Top 10 EPs of 2015

There have been a lot of great punk EPs released in 2015. Here are my top ten of them.

10. Modern Baseball - The Perfect Cast

This EP felt like it came out of nowhere. In the summer Modern Baseball pulled out of some festivals and tour dates so bandmember Brendan could deal with some mental health problems. During that time away they wrote this strikingly honest EP about living with mental health issues. 

9. Spineless Yes Men - The Death Of Denmark

I randomly met some members of Spineless Yes Men on the tube after a Red City Radio gig and they told me about their band. When I got home and listened to this EP I fell in love with the sing-along pop punk. It had me reminiscing about growing up listening to Drive Thru Records pop punk bands such as Allister and Home Grown.

8. WACO - Sundown

WACO are one of the biggest surprises of the year for me. In all honesty I didn't expect to enjoy this band as much as I have this year. Sundown features five punk rock gems perfect for singing along with your friends. Agitation is one of the very best songs of the year.

7. The Fur Coats - Short-Brain

I first discovered The Fur Coats through a Make-That-A-Take Records compilation and I was hooked. This is brilliantly fun and unique pop punk music; lead singer Marc Ruvolo has a brilliantly distinctive voice.

6. The Kimberly Steaks - Chemical Imbalance

Scotland's three-piece pop punks released a great EP that I feel is about the journey you go on when you are struggling with your mental health. Combining Ramonescore with early 90s Lookout Records pop punk, The Kimberly Steaks have become one of the most talked about bands in the genre. There is also a fantastic cover of Something Good by Herman's Herbits.

5. River Jumpers - River Jumpers

2015 was quite a year for Brighton's River Jumpers. They had an almost complete line-up change and became a five piece instead of a four. Before all this change they released a new self-titled EP, which is classic River Jumpers, containing five brilliant melodic punk tracks that will have you singing along in no time at all.

3 & 4. Less Deceived - Average Songs About The Best Days Of Our Lives/It'll Never Get Better Than This

Hull's Less Deceived have had a very prolific year, releasing two of the best EPs of the year. They are both so good I couldn't pick between them on this list so they are having two places on it! Less Deceived play gruff-voiced, melodic punk that will have you singing and throwing your fists in the air in equal measure. This band have the potential to be absolutely massive!

2. Forever Unclean - Shreds!

Denmark's Forever Unclean are another wonderful find that I discovered through Make-That-A-Take Records. They got announced for the label’s Book Yer Ane Fest so I checked them out and became hooked on the EP Shreds! Shreds! is a six song EP containing some fantastic fast and furious skate punk. The band barely pause for breath throughout and the whole thing is incredibly catchy. Absolutely fantastic live as well.

1. The Briggs - The Briggs

I may have missed something but The Briggs seemed to come out of absolutely nowhere with a brand new self-titled EP this year. I have adored the LA based band for years now and had kind of given up hope on any new material from the band. Then I saw on Bandcamp that this EP had been released and I was super excited and then slightly worried that it wouldn't live up to my high expectations of the band. I had no need to worry though, as The Briggs released an absolute classic of an EP. It's a more grown-up sounding Briggs than we're used to, focusing more on intelligent lyrics and musicianship than they perhaps have in the past. Every song is amazing, now here's hoping they find their way back to the UK so I can finally see them live.

Top 5 Festivals & All-dayers of 2015

This year I made a big effort to attend more festivals and all-day punk events. These events are good for seeing a lot of great bands that you normally wouldn't get to see and for discovering some new favourite bands. Something else I always love about festivals and all -dayers is that bands who are for the most part inactive appear to play specials sets that you wouldn't see anywhere else. This year I managed to get to eight festivals or all-dayers; here are my top five.

5. Manchfester 3.5 at Retro Bar, Manchester 3/10/15

Moving North do some absolutely brilliant work within the Manchester punk scene putting on gigs and all-dayers. This year Manchfester 3.5 happened and Emma and I decided to travel up to Manchester to see some of the best bands from the UK scene. It was headlined by Bangers and also featured Great Cynics, Doe, Stay Clean Jolene, Former Cell Mates, Andrew Cream, Fair Do's, Control, Gut Model, Selma Thurma, Pale Angels and a surprise set from Apologies, I Have None. All of the bands were great on the day but Bangers really killed it and showed just how good they are. Retro Bar is only a small venue but felt perfect for an event like this. It was a small, intimate show with great bands and a really friendly crowd. What more could you want on a Saturday?

4. Late Summer Skank at The Fleece, Bristol 6/9/15

I was having a conversation with Avon recently about how ska punk bands don't seem to tour as heavily as they once did. This makes all-dayers like the Later Summer Skank held at The Fleece in Bristol all the more important as it was a chance for some of the best ska bands in the UK to get together and show how strong the scene still is. It was headliners Random Hand’s last Bristol show, and they were ably supported by JB Conspiracy, Imperial Leisure, The Talks, Beat The Red Light, Faintest Idea, Ghouls, Slagerij, Tree House Fire, Jake and the Jellyfish, King Tut's Revenge, Chas Palmer-Williams, Geistfight and Muff Said. The Fleece is a great venue for an event like this, it has the unique element of feeling fairly intimate without you ever feeling packed in like a sardine. Plenty of room for skanking and plenty of skanking there was. I enjoyed this show so much that I convinced Emma to come back to Bristol with me for the Fleece's Xmas Skankfest.

