We go back Down Under today but this time we're getting our punk rock kicks from New Zealand rather than Australia...
Unsanitary Napkin are a ferocious anarcho punk trio from Wellington who've been kicking up a racket since 2015 and feature a line up of B. Michael Knight (drums/backing vocals), Hannah Salmon (vocals/guitar) and Rupert Hunter (bass/backing vocals). They've released an album called Patriotic Grooves and a few singles/eps and are now back with a cracking split album with Hamilton hardcore act Contenders. 5 tracks by Unsanitary Napkin, 4 by Contenders, it's available on cassette or as a name your price download : https://unsanitarynapkin.bandcamp.com/album/contenders-unsanitary-napkin-split
Back in 2012, in Waitangi, a female protester named Josie Butler threw a dildo at economic development minister Steven Joyce, hitting him in the face. She was heard shouting "that's for raping our sovereignty." 7 years on and that incident has been documented as the opening track on the split. It's called Dildo Baggins...
National hero Restoring faith With that dildo
Steven Joyce You’ve been deceiving Here’s comeuppance For your thieving
Josie’s here To stand and fight That throbbing phallus Taking flight
You should feel shame Ol’ dildo face That toxic deal Is a disgrace
Dildo!
In the!
Face!
Dildo Baggins
Motivation perfect Execution flawless You join the ranks Of Lucy Lawless
Some days you just want to introduce a short blast of top notch spikey indie pop into the lives of your blog's visitors. Today is such a day.
Hopefully you're all familiar with Boyracer, they've been around for almost 30 years turning out timeless alt classics on cool labels such as Slumberland, Sarah and Emotional Response. Their back catalogue is a treasure trove of fuzzy goodness (a good example being the track that featured on here back in 2014 https://justsomepunksongs.blogspot.com/2014/09/boyracer-he-gets-me-so-hard.html) and happily they're still producing the goods as today's song will illustrate.
Their latest ep came out last month, it's a 3 track ep on Emotional Response and as there were only 100 copies of the limited edition clear vinyl pressed you better get a shift on if you want one (3 copies remain as I write this). You can also get it digitally : https://emotional-response-recs.bandcamp.com/album/bored-and-lonely
The line up on this release is original member Stuart Anderson on vocals etc ably backed up by new recruit Christina Riley (from Artsick and Burnt Palms on lead guitar & vocals). It's a starter course for a new album that'll be titled Even Though We’re Not Okay, We’re Going To Be Alright and it bodes well.
This is the title track of the ep, it's telling us that even though we maybe feeling fed up, isolated and stuck in a rut there's many others out there just like us. Maybe we should reach out. It's called Bored And Lonely...
Monkey Mind are a new 3 piece band from the north east of England who feature Lee Wright (Crashed Out) on guitar and vocals, Martin Paynton (The Panic Report) on drums and Michael "Olga" Algar (Toy Dolls) on bass and backing vocals. It sounds as though it will be next year before there's a physical release or gigs from the band (when there's a Toy Dolls 40th anniversary tour in full swing there ain't much time for Olga to commit to anything else) but there are a couple of songs on a digital single and you can get them on Bandcamp : https://monkeymind2.bandcamp.com/
On the evidence presented thus far their sound is going to be cheerfully chipper and extremely catchy. I played Local Lass on a recent show and as you might expect it extols the virtues of northern girls. This is the other track, it's a plea to blokes with the stature of fellow north eastern pint size Declan Donnelly to get over it and stop taking umbrage over any comments or stares that might irk. It's called Small Man Syndrome...
HEY YOU ! PINT SIZE FELLA................... So you got, small man syndrome, you’re a pint size fella you ask me why? when you're small,some look down on you, little man I've got news for you, it’s not the same for you and me, but that's the way it has to be
So you got, small man syndrome,your always in a fight 'n' have a point to prove,does the world owe you an apology? cos there's a chip on your shoulder and its bigger than five foot three! It’s not the same for you my friend but that's the way it has to be until Thee end!
Hey You,pint size fella,you better get used to it,give Up the fight, get over it, you’re a pint size fella, pint size fella! You got small ‘man syndrome’ you gotta get over it ! It’s not the same for you, it’s not the same for me, but that's the way it has to be.
Do you feel, the odd one out in a crowded room, Do they stare like you’re from another planet ? Have you got, big plans in your head, how your gonna make em pay for what they said. It’s not the same for you my friend,but that's the way it has to be But you can’t see
You've got small man syndrome, are ya gonna get used to it! Give up, get over it, your a pint size fella /pint size fella You got small man syndrome, you gotta get over it Its not the same for you, its not the same for me, but that's the way it has to be.
You gotta get over it, You gotta get over it, You gotta get over it NOW.............
You want a fun pop punk song about ageing and finding your old punk gear is starting to get a little tight? Read on...
