Jsntgm 023 Great St Louis – Forever Now CD / 12

1. No Change 02:25
2. Silent Home 02:18
3. Regards 02:41
4. Endless War 02:31
5. Tonight 03:02
6. Summer 02:16
7. Ronnie Jones 02:29
8. Sink 01:51
9. Forever Now 02:20
10. One Day 02:25
11. Nah Nah Nah 02:50

released April 23, 2006

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REVIEWS

By ´Big Cheese (85) March 2007 – by Ian Chaddock submitted

Blazing raw melodic punk outta Bolton Tearing out of the starting blocks like a greyhound on steroids, this raw but soaring Northern punk rock quartet have struck a chord with this impressive debut album. ´No Change´ is an upbeat and energetic opener and thankfully it doesn´t let up. The blistering ´Endless War´ and the more melodic, gritty sing along ´Tonight´ capture the live power these four guys have and have a great balance rough and smooth.

Melding together the gruff melodic punk aggression of Leatherface and Face to Face with the rock n roll infused punk of Social Distortion, the Great St Louis play the music they love with passion and conviction. The punk-by-numbers of ´Regards´ and ´Sink´ show there´s still some work to be done but this ripping, honest debut proves that these new punks are a fantastic new addition to the UK punk scene.

´Forever Now´ is fists in the air anthemic punk rock that is sure to plaster a smile across your face and I look forward to to catching The Great St Louis tear it up live. See you down the front !

Bald Cactus Issue 26 (Andy)
Billed as Leatherface meets Social Distortion. Well I’ve not heard enough of the latter to comment but from the first song, the Leatherface sounds leap straight out at you, with that familiar guitar sound and those Stubbsesque, gruff vocals. There’s something about this that makes it stand out from the hoards of Leatherface copycat bands. The Cd gets better for me as it gets nearer the end, with ‘sink’ complete with its backing vocals reminding me totally of the Down and Outs and ‘Forever Now’ having a great Hudson Falcons sound about it. The catchy Nah Nah Nah is a good way to end a good melodic CD as it just sticks in your head. PO Box 1025 ……

Zonked #10 (review by Pete)
From Bolton in England’s North West, and this 4 piece rock it out with much guitar drenched melody and quick-paced snappy songs that thunder past like a freight train. There is an unmistakable Leatherface influence but with a ramped up and very rocking beat and loads of kick-ass riffs. Standout tracks after a couple of listens were ‘Regards’ ‘Endless War’ ‘Tonight’ and ‘One Day’.

RIOT 77 issue 11 (Cian Hynes)
The latest venture from the stable of Andy Higgins and JSNTGM and he’s over the moon about it !! The Great St Louis appear the greatest thing to happen in a lot of punkers’s lives in recent times. So let’s see what the song and dance is all about then. It has been said that this band is the missing link between Social Distortion and Leatherface and that’s as good a starting point as you’re likely to get. If your thinking that amounts to another Hot Water Music or Dillinger Four, well you wouldn’t be far off that either, only this packs a firm and solid punch, avoiding all the emo pitfalls that Hot Water Music sometimes slipped into. The band are from Bolton in England of all places, if you can believe it and I’m not sure what influence if any, their hometown has had on their music, but its certainly not apparent listening to this. Perhaps living in Bolton was enough on its own to make them want to form a band and get the fuck out – who knows ? They definitely sound like people who have music as their salvation. Ten songs in under half an hour sounds just about right for a debut album and it left me yearning for more which inevitably leads to repeated plays. It’s all here kids, the guitar chops, rasping vocals and an attitude that’s clearly on the right side of the fence aesthetically. Fans of the harder edged stuff Newest Industry have put out are likely to go for this.

Fear and Loathing (Volume 62) Andy FNL
Fine punky rock n roll, like a warped cross between Leatherface, The Replacements and Social Distortion. The music sounds emotionally raw and the vocals blister through the wall of guitars. Not the sorts thing you’d expect from Bolton, but sounding all the better for it.

