Gig Review: Iron Chic at The Dome, London 23/4/18

What a weekend it had been! After three fantastic days in Manchester at Manchester Punk Festival and the next night in Bristol for a raucous Dreadnoughts set, we found ourselves in London to see Iron Chic headline The Dome in Tufnell Park. Originally the show was scheduled to be at The Lexington in Islington but due to the massive demand for tickets for the show it was moved to The Dome. After seeing them at MPF and being blown away yet again by the New Yorkers I was amped to see them again.

There was in fact a trio of bands that had played MPF over the weekend on the bill tonight with Dream Nails and Mobina Galore supporting Iron Chic. I hadn't been able to catch either of the support acts at MPF so this felt like some bonus bands for me. First to take to the stage were London four piece Dream Nails. Wearing some spectacularly glittery outfits (that immediately got me thinking about how their washing machines must get clogged up with glitter), they took to the stage with a great amount of swagger and confidence and quickly charmed the crowd with a high energy and well thought out live show. It was entertaining and thought provoking in equal measures. Dream Nails are one of a number of female and non binary bands that are proving that punk rock isn't just for boys, playing a great mix of indie and pop punk alongside of fast paced riot grrrl punk rock. It was the variation in their set that really drew me in. They didn't feel the need to conform to one style of punk rock, instead playing a style that suits the message of each individual song. Just some of the messages Dream Nails sung about were women's rights, safe and legal abortion, fascism and people not replying to text messages. I was so impressed with Dream Nails and look forward to seeing them again.

Up next were Canadian duo Mobina Galore. I last saw them supporting Against Me! at the Electric Ballroom a couple of years ago and was impressed. I'd also heard very favourable reviews of their set at MPF so was looking forward to seeing them. If you've not listened to Mobina Galore yet (shame on you) then the best way I can describe them is as a cross between The Distillers and Kamikaze Girls. It's aggressive and powerful punk rock that really grabs your attention. Jenna (guitar and vocals) and Marcia (drums and vocals) are two incredibly talented individuals who make some fantastic music. The crunching guitar and the hard hitting drums along with some of the best snarling vocals around create this wonderful sound that hits you right in the stomach. There was minimal talking between songs as they preferred to power through banger after banger. I did not mind this one bit as I was enjoying their music so much, in particular the tracks You're Not 23 Anymore and Vancouver. Mobina Galore are a fantastic up and coming band that will soon be household names within the punk rock scene all over the world.

Now for the second time in three days I found myself getting excited to see Iron Chic. After seeing them Saturday night in Manchester, I pretty much knew what to expect from the set list but this didn't prevent me singing the opening lines of Cutesy Monster Man at the top of my voice at the beginning of Iron Chic's set. Other than Bo Diddley Plaza in Gainesville this is the biggest crowd I've seen Iron Chic play to. Since they released You Can't Stay Here last year their popularity seems to have sky rocketed with plenty more people jumping on the bandwagon. That said this was perhaps one of the most static crowds I've seen Iron Chic play to. I'm not sure why, maybe because it was the start of the week and people weren't drinking as much? Maybe it was because people were exhausted from a busy weekend at Manchester Punk Festival and then travelled to Bristol to see Propagandhi? I dunno. That said, even though there wasn't much in the way of movement in the crowd there was plenty of singing and fists in the air from everyone inside The Dome. Iron Chic have carved out a reputation for being a fantastic live band despite not being the most animated of bands on stage. Instead of jumping around the stage they engage the crowd with their incredible songs that always get such fantastic reactions. Their set featured a good mix of all three Iron Chic albums with me personally getting most excited for the songs that come from Not Like This. At MPF I was a little surprised that the set wasn't heavier with new songs as this was Iron Chic's first time back in the UK since You Can't Stay Here was released but I'll never be sad about hearing the old favourites. The songs they did play from the newest album sound fantastic live and fit brilliantly into the set. This was a bit of a relief for me as You Can't Stay Here has definitely been an album that has been growing on me rather than one I fell in love with immediately. Iron Chic are one of the best bands in punk rock currently so it's no wonder that the shows keep getting bigger and bigger. As long as they keep coming back, I'll definitely be going to see them.

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

Interview: Mitch from Sweet Diego (by Dan Peters)

Sweet Diego, are relatively new on the scene – female fronted pop punk outfit from Birmingham with a fun sound yet thoughtful lyrics. They’ve recently released their second EP, The After Party, and I caught up with Mitch from the band to get some info on them and the new record.

Dan: There’s a lot of Quaid members in Sweet Diego, but the sound is markedly different. Was the plan when creating Sweet Diego to be a separate entity from The Real Quaid?

Mitch: Truth be told, it was the addition of Diana on vocals that makes us sound so different. She opened our ears to the newer type of pop punk and emo which is beneficial to how we write songs now.

Dan: Any particular influences you lean on?

Mitch: Me, Adam and Mike are still heavily influenced by Green Day, Teenage Bottlerocket, NOFX, Lagwagon and similar bands. Diana is influenced by anyone from and between Justin Bieber to PUP.

