RIP The Ramones

July 11^th 2014 was a very sad day in the world of punk rock music. The last remaining original Ramone Tommy passed away due to bile duct cancer. The Ramones were one of the most influential bands ever, arguably inventing the genre of punk. This blog is a tribute to The Ramones.

In 1974 John Cummings, Thomas Erdelyi, Douglas Colvin and Jeffrey Hyman formed a band New York City. Playing fast, loud and straightforward music that was influenced by bands that included The Beach Boys, The Beatles and The Shangri-Lahs, they wanted to make music that was not the same as the heavily produced pop music that was currently in the charts. Using simple chords and a quick tempo punk music was born. Taking on the monikers Johnny, Tommy, Dee Dee and Joey Ramone four men from New York were about to change music forever as The Ramones.

During their career The Ramones released 14 studio albums and 6 live albums along with a collection of compilation albums, singles and music videos. Sadly none of these albums were massive chart successes, the highest charting one in America being End Of The Century which hit number 44 though it did break into the top 10 in Sweden. Despite the lack of chart success these albums would go on to influence 1000’s of bands to go and make music. Without The Ramones there would have never been bands like Black Flag and the Descendents, without those bands there would be no Green Day or Blink 182 and without them there would be no Busted or McFly. Those last four bands have sold millions upon millions of albums between them, all due to playing a similar version of what The Ramones created.

Something that’s fantastic about The Ramones music is how modern it still sounds today. As I’m writing this I am currently listening to The Ramones self titled debut album and I’m thinking how these songs could have been released this year and not thirty eight years ago. It doesn’t feel dated at all. If I think back on other styles of music from back then to me they sound old and out of touch, which to be fair they should they are old songs. I grew up listening to a lot of Elvis Presley’s music; my mum is an obsessive fan – so much so there are more pictures of him up than me (her only son) in her front room. I don’t dislike his music at all and this isn’t a dig but I can’t imagine 1000’s of bands around the world wanting to emulate him in 2014.

One of my biggest pet peeves is the current trend of people wearing Ramones tops. You might wonder why that is; surely it’s a good thing that people are showing support. If they are wearing it because they are fans of the band, fantastic! Sadly I have discovered that many of the folks wearing these tops don’t even know that The Ramones were a band, let alone one of the most influential bands of all time. I really hope that one day they do realise they are a band and not just a brand and discover just how amazing they were. They might even discover they have heard a Ramones song at some point; I’m quite convinced that everyone knows the chorus to Blitzkrieg Bop.

“HEY HO! LETS GO!”

RIP The Ramones

Gig Review: Ducking Punches at The Windmill, Brixton 11/7/14

A sunny Friday night in Brixton was the perfect venue for a night of great punk rock music from some fantastic up and coming bands. Punk rock promotion company Till The Wheels was presenting Ducking Punches at The Windmill with support from River Jumpers, Wank For Peace, Other Half and Bro.

I arrived at The Windmill (having successfully found it using my good friend Google Maps) just in time to see Bro begin their set. Having been added to the show at the very last minute due to another band having to pull out I had no idea what they would be like. I was intrigued when they took to the stage without a bass player. They didn’t seem to need one; Bro played some fast rock music with a energetic drum beat with some nice vocals.

The next band up was three piece punk band Other Half from Norwich. Comprised of Cal and Sophie from Ducking Punches and Alfie on Drums they played a set comprised of 90’s style punk songs. Front man Cal I found to be an incredibly watchable front man and his in-between song “banter” was very entertaining. Definitely a band to look out for.

Up next was the surprise of the night, Wank For Peace from France. Armed with a frankly terrible band name WFP are a politically charged hardcore five piece band. It amazes me that a band would travel on a ferry to another country to play in a small pub to about fifty people. WFP did though and boy did they put a show. It was a set chock full of energy, fast aggressive music, big choruses and great gang vocals. I like how humble they were as well, constantly thanking everyone there for putting them on or coming to watch them. Wank For Peace gained some new fans tonight, myself included.

