No Frills Thrills

Out of (one's) skull:
  
Heavily intoxicated by drugs or alcohol, especially to the point of being unconscious, nonsensical, or out of control. I think someone might have spiked Jack's drink, because he's out of his skull all of a sudden.

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The Pirates Out Of Their Skulls is a generous helping of one of my very favourite dishes, thuggish hard-driving R&B with links to Dr Feelgood and Motörhead. It’s even got a cool skull on the cover, come on what more do you want people?

Johnny Kidd and The Pirates were the original British rockers, at their best a fearsomely sweaty time* you really can’t beat grown men dressed as pirates and a lead singer wielding a cutlass on stage. Kidd’s untimely 1966 death dispersed his backing band to other masters/paths and that seemed to be that.

Fast forward to the mid seventies and a new generation were turning to the delights of no frills sped up rock and roll and the brightest and best of them remembered where their local best had originated from. Wilko Johnson copped his ability to play lead and rhythm guitar simultaneously from the Pirates Mick Green and gave due credit and support, as did Lemmy.

The Pirates reformed and hit the punk toilet circuit, dressed in their full pantomime pirate gear in honour of the fallen Kidd, bludgeoning audiences into respect metaphorically and physically, if need be; you didn’t fuck with the Pirates.

In 1977 they cut Out Of Their Skulls with Vic Maile at the helm, as a half-live/half-studio concoction**. It rocked. Hard.

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Captured at the Nashville Rooms in London the Pirates open with ‘Please Don’t Touch’, slamming it down in 2 minutes flat; Motörhead and Girlschool did it in 2:48. The Pirates were all about a delight in the down and dirty, no frills thrills, no wonder the punks loved ’em.

My favourite cut on Out Of Their Skulls is simply the best version of ‘Peter Gunn’ I have ever heard, so the audience can calm down a bit – you can actually hear them going bananas in the background. It’s such a ludicrously menacing sound, utterly electrifying and I really can’t believe there is only one guitarist on stage. I say favourite cut, but it’s only by the width of a cigarette paper because ‘Lonesome Train’ is every incredible rockabilly whiteout I fantasise about having, just try to sit still to this one – THAT GUITAR!!!

But it isn’t all guitar equal kudos must go to the remainder of the crew, Frank Farley on drums and Johnny Spence on bass and lead vocals. ‘Tight’ doesn’t even come near to describing the way the trio mesh into their swaggering lockstep.

Of course they tackle ‘Shakin’ All Over’ and the trio play out of their, umm, skins. It’s totally primal stuff, as is the dangerously cranked version of ‘Milk Cow Blues’ they close the side with. It’s one of those gigs where you can taste sweat in your mouth, uncertain whether its yours or not, not that it used to matter.

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Out Of Their Skulls studio-stylee is okay, but it misses the charge the band took direct from the audience. The overall sound is much closer to Dr Feelgood and better mannered than hitherto, but the Pirates get bonus points for cutting it in Wales at Rockfield Studios.

Highlights for me are the hurtling ‘Drinkin’ Wine Spo’De’O’D’, the superbly titled ‘Gibson Martin Fender’, the slinky ‘That’s The Way You Are’ and, best of all, the punningly titled ‘Don’t München It’. The latter has some excellent straight-ahead choppy guitaring atop a decidedly frisky rhythm-ing, tasty.

The studio side, good though it is, shows why the Pirates never quite kicked on. Supreme live outfit they undoubtedly were the song writing, whilst very good, isn’t quite distinctive enough.

So slap Out Of Their Skulls on the turntable, crank it up to ‘raging’ and let it all shake loose as you feast on the primal power of music played hard and fast. Grown men dressed as pirates never sounded so good, neither did getting totally out of your skull.

1081 Down (the gangplank).

*commercial diktats and uncertainty over what this whole rock ‘n roll thing was did lead to the odd unpalatable schmaltzy move.

**a combo I always like.