Special Static Shocks

London purveyor of punk and hardcore Static Shock are kicking off their fourth Weekender tonight, and it reaches all over the English capital for four days of manic mayhem. I thought I would put up a few bands/songs from the weekend that I am most looking forward to...

I picked up Sievehead's Into The Blue album back in July when passing through their hometown (at the excellent Rare & Racy), and was not disappointed. As the Quietus put it, the band "combine post-punk and proto-goth, serrated indie jangle and late '80s DC hardcore with such scrappy perfection." Pretty much on the head there. The played a few random hardcore shows in the US last month and survived, so are full up with shit and vinegar to fling at everyone. They are kickstarting tomorrow night's show at The Dome.

I haven't caught Nottingham punks TV Crime yet, but loved this 7" Static Shock put out this year. Reminds me of the loose drunken Ramones acolytes that Australia used to (and still do) pump out (I noticed SS have taken up the UK arm of issuing Tyrannamen's new album, so Tom seems to think the same thing). They play tonight at DIY Space, alongside the excellent Anxiety and new bruisers Body Butter (but unfortunately we won't see Belgrado, they couldn't make the trip) before heading off on a European tour.

Uranium Club could be the main act I am looking forward this weekend. The Minneapolis maniacs have released an amazing track 'Who Made The Man?', that flits from the sunny mania of Parquet Courts to wired Wire mechanics, jerky Devo delivery, David Yow meets GW Sok vocals and toy-box explosion finale. They hit the middle stretch of Saturday's show, also at the Dome.

Furious New Yorkers Warthog have been thrashing out the hard questions for a few years now, and seemingly none the wiser. 'Culture?' is a one word rhetorical question, a blast from the furnace of the underworld, an obliteration of the coiffed and cultivated masses. Their unbridled fury is likely to blow the Dome open as they close out Saturday's show.

French skinheads Rixe I haven't had much time to delve into, but they are likely to be a lot of fun judging by this rad 7".

And Ill finish off with SM stalwarts Sauna Youth and an old cover from them of Pissed Jeans' classic track 'False Jesii Pt II'.



Special mention to Diat and Iron Lung. See you all this weekend!

Faux Seattle Has Fallen

After taking in the jagged exorcism that is Brisbane band Clever's new track, it feels a jump to be launching into Fall Seattle, the eponymous debut record from the North Virginian quartet. Out through the excellent Faux Discx label (Sauna Youth, Monotony, Hookworms, Tense Men), it is a lucky dip of  the past, reappropriated in bedrooms, kitchens and basements, crystallising into a sonorous sojourn sparkling with jangle and noise, introversion and extroverted emulsions. There is a Deerhunter-meets-The Raincoats-meets-Grandaddy esoteric clarity to opener 'Carol'; a sundrenched meander through Lotus Plaza's back garden on 'Wanda Jackson'; a Yo La Tengo hopped-up malaise to 'Time'. 'New York' could be Ratcat trying their hand at Dinosaur Jr, a suitably fractious racket with cavernous space that still feels intimate amid the throat-tearing catharsis. The twang and meandering space of 'Boyhood' has me entranced - it is the central song, and the centrifugal force of the album, somehow slowing everything down but bringing it all into focus. The opening drums for 'Blau' is ominous before the onslaught, a shimmering menace not unlike the inimitable Women (which is why it is probably my favourite track here); 'Suburban Stain' is a guitar dream, off the books via the Books; the jumped up yet broody pop of 'Nothing You Can Hold On To' meanwhile sets it all free. 'Demon Son' takes us into black-spark shoegaze territory, albeit with bottom-of-the-well reverb sparseness in fits and bursts (another great song). Fall Seattle close up shop with 'Separation Anxiety', a mild, contemplative that burbles and percolates, a sepia-burnt daydream rumination on all that has come before. This is an incredibly strong record - there have been some Real Estate comparisons (which I can see in part), but despite my constant attraction to band signifiers above, the bowerbird genre splicing here makes the album a unique and highly rewardable listen. I really like this one - you should all grab Fall Seattle here.

