From Pop Narcotic (original here)
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Best Albums of 2007 (Numbers 2)
2. The Stabilisers, Wanna Do The Wild Plastic Brane Thing
The Stabilisers first properly-released stateside album ended up in my hands about 2 weeks after I'd fallen under the spell of their labelmates, The Len Price 3. "Oh great, another Medway band on Little Steven's record label". At risk of feeling my tastes in music to be too easily pigeonholed, I had every expectations of hating this.

And so yeah, I had it on shuffle, and "She Wants It All The Time" was the first Stabilisers song I'd ever heard, and I found myself thinking "Yeah, I loved that guitar riff back when Stiff Little Fingers and The Buzzcocks did it a thousand times 30 years ago..." But wait a minute here. "She Wants It" suddenly kicks in with a middle 8, and then they do a key change, and then there's a stop/start...huh. One of the ways a lot of mediocre punk rock loses me is that most punk bands come up with a stomping riff and that's all they can manage in a song. But here's The Stabilisers writing 3 minute songs that never quite go where you expect them to, with dynamics and a pulse that seemingly no one else is able to.

One of the reasons I have so little patience for bands that have a sound that recalls some other, earlier rock and roll predecessor is that the new bands always seem to get the sound right, but not the rest. Hell, give any guitarist a Rickenbacker plugged into an AC-30 amp turned up too high, and they'll sound awesome. Sadly, too many bands get that part down, and that's good enough for them. Bands that get the sound and the fury and the verve and the spirit and the content all nailed are precious and few; The Exploding Hearts managed all that, but their tragic end pretty much left no one else as good on the scene to pick up for 'em.

Until now. The Stabilisers just completely fucking get it. They get it all. They seem to have grasped with full mind and soul what it was that made The Jam, The Buzzcocks, and The Undertones so amazingly brilliant and beloved, and then they've made an album here that doesn't imitate those artists, but rather taps into that same mystical kick-ass rock and roll magic their forebears also drew upon. You can try to play "spot the influence" on individual Stabilisers songs, but that's a loser's game. For one thing, you're going to miss out on valuable pogo-ing time. For another, just when you think you've got 'em nailed down, they'll throw you completely off your mark with dramatic chord or key or dynamic change that defies such eggheaded knobbish analysis.

What all of that means is, don't get hung up on the academics on Wanna Do, even though for the rock historian and theorist there's a lot there to love. Instead, just crank this record as loud as your landlord will possibly let you (ok, headphones if you gotta) and let yourself fall under the spell of riff-rockers like "Wanna" and "Born To Kiss Arse", or let yourself be rocked into next week by an anthem like the near-perfect "Belinda" or the amazing "The Way She Is" or shake your ass to rumble of "Problem Child" and "My Latest Obsession". You'll marvel at the fact that if The Stabilisers were a lesser band, this riff-heavy rock would get sludgy and gludgy and too heavy to be so much goddamned fun, and you might not even care that the reason it doesn't grind down is that bassist/lead singer Jon Bott turns in one of the landmark performances in the recent history of that instrument by blending with drummer Francis Braithwaite to keep these songs nimble and angular and on the move.

What The Stabilisers do on Wanna Do The Wild Plastic Brane Love Thing seems deceptively easy, but it isn't, because there are a thousand lesser lights out there who'd kill to be able to claim this disc as their own. The Stabilisers are the original article, a damn near perfect distillation of everything that is great and timeless about rock and roll rolled up into one 13 song testament.

A corker from Whisperin and Hollering. See the original here to prove we're not making it up...

'STABILISERS, THE'
'WANNA DO THE WILD PLASTIC BRANE LOVE THING?'
- Label: 'ACID JAZZ (www.thestabilisers.com)'
- Genre: 'Punk/New Wave' - Release Date: '18th September 2006'- Catalogue No: 'AJXCD181'

Our Rating: 8/10
Don’t be thrown by the record label here. Yes, it’s Acid Jazz and that probably does bring the likes of Galliano and Gilles Peterson springing to mind initially, but it’s a member of another stalwart Acid Jazz combo, the James Taylor Quartet, who’s the connection here.

The geezer I’m referring to is of course one Allan Crockford: formerly bassist with not only the JTQ, but also the much-respected Prisoners, The Solarflares and Billy Childish’s Thee Headcoats. As Medway garage-rock pedigrees go, it takes some beating, but with his larvely new combo THE STABILISERS he’s got mixed up with yet another bunch of cheeky, but talented chappies who clearly know a thing or thirteen about knocking out the most searing garage sounds around.

