Distorted Magazine Octobber 2008 by Steve Noble

| OCTOBER 2008 | ISSUE 23 | ISSN 1754-3746 |

.Xray Spex . Fucked up

.Ruiner .AS FRIENDS RUST .CARRY ONS .Scheisse minnelli

.REFUSE/ALL

JAYA the cat

MIDDLE FINGER SALUTE .KING BLUES

THE BULLET KINGS, PULL OUT, DIABLO66 REVIEWED:

Lagwagon, Energy, HyperJax, Michael Graves, The Skints, Sick on the Bus plus loads more...

ALL SKA’D AND BRUISED EDITOR/Co PUBLISHER_ Cerven Cotter editor@distortedmagazine.com

ADVERTISING/Co PUBLISHER_ Nikola Cotter nikola@distortedmagazine.com ART/WEB/LAYOUT_ www.pixeldeath.com

SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR_ Steve ‘I’ll get you a job’ Noble steve@distortedmagazine.com CONTRIBUTORS_ John Robb, Rupe Rabble Tim Drunk, Curvball, Fungal Punk/ OMD, Willa, LibraSnake, Imelda Michalczyk and next month YOU! Contact information_ Distorted Magazine 9 Bridle Close, Surbiton Road, Kingston Upon Thames Surrey, KT1 2JW, UK info@distortedmagazine.com www.distortedmagazine.com

really don’t want to bore you with my editorial drivel, so I’ll keep it short and sweet... We’d like to welcome Rupe Rabble as our newest contributing writer - he will have a monthly column right here in Distorted. Check out his first set of musings entitled, KnifeLife. October also see’s Distorted’s first offical event. Along with Dave Cambell Promotions, we’re putting on a club night in South London and yours truelly will be playing all the best punk/ska/hardcore etc. So if you’re in the area, come down and check it out. We’ll also be giving away a load of CDs. The Ed & Jay Bones

Distorted Magazine is published by Distorted Ltd. ISSN 1754-3746 All content is copyright protected © 2006 - 2008. Distorted is a trademark of Distorted Ltd. Views expressed in the magazine’s content belong to the contributors and do not necessarily reflect those of the publishers. The contents are believed to be correct at the time of publishing. The publishers cannot accept responsibility for any errors, ommissions or for changes in the details given, © 2006 - 2008 Distorted Ltd. All rights reserved. Reproduction in a whole or in part of this magazine is strictly forbidden without prior written consent of the publishers.

As for this issue, it’s really a mixed bag of a few unknowns - don’t forget you’re never going to find anything new and exciting if you don’t open your mind and explore. See ya in November. ~ Cerven Cotter Distorted Editor

Features Pull Out... 16

CarryOns... 18

Scheisse Minnelli... 24

IEPER FEST

interviews with

...30

FUCKED UP / RUINER / BETRAYED / AS FRIENDS RUST

XraySpex... 42

Middle Finger Salute... 46 Jaya the Cat... 52 Refuse/All... 82

REGULARS Editor Notes...... 03 JOHN’S COLUMN... 06 RuPE’S COLUMN ... 08 Were you there?.... 10

Under the Radar....... 60 Soundcheck........65 Reviews...... 66 Favourites......88

Mutiny! The John Robb Column

Hombres! Three decades of pointing out the bleeding obvious has not really made much difference has it amigos? ‘We shout pretty loud because the world won’t listen’ as someone once sang summing up the whole ethos of punk rock and we are still shouting. But you gotta keep going. There’s more pointless wars than there was in the seventies and even more backslapping, filthy, greed which has got us all into a fine old mess. So as predicted for years by anyone on the fringes of counter culture the bankers are really taking the piss. They sat there for decades with the 5 star lifestyles and big fat bonuses running the world into the ground with their greed and selfishness and now the whole thing has gone tits up they want our money and our sympathy. There’s gonna be a couple of tough years whilst those

city slickers slope off to semi retirement with their big bonuses and everyone else is screwed. How they can even get paid more than nurses or anyone who actually does a proper job is an indictment of our fucked up society. I wonder what Joey Ramone- a bit of player on Wall Street himself in his last years- would have made of the current mess. I’ve been hammering the Ramones albums recently and they still have that weird trick of getting really under you skin. The Ramones were a genius band they made complicated simple and did it for 20 odd years. We can argue forever about who invented punk rock but that famous Ramones gig at the Roundhouse where they supported the Flaming Groovies in July 1976 must be the moment that changed everything here in the UK. The day after every punk band apart from the Sex Pistols speeded up.

The Ramones sounded almost avant-garde when they first appeared- that wall of sound guitar was like a chainsaw and they looked amazing- like a military unit. Live they were stunning, I saw them at Lancaster University at the time and they were like a machine. Tight, powerful and thrilling. They seemed to write hundreds of songs and each one had its own killer hook and its own heartbreaking or hilariously dumb lyric. And Joey was one of the great singers. Maybe I’ve played the classic first three albums so much, maybe I needed change but the Phil Spector produced ‘End Of The Century’ is now my current favourite Ramones album. ‘End Of The Century’ the one tat your meant to be sniffy about as its perceived to be their big sell-out record, but its an absolute classic rock n roll record, a big bold release where the Ramones went into full colour and who could forget seeing ‘Baby I Love You’ on Top Of The Pops (check out youtube) with Joey in his classic rock n roll element giving the big Spector ballad eveyrhting whilst De Dee and Johnny mime along to

a song that they hated and didn’t even play on originally. Just got the new album from Rises Against and it has all the hallmarks of the latest underground punk scene band to go top ten world wide. They have glossed their sound a tad to make the breakthrough but retain enough of the power and velocity of punk rock to make the record work. A lot of people have a problem with bands from the punk rock scene breaking into the big time but they forget that punk rock was pop music in the first place and one of the great things about the late seventies punk explosion was the way that it got into mainstream culture and really caused a fuss. Its all a matter of how you deal with that mainstream and whether a band gets lost in all the pretend trappings of the Britney Spears world. Somehow I think Rises Against will avoid that. The Chicago based band are using Geffen to get the message through with the ‘Appeal To Reason’ album which sees them back to their potent political best . The lead off single, ‘Re-education (Through Labour)’. –which takes a pretty clear stand

Mutiny!

The John Robb Column against the issue of sweat shops that make all our cheap clothes sets the stall for a whole series of powerful commentaries on the current fucked up world. Thank fuck someone can still be bothered to do this So the NME have picked up on Toronto hardcore heroes Fucked Poly Styrene @ Grilly X

Up- don’t let that you put you off, I know its hardly a punk rock paper, they normally sneer at anything that’s slightly noisier than the Strokes but occasionally they get it right and Fucked Up are great. Psychedelic hardcore is a sparsely populated area in rock n roll but Fucked Up have made it there own and even if the media interest seems to be mainly over their genius name (It’s the ultimate rock n roll statement) and the fact that front man Damian Pink Eyes is a bit of a character (bald and beefy and smart and crazy!) at least they are getting noticed. Live they destroy! Damien stage dives the crowd and crushes anyone in the way- in a good-natured way of course! 200 pounds of frontman hurtling down ona mashpit clears it out pretty fast! Their records are amazing and there are so many of them. When they started

a few years ago in Toronto they seemed to be releasing a seven inch single very month- each one a twisted cultural statement. They utilised the power of hardcore but added British eighties underground indie and psychedelic to the mix and have ended up with a powerfully original sound. Their last single, ‘Year Of The Pig’ was 18 minutes long! It just builds and builds from a deceptively quiet intro into the massive raging song. They are an amazing band are going to take the world and have taken hardcore back from the metal heads and into the inventiveness of the days of Black Flag et al. The band are smart as well, they know how to fuck up the right people. In January 2008 they filed a lawsuit against Rolling Stone Magazine and Camel Cigarettes for an advertisement that included them in an Indie Rock Universe special The advertisement apparently portrayed the band as supporters of Camel. “The fact that Fucked Up was mentioned in there wasn’t some great coincidence. This isn’t a case of subliminal advertising, where we’re claiming that there were penises in the shadows — our name

is right there. Maybe they thought we were too stupid to know what was going on.” As of June 2008, the lawsuit is still in action. Back in my full on non stop world I’ve finished my book about the eighties underground noisy scene in the UK that I was involved in with my band the Membranes (myspace.com/membranesuk). The book is called Death To Trad Rock and is out on Cherry Red next April, writing books Is hell but finishing them is amazing! I’m off to London tomorrow to attempt to make a xmas single with the fantastic Poly Styrene. It’s re working of ‘City Of Ghosts’ off the current Goldblade ‘Mutiny’ album. We want to make a dark anti Xmas song, a song that picks up on the real melancholic vibe of that time of year but also make it big and rocking. Poly is an amazing singer and I can’t wait to work with her on this big punk rock duet! John Robb is the author of Punk Rock: An Oral History and is the frontman of Goldblade.

WordsAre Ammunition! The musings of Rupe Rabble

KnifeLife Two months ago I became a visitor tothe elusive land of ‘Beckham’ like an alien discovering the Earth for its firstfew steps - not with laser in hand but a pair of drumsticks, not with greattrepidation but a youthful desire to wage Rock ‘n Roll war on Britain!

23 years old, 27 hours from home, 28 1⁄2 screwsin my head loose and 1 snare drum to boot. A punk rocker, a winner, a loser, a “whatever the fuck I wanna be” in a “don’tdo that” sort of world. Probably not whatthe average Mother might dream of for her teenage son, definitely not pictureperfect, but hey - by no means a lost cause… Friday 1st of August, Heathrow Airport, 5 am - refreshedrebel-spirit coursed through my veins, taking the form of 30 plus tour dateslined up for ‘The Rabble’ – the musical

and lyrical ammunition racked up sotight in the chambers of my heart that one small outburst could easily send anysad indie wanker straight off of the front line and back to the damp of the trenches! There I stood - on the other side of theworld, there at the baggage carousel, exhausted from jetlag but still chompingat the bit to start my first international stint… My eyes were bloodshot, wide - creeping upwalls like a man on a mission, taking in unfamiliar faces and peculiar fashions;lapping up a civilization past seen on films like ‘Lock, Stock and Two SmokingBarrels.’ Anxious, staring, like a schizophrenicsparrow eyeing its dinner from afar, the opening scene for my newest saga rosein style with the morning sun; my brothers at my side and the sounds of ’77 blaringfrom the headphones draped casually around my shoulders… I didn’t know what to expect of the home ofpork pies and the Queen,

but sure as the rain would fall on my head - I would soon find out! I fell in love with London like ashort, sharp, shock. The historyoverwhelmed me, whilst the culture hit me like a wrecking ball - unfortunately asdid the sky-high costs and needless to say the love affair was passionate, butextremely quick! Stiff Little Fingers - ‘GottaGetaway’ soon became the soundtrack anthem to my empty pockets… I spent the first few days here almost livingon the tube; I knew full well that The Rabble’s first show in a five month tourwasn’t far off and I desperately wanted - perhaps needed to take in theatmosphere that is the vast city. Constantlyadding a little more knowledge to my eternally seeking cranium and a few morenotches to my ever expanding studded belt… I saw all that I could around town, from the expensive flavour that King’s Road has become, tothe punk rock swagger that is Camden Town, the history of the Embankment, tothe Jamaican beat of Ladbroke Grove, all sorts from all walks of life; and itdidn’t take long to notice certain aspects a little askew – certain peoplelooking somewhat twisted - the sense of an underlying madness thick in placesof consumerist bustle. More and more Ibegan

to notice the malevolent stares of young adults and kids half my age alike. Guys with expensive gold chains dangling fromtheir necks and shapes shaved into their heads, football hero look-a-likes whoseemed to take American “ghetto” life a little too seriously… The slogans stained up on brick walls beganto catch my attention far too often, the cries of a desperate nation splatteredin the form of graffiti - “Don’t take a life – bin that knife.” New Zealand is no safe haven by any means;I’ve been kicked around on several occasions simply for being me… Our papers are full of gang-related crime,murder and violence and there are far too many people who would resort to recklessmeasures for some extra cash - same as it is all across the globe Isuppose. However, teenagers with a tastefor knives are a whole new chapter in a sick story for me! It’s all over the news; it’s all over thestreets – youth with black eyes full of anger and hate, mouths that open onlyto spread hate. Closed minds who findonly closed doors in life – no choice, no chance! Too many cops, working far too hard to cleanup a mess that we as a civilization should never have made in the first place… And what is the issue? Educa-

