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THE VIPERS



Last Updated: 11/16/2009

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Status: Single
City: Manchester
State: Northwest
Country: UK
Signup Date: 2/10/2006

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Monday, May 11, 2009 

Category: Music
THE BOYS ON THE BURNING DECK
======================

ManchesterMusic - Album Of The Week - MMMM1/2

After launching a series of self propelled EP’s and singles, Manchester’s very own The Vipers industriously wind up their very own version of V8 rock, on a piston driven album of cruising, crushing, underground anthems. The visceral new wave cut of “Revolution Of Your Bastard Son” tears up the highway, like a wild Chevy on a flaming two lane black top as The Vipers distil their punk fuelled drag races into condensed chunks of wired rock. The guitar break on “Ambulance Chasers” is hair-raising, with one bass plunging into the lower octaves whilst the other fuzzes itself into oblivion. Then there’s “Pictures Of Bethlehem”. The Vipers beyond their best. The score to this exhilarating track is constructed around some well paced, solid bass loops, themselves entwined in the broken sounds of a guitar caught somewhere between crunched blues and stadium rock blasts. The vocals provide a calm narrative – the perfect balance. At certain points the band are celebrating the hook lines of The Kennedy’s early years and the bleak vocalisations of Bauhaus, all kicked up in the dust of a CBGB’s dance floor, sometime around the end of the seventies. “Athena” provides another able demonstration of their versatility, where the instrumental themes jump to the fore and both basses and the guitar are hooked up as a united assault. “The Death Rattle” is a summary of all of the above, the spaced out verse picking up palliative statements, before breaking through on a chorus with typically explosive chords.

An album’s worth of work has been well produced by Alan Smyth, who has managed to get all three instruments working well without any apparent over use of overdubs – bolt that on to the songs themselves, which flag wave and ramp up the volume in the best anti-indie fashion possible; and The Vipers have probably got themselves one of the most important Mancunian underground rock albums of 2009.

============================

Organ Magazine

They manage to simultaneously taste of both the fractured hungry early days of Motorhead and the cantankerous confrontation of The Fall. Hear it all right there in the death rattle and that raw edgy Northern garage punk grit that’s alive with all their to the bones and that “we’re maggots in your house of flies pulling it down brick by brick....”. They got ‘it’ there, caught up in their caustic solitary pleasures and their bloodshot eyes, their fractious electricity and their muscle tearing. This is the debut full length album from the Manchester crew, we’ve told you about them before, they’re good and now they got an album to back up all the hope of those demos and such. Snarling spitting garage rock attitude and that songs that bite, no need to lock doors here, no crying wolf, smell if blood in the air, nothing for your screams, garage rock bastards.

=================================

Beat Surrender

Ladies and Gentlemen, I have an announcement to make. Ahem…. I think Wimbledon 2009 may have to be cancelled due to lack of balls. In fact, you’d be hard pressed to find any of our cylindrical friends pretty much anywhere on the planet right now because The Vipers have packed them all into their fierce debut album, ‘The Boys On The Burning Deck’. Honestly, this album has more bollocks than a God damn testical factory! It reeks of power, enough to light up the City of Manchester. And that’s precisely what The Vipers have been up to since they first formed in 2006.


First track Revolution Of A Bastard Son underlines the intentions of how The Vipers want you to hear them. Dirty, raw, heavy, untouchable, but at the same time completely coherent. The nail has well and truly been struck on the head as far as that goes. The bass sounds are both precise yet fuzzy. And whilst the guitar rips through quite brightly, it’s still pissed off, on a mission to a destination only it’s own entity can confirm.


The Vipers deliver an extra edge to their songs with the fact they have two bass players. It’s a wonder more bands don’t adopt this tact as the results are quite significant to the depth of the music. The ‘Fuzz’ bass punches it’s way through next song ‘Ambulance Chasers’. Once again everything is clearly heard amidst the chaos and is brought home nicely with quirky chorus lyrics ‘Here comes the ambulance chasers’. There’s plenty of potential for a successful single in this song.


The Ambulance Chasers is followed by another 2 minute burst of a nauseating racket that is ‘Rats’, this album is really beginning to warm up and my juices are flowing.

‘Born In The World, Not Just Attracted To Beauty But Somehow Hopelessly Impaled On It’ Wow, even the wildest of creatures possesses a poetic side, however this animal will not be tamed. Aside from inventing the best song title in history, The Vipers relentlessly intoxicate your soul with this cool-headed death jam.


‘Pictures Of Bethlehem’ immediately grabbed me as the most mature track on the album. The guitars have a strange Arab-esque twist throughout that draws you in. Call it Viper charm if you will. The vocals are presented very differently to previous tracks by front man Nathan Whittle, but it’s a different kind of energy I’m hearing. The kind of energy that says this band are not a one trick pony, that they have genuine depth and also control over their manic music.


