Liars & Sinners PIATAESENCJA.PL
fot. jandaciuk.tumblr.com
CONTENT 8 - Beaver - interview 24 - Marksman - interview 38 - Skate & Destroy - article 44 - Soundcheck: Justin Collier (Man Overboard) 48 - Bloody Knees - interview 56 - Client. - interview 66 - My name is Oskar Heleniak 80 - Classic: Evergreen 82 - Reviews
hardtobreathe
nowy materiał Hard To Breathe, biały i czarny winyl, 2 wersje okładki, listopad 2014
antenakrzyku.pl seeyousoon.pl
BEAV
facebook.com beaverhc.ban
fot. Bernard Śmiałek
VER
m/BEAVERHC ndcamp.com
Hi! duce
What’s up? yourself,
Introbro!
Hey, I’m Przemek. I’ve just got back from holidays of my life to the saddest country – not so good. Do holidays of your life mean night in Las Vegas and how much did you lose? Honestly Vegas was the weakest. I lost a few dollars, but I was a rich men for a while (like 30 seconds). So what did you like the most in the US? I know, you even saw La Dispute, what I’m jealous about! What are the differences between concerts there and here? Nature and open minded, chilled people. Cities like San Francisco and San Diego are great, but staying in touch with nature, tent, sunsets on beach, these were the highlights of the trip. Americans have got well done natural parks, where the nature is untapped, and places like Grand Canyon and Yosemite Valley, these are the sights, I will always carry in my heart and head till the end of my life. The main difference is, that there were 49 people booked for this event and more than 500 came in, so it’s conversely, than here. But honestly, I like the european more. The Concert was in LA, in El Rey,
where in the beginning you could hear from loudspeakers a message in voice-over like in film trailers, what was quite funny, about safety rules, criminal responsibility for breaking the rules of some act, and security guards were active in the room. Not mentioning the barriers. It was quite huge concert, but in Europe you can feel more freedom. I was on La Dispute in Berlin and and completely wasted I’d stage dive into a sea of people who didn’t catch me but then I liked it better that way ;) On the other side, concerts like this are like fashion week. In USA people don’t give a fuck about who has got more trendy shoes, longer beard or an anchor on forehead. There were lots of younger people, but also a 40+, who definitely were not there by mistake. And that was really cool. Looks like this type of music has got roots in this country. And there was a nice thing at the end. Dudes from Touche Amore got to the concert, they may live near and they did a featuring for ‚Why It Scares Me’. It made me very glad. Great! Now I’m more jealous, ugh! Going back to you – you’re a legend! At primary school on polish classes I wrote an essay, that when I grow up, I’d like to be you... I mean those tattoos. But seriously – in how many bands you played, dude? For how long you play the guitar?
I started playing when I was 14 or 15, so it’s a half of my life – this long period doesn’t count on my abilities. I started this, because I was fat and ugly. I coulnd’t play football, and playing it was technically 100% effective way of consuming physical love these days. So I was searching another way for attention of girls and guitar was supposed to help me. Needless to say, I didn’t make it, even it came conversely. But at the same time my pragmatic attitude towards guitar transformed into a passion and pure love. Counting playing live bands, there were 3. Do playing make you
trendy music feel younger?
No way, that I’ll feel old in this punk scene. Everyone there feels like in their teens age, no matter how old they really are. (laughter) sounds about right! Going back to Beaver – you made a confusion with your demo, also with your new material, but we’ll talk about it later. A few words about creation of the band? There’s no interesting back story about that. I know so long with Karol, we played both
in an embarassing band called ‚Foreplay’ and we drank an embarassing amount of alcohol. For a few years we tried to made a band with lots of people, but after hearing Janek, we thought, this makes sense. For a while there was also Kuba, who now plays a bass guitar in ‚WKS’. Soon after that joined us a person with a golden heart Winiu and everything happened so fast. We started rehearsing with early 2013, and later in June we had our demo recorded and a few gigs. As I told earlier, your demo made a confusion, everyone was talking about you and your material, you think ‚Cold Hands’ faced up your expectations? What kind of feedback did you receive for 2 months after the premiere? So far the feedback is positive and so are the comments, but some people feel nostalgic towards our earlier output . We received 2 links with reviews of Cold Hands, but they were so luscious, that we didn’t want to publish them. Anyway it was nice to read them. First EP was spontanious, with no preparations, we came in and we recorded, so maybe that was the strength. With Cold Hands we had more fun, but with no exaggeration. From the first EP I Like
fot. www.facebook.com/roxshotsgigs
‚Struggles’ and ‚Brad’ and I would reall like to record them again for the LP, but I personally think, that ‚Outsider’ is our best record to date. The fact, that our material will be released on vinyl in Germany and France also shows the positive feedback from abroad. So – ‚Hopeless’ is about that you’re hopeless or about no hopes for polish labels about releasing great bands on vinyl? Is it really about that? Polish scene is in spite of appearances very hermetic. To be honest, we didn’t even looked for opportunity of a release in our country. Unfortunately lots of bands are suffering from that. But we can’t complain, ‚Cold Hands’ will be released on vinyl! Tell me something about that! Will it be colourful? Two small labels are taking care about release, Lifeisafunnything
from Germany and Anarchino Records from France. Btw we got the contact to german label from you,so thank you for that! It will be colourful, it will be nice, there will be about 400 pieces, but about 150 will have a different colours. You’re welcome! Back to your EP, it seems to me lke it’s more punk than your demo. Is that right? Was that the intention or am I deaf? It’s definitely more punk. We stayed in mid-beats, but I don’t know if that was the intention, we didn’t planned it so well. We just wanted to record a part of a new material. In my opinion it’s more feisty, but with less dose of melancholy, that some people can miss. It’s hard to classify us to a specific current, but it’s not the most important. I already think about new records. Right, the intro of Cascades sounds a bit like a radio-friendly punk rock.
PIATAESENCJA.PL
There are huge hits, did you count on a fame, cash or women? Or on everything? Our publisher just really likes Cascades! Honestly, we count only on concerts in nice places. We really would like to ride across europe and maybe we can make it to go for a short trip outsde Poland. Will you carry me, my camera and recording and editing skills? Tour video or something? No :( Ok so go on (laughter) Sometimes when I’ve read your lyrics, I thought, your that type of band, who rely more on musical experiences than lyrical. Of course I’m not complaining about Janek’s vocals, which is great and it’s a stand out here – of course I mean lyrics. Who takes care of that? (laughter) Janek is responsible for lyrics, and we try not to interfere. It’s hard to speak vicariously. But on the other side I can’t imagine Janek singing about problems of polish society – ‚Generał Petko’ ia associated with something completely different. I care about musical experience and ask me about this. What inspired you while making material for ‚Cold Hands’? We have a huge punk background. It’s not like we really like only
sad stuff and our percussionist Winiu really hates that, so there are different inspirations, from Defeater (‚Hopeless’) to more midwest stuff (‚Cascades’). Ok, by the way you do really good job, sometimes it seems like (I seem to think) that there are two guitarists, nice that only with one guitar you care about diversioring musical side, props for that! It’s a great moment to aks about tools – what do you use? It has changed recently, hasn’t it? Thanks, at the studio of course I record a few layers of guitars, to diversion the arrangment, but I don’t want to overdo, because it has to sound good live and I have to do that alone. On a regular basis I try to change the guitar, mostly once in a year. Recently I play on LP from company, which name starts with E, of course better model, but still cheap. I treat this as a temporary instrument before a big investment. I am glas so far, but I still think about Jaguar. I play on Orange AD-140 amplifier, which I don’t improve. From effects, I use DD7 (delay) from Boss. I like the box they give me. I don’t have a hype for Orange Boxes. I can’t hear this incredible difference between another boxes based on these loud speakers. Kill me.
Well, Jaguar... dy talked about guitars, but how about changing gest Fender
We alreathese offset do you feel for the bigcompetition?
I like Gibson fretboard and I like more the sounding, but I have to say, that visually Fenders are better. Tele, which I played on, and it was Blacktop with two humbackers was really great and I regret selling it. (laughter) unfortunately this is how it goes. Tell me, what are your coming plans with Beaver? Concert season is beginning, so we will play here and there. I hope also for Poznań. And we are making a videoclip, but I can’t say more. Oh, the videoclip! I also hope for seeing you in Poznań, because the last time was great, and now there will be a possibility of learning the lyrics and joining Janek. Do you plan any new songs or do you go with fame of ‚Cold Hands’? We had a long break from playing, so we are rehearsing our old material, but we have a pressure to make at least one new song for the concerts. We have a huge inspiration.
