Gigs Archive

Delivering drag-strip melodies and amphetamine paranoia in Johnny Kidd’s best clothes, these punk rock vampires are the most chromed-up, greased-down, bubblegum switchblade punk rock since Gene Vincent back in '58.

One of Poland''s most popular rock'n'roll groups, with their rockabilly punk sound,coming in the top ten best songs of last year on Poland''s Radio 3.

Teenage rock'n'roll terrorists from the small town of Bury St Edmunds on a mission to kung-fu kick all the boring bands out of existence! Real raw and vintage sounding garage-rock'n'roll! Yeah!

A Nashville institution, Dave Cloud has been described in press reviews as sounding "like a cross between the acid-addled Roky Erickson and boozed beat writer, the late Charles Bukowski". Seeing Dave Cloud live is an experience you won't quickly forget. Part of rock'n'roll's foundations stands on something a lot like the music of Dave Cloud – that is, a compulsion to make noise with an unabashed lustfulness. The Sunday Times calls him music's "last genuine lost genius". It is Cloud, by the way, who inspires and mentors the musicians in the current television advert for Budweiser.

Supercharged back-to-basics fifties rock’n’roll coming across like a collision between Little Richard and the MC5. It’s a dirty yet righteous noise that’ll get any crowd to its feet. The nearest comparison would be Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels – a pure rock’n’roll overload with a soulful vibe and a groove that just won’t quit.

Dirthole plays loud, with short bursts of bruised, anguished, no frills garage punk rock tunes, with two drummers, two guitarists, as many bass players as they can find, and whoever else feels like joining in.

Based in west London but hailing from Brazil, their sound is inspired by the likes of the Velvet Underground, the Jesus and Mary Chain, Spacemen Three and My Bloody Valentine, along with a healthy dose of sixties garage and a dollop of eighties indie rock.

These three brothers grew up in a Swiss mountain village. Saturated in blues, garage and psychedelia, they've honed a focused, raw and hypnotic sound from blissed out blues to raging garage/ psychedelia. But it all sounds like them: immediate, at their own pace and with a slightly (verging on truly) disturbing warpedness.

Judging from the tracks available on the Paper Dolls tiger-stripe and bubblegum MySpace page it's clear that the Seattle based quintet possesses a natural gift for American-minted, and historically accurate rock'n'roll of the glorious three chord variety. They come off like drunk cheerleaders gone wrong, hopped up on goofballs and hitting the makeout trail with the Heartbreakers stuffed in the backseat, it's a college punk party sound; as old as the Kingsmen and as right as a lampshade on your head.

Formed just a few short months ago (Febuary 2008) by various lowlife has been and never weres from the Parkinsons, Shakin’ Nasties, Urban Shocks, Jackoffs and Menace, JohnnyThrottle play real rock’n’roll the way it was meant to be – snotty, moronic and straight to the point. They bang out a furious 20-minute (smoking ban-friendly) set of short and catchy Modern Lovers meet Slaughter and the Dogs meet the Electic Eels inspired mini-operas with the kind of incompetent teenage enthusiasm which only the borderline middle-aged can truly muster.

These teenagers from Portland, Oregon, play music that feels like having two big, warm arms wrapped around you, an embrace of pop jangles, garage rock riffs, angsty yelps and bittersweet harmonies. Proclaimed by Carl Barat as his new favourite band, it won't be long until they're your new favourite band too!

These notorious rock’n’roll bastards from Sweden play punky garage-rock. They're destined to spit on your stage, crash your party and shower you in hugs and kisses.

This group, "wear their northwest garage influences firmly on their grubby sleeves," says Shindig! Magazine. "They aren’t afraid to swear either, as song MotherFucker attests to. Garage punk music to spill beer to (as good a complement as its possible to get)."

The Penetrators sound like Hound Dog Taylor and Bo Diddley having a good old medieval jousting session with their gee-tars to the voice of the rotting corpse of John Lennon, a melodic French dwarf and an over-sexed bear, with the drummer from Slayer just having heard Little Richard for the first time.

This is raw rockin' garage action from the "If it ain't broke..." school of Childish Medway beat, mixed in with some Dictators and other NYC punk-ola with a bit of Aussie action and bit of power pop with that Shangri-Las sweetness. I got a "Primitive Urge" baby, and only these knuckleheaded Mexican rock'n'rolling wrestlers can satisfy it.

