LAST CHANCE SALOON - The
Stabilisers (Skipping
Musez)
If BRMC, the Libertines and the Arctic Monkeys don't row your boat and you
gave up on British rock and roll years ago, maybe you've been looking in
the wrong places. If you scratch under the surface and get lucky, there
are Pommy bands that 
still
play rock and roll that's interesting and a little subversive, not style-obsessed
and raw. The Stabilisers are one of the best, no argument.
Originally a trio of vocalist-bassist Jon Bott, guitarist Simon Corley and drummer Francis Braithwaite, The Stabilisers were playing a south London slaughterhouse masquerading as a pub when ex-Headcotes/Prisoners guitarist Allan stumbled across them a few years ago. As punters ripped into each other with fists and pool cues, the vet was impressed by their coolness while being splattered with blood and brains. Their handy kit-bag of catchy, powerful tunes didn't hurt, either. The new recruit signed on, and The Stablisers have toured Europe and the small circuit of UK dives, doing their own shows and playing supports to Billy Childish & The Buff Medways.
The Stabilisers' music isn't a million miles from that of Billy and Co but along with the obvious Kinks and Who references that flow from that association, you can throw in liberal doses of the Class of '77. OK, they're all influences that every UK band worth its salt claims as their own, but there's a line of crackling, nervous energy running through the middle of The Stabilisers' songs that sets them apart from the pack.
The Stabilisers tap into the same electrical grid as the best punk bands, but their sound owes more to the original mods. I reckon they're that good that Melbourne would adopt them if they ever dragged their amps Down Under for shows. There's also that thing that the best Brit bands have of playing things up but not taking it all that seriously.
"Bendy Head" gets things going at the top of the tracklist with a touch of (presumably) Mr Gumby-inspired trashiness and it doesn't ease off at any point from then on. "She Wants It All the Time" is as powerful as garage pop gets and "Born to Kiss Arse" should be the theme music for your next corporate bonding session. Wry social observation ("Detergent for the Nation") mixes it with outright punkish fun ("100 Year Old Riff").
"Diagonal Man" bounces along in the hyperactive manner of the Small Faces (with Stevie's Cockney inflection rounded off). "Consider" takes a leaf from the Buzzocks songbook and doesn't give it back. "Dr Rock" is the closer and it's very much in the "short consultation" billing category, but things are tight with Britain's National Health System these days so you can understand it having its legs amputated at 1min40sec.
It all sounds great, with co-production by the band and Jim Riley. Like the best pub food, they've left the thick and beefy bits in the bottom end, so it not only rocks but rolls as well.
This came out
in 2004 - on a small Italian label, as it happens - and looks to have been
ignored by the mainstream British musical press. That should be a badge
of honour. There's apparently another long player coming down the pipeline
very soon. Need we say more? There's a link at the top of the review. –
The Barman
1/4