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Monday 5 November 2012

Punktoberfest 2 @ Beat Generator, Dundee

Saturday October 20th @ Beat Generator

With chaos on the roads right from the get go due to the unfortunate event on a body being discovered at the side of the A90, the usual one hour journey took almost 4 hours and thus meant we missed the earlier portion on the gig, However what we caught was good.....

The Jackhammers: I arrived half way through their set and the fast paced punk and roller's lead singer had already clocked his head on the beam above the stage and was pissin blood. It was a nice thing to see upon arrival. It gave me hope the evening was going to be a wild one and the music backed that up. Nice gun show too. 7/10

Maxwell's Dead: Aside from seeing these boys a hundred times, for me they never have a 10/10 show. It's always just shy and I'm not quite sure what else they can do to push it further because they're brilliant! Strange Banter as always and awesome ska sections. 9/10

The Guttersnipes: With an ex-guitarist of Cock Sparrer thrown in the mix you're always going to be craving nothing less than gold, but for me the band were a bit so-so. I wanted more from this 3 piece, but it just wasn't happening for me. 6.5/10

The Cundeez: A most excellent set from the Cundeez who blew away their hometown as per usual and lit up the a humble attitude crowd. They played a brilliant set and only audience participation could have made this set better but it just wasn't there. 9/10

The Eddies: Hitting the stage, mask and all, was Dundee's local legends The Eddies. They played a lot harder than previous times I've seen them and it was quite the effort, especially the "Breaking the Law" cover by Judas Priest. Just not quite there though! 7.5/10

Overspill: I missed the first half of Overspill, but the second half was a pretty good performance. They blew me away with their set at Punktoberfest last year, but this year they seemed to be missing it for me. 8/10

Roughneck Riot:  Despite Matt's arm being busted from some skateboarding incident or something stupid like that, the band pulled off a brilliant performance. The lack of the mandolin, let them down a bit though, but they blew the roof off as best they could. 8/10

Billy Club: Think early Agnostic Front and your almost there. A long storied history of this band including ex Subs members, American origins and various other nuts and crackers make them an interesting bunch and the music was pretty good on the night too! 8/10

Drongos For Europe: The last few times I've seen Drongos they been disappointing. Tonight was no exception. The first time I saw them I cursed myself for not having found this band sooner, but its just not been happening in the latest shows I've been too. By this point the crowd was tired and it was well and truly kebab time 6/10



Overall: In the end, over two days, it was a great effort by the promoters, bands and the venue. It was just a case of the punters letting the scene down (Becoming all too familiar these days). The atmosphere wasn't quite the same as it was last year and the Friday I'm told was quiet, despite well over 100 people begging for Diddums to play. 7/10

Tuesday 19 June 2012

Crows + Support @ KPC, Glasgow

Sunday June 9th @ The Kinning Park Community Complex

Holy shit this place is a gonna be a shithole. That was my first thought. I was sooooooooooo fucking wrong and I cannot wait to go back to this place. An old Primary school converted into a community centre, which in 1996 the Glasgow City Council decided to close due to budget cuts. The local community, for 55 days, occupied the building and stopped it's closure and came to a deal with the community to keep the centre open. A better version of the story, not told from someone who's been there a grand total of 6 hours, is here.

Also, even though I'd recently just returned to the working life (excuse for lack of updates), I was very pleased to see a 60% discount for the unemployed for gig entry at this gig, very good. So we show up and I've only a few tins, believing it was bar only and £2 each per drink. Having not realised this I got myself to the shop, came back and had missed No Island. Great fucking start, sorry guys, I was really looking forward to seeing you as well.

Badger of Fifteen Dead
Fifteen Dead then hit the stage, and to be honest, played pretty well, it was just early on. Glasgow struggles to get into early bands anyway, as the next band found out and I've no doubt No Island had to as well, and it dulls down the atmosphere a bit. Double shift for new bassist Clark Core who played the evening before in Aberdeen with his band The Obscenities (who played a blinder by the way) and he looked to me to blend into the mix very well.


Drug Couple
Drug Couple is a band I didn't rate much when they played the Palace of Crust in last show in March, although I have come to quite enjoy their recordings and they were very good live as well. Sam "The Madman" Wells is impossible to take a photo of he moves about too much. He ooozes energy. An earthquake-tornado combination revolving amongst the solid formation of Mount Everest that is the rest of the band. Complains he's too hot when he's wearing a beanie... indoors... with tights over his head... for an entire set..... yep.

Clocked Out as most of you guys know are nothing short of brilliant. Local favourites who embody the DIY culture and love everything about what they do. A band you simply cannot have in your life. Respect of the tallest order (as tall as Stretch over there on bass... is that possible?). Get these cunts seen bawjaws!