3. Slam Dunk Festival at Hatfield University 24/5/15

In the past nine years Slam Dunk has become one of the most popular alternative music festivals in the UK bringing in some of the biggest bands from all over the world. A reason that Slam Dunk is such a popular festival is because it features acts from all sides of the alternative spectrum whether it be metal, emo, hardcore, pop punk or ska there is something for everyone. I of course was there for the punk and ska music which was represented well by Reel Big Fish, Millencolin, Goldfinger, Zebrahead, Lightyear, Big D and the Kids Table and Survay Says. This was my third year in a row attending the festival and in all honesty it had the least amount of bands I wanted to see but for the few that I did I was incredibly excited for. It was my first time seeing Millencolin, Goldfinger and Big D as those bands very rarely tour the UK and the mighty Lightyear played some very rare shows. All of those bands and the others that played were absolutely fantastic and gave me some memories I won't forget in a long time (despite getting kicked in the head during Zebrahead’s set).

2. Book Yer Ane Fest IX at Buskers Dundee 27-29/11/15

I've been wanting to attend Make-That-A-Take Record’s annual Book Yer Ane Fest for a number of years and in 2015 I finally made the long journey North for the Festival. Featuring the best from the Scottish punk scene as well as a smattering of English, Welsh and international acts BYAF brings the Scottish Punk community together in a celebration of all the great work they do throughout the year. There were just too many bands playing to list them all but some of the highlights from the festival were Billy Liar, Forever Unclean, Rational Anthem, The Murderburgers, Great Cynics, Paper Rifles, Elk Gang, Will Wood and Robot Doctors. The thing I loved most about the festival though was just how welcoming everyone at the Festival was, from the organisers, to the bands to the audience, everyone was incredibly lovely and this help made my weekend in Scotland such a special one. In all honesty BYAF could have quite easily been number one on my list if I hadn't missed the first night because of a Megabus and horrible traffic problems.

1. Manchester Punk Festival at Soundhouse, Manchester 17-18/4/15

The Manchester Punk Festival is one of the most exciting things to happen in the UK's punk scene in a number of years and could easily become our version of The Fest - the biggest punk festival in the world. 2015 was the first time that MPF has happened and it was without a doubt a huge success. Headlined by The Filaments and Apologies, I Have None the festival featured an amazing line up of bands and artists from our scene that proved it is stronger than ever. From the Creeper show on the first night of the festival to the 12 hours of punk rock fun on the second day it as just non-stop. Over the weekend I managed to catch over twenty different acts, all of which were superb. Highlights included Leagues Apart, Just Panic, Stand Out Riot, Crazy Arm, Roughneck Riot, Dead Neck, the cover sets and of course both headliners. The organisation of the festival was amazing; everything seemed to run so smoothly which is quite the achievement when you consider the amount of bands that played the festival and the fact that this was a small DIY festival. I enjoyed myself so much at MPF as soon as tickets became available for next year's festival I snapped them up straight away despite only a handful of bands being announced, such is the faith I have in the organisers to put on another perfect weekend.

Top 50 Songs of 2015

50. PMX – Brave Face (Dark Days)



49. Spoilers – Punks Don't Die (Stay Afloat)



48. Shit Present – Anxious Type (Shit Present)


47. Creeper – Honeymoon Suite (The Callous Heart)


46. Ghost On Tape – All Our Friends Have Disappeared (Into The Maze)



45. Orphan Killbot – Son Of Misfortune (Orphan Killbot)



44. Don Blake – King Of The World (Pocket Universe)



43. Bottler – Rotten Routine (Rotten Routine)



42. Arms Aloft – Three Altars For Rats (Living Black Spots)



41. Milk Crimes – I Don't Wanna Be Alone Again (Milk Crimes)



40. Dan Peters – Aba (ABUELA.MADRE.AMANTE)



39. Vanilla Pod – Wishing Well (Seeing Out The Sunrise)



38. State Line Syndicate – Amor (Go Back To The 90s)



37. Up For Nothing – The Faker (Up For Nothing/Resolutions 7")



36. Modern Baseball – …And Beyond (The Perfect Cast)



35. River Jumpers – Playground Politics (River Jumpers)



34. Science Made Us Robots – Headphones (Paper Bones)



33. The Regressives – Revolution Ballad (The Regressives)



32. Demon Smiles – Penny For The Wise (Amped)



31. Nerdlinger – Twenty Five (Trend Setter)



30. Sam Russo – Sometimes (Greyhound Dreams)


29. Paper Rifles – Turn The Lights Down (Songs For Ophelia)



28. Bangers – I Don't Feel Like I'll Ever Be Clean Again (Bird)



27. Spraynard – Applebee's Bar (Mable)



26. Happy Accidents – Rather Not Know (Four Way Split)



25. The Decline – I Don't Believe (Resister)



24. Smokey Bastard – Baba Yaga (Back To The Drawing Room)



23. Teenage Bottlerocket – I Found The One (Tales From Wyoming)


22. The Smith Street Band – Wipe That Shit-Eating Grin From Your Punchable Face (Wipe The Shit-Eating Grin From Your Punchable Face)