Oi Warning Fanzine (Issue 5)
New name to me, and one I’d like to hear a lot more of ! The Great St Louis might not win any prizes for the greatest band name but I think they stand a fair chance of winning some for the music ! Leatherface inspired, the tracks just get better as the album goes on … not one track on here that I didn’t like … great sounding British punk rock !! .. and let’s face it, it ain’t often you hear that these days.

March 2007 Fast n Loud Fanzine (John – editor)
A mix of sounds, hard to put my finger on it, try mixing Agnostic Front with Rancid with hint of Oi ! 11 track album only just out. I can see this band are gonna be massive and by the lyrics they don’t take no shit from anyone.

Hot Cuss Review (March 2007)
Every now and then I’ll feel like I am drifting away from punk music, that none of it interests me anymore, and that I might as well resign myself to the fact that every punk band I really love put out their best records in the last century. Then, inevitably, I’ll hear a new band that puts all those fears to rest and makes me feel like an excited teenager just discovering music all over again. Bolton-based The Great St Louis are, for the moment, that band.

Opening track ‘No Change’ is a good indicator of what to expect, which is this: melodic punk rock in the vein of Leatherface, but perhaps with the rougher edges sanded down a tad. Not that this is slick, overproduced mush, or indeed like a slick, overproduced Mush (that was a good pun, wasn’t it?), it’s just that The Great St Louis’ take on punk is a bit catchier, has a few more ‘whoa-oh’s and ‘na-na-nahs’ and an ever-so-slightly less gruff vocal style than the Boat, with singer John sounding as if he only smokes 400 fags a day to Frankie Stubbs’ 1000.

Not that this is Leatherface lite, (Plasticface?), mind you – tracks like ‘Tonight’ (do check out the video on YouTube), the almost-perfect pop-punk ‘Summer’, the sounds-a-bit-like-Snuff singalong of ‘Sink’ and set-closer ‘Nah Nah Nah’ (guess how that one goes!) prove that this isn’t a band just ripping off established punk bands, but a band capable of writing some of the finest, most hook-stuffed punk songs you’re likely to hear. It’s almost hard to believe that this is their debut album, as there are many bands playing this sort of thing who don’t achieve these heights in their entire lifetime.

The only minor disappointment is in their cover of the Levellers’ ‘Robbie Jones’ – it’s not that it’s bad, but it certainly screams ‘B-side’, and makes more sense when they play it live than it does in the middle of an album. But that literally is the only ‘flaw’ with the album – that one of the tracks is merely ‘quite good’, while the rest are nigh-on unbeatable.

I’m trying not to be too hyperbolic about this record, but if there is a better album by a UK punk band this year – nay, this decade – I’ll be very, very surprised indeed. The Great St Louis? The Fucking Amazing St Louis, more like.

(Feb 2007) Alex – Barbies Dead – issue 21
New from JSNTGM records from Blackpool is a great album [from] The Great St Louis called Forever Now (JSNTGM 023). Like Leatherface ? Well if yes, then you’ll be well into this too. Excellent stuff from a consistent and reliable label.

Burnout Fanzine (Issue 21) Kerry) Feb 2007
Excellent debut from the Bolton four piece formed out of the ashes of Bow Echo. I don’t know what they’re putting in the water in Bolton, but whatever it is it’s obviously working, as the town is churning out one quality band after another and they are all completely different from one another. The Great St Louis have hints of all manner of punk bands from both sides of the Atlantic yet still manage to sound refreshing.

