All of This Awaits You

Last night was special. Steve came up. We'd got a pair of tickets to see Swami a.k.a. John Reis a.k.a. Speedo. He used to be the frontman for Rocket From the Crypt. We used to follow them all over; back when we were both fit and well (if you had have eavesdropped on us in the bar beforehand you'd have heard us exchanging war stories and the medical demons both of us are currently dealing with. A trouble shared and all that). But we won't dwell on such matters.

The band - full moniker Swami & The Bed of Nails - were playing Nottingham's legendary Boat Club. And they were sensational. Off the f**king charts. Plugging their latest album - All of This Awaits You, comprising nine songs and weighing in at just 23 minutes - it's probably one of the finest recordings Reis has ever put his name to.

This is from earlier in the year in Philadelphia (and with a slightly different lineup) but you certainly get the picture. Watch the band as Reis finishes his Popeye impression and they prepare for the onslaught they are about to unleash. A small snatch of Doo Wop a Capella before that first power chord hits you like a truck. I don't think I've ever seen a tighter band than this. As I texted Ernie Goggins this morning (he's a Londoner) they're playing in Hackney on Saturday night. You really should go.

Swami & The Bed Of Nails - Do You Still Wanna Make Out? (2024)

 

Tell me now so I know

Rejoice: Artog's back! Mars was obviously not all it's cracked up to be and he's come back down among us and rejoined his fellow earthlings. Nobody else I know can get as much mileage out of the mundane like Artog. Lighthouses, beer mats, benches; don't get me started on benches.
His current post reminded me about the time Holly Golightly joined Rocket From The Crypt on stage at The Forum and in so doing made a great night even greater. Greaterer? When I got home and sobered up I'm sure the first thing I did (certainly the second thing, anyway) was to buy the splendid album she'd just made with Billy Childish.
But, like Artog, my favourite Holly Golightly moment is also a cover. But not just any old cover. It comes from the pen of Ray Davies.

Holly Golightly - Tell Me Now So I Know

Rocket From The Crypt

In San Diego they were billed as the best band in the Universe and Q Magazine once likened them to a cross between The Clash and Dexy's Midnight Runners. All I know is that Speedo has got the band back together again for a handful of European dates. Which is why, not unlike a backwoodsman summoned to Parliament for an all important vote in the House of Lords, I'm flying out to Barcelona tomorrow for Saturday's gig at the Razzmaztazz Club. To their credit nobody has batted an eye when I've explained my 48 hour smash and grab raid on Catalonia's capital to see a bunch of musicians who they've never heard of and don't understand it when I say 'but they wear matching bowling shirts and do synchronized hand-clapping and everything.'


How will it go? Will they be just as good as I remember them? Or will they flatter to deceive? Win, lose or draw one thing's for certain: it's going to be a lot bloody warmer over there than it is here.