World Vison Japan Benefit – Leeds

 

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

Achtung Everybody! @ Santiagos Leeds 14.01.2011

 

Achtung Everybody! are finally back in action after a bloody long hiatus and it’s good to see them return.  They did me the honour of playing at our pre-NYNS event at Santiagos and blew the face off most of us there (especially when Benny got down to his short shorts).  It was also the first time a representative from all bands on the Achtung/Southport/Serf Combat/Offshore Radio split 7″ had been in the same room so I guess it was the nearest we’ll come to a launch (over a year later!).  If you’re into technical fast punk then you could do a hell of a lot worse! So download their set here by right clicking and saving as or just click to stream.

Set List:

Infernal Affairs
Burn Your House Down A Peg Or Two
Dude We’re In Jail
Let’s Break The Paradigm
Then Fight! We Must!
The Dabrowski Brigade / Husker Don’t?
Shit Out Of Luck And This Is A Gambling Town
Broken Stars And Biomass
Identity Theft

Humanfly @ The Brudenell Social Club Leeds, 10.12.2010

Humanfly @ The Brudenell Social Club Leeds, 10.12.2010

The set here from Humanfly was from the same Damo Suzuki gig as mentioned below with That Fucking Tank so I won’t go into many details.  Humanfly are one of those bands that I’ve been aware of for quite a few years, I picked up their first album around 2003 which was a good replication of Dillinger Escape Plan/Botch style technical metal.  It was pretty good but didn’t really blow me away.  Fast forward to about 2005 when I was up in Leeds on Heroic Doses’ first tour and we stopped off in Leeds, I saw Humanfly that night and was indeed blown away, they’d slowed down a ton and were much more in a Mastodon style of riff fueled rock.  Fast forward once again to 2010 and the band have slowed down even more and added some sparse delayed vocals really showing a fantastic modern realisation of Black Sabbath (even down to the vocal pitch), their new album is a great representation of this so pick it up asap.

Download the set here to check ’em out before getting the album

Set List:

This is Where Ur Parents Fucked

No Gods No Masters

(Untitled New Song)

Passage To…The Enemy of My Enemy

 

 

 

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That Fucking Tank @ The Brudenell Social Club Leeds, 10.12.2010

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.

Set List:

(Intro) Pulling Teeth

Making a Meal for Beethoven

Mr Blood

NWONWOBH

Dave Grolsch

Bruce Springstonehenge

Keanu Reef

 

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Boozy Du Fest @ Santiagos, Leeds 06/11/10

Boozy Du Fest @ Santiagos, Leeds 06/11/10

What began as Craig sticking on the mighty Tiltwheel in Leeds turned into a beast of an alldayer, so when Tiltwheel had to pull out of their UK tour the show had to go on and turned out to be a sold out, packed out, drunken monster of a day and night.  I didn’t see a bad band all day, despite not being a massive fan of the stamina test that is the all dayer (this one was from 2pm to 1am!) and as well as seeing some familiar faces blow the cobwebs off of Santiagos (hello Above Them, Bangers and Vanilla Pod) I also saw some great bands that were new to me as well.  So without any more rambling here’s some recordings and bumf on some of the bands that I caught on tape…

 

I’d heard a lot about PUDGE as Craig had recently stuck out their album and everyone I met in the North seemed to have a tale about them.  Expecting a sloppy mess of fun from a bunch of boozed up South Yorkshire men and Woman I was pleasantly surprised to see that their reputation as a band full of humour and banter was bolstered by a tight as shit performance along the lines of 90’s pop-punk bands that Fearless or Sub City would have put out (you know before they went shite).  So check ’em out, buy their album then listen whilst eating your chips and peas.

Set List:

Quit While You’re Behind

ABCD

Strongbow

Fucking Yes Mate

Here Comes The Science Bit

Clean Living

Chippy Tea

Download Pudge’s set by right clicking and saving as HERE

 

I can’t believe it, but this was the first time I’d ever seen CROCODILE GOD. Legends in the UK punk scene, and having had their discography put out all that not long ago by Crackle Records I really have no excuse.  Anyway they certainly lived up to all their acclaim.  If you like the Pudge set you’ll fucking love this one, fast no nonsense pop punk (but you know not that modern shit pop punk but fast, hard punk with catchy bits) this lot set the standard for UK punk in the ’90s alongside Leatherface, Grampus 8, Skimmer and the like and rumour is they’ll be recording a new album soon so keep ’em peeled.

