Artist – Various/Youth Brigade
Album - Let Them Know: The Story of Youth Brigade and BYO Records (CD/DVD Documentary)
Label – BYO Records
Release date - Now
Sounds like – Crusty So Cal punks reminisce the good times of high fives, stage dives and their influence on the L.A. punk scene from the 1980s until the present day.

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I’m not particularly up on the dizzying heights of the L.A. punk scene back in the 80s; being from the UK, most of my time around then was spent learning to walk, falling down the stairs, trapping my cat’s tail in the door and painting my face blue. Now that I’m older and wiser, I’m still not 100% sure of it all, but luckily the good folks (that’s brothers Shawn and Mark Stern) at BYO (that’s Better Youth Organization) have decided to release a boxed set to pay tribute to their 25 years of service to the punk rock community. BYO was all about promoting the attitude and music of punk and other youth cultures in a positive light, encompassing their idea of “youth is an attitude, not an age” and this release, gives those that weren’t around back then a chance to experience it in 3 different formats; book, DVD and CD.

The DVD itself is a 90-minute affair, consisting of various interviews with the punk rock and hardcore elite (Ian Mackaye, Fat Mike, Kevin Seconds, The Bouncing Souls all adding their own positive thoughts about the label and the Stern brothers) and documenting the rise of Youth Brigade and BYO coming into existence.

‘Let Them Know’ is in most parts, a chronological build of Mark and Shawn Stern’s progression from their humble, surfer beginnings to mentors for punk rock’s continued existence and growth in Los Angeles. Surfing, which was another portal to push the thoughts and actions of teenage rebellion and angst, seems to play a big part in Shawn’s life, having been someone who embraced the non-conformist lifestyle and mentions the notion of slacking off, not going to work, avoiding the clichés of life. Surfing was the escape into making your own pattern. Shawn and his brother Mark then discover punk rock (they go see the Dickies and decide this is the new outlet for rebellion to be focused on) and the rest is…well history.

Below is a selection of highlights and things that can be learned from watching ‘Let Them Know’:

-Forming a new-wave pop-rock group called The Extremes in an 80’s punk rock scene is going to get you noticed (for all the wrong reasons) – thusly described as “all over the place.”

-Ian Mackaye has the strangest voice. He sounds like someone who should be giving advice on your next dice roll in a game of Dungeons & Dragons and not the owner of one of the greatest underground record labels of all time.

-Youth Brigade were originally destined to be a two-tone ska band, but the only band-geek horn players they could find refused to shave their heads. Plus, they read music – losers.

-More people should pursue Shawn Stern’s idea of a swing punk rock band.

-Shawn Stern sounds like a drunken, swaggering Elvis and Youth Brigade were strongly influenced by Sham 69 and many other British acts, particularly in the realms of Oi-punk.

-Staying in a place called ‘skinhead manor’ could well lead to loss of food, your mind and dignity. Described by Matt Skiba (Alkaline Trio) as “a punk rock crackhouse.”

-Back then, people would drive 100 miles for shows. Nowadays, if it’s not happening directly within your field of vision we’d barely turn our heads.

-“Better Youth Org – Organisation of Youth that’s going to better their own being.”

-“Promotion of positive things to do on our own” – an outlook that was very different from the current supposed corruption and negativity.

-Fat Mike states how romanticised people make the LA Punk scene – his vision is that it was scary, violent – cops seen as the worst perpetrators.

-Steve Soto from the Adolescents looks like a reanimated corpse (sorry Steve).

-If you’re a punk, the cops weren’t your friend.

-Naming your club after a giant Japanese, fire-breathing dinosaur is a very good idea.

-Getting TSOL, The Adolescents, Social Distortion and Youth Brigade together for the biggest punk show in LA at that time (Youth Movement ’82)will end in a smashed box office, destroyed bar, people fighting constantly, cops being assaulted and a girl breaking her leg falling off of a balcony.

-Word of mouth was the most powerful tool – caused an explosion in the punk scene.

-Bands would put on shows who had no label, no records, were never played on radio, yet the venues would be rammed.

-The first ‘Someone Got Their Head Kicked In’ compilation is regarded as definitive by a number of punks, including Kevin Seconds, Fat Mike and Ian Mackaye. I still haven’t heard it, but I’ll take their word for it.