Dan: Hahaha, that's a hell of a spectrum.

Dan: Talk me through the meanings behind the songs, for such upbeat rhythms the lyrics are a touch on the dark side.

Mitch: I think with Diana her writing ability is very unique, especially for how young she really is. Our songs are about dealing with the pressures of growing up and finding yourself through love and failed relationships, moving from London to Birmingham to study or even online gaming to a certain extent. Small Steps is a personal favourite because it's about being stuck in a difficult place and trying to get yourself out of it.

Dan: Yeah I really like that one too. I was pissed to have missed you in New Cross for Düg Stock. Are you planning any more trips back down south soon?

Mitch: Nothing has been planned as of yet, mainly because all four of us have so much going on this year outside of the band. I'd love to play down south a lot more. I made so many amazing friends through various shows that The Real Quaid played. I'm sure we will back down later this year.

Dan: How about any other gigs planned?

Mitch: So far were supporting the amazing Get Dead in Stafford on 22nd April with our good friends Aerial Salad and Shackleford, who everyone should check out. After that we're playing Redditch on May 5th with Skiv, Swan Prince and Swaktang which should be a belter.

Dan: Awesome. It's great that you guys have something brand new to show off. I know you've always been an ambitious lot, any plans yet for a full length?

Mitch: Oh, we are so proud of the second EP and how it turned out. A full length would be great to do – despite us having great songs already, I believe that we've still got a lot more in our locker in terms of writing songs.

Dan: Hells yeah. Right I won't keep you anymore. Before we wrap up do you have any shoutouts?

Mitch: Big love to Shackleford, Triple Sundae, Eat Dirt, On a Hiding to Nothing, the guys at Umlaut, Rob Piper from Darko/Lockjaw Records, Swan Prince, Mark Deans, Paul Smith, Black Market Beat, Kiss Me Killer and Our Lives in Cinema. Also thanks to everyone who has come out to see us, bought merch or even took the risk of putting us on. You're all rad and we love you.

Stream and download The After Party here: https://sweetdiego.bandcamp.com/

Like Sweet Diego here: https://www.facebook.com/SweetDiegoBand/

This interview was conducted by Dan Peters.

Gig Review: The Dreadnoughts at The Exchange, Bristol 22/4/18 (by Emma Prew)

This time last year I had never seen The Dreadnoughts, one of my favourite punk bands of all time (probably my absolute favourite of the folk punk variety), play live before. By the end of 2017 I had not only seen The Dreadnoughts live but they had also released their first album for seven years, Foreign Skies, and what an album it was – narrowly missing out on being my number one album in my end of year list! I was pretty chuffed with this although I thought it was unlikely that I’d be seeing the band, or indeed hearing songs from Foreign Skies played live, anytime soon. That was until they announced their one and only UK date of 2018. I was ecstatic, until I saw when and where it was – the day after Manchester Punk Festival and Bristol. After umming and ahhing about how ‘sensible’ it would be to drive from Manchester to Bristol for one evening, knowing what sort of state I’d be in after the best punk festival of the year, I threw caution to the wind, booked the Monday after the gig off work (one of my last remaining holiday days for the year) and bought tickets. I’d worry about making the drive from Bristol nearer to the time and in the meantime I was hyped about going to see The Dreadnoughts again!

As it turned out, despite only having had 4 and a half hours sleep, the drive down to Bristol wasn’t so bad and we arrived with enough time to chill for a bit, grab some food and head on over to The Exchange. In fact we managed to time it so well that when we walked into the venue, the first band was just starting their set. That first band was called the Surfin’ Turnips. Now, I’d never listened to any of the Surfin’ Turnips’ music before but judging by their name, knowing that they were from the West Country and the fact that they’ve frequented festivals such as Outcider and Cursus, I had a fair idea of what they might be like. With their cider swilling lyrics and humorous performance, they were sort of what I was envisaging but they were also punkier than I expected. The band’s singer and guitarist actually mentioned the Ramones at one point and I’d be inclined to agree that musically they did sort of have a Ramones feel about them – just with added accordion and a slightly odd chap in fancy dress shaking some maracas. It was pretty bizarre but a whole lot of fun.

After popping to the merch table and buying a Foreign Skies record, The Dreadnoughts’ only album available on vinyl, we were positioned ready for the second band. Next up were the Skimmity Hitchers, another band from the West Country – well it made sense really as we were in Bristol, the capital of the West Country. I was surprised to find that Skimmity Hitchers were actually quite different to the Surfin’ Turnips. I mean, they still had songs about cider, a lot of songs about cider – Colin, a teetotal person in his sleepy and exhausted state was very confused about all the songs about cider – but musically they were very different to the first band we’d seen. Comprising of a double bass, electric guitar, drums and the occasional kazoo, Skimmity Hitchers turned out to be a sort of covers band with a twist. I suppose you would actually call the songs they played parodies rather than straight up covers as the recognisable melodies were there but the lyrics had been given a massive dose of Scrumpy and Western (that’s what they call it). Having the familiar melodies, such as Ring Of Fire by Johnny Cash, Lust For Life by Iggy Pop, American Idiot by Green Day and Walking On Sunshine by Katrina & The Waves, certainly helped to grab my attention although I’m fairly certain that the majority of the room was well familiar with Skimmity Hitchers already. For all their silliness, this was another band that proved themselves to be really great musicians and I thoroughly enjoyed their set. Any tiredness I ought to have been feeling was forgotten and I was now suitably warmed up to see the mighty Dreadnoughts.

