The Vicious Cycles are from Vancouver, British Columbia. They already have two 7in records and a previous full length under their belts. I suppose a broad synopsis of the sound here is garage rock meets rockabilly… goes punk n’roll. And it seems to be themed around motorcycles. So a bit of a novelty act, I suppose?
Anybody reading this is gonna be clear already that this is not really my bag in the slightest, but the kind folks at the label, Pirates Press Records, sent me a copy of the LP for review, so I will do my best to give it a full appraisal, and as usual be honest.
I feel like there will be an expectation that I will ride rough-shod over this one. But as it turns out, that isn’t actually going to be the case at all. I’ve already mentioned that this isn’t my bag, and I’m not really clued up on this sector of the scene in the slightest, so please forgive me, dear world, band and label if I get any of this wrong. I can but try.
The sound throughout the record is pretty varied, and it’s certainly not a boring listen in the slightest. I’ll say right off the bat that I do have a preference for the higher octane (see – I did like a fuel reference there. Or maybe it’s engine oil? I don’t fucking know – I’m an idiot!) numbers. The ones that come off sounding somewhere between New Bomb Turks, Rocket From The Crypt, The Dwarves and Kings of Nuthin’.
Where I’m less keen I suppose is the stuff that feels like it’s on a bit more of a Turbo Negro meets Free tip. There’s nowt wrong with it per se, but personally I’m looking for something else. Overall, I can totally imagine a fair few people that I know (or knew – R.I.P Kathy Rocker) such as Mikey Wong, Liam Revenge and all them quiff types that frequented that Rockabilly night Kathy used to do in Manchester properly digging this. It’d be good fun to drive to, I reckon. Tony of Nurgle rating: 7/10
Top cuts: Truck Stop Nun; Don’t Need No Dynamite; If It Looks Like A Cop; Be My Bird; (I Hope That I Remembered To) Tighten Everything
The chances are that a pretty varied range of people will be into this, so jam it your bad selves on the player below:
The LP is available on a choice of 2 colours (Milky Clear with Red, White, and Blue splatter and Red & Baby Blue “Galaxy” respectively) and is available for purchase from the Vicious Cycles bandcamp page or the Pirates Press Records webstore.
Find out more on the Vicious Cycles Facebook page
