When MySpace got big around 2005, a lot of bands decided to center their web presence around their MySpace profiles, and abandoned their own websites. It seemed like the best and easiest way to present your band. All the other bands you liked were there, the labels were there, the zines were there, and most importantly, your audience was there. Three years, and about a billion friend requests later the audience had enough and decided to leave. Continue reading
A really nice review of Razor Wires And Neon Lights has been posted on examiner.com. It is quite rare nowadays that a reviewer is actually willing to take the time to read the lyrics and even do some research to explain them to the readers, and on top of it all, Maggie has excellent writing skills. We wish there were more reviewers like her out there.
The Stranglers were strikingly different from any other band on the ’77 British punk scene. They were older (Jet Black, the drummer was 39 years-old in 1977), they had a keyboard player who looked like a shepherd, and their karate freak bass player, JJ Burnel was beating up everybody who pissed him off. And it was quite easy to piss him off.
The same aggression defined the way Burnel played the bass. In his hands it wasn’t an instrument, it was a weapon. Fact is, nobody ever played the bass like him. No wonder he inspired legions of punk rock bass players, including the guy from Bankrupt. Continue reading
The Clash have always been a major inspiration for us. They were the coolest band on the ’77 British punk scene with their catchy melodies, smart lyrics, immense energy, and picture perfect urban guerilla image. They invented the punk version of reggae, so that 23 years later we could write a song called The Bridges Of Novi Sad. Just like Bankrupt, they also had two distinctive singers who complemented each other perfectly. Continue reading
This is gonna be a series of posts about punk rock bands that inspired us throughout the years. Who else could we start with if not the Ramones?
The Ramones were the first punk band ever, starting out in Queens, New York as early as 1974, and the mastermind was a Hungarian guy (Tommy Ramone). They influenced the whole ’77 British punk scene. (Sid Vicious always wanted to be Dee Dee, but he kinda overacted his role.) They were a major influence on every decent punk rock band ever since. That includes Bankrupt as well. It’s not just that we have songs like Listen or Cinderella which are obviously indebted to the Ramones, but we even wrote a tribute song to them, Farewell To The Cretins. Continue reading