This claim is further bolstered with ‘House Of Flies’. It’s often too easy to compare a bands sound to that of it’s predecessors and God knows I’ve tried to hold back but this full throttle cagey track sounds like Motorhead joyriding on acid whilst Amen thumps out of the stereo at full pace. Hold that thought if you will because ‘Crying Wolf’ boots into 5th gear speeding past a red light at 500 mph. It’s given a haunting touch by the catchy lead guitar part. The Vipers really know how to knock a decent groove out and this track is left indented upon my brain. You swaggering bastard!


The seventh chapter of this snappish LP, ‘Circo De Brujas’ begins with a haunting tremolo guitar part that you could easily imagine hearing as the backdrop for a Tarrantino dessert zombie flick before bursting wide open with doom bass and a kick pedal sound that is projected deep into my chest, throbbing away like a temporary pace-maker. An interesting addition of an organ only adds to this carnival of terror rock.


‘Athena’ batters it’s way through my speakers in gruesomely charming manner before catching a lift on the blistering drum solo that leaps straight into ‘The Death Rattle’. The Vocals in this song are screeched with gross, malicious intent but strangely bear an uncanny resemblance to B52’s very own Fred Schneider during the verse. It’s also really well controlled and probably one of the best written tracks on ‘The Boys On The Burning Deck’.


An astonishing album from a band carving their trade out of a City which has a knack of bringing out the balls in bands. Manchester is a fiery hotbed for bands of ‘The Vipers’ kind right now and in my opinion they have set the standards very high by releasing the strongest album to come from The City in a long time.


Written in a flash and recorded in three days with producer Alan Smyth who has helped mastermind albums from The Arctic Monkeys and Pulp to name but a few, ‘The Boys on The burning Deck’ is out on May 4th and you can purchase your copy via the bands myspace site.

================================

High Voltage, 4/5


Welcome to the world of Manchester rockers The Vipers. It’s sweaty, it’s dirty, it’s murky, it’s grimy… and once you’re in, there’s no going back.

The intentions are made clear on opener ‘Revolution Of Your Bastard Son’, a malevolent burst of snarling guitars. After the furious ‘Ambulance Chasers’ you realise you’re in for one hell of a journey, and the pace never lets up for a second. It sticks two fingers up to those Manc bands seemingly determined to hark back to the Madchester days. In fact, it sticks two fingers up to pretty much everything and everyone.

In contrast to the unleashed hell and fury the vocals are surprisingly calm in places, and the lyrics considered, full of telling observations on modern culture and the world the Vipers inhabit. Producer Alan Smyth, who has worked with the likes of Pulp and Arctic Monkeys, does a fantastic of holding this all together. In other hands this could have turned out to be just an incoherent angry noise; as it is, tracks like ‘Circo De Brujas’ and ‘Pictures of Bethlehem’ show this lot can carry a tune. There is undoubtedly a lot more to come from these guys.

By the end of the ten tracks you’re not sure whether you want to scream out for more or go and have a lie down. It’s a raw barrage of garage-rock and punk, relentless and completely unforgiving, brutal yet brilliant. The cover should definitely carry some kind of a warning.
8:29 PM 
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Wednesday, December 31, 2008 

2006    
Oct 07, 2006 - Beyond Retro, London
Oct 09, 2006 - Retro Bar, Manchester
Oct 10, 2006 - Tiger Lounge, Manchester
Oct 14, 2006 - The Moon and Sixpence, Glossop
Oct 28, 2006 - The Bowling Green, Manchester
Oct 29, 2006 - Tiger Lounge, Manchester
Oct 30, 2006 - Dr. Wu's, Leeds
Nov 01, 2006 - The Lounge, Chorlton, Manchester
Nov 03, 2006 - Dirty Water Club (Boston Music Rooms), London
Nov 10, 2006 - The Cardigan Arms, Leeds
Nov 24, 2006 - The Grapes, Sheffield
Dec 01, 2006 - The Cavern Club, Liverpool
Dec 02, 2006 - Cellar Bar, Blackburn
Dec 04, 2006 - Joshua Brooks, Manchester
Dec 09, 2006 - The Howard, Sheffield
Dec 14, 2006 - Thirsty Scholar, Manchester
Dec 15, 2006 - Jackson's Pit, Oldham
Dec 16, 2006 - Carpe Diem, Leeds