-Old school buses – cheap and easy to cruise to shows in, prone to breaking down constantly. – United as a big crew under the BYO banner.

-BYO, Alternative Tentacles and Dischord all had the same philosophy – “fuck major labels, we’ll just do it on our own.”

-The tour documentary, ‘Another State of Mind’ – proved that punk wasn’t a dirty word, rag-tag touring at it’s finest.

-Brian Swilley is the godfather of slam-dancing.

-Never record at Mystic Studios -  “horrible, terrible place to record and it shows in the mix.”

-‘Sound & Fury’ by Youth Brigade – top 100 punk records of all time. I haven’t heard it.

-7 Seconds – positive hardcore punk – “best band of the BYO scene” – Fat Mike

-BYO were underground entrepreneurs – not looking for flavour of the week, everyone had a chance.

-Reviving swing music is a good idea until you and your bros get kicked out of the band.

I could go on forever listing the highlights, because it’s pretty much all gold, in what is an incredibly well-crafted, informative and honest sounding collection of thoughts, flashbacks and sound-bites from a time that I would have loved to have experienced (although the constant fights and having the shit kicked out of you, yeah I’ll pass). The special features include interviews regarding media attention punk rock attracted, a music video to The Brigade’s ‘It’s A Wonderful Life‘ (very U2 meets Spandau Ballet) and many, many other features cut from the documentary about the last show at Godzilla’s, the bad times, origins of the logo – fuck it, there’s loads of extras on here just waiting to be checked out.

The Stern brothers talk with such passion and love for what they have done and are continuing to do, emphasising this constant endorsement of “bettering yourself”, all woven together with this brotherly, DIY ethic that extends far and wide throughout the punk community at that time. If you have even a slight interest in three chords, stage dives, and a complete disregard for authority, then ‘Let Them Know: The Story of Youth Brigade and BYO‘ should be in your collection.

“BYO Records is the founding father of the independent punk rock label” – Steve Soto, Adolescents – trut’ so pure.

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The accompanying CD is also a delight, straining at the belt with 31 tracks provided by past and present artists from BYO’s roster. Instead of original contributions, each artist has chosen to cover another artist’s track.

Highlights include:

Leatherface roaring their way through ‘Doublewhiskeycokenoice’ with distorted punk rock gusto and a vocalist who seems to be singing like an enraged bear and drinking neat whiskey at the same time.

Off With Their Heads deciding 80’s hardcore punk is a logical crossover in their pummelling oi-fury of ‘Headlights…Ditch.’

NOFX’s version of ‘No More Lies’ harks back to their roots when they chucked out 1 minute blasts of scrappy, thrash-punk but yet still pasted the floor with any other punk band that came within 10 feet.

I’m still kicking myself for not getting into Youth Brigade sooner, as their swaggering swing-punk exuberance is infectiously brilliant, especially on their cover of ‘Misfortune’ which sounds like Richard Cheese fronting Tiger Army.

The concentrated, screaming rage of Young Governor on ‘Domination’, with percussion that is akin to someone playing the drums on an anvil.

Both Pulley and The Briefs do a sterling job with their Adolescents covers; the former taking the anthemic sing-along approach of scrappy pop-punk, whist the latter favour dense instrumental work and a snotty attitude.

The brilliantly named Filthy Thieving Bastards and their jaunty, summers-day sounding folk punk. American Steel also favours a mellower path, combining a gentle acoustic introduction, before launching into melodic punk rock, which despite making ‘Dead and Broken’ sound far too much like the original, it’s a faithful and passionate cover.

The Bouncing Souls’ song ‘The Ballad of Johnny X’ is given a punk-ballad makeover by the aptly named Johnny Madcap and the Distractions, taking all the patchy urgency and replacing it with melody and spirited sing-along charm.

But like the DVD, there’s so much packed into this, my best recommendation is to get this right away and get educated and more importantly, get entertained.

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Sounds

Click on the player below to listen to Youth Brigade’s cover of ‘Misfortune‘.

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Links

BYO Records
Youth Brigade

To buy the ‘Let Them Know‘ boxed set, click here.

