The Fleshtones - The Band Drinks For Free album review

Roaring out of a garage in Queens

The Fleshtones The Band Drinks For Free album cover

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The Fleshtones are survivors. And anyone who saw them in their pomp at Irving Plaza or Danceteria will, er, dig this latest incarnation.

Original members Keith Streng and Peter Zaremba are devoted to the punk groove, and their trademark hex is smeared all over a cover of Ten Years After’s Love Like A Man. Elsewhere, if you still burn a candle for The Cramps or Stooges then Suburban Roulette will knock your socks off. Harmonica in 2016! Crazy. It’s all organs and finger-snapping, hip-swivelling gang groove, with The Bellrays’ Lisa Kekaula helping churn Respect Our Love into a Hoodoo Gurus tribute.

Max Bell

Max Bell worked for the NME during the golden 70s era before running up and down London’s Fleet Street for The Times and all the other hot-metal dailies. A long stint at the Standard and mags like The Face and GQ kept him honest. Later, Record Collector and Classic Rock called.