Crockford’s moved over to guitar and vocals with The Stabilisers, as the four-string growling duties are handled by vocalist Jon Bott, while extra guitar (and wonderfully naff sci-fi keyboards) is Simon Corbey’s territory and the frantic drumming is handled by Francis Braithwaite. Together, they make a rapturous, old-skool noise, mostly re-erecting the 1976 – 1980 framework, but also stealing a few tasty items from ‘Nuggets’ and early Dead Kennedys along the way. Thrown together, it’s a pretty heady mix for anyone who likes their hooks lobbed at them like a roll of barbed wire between the eyes. And, as a rule, I certainly do.

And, in the main (the surely rhetorically-titled) ‘Wanna Do The Wild Plastic Brane Love Thing?’ is a spiky, runaway snowball of glorious, gonzoid fun. Frantic opening song ‘Wanna’ (“rags to riches and back on the dole/ I’m burning my bridges, I’m losing control”) is all-too-easy to relate to, while tunes such as ‘Plastic Love’, the immortal ‘Do The Brane’ and the cartoon-y, Dee Dee Ramone-style ramalama of ‘Mental Illness is Good For You’ will have you up and pogo-ing within split seconds.

Brilliantly, the rest of the album resolutely refuses to run out of steam either. Indeed, it’s hard to imagine songs like “Where The Wild Things Go” and the irresistibly snotty “My Latest Obsesion” being anything other than instant live favourites, while in ‘Bad Karma’ they have a ‘shit happens’ anthem par excellence and on the alcohol-fuelled anthem ‘Drunk Again’ Bott’s basslines growl like JJ Burnel after a night on the industrial-strength pear cider and the storyline runs like Viz comic’s inebriated anti-hero The Brown Bottle being re-located to the Medway Delta.

Admittedly, the laydeez don’t always come out of it too well. The, ahem, slower tunes like ‘Belinda’ and ‘Glamourpuss’ (“your company’s no delight/ you’re always bitching and starting a fight”) often find the boys getting something of a burn from the opposite sex, but they’re hardly full-on misogynists for all that, and if you can’t appreciate the humour inherent in tracks like ‘Teenage Talent’ (“well, a face like that wouldn’t launch any ships!”) and the self-explanatory ‘She’s A Goth’ then, well, perhaps you should give your pulse a quick check.

OK, this stuff ain’t gonna re-invent any wheels or produce evidence of alien presence in Area 51 or the like, but it’s hard to imagine anyone who loves the best in vintage garage-rock not capitulating nonetheless. ‘Wanna Do The Wild Plastic Brane Love Thing?’ ain’t so much a question as the clearest invitation to a new cretin hop you’re gonna get all year. Crack open a six-pack, dig the trepanning kit out of the attic and get stuck right in.

author: TIM PEACOCK

This one slipped into the October edition of Mojo. 'Frivolity', 'fun', 'infectious', 'rowdy'. Who could ask for more favourable descriptions of our noise? Apart from 'very important'.

From 'Tasty Fanzine'. Original here:

The Stabilisers - Wanna Do the Plastic Brane Love Thing (Acid Jazz)
Despite initially being sceptical on seeing the Acid Jazz logo (through a hatred of the music, not the lovely label that this turns out to be) this album throws around enough ridiculously catchy melodies to keep even the most attention deficient, Sunny D drinking youth in check. Quick punk pop tracks (many of them, 17 in fact) just keep coming at you. The Stabilisers could teach today's wannabe punksters a thing or two and still have time to throw in a few cross genre classics such as the shoegazy 'Belinda', ska-flavoured 'Drunk Again' and the slashy retro pop of 'Deadfish' for example. Proof if ever any were needed that there is no greater inspiration for a top album than a good sesh down the boozer.
SB

The Stabilisers
"Do The Brane"
Acid Jazz (AJX184S)
Acid Jazz rocks out - with the help of former Prisoner Allan Crockford.
(original here)

Mention Acid Jazz, and you’ll probably get two (somewhat predictable) responses. The first, (from a clueless member of the public): ‘Oh, yeah. (Yawn!) Nothing but shitty reworkings of the theme music from Starsky and Hutch’. The second, (from a goatee-bearded Hipster): ‘Cool man! Crucial cuts – now pass me the spliff!’ Yet, in all honesty, neither of these views actually manage to capture what – as both a label and a musical genre – Acid Jazz has attempted and achieved as its rapidly approaches its 20th anniversary year (2008). For, ‘predictable’ Acid Jazz is not…
Acid Jazz’s ability to survive amid such a ruthless market as the music industry, is due to the label’s – whilst not reinventing itself in its entirety – endeavour to produce recording offshoots and the occasional quirky release that, quite often, challenge our notions of what Acid Jazz is all about. Indeed, not so long ago, as a knowing, insider wink to their long-running New Testament of Funk series, out came the New Testament of Folk wondrous oddity – and, indeed, this ‘Ltd Edition 7’ Single’ release by The Stabilisers is yet another bizarre (yet highly catchy) curio by Eddie Piller et al. at Acid Jazz