Clocked Out
Crows, for me, were not what I thought they would be. I really struggled to get into them and a few folk agreed. I think it was more of Clocked Out being a very difficult act to follow (I'd certainly tell someone to fuck off if they asked me). It's doomy, negative stuff and it's not something you'd follow a lively as fuck band with... main act or not. I enjoyed their recordings, it just wasn't for me on the night.

Overall: The venue was brilliant. I met a few new friends, as well as plenty old ones which is always a pleasure. The bands played well. I just wished Glasgow went a bit more mental every now and again, seriously can't wait to come back to this venue again. Brilliance. 8.5/10

Big Thanks: to Papa Clark Core for the lift down the road otherwise Aberdeen to Glasgow is a long fucking walk. Charlie for the amazing gig, All the staff at the KPC, the cup cake lass, the bands, the punters, the bouncers (aye! even they were smashin!). Good times.

Moral Dilemma + The Obscenities @ The Moorings, Aberdeen

Friday June 9th @ The Moorings, Aberdeen

Another jaunt down the Moorings for yer standard 2 band bill and what a brilliant gig.

The Obscenities who are relatively new on the scene haven't really hit the ground running. They've more or less hit the ground, been dragged along by the car and then crawled to their feet while the car is going at 120mph up the A96, caught up with it and shoulder barged the fucker into a ditch. An intense crowd in The Moorings wanted blood, sweat and anger. And they got it. Clarkies no nonsense approach as a front man suits him down to the ground in amongst the crowd, with the ever amazing skills of Randy "Sexual Chocolate" Watson on bass and the ADHD antics of Bry Parasite. Behind this blur of adrenaline you can see the mass of human being that is Ash beating the skins with such intensity you could swear the kit was one of Mike Tyson's victims. A few more catchy songs and recordings from this band so the crowd can be even more involved would have peeled the paint of the walls. Brilliant set. 9/10

Moral Dilemma, despite being the headline for the evening had an incredibly difficult set to follow and they gave it their all. Last time I saw them was supporting the Casualties where I expected alot more from them, but on this evening the wanted to scream in the face of everyone and why the end of it the crowd were covered in the frontman's sweat (And later so was the LA princess. ha!) Hard working, determined... their set screamed of it. Next time they're anywhere near, I'll be there, they're definitley a band I'd travel down the road for. 8/10

Overall: The venue, the bands, the crowd, the quantity of booze consumed, all a perfect blend for this one. If there was any way to make this better would be for one more really good band thrown in, just for the sake of it, but to be honest, If they hadn't lived up to standard set by these two, it may have ruined it. Awesome gig. 8/10

Saturday 5 May 2012

Found on the Floor @ Captain Tom's, Aberdeen

Saturday April 28th 2012 @ Captain Tom's, Aberdeen

Another fun filled night of closed in, heat intensive, cider spilling, buckfast arseing around in Captain Toms. Always a good night, great atmosphere.

We started off the evening with Taparra, now called Bobby and the Boys. They were fucking terrible. I'm sure most people there will agree with me on this. They were a cross between grunge and doom and were essentially the 12 minutes of a Nirvana album that you don't listen to cause it's bollocks. Avoid.

Skubba (Eaten By Crows)
Now the gig properly starts. Eaten By Crows hit the stage and despite Skubba hingin oot his arse he plays a belter, so people have a knack for it, he's one of them.  Great 77 punk, probably more hints of 82 throughout their set as well. Was pointed out to me the lead singer tries to sound like Jello, didn't notice until I listened again to TV Wars on youtube, and yeah I totally hear it on that, but didn't on the night for the rest of it. Best to stay away from the Jello impressions, but otherwise good band!

At the last minute we lost Sufferinfuck on the bill due to some illness that was making 3 of them vomit and hallucinate so instead we received a dose of Absolutist, which was well met. It's been a while since I've seen the band now and not since the new material came out. The guys played an stormer of a set and ripped the place apart. Can't wait to sit down and review the new album, it should be brilliant. Props to Callum for playing with a microphone that low. It was like he was punishing himself by playing in that position.

Found on the Floor
Found on the Floor were the tour act for the evening from Ireland. Brilliant set, great energy, great tunes. A self-described Metal / Punk Hybrid. They sound like UK82 meets the apocalypse in an all out fight to the death. Props to their drummer who was brilliant on the night. Really on form with a high pulsating energy pounding into the skins.

The filthy boys finished off for the evening and although by this point the Cider had got the best of me, and Teabags for that matter who finished off the evening propped up against a wall trying to play guitar, I do remember having a particularly good time. Filthpact have wrote alot of new stuff since their reformation last year and although I'm one for the Version 1-2 era, the material is still excellent. You should be checking it out.

