You don’t see a Mayhem Virgins post for more than six months and then two come along in less than a month, I’m not sure how that happened but there you go. Anyway this is the eleventh act to feature in the Mayhem Virgins series. In case you were wondering it has nothing to do with being a virgin, it is simply artists that have never previously appeared on the pages of With Just A Hint Of Mayhem before. Today it is the turn of Gaylips from that hot bed of rock ‘n’ roll the Georgian town of Ampthill in Bedfordshire. The name of the town has Anglo Saxon origins The first settlement was called ‘Aemethyll’, which literally means either ‘ant-heap’ or ‘ant infested hill’. However that is not the town’s only claim to fame they also hold an annual music festival called Amp Rocks (well like everywhere they did in those pre Covid days) which has had bands such as Toploader and Razorlight featured. Last year McFly were pencilled in as headliners. But who cares about any of that now that Ampthill has Gaylips? Before you start sending me missives from ‘Angry Of Basingstoke’ or whatever about the bands name, it comes from drummer Jonny’s Mum referring to vocalist/bass player Carl as having Gay lips. Is that even a thing? Who knows? Anyway Gaylips were formed from the ashes of Betaboy, a band who remain the only act ever to be banned from the aforementioned Amp Rocks. Apparently the ban resulted from something which involved brandy and the Lightning Seeds.
Gaylips are a band that appears to excel in the true sprit of punk. Their tunes have bite, venom and volume in abundance. Vocals which at times take me back to the late 70s and the snarly, whiney Johnny Rotten singing style. I have no idea what this band are like in a live environment, but I have a suspicion that they are truly incendiary judging from their recorded output. They released the rifftastic and wonderfully titled “Fuck The Plan, Sell The Man” EP in 2019. But it is not just the riffs, the power of the drums could break the Himalayas into pieces. Seven tracks and clocking in at less than 15 minutes in total, that really is a throwback to 1977. “Retail Park” is a particular favourite of mine from that release. If there isn’t a Gaylips fanzine already then someone needs to start one. There were a few classy singles from the band last year, with “Hello Armageddon” having future classic written all over it. Meanwhile “D.E.B” is a fine slab of almost perfect punk. Current single “Temporary Love Song” drops the gears down a little, at least at times, and clocks in at a whopping 3 minutes and 9 seconds, that is almost prog rock proportions for Gaylips. Vocally it is as if Bryan Ferry had been put through a punk rock blender. It is a song that proves this band have depth and a real understanding of what makes good music. I know that I say this about a lot of bands in these strange times, but I really need to see Gaylips play live! Before I finish I want to use the rather spiffing quote on the about section of the Gaylips FaceBook page “GAYLIPS is a grenade chucked into the room – a last hoorah before music is finally sacrificed at the altar of an AI algorithm” Now that is class on a stick!
All the pictures above were “borrowed” from the Gaylips FaceBook page and the videos were sourced from their YouTube page. If any of them are yours and you would like a credit or for me to remove them please let me know. The photographer appears to be Paul Curry. (Paul send me your links and I will credit you!)
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