THE FRANKLYS (UK)
Garage Rock
Drawn to the raw and engaging indie rock scene emerging from the UK, Swedish Jen Ahlkvist and Fanny Broberg packed up themselves and their guitars to came to London intent on carving out a new vital sound. After crossing paths with bassist Zoe Biggs and drummer Lexi Clark, The Franklys were formed with a determination for creating energetic and powerful garage rock.
Wasting no time, the band threw themselves into relentless touring, extending their reach across the UK, Europe and America. After performances at Isle of Wight and Download festivals, they completed the circuit of O2 venues in the UK opening up for Airbourne. The Franklys went on to feature in an Apple Music advert, exclusively aired during The Brit Awards 2017, and released their debut album ‘Are You Listening?’ later that same year. The release of their single ‘Castaway’ from the album was described as ‘the best thing they’ve done to date’ by Steve Lamacq of BBC 6 Music.
The band have built a reputation in London and beyond as a ‘must see’ live band, combining dark and heavy riffs with frenetic and dynamic on stage performances. 2018 saw The Franklys complete four European tours alongside various UK dates, and in 2019 they published their new EP „Framed“.
Reviews
"The half-Swedish, half-English quartet debuted with the beautiful, raw garage sound of 'Are You Listening' in 2017 and are back this month with a hot fresh EP 'Framed', launching tonight. The room quickly fills and we can’t take our eyes off of sequined-up glamorous Jennifer Ahklvist centre stage with the first thrums of guitar. The Franklys have an instant magnetic presence – it’s all in from that moment, we’re all in, fully engaged... Flying high on their ferocious energy, the gig ends with enthusiastic applause and all of us chanting for more. The Franklys prove they’re not to be missed with a live show that gets all of our heart beats pumping with DIY love. Needless to say, my mate runs to the merch stall seconds after The Franklys go off stage to get the t-shirt. We’ll sure be back when they are."
- Joyzine, live review
“Fun filled garage rock with a pop twist, The Franklys have a feminine edge which sets them apart from their more laddish contemporaries”
- Clash
"From the opening track ‘Castaway’ on The Frankly’s debut album 'Are You Listening' you are instantly captured by the all girl band. The sound is pure garage and has a great pop feel to it. The 4 members, half Swedish half British, have a hint of The Runaways and certainly provide a raw edge that is present throughout the album. The mix of strong heavy riffs with the straight talking lyrics is captivating to listen to and it’s all held together with the steady bass provided by Zoe Biggs and Clark’s drums which creates something that is rare to hear in music at the moment. It is an album I haven’t stopped listening to since I first turned it on and I’ll certainly be trying to catch them on their UK tour this month! 'Are You Listening?' is an unequivocal triumph. So, are you?"
- Rocknloadmag.com
“Think The Hives but with better hair and make-up”
- Radio X
“The Franklys come on with a smattering of Hives gusto”
- NME
Upcoming shows
No shows booked at the moment.
Band
- Jennifer Ahlkvist – lead vocals & rhythm guitar
- Fanny Broberg – lead guitar
- Zoë Biggs – bass
- Lexi Clark – drums
Discography
- 2019 – Framed EP, 12″/CD, self-released
- 2017 – Are You Listening?, CD/LP, Hälta Hälta Records
- 2017 – Weasel, CD Single, Hälta Hälta Records
- 2016 – Castaway, CD Single, Hälta Hälta Records
- 2015 – Comedown, 7″, Electric Wood Records
- 2015 – Bad News, CD, Electric Wood Records
- 2014 – Puppet, 7″, Electric Wood Records
- 2013 – Untitled EP, CD, Electric Wood Records
Also check out:
P.R.O.B.L.E.M.S. (US)
Garage / Punk Rock
"The members of this group are or have been in Defiance, Dead Moon, Resist, Detestation, Pierced Arrows, Severed Head Of State... and about every band to ever come from Portland, but you shouldn't pick up this rad little two-song picture disc because of what these folks have done in the past. P.R.O.B.L.E.M.S. stands on it's own merits. The band plays well crafted hardcore punk with a fast and dirty rock'n'roll swagger." - Maximum Rock'n'Roll
The P.R.O.B.L.E.M.S. from Portland, Oregon are a 5 piece Rock’n’Roll/Punkasfuck/Hardcore Monster which consists of several punkrock veterans out of Portland. Members have managed to do some mischief in bands like Pierced Arrows, Defiance, Detestation, or current bands like Don’t and Hellshock. That should give you a general idea of what this band is all about. Powerful Punk’n’Roll with sleazy guitars, a tight rhythm section and a frantic singer with just the right amount of snottines.