Brighton melodic pop punks River Jumpers were tonight’s penultimate band. I’m a massive fan of these lads and was looking forward to seeing them for the second time. Kicking off the set with one of my all time favourite songs, the amazing Five Doors Down – a song that I can relate like no other. It’s about being out at a punk show whilst all of your friends are out at a club. Something I loved the first time I saw River Jumpers was how much passion they play with. Every song is played like it’s their last. River Jumpers are clearly a band who believes in what they do and love every minute of it.

Musically it was spot on and the harmonies were fantastic. Front man Nicholas Davis in particular was a ball of energy, playing fast and frantic and hopping around the stage like his life depended on it. A couple of times that the show is ours (the crowds) showing how he felt about the punk rock community and how there is no “them and us” it’s just us all in it together. Finishing with the brilliant Heartstrong (a song about being positive and not being afraid to do what you believe in) River Jumpers set was over all too quickly. With a new album due at the end of the year I am very excited to hear some more from these guys.

Now it was time for the headline act of the evening, also from Norwich, the excellent Ducking Punches. Ducking Punches are a folk punk band formed of members from bands such as Bad Ideas, Manbearpig and of course Other Half.

I’ve wanted to see them for a while now and jumped at this chance. They have had a very successful year as well having recently released their second album – Dance Before You Sleep and gone on tour with Frank Turner and The Sleeping Souls as well as playing Download festival. Tonight they were playing The Windmill in Brixton and were absolutely brilliant live. Like River Jumpers before them they played with so much heart and passion and put everything they had into their set. The crowd really responded to the band and got quite involved in the show by building a human pyramid and attempting some crowd surfing (much to the terror of The Windmills sound guy). Highlights of the set for me were the songs Six Minutes, a song about front man Dan Allen’s best friend who sadly took his life and Big Brown Pills From Lynn which drew the biggest sing along of the whole night.

Till The Wheels had put on a great night of underground punk rock all for just £3 a ticket. The Windmill is a fantastic little venue and it was great to see so many people out supporting these up and coming bands.

Listen To Ducking Punches Here: http://duckingpunches.bandcamp.com/

Listen To Other Half Here: http://otherhalf.bandcamp.com/

Listen To River Jumpers Here: http://riverjumpers.bandcamp.com/

Listen to Wank For Peace Here: http://wankforpeace.bandcamp.com/

Now Listening To Chapters by River Jumpers

Introducing New Town Kings

If you were to Google famous bands from Colchester (why you would I don’t know?) the only band that really gets mentioned is Brit Pop legends Blur. Other mentions I found were West End “star” Darren Day, guitarist Paul Allender from death metallers Cradle of Filth and apparently Jay Kay of Jamiroquai went to school at Holmwood House Preparatory School. Not exactly a massive list of stars even though they are all standouts in their respective genres. Now though there is a new band that we can add to that list of famous Colchester bands because coming out of the New Town area of Colchester is the New Town Kings. They are about to become huge!

For those who are unaware the New Town Kings are a nine piece ska band who formed in 2004.  Influenced by bands such as The Slackers, The Skatalites and The Specials the ska music they play is a modern take on the more traditional sounding ska from Jamaica in the 60’s rather than the popular ska punk sound that is more associated with ska these days. They have released two full length albums named Sound of the New Town and MOJO and more recently an EP named Pull and Rewind all of which are fantastic. All of these releases are perfectly produced and feature a wide range of instruments to create a wonderful ska sound. The songs are incredibly danceable and you will find yourself breaking into a skank when you’re listening to it anywhere.

Like all great bands the New Town Kings are at their very best when they are playing live. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing them five times live and every time I’ve left the gig with a huge smile on my face. Very few bands can get a room moving like the Kings can. Whether it’s the relentless engine room of the bass, percussion and drums or the upbeat guitars, the brilliant brass section or front man Dabs endless enthusiasm there is not a weak link in the band. A good testament of how good the musicianship in this band is this: in 2012 original front man Chris left the band. For most bands this would spell certain doom. Happily this wasn’t the case with the New Town Kings. They went out and found Dabs and flourished. I never had the opportunity to see Chris play with the Kings but after speaking to some real old school fans and they were saying it doesn’t matter who sings for them, the band are so good it doesn’t matter.

