The Nottingham band have let loose a collection of previously unreleased tracks, now available to stream!
Formed by Nathan Jones in the mid to late 90s the initial line up of The Grips consisted of Jones on vocals, with Martin Edwards on guitar, Jez Cox on bass and Wayne Zenith on drums with a sound inspired by the roster of bands on the Estrus label and the local garage punk scene.
Their second ever show was a support slot in London for Rocket From The Crypt – a band then at the height of their popularity – and over the next few years, their standing would grow beyond just their local Midlands scene.
They would go on to share the stage with the likes of The Supersuckers, NYC garage band The Mooney Suzuki and LA post hardcore punks The Icarus Line.
The Grips’ performances were energetic and at times dangerous- to the band members at least. Jones lacerated the tendon on his hand on the hot metal of a light fitting on one occasion (but continued the show- ouch!) and on another occasion latter guitarist Knowles split his head open!
Their self released debut 7” single ‘Grapple With The Grips‘ received support from John Peel, who several years later would introduce their performance on the John Peel stage at Sound City 2002 in Nottingham.
Now for the first time, the band’s ‘lost’ recordings have been collected and released for us to revisit (and perhaps some to discover for the first time) the sound of this gem of late 90s UK punk. ‘The Grips- Tear It out 98-04‘ is 21 tracks of some of the band’s most bombastic tracks that feel as enjoyable now as ever before.
The band were not afraid to push boundaries and rail against limitations, fusing elements of soul in tracks like ‘Gospel Box‘, dub (‘Babylon‘) and general ferocious, grizzly punk energy (‘Destroy Everything‘, ‘F.U Baby‘).
If you haven’t heard of the The Grips before, or you need reminding then this collection of tracks is a great place to reacquaint yourself with a raw and frantic UK punk rock band that really need to be heard.
‘The Grips- Tear It out 98-04‘ is out now via Music Saves and available to stream on all major streaming services.
- Destroy Everything
- Shoot Forth Thunder
- Neon
- She Walks Right Through Me
- Dragstrip Rumble
- Addiction
- She Moves Away
- Burn Out My Heart
- Dead Set To Kill
- Babylon
- Blonde
- Angels Row
- Stainless Steel
- Living In The 21st Century
- Heat
- Gospel Box
- Voodoo Juice
- Babylon Remix
- Childstar Deadstar
- Turn Up The Fever
- FU Baby
Follow The Grips on Their Socials and Streaming Services
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I’m Molly Tie- I Love punk! I play drums (badly), write a lot about punk (not as badly) and I’m particularly interested in issues relating to women in the music scene.
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