WordsAre Ammunition! The musings of Rupe Rabble

tion? Class? Money? Or are we simply the animal? I see 10 year old drug dealers out on thestreet, caught up in a game forced down by the parasite – sucking off of ourhope and turning the free into the victim. I see kids brought into the world kickingand screaming by idiotic souls who “accidently” get pregnant after a fist fightand a night on the piss - people who are far too young and far too fuckingstupid for parenthood in the first place! People who will neglect their child for a life of booze, leaving a legacyof adolescents desperately trying to pick up the pieces from broken homes andempty lives. Soldiers in a never-ending streetwar, waving broken bottles like flags, their aggression a staunch cover for thesubconscious hurt of being one of many who truly believe it is their onlychance in life to convert themselves from the oppressed to the oppressor! ManKIND, that word has always beenlike a joke to me – mansLAUGHTER… I’veseen violence as much a part of youth as Walp Disney and McDonalds. It’s written on the faces of a million blankstares, the same way it is

stamped on our history books. I guess we as people tend to destroy what we don’tunderstand and when one man relates to the next like a cat does a dog; is itany different for us to harm each other in any way possible… Race to race – town to town. Invisible divisions all across the land,borders of hate and war, territories within territories, the foundations forcarnage, the building blocks for the vicious cycle… Young minds like sponges soaking up an age ofterror, an era where a 15 year old would rather stab someone in the name of agang than kick a ball, ride a bike or read a book… I have always loved the ‘Sick of itAll’ line “stand up to those who think they’re King” – perhaps it’s about time welistened to the words that ring true… STAYFREE

Rupe Rabble plays drums for New Zealands, The Rabble.

W ER E Y OU T HER E ? 4th INTERNATIONAL London Tattoo Convention 26 - 28 September 2008 Tobacco Dock, London

The London Tattoo convention this year was the best one yet! The new venue ensured fans of ink werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t climbing all over each other. The vibe was less tense than the previous year. But what went down? Lots and lots of awesome tattooing! Well done again to the organisers for putting on such a great show. Next year is only going to be even bigger!

| MARCH 2008 | page 07 |

SUPPORT SLOT

with...

T U O L L PU

While US noise punks Monster Squad took a break, PULL OUT was born. As they say you can’t keep an ambitious ‘dude’ crew down....

Pullout is a fairly new band right? How would you describe your sound? That is correct. We have only been around for about 9 or 10 months. I would personally describe our sound as early hardcore mixed with 80s punk rock. Some of you guys are in Monster Squad. Who does what in the band? Jason who plays Guitar in MS plays drums. Ultimate Justin just recently joined Pullout and plays Bass in both bands. I play guitar in MS and sing in Pullout. James who played Merch Boy on a few MS tours plays Guitar. Where are you based? Whats the punk scene like there? We are all kind of spread across Northern Calfornia from San Francisco to Sacramento. Both cities have strong scenes with lots of great bands. The Bay Area scene is huge but I feel has a lot more division than Sacramento. We personally consider both areas to be our scene and we are all very proud of that.

Even though you are in Monster Squad, why did you form PullOut? Monster Squad had decided to take a break from writing and touring. A few of us were not ready to stop doing music and still wanted to be on the road. So we decided to start up a new band with guys who felt the same way. You’ve got an album in the works - when can we expect this? We recorded the entire album for 3 long days in June at Pus Cavern Studio in Sacramento. It will be released in Europe on Razor Blade Music(Germany) on November 17th. The record will be put out in US hopefully around the same time. GMM Records which is now based out of Sacramento will be putting it out! We are all super stoked on working with GMM and being label mates with great bands like Whiskey Rebels and Pressure Point. Matthew Andrew Kadi, who you may know as the Drummer of Monster Squad did the album art work and took the photos. Our buddy Lee DCOI drew the character on the cover of the album.

“...we decided to start up a new band with guys who felt the same way.”

photo by Matt Kadi

Where does Pullout draw their influences from? We all have very different tastes in music so it would really hard to narrow it down to a certain genre. Anybody you want to thank? First of all Tim Drunk and everyone at Distorted for doing this interview. Mike and Jimmy from GMM Records, Benziana Jones from Razor Blade Music, Joe and Lesa Johnston at Pus Cavern Studio, John Flute for filling in on bass for a while for us and Justin and Jason DCOI for helping us start this band and helping us during the recording. oh yea...and Matt Kadi for doing the artwork on the album for minimal pay. Final words? We are going to be on tour in Main Land Europe towards the end of February. Our tour kick off show is at Punk and Disorderly in Berlin. I’m not sure if we are going to be hitting the UK this time around but everyone should come out and party with us if they can. Thanks again! Dude Crew! http://www.myspace.com/pulloutpunx

Words by Steve Noble

1 ITEM

ONLY(!)

So every now and again an album does raise my hefty eyebrows and my magic finger combined with the internet as my guiding tool leads me to learn more about the band that caused the reaction. Thankfully in this case I feel we may have uncovered a band worthy of the effort, as the little known Carry-Ons talk punk, politics and bands.

Hi guys, thanks for the new record, as it’s a gem of a full-length debut. Tell us about The Carry-Ons and the band’s name?

The Carry-Ons formed in October of 04’ and have been playing venues, house shows, parties, and have two national

tours under our belt. Our influences include punk, rock, hardcore, ska, metal, and blues influences; with each band member contributing their own interpretation. (Neil): The band’s name was originated by our friend one night when we were all getting wasted and writing logos on bar napkins. Once he came up

CARRY-ONS

with the original concept of a bomb in a suitcase, we were hooked. Keep in mind everyone was still freaked out about the Terror Alert and if tomorrow’s forecast would include lazy yellow or high alert sunset red. So, we figured why not just try to be smart-asses about the whole thing and not care how we come across. (Abraham): Some people have mistaken the name to be The “Carrions”, like in a dead animal carcass; which might make

sense if we were a metal band. Really, we’ve had some bad hands dealt over our four years. I believe the name just reflects our ability to endure.

So you are from Nashville/Atlanta. Not that well recognised for punk rock, but thankfully someone’s flying the flag. So what’s the

local scene like?

(Abraham): Atlanta has been great to us. There is a lot of support for music and art in the city. But Nashville sucks when it comes to originality. That town is full of pretentious pop country bands, who want to be Indy rock bands, whose members just end up becoming arrogant bar backs. The local paper, “The Nashville Scene”, is not worthy of catching your dog’s piss. The writers are so out of touch it’s nauseating to read. They usually just recycle reviews of their friends Indy bands every few months. I will say that there are a few people, including our label Stik Man Records, who work hard to keep a unified scene alive in Nashville. But there is definitely no support for our genre of music from “Music City”.

(Neil): The Nashville music scene is somewhat of a joke to us. Considering the nearby universities, the need for “the next big hit” of country/pop music, and the pop sensibilities that have all but saturated what was once country--we have no interest in it. There is a plethora of musical genres there, none of which appeals to us. Needless to say, we prefer to play out of town.

Tell us about your new record “Is Anyone Lis-

tening?” What was the aim with your first full length and the meaning behind the title?

(Neil): This was a project that we had to deal with over several weeks. The scheduling was a nightmare, but in retrospect, it gave us several chances to go back and change anything we weren’t happy with. We just wanted to show what we were capable of without having people label us. Obviously, we do agree with some of the attitudes that punk involves, but I believe we offer more, musically. “Is Anyone Listening?” describes our frustration with this scene and with the direction the music industry is going as a whole. Honestly, we don’t believe anyone is listening, and therein lays the problem. (Abraham): I think the best example of the records title can be found in our experience slinging merch. On a portion of the Warped Tour. In trying to sell our stuff to the Warped Tour fans, we came across many kids who would not put our music up to their ears. We would persist or their friends would listen and say “Wow, that’s pretty good”. Most often, they would all walk away with CD’s and shit. My point being that this is a great band and a really good record. I am proud and know that most people would get into The Carry-Ons. It’s just that, no one is listening.

Any songs that stand out for you?

(Abraham): “Recovery” is the product of taking a good hard look at myself and decisions that I have made. So, the song means a lot to me personally. “Apocalypse Song” gives me sort of a violent rush. Which makes it a great song to play live.

CARRY-ONS (Neil): “The Apocalypse Song”,” Zero-In”, “The War Is Over”, “Fuck the Cliché”, and “The Effect”. I have a tendency to favour the songs with lyrics that have something to say and make you want to take action. Those are the most rewarding to perform live.

“The War is Over” and “Apocalypse Song”-both carry gloomy but worldly overtones.

(Abraham): I have never admitted this before and I don’t even think my band mates are aware, but “The War is Over” was inspired not just by combat in Iraq or other parts of the world, but the war my wife and I were having during our separation. Some of the original lyrics, alluding to that situation, are still in the final product. Eventually, the song did evolve to become more of a protest and my hope that we could one day find peace. However, only after rectifying things at home was I able to finish that song. “Apocalypse Song” is a song with some sarcastic, maybe dark, humour. It seems to me that there is this eerie treat of nuclear world extermination looming. Which it’s almost comical to believe that we live, maybe unconsciously, with this ominous feeling of extinction. I hope that I am not viewed as a full-blown cynic, but this song basically states that the earth would possibly be better off without humanity fucking it all up. In that case, we should throw a huge party and celebrate as bombs rain down. The fact that not everyone catches the humor is part of the appeal I think.

Your lyrics can be outspoken, are there particular issues you like to address through your music?

(Abraham): I am usually inspired by situations in life, but there’s not one topic I prefer over another. I’m most satisfied when I’ve written about an issue or topic that I am wrestling to understand. It is somewhat of a self-serving talent, I guess. If I feel that something around me is messed up, I write about it. It seems to be therapeutic and I can deal with the situation better. If someone listening to the songs picks up on it as their own, that’s great.

Who has the song writing responsibilities?

(Neil): There is no set formula when it

comes to organizing a song. We have all helped to create the songs that are on this album. There are times when one or two writers can make it happen more easily, but most often times everyone’s opinion and talent is involved. All it takes is an

idea -- We all instinctively know when and where our contribution is needed.

Are there bands or people you aspire to?

(Abraham): I go through phases every few years. I still have my favourite bands, but they will slip in priority for a while until I rediscover them. I like a lot of diverse music and many decades of Punk. I guess I would love to one day have the iconic status of Shane McGowan, Greg Graffin, or Tim Armstrong. I love the way those guys use words to paint pictures. I will admit to going on a few three day binges, but nothing close to

McGowanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work ever came out. I tend to envision Punk Rock as more aggressive than it really is today. I guess that is why The Carry-Ons work so well together. I want to protest, break glass, and spit beer. The other guys help me channel that and bring the tone down to something comprehensible. (Neil): My influences include: AC/DC, The Police, 311, The Urge, The Ramones, Rancid, Foo Fighters, Story of the Year, Metallica, John Mayer, Anti-Flag, Rage Against the Machine, Alkaline Trio, Gallows, Against All Authority, & Sting. All of which I respect and would definitely say Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve learned a thing or two from.