-----

2007
Jan 10, 2007 - Night and Day, Manchester
Jan 12, 2007 - The Studio, Hartlepool
Jan 13, 2007 - The Music Rooms, Sunderland
Jan 27, 2007 - Bad Taste @ Santiago's, Leeds
Feb 03, 2007 - The Roadhouse, Manchester
Feb 16, 2007 - Dirty Water Club, London
Feb 19, 2007 - The Howard, Sheffield
Feb 24, 2007 - Club Cavaral @ The Bowling Green, Manchester
Mar 02, 2007 - The Underground, Southport
Mar 09, 2007 - Sir Charles Napier, Blackburn
Mar 24, 2007 - Dry Bar, Manchester
Mar 30, 2007 - Dirty Water Club, London
Apr 09, 2007 - The Roadhouse, Manchester (supporting WINNEBAGO DEAL)
Apr 11, 2007 - Galleria ZDB, Lisbon (supporting THE VICIOUS FIVE)
Apr 12, 2007 - Ar D'Rato Caffé, Coimbra (supporting THE VICIOUS FIVE)
Apr 13, 2007 - Discoteca aKasus, Entoncamento (supporting THE VICIOUS FIVE)
Apr 14, 2007 - Porto Rio, Porto (supporting THE VICIOUS FIVE)
Apr 18 - Dog & Partridge, Bolton
Apr 20 - Viva, Stalybridge
Apr 23  - Big Hands, Manchester
Apr 27 - Retro Bar, Manchester
May 12 - The Flag, Watford
May 17 - Late Rooms, Manchester (supporting THE PONYS)
Jun 05 - FictionNonFiction @ Tiger Lounge, Manchester
Jun 16 - Academy III, Manchester
Jun 29 - Dirty Water Club @ The Boston Music Rooms, London
Jun 30 - Club Cavaral @ The Bowling Green, Manchester
July 19 - Psycho Fiction Festival, Santona, Spain (supporting THE BELLRAYS and THE BEASTS OF BOURBON)
July 20 - Caracola Pop Festival, Cantabria, Spain
Oct 13 - Thatched House, Stockport
Oct 21 - IN THE CITY, Music Box, Manchester
Oct 26 - Voodoo @ Retro Bar, Manchester
Oct 31 - Cellar Bar, Blackburn
Nov 16 - Dirty Water Club, London (Satellite Boys single launch)
Nov 18 - Bar Monsta - London
Dec 08 - Academy II - Manchester (supporting THE DAMNED)
Dec 22 - Dry Bar - Manchester

-----
 
2008
12 Feb - FictionNonFiction @ Tiger Lounge - Manchester
13 Feb - Panic @ The Cockpit - Leeds
22 Mar - Danse Macabre @ The Night & Day Cafe, Manchester
28 Mar - Dirty Water Club @ The Boston Music Rooms, London
25 Apr - Rockers & Rollers @ The New Beehive Inn, Bradford
16 May - Disco Apocalypso @ The Ruby Lounge, Manchetser
17 May - The Grapes, Sheffield
07 Jun - The Ruby Lounge, Manchester (supporting THE DIRTBOMBS)
30 Aug - The Stamford Arms, Stalybridge
30 Sep - The Ruby Lounge, Manchester (supporting BOB LOG III)
06 Oct - IN THE CITY, Tiger Lounge, Manchester
25 Oct - The Good Ship, London
22 Nov - The Dog & Partridge, Bolton
06 ..he Twisted Circus @ Saki Bar, Manchester
15 Dec - Ruby Lounge, Manchester (supporting THE BLACK ANGELS)

 


 

10:55 PM 
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Sunday, August 24, 2008 
Lyrics - from all releases and upcoming:
---------------------------------------------------------------

New:

AMBULANCE CHASERS

I'm chasing
The lights are screaming through the night
This scene is dying and I'm falling behind
No throwbacks
The blood is draining from my veins
Silence
Drowning fashionistas
No Nostalgia

 Here come the ambulance chasers

I'm chasing
My eyes are scouting for the corpses
I've got my keys, money and my lipstick
No romance
I can't hear nothing but sons and daughters
Silence
Drowning fashionistas
No nostalgia

 Here come the ambulance chasers

 I'm drowning in a sea of shit

Here come the ambulance chasers



THE DEATH RATTLE

Have you ever heard a death rattle?
Watch the sweat beads drip
Burnt  down to ash and filters
Have you ever heard a death rattle?
Watch the sweat beads drips
Burnt  down to ash

Electricity tearing muscle
I see the dead men walking
Breaking cartilage and bone

-----

PICTURES FROM BETHLEHEM

Jackass popcorn TV
Treading cash and pressure wounds
Culture sliding to the sea

This is Andy's 15 minutes of water breaking

Pictures from Bethlehem show
Terrorists and masochists
Chasing clowns in the street
With the Greek police

This is Andy's 15 minutes of water breaking

The water's breaking
We are the damned

-----

CIRCO DE BRUJAS

Watch our circus
As it rolls into town
Jesters dogging
In the tiger's cages

A Skeleton Bride in a ring of fire
The jackals are waiting for the death of the little princess
A Skeleton Bride in a ring of fire
The jackals are waiting for the death of the little princess 

En El Circo De Brujas
Sal si puedes

The clowns cheated
You from a show
Face paint dripping from the meat hooks
From the shepherd's crook

A Skeleton Bride in a ring of fire
The jackals are waiting for the death of the little princess
A Skeleton Bride in a ring of fire
The jackals are waiting for the death of the little princess 

En El Circo De Brujas
Sal si puedes

-------------------------

From 'Satellite Boys' 7"

SATELLITE BOYS

You stumble out each night and you risk your life
Meet the eyes of pilled up guys and trophy wives
The taxi rank is closing round Love Shack
You better watch your step, your eye and watch your back

Because this is when he strikes

The kebab shop army have you in their sights
Little general backs up spoiling for a fight
From the shadows comes a mass of burberry check
All this shit to hide, disguise his Napolean Complex.

