LA’s VR Sex are at it again with Hard Copy, their fourth full-length effort. And the band once again brings the goods in a sexy, raunchy high-powered sonic assault that starts strong and never lets up over its ten songs.
What started out as Noel Skum’s Drab Majesty side project has taken on a life of its own in a big way, with its psychedelic punk approach and its examination of the less-than-savory aspects of our modern condition and those who indulge in it.
One may not appreciate all that goes into Hard Copy on the first listening, as the songs tend to share the same high energy vibe. But this record holds up whether driving in the car or zoning out at home. There is a densely packed sound held down by high energy drumming and imaginative guitar riffs that cut through to create moments of atmosphere that are lost on conventional punk rock efforts of lesser acts.
Rock solid from start to finish, Hard Copy is recommended. I’m looking forward to seeing Hard Copy on more than a few ‘Best of 2024’ lists.
Let’s all climb The Bauhaus Staircase, in Germany.
Concert Review
Artist: OMD Date: January 30 2024 City: Offenbach, Germany Venue: Stadthalle Offenbach Supporting Act: Walt Disco
There are those bands in life that you heard once, and then they became a staple in your listening practices, so much so that you really can’t imagine a time in your life when you didn’t hear their music at regular intervals. Such a band is “Orchestral Maneuvers in The Dark” or “OMD” for short.
Last summer I had the opportunity to hear the album before release, and I have to say, I LOVED IT, probably more than I should have. It was some of their best work, showcasing that they are real musicians, whose drive to create manages to get the best of them, and we are all blessed because of it.
I interviewed Andy McClusky last summer, as the last regular episode before shipping out to Germany. It was one of the nerdiest conversations I have ever had with a musician and one of the most enjoyable. I taunted Ken and Jaret here at Sounds & Shadows about the album, I was allowed to share it with them and left them to decide who gets to write about it. Jaret said he was unhappy with the most recent OMD work because it was not very drum heavy. After he heard “Bauhaus Staircase” he immediately responded with “I will rescind my previous critique, this new album is fantastic”.
I had the opportunity to catch the OMD show in the town hall Frankfurt suburb of Offenbach, and, well, when seeing a band like this in Germany comes around, you jump on it.
The Offenbach City Hall venue is very WIDE, and not very deep, so no matter where you are in the hall, you can have a great view of the stage, you might be a very wide stage left or right, with a great acoustic design for sound.
WALT DISCO
The opening band took the stage and looked just eclectic and bizarre, and they lived up to how they looked. I would describe them as “If David Bowie sang for SPARKS in the Great Gatsby”. Their performance was full of theatrical dancing, bantering with the audience, and some fun catchy, but also dark euro-pop. They explained in German “Wir Komen aus Schotland” (Scotland) and they kept everyone entertained with their guitar and synth rock, all while letting us remember David Bowie with their vocals.
OMD
Waiting off to the side, they wouldn’t let us into the photo pit til after the intro tape had finished playing. So I stood in front of the PA system experiencing the track “Evolution of Species” very loudly with a fantastic light show of technology, and human statistics on the light screens was already in progress. Then the line “EXTINCTION” I was allowed into the pit while they opened with “Anthropocene”, Paul took his synth, while the drummer and other keyboardist came on stage, then Andy walked out, and greeted everyone, and danced across the stage. In my interview with Andy he admitted that he is a geek and that even after 40 years of playing live concerts, he still can’t dance. He said, “If I can still get up there and flail about making a fool of myself, I think I can fairly ask the audience to dance with me”. So that is exactly what he was doing, geeking out to his love of technology and philosophy of human history, and dancing like no one was watching. (But we all were). The new album was well underway in this performance, while Andy was like any other show I have ever seen, full of energy waving his arms around and burning a lot of calories.
They then went right back to the beginning with “Messages” with Andy waving his bass wildly as he played, I’m sure by how he has managed to keep from knocking over his mic stand. He was interacting with everyone asking us to sing along, happy to connect with everyone.
They fired off “Tesla Girls” with everyone clapping together and the entire venue was dancing, while Paul and Andy were in perfect tune, sounding as good as they ever did. With a rolling buildup of synth and voice to a simple “GO!” they went into “Kleptocracy”, a song from the new album about…. Well, you know, some world-class conman who has built his power, on corruption, and lies… No need to mention the names here.
Andy was so intense and true to form, he was sweating up a storm already, it is kind of exhausting watching such a tall guy move around on stage like that. They played “History of Modern Part 1”. Showing a dismal bombed-out city for a backdrop, but nice geometric shapes dancing in unison on the screen too. It’s no secret this song was about the end of the world, but who says we need to be depressed about it? By now we were all ready for the epic “If You Leave”, sounding as fresh now, as it did when I first heard the coming-of-age song when I was 12. This was a perfect performance of it, while he was asking all of us to keep singing with him. The band still looked happy to be playing it like this after so many years, live sax and all.