CARRY-ONS

You seem to be a politically conscientious band? Does the political climate in the US provide plenty of ammunition in terms of song material?

(Abraham): Of course. I am just shocked that there is not more open protest in the US. The Bush administration stole American votes, then initiated a war through lies, and has led us to our worst economy in twenty-five years or longer. This whole shitty administration is so transparently corrupt and incompetent. I can’t believe that “We the People” didn’t collectively demand the removal of Bush and the majority of his administration. Some people outside of the U.S. seem to blame Americans as a whole. The truth is, most Americans are just as pissed and ashamed at where our country has gone in the last eight years. 71% of US citizens disapprove of the Bush government and 100% of The Carry-Ons disapprove. (Neil): Expect more of the same if Obama doesn’t make the cut.

You have toured with some pretty great bands. Are there any that stand out for any reason? Who would top your wish list as a fan?

(Neil): HR of Bad Brains was definitely one of the most memorable. Not only did he stay at our house for a week, but we also got to double as his band for a handful of dates. He was an interesting

fellow. Sharing the stage with The Draft was amazing, they sounded exactly like their album -- note for note. Seeing NOFX live with The Lawrence Arms was pretty intense, too -- To date it’s the only complete show I’ve ever seen while standing on a chair behind the sound booth just to catch a view. (Abraham): The Lawrence Arms and one show with The Casualties. I enjoyed hanging with The Lawrence Arms and their tour manager. We drank Makers Mark until morning. Although in retrospect, I think we may have annoyed the band with our drunken stupidity.

Have you toured outside of the States before? Any plans/ambitions to do so?

(Neil): Sadly, we have not…yet. We have considered it more seriously within the past year and hope to visit Europe before the end of 09’. We have talked to other bands that have travelled worldwide and are trying to figure out the best plan of action; equipment rentals, flights, & places to stay…things of that sort. Anyone reading this is welcome to help. Visit www.myspace.com/thecarryons If you had to leave one lasting impression as a band what would you like that to be? (Neil): You should never forsake your opinions, they change the world constantly. (Abraham): Yeah, sometimes for the worst. Are you serious?

Words by Tim Drunk

Scheisse Minnelli

Grind on this Introductions can be pretty boring, you know, those long drawn out ‘movie sample’ type intros. Guess once you’ve heard it, then you pretty much don’t need to hear it again. All that aside, skate punk outfit, Scheisse Minnelli, have a new album out - it sounds great and frontman, Sam, spoke to us about it and warned us ‘not to drink the viper’

Hey Sam, let’s get the basic stuff out the way. Who is in the band, where are you guys from, and how long have you been around as Scheisse Minnelli? Hey bro! Well on drums we have Dudel, on bass Dash mixes it up and on guitar is Felix. Oh yeah and I sing or whatever you wanna call it. We played our first show on November 29th 2003. Our original guitar player Egore left

after six months to move back to California. That was when we found Felix and that has been the line up ever since the middle of 2004. Many bands get the label as ‘skate punk’ - it really seems like Scheisse Minnelli is really and truely a skate punk band. What do you think it is about skateboarding and punk that go so well together?

Skateboard is a sport, but it is a sport with NO RULES. Everyone can do and create what they want. Real punk, not as it is know in the mainstream is exactly the same. There are no rules. Punk is bigger than just music, it is pushing the bounderies as far as possible. There were punk bands back in the day that would just be a dude that had a chainsaw and a bunch of strips of metal and he would destroy them all in a display of visual chaos with noise. So skating in its real pure form is just as free and rebelious as punk rock, the two therefore go hand in hand. What other skate punk bands have inspired you as a band? Why these bands, was it their sound, or the fact that they skate or the way they skate? There are so many killer bands

that include skateboarding as a facet of the band or are pure skate punk bands. A few that influence us are DRI, RKL, Los Olvidados, The Faction, Gang Green, Free Beer, Code of Honor, Christ on Parade, Septic Death, Boneless Ones, the Stupids, JFA and so many more. The sound and message of the bands is more important than if they skate or not. I listen to plenty of bands that have nothing to do with skating, in the end that is just a bonus. On the subject about skating, do you think skateboarding and punk have both become products for the mainstream? Why do you think both became so popular? Well it seems that skating and punk come and go in waves through the mainstream. The last big wave was in the mid-90ies and it seems that they have both stayed pretty mainstream since then. I got into skating and punk on one of the waves in mid/late 80ies and I have not stopped either since then. During the early 90ies skaters and punks were total rejects at school, at least in California. We were not cool, no

Scheisse Minnelli one liked us, we got beat up, pushed around by the jocks and things like this. It seems nowadays that the skaters are the cool kids, which to me is totally backwards, but whatever. I guess it has become so popular because of the natural attraction to rebellion, especially in the your teen years. Now that the mainstream has grabbed a hold of it and exploited both everyone has a chance to find out about it through all the media and advertising. I guess the internet has also played a BIG part in all of this. When I was young punk and I wanted to find out about new bands, we traded tapes through the mail or a friend recorded something for you. Now all you have to do is jump on the internet and you have millions of bands to choose from. It seems almost too easy. Do all the members of Scheisse Minnelli skate? What do you guys prefer, street, park or could old fashion concrete bowls and pools? We all have skated and 3 of us still do. Dudel has pretty much hung up his board. I would have to say that Felix skates the

most out of all of us. I don’t skate as much as I should, I work too much and booze too much. I always take my board on tour though and try to hit up whatever I can. I personally perfer launch ramps and can’t seem to find many in Europe. That has to be my favorite thing is catching air. Street is always great too because you sort of create a skate park out of an urban environment. Fuck yeah, bowls are AWESOME, but shit I have not skated a real swimming pool in like 15 years, might break my neck! Felix and Dash seem comfortable on whatever.... Felix likes busting a lot of old school flat ground tricks and shit Dash can still do double flips almost on call. Now skating and punk have always known to be ‘rebellious’ - do you think both have become ‘safe’ these days. Are there people/bands etc keeping it dangerous still? Skating and Punk are safe just like a gun is safe. If you have the safety on then you can’t hurt anyone, click that little button and they can be deadly! Look if you wanna be safe then go skate with pads on

and listen to Green Day. But there are plenty of skaters and bands that keep both dangerous. Skaters like Mike Vallely, Wade Speyer, and Duane Peters are all older, still rip and donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t take any prisoners. Then there are plenty of bands that are still ripping it up and have not played into the mainstream attitude. The same goes for bands, older ones like Society Dog, Social Unrest, Dayglo Abortion, MDC and many more have been around forever and will still come out and play your living room. I know that cause we did play a living room in California with Society Dog. There are also many great new bands keeping the old school fire alive but with a new younger twist such as 2nd Opinion, Nightstick Justice, Jakked Rabbits, Killin It and many more. Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve recently put out your new album, The Crime has Come, care to tell us a little more about it? I guess it is mainly about a lot of my personal experience and the bands expericence that result in metaphores for daily life. There is also some other stuff mixed in, like songs about some B movies. Growing up in California life was a bit different than in Europe. Crime

happened all the time. By the age of 17 I had already lost 3 close friends. I was attacked one time on the way home from school..The guy tried to stick me with a knife and the only reason he did not was because I had my skate with me to keep him away. Things like this, the lifestyle from that part of the world are ver prelevant in my lyrics. The album came about funny enough because of myspace. Archi Alert from Inferno and Terrorgruppe emailed me and asked me if we had any plans to record. We were already talking about doing our second album. When Archi asked us we jumped at it. He was the perfect person to do it. He not only played in one og Germanyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first HC Punk bands but also knows the music inside out having toured with bands like RKL and Verbal Abuse. He braught us up to Berlin to record at the Music Lab. Most of the bands that have recorded there are Thrash Metal like Sodom or Kreator. So due to the expenses we got the 16 songs done in 2 days.....no over dubs, all live cords, solos and all. Well to be honest I did the vocals afterwards, but the music is all live. That was the best way to capture the energy of the band.

Scheisse Minnelli Who did your artwork? It is very much inline the 80s skatedeck graphics - was that the idea behind the artwork? A couple of youngsters from the town we live in did the artwork. And due to who they work for and other reasons, we are not allow to reveal their names. The idea behind the art is a big mix. The scenery is where I grew up and hung out and drank with my best friends for years. The rest was us trying to put as many of the song ideas into the cover. Everyone is drinking Viper (though they should not hehe), one dude as a skatebaord so that goes with the skating songs, Robby is sitting on top of the bridge with a 6 pack so that refers to Tribute to Robby’s Liver, and everyone (but Rob) is running from the cops which throws in Run from the Cops. The style was suppose to be comic/skate graphix type, that all goes to the artists though. Where do you think punk is heading? What does it mean to you? I am not really sure. I know that there is a growing underground that is fed up with the mainstream

scene which is really cool. A lot of youngsters are getting into the scene. I am a bit jealous because it is much easier to find out about bands and the history. When I was younger I had to put a lot of effort into find the “real shit.” Punk means everything to me. It was always there for me. In the lowest points of my life I could always put on the right song and things would seem better. So in turn I have always been there for Punk. I have booked numerous tours for bands totally DIY. I just hope that everyone that gets into it does it for the right reason and understands that some of us are in this for life. If in five or ten years you are gonna be one of those people that says “I used to be a punk,” or “I used to listen to punk,” don’t even bother, we don’t need you. Anything else you’d like to add? I liked skateboarding better when it was a fucking CRIME!

All words & photos by Willa

Verse

IEPER FESTIVAL 2008

HARDCORE COLLECTIVE

Rebellion/Reading/Glasto/Download not your cup of tea this summer? Then how about exchanging them for a nice cool can of Jupiler, some of Belgium’s finest beer available for 1euro from any Ieper vending machine. Around two hours from Brussels is the town of ‘Ieper’ or ‘Yypres’, host of famous World War II battle and a not-so-famous annual hardcore festival. Three days of hardcore and metal ankle-deep in mud and surrounded by wheat fields, a merch tent full of independent distributors and an ‘alternative media’ tent, delicious vegetarian food for cheap and the surprise reunion shows of not one, but two great bands. If you’re okay with wearing a tshirt that says ‘SHITWORKER’ across the back (yes, it does mean the same thing as in English) all bank holiday weekend then it’s worth getting a volunteer pass and…wait, did I mention that it was three of days of hardcore? If you’d rather trade the usual (and bloody expensive) summer festivals for something a little more DIY then definitely check out ieperfest in August 2009- otherwise, if you can’t wait that long, there’s a winter edition every February. Just remember- even if the sun is singing ‘Summer Holiday’ at you when you set off, it’s worth packing wellies then losing your favourite pair of Vans (sob sob) to some of Belgium’s finest farm mud and that if you’re too lazy to check out the nearby town, the Flemish sign for ‘beer’ at the bar is sticking up your pinky finger.

