The Blood Brothers began in 1997, featuring vocalists Johnny Whitney and Jordan Blilie, drummer Mark Gajadhar, bassist Morgan Henderson and guitarist Devon Welch (who was soon replaced by Cody Votolato). They didn’t record their first album until 2000, having released a stream of 7” records (which were later compiled as the ‘Rumours Laid Waste’ Ep, which also features Welch on the cover). Their debut, ‘This Adultery Is Ripe’ was a raw, scrappy cluster of noise and epileptic shouting. Dual vocalists Whitney and Blilie were like two yappy little dogs, biting and snapping at each other in a blind fury. Two years later, the band returned to the studio to record concept album, ‘March On Electric Children’ a 9 song short story about the bleak lives of the characters Mr Electric Ocean and The Skin Army. This was the band’s first foray into utilising other instruments, aside from the standard guitar, bass and drum set up. Henderson’s use of korg synthesisers as well as a range of samples came into play, however, the terrifying highlight is the bizarre closing track that features only Whitney and Blilie sat at a piano. The pair alternates between mashing the keys, and screaming like unruly children to a rather Bugsy Malone-style, honky-tonk lead of flamboyant optimism. It’s a jarring, and disconcerting end to an album that took the template set by ‘This Adultery is Ripe’ and ripped into the notions of egotistical superficiality.

The band was soon snapped up by V2 Records and released ‘Burn, Piano Island, Burn’ in March 2003. With a bigger budget and nu-metal maestro Ross Robinson on board, it soon became their breakthrough record. Between ‘Burn…’ and ‘March….’ The Blood Brothers evolved significantly. For one thing, ‘Burn, Piano Island, Burn’ was twice as long as their previous release, clocking in at just under 48 minutes. Their style had changed considerably – the hardcore element still remained, but become tighter, reigning in more chance at experimentation and the extension of sounds. Songs like ‘God Bless You, Blood Thirsty Zeppelins!’ were cut into various scenes, shifting from alt-rock to fiery hardcore punk through razor-sharp time changes. ‘Every Breath Is A Bomb’ was the sound of a circus playing Black Flag songs via a Gay Pride Parade. ‘The Salesman, Denver Max’ spliced acoustic and stoner elements perfectly, whilst the slow burn of ‘The Shame’ and the chaotic noise-core thrash-fest of ‘Cecilia and the Silhouette Saloon’ emphasised just how far the band had come in creating something totally mind bending. It was a triumph and is often regarded as their best work to date.

‘Crimes’ followed a year later and saw yet more change. Votolato’s shrieking guitar was toned down in places, whilst more macabre sounds were injected into the fold courtesy of Henderson and Whitney as well as more percussive elements alongside Gajadhar’s drumming. The album had a subtle political message, targeting both military policy and the Bush administration, with the closing two tracks ‘Celebrator’ and mostly ‘Devastator’ critiquing the US military campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan. ‘Love Rhymes With A Hideous Carwreck’ became a massive hit and was on regular rotation on the hard rock music channels, more so than ‘Ambulance Vs Ambulance’, which came out a year before. After touring ‘Crimes’ Whitney and Gajadhar worked on a new project called Neon Blonde; which mixed more electronica-based elements and dance-rock alongside the harsh punk of The Blood Brothers sound. They released the EP ‘Headlines’ in 2005 and followed it with their only album, ‘Chandelliers in the Savannah’. Blilie and Votolato joined with Nick Zinner of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Justin Pearson and Gabe Serbian of the Locust to form Head Wound City, a band described by Bilile as sounding like “The Alien and Predator’ starting a band instead of fighting each other.” The only recorded output is a 10 minute self-titled EP, which was also released in 2005.

After time apart with other projects, the band went back to the studio and recorded ‘Young Machetes’ their 5th and final album. The 15 tracker, would be their longest album to date. It was also a possible foreshadowing for their split; as it brought together all the various stylistic shifts the band had gone through since it’s inception. Songs like ‘Rat Rider’ and ‘Johnny Ripper’ harked back to the days of ‘This Adultery Is Ripe’ hardcore punk, whilst ‘Laser Life’ gave a nod towards the heavy use of keys and samples as heard on ‘Crimes’ and ‘Set Fire To The Face On Fire’ and ‘Vital Beach’ had elements of the band around the ‘Burn….’ sessions. Of course, their current sound was also in play: tracks such as ‘1,2,3,4 Guitars’ blended a sombre Radiohead-ish vibe of despondence with their caustic hardcore, whilst ‘Street Wars/Exotic Foxholes’ mixed ambient trance elements with a new-wave pop edge and ‘Giant Swan’ fixated on the celebration of large birds under a staccato rush of noise.

After two UK tours at the beginning and middle of 2007, the band was put to rest through a collective decision. Blilie stated later that the split was also down to “not being able to find a middle ground where everyone was happy” and generally just drifting apart.

What I admire about The Blood Brothers is their talent in creating such exciting music. Their shifts and alterations in sound over their 5 albums shows real progress in redefining their music and style. It was still heavy and discordant enough to engage those who liked the more raucous side, yet it had that dark pop edge and chaotic punk rock streak of scatter-brained insanity.

They basically destroyed what I knew about hardcore punk – they made all other bands in that spectrum of music sound pretty much irrelevant. Their music was harrowing – it stalked me. When I first got ‘Burn, Piano Island, Burn’ I found it such a difficult listen. I’d make it about halfway through and have to turn it off and just sit there thinking “shitting crikey.” I think if an album can make you do that, then it’s truly something special indeed. It was such a concentrated rush of unrelenting rage and wailing emotion, mixed with a dangerous fire of unhinged brilliance. I kept going back to it though, re-listening to certain songs over and over before moving on. It began to consume me. This was the only thing I’d listen to. I’ll always remember the look I received from my friend Tom who lived next door to me in halls who looked in during one of Whitney’s testicle-retracting screams – it basically said “you either lost your hearing ages ago” or “Ross seems to be listening to the soundtrack of someone having various vital organs removed through their nose.” – Possibly right on both accounts.