Distracted Youth On The Bridge

Last year London's Sauna Youth brought out an excellent LP in the form of Distractions. Well, I am making assumptions - I still haven't gotten around to buying it yet. But their launch in Hackney last year was bloody great, as is this cut from it, 'The Bridge', which is being released as a clear 7" on the Upset The Rhythm label next week before they tour Europe. They are at their most sinewy, sharp-edged limits here, the sweat flying off frets and fringes, both erratic and meticulous, cantankerous and giddily polite. The double-edged punk that the four-piece always traverse is a hard one to pull off - think here of Metz with a Wedding Present hangover, or The Clean fed piecemeal into a shorting blender. Straddling the punk rock extremes - they are the bridge.



Buy The Bridge here. See below their tour dates, kicking off in Brighton with Soft Walls:


27th January – Brighton, UK – Sticky Mike’s w/ Soft Walls, The Glugg

28th January – Rennes, France – Bar’Hic

29th January – Bordeaux, France – TBC

30th January – San Sebastian, Spain – Lurrazpiko Festa

31st January – Madrid, Spain – Wurlitzer Ballroom

1st February – Zaragoza, Spain – La Lata de Bombillas

2nd February – Barcelona, Spain – Heliogabal

3rd February – Toulouse, France – Le Rabelin

4th February – Antwerp, Belgium – Music City

5th February – Leiden, Holland – CAB03

6th February – Amsterdam, Holland – Pacific Parc

7th February – Rotterdam, Holland – TBC

13th February – London, UK – The Forge “The Bridge” 7” release party

Part The Primitive

Been listening to Parts Primitive a bit this week. It's the loose jangle punk album of London group Primitive Parts, out now through Trouble In Mind Records. There is a solid pedigree here - featuring members of Sauna Youth, Male Bonding and Monotony - and the album is littered with irascible earworms burrowing down into your soul. What I love about this band is blurring of musical history and geography - 'Troubles' could be a song from the British 80s, while 'Miracle Skin' has been likened to Antipodeans such as The UV Race and The Cannanes, while the artwork mirrors either place, looking at the displaced and abandoned nether regions of urban sprawl. Quality bent slacker ephemera, you can get Parts Primitive here.

#1 Sauna Dive In Montague TONIGHT

Just a final post for Sunday. If you are in South London - or in London - or in England - or have a teleporter - you should pop along to the Montague Arms in Peckham tonight to see a gig. Static Shock are host The #1's from Ireland (over to support the excellent Reigning Sound who play 100 Club tomorrow night) for their own headline show. It's an excellent night for supports too - with a new album Distractions under their arm, Sauna Youth are rip-raring to go. And opening up proceedings is newly settled Londoner (and still very much a Dick Diver) Alistair McKay. Details here.

Martyrdom Over Festival Blues A Big Deal

One of my favourite albums and shows of 2014 was by Detroit post-punk evangelists Protomartyr. The album – Under Colour Of Official Right. The show – their August gig at The Lexington here in London, supported by Feature and Sauna Youth. The heady combination of seemingly disparate physical presences, a hyperliterate cynical worldview, militaristic guitar tension and a tight-as-fuck rhythm section coalesces into a performance that is both amusing, deafening and electrifying in its droll tautness.

The four-piece have a newish song off the leash as part of a 7” split, aptly titled A Half Of Seven, with Kelley Deal’s new outfit R.Ring called ‘Blues Festival’ (which also features Deal on backing vocals). It has been out in the ether since mid-April so I’m slow on the uptake, but seeing as this only came out through Hardly Art on Tuesday I don’t feel so slow. It’s either a dour diatribe against young upstarts or a brittle how-to for those floundering in the shallow end of the rock music pool; either uttering to heed these grizzled journeymen’s advice or smash against the shaggy crags of your own head/cloud devising; keeping feet firmly entrenched on the earth, or else get anchored there by weary cynicism or derisive disdain. The thing is of course that there is ambiguity here, just as there always is in lead man Joe Casey’s delivery and demeanour – is he serious? Does he even care? Is he compassionate, or are hopes and dreams just more things that grind his gears? The ambiguity and slight smile that lingers after Protomartyr have exited alludes to the humour in it all, but the presence of Deal, someone who has seen each side of the industry sword, and come out the other side, colours this song with even further depth. At the end of the day though, ‘Blues Festival’ is just a killer rollicking song, regardless of social context and subterfuge, and that’s what ultimately matters.

