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Join the Purr Mailing List: Happy to be part of the Independent Promoters Network Also part of
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12.12.02:
the paybacks + the hentchmen + aqua vista The Paybacks (in their own words): The Paybacks are really tired of stuff that doesn't rock. They suspect that you are too. In an effort to do something about it, the Detroit-based rock 'n' roll foursome brings you 'Knock Loud', their debut album on Get Hip Records. Ten songs-strong of sonic pop and blazing rock riffs, 'Knock Loud' is the Paybacks' attempt to restore some dignity to the poor bastard called rock 'n' roll. Honest, passionate and loaded with hooks, it's about the value of loud guitars, kick-ass tunes and the freedom to call 'em as you see 'em. Singer-guitarist Wendy Case is the band's not-so-secret weapon with a guttural, Chrissie Hynde howl that's as fearless and peerless as rock vocals get. Comprised of veterans of Detroit's garage and rock scene (The Hentchmen, Rocket 455, Ten High), the band first came to the attention of UK indie-rock fans last year with their inclusion on the compilation, The Sympathetic Sounds of Detroit (Sympathy). Now they're out to prove their mettle and 'Knock Loud' is the manifesto. Grab a 12-pack, crank up the volume and tell the poseurs and the bullies to get lost. Rock 'n' roll is fun again. Compared to 'Street Fighting Man'-era Stones, Detroit Cobras on amphetamines, Cheap Trick and the Ramones. The Paybacks are: Wendy Case - Vocals, Guitar, Marco Delicato - Lead Guitar, John Szymanski - Bass, Mike Latullipe - Drums "Rock-and-fucking-roll! The Stones, The Dolls and The Divinyls all come to mind while grooving to this scorcher. Lead singer Wendy Case is the real deal, rasping out her declamations with a voice that rages, hurts, exhorts and exemplifies survival. The band is driven Ð the momentum on this record never flags. These guys must simply obliterate small clubs and play with a fury that could fill a much better space. What's really impressive about The Paybacks is that they leaven the hot slabs of molten rock with a few genuine pop-rock songs. They obviously know that they can kick your ass any time they feel like pressing down on the accelerator. This makes for one hell of an album. Call it garage, call it punk, call it what you will. This is a fine rock platter. If the band's next disc adds a few more tunes of 'Black Girl' quality, the next LP with be godlike." - www.fufkin.com on 'Knock Loud' "Rumours of the death of rock and roll are greatly exaggerated if the debut from Detroit's Payback's is any indication. Mixing 70's am radio melodies, punk rock energy and power chords straight from the Stooges songbook, this album is explosive fun from start to finish. The incendiary "Blackout" is the clear winner here, dripping with attitude and jet propelled rhythm, but all ten anthemic tunes here are custom made for playing loud and often. If you like your rock hard and melodic, than this is essential." - 'Knock Loud' **** review, San Diego Union Tribune "For some women, a guitar and a microphone offer a chance to out-macho the testosterone-poisoned, cock-rocking descendents of the Rolling Stones. They seek their power in the expression of raw anger or over-the-top sexual prowess and spend their time trying to prove how tough they are. Paybacks vocalist Wendy Case seems to have the opposite problem, struggling against type to show that she has a softer side. Case's efforts may not be convincing, but they sure are a hell of a lot of fun to listen to. "Knock Loud" opens with a brief intro by the band's most blistering instrument, Case's voice, errupting, "Just you wait till I get home." Delivered with the ferocity of a woman ready to kick your ass, the song quickly becomes something very different -- a plea to a lover for a second chance, an unpersuasive but emotional promise to get over her problems with commitment and difficulty expressing her feelings. These traits, too, are male stereotypes, but not the kind you usually hear women singing about. While, for example, the Yeah Yeah Yeah's Karen O is the bratty girl who taunts "As a fuck, son, you suck," Case is seeking forgiveness for inflicting more permanent damage. Karen O's ex will get over his humiliation. Wendy Case's ex is probably contemplating suicide. The Paybacks combine loud, energetic music with lyrics that are disarmingly compassionate and profoundly desperate. But "Knock Loud" is the best kind of blues - backed by hard-charging rock 'n' roll that will make you want to grab another beer, turn up the stereo a little louder and scream right along. - www.salon.com on 'Knock Loud' "Yeah, we'd heard the buzz