Their lyrics were largely nonsense, full of non-sequitur shouts and visions of warped depravity and at times, commentary on the current political climate, especially the material from ‘Crimes.’ A mythical place dubbed ‘Piano Island‘ was a regular lyrical feature; appearing in both their debut album and as a subject throughout most of ‘Burn….’ Due to the dual vocal attack, most of their songs were deranged conversations between Whitney and Blilie, trading lines with each other like two warring misanthropes and were for the most part, extremely unsettling once you deciphered their content.

It sounds cliché, but there will never be another band quite like them, (mostly because no-one in the world can imitate THAT voice) but they should feel proud to be one of the most experimental and influential bands associated with the post-hardcore community.

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Where are they now?

Johnny ‘sounds like a castrated choir boy being tortured’ Whitney and guitarist Cody Votolato joined with J Clark of Pretty Girls Make Graves to form Jaguar Love, a dance-punk/indie/weird beast – all camp screams and flamboyant mannerisms. Jaguar Love are now currently a two piece (Whitney and Votolato) and are set to release their second album, ‘Hologram Jams’ in March this year.

Mark Gajadhar, Morgan Henderson, Jordan Blilie and old guitarist Devon Welch have formed Past Lives, who’s debut album ‘Tapestry of Webs’ should be out soon. They released the EP ‘Strange Symmetry’ back in 2008.

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Video

Click on the player below to listen to ‘Cecilia and the Silhouette Saloon‘ taken from the ‘Jungles Rules‘ DVD.

Links

The Blood Brothers
Jaguar Love
Past Lives
Neon Blonde
Head Wound City

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By Ross Macdonald

1. Open Wikipedia and click ‘random article’: whatever pops up, CONGRATULATIONS! That is your band name.

2. Next, open the Wikiquote page and guess what? Click ‘random quote’. Select the last few words from the last quote at the bottom of the page. This is your album title.

3. Finally, open Flickr, click the ‘last seven days’ link and select whatever picture you fancy from the first page.

Done. Yet another pointless exercise brought to you by bored office workers and plane-pointing students. Here is my ’band’ and 3 of their albums (note I rejected my first 3 hits which included ‘List of National Basketball Association players with 40 or more rebounds in a game‘; ‘Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards 1998‘ and ‘Henry Clay McCormick.’:

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Balzac Is A Romantic

‘Balzac Is A Romantic‘ – pretentious first album, complete with blurred black and white cover art, fancy text and an overblown sense of importance. Contains Winchester Magnum Rimfire’s best songs because most of them are early demos. Destined to be disowned several years down the line because the band have ‘matured.’ – What a bunch of fucks. Contains the single ‘Actebia balanitis.’

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They Can’t Get Rid Of Us That Easily

We come to the difficult second album where amazingly the title just about matches the cover. New musical direction on this; ditching all the good bits that made the debut so vital and embracing a new sound that sees this sophmore effort either universally panned or lorded as the greatest thing since the N64 by people who’ve never heard the first one which has since been deleted from the universe.

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Getting Used To Reality

Despite having the best cover and title, this did not chart. Band split a month after its release.

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Links

Wikipedia
Wikiquote
Flickr Last 7 Days

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By Ross Macdonald
(If anyone has problems with me using their images in this way, e-mail infoATkeepitfastDOTcom. Thanks! Or moan to Mad Mac.)

Million Dead

I first discovered Million Dead through Rock Sound (I’d probably be still listening to Reel Big Fish if it wasn’t for this publication) thanks to an ‘exclusive demo’ the magazine used to slap on their free cover-mount CD every month. The song was a rag-tag recording of ‘The Kids Are Going To Love It’ (which went on to feature on their debut, ‘A Song To Ruin’); a track that was characterized by it’s fast, gritty punk-rock nature, fuzzy-guitar lines and Turner’s unique yelp and rapid-fire vocal delivery.

Million Dead kicked around for another 2-3 years or so, touring with a variety of different acts, from space-rock nutters Cave In, Buddhist-anarchic-punks The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster and even noise-terrorist Alec Empire. They also supported Pitchshifter on their 3rd or 4th break-up tour. I expect every band in the world will have supported Pitchshifter on their ‘farewell tours’ soon. There’s probably one going right now. Anyway, the ‘Dead soon chucked out a debut single,  ‘Smiling At Strangers On Trains’ on Xtra Mile/Integrity Records, along with a low-fi video of a tramp pissing on guitarist Cameron. Good work guys. September 2003 saw the release of ‘A Song To Ruin’ their debut album and another single release in the form of ‘Breaking The Back’ which out-lived the bands lifespan by being on constant rotation on heavy metal music channel, Scuzz. ‘A Song To Ruin’ was an absolute DIY-beast of teeth-gnashing, blue-in-the-face surging, disordered punk rock. The guitars sounded like they’d been recorded in a beehive, whilst the bass rumbling on opener ‘Pornography For Cowards’ felt like it had been sunken in motor oil. The cymbals crashed like they’d been dropped down some stairs and Turner’s vocal howl was a series of sprawling monologues that fought each other in a mad dash to escape his larynx. But do you know what? It sounded brilliant. Sure, it was fuzzier than a muppet gang-bang, but that added to the appeal – they were angry, intense, drenched in buzzing feedback that bled from the speakers like a hemophiliac playing with their new knife set.

