Sunday, September 07, 2014

JACK & THE RIPPERS - A Wonderful Piece Of Punk Rock 1997

Jack & The Rippers were one of the first punk bands in Switzerland, based in Geneva, which has at that time an equally vibrant punk scene such as Zurich. Most important members of the band were the brothers John (vocals) and Francois (guitar) Seilern, Englishman with Austrian blood which that occurs from the work of their parents were aground in Switzerland. Their mischief drove the Rippers although only for about 8 months (October 77 - June 78), and therefore the release of their first single experienced no longer as a band. Musically the band can be describe as brilliant power punk with strong English strike on the right track. Their only 7inch was released 1979 on Another Swiss Label in a small edition, 500 copies or so, and is for me one of the best swiss punk records all the time, (the original 7” single is now very hard to find.) 'No Desire' is a hymn, a short ecstasy with great lyrics. I can use the song for any compilation, totally addictive stuff! They recorded a 2nd 7inch 'Don't Pretend' but it was never released, first 2003 from Fan Club Company in limited edition of 500 published. Loud, Proud & Punk Records recognized the genius of this band and released this slab with all their early recordings, 2004 Dirty Faces comes with another compilation with two more songs. After the end of the band the Seilern brothers founded relatively quickly a new band with their bassist Babine and two members of another Geneva punk band (The Bastards) called the Zero Heroes. The sound was almost as significant to the English power pop with influences of ska elements, they released two albums. So enjoy this wonderful piece of punk rock!!!!

- Special Thx to Fredrik -

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