The Sheckies are a pop punk band from Cape May, New Jersey, who formed in 2004, split up a few times but have been back together playing their Ramones/Queers/Screeching Weasel inspired brand of music since 2013. There's been numerous line up changes down the years but the current line up is lead vocalist/guitarist Andy Social, drummer/backing vocalist King and bassist/backing vocalist Geo Suicide. This is their first appearance on here though Andy featured a few years ago with his band AndySocial and The Antidotes (https://justsomepunksongs.blogspot.com/2016/05/andysocial-and-antidotes-first-kiss.html).
"Martial, furious, MATA HARI is expected to make a splash in 2020." Quite some praise from Rolling Stone magazine for the band that I'm featuring today but do you know what? They may just be right...
MATA HARI formed in 2016 in Montpellier and see regular line up Paul Gauloise (bass/keyboard/ singer), Paul Maumy (drums) & Teo Blanc (guitar/singer) joined on their debut ep by Jonathan (singer/guitar) and Jack Pernet (drums). The ep's titled Building Site and it's 5 impressive cuts of tasty post-punk. I notice the press release is throwing around names like Joy Division, The Stooges and Idles and when you're being placed in such esteemed company you better be good. Fortunately they are. Just don't expect them to sound anything like those bands as these young Frenchmen have carved out a sound of their own. You can get more info on them here : https://www.facebook.com/page.matahari/
This is the lead track, an industrial opening leads into an angular attack of sharp guitars (or would that sound better as a sharp attack of angular guitars?) and lyrics about spending hours round town, walking down empty streets, waiting for tomorrow, there's no way out, no rescue. An allegory? I think you'll be very impressed. It's called Factory...
Some of you may remember that a few weeks ago I was telling you about a compilation of Australian bands called Short Fuse that was released by Wreckless Enterprise Records. There's now a volume 2 that shines a light on another bunch of cool Aussie punk acts and one of those bands, Babymachine, have just released their first lp since 2011. It's titled Abort! Abort! Abort! and I'll be sharing a song from it today...
From Wollongong, Babymachine released their debut album way back in 2003 so it's fair to say that an 8 year gestation period is pretty much par for the course. They play super heavy punk rock, their live shows look a bunch of fun, all long flowing locks, blistering riffs and plenty of sweat. Their music is often humorous, often political, always hard hitting. As they put it themselves, it's akin to the roar of a thousand births. You can check out all 3 albums here : https://babymachinerock.bandcamp.com/
The line up on the new record is Bec (Lead Vox), Jacqui (Guitars/Vox), Kristy (Bass/Vox) and Trina (Drums). They've a few gigs lined up including today's album launch, the Short Fuse Vol 2 launch and a support slot with Hard-Ons and you can find out more info here : https://www.facebook.com/babymachinerock/
I'll play a different song from the album on this week's show (https://www.facebook.com/events/755707388203077/) but today I'm highlighting the (kind of) title track. This is a song that posits a solution to the problem that is Donald Trump (or I suppose it could be about any number of backward thinking neanderthals). All the band's trademarks are present and correct; politics, humour and great big rocking riffs. It's called Abort...
put him on a boat / send him back to where he came from / spewing from his mouth / rubbish so absurd / send him back to school / get a better education / cruelty and hate won’t fix the world / send him back undo his birth / ABORT! ABORT! ABORT! / send him to a womb / get a probe and menstruate him / pussy grabbing lunatic won’t rule the world / find the mutant gene and change the combination / sexist rants / change him to a girl! / send him back undo his birth / ABORT! ABORT! ABORT! / send him back to fucking birth / ABORT! ABORT! ABORT!
As promised, here'a another winner from Monster Zero Records...
The Hallingtons are the Ramones/Lillingtons/Riverdales/Teenage Bottlerocket loving pop punk 3 piece from Oslo who line up with Tor Hallington (drums/vocals), Mikel Hallington (Bass/vocals) and Jørgen Hallington (guitar&vocals). They formed in 2010 and have been releasing catchy 1-2-3-4 type songs ever since. They've been on here once before back in 2016 when they were running from the USSR (https://justsomepunksongs.blogspot.com/2016/05/the-hallingtons-running-from-ussr.html) and they return today (possibly still out of breath but free from pursuit) with a track from their new ep, The Hexed. It's their 3rd on Monster Zero, it features 6 snappy tracks about good girls, bad girls and super annoying girls and you can get it on vinyl here : https://monsterzerorecords.com/products/hallingtons-the-hexed-ep
This is the 2nd video they've released from the ep (Jesus Freak being the first (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68he-W-suBQ). It's simple and very cool and compliments the song well. The song is fast and super catchy and is your stereotypical boy likes girl type song that's great when like on this occasion it's done well. It's called Pretty Neat...
Foxcunt are a punk band. Their personal interests are Art, Punk, Cider & Riot. Whilst choosing their name they probably weren't expecting to get much exposure on Radio 1, luckily there's little old blogs like this one that don't mind the odd bit of effing, jeffing and cunting.
