The Deadbeat are not only great mates of mine but they’re also one of my favourite bands of the last few years. Rising from the remenants of Bastion and The Small Mercies they’ve carved a great path of their own with the great post rock’n roll sound reminding me of Hot Snakes, New Bomb Turks or The Bronx. They’ve very kindly let me upload their new demo for free download before their upcoming final tour (hopefully they’ll get back together once Tony comes back from travelling but just in case I’d suggest getting to one of their last gigs).
So download their new demo from here and then head to one of their last gigs
I’d reccomend their LEEDS GIG (and not just as I’m putting it on..!)
I’m helping Lloyd (Southport, Blocko, Ruin You! Spines) raise some much needed cash for those in need over in Japan as a result of the recent earthquake. All money raised from this event will be going over to Kazu from Boss Tuneage Records in Japan to distribute locally.
So put it in your diary! Friday April 8th at Santiagos (Grand Arcade) Leeds, poster coming very soon!
Providing music on the night will be…
Penny & The Sausages
http://ja-jp.facebook.com/pennyandthesausages
Leeds’ premier 80′s cover band – the ultimate party/wedding band!
The Dauntless Elite
http://www.thedauntlesselite.co.uk/
Leed’s (and the World’s!) finest melodic punk band
The Magnificent
http://www.themagnificentcentral.com/
If Green Day or Rancid were from Yorkshire they might be as good as this
The Dead Reckoning
http://www.myspace.com/thedeadreckoning
Leeds’ answer to Rocket from The Crypt, horn fueled rock n’ roll
Plus…Chris Dolan’s Wakey raffle! Amazing prizes from Boss Tuneage, Bombed Out Records and more so buy a ticket on the night!
PLUS THE RARE VINYL AUCTION!
If you are at the gig you will have the best chance, but to open it up to all (in order that everyone who would be interested gets a chance and so we raise as much as we can for the organisation working with children in the stricken areas we will take email bids pre auction via Lloyd on bass_loser@yahoo.com.
So if you’d pay 20 quid for one you let me know and if there is a higher email bid (or the same value which I receive first) you are out – if not I will keep your bid in until you are outbid on the night in person.
So, what test pressings do we have promised to date…?
BLOCKO – LP
SOUTHPORT – LP
LEIF ERICSSON – LP
ABOVE THEM – LP
CHOPPER – Porcelain 7″
HOOTON 3 CAR – LP(s) tbc
TILTWHEEL – UK tour (which never happened) 7″
YOUNG LEAVES – LP
TIM BARRY – LP
SSSSNAKES – one each of the Specialist Subject and Paper & Plastick LPs
GET BIDDING!
Band order to be decided on the night so be there for the first band at 7.30pm!
The gig is downstairs at Santiagos and please be as generous as you can with donations on the door and throughout the evening as we go around collecting. Tell all your friends and invite them via facebook here
That Fucking Tank @ The Brudenell Social Club Leeds, 10.12.2010
I popped along to this gig not exactly knowing what was going on. Turns out it was That Fucking Tank and Humanfly playing sets of their own before teaming up for some improvising with Damo Suzuki. I didn’t know much about Damo Suzuki other than that he used to play in Can in the early 70′s. I sort of enjoyed his set for about 15 minutes in a sort of chilled out way that reminded me of some of the relaxation CD’s we use at work but I can’t say I’d be mega keen on listening to that for longer (but hey what do I know!) but it was good to try something new and I did enjoy a small dose of it.
Anyway back to the ‘Tank’s set. It was great to see them in their home town finally and as per usual they were awesome, I know they attract a more hip crowd but to me they’re basically two dudes playing classic rock rather than the Lightning Bolt tag that they draw. I genuinely think they should be playing metal festivals, they’re one of the few bands that the 12 year old me and the 29 year old me would agree on being awesome. Don’t just take my word for it, download their set from the night HERE.
The recording is also being used as part of Leeds’s Scene’s Advent Calender so check that out for some more seasonal treats.
(click image above for more pictures of the Sunday)
Homestead Fest at the Homestead Southampton 20.06.10
Homestead Fest was a going away party of sorts for the legendary house/venue that is the Homestead. Serf Combat played on the Sunday so the only recordings I have are from that date (damn dissertation stopping Saturday fun!). I don’t really feel like I’m the most well informed person to talk about the Homestead in Southampton having only been there twice and only played there once but I do feel well qualified to say that it was one of the most inspiring days I’ve had in a long time, really reminding me why creativity, friends and good old DIY punk really is a great thing. So enough cheese from me, onto some of the bands I recorded. Oh and if you want more info on the place and what happened to it, then head over here.
