| DVD Reviews |
| Alien Sex Fiend - A Purple Glistener/Liquid Head In Tokyo - Cherry Red Films - running time 90 minutes. I'm immune to the charms (?) of Nik Fiend and his gothy mates, but this is ok without wanting me to rush out and buy their recorded history. Its all a bit panto really, but does have a few decent tunes and represents ok value for the ASF fan. Flesh For Lulu - Roman Candle Live - Cherry Red Films - running time 55 mins I only really know their "Subterraneans" track which was a bit of a "turntable hit" (i.e. it got played on Radio One) in the 80s, but this is a nice recording for Flesh For Lulu fans. A straight, well filmed live presentation from a show at Camden in 1985, it gives a good representation of what they did live, catchy numbers not quite so gothy as you remember it. King Kurt - Destination Zululand - Cherry Red Films - running time 58 mins King Kurt nearly made it big in 1983 when their single "Destination Zululand" got them on "Top Of The Pops" for a typically "Tiswas" like appearance. They had a guitarist who dressed up like Vyvann from the "Yougn Ones" and I think this led to the not undesereved perception of them as a comedy band. This DVD from that same year is prefaced by a short interview with Gene October's bezzie mate Nicky Horne who does a clueless impersonation of an "incisive" "comedy" interviewer. Apart from that its a frantic and blurred rock n roll set. The Krewmen - The Legend Of the Krewmen - Cherry Red Films - running time 69 minutes This DVD comprises some rather dingy gig footage and 5 better produced promo shots of this long running Psychobilly band. I don't know much about the Krewmen, but they're fairly traditional in their approach apart from some Punkish covers of "Stepping Stone" and the Clash's "Should I Stay", more of an out and out Rockabilly outfit really. One for the hardcore. The Germs DVD - Cherry Red Films - running time 108 minutes This DVD hass been out for a while in the US but is issued ehre for the first time in the UK on Cherry Red, It is an interesting but flawed package, a double disc featuring rare live fiootage of the Germs at the the Whisky in 1979, an "in depth" interview with their longest serving drummer Don Bolles, the "Media Blitz" audio CD and a slide show of photos and handbills. Decent value for money then, but with a little more care and attention (and someone to tell Mr Bolles to stay on the subject) it could have been much more. The live footgae is relatively brief at about 20 minutes, but gives you a good idea of the band at around the time of the "GI" LP. Not always a good thing, as darby Crash often slurred his lyrics or just randomly screamed. Still it is well filmed. The Don Bolles interview is at points informative, but if you paid �15 plus for a DVD surely you're entitled to a better answer than "read it in the book" or answering the telephone on an unrelated subject (or was it there just to make him look "cool"?). Still for all the negatives it probably is the best filmic document we're likely to get of the Germs until "Decline Of Western Civilisation" gets a proper release. Red Alert - Take No Prisoners - Cherry Red Films - running time 117 minutes I've always like Red Alert. There's something deep down decent about them and they seem to lack pretence (apart from Tony Frater's occasionally OTT guitar solos). I know it sounds corny, but they do sound like a gang of mates that have grown up together that play music. This DVD has a generous running time and is good value, bits of three live shows from this century recorded all over the world. Good catchy numbers and performances, this features their better know songs like "In Britain" and "SPG" but also some good covers as well. The Subhumans - All Gone Dead Live - Cherry Red Films - running time 90 minutes. I really like the Subhumans and Dick is a great and often very funny frontman. This DVD is very professionalyl done and features a full Subs show in 2003 and it also has a sort of gig diary which is again very well done. The gig itself features great versions of there best songs like "Rats", "Religious Wars" and "Parasites" among the 26 tracks on offer here. Recommended. |
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