It might be surprising to some that Eddie Piller (once a Daily Mail-championed ‘Mod Face’ and 1980s Mod entrepreneurial mover ‘n’ shaker) – and, thus, Acid Jazz – should be involved in such a musical project as this, that, seemingly on the surface, at least, has little to do with Mod (even in its broadest sense). As, rather shamelessly, The Stabilisers, here, plunder all that is Punk. But, you’re forgetting aren’t you, that some of Eddie’s earliest dabblings with record compiling included tracks by the seminal Aussie proto-Punks The Saints and that Acid Jazz’s ‘Guvnor’ also championed Medway’s finest export, the more Garagey (and, thus, less Mod) The Prisoners. And that’s, of course, where we come full circle with this release. For whilst the names of the Stabilisers’ line-up will be new to many (Jon Bott and Simon Corbey on guitars, Francis Braithwaite on drums) that of Allan Crockford – on this occasion playing lead guitar – allows us to make the band’s Piller / Acid Jazz connection with ease. For, Crockford has paid his dues with many a Medway band that have held close affiliations with various ex-members of The Prisoners, most notably The James Taylor Quartet and The Solarflares, with the former, of course, initially signed (at the time of their debut album, The Money Spyder) to Acid Jazz at the time of the label’s tentative formation.

So, this amphetamine-fuelled, blink-an’-you’ll miss it (in terms of both limited release and speed of the playing) release, then, begs you to believe that it was not recording at Ranscombe Studios, in the heart of Rochester, this year, but in some dodgy New York dive (and then minimally mixed just off the Kings Road) circa 1978. Having suitably recruited Crockford, in a toilet, following the band’s attempt to play during an almighty pub brawl at one of their London gigs in 2003, this two-track single is actually taken from their second album Wanna Do The Wild Plastic Brane Love Thing? and is very much a successful attempt in reproducing for a new audience (and, perhaps, even for those that were there the first time ’round) the ‘thrillingly streamlined and viscerally melodic punk’ of ‘early Clash, XTC, Buzzcocks, Generation X and The Boys’ (I quote, helpfully, from the press release here).

So, the A-side (and I really mean it, ‘man’, as this isn’t some poxy postmodern CD – it’s, after all, a real vinyl single), ‘Do the Brane’, seemingly sung by a Hugh Cornwell-like young upstart, transports us all back to the sweltering summer of ’76, when Punk gigs were often spiced up by the presence of several strippers and the odd kicking to shit out of a heckling audience member by a band’s bass player. Like some bonkers version of the Bonzo’s ‘Monster Mash’, set to steam-piston playing, this is – with lyrics like ‘well, there’s a brand new dance’, ‘just a twitching of the fingers / and starin’ of the eyes’ – an anthem for all you Zombie-like, robotically-jerking imbeciles out there.

Exhausted, you can then flip it over, and you have the frantically-paced ‘Wanna’, a painting-by-numbers, step-by-step guide to Punky New Wave self-induced alienation. As if belted out by a young, pissed-off Julian Cope, who insists that ‘if you wanna be cool, get lonely’, ‘wanna get high, get angry’, this’ll make you ‘wanna’ run out into the street, in yer ripped drainpipe jeans, and lob a half-brick through your neighbours window (and I mean a real window – not one of them new-fangled double-glazed monstrosities).

Following a listen (at full volume, of course) to both the ‘A’ and the ‘B’, you’re left in a shell-shocked state, thinking that this, surely, must be some long-lost hit from the Breaking Glass soundtrack. Indeed, stuck in a controversy-inducing sleeve (teenage girl, sucking a lollipop – like something that heyday Stranglers could easily have come up with to piss off the feminists), it’s yellow and green design evokes some of the classic New Wave record covers of the late-’70s and early-’80s.

So, if only to demonstrate the inclusive nature of Modculture – and the broad musical / taste spectrum that in now termed Mod – you now have the review of the decidedly Punk-inclined new release by The Stabilisers. Now, go and dance like a nutter, I dare you!