After several tours in the US, Europe and Mexico and a handful of vinyl and cd releases, they made a name for themselves as a prominent presence not only in Portland's thriving Punk/Garage Rock/Underground music scene.
After nearly 80 European shows in 2015 and 2016 the P.R.O.B.L.E.M.S. will come back to Europe in fall 2017 with a new singer, their new single “Enemy Spy” and the brand new LP "Doomtown Shakes"!
Reviews
"Featuring Kelly Halliburton - drummer of the post *DEAD MOON* PIERCED ARROWS -on bass and original POISON IDEA drummer Dean Johnson, this is a powerful blast of Rock'n'Roll fury that few bands actually achieve... If, to paraphrase THE JACK SAINTS, Rock'n'Roll saved your life but is now trying to kill you, or if you just simply love the jet-fuel-infused sounds of THE NEW BOMB TURKS, THE HELLACOPTERS, or Ass-Cobra-era TURBONEGRO, not to mention the aforementioned CANDY SNATCHERS, JACK SAINTS and MOTORHEAD, you're gonna need this 7" right now, this second, chop chop, what are you waiting for?... PS - I've just played this 7" over and over about 20 times while writing this and I’m not sick of it yet. That's good music."
- The Big Takeover Magazine
"So the members of this group have been in PIERCED ARROWS, POISON IDEA, RESIST, DEFIANCE, DETESTATION, SEVERED HEAD OF STATE, and about every band to ever come from Portland, but you shouldn't pick up this rad little two-song picture disc because of what these folks have done in the past. P.R.O.B.L.E.M.S. stands on it's own merits. The band plays well crafted hardcore punk with a fast and dirty rock'n'roll swagger. I'm pretty sure this band has only released two other EP's of the same format in limited quantities, so you may have to fight some collector douche bag for a copy, but it is worth it."
- Maximum Rock'n'Roll
"This is P.R.O.B.L.E.M.S.' fourth EP. It is non-stop barreling punk like the shit that the bands that they played in prior did. Punk oozes out of this single in that fast dirty rock'n'roll sound that bands like the HELLACOPTERS perfected. But the subject matter comes from lived experience: 'Why do I sit around in the cold, cold rain?' has to be about Portland. These are the things I know is pretty obvious. NEW BOMB TURKS meets TURBONEGRO. And limited pressing, self-released, clear see-through vinyl and you have a record that is going to be a collectors' item by next month."
- Equalizing Distort
"If the standard for overdrive is: MANOWAR plays on 10, MOTORHEAD kills yer lawn when they move in next door, and SPINAL TAP plays on 11, then this record was recorded at 30 or 40. I think Stan Wright's Buzz Or Howl studio was probably reduced to a smoking pile of rubble in the ground, declared 'toxic' by uniformed federal employees after P.R.O.B.L.E.M.S.'s Apr 2011 session for this album... There's just 9 songs, but there only NEEDS to be 9 songs on this record. This is a set I'd like to see this band do, in this order."
- Sonic Recollections Records
"Wundervoll: Diese 7" kommt so retro daher, dass mir das beinahe Tränen in die Augen treibt: Plastiktüte, darin ein mittig gefaltetes, kopiertes Stück Papier, darin die Single. So werden Punkrock-Singles seit 2000 Jahren gemacht, so muss das sein – wer braucht da irgendwelchen Digitalschrott? Limitiert auf 300 Stück, und fuck, das ist das Traurige an der heutigen Zeit: Früher hatten solche kleinen Meisterwerke die zehnfache Auflage – und heute finden sich weltweit gerade noch 300 Leute, die so einen exzellenten Geschmack teilen? So was macht mir Angst ... Tombstone, das ist das DEAD MOON-Label, entsprechend sind die Aufnahmen hier auch 'nur' mono, gemastert hat Fred Cole selbst, und die fünf Männer, die sich P.R.O.B.L.E.M.S. nennen, spielten auch schon bei solch Portland-Autoritäten wie POISON IDEA, PIERCED ARROWS, BURNING LEATHER und RESIST. Entsprechend klingt es dann auch: dreckiger Hardcore-Punk mit der Intensität eines aufgescheuchten Wespennestes, dem man seine Gene klar anhört."
- Ox fanzine
"Geboten wurde schneller, rauer Punk-Rock, der allerdings über jenes gewisse Etwas verfügte, das auch Bands wie ZEKE, ELECTRIC FRANKENSTEIN, die frühen NEW BOMB TURKS oder NINE POUND HAMMER ausmacht und keinen der Besucher unberührt ließ."