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By Ross Macdonald

Has anyone been watching that load of old bobbins called Flashforward on Channel 5? Sweet zombie Jesus, absolutely nothing happened in the last episode, except for the Harold/MILF guy from American Pie 1 and 2 moaning about his death, which is supposed to happen in 6 months time. Quit your bitching, it’s almost as boring as main character (the guy from Shakespeare in Love) and his Christian Bale-deep-voice-intense-stare ‘acting’. Utter crap, but I can’t stop watching. Oh yeah, reviews:

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Converge – Dark Horse

Classic Converge – you’ve got the drums in hardcore punk overdrive, sounding like industrial pistons going 200 times their natural speed, barbaric and extremely dirty guitar strangulation and the irrepressible howl of vocalist Bannon, who sounds like he’s having a shouting match with a vacuum cleaner. This is why they’re the kings of hardcore; with just that right amount of fury and metal to make something that’s truly monstrous.

Baroness – A Horse Called Golgotha

IF I ever decided to take up ‘the drugz’ Baroness would probably be the first band I’d listen to whilst getting baked. Whilst not inherently ultimate-stoner like say Fu Manchu, Nebula, etc. they have that huge crushing grooves alongside their metallic, southern rock flavour, as well as a impressive distorted guitar solo, acoustic guitar plucking and of course that voice which is reminiscent of a god crowing for his minions to march to war.

Pelican – Strung Up From The Sky

Pelican offer up some more instrumental rock and manage to, with its downcast, plodding nature; create the vision of the despondent hopelessness of a wounded soldier, dragging an injured comrade up a hill during some horrific storm. The wailing shriek of the guitars, not to mention the low-end hum of the bass and dead-sounding drumbeats all offer very little respite, but a stunningly morbid piece of music.

Juliette Lewis – Noche Sin Fin

So The Licks have been ditched then for this, which I prefer actually. The bratty, intimidating punk rock sound has been ditched for a more haunting, disjointed, jagged sound with howling guitar effects, an abundance of percussion and a voice that has definitely improved with age – good work; this is the kind of track that swirls with unpredictability and a dangerous edge of confusion.

Flood Of Red – Little Lovers

The last minute is the best bit. The gratuitous usage of layered guitar/keyboard noise and pummelling drums give this track a well needed bit of body, but the vocals need to stop sounding like they’re whining through a recorder by some pre-pubescent; give it some balls man. Pleasant enough in places, but like a disintegrating kipper in others.

Deaf Havana – Another Day In This House

“THIS IS MYYYYY LAAAASSTTT CHANCE TO IMPRESSSSSSSSS” wails Deaf Havana’s Jim Varney-vocalist. It certainly is mate, I’m now 2 minutes through this track and the last 150 seconds better cure cancer or make a copy of Duke Nukem Forever appear in my hands, or I’m writing this off as ‘incredibly fresh-faced but mind-numbingly dull pop-meets-hardcore emo-bullshit that I thought was stopping because everyone was so fucking sick to the back teeth of it.’ Good screaming though.

Horse The Band – Shapeshift

I thought the Nintendo-core had been washed out of Horse the Band after the first minute or so. At one point it sounded like someone farting into a mic at a hardcore show, which then changed to some social retard playing Super Mario 16: Fuck You Peach, I’m Going To The Pub before slowing the first part down and draping this blurred haze of synthesised noise over two people crooning at each other. Strangest song I’ve heard in a long while and the best on this CD to be honest.

Fuck Buttons – Surf Solar (edit)

Try listening to this track whilst choreographing all your movements in slow motion. Whilst it may sound like someone re-tuning a loud radio during a storm, whilst a scratched trance record skips along in the background under the glitching sound of tribal drumming, Fuck Buttons manage to create the kind of resonance that melds together the opposite worlds of noise and house music in one glorious mess.

Tubelord – He Awoke On A Bench In Abergavenny

When in hell did Tubelord start sounding like RayayayayayayayaStantz? They seem to have gone ultra-pop now and twee-to-the-max (i.e. was that a xylophone?) Pleasant – that’s all this is, only really seems to get aggressive in the last half with a nice breakdown and tappy guitar parts.