Anticipation was running high at The Exchange. This show had sold out in no time at all and no doubt we weren’t the only ones to have travelled from outside of Bristol to see the kings (and queen) of folk punk play this special show. Soon the wait was finally over as the Canadian six-piece set foot on the stage – and it was great to see that they were a six-piece with their accordion player (who turned out to be the guy I bought my record from but I didn’t realise) over for this show, as he wasn’t with them at The Underworld show last summer. If I told you that The Dreadnoughts opened with what is the last song on their latest album you might think that an odd choice but did I mention that the song is called Back Home In Bristol? It all makes sense now, doesn’t it? Obviously the band are not from Bristol (they might wish they were) – that’s actually besides the point as Foreign Skies is a concept album about WWI – but needless to say opening with Back Home In Bristol, in Bristol, was a stroke of genius and it went down a storm. I may have already mentioned once or twice that I absolutely loved Foreign Skies and so it was so, so good to hear some of the songs played live, not least the album’s title track and my favourite song from the album. It was epic on recording and it was just as amazing played live – plus the crowd was crazily enthusiastic. I was loving every moment and not standing still for a second, although I was also trying to avoid ending up in a mosh pit or being elbowed in the face – these are the problems you have when you find yourself near the front of a raucous folk punk show such as this one. Alongside the new tracks I’ve already mentioned, The Dreadnoughts played the punchy Black And White, Amiens Polka (which is a polka, if you didn’t get that from its title) and the sea shanty Bay Of Suvla from Foreign Skies. Of course their set wasn’t all tracks from the latest album, they also threw in plenty of oldies for good measure including Antarctica, Polka Never Dies and Roll The Woodpile Down – the latter complete with the crowdsurfing drummer to the bar to get a cider shenanigans that I’d witnessed at their Camden Underworld show. There were plenty of other added extras included in the show which mostly involved various people joining the band on stage – audience members attempting to be morris dancers, some others having a Wurzels-style sing off and several cameo appearances from the likes Surfin’ Turnips, a guest accordion player (who was brilliant and I assume he was in a band but I’m not sure which) and, towards the end of their set, Smokey Bastard. Colin and I are fans of Smokey Bastard so this was a lovely surprise. As The Dreadnoughts drew towards the end of their set they unfortunately developed some technical difficulties with the electric guitar no longer working through its amp. I guess this wouldn’t be a truly DIY folk punk show without something like that going wrong. Thankfully this is a band that has mastered the art of the sea shanty and so they simply ended their set with a couple of those. I said in my album review how amazing frontman Nick’s voice is on recording and it was just the same live. Combined with other members of the band also lending their voices, this was a triumphant way to end an incredible set.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself watching The Dreadnoughts in Bristol and, even after the amazing weekend of Manchester Punk Festival, I would probably say that this is my single favourite live performance of 2018 so far. After all The Dreadnoughts are my probably my absolute favourite folk punk band of all time so I wouldn’t have expected anything less. It was well worth the 300 mile detour home from Manchester.

This gig review was written by Emma Prew. Photos also by Emma Prew.

Album Review: Peace Of Mind by Triple Sundae

Long time readers may well be aware that we're big fans of London based melodic punks Triple Sundae here at CPRW. The four piece have been going for a few years now and are getting more and more praise with each release and every gig they play. Back in April they released a brand new three song EP on the mighty Umlaut Records titled Peace Of Mind. I was lucky enough that guitarist Mike Smith sent me some rough unmixed versions of the songs and that got me really hyped to check out the finished product.

The opening track on Peace Of Mind is named Indecisive. Indecisive wastes no time in getting started with a guitar strum and a drumstick beat to count the song in before, boom!, guitarist and lead vocalist Hassan's incredible voice brings the song to life. Hassan has such a strong vocal, it's so melodic and is packed with such emotion it's impossible to ignore it. Something I've loved in previous Triple Sundae songs is the switches in melody and tempo that really keeps you on your toes. This trademark remains on Indecisive. It's a song about suffering with anxiety and how this makes it very hard to make choices, making you want to hide from the world. The following song, Soul Control, begins with a delightful guitar riff that kind of makes me think of cogs going round making a machine work. I don't know if this was on purpose or just how I'm interpreting the song but it works as a great metaphor for the track. This is because it's about understanding how your brain works and knowing when you're having a bad mental health day. The song is played at a mid-tempo pace which really allows for some great sing-a-long moments. The introduction to the third and final song on Peace Of Mind, titled Fabricated, is one of the best I've heard in quite some time! Drummer Zandro starts thing off with a simple drum beat and then we get this exquisite guitar section that puts a smile on my face every single time. I've listened about ten times now and I'm just in awe of it. From here we have another mid-tempo number which is hard not to get swept away by. Like the previous two tracks, Fabricated is about dealing with your mental health issues. I always have so much respect for anyone who can talk about their struggles in such an open way as it's a really important thing that we all must try to do. The band's ability as musicians is really showcased on this song with some superb work from Hassan, Zandro, Mike and Andy.

