Mystery man Rocka wins Battle of the Bands
November 9, 2005, By Therese Owen

‘Hi, I'm Martin Rocka and ladies and gentlemen there are only three kings – drinking, f**king and Elvis.”

With that Martin Rocka and the Sick Shop burst into their first track called The Three Kings. It was the start of the South African finals of the Global Battle of the Bands which are taking place in London next month.

The worldwide competition is in its second year and the prize is $100 000 (R674 000) and a 24-country tour. The national finals took place at Emperor's Palace on Sunday afternoon. It was a rather dismal affair with the standard of musicianship quite low.

However, it was run efficiently and professionally, considering there were 11 bands participating. Last year the South African leg was won by Wonderboom who went on to come second in the world.

Unfortunately there was bad blood when many bands who participated in the competition, apparently led by an upset Airship Orange, had much to say about the decision. This year again, many people were not happy about the decision.

The sad truth about this year is that Martin Rocka and the Sick Shop were clearly the only band who are able to represent our country. Last year the competition was very strong with many of the more established bands participating.

This was because the competition was in its inaugural year and each of the bigger bands had nothing to lose. This time around many of those bands considered entering a second time round infra dig.

Unfortunately this meant that only the baby bands participated and, really, none of them are ready for a competition this big.

It is especially so because the competitors only get to perform two songs at the national finals and one song at the international finals. A band has to be really professional and experienced to kick it in one song.

So when rockabillies Martin Rocka and The Sick Shop started with The Three Kings and ended with She's Like a Whale we all knew they had already won.

You cannot beat a man in a wrestling mask and red glitter jacket, playing evil guitar with such finesse and parodying himself and his music.

In a world that enjoys boring “safe” bands like Coldplay and Nickelback, Martin Rocka and the Sick Shop have a good chance of winning. The other bands still have a long way to go before they reach a professional level, but perseverance sometimes pays off.

Trailer Park Rockers Make No Apologies
November 9, 2005, By Therese Owen

So just who is Martin Rocka, lead vocalist of Martin Rocka and the Sick Shop? Could it be one of the Cutting Jade guys?

Nah, they're a bit too geeky to produce the man behind the mask of SA's biggest secret since Die Kavalier and Mzekezeke.

There are also rumours that it might be one of the Springbok Nude Girls, perhaps even Arno Carstens himself. There are also rumours that is one of the Wonderboom guys.

Whoever he may be, it is his band that is representing South Africa in the Global Battle of the Bands. They are known for their twisted and irreverent lyrics with their first two albums called Product of Bad Breeding and Trailer Rash respectively.

They are currently working on their third album, Through Sick and Sin which is set for release in January 2006.

The Sick Shop includes James Flames (a sickly character who looks like he comes straight outta a Tim Burton animated flick) on double bass and Boy McLoud who plays drums, standing up.

Commenting on winning the South African leg of the event, Martin Rocka had this to say backstage: “Many bands have things to say about us winning
. We make no apologies for winning, like we make no excuses for the music we make.

“It's just raw, raw rock 'n roll. My question is – and if they can answer this they can go to London in my place: besides us, which one of those bands were asked to play at the Loeries, an event known for being cutting edge?” Exactly.

“But we are very chuffed that we get to represent SA, especially seeing that we're a left-of-centre band. I am glad the judges had the foresight to choose a band that was not generic.

The competition takes place on December 7 in London. So what would Martin Rocka and the Sick Shop do if they won?

He looks at me through his wrestling mask as if I'm stoopid: “We would tour 24 countries with $100 000 in our pockets. We'd spend the money on sex, drugs and gambling and then waste the rest."
MARTIN ROCKA AND THE SICK SHOP – TRAILER RASH

Posted by Katvrou on Tuesday, March 01, 2005 (PST)

Need to wake up dead Uncle Ned? Itching to blast those thick plugs of earwax out your ears? Is your party a rotten room filled with overgrown, constipated sludge?

“Rock ‘n roll music and why I preach against it. I believe that it is a contributing factor to our juvenile delinquency of today. I know what it does to you. And I know of the evil feeling that you feel when you sing it. And I know the ... the ... lost position that you get into ... and the beat ... well ... uhmm ... if you talk to the average teenager of today and you ask them what it is about rock ‘n roll music that they like, and the first thing that they’ll say, is the beat, the beat, THE BEAT!!!”