Something I really love about New Town Kings gigs is the variety of different people who attend their shows. You get men and women of all ages; you get street punks mixing with housewives and grandmothers. I remember seeing them at the Camden Underworld and finding myself dancing with an elderly lady with a walking stick. She kept telling me that these guys are “bloody brilliant.” I think she may have had one too many cherries, I thought she was bloody brilliant. There are very few gigs where this sort of thing would happen.

It’s a matter of when and not if the New Town Kings blow up. I can’t wait for them to make you rock and make your boots swing. (That’s a poor attempt to use their lyrics to finish the post)

Check out the New Town Kings here https://www.facebook.com/newtownkings

Gig Review: Jesse James at The Borderline 5/7/14

This would be a very special night. This would be a night that I didn’t ever expect to happen. This would be a night that in all likelihood could never happen again. Tonight London punks Jesse James were playing a one off gig at The Borderline near Tottenham Court Road.

For those who don’t Jesse James were part of a scene involving the like of 4ft Fingers, Captain Everything, Lightyear and Fletcher in the early part of the millennium. This was around the same time I was discovering underground punk rock and very much grew up on their music. All three Jesse James Album – Punk Soul Brothers, Mission and The Assassination of Jesse James all still receive regular plays on my stereo. Sadly they called it a day after the release of The Assassination Of never to be heard from again. That was until Slam Dunk announced that Jesse James would be playing the festival this year and I fan-girled more than I ever have in my life. At Slam Dunk they played a fantastic set and I assumed that would be that. I was so happy to be wrong. Shortly after the festival they announced the show at The Borderline and I quickly snapped up a ticket.

There was also support announced, another band from that era of UK punk rock, Vanilla Pod from Kings Lynn. I have to admit I wasn’t particularly knowledgeable on Vanilla Pod, I was aware of them from back in the day but never really gave them a proper listen and I absolutely no idea that were still together. When the five piece took to the stage it was clear straight away they were here to have a great time. The Borderline crowd quickly gathered to see them, many of whom were friends from bands who played with them a decade ago. Vanilla Pod’s skate punk sound was fantastic. The pounding drums, rumbling bass lines and aggressive guitars accompanied lead singer Rob’s vocals wonderfully. He spent the majority of the set pacing the front of crowd on the floor smiling as he sung some fantastic lyrics. I have discovered that next year will be Vanilla Pod’s twentieth anniversary as a band and are planning on doing something special. I will be looking out for that.

Up next it was the moment myself and the rest of the now almost full Borderline had been waiting for. It was Jesse James time! Coming on to the theme song to 70’s cop show Hawaii Five-0 I looked around the floor to see a lot of excited faces. When the six members of Jesse James took to the stage you could see they were also excited to play tonight. The great thing about reunion shows is that the bands play a set full greatest hits rather than a set full of newer songs people don’t know so well from a new album they are promoting. Jesse James played like they had been playing constantly since 2007 when they went separate ways. Every song they played sounded note perfect and was played with such enthusiasm. Obviously the band had aged but the energy and passion for the songs were still there. From the first song to the last the crowd were in great voice singing along to every song and dancing along joyfully. Jesse James most popular song Shoes drew a massive sing-along for the Chorus. The whole set was a highlight for me but standout tracks for me were Shoes (obviously), Growin’ Up, First Day On A Brand New Planet and Where Do I Belong. Guitarist Rich Warren that the gig hear and now was where he belonged and I believe many other people in the room felt the same. The band loved that so many people in the room were in old school Jesse James shirts and also showed that despite their time away they were in touch with the current UK punk scene with bass player Donagh O’Leary pointing out people in Random Hand, JB Conspiracy and one particularly handsome chap in an Anti Vigilante tee-shirt. They announced that they were about to play their final song of the night which drew a massive chant of JESSE JAMES! that really touched the band. Throughout the final song Freefall the crowd really went for it. People got on stage, some of the band got in the crowd to join in the dancing, some folk started sat on the floor in a line and did “row the boat” before finally we all took part in a circle pit to round up the night.