Whilst the sound was the backbone of Million Dead, it was the lyrics that made them standout from the crowd. Turner’s words said something – they weren’t just confusing non-linear observations, or the kind of mundane sob stories about not manning the fuck up when it comes to talking to the opposite sex; no, these lyrics were political, (‘I Am The Party’) social (‘The Kids Are Going To Love It’) and economic blasts of effervescent speech, that combined witty snapshots alongside quite barbaric bursts of intense anger. For example, ‘I Am The Party’ is a first-person monologue, tackling the subjects of the Bolshevik revolution, references to George Orwell’s 1984, as well as revolutions in Czechoslovakia in 1989. The tongue-in-cheek nature of the song, stereotypes many aspects of a politicians career (manifestos, humility, leafleting campaign, baby kissing, promise of ‘things getting better’). ‘Charlie and Propaganda Myth Machine’ satirizes that famous Roald Dahl book; as well as ripping into Walt Disney (“…pushing social and sexual hierarchy…”) and again Orwell’s 1984 with the line; “I just wish we weren’t so fucking mindless…” possibly referencing the Big Brother state of totalitarianism and lack of freewill. ‘Macgyver’ on the other hand, tells the harrowing tale of the hospitalization of ‘I can escape from anything with paper clips and rubber bands’ super-human, played by Richard Dean Anderson. “He couldn’t build a bomb to mend the splinters of his broken heart” croons Turner, shaping a grim visualization of this fictional, but brutal tale. ‘The Rise and Fall’ probably best encapsulates the MD sound though. Turner packs enough references into one track that would possibly fill any other bands back catalogue. Byzantium Empire, Trojans, Rome are all dissected, under this barrage and I mean barrage, of spiky, agitated driving post-hardcore buzz, with Dawson screaming his lungs raw over Turner’s quick-fire lyricisms. Truly a masterful piece of work.
After this, the band went on to support Funeral For A Friend on their the Welsh quintet’s break-through tour and played still to this day, one of the best support slots I have ever seen. The band then set out on their own headline tour; with welsh oddballs Jarcrew and Icelandic punks Minus in tow.

In 2004, the band released a single entitled ‘I Gave My Eyes To Stevie Wonder’, tackling the subject of blindness, along with the b-sides ‘Medicine’ and ‘It’s A Shit Business.’ Dean left the band soon after to get hitched and Tom Fowler was brought in as replacement. In May, they released their last album, ‘Harmony, No Harmony’ through Xtra Mile. Their second effort retained much of the intense fury of their first, spaced out with slower, progressive passages and even a choir. ‘Livin’ The Dream’ (a song which dealt with the pressures of being in a band) was the stand-out single, gaining a similar amount of play as ‘Breaking The Back’ on various music channels. The band toured the album’s release with punk rockers Engerica and Days of Worth.

Just when they seemed to be ready to make that breakthrough, Million Dead called it a day. The cause: “irreconcilable differences within the band mean that it would be impossible to continue”. They fulfilled their touring duties and the band was put to rest on the 23rd of September 2005 after a gig at the Southampton joiners.

Despite their short shelf life, Million Dead had a big impact on the scene – they were well known in various circles and constantly championed for their strong live performances and notably Turner’s lyrical outpouring. With two solid albums to their name, they left a good-looking corpse.

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Where are they now?

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, vocalist Frank Turner is a successful solo artist and has released double the amount of albums Million Dead managed in the same timescale!

Bassist Julia Ruzicka and guitarist Tom Fowler formed The Quiet Kill in 2005. Ruzicka now plays in Who Owns Death TV with some dude from Cars As Weapons and Dream of an Opium Eater.

Drummer Ben Dwason is the Josh Freese of the UK, having undertaken multiple session drumming projects and is currently the stickman for Palehorse, Armed Response Unit, Mothlite, Queens of Swords and some metal project. Has also drummed for The Big Pink.

Musical exploits of ex-guitarist Cameron Dean are unknown, probably enjoying married life and eating biscuits on the loo.

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Links

Million Dead
Million Dead Fansite
Frank Turner Official Site

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By Ross Macdonald

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Appearances can be deceiving and none-more-so than James Marsters, who I always had down as a British punk rocker thanks to his brilliant performance as the peroxide blonde vampire Spike from Buffy The Vampire Slayer. When I found out several years ago that he was actually an American and led a band called Ghost of the Robot, who were Bronze material through and through, I was quite shocked and obviously a massive idiot for realising that this man wasn’t of British descent. Nowadays, Marsters looks less like Billy Idol, and channels the look of a hip-university Dean with a stylish perm, but still has those magnificent cheek bones that you could ski down.

‘Like A Waterfall’ is Marsters’s second solo album and sees the former trenchcoat wearing bloodsucker mix his college pop-rock shenanigans with a heavy dose of the blues. Although from hearing opening track ‘Not A Millionaire’ it seems former-William The Bloody has been listening to far too much Los Campesinos. Handclaps? Check. Twee-as-hell choruses? Check. Gentle soft-rock, bouncy pop melodies that are as catchy as hell? Check. The complete unexpected nature of this opener lends a certain charm and youthful exuberance to proceedings that are quite out of character, yet rather brilliant. Even the little “yeaaahhh yeah!” harmonies inject a lazy, summery vibe. On ‘Don’t Worry Son’ and ‘Birth of the Blues’ Marsters attempts to emulate Jon Spencer. To some extent, he achieves this by exuding the similar arrogance and strut of the Blues Explosion frontman. The rather bizarre garbled vocals on the latter (which I’m guessing are Marsters’ attempt an emulating a professional blues musician) however should have been cut – they lack any real meaning and add a cringing element to proceedings. However, the melody and guitar-work, whilst a standard blues-riff, is admirable, especially ‘Don’t Worry Son’ which sounds like something that would soundtrack a sleepy cop drama series, blasting from the speakers of the grizzled protagonist and his quest for order and peace in a small mining community.

