
RIOT 77
These kids are fast. Revenge of... are from Manchester, England and are all about speed and if the middle ground between Bad Brains first album and the entire Zeke back catologue sounds like you sweet pot, then you've struck gold here. Treading a path that's littered with footprints of all your favourite 100mph bands, parts of this remind me of Belfast's Dangerfields in so much as it seems like each band member is racing the next to the finishing line. The songs zip by with an infectiousness you can not ignore. With just rapid fire drum intros to separate them, these songs are played with an expert precision, which tells me that the band have really put the hours in to get things this tight.
A steaming tandem of buzz and burn that shows no weak spots and plenty of ideas, whilst somehow managing to stay within strict style confines.
Difficult to achieve but Revenge of the Psychotronic man nails it.
RAZORCAKE
This is f*cking great. Gravelly sounding British dudes singing fast and slurred over even faster and gravellier sounding music (except for the one instrumental ska interlude with one of the best titles ever, “I Know a Cracking Owl Sanctuary”). Okay, the description sounds like every D-beat band, but this is decidedly heavier on the melody department. Think of this as what would happen if Snuff wrote its own version of the Circle Jerk’s Group Sex album. The mix on this is massive. Drums sound huge, the bass is like a distorted refugee from a psycho-billy band, and the guitar has that controlled static tone that Bob Mould perfected in the early Husker Du days. The vocals are catchy as hell, even though their so fast, accented, and slurry I have no clue what’s being said ninety percent of the time. The fact they do melodic group vocals like this too is quite impressive. While a lyric booklet would help, I fully accept the bands excuse in the liner notes that the space was better used for photos of them “acting like dick heads on tour.” Great stuff and along with the Pillowfights album, this is the best stuff I’ve gotten all year … and I have to say this band takes the prize for the most vaguely disturbing cover art, longest band name and oddest album title I’ve seen in a long while.
REBEL NOISE
5/5. I'm gonna start off this review by saying that this record smokes! A little word play on the title, "Make Pigs Smoke" but hey it works.
This trio have got it down. 14 songs in 18 minutes, who could ask for anything more. I could go on blah, blah this and blah blah that, but all I'm gonna say is find this record! Listen to it every day, preferably in the early morning and your day will go as fast as these songs do. And that is not a bad thing.
All the songs are fast, tight and loaded with energy. These guys pack a lot of music into just over a minute per song and that's ALL THEY NEED.
If I had to pick a favourite, it would be song #3, "mines a pint". But at 18 minutes it's best just to play the whole damn record. Maybe the next record will be an opus and clock in at 36 minutes and have 28 songs?
Ahh, one can only hope. Thanks, Revenge Of The Psychotronic Man for making a great record! I can hear a few influences but this band definitely has their own sound and that is getting harder to find these days.
Like I said, do yourself a favor and buy this record. I know 18 minutes is not a lot of time but when it's quality time you can't beat that with a stick. Well ya could but...
LIGHTS GO OUT FANZINE
Woah this is beyond fast! An album fuelled on break neck speeds and street punk rock values. Seriously this is really awesome. The riffs are immense, the vocals powerful, the recording spot on. Damn impressive. The pace only slows down for one song, which has a ska-ier feel to it, before the power and speed is back. ROTPM were always a great band but with this album they’ve really come into their own and proved that they can really be a force of the UK punk rock scene. I would definitely give this album a listen if I was you. Punk rock for the Jager generation!
SECOND CITY MAGAZINE
14 Songs, 18mins and a very convincing man-pig on the front cover. Manchester’s premier punk label TNS release this collection of speed-punk from its stalwarts ROTPM. This extreme style of punk-rock is very much considered an acquired taste, but with the awesome collection of tunes Revenge Of… have compiled here, I can see a lot of people acquiring it.
‘Blackpool Rock’ showcases the three-piece very well with Andy Psychotronic’s lead-bass style and Matt Woods’ cocksure, bluesy solo-riffing before breaking down into frantic double time punk with dual vocals. This leads on to the Revenge Of… mission statement, ‘Mainstream Music Is Shit’! The album even features one of those self-serving instrumentals in reggae-tinged ‘I Know A Cracking Owl Sanctuary’. The album closes with ‘Drop Dead’, the longest song on the album at an epic 1:47, which breaks down after it’s only verse in a way sure to incite bouncing in unison with fists pumping in the air! TNS continue to impress!
