Top Tens: Aerial Salad's Top Ten Punk Rock Influences

Top Ten 'Punk' influences in no order. No calling out my choices for not being punk enough. It was very hard to leave out Sir Elton John.

Weezer
You take your car to work. I'll take my board. Pinkerton is maybe one of the best albums ever written. I adore Rivers' songwriting, even though sometimes his lyrics make me cringe. 'I want a girl who will laugh for no one else'?! Chill out, son.

Green Day 1989–1996
What a shock that the band everyone compares us to are massively important to me. Yes, I fooookin love Kerplunk. Some of the most incredible songwriting ever. The melodies make me wanna cry, most of the songs do. Christie Road is THE most important song in my life. When I was in high school there was a field near a train line where me and all my mates would get stoned. We used to jokingly call it Christie Road but in actual fact it was somewhere near Ramsbottom in Bury – haha. There was a park near there (big up nutty P) and if I’d walk the extra long 2 hour walk home from my job at Maccies I’d go through it. On my last shift there, before moving to uni, I went the long way. I sat in the park alone, had a joint and listened to Christie Road in the rain and cried – knowing I'd never go back their again.

Descendents
Fave band ever. At Rebellion 2016, Milo breifly put the mic in my face during Thank You. Through Whale-eqsue crying, I blurted out the chorus. Banging.

Jawbreaker
The actual band I try to sound a bit like. 24 Hour Revenge is incredible.

Wonk Unit
Before Alex managed my bands, I knew a now ex guitar player in Wonk who I’d do loads of drugs with. But that's not why they're a major influence. It’s because of Alex’s beautiful poet-like songwriting. He’s ma hero. Wonk Unit fucking rule!

Incisions
My mate Jordan plays in this fucking RAD hardcore band from Manchester. Constantly preserving through roadblocks and always having fun. I love his band and they inspire me to have FUN.

The Sex Pistols
When I was 14–16, I was Johnny Rotten. My into to punk and in all seriousness a fucking killer band. RUINED by John Lydon being a c*nt. Fuck him and his racist butter pushing sexist demeanour.

Operation Ivy
BIG CITY, BIG CITY!

The Stone Roses
I know they’re not punk but fuck you they are one of my fave bands ever and are MASSIVELY influential on my songwriting.

The Flatliners
The first band I ever saw live. Bombed 1 gram of mdma and had the best nights of my life. Chris, after Daddy Wonk, is my hero.

Check out Aerial Salad here.

Album Review: Silent Unspeakable by Bear Trade (by Richard Mair)

The North-East's latest gruff punk heroes return!

This latest Bear Trade release, Silent Unspeakable, delivers what many albums try to do but very few achieve. It's a nuanced, clever and complex collection of songs whose secrets lie deep within it; and like any great album will most likely lead to a variety of interpretations and theories over coming years.

On the surface, it's clear any expectation weighing on The Bears hasn't impacted on their ability to put together a series of honest, personal and reflective songs that will only further enhance their reputation as one of the UK's finest exponents of heartfelt punk rock. Yet dig a little deeper and it's clear this is a very clever, articulate and passionate if somewhat nostalgic album that deals with British society. To fully appreciate this it’s best to start at the end.

Closing the album is "Transgressions in the Toy Shop"', an incredibly sombre and reserved song, delivered in a stripped down manner. It's a serious song, describing the state of the UK following Brexit. It's this poignant song that helps provide the context and helps bring the album full circle; take closing lines "All aboard the world, a ship with no sail and no anchor … that's the worst part cast me off", then opening line on the first track ("Sea Legs") "Not waving, but drowning…". This relationship with the sea is critical to the economy and life in the North East, and the album lives and breathes in the North of England in the best possible way, however these two songs in particular provide an external context of what is happening in the world at this moment in time and I'm certain this is a way of Bear Trade flashing their political teeth and saying how the decision to leave the EU will affect us all. The magic of the album is to bookend itself with these two songs but in between tell personal introspective stories of life and love that can be all affected by these external factors. It provides glimpses into real life with real people and situations that are all in some way affected by this bigger picture. Yes it's an honest album, but it's about doing the right things, admitting our mistakes and supporting each other and it deals with this subject matter majestically.