interviews with: FUCKED UP / RUINER / BETRAYED / AS FRIENDS RUST

FUCKED UP

Friday w/a Mike Haliechuk (rhythm guitar) & Josh Zucker (lead guitar) WHATS IT LIKE RIDING IN A VAN RUNNING OFF VEGETABLE OIL? M: We haven’t ridden on it yet, we’re actually starting to use it next week. I’m a little worried… J: Mike’s a little worried because the bus has no seatbelts, but the vans don’t usually have seatbelts, right? M: The bus has no seatbelts, and the fuel has to be collected from the back of a resteraunt every night and goes like 50 miles per hour max, and the highway we’re riding it on is like the most dangerous highway in the United States. The ride from Portland to New York is harrowing enough with seatbelts…It might be fine, but it might be a pain in the ass. TELL US SOME MORE ABOUT THE INFAMOUS SUNY SHOW. J: Well, it was this end-of-year show at this upstate New York arts college and it was this bash the student union show. Everything was going really great during our set and it was really fun and with a whole mix of bands,

arty bands and indie bands…and then us. M: There was a calypso band too. Yeah, the show was alright. We’d had our van smashed into that morning in Brooklyn, where we’d parked it and we played like three or four songs but…you know how at some shows they have barricades? Well at this show they had these big wooden barricades, like with tripod feet and just the beams along the middle. Damien went down and just started flipping them, like they were toothpicks. There were a lot of people there and it was late at night, ad the crowd kind of lurched forward to breach the three feet of space there was between the barricade and the stage. J: There were some state troopers and they just freaked out and had the sound turned off and pulled us from the stage. They took Damien aside and said ‘you need to leave now, or else or you’re going to be arrested for inciting a riot.’ M: It’s all true, we had to load our stuff in the van and hurry and get the hell out of there. The same kind of thing happened when we played this late night Vice show in Norwich, and the police shut off the power. MOST OF FUCKED UP’S AL-

IEPER FESTIVAL 2008 BUMS AND ARTWORK HAVE SYMBOLISM BE- Fucked Up HING THEM- WHAT’S THE STORY BEHIND THE NEW ‘CHEMISTRY OF COMMON LIFE’? M: The cover is a picture of New York with the sun setting. It was a coincidence that we got the shot because it was ‘manhattanhenge’. Manhattan is built on a grid but it doesn’t completely line up from east to west so what happens is once a year the sun aligns along the east-west streets of Manhattan and you can see it set behind practically the entire length one way of the city. Anyway, so we managed to get this shot of the sun setting IEPERFEST COMPARE TO on this busy street in New York SOME OF THE BIGGER ONES and the symbolism is supposed YOU’VE PLAYED? to refer to how human society M: We had an offer to play is this big grandiose project and Pukkelpop in Belgium or this, we always seem to forget the and we chose this because we’ve chemistry and science behind it. It played this before. It’s interesting represents what’s out there, what to be a small band playing a big keeps us alive. festival- like we’re playing Leeds and Reading festival. We chose this because there is more of a HOW DOES PLAYING A community aspect to this. SMALL FESTIVAL LIKE

RUINER

The Days had to set up as soon as we arrived.

ROB, HAVE YOU GROWN THOSE EXTRA INCHES YOU WERE CRAVING THE LAST TIME WE SPOKE? RS:(laughs) haha, no. Well, technically yes because I’ve gained 23 pounds since the last time we met. Drinking will do that to you.

DO YOU STILL HATE EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING? RS: No, I don’t. Actually, you’re talking to a whole different person than the last time you interviewed me (laughs). Some shit’s changed. You just start to laugh at things. I’ve definitely changed a lot since the last time we were in Europe, and definitely for the better…I’m not nearly as grumpy.

Friday w/a Rob Sullivan (vocals)

IS IT HARD HAVING THE FIRST SHOW OF YOUR EUROPEAN TOUR BE PLAYING A FESTIVAL IN THE RAIN? RS: Mainly it was because…we were so excited to come and play this and it’s just the days leading up to the show we were getting the emails saying that us and Counting The Days were playing back to back and then it was like ‘oh, Counting The Days need to be here earlier, our plane…we got into a pinch where we realized we’d kind of have to drive extra fast and we couldn’t have any delays. We arrived with like an hour to spare- not even that! Counting

WILL THIS REFLECT IN YOUR USUALLY NEGATIVE LYRICS? RS: Probably. Not in a bad way, I don’t think. I think at a certain point you take being shitty with the world and looking at it as ‘everybody is doing me wrong, I hate everyone, I hate myself’ and you kind of just laugh at it, cus it’s not worth it. WHAT ABOUT THOSE PEOPLE WHO HAVE RUINER AS THEIR ‘ANGRY BAND’?

IEPER FESTIVAL 2008

RS: I’m still angry about some things, and I’ll never be happy with myself but you learn to just cope with it. What’s really funny about this- and I don’t know if I should even be putting this out there, but I don’t care, me and Danny or friends- Danny and me took the same road after that interview, and that tour. One of us is in one place and one of us is in the other and it kind of sucks. After that European tour we both did the same shit and different places. I talked to him the other day and he seemed…okay. IS IT TRUE THAT EUROPEAN TOURS RUIN BANDS? RS: We made it through one with me being an ass the entire first European tour. It wasn’t so much that I hated being here. Well, I hated being here, but it wasn’t so much the tour but the fact that I was dealing with shit at home and wasn’t mature enough to deal with it without putting it on other people and making everyone else feel awkward. Also, we weren’t

really ready. We had thought ‘fuck it, let’s go to Europe’ and we learnt what things to do differently, like spend money on this or more time on this. And I was just a dick, and everyone was arguing. And we were by ourselves and we didn’t know anyone. We were stuck in a van altogether in a country where half the people don’t speak English that well and it’s like ‘okay, I guess we’re just hanging out with each other some more…’ HOW ARE YOU FINDING IEPERFEST? RS: Our first European tour they asked us that summer, and there was no way so we just didn’t plan to do it. Last year we were on it and the tour got rearranged so we had to cancel, and this year we said we’d make it and make it happen and it just so figured out it was the first day (laughs). So that ruled.

BETRAYED

Saturday w/a Aram Arslanian (vocals) WHY THE REUNION SHOW? A: Well it’s not really a reunion. This is probably the tenth show that Betrayed has played since we broke up so it’s weird…you get a kind of stigma. When we broke up, we broke up. We got to a point where our ideals weren’t in the same place. Me and Todd, the guitar player, had different ideas about what we wanted to do and so we decided to end the band because it was causing a lot of friction. Pretty much after that things were cool, he was at my wedding party and a year after THAT we were like ‘hey, let’s play a show and just see how it feels.’ After that show it was really cool and we said ‘okay, let’s do another one!’ Then we got a chance to go to Japan, so we went to Japan and then we just got offered a chance to play Europe! Right now if someone would ask ‘are you a band?’ I would say ‘yes, we are a band’ but we don’t have any plans to do touring. We’ve talked about a new record but we might or might not. I’ve just been in bands for so long, and bands that have all been these really struc-

tured things. Like Champion, we toured for years and had all these big plans and did all this stuff and then with Betrayed, it was structured, and The First Step wasn’t structured…and now it’s kind of cool being able to do whatever I wanna do. A cool opportunity comes up and we do it and the band is still about the same thing; we’re all still straightedge, we all still believe in those things and those politics and ideas. It just that we’re at a different place in our lives now so we’re going to do the band in a way that none of us have ever really done a band before. IS BETRAYED ONLY PLAYING IEPER? A: Yep, it’s the only thing we’re doing. I just realized that I was at work yesterday and I have to work again on Monday. I’m still doing drug and alcohol counseling, still working with the homeless population in Vancouver and helping recovering addicts get their lives together. WHAT’S GOING ON WITH THE FIRST STEP? A: The First Step is playing it’s last show in two weeks and it’s one of those things where I wanted to say ‘don’t call it a last

IEPER FESTIVAL 2008 hardcore, and playing hardcore show’ because our guitar playerFucked thatUp means something. It’s weird the other guitar player- is a very because I don’t have an urge to serious Buddhist and he’s going go and play other types of music, away for a three-and-a-half year I know what I like to play and retreat where he’s just going to playing it. People might call it pray and become a Buddhist stagnation but I call it a different monk, basically. But I also know kind of progression, progressing that when he’s done, even if he’s as a musician and writing better a Buddhist monk, we’re going records and better lyrics, having to be playing shows together. We’ll all still be straightedge, and fun. In one band I sing in, and I play guitar in Column and the we’ll all be vegetarian or vegan weird band. still so…It was just one of those things where I was like, ‘call it a HOW IS IT PLAYING A SMALL last show if you want, but I know FESTIVAL? we’ll be playing more shows so A: I just love playing, and I love whatever.’ playing hardcore. I’ve played WHAT ELSE ARE YOU DOING shows to 13 people and I’ve played shows with thousands and MUSICALLY? thousands of people. Whatever. A: I started this new band with a Literally, a month ago I played a bunch of guys locally in Vanshow in a basement club in Japan couver, a straightedge band that had 13 people at it. It wasn’t obviously. A real heavy focus on like ‘oh fuck, it’s 13 people…’ it vegetarianism and stuff like that, was ‘fuck yeah! I’m playing to 13 sounds like Youth of Today. Kind people! And it’s awesome!’ And of carrying on the First Step vibe with some fast singing. I’m doing now I’m playing to 1,500 people in Belgium and it’s also awesome. that and then I’m doing this other Both are awesome. band called Column that I’ve started playing guitar for recently, it sounds like Hands Tied. I am doing this OTHER band that is real weird, crazy music. But I’m just really interested in playing

AS FRIENDS RUST Friday w/a Damien Moyal (vocals) and James Glayat (guitar) SO THE MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION IS: WHY THE REUNION? J: (laughs) Why the reunion? D: We missed it. J: Yeah. I mean, we’re all kind of spread out over the States right now and the feelers went out and there seemed to be some interest in us getting back together and we couldn’t pass on the opportunity. The fact that ten years after we were a band, there’s people who still wanted to come see us so we decided ‘why not come over here?’ and pull our shit together and just do it. It’s a great, big, huge honor and we’re all really excited with the turn out. It’s been so much fun. We had to, we felt obligated to. THEN WHY SIX EUROPEAN SHOWS AND ONLY ONE IN THE US? D: Well, the US show was actually even just a by-product of the European tour. J: Kaleb and Joe both live in Gainesville and it was the easiest place for us to all reconvene. And its home. It was amazing, all our old friends from outta town

came to see it and- Gainesville is so densely populated with punk rock kids that are still there from when we all lived there, so it was like one big family reunion. The show was like the who’s-who of my past, at least thirty different people that I used to live with in various different houses were at that show. D: And kids from like, California, New York, Canada, Mexico… they came. But basically one US show versus six European shows is the same reason we always toured more here then we did there, because people… don’t care as much about us over there (laughs). It’s a big fucking country, and we were always on European labels for the most part so distribution was really weak over there, and we decided to come play where most of our memories are and we figured people would be most excited to see us play again. J: Playing Ieperfest was really huge for me because the last tour I did with As Friends Rust, we were on our way to ieper and we got in a car crash. Kaleb ended up with like, sixteen stitches and he played the show with his leg all duct-taped up. I ripped all these ligaments in my knee and the next day we had to put a cast on my

IEPER FESTIVAL 2008 leg. I played two more shows and then flew home and our friend Peter, who used to be in the band before me, just happened to be touring with us and so he took over in my place. So ten years later to be playing ieperfestival was like…my whole life came full-circle tonight. You’re meeting me at a very magical time in my life (laughs). HOW DO YOU FEEL THAT GAINESVILLE WAS ONCE DESCRIBED AS THE ONLY PLACE IN THE US WHERE IT’S ACCEPTABLE TO DRINK A SIX PACK AT 11AM ON A TUESDAY MORNING? J: Oh yeah. That’s definitely accurate. D: That’s not true… J: Kids in Gainesville drink on a professional level. The cool thing about Gainesville- and since I’ve been gone it seems that this has strengthened- is that it’s very scene-family-orientated. We were staying with our friend Corey, and we were up late watching a movie and our friend Kyle rides his bike by just to come check on Corey, because he was like ‘I was the bar and I had a bad feeling, so I’m just going door to door

to make sure all my friends are okay.’ While we were there one of our friends, Rob McGregor, who recorded the last As Friend Rust record, had been in an accident and broke his leg. The same night we were having a reunion show they were having a huge benefit show to take care of him, because he’s a real cornerstone of the Gainesville scene. And that’s just really symptomatic of the bigger thing that is Gainesville, where everyone has a greater responsibility to each other and takes care of each other. D: I’d say now more than ever. I’d been away from there for four years and being back was really…I loved it… J: It was magical. D: …kind of for the first time, my time is Gainesville was…dark. Dark days. J: Your time in Gainesville was kind of chaotic, and so was mine and especially the terms on which I left- on which a lot of us left. So it was really refreshing to go back and see all of our friends and all of the people from our past prospering. I mean, yeah, you hear one or two horror stories about the one friend that’s not doing so well and drinking too

much, but for the most part everyone there takes such good care of each other that no one slips through the cracks. It never used to be so tight. I live in Brooklyn- New York now- and when I moved up there, about 50 Gainesville also followed up there, so I have a huge community of Florida ex-pats in our little Bushwick area. And we stay tight up there too, we try to bring the ethic with us.

