Album Review: At War With The Silverfish by Laura Jane Grace (by Ilse R. Smit)

Generally speaking, I love an intricate promo strategy. I like looking forward to releases, I love the anticipation that is fed by teasers, singles, maybe even an elaborate world building social media campaign. But thanks to Laura Jane Grace, lead singer, guitarist, songwriter and OG of Against Me!, I have a newfound appreciation for surprise releases these past two years. At War With The Silverfish, Grace’s second solo EP, was released on September 22nd 2021 by Polyvinyl Record Co and Big Scary Monsters.

Folk punk isn’t usually my thing. I don’t hate it or anything, there’s just something about it, a vulnerability in how stripped-down it can be. An emotional rawness that just makes me feel kind of uncomfortable. Like someone just handed me a bunch of their emotions and I’m there awkwardly standing there asking myself what the hell I’m supposed to do with them. Laura Jane Grace is a different story altogether. I love listening to her (my crush on her might have something to do with that).  

The first track on the EP is Three Of Hearts. Her voice, accompanied by an acoustic guitar, sounds warm, vulnerable, but mostly very sweet. Like asking someone to take a chance on you, but with the classic LJG self-deprecating twist we all know and love.

The second track, Lolo 13, is so dreamy! It’s more upbeat and the drums really round out the sound of the song. The backing vocals play a big part in the aforementioned dreamy-ness. I love how Laura uses words that don’t really rhyme without it bothering you. The lyrics are fairly repetitive, which makes me think they could do very well when performed live, since they’re easy to pick up. And not only that, I’m having a hard time sitting still while I’m writing this. I’m not surprised at all that, as I’m writing this, this is the most popular song of the EP on Spotify. Laura Jane Grace is ever so relatable when she sings about not being sure someone is flirting with her.

Long Dark Night is GROOVY! I’m loving the bassline, I’d call it my favourite character of this song. It’s a great song for road trips. It gives off a “we got a long way to go, but if we keep going, slow and steady, we’ll get there”-vibe mixed with “it will only go downhill from here”. Only Laura Jane Grace can tell me to “shut the fuck up and sit back down” and be endearing while doing it.

We reach the half-way point with Electro-Static Sweep, the longest track on the EP. The song introduces a string section, which I’m guessing is a violin, and takes a step back pace-wise. The tempo and newly added layers amplify the melancholy and nostalgia, especially when listening to the vocal effect during the beginning of the first verse that makes it feel antiquated, very compelling.

Laura Jane Grace believes that the next song, Day Old Coffee, is “the worst one she’s ever written” but released it anyway because she liked the video they made. I’m not in the position to say whether or not that is true, but I think it’s short (seriously, 1:13 long) but sweet! Or maybe I just strongly relate to my brain feeling fried and literally always forgetting I have a cup of tea standing around that has reached room temperature by the time I remember. Not a bad intermezzo at all.

Smug Fuckface is another very disarming acoustic track that I think has the strongest relation with the title of the album. Fleeting memories and fighting/negotiating that loss. Like silverfish ruining records and books.

 
Up until the start of the last song, I was convinced the EP was building up to Electro-Static Sweep, and peeling those added layers away as the album progressed. Yesterday Pt. II proves me wrong, and I appreciate that. It’s hard to label the emotion the song carries. It sounds almost cheerful and the lyrics are reminiscing. But I’m not sure if it’s a “don’t be sad because it’s over, smile because it happened” sort of thing, or that there is an agony in the recollection of meaningful memories. Let’s just say it’s an interesting song.

At this point, I’ve listened to At War With The Silverfish many, many times – in part because it’s only 14:14 long and I take my time writing these reviews. But I had a really good time listening to it. There is variety, but it’s also cohesive. It is personal and specific, but relatable. If you haven’t already, do yourself a favour and give it a (digital) spin!

Listen/buy At War With The Silverfish on Bandcamp.

Follow Laura Jane Grace on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.

This review was written by Ilse R. Smit.

Gig Review: Breakup Haircut at New Cross Inn, London 16/11/21

Ever since seeing Dundee’s ALLDEEPENDS at Book Yer Ane Fest in 2019, I’ve been desperate to see them again. Obviously a pandemic delayed that enormously but things began to get better and, to my surprise and delight, ALLDEEPENDS got booked at for a gig at my beloved New Cross Inn by Alright Mate Promotions. They were on a fantastic looking mixed genre bill with Tim Loud, Making Friends and Breakup Haircut and I could not wait for the night to come around.

Tim Loud opened the show with his own brand of acoustic/country punk. Tim had been on tour throughout the UK prior to the show and this was my first time seeing him live since an early edition of MPF where he did the show wearing some striking face paint. Tim is a fantastic songwriter, musician and storyteller and it was fantastic to see him back on stage again. It wasn’t the biggest of crowds, it was early on a Tuesday night after all, but Tim managed to captivate the crowd whether it was with his six string, twelve string, his harmonica or voice. I’ve said this before – and Tim put it on his tour poster – but he is an exceptionally talented individual. The set was sprinkled with old favourites and some new ones written during lockdown. A mixture of slower bluesy numbers and rowdier anthems, all played with a lot of charm and passion. It was good to see Tim play live again.

ALLDEEPENDS were the next band to take to the stage. The three piece had also been on a short UK tour and had been making new friends wherever they had been. I know from punk celebrity Sarah of Shout Louder that they had had a particularly impressive showing in Manchester earlier in the tour. I’m not sure many of the fine folk at the gig had much of an idea what to expect from the band when they took to the stage but they certainly became fans thirty minutes later. For those unaware, ALLDEEPENDS play a crunching mix of folk and hardcore with rapid fire vocals and massive hooks. They are one of the most unique and interesting bands in the UK at the moment. The set was a mixture of songs from their debut EP My Name Is and some unreleased tracks that I assume will be on their debut LP – whenever they get that out to the world. As I stood watching the stage I heard some folk around me comment how good the drumming was, as well as my favourite quote of the night – “I didn’t know you could make that noise with a banjo.” Nicholas, John and Hooligan played a stunning set and I hope it’s not long before they’re back in New Cross. I’m positive that they’ll be very welcome.

Up next were a band I had heard a lot of great things about and was looking forward to seeing live for the first time, Brighton’s Making Friends. Fronted by Ryan Mansell, formerly of Fastfade, the band play super fast, melodic skate punk that wouldn’t feel out of place on a 90s Fat Wreck compilation. The foursome launched into the set with a lot of energy and burned through their songs. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a band squeeze that many songs into a thirty minute set. I assume they played all the songs they’ve released so far plus some unreleased material. I was super impressed with how tight the band were. At this point, they can’t have played that many shows together but it looked as if they had been playing together for years and years. It was also clear that the band were having a lot of fun together on the stage and this feeling definitely spilled into the crowd. At one point, I assume to catch their breath, they took a moment to shout out seemingly everyone in the room which was nice. Making Friends seem to be playing as many gigs as possible right now, so if you get the chance to see them I highly recommend you take it. A fantastic new band in the UK skate punk scene.

The last band of the night was Breakup Haircut from London. I first became aware of the band thanks to my good buddy Katie MF and have had the pleasure of featuring them on CPRW and CPRW Records in the past but this was my first time seeing them live. To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from the band in a live setting but I was pleasantly surprised and seriously impressed. Playing a fun brand of indie and garage pop punk, it didn’t take long for Breakup Haircut to get the NXI crowd moving. I can’t remember the last time I saw a band whose music was so infectious. Breakup Haircut managed to get the audience in the palm of their collective hands almost instantly and it was bloody wonderful. Despite still being a relatively new band on the scene, I believe they met and formed at a First Timers workshop at DIY Space For London (RIP) a couple of years ago, the band had such confidence on the stage and were an absolute joy to watch. It was nice to see the band utilise three different singers, all with their own unique style but all still feeling very Breakup Haircut. The between song banter was also extremely charming, as the band playfully joked around with everyone. It felt like they were letting everyone else in the room into their little gang. I really enjoyed the set and was quite sad that we had to chip off a little before their set finished to catch our train home. I look forward to seeing them live again, hopefully soon. Is it over-exaggerating to say that Breakup Haircut may be the future of the UK indie punk scene? Maybe, but it also wouldn’t surprise me to see them really take off. Check them out before they do!