Reviewed by Peter Jachimiak (review posted on 10th September 2006)

This is from Trakmarx magazine

The Stabilisers – “Do The Brane” (Acid Jazz)
The Stabilisers – Jon, Simon, Francis & Allan Crockford (The Prisoners, JTQ, The Headcoats, Solarflares) – make ’79 shaped punky waver mod that’s been suitably compressed for the noughties marketplace. The guitars cut like broken bottles left in the sand on the beach. The harmonies are tighter than Bob Geldof on a night on the piss with Fathers For Justice. The songs are strong - & worthy of repeated listens. Their earlier gear may have slipped under the radar due to poor distribution – but Acid Jazz won’t let that happen again! “Do The Brane”/”Wanna” heralds the group’s second long player (their first with Crockford) due for release through Acid Jazz in August.

Robert De Janeiro – tMx 24 – 06/06

And from Whisperinandhollering

Our Rating: 8/10

Although you’ve probably not run across THE STABILISERS previously, if you’ve any grasp of ye olde English garage rock tradition, then you’ll no doubt have previously crossed paths with their guitarist Allan Crockford, who once skilfully plunked bass for Billy Childish’s Thee Headcoats, the James Taylor Quartet and the legendary Prisoners. And in such circles, pedigrees don’t get much more blue-blooded than that.

Allan’s new charges THE STABILISERS are anything but dwarfed by this lineage too. Also comprising Jon Bott (vocals/ bass), Simon Corbey (guitar/ keyboards/ vocals) and drummer Francis Braithwaite, they even give producer Jim Riley’s other frenetic charges The Len Price 3 a run for their Rickenbackers on “Do The Brane”: a Medway “Teenage Lobotomy” if ever there was with riffs more immediate and deadly than a field of landmines and craniums being shaken vigorously in the direction of both The Buzzcocks and early XTC as well as the band’s famous Medway neighbours. It’s funny, irreverent and gloriously pogo-friendly in the old skool sense of the term.

Proper B-side “Wanna” makes it equally clear that The Stabilisers are keepers of a cave full of equally primitive, but essential three-chord troglodytes. Once again this baby is driven along by a heatseeking and stupidly catchy riff and is simultaneously chewy, twangy and catchy and liable to incite moshpit madness within milliseconds.

The Stabilisers have their second album “Wanna Do The Wild Plastic Brane Love Thing?” ready to go at the end of August, and on the basis of these two head-spinning tracks, the only thing to do is lob your mind out of the window and join in rapid-style. Beats the Mashed Potato any day of the week, that’s for sure.

author: TIM PEACOCK

And just to prove that we even put in the less than ecstatic reviews, here's one from Savage Magazine. Original here:

THE STABILISERS
Wanna Do The Wild Plastic Brane Love Thing? CD

Well, this is a bit too pop-punky for me actually.. Thought it would be rawer as one member used to be in, among others, the Headcoats. They sound like a more 60's inspired Clash meeting up with pop punk somewhere down the line. But I think this might get big in the future..the kids'll probably eat this stuff up...
(Thomas)
Acid Jazz Records

REVIEWS OF THE OLD STUFF.....

Yet another translated Italian review, this time from Milano Mods. If anyone has a link to a better translation tool than Google, let us know.
THE STABILISERS "Last Chance Saloon" (Skippingmusez Records): We dispel immediately every risen of interpretation tied to the memory and to the career of Allan Crockford, therefore, this job, published from brave nonche' the encomiabile Skippingmusez of Bologna, does not introduce ties with the sound of the Prisoners and tantomeno of the Solarflares, but I found hour on a rough garage punk scarno and, hour on one stilema punk 77 of matrix Buzzcocks and Undertones. Incipit the Bendy Head spiazza endured the listener berthed to the past and ruggisce of a frat rock on the style of the Novas and Phil And The Frantics with a bridge that straight us door to the POP punk of the Buzzcocks. Beginning killer! Now And Forever e' uptempo a garage punk close to seeds them productions of the POP Rivets with a shooting 77. Same speech for Frustration that strizza the occhiolino to the sixties in the coretti sugar. The urgency and the schiettezza of the 77 evincono also in She Wants It All The Time, 100 Year Old Riff and Shit List. Viceversa in Consider mood the 77 stempera in candor fifties POP of Elvis Costello. Great brano! Could second you lack the nexus with the tradition Mighty Caesars and Headcoates? Not to say! And here that Diagonal Man slaughters to us with a sgangherato garage punk as only those sources knew to be. Your Love denotes an attempt, seppur pale, of giving piu' maturita' to the script: part like one ballad on the old style stile of the the group of the the Paisley Underground in order then rivoltar in a punk rozzo and raw. Born To Kiss Arse, to my warning, e' one of the high tips piu', with that immediacy, daughter of the garage of the sixties, that miliare stone has made of the first job of the Clash one. Also in Let Me As Home looks at one variation effort, and a hard r&r that nutre of the force of the grunge. Same antifona for Dr. Rock. For converged sixties the POP riemerge in Detergent For The Nation in order to clean up the sourness of the punk. It appeals to to emphasize the drive deadly of Get To Grip that moves the axis towards the hardcore. Fast, immediate disc, without fronzoli. The variations in fairs in this album we would want to see developed to them mainly in the next one. (Henry)