They're from London and feature a line up of Sean Clothier (guitar), Chris Damage (electric violin, vocals, design) Ally Moss (vocals, occasional guitar), Melissa Reardon (drums) and Kat Stevens (bass). They've been releasing music for 3 years, Melissa used to be in The Wimmins' Institute and I don't know much else about them other than they've just released a rather spiffing video for one of the songs off their debut album. The album's called A Visit From Foxcunt and it's out tomorrow : https://foxcunt.bandcamp.com/album/a-visit-from-foxcunt
There's a couple of songs already streaming, I played one on the show a couple of months ago, it's called Anxiety Dream and it's unsurprisingly about having bad dreams about stuff like getting chased by unpaid bills or your rhythm section kicking you out of your band. It's very good. Even better is the other song, it's a plea to bring back stuff from back in the day like Love Thy Neighbour, potato famines, degenerative brain diseases and kids down the mines. It's enjoyably humorous and will quite probably feature on this week's show (unless there's an even better song streaming tomorrow!) It's titled (Bring Back) BSE...
bring back bse bring back my country british hearts british spines bring me back what’s mine
bring it back bring it back
give us back our bse give us back our country british hearts british spines british kids down british mines
bring back bse potato famines cups of tea love thy neighbour shit tv the national anthem on the bbc
bring it back bring it back
creutzfeldt jakob creutzfeldt jakob creutzfeldt fucking jakob
There's a number of bands that when I play them on the show I can confidently predict the chatroom folk will fill the room with love. Girls In Synthesis are one of them...
They're no strangers to this blog so hopefully you're already familiar with them; formed in late 2016, hometown London, line up John Linger (Bass & Vocals), James Cubitt (Guitar) & Nicole Pinto (Drums) etc. If you want to know more go here : https://mailchi.mp/6e8cebebf405/gishub or here : https://www.facebook.com/girlsinsynthesis/ If you check out those links make sure you also check out details of a new ltd edition 7" featuring 2 new tracks and 2 live vinyl only b sides.
You've quite possibly already heard the title track so today I'm highlighting the equally impressive second track. It's written from the viewpoint of one of the "haves" as he takes pleasure in the struggles of the "have nots." It's bleak and bruising and should make you feel anger towards those in society that want to destroy hope and inflict pain. It's called Smarting...
Teenage Bubblegums are the east coast of Italy 3 piece from Forli who've been around for about 10 years and who's line up features Billy (guitar/vocals), Ally (bass/vocals) and Mingu (drums). I featured them on here back in 2014 when they did a very cool Groovie Ghoulies cover (https://justsomepunksongs.blogspot.com/2014/12/teenage-bubblegums-lets-go-to-moon.html) but they're back today with one of their own compositions.
Their new album, their third, came out last month on Monster Zero Records. The press release promises 10 poppunk smashers filled with sadness, angst and despair. Boy/girl vocals, buzzsaw guitars and a backbeat to die for. Sure to find favour with lovers of Ramonescore bands like The Manges, Teen Idols and The Bat Bites it's another winner from Monster Zero (all being well, yet another winner from that label will feature later this week). You can get it on vinyl or cd here : https://monsterzerorecords.com/ and digitally here : https://teenagebubblegums.bandcamp.com/
New Zealand trash masters The Cavemen don't need much of an introduction, they've been covered regularly on here over the last few years due to the fact that they're both very productive and very good. They're already preparing to follow up last year's excellent Nuke Earth album with a brand new lp. It'll be their 4th and it's out on Slovenly Recordings (https://slovenly.bandcamp.com/) in December and will be titled Night After Night.
They've been warming up for the album release by touring around Europe and next month they'll be heading out to Asia to play gigs including the We're Loud Fest in Vietnam. You can check out details here : https://www.facebook.com/thecavemennz/
They gave us a tasty teaser of the new album a couple of weeks ago in the form of a video for the song Don't Know Why (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbUOY56UcZo) and if anything they've taken things up a notch with video number 2. It's a song about mindless violence, about picking fights after school and gang warfare with a video that reminds me a little of the fight scenes in both The Wanderers and Anchorman! It's called Knife Fight...
In the words of Edwyn Collins, "Rip it up and start again..."
Dischord are the Blackpool band who impressed back in 2016 with the concept album War Or Peace (a song from which featured here : https://justsomepunksongs.blogspot.com/2016/09/dischord-red-poppies.html). They've been together since 2011 and feature Chris Newton (vocals), Zowie Swan (bass), Dave Swan (guitar) and Jake Fenton (drums). They're currently preparing to release a new album, it'll be out on Oct 31st and will be titled Convent Crescent.
On the surface it's a soundtrack to a short horror film released by Chris and Zowie last year and as well as Dischord it features numerous other bands such as Soulcakes, Despairground, The Never Dead etc. You haven't heard of those bands? Not surprising. Read on...