AS FRIENDS RUST

HOW DOES IT FEEL TO HAVE WRITTEN A SONG THAT APPEARS FIRST ON 99% OF HARDCORE MIXES? D: (laughs) A little cheesy, because it was kind of designed for that, yknow? J: It’s great. The running joke with us now is that the title is so dated because nobody makes a fucking mixtape anymore so we’ve been jokingly introducing it as ‘The First MP3 On The Playlist You Make Her’. But I’m glad anybody would want to share that with a girl. Or for a boy! I mean, there’s the whole ‘her’ reference on it, but we can get gender neutral.

IEPER FESTIVAL 2008 SO HOW DOES IT FEEL PLAYING A SMALL FESTIVAL LIKE IEPER COMPARED TO SOME OF THE BIGGER ONES YOU’VE PLAYED? D: There’s an intimacy with small basement shows with a 40 person capacity. You can’t beat that. To me, that’s what I love about all of this. J: One of my all time favorite As Friends Rust shows was a birthday party in a house in Gainesville for our friend Danarchy. And at one point we had to stop playing and pull our friend Sean’s ass out of the dry wall because he got moshed up against the wall and got fucking stuck in the wall. The cops showed up and came in, and just like, poked there head in and said ‘okay, everything’s cool’ and then left. And the only reason the cops stopped in the show was because they were driving past and someone had taken an old toilet and smashed it in the street and the cops got a flat tire. That was in someone’s living room for their birthday, 40 people just going completely apeshit. Everyone’s got their drunk on and everyone’s in good spirits. I love playing big shows like this but it’s all about

the amount of people crowded around you. We would have gone up on that stage and played if there were five people in the audience, as long as they had fun. 5 people or 500 people, a festival or a basement, we don’t give a fuck. We came to get down. ANY LAST WORDS? J: Thank you Europe for having us, it’s been a huge honor. I guess we’ll see you in seven years! D: Maybe sooner. J: Maybe sooner, maybe not… who knows?

Words by Tim Drunk Photos by Grilly X

XRAY-SPEX

3000 Strong

Xray Spex returned to glorious form at thier recent show at the legendary Roundhouse in London. We managed to grab a few words from Poly Styrene after the show.

How do you feel after the show at the Roundhouse?

Positive it was a great crowd.

Xray Spex has long been considered one of the premiere female fronted punk bands - what made you all get together and play that show?

John Robb from Goldblade and Symond from Concrete Jungle Festivals were very encouraging.

Was it an odd feeling playing such a large venue packed with Xray Spex fans both old and new?

It was pretty inspiring really.

What were some of the highlights for you from that show?

The highlights were that every one was singing along and seemed to know all the songs.

How did this show compare to when the band came together in 1991?

I played the Brixton Academy which was an all day event but the Roundhouse was more exciting. Because the atmosphere was so up and charged with high energy.

Do you feel that you’ve succumbed to the ‘reforming’ trend? It just seems like all the old bands are getting together and touring etc.

Not really because I don’t intend to tour as

such but may do some more shows.

Looking back on everything, do you think the punk scene is still as ‘real’ and healthy as it was back in the late 70’s?

I think it’s better musically than the late 70’s because it seems more of a celebration than trying to break new ground.

What are some of the changes you’ve noticed (in the punk scene)?

No more spitting and no more violence at gigs just pure joy.

What does the future hold of Xray Spex? More touring? Maybe a new album? Or was this show just a once off thing?

A new album and maybe some more dates.

What about your daughters band? Are you proud of her for ‘following’ in your footsteps?

I love my daughter’s band ‘Debutant Disco’ and am very proud of her.

What does punk mean to you?

Punk means being creative and having a positive attitude.

If you could, one piece of advice would you share with the world?

Try and make peace with your self and others.

XRAY-SPEX

Words by Cerven Cotter

New KIDS ON THE BLOCK

MIDDLE FINGER SALUTE may be young but that doesn’t mean they’re unless driven or talented than bands double their age. It’s good to see the ‘kids’ forming bands instead of joining gangs when they’re bored. As MFS are young, they seem down with modern technologies so we abused them via instant messenger for the following interview...

Finger Salute hails from Blackburn. What’s the town like?

Danny - haha, it’s home Marsy - its pretty crap haha but its home Danny - there’s not much to do here

Whats the music scene like in particular the punk scene? Marsy - its growing Jonnnny - its pretty good actaully Danny - it used to have an alright scene, but it died, now

it’s getting miles better Marsy - its gettin’ better with bands like outlaw ‘n the exposed aswell Danny - do you mean the scene in general, or in blackburn?

No, the scene in Blackburn.

Marsy - well it was orite in Blackburn abit ago but theres no scene in Blackburn Danny - there’s a punk reggae night every few months which packs a pub, but that’s about it

MIDDLE FINGER SALUTE

So are you guys the only punk band in the area?

Jonnnny- yeah couple of punks and skins about. Danny - no, there’s a few more in town Marsy - theres a few small punk bands like Ambush UK ... but theres not alot going on Danny - there’s enough to put a good gig on. Marsy - haha but no one really does Danny - like have 4 good bands, like we usually play with AUK and T.B.C and it’s a great night.

How do you guys fit into the scene there in Blackburn. You haven’t been around for that long have you?

Danny - we been around 3 years. There were bands such as Boredom in the NoizeAnoize era of Blackburn, and we got overlooked a lot because of being well young back then.

Do you think it was the lack of things to do that prompted the formation of MFS. You say young? How old are

you guys now?

Danny - We’re 16,16 and 18 and 18 Marsy - There wasn’t much to do ‘n we sort of new each other some how so we decided ‘why not?’ Danny - We all knew Cal somehow Marsy - whyy not haha its a good scene to be in...

Why a punk band? Why not a rock or a.... hip hop group?

Danny - wouldn’t really say we’re punk Jonnnny - would be sick us bein a hip hop group... Marsy - we all have our different influences ‘n we put them together ‘n make the sound we make

So you don’t claim to be a punk band?

Marsy - yeah. Danny - Yeah and no, most influences are like punk influences, but like it more just being who we are. Marsy - we have a big punk inlfluence but theres other influences that make us what we are.

MIDDLE FINGER SALUTE

Tell me more about your influences.

Marsy - Jonny has like a reggae influence with the bass Jonnnny - Yeah we just play music we’d listen to Danny - Like Cal’s into more hardcore and proper fast stuff. Jonnnny - me and Cal are sorta into the same stuff like hardcore, Terror and stuff to Rancid to Inner Terrestrials to Restarts. Marsy - I’m in to Street Dogs, the King Blues, Rancid ‘n stuff like that Danny - yeah, I prefer more Stiff Little Fingers and Bouncing Souls.

Who does what in the band - Cal seems to be some sort of Kingpin in the band...

Danny - he’s vocals and guitar and kinda formed it all ‘cos he knew Marsy and me and it was all through him we all met Marsy -haha hes a big influence but we all do out bits, me ‘n Cal cum up with the lyrics ‘n stuff Danny - I gotta do all the gig getting Marsy - ‘n we all add what we think to the music ‘n stuff.

We used to let Cal go off ‘n write the songs but now we all come up with them in the practise room. haha, yeah, we let Danny do all the hard work haha... Jonnnny - he loves it. Danny - hahaha ‘cos you’re all lazy!

You know what they say about lazy bands? Danny - they’re crazy bands? Jonnnny - the best type? Danny - travel lodge heroes?

There is always one member who works harder... Danny - lol Marsy - thats defienitely Danny! lol Danny - :)

Lets chat about your new album.

Jonnnny - its called “What We Live For”, how many songs has it got on again? Danny - it’s got 7 songs, but one’s a Spice Girls cover c’os theyre the best band ever Marsy - 6 ‘n a special track haha bonus spice girls... noise We had fun making it Danny - gotta love them Spice

Girls ;)

Yeah, interesting album title - guess it just sums up the band hey? Danny - Yeah, it’s the most fun thing to do, just go out and play music Marsy - All our songs that we have recorded have been fun but I think we took this a bit more seriously

Serious in what way? Making it good?

Danny - yeah, like fine tuning our songs so were happy with them. Then in the studio we used we did 3 days so worked harder to get it sounding right I guess Jonnnny - it was also the first time I’ve recorded with MFS Marsy - well in the studio on previous attempts we just let things go but this time we knew what we wanted ‘n wouldn’t settle if it didnt sound right

You only ended up recording a few songs. Are these your best songs?Or was it a budget constraint? Danny - budget!!

Marsy - haha budget is our main thing lol Jonnnny - yep, definately we have no money haha. Danny - we got six songs and Spice Girls then the older stuff was budget too Marsy - if we had more money we would ‘av been able to record more ‘n push out more but money is our biggest problem.

How was your recent show in London? (there were 2 shows on that night and we went to the other one...) Danny - it was good, was the promoters birthday, Clive Marsy - London was ace

Did you sing happybirthday to ole Clive?

Marsy - Clive is an ace guy to play for, they always sort us out with everything we need Danny - yeah haha, got him a card too Marsy - a big pink one Danny - a bright pink one haha Jonnnny - he loved it. Marsy - with a princess on the front Danny - he’s ace though, he got the joke

MIDDLE FINGER SALUTE

Speaking of gigs, you’ve got some big one’s lined up, Stiff Little Fingers and Rancid in the upcoming months.

Marsy - ye they’re goin’ to be ace. We have supported SLF a few times n its always been a good crowd Jonnnny - yeah we all cant wait for them as there both big influences. Danny - well excited. Counting down teh days to Rancid Marsy - ‘n Rancid... that’s Rancid init, haha. We have all been like in love with Rancid since we were like 13, haha, so its pretty unreal.

Whats next on the agenda for MFS?

Danny - work work work Marsy - college ‘n keep gigging I think Jonnnny - Yeah, do as many gigs as we can I think, and get our name out there. Danny - try to find someone willing to help us fund some recording if we’re lucky too Marsy - We have Punk ‘n Disorderly in Feb... Danny - yeah just go to new places and have a good time

doing it Marsy - ...we’ve been confirmed for Rebellion next year too

Which Spice Girl would you have in the band as a guest vocalist?

Danny - SCARY, she is fucking pure ace haha Jonnnny - ahhaa Marsy - I want the ginger one, haha theyr all fit.. lets be a combination hahaha

And who would you like to thank? Marsy - thanks to everyone thats helped us out Danny - Tony for letting us crash his floor Marsy - ‘n everyone thats forced themselves to like us www.middlefingersalute.co.uk

Words by Steve Noble

JAYA THE CAT

Looking both ways American Dutch Reggae skanksters, Jaya The Cat are on the verge of emerging from the underground, with a full 9 lives to spare. Frontman and co-founder, Geoff Lagadec, spilled the milk on one of the funkiest sounding bands to re-ignite great memories of fun and quality good-time music. I’m embarrassed to say until your new record popped in the post we had not heard of you, now thankfully, we have; tell us about the bands origin?