At last, an English review. Well, Australian, which is quite similar. Original here
EVIL PICNIC EP - The Stabilisers (Nicotine)
A bunch of geezers from Rochester, England, have put this out on an Italian label and I've heard of worse ways to line up a holiday in the sun. They crank up a feisty mess of noise over these four songs. They sound like Graduates of the Class of '77, having drunk deep from the well of the Buzzcocks, but there's enough of a garage streak here to keep them clear of dog collar cliches. The presence of former Headcoats bassplayer Alan Crockford would assure that. Four strong songs and a frenetic delivery. "Taking the Piss" seems to be doing just that, and "Plastic Love" reveals an equally strong sense of humour. I could handle hearing more from these guys.

From another Italian review site, badly translated buy a stupid computer. It seems to be good but I'm not sure about 'riding your animal from company'. Orginal here:
Last Chance Saloon - The Stabilisers (Skipping Musez)
Well, much good, the Skippingmusez from Castelmaggiore (Bologna) publishes the debut on the long distance of English The Stabilisers. In it was of the globalization can seem one what from little, but attention because it it is not at all. Here garage, played with vigor and sung is spoken about punk POP with reminiscenze with acridity, that same force of collision that the band always give contraddistingue coming from from the earth of Albione. Band able, in nearly the totality of the cases, to at least write a pair of epochal brani, before disappearing fagocita to you from a market that does not admit errors or ripensamenti of risen. The Stabilisers tries to break off the circle and writes fourteen epochal pieces, fourteen traces that they give when they have seen the arrival of Allan Crockford to the guitar (gone you to try to you in how many band has played this gentleman), have become candelotti of dynamite with the ignited fuse. "Now And Forever" tried to listen to it without distrarvi for guilt of the convulsions that it provokes, with "Frustration", instead, tried not to discover to make the coretto to you without to render you of account and in order to end with "Shit List" (would want to only signal three brani because the space is tyrannous), sees not to ride your animal from company, sure would not appreciate of "being used" like a horse to loads. The Skippingmusez from the province of Bologna to the conquest of the world. You it seems little?

See? We can't help getting good reviews... This one is from a German website called Daredevil. The orginal is here:

The Stabilisers-Evil Picnic 7"
Nicotine Records

How about some Punk? The Stabilisers definitely deliver really cool Punk with some old school Oi elements in it. The four songs on Evil Picnic are mostly happy tunes about everydays life. The sound of the guitars is pretty much Garage sometimes, but that´s cool and makes the Stabilisers so special. The last song Tube Train reminds me a bit of the good old Ramones just with a more freshly voice. Nicotine Records seems to have a hand for good Punk and at the end I must say that I´m really looking forward to hear the long-player of The Stabilisers. Punk with some Oi influences...great stuff and definitely the right choice for every party.

rating: 6/7

From Rockerilla - big Italian mag that has been going for ages and doesn't seem to have a website. Er, we have to get someone who speaks Italian to translate these reviews as Babelfish etc is a bit arse.

The Stabilisers - Evil Picnic EP Rating : RRRR (4/5) Scan HERE

Nor the time to talk about Last Chance Saloon, and here a new 7" from Nicotine Records, from the new English Gods: The Stabilsers: Evil Picnic, but probably we don't need to tell, is the best concentrate of
English punk and garage that you can have in your hands. It should be thanks, maybe to the legendary Allan Crockfrod, ex Prisoner and Solarflares (between the others). 4 faboulous tracks, between which I submit you Plastic Love (with a garage rock feeling) and the amazing The Way She Is, that now, we can define: pure Stabilisers style. Magnificent, as usual..