Grab A Half Of Seven here.

Featuring Feature

Another excellent release from Ruined Smile Records is this lil EP from London trio Feature. I got to catch these girls when they opened for Protomartyr in London back in August, and they really held their own. Featuring members of Sauna Youth and Slowcoaches, the band have put together this five-track number to combine their Tie Dye Records cassette Culture Of The Copy from last year, while the last two tracks are about to feature on a split EP with the aforementioned Slowcoaches called Tourists (out soon on Unwork Records). The first three tracks are rawer due to the initial two piece configuration, so there are spaces in the songs that are well and truly blown out in the live arena here. Set staple 'Psalms' is a particular track that has ramped up since this recording, yet there is an undeniable growl and bluster that underpins it all. 'Wisdom Teeth' (which we see the new film clip for below) and 'Tourism Fiction' show the rambunctious new dynamic, but still holds dear the insidious pop melodies that have always been the band's strength. And we are only likely to have more evidence of this burgeoning power with two new releases in the wind (including one through SM fave Soft Power Records) as well as a full length targeted for 2016.

Pre-order Tourists here. The band just played a free gig with Leeds noiseniks Super Luxury last Friday, but there is more fun to be had with these ladies:

Saturday 2nd May - Odd Box Records Weekender, The Shacklewell Arms, London w/ Slowcoaches, Joey Fourr, The Fish Police and more 

Friday 8th May - Gullivers, Manchester w/ Gorgeous Bully 

Monday 11th May - Oslo, Hackney w/ Cheatahs & No Joy 

Friday 29th May - Berlin, Germany w/ DIÄT Saturday 

3rd October - The 9th Annual Nottingham Pop All-dayer, The Maze, Nottingham w/ Witching Waves and more 

Don't Leave Your Primitive Parts On The Bench

Here's some rosy/punchy garage to brighten your Halloween. Members of some of UK's most exciting bands (Male Bonding, Sauna Youth, Cold Pumas) jumped into bed as Primitive Parts a little while ago, and are prepping to release this 7" on Faux Discx. 'The Bench' is the B-side. It's all a lot of silly fun with a nice monotonous beat throughout and a wonky guitar solo bit that is endearing. It's all fairly innocuous on this side of the wax - will be interesting to see what else the boys bring to the table. Pre-order it here.

Tense Men Are Neither Dull Nor Forgotten

I’ve always had an unhealthy affinity for minimalist, repetitive, cold, spiky post punk. I can’t remember which particular band turned me onto this. I do remember the first time I heard the Language of Numbers EP and rightly realised that My Disco were gods. Or hearing Unknown Pleasures for the first time and not known what planet I was on. Or why the cold bastards of Iceage, Holograms and Lower energise and excite. The intermingling of cold, stark guitar lines with motorik drums and deep drawled/chanted lyrics seems hardwired into my loins. So it’s a no brainer that I am a massive fan of new band Tense Men, which is a project for Oliver Fischer (Cold Pumas) and Rich Phoenix (Sauna Youth), and their EP Where Dull Care Is Forgotten. Opener ‘Stages of Boredom’ hovers with burly indecision, wanting to burst forth but not ready to give in; but it’s ‘RNRFON’ where the restraint comes in full form. There is no indecision here – Tense Men want to lead you on, light the fires under your soul, have you writhe around in agony and ecstasy – and never extinguish those tetchy flames. The band is now a trio, having gleaned a drummer on the way (from Omi Palone, who are releasing a self-titled album through the ever excellent Faux Discx who are responsible for this EP too), and the looped transgressions displayed here stresses how more claustrophobic and constricting these guys could be in a live arena. It’s still a band experimenting with the form – I like ‘Lie Heavy’ without being enamoured with it (except when the sketchiness is relieved as the toms are left alone for a more free flowing rhythm in the final third), but the last two tracks 'Nonentities' and especially 'Opiate Glow' are stone cold killers. Where Dull Care Is Forgotten is a great brooding entrée – bring on the piece a la resistance…

You can get Tense Men’s EP from here.

