Dead Wolf Club and Saltwater Injection Gig Review

Dead Wolf Club + Saltwater Injection

Thursday 26th February 2015

The Compass, Chester

Back to the Compass in Chester for some more rock’n’roll!  I was able to catch local band Saltwater Injection again, plus new discovery Dead Wolf Club.

Saltwater Injection makes a reliably noisy racket with just a bass guitar and a drum kit.  The bass stirs a sludgy broth of Melvins style aggressive punk, while the drums thrash away relentlessly.  It’s not all noise – beneath the cacophony, the audience can define melodies as well as crushing riffs. Catchy, sing along melodies, even!

The set gives us original songs in this vein, plus a Beatles tribute infused with a punk Monty Python spirit.  Add in a song written on the spot, following a title suggestion from the audience; and genuinely funny, self deprecating stage banter and you’ve got a concoction that is quite infectious.  Great band and one to catch!

Up next are head liners Dead Wolf Club, a four piece with a similar punk rock approach but different delivery.  This band offers an intense, swirling sound that develops from a Joy Formidable accessibility to a crushing Joy Division cinematic scope.

It’s post hardcore performed with an admirable earnestness and honesty.  Dead Wolf Club’s songs – part Steve Albini, part Fugazi, part grungey indie – build and build, showing a sense of scale and ambition.  Unfortunately it’s over too soon, and everything suddenly seems far too quiet…

Another blinding night at the Compass, which has grown into an intimate venue for in-your-face rock music.  Good beer, friendly staff and a fantastic AC/DC pinball machine don’t hurt either!

The Compass website is here.

The Saltwater Injection website is here.

The Dead Wolf Club website is here.

The Return of the Random Bike Ride Playlist

It’s back!  Yesterday  I went for a bike ride, the first of the year.  The weather was good and I was ready to roll.  For old times sake, I decided to hit “shuffle” and let Ipodicus decide what the soundtrack to the morning’s adventure would be.

Just over ten miles.  Not bad.

  1. Smashing Pumpkins – “Real Love”
  2. Jello Biafra & The Melvins – “Those Dumb Punk Kids (Will Buy Anything)”
  3. Queens of the Stone Age – “Quick & to the Pointless”
  4. Sleigh Bells – “Comeback Kid”
  5. Bob Marley – “You Can’t Do That to Me”
  6. Blondie – “Contact on Red Square”
  7. David Bowie – “Little Wonder”
  8. Lieutenant Pigeon – “Mouldy Old Dough”
  9. Hector Martignon – “Colombaiao”
  10. Therapy? – “Stay Happy”
  11. Viking Skull – “Double or Quits”
  12. Samantha Fox – “I Only Wanna Be With You”
  13. A Tribe Called Quest – “If The Papes Come”
  14. The Melvins – “In the Army Now”
  15. Bad Brains – “Jam”
  16. Orange Goblin – “Lothlorian”
  17. Muddy Waters – “I Want to Be Loved”
  18. 2Pac ft. Anthony Hamilton – “Thugz Mansion”
  19. The Who – “Please, Please, Please”
  20. Jello Biafra & The Melvins – “Enchanted Thoughtfist (Enchanted Al Remix)”
  21. Neil Young & Pearl Jam – “Downtown”
  22. Roni Size – “Trust Me”
  23. Tiny Masters of Today – “Hologram World”

This particular playlist reminded me just how great the Jello Biafra and The Melvins collaborations are.  I haven’t listened to them for a while, so cranked ’em today.

Random Bike Ride Playlist #6

This was a fun one.  Lots of uphill.  Going fast downhill.  Got chased by a dog.  13.36 miles, iPod on shuffle:

  1. The Misfits – “Crimson Ghost”
  2. Muse – “Screenager”
  3. Dio – “Straight Through the Heart (Live)”
  4. Jimi Hendrix Experience – “Foxy Lady”
  5. Angel Witch – “Dr. Phibes”
  6. Johnny Cash – “Cocaine Blues”
  7. Los Olvidados – “Going Down”
  8. Soundgarden – “Somewhere”
  9. Devo – “Girl U Want”
  10. Dio – “Mystery”
  11. Matt Monro – “Hey”
  12. Dusty Springfield – “I’m Coming Home Again”
  13. The Cult – “The Witch”
  14. Howlin’ Wolf – “Sittin’ On Top of the World”
  15. Mudhoney – “In the Winner’s Circle”
  16. Melvins – “Missing”
  17. Rocket From The Crypt – “Poison Eye”
  18. Weezer – “Troublemaker”
  19. Bob Dylan – “Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat”
  20. Sham 69 – “They Don’t Understand (Live at the BBC)”
  21. Van Halen – “Mean Street”
  22. John Lee Hooker – “I’m Going Upstairs”
  23. Hard-Ons – “Breakfast Caramel”
  24. Stereophonics – “Check My Eyelids for Holes”
  25. Black Flag – “Annihilate This Week”
  26. Mudhoney – “Magnolia Caboose Babyshit”
  27. Lit – “Lovely Day”
  28. Rob Zombie – “Return of the Phantom Stranger (Tuesday Night at the Chop Shop Mix)”
  29. SNFU – “Bobbitt”

Double Melvins, double Mudhoney, double Dio!