Because this is when he strikes

Ashton nightcaps draw the glare of waiting vans
They pile in and start to rile slapped up fake tans
Who love to watch their man take on half the street
Bouncing heads off walls and doors and the cracked concrete

Because this is when he strikes

---

ICARUS

A diamond wasteland in the morning
Caught dew that catches the sun
Concrete giants rising up to the heavens while their dogs are on the run

They're gonna race sky high till they crash and burn their lives into the sun

The light it blinds them to their demons
It casts a shodow on us all
Are we to gaze up to their wealth and thir power when they know not what they've done?

They're gonna race sky high till they crash and burn their lives into the sun

They crash into the sun with burning wings

-------------------------

From 'Fear of the Redheads' EP:
 
JOSEF K

What's this? I can't rise from my bed
I keep on rocking, getting closer to the edge
These scratching legs just won't obey
I flip around and fall to the floor

All my days are spent climbing the walls
She's moved the drawers so I can traverse all
These alien views and the frights they ensue
I scare the lodgers, see them run for the door

Now every morning feels the same. Zombies are reading national shame on you

You made me a monster

---

DOGS

Trapped inside, I want you to know that this feeling's a lonely one
For I crossed a line and now I feel bold as I hunt down my rewards

Now I'm grasping for control
Emptying the hollow souls

This race for time is taking its toll, drowning nature's oil
That keeps the city safe in its claws, releasing everyone

Now I'm grasping for control
Emptying a hollow soul

My fate is held within your eyes
Your apathy drives me crazy

Their jealous smiles creep from the darkness wishing they were here
But it results in sneers and disguises, rages glow within

Now I'm grasping for control
Emptying the hollow souls

My fate is held within your eyes
Your apathy drives me crazy

Now I'm grasping for control
Emptying the hollow souls

My fate is held within your eyes
Your apathy drives me crazy

---

LITTLE PRINCESS

Now I watch them drowning in her eyes
She has a promise of a night so long
She's coming onto them, she just won't leave them alone
She flirts her way until the guys are gasping
But then turns her back
And leaves them at the door

Her cigarette smell will never leave me
And now she thinks she's a princess

When I turn round I'm hit full on in the face
The stench of dreams rotting on the pavement
Last night's smell of last orders put paid to them all

Now she's got princess heirs but the graces of a hooker
She'll pull you in with her eyes
But will never let you fuck her

Her cigarette smell will never leave me
And now she thinks she's a princess

---

POOR KIERAN

For the fear of the redheads
Sweating red sweat
Six months of voyeurism
Trapped inside the net

The viewers say drink the milk
But you fear the residue

And now the flies are on the wall
Controlling every move you make
This is your chance to shine
If you don't lose your mind

The viewers say drink the milk
But you fear the residue

Poor Kieran
Where have you been in your patant black suit?

You always sleep while the eyes watch
Biding their time
Neurotic interventions
To flee your mother's eyes

The viewers say drink the milk
But you fear the residue.

Poor Kieran
Where have you been in your patant black suit? 

Poor Kieran
Where have you been in your patant black suit?
For the fear of the redheads

---

ROACHES
 
Turns the bathroom light out
Hides the roaches on the wall
Takes the morning to find
Another angel she can call

I've got a feeling in my soul, It's like dementia
Running deep within my bones like a cancer
I've got this feeling

Plucks a hollow eyelash

When sprawled across the bedclothes
She feels she can take it all

I've got a feeling in my soul, It's like dementia
Running deep within my bones like a cancer
I've got this feeling

Turns the bathroom light out
Hides the roaches on the wall
Takes the morning to find
Another angel she can call

I've got a feeling in my soul, It's like dementia
Running deep within my bones like a cancer
I've got this feeling

---

YER EYES

You never listened to my calls
Safe within your father's walls
Now I am here, I've bought a ticket out as darkness falls
And still you lie, safe by his side

Now I no longer feel you safe in my arms
And I'll never feel your
Your eyes

Now it gets you every time
You still feel lonely by his side
You draw his gaze down and it leaves you feeling blind
But still you can't speak to him your mind

Now I no longer feel you safe in my arms
And I'll never feel your
Your eyes

Now I no longer feel you safe in my arms
And I'll never feel your eyes burning into mine


11:19 PM 
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Saturday, August 23, 2008 
08/05/2008
'The Vipers are the Real Fang' – Manchester Evening News Article
by David Sue

----------

THE Vipers' rehearsal room is, by their own admission, something of a 'rotten filth pit'.

Located on the outskirts of Failsworth, behind a tile factory, the Manchester rockers' secret HQ is a grimy, grubby shoebox-sized den, with only one concession to rock star indulgence.

"We now have a functioning kettle," sighs the band's mop-topped vocalist/lyricist Nathan Whittle. "Making brews is our one big luxury! Our last rehearsal place didn't even have windows, so this current place is palatial by comparison."

