DIRTY WATER RECORDS HOMEPAGE!
Host the Saturday Daytime Session at LBB4! 2 Hot European bands to enjoy!
Thursday 20 March
Dirty Water Club
The Boston Music Room
178 Junction Road
London N19
(round the corner from Tufnell Park underground station)
Muck & the Mires + Los Cretinos
Price £6
8.30pm-3am
LOS CHICOS
Their sound is a rousing mix of rhythm’n’blues and soul, with a little bit of country, some drops of garage-rock, and a pinch of punk, that on stage explodes in a powerful and exhuberant rock and roll party. It’s their pure faith in the powers of amplification and alcohol that saw them on a previous visit to the UK get a room of 200 sinners down on to their knees before taking each and every one of ’em straight outta the venue and throwing a party in the nearby McDonalds before heading to an Indian restaurant (and really bringing rock’n’roll to the people!), leaving mayhem in their wake. Their latest album, "Launching Rockets", is released in the UK (on vinyl) by Dirty Water Records.
THE BRANDED
Hailing from Malmö in southern Sweden they are fronted by English man Lee Tea (formerly bassist with Thee Exciters) who is responsible for the raw vocal and guitar sounds while John Krantz on bass and Anders Hansson make up the driving rhythm section. The Branded have taken their interpretation of the sixties garage band rockin' rhythm'n'blues sound around half of Europe already and they’ve only been together for just over a year. The band has already released one single, “She’s My Woman”, which sold out within a few weeks. The stomping future classic, “You Got The Hurt” (on Dirty Water Records), is their second release, to be followed by an LP very soon!
In October 2006 the Dirty Water Club celebrated its tenth
anniversary with a three day event, with the undoubted highlight being
the first (and possibly only) visit to the UK by legendary sixties
group The Monks. As Joss Hutton says on i94bar.com: 'From the moment
our black-clad heroes hit the stage and into "Black Monk Time", the
place went apeshit.'
Back in the mid-1990s one of the few people to be providing a space
for garage-punk bands (along with the much-missed Frat Shack club) was
a chap named Slim who put on gigs in the Wild Western Room at the St
John's Tavern (now a gastropub) just up the road from the Boston. Billy
Childish's then group Thee Headcoats had a monthly residency.
When the owner of the St John's Tavern needed to use the gig room to
hold a wake for his recently-deceased brother, a gig by Thee Headcoats
(on 22 August 1996) was hurriedly moved down to the Boston Arms, where
Professor Blinding was employed to organise the sound equipment.
A couple of months later, for a variety of reasons, Slim decided to
move his gigs permanently to the Boston Arms and asked regular
gig-goer, PJ, to help out by DJing and designing flyers. Slim named the
gig nights at the Boston, Dirty Water (after the Standells' 1966 US hit
single of the same name which contains the refrain "I love that dirty
water, Boston you're my home").
However, come March 1997 and Slim, for personal reasons, found the
time had come to quit the gig promoting business/game/hobby (delete as
appropriate). PJ and the Professor wondered what was to be done. The
Professor said: 'Let's carry on with the six weeks' worth of gigs that
Slim's got booked up and see what happens.'
And what has happened? Well, we'd be surprised we're still here and
still doing it if we gave it a second thought. What keeps us going is
our love of real rock'n'roll. Hosting an early gig by the White Stripes
saw the club get trendy for a few weeks in 2001, which was interesting
and curious. Seeing Billy Childish month after month after month for
all these years and always finding him entertaining and inspiring is a
privilege. And seeing so many other great bands too numerous to
mention, as well as all the great people we meet along the way (amongst
the audience as well as those in bands) has been a great pleasure
indeed.
What kind of music is Dirty Water all about? Mostly it's a sound
that's directly (or sometimes less directly) influenced by sixties
garage rock - stuff like the Sonics, the Thirteenth Floor Elevators,
the Standells (of course), the Seeds, the Chocolate Watch Band, the
Velvet Underground, Captain Beefheart. We like it best when there's a
hint of the blues in amongst the punk rock. We like to call it "rock
and roll". Rock is good, but not if there's no roll. And vice versa.
Of course, these days there are more kids picking up guitars and
thinking that they're in a garage band than when we started out (as
well as so many more venues who are receptive to and interested in the
music). Often it bears little relation, on the surface, to what we
would think of as a "garage band". But youthful verve and enthusiasm
can all too often make up for what's lacking elsewhere. By which I
mean, yes the Dirty Water Club does have a certain musical ethos - but
it's not too rigid.
But to really understand what we're all about you have to be there.
You might not have heard of all the bands that play each week but, I
promise you this, there won't be too many you won't like. See you at
the bar, mine's a Guinness!