We’ve not got a set list for this one at the moment but you can certainly download the set by clicking HERE (or right clicking and saving as to keep for later)

TEENAGE REBEL DOPEFIENDS were a new band for most people here, though despite the relative newness there were some expectations since TRD were all members of Grimsby’s finest exponents of thrash Fastpoint (in fact all members of Fastpoint bar their singer are in TRD).  So the expectations were (a) Northern, (b) thrashier than a thrashy thing and (c) fucking good.  Two out of three ain’t bad. There was no thrash but instead some incredible punk fuelled rock sitting somewhere between La Grecia, None More Black, 7 Seconds and Creedence Clearwater.  Makes sense right?  Well check out their set and keep your eye out for their upcoming releases on Not Shy of The DIY.

Set List:

Whipping Boy

Dopefiend Shuffle

Marina

Mr Official

Problems

I Failed the Law

Rebel’s Remedy

Download the set by right clicking and saving as from HERE

THE MAGNIFICENT are well known to readers of this here blog and they didn’t disappoint at all tonight.  Having just come back from a U.S tour and recording session in Chicago there was that joy of watching a band fresh off of tour with that confidence and tightness that comes with that.  A load of new songs were played which I hear will be on the new album next year.  Not straying too far from their Tone/Clash/Green Day anthems but with a few more anthemic choruses, it should be a fine old album when it arrives.  In the meantime check out the set.

Set List:

1981

Buy More Crap

Longshot

Doctor & The Freeze Up

Don’t Send Me Flowers

Song For Lauren

Search Party

BBQ & Grasshoppers

Citizen X

Hold Your Drink Up High

Download via this handy link HERE

Last up this evening for me were THE DAUNTLESS ELITE. Mates of mine but also without a doubt one of my favourite UK bands, the finest people and purveyors of punk rock.  I can’t be the only one finding it hard to wait for their follow up to ‘Graft’ (which I hear will be recorded early 2011 – come on!) so in the meantime check out a few new songs in their set here.  The crowd were in the perfect mix of boozed up and ready for some punk and some terrible singing from the boozy fans can be heard in the set here (I like to think it adds a certain charm…) also a few squeals from the mics can be heard thanks to the ever so slightly inebriated sound engineering of Beefy and Ben from Achtung Everybody – good work lads.  Here’s a video of The Dauntless Elite playing ‘What’s Eating Winston Smith’ to give you a visual taste of the well-behaved crowd and band…

There’s no set list at the moment but download the whole set from right over…                     HERE

 

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Set Sail Fest @ The 1 in 12 Club Bradford 11/09/10

Set Sail Fest @ The 1 in 12 Club Bradford 11/09/10

So off to the legendary 1 in 12 Club in Bradford for one of their all dayers.  These tend to range from awesome to empty so there was a slight trepidation to the day!  Luckily this day veered more towards the awesome and fair play to Sean for this being his first ever gig, the place was nicely packed (though with 14 bands it would be hard not too!) and I didn’t see a dud band over a looong day and night.

Most people know Oliver John Ward as Jugs, Sweet Jugs, ‘that dude from Rooftops’ or many more never derogatory (!) names.  Well he’s recently branched into that perilous field of punks that is going solo.  I know Ollie is a good dude but was a bit worried about what he’d be like on his own.  Luckily I, and many others there were very surprised by how good he was.  Rather than going the ‘folk-punk’ route, Ollie plays his guitar hard, sings from his guts and packs a serious punch, plowing a very unique style and oh the poem at the end!  When you listen to the poem, remember that a small child was in the room at the time.

Here’s a video of one of Ollie’s tunes then right-click here to download the full set (set list coming soon).

Apologies I Have None played a mid afternoon set and it was great to see them playing to a non-home town audience and still getting an incredible reception.  I won’t wax on about them any further as I think I’ve said it all before but this set really reaffirmed that they are one of the greatest bands going in the UK at the moment.  So as a break from the norm here’s a video of the whole set.  It was originally recorded in awesome HD quality but for some reason when I divided the video up for youtube the quality moved to that of an 80’s VHS but hey!

Part (1)

Part (2)

Part (3)

Part (4)

Whilst we’re chucking out videos, here’s one of my boys We Grow Beards rocking out ‘Miner’s Strike’ later in the day.  Good times were had by all in their set including members of Apologies and Don’t Let Paris Fool You stage invading for their now fairly tight (honestly!) Against Me cover.

My biggest surprise of the day was Durham’s One Night Stand In North Dakota.  If I’m going to be honest I wasn’t really looking forward to them, I’d written them off as another shitty ‘folk punk’ band of which there are very few doing it well.  How wrong was I.  Without one of the most exciting, inspiring and enjoyable sets I’ve seen in quite some time.  Managing to show a well considered, intellectual covering of important issues without patronising people and all the whilst managing to create an atmosphere where people can sing a long, crowd surf and have an amazing time.  I never thought two people with acoustic guitars could create this and I’ll be checking out their back catalogue asap on Discount Horse Records

Set List:

Heterosexuality is a Construct

Shop Less Live More

Kim Kelly is My Friends

If Anyone Needs Me I’ll Be in the Angry Dome

That Takes Ovaries

Either He’s Dead or My Watch Has Stopped

My Clean Sweep at the Clown Oscars

Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter

I could Carve a Better Man out of a Banana

Download the set from here by right clicking and saving as or just click to stream!