I’m so glad to hear that! Have you seen the recent inundation of fine new bands in Poland? It seems to be great, or not? It’s really great. You know, I remember the times, when the cool bands were few and far between. I may overdo, but still it was about 1/10 of what we have now, and it was not so far ago. Last years ia a huge inundation.Maybe because it’s an easier access to tools, you can record good sounding record in domestic conditions. There are lots of great, inspiring bands from Western Europe. People are going abroad for concerts, and lots of top bands are coming to Poland. It’s not a holiday, when the Novemberists are coming to town. Now you really can choose. Especially in Cracow, when there’s one concert in a week, it’s a poor week. Now, there is a shitload of of talented, young bands, like Lie After Lie, Brooks Was Here, The Lowest or long playing but still fresh Hard to Breathe and Drip of Lies. Really it would took so long to name it all, but bands from 00s and end of 90s changed this scene and now are legendary, and this climate won’t recur. Everything got too much globalised. Exactly, I wanted also to ask, which times was for you the best for music? To which period you’d like to go back in time, if you’d have this possibility?
About 7-10 years earlier. I recall nicely these times if it comes to climate and concerts, and I had much less concerns – so maybe that’s why. But musically now it’s really good and what bands do is incredible. Musically i prefer present. And
I
know,
Nirvana!
Nirvana in any way. You seem to really suffer about not growing up in 90s and you only heard about MTV playing Sunny Day Real Estate only from others. And now, to be serious, but it’s really a pain for me. It’s not so bad, cause I dabbed 90s. I symphatize with kids growing up on weird metal techno cores. We have to make it clear, that these times happened, and won’t happen again. It’s great, that new wave is inspired by the 90s (Rooftops, Basement etc), but you know, it’s like with those instagram filters. I couldn’t have said it better myself! Ok, let’s end this embarassment. Are you greeting someone, because it’s the end of our airtime? I have rather beastly temper to world and people. As a type
that all life counted against myself I would say ‚fuck you all’, but the older you are, the mellow you come, I’d like to greet all these posotove people, I’ve met last one and a half year while playing in Beaver, Tomek and Krzysiek from HTB, Radziej and dudes from LAL, Szczepan from AL, Koti and our publisher Marcus, friends from Cracow, those who supports us, also those who hates us – we also need you. But most of all I greet my girlfriend! I also greet you, my dear Sebastek, you may rest in peace. (laughter) even, if sometimes you’re annoying as fuck, I love you, dude! Thanks for interview, high five! // Bastian transl. Marek Żyjewski
POLAR //fot. jandaciuk.tumblr.com
Cavalcades // fot. Michael Sangster
MARKSMAN
facebook.com/marksmanhc marksman.bandcamp.com
What’s up? I’ve heard you had some disruption in the band, but it’s all fine now? Przemek: Hey Bastian. True, we’ve had some changes, we said our farewells to Łukasz due to differences concerning the future of the band – Łukasz has a challenging job that hasn’t been letting him play as many shows as we’d like to, so we argued. However, his contribution to the band is unquestionable and despite our differences, I am very grateful for what he’s done during those last three years and, if he’s reading this, I’m truly thankful. We’ve been looking for someone who could commit to this as much as our three for the past few months. We’ve known Marcin for years and our request was pretty much a shot in the dark. It turned out he was super into it, instantly started giving us his ideas, he was curious and thirsty for playing in a band. I knew trying him out was just a formality and when we had our first practice with him the songs started sounding fresh and better than ever. It’s not like Łukasz used to play them worse, just completely differently, and this new perspective made me feel like this band has a new quality and I’m really looking forward to the autumn shows. Kuba: I can’t deny what Przemek said about Łukasz.
He was a very important figure in this band, gave as much heart and time as was possible. We’d really like to thank him for his input. Emotions slowly cooled down and we opened a new chapter. However, I’m sure that despite this change, with Marcin in the band, we’ll be able to surprise. Maciek: Marcin won our hearts already with his dry jokes, hehe. He has potential, can play guitar and has countless song ideas. I think we’ll have a very fruitful relationship. Marcin: Well, on my part I can say that I’m positive about our collaboration. I’m happy to be joining the band with people who are very ambitious when it comes to music. I’m sure I won’t be the only one surprised by the effects of our work. To be honest, I can’t wait to play our first shows, because I’ve had quite a break from playing in a band, so I have a handful of new ideas and energy. How med
did Marksman forin the first place?
Przemek: Łukasz came up with starting a band years ago at Maciek’s current band’s show, then the idea died and after two years I revived it and got as all together. We played with Łukasz and Maciek,
PIATAESENCJA.PL
adding Kuba was an obvious choice as we’ve been friends since high school. The four of us spent the next three years recording two demos, playing not too many shows and that’s how we ended up here.
Kuba: Summer has just passed and for this season the best music is Gnarwolves’ new record. Now begins my favourite season of the year, which is an inspiration itself, because I always spend the most time thinking in Autumn.
Kuba: I received a call from Przemek and since then it’s been three and a half years. There have been a few obstacles on the way, but only who doesn’t do anything doesn’t fail.
Maciek: I’m into all kinds of postmusic (which is very visible in many songs from the new album), but I guess it’s time to slowly let it go, because how long can you be sad.
What is it like having one of the best vocalists ever in the band hehe? But seriously – what have you been listening to lately and who are you inspired by? Przemek: Completely seriously – Kuba really has something attracting a lot of people to Marksman and it is the best aspect of the band for many. I wouldn’t want to judge it, but the truth is, I can’t imagine anyone else in his place in every aspect – from his instrument to who he is personally. I’ve been listening to stuff completely out of the hardcore punk scene, I rediscovered my love for Beastie Boys, Gary Clark Jr., NWA; as for stuff closer to the topic it’s Trash Talk, Ewa Braun, All Pigs Must Die. I’ve been listening to a lot of Blink-182 lately, because I hella like those dumb songs.
The new album comes out really soon. Why did you make us wait so long? Przemek: During those past three years, including an almost half year long break, we’ve played about 10 shows – that, I think, speaks for itself why it took so long. After I moved from Trójmiasto to Cracow it’s been hard to manage logistically – practice, social life, we also had to take some time to deal with other problems – we didn’t take a break because we enjoyed playing together, there were perspectives and everything was going as planned. Neither of us thought we’d meet again, make a record etc. while playing our “last” show in Gdynia – the “reunion” was spontaneous as well. We came to a conclusion, that we’ve grown to face it once again.
Maciek: And truth to be told, the main reason why we were playing so few shows was that Łukasz was rarely present – of course, demanding job, especially that he was just starting his career, so we hardly demanded sacrifices from him. I hope that with the changes in the band come more gigs. Especially that we made this record and we’ll have to travel the country a bit, hehe. Kuba: Being in a band when you have your own responsibilities isn’t easy. If I were to name the cause I’d be distance-time-money. Life is life na na na na na. Can you say few words about the creating and recording process? Przemek: We started creating the new material last Autumn. We started with the one we’ve been playing live before. Łukasz gave us his ideas and worked with Maciek and at the beginning of the year we started rehearsals, to which I’ve been coming to from Cracow. We scrapped two demos worth of material. Things that sounded great as a draft, for example, didn’t work at rehearsals at all, and the ideas seemingly without potential became the basis for the tracks you’ll hear on the album. We camped in the rehearsal room for three days, playing three hours a day – wehad four of those long meetings
The whole material has been created with the intent of releasing it on a 12”, so we had a goal to fulfil. We finished the last song on the last rehearsal, two weeks before entering the studio. The studio we chose was my idea, it was suggested to me by Krzysiek Pacior. But before it’s been decided we spent hours talking to Piotrek about various ideas about drum patterns, microphones, nothing interesting. Piotrek Greunpeter from Satanic Audio was the producer for “Awaken”, working mainly, but not only, with the Mag Records studio in Wojkowice, who in addition to producing is a singer and an expert dealing with alarming sounds in THAW. We did the drum parts in the big studio in April and then we moved to the small one to do the guitars and vocals. In May we added some vocal parts in studio Velur in Gdańsk. Apart from production, mix and mastering, Piotr spontaneously recorded a second guitar part for us. In the end it turned out to be a lot of material, what shaped and spiced up the album. It’s worth mentioning that all his ideas except one made it on the record. When he sent us his first idea to one of the songs we went crazy. We were lucky to have worked with someone who has such passion and he’s professional in what’s he doing. Thanks to it our album sounds exactly how we wanted, even better. Besides
Piotrek is a cool guy, we became very close and our time together was very, very effective. The mixes alone were amazing and Piotr understood perfectly what we had in mind and what we wanted to achieve, so it took less than a month to produce the whole album. Everything went very smoothly and the moods were great. I think working with Piotrek was the best thing that could happen to this band. From the lyrical side – is it more of a concept album or are the songs not related to each other? What is the album about? Kuba: The common ground for all the lyrics is the album’s title. It’s a collection of my “awakenings” that’s been happening in me and are still happening in me. It’s my fears, complaints, my anger. I took my lyrics very personally, they were about my life and relationships with people closest to me. On this album I also tried to grasp the bigger picture, how we still can’t coexist on this planet. You decided to include a piece of Polish pride on the album, I mean “Granice”. Where did that idea come from? Przemek: It was my idea and everyone except Maciek, who was sceptical at first, picked it up immediately.
