There is a very famous band from Liverpool, England—perhaps you’ve heard of them. The Beatles, when they were still a group of unknown Liverpudlian layabouts going by the name “Silver Beetles”, wore Teddy Boy clothes and greased their hair back in a very Gene Vincent meets Eddie Cochran style. They even had a song called “Teddy Boy”. Eventually, as we all know, they were advised to take on a newer, more modern style, and they became the cultural phenomenon we know them as today.
There is another band from Liverpool, decades later, who also wear the Teddy Boy drapes and crepes proudly. They’re a bit more Billy Fury than Fab Four. They’re called Furious, and they are. They look a lot like the old pics you’ll see of slouching, crepe soled Teds in the 50’s (and 70’s), except a lot better. More polished, or more unified, or something. They look cool, and they look like a band. It is highly doubtful you will see any forward combed Beatles mop tops among this lot.
Even the legends have weighed in….
"I really love the Halligan brothers, Mark & Andy. These guys are fantastic, they play great and they have an eye to the future. They have the reverence but they're not trying to sound like the record. They're infectious kind of guys too, positive and funny with such enthusiasm, it's a lot of fun when we play together. They're real teddy boys and they're still so young!! Absolutely amazing band!" - Slim Jim Phantom, The Stray Cats
"Furious rock like crazy!! It's full in your face, hard driving rock 'n' roll with loads of attitude. This is the best music to come out of Liverpool since ex-docker and teddy boy, Billy Fury released the 'The Sound of Fury'. Fifty years forward, you've got 'The Sound of Furious!' - Another landmark in Liverpool's rich musical history. YES, they are that good!!!" - Crazy Cavan 'n' The Rhythm Rockers
“The sound of the British working class, the real one! Furious are the true essence of Rock ‘n’ Roll!” - Mick Green, Johnny Kidd & The Pirates
"Furious have got something special! With that big old double bass and twanging guitar, they really blew me away" - James Burton, Guitar Legend (Elvis Presley, Ricky Nelson, Merle Haggard, Gram Parsons, etc etc)
"Furious are the toughest, possibly the youngest, and definitely the most no-holds-barred rockers on the block. No other band compares! These guys live and breathe the music and believe every word of every song they sing. They deserve our undying respect as they are the real deal!" - Now Dig This Magazine
On first listen, you might think this is cookie-cutter rockabilly/psychobilly, but as you dig a little deeper, ace tunes like “For You”, “Suicide Swig”, “Hold My Heart”, and “Don’t Give Up On Me”, show a genuine songwriting talent that you won’t see in many revival bands. Even some of the rockers can’t hide the songwriting deftness behind volume and swagger, despite there being plenty of that here as well. Their version of “Viva Las Vegas” marries the Elvis version to “Bird Doggin’” by Gene Vincent, and somehow it works! Not cookie cutter at all.
They do have a couple of songs about bashing punks and mods, including “Punk Bashing Boogie”, which makes up in sheer fun what it lacks in subtlety. There’s also “We Are The Teds”, which is basically the “We Are The Mods” chant, with a lyric that glorifies beating up mods. As someone who lives in-between both subcultures (I love it all), I’m not sure what side I’d fall on in that fight. Pretty sure I’d get clobbered by both sides.
What’s in the box: Lots of fantastic pub-rock singalongs, lots of gloriously reckless Chuck Berry guitar boogie, fantastic drape jackets and creepers, incredible pompadour mullets….this band has it all. One comparison that comes to mind, and I haven’t heard anyone say this about them before, so buckle up…. they kind of sound like the Stray Cats and Slade had a baby….? And what a baby it is. Delightful.
So, please- do the Google and the Instagrams and YouTubes, whatever it is you do, and follow this band. They haven’t been as active of late, and that’s a shame, but the records are out there and there’s loads of video to enjoy.
I haven’t written nearly as much on me ol’ Substack here as I intended to, but I will be coming back when you least expect it, now and then. Stay tuned! ☠