New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Suicide Generation is a punk band from the United Kingdom and a classic-sounding punk band at that. But to get an idea of their sound you're going to need to skip the lighthearted sounds of the Buzzcocks and
Sex Pistols for the grimy, gritty punk bred south of the Mason-Dixon line. Think Lost Sounds/Jay Reatard or the Oblivions - snotty vocals, hyper-speed blues riffs, and over-caffeinated drumming. Today, we have the video for the lead-off song from their upcoming sophomore album Last Suicide, "Hypnotise Me."
The video is a simple affair, beginning with lead singer
Sebastian Melmoth being met by a witch-y lady who presents him with a white-and-red pill. As soon as he takes the pill he begins to convulse and bleed from the mouth - turning into the howling vocalist for an ultra-cool punk band.
Lead Singer
Sebastian Melmoth on the making of the video: "We were at my house drinking since morning on a baking hot day. Most of it was recorded in a claustrophobic tiny room with black bin bags attached to the wall and floor to make it dark as possible. We almost kill each other as that was the hottest day in London and there was no air in the house. We hated that day but now you can enjoy the trashiest video you degenerates."
While the pill-deliverer makes a few more appearances throughout the video, there's not a lot of narrative here. It's pure aesthetic and combined with the band's purist-style garage punk, it makes for an appealing combination.
After signing a two-album deal with Dirty Water Records, and off the back of critical acclaim from the international music press, the band would then notch up two European tours and release a split single with LA's
Black Mambas, elevating their status as young, fast-rising upstarts on everyone's radar. After various line-up changes around the core songwriting partnership of lead singer
Sebastian Melmoth and guitarist Vince Sooicide, the band re-enlisted their first drummer Jake Cavemen and took to the studio to begin recording their long-awaited sophomore follow up with notorious knob twiddler,
Patrice Picard ( Raw Fun, The Cannibals).
Deploying the finest vintage analog gear,
Patrice and the boys bashed out eleven gloriously filthy lo-fi tracks action-packed with high-powered rock 'n' roll numbers like "Rotten Mind" and the hotter and heavier rave-up "You Gonna Burn" with layers of dirt and grime after three days of recording of mixing. The tapes were then handed over to world-famous wizard producer Jim Diamond , who shined them up like a pair of spike-heeled leather boots.
The band recently have completed their latest makeover with the additions of Gema Germen on bass guitar, along with May Mansur on drums, giving the band a boosted sexual re-balance and grounding of their raw and frenetic energy.
These newly reborn punk saboteurs will be hitting the road in support of their latest release in
Europe and the US over the next six months. "Last Suicide" is a collection of songs soaked in brashness and swagger turning on ears and an ever keen appetite for unpolished rock 'n' roll. Today's Suicide Generation is here and openly ready to slash up your world.
The Dirty Water Club started in October 1996 in the Tufnell Park neighbourhood of north London, at a venue called The Boston. The club's name is derived from The Standells' 1966 hit 'Dirty Water' which glorifies the US city of Boston, Massachusetts.
Past performers have included The
White Stripes (voted by Q Magazine as one of the top 10 gigs of all time, Mojo one of the top 30 and Kerrang one of the top 100!), The Gories, Country Teasers,
Black Lips, NOBUNNY, Kid Congo Powers, The Fleshtones, Billy Childish,
Radio Birdman, The Dirtbombs, Thee Michelle Gun Elephant, The 5.6.7.8's, The Horrors and The Brian Jonestown
Massacre to name just a few. The club has also seen some original '60s performers, such as The Monks, ? and the Mysterians, Kim Fowley, Sky Saxon, GONN, Michael Davis of the MC5 and more grace its stage.
Their in-house record label, Dirty Water Records, is one of the leading garage/beat/(real) R&B labels in the world.