Mario Ruggeri ROCKERILLA Magazine, April 2005

The Stabilisers - Last Chance Saloon Rating: RRRR (4/5)

At the end of all, well I took my decision: write about The Stabilisers album. Couldn't be my unwanted late (album has been released months ago) to stop me. As sometimes, I won't give up : there are English bands, right now, on the cover of NME, bands talked so much, but unfortunately Allan Crockford band not. Why? Don' t ask me. Maybe because ex Prisoner and Solarflarers ex member rock music is much more genuine and uncontrollable.
Last Chance Saloon is one of the most english punk records of the latest years. Full Stop. At this stage, nothing to do for the others! Stabilisers have certain Buzzcocks melodies (a la I Don't Mind), Clash rhythms, irreverence of Damned - none of the young guys on the trendy magazine's cover can wriite songs like Detergent For The Nation and Consider. NONE!

Do yourself a favour : write to Skipping Musez and buy this record.

Mario Ruggeri ROCKERILLA Magazine, Feb 2005

From Newsic - another Italian site. Computer translated again, as if you can't tell. Haven't got a clue what it means, but I think it may be positive...

The Stabilisers - Last Chance Saloon
'Last Chance Saloon' is one good mixture of much energy. The cd it slides like a river in flood... with riff of guitar ritmici that they slide from the Roots to the Clash until the Foo Fighters , joining to a profile and philosophy punk-rock, for their crude spirit that however convinces for goliardia and semplicità. Nothing of constructed make-up to a water and soap that it donates to the solar group grinta and transmits to the listener wants to move.The battery nearly rolls via in its noisy gallop, the deep voice designs to vocalità fine type 70, with as well as of coretti and like last ingredient added of a beautiful one low often. Capacities in Italy from Skipping Musez, the band without to shine for originality but convince to us, and above all they make us to amuse.

Ginger Canal January 21 2005

From The Rock Explosion - translated badly by a computer from the Italian original

The Stabilisers 'Evil Picnic' 7" EP Rating 8/10

To the Exploders of old date sure it will not play new the name The Stabilisers, London formation already wide praised from the undersigned on these same pages in occasion of theirs debut following album and theirs concert piacentino. The group guided from Allan Crockford that already it boasts as you will know militancy in the garages punkers Headcotes (one of the maximum expressions of that infaticabile geniaccio of Billy Childish), adventures psycho with the Solar Flares and in one small legend of power the POP which are the Prisoners, hit in the sign also this time with a E.P. that is practically the ideal continuation of full length
"Last Chance Saloon" and that it marks between the other the return of format 7"in house of more and more agguerrita piemontese label. To flank of the 45 turns of the several Woggles and Real Swinger you can therefore add this other gioiellino in vinile that confirmation as I said the enamel of the combo British. "Plastic Love" and the being involved anchor more "The Way She mischiano Is" as better not it could: power, technical precision and divertimento in perfect line with the tradition of the oltremanica power-POP-punk. Turn the facade and music does not change, still on turns with the phrenetic irony of "Taking The Piss" and above all with "Tube Train", authentic cut rocket punk rock to surprise from a nearly psichedelico interval, that it then leaves again to all gas to make to sbiellare your heart. Fun level much high for little euri, a simple equation in order to say that the purchase warmly is advised! And then you will not even succeed to unload it, and all the incalliti frequent visitors more than peer 2 peer they will have the orecchie filled up from an annoying one vocetta that it will whisper "you will not find it, you will not unload it, you will not succeed to us!"... and via with risate the more sadists of the planet! After this book review me it seems of being passed more for a good trip that not for a evil picnic! Large!

Roberto Barisone

From those charming yanks at Terminal Boredom . . Note charming mis-spelling of Allan's name.

The Stabilisers 'Last Chance Saloon'

Limey foursome delivers the jumpy power pop ala late 70s UK-style, with a clever sneer; a debut disc on an eye-talian imprint. Pretty damn energetic, full-sounding recording that hits the spot immediately, then continues to bubble like a meddling cold sore. The ridiculous (and funny) “Bendy Head” is a deceiving opener—things grow catchier from there on (but they aint afraid to rock out). The Stabilisers turn on the power pop rock and roll and the result had me thinking, a more badass version of the early Jam with Ray Davies screaming along. Then that went away for awhile and came back, but I never lost interest- plus, they boast the prolific Allan 'Crojak' Crockfield, early bassist for Thee Headcoats, among several other notable resume entries. Catchy, fun, and rockin.