Nevertheless, this unwelcoming pit seems a fitting environment for these bedraggled Manc rockers. Described by the NME as 'Manchester's grimiest garage rock b******s', The Vipers are a band with filth, decay and squalor firmly etched on their minds.

While the rest of Manchester music gorges itself on kitchen sink drama and frilly pop escapism, The Vipers would much rather speak of 'Dystopian nightmares' and 'Orwellian visions of the future'. The Vipers choose to challenge their listeners with swathes of discordant, feedback-splattered garage rock noise with lyrical themes relating to the ugly, unsettling and psychotic.

Manchester might be currently bathed in sparkling summer sunshine, but inside The Vipers' HQ, it's always an eternal winter of discontent.

"I don't think there's enough anger in bands anymore," snarls bassist Johnny Brown.

"There's too much happiness in bands these days. If you're in a band, I think you have a duty to comment on the real world around you.

"Right now, it's almost like the whole world is being taken over by bands like The Hoosiers. It's awful.

Celebration

"Of course, music should be about celebration. But right now, there really isn't that much to celebrate in the world."

But for all their tough talking, The Vipers are far from being insular miserablists. The band's (always packed out) clubnight, Disco Apocalypso at Ruby Lounge, has become a real magnet for the REAL Manc music underground, firmly proving that DIY punk values and old-fashioned guitar noise still have a place on the local music scene.

The Vipers might speak of death, decay and apocalypse, but that doesn't mean you can't party hard at the same time.

They're the band who can bring the apocalypse to the rock 'n' roll party.

"We're most comfortable when we're performing," insists Nathan. "We're a serious band, but the entertaining side is very important to this band. Whether it's the clubnight that we do or the fact that we play random places like Hartlepool or Bradford, it's very important for us to pay our dues and do things on our own terms. It's like that old-fashioned DIY ethic punk thing, which doesn't exist anymore.

Bands are so careerist these days, getting signed up to major record labels after two minutes just 'cos they sound a bit like Arctic Monkeys. They are so naive."

As a student, Nathan plied his trade in covers bands, at a time when he was so poverty-stricken he would have to ..sing for my supper. "I was so poor, I'd play cover versions in pubs and they would pay me with a meal and a bed for the night. The most popular cover version I did was Ricky Martin's Livin' La Vida Loca. It got always audiences going."

After numerous line-up changes which earned Nathan the nickname, ..the Mark E Smith of the Manchester garage scene', The Vipers have now settled into a clinical line-up. With newly recruited drummer Kyle Larkin, and twin bassists Johnny Brown and Scott Tyson (yes - TWO bassists), The Vipers are firmly paving the comeback for old-fashioned filth-rock.

Horrors

Like a more compact Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster or The Horrors without the arty fashion pretence, The Vipers summon up brilliant garage rock snarling and spitting with political dogma.

Recent single Satellite Boys lambasts Britain's rampant drinking culture, whilst standout track Rats is a withering comment on Manchester city centre's plush redevelopment.

Nathan explains: "Rats has quite a dystopian feel to it. It's me commenting on areas like New Islington in Ancoats, which is currently being redeveloped. But why the hell are they developing these posh flats in one of the poorest areas in Manchester? It's a total insult to those people who live in that area. Manchester council should be putting money into these poor areas rather than endorsing posh flats for yuppies to buy. I mean, does Manchester need more s**t like the Hilton Hotel?"

Obsessed with dystopia and apocalypse, but still determined to party hard and raise smiles, The Vipers are a genuine oddity in Manchester music. But they're also a vital one.

"We put everything into this band," concludes Nathan.

"Whether we fail or succeed, we know that we've put absolutely everything into this band. We've been truthful and committed all the way."

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/entertainment/music/rock_and_pop/s/1048898_the_vipers_are_the_real_fang


------------------------------


20/01/2008
MABEL VS TIGER MAGAZINE ARTICLE

With all the music scenes, styles and general shit we have all become familiar with over the years, what the fuck happened to real ROCK AND ROLL? We have to rely on old and bored pioneers to re-form just so we can have a decent gig experience. Okay, so I'm being slightly dramatic… after all we do have some good rock and roll bands around with the likes of Wolfmother, Kings of Leon, Queens of the Stone Age etc., but it's about time someone else got to rock out with their cocks out. Well, maybe just the rocking out part.

Just when all hope was lost and music was being handed over to terrible indie bands and teenage wet dreams, I heard a band that represented everything I love about rock and roll. The Vipers' debut EP 'Fear of the Redheads' is a record everyone should own… the songs are so fucking good it's like a fist to the face.

Hard and heavy with every amp on the planet turned to eleven, The Vipers are the best band in England right now. Not suprising they are from Manchester then, a dirty rock and roll city for a dirty rock and roll band. Last year The Vipers made their mark on the UK by playing a shit load of gigs in a shit load of places, and needing bigger venues every time. I went along to a few Manchester shows and a London show, proving that not only have the band gained fans in the north, but also a ton of fans in the south.

