All the Bands

Singing stripped down songs from the heart, Walshe deals with the sometimes difficult but universal topics of introspection, existence and love with a deep and clear honesty, fuelled by an uncompromising, warm and dark, big voice. This is music for anyone that’s a fan of Billy Childish’s blues stylings, or indeed any of the original bluesmen like Leadbelly, Sonny Boy Williamson or Robert Johnson.

This is crazy duel-guitar fuelled garage-rock'n'soul. Think James Brown meets The Cramps or a mix tape of garage and shake yer ass mambo. Formed in late 2009 by Chris and Ed of Rusty Springfield. Imagine Kid Congo/Jon Spencer and The Monks locked in an asylum and it'll sound like these guys. They're releasing a 7" single on Glasgow's Eruption Records in June and currently recording a debut album to be released later in the year.

Those of you who love High Rise-style freakouts ought to grab Døgntank's album of MC5/Montrose-styled hard rock.

These guys cite their greatest influences as being an epileptic Chuck Berry and their bad English teacher. It's speedy and energetic garage rock with a definite 1960s vibe, but with quirky, edgy guitar riffs being a speciality. This is real party rock'n'roll with a tinge of post-punk playfulness, and the not so distant smells of Iggy and The Stooges cooking up a naughty blend with The Mooney Suzuki.

Ellyvis IS the Elephant Man Elvis. He is not an animal: he is the King. He is the stuff of small children's nightmares but his rendition of Elvis songs accompanied by Elephant Man slurps is pure genius.

With her psychobilly bad-girl vibe Bristol girl Emily Breeze "comes on like Elvis, Nick Cave and Patti Smith playing a baptist preacher all rolled into one, her striking bequiffed persona rocks, swaggers and plays holy southern hell out of her guitar. Along with her partners in crime, drummer Dan and bassist John, she plays songs of love and faillure with more sweat and energy than a hundred simpering indie boy bands."

Regulary labelled "'Britain's answer to The Cramps", Empress of Fur perform their throbbing voodoo rock'n'roll influenced by the likes of Link Wray, Screaming Jay Hawkins, Dick Dale, The Sonicsand other greats of rockabilly, vintage rhythm’n’blues, surf guitar and sixties garage, to to mention, of course, Lux and Ivy themselves. Sultry Venus Raygun (who bears more than a passing resemblence to pin-up queen Bettie Page) leads them through great originals such as "Johnny Voodoo" and "Hell Hawaiian Style", and wild covers like Nancy Sinatra's "How Does That Grab Ya". As one reviewer said, their creepy rock and roll would be “perfect for a beer bash orgy at the Addams Family mansion”.

As fetching as they are ferocious…

These guys from Melbourne, Australia have that Stones meets the Beatles sound down pat - it's a mystery why they're not more well known outside of their home country. With songs full of catchy riffs (they've even had members of the Dandy Warhols join them on record), reviews have said that their last album put the "in" into "credible"! This is supercool infectious powerpop with a kickin' live stage show to go with it!

"Conforming to the rule that any band who spell 'The' with two 'e's will always be beer-soaked garage rockers (see also: Thee Headcoats, Thee Shams), the second single from Thee Exciters comprises four songs, each more beer-soaked and garage-rockin' than the last. Fittingly for a band whose singer has a reputation for on-stage nudity, the likes of "Ugly Face" and "Things Ain't Right" are the kind of songs that in the unlikely event that they woke up one morning as dogs would be muzzled, or at the very least made to wear one of those funny plastic cones around their heads to stop them chewing their own balls. An oblique recommendation, yes, but we're standing by it." - NME
The album "Spending Cash, Talking Trash" is out now on Dirty Water Records.

This is a band that has set out to continue the legacy of the big names of rock'n'roll - Johnny Cash, the Cramps, Elvis, Bo Diddley, Hasil Adkins - setting to music stories of damned souls. Though not known for being an exciting country, they are indeed from Belgium, and they do indeed manage to whip up an atmosphere of wild debauchery at all their gigs. Their performances are hot and spicy. You'll drink up their rock'n'roll to the last drop. And then ask for more!

This is a band that embodies the entire history of outsider rock’n’roll. They are one of those bands that totally ignore fashion and simply bang out simple, primal, feral beats that take rock’n’roll back to its roots without sounding like a boorish rehash, but sounding fresh and passionate. They’ve been compared to Rocket From The Crypt and The Cramps – yes they’re that good. This is is why we still buy records of new bands, why we check out those Myspace pages, for the thrill of finding a band as exciting as this. Hearing the Eyelids for the first time is like hearing the future from the past, like watching one of those great sci-fi movies from the ’50s where everything is clean and fresh, yet totally familiar. It looks like you know what’s happening but there’s something new going on, there’s something unfathomable, an element of the now inhabiting the sound of original rockabilly. This is a band that’s just having fun - and you will too

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.

Reviewing their abum, "It's Too Late Now", The Sunday Times said: "The Fallen Leaves are a four-piece built around the distinctive punk-mod guitar sound of the impeccably preserved Rob Symmons, who formed the stylishly subversive Subway Sect in the late-1970s. The Leaves' debut stirs memories of the 1960s Brit-beat bands that inspired him and of the 1980s indie groups that aped his style. This sharp, angular, melodic garage-pop will doubtless appeal to the same authenticity-starved youngsters who have made Billy Childish their king, and will provide comfort for ageing hipsters worried that they just don't make them like that any more."

Back in 1978 these kids saw what was happening around them in Manchester with the likes of The Buzzcocks, Slaughter and the Dogs, The Drones, Joy Division -  and wanted some of it! Their highly aclaimed anthem "The Kids Just Wanna Dance" came out back in 1979 and was recently listed in Record Collector magazine as number 19 in the most collectable punk singles ever. Today they are back and with the same passion that saw their old recordings garner a devoted following from lovers of great rock and roll all across the globe.

This is a 1960s/70s influenced soul pop group with the Hammond organ to the fore. There's more than a nod to Tamla Motown with a bit of early Blondie and Buzzcocks alongside some grinding Deep Purple. In other words a mix of power pop and seventies rock, with soulful keys and powerful vocals, plus some of the greatest songs you'll hear this year.

Exploding out of the soulless back streets of York, The Federals bring a vitality, urgency and immediacy to the music scene. Fast and furious, these four angry youths are putting the rage into garage with an arsenal of spiky potential rock'n'roll classics.

Alt-cajun music with a French urban bayou flavour, Féloche is emerging out of the Parisian swamps with a howlin' bayou moody gris-gris sound.

Roll up! Roll up! Hang on to anything you can during this celebration of human folly and resilience. It's a high-octane phenomenon of real people, real risks and real skills. When the world seems grim, drab and bent on self-destruction - it's time to send in the clowns!

New York's Village Voice says The Flaming Stars "manage to conjure the Jesus and Mary Chain, '50s swamp rock, and nights spent guzzling cheap wine and leaning unsteadily against a jukebox". Even when strings start popping and kick drum pedals are falling apart, something good remains. Keyboards straight from the nearest haunted house, a mud-spattered bassline, or Smokin’ Joe flying over his low-slung drum kit, you’ll find yourself reminded of Jonathan Richman & the Modern Lovers, The Stranglers, Richard Hell and Iggy Pop.