Pure Graft/Lock & Keys @ Santiagos, Leeds 10.09.10

First Friday night gig I’ve attended in Leeds and what a cracker!  Dave (Pure Graft) had put on a sweet bill, sadly Well Wisher weren’t able to make it due to family issues which was a real shame but hopefully all is OK on that front.  In their place were The Lock & Keys. I was unfamiliar with the band but was pleasantly surprised.  Definitely not what I’d usually listen to and because of that I haven’t got a lot of comparisons to make as they’re sort of out of my musical vocabulary if that makes sense?  At a push I guess bands like The Movielife or bands of that ilk and from what I’ve heard of Polar Bear Club I guess a comparison could be made there.  Essentially poppy-punk with keyboards and male/female vocals with a hell of a lot of break downs and half times!  Check it out.

Set List:

1. Guilty

2. Save your breath

3. Close to your chest

4. Late Nights

5. Absent friends

6. Wasting time

Download the Lock & Keys set by right clicking and saving as here or just click to stream

Pure Graft were up next and it’d been a long time since I’d seen them last.  Often their reputation precedes them as the contain a bit of a who’s who of Northern punk.  They’ve definitely stepped up a gear over the last year as anyone whose heard their songs on the four way 10″ that ROIDH recently released.  The band somehow manage to mesh the technically proficient hardcore of bands like Strike Anywhere with the party atmosphere of bands like Dillinger Four, not sure how they manage it (at a guess frontman Lesta’s banter has a big part as can be heard here…) but hell, it’s awesome and impossible not to love.

So have a listen then show them some love.

Set List:

1. Pugs vs Dan Yemin
2. Blatanat localism
3. When we fail
4. Drinking at the Pantheon Bar
5. Walking on Glass
6. Duh Duh Durh
7. Minor Threat

Right click here to download the set

The Love Triangle @ The Packhorse Leeds 05/09/10

The Love Triangle @ The Packhorse Leeds 05/09/10

OK so apologies for a lack of updates recently.  Bit of a hectic month, I have finally finished my MSc (cheers to everyone who helped with my thesis – more on that very soon!) and have upped sticks to Leeds where I have started a new job as a Cognitive Behavioural Therapist – busy busy!  So I guess a lot of the gigs from now will be from the Leeds area though I’m sure some visits to Manchester and even the South (!) will be occurring in the future.  So without further ado here’s the first gig I’ve been too since moving North.

The Love Triangle are Louis and Tim from the Shitty Limits plus a dude on bass whom I’m afraid I don’t know the name of.  I wasn’t sure what to expect, would it be SL mark 2 or something different?  Well the result wasn’t a million miles away from the Limits but I have to say I actually enjoyed this lot even more (and I’m a massive fan of the Limits).  With Louis restricted by his guitar – meaning he wasn’t as much of a ‘character’ as he might be perceived as frontman for the Limits, you got to see more of a genuine musician rather than the (incredible) frontman that he appears as in the Shitty Limits.  Toning the music down a touch but still coming from the garage-punk era the band mix up some up tempo dance tunes with some more slowed down (what appeared to be) love songs.  Well have a listen then check them out.

Track Listing hopefully coming soon but right-click here to download the set or just click to stream.

Break The Habit @ The Windmill Brixton 11.04.10

Break The Habit @ The Windmill Brixton 11.04.10

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.

So without further ado here’s the set list:

The Night Watch

Driving Home

Eerie, Indiana Ashdown

Risk Averse

”Clean Up In Aisle Wales, AMIRITE!”

Subtlety Has Never Been My Forte

Right click/save as and download from here

Question The Mark @ The Brixton Windmill 11.04.10

Question The Mark @ The Brixton Windmill 11.04.10

Question The Mark are a new band for me, I’ve heard their name about before but never had the chance to see or hear (well I guess I could have gone to myspace so thats more laziness than anything…) them before.  Well on Sunday we were playing with The Bomb in London so got the chance as these fine lads from Bridgend were playing too.  They were a man down as one of their guitarists was unable to make it but they played a damn fine set as a trio and their blend of Avail and Hot Water Music (i.e loads of hooks and a beefy as fuck sound) went down a treat.  I hope to see these lot more in future.  Head over to their myspace as well to pick up one of their 7″‘s which can be ordered from them.

Set List:

DARK ROADS

BORE-DUMB

CHOICES

GROWING OLD

LURED

download the set by right clicking and saving as here