We wanted to honour our native language somehow, not knowing how it’ll turn out, and as English has been the language of our songs since the beginning, it seemed quite interesting and worth trying. It was more like “let’s see what happens” than “we have to do it”. It ended up being a two-part song. Maciek: I’ll just add that in time the song grew on me, I even think it’s our best song so far! Kuba: We didn’t have a concept for a song in Polish at first. The song creating process has been standard. Writing the lyrics, or rather deleting more and more lines, took some time and I leave the final effect to a subjective judgement. Any plans for album release in a physical form? Przemek: Currently we have one label interested in releasing “Awaken” on a 12” vinyl, but they need some help with that, because such release requires a lot of money. There’s no point in discussing any details yet, but finding a label out of nowhere isn’t easy. It’s kind of a revenge for not playing any concerts – the labels fear it’d be a fail. I hope that after the album is released and get noticed, maybe someone will take a chance. During the making of “Awaken” we had one goal
– for it to be released on vinyl. It’s our dream and I hope it’ll come true some day. Currently there are no plans on releasing it in other forms, but a year ago I didn’t even know if we’d record anything, so there’s no point in making assumptions. Any thoughts on the emo/screamo in our country? How does it look from your point of view? Przemek: I think that not only this branch of the scene, but the whole Polish hardcore/punk is doing good. Not so long ago the first band in the history of Polish punk, Government Flu, toured the US and they just released the brilliant “Tension” – so it’s doable. We have a lot of sad hardcore bands – Beaver and Moja Połowa as grand examples. There are people interested in organising and attending gigs, so I think everything is just fine. Astrid Lindgren, Hard To Breathe and Aporia are about to release new records. Aside from the music part, kids are becoming interested in vegetarianism, animal rights and antifascism – ideas this scene has been built on and what makes it different from the others – the thought about the world surrounding us and rebellion against views basing on hatred towards diversity. Your
best
and
worst
gig?
Przemek: Our worst concert so far has been the one supporting Loma Prieta last year
in Przychodnia in Warsaw. It was extremely hot, I dropped my drumsticks like three times and it was almost an epic fail, but somehow we managed till the end. I was really embarrassed of myself after that show and it took some time to come to terms with it. What is more, I had to go to work straight after the gig so an hour after it ended I was on a train to Kołobrzeg, as it turned out, with Kuna’s car keys in my pocket. Then I was forced to wait in Sochaczew for three hours, what was super traumatic, for someone to take me back to Warsaw. We were saved by Mokwa from HTB, whom I’ll probably never be able to repay (thank you so much Michał, you’re a rad guy, I believe we’ll record something together). Kuba, on the other hand, has a different view on this show. The best gigs are ahead of us, I think, but one of my personal favourites was Gdynia with The Stubs. Kuba: The Przychodnia show Przemek mentioned was my all time favourite. I remember great ambience, big and active crowd, a lot of friends from every part of the country who came to chat and listen to us, physically I felt great. When it comes to the most traumatic experiences, I can think of shows in Ucho in Gdynia before Touche Amore and Calm the Fire and our last gig in Kraków at HabaFest. Despite the warm up my throat wouldn’t cooperate with me and I just wanted the show to end.
Przemek: Right… We played before Touche Amore… That was weak. Why the fuck did you remind us?! Maciek: Despite Przemek shitting on the Warsaw show, it was quite positively received by the audience, but definitely was one of our worst, along with our first gig ages ago. Of course, there were errors at every show we played, but nothing can beat those two, hehe. The gig before TA and CTF I’d classify as mediocre, or even bad. I sure complain a lot, haha! And the best shows, without question, were the ones we played in Rozbrat, Poznań. Thanks for the interview and congratulations on the great record! Przemek: Thank you so much for your time and kind words. Fuck nationalism. Kuba: Thank YOU for your interest. What is good we’ll choose ourselves! Maciek: PERCH. //Bastian / transl. Zuza Grońska
PIATAESENCJA.PL
When I heard for the first time about the formation of Lost iZine, I was glad that finally on the Polish scene will be something that combines my two passions – skateboarding and punk music (although it’s about emo, but punk is punk). It seems to me that in Poland the link between these two subcultures is not as clear as in the West, though there it’s already blurred too. Just ask your friends, who are fuzzy on the details, what they associate the word “skater” with. In response usually you can hear a description of the stereotypical hip-hop guy, who is skateboarding with his one leg, with the other one he’s breakdancing, while tagging the walls and rapping. As it turns out, connection between punk and skateboarding is something more than just inviting pro skaters to the Warped Tour or throwing a few bands on the soundtrack to Tony Hawk’s games. Looking at its roots, sooner or later it had to come across the punks. At its beginning it was more associated with the surf culture, from which it was derived. However, when the number of skaters from the states without the access to the oceans started to grow, image of the skateboarding has changed. A voice came out from suburbia kids – rebellious and full of frustration. They didn’t care about the “No skateboarding” signs, they were just grinding a public and private property. Underground sport turned into some kind of a counter-culture, which needed an expression through music. Nothing fits better to outsiders on the boards than punk.
The same rebellion, a desire to live in their own way instead of falling into the social well-worn patterns. It’s easy to find on the internet old school photos of Ian MacKaye and Henry Rollins on skateboards. However, the actual skate punk existed, among others, thanks to the JFA, which was the band consisted entirely of skaters. Agent Orange also have contributed, combining punk rock with surfer music. Madmen from Suicidal Tendencies named themselves so after their stunts on the board. They recorded the cult song called “Possessed to Skate”. Steve Caballero – a living legend of the skateboarding – was in the band called The Faction. After years their song “Skate & Destroy” was on the soundtrack of “Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4” game. 90s were a literal flood of bands more or less referring to skateboarding. Interestingly, this passion even showed up in Scandinavia, where it comes from the band Millencolin. Guys are not limited to playing skate punk, but also making their skate videos, and even have their own skate park. Pro skater Mike Vallely played in several bands, including Mike V and The Rats. Now he’s a lead singer of reanimated Black Flag. If you ask about some newer and more emo bands – for example Gnarwolves, whose members do not move on the tour without their boards. There is also a great importance of the magazine Thrasher’s activity, which for years supports the image of skateboarding as a rebellion, reminding its dirty punk character. Examples could be multiplied indefinitely, so there is nothing else to do than shout SKATE PUNX NEVER DIE and go out with your board! // Marcin
SOUNDCHECK Justin Collier ( Man Overboard ) //Bastian
What guitars are you currently using? Which one is your favorite? On tour with Man Overboard I usually play a 1976 Gibson Les Paul Custom (tobacco burst) and a 2005 Gibson Les Paul Standard Goldtop. They’re my main guitars but at home I also have a 1971 Gibson SG and a newish Jazzmaster blacktop. And I have a telecaster that Zac plays sometimes but he just bought a really cool new Tele of his own. What was your first guitar? My first guitar was a short scale all black stratocaster knock off... I can’t remember the brand but it was a piece of crap haha. What pedal effects are you using? I use a Boss Tuner pedal, an Ibanez Tube Screamer, a Boss DD7 delay with tap tempo and an MXR Phase 90.... i use to use a chorus pedal and a noise suppressor but I took them off my board recently.
fot. www.facebook.com/ScenesOfMadnessPhotography
Your favourite amp/head? Why? On all the original Man Overboard recordings - Hung Up On Nothing, Dahlia, Before We Met and Real Talk we used a VHT Deliverance head that belongs to Jesse Cannon and his studio. For a while I had a Mesa Boogie triple rectifier but its just too much for our band... I found a VHT Deliverance on ebay for a really good price and I’ve been using that since. Its pretty simple and has always served me well. I also have a Mesa Boogie DC-5 which is similar to a Mesa Mark4 - it has a graphic EQ. It has a few problems right now so I am currently getting it looked over... maybe it will come on the road one day :) What kind of guitar gear are you dreaming of? To be honest, growing up I always wanted a Les Paul or two and I now have them so I am pretty happy. I would love to get a Gibson ES. Wayne bought one a year or two ago but he is left-handed so I cannot play his. One day I will get one of my own.
