AnneCarlini.com Home
 
  Giveaways!
  Insider Gossip
  Monthly Hot Picks
  Book Reviews
  CD Reviews
  Concert Reviews
  DVD Reviews
  Game Reviews
  Movie Reviews
  Check Out The NEW Anne Carlini Productions!
  [NEW] Belouis Some (2024)
  [NEW] Jay Aston’s Gene Loves Jezebel (2024)
  [NEW] Mark Ruffalo (‘Poor Things’)
  [NEW] Paul Giamatti (‘The Holdovers’)
  [NEW] Crystal Gayle
  [NEW] Ellen Foley
  Gotham Knights [David Russo - Composer]
  The Home of WAXEN WARES Candles!
  Michigan Siding Company for ALL Your Outdoor Needs
  MTU Hypnosis for ALL your Day-To-Day Needs!
  COMMENTS FROM EXCLUSIVE MAGAZINE READERS!


©2024 annecarlini.com
Ghost Canyon

Title - Abrasive Wheels 1981-1984 [2CD]
Artist - Abrasive Wheels

For those not in the know, Abrasive Wheels: 1981-1984 is a long overdue 2CD expanded set of everything released by UK 82 Punk legends Abrasive Wheels in their original incarnation.

Leeds’ Abrasive Wheels were seemingly never much more than a creative afterthought in the annals of Oi!, but they did kick out a handful of genuine belt-along classics - all of which are served up here on this delicious 2CD Expanded Edition.

Their debut single The Army Song, the B-side Burn ‘Em Down and the EP leader Vicious Circle truly capture the quartet at their brutal singalong best and they continue to be begged to be listened to on full volume!

The first CD is their debut album When The Punks Go Marching In! which hit #3 in the UK Independent Chart and now celebrates its 40th Anniversary.

Among the bonus tracks on this disc are the Indie Chart hit singles Vicious Circle (#12), Army Song (#24) and Burn ‘Em Down (#14), every one an acknowledged UK 82 Punk classic.

CD 1: When The Punks Go Marching In! (1982)
1. Vicious Circle
2. 1982
3. Danger, Danger
4. BBC
5. Mayday
6. Voice Of Youth
7. Just Another Punk Band
8. Gotta Run
9. Burn ‘Em Down
10. Shout It Out 12. First Rule (No Rule)
13. Attack
14. When The Punks Go Marching In
15. The Army Song [Bonus Track]
16. Juvenile [Bonus Track]
17. So Slow [Bonus Track]
18. Vicious Circle (Single Version) [Bonus Track]
19. Attack (Single Version) [Bonus Track]
20. Voice Of Youth (Single Version) [Bonus Track]
21. Urban Rebel [Bonus Track]
22. Criminal Youth [Bonus Track]

Abrasive Wheels’ debut album took its bow in November 1982, a seething riposte not only against the incumbent Thatcherite government, but also those critics who insisted on labeling the band an Oi! act, when they most clearly resembled the Clash and the Jam.

That said, the opening Vicious Circle is street punk at its most frenetic - imagine Discharge played by the Toy Dolls - and the succeeding 1982 offers no respite either. But the ironically titled Just Another Punk Band shows the Wheels in their true colors, with Phil ‘Shonna’ Rzonca’s vocals in full angry Strummer mode, and the band filling in around his vitriol with as much drama as determination.

It’s a very youthful-sounding album, littered with barely concealed influences (the Holidays in the Sun guitar on First Rule [No Rule] is a dead giveaway), but there’s no denying either the quality or the fervency of the music and, by the time you hit the title track, a partial take on the old When the Saints Go Marching In, exhaustion is the least of your emotions!

And now for all your rabid fans and collectors, this new expanded edition comes complete with add eight bonus tracks, including single mixes, B-sides, and the complete The Army Song EP that debuted the band the previous year.

The second disc is 1984’s #8 Indie Chart album Black Leather Girl and features the Indie Chart hits Jailhouse Rock (#13), Banner Of Hope (#10) and The Prisoner (#27).

CD 2: Black Leather Girl (1984)
1. Maybe Tomorrow
2. Christianne
3. Sea Of Madness
4. Law Of The Jungle
5. The Prisoner
6. Drummer Boy
7. Jailhouse Rock
8. Strain Of Love
9. Searching For The Truth
10. Black Leather Girl
11. Nineteen
12. Devil On My Shoulder
13. Jailhouse Rock (Single Version) (Bonus Track)
14. Sonic Omen (Bonus Track)
15. Banner Of Hope (Bonus Track)

Recorded at Strawberry Studios, 1984’s Black Leather Girl was Leeds Oi! band Abrasive Wheels’ sophomore release, and found the band maturing rapidly. Soaring vocal harmonies, saxophones, and smooth arrangements characterize a record that, though it remains unmistakably abrasive, also packs a glossy edge that suggested future recordings might even verge on mainstream rock.

Of course, that was not to be, and Black Leather Girl stands as the last will and testament of a band that really deserved a longer life. The band’s key energies remain intact, of course. The rhythms might not be quite as frenetic as they were across When the Punks Go Marching In!, but they pulsate all the same, with the title track an especially incendiary slab of post-Oi! brilliance.

The contagiously melodic single The Prisoner, too, sparkles, while the Wheels’ take on Jailhouse Rock could incite a riot in a monastery! There are now three bonus tracks added to this expanded set, inclusive of a single mix of Jailhouse Rock, plus the B-side Sonic Omen and the stand-alone 45 Banner of Hope.

It all comes complete with a booklet featuring in-depth liner notes by Viva La Rock’s Phil Singleton in conversation with guitarist Dave Ryan plus pictures of all relevant singles and clippings from the era along with previously unseen pictures of the band from Dave’s own archive.

Official 2CD Purchase Link

Abrasive Wheels @ Facebook

www.cherryred.co.uk





...Archives