Cars On Fire – Sharks

These dudes sound a bit like Daniel P Carter’s band, Hexes but with more screaming and less Danny Farkin’ Dyer and channelling a dump-truck load of anger into some nice thick punk rock punches, with a touch of the melody last heard back when Hundred Reasons were good. Solid sounding stuff, great dual vocal interplay between the shouty guy and the melodic guy (although they could be the same person, if so…nice!)

Johnny Foreigner – Ghost The Festivals

I’ve noticed that Johnny Foreigner always have that same ‘errrrrr, errrrrrrrrr’ guitar noise (god, my onomatopoeia is appalling) kind of a grinding, jerky sound. Erm…so…yeah, I mean they sound like an ultra-fast pop-punk band now, that’s channelling that kind of scrawling, low-fi tune that’s a bit Pavement-like, with those high-pitched vocal scream/male-back-and-forth singing that I’ve always had a soft spot for. Pimp.

Latitudes – Antechamber

Move over Pelican, if I wanted the end of the world this is what would be playing as I directed the comet into the sea and flooded all of Earth. This is chilling, desolate and incredibly dense. The muted, Thom Yorke-vocals sound like the last lament of a dying priest, gazing towards the heavens as fire and brimstone rains down upon him. Doomed-post rock never sounded so barren, yet so rich with rasping intensity.

Bury Tomorrow – Evolution Of Self

Promising start, all gang vocals, cries of “AND IN OUR HEARTS, WE STAND TOGETHER!” – That’s brotherhood and unity, staple diet of good hardcore, though this paddles in the waters of metalcore and the melodic vocal lead on the chorus saps the impact somewhat. For something that started off quite battered and world weary, this seems a bit squeaky clean.

Five Finger Death Punch – Burn It Down

Band tries to drag nu-metal back into 2009 and being a massive hypocrite my feelings are they shouldn’t have bothered; because this is so cliché ridden I don’t know where to start. An absolute rotting pig cock of a song.

Skeletonwitch – Repulsive Salvation

This is confusing – the Dani Filth vocals, punk rock drumming, slight-black metal guitar and leaden rhythmic pound seem kind of out of place, but tie together quite well. The song? Something about eating flesh, so it’s probably about cannibalism or some other horror-related guff; scrappy, odd change of pace with the breakdown which makes them sound like a Bridge 9 hardcore act being fronted by the cookie monster – the bastards stole my idea!

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Links

Scroll up mother-truckers. COMING SOON:

BYO Records Let Them Know Review
El Bronx Review
Mad Mac 7:  So Very, Very Tired
Brand New ‘Daisy’ Reivew
Titanic Vs Mech-Godzilla

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By Ross Macdonald

Band – BATS
Album – Red In Tooth And Claw
Label – Richter Collective
Release date – August 2009
Sounds like – A majestic stag head. Hanging upside-down in a dark cave, bloodthirsty screeching. Flesh being stripped from bone, the slash of claws and the gnashing of teeth.

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Holy testicles batman! We could have a surprise on our hands here. Like fresh, warm blood soaking into sawdust, the Kurt Ballou influence is saturated deep within this 11 track debut from Ireland’s BATS. The rough-form template of stuttering, stop-start punk that was present on their ‘Cruel Sea Scientist’ EP has been picked apart, stripped down and reconstructed; Steve Austin (Lee Majors) style – i.e. it’s now heavier and comprised partly of metal.

The themes of evolution and sea creatures which featured so prominently on their debut EP are again present alongside more complex subject matters such as the mathematics of Andrew Wiles, surgical procedures and gamma rays. Whilst they may not be the most typical topics to put to music, like Down I Go before them, BATS manage to create a song out of the strangest issues and more importantly, they’ve fashioned a body of work that had morphed into something truly exemplary.