‘Looking At You’ has a She & Him vibe – soft indie rock, with Melissa Giattino (stage performer according to google) providing some pleasant female-backing vocals to the country-twang of Marsters’s almost Southern-drawl and Creedence-instrumental backing.

The intro to ‘White Hot Girls’ shares many similarities to ‘Kick Out The Jams’ (and strangely ‘Love Everybody’ by POTUSA), albeit sounding cleaner and tighter, whilst the main body of the song has Marsters take on the suave, debonair nature of a strutting rock star and appears to channel the cocky arrogance of a certain blonde vampire.

‘Louise’ is Radio Sunnydale to the max; featuring the kind of catchy, bouncing guitar jaunt that is infectious as it is cheesy. However, when the song finally kicks into gear with its 70s riffs, wailing chords and stubborn drum patterns it’s ultimately rewarding, if a little short.

‘When I Was A Baby’ steers the listener back on to the ‘blues’ element, with the song’s subject matter focusing mainly on the discovery of the genre and getting to grips with playing and adapting to it’s style. Marsters does a fair job; his voice hums with the same drive and passion, dipping from a deep sombre rumble, to a yelping, strangled wail. Although, I can’t help feel if his voice was a little harsher, more ragged in its delivery, then it would send shivers up the listener’s spine, rather than a faint tingle. The laid-back surf-guitar riff, heavy-saxophone parp and scattered drum beats give the track a jazz-vibe of improvised meandering and complement the vocal lead.

It might just be my imagination or my want for Marsters to dip into his English accent again, but ‘London City’ certainly has that Brit-twang bubbling on the surface, especially the opening verse. It’s again, another relaxed affair, showing the smooth, gracious tone of his voice, offset by gentle pop-harmony. ‘Up On Me’ follows a similar path, albeit less atmospheric-pop, but with the addition of a well-crafted guitar solo.

Ultimately, ‘Like A Waterfall’ is a strong second album from James Marsters; containing the right amount of hooks, memorable choruses and some interesting variations in style that could divide the opinion of the fans of his earlier work, but I guess this is the process a musician goes through in order to develop and expand their sound. Recommended (if you can find it that is!)

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Sounds

To listen to ‘White Hot Girls’ from ‘Like A Waterfall’ click on the player below.

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Links

James Marsters Homepage
Ghost of the Robot (site no longer updated)
IMDB Page

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By Ross Macdonald

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We Are Carnivores – Brilliant name – that is all.
Sugar Ray – They appear to be having a ‘who’s the biggest twatbag’ competition on the album cover. Nuff said - *Add to basket*
Time In Malta – My boss hails from these shores and it just seemed apt really.

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Band – We Are Carnivores
Album – Well Wisher
Release date - Feb 2007
Price – £1.61
Notes – The jolt to the back of the head created by We Are Carnivores on second track ‘Dead Trust’ breaks me out of the sombre daze that opening intro of ‘-‘ caused me to sink into. It’s a jerking, vitriol of post-hardcore that rises and falls with the same disjointed bounce of Hot Snakes and I guess a touch of Nation of Ulysses. I’m particularly drawn to the vocals, which are a somewhat throaty, strangled bark of resent and gurgling rage. What I admire is the course, spikiness this mini-album has; it feels like the bastard offspring of a porcupine and a cheese grater, with haggard vocals that have been and ravaged by cigarette smoke, whisky and shouting. ‘Well-wisher’ has that uneasy, demented quality to it, like sharing your house with a person who has all the tendencies of being a serial killer, but you don’t dare ask for fear of being dissolved in the bath hours later. There’s a touch of that stark, desolate sound that Steve Albini-bands radiate on this, which I feel adds to the snarling, guttural punk of tracks like ‘Beckon the Tides’ and ‘Hourglass.’

Verdict/worth the price? – Most definitely. We Are Carnivores live up their namesake on this snarling, flesh-tearing 7 tracker. A razor-sharp, Dischord-worthy collection of noise and disturbing riffage.

Links

We Are Carnivores

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Band – Sugar Ray
Album – Floored
Release date – June 1997
Price – 1p

Notes – Ah, 1997… A happier time, when bands looked totally ridiculous and could peddle out any kind of baggy-short, shit-metal riffs and scandalous rapping and get away with it. ‘Floored‘ by Sugar Ray is so all over the place, like someone barfing on a waltzer. Some moments sound like Guttermouth covering Limp Bizkit songs, whilst the supposed ’serious’ tracks are completely laughable attempts and summer-lite frat-boy rap-rock clichés.
I’m reliably informed by wiki that ‘Fly’ is their ‘hit’ song and I can tell from this near 5 minute assault on my eardrums how Crazy Town were formed. Sweet zombie Jesus. Still, it is better than Shifty Shitshock’s band of incorrigible muppets. It’s actually the punk rock/speed metal mash-ups that work the best however, and save ‘Floored’, especially ‘Speed Home California’ and the stupid ‘Cash’ which sounds like a rejected Suicide Machines track. The ‘Stand and Deliver’ cover is truly something else though, whilst retaining elements faithful to the original, but with a similarly camp vocal lead (actually when vocalist Mark McGrath puts the effort in, his voice borders on decent) and some cheap synth bleeps and a strong rock lead it does the job. Probably the best 1p I’ve ever spent on an album since Fieldy’s Dreams.

Verdict/worth the price? – shit yeah. From an incredibly shaky start, I actually grew to liking this far too much, which worries me quite frankly. I think I’m regressing musically at the moment. They did manage to put 2 versions of ‘Fly’ on here though. WHAT THE FUCK SUGAR RAY??? WHAT THE FUCK.

