June has the potential to either be a shining success or a hopeless disaster. Based on recent voting catastrophes, I’m fully prepared for an awful result on June 8th, and I do sometimes wish that shining beacons like Corbyn wouldn’t come along a give us leftie liberal types hope.
So, while you prepare to lose every shred of faith you have in humanity all over again, distract yourself with this splendid array of socially-conscious noise-mongers. There is no doubt that June holds some of the most exciting punk gigs on 2017 so far, and acts will be even angrier, feistier and more politically-charged than usual!
This is how I’ll be ignoring our inevitable doom:
Punx Inna Jungle – The Final Sozzle!
- Where: Antwerp Mansion, Manchester
- When: Saturday 17th June
- Who: INSANELY GOOD LINEUP ALERT
- Tickets: £7-10 from here
Known for being an absolute mauler of a night out, I’m seriously chuffed to be heading up to Manchester for the last ever Punx Inna Jungle. I can already taste the hangover.
MPF co-captains Anarchistic Undertones have pulled out all the stops with their last line-up, giving something for everyone. Drumroll please!
- Politically-charged ska-punk from faves Faintest Idea
- Riotous drunken folk punk from Matilda’s Scoundrels
- Enjoy a punch in the face from Grand Collapse’s unrelenting melodic thrash
- Throwing Stuff giving it hardcore thrash
- Scottish veterans PMX playing melodic punk
- Chaotic anarcho-ska from Wadeye
- Tech-metal-meets-skate-punk brilliance delivered by Fair Do’s
- Energetic punk fun from London DIY kings Wonk Unit
All this chaos will be taking place in the inappropriately named Antwerp Mansion. Apparently it’s never been a squat, but it definitely has that crusty, lived-in air, adequately setting the scene for debauchery that will last into the small hours. I look forward to seeing you all there, although there’s a good chance I may not remember it!
Kamikaze Girls / Nervus Co-Headline Tour
- Where: All over the place!
- When: 20th – 29th June
- Who: Local supports. Ipswich is Pale Girls and Sleep Well.
- Tickets: London here, Ipswich here
I could not believe the news when I saw the announcement for this tour. Nervus were a band I hadn’t heard of before Manchester Punk Festival, but they were one of the bands I was most excited to see. Their debut album Permanent Rainbow tackles alcohol addiction and gender dysphoria in an upbeat but emotional fashion. One listen had me hooked and they did not disappoint live: their jangly indie-punk filled the basement at Sound Control beautifully.
Kamikaze Girls blow my mind whenever I see them – check out my review of their show with Gnarwolves here. They play dynamic garage rock, full of soaring, atmospheric guitar, thundering drums and a vocal that switches from sweet to scathing in a heartbeat. They wouldn’t be out of place on a line-up with Petrol Girls or the Breeders, and it’s going to be a pleasure watching them headline. They will be celebrating the release of their overdue first album Seafoam (out on June 9th), so make sure you’ve got cash for the merch table.
Ipswich inhabitants should be sure to get down to The Smokehouse early on June 23rd – local supports Pale Girls and Sleep Well both play great atmospheric indie punk. It’s honestly one of the most well thought-out line-ups I’ve seen recently; definitely a do-not-miss gig.
Iron Chic
- Where: London, Bristol, Brighton and Manchester
- When: June 11-14th, inc. two London shows on June 11th
- Who: London support from Bear Trade (early), The Exhausts and Molar (late).
- Tickets: Early show £10 from here. Late show sold out fast.
On Sunday 11th June, Iron Chic will be playing not one but two whole shows at The Montague Arms in Peckham as part of their UK mini-tour, which also hits Manchester, Bristol and Brighton.
I was utterly gutted when I first saw the 8pm show announced, as I knew it would be impossible to get home from there on a Sunday night. As a result, I nearly wet myself when they recently announced a new matinee show with none other than the mighty Bear Trade.
Hailing from Long Island, Iron Chic are at the top of the emo/gruff game; it will be a frenetic experience watching them in such a small room. They play tense, burly punk full of hooks, and they’re paired perfectly with Bear Trade: both bands are about as close as you’ll get to Leatherface. I’m excited to hear more of Bear Trades. new record Silent Unspeakable live – it grows on you more with every listen, and it went down a storm at MPF.
Descendents
- Where: The Forum, Kentish Town, London
- When: Sunday 4th June
- Who: Support from Abrasive Wheels and The Kenneths
- Tickets: Now sold out!
What can you say about Descendents? Often it’s a struggle to organise a crew of friends to go to a show, but for this we needed so many tickets that the website made us buy them in two transactions.
Descendents are famous for being an originator of hardcore pop punk in the early 1980s. They are one of those rare bands where ‘perfect’ may be an understatement. Perhaps because of their rich history of hiatuses, label-changes and side-projects (I’m not entirely sure you can describe Black Flag and ALL as side-projects, but there you go) it’s a rarity to see them playing in Europe. This is a seriously exciting chance to hear songs that have been hugely influential not just on bands like NOFX, The Offspring and Blink 182 but on many of us individually.
The gig has recently been moved from Brixton Academy to The Forum, which is slightly smaller but an improvement in terms of atmosphere, sound-quality and queuing potential. Punks of all varieties will be travelling from far and wide for this one, in part because this is their only UK show. They probably couldn’t fit any more into their super-charged Hypercaffium Spazzinate Euro Tour, but seriously guys, on a Sunday? Public transport will have shut down by the time you’re due on stage! An apology to anyone living outside the M25 would be fitting. Still, this is going to be an absolute cracker.
For those of you in Ipswich…
There are some serious treats at The Smokehouse this month. Not only are Kamikaze Girls and Nervus giving us a visit on June 23rd, there are these two cracking line-ups:
- Saturday 3rd June – £4 OTD – details here
- The Grabowskis: straight-up energetic German punk
- The Minor Discomfort Band: seriously good pop-folk-country-punk
- Chestburster: horror-infused face-melting grindcore
- Saturday 24th June – £4 OTD – details here
- Vanilla Pod: East Anglian skate-punk veterans
- The Kirkz: Fat Wreck-style melodic punk from the Norf
- Aerial Salad: bloody good pop punk fun
If you’re in the Suffolk region, there really is no excuse for missing these.
Special mention also goes to:
- Manchfester 4.5: The 100th Moving North show has one hell of an indie-punk line up, inc. Sam Russo full band (!), Apologies, I Have None, Kamikaze Girls and Broadbay.
- Scary Clown presents Skate Aid 4: The Voodoo Lounge in Stamford is hosting the likes of Wonk Unit, Murderburgers, Crocodile God, Spoilers, Traits, Duncan Redmonds… that’s only a handful!
- The Burnt Tapes Album Launch: at The Urban Bar in Whitechapel on June 3rd with support from Shinjoku Riot, Werecats, Triple Sundae, O’Holy Ghost and Wayfairer. Not bad for a £5 donation!
- Skankfest 2017 at The Fleece, Bristol, featuring King Prawn, Jake & The Jellyfish, [spunge] and Counting Coins over two days
- Bouncing Souls are playing Epic Studios in Norwich in the company of Great Collapse, Great Cynics and Aerial Salad
- Plus Rise Against playing an intimate show at The Garage on Friday 2nd June, no doubt sold out by now!
For what it’s worth, if you do one thing this June, get out there and vote. In the past the right has been triumphant because of liberal division. Our priority should be getting the Tories out, so make sure you’re voting tactically in your area, to ensure that we stop this madness.
In the meantime, I’ll see you in the pit.
SHOUT LOUDER 