Sunday 1 June 2008

RANDOM SELECTION: DVD

Don't Need You: The Herstory Of Riot Grrrl

First we had he excellent Riot Grrrl book and now there's the thoroughly retrospective DVD. It does have the much sillier title but it's an amazing blast of rare live footage, old interviews and brand new chats with the likes of Le Tigre/Bikini Kill legend Kathleen Hannah and Sleater-Kinney/Heavens To Betsy shrieker Corin Tucker. Awesome.
www.boomkat.com

BOOK

Detective Comics

From the title, you have probably guessed that I will not be writing about a book per se this month. However, I feel compelled to write about DC because its writers have shown their mettle and the series has proved its longevity and worth; they are also a brilliant read.
In particular, I am enamoured with the issues starring the character who is arguably Detective Comics' most famous product, Batman. First appearing in DC as The Bat-Man in 1939 (and still sometimes referred to as The Batman), Bruce Wayne's alter ego has been surviving bullet wounds, bumps on the head and even earthquakes (No Man's Land, 1999) for nearly 70 years.
Issues #654-656 are personal favourites of mine: they detail the emergence of self-styled boy soldier Ulysses Hadrian Armstrong, AKA The General, and his rise to power over Gotham's most ferocious gangs and thugs. The contest for influence over the city culminates with a fight between The General's own Wardogs and the GCPD.
Mega City Comics in Camden Town, London, is a great source for some of the rarest and best comics. Comics are available instore or online at www.megacitycomics.co.uk

BAND

The Old Romantic Killer Band

Yes, there are two of them, and yes, one of them plays guitar and sings, and one plays the drums. However, Northerners The Old Romantic Killer Band do not necessarily fit the blues duo stereotype, and they are most certainly not the White Stripes (end of the line, comparison junkies). For sure, there’s a lot of bluesy influence and southern USA drawls within Killer Band’s more languid, smooth tunes but at times they display an underlying, visceral sense of viciousness and ferocity; the group’s latest single, “You Don’t Know How To Love” being a prime example, with it’s jarring, tubular guitar sound and smirking, seductive vocal delivery. Sure, you can dance to these guys, and they may smile wryly at you from the stage, but they’ve got a sharp and poisonous edge to them – best not to get too close…

The Old Romantic Killer Band’s single, “You Don’t Know How To Love” is out now on Bad Sneakers Records.


www.myspace.com/theoldromantickillerband