Control - No Help For Heroes

 

  Control have been playing their brand of Hooligan Rock & Roll since 2008, they're from London and they formed out of the ashes of Beerzone. Their first release was a split ep with Marching Orders and they followed it up with debut album Hooligan Rock "N" Roll (2009). In 2011, Contra Records and Longshot Records released the highly acclaimed follow up Punk Rock Ruined My Life (you can find a song from that below) and their third album, Ballad Of The Working Man, came out in 2013 on Randale Records. Their latest release is the Pick Your Poison split single on Pirates Press Records with Harrington Saints.

  You can check out some of their music here : http://www.hooliganrocknroll.com/music/

  Influenced by "people who have something to say" such as Johnny Cash, Iggy Pop etc they're also fans of more traditional punk and oi bands such as UK Subs, Rancid, Old Firm Casuals, Foreign Legion etc..... The current line up features Iain Kilgallon (vocals), Glen "Shifty" Johnson (bass guitar/vocals), Ryan Smyth (lead guitar) and Paul Mileman (drums). Some of you may remember Paul chose his 10 favourite songs a while back (http://justsomepunksongs.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/top-10-songs-chosen-by-paul-mileman.html)

  Next week sees the release, on Randale Records, of their new album. Titled United In Blood, it features 16 tracks and they'll be selling copies at The Rebellion Festival in Blackpool.

  To whet your appetite for the new album, here's one of their classic songs, No Help For Heroes.....

The Dwarves - Looking Out For Number One

 
  Ok, I confess. I've ulterior motives for posting a song today by those purveyors of good taste, The Dwarves. It's because not only do The Dwarves rock, they also pull in the most visitors to this blog. Anything Dwarves related gets attention.

  And the reason for wanting your attention today?  Well tonight, at 8pm GMT (yep, that's GMT, a time when most of you guys in the US are out at work so won't be around anyway!) Just Some Punk Songs will be broadcasting it's first proper internet show.

  It's a show that's part of the newly formed (and newly renamed) Global Punk Network and it'll feature an hour packed full of great new(ish) punk music (including a track from The Dwarves, although I haven't decided which one yet). The intention is for there to be punk music shows streaming live 24/7 so if you fancy checking it out this is the Facebook Group : https://www.facebook.com/groups/stenchofhardcore/

  As for the Just Some Punk Songs show, as I mentioned, it starts at 8pm GMT and it'll be here :

http://mixlr.com/mick-fletcher/


  For those of you that can't listen live, the show will be saved so that you can stream it at your convenience. I did a test run last night so there's already a show saved (tonight's will be all different songs). There's no sound for a minute or so as I hadn't put the volume up!

http://mixlr.com/mick-fletcher/showreel/


  Please listen if you can as I just do it as I'm a punk fan and I enjoy pointing people in the direction of great music that they might otherwise miss. Like this blog, it's an amateurish labour of love. Also check out some of the other shows as there's some really great and varied ones.


  Back to The Dwarves, I've already written about them elsewhere on here and you all know how great they are so let's just get to the song.

  Looking Out For Number One.....

I saw my girl, she was hanging
By a thread, she was gone
Left a note, wrote in crayon
Saying, “So long, death lives on”
I really thought that she loved me
Because we’ve had so much phun
Now I’m living on the run, looking out for number one

I took a ride to the city
Had to get out of this town
My little girl looked so pretty
When they laid her in the ground
Her daddy said he don’t like me
But he don’t like anyone
And now I’m living on the run, looking out for number one

I had a drink at the station
Had to get out of my head
Saw my face on a TV
Wanted dead was all it said
Now my life could be ending
When it’s only just begun
And now I’m living on the run, looking out for number one

One day she - laughed at me
And left me dunder-hearted
L.A.P.D. is after me
Let’s get this party started

I’m looking out for number one

Wasted - Doom Train

 
  Today's song is by Wasted, a band who've been together since 1996 and who are from Joensuu, Finland.

  Influenced by the likes of Black Flag, Adolescents, Operation Ivy, Spermbirds and Stiff Little Fingers, they came together with the desire to play raw old school punk rock, something that was a rarity in the Finnish music scene at the time.

  Writing songs about the things that piss them off, they improved gradually and a move to Helsinki saw them progress to a level where they were ready to enter a recording studio. Their first release was 1998's Inside Out ep, this was shortly followed by the Battle Of Life ep. Interest was high enough by then that they played their first European tour and released debut album Suppress And Restrain (2000), as with many of their subsequent releases it came out on Combat Rock Industry and Boss Tunage.

  The years since have seen several line up changes, lots of touring and several great albums (Down And Out, Can't Wash Off The Stains, Heroes Amongst Thieves, Outsider From Choice and Here Comes The Darkness). There's also a couple of collections, Here We Go Again (2003) and The Early Years (2012).