This truly had been a great night; it was great to see Jesse James back even if it was just for one night. So many great times were remembered and some more memories were added. On my way home I thought some more about Jesse James and that era of punk rock and got thought, how fantastic would it be for all of those bands from the P-Rock days got together and put on a festival. It would be the actual best day ever! Someone please make this happen!

Now Listening To Freefall by Jesse James

Gig Review: The JB Conspiracy at Fighting Cocks 3/7/14

A sunny night in Kingston at the Fighting Cocks was the scene for a fun filled night of ska punk. On tonight’s bill would be The JB Conspiracy from London with support from Scholars of Hemel Hempstead.

There was only a small crowd at the Fighting Cocks this evening which I found quite surprising.  Why? I don’t know but it didn’t affect Scholars energy during their set. Starting their set with an intro track before the drummer, the two guitarists and bass player and then finally the lead singer casually walked onto the stage from the crowd. Not that the singer stayed there long. Straight away he was pacing around the front of the crowd, getting into people’s faces singing. He was on a mission to make everyone pay attention to his band. The songs themselves were played fantastically well. To me it sounded like Fall Out Boy crossed with 30 Seconds To Mars but with more aggressive music. The songs were good and varied ranging from slightly mellow anthems to shouty in your face punk rock songs. Scholars played with a lot of enthusiasm and have a great stage presence. To tell you the truth I had a little listen to them before the gig and wasn’t a big fan but after seeing them live I will definitely give them another listen.

Next was seven piece ska punk act The JB Conspiracy. Having not seen them since the long awaited release of their new album The Storm I was excited to hear some of the new material live. The stage at the Fighting Cocks is one of the smallest I’ve seen so and I did wonder how they would all fit on the stage and if it would affect the performance in anyway. Straight away you could tell that the JB boys were going to give this everything. Guitarist and lead singer Matt jumped into the crowd and quite promptly fell over. Ever the professionals this didn’t phase the band at all as they stormed through the song regardless. After some minor sound troubles at the beginning of their set they soon got into full swing. Both saxophone players jumped into the crowd to encourage the crowd to start skanking and with very little encouragement we duly obliged. I love listening to The JB Conspiracy horn section. For me the only band that can match them in this department in the UK is the New Town Kings.  It’s impossible not to smile and dance along with them. Because of this I can’t really comment to much more on the rest of their performance. I was too busy skanking in the pit making new friends (after accidently butting heads with one lad). This is why I love ska shows, how many other places can you do things like this? I loved every song they played but personal favourites tonight were Drop Your Anchor, 1985, This Machine, Take Flight and Start Listening, I was however slightly disappointed that they didn’t play Say Goodbye because that has an awesome sing-along section.

Overall it was a fantastic little gig, all for only £5! If the JB Conspiracy play a gig anywhere near your home town go and see them. Or take a four hour round trip like I did, it will be well worth it. 

Check out music from The JB Conspiracy here: http://thejbconspiracy.bandcamp.com/

Album Review: Not Like This by Iron Chic

Iron Chic are a melodic punk band who formed in 2009 in Long Island, New York. In 2010 they released their debut album Not Like This on Dead Broke Records. This is my review of it.

Cutesy Monster Man kicks off the album with a mid tempo drum beat, before a bass line and guitar melody join in until they are finally joined by lead singer Jason Lubrano’s almost spoken word style of singing. This style makes Not Like This incredibly easy to listen to and sing along with. Cutesy Monster Man itself is about being frustrated with life and using music to let everything out. The lyrics “I Sold My Soul Now I Age But Don’t Get Old, And To This Day It’s The Best Deal I’ve Ever Made” are some that I really like.

The speed picks up with Time Keeps On Slipping Into The (Cosmic) Future. A song questioning the cycle of life and is it really worth it. It finishes with some fantastic gang vocals (I love a good gang vocal) singing “All I Am And All I Was Is Just, Blood And Dirt And Bones And Mud.” The albums urgency continues with one of my favourite songs on the album Timecop. This song is about being in too much of a hurry to grow up. Something I really can relate to as someone who definitely has Peter Pan syndrome. The lyrics “Remember The Pain Of Growing Up? It May Have Hurt But It Sure Was Fun, It Made Us Who We Are Now, Gave Us A Mystery To Figure Out” are some of my all time favourites.

