Nerves – Demo

Sheffield has apparently been a hotbed of musical talent over the past few years. However I think over the past five years or so I’d only bother listening to four or five bands honing from Sheffield. Nerves are one of those bands.

The first track on the demo is “Seams”. This has almost become Nerves’ signature song. Distant, oscillating guitars build and build to a euphoric and cathartic climax as the lead guitar kicks in followed by dark, melancholic vocals

“Running” is the title of the second track. I have no idea but it reminds me of Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath. Its slow and insatiably dark. As the song begins to kick it reminds me more and more of A Place to Bury Strangers. It has a swagger as though they know they’re the most interesting band in the UK right now.

Track number three, “Write Letter” is sludgier and harder to its predecessor. Gallant lead guitars twist and swirl throughout until the end of the track as everything descends back to equilibrium.

The final track “Wake Up Italy” is the ‘nicest’ of all the songs. Its so nice that it could even be used on a cheesy American rom-com. A scene where the couple is sat on a hill next to a tree watching the sun set. That is how nice this song is. The guitar line is infectious and is a perfect end to a near perfect demo.

Nerves aren’t following any trends, they’re playing music they want to hear making them stand out from the current crop of white-washed shite filtering through just about every genre of music these days. If their demo is this good, i can’t wait until they do a proper release.

by Adam Bellagha

Interview with Mike from Deal With It

So you have a new release out. whats all about and how does it sound?
It’s a split with Holland’s infamous No Morality, a group of men that make entourage look like sesame street. Our song is called Godz Silenz and it’s about drinking and smoking when last year you had a go at someone for drinking and smoking. The second person singular in this instance being myself. It sounds like the worst parts of nickleback and megadeth according to hardcore luminary darlo dean, and I’m inclined to agree with him.

What made you begin to think drinking etc was a fine thing to do and are any of deal with it still straight edge?
What makes you think that I think drinking IS a fine thing to do? I’ve got the same brain in my head now that I did two years ago, the only difference being that on occasion I can manage even greater heights of self loathing. Obo is still nailed to the x, and kirky never was. Good on them.

As far as your lyrics are concerned, how do you think they have changed since the early days of DWI and do you think they have progressed to fit your change in sound?
Yeah they’ve definitely changed and progressed, but that’s a natural process, the lyrics I wrote on the demo were the first lyrics I’d wrote for anything, so of course they were gonna be more snotty and to the point than something I came up with 4 years later. I like all the lyrics I’ve written though, its cool to read through and feel like I would be happy doing any of our songs live cos I can still 100% dig em, even something like last days which people (falsely) attribute to straight edge. Except maybe atlas shrugged, wrote em in a hurry and I feel like you can tell. Newer songs are perhaps going even more abstract, but I can’t see a problem with it: there’s enough bands out there applying the ‘fisher price band logic’ to their steez that the odd band can get away with singing about quantum reality and existentialism.

There’s been another line-up change recently, could you tell us how it’s changed, why it’s changed and how it’s affected the band?
We kicked out Joe for being a bell. It got to the point in the band where we would spend our petrol money on pizzas and eat them in front of him without buying him any, and when it gets to that point you know something’s gotta give. Kirky from hordes is now on guitar, and its better all round cos he’s a funny lad and he keeps sam happy. He’s not seen any films other than saw 1-5 though which is a bit weird.

About a year ago you decided to split and then get back together again; what made you want to split and what brought you back together?
We split up cos we couldn’t be arsed anymore and got back together about a month later cos we couldn’t be arsed being split up anymore. Probably should have told more people we were back together though, even know people see us on a flyer and say ‘thought yous had split up’

If I am not mistaken you didn’t originally do vocals in DWI, what led to you being the front man?
well the dude that originally did vocals never actually came to practice, so in a way I think it’s like one of those things where you invite a girl to come out with ‘some friends’ and then the ‘friends’ get stuck at home with a vomiting bug or a missing cat. What was hilarious is that pag utterly hated my vocals right up until recording the demo where an awesome switch somehow turned on and I became the epitome of style and sexual energy that we all know and love today.

If someone out of Deal With It pulled a Mayhem-esque murder, who’d be the murderer and who’d be murdered?
The popular opinion would probably be me, as I’m ‘intense’ and ‘affectatious’ as pag likes to constantly point out, but I reckon sam is the most likely candidate. Dude is harbouring some dahmer-esque sensibilities. You should see the hate in his eyes when I rub my cock on his back.