Thanks to Alright Mate Promotions for a wonderful Tuesday night of punk rock. It was a lovely time, with lovely people and fantastically talented bands. What more could anyone want on a Tuesday night?

This review was written by Colin Clark.

Gig Review: Burnt Tapes at Old Blue Last, London 13/11/21

I was thinking the other day, something nice that has come from the all the bands not being able to play gigs for so long is that they’re all now back doing comeback shows. Every gig has felt like a big reunion with everyone in great spirits. It was now time for London’s Burnt Tapes to make their long awaited return to the stage with the help of Be Sharp Promotions. The whole gig felt like it would be a great big friends fest and that feeling was amplified with the addition of Triple Sundae and Katie MF.

The gig would be taking place at the Old Blue Last in Shoreditch, a venue I hadn’t been to in years. Leaving Liverpool Street Station we were really taken aback by just how many people there were everywhere. You don’t get this many people in New Cross. After getting some food in Spitalfields market, we made our way to the venue and once we were inside there was a nice feeling of familiarity to be surrounded by all the pals from the New Cross scene rather than all those pesky Shoreditch trendy types.

The always absolutely delightful Katie MF would be opening the night. Katie was playing solo acoustic this evening and amazingly, despite seeing her play a lot over the past couple of years, this was my first time seeing her without the band. Something I believe Katie is very good at is tailoring her songs for the type of gig she’s playing. On this occasion, she played more of an upbeat and rowdy set of songs than she would perhaps would at a folkier type of gig. The set mostly consisted of unrecorded songs that are getting me super hyped about her next release, whenever it may be. Something I’ve noticed in her songwriting is that her songs are getting more uplifiting. Her previous release Everything Trouble Meant was an EP full of sad break up songs but the direction she’s going now seems to suggest there is a bright light at the end of the tunnel where everything will be fine. It’s a message I love. She finished a glorious set with a song that Emma thinks is titled Set It Alight which got such a fantastic reaction from the Old Blue Last crowd. The best way to start the night.

Next to take to the stage were Triple Sundae. Before the supports for the gig were even announced I think most people would have assumed that Triple Sundae would be playing. The two bands have been playing together in the same London DIY scene since their beginnings and have become great friends over the years. It was only right that Triple Sundae played this gig. The band themselves had already played their triumphant comeback show a month earlier at Till The Fest but this didn’t dampen anyone’s excitement to see them take to the stage. I said after the Till The Fest show that it was perhaps my favourite time ever seeing them. I take that back. This was my favourite time seeing Triple Sundae. Since coming back, there seems to be a new found enthusiasm within Hassan, Zandro, Mike and Andy and they have really smashed their sets. The smiles on each member of the band’s faces was just lovely to see and they were putting everything they had into the performance. I can’t think of many bands that get the kind of reaction from their fans as Triple Sundae do. It really is a case of everyone in the room is in it together. So many times during the set Hassan just stepped away from the microphone and let the crowd take the lead vocals. It’s something you love to see. Something I always enjoy when I see Triple Sundae play is how they make a point to shout out everyone in the room who has helped and supported them over the years. The love that comes from the crowd is always reciprocated right back by the band. It’s how it should be. Another stunning set by Triple Sundae

It was now time for Burnt Tapes and the room was absolutely buzzing. This was their first London headline show since their album launch show for Never Better back in 2019. After setting up their gear, they then left the stage and some traditional Greek music began to blare over the Old Blue Last speakers. It really gave the set a big-time feeling and really added to the level excitement throughout the room. The band soon returned to the stage and kicked off their set with Getitgotitgood and Drift Champ ’16. From then on, the next forty five minutes was filled with big sing-alongs, crowd surfs and stage dives – and I couldn’t have asked for anything more. The set was full of songs from Never Better and their 2020 release Grower as well as a couple of special covers. With each song the reaction seemed to get better and better. I fully expected them to finish their set with Yuzi but they decided to include it early in the set. I got extra excited when they played Dirt Roads, as I’ve been asking them to play it for months and was it great to finally see them play it again. The two pronged vocal assault from Phil and Pan throughout the set sounded as good as ever and Tone and Jordan’s rhythm section proves once again that they are one of the best in the scene. After Dirt Roads, the band slowed things down with Lost In Transit. Midway through the song Phil decided to put down his guitar and jumped into the crowd to be surfed around the room before getting put safely back down on the stage. The Burnt Tapes have played a few Menzingers cover sets in the past and treated the Old Blue Last to renditions of I Don’t Wanna Be An Asshole Anymore (where Zandro of Triple Sundae sang lead vocals) and After The Party. Both went down an absolute storm. After the covers, the band finished the set off with Things Get Weird where Tone joined the crowd on the floor to start the song and then Don’t Make Me Play Bocelli. What an epic ending to not just an incredible set but a wonderful night.

I think that when I look back at this gig in the weeks, months and years to come, it will be one of my favourites ever. With everything that’s gone on over the past eighteen months this gig seemed to mean so much to so many people. The level of love in the room was something truly special to be a part of. As we left the venue (and walked awkwardly through the weird hip hop clone swaying dance party that was happening downstairs) we were on a massive high, absolutely buzzing with a night of brilliant moments replaying in our minds. I couldn’t help but think about how much the Tapes, as well as Triple Sundae, would’ve smashed The Fest if things had worked out better. These two bands, as well as Katie MF, deserve all the success in the world, not just because of their brilliant music but because they are amazing people.

This review was written by Colin Clark. Photos by Emma Prew.

Album Review: The Distance Between by Arms & Hearts (by Emma Prew)

We all know that 2020 has been difficult and strange year for a lot of reasons. It’s been an odd year for new music although there has been plenty of it, all things considered. Personally, despite starting the year being excited to discover new artists and hear new albums from my existing favourite artists, it got to a point over the summer and into autumn where I just wasn’t that enthused about listening to music in general – new or otherwise. There have however been some exceptions to that, including the album I’m going to be talking about today!

The Distance Between is the much-anticipated debut full-length from Manchester-based Arms & Hearts that was released on 13th November. We’ve been fans of solo songwriter Steve Millar, aka Arms & Hearts, and his heartfelt acoustic punk for almost as long as this blog has been around. I know fellow CPRW contributor Richard was very impressed by this album so hopefully I can do it some kind of justice in my review. Read on and see what you think…

The Distance Between opens with the somewhat bleakly titled Epitaphs. After a few seconds of an almost eerie sounding fade in, the track begins with some firm strummed acoustic guitar chords. The first lines of the song – ‘I didn’t come here to talk about dying, but lately it’s all that I’ve been thinking about’ – are indeed pretty bleak but it also feels honest and genuine. The song is about dealing with feelings of existential dread that unfortunately goes hand in hand with suffering from depression. There’s a sense of building throughout Epitaphs that feels very appropriate for an opening track and it leads us nicely into track number two. Kerouac On A Minimum Wage is up next and the pace is immediately ramped up for this melodic and catchy tune. There’s a lot more going on instrument-wise here compared to Epitaphs with steady drums, great layered guitar parts, subtle baking vocals (which I believe are courtesy of Sam Moloney of Mixtape Saints) and a decent dose of harmonica – have I mentioned that I love a bit of harmonica? The song is about working in a soul destroying minimum wage job in our unavoidably capitalist society and struggling to make ends meet – ‘This is how we live when we ain't really living, this is how it feels when the wheels ain't spinning, cursing Christmas lights as we welcome another year, another year of just scraping by’. It’s definitely one of my favourites on the album, maybe even one of my favourite songs of 2020. Track number three, Forever The Pessimist, opens with a wonderful melodic electric guitar part that is backed up by acoustic strumming. One of the things that immediately struck me about this album, particularly compared to some of Arms & Hearts’ previous releases, is just how much fuller their sound is. A full band Arms & Hearts live performance is certainly something I’d love to see one day. Forever The Pessimist is about Steve’s journey to sobriety and coming to terms with the fact that alcohol isn’t a suitable coping mechanism when you’re already struggling. It’s hopefully a song that some listeners will be able to relate to and find comfort in.