We started as a party band in the mid 90’s, it was never that serious a thing. It seemed like every six months one of us would decide to take off to the islands or move across country, and then somehow we’d all end up in the same place a year later and get the band back together. Then our first album came out in 2001 and from that point on its kinda been a work in progress. Touring as much as we can

“I saw them (Sublime) in like 1996 or something on one of the first Warped tours and they fucking sucked live that day, so I didn’t really give them a chance until years after that Brad guy died.”

JAYA THE CAT

and putting out a new album whenever we can get our heads together. I see us as a real working class band, and what with the way music is disseminated nowadays through the internet and shit like that it’s a pretty good time to approach music like that. It’s less all or nothing; the industry has a looser grip on bands that want to make a living from music. A lot of stuff you can just do on your own now. Where does the band’s name come from? Not very interesting I’m afraid; it’s the name of our original bass player’s cat. Our first show was at a party, and ten minutes before we played we still didn’t have a name. No one could agree on anything and we all liked that cat so we went with that for the night and it ended up sticking. You have an international band make up- part Dutch part American. So what, besides the love of dykes, bought you all together? We used to be an all American band but after our second album was released in 2004 two of the original members decided to quit drinking and felt like it would be too much temptation to stay on the road with us so they split. We had a tour lined up in Europe at the time and I was about to cancel it when some friends we had made in Holland offered to fill in. Me and the Germ, our drummer, came to Amsterdam with the intention of doing the tour, sticking around for the summer then heading back to the states to see what happened next. Three years later we’re still in Amsterdam

and it doesn’t look like we’re leaving any time soon. It’s a chilled out place, half the band is Dutch now, and it’s very central for touring. You seem to have a strong underground following as it stands, well supported in the surf/skate community- are you skaters/surfers yourselves? Not so much. But our bass player does surf when he can, which ain’t much in Holland! Canal surfing not so big then. There seem to be some pretty strong influences on the band’s sound. Sublime comes to mind. Who would you say those bands are? Not to sound obvious, but really my biggest influence is the Clash. You can’t get away from the fact that they pretty much set the standard for the genre we play. My mom’s a hippy and I grew up with reggae but never liked it much until I heard the Guns of Brixton. That fucking song pretty much shaped the way I listened to music from then on. Before that it was just the typical east coast punk stuff, Minor Threat, early

Bad Brains, the Freeze. Which I still dig actually, but reggae is huge and will always be huge for me as an influence. I love a lot of the sounds coming out of Germany now, Seeed and Patrice and stuff. Early calypso, Lord Kitchener and such, have also always had an affect on our writing as well. Sublime is a great band, one of my favourites, but really Jaya already had it’s sound down before I even started to listen to them. I saw them in like 1996 or something on one of the first Warped tours and they fucking sucked live that day, so I didn’t really give them a chance until years after that Brad guy died. Nowadays I listen to a ton of shit, it changes every week. Thievery Corporation and Dean Martin have been on the record player all day today. And you can take something from all of it. You have played major clubs and festivals such as Lowlands in Holland, Pukkelpop in Belgium, and the Warped Tour in the US in the past. Do you prefer the festival or the touring club scene? I dunno, a show is a show, some are good and some suck. A lot just depends on what

JAYA THE CAT

kinda day you’re having. How hungover ya are, etc. I guess my favourite recent memory is in Eastern Europe. We did a two week tour through the Balkans in May and it was sick, totally a different world. It’s like the Wild West there man.

release, and we love it (see review last month). How happy are you with the record? Man I don’t think there’s an artist alive that’s not critical of their work. There’s stuff I’d change on it sure but for the most part it is what it is and I’m happy with that. It’s the first time we recorded and produced an album almost entirely on our own and I think

Your latest record “More Late Night Transitions with…” came out nearly a year ago. Has the record helped raise your profile? “...until I heard the Guns of BrixFor sure, as an unton. That fucking song pretty derground record it’s done really well much shaped the way I lisfor us.

tened to music from then on.”

‘More Late Night Transmissions with…’ delivers 13 tracks filled with seedy bars, cheap hotels, dysfunctional love affairs and political disillusionment. Punk rock, reggae, ska and pop glued in their own unique style. So says your press

it was a great first step. I’m super stoked to record the next one now! So there plans in the pipeline for your next effort? Fuck yeah. We’re writing it now. Talk us through the

album, and your lyrical content? It’s pretty much about our lives. On our first two albums I wrote pretty much just about shit that affected me, but this time I tried to pay attention to the other guys in the band and include a bit of their drama in there too. We’re all a buncha wrecks. I like to put a bit of political commentary in as well but ya can’t get too carried away with that. No one likes to get preached at. Well, unless you’re into Rage Against the Machine or maybe some really serious punk and shit. Which is fine too? But personally I try not to get too didactic. How would you rate the record compared to your previous offerings? I like it the best. The old ones are cool but this one seems a little deeper. Plus it leans more to our reggae side and is a bit more chilled out, which I dig. You are hitting the UK soon (November). What are you expecting for that trip? Who knows? Hopefully a lot

of Indian food cause it sucks in Holland. It’d be sweet if we got a good reaction cause I’d like to see us build up in the UK. We haven’t had a chance to hit clubs there in the past few years of living in Europe cause me and the Germ had a dubious legal status but we’ve sorted all that out now so we’re good to go! Who are you going to be touring with? No clue this time, I guess just us! How would you describe the band live? What can a virgin Jaya The Cat fan expect? A lot of it depends on the audience really, but if ya catch us on a good night it’s a party, onstage and off. And final pearls of wisdom? Look both ways when ya cross the street. And don’t take any wooden nickels.

JAYA THE CAT

“...me and the Germ had a dubious legal status but we’ve sorted all that out now so we’re good to go!”

Under the radar with FungalPunk OMD.

THE BULLET KINGS

The Bullet Kings pour forth their all into each and every performance and have a musical experience second to none. The bands output is vast and of an excellent standard yet still the critical punk masses take their time in warming to this accomplished outfit. The fan base they have built may not be the largest around but it ‘believes’ and that for the BK crew is in itself reward enough. Insistent on doing it their own way and not jumping to the rhythm of the more structured and formulated scene these 3 ‘erberts may have struggled but at least they can take pride in the none arse licking stance they have stuck too.

In such a small period of time the BK’s have knocked out a fair amount of stuff and seem to be on an abundance of compilation CD’s. Where does this work ethic arise from and is it a reflection of the way you are away from the band. Carl - We all enjoy writing new stuff and adding it to the ‘live’ set. I think we could do 3 different support sets if we needed to. I think its such a shame if bands don’t record more, we have no problem writing new tracks, so once they are recorded ... get them on CD’s / vinyl and out to listeners. Wilf - I always have ideas for songs floating about in my head, I try to get them onto paper as soon as I can. I now carry a note book of inane writings, some of which may become songs. I enjoy getting our ideas out and committed to record. Andy - I think too many bands overplay songs they have written instead of getting off their arses and writing / recording new material, we all contribute to the writing of songs and have probably got another 15 - 20 floating about, some without lyrics, some without music and some that just don’t feel right which need playing around with. In rehearsals also our ethic of trying anything and not caring what other people think adds to our ability to write and record tracks so fast. It’s hard to believe that we have only been together as a band for 2 years and have recorded and released 2 EP’s, an album, ‘Rebel Without Reason’, a 7” split vinyl ‘Prime Cuts’ with A.F.S on blue and black and are currently in the process of recording the next album ‘Long Time Dead’ and the next

7” vinyl ‘Brand New Disgrace’ which we hope to release on green vinyl. I think all of the above is a reflection of how we are away from the band but also the fact that we are all 40 something and get along so well contributes more to our prolific song writing. There is many an influence that is obvious in the band but some I suspect that aren’t so obvious - tell us all where you draw inspiration from both musically and away from the scene? Carl - Mmmm well I can say right now it isn’t NOFX or Leatherface that people say we sound like. I’m not sure we do draw on our influences, we write in a wide array of styles, from Irish to almost metal, we just play what the song requires. Wilf - God knows, I’m not sure who influences me. I listen to all sorts, Punk, Northern Soul, Metal, Pop… Maybe that’s why we end up with such a wide spectrum of styles, we certainly ain’t afraid to try anything. Even a bit of Mexican! Andy - Shit! This question always makes me seem like a stalker......it’s common knowledge that I am a UK Subs nut and have been since I was 15 but I have to put them down as my main influence but you can add all genre of Punk / Metal in there as well and some Jazz and Big Band......... strange but true as that’s where all the iconic drummers come from. Yes “drummers” not people who can play a double bass drum pedal faster than anybody else! Away from the scene? Is there an away from the scene, well not really as everything is interlinked.

Under the radar with FungalPunk OMD. Anger - that old energy some people thrive on and some dismiss as a waste of time. Personally I think that if a band has a bit of rage then the output is far spicier. What are your personal niggles in life and of course the scene? Carl - I think we play the songs like we mean it, that includes anger. We write songs about wasters, drunks, teenage pregnant girls, most things piss us off being grumpy bastards. It’s important to have some angst in life, or your music will just be dull, you have to feel you have something to push against. Wilf - I love it when I hear a song and I can feel the passion in the vocals. I would say that we are an honest band who play with passion and belief, because we care about the stuff we sing about. Andy - Anger and passion pretty much sums up the Bullet Kings. If it pisses us off or gets on our nerves you can guarantee we will write a song about it, just take a look a ‘Rebel Without Reason’...... with regards to the ‘Punk’ scene at present there are loads of things that piss me off but nothing more than the reluctance of punters not to watch and show their appreciation to support bands who have usually played for nothing and sometimes put on a better show with more commitment than the so-called main band. Having scrutinised the BK’s path so far it is more than apparent you don’t belong to any cliques or arse licking circles (full marks for that)

and as a consequence don’t get the gigs and attention you deserve. Is this as frustrating for you as it seems and how do you combat this gripe when booking gigs. Carl - We do what we do, we don’t care about what others do or have or where they are. TBK are just us 3 having a good laugh, we gig, we record, we just are what we are. If we get bigger gigs then that’s cool, if we don’t we don’t, we will still play our balls off and go for a beer. Wilf - Give me a small backstreet venue, a hand full of Herbert’s and plenty of attitude. Who cares about the Corporate Machine? A lot of our gigs are passed on through word of mouth from punter to promoter, promoter to venue, punter to venue, and so on. This speaks volumes about our levels of performance. We give each gig 100% commitment and attitude. We travel all over to play to anyone who will listen. It isn’t important to be on huge events that quite honestly don’t reflect the original punk ethos. Punk Not Profit! Andy - As I said earlier it would be great to play the bigger so called gigs but we are more than happy playing at different venues up and down the country to as many or as few people as possible. We will still give it our all and try to be as professional as possible. I think with us all being around a bit we won’t and don’t put up with any shit and sometimes people / venues / promoters don’t like our honesty. If we think somebody is out of order they will get told so but treat us like

we treat you with honesty and respect and we will get along fine. What merch do you have for sale as a band and what forthcoming treats can we expect! Come on plug. plug, plug! Carl - An album on Casket Records (Rebels Without Reason) and t-shirts and we just put out a blue vinyl 7 inch with AFS on (Voltage Records) and we are doing a green vinyl single next also on Voltage Records, and if I can pull my very busy fingers out I’ll be doing new stickers and more t-shirts. Wilf - As Carl said we have product available. We are also working on our 2nd album ‘LONG TIME DEAD’ and maybe another video, (Brand New Disgrace). Andy - Carl has said it all really but check out our promo video on Youtube for ‘My Country’.