May the 29th marks the end of Dead and Gone Records. How do you feel about this and how do you think this is going to affect the uk hardcore scene?
All good things must come to an end. To me, in all honesty, I think the glory days of D&G have gone anyway. 2006 was a good year, but since then it’s been a bit downhill. I’d like to think DWI are responsible in some small part for collectively bumming out the ukhc population, but I think the real reason is far more dull. Hardcore has got popular, so the need for hardworking, ethically driven independent labels has diminished significantly. The sound has changed as well, no one wants to sound like right brigade anymore, instead one riff and some wacky vocals (guilty as charged) get people fired up over intensity and pure animal rage.

Do you see anyone filling Ian’s shoes in the near future? would you consider starting a label yourself? and do you think anything could resurrect the scene back to its glory days?
Well it looks like TDON are signing up all the new bands that might be going places, but to a certain extent I’m distancing myself from it all. None of these newer, younger bands do anything for me if I’m totally honest; they all want far too much to sound like the cool american bands and not really making any effort to get their own shit going on. Fair enough if I was 17 right now I’d probably be losing my mind, but I’m 25, and would much rather sit at home read a book and listen to the creation records back catalogue.
As for the record label, doghead released the kingdom of fear compilation 7″ last year featuring some bearable uk bands, and it will likely be releasing the superiority complex 7″ and my spoken word LP in the near future, which translates to sometime before 2020.
Also who am I to talk about glory days? The older generation handed me the hardcore baton and I fumbled it like a blind sea cow.

And what’s the truth in Deal With It doing a release with TDON?
Farrel is keen to work with us I think, yeah. I have a lot of time for the guy, for all the shit people who don’t know him say, he takes it very well, and he’s a good bloke. As for doing a record with TDON, we are working on our new LP at the minute which is more than likely going to come out on Rucktion Records (new injury time/ninebar/prowler records in the near future, holy fuck). The guys at Rucktion know their NYHC, they love their NYHC, they live and breathe NYHC, so it would be ridiculous to want to do it with anyone else. Having said that, it is possible that we might release something with TDON in the future, it’ll get our name and sound out to all sorts of kids that haven’t bothered with us before, and for all the shit people talk on metalcore, there’s just as many airheaded pricks into blacklisted and integrity as there are into BMTH.

could you explain what Doghead is for anyone that doesn’t know?
Doghead is my outlet for creative self-crucifixion. Done a couple of zines, published a few stories, released a record, there’ll be a bit here and there sporadically for years to come I imagine. Just don’t hold your breath on anything; I’m an ideas man dammit.

When do you think your spoken word stuff will be released?
Soon I hope. I’m hopefully collaborating with Henry from army of flying robots to put together a slab of sonic filth, the problem is he’s been ready for months while I spend far too much time trying to get a high score on geometry wars. When it’s done it’ll be on an Lp and will be severely limited, like 20 copies or something. Which I’ll struggle to sell.

What topics are you going to cover in your spoken word recordings?
It’s gonna be a story I’ve been struggling to have published for a while, I’d like to say that it’s too ‘extreme’ but it’s more likely that it’s just a filthy piece of shit. It’s called mechanical isolde and it’s about a man who fantasises about a machine that ends up growing inside his head. Kind of like tetsuo the iron man meets kafka, but with a bit more blue language. Soundtrack-wise it’s gonna sound like ktl/swans I hope.

What’s it like being one of the few outspoken characters in UK hardcore?
Never mind outspoken, I’m one of the few CHARACTERS, full stop. When did everyone get so fucking boring? Hardcore kids now are wet as fuck, dull as fuck, quiet as fuck, stupid as fuck, blah blah blah. Heckle bands, dive off a stage, give bell ends a hard time. Enjoy yourselves at a show, mosh like a nob head without having to constantly crowd punch girls to increase your self confidence. Honestly mang, I can’t bear to go to most shows I’d want to these days cos people are just so fucking clueless. Then at the other end of the scale you go to an ‘honest to god’ punk rock show where everyone’s so conceited and self aware I wanna knock myself out. I’ve lost count of the times I’ve seen mob rules and people just stand there and scratch their chins and contemplate. MOB RULES IS FUCKING MURDER MUSIC YOU CHIN STROKING CUNTS

In your time how do you think the internet has affected the hardcore punk and diy scene?
yeah horribly. I mean back in the day you’d have talked to me in person and this would have been printed on a piece of paper. Instead it’s been conducted on facebook and it’s gonna get copied and pasted into a blog. Isn’t technology a brilliant thing *sob*. Do kids even play out in the street anymore? The world is changing and I don’t like it.

