PRESS
LIVE REVIEWS
London Garage, 13th
June 2003-
thetripwire.com:
Ahhh, the wonders of being in
London. A large number of my favorite up and
coming bands are either from London or roll
through semi-regularly. Friday night, it was time
to go to The Garage for the first time, to check
out Winnebago Deal. The stars of Player .041
rip-roaringly rocked their way through a 9-track
opening slot and surprised the hell out of me
along the way. Recorded, they fuse punk, garage
and even a touch of grunge, but live, they are a
loud, furious, bludgeoning, punk-fuelled guitar
and drum pair that must be heard to be believed.
Much of their Fierce Panda debut mini album,
Plata O Plomo, was aired out and drummer Ben
Thomas must have had a medium helping him
beforehand, because he was channeling Dave Grohl,
a blur of thrashing long hair and pummeled
percussive fury. Player track "Manhunt"
was given the serious punk rock injection,
completely transforming the song. Luckily for me,
I had my earplugs, otherwise I would have been
deaf for a week. But, even luckier for me, I got
to see them in the first place. Props to Phil at
Fierce Panda for his hospitality.
Winnebago Deal set list for June 13 at The
Garage, London.
"Maximum Overdrive"
"Crib Job"
"Whiskey Business"
"Just Cruisin'"
"Harold's Dewlaps"
"Takin' Care Of Business"
"Manhunt"
"Dead Gone"
"Two Minute Warning"
- Reported by Jeremy P. Goldstein
www.thescourge.co.uk-
Winnebago Deal are two men,
both called Ben from Oxfordshire. They have long
hair, look like Wayne’s World extras, and
come onstage after a build up of Fugazi songs
over the PA. They start up - racing through songs
form their mini-album ‘Plato O Plomo’
with an uncompromising ferocity. The
unpredictability of the songs makes the setlist
merge into one continuous monster noise of
guitar, drums and repetitive vocal shouting,
causing bodies everywhere to be forced to jerk
twist and smash into one another. It is
impossible to move rhythmically to Winnebago deal
as the drums are so randomly placed, and the boys
do anything to prevent any ounce of
predictability in their songs. It’s either
mass bodies of crashing circle pits, or standing
still and letting the noise engulf you. There is
no room here for polite foot tapping… as
with Smother, Winnebago Deal are here to show you
their stuff, and to get the fuck off stage. They
have their insane, dry metal riffs and that is
all they need. Winnebago Deal encapture their
audience, just as they get comfortable, Winnebago
Deal will kick them in the face with a flash
ending, and crazy unsteady rhythms. Winnebago
Deal, their work done, bound off stage leaving
people bemused, happy and full of skuzzed up
trash grunge-metal-raawwwwwk .
-Claire Thomas
Northampton
Soundhaus, 12th June 2003-
BBC
Northampton:
These boys' amps really do go
all the way up to 11. The 'Deal are simple: two
long-hairs called Ben, one on guitar, one on
drums, play good, honest, ear-splitting
rock'n'roll - our condolences go out to their
neighbours.
When the Deal first came up for breathe after
hammering out three songs on the trot, no one
clapped. Everyone just stood, gob-smacked in a
'what the hell is this?!' fashion. Before anyone
could react, the two Bens had already ripped back
into their set. These guys are one of the most
enjoyable and interesting bands I've seen in a
long time.
-Jon Raitt
London Garage, 7th
April 2003-
www.thescourge.co.uk-
Winnebago Deal are a gruesome
twosome of different proportions. Amazingly some
of the better known publications are getting
behind them, even though they are English! It is
difficult to take in, but with the help of the
big guns Ben and Ben the power rock men are
entering the spring of their careers. Having
already gained a pretty impressive underground
reputation, its performances like this that will
have to make important people take notice. The
set is aggressive, threatening, downright lethal.
It is somewhere in between metal and grunge.