Overall: The night was a prime example of another great night in Captain Toms. Lots of people, great bands and we showed them how we do it in Aberdeen. Great night had by all. 9/10

Tuesday 17 April 2012

Routine Social Incompetance - Call it Whatever You Like LP (2010)


Routine Social  Incompetance - Call it Whatever You Like LP (2010) [DIY]
Punk and Roll here from Milton Keynes here with a 17 track effort.  With hints of Rockabilly thrown in in places and a general sense of pogo till yer heid hurts this band have a nice pull to them. "Big Brother" is a pretty decent track that would probably sound brilliant live, but falls a bit short on the recording. "Daggers" brings amount an a good amount of speed and a nice wee catchy chorus, but again I feel it falls just a bit short of the mark. "Curly Wurlys" is a nice reminder to not take everything so fucking serious and to top it off it's a brilliant song! Listen to it! The rest of the album is full of nonsense songs just done for shits and giggles and sometimes that's what you need.

Overall: Definitely think this band would be a good laugh to go see live and would be nice to bounce about to in a venue, but I'm not going to be clutching onto their CD as my 3 things on a dessert island. Go see them live, I reckon they'd be pretty good. 7/10

Monday 16 April 2012

Opposition Rising - Aftermathematics (2011)

Opposition Rising - Aftermathematics (2011) [DIY/Opposition Records]
You want a fuckin album! Here's a fuckin album! From the build up of intro song "Rising", going 100 miles a second into "The Rich are Killing The Poor" this album screams let's rip the roof off the place and start a fucking riot! A personal favourite from the album is the song "F.T.W.", which I first heard from Riot Ska Records' Global Unity Musik II, which can be found here. The band bring the hardcore Boston scene to it's knees with this powerful production. Brilliant lyrical content, heavy as hell. A definite 'tough guy' Agnostic Front feel to it, as well as some metal undertones thrown into the mix do nothing but help this come together like a perfectly crafted jigsaw puzzle. "Total Annihilation" is another brilliant song, even if it is a bit short. "Brick by Brick" changes the pace slightly and the simplistic riff in the song for some reason sounds quite interesting to me. "Debt Sentence" and "Everybody's Lying to You" continues the spirit of mixing it up a bit and and changing the flow, slowing it down a little bit and bringing in slow ska type bits, don't try to skank to it though, you'll look like a total cunt, it's more of an upper body sway! The last song "Destination Apocalypse" is a the perfect way to end the album with lyrics screaming accross the point "Our world begins, when your world ends!"


Overall: Best thing I've heard in ages, pissed off it took me this long to listen to it. I can't really push this record enough, it's brilliant. And you want to know something better. The band's DIY ethics mean it was instantly up for free download. Hell even the CDs say "FREE CD, NOT FOR SALE, DO NOT PAY FOR THIS CD". But if you do like it alot, then do what I'm going to be doing, buy this fuckin peach of a splatter vinyl 12" of the album here. 10/10


Download this album: http://oppositionrising.bandcamp.com/album/aftermathematics-lp 


Co-Released on:
Active Rebellion
Crash Assailant Records
Pirates Press Records
Riot Ska Records
Rodent Popsicle
Tankcrimes Records

Sunday 15 April 2012

Razorblade Smile - Self Titled LP (2011)

Razorblade Smile - Self Titled LP (2011) [DIY]
I caught Razorblade Smile supporting The Defects in Kirkcaldy in November 2011 and was lucky enough to grab a CD off of them. They're live performance was quite good and I was interested to hear what they sounded like recorded. And to be honest they were pretty damn good.

The songs take an Exploited riffage in verse parts in places and combine it with pure 77 chorus parts to make a brilliant go of it. In most places they take a street punk edge into their music as well, but it's not as heavy recorded as it is live. The lot of it is always played a good speed, not 100mph lose control speed, but.... 85mph at least haha. The album is full of good tracks and they are all worth a listen but if I had pick out a couple to play at a party it would be "Censored Society", "Hit The Floor", "Govanhell" and "Friendly Nation".

Overall: Like I said, it's a decent album and each song is worth a listen. The duel female and male vocals make it an interesting 4 piece band, but overall it's lacking that 'edge'. 8/10

Last Ever Palace Gig @ Palace of Crust, Aberdeen

Saturday March 3rd 2012 @ The Palace of Crust, Aberdeen.

A sad moment and an evening in which Aberdeen's punk house finally met it's demise in a blaze of glory. With me having made the mistake of going to Uganda for 7 weeks for charity work, as well as functioning resident alcoholic JJ Hobin's 24th birthday, the party was set to be an onslaught of madness throughout.

Drug Couple hit the stage first and were a brilliant way to open up the venue. I only heard their set through, didn't see much, as I was getting my drinking on after only just arriving home from a 25 hour journey an hour or so before. They sounded brutal and the crowd, in the few glimpses I did see, were up for a riot, and by fuck did they go for it.