Links

Sugar Ray

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Band - Time In Malta
Album – Alone With The Alone
Release date – 2004
Price – 43p
Notes – They’re on Equal Vision records, so I kind of know what to expect, but Time In Malta could prove to be a surprise. I’ve only really heard their cover of Guns ‘N Roses’ ‘November Rain.’ ‘Alone With The Alone’ starts of strongly with the melodic hardcore battery of ‘Bare Witness’ in it’s shout-sung vocal delivery, huge riffs and solid rhythm section and twisting, yet heavy delivery. ‘Tightrope’ follows a similar path, but it’s ‘Louder Than Bombs’ that mixes the post-hardcore template with the huge skyscraper choruses and defiant attitude that make Time In Malta truly stand out. The rage in ‘What Are We Afraid Of?’ brings to mind the heady days when Hopesfall were the toast of the hardcore town (before they lost all their members); whilst ‘Fused As One’ holds as a strong heavy rock number utilising soaring choruses and some nice punk rock influences. Whilst this is nothing essentially new, I can see how ‘Alone With The Alone’ with have definitely held its own and Time In Malta were perhaps the under-appreciated sleeper band of this genre and scene. It’s a decent collection and despite some tracks sounds quite similar, it sticks to its guns and what it’s best at to deliver the cream of the post-hardcore/metal. Shame they’ve been defunct for 5 years now, but I suppose nothing gold can stay.

Verdict/worth the price – I would say so. There’s some moments where they sound so similar to Hopesfall, which automatically makes it a winner in my book and it’s the right kind of hardcore racket that I enjoy, so what’s not to like really.

Links

Time In Malta

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By Ross Macdonald

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Band: Capdown
Time active: 1997-2007
Sound: politically-charged, fast-paced skacore. The band experimented with elements of dub, hip hop and hardcore in their sound, making them truly standout from the legions of other chequered-loving acts that surrounded them. Vocalist Jake Sims-Fielding saxophone playing was a particular highlight, as where his sandpaper larynx and unusual, slurred singing voice.
High points: their live shows were always a riot and they packed out toilet venue after toilet venue and lived on the road during their 10 years together. Debut album ‘Civil Disobedients’ is considered by many underground music fans as a benchmark in UK punk rock. Touring with many high-profile punk bands such as Less Than Jake, Pennywise and Lagwagon. Being part of the Deconstruction tour, an incredible live set at Reading Festival in 2001, and tours with Bad Religion and Hundred Reasons.
Low points: The six year gap between their second album ‘Pound For The Sound’ and the radically different sounding ‘Wind Up Toys’ was a killer. With a couple of superb singles and 1 live album released between then, their fanbase drifted and soon lost interest in what was once one of the UK’s most prolific bands.
Fast fact: The first gig I ever went to was Capdown at the lovely establishment known as Hitchin’s Club 85. It cost £4- great night that. Also, their name stands for Capitalist Downfall.
Recommended listening: both ‘Civil Disobedients’ and ‘Pound For The Sound’ are strong albums, with the former having a more scrappier, punk rock edge as opposed to the slight hardcore leanings of the latter. Plus, ‘CD’ has ‘Ska Wars’ the band’s notable anthem.
Where are they now?: split up in November 2007, 9 months after the release of ‘Wind Up Toys’. Bassist Boob and drummer Tim are both apparently working with Simon Wells from Snuff/Southport in a new band called The Maccalites. The whereabouts in the musical world of guitarist Keith, sax/vocalist Jake and keyboardist Eddie are unknown.

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Band: Lightyear
Time active: 1997-2003 (the band split up and reformed between 2006-2007 to play benefit shows.)
Sound: insane ska punk chaos from 7 men who would frequently get naked, use big cardboard pirate ships as stage props and generally twat about having more fun than any other band in the world ever. They retained a heavy, brash punk rock sound that was stuffed to bursting with parping brass and the quick-fire vocal delivery from vocalist Chas and trumpet player Neil.
High points: Their live shows, which were utter bedlam, plus like many bands of this ilk, touring their arses off. Shows with Capdown, Mad Caddies, Save Ferris and Nerf Herder, Suicide Machines and a place on the Concrete Jungle tent at the Carling Festival in 2002. They were also kicked off Steve-Os MTV Jackass tour for being too rowdy.
Low points: From a fan’s point of view; splitting up. From their point of view – very little. The toll of playing 300+ shows in 2 years must have drained and pushed the band to the point of exhaustion in their heyday.
Fast fact: I’ve seen Lightyear perform live on 8 separate occasions, which is more than any other band. Also, vocalist Chas signed a bit of paper to me saying ‘Clits, my dogs.’ What a guy.
Recommended listening: Their debut ‘Call of the Weasel Clan’ is a great place to start and is probably one of the most consistent albums I own in terms of quality.
Where are they now?: defunct, but probably ready to reform one last time, should the great weasel signal be displayed in the sky…

Visual: Click on the player below to see Lightyear dressed as Bully, MR T, Marty Mcfly and Egon!

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Band: Less Than Jake
Time active: 1992-present
Sound: despite several band members being hardcore metalheads, Less Than Jake’s sound is characterized by its third-wave ska punk tomfoolery and cheeky pop-punk bounce. Throughout their 17 years as a band, their sound has evolved into brass-tinged punk rock sheen from scrappy beginnings. Most of their songs stem from real life experiences and are about real people/areas in and around Gainesville where the band are located.
High points: Being one of the biggest and well-known ska punk bands in the world, Less Than Jake have built up a solid reputation in the mowhawk circles, thanks to their live performances, prolific song writing, solid back catalogue and commitment to their fans, not to mention the release of their 1998 album, ‘Hello Rockview.’
Low points: ‘In With The Out Crowd’, an album which saw them depart from their ska punk sound that flooded so freely through their past releases. However, their return in 2008 with ‘GNV FLA’ saw them combining this new pop-punk edge, with their brass backing to greater effect.
Fast fact: The band name stems from the dog of their drummer, Vinnie Fiorello. In Vinnie’s house, the dog was treated better than everyone else and the name was born.
Recommended listening: ‘Hello Rockview’ (not because it has ‘All My Best Friends….) but due to the fact it’s simply their best work, flows nicely, terrific selection of songs and the brass element has never sounded stronger. ‘Borders and Boundaries’ is also a great starting album, as is 1996’s ‘Losing Streak‘ for a more rough ska-punk edge.
Where are they now?: still going strong and are set to appear on the Vans Warped Tour this year.