In March 2018, Zowie and I released a short horror film, ‘Convent Crescent’. We knew it was only the beginning of a much longer story. What we didn’t realise at the time was that it was also the beginning of a new Dischord album. In 2016 we released our third album, ‘War Or Peace’. It was our proudest achievement at the time; a concept album about war, death, love, forgiveness and, well, peace. The album’s final track, ‘Love’ became our favourite track to play live, and closed that album with our most important lyric: “They call me blind, but my name is peace. I am the silence when the guns have ceased.” The problem with writing your best album is the subsequent question: what comes next? Fast forward to 2019 – imagine a Hellish time-jump montage of Brexit negotiations, Theresa May dancing to Abba, Boris Johnson shuffling into no. 10, Tommy Robinson covered in milkshake, Mosque attacks, John Lydon sporting his ‘Make America Great Again’, school shootings and Donald Trump mocking the disabled – a post-satirical dystopia seemingly designed by Quentin Blake and Spitting Image on a particularly bad day. Ample fodder, we were repeatedly told, for a political punk band. But fodder for what, exactly? Evolution has always been integral to our writing process. We’ve never wanted to repeat ourselves. Ultimately, the point of ‘War or Peace’ was that war, political corruption, religious extremism, nationalism, terrorism and suffering are universal, self-perpetuating and doomed to continue indefinitely without drastic systemic upheaval… Despite the reign of leaders so grotesque as to be utterly immune to parody, nothing has changed. There is nothing to say we haven’t already said – and continue to say on stage every night. There are only so many punk songs you can write before they all begin to sound the same.
Having taken ‘punk’ as far as we could without repeating ourselves, we were faced with a dilemma: could we change our focus, push our style to the point where we risked no longer being ‘Dischord’? And, what the hell was ‘Dischord’ anyway? A band who played three minute fast, shouty songs, or four people pouring every ounce of their souls into their instruments?
Should we split up? Start a new band? That would be too easy. Should we grit our teeth and write a hardcore album about ‘Brexit Britain’? That seemed about the least punk rock thing we could do. That’s what you’d expect from us.
Why not evolve? Why not take a risk? As strange as it sounds now, Seaside Suicide was a risk. Prior to that we had never played hardcore punk. We didn’t know we could do it. We didn’t know if people would connect with it if we did.
So we set ourselves a challenge. Many artists we admired – David Bowie, Marilyn Manson, The Beatles – reinvented themselves from album to album, using new personas to find fresh perspectives and create new sounds. If they could reinvent themselves with each record, why couldn’t reinvent ourselves with each song?
What if Dischord wrote the soundtrack to Convent Crescent?
Ten tracks performed by ten different ‘bands’, each one of them Dischord in disguise. It was the perfect opportunity to shake things up. For me to get back behind the drums, to let Jake demonstrate his abilities as a guitarist and – more importantly – a producer, to let Zowie take on lead vocals, for Dave to hang up the Gibson and break out the Spanish guitars, 12 strings and effects pedals, to open our studio doors to a variety of guest musicians.
So began the creation of one the most insidious concept albums ever written. A novel and its soundtrack written simultaneously, with songs for once not written to flow together, but written deliberately to jar, to contradict each other, whilst surreptitiously forming an elaborate concept – a narrative told in secret.
We’ve always said that the album was the ultimate artform, the perfect combination of music, film, art and poetry. We’re taking that to its extreme with this album: A record, a novel and a short film all in one, combining to tell a complete story.
‘War or Peace’ declared love to be the solution, and we thought that was a full stop, but now we’re exploring what that actually means. ‘Convent Crescent’ is a story of love. It is also a story of death, rape, murder, demonic possession, sacrifice, addiction and loss because it’s written by the same damaged minds that brought you ‘The Wakes’, but ultimately it’s about love.
For our last album, we designed a set of tarot cards, featuring characters representing the albums’ themes: The Soldier, Death, Love, War and The Devil. ‘Convent Crescent’ is their story, and if you think we’re not angry, you’re not paying attention.
Happy days! There's been loads of really great new releases popping up recently and I'm getting a bit of a backlog on here but I'm slowly ploughing through them. Today I'm posting a song that went down well on the show a couple of weeks ago by a band that formed above a funeral directors up in the north east of England back in 2015 but who I only came across recently. They're called Almighty Uprisers and they mix up elements of ska, punk, reggae and dub and add angry, anti-establishment lyrics to produce a heady brew that impresses. They're a 5 piece with a line up of Sparra (Lead vocals/Guitar), Scott (Guitar/Backing Vocals), Bill (Bass/Backing Vocals), Paul (Drums) and Nath (Keyboard). You can get more info here : https://www.facebook.com/thealmightyuprisers/
They released their debut ep a year ago, it featured 6 tracks and was titled Take Control. 12 months down the line they've followed it up with the Fit To Work ep, another 4 edgy reggae punk songs about politics, the ill being forced back into work by the DWP and the trouble caused by excessive drinking. You can check it out here : https://almightyuprisers.bandcamp.com/album/fit-to-work-e-p
This is the title track, it starts slow with a voice telling us that an average of 90 people have died after they had been declared fit for employment by assessors before inviting you to turn your anger into energy as you skank around your room as the pace picks up. It's called Fit To Work...