So amazing are the band that they were picked to support The Damned. Whereas most other bands have had difficulty supporting The Damned in the past, with drunken crowds and impatient fans, not only did The Vipers win everyone over, they put on such a great show and created so much noise that everyone's heads exploded. Just kidding, but they WERE a hella lot louder and a hella lot better than The Damned.

With the release of new track 'Satellite Boys' and new tour dates to boot, missing out on a Vipers gig makes you one very silly rabbit. There are so many shit bands and fake idols on radios and in magazines, it would only take one really good band to kick start rock and roll, and they are right here. The Vipers are here to give everyone a punch in the ribs and inject you with a heavy dose of rock and roll. So for anyone who ever loved Black Flag, The Cramps and The Stooges, and any one who has been waiting for a band to come along and tear your face off, The Vipers are for you.

Stop Crying over Black Flag and go get some hip-shaking ball-squeezing rib-cracking action from The Vipers: www.myspace.com/thevipersuk

9:00 AM 
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Friday, August 22, 2008 

18/12/08
Ruby Lounge, Manchester

Sporting dual bass guitars these guys produce a raw and energetic
sound. The band seems to have created their own musical niche, whilst a
multitude of influences can still be picked from the rock and roll
carcass that they leave in their wake. Don't try to put these guys into
a genre because they will smash it to tiny little pieces with their
rock, punk, metal, grunge laden bullets fired from both bass guitars.


Sandman Magazine
http://www.sandmanmagazine.co.uk/reviews/l040.htm
-----

06/12/08
TWISTED CIRCUS @ Saki Bar, Manchester

THE VIPERS are the equivalent of a musical
assault craft. Their two basses equate to two heavy forward facing
cannons, but somehow the guitar is generously full. The Vipers
catalogue snarls at you, with plenty of bite and street fighting
energy. They share plenty of punk values with their peers tonight,
revelling in the ethics of Search & Destroy, the rumble of basement
rock and wild lightspeed paced beats. This is a high school bop, held
in a barbed wire enclosure in the middle of no mans land. The Vipers
also provide the shells; loud explosive rock and roll nuggets with a
high impact, often distressing blast radius.

manchestermusic.co.uk
http://www.music-dash.co.uk/live/live.asp?item=1647
-----

22/03/2008
DANSE MACABRE @ Night & Day Cafe, Manchester
 
Everyone keeps telling me about this fantastic Manchester based band The Vipers, so I sent the fabulously talented Nickie McGowan to Night and Day to check them out.

Nickie McGowan - "I turn up at tonight's venue early, as The Vipers are first on stage. The crowd is small and mostly older-rockabilly types. The floor starts to fill out a little just as The Vipers hit the stage and proceed to blow a good few heads off within the space of about two minutes. Even though the crowd isn't huge, all the people sitting down stand up when The Vipers are on to their second song…its no surprise that this fantastic band catch people's attention pretty quickly. Based in our very own Manchester, The Vipers are exactly what the UK music scene needs… a huge dose of proper Rock and Roll.

Rock and Roll has been completely lost in the ever-growing number of indie bands who are copies of other indie bands; it's a horrible circle of terrible music. Of course we have amazing Rock and Roll from other countries courtesy of Queens Of The Stone Age, Wolfmother and The White Stripes… and The Vipers would be perfect playing alongside all of those bands.

The best thing about The Vipers is the fact that they incorporate every sub-culture…Punks love them, Rockabillys love them and your average Joe love them. Not being a part of a scene is rare these days so when a band like this comes along take notice and go see them play. Each band member plays an instrument, which means you are going to get your face melted by not one but two bass guitars… loud as f**k. The bands debut EP 'Fear Of The Redheads' consists of six mind-blowing tracks with dirty, sexy vocals and dirtier, sexier riffs. The Vipers also released 'Satellite Boys' as a single and rightly so, it's a killer track. When the band perform Satellite Boys at the gig I want to move my whole body and shake my hips until they break, it's the same when they play 'Rats' and 'Little Princess'… two of the six tracks on the EP (which you should all buy, right now).

Near to the end of The Vipers set there were more people on the floor than for any other band that night, although it seemed unfair that The Vipers were first on stage when they were obviously the most exciting and energetic band there. Ok so I am being over the top in my enthusiasm for The Vipers, but it is truly deserved. I spend hours every day listening to new bands and being bored sh**less by them all, so when a band comes along that excites me and sits next to The Stooges in my record collection, you know you are onto a good thing. If you like your rock and roll dirty, savage and impossibly exciting, then this is the band for you".

Nickie McGowan - Suvbert Magazine

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12/02/2008
FICTIONNONFICTION@ Tiger Lounge, Manchester

The brash feel to the night continues with the conversely all male THE VIPERS. Being a subterranean venue is an advantage as this band execute a salvo of songs that batter the walls. It may only be a cold, Tuesday night, but the Vipers have brought a sizeable contingent with them and they all seem to want to move eagerly to the massive chords. There's only a narrow space available but the 3-man guitar line just about fit into it, and yet still twist and flail their instruments in a suitably theatrical fashion. When they need more space they simply take a step forward and right into the crowd. There are even cries for an encore, and the request is gleefully granted.

http://www.music-dash.co.uk/live/live.asp?item=1473

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17/05/07
Late Rooms, Manchester (supporting The Ponys)

The Vipers are announced as a last minute support and they convincingly make themselves a hard act to follow. Trading in blistering hard edged punk rock, the two bass players providing a stunning bedrock of head slicing riffs beneath a razor sharp guitar. Powerful stuff, irradiating a violent vocal line that's fuelled by powerful post-grunge melody and thrash punk screams.