Grrrrrr-unge I suppose. Whatever it is, it’s
loud, and it’s entertaining. From the insane
thrashing of ‘Harold’s Dewlaps’
and ‘Just Crusin’’ to the slower
thud thud of ‘Takin’ Care Of
Business’ ending with the ten minute
instrumental freakout that is ‘Dead
Gone’, this set is huge. Rather than a bull
in a china shop, this is, well, two bulls in a
china shop, and these bovines do not appreciate
fine crockery. If you believe Travis when they
say that all they want to do is rock, then
believe me when I say that all Winnebago Deal
want to do is destroy the world. For the moment
though I would imagine they would settle for
getting a room full of people to headbang and
punch the air. And it won’t be long before
this is the case, for sure. Check out their mini
album ‘Plata O Plomo’ out on Fierce
Panda now. It is indeed fierce, probably more so
than said panda.
-Dan Ormsby
Sheffield
Corporation, 3rd April 2003-
www.sheffieldbase.com:
Before
tonight i knew absolutely nothing about Winnebago
Deal. I'm still no expert on them but i do know
they make a lot of noise; especially considering
there is only two of them. In fact their sound is
surprsingly well-formed for a band consisting of
a drummer and guitarist/vocalist. This is metal
at it's best; full throttle crushing riffs that
take no prisoners combined with stompingly good
beats and hair with a life of its own. At one
point it seems as though they are about to launch
into Black Sabbath's "War Pigs" but
instead it appears that they are just unsure as
to what to play next. The overall impression is
that in front of such a small audience Winnebago
have decided to shun conventional gig practice
and just have a bit of a jam instead. To be
honest their set is probably all the better for
it. Winnebago Deal have been described by others
as being not so much garage rock but more
basement metal, which based on this performance
is pretty much spot on. Dirty, powerful, raw, and
downright sweaty; this is exactly how metal
should be. Thank you Winnebago Deal, you've
renewed my faith in the scene.
-Emma Weston
London
Kentish Town Bull & Gate, 30th January 2003-
www.thescourge.co.uk:
Setlist: TWO MINUTE WARNING /
MANHUNT / MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE / WHISKEY
BUSINESS / THE LINE UP / JUST CRUISIN' / TAKIN'
CARE OF BUSINESS /
HAROLD'S DEWLAPS / DEAD GONE / CRIB JOB
This could be the start of a
rock revolution you know (that sounds familiar
doesn’t it …). Winnebago Deal are two
long haired rockers called Ben, a guitarist and a
drummer, with more energy than a Duracell
factory. Hell, these guys will be turning on the
Oxford Street lights next Christmas – by
accident. It is essentially simple stuff. One
microphone. One guitar. A fucking big amp.
Distortion, Gain, Middle and Bass on 10. Treble
on 0. 4 drums, 2 cymbals and a hi-hat. A hell of
a lot of noise. If Winnebago Deal are
Britain’s answer to garage rock then trust
the British to get it spectacularly wrong. This
ain’t no garage rock, oh no. This is
basement metal. Outhouse grunge. Jailhouse
fucking ROCK. Call it what you like, I don’t
care. Right now it is un-classifiable, just plain
out and out riff work, skin bashing and grunting.
It’s just music. Loud music. Loud British
music.
Although admittedly there are
bunch of American influences here. There’s
an obvious early grunge influence – you can
tell just from the hair. The duo list Mudhoney,
Nirvana and Soundgarden as influences. Add to
this the fact that Black Flag are their favourite
band, and their parents probably listened to 80s
metal and 70s rock, and this is the amalgamation
of sounds we have. Played by two people. Loud.
For the whole set. There is no let up. Barely any
breaks between songs, the longest reprieve we get
is during penultimate number ‘Dead
Gone’ which involves frantic riffery,
crashing drums and long pauses. Which is pretty
indicative of the whole set … minus the
pauses. ‘Manhunt’, ‘Takin’
Care Of Business’ and ‘Maximum
Overdrive’, three songs that have recently
featured on the playlists of Steve Lamacq and
Phil Alexander at Radio 1 were in there too, each
as rocking as the others. In fact, the set works
as a whole big noise rather than individual
songs. For a half an hour full on assault it is
incredibly effective. Its music that makes you
wanna headbang, and in my book, this can’t
be bad.
Winnebago Deal have a mini
album out on Fierce Panda on March 24th, and it
will be interesting to see how it comes out. If
it is anything like the live show I’m gonna
seriously fall out with my neighbours.
London Dublin Castle,
7th January 2003-
www.drownedinsound.com:
I talk to a friend, tonight,
of pure rock. The type of rock that needs no
prefix; needs no suffix. Punk what. Stoner
bollocks. Nu fuck off. Totally unfuckinecessary.
