THE BOYS + THE VULZ – THE PRINCE ALBERT, BRIGHTON 5.1.24
It turns out that my first gig of 2024 was to be at The Prince Albert which no doubt will be the first of many at the popular venue throughout the next 12 months. This evening I am drawn to the building like a magnet in order to catch The Boys, who along with the Sex Pistols, Clash and The Damned were part of the first wave of the mid-1970’s UK punk explosion. In fact The Boys became the first UK punk band to sign an album deal when NEMS Records snapped them up in January 1977 and they were highly regarded by the music press and their contemporaries, on the account of their well-crafted songs, together with Casino Steel and Matt Dangerfield’s love of harmonies. This led to them being accurately described as “The Beatles of Punk” as well as being compared to the Ramones – both bands being fast, alternately brattish and tongue-in-cheek, and gloriously anthemic. Last FM have stated that “The Boys provided the template for superior Pop Punk before even the Buzzcocks had got out of first gear”.
The Boys were born in September 1975 when singer/guitarist Matt Dangerfield left Mick Jones and Tony James’s fledgling punk band London SS to form a new band with ex-Hollywood Brats songwriter/keyboard player Casino Steel. Dangerfield’s art college pal, guitarist Honest John Plain, was quickly recruited. The following year they held auditions for the bass and drum roles with Kid Reid and Jack Black completing the line-up.
Matt Dangerfield had converted the tiny disused coal cellar of his rented basement flat in Maida Vale into a home recording studio/rehearsal room and as a consequence, 47A Warrington Crescent became extremely important in the development of the UK punk scene in the mid-seventies. Mick Jones, Glen Matlock, Tony James, Rat Scabies, Brian James, Gene October, Sid Vicious and Billy Idol were regular visitors. Amongst others, the Sex Pistols, The Damned, London SS, Clash, Chelsea, Generation X and of course, The Boys, made their first recordings there. In this hotbed of creativity Steel and Dangerfield quickly forged a prolific songwriting partnership.
The Boys made their live debut at London’s Hope and Anchor in October 1976. Mick Jones, Billy Idol, Joe Strummer, Tony James and Gene October were in attendance for The Boys first performance. Having released two albums and three singles with NEMS, they moved to Safari Records in 1979 where two further albums and five more singles followed. At the turn of the decade, The Boys rocked on up to Brighton and played the Top Rank Suite on Wednesday 16th January 1980, where they were supporting the Ramones and I was there and I had opened up my Boys account!
It was to be many decades later when I was to be reacquainted with a live set from The Boys and they were on my “must see” list for the 2022 Rebellion punk festival in Blackpool, when I caught them on 4th August at Club Casbah from 9:30pm – 10:30pm. Where I reported thus…
“We had a swift jaunt over to Club Casbah to see The Boys for a more sedate affair, having witnessed what the Circle Jerks had to offer. The Boys format was two guitars and vocals, bass with joint vocals, keys and drums. Their intro tape started at 9:29pm.and the lads took to the stage. They offer up old style early melodic pop punk with the added keys.
They had a backdrop behind them which changed for every song. It helpfully had the details of the song name, who wrote it and what album it is from and the year it was released, for example “‘See Ya Later’ written by Casino Steel/Matt Dangerfield, album ‘To Hell With The Boys’ 1979”. This was a novel idea and it gave the many fans an all encompassing performance factor, good job lads! ‘Weekend’ was rather good, even though it had a Beatles style chorus.
The Boys offer up tunes that are as melodic as say The Undertones, and at times it’s almost not punk. I would suggest they are at the outer edge of the genre. Set highlights ‘First Time’ and ‘I Don’t Care’ (both from 1977) and ‘Brickfield Nights‘ (from 1978). There was an unfortunate comedy moment during ‘First Time’ when the Hammond keyboard collapsed on the floor. I wonder if that was “oh oh oh oh the First Time’” that it has happened? That’s £1000 quid down the drain then. Their performance concluded at 10:24pm. I must dig out my two The Boys albums and reacquaint myself with them again”.
Back to tonight at The Prince Albert and The Boys grace the stage at 9:37pm and deliver 20 tracks for their 64 minute set, which concludes at 10:41pm. Present and correct are founders Matt Dangerfield and Casino Steel. Matt plays a Gibson Les Paul Standard; and Casino is house left, with dark shades, playing swelling chords on a Nord Electro 4 keyboard. Epiphone bassist Kent Norberg from Swedish rockers Sator (not his namesake the Swedish professional ice hockey player and head coach) is a more recent recruit, and takes some of the lead vocals. He bears a passing resemblance to actor Matt Smith, which amuses me, and he’s doing a great job and addresses the sold out crowd more than his bandmates. Drummer Martin H-Son, who is obviously too young for the original lineup, thumps energetically around the kit and looks nice’n’punky. House right is guitarist Chips Kiesbye, doing some excellent fretwork on another Gibson Les Paul Standard. He has very long hair and a beard, and in appearance is a cross between Wild Willy Barrett and Bill Bailey. He is also a member of Sator, and he’s also an accomplished record producer.