Teenage rock'n'roll terrorists from the small town of Bury St Edmunds on a mission to kung-fu kick all the boring bands out of existence! Real raw and vintage sounding garage-rock'n'roll! Yeah!

With his latest combo, The Musicians of the British Empire, Billy carries on his tradition of home made punk and rhythm and blues, singing odes to Joe Strummer and nodding to The Who, whilst showing the next generation what a real rock ’n’ roll group sounds like.

A gang of four weird and crazy guys whose only interest is being wild and noisy. Their music is a mixture of punk and the craziest and funniest garage-rock sounds. Little love is what they feel for their all vintage instruments which they hit and bite until they get the worst sounds from them, making really great parties out of all their gigs! FUN and just Fun is what they all like.

The Urges combine the perfectly executed pop of The Kinks with the more rugged blues edginess of Them but that doesn’t begin to cover it. Yes, they are derivative but for all that they take their lead from that bygone era when popular music was uniformly fresh and fun, their sound, style and attitude is pretty much their own.

Taking their cues from punk bands past and present The Despondents aim to bring us short sharp garage punk tunes that hit you like an atom bomb.

This is fast and furious punk rock played by a bunch of disgusting scumbags, the kind of punk rock played by the kind of punk rockers that terrify the tabloids and old ladies up and down the land. But despite their sense of humour shining out at all their gigs this is no novelty, mohawked tourist-friendly cartoon - their performances are tight and their songs are remarkably tuneful, the sort of thing to have everyone jumping up and down. Playing proper old-school punk rock, they've shared the stage with bands such as Sick on the Bus, Varukers, UK Subs and Oi Polloi and with members from the Restarts, Dirty Love and Cellbound they are sure to be entertaining!

A mix of the 100 Club and CBGBs in early 1976, with hints of real raw garage-rock, bubbling away with heady expectation, they put on an excitement-filled live show - there's a good reason why these guys have been signed to Dirty Water Records.

Lani Turner laughs, cries, hollers, wiggles, writhes, smokes, drinks, passes out sweets, all the while rocking out and singing her ass off and attacking her bass. Josette on guitar, her wild hair flowing and blowing around like a wild woman, supports Lani, antagonizes her, leads her deeper into her frenzy while playing kick-ass leads that make your jaw drop. In the meantime, Rob is rockin' out on the drums with a big smile and a solid star, like he might barrel over the drum kit and start dancing amongst the sweaty, sexed-up, drunken audience. They have one hell of an in-your-face rock'n'roll show. Their latest LP, "Put It To Your Head", is a mixture of punk rock, with nuggets of Texas alt-country dropped in here and there, along with hints of Blondie, but chock-full of New York attitude.

Considered by many to be the most seminal rock band of the 1980s to emerge from Australia, their mid-decade releases on the Citadel label led to the rediscovery of sixties music and fashion in their homeland.

The number one garage band in the USA – winners of Little Steven Van Zandt’s nationwide "Battle of the Bands" – they play classic garage rock’n’roll that sounds like it's come off the Nuggets album but yet isn't afraid to fly the flag for what the Yanks call the British Invasion sounds at the same time.

We've had plenty of Spanish/Basque/Catalan bands at Dirty Water over the years and none have failed to give us a full-on wild and crazy rock'n'roll show. Los Cretinos are no exception with their mix of seventies punk and sixties garage.

A four-piece band from the Midlands, they take on the Influences of all the best in sixties rock'n'roll, including The Beatles, The Sonics, The Small Faces, The Zombies, The Kinks, The Who, The Creation, The Byrds, The Booze, The Rolling Stones, The Love, Johnny Kidd and the Pirates, Del Shannon, The Action, Jefferson Airplane, Humble Pie, The Birds (with an "i"!).

With influences including the likes of Dick Dale, The Ventures and The Chocolate Watchband, these young Dubliners combine the gut-wrenchingly raw sound of a garage band in heat with a smooth heroin surf atmosphere.

The Fore are a beat group playing a brand of raw rock’n’roll that sounds like no other band around. Blending timeless, unforgettable melodies with a pulsating backbeat, these south Londoners hark back to the period when the Beatles first found fame, when playing eight hours a day in sleazy bars on the Reeperbahn was they way to learn your chops.