Miscalculations formed in Harlow, North London back in 2013 and could possibly be described as being the archetypal band of No Front Teeth Records with vocalist Marco Palumbo-Rodriguez having graced numerous of the acts that've featured on that excellent label; The Gaggers, Disco Lepers, Botox Rats, Cold Callers, Stalin Video to name just a few. Oh, and he also runs the label. Alongside him in the band are Shaun Clark (drums), Mauro Venegas (guitar) and Robert Perrson (bass). They've recently released their 5th full length, it follows Miscalculations (2013), Kill The Whole Cast (2015), A View For Glass Eyes (2015) and Echolocation (2017) and it's titled The Perfect Candidate. You can get more info on the band here : https://www.facebook.com/miscalculationslondon/ and check out their music here : https://miscalculations.bandcamp.com/album/the-perfect-candidate
Their music is described as "Agitated yet melodic, Miscalculations are sharp as a surgeon’s blade. Punk Rock + Electro Punk." Back in 2014, Prostitutes frontman Kevin Patrick McGovern chose their song Dead Vocabulary as one of his Top 10 tracks of the year (https://justsomepunksongs.blogspot.com/2014/12/top-10-songs-of-2014-as-chosen-by-kevin.html) and he described them as "this angular and moody injection of post-modern post-punk. Indecision and frustration combined with whirling Joy Division inspired leads; create a nice little number with deranged disco vocals that bleed perfectly into the cacophonous mess" which is a better description than I can come up with.
The Perfect Candidate is a dozen post punk bangers overlaid with Marco's distinctive vocals and comes highly recommended. The song I'm highlighting today first appeared on last year's Sharp Solution ep (https://rockstarrecords.bandcamp.com/album/sharp-solution) but is definitely deserving of it's inclusion on the new album. It's called Shallow Water...
Leicester's Longtooth & Wasterman (aka Greg Semple and Karl Traae) return today with a new track on which they get transported to a not too distant future where they find themselves onboard the Starship Enterprise NCC-170, the crew are all missing! The ship is being taken over by a rogue photocopier that has attained sentiency and is threatening to takeover the universe! Meanwhile Sophia Janeway (formerly of Hanson Robotics) beams in to save the day. It's all played out to an electro-punk soundtrack...
The duo have been described as having a sound that lands somewhere between Crass, Atari Teenage Riot and an angrier Sleaford Mods. They mix up the energy and anger of punk rock with drum and bass and hip hop. Electro beats and cutting lyrics. Punk music for the modern age. You can find out more here : https://www.facebook.com/Longtoothandwasterman/
A refreshing change from the standard punk tunes you get served up on here, this is a bonkers space odyssey called Killing Hal...
Plastics gonna kill us all Long live the photo copier The last survivor of the humans spawn Long live the photo copier AI AI AI A I I A (repeat) Long live the photo copier Long live the photo copier 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 (repeat) Long live the photo copier Long live the photo copier
We couldn't stop the diesel But the diesel stopped us Sacked your dad for the self driving bus Long live the photo copier Long live the photo copier Who’d have thought That the first AI Would choose the gender Of a woman And not of a guy Tell us why tell us why we got a lady AI......stand by Long live the photo copier Long live the photo copier Long live the photo copier Long live the photo copier AI AI AI A I I A (repeat) Long live the photo copier 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 1
she ruined my sci fi Ruined my life Before her point of view I found titillation nice I know you're quite angry I know you're quite right The oppression by cock And the fight for your plight Long live the photo copier Long live the photo copier AI AI AI A I I A (repeat) Long live the photo copier 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 1
Our fun is over What’ve we done My 3 titted alien is on run She had to wear a mini skirt She had to be young For the ratings of the cock But the cocks day is done
I want to be digitised and fly across the stars I won't need air or water when I'm colonising Mars Just a little bit of graphite And a little blob of grease They could even fit an off switch So they won't need any police
Upload our brains and cast off this flesh Then there won't be any criminals coz there won't be any left And when we’re all dead And when we’re all gone The photo copy copier Will copy copy on Copy on
In recent times, a majority of the British press never seem too far away from printing their next headline decrying the looney left. Supposedly first used before the 1987 general election it's a term often trotted out by red tops like The Sun, The Mail and The Express to pour scorn and derision on pretty much any idea the Labour Party might come up with. It's a slur that's thrown around not just at the Labour Party though, it's also used to label groups or individuals that don't share those tabloid's editor's political views and though I'm no expert on US politics but I'm sure people like Bernie Sanders also get tarred with the same brush and no doubt it's a term used world wide. Unfortunately it's a term that's been used so often that a sizeable proportion of the general public are swayed by the headline and don't bother to look deeper. If they did they might wonder, is it such a bad thing to think society's needy should be protected. Is it a bad thing to want nuclear disarmament? Is it bad to think animals should have rights or that the NHS should be protected? Today's song suggests that being a caring human being shouldn't lead to you being labelled looney left.
