Blaze: Step in: Another scorching track from the elusive Blaze. That bounces along with those deceptively" hooky" guitars (p.s has anybody ever met them....)

X-hail: Hang on to your happiness: Oxford's blistering rock-popsters, fronted by the excellent Samantha Townsend. This very young band lead the next generation of talented musicians to emerge from Oxford [Ride, Radiohead and Supergrass]

Cor-crane: They play Power Pop. Their aim is to create 3-minute guitar driven pop gems. Amps are turned up load and melodies set to stun.

The Gladys: This Japanese based band have amassed over 40 songs in the last two years. Mostly rock, occasionally incorporating samples and electronics. The Gladys will be touring England in September 2000.

Shiver Slinky: Our music is guitar based with a tribal and ethnic influences. We have a diverse range of songs that are always felt rather than forced. Sometimes ambient and lucid, sometimes pounding and orchestral but always spiritual and challenging.

Red Ash and the Love Commandos: Nothing: Yowsa! Mighty fine orama with Dury style off kilter growlings and messy, bleeding punch-up tunes.

Oli-pop: Listen to Oli's cigarette-fuelled drawl on 'don't you just love it' and tell me you're not impressed. Seriously cool.

Bluster: Power and grace come to mind when describing this shot, which displays exotic rhythms and harmonic crafting. Unlimited recommended to find the 'core'. Welcome to 'Outlands'.

The Chimes: Are from Portsmouth and can be best described s an indie band with many influences ranging from the 60's to now.

Interstate: This is a band that has worked very hard to get where they are today, and with the right exposure have the talent and attitude to make it to the top.

Ascension: Are a Christian Band based in Northern Ireland. The style is taken from the album 'Trendy to the roots?'

Tantrum: A hot and spicy foursome from North Yorkshire playing self penned original memorable material with feeling and humor. A band whose style is the fact that they have no style.

Roundwound: . . . this is an introduction to one of England's best up and coming bands ever.

Dallas Prison: The number one supersonic rockpop sound, carefully and skillfully constructed by rocket engineers and scientists.

Calmer: Guitar indie alcohol fueled dancey songy things.

Maldune: Are a band who work hard around the pub scene in the Isle of Man who write great tracks hoping for a big brake to fame!

Dr Jan [Guru] . . . from here it sounds like a woozy summer dream.

Parkstone Dub Foundation: It's clear that the PDF have sold their souls to the devil. Whatever hellish mess they come to next, you can be sure that Alf Garnet would approve.

The Story

Nothing but Dirty ol' money will help you hang on to your happiness Sourdine! Step in to luv buzz with the girl with two faces, women's rights she called it. Liam is cool he might be under the sea but that was 89/99!

Don't you just love it when shake the shelter to the core It's OK everything in nature cries, always they throw it away and lie back in a stream of consciousness.

Well, if that made sense to you maybe you shouldn't drink/smoke so much.