SCANNER ZINE (NEW ZEALAND)
Fuck, this is one powerful 14-track, 18-minute, furious and fun HC Punk blast. The band's split with THE FRACTIONS impressed but this is a flurry of Punkoid riffs that charge outta the speakers like a wounded bull. While this may not be as chaotic as the tracks on the split, it sounds like a jet taking off. This band is tight (check out ‘Needles To Say') while the production has the power to cut through a mohawk at 20 paces. Musically I kept going back to ADRENALIN OD if mixed with a hefty dollop of early SNUFF and even a few HUSKER DU moments (see ‘Blackpool Rock'). Highlights include the relentless bludgeon of ‘Tramp Rage', the blitz of ‘Mines A Pint' and the appropriately named ‘Mainstream Music Is Shit'. I'm guessing lyrics are light-hearted apolitical stuff and, I have to say, I would much rather have seen a lyric sheet than a bunch of ‘crazy tour antics' photos. I guess you had to be there to appreciate them.
RUNNING FEART FANZINE
Ah this is more like. Super fast, adrenaline charged hardcore with every one of the 14 tracks short, sharp and to the point. This is the Manchester bands second album and they also have a couple of split releases out there. A couple of the tracks reminded me of early Bad Brains. Some great song titles as well including ‘Felch death fuck storm’, ‘Cosmopolitan horse tits’ and the blistering ska tinged mental instrumental ‘I know a cracking owl sanctuary’. Quite brilliant stuff indeed.
ISSUE FANZINE
With 14 tracks in under 18 minutes it doesn't take a genius to work out what tribe these guys are from. I'll make no excuses for saying that I totally love this CD. Really fast and really aggressive, with bite sized portions of pure punk, breakneck beat, arm busting riffs and spleen gouging vocals snarled at you. It is awesome old school punk, which is the perfect antidote to this hot, stuffy, rather boring afternoon at work. Got tons to do, but am just sat here with an inane grin on my face staring at a tiny slither of window way over the other side of the office to an inviting sunny day. Gotta see these guys live for sure.
ICE CREAM FOR QUO FANZINE
A potent punk brew from the good people at TNS. These 14 songs (lasting a total of 18 minutes) pummel you with focused anger and somehow win you over. Some of the song titles are too rude to print in this family friendy publication, whilst 'I know a Cracking Owl Santuary' is almost certainly a Partridge reference. It's perhaps the best track too, with a ska flavour that helps to balance the intensity elsewhere. The front cover (man in pig mask smokes cigar) is fairly distressing.
SHOT IN THE FOOT
R.O.T.P.M's previous release was fucking live!! It was an amazing release which made me believe there are still some quality punk bands out there who aren't trying to be American, and I am very happy to report that R.O.T.P.M's second full lengh album is just as good as the stuff on the split album with the Fractions!
On the whole most the tracks on this album are about a minute long and are a rip-roaring crash of guitars and speed druming which is what R.O.T.P.M are all about! Some of the names of the tracks are pretty fucking funny like 'Tramp Rape' or 'Felch Death Fuck Storm'.
Anyway, the first track 'I Durst Venture South' starts off like its pumping you up for some hard drinking and hard rocking! The following track continues how the previous track leaves off but with out the whoas! 'Mines A Pint' starts off with some slower dirty guitars before getting back on the speed punk which we are all use to. 'Blackpool Rock' intros with 30 seconds of bass heavy punk and solo guitaring before getting back on the hardcore vibe.
The following song, 'Mainstream Music Is Shit' is basically the TNS theme song! It sounds like a runaway train that is running outa track and heading for a massive wall and is about to kill everyone on board! I fucking love it!!
'Felch Death Fuck Storm' sounds similar to 'Mainstream Music Is Shit' but about half way through it breaks down to something almost Motorhead sounding which is pretty cool!
The following track is 'Needles To Say' definitely has that diy sound to it, you know, that sound you hear when at a gig you think "man, this is pretty fucking live, I think i'll see this band again."
The next song was in a ska vein, I was most certainly not expecting to hear anything of the sort when i got this cd in the post. It was a pleasant suprise and makes a good, almost intermission track. 'The Fuck It Button' is the shortest song on the album at 45 seconds long but that doesn't make it any less good!