For sanity’s sake, stop wasting oxygen. Get Martin Rocka and The Sick Shop in your speakers. The second CD is breathing in the neck of every bloated comatose couch potato and this one doesn’t floss. Hell, it doesn’t even rinse. This is Trailer Rash. Thirteen pieces of knuckle-bruising, eye-spitting, chlorine-snorting, gob-hacking, head-butting beer-swilling psychobilly rock as raw as the strings growing out the back of your eyeballs.

Seen them live? Still alive to tell the tale? Good on yer, mate. Three dudes, strangely but undeniably sexy in a “ah just piss off, will ya” way – while simultaneously beating livid Gretch, drums and bass strings into a heap of pulsating peaks, evil bass poohhm-poohhmms and orgasmic bursts of “Ohhh yuueeahhhh-baybeeee” out that evil Rocka throat.

That’s the way it goes down at Roxy’s (also known as Venus Fly Trap) stage. When Martin Rocka materialises with staring balaclava and in-your-face pimp outfit, grabs the Gretch and starts yanking at her insides, the shouts come from everywhere. The bar, the dance floor, the faces staring down from the second floor, screams from your nostrils, hell man, even your navel starts speaking in foreign tongues. These are the tunes that drive you nuts. The beat that takes you into a vortex equipped with the sole purpose to remind you that you are indeed ALIVE. Rocka groans into the microphone: “Me, My Monster and My Shrink”, then seems to suck the metal thing down his gullet with “My Daddy dragged my Momma by her greasy hair, she was a little witch, she really didn’t care ...” while the crowd yells: “YOU SUCK!!!” Then he hurls some weird guttural urrrggghh of disgust into the direction of the bobbing crowd, and slyly thanks them for not going to “that Woodstock thing.”

Behold the charming tongue-lashing in “It’s All Right”. The freaky dude introduces himself as “my face is all haggard, my teeth are falling out, my eyes look like roadmaps, you can see I’ve been pissed on stout ...” This one’s so fast, it will slice through your cerebellum while you’re still thinking about blinking.

Hey wait, there’s slushy love-stuff, too. “Trash Like You” is a ballad like nothing you’ve ever heard. “You were the lady in my luck, now you swing and I duck, and you’re no four-leaf clover ...” Hooo boy, you just want to get close and swim through syrup on some dark dance floor. “You used to follow me around, now you worship the ground that I should’ve been trodden into ...” Ahhh, love. So brutal, so honest.

“Burst Into Flames” will mash your brain. “Jungle Rock” will eat you alive. But you get time to regroup. So that you can feast on the rest of Trailer Rash – ROCK from the belly of the earth.

Katvrou

Martin Rocka and the Sick Shop go Back2Basix

Last Wednesday I had the pleasure of watching one of the best bands in the country playing at one of the best kept secret venues around. Martin Rocka are a three piece comprising Martin Rocka on guitar and vocals, James Flames on double bass and for the night Garth from Sugardrive did sterling service on the drums.

It was their first gig since the untimely demise of drummer Dave Clarke (Rest in peace, my brother) and was about memories and reminiscences and rock n roll music.

Their style is a mix of Elvis, the The Stray Cats, 50's rock n roll and surf music with their own version of psychobilly. With songs like 'Surf's up, motherfuckas', 'Shakin' all over', 'Me, my monster and my shrink' together with covers like 'You're so square' and 'Blue Suede Shoes' this is an ultimate party band.

The venue is small and compact with decent sound and and a friendly vibe. I recently saw Wonderboom there as well as Arno Carstens and Back2basix really do have some class acts in action there. Just opposite University of Johannesburg (Old RAU) in Lancaster road, Westdene they are a must for music fans that dig live, local bands.

Amongst the crowd were Cito from Wonderboom and Paul from Sugardrive who also play together with Paulo in Absinthe. There was a continuous party vibe and the gig was also filmed and recorded.

On the intro to the album 'Trailer rash' Martin Rocka have a voice over talking about the evils of the beat in rock n roll contributing to juvenile delinquency. From start to finish of the album, as well as their gigs, the listener is transfixed by the beat and it never lets go.

By Dreaded Outsider at 26/05/2005

 

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