Peace Of Mind is a superb EP from Triple Sundae. After hearing the rough mixes already and loving them I was kind of surprised by just how much better the final mix turned out. In my head it couldn't get much better, could it? It bloody did! 2017 was a big year for Triple Sundae which included a lot of great gigs and a support slot with Jeff Rosenstock at the Camden Underworld. On the strength of this EP I have to guess that 2018 is going to be even bigger for one of the best up and coming bands in the UK.

Stream and download Peace Of Mind here: https://triplesundae.bandcamp.com/

Like Triple Sundae here: https://www.facebook.com/triplesundae

This review was written by Colin Clark.

Gig Review: Manchester Punk Festival 2018 Day Three 21/4/18

(Note: Colin's parts are in regular text and Emma's parts are in italic.)

It was time for the third and final day of Manchester Punk Festival 2018 (you can read about day one here and day two here) and it was going to be a long one as the opening act began just before 1pm and the final band was scheduled to finish just before 2am. This was going to be a long slog but also one of excitement, joy and a whole lot of singing, dancing and mates! What's becoming tradition for our MPF Saturdays is for us to head to the local Wetherspoons and eat the biggest possible breakfast to fuel us up for the day. Clearly we're not the only people to have this idea as there were plenty of people with MPF wristbands in 'spoons tucking into their reasonably priced breakfasts, including Bev, Kieran and some more of the MPF collective. After filling up we headed off for the first act of the day!

As seems to be the tradition for the Saturday of Manchester Punk Festival, the first acts start before 1pm but are acoustic-based artists at Underdog. This, in theory, eases you into what is the longest but most likely to be the best day of MPF yet. That is if your hangover lets you. None of our gang are massive drinkers so we didn’t have any hangovers to deal with, although that doesn’t mean we weren’t tired and achey, so after refuelling with a big breakfast we were ready for the start of day three.

The first act of the day was Carl Moorcroft, a solo acoustic chap from down the road in Liverpool. I reviewed his album On The Road way back in 2016 but I must admit that I haven’t listened to it all that much since then so I was pleasantly surprised when I instantly recognised many of the songs in his set. With some fast songs, some sad songs and even some songs with hints of ska, Carl Moorcroft’s performance was passionate and just what we needed not long after midday on the last day of MPF. There was also a great cover of Disconnected by Face To Face that got those at the Underdog who were perhaps less familiar with Carl’s own songs engaged.

Gutter Romance were next up in Underdog and they were one of the biggest surprises of the entire festival. Originally from the UK but now based in Germany, Gutter Romance are an acoustic pop punk duo formed of Spider, from the Zatopeks and Tungsten Tips, and Debby, also from Tungsten Tips. This was such a fun set full of humour and fantastic pop punk songs. Despite it being early, Gutter Romance were pumped up to have a great time and this attitude spilled into the steadily growing crowd. Debby would run around in the crowd whilst singing, helping to get everyone into the set. At one point she climbed onto one of the speakers and then onto a member of the crowd's shoulders. This was a pretty raucous lunch time acoustic pop punk show. When they announced that they were going to play a cover I secretly hoped it would be a Zatopeks song but instead they played Avail's Fifth Wheel which I also enjoyed. Gutter Romance really made the permanent MPF smile on my face even bigger.

One of my most anticipated bands of the weekend were Danish punks Forever Unclean who were the first band of the day at The Bread Shed. We got there nice and early – finding our pal Tone from The Burnt Tapes who told of his eventful journey up to Manchester the night before (involving a bus and road closures) – and claimed a spot in front of the stage. We ended up staying near the front so it was difficult to tell how full the room got until after Forever Unclean played but let’s just say it turned out they were rather popular. And rightly so, they were as awesome as I expected them to be. I’ve seen the band live once before but that was when I was less familiar with their songs so this time it was even better to be able to sing along with a few – something that many people around me were also up for. It’s hard to describe what sort of sound Forever Unclean have as they play a sort of indie, pop, skate punk combination – the songs are catchy and the riffs are fast and, at least to me, technical sounding. What impressed me the most was how the band seemed to be able to seamlessly flow from song to song yet they said they didn’t actually have a setlist planned and all the while they retained a raw energy so nothing was over polished. Such great musicians, such great songs, such a great band.