Rats From A Sinking Ship are Lusty and Jamie Price, a rap punk duo from Ilkeston who've featured on here a few times previously but who return today with what's quite possibly their best track yet. If you're unfamiliar with them you can find their music here : https://ratsfromasinkingship.bandcamp.com/
They recently completed work on their new album, it's a collaboration with Austrian producer Markus Kienzl and if the first single from it is anything to go by it's going to be very special indeed. The single sees them team up with legendary poet, activist, author and actor Benjamin Zephaniah for one of the year's best songs. Jamie lays down a bruising soundtrack whilst Lusty scornfully questions why he should be criticised for preferring to wave a flag for the community as opposed to one for the jubilee or for being pro human rights. Why should he be considered a troublemaker for caring about those who sleep on our streets or are being brutalised in places like Congo and Bahrain. So far, so great, but then then they play their trump card.... Benjamin Zephaniah adds a touch of class as he calls for revolution, world peace and the saving of the planet. He doesn't like the smell of anyone who is Conservative and he hasn't any respect for the church and state and you know what, I'm with him 100%. Great music, great lyrics. A vital release.
Another guest review today, this one by Billy Ouka (aka Simon Geddes, vocalist with Accrington post-industrial revolution punk band Slug Butter https://www.facebook.com/Slug-Butter-1289415334489121/ ). Billy's been waxing lyrical recently about a song from the new album, The Perfect Ending, by Oxford band Cassels. They're a duo comprising of brothers Jim and Loz Beck and they make music for misanthropes and malcontents. You can find out more about them here : https://www.facebook.com/casselsband/
And now over to Billy...
It was the cover that immediately took my notice, I'm glad it did, the first few bars suddenly explode into the intent of the song, a cynical attack using music, as art, as protest, a comment upon today's lack of attention to the world around us, the music biting, gentle, insightful, expressing the feelings behind the song, if ever you thought punk was dead then this will change your point of view, young, fresh, current, I can hear so many bands that could have influenced these young brothers from Oxfordshire but I bet they've never heard of any of them, if these lads are doing it, just how many more bands and musicians are there, sat in their bedrooms making punk rock?
How did growing up in the hotbed of rock ‘n’ roll that is Chipping Norton influence you as youngsters?
Jim: For me, it’s probably the primary source of the pessimistic and misanthropic worldview which permeates all of our music. Growing up in a small town with all of the small-minded attitudes that come with it – the racism, homophobia, and disdain for anything or anyone that appears to even slightly contradict the norm – meant there was a lot to seethe about.
On the positive side, growing up in a vacuum did mean we were able to develop our music without being influenced by others. We got all of our parroting out of the way in our countryside bedroom (another benefit of living in the middle of nowhere – we could make all the noise we wanted) pretty early on, and quickly began to sound like ourselves
The lyrics are spot on, a scathing comment upon today's political climate
I like to think that I’m a deep thinker And I’m pretty sure that I’m a person with conviction But in reality I know I’m a snowflake in winter Blown along on the wind of the latest liberal opinion
No way Snowflake
Every tut at the newspaper sets off a chemical reaction And every opinion piece you read Is accompanied By a tiny dopamine release And I’m afraid to say Exposés don’t necessitate action Holding a mirror to an ugly face Doesn’t change the reflection
No way Snowflake
And believing the general public Will level-headedly consider All the available facts and figures Before rushing to make rash decisions And form erroneous opinions Is ridiculous as believing The late-night polemics Of ego-centric and overzealous television presenters Can bring about the downfall Of a tyrannical president
The album is worth a listen too, a creeper that immediately stands out
So check them out, give your support on their Facebook page and lets see them grow into the band people take notice of. This is A Snowflake In Winter...
Flangipanis are a male-backed 4 piece punk rock band from Brisbane who formed in 2008 and have been partying it up ever since. The line up is Jodie (guitar/vocals), Josh (guitar/backing vocals), Pauly (bass/backing vocals) and Josh #2 (drums). They sing about "drinking, fucking up, getting fucked up, and sometimes fucking" and they're great fun. Their songs are often short and frequently potty mouthed but it's pretty much impossible to take offence even when they're encouraging you to Get Your Boobies Out or commenting that even if you've only got 4 fingers you're fine as you can still have a wank and open a door! Good old fashioned juvenile fun that unfortunately seems to be often frowned upon nowadays but as fan Peter H says about one of their releases, "I love this album because Happiness is all that matters and the Flange's do what they do better than anyone else, simple as that."
