Is it possible to be both happy and sad at the same time? I'm guessing it is as that's how I feel now. Happy as I noticed a new ep by Dublin band Grit (https://www.facebook.com/GRITDUBLINOIPUNK). Sad because it's a final posthumous release.
The band first featured on Just Some Punk Songs in 2016 when I admitted to knowing nothing about them other than that they were a female fronted punk band from Dublin who'd recently released a demo ep titled Ghost Estates. https://justsomepunksongs.blogspot.com/2016/08/grit-pauline.html
Shatterproof is an excellent debut album which builds on the promise of 2 very fine singles (you can check them out here : https://gritdublin.bandcamp.com/releases). 10 tracks of gritty, oi infused punk rock with catchy tunes and well written lyrics. Topics covered include Irish revolutionary military commander police commissioner and fascist asshole Eoin O'Duffy, struggling to make it through the day, women fearing for their safety if they go out alone, living in poverty etc. It's a release that I didn't know was coming and it's a very welcome surprise. It's available on vinyl via A.U. Vinyles (https://www.uvpr.fr/produit/grit-shatterproof-lp/)
This is the opening track, it's a song of which the band say "the subject matter seems to be escalating every day. The same story of property vultures and destroyed neighborhoods all over the world. Don't let them kill our city! Dublin still has a soul!" It's called Parazone...
They suck the youth out of the youth
Bleach the streets to hide the truth
Carve up the map with a scalpel blade
And throw the ghost estates to the birds of prey
They've sterilized our bricks
to wash us away
Blitzed all of our buildings
Exported the problems overseas
Parazone
Dust and bones
Bulldozed homes
No Go Zones
This concrete has a soul
This town still has heart
These streets will never forgive
the time they tried to tear us all apart
Day 6 of Randy's favourite recent political/protest songs...
GRIT - Nowhere Else
Grit (https://www.facebook.com/GRITDUBLINOIPUNK/) is from Dublin, Ireland. Comprised of folks / musicians generally associated with a heavier crust / hardcore sound. Musically, Grit is melodic, catchy, anthemic oi / punk done up just right. As one band member put it in an interview with Idioteq: "a band that’s a bit of fun, catchy sing-along, good for a dance yet punk as fuck." Inspired by bands like Camera Silens, Bishops Green, Syndrome 81, etc.
Lyrically, Grit says: "Topics include: work, class struggle, friendship, loyalty and the sad state of our country due to austerity policies of the government hopefully with a different edge. With GRIT it’s “real” singing and you can hear the words and we need super-catchy choruses." And: "Some of the topics we have tackled are: austerity politics, class struggle, the decline of the Irish small town, dysfunctional relationships, mental health, friendship.We try to have a defiant tone, I hope that although some of the subject matter may be bleak you will still feel optimistic about the future when you listen." For me, I've reached the age where I wax poetically, nostalgically and at great and unwarranted length about the past, about the 'good old days'. And for me, that's the late 80s/early 90s in Toronto. There was definitely nowhere else I wanted to be and, for me personally, this song is important because it sums up the tenor of those times quite succinctly. This song 'takes me back.' There was fun, there was friendship, there was fighting (and infighting!), there was adventure, there was debate and debauchery and, I'll add, in retrospect, there was the arrogance of youth and a sometimes blinding belief in our own correctness and rightness. But, goddam, we did get shit done.
We literally lived and breathed left-radical politics 24/7. And, like the song says, we also drank a lot of pints along the way. This song takes me back to beer-filled nights at the South African Centre in Kensington Market and shows at Sneaky Dees, it takes me back to the Love And Rage conference in Hamilton and ARA conferences in Columbus, Ohio, to endless meetings, countless demos, never-ending debates, punk rock fundraisers with bands like Blundermen, Random Killing, Jersey and Repeat Offender, and to numerous road-trips to conferences, prisons, courtrooms / trials and assorted actions.
It takes me back to publications and organizations such as Arm The Spirit, Toronto Anarchist Black Cross, Toronto Ecomedia, Anti-Racist Action, Love And Rage, RASH, Community Charge, Prison News Service; all of which influenced me one way or another. Proud to have been part of or worked on / with a few of them. This song takes me back to Toronto Anarchist Black Cross meetings, to hanging out at the Blackbird Design studio watching the newest Toronto Ecomedia being laid out, to sitting in Jim's living room and stuffing copies of the latest Prison News Service / Bulldozer into envelopes for mail out. It takes me back to Myrtle Street and Dundurn Street in Hamilton and Huntley Street in Toronto, where numerous issues of Arm The Spirit were put together.
Mostly though, this song takes me back to the people / crew whose mentorship, camaraderie, kindness and commitment to the 'cause' inspired me, influenced me, moved me. I'm very thankful to have had (and in some cases still have) these folks in my life. A partial and certainly very incomplete list in no particular order: Ron, Kraaker, Kim, Steve, Kevin, Shannonbrooke, Superfred, Patricio, Ruth, Tom, Rich, Bilbo, Kieran, Mike in Detroit, Eden, Rick L., Jim Campbell, Gord H. ,Craig, Karl and Dale, Sunday, Kristine, Dan/RASH. Apologies to those I've forgotten. Thanks to all. The struggle continues.
