Tag Archives: The Rockalls

Control Social Club @ Sneaky Pete’s – 2nd September 2015; ft. The Rockalls, Sweaty Palms, Polarnecks & Facial Slurs

THE ROCKALLS
So, having been to Sneaky Pete’s to review a particular band, I’ve never walked out of a venue so chuffed.

I had the pleasure of getting to see a lineup of up-and-coming Punk bands from Scotland (one of which had their first ever live gig: who’d have thought, they were brilliant!) – with this, I’m more than happy to state every single band playing had something good to share.

I would personally describe Sneaky Pete’s in itself to be a low-key, grungy environment to be in – not everyone’s cup of tea, or for those who enjoy a silver suppository – but this completely fit the style we were about to witness.
The Rockalls

Having listened to their music on their Bandcamp page, I found myself wobbling and bobbing around as you do when you like a song you hear. Unless it’s just me when I’m doped up with caffeine. That aside, I found myself thinking, “Hold up. I’m seeing this live,” leaving me with two sudden conclusions. One being, “I need to leave some so I can get a nice surprise when I arrive” (which is why I refuse to check the setlist before gigs, I love surprises!), and “I NEED to see what they can do with a crowd.”

And this desire was fulfilled in great fashion, but I’ll come on to this shortly. I must add that Sweaty Palms have to be credited for their ability not only to play, but for setting the scene for the appearance of THE ROCKALLS, and thus should be given key mention.

People were moshing, a bottle was smashed and there was even enough room for people to crowdsurf, including their adrenalised guitarist. What could possibly top this?

“Could a vocalist ‘a-few-beers-later’ engage with a crowd to such a degree?” Was the general idea of the question asked by a pal beside me, as we stood by, wide-eyed and watched a mass of people down in front, give way to the machine that was about to cause mayhem.

Dom, their singer and said machine, had a quick chat with me outside after and did ask me not to mention the level of intoxication he was under, so we won’t go any further on that note. Sorry Dom! When asked about influences, he simply replied “Name any Punk band,” and given their categorisation as Garage Punk, this was certainly made obvious during their performance.

Dom even managed to nail every note, and leaped off-stage a number of times to engage with his audience and they went ballistic in turn; this is the type of energy that one might expect from this style of music, and they completely surpassed requirement. Cables were taught, and mic stands were everywhere. One was at a point where I thought it was going to catapult, so the inner sound tech in me jumped out in order to rectify this, hopefully saving someone’s head from being knocked off. After a pat on the back from one guy for my efforts, I was instantaneously thrown back into the pit for more fun and laughter.

With regards to their setlist, they played a variety of their own songs, particularly a few of their older ones which for me had a harder edge and showed the band for their true colours. (‘That’s really heavy, man.’) This also included songs from their most recent EP mentioned above, which is linked below with my sincerest recommendation. Please check it out, and you can buy it for just THREE POUNDS! Yes, three!!! Or a little more if you’re feeling generous, they deserve it.

And the gig was to be rounded off in the most down-to-earth and ridiculous way. We see Dom sitting on the floor in front of the stage, without a care, and addressed us all with the question: “I’m feeling pretty tired, man. What about you?” And we replied appropriately.

Exhaustion mutually acknowledged, this was followed by a final performance of the EP’s title track, “Wolfman”. I had the utmost pleasure of dancing to this (or ‘dancing’) with everybody; along with speaking to the boys afterwards, during which I was told that they are playing Sneaky’s again very soon.

Like Punk; the abundance of sweat, and overall brilliantly executed entertainment topped with good patter? THE ROCKALLS are the band for you, and so is the EP below.

https://therockalls.bandcamp.com/track/wolfman

They can also be found in their natural habitat of Glasgow, and on these other pages:


http://garagepunk.com/profile/therockalls
https://www.facebook.com/therockalls

You’ll hear more from me in my review of Solitude, stay in the loop for that one!

Rusty @ FEAST