But isn’t Doghead also a blog?
True, but in a very loose sense of the word. When I was arsed about updating it it was to forward articles from elsewhere, in a vain bid to try and build a journalistic portfolio. Now I basically use it to advertise when I have something new coming out, which is hardly ever. The internet can be kind of punk rock, granted, see znet, indymedia, wikileaks, etc. But how often is it actually used for that? It’s an extension of the real world in every way, and so while say 1 percent is being used to fight ‘the man’, the other 99 percent is photoshopped images of michael jackson and ‘epic’ 200 page slanging matches between people who have never met each other. Like music, literature, film, etc, it can be a tool for expression, communication, etc, but more often than not, like the aforementioned mediums, it’s a tool for procrastinance instead. And you can’t cut out a website and stick it on your wall.

What would you be doing if deal with never existed?
I’d be sitting in a quaint little maisonette in somerset with my wife and small child, mulling the day’s news over a cup of coffee. I’d read about things going on in some foreign land but quickly disregard it because when you’ve got a young family you have to think constantly of your own. I’d kiss the wife goodbye and get into my eco friendly bmw for a days work at the office. 2 hours in traffic later I’d arrive at my cubicle and sit down to continue working on the yates report which had to be in last week. As I typed the numbers would flash by me like lines on a road, meaningless yet profound in some uncertain way. I’d sweat and fidget, a tiny recess somewhere in my mind nagging at me that things are not as they should be. Awareness of my finite nature prods and pokes while I try to translate meaningless figures into meaningless business speak. As the hours pass the fidgeting increases, I loosen my tie in response to a feeling of being choked. LIFE IS KILLING ME passes through my head like a bolt from the blue. LIFE IS KILLING ME I return to the thought and form the words in my head, rotate them round like a windows 98 screensaver. LIFE IS KILLING ME LIFE IS KILLING ME LIFE IS KILLING ME the numbers and tables and charts and deadlines are now a far cry away, and when they finally take me from the floor in a pool of my own sweat and vomit, they will say that they never saw it coming, I was so happy, so content with the life god gave me.

What would deal with it be like if cro-mags never existed?
Spiritual and physical laws dictate that if cro-mags never existed something else would exist in its place to deliver the very same thing. Our world without a ‘cro-mags’ would be a physical impossibility, just as our world without lungs, or hydrogen, or time would be equally impossible.
But, leaving physical impossibilities aside for a minute, I would like to think we would go directly to the source and rip off bands like the cult, aerosmith, ozzy osbourne, beastie boys, etc, and come to the same end point.

Wooderson Interview

to anyone that doesn’t know of wooderson, give us a description of your sound and a brief bio

Wooderson is, in the simplest terms, four good friends getting together and making a racket every now and then. Like most people in bands, i hate describing what we sound like, but seen as though you asked i guess we play Dischord-influenced indie rock/post-punk type stuff. Sometimes its loose, sometimes its tight, sometimes its melodic, sometimes its awkward, most of the time its pretty loud.

We originally started as a three piece and started jamming in November ’07 with me (bass), Loic (guitar) and Josh (drums). Loic and Josh where in a grunge-ish band at the time and wanted to do something different, and me and Loic had previously always played in bands with each other since we where 16-17, so I guess I was kind of the natural choice. I’m pretty sure the three of us where also living in the same house as each other at the time.

We played our first gig in February ’08 and recorded our first two track demo in the same month, their other band split up around this time too..once we had those tracks recorded it gave us a chance to start getting gigs out and about almost instantly, and we started playing as much as we possibly could.

In Sep ’08 we recorded two tracks for our split 7″ with the brilliant Ox Scapula and a month later decided we wanted to add another guitarist to the band. That is when Ash joined, again it was a natural choice as he was also in Loic and Josh’s previous band…he was also living in the same house as the three of us at the time (it’s all very incestuous.) We spent the rest of the year playing a load of gigs with Ox Scapula and getting Ash settled in the band. We somehow managed to find the time to play around 50 gigs in the first year, and the Ox Scapula split 7″ was released in Jan ’09.