Obviously, by this point of The Distance Between, we know that this isn’t exactly a cheery, sunshine and rainbows album – but let’s face it, that’s not really my cup of tea. Things do however take a seemingly darker turn with Static. At the start of the song, the guitar playing is muted and Steve’s vocal feel bitter as he begins to sing of struggles with his mental health, focussing on the unpleasantness of having a panic attack. A real highlight of the track is towards the end when Steve’s vocals are complimented with backing harmonies – ‘because all I wanted was to feel something now all I feel is nothing, all I feel is empty’. It’s something that I know would/will sound incredible live. The fifth song, Community, features Jared Hart from New Jersey punk bands The Scandals and Mercy Union. The song is about life on the road as a touring musician and the sacrifices you have to make – both physically and mentally – in order to be able to do so, something that both Steve and Jared both know a thing or two about. Often the life of a touring musician can be glorified as a life of partying and seeing the world but the reality, at least for DIY punk musicians, is not so black and white. I’ve said it a few times already but this is going to be another great tune to sing along to in a live setting – it’s even got some classic punk rock whoa-oh-ohs. Up next is Out For Blood which, if I remember rightly, was the first single released from The Distance Between earlier this year – check out the excellent video by Fish Outta Water Films. This is definitely one of the more upbeat songs on the album and I mean that both in terms of melody and subject matter. Out For Blood is about eliminating toxic people from your life and the track is pure catharsis to listen to. You also can’t complain about the infectious nature of the chorus, even if it does have the potential to get stuck in your head for days. ‘If you're out for blood then come and get some, If you're out for blood then come and get some, If this year's taught me anything it’s how evil people can be, If you're out for blood then come and get some, If you're out for blood then come and get some, if you bring the lighter fluid I'll bring something to make a spark, and we'll burn it down.’

The seventh track on The Distance Between is titled Worry In The Walls. It’s a slower paced and more stripped back song than some of the others on the album but that simply allows the listener to fully focus on the emotion in Steve’s voice – ‘Will we ever find the money, to live half a life?, all this work to live to work beats it out of me’. It could perhaps be said that there’s a bit of a New Jersey influence throughout Arms & Hearts’ music – often compared, understandably, to Brian Fallon – and on Worry In The Walls I am definitely getting Bruce Springsteen vibes. The haunting harmonica playing that breaks up the song and the horns towards the end further support this. The penultimate song on the album is its title track, The Distance Between. Starting slowly with a muted guitar part and hushed vocals, The Distance Between gradually builds into something with such a huge, dare I say epic, sound. It’s unlike anything else on the album before it – very much a full band affair with layer upon layer of dreamlike guitar parts. The song reaches its final crescendo with thirty seconds to go before fading out in a distorted fuzz. The album could have ended there and it probably would have made perfect sense… It doesn’t and that’s okay because what comes next is the icing on the cake for me. Fortitude is not a new Arms & Hearts song, having originally been recorded in 2017 and featuring as a live set closer for many years, but I was so happy to hear it as The Distance Between’s closing track. I’m sure I’m not the only one who would consider Fortitude to be my favourite Arms & Hearts song and this new version is just even more wonderful. It’s an acoustic track that somehow manages to have such a big sound and instantly begs you to sing along with Steve. There are some flawless group backing vocals on the track that really give it a similar feeling to hearing the song live. I love it and it’s honestly just awesome to finish listening to the album with a big smile on my face.

I was always going to like whatever Arms & Hearts released next but The Distance Between has surpassed my debut album expectations. Yes, it’s got some quite dark and, at times, miserable subject matter but there’s also a real catharsis to it all and there’s no denying that it ends on a more hopeful note. An excellent album in a not so excellent year.

Stream, download and [pre]order the vinyl on Bandcamp now and like Arms & Hearts on Facebook.

This review was written by Emma Prew.

Album Review: Black Light by Ash Ellis (by Emma Prew)

Ash Ellis is a solo acoustic songwriter based in Southampton. Taking inspiration from the likes of Ducking Punches and The Front Bottoms, Ash aims to ‘add a folk spin to punk orientated vibes’. The Black Light EP, which consists of three fully polished tracks and two bonus demos, was released on 24th October and the artwork immediately enticed me to have a listen.

The EP opens with its title track, Black Light. It’s a slow builder of a track and one that is on the quiet side of the folk punk spectrum with a wonderful gentle violin part that oozes emotion into an already emotional song. The song is about feeling lost and alone in life, with no real sense of purpose or clear direction with regards to what to do next. It sounds a pretty bleak subject matter but the song does end on a more positive note – ‘And I don't know if this is worth it, Things always seem to worsen, So maybe I'll make a clean break from it, I refuse to die a nervous person.’ Opening with a soft strum of the acoustic guitar and the line ‘I'm spiralling through space and time…’, Black Light II: The Saddening unsurprisingly continues the melancholic tone of the first song – it is part two, after all. The Saddening is about wanting to open up to someone about how you’re feeling and what you’re going through but only if they can do the same with you. Ash displays a real skill with words throughout the song, not least in the chorus – ‘But like poetry you rhyme, The only sense that I could find, If you show me your insides, I’ll show you mine.’

The third song on the EP is titled Prison Love Letters. The songwriting on display in this song really reminds me of some of Frank Turner’s softer tunes circa England Keep My Bones – and I 100% do not mean that as an insult. There’s a great sense of storytelling throughout the track, it almost feels like you’re listening to someone reading the pages of a novel. Again, the music is definitely on the quieter side of folk punk but there’s so much going on in the lyrics that I don’t think it matters. The last two songs on Black Light are technically demos but that doesn’t mean they’re not worth checking out. In fact, the somewhat raw and unpolished nature of both Let The Strings Ring Out and Emotional Showman feels more accessible. I could definitely imagine watching Ash Ellis playing these live in a small bar or basement type venue, unplugged and with a group of happy music fans singing along to every word. The EP closes with some lyrics that seem pretty apt – ‘I’ll see you at the end of all this noise, There's so much fucking noise, And so much to destroy, See you at the end of all this noise.’

Stream and download Black Light on Bandcamp here.

Like Ash Ellis on Facebook here.

This review was written by Emma Prew.

Album Review: Blue Hearts by Bob Mould (by Chris Bishton)

By my reckoning, Blue Hearts is Bob Mould's thirteenth solo album. That's more than the combined output of Hüsker Dü and Sugar. It also comes just over a year after his last album, Sunshine Rock, was released and is his fifth in the last eight years. By any measure, that's pretty bloody prolific. So, does another album mean his standards have dropped? Not a chance! In fact, I say this new one is Mould's best in those last eight years.

With Blue Hearts, Mould is clearly fired up. I've always said that of all the bands I've seen live, throughout both my youth and adulthood, Bob Mould is consistently and without doubt the loudest of them all. Now, with this new album it's like he wants to inject that fabulous, ear ringing sensation directly into my brain. It's an album stacked with raging, passionate and angry songs with the familiar socio and political commentary we'd expect. Overall there's 14 tracks and only one of them is longer than three minutes. It demands to be played loud and it demands that you pay attention. Mould certain holds firm to his punk roots with this one.

Having said all of that, the first song is nothing like that! Heart On My Sleeve is an acoustic track. For a moment I think my stylus is knackered or the record is defective because, much as I love my vinyl, there's almost too much crackle on this. But I quickly realise this is part of the recording, almost as if it's intended to sound analogue. However, it isn't what I would call a typically beautiful acoustic punk song. Rather, it's haunting, referencing everything from climate change to broken government and he then sings "we're going to war, we're going to die." Whatever you do, don't put this one on your Christmas morning playlist.

From here on though, he cranks it up. Next Generation is an absolute blast. It's got a Hüsker Dü-esque zing to it and sets you up for the core of the album that follows.