Zabadak
OFF THE HOOK

Yet another indie compilation from 25 Records -'Off The Hook'
features nineteen different bands: Have a soft spot for these
compilations -there's a spirit which runs through each -the covers -the
titles (all beginning with O and three words). Will this be up to the levelof those prior three which we've reviewed.
OSMOSIS 'Luv Buzz' -off to a spunky start -fine balance between the
fuzzed guitars and the female singer's wilful plea.(8)
BLAZE 'Step In' -continues the fuzz buzz -slightly more melodic &
almost a folk vocal from this female.(8)
X-HAIL 'Hang On To Your Happiness' -slightly grittier -from Oxford,
they sound like Level 42 backing Kylie Minogue -a slightly folkish
female vocal over the guitar picking. (8)
COR-CRANE 'Uam Is Cool' -in fact with a spunk fuzz buzz & female
anguished vocal it could well be the same band as the previous four.
Good for this compilation but perhaps some off the wall ideas are called for -sounds like they're singing "Ringo is cool". Likeable in any case. (8)
THE GLADYS '89/99' -from a singer who seems to have been lonely
for 10 years -some original ideas here. Humour & irony in a blazing
guitar setting. Halfway through, the loping beat with echoed guitar
speeds up into a bit of a thrash. Then it slows down again. "As / see we have no choice".(8)
SHIVER SLINKY 'Sourdine' -quite a change -atmospheric & slow with
a slight ambient approach.(8)
RED ASH & THE LOVE COMMANDOS 'Nothing' -wah wah guitar.
Red Ash certainly sounds posh. He obviously can't sing but he adds
some spice as he sends up the whole music scene.(7)
OLl-POP 'Don't You Just Love It?' -reminds of Liberty 37 -heavy
guitar & stop start drums -doom laden. (7)
BLUSTER 'Core' -perhaps the same band as the last one under a
different name?!? A slow turgid doom laden riff.(6)
THE CHIMES 'Shake The Shelter' -jingle jangle freshness after the
previous onslaught -Oasis probably are popular on their turntable.
Even an orchestral bit, plus yes, there's plenty of chiming guitar -the
vocal is shaky but all in all this is quite good -swaying jangly rhythm
captivates "I'm the halfway house down the street".(9)
INTERSTATE 'Throw It Away' -synth opening before guitar & drums
kick in -then an organ takes over -now its speed with a breathless
vocal -light & melodic -a groovy guitar break. Reminds of The
Levellers 'Hope Street' -well they do use the word "street". Like it. (81/2)
ASCENSION 'Everything In Nature Cries' -a Christian band from
Ireland. Nice to hear a few acoustic guitars The song is lighter than
most that precede it -though it's just a little ordinary. (7)
TANTRUM 'The Girl With Two Faces' -a snarling amateurish but
likeable vocal on a mixture of Brit Pop and early 705 Prog -the thudding drums & the guitars -it may be this bands 5 seconds of fame, but have affection for this. "How could you do this to me". (9)
ROUNDWOOD 'Dirty 0l' Money' -such a good beat -best track here -
this is brilliant -slow motion guitar pyrotechnics. "Football shirts are £45 proudly worn by the kids around town" and "The emperors clothes with a label on the arse". (91/2)
DALLAS PRISON 'It's OK' -an up-tempo blast with a pop hook, and
it's all over inside two minutes -sharp vocals & guitar. Colossal! (8)
CALMER 'Always' -borne aloft on an ethereal, shimmering magic
carpet of jangly guitars. Classic pop, with no tricksy tempo changes,
meaningful lyrics or sullen vocals to spoil the dish -a pleasure drone
from start to finish. (8)
MALDUNE 'Under The Sea' -a reasonable track, with a 'Dear
Prudence' style guitar hook, and a vocalist who sounds like Shed
Seven's Rick Witter -and the similarly named 'Ocean Pie'. (7)
DR JAN (GURU) 'Stream Of Consciousness' -plodding drum & bass
& swooning electronica -a serious singer who sounds like a refugee
from a New Romantic group. There's the obligatory Eastern feel, mixedwith some Chris Isaak style guitar. Excitement is minimal. Not being averse to a cheap pun, I'd re-title this one 'Stream Of Un-
Consciousness'. "You know that I tried". (7)
PARKSTONE DUB FOUNDATION 'Woman's Rights' -this might be
politically correct, but it's frankly pretty unlistenable. The history of
Suffrage set to a dance beat and then prodded and stabbed until all of the air has leaked out.(6)

All told there's only a couple of stiffs -and so it's really all right.(R.C.
with some help from M.C.)

Reviewed in Zabadak, October 2001, Zabadak c/o Ron Cooper, Domaine Des Palmiers, 124 Av Maurice Chaevalier, Apt 103 Bat B3 06150 Cannes La Bocca France

The Reviews

Chain Whipped

Lots of bands just looking for the big break. For those in the office inclined to aging British pop some of the tracks were good, but I cannot take responsibility for the unlicensed persuasions of others. While driving without a licence is fine with me as long as you are competent, but the authorities are not as well educated and will most likely just take the boot to you then leave you in a ditch on the side of a road. They will catch up with you sooner or later, the abuse of power is just too important to them to miss an opportunity.

Here Be Monsters

At last a decent crop of up and coming unknowns from Mark at 25 Records - bet won't believe I thought the first four girlie bands were cool and led onto a much higher standard this time round - culminating in the fast nonsense from Dallas Prison, an act that wouldn't be out of place on the Fierce Panda roster. Well done. - you took yer time, but at last I'm impressed!!

Reviewed by Clive Monster in the 21st issue of Here Be Monsters, 36 Folly Fields, Wheathampstead, Herts, England

Off the hook - Below The Surface

Off the hook, in the words of the Ronseal man, �Does exactly what it says on the tin�. 19 tracks of Indie, pure and simple, well whilst most of the tracks are horrendously unoriginal there are a few gems lurking on the CD by those acts who bother to break the boundaries. Don�t get me wrong it�s all well played and produced bt skilled people but most of it can be heard from the mass of �+ support� bands. Then again for the price of the CD it�s worth wading through some of the garbage for the tracks of some worth. As for the compilation itself, again it�s well put together, the cover artwork especially so being professional and eye-catching, it�s a shame the sleeve notes let it down a little. Well that�s the nature of compilations.

