Ming City Rockers “Lemon”

We first discovered Ming City Rockers at the Secret Garden Party last year. We were delighted to find a band that knew how to throw some real rock n roll shapes. They delivered a dirty set that even saw the stage staff persistently try to turn their sound down… not something you often see at a festival. Having subsequently loved their debut album, it begged the question could they keep it up?

We’re pleased to report that the moment you hear opener “Sell Me A Lemon”, you know the band have lost none of their spark. It’s a pretty messy, rock n roll song, full of bravado. It’s a fairly simple formula and one they repeat on songs like “Man On The Clapham Omnibus” and “How Do You Like These Apples”. Most importantly, it’s a bloody good and entertaining formula.

The album hits a real peak with the brilliant “All I Wanna Do Is Waste My Time With You”. It’s a song which reeks of the New York Dolls, but also has a nice hint of pop about it. That high is continued with the equally awesome and catchy “Christine”. The producers of ‘Vinyl’ really should have picked “Scatter Brain” if they wanted to show a band perfecting the scuzzy seventies punk sound.

They take a further step back in time with “I’m Not The One”, which perfectly blends rock n roll with an almost sixties pop feel. It’s a bit ‘bubble gum’ but that also makes it tacky and impossible to get out of your brain. They then go relatively ‘mature’ on “Trying To Find Pixies”, a song which adds a Clash esque ska feel to the sound. It all then rolls to an end with “Don’t You Wanna Make My Heart Beat”. It’s another scuzzy, dirty, rock n roll tune (which also steals a bit from ‘My Sharona’… never a bad thing!).

We absolutely loved this album. One of the reasons is that we are pretty sure that loads of people will hate it! It’s not cool, it’s not trendy, it’s not sophisticated, it’s just great throwaway, trashy rock n roll. They have a sense of danger and attitude that is just missing in so much of music today. Remember when Towers Of London first hit the scene and promised a return to a dirty, glam punk….. well Ming City Rockers actually deliver that!