'Tramp Rape' is the tenth track and is by far my favourite song on the album. The scream of TRAMP RAPE and howling screams throughout the song along with its sharp chord changes make this track seem like you should be running away from it, as if if it was a person in a dark alley holding a childs severed head, and the screaming towards the end of the song actually makes me think they may have actually raped a tramp to get the perfect scream of pain!!
'Donkey.Yeast.Infection' follows 'Tramp Rape' and starts off a lot mellower than most songs but is still pretty heavy and builds up and up before unleashing a gang sound! This track is reminisent of Puffball or Zeke.
'Bouncing Back' is a pretty standard sounding track but fits in well towards the end of the album. 'Bitter Bastards' follows, its fast, sharp and quick with screamy vocals. This track is probably the weakest track on the album.
The next track is 'Drop Dead' sounds like a hard fast punk track which is again bass heavy and quick chord changing guitars, it makes ya wanna bash someones head in and is a wicked way to end an album which itself is only 18 minutes long, but they are a very good 18 minutes!
All in all 5/5
BIG CHEESE MAGAZINE
5/5
The latest release from That's Not Skanking; Manchesters premier scuzz punk merchants, comes from the labels co-chief Andy Psychotronic and his crew. 'Make Pigs smoke' harkens back to the early Punk O Rama days: short, raw songs, power chords flying fast and gang vocals a plenty. With songs ranging from the Cannibal Corpse-esque thrash suckas like 'Felch Death Fuck Storm' and 'Tramp Rape',to bizarre ska instrumentals like 'I Know a Cracking Owl Sanctuary', fans of Kid Dynamite and Zeke will be in nosebleed heaven. Topped off with the band's unique British spin, this is one hardcore punk album worth breaking your best friend's legs for.
WHAT WOULD HENRY ROLLINS DO?
Next up is Revenge of the Psychotronic Man with the wonderfully titled 'Make Pigs Smoke'. Any Partridge references instantly make me like a band 100 times more. This is straight up punk with emphasis on speed and it's done really quite well. The vocals are cool too, gravelly but melodic, with just the right amount of humour. I can see people who like Rancid and punk sing-a-longs loving this.
MILD PERIL FANZINE
This band don't really need an introduction, just flip back a few pages and read the interview we have with them in this very issue. Just quickly though, they are from up north and 'Make Pigs Smoke' is their debut full length, clocking in with 14 tracks.
The whole album kicks off with a bone crunching killer rock n roll riff, before blasting into some fist punching punk n roll, instantly bringing memories of Zeke (Kicked in the Teeth era) and weirdly I am wearing a Zeke t-shirt today, it must be a sign. We get a quick four count in on the hi-hats for track 2, 'Cosmopolitan.Horse.Tits', which doesn't let up for an instant and the next track also smacks you right in the face. We only really get a chance to breath come the intro of track four, 'Blackpool Rock' but that's only for a few seconds before it properly kicks in and kicks me in the teeth. Yep, the whole album is fast, hard but fun, the kinda music you want to be listening to getting pissed at home whilst getting ready to go to a gig on a Saturday night (or any night mind you). There is the odd bit of ska thrown in (I Know a Cracking Owl Santuary) which feels slightly out of place, but does offer a break from the onslaught.
All this album is fantastic, it makes me feel younger than I actually am (and that's 27), it makes me wanna jump around and swear and get pissed and that can only be the sign of a great band. Oh and they worship Alan Partridge, which in a way means they love Norwich, which means in return we should love them back. Check em out y'all. Nice packaging too!
STREET VOICE MUSIC
Andy and Bev from TNS Records are fast making a name for themselves on the UK punk circuit and with decent releases like this fourteen track album in my hand that attention is well deserved. Revenge Of The Psychotronic Man are a fast paced punk band with hardcore influences with plenty of balls to their sound. Despite being only a three-piece band this band seriously know how to play and the evidence of this can be found on tracks such as 'Cosmopolitan.Horse.Tits', Felch Death Fuck Storm', 'The Fuck It Button', and 'Bouncing Back'. For fans of British punk scene will dig this release as it also comes well produced and well packaged. 7.5/10
LEEDS MUSIC SCENE
Revenge of the Psychotronic Man's second full length is fourteen tracks of short, sharp and to the point punk, with not a single song stretching past the two minute mark. While there's a predominance of galloping drums, racing guitars and shouty vocals, Revenge of the Psychotronic Man put a distinctive twist on every track, so 'Make Pigs Smoke' isn't just the same one minute-odd of clattering noise, played over and over again.