Happy Accidents were next on mine, Robyn and Brett’s list to see so we left Colin at The Bread Shed and headed to Rebellion. The distance between those two venues was the furthest of any being used at MPF this year. Between Forever Unclean and Happy Accidents we had enough time to get to Rebellion but that wouldn’t be the case for the next band I wanted to see. Ready to catch as much of Happy Accidents’ set as possible before dashing back to Bread Shed, I soon found myself charmed by the infectiously cheery experience that is a Happy Accidents live show. This was my first time seeing them as a four piece since I wasn’t able to make their London album release show (damn you, snow!) and first time hearing songs from that new album, Everything But The Here And Now, live. The songs all sounded excellent and I very much enjoyed having my first little dance of the day. As I said, I hadn’t planned to watch all of the band’s set and I left with 5 or 10 minutes of their allotted time left (it turns out I only missed two songs) to hurry back to Bread Shed and see Goodbye Blue Monday.

Next on at The Bread Shed were one of the bands I was most excited for seeing at MPF, Glasgow's Goodbye Blue Monday. Since hearing their latest EP, The Sickness, The Shame, earlier this year it's been on constantly at CPRW headquarters and Emma and I were both really looking forward to seeing them live. The band did not disappoint as they played plenty of sing-a-long punk music that a decent sized crowd absolutely adored. I think Goodbye Blue Monday are bred to be a live band, on record they sound fantastic but on stage is where the songs really came alive. Midway through the set the band invited some friends of theirs on stage for what was the first marriage proposal in MPF history. Somewhat awkwardly but also hilariously the band followed up this proposal with the song Love Is A Noose For Two, an anti-marriage song. The big highlights for me were the tracks Take Your Pills and The Sickness, The Shame at the end but the whole set was superb. I can't wait for their next release.

I was reluctant to leave Goodbye Blue Monday as a) I was enjoying it so much and b) they hadn’t played my favourite song, Take Your Pills, yet. Before the festival I had meticulously worked out what time I needed to leave their set to go and catch at least half of All Aboard!’s set at the Zombie Shack. So, that didn’t quite work out… but after hearing Take Your Pills (it was awesome) I did dash on over to Zombie Shack. It was my first time in the venue since the previous year of MPF and I’d forgotten how small it was – and warm when packed out. And it was pretty packed out as All Aboard!’s set was well underway! I wasn’t overly familiar with the songs that the band played which was a bit of a shame as they were begging for a singalong in that gruff punk fists-in-the-air style. Despite this I soon had my head nodding along and my eyes glued to the stage. Next time I’ll be sure to catch more than half of the band’s set.

After catching a little bit of All Aboard! it was time for another great Scottish act in the form of legendary melodic skate punks PMX at Zombie Shack. Zombie Shack only has a capacity of 140 and the room felt pretty full to see this long running band (it turns out the venue ended up being at capacity). Because of this I couldn't get the greatest of views but they sounded incredible. They play fast and intricate punk rock and they do it so well. To be honest I'm always astounded how anyone can be as good at something as PMX are at what they do. It's not just the guitars where they excel either, vocally they were superb, to my admittedly uneducated ears they didn't seem to miss a note. Finishing with Code Red, PMX showed why they are such a highly regarded band.

Colin and I have both seen solo acoustic troubadour Sam Russo play live plenty of times but what we hadn’t seen until the Saturday of Manchester Punk Festival was Sam Russo with a band. Not wanting to miss out on the opportunity, we headed over to Gorilla after PMX to find out once and for all what ‘Russo’ would be like. Russo are fronted by Sam Russo (duh!) on [electric] guitar and vocals and he is joined by a talented bunch of musicians – Katie on bass, Chris on guitar and Marty on drums. Having seen Sam Russo (solo) a few months ago where he played a new song, that was written as a Russo song, I knew that this full band version wouldn’t just be complete rehashes of existing Sam Russo songs but I was also kind of hoping he would throw a classic solo track in for familiarity. I think they got the balance right, playing maybe three Sam Russo songs reimagined (or perhaps actually just played how they were originally written to be played) with the full band and then the majority of brand new tracks. Those new tracks sounded pretty darn good so I hope there are plans to record them real soon. 

One of the most emotionally charged sets of the weekend was for Manchester's departing speed punk heroes Revenge Of The Psychotronic Man. ROTPM are sadly splitting up in December making this their last ever Manchester Punk Festival appearance. This was a big reason for me choosing to see ROTPM over the likes of The Copyrights and Counterpunch. This was the hardest clash of the day by far for me but I feel like I made the right choice. The members of ROTPM make up part of the MPF collective and therefore are among a select group of bands who have played every MPF so far (the others being Throwing Stuff and Fair Do's). One of my big highlights over the last few years of MPF was the after party of MPF 2016 when the band played to the craziest pit I had ever seen. It was only right that the huge crowd that gathered at The Bread Shed gave it everything that they had to send them off properly and that they did. If you've never seen a ROTPM gig in Manchester then you've really missed out. The band play and sing faster than any band I've ever seen before and create this ferocious combustible energy that spills into the crowd and forms into a whirlwind of bodies that fly around the pit. It's some sight let me tell you. Despite the ferocity which they play with there's also an element of silliness in the set, particularly with guitarist Matt Woods constantly pulling faces at the crowd and at one point wearing a wrestling mask for a few songs. The band put everything they had into this set as did the crowd. This felt like a big celebration for one of the most important DIY punk bands in the UK and they will be sorely missed. Their set finished with boss bassist Andy Davies and drummer Chris "Big Hands" Hinsley diving into the crowd. Revenge Of The Psychotronic Man went out like only Revenge Of The Psychotronic Man can – with a bang!

