PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
Veteran punk and blues guitarist Gary ‘Guitar’ Lammin has announced two London in-store appearances, following the release of his self-titled solo debut last month. Known first and foremost as a punk rocker, who has collaborated with the likes of Joe Strummer, Public Image’s Jah Wobble and Generation X’s Mark Laff, and built a cult following as leader of punk-blues trio The Bermondsey Joyriders, Lammin dealt listeners a curveball with his sublime and surprising first solo offering.
Crafted under the direction of late Pistols producer Dave Goodman, the album hears Lammin swap punk rock for a shape-shifting blend of 60s psychedelia, progressive rock elements, and tripped out delta blues. While presenting a fresh side to Lammin’s boundless songwriting talents, it also immortalises Goodman’s skill as producer. Having been stashed away for many years, after Goodman’s tragic passing in 2005, it’s a true ‘buried treasure’ release, which will be right at home in the two Mecca-for-music-fanatics independent record stores that Lammin and his acoustic guitar are set to grace.
Dates are;
25th March – Raven Records (74 Bromley Road, Beckenham)
Performance at 4pm
1st April – All Ages Records (27 Pratt Street, Camden)
Performance at 4pm
Both dates have some personal significance to Lammin, and to his close working relationship with Goodman, from which the album emerged. Raven’s Records in Beckenham is “literally a few streets down” from Goodman’s former Mandala Studios, where the bulk of the recording was completed more than a decade ago. Meanwhile, Lammin says of his appearance at All Ages in Camden, “I particularly wanted a gig for the album on April Fool’s day, as it was a day that me and Dave Goodman spoke about a bit”. He explains that the figure of the fool was often in their minds as these philosophical, dramatic, and dream-like songs took shape; “we both found it interesting that in a lot of Shakespearian plays, it is the court jester or the fool (who often is only pretending to be a fool), is the only person who is actually is privy to all information – because nobody takes him seriously”.
Praise for ‘Gary ‘Guitar’ Lammin’;
“Heart and soul, brains and guts … plus serious fingers, of course. If The Bermondsey Joyriders’ music represents Gary Lammin looking outwards at the world and writing about what he sees, this almost-but-not-quite lost collaboration with the late Dave Goodman is an ambient punk-blues voyage into the dreamscape of his inner world … and that world is a real delight to explore” – Charles Shaar Murray
“A very different album… I really like it” – Mick Jones, The Clash
“All life is here set to a twisted, enchanting beat. The musical layers are plentiful, from ripples of melody on the instrumental Silver White Shadow, to the eerie bluesy tinged take on Last Night I Dreamt I Met My Enemy…. A very progressive solo jaunt; a real treat for the senses” – Blues Matters magazine
“Bookended with twin takes on the oscillatory ‘All Opinion Will Eventually Change’, this album takes the form of a delirious psychedelic glide, Gary blinking sunlight from his dilated pupils over a shimmery cut like ‘Last Night I Dreamt I Met My Enemy’. ‘Take More Care’ is a masterfully languid take on the Stones-y slide blues, while the celebratory call-and-response of ‘Hey, Mr John Sinclair’ fittingly salutes the venerable ’60s counterculture veteran” – Vive le Rock magazine