Finally anybody any of you wants to slag off, praise or give notice too and also give us details where anyone can contact you to book a gig or two! Carl - Don’t slag people off, other than cover bands!... Praise - Sense of Urgency, great band. Wilf - Got to give One Man Stand a shout, great album ‘Casual Culture’, If you ain’t got it - Get it. Andy - That’s the trouble with going last in the questions everybody else gives your answers but gotta agree with Wilf as One Man Stand are one of the most underrated bands on the scene. Quality 3-piece with great songs. Also the people behind the scenes tend to never get a mention and we would just like to say a big thanks to Tim at Voltage Studios in Bradford for his time and support.

Soundcheck:

DIABLO 66 WHERE ARE THEY FROM? Based in Durham, UK

Members:

Adam Bowes (vocals) Ritchie McLaren (guitar) Paul Howard (drums) Paul Carpenter (bass)

THEY PLAY: punk

Releases:

Pirates of the Underground (4 track cd) Bullshit, Bullets and Bombs (11 track demos cd) and On and On and On (new 13 track album)

Best gig played:

Influences:

AC/DC, the Clash, Rancid, Dropkick Murphys, Metallica....

How long have they been together:

Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve played the last 3 punk fests in Durham and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been great to be able to share same stage with bands such as...misfits, the Damned, Angelic Upstarts, Goldblade, Exploited....also gigs played at the old Durham Rowing Club hold great memories for us.

Formed in February 1999 but band as it is now has been together since 2004

When & where did they play their debut show:

Our first ever gig as a band was at the tap and spile, Newcastle....way back when we had hair haha....first gig as we are now, after 2 years as a band with no bass player and not been able to gig was at the Fishtank Durham 2004.

Dream tour:

AC/DC, Metallica, the Clash, Ramones, Sex Pistols, Rancid....best stop there mate could be a while....

Drink of choice:

Adam (jd&coke or coffee), Ritchie-vodka, Carpy (bass)-snakebite, Paul-Pint of Beer!

Bands They Recommend:

Gimp Fist, the Briggs, Brain Failure, Perkele, ted maul, municapal waste, Dropkick Murphys

www.myspace.com/diablo66

REVIEWS What Lurks Beneath Refuse/All

Active/Don’t do Dance

Do you like Greenday? Then please don’t pick this album up - you won’t like it. It’s heavy - heavy in a old school/Oi!/punk kind of way. If you’ve got stuff like Argy Bargy in the collection, then add this - it’s got a great collection of well written songs. Live they’re good and thanks to the help of one Pat Collier, this 2nd release from Refuse/ All is spot on. Be sure to check it out. - Tim

I Think My older brother used to listen to Lagwagon Fat Wreck

Seven track record from one of Fat’s original bands. Still going strong and fronted by the undeniable likeable Joey Cape. Lagwagon has been around a long time, and they might see the future of recording through EP’s, but as long as they keep delivering, who is to stop them. - Steve

What We Live For

Middle Finger Salute Bomber Music

When I first put this on, I wasn’t sure what to expect... the opening of chords of All the Way really get you asking some questions and then the upstrokes of a ska inspirations hits you and the clean (slightly raw) vocals get you going. This isn’t anything new or groundbreaking, it’s just a collection of solid songs from a band that loves to play music. Perfect hooks abound, you’ll hve to have a listen for yourself and please don’t complain when this record ends up on repeat. Oh and look out for the cover of the Spice Girls it’s funny and shows this band aren’t scared to have a little fun. - Tim Drunk

The Crime Come

has

Scheisse Minelli Destiny

I love a good skate punk band and Scheisse Minelli provide a great soundtrack for riding. It’s fast, balls to the wall, no non-

sense punk rock. The enery from start to finish will have you running around in circles Pick it up f you like your punk more street than pop. - Tim Drunk

Invasions of the Mind Energy Bridge 9

I love the album artwork of this release, the way the bands name is wrapped in the tree branches, just beautiful. The cartoon like darkness fits the sound of the record to the tee. Let me ust say that this is really a good ‘ole punk rock record. it’s something a little special borrowing from various aspects of the whole alternative scene. The vocals are stellar, they soar and come crashing down on the very next beat. The record is quick, slow, beautiful and brutal. I highly recommend this album just on it’s overall package, it’s proof of you can marry concepts together and still be original. Remember AFI - their early stuff? This is

> ALBUMS > EPs > BOOKS > GIGS

sort of like that but not even close, it’s leagues ahead. Energy have created something special with this record - nice one guys. - Curvball

Murderers

The 241ERS Household Name

Acoustic collaboration from the leftovers of the Stockyard Stoics and The Filaments. Much in the vein of Against Me and the recent wave of songwriter/folk output, it is still a very good record, flying is political banner high on the mast but raising some musical notches too. - Steve

On and On and On Diablo66

Not sure where these punks have been hiding probably just me and the fact I like to live under a rock. The opening track on this record might be one of the best songs I’ve heard all year - it’s got a place in the top 10 that’s for sure. The energy is immense. I can only imagine the singalongs that

Diablo66 must conjure up at shows Most punk bands seem to have blistering live shows and their recordings let them down a little - but having never seen Diablo66, all I can saw if the album is a waterdown version of what they do - then their shows most be a tornado of punk proportions. Get some passion back in your punk collection, get this album! - Tim Drunk

The Creepshow Run For Your Life People Like You

A great follow up record to the rockabilly quartets impressive debut. Although the genre seems to be on the wane, this is still a nonstop powerfully energetic record. The song writing, production and material have all taken a step forward and as a clutch of female fronted rockabilly bands have risen to prominence there is no reason to suggest why Creepshow don’t sit with the cream of the crop. - Steve

One Man Ska Explosion Robb Blake Do The Dog

I wasn’t sold on it the first time round, and the quick follow up from the One man ska ensemble still hasn’t dented my belief. It’s fun, slightly cheesy rock beat dance-along and sing along. - Steve

Illusions Live Michael Graves Screaming crow

Michael who? Don’t say that... okay, so you really don’t know? He is the guy that fronted the Misfits after they made their comeback and just like Danzig has an aweinspring voice. And also like Danzig, is no longer in the Misfits. Anyway, this record has a few songs of him doing an unplugged set. it isn’t great to be honest but it’s cool to hear Fiend Club and Scream as acoustic songs. Perhaps his ‘plugged in’ stuff is better... - Tim Drunk

REVIEWS Way Back Home

The Wildest Card

Wolverine Records

Cherry Bomb

Sarah Blackwood

Heartfelt solo debut from the Creepshow front lady. Guitar in tow, and her Southern bluesy style[although Canadian] voiced approach to a personal journey across this record is a great road/car trip companion. Light but delicate with enough emotion and a peek behind the veil to reveal a songwriter on a musical journey. - Steve

Sound system Champions Mungo Hi-Fi Rockers Revolt

Beautifully voiced and produced dub reggae and ska hailing from Scotland. Part of the thankful emerging roots return sound of the genre as a whole, this album is a fantastic showcase of collaborations and should be playing loud and shattering in any dancehall, soundsystem and reggae/ dub loving eardrums. Steve

Hyperjax

The whol e pyscho/rockabilly thing always ends up sounding the same and it takes a very special band for me to take notice. Seriously, don’t you think much of it ends up sounding exactly the same? If that is how you feel, then please take a listen to the new record from Hyperjax - it oozes pure rock’n roll swagger, slapped with a healthy dose of punk rocking attitude. Stand out song on the album would have to be number 9, So I hold On. It’s a classic - Curvball

Boss Beat No1 Station Rockers Revolt

Reggae dub and soul, ska harmonised and eclectic variety performace of rocksteady and original sounds. Responsible for the recent resurgence of the Blue beat record label after a few dormant decades, there are songs for all with harmonies, party shoes, dancing shoes, head bopping,

shoulder twitching and dancefloor filling tracks that could fill any era of our beloved reggae and ska. - Steve

The Skints Do The Dog

Great 6 track EP offering, with songs ranging from fast paced catchy ska and slow pressure cooker reggae – intelligent upbeat and destined for bigger things. Undoubtedly a band waiting in the wings to explode onto the music scene. - Steve

R EV IEWS Don’t take our word for it, make up your own mind!

SHOWS & GIGS Ska festival

Saturday 13th September Camden Underworld, London

Party House records play host to their 3rd annual all-dayer at the Camden Underworld. On a day greeted with Indian Summer sun, we naturally head down to the bowels of Camden to watch ska bands! The line-up is not great on paper, but diverse and geographically reaching to pull a crowd. In addition any day where it costs about a £1 a band is a good day-so definitely value for money. The first band I do catch is 3 Minute Warning (I’m a late arrival after watching a great Liverpool football game with some of the bands!) And in complete reverse hierarchy, 3 Minute Warning remain my band of the day. They play a energetic set and with a new album in tow, things are looking very bright for the punk skankers. This is band to keep an eye on. Catch it Kebabs, play a good set, but nothing that remains in the memory banks too long. There is talent, but somehow reserved and not firing on all cylinders, with a huge disparity of excitement from the large ensemble on stage perhaps affecting the mood? Hypo psycho play their very own brand of power skapop- which already tells you a lot. Throw in some rap crossover and it’s all a bit strange. Full of confidence yes; going places-not so sure? The Johnstones, on tour from Canada

playing nationwide with Fandangle, are as somebody put it very well- a mix of the Aquabats and a pop punk boy band! it’s all-go on stage, semi naked- don’t worry thankfully the top half, and all energy as they mix and mash their way through covers and mixe songs of old and bring a sometimes over choreographed stage show that is entertaining. On the music side, it may be geared for bigger things and a chart pop friendly facelift but my cup of tea it is not. Itch from the ever present King Blues makes a surprise guest appearance and performs to a captivated crowd his solo poetic , incredibly prophetic, present and personal piece on the world. And how much better it is through the influence of ska and punk rock, amongst other things. His charismatic and rootsy approach is worth many an admission alone and my second favourite act of the night. Fandangle- local –or near enough, the near-headliners play their still very Less than Jake influenced 3rd wave ska punk sounds, to a excitable and partying crowd. There is energy and fun a plenty, a hard working band for sure, but whether they will break a mould or stay on a long course to nowhere remains to be seen. They have respect for sure, but still sadly might represent a sound that has now been surpassed. TheToasters- New York legends and deserved headliners; well not many ska bands will sit above the long timer skank-

> ALBUMS > EPs > BOOKS > GIGS

ers on a show bill! Subdued in the sense that their sound is so much more viby and relaxed, they none the less are a good climax to the evening by drawing the strings together around the variety of bands on offer for the day. - Steve

Fandangle

Johnstones

The Toasters All photosÂŠ Imelda Michalczyk

R EV IEWS Don’t take our word for it, make up your own mind!

Photo Review... XRAY SPEX / GOLDBLADE/ The Roundhouse, London 6 September 2008

> ALBUMS > EPs > BOOKS > GIGS

RE V IEW S Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t take our word for it, make up your own mind!

Send us your gig reviews! info@distortedmagazine.com

ThE ADICTS / DRONGOS FOr EUROPE Islington Academy, London 15 September 2008

RE V IEW S Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t take our word for it, make up your own mind!

Send us your gig reviews! info@distortedmagazine.com

Photo Review... Sick On The Bus / Anger In Motion / Short Bus Window Lickers / Girlfixer Purple Turtke, London 15 September 2008

RE V IEW S Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t take our word for it, make up your own mind!

Send us your gig reviews! info@distortedmagazine.com

Photo Review... GUITAR GANGSTERS / DEMOB / REBEL CITY RADIO / MIDDLE FINGER SALUTE BridgeHouse 2, London 20 September 2008

R EV IEWS Don’t take our word for it, make up your own mind!