In It On It Fanzine’ (Peterboro) Feb 2007March 2007 Fast n Loud Fanzine (John – editor)
When something’s described as Social Distortion meets Leatherface I’m bound to be interested. And the cover looks like a Social Distortion cover, and the lyrics read like S.D. lyrics. Plus the singer sounds like the guy from Leatherface. And musically it sounds like Leatherface with a bit of SD thrown in. But that’s ok. I like it – it isn’t a rip off, and there’s a fantastic cover of The Levellers’ Robbie Jones on here … actually it’s the best cover I’ve headr since the Man In Black took NIN’s Hurt and turned it into a fantastic song. This CD has heart and soul – plus more than a few singable hooks along the way. I like ! (Paul)

Marco / NFT – NO FRONT TEETH zine 5 Feb 2007
I have heard a lot of great things about THE GREAT ST. LOUIS so I was eager to hear this record and I can certainly understand why they’re generating such a buzz. They have a very full and layered sound but never getting too complex “it’s just very packed punk rock and they have some great melody running through it but it’s always hard-hitting. They have a sort of early
Lookout! edge to their sound too and it really lies somewhere in between and American and English sound and it’s also very hard to place era-wise and that’s great, this could’ve come out 20 years ago or ten years ago or yesterday”¦I love it when a band can do that. I hear elements of LEATHERFACE, MANIFESTO JUKEBOX, SOCIAL DISTORTION, J CHURCH, FUGAZI, CRIMPSHRINE and SNUFF, so needless to say, this here is a very capable and interesting band. There’s some real soul this band and this record and tons of passion”¦it’s been a long, long time since I was this blown away by an English band.
Just Say No To Government Music Records www.jsntgm.com

Blackpool Evening Gazette “Robin Duke – Saturday February 3rd 2007
Probably the most exciting thing to emerge from Bolton since the Octagon Theatre, this four piece stake their official ‘ones to watch’ claim with this whiplash fast 11 track album on the Blackpool based label. It sits neatly in the voguish rock-and-punk fusion but with more energy than a power station and lyrics which are a cut above the de rigeur ‘one-two-three-four’ blasters. It’s all their own stuff apart from an impressive cover of the Levellers’ ode about Illinois death row teenager Robbie Jones (JSNTGM)

Positive Creed Issue 11 (Jan 2007)
Angry with melody and an American feel, TGSL are Social Distortion meets Shonben or a punkier incarnation of The Almighty. Catchy as fuck with real rebel spirit, this is what it is all about. The gauntlet has well and truly been laid down here, and you’ll be hard pushed to find a better punk album in 2007- 9/10 (MOH) £9.00 inc postage from Rox Towers, PO BOX 1025, Blackpool FY3 0FA or on line from www.jsntgm.com

Full Frontal Recordings 10/10. Album of the month
Forever Now is the debut album from The Great St. Louis. A rather strange name for a band but the same can´t be said of their music. The first album of 2007 I heard was ´Break The Silence´ and now I´ve got the pleasure of hearing this Leatherface influenced album. Since it came through the post this morning I haven´t stopped playing it. There´s eleven tracks in all and from the opening track ´No Change´ this is just a sheer delight to hear all the way through. The guitars from John and Dunc are the nuts and really make this album what it is. Adding Dan´s bass and Ry ´Skunk Bud´ drums you´d be really hard pushed to find a better album than this. Check out ´Silent Home´, ´Summer´, ´Endless War´ and ´Forever Now´ and you´ll see why this The Great St. Louis are the band to put British Punk Rock back on the map! That´s not all either – There´s a terrific production which many UK bands usually fall flat on and cool packaging too! Can´t really say no about this apart from buy the bastard! (JSNTGM) 10/10

Editor – Blackpool Rox II Issue 10 (2007)
This amazes me every time I listen to it. Visceral, medicine for the soul. In my short time on this planet I have probably listened to this album more times than I did to the first Clash album and Inflammable Material put together. It is the dog’s chocolates “100%. I hope I love this rekkid as much in years to come as I do now “can’t seem to get tired of it. This is the answer let’s invade America and let GSL ‘close the goddamn door’ in their fucking faces. Kill me kill me kill me. When I play it at people it sorta reminds me of the reaction when civilians first got into Nirvana “they were amazed (and so they should have been) and said ‘wow this is the best thing ever’ well let me tell you they were wrong ,this is the best thing ever ! Best rekkid ever. (11/10)