Fast forward to June ’09 and Josh was replaced on drums by Ben, we recorded four tracks for a new ep in October, and again, played about as much as we could.

For the record, me and Ash still live in said house, Loic lives across the road from us and Ben lives up the hill.

You all say that you’re from Sheffield yet none of you really are, what does lying feel like?

The band is very much from Sheffield, but Ash is the only Yorkshireman, he’s from Rov’rum. Me, Ben and Loic where born and bred in the Cleethorpes/Grimsby area, and have never said otherwise! None of us would ever lie about anything. Honest.

Why do you think so many people are moving from Grimsby, Cleethorpes and Scunthorpe to Sheffield?

Well, i guess it’s the closest decent city to the area and, whilst Grimsby/Cleethorpes was an ace place to grow up (cant speak for Scunny) once you get to a certain age there isn’t a great deal to do and there isn’t really many prospects, unless you want to learn a trade or work in a factory.

Also, once a few people move here for University or whatever then other friends wanting to leave their hometown are likely to move somewhere that they already know people and it just grows from there. There are loads of people who live in Sheffield from the area, like you said….i think it kind of freaks a lot of people in Sheffield out who grew up elsewhere because there are only a few areas of Sheffield that people particularly move to!

Of course, the downside to loads of people fleeing the area is the demise of the DIY scene. There was a time when all the best bands on the circuit used to play in the area, and also Grimsby was home to some of the best bands in the country. It is a massive shame, but i guess people move on.

You’ve recently got a new drummer, what lead to the old one leaving and how did you know ben was the right guy for the position?

Josh and the rest of us decided to part ways because he just wasent into most aspects of the band as much as we where/are, musically and personally. When you’re organising/playing a load of gigs, planning records and wanting to write the best music you possibly can then i think that everyone has got to be as commited to the cause as each other. I guess it was causing a lot of tension within the band and in the end, we realised we needed to get a new drummer and he realised he really needed to leave the band….there was no bitter feelings at all and i think everyone involved was a lot happier once everything was out in the air. He’s still a dead good mate and an amazing drummer. Nice hair too.

Ben went to school with me and Loic and had always kind of been around whenever we where playing in previous bands, with him now living in Sheffield he was the first person we thought of. He hadn’t really touched the drums in years at the time, but he picked it all up almost instantly. The great thing about Ben is that he’s a really talented all-round musician so the level of song writing has kind of moved up a notch with him involved, as soon as he joined he already had a song for us and that is going to be on the new EP.

Your new release is going to be on Sea Owl; what can we expect from it and when is it going to be released?

Yeah, Matt who does Sea Owl, which is a new tape label based in Leeds, was kind enough to offer to record and release the new EP for us and we’re all really appreciative and excited to have a new record out.

Musically, the tracks are a lot shorter and to the point than anything we’ve previously released…they’re also slightly darker sounding, which wasent really intentional. It’s also the first time we’ve recorded with Ash in the band so there is another guitar and voice thrown in the mix.

We recorded the tracks a few months back and are due to re-record the vocals in a few days time, so hopefully it wont be too long before it is released. I heard the latest mixes the other day and they are sounding mint.

If Wooderson were a boyband, which one would they be?

Tough question. I think i’d have to go for New Kids On The Block. We’re not new, or kids, but the dance routine in the chorus for ‘You’ve Got It (The Right Stuff)’ is dead funny, and its all about pretending to play guitar with a baseball bat.

If each member of wooderson was a footballer, who would they be?

Even tougher question. I would be Clive Mendonca, because i’m answering the questions and the guy is a hero. Loic would be Dimitar Berbatov, because i think he fancies him. Ash would be Craig Bellamy, because he thinks he is a lad, and Ben would be Carlos Valderrama because he’s crazy.

Who are your top five artists at the moment?

Cant really say a ‘top five’, but five bands that i’ve been listening to a lot recently are Ride, The Van Pelt, Jawbox, Gang Of Four and China Drum. Bit of a weird mix.

If you were playing your ideal show, who would be playing it and where would it be?

Probably a sunny Reading festival in the early 90′s with all the bands that where around at that time. Or a freezing cold park with Fugazi

Speaking of Fugazi, you recently played with Joe Lally. What was it like playing a show with someone who has had such a profound influence on your music? Was he a nice guy and did he have anything to say about your music?