The Rabble / Refuse/ all / active slaughter Saturday 20th September BarMonsta, London

We managed to get down to the venue early - it promised to be a great evening of straight up punk fun. Kicking things off were anarcho punk types Active Slaughter who played as if there was no tomorrow despite the few bodies in the venue. Nearer the end of their set, the little venue started coming alive. With the room warmed up, hosts for the evening Refuse/ All showcased their stuff and played a good few songs off their new album. heir set was briefly interupted by some dodgy punter who was caught giving the frontman’s girl shit. Kev of Refuse/All ain’t no small guy so let’s just say the punter in question quickly sored himself out and Refuse/All continued. New Zealands, The Rabble, hit up the stage, got their travelling bodies warmed up and proceeded to lift the roof off the venue. I’m pretty sure many people left knowing very well that they have managed to see a band that is destined for bigger things. As for myself, I enjoyed each band - they each provided a good glimpse into the various aspects of punk. - Tim Drunk

Active Slaughter

Refuse/All

Words by Tim Drunk Photos by Imelda M.

REFUSE/ALL

UESTION EVERYTHING/ ACCEPT NOTHING South West London’s REFUSE/ALL are set to release their 2nd album and with all the hardwork they do within the scene we thought it would be a good idea to introduce you to a band who urge you to question everything...

Hey, how are things with Refuse/All?

life, to the ska-ish “Scum”, calling for Bush and Blair to be brought to trial for the destruction they caused in Iraq and the outright lies that put us there. We think it’s our best effort yet and musically it is quite diverse, for us anyway, although some people put their foot down when a ten minute jazz, metal fusion instrumental was proposed. The lyrics are generally political, as is life really, but we think they reflect our happy, carefree disposition, although some people think we’re delusional.

You’ve got a new album due for release. Tell us about it.

Who did you record the album with?

Things are going well. We’ve played quite a few gigs around the UK so far this year and with some decent bands too, and our second album is due for release any day now. We are looking forward to the future and the excellent gigs we’ve got coming up, including playing the Camden Underworld on 6th December supporting Deadline and Argy Bargy, plus hopefully the Gathering of the Thousands next year.

It’s called “What Lurks Beneath?” and it is due to be co-released very soon on the Active Distribution label. There are 12 songs ranging from the fast and furious “Last Winter”, questioning capitalism’s blind pursuit of ever renewable profit and greed at the expense of the planet that supports all human and animal

We recorded it in Forest Hill at Perry Vale Studios which is owned by Pat Collier. We are really pleased with it and Pat done a great job getting the sound we were after. Being an ex-punk himself, he used to play for The Vibrators in the 70’s, he understood what we wanted. Pat’s a lovely bloke and he also produced and mixed it, although we offered lots of

“...some people put their foot down when a ten minute jazz, metal fusion instrumental was proposed.” unhelpful suggestions at the mixing stage, including re-recording it all if it helped us sound better. We knew that Deadline had used Pat when he was at Gravity Shack studios, where we recorded our first album, but by chance we got the new Cock Sparrer album after we’d recorded and vaguely recognised the archway they were photographed in on the cover, and lo and behold it was Perry Vale.

What is your songwriting process like? How do the songs come together? Do you select a topic first or do the music 1st?

It’s a process of peer pressure and pure violence, with each member being beaten by the others until they come up with a chord sequence that’s not obviously nicked from another band. If it’s too obvious we just do the chords backwards anyway or rifle through Liberty’s or Lost Cherrees’ back catalogue for something more tuneful than we can come up with. Not really, sorry, it’s just the usual process of someone coming up with a riff, possibly a chorus and (unusually) a middle bit, then we sit around at practice and try and put it in some sort of listenable order. Kev or Leon (and occasionally others) then add lyrics that vaguely make sense to us and hopefully others, then Charlie the drummer makes us sit down and re-

“I like to play in new places regardless of how much we will be paid”

write it again because he drums at twice the speed we wrote it at in the first place (Charlie once made us play a half hour set in twenty minutes because he’d had a couple of red bulls or colas, honestly). Kev likes voicing his opinions as loud as possible and as often as possible. He writes what’s on his mind and hopes that it may at some point fit a tune. He says there’s nothing like the feeling of shouting your opinions at the top of your voice, and recommends that everyone does it as often as possible and would like to promote people doing this more often not just in a band scenario but in pubs, shopping centres, in fact anywhere! He also feels the need to permanently make people aware of the evil capitalist dictatorship in which we live.

What are some of your personal highlights on the album? Any special moments while making it?

One favourite is the ballady “Rise NonBeliever”, because Shea got to get his acoustic guitar out and the pain on Gary’s face recording it was a personal highlight. Also, when a simple chorus for “Not Just a Dream”, was suggested Kev came out with something that sounded like a satanic ritual backwards, either that or someone in terrible trouble on the toilet. Not then running away screaming for his mother was my special moment.

The album is set to be distributed by Active. How did that all come about?

The heroic Jon Active released our first album, “Have a Happy Holiday in Guan-

REFUSE/ALL

tanamo Bay” and I think he took pity on our begging letters, with the constant harassing of him to release the second album became too much for any sane person. In reality, we were going to be proper punks and do it ourselves as the first release of our “Don’t Do Dance” label, but when Jon suggested co-releasing it we jumped at the chance, he knows much more about this label stuff anyway. We’ve also forgotten to make any mention of “Don’t Do Dance” on the album anyway so people will see it as an Active release.

The band has been around for sometime now, how did everything come together in the beginning? Who does what in the band?

Although we’ve all played in various bands since the 80s, Charlie, Gary, Shea and our old guitarist, Sean, were all in Riot/Clone. We wrote most of the last Riot/Clone album “Success” and recorded

it with the original singer, Dave Floyd, in 2004. Dave decided to do other things, so we decided to carry on as Refuse/All with a new singer, doing our first gig in April 2005 with the Lost Cherrees at the Cartoon in Croydon. Our original lead guitarist Sean deided to go back to his native New Zealand, and much missed he is too, but we carried on as a four piece until Charlie remembered an excellent bassist called Leon, previously of Assassins of Hope and other 80s anarcho punk bands. Then our original singer decided to leave, so Charlie remembered his good friend Kev who’d been in Active Conspiracy and Leech amongst others and Bob’s your brother in law, we were a five piece band again. So now it’s Kev - Vocals, Leon - Bass, Gary - Guitar, Shea - Guitar and Charlie - Drums.

Refuse/All has recently become quite active in promoting and putting on shows - why have you

decided to do this?

Gary and Shea were sitting around bemoaning the fact that no-one was offering us gigs and there wasn’t much going on in our native South West London (Kev, Leon and Charlie are all cockerknee luv a duck geezers from East London), so we decided to do something about it by establishing “Don’t Do Dance Punk Promotions”. Shea’s local was the Fighting Cocks in Kingston where they do regular gigs, so he begged the landlord Jamie and head barman Josh to let him put on some punk rock type nonsense. The first two gigs were amazing with the Inner Terrestrials, us and Meinhof, then the Restarts, us and Social Parasites, with both gigs full to capacity. Unfortunately there was some trouble outside and being a residential area, the landlord couldn’t risk his license, so we had to move on. We’ve since put on gigs at the Peel in Kingston, with GBH and Discharge, and lately at Bar Monsta in Camden with The Rabble and Active Slaughter. There’s a gig with the Varukers and Social Schism at Bar Monsta on October 11th and we return to the Fighting Cocks on 22nd November for a gig with local legends Maniac and Bug Central. We don’t keep any profit either, if after costs there is any money left it goes to the bands. Apart from trying to keep the punk scene going in our area it’s also a way of getting to play gigs with bands you want to play with. Thanks to all the band for helping out, but also Sharon, Adam and Sarah for helping with the merch and doing the door, it is very much appreciated.

what are your thoughts on the current scene?

The current scene is ok, but it’s the age

old problem of trying to get everyone in to see all the bands. We try and make gigs as value for money as possible by putting on as many bands as we can for the money but then no one comes in until the main band is on, moaning about the price as they do! The price of our gigs is pretty much the same as it was 10 years ago. What else can you say that about? These people are quite often missing out on some really good bands that deserve listening to, it makes no sense. Some gigs can have a pretty poor turnout but then on another night the place can be packed . I think it’s okay at the moment but more people need to get involved, either starting up their own band, putting on gigs, fanzines etc to help keep the scene going. We’ve played with some excellent younger bands, including the Socials (Schism and Parasites) and Meinhof, plus lots of other younger bands all over the country. It’s always good to see new bands and people coming through with their own take on punk and protest in general. I think a lot of younger people have become politicised by things such as the Iraq war and green issues, so hopefully they’re translating that into both words and actions, through protest and bands. Musically there’s still a lot of old gits like us around, but some of the newer bands are more proficient and faster than anything we could do. You can’t beat Discharge or Napalm Death for a good tune though.

Care to name a few bands that you think are keeping punk alive?

The Restarts, Deadline, Inner Terrestrials, Conflict, Subhumans, but we all have quite varied music tastes so it would depend on which of the bands you were

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talking too really.

Although it’s pretty subjective, but what does punk mean to you?

Punk is about having no boundaries, it should not be a fashion or something that can be departmentalised. It is more an attitude or a way of life. It can be a bit boring with people just fitting in to a punk stereotype just for a short period of time to piss off their parents, only to then “settle down” when they “grow up”. Punk should be about questioning everything, accepting nothing, refusing everything that fits into the mainstream, and that includes mainstream stereotypical punk!! It’s probably a cliche, but punk is purely a state of mind and nothing to do with mohawks, loud guitars, leather jackets or anything else people, mainly the media, lazily portray it as. There’s nothing wrong with having a mohawk or (fake) leather jacket, and we all love loud guitars so perhaps we are cliches, but it’s the spirit of individuality and the ability to say what you like that makes punk important. I get sick of it when you say you are in a punk band and people immediately say they quite like the Sex Pistols, I can’t remember the last time I listened to the old bands. Again, they were the first and to some the best, there’s nothing wrong with thinking that, but punk has been such a changing, evolutionary force within music, influencing folk and metal and spawning goth, grunge, Emo and other offshoots. The political importance of

punk bands shouldn’t be belittled either, as without the anarcho rantings of Crass and Conflict or the socialist ravings of the likes of Billy Bragg or Atilla the Stockbroker, it’s unlikely you would have had such excellent and political bands as System of a Down or Dropkick Murphys.

Anything else you’d like to say? Anybody you’d like to thank?

As we say in the notes of the album, there’s a world outside that we still have to win back for the benefit of us all. So whatever little thing you can do to work towards that, whether its going veggie or vegan, joining a union or becoming a shop steward, or just starting a band with your mates and singing about the things that make you angry, then go for it. Oh yeah, and try and have a laugh, otherwise there’s no fecking point, we only live once and you don’t get a second go. Thanks to Sharon for always helping out with the merch and to all our partners and families for putting up with forty year old teenagers, Jon Active, Pat and Rose Collier, all the bands we’ve played with, all the people who’ve put us on, everyone who has come to see us and anyone trying to make a difference, cheers.

A few of my favourite things...

Itch

King Blues

1. Band: Rancid 2. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;77 punk band: The Clash 3. Drink: Cloudy Cider 4. Food: Pancakes 5. Book: Confessions Of An Economic Hitman by John Perkins 6. Album: The Last Resort - A Way of Life 7. Movie: Weekend at Bernies 8. Gadget: Toster 9. Pet: My old rat, Disorder. May he rest in peace. 10. Things to do aside from band stuff: Bring down the government.

King Blues are set to release their new single, My Boulder, in October 2008.

photo by Imelda Michalczyk