Aside from the aforementioned songs there are some notable highlights to enjoy; "As Long As We Have Tea" is possibly my favourite track on the album. From the quintessentially Britishness of the title, it's a massive song about being in love that plays to the strengths of the whole band. Personally I love the hi-hats in the bridge, it ratchets up the tempo slightly and really grabs attention but everything from the solo to the vocal delivery is done with care and passion and it shows how heartfelt this song is. "Family Planning" is another highlight, sitting in the middle of the album its opening lines remind us of the context of the album ("I'm sick of reading the news because this news is not news"), yet is really another personal monologue about growing up and not letting the future pass you by, all wrapped up with their big driving guitars and likeable north-east tinged vocals. In fact this personal approach to many of the songs helps give an insight into what real life is like for The Bears; "Bibojibs" is written about hot chilli sauce videos and is really a homage to the wonderful things family do (check out the Bear Trade Facebook page for more on this). It's moments like this and "Good But Best", dealing with the illness of a loved one, that give the album a beating heart. "Silent Unspeakable" covers a full range of human emotions and the wonder of life in such a poetic and passionate way that it requires repeated listens to fully appreciate.

Following debut album "Blood and Sand" was never going to be easy; it's an instantly catchy and accessible album, one that repeatedly finds its way on to my iPod. What Bear Trade have delivered with this follow up is truly something special; it's the sign of a band perfecting their craft but not straying too far from the formula that worked so well first time round. It's still fast, it's still gritty at times, it has all the fist-in-the-air moments delivered by songs like "Charge" or "Son of the Manse" just delivered with more guile and confidence.

Bear Trade have previously said they play sad punk for happy drunks. Certainly many of the songs deserve to be heard in a live environment where the beer is flowing, surrounded by friends and on the basis of this release I'm certain they will be making many new ones!

Stream and download Silent Unspeakable here: https://beartrade.bandcamp.com/album/silent-unspeakable

Like Bear Trade here: https://www.facebook.com/beartradeband/

This review was written by Richard Mair. 

Album Review: Always Why by Caves (by James Jackson)

Always Why is the latest release from three-piece Bristol outfit Caves. Released in the UK on Specialist Subject, Caves embody the kind of genuine, enthusiastic punk rock the independent label is known for. Having not heard that much of Caves before writing this, I gave their discography a spin before putting down my thoughts. The band make high-energy, grungy punk music with some attentive song-writing and there's definitely more of that to be found on this new LP. This newest record is their fourth, and while the sound remains the same, I'd say this might be their most considered full-length so far.

The new LP starts off strong with the first track, “Asleep”. A brief keyboard interlude overlaid with birdsong leads right into a triumphant spiralling guitar riff that rolls right into the chorus. It sets the tone for the rest of the album, with strong, fuzzy guitar underpinning confident vocals. The lyrics too, are indicative of what's to come, with the album as a whole dealing with some often emotive subjects. In this case, confronting with the thought processes and insecurity that inevitably come when you're suddenly disillusioned with someone in a big way. The combination of quite raw-sounding instrumentals and the almost confessional tone of the vocals is something that's definitely in the same vein of Caves’ previous releases – and that's by no means a bad thing.

While the kind of songwriting on this album is a feature of the band's sound, I feel like it's backed up by some more melodic structure on this record than their previous releases. Tracks like “Wait” even put me in mind of one of their acknowledged influences, Weezer, with almost chant-like vocals reflecting on bad relationship choices, over a chugging rhythm and a light sprinkling of what I think is a glockenspiel. The song “Dangerous” from later on in the album also gave me the same vibes. There's a good balance on the tracklist between these lower tempo songs and some punchier material. Songs like “Border” start off slow and contemplative, before kicking into gear with strong drumming and layered guitar. A standout track for me is “16”, with heartfelt lyrics about teenage romantic regret delivered almost like an anthem over racing, energetic chords.

Not every song on the album hits home for me. The lyrics can be a bit insular because of their personal nature and, while the album is generally well-paced with some great instrumentation, it sometimes loses its way a bit. The track “Feather” for example builds up to an engaging chorus, then loses it's way for me about two minutes into a four-minute runtime as it kind of dwindles away into a somewhat ponderous instrumental. On the whole though, this is a great album of authentic, bombastic DIY-punk. As an album, it's an enjoyable listen the whole way through and I'll come back to it a fair few times before the summer is over. I haven't seen Caves live before but I definitely will next time the chance comes up – they've just come off a European tour and I hope it's not too long until the next one!