BLOODY
Y KNEES
facebook.com/bloodyknees soundcloud.com/bloodyknees
fot. Luca Giorietto www.lucagiorietto.com
What’s yourself
up? Introduce shortly, please
Hey! I’m Bradley and I sing and play guitar in the band Bloody Knees You have just put out an amazing record on Dog Knights Productions - how does it feel, man? What kind of opinions did you hear so far? Thanks! Ah mate, it feels amazing. We all worked so hard on this record and are so pleased to finally have it out. The response so far has been pretty overwhelming to be honest. Magazines and blogs have all rated it pretty highly so far which is very encouraging. NME magazine even gave it a 9/10 which blew us away. We’re all very happy to have released it through a label like Dog Knights because it’s home to some incredible bands and it’s nice to be a part of something like that. Nice, I’m really happy for you! To carry on chat about your successes - how was Reading Festival, man ?! Reading was nuts! We opened up the Lock-up stage last year which was cool but we were still pretty much unheard of so there wasn’t much of a crowd response but this year we had built a bit of momentum and managed to pull a rad crowd who were all up for a laugh, circle pits and sing alongs. It was brilliant! Leeds was great too. It’s so great to play festivals like that too because you get to see so many other bands.
Seeing Basement slay the Lock-up tent was incredible! As was watching Queens Of The Stone Age. That was crazy. Nice! Seeing you perform on youtube is great, so beeing there must have been amazing experience! So, maybe now a little bit about influences. I can hear a lot of pop punk, emo and grunge influences on the record, am I right? What were you inspired by during writing/recording „Stitches” ? Yeah you are absolutely right. I’d say there are elements of all of those things present in the record. When it came to writing the songs, I was just taking influence from stuff that was (or wasn’t) going on in my life at the time. Writing songs about feeling useless and directionless seems to be a common theme in those genres and the style of music seems to fit that feeling of despondence. I try to put my own personal spin on it and the songs on the record are a result of that. I grew up listening to bands like Alkaline Trio, Jimmy Eat World, Foo Fighters, Saves The Day, Deftones, Weezer, Nirvana etc. and in more recent years bands like Title Fight, Tigers Jaw and Manchester Orchestra so I feel that the stuff I try to write, musically, is probably an amalgamation of all of those bands. There or there abouts. (Obviously I am a fan of many different bands spanning many genres but I picked those out as they probably reflect my influences more clearly)
Yeah, I get it! To be honest - in upcoming review of your record i wrote „Their sound made me think once, that somehow Nirvana came back with unknown bastard son of Kurt” (no offense for using word „bastard” please), cause your style reminds me a lot of nirvanish simple songwriting style. Also slightly screaming, sometimes „seems-bored” vocals made me think a lot about it to be honest haha Sorry, I just love Nirvana and I obsessively see similarities everywhere! Thanks man! That’s a compliment so cheers
huge fella
and one night after a show in Leicester, we all went out and got pretty wasted. We were in McDonalds and we had a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors to run and dive bomb into a sign. I lost. Then Theo from Wolf Alice did it and I followed him in and flew over the top of him, got caught on the sign, flipped over and landed face first on the tiles. My eyebrow had bust wide open, my skull was on show and I spent the rest of the night in A&E ahaha. Got out of hospital at like 4am and then went to Bristol for the next show of the tour! It was all pretty funny. Here’s a couple of photos from the night
No problem, well deserved! So what guitar set-up do you use to get this grungey sound ? My set up is very, very simple really! I am currently running a Gibson SG through an Orange Tiny Terror with 2x12 Orange cab. The only pedals I run through are a 1980’s Japanese Boss CE-3 and for the odd lead part I have a Boss SD-1 super overdrive! Just gotta turn the gain up on the amp for that dirty tone. Our other guitarist, Scotchy, runs a Peavey T-60 through a Vox AC30 and a shit load of pedals that I don’t know the name of ahahaha. Haha I see! So coming back to „Stitches” - I heard that there is some kind of story behind the title track, what’s that? Ahaha yes there is a story! Basically, we were on tour with our friends Wolf Alice
Hahaha maaan, I’m glad that you’re alive! Any other funny stories from tour? Okay well this one time, we played a show in Brighton with our friends band Birdskulls at this arts club. Basically, the crowd got too rowdy and ended up knocking the bad over knocking the bad over
and the owner shut down the gig during our set. Rather than let it ruin the night we ended up getting a load of booze and just partying in Brighton. At one point I’d climbs up to a first story window of my mates house and jumped off into all my mates. House dive style. http://instagram.com/p/ lVIwJDwYtW/ The night was such a laugh regardless of the fact that the show got shut down
Poledo... I could go on for ages. So many good bands doing good things and it is wonderful to be a part of it.
Hahaha oh man, now YOU have to come to Poland and we have to hang out a bit So - what are your future plans? Euro-tour?
Okay so my biggest dream would be to be able to make a living out of this and do it for the rest of my life. But a more realistic dream that I believe could be achievable (if we all continue to work hard) is to be able to tour Europe and America with this band. That would be incredible.
We’re doing a UK tour with a really really good band called Honeyblood during September. We want to record a couple more songs to put out before the new year. We would all love to tour Europe but at the moment it’s not something we’re planning. Hopefully in 2015! If there will be any plans - let me know! To end with, i wanted to ask you about british scene. There is so much going on, many great bands and everything seems to be developing, right? Yeah there are so many great bands at the moment! And even better than that we have been lucky enough to make friends with so many people and bands during our time in Bloody Knees. Bands like Nai Harvest, Birdskulls, The Magic Gang, Wolf Alice, Abattoir Blues, Crows, Best Friends, Playlounge,
Yeah, especially when young british bands are well appreciated not only in Europe. Basement touring almost all continents, Gnarwolves, Neck Deep and Nai Harvest signed by US labels...a lot going on... So- the last one. What’s your biggest dream man?
I wish you all of that dude! Thanks for interview and keep on doing great stuff! Thanks mate! Really appreciate it! No problem man, it was pleasure for me.
CLIE
ENT.
facebook.com/Clientishere client.bandcamp.com fot. Johannes Bรถttge
Hi
guys,
what’s
up?
André: Hey man, not much just got back from some adventuring. How do you feel about your debut LP? Full stream is up, any opinions heard? How would you compare it to your previous releases? Yeah we got some feedback so far and it has been really good so far. We’re glad that people seem to be into it. We put a lot of effort into this record and we are really happy with how it turned out. Do you play in other bands? Client. has a side project called Angst. It’s some metallic hardcore and features almost all of Client.’s members. I guess you may like it if you’re into bands like Integrity or Buried Alive. Being so connected with hardcore community, what made you start making a bit softer and more melodic music? What was it inspired by? I actually can’t remember how we got the idea to play the kind of music we’re doing now. It just happened and we kept doing it. We’re happy about it because it’s a lot of fun writing our songs. How would you describe you music actually? It’s always hard to describe our own music...I guess with our
new release we’re going for that alternative rock style. It’s definitely not as fast and raw as our first releases. This whole grunge/emo revival wave is really strong worldwide nowadays I guess, how is it in Germany? In Germany it’s starting to grow more and more. We have quite a few cool bands of that genre. Check out bands like Rivers and Tides, Sandlotkids and New Native from Austria. Can you tell us a bit about writing/ recording process, the album itself and artwork which is great :) The artwork was done by Florian Schommer from AYS. We have no words to describe how happy we are with the outcome. The artwork is perfect, period. The writing process is quite unexciting to be honest. The guitars come up with some riffs and then we put together the song piece by piece. At the end, I write some lyrics for it and then we kind of keep working on it every practice. Afterwards we just hit the studios. Can you also tell something about the guitar gear you used on album and use live? :) We used some pretty familiar gear to record the LP. We have
fot. André Wimmer AnWiPHOTOGRAPHY.de
fot. André Wimmer AnWiPHOTOGRAPHY.de
We have switched between different Marshall amps, some tubescreamers/distortion Pedals and used some chorus/delay effects on several parts. Live I (Alex) use the same settings as on the record. Marshall jcm 800 with a maxon tubescreamer and a mxr chorus pedal. Our other guitarist is shredding some ofange gear. Can you recommend some cool records you have been listening to recently? This is hard to tell... I just use this opportunity to advertise some cool bands we’re friends with and that also have upcoming releases: check our friends in Gone To Waste and Dull Eyes. They have some good music coming up. Recently I have been listening a lot to bands like My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive and Sebadoh. If you haven’t heard of them you should check them out. Ok, to end with - what are your plans for near future with Client.? We’re trying to play as have some touring plans.