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Band: Adequate Seven
Time active: 2000-2006
Sound: More funk-punk orientated than the ska leanings that other acts in this article display; but the A7 were familiar touring buddies of Lightyear and Capdown so they deserve a place. Riot-provoking hardcore funk, with a driving horn section, dancing trombone player and a superb collection of catchy, uplifting songs.
High points: signing to Household Name Records, releasing ‘Songs of Innocence and of Experience‘ in 2003.  Their touring schedule rivaled Capdown’s for shear weight of artists involved, including Hundred Reasons, Fishbone, Lightyear, Cypress Hill, The Slackers and European tour with the Suicide Machines (see SM feature here) They went on to release their second album through their own label, before recording a live album and then splitting up in 2006.
Low points: splitting up really! They seemed to be at the top of their game, but I’m guessing the stress and pressure of touring finally called an end to proceedings, which is a real shame.
Fast fact: Their debut album title is taken from a William Blake poetry book.
Where are they now?: Defunct. Although I’m reliably informed that some members are working on new bands (vocalist Jamie is in a metal band now!) and bassist Will Davies is now in Attack! Attack! who are signed to Rock Ridge music and will be featuring on the next Guitar Hero. Nice work!

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Band: Jesse James
Time active: 2000-2007
Sound: brass, brass and more brass. It was like someone had stuck the horn section from a marching band in a punk rock outfit and told them to get on with it. The horns were more in league with those of Rocket From The Crypt than the noisy frivolity of Reel Big Fish. Their live shows were never quiet, and relied on a barrage of sound and blasting energy, backed up by the quality of their songs and the passionate nature in which they were delivered.
High points: recording their second record ‘Mission‘ with Ryan Greene, (NOFX producer), being signed to Deck Cheese and Golf Records, both popular ska punk labels at the time,  ‘Shoes‘ being a massive and I mean massive underground hit and a stint in the punk tent at the Carling Festival in 2002.
Low points: losing members every so often and the pressures of touring.
Fast fact: their infamous ‘Dear Jesus’ video being banned by UK tv and they were the first band I ever reviewed for my University newspaper!
Recommended listening: Both the ‘Shoes’ and ‘Hotwired‘ Eps are a good starting point, but the debut ‘Punk Soul Brothers’ is worth a listen as is ‘Mission’.
Where are they now?: saxophone player Pete and guitarist Ben are now both part of tyrantcore 4 piece Down I Go.

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Band: Leftover Crack
Time active: 1999-present
Sound: Like Dani Filth fronting a skacore band who can barely play their instruments. The Crack have a no-nonense, anti-everything style of raucous, mangled punk, with a vocalist who possibly eats broken glass for a living. As well as being fiercely anarchistic, angry and anti-government, Leftover Crack are actually one of the first bands to fuse ska with death metal. You’re probably shaking your head at this, but really, it’s not that bad honest. Plus, they sounded pretty good most of the time.
High points: Having a strong following in the underground community and generally being a band that inspires hope, if a somewhat misguided yet angry hope within people.
Low points: Death of drummer Brandon Possible in 2004, plus numerous bannings from various venues around New York, Canada and vocalist Stza’s continuing trouble with the PoPo.
Fast facts: Their name is an oxymoron and their second album was delightfully entitled ‘Fuck World Trade.’ Stza’s previous band, Choking Victim released an album called ‘No Gods, No Managers’ and featured no barcode.
Recommended listening: ‘Medicore Generica’ is 33 minutes of fucked-up skacore that has more crust than a steak and ale pie from a local truck stop.
Where are they now?: Still together (despite more line up changes than Zao) and set to tour America in June.

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Links

Capdown
Lightyear
Less Than Jake
Adequate Seven
Jesse James
Leftover Crack

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By Ross Macdonald

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Despite Rocket From The Crypt hanging up their instruments 3 years ago, they are still churning out records. The first was a re-release of the 1995, ‘The State Of Art Is On Fire‘; cunningly re-titled: ‘The Name of the Band is Rocket From The Crypt‘, with 5 extra tracks (including ‘On The Prowl‘ and ‘Come On‘, which I think are unavailable elsewhere, although I could be wrong.) After this, the proper cut of their ‘RIP‘ CD/DVD combo was released on Vagrant records in February and now (well, in August) the 3rd installment of the ‘All Systems Go‘ series is here. Proof that you can’t keep a good band down, Volume 3 is a collection of ‘lost masters’, with many of these tracks being previously unreleased, album track demos (‘Group Sounds‘ and ‘RFTC‘ years) and various compilation only recordings.

The vaults (or should I say crypt for excellent punnage) at the RFTC headquarters must be heaving like a medical student after a night out. The amount of tracks Speedo and his motley crew have recorded over the years must be into the thousands surely. The quiffed wonder describes the record as: “Violent, aggressive, thuggish stuff…” and he’s not wrong.

Opening track ‘Falling Down The Stairs’ (complete with Speedo’s trademark “ooohh”), rumbles along with a tight-rhythm heavy drone, bass crunching and guitars wailing. It sounds very early Rocket, almost ‘Circa Now!‘ Style material – scrappy and rambunctious. The backing horns in the closing 10 seconds add an incredibly urgent, frustrated coda to what has been a 2 minute-car chase of adrenalin-fuelled rock music.
‘Total Bummer’ contains one of those trademark Speedo guitar-slides that sounds simply sublime and a tremendously boisterous trumpet blast on the track’s fist-in-the-air chorus, despite its somewhat negative connotations.