on the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the female-fronted New York trio being touted as the next Strokes or whatever. Then we actually heard Yeah Yeah Yeahs, their recently reissued 2001 five-song EP. Suffice it to say we were a tad underwhelmed, finding it too arty and coy by half. If only some of the hype being heaped on the YYYs would be redirected toward the Paybacks, a chick-led garage outfit from Detroit. The Paybacks' debut disc, Knock Loud (Get Hip), is everything we'd hoped the YYYs' album would be: raucous and hooky. Singer-guitarist Wendy Case is blessed with a gravelly, in-your-face voice of the sort we last heard emanating from Janis Joplin, and the band is obviously way conversant with Stooges-style psycho-soul. As Case says of 'Knock Loud': "This album was made by people who really love rock & roll." To which we can only add, "Yeah, yeah, yeah!" - Entertainment Weekly on 'Knock Loud' "As I walked through the doors of Warsaw, a band was ripping through real rock 'n' roll with hook after hook. After just minutes of listening, I wanted to grab the nearest person by the throat and scream, "Who are they? Where do they come from? Where have they been all my life? Why wasn't I told about them?" But I didn't. I did, however, come to learn they were The Paybacks. And the band has since become my new big love. Detroit's The Paybacks are gods. Their debut album 'Knock Loud' is like a holy wafer in the Pope's pocket. I tremble at its powers. This is L7-meets-the Blackhearts, ass-spankin' guitar solos, hot-rod rhythms, and the gruff, rrrawk voice of Case (think Donita Sparks, Bianca Butthole, and the crotchety lunch lady in a hairnet who served you grilled cheese in high school). While everyone is creaming over the anemic, thrown-together sounds of them garage-rockers, there's something to be said for 'Knock Loud''s muscular balls. The album feels strong. Its sonic spine doesn't sound assembled from toothpicks. The kick of "Tie Me In a Knot" and "Vegas" had me convulsing, and if anyone wrote me a love song like "If I Fell," I'd marry the sucker. This album will be the death of my stereo speakers Ð an honor if ever there was one." - New York Rock Confidential on 'Knock Loud' "The Paybacks, a 4-piece, are all about singer-guitarist Wendy Case, who rasps out tunes like 'Black Girl' in such a deep voice that listening to their debut album, 'Knock Loud', it's easy to assume that the singer's a dude. 'Black Girl' is clearly the crowd favorite and was the opener on last year's Jack White-produced compilation 'Sympathetic Sounds of Detroit'. In her unabashed cockiness, Case is reminiscent of another commanding frontwoman, Texas Terri, ripping through catchy, defiant songs like 'Just You Wait', her lack of self-consciousness inspired the rabidly dancing audience, too." - 'Detroit Rock City', The Village Voice on 'Knock Loud' "Really great, loud, in-your-face hard rock music. These four Detroit folks produce stripped down rock music with masculine intensity, and they've got one HELL of a lead singer, a tall bleached-out lady named Wendy Case. When Wendy belts out a tune you'd better RUN FOR THE HILLS. The Paybacks play intensely well-written garage rock that hits hard and leaves a solid impression long afterwards. Veterans of the Detroit rock scene, these four play with a tight fury that is impressive and instantly addictive. Ten crowd stoppers here including 'Just You Wait', 'Thin Air', and 'Hot Shot' (this one REALLY kicks!). This band is a complete KNOCKOUT. (Rating: 5++)." - Babysue LMNP on 'Knock Loud' "Can you recall the last guitar-based band that lived up to its name? How about a recent release that gave you everything you hoped for...and then some? I'll let someone else lead the debate as to whether unbridled rock 'n' roll has returned to popular favor -- but if you're in need of some serious guitar-based medication, a quick shot from 'Knock Loud' will have you flying high in no time flat. Who's the rockingest band in Detroit these days? If you answered the White Stripes, I hope someone bashes you in face. The correct answer -- for $2000, Alex -- is The Paybacks. With a strong indie-band lineage that includes some of the finer points of Detroit's local rock scene, The Paybacks pay tribute to dirty garage-inspired rock without dumbing their music down to three-chord schlock. Likewise, there's no "lo-fi" methodology hiding inept playing -- The Paybacks can navigate through crisp solos just as quickly as they can deliver a barrage of hammering power chords. The opening vocals of "Just You Wait" find frontwoman Wendy Case channeling the finer moments of rock history. Elements of early-day Johnette Napolitano, Joan Jett and a dab of Wendy