JOEY TU
The first performance I saw was by Joey Tu. I don’t know a lot about this fella at all. What I do know is that he played a fun, interesting set with an acoustic guitar, harmonica and uke which had a conservatory full of punks (and the obligatory dog) watching. Fun times. Here’s a video of him playing ‘Great Expectations’ then you can download the full set below:
Three Pairs of Shoes were up next and I think extended a few people’s perceptions about what DIY music could produce and what the term folk really meant. I’m not meaning to put any bands down but folk influenced punk does not folk make and these three really showed that. Proper folk from the word go, this was incredible musicianship, incredible songs and entertainment from start to finish. Rather than evoking Against Me or Billy Bragg this was much more from the Fence Collective school, reminding me of King Creosote, Pete Seeger or James Yorkston and the Tom Waits cover was a welcome bonus! Raising the bar from the off, I look forward to seeing these three again. Check ‘em out, get their demo then their new CD and then go from there. Here’s a video of them ripping it up with their full set for download below…
All I knew before Homestead Fest about the Working Dead is that they’re from Watford and frankly as an ex-Watfordian carrying the burdan I know that that’s enough to make me watch them. I think there may also be ex-members of the FBATS but I wouldn’t call that a selling point (sorry!). I also now know that they’re a pretty damn good punk band mixing up skate punk with None More Black style melodies and some heavy almost crust like moments. Thats about all I do know but they’re definately one to keep an eye on and I reckon with more time and gigs their sound may get a bit more refined (and perhaps a little bit of a shorter set – 33 mins? 20 mins is optimal I reckon!). Good stuff.
Here’s the set!
Don’t hate the playa, hate the game
The Steal
Short Angry one
Southern Weather
Harmonising with Tinnitus
Thrash Pop is Dead
Battle Of…
Working, Dead
Five of Seven
I Played in FBATS for Three Years and all I got was Giles’ Cock in my Ear
So…the first band to have two sets on this blog, whats that all about?! Well the thing is I’ve come to realise that WEGROWBEARDS are actually very good. Don’t tell Alf or Dunc that as I’ll never hear the end of it. More importantly they played this gig as a two piece as Phill (bass) has recently left. Phill is a shit hot bassist and was great in the band but to be totally honest I think they are much better as a two piece, much more passion, rawness and well…fun. This was two dude on drums and guitar boxed into the corner of a (in fairness very large!) bedroom with a ton of people shouting along and having fun. One of the best things here was the heckling too, to make this set less cliquey here’s some info to help understand the heckles..!
* James Hull is the main antagoniser and instigator of heckles. Later that night he stage dived off a step ladder.
* Apologies I Have None are an awesome folk influenced punk band who used to be a two piece – those two members are very skinny.
* Porches are another band which Duncan and Alf are in – they run on booze
* Serf Combat is another band which Alf is also in (and me!) – we played after and someone ran across the ceiling upside down
Check out the video here of them covering Against Me for an idea of the set. Then check out the set below…
Set List:
Peasants Revolt
The Miners Strike
Black and Tans
The Game
Pints of Guiness Make You Strong (Against Me! cover)
OK ok it’s been a fair while since the eleventh of April but sometimes life gets busy and sometimes I get lazy! But hopefully anticipation has built to a crescendo point and the server will explode as you download away. Anyhow Break The Habit are four chaps from Brighton. As well as being involved with many other bands past and present such as Fisticuffs, The Hotlines, Corrigan and Los Mendozas (or rumour has it) the band members also run This Ones For The Crew records/gigs and Nothing to Prove Records so they’re busy busy boys.
Sound wise they are undeniable (and unashamedly) influenced by Latterman and their ilk but there’s certainly a British touch to them not a million miles away from the likes of Shermer, Circus Act or their good buddies Bangers.
They’re also fairly prolific with three slabs of vinyl out (them being splits with Bangers, Spraynard and the upcoming split with Solutions/Cutting Class). You can purchase all of these via their myspace but they have also made all of their recorded music available for free on the aforementioned site so get going (and then buy some beautiful vinyl!).
This gig was supporting the god damn amazing Bomb at the Windmill along with Southport, The Magnificent, Serf Combat and Question The Mark. Check out my rambles about this gig and associated band in other entries.
The Dead Beat are a 50% London, 50% Brighton post-rock ‘n’ roll machine. If that isn’t enough hyperbole for one sentence then this is a new(ish) band that developed from the remnants of The Small Mercies and then added in one Dan Bowden from the much missed Bastion. Sounding absolutely nothing like their past bands The Deadbeat invoke the sounds of The Bronx, Shellac and at times Fugazi or The Hot Snakes, no bad thing as you can imagine.
This set saw frontman Dan also acting as promoter for the night which might explain the slight sense of urgency in their set as they try to keep things on time (at a punk show at the Cowley Club? Good luck with that one!).
If you enjoy their set head over here for a free download of their incredible EP.
Caution Horses @ The Cowley Club Brighton 01.04.10
This was another set from the Cowley Club gig that the Apologies I Have None download below also came from. It was a jam packed night with Dan from The Deadbeat stressed out to the max in promoter role (I actually thought his head might explode at one point when the backline failed to appear). As it happened the gig was a roaring success; Dan did an ace job creating a great mixed bill and Caution Horses played an urgent, pummeling set with the new drummer giving the band a much more aggressive and powerful edge. If you haven’t heard of them before imagine a fine melting pot of Shellac, Mclusky and The Pixies – yes that good I shit you not. With more tours and bigger gigs coming up there is no better time to be checking this lot out and getting hold of one of their lovely handmade CDs. Do not miss out and be crying over ebay in a few years.