many We’ll
shows as possible. We just see what we can. //Bastian
fot. André Wimmer AnWiPHOTOGRAPHY.de
fot. André Wimmer AnWiPHOTOGRAPHY.de
My name is
Oskar Heleniak fb.com/OskarHeleniakfoto My name is Oskar Heleniak...I’m 17. What does photography mean to me? First of all - passion, which directly and indirectly influenced my life, my memories, the people I have met and the way I see the world around me. In fact, the first digital camera ( Sony a450 ) I’ ve bought because of curiousity, I haven’t read any tutorials or tips...I was just browsing through pictures and trying to take some by myself. I love photography because of the ability to show other people my point of view and keep some moments still. It is said nowadays, that digital photography is killing the beauty of this profession. On one hand - that’s right, because now EVERYONE can become a photographer, but you can’t be co paranoid about it, all the digital stuff are making the whole work much easier.
The vast majority of my work is sport photography... why? Because this kind of photography makes me so passionate about the whole thing. I like this dependency, to create something really good both sides have to be involved (both the skater/rider and photographer). A good photo consists of many factors - the trick, the spot, the frame and technical issues like exposure time or the light...but most of all - trust, respect to work of both of us and good atmosphere between us. I love black and white photography...I guess it reflects my point of view in the best way. Picking me for internship on the biggest european skate camp - Woodcamp was a big honour for me. My job on this camp was to capture every event, game, fun stuff and then ti publish those pictures with their manager ( hi Tomek!) on the woodcamp blog. A lot of work, but this cooperation was really good and after few days we understood each other without any words. The photos were a huge and important aspect and we had to publish them up-to-date. Another great memory for me was coming home from Lines of Bielawa 2013. Me and Stok were driving his Fiat 125p back from the competition. It was dark, the rain was REALLY heavy and his wipers didn’t work...We drove like twice as long as we should have. Right now it seems pretty funny, but back then it was not... If it’s not for photography I wouldn’t have met Stok, I, probably, wouldn’t have been in Bielawa and wouldn’t have taken some sentimental picture... Summing up - photography is not a hobby for me. More like a life passion and love. If it’s not for photography I wouldn’t have met so many interesting people, my perception of the world, colours and human behaviour in a different way...more poorly. This passion taught me to see little, modest things. I can say, that I’m, at some point, tied down, because I have to have my camera with me EVERYWHERE and ALWAYS. Right now it feels natural to me...it’s obvious...and how others see it? I don’t really care.
CLASSIC : EVERGREEN Sometimes, even when you are not looking for new tunes, you come across some band by accident. Also sometimes first notes of a new song, that come from the speakers make you feel really related to this song...this nostalgic, warm feeling of familiarity and some kind of relation. Suddenly everything seems to find its place and we seem to find soundtrack to our lives. And it feels weird that it took so long. In this edition of, so called, “Classics”, I would like you to meet one of the most underrated and forgotten bands in emo/punk history. E
v
e
r
g
r
e
e
n
Evergreen started in early 90s, on the west coast of the United States, and, as you could predicted, the band is not existing anymore. Despite the fact, that it was only three-piece , their sound didn’t lack anything on any level. The trademark of evergreen was, for sure, really outstanding vocal ( Aaron Calvert ), but I would notice really dynamic style of the drummer and the bassist ( Andy Ward, Jason Boesel) with specific Rickenbacker sound on its top. The members managed to achieve really full,raw and even rough aesthetics of the sound without any yelling or screaming and without full pedalboards.Their skill in leveling the tension in their tracks (Freight Trains And Windsongs, Loose Ribbons / Eric And the Digger Blue) meets perfection.The band released several records, for example split with Still Life and the longest and the most desired ( because of really limited numer of copies ) 12’record “Seven Songs”. I don’t know how much Evergreen fits the frame of “classics” (maybe it’s more for not existing column “Aron recommends”?), but, right now, I find it really hard to find other band with such unique and unpredictable sound. Furthermore, I guess that it’s woth more to focus on reallu underrated and unknown bands than write about something, that everyone already know about ( right, Bastian?) // Aron Klichowicz
A POSŁUCHAĆ WARTO Gnarwolves – Gnarwolves British skateboarders’ career is growing by leaps and bounds – lots of shows in Europe and even USA, signed by US record label, articles in music magazines, and all that after just 3 EP’s! Time has finally come to record a full-length debut album. Bastian, our editor in chief, says Gnarwolves have found a 80’s/90’s recipe for perfect skate punk album somewhere in an antique shop ;). There must be something about it, as the guys had lost their emo prefix somewhere along the way, moving towards a more dirty, skate punk direction. But don’t worry, it’s not that easy to get oneself rid of such melancholic tendencies. It’s still palpable, especially in the vocals. As for the rest of the album, it would make NOFX proud – fast punk with a ton of melodies, which get into your head and get stuck there for good. Maybe it’s not the peak of originality, but hey, it’s not the Rolling Stone, it’s fucking punk rock ;P. Honesty, passion, love for the skateboarding and pizza are this band’s trademarks. If that’s the music that skate kids play in the UK, then I want more! // Marcin Lie After Lie - Unsaid A record that everyone was talking about around here recently... After releasing the singles, there were opinions that it will be the best recorded/produced polish hardcore record in years! And what’s my opinion? That LAL made it far better that I’ve expected. 9 great tracks (even 3 in polish, which are my favourites!!!). I don’t see any weak spots here. Some motives made me think of Touche Amore, others of more modern hc stuff, but you can’t say that the band lacks originality. Catchy songs, interestinh vocals and great lyrics. What’s more, Jay Maas of Defeater was working on this album! I can’t wait to see them live! // Bastian
Basement – Further Sky Many people have waited long for this moment, in which our beloved Basement will return and record something new. Unfortunately, we didn’t get a new full-length, but only a short, 3-track EP. Still, it’s better than nothing! After two year hiatus, Basement comes back with ‚Further Sky’. The first single, Summer’s Colour, knocks you out. Kept in a Basement-style, it adds hints of Brtit-pop and at the same time, gives you something entirely new. Unfortunately, that’s about it. Next two tracks aren’t jaw-dropping. Sure, you can’t say they are weak, but it’s not the level we’ve been expecting from Basement. I have a feeling that these songs work here just as mere fillers, although that’s just my personal opinion. The last tune on the EP, Animal Nitrate, is Suede’s cover. You can see that our gentlemen didn’t work very hard here. Nonetheless, they often warned that they are not going to force themselves to do anything. They are just a good bunch of friends, who meet to play when they feel like it. Well, maybe that’s good... Further Sky is definitely a ‚must-listen’ this year. Mine expectations (maybe too high?) were not met. Go check if yours are. // T. Masłowski
Client - Joy is the only treat The omnipresent „90’s emo fad” had its impact on the music business and European alternative scene is no exception – German Client with their debut LP serves as a good example here. There is a visible „progress” in comparison with previous albums, the band has developed its style, which was already sprouting on their last EP. These 11 tracks (heavily inspired by alternative rock and the 90’s, as the band puts it) are not only reminiscent of the American scene (Citizen, Balance & Composure, Turnover), but actually achieve the level of bands that represent it. Germans from Client sometimes draw from the Pixies and Nirvana, building a specific dynamism in their songs. There’s a lot of memorable riffs and melodies as well. Piercing lyrics, which allow everyone to identify with them are yet another asset. With this album, Client has guaranteed its position amongst the top artists of the emo/punk scene – and not only on the old continent. I wish them, that their album would become well-known worldwide! // Bastian Fiddlehead - Out Of The Bloom A new band based in Boston (that features Alex of Basement) have just released some debut material. I honestly did not know what to expect ( as Alex mentioned Fiddlehead in our interview last year ). Maybe some hardcore? Some grungy, alternative stuff? Actually, both answers are correct this time. If I was played this EP without any knowledge given, I would think of it as of some 90s, Fugazi related early post hardcore band. It just sounds old, and that’s a huge compliment here. They made me think of a hardcore band looking for more alternative sound, that’s why my first association was Fugazi. Cool raw, grungy riffs, melodic, outstanding vocals, cool backing vocals... and everything sounds as it was recorded in Washington, D.C 20 years ago. I just can’t wait for more!