O. Williams inform Case's vocal delivery, as she rasps, gasps and grits her way through some of the most compelling rock 'n' roll melodies in recent memory. If "Just You Wait" doesn't grab your attention and garner immediate repeat plays on your boombox, you're either (1) deaf, (2) dead or (3) hopelessly stuck with awful taste in music. Feedback-drenched and full of Cheap Trick memories, "Tie Me in a Knot" finds Case and Co. choking their respective instruments for all they've got as a strapping chorus assails your senses. "Black Girl" redlines the recording needle, precariously balancing husky rhythms and chugging riffs with the inevitable probability that the tune will explode into a fireball of rock 'n' roll fury. "Vegas" ties it all together, finishing off the CD with a plodding bass line and screeching guitars that spiral into a frenzied conflagration. The louder you turn up 'Knock Loud', the better it gets. Besides being a testament to The Paybacks' powerful songwriting capabilities, this ten song CD provides a fresh injection of good ol' rock 'n' roll into a gravely sick genre. Besides being a great debut for the band, 'Knock Loud' is also one of Get Hip's finest moments, reminding music fans that the label can still sniff out terrific bands." - Splendid E-Zine on 'Knock Loud' "This isn't an album, it's an assault, a full-out waging of war on all the corporate crap that a generation of kids have sadly come to think of as rock music. Detroit singer /songwriter/guitarist/butt kicker (and Detroit News music writer) Wendy Case and her comrades-in-arms come out swinging from the opening "Just You Wait" through the delicious "Black Girl" and the burning "Blackout," and they don't let up until the listener is lying on the floor bleeding ecstaticly. With Case's razor blade gargle-wail of a voice and songwriter-guitarist Marco Delicato's wasp-bite guitar flying over bassist John Szymanski and drummer Mike Latulippe, the Paybacks dance with the ghosts of great rock past -- Cheap Trick to the Ramones, Alice Cooper to Joan Jett -- but always come off completely original. The musical chops are high grade -- check out the break in the shiver-all-over "Tie Me In A Knot" -- and Case's lyrics have enough Motor City attitude to power a fleet of Cadillacs. This, kids, is the real thing -- music to fight and dance and drive and sweat to. "Knock Loud" is a knockout." - The Detroit News on 'Knock Loud' "Delivering a sonic assault that's just downright dirty, The Paybacks offer up a classic dose of ten tracks that push you through the door of you local favorite watering hole, rock you across the floor boards, and kick your ass out the back, allowing you to catch your breath and piss in a way that will leave you wanting more. And when I say dirty here, I mean it. The production is classic trashy. Lots of fuzzy guitars, Case's gritty singing, and plenty of tribal bashing ensue while the whole sound reverberates and shakes your bones. Oh yeah, you'll remember what it was like to rock and roll long ago. And if this is your first time being rocked, then you couldn't have found a better band to throw you down and kick your ass. Knock Loud is a glorious exclamation of everything that is true about rock and roll. Loudness, attitude, solid beats, groovy lyrics. It's all here. If you miss the boat on this one, rock lovers, then there may be no hope at all. Tune your ears to The Paybacks and just let it all hang out. This isn't phony rock for the Skyy Blue sipping hipsters. This is for the people who still feel the need to get trashed and nasty on the weekends before getting their sit together Monday morning. But there's nothing wrong with a little attitude during the week, either. Now go grab this album and cut loose. Remember what it felt like to be wild once again." - Echo From Esoterica on 'Knock Loud' "This is proud, categorically positive music. It needs no introspection or power-ballad fluffery. The Paybacks' sound is the kind of timeless, endless celebration of the good times that manages to successfully evade any of the au courant PR-hype that might pollute it. As Case sings on "Just You Wait," "Yes, it's summer here in town." - Southside Callbox on 'Knock Loud' Websites: www.thepaybacks.com & www.gethip.com The Hentchmen (in their own words): The Hentchmen are a top-notch Rock'n'Roll combo from Detroit, Michigan. Their origin dates back to October 1992, when founding members John and Tim, bored with commercial radio, set out to play stripped down, primitive Rock n' Roll. Using the same blunt and essential instruments (organ, guitar and minimal drum kit) as their 60s Garage/Punk heroes, the boys rebirthed a savage "hit and run" sound that would soon prove to drive the young-at-heart