Album Review: Gunka – Nothing Left To Say

Old-school hardcore punk from an unlikely Devon village. FFO: Fugazi and Dag Nasty.

Review by Ollie Stygall.

I live in a small, unremarkable Devon town called Chudleigh. It’s relatively quaint, relatively quiet and relatively pleasant.

The most remarkable moment in Chudleigh’s very long history was in 1807 when two thirds of the town burned down in a fire. The only casualty was a pig. Nowadays the residents take to Facebook in righteous indignation over bad parking, minor vandalism and sometimes, on a lighter note, to find a decent plumber!

Chudeligh is not, however, a punk rock haven. I have long suspected that I am the only lover of our beloved form of musical anarchy in our sleepy town. That is until a couple of weeks ago when I got a message from the husband of a friend of my wife to tell me about his band. I was intrigued but, I have to admit, not entirely hopeful. This is Chudleigh after all. I did not expect much. I certainly didn’t expect to be blown away. Continue reading “Album Review: Gunka – Nothing Left To Say”

Band Spotlight: Swan Prince [Interview]

Skate-punk newbies Swan Prince have made an impression around the UK.

Interview by Sarah Williams.

Growing in popularity in the last six months, Swan Prince at a Midlands skate-punk band that you may recognise from support slots with bands like Red City Radio and The Bombpops. Unfortunately, they called an indefinite hiatus after completing this interview, but we’re sure they’re still worth a listen.

You’ve recently released an EP Enjoy The Rain on Hell Hath No Fury Records. What part of the EP are you most proud of?

Josh S: Personally I think our sound became more focused in our new EP and has definitely set us on a path for the new stuff we are working on. Also, being self produced, I was happier with the production than that of our first EP. Albeit taking us a fraction of the time.

My personal favourite part of the record is that we have managed to capture the energy and angst of the band. Choosing 5 songs to help portray that to the listener isn’t easy but from start to finish the listener is able to truly and fully understand who we are and what we feel is important.

Continue reading “Band Spotlight: Swan Prince [Interview]”

Album Review: Casual Nausea – Demons

Casual Nausea show that punk is far from dead on their album ‘Demons’, out now TNSrecords. FFO: Crass, Subhumans, The Casualties, The Distillers.

Written by Ollie Stygall.

When I was at university many years ago, at the end of each academic year we had a Summer Ball. This involved us all dressing up smart and having a massive party. Beforehand we would pretend to be civilised and all go for a nice meal together… the calm before the storm, as it were.

One time, whilst walking back to college from the meal, my mate strolled away from the group towards the edge of the pavement. He then proceeded, without missing a step, to vomit into the gutter. He then, still without missing a step, and without getting any on himself, pulled a hanky from his pocket, dabbed his mouth and re-joined the group to continue the conversation where he had left off moments before. This is, and will always remain, the finest example of casual nausea I have ever witnessed.

Ipswich’s Casual Nausea, allegedly named after co-vocalist Zoe Barrow’s pre-gig nerves, are certainly now up there with the above story in my top 10 list of casual nauseae… and I never realised I had such a top 10 list!

This Casual Nausea play punk rock and keep it old school, which is exactly how I like it.

Apart from the updated production values, Casual Nausea wouldn’t have been entirely out of place on the Crass Records roster 35 years ago, as they blast out fast, edgy, politicised punk rock complete with male and female lead vocals and a shit ton of snotty melody. It brings to mind Crass, The Subhumans, The Casualties, Minor Threat, The Distillers, etc. Pop punk this ain’t! Continue reading “Album Review: Casual Nausea – Demons”

Girls To The Front: Female Promoters Revitalising UK Punk Rock

We explore the recent upsurge of womxn in putting on gigs in the North of England, the ingrained sexism in the DIY community and what we can do to challenge it.

Written by Sarah Williams. Photos by Cold Front Photography.

We’ve created a ‘New Women of Punk Rock’ Spotify playlist to accompany this article – listen now.

Although it’s one of the more progressive communities, even in 2019, UK DIY punk rock remains a veritable sausage fest.

Attending shows as a woman alone, I’m often asked who my boyfriend is, which band member I’m banging, or whether I’m actually interested in the music I’ve paid good money to listen to. When working at shows, there’s an assumption that I’m there to help out on the door or sell merchandise, and that I wouldn’t know the difference between an XLR and a Speakon.

I organised Shout Louder Fest in February 2019 but, in the run up to it, multiple people assumed that I’d employed Ian ‘Tree’ Robinson of Anarchistic Undertones to book it for me – I was just tagging along at my own gig (comments which he did his best to quell). As someone who frequently writes about punk rock, I’ve often had folks on the internet assume that I’m a guy, even when Shout Louder profiles are full of selfies with my hair running amok. Out at gigs with our resident photographer, Josh, it’s often assumed that he’s the running things and I’m simply there to hold his lenses.