In my MPF 2018 Top Ten, that I wrote before the festival, I mentioned that I’d ‘heard a lot about The Tuts’ – good and bad – but I was looking forward to making my own mind up about them by seeing them live for the first time. And so that’s what I did. I’d been enjoying listening to their album, Update Your Brain, prior to the festival and I can quite safely say that the songs were even better live, with tracks Let Go Of The Past, Give Us Something Worth Voting For and Tut Tut Tut sticking particularly in my mind. Upon first listen you’d probably think The Tuts play catchy, sugary pop music. Well, they do, but they also deliver it alongside punchy lyrics and rocking riffs – I was seriously impressed with these ladies’ musicianship. They also always looked like they were having so much fun which is great to see in a band when watching them live. Oh and apparently they were dressed like a combination of TLC and Destiny's Child – I'll take their word for it because I have no idea about that. So anyway like I said, I really enjoyed this set. That is right up until the second to last song when all of a sudden I didn’t feel quite right.

I turned around to Colin and said “I feel faint.” and the next thing I knew I was coming round after blacking out. So Colin took me outside for some fresh air and we, understandably, missed whatever was the last song of The Tuts set. I was reluctant to mention this in my review but I’m talking about it because of what happened afterwards. The security guy outside was really cool and encouraged me to go back inside because the venue was nearly at capacity – like I was going to miss Iron Chic anyway! I mean, he probably thought I’d passed out because I was drunk but I’d only had one alcoholic drink all day, I’d been drinking a fair amount of water and had just eaten before The Tuts (although it was a rushed meal) so I guess it was just the heat in Rebellion – even though I’ve been in hotter venues. Not wanting to hang around outside for more than a few minutes, we went back inside and I had a sit down. Colin wanted to go get me some water but also didn’t want to leave me alone – luckily he didn’t have to as a lovely lady came over with a pint of water for me as she’d seen what had happened. So basically the moral of the story is punks are super nice people. Thank you, fellow punk lady!

When the schedule for Manchester Punk Festival 2018 was first announced there were a lot of frustrated punk fans. There was one clash in particular that people weren’t pleased about – Propagandhi and Iron Chic. Personally I’m not sure what the MPF organisers could have done to avoid this and I’m sure they tried – you try booking a punk festival! Thankfully for myself and Colin it wasn’t a difficult decision, as we’re not really big on Propagandhi yet we love Iron Chic. I was still feeling a little off after what had happened before but I was also determined not to miss this headline set from one of our favourite fists-in-the-air singalong punk bands – and what a great venue Rebellion was going to be for it as well! Ploughing straight into their set with Cutesy Monster Man and the classic lyrics ‘I want to smash my face into that god damn radio’, it was, just like I said, fists in the air and one big singalong from the first note. If, like me, you’ve seen Iron Chic before then you’ll know what a euphoric experience it is and that was very much the case at MPF, perhaps even more so than at your typical gig. All this despite the fact that lead vocalist Jason Lubrano doesn’t particularly interact with the crowd – he spends much of the set walking around in circles and, err, hitting himself on the head – but what he lacks in charisma he makes up for with incredible lyrics. Plus, fellow vocalist and lead guitarist Phil is always much better at interacting with an audience anyway. It felt like he and Jesse, the second guitarist in Iron Chic, added more backing vocals to their live performance than when I’ve seen the band previously and this is something I thought worked really well. (I also adore Tender Defender and Broadcaster, two of their other bands, so that might be why I particularly liked this!) I was looking forward to hearing some songs from Iron Chic’s third album, You Can’t Stay Here, live for the first time and I wasn’t disappointed. Songs such as My Best Friend (Is A Nihilist) and A Headache With Pictures were excellent and received just as enthusiastic singalongs as the older classic tunes. We were stood at the back, so I could escape outside if I needed to, but it ended up being a great vantage point to observe the crowd. Here were a bunch of punk rock fans that weren’t in the least bit disappointed to not be watching Propagandhi. Rightly so, Iron Chic are awesome!

We left Iron Chic before their encore to make sure we didn't have to queue up for the after party. On our way to Rebellion we had bumped into some pals who said they were skipping Iron Chic and Propagandhi to make sure they were in The Bread Shed for opening the after party bands, Beat The Red Light and Chewing On Tinfoil. I must admit I did feel slightly smug at just walking in with no queuing. There was still a little time before Beat The Red Light took to the stage so I spent the time talking to folk. It was so nice hearing how everyone had had the best few days at the festival. It was a weekend full of such positivity and it was bloody lovely.