into a feeding frenzy. With their youthful good looks and clean-cut charm, these able youngsters were soon invited to play several parties and functions as the Hentchmen. Within the first year they had an explosive reputation and a solid fan base in both Detroit and Ann Arbor. In this time, the fellows released their first self-titled and produced seven-inch record. This effort led to a recording contract with Norton Records in New York and landed them many other indie seven-inch agreements. With all the local excitement, the Hentchmen were playing many shows in the Detroit area but decided to tour nationally. These cross-country, short-notice tours are what the gents are best known for as they have been from coast to coast several times. In early 1996 after two full-length albums and half a dozen singles, John and Tim added Mike, former member of the Marquette Book Club, to payroll as their new drummer. Maintaining their reputation as one of Detroit's most prolific bands, the boys tightened up the "Hentch sound" and recorded their junior effort, "Broad Appeal". The Hentchmen have now released four LPs on Norton Records and 16 EPs and singles on labels like Get Hip and Estrus, all of which sound like slightly muffled, good-time relics from another generation. Their songs blend harmonicas and organs over simple guitar rhythms, with Volare's charmingly bratty vocals giving the songs an extra little kick. Their 1998 Italy Records single, "Some Other Guy"/"Psycho Daisies," features a pudgy-faced, new-wave-looking Jack White (of the White Stripes) on bass. "We wrote, 'Featuring Jack White,' on the back [of the single] and I swear to god that at the time, we just put it there almost as a joke, featuring this person that no one is ever gonna know. Now [his fame] is quite incredible." Although the Hentchmen will usually deny any professional affiliation with the future Detroit legend, Jack "Whitey" White, the local social mag, "Sceen Beat" has spotted both parties hangin' out together at several Detroit hotspots recently. This strongly supports rumors that White has been lending his "talents" on sessions for an Italy Records' mini-LP, titled "Gawker Delay". There is also a band called The Lolitas (The Hentchcoatees, if you will). It's The Hentchmen (Johnny on bass), Greg Siemasz on 2nd guitar and Hentch girlfriends, Shelby Murphy and Deborah on vocals. The Players: Johnny VolarŽ - organ, harmonica & vocals, Tim V Eight - guitar Mike Audi - drums "This is perfect music for thrill-seeking losers who want nothing more from life than free beer and to do the slop of the Bacon Fat 'til they fall on the floor...very few bands out there are as hard-core as the Hentchmen when it comes to playing this kind of rock n' roll" - CMJ "The Hentchmen experience is like an indoor beach party held in January. You can't really go surfing as the clean-cut guitar riffs, drum crashes and organ strains might imply, but for some reason, with the heat on overdrive, sand in the living room and Hawaiian shirts as far as the eye can see, the end result is way more fun than the inspiration. The Hentchmen don't get discouraged by the Motor City's lack of sun, sand and surf. There's a dirtier punk attitude paper training alongside the pet sounds that prefers a cavernous, mug-swinging bar. Extra emphasis is placed on the hot rod and hot chick aspects of rock 'n' roll from decades past _ but sped up, souped up and stripped down, in one of Detroit's finest garages, of course, for your listening pleasure." - Metrotime "Over the past two decades, Detroit has become a gold mine for music fans with a purist rock 'n' roll aesthetic. It's home to a bunch of no-frills bands who make the kinda music that could've easily come crackling out of Grandma's record player in her heyday, except now it's being made by people a third of Grandpa's age. Starting with the bare essentials of the Gories, the Motor City has produced a number of fine rock acts in recent years--the Dirtbombs, the Demolition Doll Rods, the Detroit Cobras, the White Stripes, and the Hentchmen. These bands have their unique niches in rock 'n' roll, but the underlying tie that binds them together is that they'd rather modernize the work of understated past heroes than screw around with more pretentious musical concepts." - www.thestranger.com "It was THE HENTCHMEN that I was there to see, and it seemed like I was the only one who was diggin' them at all. I'm not one of those "lo-fi" types either, I just love the sounds that The Hentchmen's Johnny could make with that authentic compact Farfisa! Amazing stuff! Lo-fi? Hi-fi? Who cares? As long as it isn't under or overproduced crap! The Hentchmen played another incredible set of raw garage rock, which