‘Higgs Boson Particle’ and ‘Gamma Ray Burst: Second Date’ open the album like a familiar double-act who are astute with their timing, poise and dexterity, knowing just when to deliver the punch-line (or in this case, riff and drum hit). ‘Higgs…’ plays the straight man, favouring a subtle build of punchy 1 note strumming that gradually moves stubborn percussion beats and the foreboding mantra-chant laced with trepidation. This continues to rise in sound as the guitars slice cleanly through, followed by the vocal chant which becomes more anxious, irate and maladjusted, until vocalist Rupert Morris is screeching his words under the now heavy wave of pummelling riffs. It then snaps as ‘Gamma Ray…’ muscles its way onto the scene, guitars stabbing great misshapen holes of schizophrenic-punk into the mix. The shift is immediate, similar to that of a lumbering Transformer morphing into some breakneck sports automobile. Vocalist Morris takes on multiple personalities, changing between disgruntled slovenly punk shouting, to steel-voiced quick fire intone, to shrieks of enraged joy and then to harmonised ball-clenching wails. That’s just the first 2 songs; this train of jagged, multi-song-personality head fuck continues throughout the remaining 9 tracks with zealous determination and dexterity.

‘Credulous! Credulous!’ starts with one of the best breathless exclamations ever and continues to build on this almost tribally, dance-beat, within the choppy guitar squeals and discordance. The depth of the BATS sound is stunningly apparent here, as the low pluck of the rhythmic bass, dense drum hits run steadily beneath the sometimes erratic, sometimes filth-covered, sometimes squeaky clean guitar lines.

The grind of the guitars on ‘Andrew Wiles’ hack a sodden path ruthless inelegance, before lurching into the jagged twists of dance-punk frivolity. Morris’s shriek of ‘I DESCRIBE MY LIFE IN MATHEMATICS!’ followed by a detailed account of the great mathematician’s 7 year discovery of the proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem staggers forth with caustic vigour.

Kurt Ballou’s influence really starts to shine through come track 5; ‘Lord Blakeney’s Arm’ as the convulsing jerking shred of Converge picks its way through the layers of Scrooge-tight guitar stabs and rolling thrash-drum beat. The vocals spit acrid venom similar to that of Fear Before The March of the Flames, and of course give nods towards the irrepressible animal howl of Jacob Bannon. The breathless panting, unstable, yet aggressively choppy guitar screech tear and gut with see-sawing determination and complex-hardcore dynamism.

The tale of 2 oceanic beasts locked in conflict is detailed in atmospheric drone of the stomping ‘The Cruel Sea’. Guitars stab with the speed and frantic bloodlust of Roberto from Futurama, whilst vocalist Morris pleads to the prehistoric monster known as the Plesiosaur to save him and the rest of the band/crew from the dreaded maw of a creature known as a Tylosaur. In many respects, it’s the long-lost cousin of Down I Go’s ‘Gigantic! Titanic!’ which also told a tale of a horrific disaster out to sea.

It’s all about layers and the thorough usage of them. ‘Shadow-Fucking’ piles guitar on top of guitar like a furious builder constructing a mansion out of fenders. The background hum of reverb interplays within the erratic shuddering build that then twists into a hook-filled dance punk stomp and what is easily the best song the 5 piece have ever written. ‘Star Wormwood’ fits a similar template, albeit one that’s spent most of it’s time cleaning up its act, leaving the heavier elements on the shelf and instead selecting a more pop-based structure.

The flailing nature of the instruments on ‘Bats Spelled Backwards Is Stab’ gives the impression of a mad scramble to the finish line, with each band member desperately hammering the shit out of their respective piece of musical equipment, eager to for the triumphant victory. I defy anyone who doesn’t join in with the tracks title chant, which is reminiscent of a group of drunken footballers heckling from a terrace, complete with off-kilter handclaps.

The start of ‘Vermithrax Pejorative’ has more in common with battle metal, especially the heavy, percussive opening and Morris’s caterwauling screech of “GIVE ME YOUR DAUGHTERS! THE ONES WHO’VE NOT KNOWN THE FLESH OF A MAN!” Assuming the role of the great Vermithrax, BATS paint the giant winged wyrm as the underdog, a defeated beast that has suffered at the hands of man (“people have killed all my children…this man pierced my throat…I am the last of my kind…”) Musically, it’s their heaviest song to date; a rumbling battering ram of tight, concise metallic rock with vocalist Morris screaming his throat red raw in unyielding ferocity.

Closing track ‘The Barley’ staggers its way forward like a feedback-soaked Don Caballero b-side, mixing reverb and strange pitch noises around its dogged plod. The only vocals are spat with disgust, calling for the death of the witches by conflagration due to crop failure over a quick-fire blast of anxious metal-edged punk. It climaxes with a blurred fuzz of low-end distortion and guttural noise, ending what has been a spectacular debut.

