rock n' roll. "Another Beat" evokes the Exploding Hearts' "I'm A Pretender" without coming off like an inferior copy. "Picking Up The Pieces" makes me wanna jump up and down on my bed until I either break it or collapse from sheer exhaustion (sounds like a great way to spend a morning!).

I know I've said this two or three or seven times before, but I urge each and every one of you to purchase the entire Murph & The Gazorpos discography from the Nerve Centre Records Bandcamp. That will cost you a grand total of like $15, and that's an investment that will bring endless joy to any fan of peppy, punchy pop. Seriously: how could you not love this band?!!!



-L.R.

https://nervecentrerecords.bandcamp.com/album/murph-the-gazorpos-too-scared-to-rock-n-roll 
https://www.facebook.com/Murph-The-Gazorpos-194355557642608/ 
https://www.facebook.com/nervecentrerecords/ 

The Red Cords - "Gonna Find My Baby"

Now is that time where I try and catch up on some great stuff from last year that I have not yet reviewed. For this particular piece of unfinished business, I will tackle perhaps my most egregious omission of 2017. The Red Cords are the pride of Falmouth, U.K. "Gonna Find My Baby" is, I believe, the band's third single. Given my admiration for Charlie Murphy's other musical endeavors (Freak Genes, Murph & The Gazorpos), it's no surprise that I had "Gonna Find My Baby" earmarked for review this past fall. But then I kept putting it off and putting it off, and here we are nearly eight months after the release date. Shame! But it's never too late to discover great music, and the digital version of this release is still a red-hot bargain at £2! "Gonna Find My Baby" is wonderful primitive rock n' roll straddling the worlds of garage and punk. It's everything a great trash-rock A-side ought to be: wild, catchy, and guaranteed to set you off on a spree of furiously hyperactive activity. You'd probably need a couple of energy drinks to equal the jolt this tune provides. Potential side effects include dizziness from excessive dancing and ear damage from cranking up the volume so loud. On the flip, "Bad Moon Brain" is the closest you can get to first album Ramones without trying to sound like the Ramones. Brilliant! At a total running time of two minutes, 51 seconds, this single demands to be played over and over.

"Gonna Find My Baby" is available from Murphy's own Nerve Centre Records. It may very well have been my #1 single of 2017 if I had paid attention just a little bit sooner. On the list of the great failings of my adult life, my procrastination on this review ranks way up there. What a perfect punk record!



-L.R.

https://nervecentrerecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-red-cords-gonna-find-my-baby-bad-moon-brain-single 
https://www.facebook.com/nervecentrerecords/ 
https://www.facebook.com/theredcords/ 

Various Artists - Neon Maniacs

I'm usually not nuts about various artist compilations. Too often you wind up with bands' crap songs that they didn't like enough to put on a real record. Or you get a ton of previously released stuff - which seems pointless. That's why the annual Girlsville comps are something I look forward to. They are always filler-free and comprised almost entirely of exclusive tracks. Neon Maniacs, like its predecessors Stupid Punk Boy and The Wild Angels, was released in conjunction with Cassette Day. Neon Maniacs is a co-release with Nerve Centre Records - another one of my favorite labels. Given that these two labels have similar musical visions, fans of the two previous Girlsville comps should not fear any drastic changes. Again you can expect a whole lot of primo garage cuts along with plenty of punk, indie pop, post-punk, and power pop goodness. Girlsville regulars Purple Wizard, The Prissteens, Coachwhips, and Mr. Airplane Man all make appearances along with Nerve Centre's own Red Cords, Murph and the Gazorpos, and The Hipshakes. From outside of these two labels' rosters, you also have the likes of The Darling Buds, honeychain, Germ House, Zig Zags, Virvon Varvon, The BV's, and many more. All in all, you get 18 tracks from 16 different bands.

I've been fired up for Neon Maniacs for months because I knew it was going to include honeychain's cover of Material Issue's "Going Through Your Purse". Considering that the original is my favorite song by one of my favorite bands of all-time, I knew that nothing less than a knockout version would impress me. But I've got to say: honeychain really nailed this song! I was not disappointed. Similarly, the legendary Darling Buds have a go at "Our Lips Are Sealed" and do an amazing job of it. Inspired by Sonic Youth's cover of The Carpenters' "Superstar", this is a creative and fully unique interpretation of the Go-Go's/Fun Boy Three classic (probably more similar to the latter's version). Other highly interesting covers on this comp include Zig Zags tearing into M.O.T.O.'s "Choking On Your Insides" and the mysterious Nuclear Brown tackling Devo's "Mongoloid".

As for the original songs on this release, there are several really good ones. Murph and The Gazorpos again light it up with some red-hot power poppin' rock n' roll. Virvon Varvon's "Trouble" reminds me how much I like post-punk when it's done really well. The BV's hit the shoegaze/dream pop sweet spot with "The Sheep Look Up". Stix Champion & His Trophy Band deliver some budget proto-punk on "Be A Kid When You're a Kid". "Stormy Weather" is a gem of a demo from The Prissteens' later years. And The Red Cords' "Supermarket Horror" is an absolute crackler from one of the U.K.'s best current garage/punk bands.