Album-opener 'I Durst Venture South' eases us in with twelve seconds of chuggy guitars and revving-up drumbeats, before it slams the pedal to the metal and makes a dash for the one-minute-and-twenty-seconds finish line. The thick, snotty vocals are completely unintelligible, and the guitar and drum racket is in constant danger of becoming equally incoherent. However, Revenge of the Psychotronic Man snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, thanks to euphoria-inducing, "whoa-whoa-oh-oh" backing vocals.
'Needless To Say' follows in 'I Durst Venture South's footsteps and tempers the bristling riffs, blastbeat drumming and shouty main vocals with melodic backing vocals that turn 'Needless To Say' into a riotous punk rollercoaster. Any song that's this fast and angry, shouldn't be quite so catchy. Revenge of the Psychotronic Man are one of the rare DIY punk bands, who know the worth of a good hook.
And it's vocals that once again provide the crucial hook, on the inexplicably titled 'cosmopolitan.horse.tit.' Blastbeat drumming and churning riffs may destroy any semblance of rhythm, but the clean, more carefully articulated main vocals, pull the listener in. You can even almost work out what dual vocalists Matt and Andy are snarling about. Almost.
But, that's more than can be said for 'Mine's A Pint.' This song must surely set a world record for fastest vocals. The vocals somehow manage to outstrip the lightening drumbeats and flat-out riffs, and you'll find it difficult to believe they haven't been tampered with. Presumably, they haven't, and Revenge of the Psychotronic Man can jabber as quick as they can play. That a song can be this tight and this fast, is nothing short of jaw-dropping.
It seems like Revenge of the Psychotronic Man have taken things down a notch, with the bass-heavy shimmy of 'Blackpool Rock.' However, twenty seconds in and the band can contain themselves no longer, launching into a mad dash, with whiplash-inducing vocals that build to a vitriol-soaked, snarling climax.
TNS Records' flagship tune (if the banners and logos adorning their webpages are anything to go by) 'Mainstream Music Is Shit' roars past like a runaway train, casting off waves of frenetically pulsing chords that'll have your fingers throbbing in sympathy, as well as grinding, abrasive riffs that gnash and bristle and lend that extra bit of character to this song's headlong plunge.
'Felch Death Fuck Storm' initially seems like a re-treading of 'Mainstream Music Is Shit,' tearing along with only the occasional burst of spasmodic riffing breaking its stride. However, halfway through 'Felch Death Fuck Storm' changes tract, with groovier riffs and drums that bounce along, rather than whizz by. Revenge of the Psychotronic Man seem to be aware that, while flat-out punk is entertaining, no-one wants to sit and listen to fourteen songs of speed and noise. There has to be some variety, and they take pains to tweak the formula for every song.
On first listen, 'Bouncing Back' may be about as stereotypically punk as it gets, but repeat listens reveal positive lyrics, of the sort you don't usually encounter in this brand of punk. After all, when was the last time you heard bristling, breakneck riffs, galloping drums, and a vocalist enthusing "maybe we should try and be more positive / I know that we got it pretty good"?
Another example of lyrical content giving a song a clearer identity, is 'Tramp Rape.' Peppered with bizarrely enthusiastic cries of "tramp rape! Tramp rape!" and hand-clapping sound effects, this song has its tongue wedged firmly in its cheek, and it's all the better for it.
Revenge of the Psychotronic Man's efforts to keep their DIY-punk clatter sounding fresh, is helped along by a mid-album interlude, in the form of fantastically titled 'I Know A Cracking Owl Sanctuary.' Rollicking along to a carnival beat of scratchy guitars and bouncy drumbeats, 'I Know A Cracking Owl Sanctuary' has something of a ska vibe. Even when a screeching riff is layered over the top, this song sounds absolutely nothing like the rest of the album, and is a perfectly-placed pallet refresher, before it's back to good times, cider-drenched punk, with the rasping riffing of 'The Fuck It Button.' Alternating between Revenge of the Psychotronic Man's usual churning riffs and snappy drumbeats, and passages of ticking percussion, 'The Fuck It Button' is one song where the music ricochets almost as violently as the main/backing/gang/solo vocals.
'donkey.yeast.infection' has a bass-heavy instrumental introduction, where the measured drumbeats and classier riffs, together with the bass, give this song a poised, darker vibe. This vaguely brooding introduction then revs into a riotous, gang vocal-splattered clatter. Revenge of the Psychotronic Man are clearly masters of putting out the same thing time and time again, with just enough of a twist to prevent it from sounding stale.