// Bastian Sandlotkids - I Will Wait Here EP Sandlotkids are young, Munich based group, that have just realesed debut EP. So far, on their bandcamp, we could listen to debut SP ,,Loner’’ wich is a pretty good mix of pop punk and melodic hardcore. Along first EP, come some changes. Band turned into alternative and emo influences known from te last two Brand New albums. The biggest advantage of this album is a desire for experiments. Lads created complex song’s structures along with some instruments surprises (trumpet in ‚’Down Memory Lane’’). Charges? A bit of boredom caused by a lack of catchy tunes. Nevertheless ‚’I Waill Wait Here” is easy-listening, good album. And that should be enough.// Paweł Kowalewicz Joyce Manor – Never Hangover Again I believe that the new child of Joyce Manor has not disappointed anybody. Third full-length album from the Americans is pop-punk in a somewhat dirty style, already characteristic for JM, mixing in some elements of emo, alternative and at moments, even surf rock (In the Army Now). Luckily, haters’ forecasts about album’s length were unfounded and instead of prognosed 10 minutes we’ve got two times more. FORTUNATELY. Each of the ten songs is full of enjoyable melodies and could be a potential hit. Barry’s voice delivers as usual and forms a great composition with these melodies. To sum it up – for me it’s the best Joyce Manor album and one of the best pop-punk albums lately, I recently miss that kind of music. // Bastian
Dead Dingo x There Is No Tomorrow Split I have to admit I knew about this split for a long time and I was really anxious to finally get it into my hands. Not only because both bands are great, but also because Dead Dingo are my close friends, which even fortified my anticipation! Dead Dingo’s side has two tracks: Black Clouds is slower, slightly sludgy, even sounding like black metal at times, while Decay (The Tomb) is faster, more in the vein of hardcore music. Second song is definitely my favourite: well-written, a bit crooked and very energetic. The only thing I don’t enjoy that much are the vocals (a little bland and too thick in my opinion, but that’s just me), but - in general - it’s all pretty nice. TINT’s side of the split is a broken, math-corish, two and a half minute tempest. Here, I can’t say a bad word even about the vocals ;). There is a lot going on here: changes in tempos, interesting riffs and the disturbing ending! I definitely recommend this split to all fans of the darker hardcore subgenres (but others should check it as well)!// Bastian 52 Hertz is a very “fresh” German power trio playing, in a broad generalization, emo. Somnolence EP is five songs of raw sound thickly stuffed with emotion. Specific guitars with a lot of tapping and melodies reminds me of American Football and the whole wave of later “twinkly” emo bands (Snowing, Algernon Cadwallander or, more recently, Sport). The section of singing into two, at times even three vocals, is a very interesting enrichment and serves these tunes well. Among songs on the EP we could find both melodic pop-punkish vocals and desperate screams, more reminescent of hardcore punk and alternative scenes. All of it mingled together gives an explosive mix, making me declare Somnolence as one of the best EP’s this year. Is it gonna be our European version of Snowing? Karate Free Stylers - Northern Youth The eponymous northern youth of the KFS guys must have been turbulent, because the very album is so. We have got a lot of emo/grungy moments here, sad lyrics about broken hearts, quite a bit of Foo Fighters, some punk rock – everything consistently in 90’s atmosphere. A very good debut LP, but... Yeah, there’s the ‚but’. I have expected something more from lads, who have played, recorded and written a lot of stuff already. I’ve hoped for more power. I have a feeling that these tracks, as good as they are, could have been even better, if the crew from Olsztyn had spent some more time to polish them up. Nonetheless, it does not change the fact that the album is worthy of recommendation – we lack this kind of sound in our country! // Bastian Keep – Hypnosis for Sleep A few moments before I started writing this review, I’ve found out that Keep shares one member with Turnover. So I’ve expected to hear pop-punk and I was in for a shock. But first things first. Hypnosis for Sleep is just 10 minutes of an EP, having three tracks. And what did the guys from Virginia prepare for us on their debut? A solid portion of good old shoegaze and dream pop, both quite popular lately in that scene, to point out Whirr or Pity Sex. Keep play it slow. After several seconds of the first song, Cry, I’ve thought that it’s Cloakroom meeting Slowdive. It’s sad. It’s spacious. It’s swell. // Paweł Kowalewicz
Beaver – Cold Hands Last year, Cracow-based Beaver created a lot of buzz with their demo album, which left everybody hungry for more. And now, recently, the guys debuted with an EP, which leaves no room for disappointment. I will dare to say, it made me like the band’s music even more. Despite an audible nod to a more punk sound than on the demo, Beaver has not lost its distinctive sound. We have 6 tracks here, which – in my opinion – all stand out so much they could all serve as singles. There are no downers, the tempos range from quite fast to fast-as-fuck, it’s melodic, the sad vocals offer characteristic wailing – what more do you want? The almost poppy Cascades (drummer’s chants!) is my favourite, though the whole EP is top notch, no doubt about it. May there be more bands of international quality like that in our country! // Bastian Fight Them All - No More Orders Poznan hardcore scene is on a really high level, since day one. Personally connected with bands such as THUG X LIFE, ONE KIND WORD, CANDID czy SNUFF OUT, Fight Them All guys raise the bar even higher! Compared to previos material, “No More Orders”, released on 7’’ vinyl is even faster and more aggresive. 8 tracks with raw hardcore ( without any metal or modern influences), all we receive is 100% dirt and honesty that’s not more that 8 minutes long. Simple message, simple music, fast drums, wild vocals...bass and guitar took straight from the 80s. Do you skate? Do you wear sneakers? That’s the music for you! Do you listen to Konwista or work at police station? Dudes would totally tell you ‘fuck off!’!!! // xkro Liars & Sinners – 7 Songs One of the most anticipated polish releases, and I honestly believe, that it’s not only my opinion. Chuck Ragan? Present. Dallas Green? Of course too. Comparison to both of them are totally right, and not in a “copy” way! More like “as awesome as them”. Every track, literally, every one by one, made me think “this one is better”, “oh no, this one”. Every fan of acoustic music will find here everything he/ she needs. Typical Dallas’ “sad stuff” like “Small Talks”, acoustic punk (“To All Of My Friends”) or nice track, that makes me think of a campfire with friends - Dogs With Paper Teeth. 7 Songs? I will give it 7/6!!! // Igor Prusakowski Blue Wind – Blue Wind Continuation of European ripostes to bands the sort of Title Fight. However, Blue Wind is a project interesting on its own, as it is European-wide. Members of the band live in Russia, Germany, England and Italy! How’s that possible? Well, you can check in the interview. On the EP we’ll find 4 songs, all very melodic, yet with a hc/punk core. Ivy League, TX was my first impression. Very cool riffs, the tracks are well-thought and the songs are catchy. Besides, in my opinion, lyrics are a huge advantage. I’ve caught myself humming them since day one. Nevertheless, I have a feeling that the characteristic vocals are helped a bit by the autotune. This would be the weakest spot of this production, although if you’d treat this material as more of a demo, this problem may fade into the background. I’m waiting for more! // Bastian