Sadly, American Crisis could be about anything – George Floyd, the rise of far right, just anything the Trump administration says or does or the coronavirus. "Wake up everyday to see a nation in flames," he sings, "world turning darker everyday in a fucked up USA." Straight up, cataclysmic, matter of fact punk rock commentary, from a man that was singing about a US administration's mishandling of another health crisis with Hüsker Dü back in the 80s when Reagan refused to accept the threat, importance and even the existence of AIDs. "Never thought I'd see this bullshit again, to come of age in the 80s was bad enough," he screams. It's so depressing he's able to draw these parallels decades apart, but it's the best and most passionate track on the album.

Fireball follows and is another really punchy song with Hüsker Dü vibes, but the album then seems to pause for breath with Forecast Of Rain. It's sung emotionally, is slower and thoughtful. But, this direction is short lived. When You Left and Siberian Butterfly come next, cranking up the pace and fervour again. I particularly like the latter, Siberian Butterfly – a singalong song if ever I've heard one!

There are a couple of moderately slower songs as the album draws to a close, but they're still punctuated with bangers like Racing To The End, Password To My Soul and Little Pieces, before it finishes with The Ocean – a longer song that starts sedately enough before that tranquility is shattered by crashing guitars and feedback.

This really is Mould's best album for a while. That's not to say his others have been duds either! I always told myself that the day Riot Fest pulled off another coup by getting Hüsker Dü to reform would be the day for me to cross the Atlantic to go to that festival. That, sadly, can now never happen, but for me the next best thing will be getting to see him perform these new songs mixed in with all his previous classics. Blue Hearts is fast and furious, with echoes of Candy Apple Grey era Hüsker Dü. I love it and, if you're a fan of those previous high standards, you'll love it too.

Stream and download Blue Hearts Bandcamp here.

Like Bob Mould on Facebook here.

This review was written by Chris Bishton.

Album Review: Life, Death And Everything In Between by Stöj Snak (by Emma Prew)

Back in 2016, when I was still new to review writing, Colin sent me an album he’d received from TNS Records that he thought I would enjoy because it was ‘folky’ – folk punk being my thing. That album was the debut full-length from Danish four-piece Stöj Snak titled ScreamerSongwriter – I’d never heard of the band before, nor front person Niels Højgaard Sørensen’s previous melodic hardcore band Mighty Midgets at the time, but I did enjoy the album. I’m reluctant to re-read my 2016 review (or link it here – although you can quite easily find it, if you wished to) for fear of it not being up to scratch with my current review writing nor truly reflecting just how much I have come to love ScreamerSongwriter – so much so that I would consider it to be in my top albums of all time. That initial review also wouldn’t have captured how Stöj Snak have grown to be one of my most favourite artists – not to mention live performers.

Since ScreamSongwriter, Stöj Snak have released two EPs – 1000 Daisies in 2018 and a split with Speed Dinosaurs titled The Mass Extinction Split last year – and several video game soundtracks (I highly recommend checking out the game Figment, it’s very good). All of the above have been excellent but, of course, what I’ve been eagerly awaiting above all else is Stöj Snak’s second full-length album. The wait was finally over towards the end of September when Life, Death And Everything In Between appeared in the CPRW inbox and I did a happy dance before preparing myself to listen to what I’d already proclaimed to be my most-anticipated album of 2020. 

For Life, Death And Everything In Between, Niels is joined by Rasmus Glassau Clausen, Jeppe Nørgaard, Jesper Olsen – who each play quite a range of instruments – as well as a number of other guest musicians and vocalists.

The album is out on the 23rd of October on 5FeetUnder Records, TNS Records and Make That A Take Records. Please read on to find out just why you should listen to it as soon as you can! In short: It. Did. Not. Disappoint. (My review, however, is far from short so apologies in advance.)

Life, Death And Everything In Between begins slowly and calmly with Reasons To Smile. The track is almost entirely acapella with just some gentle organ playing starting over half way through the short song. It’s a beautifully distinct opening track that really grabs the listener’s attention and allows us to focus on every word that Niels is singing. Reasons To Smile is a personal song written for Niels’ child and is about acknowledging that the world is a pretty horrible place – ‘I know this world is not a place I would want to be born into’ – but hoping that they can live the happiest life possible despite this and ‘find reasons to smile’. It’s a perfect introduction to the album that leads us nicely into track number two – Trees. I knew I was going to really like this song, just from its title, before I had even heard it for the first time – hitting play, it did not let me down. Starting out with a drum roll and some fast paced strums of guitar, it’s clear from the outset that this is going to be a more raucous Stöj Snak tune. When the vocals come in, Niels’ voice has got that wonderful slightly raw quality that we know and love from previous Stöj Snak releases, without being too far down the screamy end of the scale. Trees is a wonderfully catchy song both in its lyrical content and melodies – I particularly love Jeppe’s subtle double bass part that sits comfortably behind the swift guitar strumming. Rather than literally being about trees, the song describes us humans as being like trees without roots to hold us down, trying to do the right thing and vote for the change we want to see in the world and our lives but being ‘blown apart when a storm comes around’. The (Not So) Great Depression fades in with the question ‘How do we escape, How do we escape, How do we escape, This not so great depression?’ before the whole band comes in full force, quickly matching and then surpassing the tempo of the previous track. As you might be able to tell from the title of the track, The (Not So) Great Depression is about how many of us find ourselves suffering with some form of depression in modern life and the track questions why this might be. The lines that struck me the most – although, of course, Niels is a master lyricist so it’s all gold – are ‘Is it the way you're disconnected from nature and apathy replaced your will to fight, Or how bright screens and gadgets steal your attention and all your spare time just passes by?’ The song has some wonderful transitions from fast paced verses with loud vocals to slower more muted sections before ending with full on screaming.

The tone changes completely for the fourth song on Life, Death And Everything In Between. Bliss Point was released in hand drawn and animated lyric video format in mid-September and, if you haven’t already seen it, then I highly recommend you go and watch it now. The video itself is captivating and is a wonderful accompaniment to a truly beautiful song. Opening with a steady finger picked guitar riff and subtle synth part before some distinct harmonica playing and the rest of the band come in, Bliss Point is one of the more mellow sounding songs on the album but that is definitely not a bad thing. It’s also one of the longer songs on the album, clocking in at 6 minutes, but it never feels too long. The song builds and builds throughout its duration with the real highlight coming well over half way through the song as Niels declares ‘I don’t want to leave, Let’s live while we’re still breathing, I don’t want to leave, And dream before we fall asleep’. I can’t express how much I want to sing along to that at a Stöj Snak live show one day. Hopefully I can. Next up is Wants/Needs which opens with a surprise trumpet part (a guest appearance from Sara Harrington) and instantly reminds me of long-standing folk punks Days N Daze. When the vocals and the rest of the band come in however, I soon forget any comparisons as this is classic lively Stöj Snak. I also want to refer to the song as joyful although I know that that’s not necessarily reflected in all of the lyrical content. Wants/Needs is about feeling like you want certain, often material, things even if those things aren’t what really matters in life. I just can’t help but smile and sing along to ‘Sometimes what you want are not the things you need, Sometimes what you want are not the things you need, While you fall, I’m hanging here right above you, Pressing on, I'm hanging here right above you, Hoping someone’s there to catch you.’ Sensible Utility wastes no time in getting going and soon confronts the listener with a thought-provoking and, I’m sure, very relatable subject matter. Niels sings of seeing a child suffering in poverty on a charity advertisement on the TV before uncomfortably turning it off as well as feeling uneasy when passing a homeless man on the street. The chorus asks ‘We’ve got to fucking help them, don’t we? What kind of humans are we if we don't? We got to fucking help them, don’t we?’ before coming to the conclusion ‘But we can't save the whole world on our own’. It’s true but I think – and I think what Stöj Snak are trying to say is – that you can always try to be a better, kinder person and make a positive impact on the world, however small that impact may be.

