The C33s: Benzodiac – single review

The C33s are back with a cracking new single that surely shows they’ve been brewing a storm since the excellent Harpurhey Hostility. Wayne AF Carey welcomes them back to life…

The PR says: Never a band to shy away from uncomfortable themes and tackling them head-on,Benzodiac is a frank observation of addiction, renewa land rebirth.Three minutes and forty eight seconds of slick guitar, trademark dual vocals from Cav Green and Judy Jones, pummeling bass from Ste Phillips and palpitating drums is enough to set the tone and fuel the excitement for what is still to come with the rest of the EP.

I say: Welcome back Cav, Judy and Ste! One of the coolest bands coming out of Manchester kick start their rise with fuck off surf garage number which kicks in with a Dick Dale style lick that rumbles in with a killer bass line backed with Judy’s drum patterns and backed with those riot grrlll style vocals. Cav’s small guitar solo during the centre of the song is proper psych surf that shows his love for the surf rock sound of Dale of even Hank Marvin. A proper blast of infectious North Manc punk that just gets better every time I listen. I love the fact that they’ve created cartoon caricatures of themselves for the artwork. It gives them an identity. The video below is just pure psych garage fun with Cav looking like a young Jesse Hughes with his dodgy tache. If this is the latest chapter then I’m in. I’ve seen em live a couple of times now and they’ve blew me away with the raw power. Expect the full EP to blow us all up…

The EP Benzodiac will be released in August 2021 on Rare  Vitamin Records on 10” vinyl, CD and cassette.

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Words by Wayne Carey, Reviews Editor for Louder Than War. His author profile is here