PUNKTASTIC 13.06
INTRODUCTION Welcome to the sixth installment of our 2013 compilation series. This month is the most varied set of bands we’ve had, and follows up from last month, which was our most popular yet. Oh, you missed last month? Get yourself to pnkts.tc/16SIlzC immediately! We’re right in the middle of festival season now, and although you might want to be getting your wellies on and checking out your favourites in a field, there’s plenty of new bands to discover at home. From the soaring post-rock of The Sun Explodes to the raging hardcore of Black Dogs, we’ve put together some of the hottest new tracks in the world right now. We hope that you enjoy getting you teeth sunk into it as much as we put it together. Cheers, – Tom and the Punktastic Team PS. If you head over to http://pnkts.tc/comp1306 you can download the whole thing! PPS. And make sure you sign up to our mailing list so we can tell you when all the future comps are out.
TRACKLISTING 01
All We Have
Balance And Meaning
02 Caves Rubino 03
Giants
It’s Not All Bad News
04
City Light Thief
Battue
05
Pariso
Tower Of Genius
06
Bandit The Panther
Landing The Sleep Attack
07
Royal Fisticuffs
Pomegranates
08
Black Dogs
Savages
09
Sleepers Awake
The Fulcrum
10 Moose Doing Fine
11
Landis
Past Lives Lived
12
Nite Shame
Tigerdog
13
The Sun Explodes
Serpentine
01. ALL WE HAVE Balance and Meaning
When Ed Gibbs announced his departure from long time band Devil Sold His Soul, few people thought he’d reappear in a new band so soon after. Short of a vocalist, All We Have had other plans, and recruited Ed for the record of their new EP. The result is a combination of driving hardcore and Mr Gibbs’ signature vocal work, and the title track from the EP sets them up to be an excellent prospect over the next few years
Bristol/Blaenavon Post Hardcore Release ‘Balance And Meaning’ (EP) For Fans Of Comeback Kid, Devil Sold His Soul, Bring Me The Horizon facebook.com/pages/All-WeHave/49050402233
02. CAVES Rubino
Hailing from Bristol, Caves have been making waves of late as far afield as the US.
Bristol
Their new album ‘Betterment’ shows them off to be one of the most exciting punk rock bands in the UK right now.
Release ‘Betterment’ (Album)
‘Rubino’ rides the the line between melodic and the best kind of scrappy Punk Rock, and it’s a great listen for anyone into their gruffy punk rock.
Punk Rock
For Fans Of RVIVR, Gnarwolves, Dillinger Four facebook.com/wearecaves
03. GIANTS
It’s Not All Bad News GIANTS have been doing the rounds for many years now, and though they’ve never managed to hit the heights of some of their contemporaries, with tracks like ‘It’s Not All Bad News’ we think a breakthrough can’t be far away.
Essex
The song features on the band’s new compilation benefit ‘Skatepunk For Southbank’, and if you’re into punk rock with some pace and balls, you need look no further.
For Fans Of Stillbust
Skate Punk / Hardcore Release ‘Skatepunk For Southbank’ (Compilation)
facebook.com/giantsuk
04. CITY LIGHT THIEF Battue
Germany’s City Light Thief remain largely unknown here in the UK, but there’s little doubt that they are genuinely one of mainland Europe’s brightest stars in the post hardcore scene.
Grevenbroich / Much / Köln
The band have a knack for threading a melody between fantastic math rock moments, and also manage to slide some tricks from Indie Rock too, to give them a feel quite different from many of their contemporaries.
For Fans Of Thursday, The Fall Of Troy
Post Hardcore Release ‘Vacilando’
facebook.com/citylightthief
05. PARISO Tower of Genius
When Pariso released their new album a few weeks ago, it came as a complete surprise. A free download and a vinyl/tape pre order with no warning at all, it shows a forward thinking approach from a band that contains Holy Roar Records man Alex Fitzpatrick.