Kicking off immediately with a melodic bass line, rhythmic guitar strums and percussion, This Condition tackles similar themes to The (Not So) Great Depression although this time it feels more personal. Niels sings of having feelings of melancholy despite being ‘better off than most’ and having been brought up with ‘food, education and toys’ but feeling like because, at least on the outside, your life appears to be great, you cannot complain or feel sad. I know some listeners will take great comfort in these lyrics and will also enjoy the cathartic singalong that takes place towards the end of the track – ‘Maybe these songs will never really matter, But it matters that we try, First step to change is seeing a pattern, That we can break if we rise, The future belongs to those holding on, When you sing along, I'm holding on, Na na na (etc.), Let’s sing along!’ The eighth song of Life, Death And Everything In Between, Drink From The Well, is one that I was already well acquainted with due to its inclusion on 2019’s Mass Extinction Split. It’s an upbeat, bouncy and super catchy tune that certainly doesn’t sound out of place on the record so I have no complaints about its inclusion. The song is one that’s more obviously about the consequences of climate change than perhaps anything else on the album but the idea that it will not have the an impact on us necessarily but our children and future generations instead is a theme that runs throughout the album. ‘We've poisoned the waters and ruined the crops so what do we say our kids turn to us, And ask us to justify all this mess – they will reap what we saw.’ The review pack for this album helpfully includes not just lyrics but also which instruments appear on which song, and who plays them, so I’ve learnt that the sort of twanging instrument throughout Drink From The Well is a jaw harp – and I love it. With its soft piano lead opening, it’s clear that Songs About Beliefs is going to be a slower track that gradually builds up throughout its duration. Like Bliss Point earlier on, this is one of the longer songs on the album. It’s also so incredibly emotional and moving, so much so that the first time I listened to it I almost teared up – probably the fact that I was driving at the time was all that was stopping me. It’s just that heartfelt and passionate. I must have listened to Life, Death And Everything In Between over twenty times before actually sitting down to review it and this song still hits home just as hard as the first time I heard it. It takes us on an incredible journey from simply feeling like everything in the world is shit to really trying to get better and do better. The whole song is a hugely cathartic experience but the crowning moment is towards its conclusion, after an impassioned harmonica performance – ‘Rise and sing, all of my fallen friends, If just for tonight, live our beliefs, Rise and sing, all of my fallen friends, Let’s be the change we want to see. Yeah, let us sing for the whole world to hear, expose our hearts, our hopes and ideas, And for once be true to ourselves and make things matter, If it mattered once to dream like this, we can make it matter now.’

As the album begins to draw to a close there’s yet another change in musical style for a minute long bluesy number titled Smoke. With a slightly more electronic feel than much of the Stöj Snak back catalogue (‘programming’ and ‘feedback’ are listed in the credits for this song), it actually wouldn’t feel out of place on one of Niels’ video games soundtracks. There’s a very dark feel to the song as Niels sings of smoke rising above the trees. Whether that smoke is the result of industry or a burning forest hardly matters as it is the same negative impact to our planet either way – ‘Ignite the world with hatred, kill till there’s nothing left to kill’. The penultimate song of the album is Fire which could easily be considered the second part of Smoke, at least in terms of its themes. However, unlike Smoke, this is the classic Stöj Snak energetic and punchy sound that we’re already familiar with. It’s also a fine combination of melodic, catchy lyrics – ‘Fight fire with water if you really want to put it out’ – and screaming vocal moments. The song is about how humans are so stuck in our ways, fighting wars and causing destruction, that there’s not even a valid reason for it anymore. As you can probably imagine, it’s a pretty angry sounding song, best displayed in the bridge – ‘They prosper from division so they want you to hate them, But fuck all the weapons and fuck all this hatred, If your beliefs are worth killing for then set an example and start with yourself, Stop killing people and go to hell.’ Life, Death And Everything In Between has been quite the journey so far but it’s not over until we take in its epic nearly 11 minute long album closing title track. Starting with clear vocals and stripped back instrumentation of only guitars, even from the beginning of this song it feels like the ultimate culmination of everything that’s come before it and its initial simplicity seems to echo the album’s opening track. I can’t even begin to quote and analyse the lyrics of most of this song – the lyric sheet I have goes over two pages – but it really does feel like Niels covers life, death… and everything in between. Like the other slower tracks on the album, this closing track has a great sense of building throughout, complete with a harmonica solo around the 6 minute point – I honestly love a harmonica solo more than a guitar solo. It’s the last two minutes of the song that really pull on your heartstrings as Niels passionately sings ‘I hope you'll dance till you drop, Sing back at the madness, Let the tune lift you up, Carry you on so you keep on smiling, I hope you'll dance till you drop, Punch holes through the sadness, Give all you’ve got, When shadows fall, burn like a fire, Burn like a fire. I hope you'll dance till you drop, Bring light to the darkness, But when the sun comes back up, Take a brief break to hear the silence.’ Honestly, it’s superb. What an incredible way to finish an album.

I went into this review of Life, Death And Everything In Between with high hopes but Stöj Snak have completely blown all of my expectations out of the water. It may have been four years since they released their last album but you can really tell that every single detail has been considered here. From start to finish, this album is a masterpiece and I’ll be raving about it for week, months and years to come.

You can stream Bliss Point and Fire and pre-order Life, Death And Everything In Between (plus other goodies) on Bandcamp here.

Like Stöj Snak on Facebook here.

This review was written by Emma Prew.

Album Review: Kids Against Crosses and François Freygolo Split

I love splits and I love checking out bands from Europe that I’ve never heard of. So when I came across a split by French acts Kids Against Crosses and François Freygolo I was keen to check it out. There isn’t much about Kids Against Crosses on the Internet except what I could find on their Bandcamp page. I discovered that they are from Cagnes Sur Mer and they’ve been releasing music since 2010. François Freygolo is a member of the ska punk band Freygolo who are from Nice. I also discovered that the split is being distributed by the always brilliant Krod Records.

Kids Against Crosses begin the split with their song Last Chance To Be Worried. This is an acoustic guitar lead song accompanied by a trombone. If you’re aware of Gainesville’s Coffee Project (featuring Buddy from Less Than Jake), you’ll get an idea of the sound. The song begins quietly with some soft guitar playing and the vocals. The vocals immediately catch my attention with their powerful delivery and the fact that they’re much poppier than I was really expecting. When the trombone comes in it’s a very nice surprise. This is a very loud sounding acoustic punk song and I’m into it. The duo’s second song is titled Casino. What really struck me about this track when I first listened to it was how much I wanted to sing along with it. I can fully imagine being in a tiny room packed with people singing along so loudly that you drown out the singer’s vocals. That sort of thing gives me goosebumps. The Kids Against Crosses half of the split is faultless and I’ve discovered a favourite new band.

François Freygolo’s first song is titled What Haven’t I Got. I was surprised to discover that this is actually a full band effort as I was expecting just a man with his acoustic guitar. The song starts in a big way with some big “whoa-ohs” to get things going. From that moment I was excited to see where the track would go. Much like Casino, the song feels like a sing-along from that opening moment. I think it’s fair to say François’ vocal isn’t as poppy as the chap from Kids Against Crosses. This is countered with some great gang vocals that made me feel like a part of the song. Punk is about being inclusive and What Haven’t I Got certainly gives you that feeling. It’s Gonna Rain is a softer and slower track that includes a xylophone and a string accompaniment. It’s a nice contrast to What Haven’t I Got and shows a different side of François. This is a sad love song where François sings about how his mental health puts a dark cloud over him even when he feels like he should be happy. Something I’m sure a lot of people will relate to.

Check this split out and then go and listen to all of Kids Against Crosses and François Freygolo’s other work. You won’t be disappointed.

Stream and download the split on Bandcamp here.

This review was written by Colin Clark.

Album Review: 30 Days, 10 Songs by August Radio Project (by Lee Morton)

Although we are all feeling the loss of live music, one of the few positives to come out of the whole COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lock-down is the way artists have evolved to stay relevant and keep in touch with their fans. For some the lack of touring has given time to develop ideas and/or finish albums but for those new artists looking to take their crucial first steps what do you do?