Another good review that requires no babelfishing from Unpeeled :

SMART, NOT STABLE
The Stabilisers 'Last Chance Saloon' (Skipping Musez)

Ha, ha, ha. Mentalism with melody, just what the doctor didn’t order, fuck him and get stuck into the screamy bits of “Bendy Head” or go punk skip-a-long-a-wreck the surgery with “Dr Rock”. In between those there are another dozen tracks, all ace punk-pop-smart-arse rockers that Blur would tear their dicks off for, Matt Dangerfield would love, especially the driving “100 Year Old Riff”. We are, and mean are going to get The Stabilisers on a stage, real soon. Meanwhile, everything you need is at www.thestabilisers.com

Want to hear us spout rubbish? Here's an interview we did for an Italian website. Actually 'hear' is a bit misleading. 'Read' is more accurate. If you want to hear us spouting rubbish, buy the album.

And yet another favourable review appears on the web, this time from HEADPRESS

The original is here

The Stabilisers 'Last Chance Saloon'

I dislike the term 'power pop' but I'll use it here anyway.

The Stabilisers make music that evokes much of the gritty guitar attitude of seventies punk. They also have some soaring hooks which elevate songs like Now And Forever, Frustration and Consider into something quite sublime that still has me reaching for the Repeat button on my CD player whenever I give Last Chance Saloon, the first Stabilisers album, a spin.

Aggro vocals belting out angst ridden lyrics, with some super sweet backing and angular guitar, these are songs that deal about love on the Internet (She Wants It All The Time), kissing arse (Born To Kiss Arse), getting pissed (Let Me Come Home), and even urban redevelopment (Detergent For The Nation) — the latter being such a familiar refrain amongst three chord heroes that you could be forgiven for thinking that The Stabilisers were having a laugh.

I guess they are but there is nothing throwaway about this album, and nothing conceited about the band's commitment.

The four piece comprises of Jon Bott (lead vocals and bass), Simon Corbey (guitar and vocals), Francis Braithwaite (drums and vocals) and ex Prisoners and Solarflares bassman Allan Crockford on guitar and vocals. Crockford admits that with The Stabilisers he is doing something different from the stuff he has been used to doing over the years, though the garage spirit remains pretty much the same, 'just with a bit more swearing.'

In an age when the record industry seems to have stagnated completely and limp wristed bands like The Thrills are the new ambassadors of Indie (for the moment), it comes as a genuine joy to discover that there still exist such musical anomalies as The Stabilisers. And typically it has taken a non UK record label, Skipping Musez from Italy, to appreciate that fact.

Um… I didn't use 'power pop' after all.

David Kerekes

I don't know how we did it, but we've been reviewed in October's Scootering Magazine! (well actually I do know how we did it, but I don't like to expose the diabolical machinations of the music industry to outsiders...) Who cares, they liked it!

Allan Crockford should be a name that's familiar to all of you with a knowledge of the 'Medway Sound' of the 80s. Numerous acts emerged from this region of Kent during that period, in various guises of a garage, moddy, guitar and Hammond fuelled sound that captured the ears of many a teenager at the time and inspired, so it would seem, many of the bands today.

Allan's band was of course The Prisoners, and of late The Solarflares too, with JTQ and Billy Childish's Headcoats in-between. His latest venture however, The Stabilisers, is a side-step from his usual musical journey, reminiscent of the melodic punk-pop of the late 70s. As Allan himself told us, he's really enjoying the chance to play some loud six-string guitar on some hard hitting yet tuneful songs like Bendy Head (I love that title!), She Wants It All The Time, Born To Kiss Arse, Shit List and Dr. Rock. 14 tracks in all, recorded in sunny Rochester, Kent, and released on this Italian label, not only are the tunes catchy and the lyrics inspiring, but you get a short story in amongst the sleeve notes too!

From 'The Critic' website - original here

The Stabilisers 'Last Chance Saloon' Rating 5/5

Freshness in pop (of whatever flavour) is a rare thing these days. I'm not referring to some groundbreaking new sound experience (yes, we believe we're the first group to make monotonal music concerning the plight of the middle class in Bermondsey) no, not that at all. It's just that feeling you get for music powered by energy, dedication to the cause and, yes it's true, fun. Music can be fun!

The Stabilisers have fun in spades, as those who've managed to catch them during their seemingly endless tour of London will know. They've now released their first album and it seems that they've successfully translated their on-stage vibrancy to the recorded medium.

It's a short and invigorating ride, from the driving pop punk lunacy of Bendy Head through the surftastic Frustration until the final track Dr Rock, this is music to bounce and grin to. Underneath all this runs a solid punk foundation, always a Good Thing, I think you'll agree.
If you're not convinced you can pop along to www.thestabilisers.com, wherein mp3s reside for your delectation.