Out of the 3 demos, ‘Chariots on Fire’, ‘Dick on a Dog’ and ‘When In Rome (Do The Jerk)’ it’s ‘Chariots…’ that shows very little change from its ‘Group Sounds’ partner, except it’s more sandpaper than the fine Emory board of the re-recording. ‘When In Rome’ features washed out drumbeats, a greater emphasis on backing vocals (big, big fan of these), Speedo forgetting the vocals and substituting them with “oogle boogle” and “wow row“, which surprisingly work, adding even more humour to the track.  The opening drums on ‘Dick on a Dog’ resemble someone bashing to sticks against a biscuit tin, (hey, if this stuff was any rawer, it would be jumping off the plate and scampering back into the field to have a long and healthy life) but it’s nice to hear a song from the self-titled album that feels like it’s been force-fed grit, stones and chainsaws.

Alongside the furious pace of their more ‘punk’ orientated tracks, I always find the slower ones to be just as good, if not better. ‘Little Shaver’ is an example of the sextet’s unhurried, melodic-meets-heavy nature, complete with the similar sounding up-down lurch of ‘Break It Up’ and some rather nifty harmonica interludes.

Fancied having your own theme music whilst you swaggered down the street with your posse, cheekily knocking people’s hats off their heads, stealing ice cream, generally being a right bastard but with effortless style? Then ‘Don’t Wanna Be Touched’ would be your theme tune. Trust me; fuck having ‘Little Green Bag’; you want this in-your-face, strutting-cockiness as your music.  Put it this way; The Hold Steady would love to write a song as fucking cool as this.

Despite the somewhat disturbing lyrics in ‘Pictures of Lenny’ (Speedo states how he ‘pleasures’ himself over them) the song retains a similar breakneck punk rock pace that was last seen in Hot Snakes. ‘Man Down’ passes by in a 34 second burst of pure fury, sounding like a brass instrument factory fighting with Black Flag, before leading nicely into the jaunty arrogance of ‘Summer Survivor‘ that would fit nicely on the ‘Live From Camp X-Ray‘ album next to ‘Outsider.’

Whilst Speedo’s voice is a powerful tool in itself, its absence on instrumental mauler, ‘Tiger Mask’, isn’t missed; as the tracks own rough, surf-style, throwback rock that then spawns into a monstrous beat of blaring horns, cascading cymbal smashes and dirty riffs is truly astonishing. It’s partner in vocal-less crime; ‘The Whip’, bulldozes along with such voracious energy, post-punk riffs and with elements of Speedo’s past act Drive Like Jehu thrown in for good measure.

‘No Way Out At All’ sounds like Buddy Holly if he jammed a safety pin through his nose, donned a leather jacket, lamped a bouncer and didn’t die in that plane crash in 1959. ‘This Way Out’ (possible sequel to the aforementioned track), contains the typical Rocket From The Crypt swagger, some excellent drum rolls and more brass than you can blow a trumpet at.

In another statement about the album, Speedo comments that: “I believe if the band was still around, we would make a record sonically similar to ASG 3.” If the band were still together, releasing music as exceptional as the 20 tracks on this record, I believe the world would be a much better place. Yet another album by a band who’s back catalogue is flawless. A toast to Rocket From The Crypt, the undisputed kings of modern punk and rock ‘n roll – here’s to All Systems Go 4!

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Links

Rocket From The Crypt (no longer updated)
Myspace (not official)
Swami Records
The Night Marchers
Vagrant Records

By Ross Macdonald

After a few months of searching, I managed to find ‘Short Strut To The Brassy Front’, their debut album released by Lockjaw records. Despite being a little rough around the edges, it was a sincere and passionate piece of work, emphasising the band’s unique heavy structure, coupled with their punk tendencies and graceful instrumental breaks. Creamer’s vocal range swung from a hoarse scream, to club-singer style croons, backed up by his trademark yelp and sometimes garbled pronunciation. Tracks like ‘Lifts, Curves and Separates’ and ‘Using Radars To Communicate’ show how thisGIRL switched from the heavy/quiet dynamic is such a graceful and delicate way, that you hardly noticed; whilst ‘Stop Making Sense’ and ‘Three Minute Spanish Film’ proved just how volatile and explosive they could be.

I didn’t see the band again, until early 2006, but they went on a number of quite high profile tours, with various bands from alternate ends of the music spectrum, including: Scottish-odd balls Biffy Clyro, industrial-we-will-never-split-up-metallers Pitchshifter and Hell Is For Heroes as well as gigs with the excellent Glassjaw and the not so excellent, The Used. Quite bizarrely they supported Deftones at Brixton Academy in 2002, and played with Limp Bizkit at that free gig in 2003 at Finsbury Park. Due to the meathead nature of the red-baseball cap wearing cretins that attended, Creamer and Co were bottled. Several fans even took the time to fill bottles full of piss, which made their way to the stage, only for Creamer to take one and empty the contents over himself.

Between 2002-2003, they released ‘…has fangs too’, a 3 song EP that juxtaposed their ability to build up a thunderous wall of sound and moments of spaced-out, euphoric rock.  In the coming months they released the ‘Demos for the Family’ EP, a rare 4-tracker, comprised of demo sessions, 1 of which made its way on to their sophomore album. The ‘Demos…’ compilation saw thisGIRL’s style change yet again, opting for a more light-hearted, almost pop-rock approach to their every altering sound.