At just $7 for a download, Neon Maniacs is a great way to discover a lot of cool bands for not a lot of money. If you're into cassettes, Girlsville and Nerve Centre have just 75 copies each for sale in the U.S. and U.K. respectively. I also recommend digging deeper into both of these labels' catalogs. So click the links below and discover some great music!



-L.R.

https://girlsville.bandcamp.com/album/v-a-neon-maniacs 
https://www.facebook.com/GirlsvilleRecords 
https://nervecentrerecords.bandcamp.com/ 
https://www.facebook.com/nervecentrerecords/ 

The Hipshakes - "Shot"

The Hipshakes are on a roll! After going a good number of years without any new singles from these longtime standouts of U.K. garage punk, we were treated to one last year and two more in short order this year. Hot on the heels of that double A-side affair on Crocodile Records ("Listening" b/w "Outside Lines"), "Shot" arrives on Charlie Murphy's Nerve Centre Records. This, to me, is the best yet of this wonderful new lot of Hipshakes singles. Like the rest of the band's more recent releases, it embraces pop, post-punk, and '77 punk influences without losing touch with the group's garage roots. That, to me, has been the recipe for the band's longevity (16 years and counting!). Certainly The Hipshakes have updated their sound over the years, but ultimately they still sound like...The Hipshakes! A-side "Shot" could not be any more up my alley. Think the thrashing minimalism of Pink Flag era Wire, except way poppier. Of course I love it! On the flip, "Samba" enters fist-pumping territory and demands the full capacity of your volume control. This is urgent and anthemic punk rock all the way, with just enough new wave quirks to keep you on your toes. If this one doesn't get you fired up to break out of your monotonous day and go live life, you may be a hopeless case!

With these last few Hipshakes' singles, there has clearly been a great deal of thought put into the song selections. You're never stuck with two songs that sound the same, and it certainly can't be an accident that the B-sides have been just as good as the A-sides. Perhaps outside of the U.K., this band might have fallen off of some people's radar in recent years. But The Hipshakes are clearly still going strong - perhaps stronger than ever! Murphy has already released some really great music by his own bands on the Nerve Centre imprint (if you don't own and love A Little Reaction by Murph & The Gazorpos, I don't know if we can be friends). He couldn't have picked a better band than The Hipshakes for his first "outside" release! This is a top-notch effort from one of the best bands out there. I've got more exciting news related to this label coming very soon, so stay tuned!



-L.R.

https://nervecentrerecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-hipshakes-shot-samba-single 
https://thehipshakes.bandcamp.com/ 
https://www.facebook.com/thehipshakes/ 
https://www.facebook.com/nervecentrerecords/ 

Meet Murph and the Gazorpos!

Hey, let's talk pop! I vowed to keep a close eye on Murph and the Gazorpos after hearing the Falmouth, UK band for the first time on that fantastic new Girlsville comp. When it comes to me and Murph and the Gazorpos, it was love at first listen! It's not every day that I come across power pop with enormous hooks, caffeinated punk energy, and a real rock n' roll edge. This band is on to something special! Singer/guitarist Murph is Charlie Murphy - who also plays in The Red Cords and runs Nerve Centre Records. Unbeknownst to me, the band's first EP came out in April. Arriving hot on its heels is a brand new EP called A Little Reaction - which you can currently stream over at 50thirdand3rd.com!

With Murph's Red Cords band mate Matt Cleave along for the ride on drums, it's no surprise that Murph and the Gazorpos pack a little more oomph than is usual for a power pop band. Essentially A Little Reaction is catchy-as-hell pop bashed out with the fury and raw energy of garage punk. I can hear the influence of everyone from King Louie to Nick Lowe to Gentlemen Jesse to those numerous Good Vibrations Records greats. Leadoff track "What Do I Do" has got everything you could want in a power pop song: a melody you can whistle all day, lyrics that cut to the core of heartbreak, a beat you can't resist dancing to, and lead guitar work that would make Dave Edmunds holler in delight. And "You Did It", which I just raved about last week, gets my vote for power pop song of the year!

A Little Reaction is available from Super Fan 99 in a super-limited (only 30 copies worldwide!) 5" square vinyl and cassette bundle. Download should be available soon from the Nerve Centre Bandcamp. I think I might have a new favorite band!



-L.R.

http://www.50thirdand3rd.com/premiere-murph-gazorpos-little-reaction-ep/
https://www.facebook.com/Murph-The-Gazorpos-194355557642608/
https://nervecentrerecords.bandcamp.com/
http://superfan99.bigcartel.com/product/murph-the-gazorpos-a-little-reaction-vinyl-tape