Fifteen Dead would probably have gave this one a miss, but they were requested to play and decided to play a shorter than normal set, mostly of newbies. Great atmosphere as always for the house band, but lack of practice over the last few months didn't do them any favours on the night. The new material, however, sounds brilliant and this band keep getting better and better.

Maze McPunklet gave us a brilliant poem about the legacy the Palace of Crust has left behind.

Clocked Out played yet again a brilliant set. Frontman/madman Crawford finally found his match in front of a crowd with the Aberdeen lot crowd surfing him through the living room and just generally picking him up and passing him about like a joint. The crowd went nuts, the band went nuts, the roof remains with his footprints.

Billy Liar for me played an absolute rarity of a show, I say that because in my mind I thought he played pretty poor. Don't get me wrong, all these drunken arseholes grabbing the mic to try and sing along didn't help and ruined it for you, but as always with Aberdeen, the crowd screamed his lyrics with all the passion in the world. Aberdeen Punks + Billy Liar = Good Times.

Cleavers played a horrible set in my opinion. They were playing, then they weren't, then they were, then they were terrible. However the lovly letterman style Cleavers jackets are just what the cover of NME and Radio 1 ordered. Go get em lads!

Sufferinfuck I don't remember much of, cause they were last and by this point I was drinking anything that looked like it could be liquidated. Myself and Palace Princess Steeny went to go mental for the last song, by the time we got there, they were finished (it was 4 seconds long). I do remember gan "10 Fuckin Eggs!" an awful lot, usually a good sign i'm enjoying the band.


Overall: The gig was an incredible atmosphere. There were a few below average performances from bands who usually hit the button every time, but apart from that, no one could take away the fact that "This was it". The Palace of Crust is coming to an end, so lets make this a night to remember and it was.... and then for a select few, we had a nice 3 days afterwards as well.

If you never got the chance to go to the Palace of Crust then this is what you've missed out on, and If you have, you'll always have the memories of the one year where a house in Aberdeen changed an entire scene.



Link! This video was created by Jamie Christ as part of Scottish D.I.Y. Series.

The Cundeez - Lend Wiz Yer Lugs LP CD (2011)

The Cundeez - Lend Wiz Yer Lugs LP CD (2011) [Oary Records]

Right from the get go, I'm loving this. An absolute epic intro in "Caleil", could be faulted for being a bitty long, but still sounds great. The second track is "Summer of 78" and along with "This is Britain" is attributed to be inspired by the Clash, the first is about a bunch of auld bastards day dreaming about their youth, sounds good and the latter about the sad state of affairs of the UK, a nice bit of organ work in the background there and one of the slower songs on the album. The band have a feel of yer old school 77 with a bit of grunge riffage there, or so I felt apparent with  "Mr E Go", im not sure if I'm hearing a slight bit of Nirvana Smells like Teen Spirit there. "Oary Tull Eh Deh" starts aff wee what I can only describe as Dundonian Reggae, which in itself sounds fuckin mental but strangely it works brilliantly. The finish to the track is brilliant. "Yir Talking Shite" was one of the only songs I'd heard from them recorded before the CD landed on the desk. You really need to listen to the lyrics on this one, it takes everything that needs to be said and simply puts... says it. As a bonus from the CD (Windows PC Only), the video for "Yir Talking Shite" is included. "Fortune Street" is a brilliant slow song. Reflecting another week at work finished and time to hit the town and forget all the bullshit. "Sehturday Night" is about floating around Dundee on a Saturday night obviously and getting into shit, the chorus line from the song sums it up well. "Sehturday Night, it's nae place tae be, Sehturday Night, on the streets o Dundee, Sehturday Night, Psychos oot their face, Sehturday Night, Rang Time Rang Place". "Fightback" was a bit slow for me, lyrically it was good, but I had a feeling towards the end of the album it was floating away from them a bit with this and "Keyboard Gangsters". But "Haggis Man" reminds you it doesn't need to be all doom and gloom and I can now say I've listened to the Iron Man theme music played on the bagpipes and it's fuckin brilliant haha!

Overall: In the end the only really disappointing bits for me here was the 3rd and 2nd last track. While the lyrics were there and cunts on keyboards should just be ignored if you don't like what they're saying, the music wasn't at the end, but the rest of it was brilliant. There's not enough Scottish bands that sing with their own accents and these boys do it well. I remember when I first heard them years ago and they were practically a Dundee Utd supporter band which is why I, as a dirty sheep shagging bastard, didn't think it was a smashin idea to book them in Aberdeen. But that's no longer the case, a great asset to Scottish punk rock and the Dundee scene in particular. 9/10

Note: Went to spell check this before I posted and due to all the track titles.... I gave up.