Sorry, I’m still mad. Unnecessary when you
have Winnebago Deal in front of you. Unnecessary
when exactly what you mean is being displayed
right in front of you. Power, rhythm, passion,
long hair and legs akimbo guitar toting:
everything that rock should and hopefully always
will be. The primal releases of testosterone all
around just surge through you. Fists just beg to
pump the air and even the greatest defiance of
this urge is futile. You just go along with it.
You know that merely nodding your head in time
with the chronic drumbeats will never suffice.
You know you will be part of
it. You know you have to be part of it. It’s
natural. Entirely natural. It is believed that
all men are born Good and that they are tainted
by society. Society can’t taint this.
Winnebago Deal will ignore the rest. Winnebago
Deal will only ever dream of playing on Saturday
morning television. Winnebago Deal: Rock.
It’s gonna be their turn to get a full
house.
Gareth's slobbering Winnebago
Deal review of the same show:
Maybe this is the year.
We’re seven days in, and
I’ve just witnessed a 35 minute onslaught
which will inarguably match up to anything else I
am set to witness over the next 358 days.
Tonight, Winnebago Deal tore down the Dublin
Castle in a manner I never before witnessed.
The scary thing is, they were
better when I saw them three weeks ago at the
Barfly at the Camden Monarch, but tonight was the
night that I and a couple of hundred other people
realised that this is the band set to take 2003
by the scruff of its mangy neck and shake it into
rock n roll delirium.
On a night where the crowd
was packed to the rafters with industry people,
eager to latch on to the next big thing, jump on
the gravy train to short term success and music
press kudos, people walked away filled with awe
and respect rather than the sound of cash
registers ringing through their cynical brains.
Because this two piece from Oxford surely are the
best band in Britain right now. An absurd,
probably unqualifiable comment, sure, but
undoubtedly the truth.
Imagine a rock n roll nuclear
powered unit of pure power and energy. Then
discard all that, because the excitement they
generate is beyond that. All you can do is gawp
in wonderment and punch the air in reciprocal
glee.
There’s already a lot
that has been said about this band, and I
won’t go into it again here; you can find
enough about them on DiS. But I’ll say this;
they are playing again at the Bull and Gate on
the 30th January and you’d be a fool to miss
them. Yeah sure, you’ve read a million
evangelical articles like this before, and each
time you’ve been duped and fooled by a
hyperbolic cretin. But check out articles
I’ve written previously, I’ve never
said anything like this. Take a chance. Go see
the best band in Britain.
London Camden Barfly,
30th November 2002-
www.drownedinsound.com
Somehow two unadorned,
Raggedy Anne stealing, grunge bating jailbaits
stole my senses and left the building. Winnebago
Deal. Fairy tales come with more baggage, rawk
bands should not. But it’s always extremely
satisfying to know that you were right. Again. As
the stage gets louder, the songs get heavier, the
team of ickle rock midgets are doing their
damndest to make sure that we are tricked into
believing that Winnebago Deal are pulling this
off on their own. Cliff Burton would be proud,
with the steel sound of the golden days of truly
great rock bands fading into the noize of
tomorrow, a straight laced pastiche of the rock n
roll variety. Culled from the farm of a pop
Slayer chewing on the introduction to Seattle as
read by Green River and Tad. It’s knee
trembling, hormonal inspired rawk antics should
have been the end of the craziness…
Truck Festival,
Steventon, 21st July 2002-
Nightshift:
One band who wouldn’t be
without their hair are the awesome Winnebago
Deal. We say awesome because they ARE rock and
roll. And many more things besides. Like a
rampant, unforgiving collision of AC/DC,
Mudhoney, Black Flag, Motörhead and something
evil from way out west. All dripping with trucker
oil and gasoline, set on fire and shot into the
crowd with extreme prejudice. They are currently
playing at Thor’s birthday bash in Valhalla.
Hope & Anchor
London, 16th July 2002-
Neon Promotions:
Winnebago Deal explode into
action - the most action packed, highly charged
rock duo you will probably ever see - walloping
great chunks of guitar rip your head off as the
extraordinary front man powers the songs out,
aided and abetted by some highly energetic
drumming. The songs are full on, in `yer face
with no holds barred 100% action, and it is clear
that these guys are really into what they are
doing - confidence flows from the stage. Good
choruses and tight punchy moments complement the
energy. A must see band!