-- Chris Chinchilla Below The Surface www.chinchilla-music.co.uk

Off the hook - ettnollett

Discover 19 top Indie bands - Diverse artister (25 records, 25F024) Mark fran engelska 25 records i Poole fortsatter all skicka sina smatt obskyra samlingsskivor till ettnollett. Detta uppskattar jag och just det att jag far en sa speciell inblick i ny brittisk musik gor mig priviligerad. Detta ar femte samlingen trin boiaget. Och som vanligt biandas det friskt mellan diverse alternative pop/rock-band. Del som kanns kuligast ar vidden av artister och att stilarna spanner mellan klassisk new wave A la Blondie - Blaze, Cor-Crane - till loj och introvert pop - The Gladys (britterlarnerikaner bosatta i Japan), Shiver Slinky, Dallas Prison.

Bast ar kitschbandet Red Ash And The Love Commandos som far mig att tanka pa ett tidigt outvecklat Pulp, The LA's inspirerade Calmer, Nord-lrlandska Ascension som 1ater som vara svenska vanner i Happydeadmen och Dr Jan (Guru)(huh! Hemskt namn ... ) som numera ar bosatt i Japan och tidigare har jobbat med Bill Nelson. Jag associerar iven till David Sylvian med tyngre dansbeat a la Momus. Mitt i smeten pioppar det dock fram ett par skrtckexernpel pA band sorn inte borde si@ippts in i studion - trots all de ar brittiska...

@ Nicke Bostrdm in the winter issue of ettnollett.

The Advertiser

Poole's finest record label, 25 Records, has released it's latest colection of up and coming bands from around the world. Off the hook is stuffed with 19 of the choicest cuts from today's music market and even features the return of the legendary Parkstone Dub Foundation. Still the finest local way to turn onto free music.

Chris Lawrenson, The Advertiser, Poole.

hEARd

This is the second compilation I've come across from 25 Records & this is the equal of the first, with some truly wonderful bands across the length of the CD, which contains a whole swag of bands, 19 in fact. It's very impressive right throughout & I urge you to check it out as soon as you get a chance. We open up with "Luv Buzz", from a band called Osmosis & their sound is pretty cool, though at the other end of the album, there's another that's just as great, Dr Jan (Guru), who gives one of the most impressive numbers with an electronic flavor called "Stream Of Consciousness", as does the wondrous sound of Maldune's "Under The Sea". Sitting in the middle is another of my favorites here, "Sourdine", coming from a band called "Shiver Slinky", which is just amazing, reminding me a little of Portishead with a more rocking feel, while "Everything In Nature Cries", from Ascension is also great. With the exception of Shake The Chimes, I'd never heard of any of these great bands, so there's a whole stack to discover here - make the effort. Bye for now,

Terry Allen hEARd, c/o 128 The Entrance Rd The Entrance NSW 2261 http://heard.com.au

Feel free to contact the band at 25 Records anytime for interviews/Band features/ gig info etc. at: 25 Records PO Box 3006, Poole, Dorset, BH12 2HU, England. Or e-mail us.

Next joke

1. What is the difference between erotic and kinky? Erotic is using a feather...kinky is using the whole chicken.

2. What is the difference between "ooooooh" and "aaaaaaah"? About three inches.

3. What do you call a lesbian with fat fingers? Well-hung

What do you call a blonde with pig tails? A blow job with handle bars.

[About Us] [Bands] [Catalogue] [News] [MP3 Jukebox]

Contents

Release list
Free CD
Order form

Off the hook

The bands and their songs

A few words about each band.

The Story

Zabadak
OFF THE HOOK

The Reviews

Chain Whipped

Here Be Monsters

Off the hook - Below The Surface

Off the hook - ettnollett

The Advertiser

hEARd

Next joke

1. What is the difference between erotic and kinky? Erotic is using a feather...kinky is using the whole chicken.

2. What is the difference between "ooooooh" and "aaaaaaah"? About three inches.

3. What do you call a lesbian with fat fingers? Well-hung

What do you call a blonde with pig tails? A blow job with handle bars.

Contents

Release list Free CD Order form

Off the hook

The bands and their songs

A few words about each band.

The Story

Zabadak OFF THE HOOK

The Reviews

Chain Whipped

Here Be Monsters

Off the hook - Below The Surface

Off the hook - ettnollett

The Advertiser

hEARd

Next joke

1. What is the difference between erotic and kinky? Erotic is using a feather...kinky is using the whole chicken.

2. What is the difference between "ooooooh" and "aaaaaaah"? About three inches.

3. What do you call a lesbian with fat fingers? Well-hung

What do you call a blonde with pig tails? A blow job with handle bars.

Release list
Free CD
Order form

Zabadak
OFF THE HOOK