Distrainers. Another excellent “under the radar” band from the good old New Wave of British heavy Metal days who came and went without fanfare producing just a solitary single, though they certainly had the ability.
Now four decades later that single and a collection of demos is available on a limited edition CD. As it says on the CD: “vintage NWOBHM sound, play it f***ing loud”. How true that is.
If you may not remember Distrainers, they were from the Leicester area and got together in 1977. Whilst the style is proper heavy stuff they were adept at building in harmony and melody without losing any of the power which gave things a more nuanced feel.
Some superb guitar work too. More to it than crank it up to eleven and play fast. Kind of quirky in places which adds to the listening enjoyment further.
After a few line-up changes and seemingly not much record label interest it came to a head for Distrainers around 1981.
In addition to the Say Goodbye single from 1979 (a nice catchy hard/melodic rocker) which is coupled with the slightly spiky, perky and punk tinged Spies in Your Eyes, the remainder is that collection of demos spanning 1977 to 1981.
The 1977 demo – Minor Affair being an excellent, moody and very catchy song. From 1980 the trio of songs are a step up from the ’77 demo. Dardanells is well constructed with a hypnotic feel to it. On the Rocks (Again) a fast paced hard-hitting rocker and Saving My Love rocks too.
The half dozen on the 1981 demo arguably the best efforts with the addition of teenage prodigy Chris O’Shaughnessy on guitar. Gave the band more options and a bigger sound. And the guitar work steps up another few notches as a result.
Last Rat is a tour de force of heavy riffs and scorching solos. Do it Tonight one the band’s fast paced melodic efforts. Japanned is delivered with venom as that speeds along too.
Metal Boys is a huge rocker with more of that superb guitar work, chunky riffing and the melodic element in amongst the power. Have a listen:
Such a pity that a band with the chops Distrainers had back around 1980 didn’t ride the NWOBHM wave to big things. Though with the demos etc. now finding the light of day the band can be enjoyed.
However – the CD version is a limited run and may be hard to locate. I stumbled on mine a couple of weeks or so ago after seeing it on Obscure NWOBHM Releases (https://onreleases.bigcartel.com/) though it’s not listed there now so they must have sold out.
I have found a BandCamp page which, as I write this post, does show the CD and also a digital version – however that digital version appears to be only four songs and not everything which is on the CD.
Here’s the BandCamp page if you’d like to take a look:
https://rottenleather.bandcamp.com/album/distrainers-englands-green-unpleasant-land-1979-1990
Do check out Distrainers. Yet another band from the NWOBHM days who had the ability without the breaks.