We where really grateful to be asked to play the gig, even more so than we usually are for obvious reasons..i guess we could see it as some form of reward for the hard work we have put into the band and needless to say we jumped at the opportunity. It was really cool to get to play on the same bill as someone like Joe, and great to see him play music in the flesh, as unfortunately we all missed the boat when Fugazi where touring, too young to know! Unfortunately, I didn’t get the opportunity to speak to him myself, but the others had a chat with him and said he was really nice and approachable. I understand that he was actually in the little back stage section of the venue, meditating when we where playing!

As Ash joined; it was pretty much Gianluca plus you. Do you think that had any effect on your music?

I think Ash joining did, but I don’t think that him, Loic and Josh being in a previous band together did. Like I previously mentioned, Wooderson was originally started as something different to Gianluca and when Ash joined he put guitar parts to the songs we had already written as a 3 piece. Obviously when we started writing songs with Ash, his own influence had an effect on the outcome, but when we’re writing songs they are very much a group effort. To be honest, Gianluca wasn’t really a band for that long and never really did much in the way of gigging so I never really looked at Loic, Ash or even Josh as ex-members of another band.

Did the fact that Gianluca had previously released stuff via audacious art make it easier for you to release your stuff via them?

I’m going to end up sounding like a Gianluca hater by the end of this, but no it didn’t! Luke who runs the label is a close friend of all of ours and it was kind of a forgone conclusion that the first Wooderson release would be via Audacious. Luke had been supportive of the band from day one and there were even talks around five years ago about mine and Loic’s old band in Grimsby doing a release for them. In addition to this Luke now lives with me and Ash in the now famed house I mentioned earlier, so Audacious is run from our dining room and I am also now personally involved in running the label too.

All ties aside though, it really is a massive compliment to have our name in the discography along side the likes of Stand, Andy, Glenn & Ritch, The Jesus Years and Kill Yourself. These bands and releases where what got me into DIY music when i first started getting into it all and they all still sound amazing to me.

How did not shy of the diy start and what originally made you want to start putting on gigs?
Not Shy of the DIY first started officially in 2006, Craig had previously put on gigs with a good mate of ours called Matt under the moniker ‘Compass Points North’ until Matt moved to London. I used to put gigs on in Grimsby and wanted to start doing stuff in Sheff and Craig wanted to start doing stuff again, so we just kind of went from there. I guess the main motive was the lack of good DIY shows happening at the time in Sheffield so we just started putting on bands that we wanted to see. Luckily enough its always gone relatively well and we continue to get real good turn outs for our gigs, as well as there being a load of other good promoters in Sheffield putting decent DIY shows on.

to date what has been the biggest gig you’ve put and who has been the most expensive band you’ve put on?

The obvious stand out for me would have to be when we put on Spy Versus Spy at The Cricketers Arms, along with This Aint Vegas, The Little Explorer and Nathaniel Green. To have the opportunity to put on the best post-hardcore/emo band and one of the most influential underground bands this country has ever produced, was just amazing. The fact that 3 of my favourite uk bands at the time also played, and we crammed everyone into such a small room for it just topped it all off.

Other stand outs would have to be both of the gigs we have done for Off With Their Heads, but without sounding corny, there really are too many good memories to mention or even remember.

I don’t think expenses should really come into it to be honest, but we never have and never will put anyone on if we think that their demands are unreasonable, or if we don’t think that we can make the money on the door.

are you actually not shy of the diy? what is the likelihood of bumping in to you in B&Q?
To be honest I am actually pretty shy of it, but whilst B&Q is a fun place to visit, I was always more of a fan of ‘Do It All’ myself. ‘No Frills DIY’ was a classy establishment too.

anything else you’d like to say?

I’d like to say cheers to you Ben, for taking the time to do the interview and for taking an interest. Sorry it took about 6 months! Please check out the new ep when it finally drops, and we still have copies of the split 7″ with Ox Scapula for sale, if you feel like treating yourself.
In the meantime, be sure to check out Crash Of Rhinos, Ox Scapula, Elk, Twisted and Coal Train-all great uk bands currently doing the rounds.