Torn Shore “Savage” Debut of Wroclaw band showed that hardcore can still be surprising and operated in a variety of ways, running away from clichés. From the first sounds you can hear that we are not dealing with the novices, because Torn Shore is consist of the members of such bands like Objects and Borderline Collie. Wall of noise with experimental hardcore is their way to pour out all rage. Raw, „wheezing” sound with a spirited vocals together form a claustrophobic atmosphere, with some kind of a dark hardcore vibe. Also you can hear in these songs love to Converge, declared by the part of the band. Medium tempos, that build the atmosphere, are attacked with fast, slightly chaotic and broken parties, which fits great. The band has interesting ideas for arrangements, is not afraid to combine, retain the hc/punk spirit, so you can’t find here any unlistenable sounds. The title track was treated in quite interesting way, so I encourage you to check it out! // Marcin Marksman – Awaken Debut album from Słupsk/Tricity-based Marksman is a very nice suprise not only due to its high quality, but also because I didn’t really expect it. But, let’s stick to the music. The album consists of 8 tracks in Marksman’s typical, sorrowful stylistycs reminiscent of modern-screamo bands like Pianos Become the Teeth, La Dispute, Touce Amore or the cold FJØRT. Even the very opening with drums driving a cool beat (reminding of The Most Beatiful Bitter Fruit by La Dispute) made me think ‚this is gonna be good’. And so it is – Jacob’s vocals and instrumental arrangements from the rest of the band create a splendid atmosphere and make the listening of it all greatly enjoyable. It’s not uniform, it’s not flat and it’s definitely not „dry”. There are changing tempos, there are „blasts” (like my favourite track, Aviator), but there are also calmer moments like the ending „Hart Island”. Polish feature on the album – a two-part song Granice – is an interesting addition as well. I’m not sure now, which language version of Marksman I prefer, but I’m certain about them having done a terrific job and I can’t wait to put the album on my shelf! I’m not sure yet, if it’s the best album of the year, but it certainly is the coldest album of the year! // Bastian Turnover - Blue Dream I, personally, am not a big fan of really long records... That’s why I found the number of EP’s released recently a really good news. Not long ago we had a premiere of new Turnover EP, released not by RFC, but by Broken Rim in cooperation with Dog Knights Productions. The fun fact connected with this records, is that it was planned to be an acoustic record, but the producer convinced the band to record it as a “full band” release. Maybe that’s why the new material is really calm, not so fast and full of melancholy. The new stuff is pretty different than older songs, that were strongly influenced by pop punk sound. “Blue Dream” is only 3 tracks. The adventure begins with a bit sleepy “Disintegration”, that delivers beautiful guitars. You have to wait a bit for more powerful part, but the catchy chorus is definitely worth it! The next one, “Read my mind” presents a bit shorter intro, but its chorus is as catchy as the previous one. The boys did not forget about good guitar spaces and some high notes at the ending. The last song - “Bella Donna”, is a really calm, a perfect ending for such record. Almost fully acoustic. Despite my mixed first feelings about the record, I started to enjoy it and I listen to it on a daily basis!// T. Masłowski
New Jersey Vampire is a one-man project from the UK. All you’ll hear after visiting this bandcamp is fully DIY: composed and recorded in four walls of a London flat and kept in lo-fi convention, so it might scare some “purists” off ;) The 10-track “My Shitty Album” has a lot going on in it – we’ve got some shoegaze and noise here, alternative rock (in lyrics we’ve got references to the indie legend – Pavement), emo and even smooth, acoustic music in a man-woman duo. Despite the fact the the author of the songs told me he actually “made it all for laughs and didn’t take it too serious”, I think these compositions are quite thoughtful. Nextly, we move on to two-track “Home time”. Titular song starts with a heavy riff to later cross into delicate, pleasant melody and chanting “welcome to my room”. A very melodic chorus with doubled vocals and a return to emo tunes. I’d sum it up as: “90’s emo meets grunge meets pop”. “Some piece of shit I found on my computer” is a more melancholic, slower song with interesting effects – a full-fledged lo-fi. Summarizing, I’m greatly impressed, because Isaac, for the small price of a mini-jack adapter, achieved something many bands can’t get with big money and professional studios – he managed to take me back to the 90’s for 15 minutes. Momma, I want more! // Bastian Moose Blood “I’ll Keep You In Mind, From Time To Time” Moose Blood is another strong point representing emo revival straight from the UK. The very beginning of the album is interesting – how many bands do you know, that start their record with charming ballad? After that it’s just better, the pace is getting a little bit faster, pleasant harmonies are pouring and emotions are coming to the surface. The band, which is inspired by the mid-90s alternative and atmospheric midwest emo, is not trying faithfully recreate a bygone era, but add a flavor of modernity. Package melody, which you can find here, do not allow you to be bored, each track has something that attracts and makes you come back to this album. The group scored a clear progress in the quality in of recordings and their complexity – the apparent simplicity hides a lot of additional sounds in the background that make you want to explore them. I only wish there would be more overlapping vocals, like at the end of “Swim Down”, I love this! In the song “Bukowski” during the chorus I had an impression that Moose Blood was replaced by Angels & Airwaves, but it’s not a complaint ;) The album is well suited on the cool autumn evenings, because of the heat that beats from it. Bonfire on the cover is not so accidental. // Marcin Iris - Haunt Me I found out about Iris when I noticed that Brad of Safe to Say plays there. They have already released 2 tracks off “Haunt Me” back then and I clearly fell in love. They are said to play shoegaze. But this label is not that obvious when you listen to their stuff. Of course, guitar walls and blurred vocals are present. BUT we have so many catchy pop melodies, great vocal harmonies ( Two vocals, male and female) and various motives here, that it would be a big shame to label this band and throw them into one shelf. “Haunt Me” consists of 6 tracks ( we have one cover here ). The whole record is like Whirr meets Man Overboard meets Mineral. So many emotions, melodies and remarkable guitars (Numb, Ragdoll) but we still have strong shoegaze roots here (Downfall). To sum up, we live in times where it’s really hard to create something new, especially in a genre that was so explored...but Iris managed to refresh and redefine my definition of shoegaze, and I would like to thank them for that. I wish you good luck guys, keep on doing great stuff! // Bastian
Bloody Knees – Stitches I think I’m free to say that this is the album of the year in this kind of music. Bloody Knees is a must-have for all fans of grungy, emotional sounds. Their new album, Stiches, was released this year by Dog Knight Productions, a label that’s been lately serving us a lot of curiosities. You can sound a lot of difference since the last Bloody Knees’ recordings. Especially, in the very sound of the album and the approach to the recorded material. I have a feeling this album is much more coherent and was given more thought. I think the lads have decided what way they want to go. After all, the trademark atmosphere and dirt of Bloody Knees are still in place. // T. Masłowski Hidden World is a crew from Puławy: although composed of old stagers, it appeared just recently and made big noise on the scene! Taking a closer look at their 3-track EP, Vows, all that comes to mind is: insufficiency, both compositionally and due to the number of songs. If it would only be planned a little better and divided between 5 or 6 songs, then it would be perfect. As for now – we get a slightly mediocre material, and above all confluent. Eponymous track and the ending one, Day Full of Useless Words, are genius. On the other hand, the opening tune sounds like a little mess inspired by Wolves Like Us. Still, it’s very interesting music on a high technical and productional level. It only needs a little polish. TWO MORE EP’s AND THEY’LL RELEASE THE LP OF THE YEAR. // Igor Prusakowski Rooftops – WUF I’ve waited quite a bit for this album... I’ve expected something in the vein of Things We Do Before We Die, so a little inspiration from the 90’s and from bands like Title Fight and Basement, while still keeping a hc/punk core... In the interview and in private, lads suggested they’d be going in the alternative-90’s direction, but the proportions of this mixture were still a mystery to me and the final effect completely surprised me... I have to admit that at first listen the album didn’t appease me, I was genuinely let down. But at the second listen? A couple hundred listens in my library speak for itself. For a while I was addicted to this album. About the contents – the band went through a huge stylistycal metamorphosis. I’d dare to say there’s more shoegaze inspirations in it now, than there’s hardcore. There’s a lot of brilliant melodies, motives for double vocals, which serve some songs really well and the Rooftops’ trademark honesty and emotion. Really, I encourage you to check this album out and if after a couple of listens you won’t be humming 1989, WUF or Take Me Back, I’d be surprised! And to hear these songs live, mmm... :) // Bastian Rough Hands - Nothing’s Changed London-based Rough Hands plays hardcore in its own, curious way. Darkness, dirt and heaviness. These three words best describe the character of their newest album. And anxiety, I’d add. These 5 tracks, (including instrumental Interlude) released in cooperation of three great labels: Day By Dac Rec., Holy Roar Rec. And Illegal Activity Rec. (proof of high quality itself!), are solid rations of piss, dirt and gloom each. My first references were our local Dead Dingo and Torn Shore. And that marvellous cover art! If you like dark hardcore, or hardcore/punk in general, you gotta check Rough Hands out! // Bastian
