Snapshots From The Underground

11 years, nearly 500 shows in Europe and the USA plus countless miles on the highway lie behind the Surf punks THE RAZORBLADES, who started in 2002 to kick the Californian Surf sound into the new millennium. On their new album Snapshots From The Underground the three piece from Wiesbaden /Germany cold shoulders the beach and goes into unknown territory: We don't see too many palm trees, beach bunnies and white beaches, when we're on the road. It's more an endless line of sweaty backstage rooms, beer soaked stages and sleepless nights, before we hit the road again in the van to get to the next gig. You can hear that in our new songs along with all the bands we met and listened to in the last years says guitarist and songwriter Rob Razorblade. Out of the board shorts and into the black leatherjacket is the new mantra of the band. Dick Dale's twangy guitar sounds are getting punked up by grooves reminiscent of Rancid, Agent Orange and the Turbo ACs. Put some noisy feedback on top and you get a darker, more dangerous version of the classic Razorblades sound. Sorry, no Hawaiian shirts allowed on this stage... To spice things up even more, the German surf rockers include singing in several songs. We just teamed up with some friends we met on the road. That turned out to be a lot of fun explains Rob. Among them are Hasu Langhardt (The Peacocks), Jancee Warnick (Jancee Pornick Casino) and Inez Venuz (My Favourite Mixtape), who sing along with Rob himself on three tracks. To find new inspiration for the tidal wave guitar melodies, Rob looked back into his own past: In 2009 Rowland S. Howard (Birthday Party/Crime & The City Solution) died and I got a little nostalgic. I rediscovered a lot of Underground records from the late 80s and got inspired by their atmosphere and grooves. Black Fingernails has the jungle drums of early Cure, Turn It Up and Feel The Noise is as noisy as Dinosaur Jr. and Blood On Your Suit is my personal tribute to Rowland. A guy, who releases a record 3 months prior to his death, coughs up blood on stage, but keeps going and stays optimistic has my deepest respect. Afraid of the style police? The Razorblades don't care too much: We've never been a Sixties revival combo and don't intend to be one EVER. For us, the audience decides about being wrong or right. If Rockabillys, Mods, Punks, Skins, Surf experts and Indiegirls of every age are having fun at our concerts, we're happy. Instead of thinking about the right color of suits or guitar amps, we put the pedal to the metal and get sweaty on stage and go wild. From August 2013 the band hits the road again. Rob can't wait: The best thing about making music is partying with the audience till everyone is soaked in sweat. We pack up the van and our trashed up suitcases and off we go. Besides Germany England, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Holland, Hungary, Austria, Slovenia, Switzerland and France are on the list. See you there!