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!
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
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 aboutPUDGE 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.
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
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!
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 wereThe 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
Ten Songs Podcast is Phil Chokeword (Facial Disobedience Zine, Last Hours Zine, Pilger, Gordon Gano’s Army) internet baby, a lovingly created monthly podcast featuring Phil’s favourite ten songs from the month. Usually punk and hardcore related there’s also the odd folk or garage anthem on there too and recently Phil has had some band’s record sets for the show and has also had some guest presenter’s in. I feel privileged to have been invited by Phil to contribute to this latest podcast (which also turns out to be one of the last for a while as Phil heads off to Australia – bit of a world away from Southampton!). It was hard choosing which songs from the blog to put on the podcast but a mixture of sound quality and awesomeness helped. So here’s the track listing for podcast number 20. Download it, enjoy, then work your way through the other equally fantastic episodes.
1. Thee Oh Sees – Castiatic Tackle (From the Warm Slime CD on In The Red Records)
2. Crimpshrine –Summertime (From the Duct Tape Soup CD on Lookout Records)
3. Nightbirds – Prognosis: Negative (From the S/T 7 inch on Grave Mistake Records and Dirtnap Records)
4. Automatic – Crossing Kill Creek (From the Crossing Kill Creek CD on Indecision Records)
5. Discount – Clap and Cough (From the Half Fiction CD on Kat Records)
6. Exploding Hearts – Rumours In Town (From the Guitar Romantic CD on Dirtnap Records)
7. Chillerton – True Dudes (From the Hollow Lane 7inch on Kiss of Death Records)
8. Bastad! Rats! – All We Need (From the Rough Nuts & Soft Nuts CD, downloaded from the Kill Your Own website)
9. The Shaking Hands – You Should Really Get That Looked At (From the S/T CD on ADD Records and Kiss of Death Records)
Guest set – Toby from A Load Of Stuff That Happened blog
10. Never Again – Same Old Story (live at the Albert Brighton)
11. The Magnificent – Six Beers (live at the Windmill Brixton)
12. Apologies I Have None – Sat in Vicky Park (live at the Cowley Club Brighton)
13. Caves – Torn it Down (live at the Hope Brighton)
14. Monikers – Too Much (From the split 7 inch with The Delay on Kiss of Death Records)
Caves (gig picture coming soon!) were on tour with Good Luck when they reached the sunny shores of Brighton. I’d heard a lot of good things about them but hadn’t yet heard either their 7″ on Specialist Subject Records or their split 10″ (with Calvinball, Pure Graft and Big City Plan) on Records or it Didn’t Happen. What I did know was that the trio were fronted by Lou from Flamingo 50 a phenomenal power-pop-punk band from Liverpool who I never caught live so I was very interested to see if Caves shared any of the same influences. After seeing them live I am rather happy to say that they are without a doubt (and yes I know I say this a lot..!) one of the best UK punk bands I have seen for quite some time; though definately coming from a similar place as Flamingo 50 (with Lou at the helm with her fantastic voice and guitar playing there were always going to be comparisons) the band steer clear of just being F50 part 2 by going down a more introspective route with a more Superchunk, Lemonheads vibe which is never ever a bad thing.
Check out this video of them playing Homeward Bound and Torn it Down from the gig, then download their set, fall in love with it then go buyboth their records.
Good Luck are a pretty special band, I listened to their album Into Lake Griffy throughout my honeymoon as we travelled across Canada and America and it really is a great ‘concept’ album (in the loosest sense) to capture life, releationships and travelling – good times. The band (featuring members past and present of some incredible bands such as One Reason, Darkness on The Edge of Town and Mr. Twee Talent Awesomeness himself – Matty Pop Chart). Whilst there’s undeniably a whole lot of twee and pop to this band (ala Kimya Dawson perhaps?) there’s also a whole load of depth, talent and impressive lyrical depth; they manage to be a ‘musician’s band’ in that they are technically adapt but not noodling for the sake of it, they’re all about the songs and as their cover of Prince’s ‘When You Were Mine’ show they can throw in some humour as well. They’re on tour around the UK now so do not miss them. You can buy their album on CD directly from them or the vinyl from No Idea Records. The band also have a new EP out which you can get from them at gigs or via a pay what you like download at their bandcamp page. This set was from the second date of their UK tour and was at The Hope in Brighton. The Hope is a pretty cool venue but I’ve always had problems dealing with them as a promoter as their sound limiter can be a real pisser as can really interrupt sets when bands are being told to turn down. It wasn’t too big of an issue at this gig though and Jay put on a really great gig and everyone seemed to be really into all of it. The other bands (Sauna Youth, Break The Habit and Caves) were all great too. Well enough from me, enjoy the set! Oh also my batteries (well my recorder’s batteries, I’m not a robot…or am I?!) ran out mid set so there is a song missing as I was trying to find spares, see if you can spot the seamless (!) editing.
(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)
Dauntless Elite @ The Retro Bar Manchester 07.04.10
Another cracking set from The Bomb in Manchester a few months back. The Dauntless Elite (if you are one of the few people that hasn’t encountered them) are Britain’s finest punk rock export. Hailing from Leeds and being made up by 50% of Fig 4.0 and 50% Joe 90 the result was equal measures pop tinged punk and equal measures passion infused hardcore punk (or maybe they sound a bit like American Steel or No Choice which sounds a lot less pouncy?) Rather than burning out and pushing themselves round the country over and over again in a short space this lot have been building up a name as one of the most exciting, down to Earth and generally incredible bands in the UK (not to mention being some of the nicest people I’ve ever had the honour of getting to know). They’ve steadily been releasing records on some of the best labels around (Bombed Out, Snuffy Smile and Plan-it-X) sporadically playing gigs across the country and venturing to the USA and at this gig in Manchester they were playing (for the first time I believe) some of the new songs that will be making up the follow up to Graft.
As most of the songs in this set were unnamed I am taking the rare and shocking action to omit a set list here (smack on the wrist I know…) but enjoy. To be honest the best thing about this set (aside from the awesome new songs of course) is hearing Lee talk a whole load of shit, the man should be doing stand up not playing guitar. I may even make a download of all the crap he talked that I had to edit out (due to upload speeds more than censorship, though…).
P.S I’m writing this with what feels like the start of man-flu so excuse the ramblings…Oh there’s also some videos of this set that I spotted on youtube here not sure who made them but good job!
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.
A Load of Stuff That Happened 