Now, during my interview, I mentioned to Andy that if I never heard the song “Secret” again for the rest of my life it’s still too soon, his response was “Oh that’s fine, it’s not my song” but we joked about “Forever Live and Die” being one of Paul’s masterpieces. He said “Maybe I can get Paul from behind his synth, and get him out front to sing “Forever Live and Die ” for ya”. Well, I felt like he did that for me this evening. Paul and Andy switched places and NAILED it. It was one of those songs that never gets enough airplay, and I tell ya, the New Wave Station in Salt Lake plays OMD once a day. So, hearing this song live in Germany just made the evening special.
Andy went back out front, and then said “That was Paul Humphreys everyone, who was a right bastard and turned down the synth before he came out front”. Paul and he began to banter about that, “I thought you would have noticed it in the monitors, you couldn’t hear that?”. Andy said “And I used to really like you”… All good-natured jabbing and everyone was laughing about it. Then they played the title track from the new album “Bauhaus Staircase”. The new album was mixed well with the other work, and hearing it live mixed in with the “hits” added to the rich history I have with their music. They gave us classics like “Souvenir” and “Joan of Arc”.
They played a string of greats from the new album “Veruschka”, “Healing” and probably my fave step on my way up the “Bauhaus Staircase” “Don’t Go”, which solidified the new work as some of their finest ever. I know that is a hard chore to label a single album as such, but if you have heard this album, you would likely say that. Even more likely once you hear these gems performed live.
With Andy yelling “FANTASTISH, UND DANKE SHOEN!!” at every song, “Dreaming” tossed in with some other classics to close out the first set with “Enola Gay”. This first part of the set was honestly more than enough. The visuals, the tight performance, in perfect tune, and the interaction with the punters, but they didn’t look worn out yet, so we knew they were coming back.
After a brief intermission, and no one showing that they were going to leave any time soon, Paul, Martin, Stuart, and Andy came back on the stage, giving special thanks to the really groovy “Walt Disco” for supporting them. Then they finished off the evening with two from Bauhaus Staircase “Look at You Now” and “Pandora’s Box”, and then the one that (I think anyway) started it all “Electricity”. To a roaring crowd, OMD gave us all a happy bow and thanked all of us for sharing the evening with them.
Though they might look old, and yes, they even opened for Joy Division in the early days, OMD has managed to still deliver a current sound, and entertain fans for 40+ years, and this evening was no different. I hope you have all listened to Bauhaus Staircase by now, if you haven’t there is still time before they hit the States on this tour. Cause you are going to LOVE hearing them live.
With an almost lounge-y swagger, New Jersey’s The Antoine Poncelet Band offers Beautiful Losers, their fourth single. References to Oscar Wilde and the biblical story of John the Baptist serve as the central lyrical theme of the song as the singer’s Bowie-esqe delivery propels the lyrics forward over a relaxed groove accented with clean guitars and a thick bass line. And while the final mix of the song feels a bit rough, the passion behind it definitely comes across.
When we think about retro sounds these days it tends to invoke memories of the 80’s. Where the NJ act really shines through is the Avant garde salon feelings of Velvet Underground/New York Dolls. Antoine’s voice isn’t a traditional beauty, it is captivating and unpredictable. I can picture a small theater performance piece in my own mind. The breakdown at 2:30 is a whimsical transition that makes this track whole.
Additionally, a Synthwave Mix is included with the standard four-on-the-floor groove and ghostly synth effects; giving DJs something to work with.
Echoes Across the Hellscape is the 5th album from Maryland’s Polkadot Cadaver. It’s echoes reverberate dystopia like a deranged clown at the world’s Industrial Metal Circus playing a synthesizer possessed by the Ghost of early Mr Bungle albums. The circus performs it’s first everyday autopsy with Emotional Creatures which dissects the human experience like only Todd Smith can. Todd is also the lead singer for the band Dog Fashion Disco a band that’s been my personal escape from the troubles of this world for the last 2 decades. An escape that is Wonderfully presented in question and answer by the song Where Do I Belong? The answer being “Lost in a song”. Followed by the jarring sound of a thrash metal band and a piano falling down a flight of stairs together. The kind of Godless Noise that gets your heart ready for a thousand deaths brought by love for awesome riffs. If the last track leaves you feeling like a dog without water locked in a hot car the next track quenches your thirst for a genuinely catchy hook that’ll worm its way into your brain and never lets go. With the swan song of the previous track still ringing in your ears Eat My Tongue gives you all the love candy and body horror a twisted heart could desire. With your desires sated the album moves into the space between a Nightmare and a dream as the band plays a chunky riff while Todd croons about teaching your children history with a game of Catch Me If You Can. As the album draws towards it end the ripest of fruit is presented in Ripe Fruit For The Wicked which cherry picks all of Todd’s signature vocal skills into a metal salad fit for the devil himself as he screams , growls and croons his Wicked heart out. Or at least the wicked heart he writes about because much like Corpsegrinder’s (Cannibal Corpse) love for claw machines Todd Smith is a big softy wrapped in “The Devil’s Music”. As the author of the children’s book Poof & Snoofin You won’t find any child friendly lyrics in the next track Shape shifting Reptilian Overlord’s a song that forced me to Google the word Halcyon after convincing myself I was wrong about it’s definition. I was wrong.