Stream and download Always Why here: https://caves.bandcamp.com/

Like Caves here: https://www.facebook.com/wearecaves/

Album Review: Blake District by Don Blake

Back in 2015, Bolton pop punk band Don Blake released one of my favourite albums of the year. Named Pocket Universe, one of the album's main themes was the subject of mental health and how it affects your life. On June 19th, the four piece released a new five song EP named Blake District on Round Dog Records and I took a listen.

First up is the song A Broken Baritone. If you've listened to Don Blake before (and I hope that you have!) you know that they play Ramonescore pop punk music but they are so much more than just a straight forward pop punk band. Pace wise it's not so fast and in your face and there is so much melody. A Broken Baritone continues Don Blake's theme of mental health, with the song being about looking at yourself and realising things aren't okay. On the second track Lurking we are treated to a more of a traditional pop punk sound. Don Blake up the tempo on this song, a song that isn't quite 100 seconds long. It's bursting with hooks and incredible harmonies, however. When Don Blake do decide to pick up the pace they prove they do it just as well as all of their contemporaries. The Road Home begins with an excellent drum and guitar combo before lead singer Joe gently eases us into the track. Returning to the mid-tempo melodic sound, The Road Home talks about having the strength to carry on, trying to better yourself and not giving up getting to where you want to be. I loved the understated feel that the music has on the track. It allows Joe's vocals a chance to really shine whilst still adding a fantastic punch to the song. The penultimate track is On The Line. Another track with a great intro, drummer Nige does a fantastic job in providing a really danceable beat. I also loved the use of two vocalists on the track, this gave On The Line such a bigger feeling. I'm such a sucker for a song when there is more than one person singing, it gives such a great feeling of inclusion. Last up is No Stops. No Stops is another song about trying to get somewhere and having the incredible determination to get there. This track really shows off what fantastic musicians the members of Don Blake are with an extended musical interlude during the song which includes one of the best guitar solos I've heard in a long time.

Don Blake are one of the most underrated pop punk bands around. It makes me sad that when people talk about pop punk these days, it's bands such as Neck Deep or WSTR or The Wonder Years that they mention, whilst there are incredible bands such as Don Blake, who are releasing incredible music with lyrics that will really get you thinking and can even help you, get completely overlooked. Like everything else the Bolton boys have released, The Blake District is fantastic and deserves your attention.

Stream and download Blake District here: https://donblake.bandcamp.com/album/blake-district

Like Don Blake here: https://www.facebook.com/donblakeband/

This review was written by Colin Clark.

Gig Reiew: The Smith Street Band/The Bennies/Shit Present UK Tour July 2017

I am a big fan of the Australian punk rock scene and believe it's up there with the best in the world. The sheer amount of quality bands I've been discovering from that part of the world is astonishing. Two bands seemingly at the forefront of this rise in Aussie Punk are The Smith Street Band and The Bennies. Emma and I are both big fans of both bands so I'm sure you can imagine our excitement when it was announced the two bands would be touring the UK together along with another of our favourite UK bands, Shit Present.

It turned out Emma and I had a week off work booked for the first week of the tour and it coincided with our planned trip to Scotland. We originally planned to spend a few days in Edinburgh but as the tour would be heading to Glasgow we decided to visit that great city as well. That show was happening at a fantastic basement space named Stereo. We would also be attending the London show at The Garage the following week which was scheduled to be the final night of the tour - or so we thought. Whilst in Edinburgh, in what felt like the longest queue in the world (to get into Edinburgh Castle), Emma noticed [online] that one final show had been announced for the tour. The final show was scheduled for the day after the Garage show at The Montague Arms pub in South London, a pub that is run by many of The Smith Street Bands’ friends. We deliberated about going to the show briefly, we would be back late from the Garage show and had work the next day and would be super tired… But then we decided that it was Smithies, Bennies and Shit Pres in a tiny pub - of course we should go! Thank goodness for smartphones allowing us to buy tickets online.

Because we went to three shows on the tour, I thought that it might be an interesting exercise to review the three shows as a whole rather than each individually. I can compare the sets and talk about the good and the great of each show.