They're not only fun but also hardworking and deserving of your attention, as Wreckless Enterprise Records co owner Ronny Van Dyk tells me, "they drove 1,000 kilometres from Brisbane to my town Wollongong to play a show we set up a few days ago. Just one show! The money we can afford to pay them will barely cover their fuel, let alone anything else. How’s that for dedicated?" They've a few more shows lined up Down Under so if you're in Australia make sure you check them out if possible. You can get more info here : https://www.facebook.com/flangipanis/
And so to the new record. It's an ep that blazes through it's 7 tracks in less than 10 minutes. It's titled Community Backwash and features grin inducing, up tempo songs about binning someone off, pissing in someone else's beer and heading into town to sing all their favourite songs. It's only downside is that it finishes leaving you gagging for more but no worry just click on their earlier releases... https://flangipanis.bandcamp.com/album/community-backwash
This is the ep opener, it starts with some weird ET type music and everyone's favourite X Files redhead saying "Mulder, suck my dick" before getting the party started with a love letter to Agent Dana. It's called Scully....
Armoured Flu Unit and Grow Your Own Records have teamed up to bring us one of 2019's most powerful releases. Almost a couple of years on from their classic This Machine Kills Fascists (https://justsomepunksongs.blogspot.com/2017/12/armoured-flu-unit-this-machine-kills.html), AFU are as uncompromisingly brilliant as ever. The new record is titled Crusading Nations and is available on 10" vinyl featuring 8 banging tracks, ltd 300 press in Clear Vinyl with blue and red streaks and a hand built gatefold cover. The first 100 "come with stuff." It's also available on cd and digital download and you can find it here : https://anthraxuk.bandcamp.com/album/crusading-nations-2
The band are a "Bin kicking Anarchoi thug rock" 4 piece from Durrington and Southampton boasting a current line up of Nath Haywire (vocals), Danny Burch (bass/backing vocals), Iain Influx (guitar/backing vocals) and Saul Tarner (drums). Saul replaces Andy Morris who played drums on this release. You can get more info here : https://www.facebook.com/ArmouredFluUnitOfficial/
Crusading Nations takes no prisoners. It pummels the senses with glorious bass driven noise whilst getting you to engage your brain on topics such as police infiltration, a treason law used by the Indonesian authorities in their genocide of the indigenous inhabitants of West Papua, the indifference of the general public and drummer Andy Morris' account of recovering in hospital after a heart attack. My favourite song is the closing track, Grenfell, which despite being more considered is the most heartbreaking and anger inducing one on offer. Today though you're getting the song with the video. It's called No Compromise and this is what the band had to say about it....
Armoured Flu Unit would like to take the opportunity to dedicate the following track “No Compromise” to those who have protested the “Dakota Access Pipeline” and the Anti-fracking protestors “Frack-Free Lancashire” at the gates of Preston New Road drill site to show Cuadrilla they have no social licence to operate.
The Dakota Access Pipeline protests began in early 2016 in reaction to the approved construction of Energy Transfer Partners' Dakota Access Pipeline in the northern United States. The pipeline was projected to run from the Bakken oil fields in western North Dakota to southern Illinois, crossing beneath the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, as well as under part of Lake Oahe near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. Many in the Standing Rock tribe considered the pipeline and its intended crossing of the Missouri River to constitute a threat to the region's clean water and to ancient burial grounds.
In April 2016 two events spurred the mass protests. First, a young indigenous girl named ‘Tokata Iron Eyes’ and her teenage friends organized "ReZpect Our Water" as a social media-based campaign to stop the pipeline. Second, Standing Rock Sioux elder ‘LaDonna Brave Bull Allard’ established a camp as a center for cultural preservation, spiritual resistance to the pipeline, and for the defense of native sovereignty. Showing indigenous people are still being oppressed to this day.
The Preston New Road site at Little Plumpton has been the scene of repeated protests from environmentalists who object to hydraulic fracturing - in which liquid is pumped at high pressure deep underground to fracture rock and release gas.
Monday 14 Oct 2019 celebrates “Indigenous Peoples' Day”. South Dakota officially celebrates “Native American Day” and other states have an "American Indian Day" or "American Indian Heritage Day". A holiday that celebrates the history and contributions of the indigenous people of North America and recognition of the people who were oppressed.
Sad news this week when Jason Long announced he no longer had the time to continue with his excellent webzine Smash The Discos (https://smashthediscos.wordpress.com/). It was a zine he started to help promote and support the hard working bands mainly in the street punk and oi genres and even though he's still continuing with his On The Nod radio show (https://www.facebook.com/onthenodradio/) the end of the zine will be felt by many of the bands that Jason helped promote. In the hope his writing wouldn't disappear completely I offered him a guest reviewer slot on here and his first one features today.