Returning ska bands was a bit of a theme for the weekend with Random Hand on Thursday, Stand Out Riot and Lightyear on Friday and now it was time for Beat The Red Light. The programme described them as "Slayer meets the Slackers" which did seem to confuse Brett. I quietly thought to myself "you'll see" as the band were taking to the stage. Beat The Red Light are one of the best live bands you'll ever see. They feature some of the best horns in ska alongside some crunching guitars and some hard hitting drums as well as frontman Pook's incredible growling, screamy vocal. This sound with a crazy mosh pit in front of them makes for an impressive spectacle. This was BTRL's first show in a while but you wouldn't have known. The show seemed to ignite a fire in the band and this was for sure the best I've seen them. Anyone who was starting to lag after the long day was definitely woken up now.

Following BTRL's wonderful set was Chewing On Tinfoil. "Chewy", as they are affectionately known, were the band that most people I spoke to at the festival were most excited to see – Emma included. The Dublin-based band are absolute loved within the UK punk scene and don't come over anywhere near as much as we'd like them too! The fine people crammed down the front of the stage were clearly determined to make the most of them because as soon as Chewy opened with Fuck Team Sports the place went crazy. Not many bands sound like Chewing On Tinfoil, combining ska, sing-a-long punk rock and the occasional touch of folk alongside some distinctive Irish vocals. They are also a highly energetic live band who are captivating to watch on the stage. Booking Beat The Red Light and following them up with Chewing On Tinfoil is more masterful organising by the MPF crew. Chewing On Tinfoil were obviously superb and certainly one of the highlights of the festival for a lot of people.

After Chewing On Tinfoil finished it seemed as if The Bread Shed half emptied, not that surprising as I'm sure everyone was knackered by this point of the day. To be honest if it wasn't for the fact that I really wanted to see Uniforms then I probably would have gone and found my bed as well. If I had have done that though I wouldn't have got to see The Minor Discomfort Band and would have missed out on the biggest surprise of the weekend. The Minor Discomfort Band were fantastic. Their style was described as a punk rock barn dance for fans of early Against Me! This sounded right up mine and Emma's alley and, as soon as the Suffolk-based band began, they had me and the majority of people remaining in The Bread Shed having a good ol' dance. This is one of the best things about festivals, discovering and falling in love with bands you've never taken the chance to listen to before. All those folk who left early – you missed out on a fantastic time!

So as I mentioned earlier, the band chosen to close the entire festival was Dundee's Uniforms. Uniforms are a band I've been wanting to see for a long time now after missing seeing them a few years ago at Book Yer Ane Fest because of that stupid Megabus. I was pumped and ready to see the band, lead by Make-That-A-Take Records' Derrick Johnston, close MPF in style. The four piece play a straight forward punk rock sound influenced by bands such as Leatherface and Hot Water Music. Despite it being the early hours of Sunday morning, Uniforms still had a lot of energy and this quickly spilled into the crowd. Derrick is a fantastic frontperson and gets the crowd super rowdy with plenty of pile ons, crowd surfing and a human pyramid where one of Uniforms' guitarists jumped on stage and joined in with. This was definitely the best way to finish the festival. Uniforms finished their set with a cover of Nirvana's Territorial Pissings where Derrick put down his guitar and jumped into the crowd to finish the set with quite a flourish. Gosh Uniforms were fantastic.

Manchester Punk Festival 2018 was a huge success. It was always going to be, with the incredible amount of talent on the line-up and all the different styles of punk rock music. One slight worry I had before the festival was how it would work without its former home Sound Control. In all honesty I kind of forgot all about it. The festival flowed seamlessly and opening up The Bread Shed for the whole weekend, and not just the after party, along with the addition of Rebellion, which has the best sound of any venue I've ever been to, were excellent replacements. I say this every year and I mean it this year more than ever that Bev, Andy, Tree, Kieran and the entire MPF collective deserve all of the respect, love, high fives, hugs and thanks in the world for the incredible job they've done with this festival. Emma and I both agreed afterwards that this was the best festival experience we've ever had and we include a trip to Gainesville for The Fest in that statement. There were so many highlights throughout the weekend. I'm not going to list them all because hopefully you've now read about all three days of the festival and you know that we thought every band killed it. We weren't even sad about missing out on the cover sets as the bands we saw instead were great! The biggest highlight for me across the whole weekend was the whole atmosphere of the festival. I've been very lucky to meet so many cool people doing CPRW – including our South African buddies – and it was so great to hang out with so many of them over the weekend and enjoy our favourite bands together. For me Manchester Punk Festival has evolved from more than just a live music event into a celebration of the UK DIY punk rock scene. It's like a family reunion where everyone gets along, doesn't stop smiling and nobody can wait for the next one.