Faux Discx Comp Tape

Here's a cool little compilation from Faux Discx. It includes tracks from Cold Pumas, Sauna Youth, Teardrop Factory and heaps of other ace UK and Canadian acts. Let it fuel the countdown to a debaucherous weekend.

Faux Magenta And Yellow Discx

Brighton independent label Faux Discx released an amazing four-way split at the beginning of the year that included the likes of Fair Ohs, Women, and Cold Pumas. They are doing incredible things, and this is continuing with a new split release that features Sauna Youth, Ale Mania, Lab Coast, and Friendo.


These splits, called Magenta and Yellow, are pretty awesome. Magenta features two songs apiece from San Diego’s Ale Mania who play genre-hopping, weirdo post-punk, and Brighton/London’s Sauna Youth, who delve in straight-up punk pushed through a myriad of delay and reverb, weird and satisfying.

ALE MANIA – Peoline by Faux Discx

SAUNA YOUTH – Backgrounds by Faux Discx


Yellow marks the return of Calgary’s Friendo who offer a decidedly left of centre jam from their previous woozy endeavours. They share the wax with their Canadian compadres Lab Coast who present their garage indie low in fidelity and high in hooks.

FRIENDO – Germanic Panic by Faux Discx

LAB COAST – Astronaut Like Me by Faux Discx

Both of these releases are limited to 300 copies worldwide. You can pre-order them now and will be released 25 July and 8 August respectively - get em here!

Tough Love on Tough Love

I grabbed Tough Love Records' new Sampler Young & Research the other day to see what they are delving into for the latter months of 2010.

Some catchy tracks that gets the toes involuntarily tapping - CYMBALS, Dream Cop, - others have a bit more skill and nous in my opinion, yet aren't necessarily to my taste - Lazy Hurricane, Calories, Young Governor and Weird Dreams - but there were few bands that held any prolonged interest or intrigue. But then I got to the second, dark side of the sampler... There are some very fine acts here, as I knew Tough Love was capable of producing. So I thought that I would just give a one to two sentence review of the Sonic Masala seal-of-approval acts, and then you can go seem em play a venue near you!

Sauna Youth - Punk shoegazey garage outfit from Brighton - a hell of a lot of fun. Have released a cassette and 7", both still available; they smashed up Offset Festival last month; they play the Lamb and Lion on the 8th; remind me of The Bronx, only if Matt Caughthran fronted Shooting At Unarmed Men. Sauna Youth - My Gold's Bangla

Prize Pets - loud Nottingham boys who pillage Black Flag then put it through an incredibly erratic woodchipper. Its weird, loud, visceral, and very exciting - and, for once, they arent from East London. Next London gig - 30/10, Old Blue Last w/ Sex Beet, Cold Pumas, Weird Dreams. http://www.box.net/shared/rotzl8olv7

Girls Names - Belfast group obsessed with Twin Peaks, wined and dined by Captured Tracks, love their reverb, but also very good. Have only just discovered them, and am trying to grab their EP from earlier this year as we speak, as well as tape split with Heavy Hawaii. Play two gigs this month at The Drop, including one with previous postee and UTR kids Peepholes as well as Weird Dreams. Girls Names - Falling (Julee Cruise cover - live)

Sea Pinks - solo project of Girls Names' Neil. His single is a sped up and colourfast version of his day band, and involves horticultural references, making it ok to know your hyacinths from your hydrangeas. Sea Pinks - Bobby Beau

Bhurgeist - Yorkshiremen who warble their way into your heart underscored by some J Mascis noodling and slight scowls on their faces - probably because they still live at home and have to deal with Nick Clegg. Hey, Im feeling the rage too. Disgruntled kin to Spectrals.

Bhurgeist - Slobro

Yellow Ostrich - New Yawker Alex Schaaf (also fronts band The Chairs) goes on his own; fairly prolific; makes unique indie pop folk tunes that intrigue as much as they entice.

Yellow Ostrich - Mary Ann

Drew Price's Bermuda Triangle - weird drawn out psych tripped shimmer from American Drew Price, who in this track sounds like Damon Albarn, in a decidedly good way. Drifts along in a haze, leaves you with the munchies. Drew Price's Bermuda Triangle - Tiny And All Alone