Cockney Rejects - East End Babylon, KOKO, Camden, 26th April 2012

I have been a fan of the Cockney Rejects since I was 14. I have my older cousin to thank for including them on a series of a dozen or so compilation cassettes he lovingly made for me from about 1980 of some of the best of his British punk collection, which included a fair amount of street punk and Oi! 

Along with Sham 69, the Cockney Rejects were one of my favourite of that second wave of punk bands. I was too young to be allowed to travel to London to see them play live, and by the time I was old enough, I had moved on to listening to and going to see more contemporary early-to-mid-80s bands that were less punk and more electronic. But I have never lost my passion for punk rock, and still listen to the first two Rejects albums regularly - albeit not quite as loudly as I once did.

Thankfully, over the years I have got to see many of the bands that I missed the first time around; I saw the Damned for the second time last month playing their 35th anniversary show at the Roundhouse in Chalk Farm, and it blew me away just how good they were - just as Stiff Little Fingers, the Stranglers, and others have. I'm sure the Rejects will leave me feeling the same.

I remember driving around Godalming, where I grew up, with my cousin playing Police Car by the Rejects at full volume on his car stereo. I though it was so cool. I was a rubbish punk, though, I wasn't angry, scary or hard - I spiked up my hair, wore the drainpipes turned up, and the DMs, but I was far too sensitive to be a convincing street punk. But it didn't stop me loving the music, and if it wasn't for punk, maybe I would never have started writing songs and playing guitar. 

Since setting up ROCK-TIL-YOU-DROP I have got to meet  a couple of my teen punk idols: TV Smith and Gaye Advert (I was even invited by Gaye to the private view of her art show Punk and Beyond, recently); Captain Sensible has tweeted about RTYD, and the Cockney Rejects are following me on Twitter. It might not seem like much to you, but it means a lot to me.

So say 'hello' if you're going to Koko in Camden on 26th April next year for the preview of East End Babylon, the punk-rocumentary based on singer Jeff 'Stinky' Turner’s biography 'Cockney Reject'. The film promises to tell the real story of the band, and give a true picture of the East End of London in the late 1970s; and what's more, it is followed  by a performance by the Cockney Rejects themselves.

I can't wait.

The Bermondsey Joyriders & John Sinclair (MC5) support Marky Ramone's Blitzkrieg at Vive Le Rock gig

Punk-blooze supergroup The Bermondsey Joyriders will play Islington Academy on 26th June, as main support to the legendary Marky Ramone and his ‘Blitzkrieg’.

Following a phenomenal response to a self-promoted show at London’s 100 Club in May, where performance poet and 60s counter culture icon John Sinclair joined them to deliver live spoken word between songs, the band are pleased to announce that Sinclair will appear as special guest once again in Islington. On this occasion, the show is presented by new national quarterly Vive le Rock magazine, who also feature The Bermondsey Joyriders’ track Part of My Problem on the covermount disc free with their current summer 2011 edition.

Comprised of ‘77 veterans Gary Lammin (Cock Sparrer, and Joe Strummer protégés Little Roosters), Martin Stacey (Chelsea) and Rat Scabies (The Damned), The Berrmondsey Joyriders is a band which pools a lot of hard-won experience and yet refuses to rest on its laurels. Having taken just 12 hours in the studio to record the self-titled 2008 debut that Guitarist magazine’s Charles Shaar Murray declared had achieved a “unique spin on punk-blues”, and which Classic Rock magazine’s Carol Clerk deemed to have “pulled off a really impudent mix of influences”, The Bermondsey Joyriders are now set to show listeners what they’re really capable of - on second album Noise and Revolution.

Recorded over several weeks under the direction of Cure and Depeche Mode producer David M Allen, Noise and Revolution is an ambitious concept record, on which Sinclair acts as narrator, propelling the story forward with a poet’s pace and rhythm to a blend of slide blues, soul, punk and 60s psychedelic sounds. The Bermondsey Joyriders’ decision to air the recent live and in full with Sinclair in May, having not yet even set a release date, spoke volumes about their confidence in it, a confidence which crowd and critical reception that night confirmed to be rightly placed.

Reviewing the night, London live music guide Tour Times affirmed this show was in itself a brave move but qualified praise with the comment “originality doesn’t score points for its own sake, not when bravery sits so close to foolishness that the threat of ridicule can deter most innovators. No, this band really impress because their ambitious idea really works“. Bravery and innovation have been strong themes in The Bermondsey Joyriders’ recent performances, and the revolutionary spirit they share with Sinclair was highlighted once again when Gary Lammin participated in a ‘guerrilla gig’ at the Costa Coffee, which now stands on the site of well-loved independent venue The Gaff, with the aim of reclaiming the space for live music one last time.

Other Bermondsey Joyriders live dates include:

16th June - Club 007 Strahov, Prague, Czech Republic
Supported by Plexis
Doors 7.30pm

8th July - The Bitter End, Romford
More bands TBA
£5.00 adv. / Doors 7pm