- Rockstage-Riot-RheinMain.de
"WOW!! Mal wieder eine All-Star Band aus Portland und vor allem endlich mal eine, die die großen Namen nicht braucht, sondern durch Qualität überzeugt! Nach einigen beachtenswerten EP´s ist das hier die erste LP der Problems. Deren Mitglieder sind bzw. waren unter anderem bei 'Pierced Arrows', 'Poison Idea', 'Resist', 'Defiance', 'Detestation' und 'Severed Head of state' aktiv, unter anderem ist hier Tausendsassa Kelly am Start. Ganz wunderbarer Sound an der Schnittstelle zwischen Punkrock und Hardcore, Killermelodien, super Schlagzeug, sehr geiler und packender Gesang, hier stimmt einfach alles und die Platte ist eine Granate!"
- Twisted Chords
"Laut aufgedreht ein echtes Fest... Offensichtlich auf dem DEAD MOON-eigenen Label erschienen, limitiert auf 300 Exemplare."
- Plastic Bomb, (Gotta Get Away From You 7“)
THE DIZZY BRAINS (MG)
Garage / Punk Rock
The Dizzy Brains are a garage rock band, inspired by The Sonics, as there are many around the world, except for Madagascar, one of the poorest and most corrupt countries in the world and the birthplace of the quartet. Founded by two brothers, Eddy on vocals and Mahefa on bass, the group fights injustice, lack of possibilities and freedom restriction in the everyday life of the islanders.
Their influences come from bands from their fathers’ generation (The Kings, The Stooges, The Vines etc.). That’s where they found their love for unbridled rock’n’roll (choosing Little Richard over Presley), garage style and psyched atmosphere. They even covered Jacques Dutronc’s "Les Cactus" in a version full of thorns. And it’s more than music. They are sharing a piece of themselves including their bravery and vulnerability.
They are the face of the opposition in their country, Madagascar’s youth trying to survive while going against the political system. This is their passion for life that shines off during their concerts.
The Dizzy Brains are regular guests in French TV and have toured in Germany, the Netherlands, France, the UK, South Korea etc. In 2019, they will bring their brand new second album "Tany Razana" to Europe, like the first one published by the French label X-Ray Production.
Reviews
"Garage rock by its nature is simple to play – its the entry point for nearly every guitar mangler on the planet and consequently can be a hit or miss afafair but when it is played with this much fire, intensity and imagination it can sound like one of the most thrilling types of music on the planet. Try and magazine watching the Stooges at their feral pre fame best complete witha skinny Madagascan hanging from the mic with his shirt stripped off like a youthful Iggy, or try to imagine the garage end of the Dead Kennedys cranked through the superfuzz of Mudhoney and that thrilling rush of early Nirvana and you are in the ballpark witha band who pique your curiosity with their home country but transcend it with their unrelenting power and twitching energy. With each song being a lesson in tension and dynamics The Dizzy Brains could actually be the best garage rock band in the world, they are that good…"
- Louder Than War, May 2017, Live Review
"Check it out. Its easy to see why they are a great band to have at any festival, as they bring with them energy, up beat rock songs to have any crowd dancing about. A young rock group from Madagascar The Dizzy Brains is capturing the imagination and attention of the music scene in Europe. The band’s unique style is a blend of punk and garage rock and their provocative lyrics tell stories about politics, power and protest in Madagascar. Since their songs challenge authority, the band was shunned from most concert venues and radio stations in Madagascar, but the band developed quite a following underground on social media and outside the country... The Dizzy Brains grabbed audiences in France after their appearance on the popular French television show 'Le Petit Journal' on April 14, 2016. During the show, one member of the band sparked a buzz on Malagasy social networks and blogs because he openly challenged Madagascar’s new prime minister, urging him on to do more for the country: 'just do your job, man!' This bold and spontaneous plea was the talk of the town in Madagascar for a while and fitted quite well with the group’s musical identity based on protest and civic engagement... The group continues to tour Europe and the young musicians continue to educate the world on their home country of Madagascar."
- 5shouts.com
"These kids absolutely rock. They are going to make the fire, I’m sure of it. Because rock, in the end, is the vehicle of rebellion, and that’s without a doubt a little lost in the West. While in Madagascar, what they’re singing has meaning. This is coming from the streets."
- Jean-Louis Brossard, director of the Trans-Musicales festival in Rennes