Natural selection is all about the survival of the fittest and ‘Red In Tooth And Claw’ is most definitely a healthy beast, residing top of the musical food chain, wings spread, ready for battle. Just remember, BATS spelled backwards is STAB and possible album of the year spelled backwards is ‘raey eht fo mubla’.

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Links

BATS Official Site
BATS Myspace
Richter Collective

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By Ross Macdonald

Band – Billy Vincent
Album – Stay On Course, No Remorse
Label – None, self released!
Release date – Physical release (100 copies) available 12 Oct 2009, digital download available now from website)

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I’ve got to admit, I’m oblivious to the genre known as ‘dirty folk’ – for those with a wrong mind it probably throws up images of men in long coats visiting theatres that only play movies with 3 X’s in the title. I’m assuming in musical terms, ‘dirty folk’ refers perhaps to a more gritty and ramshackle approach to folk music, possibly the inclusion of impromptu feedback, the light fuzz of distortion and the sound of a mud clod smacking against a snare drum (perhaps not this). South London’s Billy Vincent have achieved this to some extent and even thrown in several more sounds and images to conjure up such as pirates, sunny beaches, being stoned and milk-carton guitars.

One of the most interesting tracks from ‘Stay On Course...’  is ‘The Old Lamar Oak’ which draws some inspiration from psychedelic folk-nutters MV & EE – the slight echoing-pound of the lurching drums, dual-vocal wail and subtle guitar strokes and delicate background percussion give the impression of a group of inebriated druids jamming around a campfire.

The beginning of ‘On The Five String’ fools me into thinking Billy Vincent have covered Tenacious D’s ‘Wonderboy’ – the similarities between the opening guitar plucks is uncanny.  Veering away from the hippy-world of wailing drones and scrawling noises, ‘On The Five String’ features an underlying calypso style beat, effortlessly jaunting along. Even the ukulele sound, which thankfully doesn’t dip into the George Formby territory, is a confident slice of hook-laden acoustic bounce.

It’s the delicate nature of several of these songs that really form the backbone of ‘Stay On Course, No Remorse’, particularly ‘In My Pocket’, with the kind of breathless, shivering vocals that sound almost Icelandic in their delivery, whilst the flowing atmospheric swarm of sounds and rambling Creedence-guitar hold everything together.

‘Destiny Arrested’ gives a nod towards the mournful-spook of Dan Sartain, and his western-style acoustic rock. For the most part it sounds brilliant, like some sorrow-soaked ballad that you’d see a poncho-wearing bard play at the gallows; however, the vocals slightly let it down, sounding a bit Jamie T-ish, but there’s enough of Sartain’s brand of cutting swagger to single this out as one of the best tracks on the album.

The lyrics on ‘Truly’ seem to reference disaster and calamity (“from the pacifist with his head in the noose….the cannonball smashed and split the deck again, sent us sliding from the wreck again…”) but chooses the positive path, with the words “to the debris we will cling till dawn….kiss the sand and sing it all again…” – it has that distinctly rustic appeal of youthful exuberance, with the kind of anthemic sing-a-long that is so effortlessly easy to slide into, similar to Brand New’s ‘Soco Amaretto Lime’. It sounds like something that would be played at over a montage of shots from an American-teen drama series.
The thing about ‘Truly’ is, that it works in dragging the listener in, catching them with its hooky guitar upstrokes, old-man harmonica and an erratic sense of optimistic chaos. It’s radically different from the other tracks, opting for “cram as many instruments in as possible” tact, rather than the stripped down-bareness of the grief-stricken, alcohol-fuelled ‘Wrong Side of the Glass’, which sounds like something a fragile old drunk would belt out the next time a karaoke night hits his local.

‘Stay On Course, No Remorse’ by Billy Vincent is a distinctly warm listening experience, like knocking back several drops of a single malt and sitting with your eyes closed, savouring the flavour as it flows down your throat; that slight burn as it catches your pallet, but ultimately it’s the soft glow of comfort and serenity you cherish.

(Stream or download the album here!)

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Links

Billy Vincent Official Site
Billy Vincent Myspace

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By Ross Macdonald