Well, for August Radio Project, you set yourself an almighty challenge and then document the whole process via Instagram stories, Facebook/Instagram weekly live sessions and even a podcast. This colossal undertaking was to create 10 songs from scratch in 30 days, from writing, recording and releasing. That’s one song, created from scratch, every 3 days. I’m exhausted just thinking about it.

August Radio Project is the new solo venture from Benedict Gould, who some of you may be familiar with as singer/guitarist with London based “punks with horns” Ghouls, who sadly called it a day last October. Initial thoughts that this would simply be an extension to that quickly dissipated as this is very much Benedict’s baby and, as such, explores his love of Country/Americana inspired music.

Opening track “Mumma, It’s Over” is an up-tempo, jangly song, which reminded me of music from a spaghetti western, although sped up. As one of the more in your face songs here, it’s a great introduction – hooky and so instantly memorable that by the time the chorus comes around a second time you’re singing along. The alternating heavy verses against the quieter chorus give this a real balance as well as impact.

Probably the most Ghouls-like sounding, in fact I was almost waiting for the brass/horns to kick in, “To The Beach” follows and is especially relevant in the current climate and something we can all identify with, that is the need for a holiday. Stripped back, as all the songs are here, it’s a simple little ditty that is best served with sand between the toes and a nice cold drink.

Much slower and deeper on introspection, “Fly” is all about those big life decisions, those sink or swim moments where you grab life to try and make a change for the better. I feel that this style of song really suits Benedict’s voice and could possibly be the direction his music takes him in the future.

The next song, “Your Bucket List” has an interesting story behind its creation. “Story” being very apt here as Benedict uses the titles of books he had lying around at home to help create the lyrics. An unusual method that sounds haphazard but somehow is skilfully brought together into a cohesive whole.

One of my favourites from this collection is up next in “Estonia”. One of the first trips abroad I took with my now wife was to Tallinn in Estonia, so it will also hold a soft spot in my heart. It’s another track, like “To The Beach” that reminisces about simpler times and has a homely campfire singalong vibe to it.

At the halfway point now and you’d think signs of a mental/creative fatigue would be setting in but “The Shuffle” shows no sign of that. A playful song that compares life with card games and gambling, it breezes along on jaunty guitar strokes that capture a jazzy mood set against smoke filled gambling dens.

Track seven, “Jigsaw”, explores relationships and makes great use of reverb/echo in the vocals which marry well with the topic as it feels like his words are sometimes being lost in communication. The riff sounds slightly distorted as well, adding to the outer body experience.

Things turn a little spiritual in next track, “Inside Of Me”. Working on the basis that everything is part of the same energy in the universe and that we are all “one”. To be honest I struggled with this song, despite a number of listens. There are some nice touches with the harmony and tone of some of the vocals but I felt like it wasn’t sure what direction it wanted to go in. At points you were waiting for it to really kick in but it never did.

Another song I couldn’t quite get on-board with was penultimate track “Play The Blues”. It refers to a quote that “if you can play the blues, you can do anything”, but unfortunately blues is a style that I don’t feel really suits Benedict’s voice. Stylistically it works, there is definitely a bluesy aura to the music and pacing of it but I need my blues filled with regrets and whiskey, which this doesn’t quite reach. Hats off though for challenging yourself and stepping outside your comfort zone.

The final song on what was a monumental undertaking, “I’m Listening”, is another that tackles relationships and how we communicate. It’s underpinned by African style marimba, a percussion instrument similar to a glockenspiel, which along with some chanting gives the track a worldly tribal, almost spiritual feel to it. There is also a bit of an Ed Sheeran sound in parts, perhaps because of the way the song is looped, which whilst I’m not a fan there’s no denying that he knows how to write a catchy tune.

Over the ten tracks here there’s a wide range of styles and influences, which is interesting to hear but can come across slightly disjointed at times. This is not meant as a criticism, more an observation and appreciation of the challenge that was taken on. Perhaps, once live music can take place again and these tracks are performed in front of an audience, the songs will take on a new form as Benedict’s performing style overcomes the substance of the tracks. With the plethora of solo artists treading similar ground it will be exciting to see how August Radio Project develops but one thing’s for certain, he doesn’t shy away from a challenge so don’t expect this to be the last we hear from him.

Stream and download 30 Days, 10 Songs on Bandcamp here.

Like August Radio Project on Facebook here.

This review was written by Lee Morton.

Album Review: I Hate My Life, I Hate Myself, and Everyone Hates Me Except For My Dog by Snow Day (by Emma Prew)

Browsing the ‘folk punk’ tag on Bandcamp recently resulted in me discovering acoustic punk artist Snow Day. A self-proclaimed ‘mediocre singer-songwriter masquerading as a punk’, Meghan Burke describes I Hate My Life, I Hate Myself, and Everyone Hates Me Except For My Dog as being about going through a really rough time – ‘I was experiencing feelings of hopelessness and self hate and the only one who was there for me during that time was my terrier Delilah.’

The first of four songs on the EP is titled Lucky. Opening with some simple strummed chords, the vocals soon come in and begin to tell their impassioned tale. Lucky is about the all too real struggles that many young people experience today (in this case in America but it applies elsewhere too) – working hard to get a decent education and then struggling to get by with a minimum wage job at the end of it. The addition of violin for the chorus really lifts the song, particularly alongside Meghan‘s anger-fuelled lyrics. Caffeine is up next. Here Meghan sings more specifically about suffering from depression and anxiety, perhaps as a result of the life struggles mentioned in the previous song. However, the song is as much about trying to be better as it is about mental health problems. ‘Don't think that I'm pathetic, please don't think of me that way, I’m running out of things to lose, I'm just trying to find my way, My hands begin to shake, my head begins to sway, Maybe ’cause caffeine makes me sick, but I drink it anyway.’

The third song, Alone, feels very personal as Meghan sings of having serious trust issues as a result of a toxic relationship. There’s an understandable amount of venom to the vocals that, along with the brusque strums of the guitar, really make you feel the pain in the words that are being sung. Towards the end of the song, Meghan shouts ‘I wish I never met you’ which further which further emphasis the pain and anguish. Throughout the EP, but particularly on this song, I was greatly reminded of Days N Daze’s Whitney Flynn which is definitely no bad thing. The final song is called Going To Rutland. Starting out with some distinct muted guitar playing, this is a fairly slow-paced song – not that the others have been especially fast paced, mind you – which allows the listener to focus on every word. Going To Rutland is about revisiting somewhere that holds both good and bad memories and the mixed feelings that this results in. Although the anger is still there, it does feel like some sort of conclusion to the thoughts and feelings that were discussed on the previous tracks and ends the EP well.

I’m not sure how long Snow Day has been playing music – this appears to be their first release on Bandcamp – but I will be keeping an eye out for more from them in the future.

You can stream and download I Hate My Life, I Hate Myself, and Everyone Hates Me Except For My Dog on Bandcamp and like Snow Day on Facebook.

This review was written by Emma Prew.

News: Toodles & The Hectic Pity Release New Acoustic EP

Bristol sweethearts Toodles & The Hectic Pity have just released a brand new EP titled Familiar Pieces Of Furniture. The EP was recorded during Lockdown at their respective homes in Bristol and South Gloucestershire and mixed by the band’s drummer Dom. The EP features stripped back versions of songs from their two previous EPs Call In Sick (2017) and Ghosts, Guilt And Grandparents (2020).

https://toodlesandthehecticpity.bandcamp.com/

The band have been donating all proceeds from their Bandcamp to United Friends & Family Campaign and will continue to do so until June 19th.

The songs were originally intended to be composite videos produced in collaboration with Dan Canvin. Here's the first video for Ducklings.