The only time they really come close to turning out an identikit punk song, is with the forty-eight second long 'Bitter Bastards.' It's fast and shouty, and on its own it would be an incendiary track, but the problem is that the rest of this album is just as good, but comes with a distinctive, extra twist. In context, 'Bitter Bastards' is one of 'Make Pigs Smoke's weakest offerings.
Album-closer 'Drop Dead' administers a final shot of vitriol with vocals that gnash harder than any other on this album, bringing matters to a sneering finish.
'Make Pigs Smoke' is fourteen snippets of headlong punk that hover around the one minute mark. If you like your punk fast, then you'll have trouble finding a band who can churn out the noise faster than this Manchester three-piece, but it's also surprisingly melodic, and always impressively tight. This eighteen minute long, fourteen track effort, is the very definition of short, sharp and to the point.
BARBIES DEAD FANZINE
Another welcome release just in from TNSRecords. This time it's a full lengther from Revenge of.... 14 hard trax that in a way have me thinking back to Pilger. Lightning fast melodic punk/hardcore none the less. Yeah! Good stuff!!!
YOU CAN'T SAY NO TO HOPE FANZINE
This is a bit more like it! Raging superfast not-quite-melodic hardcore with vocals that are a bit gruff and a bit manic. Awesome! 14 tracks in 18 minutes, you know the score, and bonus points for using Alan Partridge quotes as song titles. One slower ska-ish song as well, but the rest don't let up. No lyrics, but they're on the website apparently. It says here that they're influenced by Zeke, The Lawrence Arms, and Kid Dynamite, three bands i don't really know, but hey. This is a rarity, a CD I've been sent that i can see myself playing over and over, get it!
MIRCEA MTP ZINE (ROMANIA)
Zeke alongside with Lawrence Arms of UK. 14 tracks meaning 18 minutes of fast punk. A handload of irony referring to the so-called underground scene, commercial music, nights of alcohol and some personal thoughts. Surely a must have for punk lovers !
GLASSWERK.CO.UK
For a self-made, self-promoted and self-reliant band to defy the often less talented but more money backed competitors, they sometimes need a slice of luck similar to that which gained Hot Hot Heat more exposure than a het up Didier Drogba, when they coincidentally titled one of their singles ‘Bandages’, releasing it in the midst of the Gulf War.
By which they earned themselves a Radio ban and the ultra-cool status attached to that. Well, lady fate is nodding, winking and flashing a bit of leg at the mercurially manic Mancunian trio, Revenge Of The Psychotronic Man (ROTPM). This is because the title of this fourteen track melting pot of punk and most things alternative, could give scientists the necessary inspiration to create a cure for this swine of a flu we’re currently enduring (sorry, but you have to allow for at least one cheap play on words!).
An opening double whammy that builds from the rampaging bass lines of Andy, representing a more abrasive take on punk, setting the challenge for himself to raise his vocal profile and fully communicate their independence and grab life by the nuts philosophy, through, ‘I Durst Venture South’ and ‘Cosmopolitan.Horse.Tits’. Something he does with impunity and despite line up changes ROTPM, continue to show a tight understanding and a desire to flash the frills, urgency and free spirit of punk and what’s beyond it.
‘Blackpool Rock’, builds from an atmospheric 80s rock foundation, as Matt's guitar chutzpah goes head-to-head, lick for lick with Big Hands’ rattling percussion and though a dead-heat ensues, it’s the rambunctious dual vocals that win the day. It gives the necessary aggression and gusto to make this sub-two minute skank-fest.
The fact that ROTPM continue to self-release their work, allows them to veer off in a more abrasive direction, providing a mild metallic shine to their erstwhile commentary, something that gushes out in ‘felch death fuck storm’.
A more rhythmic, atmospheric and ska chucked diversion, ‘Needles to Say’ exchanges heaviness for instrumental foraging, lending variety and a little bit of warmth to matters. Of course, punk, as much as anything, is about the lyrics and sloganeering tendencies. ‘bouncing back’ encapsulates just this;
“Maybe you should try to do something good today, instead of criticising everybody else?”
‘Make Pigs Smoke’ is an album that provides this erstwhile and pulse rushing Manc’ punk outfit with more effective ammunition to stun those seeking an independent spirit, ballsy approach and an act with something still to say.