GUTS OUT – Guts Out This young straight edge crew from Moscow has won my heart since my first listen to this short EP. And not mine heart only, I believe. Although they don’t offer anything visionary and it’s just your typical sxe hardcore, which makes you run from one wall to another, these 4 tracks condensed everything there is best in this kind of music. Гнет is the most noteworthy song, having place for both nice chants before the breakdown, space for well-sounding bass guitar, fast-paced blasts and some more moshable moments. Последнее Взыскание on the other hand is just a classical „fuck the world” from all the pissed, sxe kids! Although I can glimpse only single words, still, big ups for singing in your mother tongue. In the Polish scene you could often here ‚why don’t you sing in Polish?’, so if it’s the same in Russia – they are saved. It’s hard to hide that there was not much invented in this kind of music since the melodic vocals implemented by 7Seconds or Gorilla Biscuits, or the „metallization” of this music in the second half of the 90’s. Nevertheless... Does simple, straight edge hardcore need anything new? EP from Guts Out is how it should be. And only one thing hurts... WHY 4 TRACKS ONLY? // Igor Prusakowski His & Hers – The Worst People I Know His & Hers is a UK band that plays a mix of emo, post- and pop-punk, math rock, and so on...It’s really wide form of alternative music. And, to be honest, this alternativity doesn’t feel forced at all. If they will keep heading this direction, but will polish their style and tame the chaos a bit, they might be a new Sub-Pop star in few years. It’s like Nirvana’s “Bleach” meets Snowing. Math riffs change into happy punk melodies to change back again. The best song to notice it is “Any Cretin Can Be A Father, I Wanna Be A Champion”, that right after emo punk tunes attacks with matchcore riffs and screaming vocals. The Worst People I Know is not right EP to listen to when you’re happy, sad, angry, or when you want to chill out...It’s combination of all these moods, so it’s giving a bit schizophrenic image...As I said - if they will remain as rebel and agressive but will manage to develop their writing skill, they will be really huge on the post-punk scene. For now - a really good record for twinkly emo and mathcore lovers. Man...they have so much potential!!! // Igor Prusakowski Nothing - Guilty of Everything USA, punk rock, a fight, a prison, Slowdive...With these few words you can describe Nothing. But a band that released one of the best records in past few years deserves a bit more. Since Jar by Superheaven ( ex Daylight ) I don’t think there were a band that I was so emotional about. They play shoegaze...or at least they are said to, what’s a bit weird when you’re looking at previos bands of Dominic Palermo or Brandon Setta ( Horror Show, More Than Life ). But, let’s focus on the record. “Guilty of Everything” consists of 9 tracks, that are really well written and combine the best british shoegaze with american post-hardcore. And this “american” element makes the band outstanding in comparison with other ‘noisy’ bands. Underneath all these sound walls and blurred vocals you can hear typical american alternative music. Especially in “Bent Nail” or “Get Well”, where the punk rhythm changes into total guitar smash, which the Ride guys wouldn’t be ashamed of. But it’s not only about the guitar walls. Melodies by Brandon Setta (like ‘Somersault’ or ‘Dig’) stuck in your head and are not willing to leave it. This is an amazing album, period. // P.Siwicki
Wherebirdsmeettodie / Dearest Split Here we have a quick shot – two bands, two songs each, almost 13 minutes of music. First comes Wherebirdsmeettodie straight out of Uniontown, Pennsylvania. They call their sound as “basement emo”, which I find apt description. You can feel this “basement” atmosphere even through the production – overclocked, floating indie melodies and slightly muted, poignant scream in the background. I would say that the band represents more poetic, milder type of screamo, thanks to these indie inspirations. The second band is German Dearest, which plays post-hardcore with two guitars, full of more depressing, less dreamy atmosphere. Guys build their songs in a conventional way by mixing the mid-tempo with sudden, faster parts of drums and increasing guitars’ noise. The lyrics of both bands explore the themes of sadness, loneliness, disappointment. Although splits are not some kind of duels, it’s impossible to avoid any comparisons of these two groups. As for me Wherebirdsmeettodie harder affects with the mood, furthermore they have absolutely awesome band name! // Marcin escapism – escapism Well, well... Playing screamo is not common in Poland...especially REAL and GOOD screamo. So the more pleasing it is that the crew from Cracow prepared a material that, as one of only a few screamo projects in our country, fits my personal definition of that genre. About my personally favourite moments on this 8-track album – I really enjoy the guitar on Past Cure Past Care, but my definite favourite is Ennui, which I momentarily connected with my screamo number one – Saetia. Generally, there’s everything genre standards would call for... Chaos, freedom, emotions, which tear you from the inside and honesty. Of course, it’s not all perfect, lads have to work and practice some more, but what they present already gives them a very bright forecasts for the future! // Bastian Reason To Care “Evyn” If someone thinks that niche, underground bands don’t make works of art, just because they’re uncontrollably screaming and abusing strings, it doesn’t probably greater ignorance in music. The latest Reason To Care’s album is the best example of an ambitious, broader project that inspires and encourages reflection. The group from Germany has prepared a concept album - forming one great whole - the story of a fourteen years old boy Evynie, who alone sets off on a journey full of nasty, heartbreaking experiences, as well as those giving hope and showing the true values in life. Lyrics showing situations are stored in the form of prose, with poetic verve. Using rich vocabulary, the visual descriptions were created, so that we can better empathize with the story. Musical background builds atmosphere and heightens feelings. The band plays a modern post-hardcore without much experimentation, so we have a moody, quiet parties and powerful moments, and the scream is mixed with the spoken word. Often you can find a comparison to Defeater, not without reason indeed. It is worth spending time in ten songs, read the lyrics carefully, to get caught up history. It’s hiding an interesting observations of a boy, who maybe is a little bit naive, but with all his heart on his hand. // Marcin
Hey, Joni - En Fuego British emo boys hit us with a new dose of twinkly tracks. 5 happy-sad tracks, partly sang, party shouted. For me, one of the biggest advantages of their music are vocals... and it doesn’t mean, that the music is not good, I just find both the voice of the vocalist and the vocal melodies brilliant. I thought that they will not be able to do something as good as their hit-song “Isabelle” of the previous EP, but I was wrong. The whole new material is more or less “emo hits”. Despite the “twinkly emo” label we have some various motives here, like a bit heavier and thicker guitars ( a bit grungey?) in “Ice Cream” and loads of pop melodies. It makes you wanna sing! // Bastian I Hope You Die - Dom Samobójczych Snów Finally, there’s a new band on our scene making dark, metallized screamo. There’s a lot of bands of this category in the West, however IHYD has worked out its own formula, which makes them more than just another copy (lyrics in Polish might be a factor here). The album went out about a year ago, but I came across it just now. I Hope You Die’s music is a bold screamo mixing up with metalcore heaviness, able to jump at you with a melo-metallic riff. When it comes to vocals, it’s not boring neither. Demoniacal screams are complemented by another voice, which works well at clear singing (while not doing any fashion-core stuff here). There is a couple of instrumental fragments on the album, unfortunately a little boring, yet the rest of the album is so enticing that this could be easily forgiven ;) Elements of depression, suffering and despair make up for entirety that overwhelming, that you wanna kill yourself... But in that case, it’s actually a good thing! // Marcin Postblue - I Hope They’re Praying For Me I must admitt, that I don’t know much about australian music. Nick Cave, The Birthday Party, Violent Soho – that’s. After just few songs from debut LP of Postblue, I realized that such ignorance is a huge mistake. Postblue is a Melbourne based, 90’s lovin’ power trio. „I Hope They’re Praying For Me” - 10 tight songs with cool melodies and memorable choruses. First, I was convinced that Postblue is a band that plays similar to e.g. The Kids’ Crusade but for me their much more „European’’ than Dutch guys. First associations drifted to space-rock group Swervedriver and to the rest of the British bands from that period. Everyting sprinkled with grungy guitars known and loved from Nirvana or Dinosaur Jr with a bit of an emo atmosphere and we have an end result – wicked LP. Few of my favs are ,,Way To Heaven”, „Pig”, ,,Teeth’’ and „Wallow”. I wish these guys success. At least the same as Violent Soho’s ,,Hungry Ghost” had achieved. // Paweł Kowalewicz
fot. jandaciuk.tumblr.com
Defeater // fot. jandaciuk.tumblr.com