There’s not too much in the way of stage theatrics but Kent does his best to whip up the crowd. This band’s strength is the sheer quality of their songs, and pretty much every one is a classic. How they never made it really big is a mystery, and that The Boys aren’t held in quite the same esteem as, say the Buzzcocks, seems to be a bit of an oversight by the punk generation. The audience here tonight clearly love them! We are camped at the front of the stage and absorbing all they have to offer. The only moan I guess is that the keys are inaudible for almost all of the performance. With such a consistent body of work it’s difficult to pick out particular standout numbers as they’re all good, but it’s the songs from the first two albums, 1977’s eponymous debut and the following year’s ‘Alternative Chartbusters’, that really chime with me. ‘TCP’, ‘USI’, ‘Cop Cars’, the Beatles-esque ‘Weekend’ and glam filled ‘Brickfield Nights’ are all pop punk classics. It’s fair to say that ‘1976’ from 2014’s ‘Punk Rock Menopause’ album is the missing link from Glam Rock to Punk Rock. ‘Organ’ Grinder’ was also one of the set highlights, especially on account of Matt’s Buzzcocks-esque guitar sound. Casino’s keys were finally audible on ‘Tumble With Me’ and they reminded me of Sailor’s ‘A Glass Of Champagne’. They see the set out with ‘First Time’ which really feels as though it came out of Northern Ireland’s ‘Good Vibrations’ Terri Hooley camp and as a result was my choice tune of the set. Rather than fighting to get through the crowd in order to play a fake encore, they remain in-situ and give us a couple of other numbers, ‘Living In The City’ and their most Ramones sounding tune, ‘Sick On You’ with Casino on vocals. It had been a really enjoyable set and was a great way to open up 2024.
The Boys:
Matt Dangerfield – guitar/vocals (1975-present)
Casino Steel – keyboards/vocals (1975-present)
Chips Kiesbye – guitar/vocals (2015-present)
Kent Norberg – bass/vocals (2014-present)
Martin H-Son – drums (2009-present)
The Boys setlist:
‘T.C.P.’ (from 1978 ‘Alternative Chartbusters’ album)
‘See Ya Later’ (from 1979 ‘To Hell With The Boys’ album)
‘Terminal Love’ (from 1979 ‘To Hell With The Boys’ album)
‘1976’ (from 2014 ‘Punk Rock Menopause’ album)
‘Weekend’ (from 1981 ‘Boys Only’ album)
‘U.S.I.’ (from 1978 ‘Alternative Chartbusters’ album)
‘I’m A Believer’ (from 2014 ‘Punk Rock Menopause’ album)
‘Cop Cars’ (from 1977 ‘The Boys’ album)
‘You Can’t Hurt A Memory’ (from 1979 ‘To Hell With The Boys’ album)
‘No Money’ (from 1977 ‘The Boys’ album)
‘Organ Grinder’ (from 2014 ‘Punk Rock Menopause’ album)
‘Soda Pressing’ (from 1977 ‘The Boys’ album)
‘Tumble With Me’ (Hollywood Brats cover) (from 1977 ‘The Boys’ album)
‘Do The Contract Hustle’ (from 1978 ‘Alternative Chartbusters’ album)
‘Global Warming’ (from 2014 ‘Punk Rock Menopause’ album)
‘I Don’t Care’ (from 1977 ‘The Boys’ album)
‘Brickfield Nights’ (from 1978 ‘Alternative Chartbusters’ album)
‘First Time’ (from 1977 ‘The Boys’ album)
(encore)
‘Living In The City’ (from 1977 ‘The Boys’ album)
‘Sick On You’ (from 1977 ‘The Boys’ album)
Fans will be interested to check out our exclusive interview with The Boys founder member Matt Dangerfield – Read it HERE.
Support this evening came from The Vulz who currently are Barry John Charman (vocals/guitar), Gary Pearce (guitar), David Zerafa (bass) and Clay Cook (drums). They originally came into being sometime in 2010 when Barry and Clay, who had already played together for the best part of seven years in the four piece grunge band, the Free State Prophets, hit on the new plan! They met up with lead guitarist and studio engineer, Fil Ross, who joined the band as bassist, and they recorded their debut album, ‘EVO’. Upon completion of the album late in 2012, Fil decided to leave the band to pursue his own musical interest as a singer/songwriter, leaving behind a strong impression as his energy was loved and his bass work mesmerising.