So, although the punk scene is an increasingly inclusive space, there’s definitely still work to do. Continue reading “Girls To The Front: Female Promoters Revitalising UK Punk Rock”

News: Manchester Punk Festival 2019 Photo Book Launched!

Shout Louder and Cold Front Photography have teamed up to create a one-off print zine celebrating Manchester Punk Festival.

We have some exciting news: Shout Louder and Cold Front Photography have joined forces to create our first ever photo book, commemorating Manchester Punk Festival 2019.

We’ve tried to capture everything that makes MPF so special: the culture, the community and the crippling hangovers.

Pre-Order the MPF Photo Book now

This glossy 36-page photo zine showcases Josh Sumner’s (Cold Front Photography / Fair Do’s) best shots from the festival, including Incisions, Adrenalized, After The Fall, Wolfrik, Corrupt Moral Altar, Coproach, The Infested and Munice Girls. Excelling in dark, intimate photography, he’s captured the intensity of the festival perfectly.

This unique zine is much more than just gorgeous photos: Sarah Williams (Shout Louder / Lockjaw Records) has written a characteristically amusing and honest insight into the highs and lows of Manchester Punk Festival 2019.

We wanted to commemorate this festival that unites the world of punk rock with this photo book. MPF is onto something special: let’s celebrate that.

The photo book is available at a very reasonable price from Shout Louder’s webstore, along with some limited A3 poster prints.

 

Exclusive: Revenge of The Psychotronic Man Premiere ‘The End Of Everything’ Film

Famed UK punks debut the film of their last ever live show, featuring footage of their huge line-up of TNSrecords favourites: Faintest Idea, Pizzatramp, Nosebleed, Wonk Unit, Matilda’s Scoundrels, Casual Nausea, Rising Strike, Bobby Funk, The Domestics, Sounds of Swami… and a lot of shenanigans.

Shout Louder are proud to premiere The End of Everything: a film documenting the final live show of legendary Manchester fast-punks, Revenge Of The Psychotronic Man.

The farewell show took place at Rebellion, Manchester, on 8 December 2018, and marked the end of a long career of stupidly fast DIY punk rock.

The gig sold out four months in advance, and featured 14 bands: one for each year the band had existed. The line-up was announced shortly before the show, and the running order wasn’t revealed until minutes before each set, setting the scene for a day of chaos.

This film was made by Mark Richards and it features most of the bands who played, including Nosebleed, Pizzatramp, Wonk Unit, Matilda’s Scoundrels, Casual Nausea, The Domestics, Rising Strike, Bobby Funk, Sounds of Swami and more. It also includes extensive highlights of Revenge’s final emotional set, plus the once-in-a-lifetime Revenge ‘All Stars’ band, featuring a carousel of ex-members and associated musicians.

The sound was recorded by Julian Wallinger, with additional mixing by Simon Short.

If there video’s whet your appetite, be sure to pick up a copy of the photobook from the event, featuring top shots from Tim ‘Hold My Pint’ Bevington: https://www.tnsrecords.co.uk/shop/tns-releases/the-end-of-revenge-photo-book/

Revenge’s final album That Was Just A Noise and off of the band’s back catalogue is currently available for HALF PRICE over at the TNSrecords website: http://bit.ly/RevengeSale  Continue reading “Exclusive: Revenge of The Psychotronic Man Premiere ‘The End Of Everything’ Film”

Everything Is Probably Fine

Pre-Gig Anxiety: made worse by day jobs, traffic, hunger, other people or flaming Volkswagens. Lucias Malcolm gives us an amusing account of a problem every band will be all too familiar with.

Article by Lucias Malcolm, vocalist/guitarist in Call Me Malcolm. This is part of our #MentallySound series, exploring mental health in music. 

It’s 12:17 and a car is on fire.

Chris, our drummer, and I are on route to pick up our bassist Travs from the deepest, darkest wilds of west London. We are currently at a standstill on the A-something-or-other and the (thankfully) empty car next to us is on fire. Firefighters look on with the helplessly professional nonchalance of people that are sure, “Yes, that is definitely a fire.”

We’re due on stage in Stafford at 7:30, with a requested arrival time of an hour before. When a promoter asks you to arrive at 6:30, you can extrapolate from that the options available to you:

  1. You need to arrive at 6:30
  2. 6:00 if you want to be in any danger of being invited back.
  3. 7:29 if you think you should actually be higher up the bill.

I am haunted by a teeny, tiny, soul crushing anxiety every waking minute, so I’ve plotted our arrival for 5pm. And even then, my anxiety thinks we’re cutting it fine. An atypical 3-way argument ensues whereby Chris insists everything will be fine, my anxiety scoffs, and I sit in the middle trying not to annoy either of them.

But it’s 12:17 and a car is on fire. Continue reading “Everything Is Probably Fine”