  Curently touring Poland, the band is made up of Ville Ronkko (vocals/guitar), Tuomas "Jamppa" Jarvinen (bass), Antti Ronkko (guitar) and Mikka Jarvinen (drums).

  The song I've posted below is from 2011's Outside By Choice and is an top notch anthemic mid paced punk anthem called Doom Train.....
 

Radio Partizan - Divide And Rule

  A few days ago I posted a song by Leeds band Nervous Twitch which proved popular, today it's the turn of another band from that fine city who have been around for a few years now but recently they've only gigged sporadically due to members "giving birth and shit."  If you're in the Leeds area on the 10th April though, you can catch them live (sharing a bill with Nervous Twitch and Electric Spivs) at The Primrose on Meanwood Road.

  The band are called Radio Partizan and they're a radically political 3 piece featuring members who go by the names Reggie Side, Helena Handcart and Cyril Disobedience.

  2011 saw them release an album called We Interrupt This Broadcast which Leeds Music Scene described as "One of the best punk albums ever made.....hallucinogenic, political, alternative, punk.....an anger fuelled rampage with the use of non standard English" You can check it out here : https://soundcloud.com/radio-partizan

  From the album, this is Divide And Rule.....

Citizen Fish - Marker Pen

Here's a great big, bouncy, in your face tune by scene veterans Citizen Fish. From Bath, England, formed in 1989 and featuring several members who've also played in Subhumans and Culture Shock, they mix up punk and ska, and throw in the distinctive vocals of Dick Lucas to produce an eclectic mix of socially aware material. As well as having a sizable back catalogue they also put out a split album with Leftover Crack called Deadline but today's song is taken from their 2011 Goods lp and it's called Marker Pen.....

The nicest bloke I've ever known
Got locked up in a nursing home
Some disorder of the brain
It had a scientific name
They filled him full of pills and then
Left him with a marker pen
With no paper to his name
He started up a little game

Wrote upon the t.v. screen
And the beverage machine
'Out of order' - wrote on chairs
That someone else was sitting there
Wrote on exit doors 'return'
Wrote on curtains 'will not burn'
Wrote on the telephone 'lines are dead'
Wrote 'on his head' on his head

Even though he was insane
Driven mad by the constant strain
Of repetition and empty scenes
Where everything is and nothing means
Subverting symbols back to front
Proved he was intelligent
So they let him out and left me behind
Now I got his pen and plenty of time

All of this just goes to show
What words can do with the status quo 

The Magnificent -1981

Forming in West Yorkshire, The Magnificent are the type of honest, working class punk rock band that would have grown up listening to the likes of The Clash, Rancid, Bruce Springsteen and Billy Bragg. The trio originally played together when they were 15 in a band called The Pedantics and were regulars on the local scene in bands such as Buzzkill and That Fucking Tank before joining forces again in 2008. Whilst they aren't reinventing the wheel, they can certainly pen great songs about disillusionment, growing up and the decline of modern civilisation. They released their first album, Pay The Crimes, in 2009, album number two, Bad Lucky, following in 2012. Included on that disc was the previous year's single, 1981 (which is name your price here : http://themagnificent.bandcamp.com/album/1981-single ). Combining themes of nostalgia and growing up beset by poverty this is a great example of their craft....

Botox Rats - Nasty Business

A quality slice of scuzzed up rock n roll from London today. Featuring members of various bands such as The Gaggers (who will feature in this blog soon), Shanghai Wires, Disco Lepers and Dagger Dicks, this song, Nasty Business, appeared on a split single with Modern Action. High in energy, with a hint of saxophone, it recalls the golden age of British punk rock.....

WONK UNIT - Guts (Feat. Duncan Redmonds)

From Croydon, London, Wonk Unit have been producing their own unique brand of punk rock music since 2008 though some of them are veterans of the scene having played in several earlier bands including Steve Lamacq favourites The Flying Medallions . This song, Guts, was the opening track on their 2011 album Trolleys Thank You and features Duncan Redmonds from Snuff.

Frenzal Rhomb - 5000 Cigarettes

Formed in 1992, Australian's Frenzal Rhomb were a band that occasionally popped up on the latest Fat Wreck Chords compilation but were never really one of the groups that caught my attention and demanded i seek out more of their work. Then in 2011 they released Smoko At The Pet Food Factory and it quickly became one of my favourite albums. Packed full of harmonies, frantic drumming and guitar riffs and a plethora of catchy as hell songs, it's an album that I'd urge you to seek out. This is 5000 Cigarettes....

Sharp Objects - DMZ

Here's another band who are overdue a new album, hopefully 2014 will rectify the situation as their 2011 self titled debut was a feature of many best of the year lists. The Californian band features members of The Bodies as well as Briefs' guitarist Daniel J. Travanti and their album is packed full of spikey but catchy punk rock tunes.