Album Review: Manchester Punk Festival Volume 1

On the 17^th and 18^th of April the cream of the UKs underground punk rock scene will descend on Manchester for the first ever Manchester Punk Festival. Boasting one of the strongest line ups at any festival ever I quickly snapped up a ticket (only £15!) and am now excitedly counting down the days. In the meantime the MPF organisers have released the first of four free compilations to introduce folk to some of the amazing bands playing the festival. Here’s my review of the first comp.

The compilation starts out with some hardcore thrash punk from London’s The Restarts. This year these gentlemen are celebrating their twentieth year as a band and will no doubt be a big draw for some of the older punks in attendance at the festival. The song Sheep is a fast and furious track that is 110% aggression throughout the song. The next song is called Isolation Is A Lonely Place To Be by and band named Holiday. Holiday are a band local to the Manchester area so will no doubt have a fair few fans in attendance when they play there brilliant brand of melodic skate punk. One of the bands I’m most looking forward to seeing at the festival are gypsy ska punks Stand Out Riot. Described as an exciting mix of Streetlight Manifesto and Gogol Bordello there set is sure to be one of the most energetic of the weekend. The song Broadcast Delay comes from the album The Gentleman Bandits and mixes some driving horn lines with socially conscious lyrics. Leeds based Tosserlad contribute the fourth song to the compilation in the form of F.O.M.O. They will bring their combination of hardcore/thrash/punk/d-beat to Ducie Bridge on the Friday night.

Scotland’s The Murderburgers are one of the finest pop punk bands in the world at the moment. The song My Inner Mental Room is taken from their These Are Only Problems album, released on the legendary Asian Man Records. Swindon’s 2 Sick Monkeys are one of the more unqiue bands at the festival, this loud and fast two piece have no guitar just bass and drums. The song Vicitms is a demo track and has a raw sound that packs the song with intensity. Crazy Arm are one of the biggest name of the bill for the festival. Signed to Xtra Mile Records this Plymouth based group mix punk, rock, roots, folk, country and americana music to create an awesome sound. The song Tribes from 2011’s Union City Breaths is a classic punk rock anthem containing great vocals and harmonies, a massive chorus and a strong message. Not to be missed. One of the bands I’m most looking forward to seeing is Just Panic. This folk punk band have reunited to play the festival and will bring their fist in the air punk rock to Sound Control on the Saturday as well as playing an Against Me! cover set at an after show party at Retro Bar later in the night.

Dead Neck are a hardcore and melodic punk band from the North West of England. Fresh from a European tour Dead Neck will bring some of the more technical punk rock to the festival. Later this year they are playing at Punk Rock Holiday in Slovenia and look certain to go and achieve great things. Billy Liar is another act I’m really looking forward to catching at the festival. This punk rock poet from Edinburgh plays fast, energetic, sometimes angry and always brilliant acoustic punk rock. The song Change is about being bored of the current music scene and wanting to hear something that will inspire you. The acoustic punk music continues with Captain Hotknives with the song You’re More Punk Than Me. This comedic song takes digs at the punk rock police who judge other punks for not being punk enough. The compilation is finished up with Guildford’s melodic punk rockers Darko. Time Pieces And Lock Shaped Hearts comes from 2014s EP Sea Of Trees and is utterly brilliant. It contains massive guitar riffs, pounding drums and a huge hook. I’m expecting Darko to be one of the surprise hits at the festival.

Stream and download the compilation here: https://manchesterpunkfestival.bandcamp.com/album/manchester-punk-festival-vol-1

Find all the news and information about the Manchester Punk Festival here (including tickets): http://manchesterpunkfestival.co.uk/site/

Now listening to Stevie's Got A Problem by The Murderburgers