Biography
Hailing from Cold Harbour in Gravesend, Kent, and signed to the Nettwerk label in early 2008, TOM ALLALONE & THE 78s released their debut single ‘Hell Hath No Fury’ in November, attracting many rave reviews:
"This impeccably dressed troupe plays blisteringly energetic and classic rock'n'roll (think Elvis Costello and The Attractions covering Billy Fury by way of The Godfathers), and does it very well indeed too." THE TIMES
"This check-shirted Gravesend chappie and his backing band have filled our heads with dreams of the Happy Days diner and thousands of unjustly unloved Vincent Vincent albums. Ace." THE FLY
“Delightfully sleazy, raucous rockabilly with a fresh contemporary feel.” MUSIC WEEK
A new single entitled ‘Crashland’ will be released in April 2009, followed by the album ‘Major Sins Pt 1’. Produced by Gareth Parton (Foals, Pipettes, Pete & The Pirates, The Go! Team) and Neil Luckett, its contents will make you want to leave home in the middle of the night, maybe to go join a flophouse jazz band or an undead circus troupe…it’s a hard-boiled, liquor-soaked, fairytale world. Live favourites included on the album include ‘Casillero Del Diablo’, an open invite to a (quite literal) hellfire club, full of mariachi horns and Texan harmonies, ‘I’m Just The DJ’, which sees Allalone transform into Costello at his ‘78 peak, full of adolescent lust and smart, angular noise, and ‘Crashland’, a swinging stomping tale about the pitfalls and perfection of alcoholic abandon.
However, on an album packed with highlights, the best songs on offer might just be the mid-paced lovelorn ballad ‘Wounded’, the rousing ‘This Teenage Crush’, which drags the Everly Brothers into a blender and spits out a thoroughly modern sounding West Side Story-ish anthem for unrequited love, or the slow burning ‘Dogshit Street’, which, like several other songs on the record, contains lyrical observations about the band’s home town and its inhabitants.
Live shows are notorious for being grinning, sweaty, grimy hops. Leading from the front, Allalone is equal parts teen idol, rebel and vaudevillian in performance; Eddie Cochran and Joe Strummer rub shoulders with Buster Keaton to create an embodiment of the lovelorn childish bravado that runs throughout the band’s music.
TOM ALLALONE & THE 78s:
TOM ALLALONE – vocals, guitar
RICHARD CLARKE – guitar
SI FAWCETT – bass
MATT EVANS - drums
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