The Vipers aren't a rock and roll band, they're a weapon of mass destruction, military tight and louder than bombs, executing savage but brilliantly executed bursts of angry distortions. It's an exciting, spine tingling spectacle built from the essence of a riot, but destined for much, much bigger things. They're not only one of the most interesting bands I've heard this year, they're also one I know I will be definitely seeing again. Must see.

The Vipers have backed up their essential new Mancunian music (see current release and former MM E.P. Of the week, "Fear Of The Redheads") with a burgeoning attitude and a refreshing agenda that involves tattoos and unmissable counter-culture rock. Suck on that.

Jon Ashley
http://www.music-dash.co.uk/live/archivelive.asp?item=1234

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10/01/2007
Night and Day, Manchester

Piled-up in a higgled, piggled bill The Vipers waste about as much time as Napalm Death did writing 'You Suffer' in discarding the shamefully trite Gallagher-isms of some dismal opening band with merely a shrug into the side-barrier of their crash course for the sages. Plugged into the effulgent drool that drips deliriously from Manchester's damp patches every so often front-fellow Nathan stands back arched before slamming the nail-gun three-for-the –price-of-two grebo-garbled-garage-blues- boogie grunge of 'Josef K', gargling astutely belligerent poetry like TV Smith directing Ramblin' Jack Elliott into his own 'Final Destination'.

With a sound only enhanced by a splendid sense of sobriety (full marks to the sound lady whose name escapes me) they manage to get around the old 'let's join several songs together and be really cool and disregarding of the audience' ooo-eck factor with sheer frenetic talent and passion. A nonchalant guitar mangler-deluxe matched by lead bassist (sssh, don't mention Ned's Atomic Dustbin) Johnny stomping on Eighties Matchbox's unmarked grave, Nathan bludgeons the slight traces of the angular indie-punk popular with music fans of these bygone days between beauty and untreated schizophrenia.

Seasoning weeping wounds with saucy creations recalling the literate gas-guzzlings of pre-grunge grifters Gaye Bykers on Acid and Crazyhead's rockabilly thrown off a motorway bridge, the ace in the f-hole is drummer Ral, hauling the juddering beast from its own jaws, causing shuddering cataclysms that could fall apart at any minute to soar, strike and, yup, viperise the quickly convinced crowd with the brontosaurus boot-print of whoever drummed for The Sonics.
'Temperance Street', by the way, rather rivals Black Fiction's 'Groupies For Jesus' and Kid Voodoo's 'Weird Scene Addict' as an anthem for Manchester's betterly-plumed youth.

Stu Gibson
http://www.sleazegrinder.com/SleazyreaderLivefeb.htm

and, from the same show:

THE VIPERS probably don't give a shit if they're soundtracking anyone's life except their own. Somewhat anomalously dressed like they drive unspecified vans for a living, they actually sound like they're wearing battered black leather. The Vipers play proper no-holds-barred head-shaking garage rock'n'roll, reminiscent of all those bands from Detroit that were loads better than the White Stripes but not as pretty, like the Soledad Brothers and the Detroit Cobras.

Singer Nathan has an authentically gravelled howl, and with two bassists hammering out a backline that's heavy enough to bother any nearby seismology labs they make one hell of a noise. There's a side order of bluesy rockabilly punk in there too, and sure enough we spot a genuine brothel creeper tapping in the decently sized crowd.

They're also gloriously unhindered by any genre restrictions - "This one's for any Talking Heads fans" turns out not to be a dig at any arty types quivering in the corners but an energetically deconstructed cover of the Heads' "I'm Not In Love", which they somehow manage to make sound like Mudhoney in their prime. Don't think too hard about that one, just go and see them. Just don't stand too close to the speakers.

Cath Aubergine
http://www.music-dash.co.uk/live/live.asp?item=1118




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Thursday, August 21, 2008 
SATELLITE BOYS (7" Single) REVIEWS:


MancheseterMusic Single of the Week

Look at the picture cover. That's my face after extensively smashing my face against the wall as this track took over brain and bent it in half. Driving, forceful, genuine punk rock with two savage basses tearing at the leash like two hell hounds. The orderly guitar stabs go off like a well timed battery of three inch guns and singer Nathan cooks the whole thing in a big steam driven oven with the heat setting set to "hate". Fuck I love this.

If that wasn't enough the blood soaked B-Side is a surfing heavy rock twang with dead pan vocal lines, that holds everything back until the chorus goes off in your face like a skip full of illegally imported fireworks. Officially one of the most powerful rock and roll bands in Manchester right now – if you don't believe me stand in front of one of their amps and I'll happily mop up the blood coming out of your ears.