21. Popes Of Chillitown – Wisdom Teeth (To The Moon)



20. MakeWar – Against The Rules (MakeWar)



19. Imperial Leisure – Victory Cycle (Lifestyle Brand)



18. Dynamite Dynamite – The Deal's Getting Worse (Apologies/Apathy)



17. Spineless Yes Men – Post Gig Blues (The Death Of Denmark)



16. The Fur Coats – One More Shot (Short-Brain)



15. Math The Band – BFFU (Math The Band – The Album)



14. Less Deceived – You've Heard This Before, Right? (Average Songs About The Best Days Of Our Lives)



13. The Kimberly Steaks – Change Your Mind (Chemical Imbalance)



12. Forever Unclean! – Excuse! (Shreds)



11. The Briggs – Gridlocked (The Briggs)



10. WACO – Agitation (Sundown)



9. Jake & The Jellyfish - Tour Talk (Dead Weight)



8. Millencolin – True Brew (True Brew)


7. Random Hand – Pack It Up (Hit Reset)


6. Great Cynics - I Went Swimming (I Feel Weird)



5. The Exhausts - Films & Adverts (Leave The Suburbs!)



4. Will Tun & The Wasters – Nobody Knows (The Anachronist's Cookbook)



3. Jeff Rosenstock – You, In Weird Cities (We Cool?)



2. Mischief Brew - O, Pennsyltucky (This Is Not For Children)



1. Red City Radio – Two Out Of Three Ain't Rad (Red City Radio)

Top Tens: Less Deceived's Top Ten UK Punk Songs

Break the Habit - So What if We Know All Our Audience by Name?

To my eternal shame I never saw Break The Habit live. But this song pretty much sums up every band I've ever been in. I think it's a common thread that joins most punk rock bands - we don't do it because it's a good idea, or because it's easy, we do it because we don't really know how to do anything else.

Fig 4.0 - The Beating of Luke Morgan

I first saw Fig 4.0 in a pub in Hull called Moriarty's that's closed now. Pretty sure they actually blew all of my face off. Melody and anger and irony and passion all blended into minute-and-a-half long songs. Hardcore done without the macho bravado that spoilt hardcore.

Caves - Bad Weather

The first time I heard this song was live at the Brudenell in Leeds when Caves were supporting Latterman. It made my heart hurt in the best way. Caves are one of those bands with such an honest live show that when they slowed things down and played this you couldn't help but take notice.

Gnarwolves - Limerence

A song about growing up and not being very good at it. It really struck a chord the first time I heard it, mainly because I'm also incredibly bad at growing up. I think a lot of our songs are about things that we did when we were younger, and looking back at them with older eyes, but this does that perfectly.

Whizzwood - Fagin

The best band to ever come out of Hull. Which is saying a lot, believe you me! Fagin is a song about being straight edge, which I've never been, and which Whizzwood weren't by the time I started listening to them. It's also almost pretty much the best thrashcore song ever written. Probably. Once when I was in trouble with the police I was wearing a Whizzwood T-shirt emblazoned with the slogan “Crime Pays When Pigs Die.” Good times.

HiTechJet - Should Have Left You on the Roadside

Hitechjet played in Hull at Ringside years ago and they were truly lovely people. I don't think anyone turned up to the gig, but I was there, and their mix of punk, hardcore, and a bunch of other stuff really hit the spot. Shouty and melodic, this song shows them off at their best.

Steel Rules Die - Our Time Honoured Tradition of Trying Too Hard

Probably the best song on the best split ever released (that'd be the Steel Rules Die / Winter in June split if you're wondering). I supported Steel Rules Die a couple of times in Hull, and they were always amazing, even when I was hungover and exhausted after sleeping in a conservatory for some reason.

Symposium - Farewell to Twilight

I remember waking up once thinking my brother was playing this song on loop in his bedroom across the hall. He wasn't, I'd just listened to it so many times during the day that I was hearing things. I don't know if that's something to worry about. Brilliantly simple indie rock that made me want to write songs.

Apologies I Have None - Bent Strings

I put Apologies on in Hull when they were a two piece, and I still think this is one of the best songs they ever wrote. The version on Done, not the version on Two Sticks and Six Strings. It's such a painfully honest song about loss, death, and religion, but it's also almost impossible not to sing along to it.

Ducking Punches - Big Brown Pills From Lynn

I could have pretty much put every Ducking Punches song on this list, but then it would have been too long. Utterly massive folk punk with the biggest chorus hooks. It reminds me of growing up in a little scene, and how dangerous it can be if you can't find the ground again after people lift you up.

Check Less Deceived on Bandcamp here: https://less-deceived.bandcamp.com/