Ben Cotton

RUMORE magazine March 2004 (and printed again in September's issue since the album didn't actually get released properly in Italy until then)

The Stabilisers - Last Chance Saloon Rating 5/5

Jet? The Strokes? Razorlight? Kids' stuff. None of them can hold a candle to the punk-rock earthquake generated by the mighty Stabilisers. The band features Allan Crockford, also currently bassist with The Solarflares and formerly of the Prisoners, James Taylor Quartet, Thee Headcoats and The Prime Movers. This time Allan has picked up his six-string and joined forces with Jon Bott (lead vocals/bass), Simon Corbey (guitar), and Francis Braithwaite (drums), to form The Stabilisers, the primal punk combo that has set ablaze London’s "cool pubs" circuit over the last few months (The Dirty Water Club, The Bull & Gate, The Buffalo Bar, and Highbury Garage). . Last Chance Saloon is a healthy blow to the guts, a visceral example of british pop-punk (with a tinge of trash) that has clearly nothing to do with much of the Indie crap which is so popular nowadays. A vital current runs through it, blending the cream of the crop: early Clash, The Buzzcocks, Generation X, The Boys, The Who (circa 1965), the Ramones, as well as Modern Lovers, The Kinks, and The Damned. From the killer-riff of Frustration all the way through the rock'n'roll chaos of Born To Kiss Arse (pure New York Dolls juice), the Clash-like 100-Year-Old Riff and the terrific Shit List, this album registers 14 tart, tuneful, infectious tracks that deserve a stage quite different from the ones The Stabilisers are accustomed to. If only the NME were paying attention…100% punk-rock, 100% British: beware of impostors.

Luca Frazzi

From The Rock Explosion - original here

The Stabilisers - Last Chance Saloon Rating 7.5/10

It would be enough the presence of ex members of the Prisoners, one of the pillars of 80's power-pop, to be willing to listen to this "platter", although if you belong to those sceptics who don't judge a book by its cover then launch yourself into listening to "Last chance Saloon" and you'll joyfully find that your suspicions were unfounded. I'm even actually proud that the debut of this British "ensemble" has been financed by an Italian label and that the next release will also be by one of our labels; a single on vinyl by Nicotine Records! This "last Chance Saloon" is among the most fresh and involving of what I've listened to in these times. Let yourself be hit by sweet melodies which turn straightaway to wild punk blasts as in "Bendy head" and "Your love" or by rough and compact walls of sound married to easier singing solutions, owed to the Boys and the Buzzcocks, central key in "Now and Forever", "She wants it all the time" and "Detergent for the nation". And then you'll find the vehemence of "Born to kiss arse" and "Get a grip", which leaves breathless not just the vocalist, and the almost melancholic choruses of "Frustration" and "Shit list", which just increase my own appreciation towards "Last chance saloon". For all the orphans of the Punk wave of the end of 70's and of the power-pop one at the court of Queen Elisabeth, serve yourself an abundant half hour of firing sugar!

Roberto Barrisone

From Succo Acido

The Stabilisers - Last Chance Saloon

Great goal for Giacomo Roversi and his label making a connection with the best contemporary English punk band: ladies and gentlemen, here are The Stabilisers!!! Easily for us being infectious now that it seems as every new band from England, Sweden or United States looks as the definitive rock ‘n roll band all over the world. Easily being wary too, now that every asses shakin’ in the garages make rock ‘n roll flatulences: file under Jet or flaccid penis. But, although is allowed thinking (hoping, I say) that The Stabilisers will benefit from all this high-visibility ‘bout new-rock ‘n roll thing, here I am tellin’ you Last Chance Saloon is the most potential groovy punk album coming from England by five years or more at least. A loud punk ‘n roll album I haven ‘t heard from years, rotten and anthemic, downed in the dry, urban decay, killer punk rocks as it bleeds from the first albums of Undertones, Buzzcocks, Purple Hearts, Clash, Generation X or early Cure. Allan Crockford shows how his many years’ listenings has been carried on his musical DNA and songs as Frustration, Born to kiss arse, 100 year old riff or Shit List sounds now as the new England Punk Classics not mixing itself with hard rock-shit riffs to make your amplifiers burn! The Stabilisers makes no mistakes, their slaps are really strong and make your nose bleed. This stuff might delete a lot of squareheads converted to punk rock and making their interviews into the good-looking and sweet-smelling rooms of the major labels.

Franco 'Lys' Demauro