included "So Many Girls," "Hot Rod Millie," and "Cindy B.," to a crowd that would've rather seen the The Electric Six do an hour-long encore. Oh, well -- at least they got some retarded Boy Scout to do a monkey dance, and prompted an obnoxious drunken biker to request "Secret Agent Man." Who knows? Maybe that song would've gotten things moving." - Etch Magazine "The Hentchmen are the inheritors of a tradition that includes Mitch Ryder, the MC5 and the Stooges, and they're doing their predecessors proud." - www.cosmik.com Website: www.hentchmen.com Aqua Vista (in their own words): Aqua Vista comprise of three talented individuals who give ninety-nine and forty four one hundredths percent. Whether delivering their seemingly relentless reservoir of raw power in the form of seminars or gigs, a band of immense inhuman superiority, Aqua Vista are prepared to play at substandard venues, to meagre audiences, for little or no reward. Rapido, Enrico and Nimoy are collectively engaged in a paradoxical division of self from the audience they vehemently condescend, but compassionately deliver their art to. They are both the begrudging hand that feeds instrumental enrichment and the minority of excellence to which any common man or woman aspires. However, Aqua Vista are aware that the meta-theatricality within their performance, implies the lies and deceit prevalent within our every day lives. This neo-Brechtian form of alienation urges the audience to accept that their act is as duplicitous as their reality. Greg Lucas Those familiar with the instrumental soundscapes of Aqua Vista taking the surf guitar-based sound further into outer space are aware that it is a valiant artistic expression of celestial yearning and throbbing angst. With their latest release GO FERAL on PURR these first-class instrumentalists seem the best bet for teaching the whole world that a six string and drums combo says more than most without even opening their mouths. Every pseudo-intellectual rock writer and so-called tortured artist will agree that art imitates life. Lots of great records have been made as a result of pain and suffering, John Lennon's 'Plastic Ono Band', John Cale's 'Music For A New Society', and the countless others that serve as mood music for high emotions and deep despair, providing the soundtrack for death, divorce, unemployment, passion and winning lottery tickets. Although frequently pegged as a surf band (a label they rebuke), the group's style is extremely broad, encompassing everything from swing and B-movie film scores to pure punk and rock'n'roll, all of it earmarked by irascible humour. The great thing about Aqua Vista is that their instrumental rock makes the most mundane events seem like life's great adventures. On this their third record 'Go Feral' on Purr Records the trio make music that fits perfectly in those occasions that aren't dictated by emotion. Play 'Tiger 100' on your way to the convenience store to buy some smokes and try not to lapse into a Mickey Rorke swagger. Stroll into your favourite bar while listening to 'Viva Quatro' and feel your confidence increase as you pick up the mutant of your choosing. Since neither this writer, your aunt Peg, nor the old guy who shaves the roast beef at the corner deli may have lived the life of Alex Chilton, John Cale or John Lennon, isn't it great to identify with something that enhances life, as opposed to rerun previous emotions? Go ahead, see if you can listen to Aqua Vista without tapping your foot and slipping into the daydream fantasy of your choice: crossing enemy lines with the information to save the world from annihilation, winning the dirt bike nationals, driving an Aston Martin through the Swiss Alps when all you have is a an Austin Maestro with an accidental sunroof. Each loping beat from Nimoy, coupled with EnricoÕs thunderous bass, sets you up for the goodtime punk twang of Rapido's hollow-body guitar. But call them a just a surf band and they'll kill you. CHRIS VISCIOUS "A devastating broadside of beach punk, reminding the nation that neurotics with guitars still count" - Select Magazine "Aqua Vista take you from the moody to uplifting and back again, as slickly as snot off a rock" - Melody Maker "They made my girlfriend's ears bleed"- Vox Magazine "These guys look cool even from the back" - Q Magazine "Live this band have as much attitude and energy in movement as they do in their music. Charismatic frontman Rapido Turismo's tongue in cheek heckling and witty anecdotes, coupled with the bands' overall searing surf punk sensibility, is guaranteed to bring a grin to even the most rigid of faces" - Rooted Magazine Website: www.aqua-vista.co.uk |
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