Which brings me to the album closer Mrs. Gore which isn’t a song about Al Gore’s wife. It’s the epic metal closer Razor To Wrist band’s are known for. Razor To Wrist being the record label run by Jasan Stepp and Todd Smith (probably some other folks too) That’s it that’s the review I hope it sparks your interest in a truly underrated group of musicians.
Certain bands always seem to elude a “style” or a sound, genre, or whatever. They can be defined by their lyrics, and sound, type of guitar playing, or any number of traits. From political, hippie, Christian, Folk, Metal, Punk, New Wave. Most of what we enjoy listening to for years on end can be labeled in some way. For the bands you can’t label or define, well, we have Bradford England’s NEW MODEL ARMY.
Named after Oliver Cromwell’s political-military from the 1600s, New Model Army appeared out of nowhere in 1980 and has enjoyed underground success, having released 16 studio albums, a stack of live albums, and countless singles, charting all over Europe, they have never had a “hit”, nor have they ever really been cornered into a style. They will release an album, and read the reviews, and say “This was folky… OK then, next album is gonna be more punk”. I spoke to the singer Justin many years ago, and he told me about the summer of 2010, they played several major festivals, a Hippie Folk Fest, a Metal Festival, a Goth Punk Festival, and a Christian Rock Festival, and they played the same set every night.
I got into these guys in 1988 when someone handed me a tape, one side “Ghost of Cain” and the other side “No Rest”. I fell in love then, and have followed them ever since. Swaying from one end of the spectrum to the other, back when I was a happy Christian Anarchist, and proud Conservative American, to now, their music was disruptive to my thinking and taught me a lot about how the world sees America, and England for that matter. They are proud of their English “folk” heritage, in lyric and general themes, but so much of is not exclusive to just that, Justin Sullivan was raised a Quaker, and that spills over more into his solo work than the NMA catalog.
All of that said, New Model Army has been on my “Top Ten Bands To See Before I Die” list for a long time. Every time I have tried to see them, it never happened, The gig was canceled, or rescheduled, or I was in surgery early the next morning, and they played several hours away. I am currently living in Wiesbaden Germany, and I was hoping to see them in Cologne in December, I got pulled into something else and missed that one. The stars never aligned until I saw the date February 29, 2024, in Strasbourg France, two and a half hours away, and this time nothing was gonna stop me. I drove down, just half a mile into France, to the venue, the same one where I shot Peter Hook & The Light in November, I parked in the same place as that gig even. And as I was walking to the venue, I saw myself in a parade of New Model Army fans. They appeared out of nowhere to get to the long line waiting outside.
I met with the tour manager and he and I walked inside to get my photo pass, and the merch table was something to see. I scored my shirt to add to my collection, however, the venue was filling in with so many people wearing different vintage NMA t-shirts, and I felt like a newbie around so many die-hard fans. The manager said they were almost sold out, and those last few tickets went to the few remaining punters. This was the only show that wasn’t sold out til the day of the show.
Divine Shade
The opening act Divine Shade took the stage, and the venue was packed by then. They came out and delivered a great performance of music, sounding like a perfect mix of Gary Numan, and Killing Joke. A 3 piece from Lyon France, their sound was still original, with familiar vibes from bands we all love. You need to check them out, they were intense, dark, and very enjoyable.
NEW MODEL ARMY
The intro tape was played, the sound of old skin drums tapping, and what sounded like a horse walking on stone, creating a nice mood. Justin picked up his guitar and stood front and center and sang “Whichever Way The Wind Comes Blowing” and the show was on, with “Coming or Going” from the new album. They went straight into “States Radio” from 2009’s “Today Is A Good Day”, they were already jumping around the catalog, and I was LOVING IT.
Song three on this set was “First Summer After” also from the new album “Unbroken” and it was far more intense live than the album with everyone singing along to the chorus, man, I LOVE the new album, but this was better than I expected.
Language from the new album was also intense, and a twist of thought for these guys, with a bassline like it was highly influenced by “The Stranglers”.
The language of love will bring us love
The language of war will bring us war
The way that all the words become true
The way that all the words become true
By now we were all in this together, feeling the message so much with the closing “We chose it, and we own it”.