In 2004, they signed to Drowned In Sound records and recorded and released their second album, the confusingly titled ‘Uno.’ With ‘Uno’ thisGIRL departed from their trademark scrappy alt-punk, quiet-loud dynamic and shifted into a more upbeat rock outfit, emphasising the use of groove-filled bass work and faster passages of distorted indie. ‘Master Blaster’ best exemplifies their unstable nature; sounding like a stoner’s paradise, whilst ‘Hallelujah’ followed a more conventional path of polished-punk rock. Songs like ‘Inshallah’ utilised dream-like string passages and ‘Drake’ sowed seeds of dark, almost film-noir-style slow jazz, which again proved how impossible it was to pigeonhole thisGIRL.

After a tour through January and February in 2006, the band remained quiet, concentrating on recording several demos, before announcing they were to split in November 2006. There were no details as to the reason behind the split, just that the band known as thisGIRL would be laid to rest. They promised to return in another shape/form in the future. Their last gig was at The Point in Cardiff on December 14th.

ThisGIRL were one of those bands that real came into their own as a live act. They made their albums sound flat when they took to the stage. Creamer would spend most of the time running through the crowd, tangling his mic-lead around fans, singing in people’s faces, climbing over everything, whilst Westley and Shepherd would be jumping about so much, they seem to get stuck in mid-air. This left Jenkinson; the only one who ever sits still, to bludgeon his kit senseless. I’ll miss thisGIRL, they really made music feel exciting and invigorating and were a band that I can honestly say, were totally unique but incredibly awkward.

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Where are they now?

After disbanding, Creamer, Westley, Shepherd and Jenkinson concentrated on other projects, before re-convening with a keyboardist in tow and formed Skeletons, who have been getting the kind of press coverage and feedback that thisGIRL always missed out on.

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Video

Here’s a live video ‘Sahara‘ one of the more heavier moments in their career. This shows just how frantic their lives performances were. (Might take a while to load as I think it’s high quality, oooh!)

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Links

Official site (no longer updated)
Myspace
Skeletons

By Ross Macdonald, with help from Wikipedia.

The Suicide Machines were a punk rock band that existed for an impressive 15 years, from 1991 to 2006 where they officially broke up, mid-tour whilst promoting their 6th album, ‘War Profiteering is Killing Us All.‘ Ironic much? Well, perhaps not. In fact, war profiteering had jack all to do with the band’s implosion. Disputes between band members wanting to take time out led to the group deciding not to carry on (mid tour) and The Suicide Machines were no more.

If you’re still reading this, you’ll probably want to know some more information on the band’s sound. They were known for their fast, aggressive punk rock sound, skacore leanings and controverial political messages (particularly on their last 2 albums.) Some would perhaps state that the band didn’t really bring anything new to the genre and I’d be inclined to agree; however what they did bring to the table was well accomplished, fast-paced, insistent punk rock that was deeply rooted in the skate as well as the political rock scene.

Like many bands, they evolved over the course of their 6 albums, going from a predomniant skate-punk/skacore-thrash on ‘Destruction By Definition‘ and ‘Battle Hymns‘ (which showed an even more aggressive side to the band; one which would appear later on their last album.)

Their 3rd album, a self-titled effort; was aimed towards the pop-punk loving market and contained an impressive cover of ‘I Never Promised You A Rose Garden.’ ‘Steal This Record‘ followed this, showcasing the band’s heavier side, mixed with the pop-sensibilities of the self-titled effort. It also featured the band covering the R.E.M. track ‘It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)’ -

(Keep It Fast fact: last time I DJed, I played this song at the start of my set and the soundman commended me on such an excellent choice of song, saying the production was wonderful and wanted to know who the cover was by. I felt proud.)

Their fifth album ‘A Match and Some Gasoline‘ saw a return to the skate punk/hardcore sound (and a somewhat love for the hated font that is, Comic Sans MS) and the beginning of their anti-Bush regime beliefs – ‘Your Silence‘ in particular, made a statement about how not voting, means you never have a voice and no real say – in effect, you as a person are dead to the political system and to your country and that saying ‘politics doesn’t concern me’ you are already sentencing yourself to death.

Their last album, ‘War Profiteering is Killing Us All’ is perhaps their most antagonistic record and strongly opposed to the Bush administration.

Where are they now?

Vocalist Jason Navarro and drummer Ryan Vandeberghe are both part of Left In Ruin.

Guitarist Dan Lukacinsky currently plays in Japanese band, The One Thought Moment (who don’t sound a million miles away from The Suicide Machines!) and also, Bayonetting The Wounded.

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Links

The Suicide Machines
Sideone Dummy Profile

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By Ross Macdonald

The problem at the time was reading such material as Kerrang (yes we have all done it.) They would rather be interested in what colour hats he wears on a Thursday then delving into the focused yet dangerous mind that had became massive in the past with Atari Teenage Riot.

In the years that ATR were active (1992-2000) they fused anarchist, anti-fascist or anti-Nazi views with punk vocals and used break beat samples at a speed up to 1000 mph! On top of this they were surrounded by controversy in Germany due to the prevailing “no politics on the dance floor” attitude.

Some sources even say that they had to black tape all of their instruments down, as the clubs where they would play would get so hyped up that there would be mini riots within the place resulting in fights, flying monkeys and everybody in the crowd trying to take all of ATR gear! (Monkeys may be a lie.)

They really make any other band (see simple plan as a prime example) look like little soft kittens ready for a snooze.

Of course these are all words and what better way to really show what they were all about is a video made in May 1999.

This outdoor show in Berlin resulted in the arrests of all of the band members for “inciting violence” after crowds, assembled for an anti-NATO protest, rioted with police (the charges were later dropped).

So next time you think about putting on your dusty copy of The Unquestionable Truth (Part 1) *shudder* think about the true kings (and queens) of anger.