Shit Present

Seeing Shit Present three times in a week really cemented them as one of the very best bands in the UK scene for me. I've always thought of Shit Present as a bit of a supergroup considering the bands their members come from. In Glasgow this thought became even more poignant as Iona (guitar/vocals) and Ben (drums) were joined by Minty from Caves on bass and Andrew from Bangers/Specialist Subject Records on guitar. This didn't prevent them playing a great set - if you didn't know them you would have just assumed that this was always the Shit Present line up. Nic (bass) and Thom (guitar) returned for both London shows. The Garage show in particular stood out to me, out of all three shows. Shit Present are destined to play many more bigger stages over the years and they already look extremely comfortable on them. Their brand of indie pop punk became somewhat anthemic on the bigger stage and Iona's voice really carried well. Despite being on first, it was great to see them being able to play in front of a large crowd, the size of crowd that a band packed with so much talent deserves to be playing in front of.

The Bennies

I absolutely adore The Bennies. Ever since I first heard Rainbows In Space back in 2014 I've been hooked on them. Since then they've released two more superb albums and I finally had the chance to see them live last year when they played at the Camden Barfly. They took my breath away. All of that being said, I kind of felt like The Bennies and The Smith Street Band were quite strange bedfellows when it came to playing shows together. Both band's style of punk rock certainly falls into two different camps. A Bennies fan might not necessarily be a fan of The Smith Street Band or vice-versa. Before the shows I was quite curious to see how the crowds would react to their punk/ska/synth/reggae mash up. In Glasgow the crowd took a little bit of time to get going with The Bennies on stage antics but by the end of their set they had certainly finished their job of warming up the crowd. Watching The Bennies live it's nearly impossible not to get swept away in the infectious nature of their live show. The high energy songs and performance and the overall good time vibes that erupt from the stage leaves everyone smiling come the end of the set. They spring a surprise in their set as well as Smithies drummer, Chris, joins the band for penultimate track Party Machine. At The Garage and Montague Arms shows it took no time at all for the crowd to get into The Bennies. It was a pleasure to see The Bennies play a bigger stage but the set at The Montague Arms was probably one of my favourite sets of the entire year. The energy was out of this world. There was no need to encourage the crowd to sing or dance. With the opening sounds of Anty's korg blasting through the speakers for Party Smashers, The Montague Arms sprang into life and gleefully joined the band in screaming "Motherfucking London" at the appropriate moments in the song. The Bennies by all accounts are a pretty jovial bunch of fellas but you could see how immensely happy they were to be on stage at this moment. Smiling and laughing their way through an incredible set. Finishing the set with the excellent Knights Forever, there were some pretty poignant lyrics that for me really summed up my feelings whilst enjoying the set. "These Moments Get Lost 'Cos Our Memory's Been A Blur, Like A Sense And Feeling It Will Go On Forever, These Nights Are Not Rare And That Is Not Why We Care, We Are Who We Are And That Is More Than Enough, 'Cos People Around Me Make Me Feel Alive, And I've Got A Feeling That I'll Never Die" talks about the euphoria you feel after a great night out, this was certainly the case of at the end of every Bennies set over the past week.