MMMMM
http://www.music-dash.co.uk/releases/release.asp?item=4999

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Not to be mixed up with the 80's garageband, this combo hails from Manchester and is ready to let your speakers explode with their loud & raw Turbo-Rawk!! A two song kick in your face with hard paced guitars, a wailing bassline & a singer that eats alive rabbits!! B-Side even has some surf-influences, but explodes after a while in a bursting punk-rock hit tune!

www.soundflat.de


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FEAR OF THE READHEADS (6 Track EP) REVIEWS:


Wearing its wickedness on its sleeve, the dark, Buzzcocks, riotous traditional rock punk of The Vipers comes armed with same malevolent spirit that unites the Cramps, MC5 and Xtrmntr era Primal Scream. With a nod to Kafka on its forceful first track, "Josef K" which snaps vigorously that "they made me a monster" and the EP continues from them in a relentlessly demonic vein of underground thrash fuelled US grime rock.

An uncompromising six tracker of intense three minute marvels like "Little Princess", "Roaches" and "Your Eyes", The Vipers heavier credentials hopefully wont stop them reaching the audience they deserve.

http://www.clashmusic.com/feature/city-best-rest<>

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MancheseterMusic EP of the Week

After last Mays "Seven Dogs" , The Vipers have been quietly building a following and it seems, a vaster sound. This six track mini-album is chock full of quality social comment, slick, but resistance style agendas and the kind of political climate that mixes the post agit-punk of Crass with the guttural new wave punches of American rock and British punk. "Fear Of The Redheads" is a landmark development for the band.

"Josef K" is one big riff delivered by Nathan, over which he sings with a throaty roar that could fill both a big stadium or an intimate leather jacketed basement bar. The choice is theirs. "Dogs" throws itself around the room, a dangerous whiplash of sound anchored by heavy bass rumbles and three chord chorus lines. "Little Princess" has the band packaged into mean, sharp edged growling pop songs – with a dirty sound that takes the 80's Matchbox a step further. It's not long before "Poor Kieran" takes a similar plot and throws it down a steep hill – only the bodies of unsuspecting members of the public can stop it. By the time we're at the end of the E.P. "Yer eyes" is carving out huge mounds of melodic flesh by means of some gothic rock and roll, slabs of bass lines and churning guitars.

The Vipers – and the nearest local connection I can make in attitude and forceful bluster is Black Fiction – have forged a new heavy sound that sidesteps any current trends – it's as fresh and exciting as fuck...be warned


MMMM ½
http://www.music-dash.co.uk/releases/release.asp?item=4051

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Skulking around the desolate wastelands of the Northern wilds for several months and several line-ups, The Vipers' second self-release and follow-up to the glorious (and gracelessly dropped from the set)"Seven Dogs" single sees them stabilised. Well, stable enough to bear the brunt of unleashing this six track Katushkya rocket-launcher of a record.

Barricaded behind a two bass-player assault and sternum-stomping rhythms from Keith-Moon-with-a-sense-of-timing drummer Raul, The Vipers are far more prone to the rumble of The Birthday Party and the fall of the Berlin Wall than Ned's Atomic Dustbin. These are missives from behind enemy lines, pertinent when you consider their polarity to most everything that filters out from their Manchester base. Nathan's astulely literate lyrics cast an Orwellian glare over whatever dystopia his retinas retain from his travels around the bog-brush end of Britain and his own little underground.

Bristling all the while with righteous mantras erupting from the splenetic gut of this particular beast, their cliche-free caterwauls will cater to anyone corrupted by the crackle of schismatic K.O. - be that the pre-Seattle Subpop of early Mudhoney and Tad, but bereft of the supposed slacker cool and frothing over with fervent ardour and acerbic disdain, or grimy UK grunts from Crazyhead to Groop Dogdrill.

Arcane yet uproariously unambiguous, step into an atmosphere at once foreboding but electrifying, fascinating, valid and vital, or simply get in the pit and writhe around. Delirium will prevail.

*****
Rock n Reel Magazine.


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SEVEN DOGS (3 Track Single) REVIEWS:


The Vipers are from Manchester and sounding like they couldn't give a flying toad about the latest sound or trend. The Vipers are from Manchester and sound like they could accidentally without ever trying, be the latest sound or trend. To label the sound (they argue) would be to kill it, so we won't mention their 'blend of teenage b-movie slashfest rock n' roll' that's there for all who dare to be converted.

They've got the stomp of classic 60's/70's garage punk and I'm sure there's a healthy slice of Manc swagger and suss in there with thier Stooged up Wire and vitriolic Cramp bite. A bite that you won't want to pass on the stairs without a care. The Vipers are intense and if The Smiths really had sounded a little more like Morrisey's beloved New York Dolls...

The Vipers are a breath of freshness in the ashtray air, they're lean and mean and stripped down keen, they know they're good, they have the attitude and despite the names we dropped and things we just said they're no backward looking swipe of nostalgia.

http://www.organart.demon.co.uk/neworgan191.htm

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