Top Tens: Sam Russo's Top Ten Punk Rock Influences

1. The first ten seconds of Ignition by The Offspring.

The first punk music I remember hearing and really relating to. I remember having my tape player and putting in this really uninspiring looking tape I’d borrowed from a friend. It just looked like shit. I assumed it was metal because it reminded me of Load by Metallicca which had just come out but I remember taking it and thinking ‘The Offspring. That sounds way cooler than Metallica.’ and oh man was I right. I sat down on the school bus, put my knees up and stared out the window like always, then I pressed play. Hearing Dexter screaming ‘FUCK’ over and over and then the drums kicking in with that beat. I remember thinking I was going to die I was so happy. I felt like I’d stepped into a suit of armour that had been forged to fit me perfectly. I laughed, my palms got sweaty, I was headbanging and I wanted to run into school and flip over the tables and dance around singing, I was just fizzing with energy. I felt like I’d found my soundtrack. I used to just rewind that bit over and over! That was when I realised eeeeveryone setting all these rules about what you can and can’t do in music and in life was completely full of shit. Not everything had to be nice, or macho or good looking, you don’t have to do or like what everyone else does, and there’s a place for everyone – even the misfits. No more sitting at the side of the disco wondering what’s wrong with me because I don’t want to dance to Backstreet Boys like everyone else – there’s nothing wrong with me, I’m different and that’s OK!

2. Skateboarding.

When I was a really little kid I discovered skateboarding and it totally changed my outlook on life. Paired with punk, it basically got me through school and my adolescence. Think about it like this: when you skateboard you try to do something with your body and a piece of wood on wheels over and over, sometimes hundreds of times, before you do it the way you want to. You fail constantly and you hurt yourself repeatedly. You look ridiculous and you push yourself to your absolute limit of what you can do physically and what you can tolerate mentally, and you do it alone in a car park at night for no reason whatsoever besides the fact that you want to because it’s fun. There’s no team behind you, no coach or ref or spectators, it’s just you and the brutality of concrete. There’s no judge besides you and nobody cares about what you’re doing. It’s rebellious, it’s liberating and it’s fun. I was not doing this somewhere where skateboarding was a thing – it was me and one other guy that I knew of using these terrible toy boards in a tiny village in the middle of nowhere. People thought we were complete idiots. The reason it inspired me as a person and helped me understand my own idea of what’s punk is because it was the opposite of school. School is where you have to go every single day in a uniform looking like everybody else to perform within this insanely tight, narrow framework of behaviour and attainment, where every single thing you do is ranked and graded and recorded and where you’re incentivised to do what you’re told purely by fear of punishment and failure – skating for me was a perfect counterbalance to this imposed developmental framework that’s policed and enforced by cowardly, brutal, often pretty ignorant adults (with a few exceptions!). You fail to play by the rules at school and you will have to do something horribly wasteful with your time and your precious youth – you’ll have to suffer meaninglessly punitive punishments like sitting silently in detention with the other ‘bad kids’ or writing the same thing in lines hundreds of times and watching the teacher tear it up when you’re done. This teaches you nothing. You get put in isolation away from your peers for being angry and saying the wrong thing – you stay angry until you’re so angry you have no choice but to internalise it, then you’re just exhausted and you feel ashamed, confused and lonely. Then they let you go home to do your homework. Nothing is achieved. Skateboarding helped me see why that doesn’t work, and why it’s fucked. Skateboarding makes everything a canvas. If you’re riding along on a skateboard, you’re leaving everything behind you and you’re creating art out of movement. You’re in the moment. It taught me to embrace and celebrate failure and to find the humour in fucking up. It showed me a world within a work and introduced me to incredible artists, photographers, bands and musicians, language, clothes, places and people. Skateboarding introduced me to hip hop, rap, funk, all kinds of music I’d never heard before and it showed me places I’d never seen. The streets of southern California will always go through a fisheye lens before they reach my brain because I was obsessed with skate videos. I’d decided what I thought punk was by this point and getting into skating stopped me being narrow minded about it. Public Enemy was punk to me, skaters like Louie Barletta busting out crazy angular tricks in cardigans and argyle was just as punk to me as Corey Duffel and Dustin Dollin in their leather jackets. Tony Hawk was punk because he was goofy looking and shy, Chris Roberts was punk because he didn’t party, Rodney Mullen was punk because he was a nerd, Chad Muska was punk because everyone hated him! Skating gave me a physical outlet and a mental and spiritual vehicle to discover elements of culture that I had no access to otherwise. It always did and always does make me excited and happy. Even when I eat complete shit.

3. Julian Giles Harding.

When I was 15 I auditioned on bass for a band called Cry For Vengeance. I knew the guitarist, my friend Billy, but none of the other band members. Billy took me to rehearsal having vouched for me saying I was a good bass player and I was into punk and the singer had agreed to meet me and give me a shot. We got to the youth centre where they practiced and I this guy Julian was already there. He was pacing around rubbing the back of his neck, looking tall, mean and scary as fuck. He had spiky red hair and was wearing a white school shirt covered in what I assumed was blood. He also wore huge black boots and skin-tight black jeans full of holes everywhere but the knees. I said ‘Hi, I’m Sam’ from across the room and he literally looked up from his pacing, sneered at me and waved a hand in my direction like he was shaking salt on chips. I loaded in my gear and plugged in while a few kids heckled me through the glass doors that lead through to the youth centre proper – one of them called me queer and another one offered to fuck my dad for me which I found pretty confusing so I just smiled and nodded, but I heard this Julian guy behind me say in a really soft voice ‘ignore them, they only want a fight’. I looked up from my bass and he was standing in the middle of the room just staring at them and grinning like something out of a Clockwork Orange. They trickled away and he shifted his stare over to me. I thought for sure he was insane and immediately wished I wasn’t wearing my X-Files t-shirt and camo shorts. He had a gold microphone that looked like it belonged on a kids karaoke machine in one hand and a wrinkled piece of yellow notebook paper in the other. I could see the handwriting all slanting and angry with no crossing out, corrections or scribbles. Just line after line of visceral, articulate, precise, honest lyrics. He asked me if I’d learnt the songs and I said Billy had showed me them. Billy had set up his amp and stood silently in the corner the whole time. When Julian started speaking, he put a rubber strap on his glasses and got into a position I’d never seen him stand in before. In our other band he always stood hunched and floppy and stared at his fretboard grinning. Now he stood like he was about to run at me and headbutt me in the dick. The whole room was humming with electricity and anticipation and it all hung on this Julian guys’ next word. He lifted the rusty yellow mike to his mouth and screamed ‘THIS FUCKING SONG IS CALLED SONG FOR THE SCABS, FUCKING 1, 2, 3, 4!’ and we just ripped into it. He introduced it like there was 500 people watching and sang it like it we were headlining Woodstock. The song was this muscular, rolling, spastic blast of mangled rock ’n’ roll scales and screaming and I played it so fast I nearly broke my fingers. It was the first original punk song I’d ever played and I felt like I was on fire from start to finish. At the end, this Julian guy walked over to me sweating and grinning with these huge crazy eyes and red hair dye all over his face and calmly said ‘Yes.’ Then he looked at Billy and shouted ‘Next. 1, 2, 3, 4!’ and Billy started playing the intro to the next song. After every song he just got warmer and warmer and more and more talkative and excited and we started discussing music and films and school and books and by the end of the practice I’d joined my first proper band and become friends with someone who I wouldn’t go a day of my life without talking to for the best part of 20 years. Jules is the most creative guy I know and since that band exploded and imploded like a mad barrel of acid, he’s always been one of the biggest musical and personal influences in my life. He’s had such an eclectic artistic life it’s mind boggling – he made an incredible acoustic album, reams of wild, ahead of it’s time electronic music, he had a sick heavy rock band called BRO, he’s made videos and animations and short films, he’s just a creative monster and a true freak of nature. He showed me really early in my musical life how to be myself and say ‘fuck you’ to anyone who gave me shit. I was playing while climbing all over filing cabinets and jumping onto chairs, playing laying on my back and he would just get pumped up by whatever weird shit I did. It’s been like that ever since he’s always been there for me. He produced Storm and Back To The Party and I can honestly say I would’ve given up long ago if it weren’t for him. Not just on music, but probably on myself in a lot of ways too. He’s the funniest person I’ve ever known and the most original free thinker I’ve ever met. I’ll tell you about the time he took a keyboard to the face for me another time…

4. Pennywise – Live At The Key Club.

My favourite live album ever, one of my all time favourite punk records and relevant here because it really gets your imagination going. This album is as close to going to a punk show as you can get by just listening to a record and there’s just something about how raw it is that transports me to the show. The energy is insane, I love how fast the songs are, the crowd is going completely turnips and every time I listen to it I get lost in it and feel like I’m actually there. Cramps live at Napa and Johnny Cash prison records do something similar for me. There’s something really edgy and charged about the set. I will always go to that record when I’m pissed off or depressed. A real leaky old battery up the ass.

5. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

They’re pizza loving mutants who spend most of their lives underground and fight tyrants in big machines – they’re the ultimate punks! I have always loved the Turtles and I think the duality of their fun-loving nature mixed with their shady, violent outsider lifestyle and freak status has always resonated with me on a way deeper level than a comic book or cartoon really should! I constantly agonise over who’s my favourite, I mean it’s obviously Donatello, but I’ve come to realise that we are all all of the Ninja Turtles. The best of us just have more Donnie than the rest. Also, Splinter is my hero. Foot sucks, Cowabunga.

6. Music videos. 

I’ve always loved ’em. Just a portal into another world. The ones that had the biggest influence on me are When I Get Old – The Descendents, Down – Blink 182, Heroin Girl – Everclear, Same Old Story – Pennywise, Da Hui – The Offspring, I Don’t Wanna Grow Up – Tom Waits and Back To School – Deftones. Just watch ’em. Everything I love about music is in those videos.

7. Stephen King.

I love Stephen King and his books constantly inspire me and help me relax and escape real life. I love a lot of literature and poetry, but nothing sucks me in like a King classic. My Mum got me into Stephen King and I will always thank her for that. She was reading IT when we were at Center Parcs when I was little and I was just making some cereal minding my own business thinking about how much fun we were going to have going swimming and shit when I saw her shout ‘OH FUCK!’, throw the book across the room and hide her face under her sweater. She’d been up all night reading it and smoking cigarettes and it scared her so bad she couldn’t even bear to hold the book anymore! I had to have me a slice of THAT. I got INVOLVED and I never stopped! He just writes good shit. Sometimes trashy, sometimes dumb, but always fun. Pet Sematary in particular is a fave. I have a big old Pet Sematary tattoo. I love Stephen King’s life story too. Writing Carrie while supporting a family by working nights in the hospital laundry and writing all day in your trailer home, then his wife finding the manuscript in the bin and persuading him to send it out to publishers? Amazing story.

8. The Lawrence Arms.

My favourite band. Most adults find it hard to pick a favourite band, I don’t. The Lawrence Arms are punk personified to me. Firstly, they’re the most intelligent, self-aware, funny, articulate and poetic lyricists ever. B.) They have consistently gotten better with every single body of music they’ve ever released. 4.) They sound like no other band – you can hear influences like any other band, but those influences are like riddles. You’ll be listening to a new Larry Arms song and second to second you’re hearing these accents, these little references. In one song you can just get all your bells rung at once ’til you have no idea what’s going on – you’ll think you’re hearing a little No Means No for a second, then maybe you think you hear a quote from Joe Dirt, but it could be Gabriel Marquez, then you vibe on some obscure 90’s hip-hop and a little tip of the hat to Poison and then you’re in the middle of a boozey, life affirming midwestern singalong and before you know it, it’s all over and you’re fucked. I got into the Lawrence Arms when Ghost Story came out and I’ve just been obsessed ever since. No band comes close. They’re the ultimate trio. They’re the musical equivalent of the perfect Bloody Mary, the best handjob you ever received and the feeling you get after you puke, all rolled into one. Brendan will HATE that analogy. Mostly because of his strong beliefs regarding handjobs. I could talk about this band all night but I’ll wrap up by saying that they are the best humans I know who play music. They’ve been so kind and generous to me over the years and who the fuck am I? I asked Chris for some advice about songwriting once and he put his arm around me and said ‘I’m gonna be honest with you, Sam. Nothing fucking matters.’ Now THAT’S a pal. Lawrence Arms. You’re either in, or you’re fucked.

9. Going to California.

A special place for me. The history of CA, the culture, the art, the films, the music, food, politics, lifestyle, geography; everything about California interests me and influences my life and my music. I love the sun and sand meeting concrete, graffiti and grime. Dessert, ocean, city, suburbia. I’ll keep this short because I’m literally obsessed, but I’ve never loved a place more in my life. Some of my best memories are of times I’ve spent in LA and all over California. I grew up with a pretty idealised and romantic view of life in California from books and movies and music but that didn’t in any way change how inspiring I find it. When I was a kid I did that thing where you write yourself a letter about the person you want to be – basically all I wrote was ‘Get to California’. Whether I’m getting California Donuts or Cactus with my lady or sleeping alone in a Super 8 in Santa Cruz, whether I’m playing a show at the Troubadour or hiking in the Hollywood Hills, going to a pool party with new friends, cruising overnight down the coast or swimming in San Diego – I’m just so happy and so excited to be alive. California keeps a little piece of me every time I’m lucky enough to visit and the thought of going back keeps me positive when I’m down. Just think of all the incredible punk music out of California and I guarantee you’re forgetting half. We made a classic California Punk playlist in the van on tour with Elway last year and it was something like 3 hours long. That’s a lot of 2-minute songs.

10. Red Scare.

Best punk label of all time, sir. Because of Red Scare I’ve played all over the world with all of my favourite bands and I’ve been able to make whatever music I want, release it and have people actually hear it. Nobody gets to do that these days, it’s amazing. Tobias Jeg saved my ass, let me tell you. I’ve been to Enumclaw, fuckers.

Stream and download Sam Russo’s latest album, Back To The Party, on Bandcamp here.

Like Sam Russo on Facebook here.

Album Review: Back To The Party by Sam Russo

It's been five years since acoustic punk troubadour Sam Russo released a brand new album. After touring 2015's Greyhound Dreams hard for a couple of years, Russo seemed to step away from performing live as much to crack on with new album Back To The Party. Released by Red Scare Industries, Back To The Party feels like such an apt title for the album.

Opening with Purple Snow, hearing Russo's unmistakable vocal is like slipping on your favourite football boots. There's a comfort there that is built up over time and when you get to that level it will stick around forever, even if you don't wear them for a while. A better analogy is it's like being reunited with an old friend and things picking up from exactly where you left them long ago. You know what you're going to get from a Russo album but that doesn't mean you shouldn't check out Back To The Party.

While Russo predominantly plays acoustic guitar on the album, there are subtle additions and effects sprinkled throughout Back To The Party. To my knowledge, this is the most experimental Russo has gotten on any of his releases so far and it's a pleasure to hear. Some of the electric guitar effects add a fantastic amount of atmosphere to the album. Whenever I've seen Russo live, I've always been so impressed with how he manages to use his guitar as a percussion instrument as well as it's intended use. This helps to give his songs a great deal of extra energy. This translate well to Back To The Party, particularly on The Window, Young Heroes and Anne. Anne is a song that starts quite quietly but builds delightfully.

Russo writes some fantastic storytelling songs. The way that he uses his voice ensures he really takes you along for a journey. When he sings in a quiet and low register he has this ability to really captivate the listener and, when he lets go of the shackles and begins to belt his lyrics out, you can't help but want to sing along. Russo doesn't step away from his traditional stories of friendship and loss. On the surface, Back To The Party feels like quite a sad album but it does also offer a sense of hope. One of my big highlights on the album is The Basement. It's a song about remembering good times from a moment in your life after you have drifted away from it. This happens to be the album’s closing song and it feels like the best way to finish the album with a rousing chorus.

I've read a few reviews and comments saying that Back To The Party is Russo's best album yet and I am inclined to agree with them. It shows a slightly different step in musical direction but also remains completely Sam Russo. I assumed that the title of the album references Russo returning to the party but, after listening to the album a few times now, it could also be Sam welcoming us back to his party. Either way, I'm happy he's back. Hopefully the world will begin to fix itself soon so we can see these songs live as soon as possible.

Stream and download Back To The Party on Bandcamp here.

Like Sam Russo on Facebook here.

This review was written by Colin Clark.