Sydney/Central Coast-based punk rock lords NFÏ have just unleashed their epic new album called Get Cooked Or Try Dying, which premiered exclusively via HEAVY. Recorded by Jay Whalley (Frenzal Rhomb) at The Pet Food Factory, the album is a collection of fun and raucous Punk Rock tracks that pairs perfectly with a beer in hand. […]
King Parrot are geared up for two huge shows in New Zealand this weekend. This is the first time NZ fans will experience songs from their band’s latest album, A Young Person’s Guide to King Parrot, live! KP have pulled out all the stops and invited some of New Zealand’s most savage acts to join […]
Following four acclaimed albums with Sony Music, Bury Tomorrow enter the next chapter of their career with the release of their ferocious new single Sx, alongside the launch of their own independent imprint, DEA†H Records. The announcement arrives ahead of their Australian headline run across the country this September, with support from Alabama thrashers, Gideon, […]
Australian melodic death metal force Destruction of the Healer have just released their long-awaited sophomore album, A Universe Bereaved, a crushing collection of songs that sees the Wollongong outfit deliver their most ambitious and accomplished work to date. Building upon the foundations of Let The Earth Reclaim Me and Dreaming Deep In Breathless Sleep, the […]
Sydney metalcore up-and-comers Harroway unleash their bone-crushing new single Second Best, arriving ahead of their upcoming shows supporting Inertia next weekend and Diamond Construct in August. Tickets are on sale now. A devastating showcase of Harroway at their most ferocious, Second Best is a sonic demolition – a pulverising wrecking ball of savage vocals, slick […]
The Meanies are absolute legends of Australian punk rock, and they are tearing through 2026 like a runaway train. Formed in Melbourne back in 1988, these sonic maniacs have spent nearly four decades delivering chaotic, high-energy pop-punk packed with hooks and bruises. Fronted by the indestructible Link Meanie, they are a band that leaves everything […]Every picture tells a story, and the cover photo on this sumptuous new Small Faces box set is a prime example. It’s a 1966 black-and-white shot of the band on Westmore Terrace in a smart area of London, outside the house the band’s manager Don Arden (Ozzy’s father-in-law) rented for them.
Arden’s idea was to keep them away from the rough East End and under his control. But look at them, dressed to kill, all unbridled energy; they know what they want to do. Among the Decca Singles are some of Small Faces’ greatest songs – and also a battle to the death with their manager and label for control of them.
First up is Whatcha Gonna Do About It, a cool, cocky R&B mod classic. It made the charts, and when the follow-up, I Got Mine, didn’t, Arden had them record the commercial Sha-La-La-La Lee. Maybe in an attempt to be treated as grown-ups, Hey Girl was the first to credit the band’s Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane as writers.
The fifth Decca song was their masterpiece All Or Nothing, a piece of perfection and their first No.1. Their next single, My Mind’s Eye, classic 60s pop, made the top five. But it also made Marriott furious, because their manager had released a demo he hadn’t approved.
The band broke with Arden and Decca and moved to Immediate Records, but there was a big mess going on with their manager and old label. The last two singles in this collection were released without the band’s permission: I Can’t Make, a fine soulful R&B ballad, which the band refused to promote, and Patterns, with Ronnie Lane on lead vocals and which also had the craziest B-side of any of the singles here, E Too D.
Hats off once again to Kenney Jones, the Small Faces drummer and last one standing, who since 2021 has been doing a great job of keeping the band’s legacy alive. This latest release on Jones’s Nice label is a limited edition (500 copies) of the eight seven-inch singles that the band released on Decca, sides A and B, pressed to vinyl from the master tapes. Their picture sleeves are copies of the rare Dutch sleeves in Jones’s archive. Other odds and ends from the archive, such as music magazine clips and photos, fill the bright, busy 16-page booklet.