Oxford Zodiac 6th
July 2002-
www.Oxfordbands.com
Winnebago Deal have a lot to
live up to as the replacements for the Dukes of
Nothing, and live up to it they do, as their
unique blend of glam rock and grunge makes for a
very interesting set. The amount of noise that
these two people produce is absolutely
phenomenal, with the singer prancing round the
stage like a pixie on acid. The highlight of
their set is ‘Whiskey Business’ with a
rip-roaring chorus and unforgettable bouncing
drums. At the end of the set, the guitar flew
into the audience, and struck an unsuspecting fan
on the head, pretty much summing up the maximum
ROCK craziness of their performance.
Oxford Wheatsheaf,
22nd May 2002-
Nightshift
Star turn at the Wheatsheaf -
and possibly the entire Punt - though are
WINNEBAGO DEAL. A pair of emotionally damaged
love children spawned by The Fucking Champs and
Pantera, they are without doubt one of the most
enthralling live bands around at the moment.
They're full of uncontrollable energy and
passion, at one point producing a whole five
minutes of masturbatory feedback and provoking a
genuinely violent moshpit, they are the perfect
antidote to manufactured metal. The only question
about Winnebago Deal is how the hell can one
guitar make so much noise?
Oxford Zodiac, 7th
April 2002-
www.Oxfordbands.com
In typical 'The Club.'
spirit, it's a local band, Winnebago Deal, who
kick things off. And from the first fuzz-drenched
squeal of lead guitar, we really are in stoner
heaven. The band's sound is a melange of classic
stoner rock vibes. Allusions to Kyuss and Nebula
are obvious, but there's a harder edge there -
it's in the 80's metal haircuts, the sheer
aggression of their singer's straining vocal
chords and the way he strides across the stage
with a hunched back, looking like a fucking
giant. The band are no doubt sick of White
Stripes comparisons (being a two piece drums and
guitar/vox lineup), but this unfortunate
similarity somehow works in their favour - not
once throughout their 30-minute set are we aware
that there's anything missing. The crowd won
over, Winnebago Deal retire backstage, no doubt
for a crate of Jack Daniel's and a few hundred
spliffs. And you know what the coolest thing
about this band is? They've got a tape on sale
for a quid. Now that fucking rocks.
Milton Keynes Pitz,
11th January 2002-
www.concretechaos.co.uk
When it comes to enjoying a
powerful, entertaining and raw sounding band, you
will find it hard to beat tonight's opening band,
Winnebago Deal. The Oxford based two-piece manage
to combine monster riffs with a rawness and stage
presence which is often lacked by most. Despite
being very different in style to the other two
bands on the night, they had no problem getting
the crowd moshing early on and started off the
night in the best possible way. This wasn't the
first time I'd seen this band and with classics
like "Manhunt" and "Whiskey
Business," it definitely won't be the last.
Bath Moles Club, 27th
December 2001-
www.purr.org.uk:
Now, if I was alive to see
The Rolling Stones in their pre-record deal
glory, I can imagine they wouldıve been similar
to seeing Winnebago Deal. A two-piece (yes TWO!)
with only a tape to their Winnebago Deal sounded
as though they should be playing arenas with
laser light shows and fire breathing backdrops.
The ambience was so hugely heavy youıd have been
forgiving for think they were playing with a
couple of 4x2 pieces of timber for drum sticks
and bridge suspension cables for guitar strings.
In a word, Winnebago Deal are monstrous. Itıs a
wonder how two men, with only a drum-kit and
guitar can create the experience of seeing Iron
Maiden, The Stones and Kyuss playing It's a
Knock-Out. Fantastic!
East Oxford Community
Centre, 24th November 2001-
Nightshift:
...To be honest, Winnebago
Deal do the noisy punk rock thing rather better.
There are only two of them but they kick out a
furious old racket and prove that anything
American duos like White Stripes do, they can do
just as well and after a few years of promising
more than they delivered, they look like a decent
bet to be one of Oxford's best bands in the near
future.
|