Our scene, our fight Poseurs, yuppies can stand aside Cos we're going to get pissed tonight Our crew, side by side Unspoken bonds last our whole lives And we're gonna have the craic tonight
I've kept it together the whole week long I've tried so hard to toe the line I work all week, pay the bills, pay my dues Keep in touch with my roots, with my crew Cos we don't fit in nowhere else
We'll sing, we'll fight Nowhere to hide Good night white pride And we're gonna use our fists tonight Our crew, side by side Unspoken bonds last our whole lives And we're going to have the craic tonight
Grit are the very promising Dublin band who announced themselves with an impressive demo cd in 2016 and confirmed initial impressions with debut single Diamond which I liked enough to include in part 2 of the Just Some Punk Songs best of 2017 show. Unbeknown to me, in the chatroom for that show was Byrne Os who introduced himself as being in Grit and we all breathed a sigh of relief that the other folk in the chatroom had been saying nice things about his band.
I took the opportunity to ask him for a Top 10 and he sent me this selection of great music. I'll quickly post a link to Grit's Bandcamp page and Facebook then hand you over to Byrne....
Hi Mick, I hope all is well thanks for asking me to contribute to the blog. I followed your format of a youtube link followed by numbered information about the release. Here's my "kind of top ten." Good luck for 2018..Byrneos (Grit). This list is not in order of merit and also includes some releases that are old but I only became aware of in 2017 1) ZONE INFINIE - Rester et Fuir
Hailing from St Etienne, France, ZONE INFINIE have just released "Rester et Fuir" @ https://zoneinfinie.bandcamp.com/ and it is due a physical release in 2018. It is a great follow up from their brillant s/t lp of 2015.
2) HEXEN - Shame On Us
It's the "Die Frauenjagd" ep 2016 from HEXEN all female (if that matters to people) oi! streetpunk from Bilbao in Basque Country. I see on their facebook they are recording an album which is due out in 2018 I for one am looking forward to it.
4) BEAR TRADE - As Long As We Have Tea BEAR TRADE "Silent Unspeakable" lp 2017. Playing out of the north of England, the music of these lads evoke the same feelings I get from listening to Sunderland's Leatherface but are in no way a clone or "diet leatherface". To quote a mate "gritty, melodic, and a bit of humour thrown in. Love it." https://beartrade.bandcamp.com/
5) KLAXON - 1984 I had this downloaded for ages but only got it in the letterbox this year. These boys were knocking about Rome, Italy in the early 80's and this is a compilation of some of their releases put out by San Francisco's Sydneytown Records in 2013 and re-issued in 2016. Early oi! punk at it's best.
6) DIKTAT -À Double Tour Back to France again....for some of the best D-beat Hardcore about : DIKTAT "a double tour" tape release. This band is from the Bordeaux scene that gives us class acts such as Gasmask Terror, Warning/Warning, Face Up To It. The tape is great, but if you get the chance to see these boys live don't pass it up!
7) COLD LEATHER - Hag-Ridden No sleep till Berlin this time around because it's the COLD LEATHER demo tape 2017. Ear-wormy punk rock. I had the privilege to play a gig with these in Dublin this year and again the tape (which is brilliant) does not do them justice - not one to be missed live. They've also just put out "past remedy 7 inch " on Sabotage Records
8) BLEAKNESS - Ruined Trajectory Back to France one last time...this time based in Nantes, we have BLEAKNESS "Ruined tape" 2017 This is top notch punk hardcore with hints of Blitz and coldwave in the mix. Also just out on vinyl now as "Ruined ep" (destructure records)
9) AUSENCIA - S/T ep Back in time a little here but again only found my ears this year. L.A.’s AUSENCIA s/t 7 inch from 2015 is great Spanish language punk with oi! influences. It could be a contemporary of Klaxon (see above) if only they weren't 30 years apart. This release has been followed by more in 2016 and 2017 so lots to check out.
10) CHIN CHIN - Sound Of The West Way Going right back with this one CHIN-CHIN "Sound of the Westway" this lp came out in 1985 on Farmer Records. An all female three piece formed in 1982 in Biel, Switzerland playing catchy as fuck! Punk/Newwave. I couldn't believe I hadn't come across this record before this year if they had been from UK or USA they would have been massive...anyway don't waste any time get listening!!
Short and sweet today as I know nothing about Grit other than that they're a female fronted punk band from Dublin. Recently they released their debut demo ep which is titled Ghost Estates and you can find it "name your price" here : https://gritdublin.bandcamp.com/album/demo.
I've seen a good few people praising the vocals and calling for a label to snap them up so I'd say they're definitely ones to watch out for.
From the ep, this is a warning to a friend that her new boyfriend is no good, it's called Pauline.....
Pauline's got a new bloke, what a wanker Where'd she pick him up? scroungy bastard Put his hand up my skirt, sleazy scumbag Lazy parasite, fucking ex-squaddie She's no confidence, same old story Thinks he knows the lot, what a dickhead Tries to show her up, macho bastard Take your warning, sling your hook mate
I don't want to lose my friend Cos her bloke is a dickhead And he ruins the night when he shows up Pauline, you're in a rut
Listen up now, she's our friend. Got her back 'til the end And you'll rue the night, if you show up Sling it, just sling your hook