Justin took a moment to explain why Strasbourg is one of his favorite places to play because there are people from everywhere. (France, Germany, Belgium, and Holland, all converge there). He said “This is a song about attitude” and they rolled into “Am I Still Me” almost with a guitar line sounding like something out of an old western film. It is an introspective song, as Justin has never shied away from letting the world know his thoughts. This song lets you see his insecurities against what he doesn’t trust.
Their song “Stormclouds” is about the great storm coming, blowing you whichever way, but it also has a very dark story and meaning, it’s a great song, but for a mood piece live, I was surprised at how powerful this one was.
Carrying on with the theme of storms and clouds, those themes bled into one of gratitude, and somber regret, knowing that you had to leave, but knowing what it cost those you left behind, “No Greater Love” gives tribute to the world a young man left behind to go better himself. Again, another very personal song, that resonates with many happy lost souls. These songs are wonderful, and powerful, but live they are not just “played” but delivered as an experience.
While bantering with the audience Justin Sullivan said “We are gonna play you a couple of old songs, that still ring true”. As if the last couple of gems weren’t enough, Dean White started just playing what sounded like “The End” by The Doors, for a few measures, just letting a psychedelic vibe set in, and the Ceri started playing a bass line that could have flown into “One Of The Chosen” (Which would have been amazing), but then as this, just sort of progressed Justin started singing the “She stares at the screen at the little words of green, trying to remember what to do next”, and we all knew it was “225” which many of us thought it was a number for either a subnet mask in networking, or some other odd number piece of computer code. But Justin told me ages ago that it was named that because it was two hundred and twenty-five beats per minute. Though, this part was going slow, then, after the first verse they amped it up and we were into one of their most notable songs. This one is a staple for any live show, it was about technology, overwhelming our lives, and how it all goes to the military-industrial complex. With the final line, “I swear we never asked for any of this”.
This theme was also present earlier in the set, showing ever-growing suspicion of technology, and those who listen, in the song from the new album “I Did Nothing Wrong”, with a lot of anxiety around the distrust, being accused, and under suspicion.
Reverting to the theme of the one who left where he was raised, and never came back. They played the somber anthem from the point of view of the one who stayed with “Green and Grey”, which calls the young man out for walking away, never looking back, and leaving a gap and his absence could be felt in how attitudes have failed everyone, wondering what could have been so bad that the guy never returned to the “Valleys of the green and the grey”.
It was at this moment that I felt that this concert was not just a song-by-song set, but a tapestry of themes woven between these songs, showing the different points of view on the same idea. There is so much to unpack in their music, stories, and lyrics. Especially after 44 years, and 16 albums. New Model Army is unlike so many bands out there of the same age in the fact that their content still sounds new, and current. They have so many timeless songs, that you can’t tell if it was written last week or 20 years ago. One of the few bands who is still making new music, and not using a “Formula” to crank out similar-sounding songs, that people dread when they see the show, just wanting to hear “the hits”. New Model Army keeps you just as excited about the new material, exactly like they have for every tour.
After a brief statement about Brexit, he started in a tirade about English Nationalism, and much like the American flag becoming suddenly an icon for the right being aggressive and racist, it’s the same with the Union Jack for the British as of late, in the song called “Reload”.
There is a certain dance that the fans do, it’s hard to explain but it is a sequence of arm movements, usually done by women, usually while sitting on a dude’s shoulders. No one is sure how it came about, but it is something that you will see at their shows, and this evening was no different, there were several “Punk” or “Rockabilly” styled women tatted up, and sitting on someone’s shoulders over the crowd doing this fan dance, and singing along. After so many concert films to this, it was cool to see it happening with my own eyes during “Purity” and “Wonderful Way to Go” as they finished the first part of the set.
After a several-minute break, the punters were getting restless wanting an encore. It was noisy enough that the band finally took the stage again to give us three more songs, ending the 20-song set with “GET ME OUT”.
The evening was over, and I can honestly say, that having been on my list of bands to see before I die, this show exceeded my expectations. I was not just entertained but angered, and inspired, and felt a lot of joy, there were so many emotions hitting all extremes in my mind that night, and the music was superb, I have seen many bands of this vintage as of late, but none of them delivered like New Model Army. Bucket List Item Checked off.
On the way home, as I was just driving over the border into Germany from France, I heard for the first time on the radio New Model Army, ON THE RADIO. That has never happened in my life, they played “Green and Grey, and then “Idumea”, and the announcer talked about the tour that was happening and said, “They even played a show this evening in Strasbourg France”. This was a crowning moment, to a perfect evening.
Should any of you find yourself blessed with the opportunity to see these guys, take it. If you don’t know their catalog very well, go give them a listen, it’s a rather fun rabbit hole to go down.
AND like most New Model Army concerts, this one is easily available on youtube. (You want to see it I promise)