Dunno

Been kind of slack with this lately. Had uni exams and I’ve just started a band so thats taken up quite a bit of time. Plus all the Christmas rubbish.
Anyway, my band has our first show this friday. I actually can’t explain how nervous I am for it. Its with Cold Ones, Deal With It, Fast Point and Hordes so even if we’re shit its gonna be a proper good gig.

check out myspace.com/grazes

Thirty Seconds Until Armageddon Interview

So its twelve years since you originally got together and seven years since you broke up; why in 2009 have you decided to get back together?

Pete: There has always been talk between members that the way the band split up, and for me we had some unfinished goals to achieve and I guess this is one way to finally get closure on the whole thing. The gig came about as it would be a good way to promote the discography and also just to finally nail the coffin shut on TSUA.

Dave: We’ve pretty much all stayed in contact since TSUA finished so there’s been idle chat about the idea before. With the discography coming out though, this seemed the only sensible time to actually do it.

What can we expect from the new cd?

Pete: There is eighteen tracks on the cd and to be fair some good and some bad, probably more bad I guess but a lot of these tracks were recorded years ago and unlike bands these days we had no money to record or pay for producers etc…

Dave: When we first talked about doing the discog we had the idea of recording some of the later TSUA tracks we wrote and putting them on there but unfortunately we all grew up (sort of) and got jobs/real lives and we just didn’t find the time.

You’re releasing the new cd on thirty days of night records, why have you chosen tdon rather than other labels you appear to be closer associated with?

Pete: The reason it happened on TDON is purely because our friend Martin Ives and TDON owner Jamie Farrell (who are close friends, see their ex-bands for details) simply loved the band years ago and were so excited to be part of it. Its not like we actually looked for anyone to put it out but we are more than happy for TDON to do it as Jamie and Martin are awesome dude’s and that’s enough for me anyway.

Dave: Originally Pete was gonna put it out and just press a few hundred if that. We’ve known Martin and Farrell for years and they just asked nicely if they could be a part of it. We were more than happy to go with them, TDON is a solid label.

How do you think the scene has changed since you were around?

Pete: The scene has always been a progressive thing and I guess what I have always done is just what I feel like doing and tried to ignore all the bullshit that happens in every scene. If you’re a good person then that’s all I could ask for, however there are so many people who believe themselves to be so important and think themselves as some kind of role model/figure in the scene who deserves some sort of respect, and to me that’s not what hardcore is about.

Dave: Although my involvement in the hardcore ‘scene’ these days is limited to say the least I’m not entirely sure what to make of it these days. But thats just the voice of an ‘older’ bloke losing touch I’m sure. As far as the scene around the style of music which is slightly comparable to what TSUA were doing I dont really see much of a connection at all. Thats turned into part of the metal thing entirely and left the hardcore behind, but I’m not saying thats a bad thing. Im sure there’s still a vital, vocal and productive hardcore punk scene out there, I’m just not sure where to find it and too scared of looking like the ‘old dude at the show’ if i did find it.

Do you think the whole ‘metalcore’ outburst as a good or bad thing? now that it has pretty much no relation with hardcore punk or anything particularly diy associated at all these days?

Dave: I don’t look at ‘metalcore’ in anyway at all really. it doesn’t have much of anything to do with what was going on in the 90′s and early 2000′s and it just doesn’t float my boat anymore. I was never into metal at all anyways, but bands like Botch, Coalesce and the like really grabbed hold of me at that time. I don’t think there’s bands out there like that right now. From what i can tell, its been reduced, in the large part, to dudes trying to out-do each other with hand and and neck tattoos and getting their online T-shirt store up and running asap.

post-TSUA, what have you all been up to?

Pete: Since TSUA and during I played for a band called JINN who played fast grind/hardcore and did some records with them which is always fun but we split this year as the guitarist moved to Belgium and we felt we didn’t want to continue without him. Other than that band wise I was the original bass player for Break It Up and have played in a few other bands that never really got going but the older you get the less time you can spend to do this as a job and mortgage are more important at the end of the day.

Dave: everyone went on to do other bands after TSUA. Lins did break it up, sid did spitfire down and black wolves, adam was in Jinn as well and I did The Last Chance and played in the versus project for a little bit as well. Mostly we had to get proper jobs. Pete and Sid work in the design industry, Adam works on the government IT system, Lins does something but who knows what and I work in the coffee industry as a trainer and consultant. I REALLY like coffee.

Break It Up and The Last Chance were both pretty important bands in the UK hardcore punk scene, do you think you would do a similar type of reunion with those bands?