The following year The Vulz had morphed into a four piece outfit with the addition of Gary Pearce (from Innocent Bystanders) on lead guitar and Nick Medlin on bass. Just as the band began progressing, they were back at square one with the announcement that Clay was leaving due to work commitments. Cue Paul Cassar in the hot seat. But by mid 2014 Clay was back in the drummer’s chair and early 2015 brought the arrival of David Zerafa on bass, replacing the departing Nick Medlin. In December 2016, the band released their second album, ‘Love Struck Bomb Delay’ which was rich in energy and the addition of an extra guitar, courtesy of Gary Pearce, added that extra dimension to get more of the bands ‘live’ sound captured in the recordings. Interestingly, The Vulz debuted the new album at London’s 100 Club in January of 2017, playing in support of The Boys at ‘Resolution Festival’. They went on to support The Boys in Southampton and again at the 100 Club in London as part of the 2018 ‘Resolution Festival’.
The band started working on new material and a chance meeting between Barry and BBC Radio 2 Breakfast host, Chris Evans, in August 2018 led to Barry being interviewed live on air and Chris playing ‘Acetone Vapour’ from ‘Love Struck Bomb Delay’ to the nation. The immediate response from the listeners was fantastic, with many calling the music a breath of fresh air. Thanks to this, the band were invited to perform live on the show on the 24th of August. Joining Reef and Miles Kane in providing ‘live’ music as Kirstie Allsop, Tom Daley and Richard Madden were studio guests. The Vulz then performed at ‘Carfest South’, with Status Quo, Clean Bandit, James Bay and the Feeling amongst others. In 2019, the band started working on their third album, ‘Punk Apache Park West’, when eventually dropped in 2021 due to the covid delay.
This evening at The Prince Albert, the quartet grace the stage at 8:25pm and deliver an impressive 14 track set which ran until 9:13pm. The room at that stage was very busy but not quite at full capacity. It was pleasing to note that so many had arrived “early” in order to see what The Vulz had to offer. From our left to right there was Gary on Gibson Les Paul Standard guitar and backing vocals; Barry was playing the Fender Jaguar guitar with his left hand and was on lead vocals; Clay was behind him on The Vulz drumkit (which was utilised by The Boys); and David was interestingly playing the Epiphone bass upside down with his left hand. The bass and one guitar were also used by The Boys.
This was my very first encounter with The Vulz and I must say that I was very impressed indeed. Throughout their 48 minute set, they constantly reminded me of long lost forgotten pop-punk tunes I had heard once or twice on the John Peel shows from the 1976 to 1979 period. In particular ‘Kassablanca’ from the 2016 ‘Love Struck Bomb Delay’ album, which had a Buzzcocks sound, as did ‘Pleasurama’ from 2021’s ‘Punk Apache Park West’ album, which also benefited from also sounding like the Ramones and as thus was a set highlight. ‘Lovestruck’, also from 2016’s ‘Love Struck Bomb Delay’, had the definite vibe of The Boys meets ‘I Don’t Mind’ by Buzzcocks and was another set highlight. In fact, so good were the band that, when we were informed that they had their albums on sale at the rear of the room, I had decided to buy them all at the close of the night. However, they annoyingly did not have a card reader and I didn’t have any cash, which was a real pain! I would very much like to see this quartet play live again in 2024. So over to you lads………
The Vulz:
Barry John Charman – vocals/guitar
Gary Pearce – guitar
David Zerafa – bass
Clay Cook – drums
The Vulz setlist:
‘Acetone Vapour’ (from 2016 ‘Love Struck Bomb Delay’ album)
‘Combat Baby’ (from 2021 ‘Punk Apache Park West’ album)
‘Kassablanca’ (from 2016 ‘Love Struck Bomb Delay’ album)
‘Get With Me’ (from 2016 ‘Love Struck Bomb Delay’ album)
‘Luv Bites’ (from 2021 ‘Punk Apache Park West’ album)
‘Odeon Neon’ (from 2016 ‘Love Struck Bomb Delay’ album)
‘Pleasurama’ (from 2021 ‘Punk Apache Park West’ album)
‘Venus’ (from 2021 ‘Punk Apache Park West’ album)
‘Sunset Over Suburbia’ (from 2021 ‘Punk Apache Park West’ album)
‘Lovestruck’ (from 2016 ‘Love Struck Bomb Delay’ album)
‘Johnny Severn’ (from 2021 ‘Punk Apache Park West’ album)
‘Innocent Bystander’ (from 2021 ‘Punk Apache Park West’ album)
‘Shelf Life’ (from 2016 ‘Love Struck Bomb Delay’ album)
‘On The Streets’ (from 2021 ‘Punk Apache Park West’ album)