The fourth song I Always Never Said That is probably the fastest lyrically on the album. After a short polished guitar introduction, then some “whoa-ohs” before the song explodes into life. It’s a song about not taking life to seriously. The lyrics “So Let’s Agree We’ll Always Laugh, Not Miss The Joke And Do What We Can, To Take It All With A Grin, And Not Be So Fucking Humourless” sum up the song and I think they are a great slogan to live your life by.

Not Like This flows along nicely with songs about working for the man, dealing with loss and getting on with different people. The eighth track In One Ear continues the massive sing-along’s that the album offers. It’s about the frustrations and struggles of being in a small band.

The slowest song on Not Like This is Bustin’ (Makes Me Feel Good), a song about not believing in a god is like a calm before the storm of the epic closer Every Town Has An Elm Street. This song is about finding a home wherever you may be. It starts off with a massively sing-able introduction and continues through out .

All of Iron Chic’s songs are full of relatable and intelligent lyrics, huge choruses and brilliant musicianship. They are passionate and chock full of great harmonies. Not Like This really sets a huge marker for how good Iron Chic will become.

Listen to Not Like This here: http://ironchic.bandcamp.com/album/not-like-this

Now Listening To: Say Goodbye by The JBConspiracy 

Introducing ONSIND

In 2012 I was looking on the punknews.org website like I often did and I came across a story showing a video of a bunch of acts covering the popular song Starships by R&B songstress Nicki Minaj. The acts featured RVIVR, Spoonboy and ONSIND. At the time I had only I had only heard of RVIVR before and had no clue that Spoonboy was in fact a solo artist and ONSIND are an acoustic punk duo from the North of England. I really enjoyed the cover and was encouraged to check out more music by them. ONSIND really stood out to me. This blog is about them.

Nathan Stephens-Griffin and Daniel Xllis formed ONSIND (One Night Stand In North Dakota) in 2008 in Pity Me Durham. The very first actual ONSIND song I heard was Heterosexuality Is A Construct.  This song is an anthem about not discriminating against a person’s sexuality whatever it may be. The bridge of “Love Is Not A Crime, And I’d Rather Colour, Outside Of The Lines, Love Knows No Gender And It’s About Time, You Nailed Your Colours Up Next To Mine” really shows what ONSIND are all about. They are about playing catchy pop songs that aren’t afraid to speak out and tackle big issues. Other topics they write songs about include politics (Pokémon City Limits), sexism (That Takes Ovaries) religion (God Hates Facts) and mental health (Suicide Is Painful). Some very serious subject matter I think you would agree.

ONSIND have released three full length albums (Dworkin’s Bastards, Dissatisfactions and Anaesthesiology) and a number of EPs and splits put on independent record labels Plan-it-X and Discount Horse in the USA and UK respectively. All of their releases are absolutely brilliant and I would recommend listening to them all, often but for me ONSIND are at their very best when playing live.

Granted I have only seen them the one time but it was a truly special night. Supported my Mikey Erg (who is a hero and will be featured in another blog soonish) I was amazed by their performance. Having not previously seen much acoustic music live I wasn’t really sure what to expect. ONSIND were fantastic live. This was for me what a live show should be like, everyone was involved singing loud and proud along with ONSIND. This was a room full of mostly strangers joining together as one, ignoring each other’s differences and just enjoying each other’s company. It was almost like a political rally as much as it was a punk show such was the noise from the singing crowd, there was at best fifty of us.

ONSIND are a fantastic underground band who should be huge. It would be fantastic to hear more music like this in our top 40 charts rather than the normal songs about girls, love and going to parties. Do yourself a favour and have a listen to ONSIND, they might become you’re new favourite band.

Here is there Bandcamp page http://onsind.bandcamp.com/

See them in London soon https://www.facebook.com/events/271511149687755/

Now Listening To I'm Not Going To Lie To You by Wil Wagner