Dave: In all honesty, i can’t see either of those bands playing shows again but you never know. The Last Chance, even though they did somehow squeeze out some sort of reunion show once, would be highly unlikely. The singer has a kid now, the drummer lives in the US and that band was a straight edge band…not all those guys are still straight edge. All the guys in Break It Up have other bands to be doing as well, so i’d be surprised to see them back together

Are you looking forward to playing shows again and how do you think you’ll go down considering a lot of the kids who go to those sort of shows these days are too young to have heard you?

Pete: Well I expect the crowd to be 50/50 with people who remember us and those who never have. Either way if we play are hardest then that’s all we can do. If people don’t like us then boo hoo, its not life or death and if people like us then sweet. For me it’s going to be fun if 3 or 250 people show up, either way we would do the same thing and have fun.

Dave: if there’s 40 people there that were there 8 years ago then we’ll be made up. If there’s another 50 odd who come down just to check us out and dig it then we’ll be even happier.

How many shows do you think you will be playing and how long do you think the new era of TSUA will last?

Pete: One show and one show only, that should be enough for the band to have closure.

Rip It Up – S/T EP

Rip it Up are four geordie lads playing fast disgruntled hardcore punk. Think the 80′s. Think Minor Threat, think bad brains, think Beastie Boys. But don’t think they’re another band that completely rips them off. I’ve been really in to Rip It Up for the past year or so and have been eagerly anticipating this release.

Give kicks off with the foot firmly on the accelerator. Its stop/start and overly malicious. Mark has got his skate punk vocals off to a tee. Towards the end the song descends in to a mellower, more melodic version without taking away any of the speed and aggression.

Formerly Darn Crooks is more straight forward to the previous song. Volant bass solos flutter through the track to add the energy like a rabbit during mating season.

The third track is a fairly old one. Poser Disposer. Its slightly longer than the original. Take everything good about Fast Point’s early stuff and you have Poser Disposer, a song about following the crowd and not thinking for yourself.

jazz Stripe sound like a return to the split with Black Wolves. Its more melodic than the other tracks but not the shit kind of melodic hardcore that everyone seems to be in to lately.

The outro track is firmly Bad Brains influenced 1:37 of dub. Distant drumming and a floating bass riff rides over the pacifying guitar.

All in all this EP is very very good. With so many good hardcore bands splitting up recently, its a good job that Rip It Up are stamping their authority on the scene. Expect them in a basement, community centre and abandoned warehouse near you soon.

Ship to Shore – Let’s Not Get Caught

When members of beatdown pop-punk band Bradley Arise joined forces with Andy from melodic hardcore band The Legacy it was inevitable the outcome would be the melodic pop-punk genius that is Ship to Shore. Let’s Not Get Caught is their debut release on Broken Night Records.

Title track Let’s Not Get Caught starts off in true punk pop fashion by celebrating the summer. Chuggy guitars, contagious hooks and fluorescent vocals gets this EP off to a strong start. The chorus is utterly infectious and will spread through your skull like the plague as it devours your braincells.

See You Around reminds me of Fall Out Boy’s early stuff. Add a little blink 182-esque riffery and a bass solo in the middle and you have the perfect mid-tempo pop song about girls and all that sort of stuff ready for making hormonal fourteen year old girls wet themselves in excitement.

The third track Hook Line & Sinker is my favourite song on this EP. It starts off with flickering drums leading in to vocals where Myke reaches a note which I didn’t think was possible for a post-pubescent male to make. Amongst snare fills, tempo changed and texture switches Ship to Shore keep you engrossed as though you don’t want to miss a millisecond.

I’ll Find You and Too Little, Too Late are the final tracks of the EP. I’ll Find You swoons with an intro on acoustic guitar which leads in to the explosive pop noise that has come to expect with Ship to Shore. Too Little, Too Late is easily the danciest song on the Let’s Not Get Caught and makes you unknowingly nod your head up until its epic ending.

This EP from the Sheffield quartet is pretty much flawless. Entwined in every song is everything you would want in a pop-punk song along with ultimately unblemished musicianship.

Do it

Pre-order the new Ship to Shore and Rip it Up releases
Ship to Shore through Broken Night Records
Rip it Up through Dead End Records

Fast Point Release Show pt2

Fast Point Release Show pt1

All these photos are by Sam Wright.