The Smith Street Band

Where do I begin when trying to talk about The Smith Street Band? Arguably the greatest band on the planet. After seeing them three times on this tour, that now makes eleven times in three years for me. That's more times than any other band and considering that the band live in Australia I think that it's some achievement. When I first started listening to the band I was struggling through a particularly low point in my life and found some comfort in their music. It has definitely helped me come out of the other side of those struggles and am now at a point in my life where I can say that I am truly happy. I've seen The Smithies grow massively in popularity over the past couple of years but I have to confess that I was somewhat taken aback by just how popular they currently are. After watching them slay at Stereo in Glasgow (another of my favourite sets of the year) we turned up at The Garage and were shocked at just how many people were there! For a DIY band from the other side of the world to sell out the Garage is some achievement and to be honest I shouldn't have been surprised given just what an incredible band The Smith Street Band. The set for this tour was very heavy on songs from the brand new record, More Scared Of You Than You Are Of Me, an album that I enjoyed on my first listens but didn't really hit me in the good bits like Throw Me In The River did. After seeing and hearing so many of the new songs live now I definitely have a new found level of appreciation for an album I already thought was pretty good. Lead by Wil Wagner, The Smith Street Band are just on another level. Despite not being the most animated band around, they have this kind of magnetic energy that really pulls you in. I think that a big part of this is due to Wagner's incredible song writing skills. He has this ability to write these incredible songs that really give you a sense of catharsis whilst you sing along with the band. Speaking of singing along, that's what happened from the opening song of the set and continued to the end on every night of the tour that we went to - I suspect it was the same on every single night of the tour too. Brilliantly, even the new tracks went down a storm, perhaps more so than some of the older material they squeezed in. This is probably a sign of all the new fans that have jumped on board with the band more recently and haven't quite gotten around to digging deeper into the Smith Street Band discography. All three performances on the tour that I saw were absolutely first class (the only sour note for me was getting covered in beer and headbutted at The Garage show) but a special mention has to go to the Montague Arms show. In years to come this will be one of those shows where you can say "I was there" and folk will be jealous that they missed out on a show that will no doubt go down in history. 250 people squeezed in to the tiny pub in South London and sang their hearts out. I'm always a sucker for a small venue and this night was just perfect for me. After a brief deliberation about whether or not we should go to both London shows we felt more than vindicated about our decision. What an absolutely unbelievable night it was to finish off a trio of excellent gigs.

This gig review was written by Colin Clark.

Future Classics: An Introduction

After a recent conversation it dawned on me that it's been over twenty years since punk rock exploded in the 1990s. I won't explain the explosion here because the chances are that if you're reading this you know the story. If you don't, you are on the Internet, Google the film One-Nine-Nine-Four and that will explain all that you need to know. So many albums from that period of music are now considered classics. That got me thinking about something. What albums from this era of punk rock will be considered classics in twenty years time. It's naïve of me to think that there will ever be a punk explosion like there was in the 90s again. That was a special and unique time that will probably never happen again. That's not me saying that the music isn't as good, that couldn't be further than the truth. It's just that we have so much more music available whenever we want to hear it due to the Internet, streaming services such as Spotify, Bandcamp and Soundcloud, and social media, such as Facebook, Twitter and all of the wonderful blogs that exist.

My thoughts lead me down a path of thinking a great feature for Colin's Punk Rock World would be a "future classics" section where I take a look at albums released since 2010 that I think will be deemed classics in twenty years time. I took to Facebook to firstly ask the CPRW team for suggestions of who they thought what they thought would be a classic in twenty years. I then took to my personal Facebook page and asked my friends what they thought. These questions lead to some very interesting answers. A few that I had thought of myself, many that I hadn't and some that I'd never even listened to. This got me thinking some more. I couldn't possibly claim that an album I've never heard before is a classic and many people might disagree with my own choices. So I've come up with the idea of making a long running series of posts where I, the CPRW team and a series of guest bloggers suggest their own choice for a future classic.

If you have a suggestion for an album released since 2010 that you think could be a classic in the future and wish to write about it please get in touch here: hello@colinspunkrockworld.co.uk

We look forward to hearing your thoughts on Future Classics of punk rock!

Top Tens: Eat Dirt's Top Ten Punk Rock Influences

Descendents and Meat Loaf – Because fuck you.

Rise Against and Bad Religion – Melody and aggression!

Descendents, Rancid

Descendents – No reason needed.
Bad Religion – Against The Grain changed most of our lives and set us on our musical paths.
Frenzal Rhomb – Speed, meloody and fun! Buy the new album, it's the bees knees.
Lagwagon – Great band that keep delivering awesome music and tour non stop!
No Use For A Name – Great band, seen them a million times. The tragic loss of Tony Sly is still hard to accept, think of all the songs he would have written that we will never hear. Shit.
Second Shot – Fast band! Amazing harmonies and vocal lines, also check out their other band Symphony of Distraction.
Pears – We have a show coming up with these dudes and can't wait. They are absolutely bonkers live.
The Decline – Another of our Australian friends that write consistently great tunes, the best guys as well.
Rise Against – What a voice! Superb live band, blew our brains out at Groezrock a few years back.
The Beatles – Come on, it's the fucking Beatles!!

Stream Eat Dirt here: https://eatdirtuk.bandcamp.com/releases

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