The Divided are an Orange County band featuring members of Bonecrusher. The line up is Raybo (Vocals), Noah Lysek (Drums), Pat Hall (Guitar), Brian Celi (Guitar) and Rich Zaydel (Bass). You can get more info here : https://www.facebook.com/thedivided.us/
I've been waiting for this album to drop for some time now. Now, i knew it was going to be good. Bonecrusher alumni, plus I've always been a fan of Brian Celi's side work. I got a teaser sample a few months back, and the song I heard was on my level. The burning question was, "Now how good is the album going to be?" There's been a lot of great releases over the past few years. Will this album come and go, or will it find a permanent spot front and center in my daily rotation? All i could do is hope that The Divided was going to give the streetpunk scene a much needed swift boot to the ass. Considering the line up, it was easy to have faith.
Then I finally got the album... and it's fucking amazing!
Thick, heavy, melodic guitars, powerful back up vocals, some of the best drumming I've heard in quite some time, and Raybo. Goddamn it's good to hear that voice again. His gruff vocal delivery is unbeatable. Not to downplay any of his previous works, but this is the best to date in my opinion. There's no need to name off choice tracks because this is a complete play through album.
FLAWLESS VICTORY
Streetpunk is not for the weak. This album is what our sound is all about. To all those bands who lost their way: listen hard for a lesson learned.
This is the title track, it's called World You're Living In...
A band that's gone down well when I've played them on recent shows is The Manikins. They're from Nyköping, Sweden and play a mix of garage punk and power pop. Despite me only stumbling across them earlier this year they've actually been together since 1999 (reforming last year after a 9 year break). Their line up features Joakim Forsberg, Tommie Lindfors, Max Thyrén, Kalle Alwert and you can get more info here : https://www.facebook.com/Themanikins/
They've recently released a stunning new album called Bad Times. it's available via Resurrection Records, FDH Records, No Front Teeth and Secret Identity Records. There's limited edition blue vinyl available and you can find it streaming here : https://themanikinsofficial.bandcamp.com/album/bad-times
For a first album in 11 years they've slipped back into the groove effortlessly. They fly out of the traps with manic opener Get Some before hitting us with the excellent title track. It's an album full of hits "that'll get your party started." Not to be missed.
I think there's been three videos released so far but I've chosen to go with this one, it's a timeless classic that could easily have been a smash hit as long ago as the 60's. It's called Make A Run For It...
You know what. I'm getting fed up of cycling to work in the rain. It seems as though pretty much every day recently I'm getting soaked. Yeah I could buy some waterproofs (and probably will come payday) but in my dreams I'd move somewhere hot and sunny, somewhere like Tampa, Florida. And if I ever win the lottery and move to Tampa I'd make sure I went to watch a gig or two by Atomic Treehouse as they both look and sound fun. (This opening paragraph would probably be a touch more accurate if the weather in the video at the bottom of the page was a bit better, it looks as though even Florida gets the occasional cloudy day but sod it, humour me, I'm just trying to paint a picture of a band that'd sound great as you're driving down a coastal road in a convertible, top down, music blasting out).
So you now know their name and where they're from, I can also tell you they're a 3 piece pop punk band who formed in 2016 and line up with Alex Retro (Vocals, Guitars and Keys) Johnny Misophone (Bass and Backing Vocals) and Eric Stix (Drums and Backing Vocals). As well as pop punk they're also influenced by many of the catchy pop n roll songs from the 50's and 60's that inspired bands like The Ramones and The Queers. For more info go here : https://www.facebook.com/atomictreehouse/
And on to the important bit, the music...
They've just released their first full length album, it's Self Titled, it features 13 "geeky pop punk jams" and if you're a fan of this kind of music you'll lap it up. It's the usual bunch of songs about girls and relationships and video games and stuff... it's done really well (I'm getting reminded of The Young Rochelles) and it's definitely better than getting piss wet through cycling to work so head over to Bandcamp and have a listen : https://atomictreehouse.bandcamp.com/album/atomic-treehouse-3
This was one of the singles that preceded the album and as there's a cool video accompanying it then that's the song you're getting today. It's about a guy who's not having the best of luck trying to win the affection of a girl and it's called Expired Box Of Chocolates...
I've got your name Stuck in my head where you became The queen of my daydreams Do you feel the same?
I cannot pretend My luck isn't cursed I bought you a gift but I wasn't the first But mine might be the worst
I bought you an expired box of chocolates But I never would have guessed Though I picked them up on clearance I thought they would still be fresh
Every little thing I do No, I'm not impressing you There's no change left in my pockets That expired box of chocolates
You've made the list Of girls who don't care I exist Cuz when I say "hi" A chance passes by
I can't talk about The weather anymore Cuz it never changes, and I'm feeling sure I probably make you feel bored
I bought you an expired box of chocolates But I never would have guessed Though I picked them up on clearance I thought they would still be fresh
Every little thing I do No, I'm not impressing you There's no change left in my pockets That expired box of chocolates