London
The music is also suitably ahead of the curve, with a swirling Katie Malco guest vocal laying over a brutal and experimental chorus. A real, surprise treat.
facebook.com/parisoband
Hardcore Release ‘Consanguinity’ (Album) For Fans Of Brutality Will Prevail, TRC
06. BANDIT THE PANTHER Landing the Sleep Attack
By self proclaiming a genre of ‘Acoustic Ska/Punk, Bandit The Panther have probably given themselves a bit of a mountain to climb. That’s not to say that they aren’t great, and this new track - lifted from their recent album - is full of big singalong moments a la recent folk punk impresarios, and some classic UK ska-punk trumpet work that’ll make you long for 2003.
London Acoustic Punk Release ‘I Have This Town’ (album) For Fans Of Rob Lynch, Lightyear, Beans On Toast facebook.com/banditthepanther
07. ROYAL FISTICUFFS Pomegranates
Royal Fisticuffs are amongst the current crop of old school pop punk bands coming out of London. We’ve been following the band for a long time now and with Summer threatening to fight its way through the relentless shit weather we’ve had recently, ‘Pomegranates’ is the perfect sunny soundtrack to all the brilliant times you’re gonna have.
London Pop Punk Release ‘Outdoor Pursuits’ (EP) For Fans Of Anberlin, Saves The Day facebook.com/RoyalFisticuffs
08. BLACK DOGS Savages
Self proclaimed ‘Northern Bastards’ Black Dogs tour with Heights later this year, and are also on the cusp of the release of a new album. This recent track from the band sees them showing off their riff muscles with a track that barely lets up in its short length.
THE NORTH Hardcore Release ’Savages’ (Single) For Fans Of Cancer Bats, Feed The Rhino facebook.com/weareblackdogs
Black Dogs have started turning heads all over the place, and you’d be silly to miss out.
09. SLEEPERS AWAKE The Fulcrum
With easily the longest track on any of our compilations yet, Sleepers Awake aren’t particularly well known here in the UK, but this epic six minute closer to their album ‘Transcension’ shows why they’re making waves at home in Ohio. Filled with some of the best musicians we’ve had the pleasure of putting out through our compilations this year, ‘The Fulcrum’ is a towering listen for any fan of melody and shred.
Colombus, Ohio Metal / Post Harcore Release ‘Transcension’ (Album) For Fans Of The Mars Volta facebook.com/SleeperRock
10. MOOSE
Doing Fine
Mat Kerekes of Citizen produced the last EP from Michigan’s Moose, and the band’s sounds mixes the rawness of recent US indie punk rock with hooks you wouldn’t be ashamed to sing along to from Sum 41’s ‘All Killer No Filler’. The band come rough around the edges, but know their way around a decent melody, so they’re certainly ones to look out for in the future.
Michigan Punk Rock / Pop Punk Release ’Moose’ (Demo) For Fans Of Such Gold, Citizen moosemi.bandcamp.com
11. LANDIS Past Lives Lived
Prepare to hear a lot more from Landis. This hardcore lot have given us a track that is pretty damn huge. ‘Past Lives Lived’ is hardcore at some of its finest. The throaty growls throughout are reminiscent of those used so well by Pat Flynn in Have Heart, while retaining a distinctive DIY edge. Watch out for the absolutely huge finish.
San Diego, California Harcore For Fans Of Defeater, Have Heart facebook.com/landismusic
12. NITE SHAME Tigerdog
We feel that mainland Europe has something of an untapped resource of new fucking awesome music. Nite Shame are a classic punk rock band, the type that would have influenced Punktastic right back in the beginning. The vocals in ‘Tigerdog’ are typically snotty and the overall sound brilliantly lo-fi. This is a track for the punk rock purists.
Italy Punk Rock For Fans Of H20, Sick Of It All facebook.com/Nightshame
13. THE SUN EXPLODES Serpentine
We end 13.06 with a bang of epic proportions.
Carlisle Post Hardcore
The Sun Explodes offer a fairly unique and fresh take on an aggressive/clean vocal. ‘Serpentine’ is a track that is quite honestly bloody big, the hook in the chorus begs to be sung along to and the solo towards the end might be the very definition of gut buster.
Release ‘We Build Moutains’ For Fans Of Thirty Seconds To Mars facebook.com/thesunexplodes
Thank you for taking the time to read this magazine and listen to our sixth compilation of 2013. If your band would like to be on one of our monthly compilations, then please email a song and a bit about yourselves over to tom.aylott@punktastic.com.