Thank you once again Manchester Punk festival for the best weekend of the year. See you in April 2019!

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

Album Review: Trucker Speed by From Parts Unknown

From Parts Unknown are a three piece band from Dallas, Texas. Consisting of Ben McCracken on guitar and vocals, Kyle Owens on drums and Chris Parrish on upright bass, they released a new three track EP in February titled Trucker Speed. After learning that the band used an upright bass I was very intrigued to check them out.

Trucker Speed begins with the song Mendoza. Mendoza is a completely instrumental track that serves as a great introduction as to what to expect from From Parts Unknown. It's a really fun one minute and sixteen seconds of superb musicianship from the band, with the upright bass really giving them an element you really don't hear much anymore. The EP's title track gets us started properly. It's a straight forward loud punk rock track. The bass will definitely get a lot of the attention on this song but I was most impressed by McCracken's fantastic vocals, reminding me of Trevor Keith of Face To Face - one of my favourite vocalists in the game. McCracken does a wonderful job of switching between melody and a more ferocious scream effortlessly. Then we have Rad Pitt. The track begins with the slow and somewhat eerie guitar work that slowly builds towards an upbeat ska-punk style section. I certainly wasn't expecting that. The song is kind of a cross between ska and psychobilly music, which isn't really a combination of styles I'd ever expect to hear together and definitely not to mesh so well together. Big props to From Parts Unknown for that! Rad Pitt (much like Brad) goes through a series of different phases that always keeps you guessing. From the eerie beginning to the ska-psychobilly hybrid to some reggae, it's a song that really keeps you on your toes and really keeps your toes a'tapping too.

Trucker Speed is a fantastic introduction to From Parts Unknown. They are a brilliantly unique band who are clearly superb at playing their instruments. This EP has done its job in leaving me wanting to hear more from the band.

Stream and download Trucker Speed here: https://frompartsunknowntx.bandcamp.com/

Like From Parts Unknown here: http://www.facebook.com/frompartsunknowntexas

This review was written by Colin Clark.

Gig Review: Manchester Punk Festival 2018 Day Two 20/4/18

(Note: Colin's parts are in regular text and Emma's parts are in italic.)

Day one (which you can read here) of Manchester Punk Festival 2018 was just wonderful. Every band we saw really brought their a-game and got the festival attendees pumped up for the next two days of punk rock madness. Here's what Emma and I thought of the Friday of MPF 2018.

Last year, the Friday of Manchester Punk Festival started around 6pm and although it featured more bands than the Thursday night, plus after parties, it still wasn’t quite a full day like the Saturday. This year, however, the fun started at the bright and early time of 2.45pm!

Both Rebellion and Bread Shed had bands on from this time, with other venues opening an hour or so later, and Colin, Robyn, Brett and I opted to head to Rebellion to see Eat Defeat. We weren’t the only ones who had chosen to do so as the room soon filled up. It was great that people were making the most of the whole of the festival and the variety of bands on offer and not just showing up for some of the bigger acts. If you aren’t familiar with Eat Defeat, they are from Leeds and play some rather catchy pop punk tunes. Their line-up for MPF featured stand-in guitarist Hope, from the band Havelocke, although you wouldn’t have known she wasn’t a permanent member of the band – she was seriously awesome. Summers, singer and bassist, said they’d just finished recording some new stuff the day before and so they treated the MPF crowd to a new song as well as some more familiar songs including Shortcuts and The North Remembers (which was dedicated to Mark of Umlaut Records fame). The highlight of their set however was the huge singalong for the last song. Neither Colin nor I can remember the name of the song but the chorus was ‘I think we’ll be okay!’ and hearing the whole of Rebellion singing it along with the band was pretty special. First band of Friday check, first mass singalong check.

One of the bands many people were most hyped about seeing over the weekend were local boys Aerial Salad. Their debut full length, Roach, was one of my top albums of 2017 and I was really looking forward to seeing them perform tracks from it live. Clearly I wasn't the only one as Rebellion was packed out with punk rockers keen to see what all the fuss was about. Aerial Salad did not disappoint. Combing a youthful spirit along with a mature confidence made for a great performance. Frontman Jamie Munro really grabs your attention as he throws himself into the set with some wonderful energy and passion. Between songs he is captivating as well and has a cheeky charm about him. At one point making a joke about one of the MPF collective's previous comment about Aerial Salad not being able to fill a bathtub and then filling out the venue. The big highlight for me was the song Habits and Problems, the opening song off of Roach, but the whole set was just superb from start to finish.

Following on from Aerial Salad were Welsh rockers Hot Mass. I think due to more of the venues opening up the crowd became more sparse for Hot Mass but it didn't stop the four piece putting on a great set. Playing largely a set full of songs from their superb album Nervous Tensions, as well as a handful new songs that sound great, they enthralled the crowd that were watching them. For me Hot Mass are one of the tightest bands in the UK scene currently, if you close your eyes whilst watching them you could easily imagine that you are listening to the record. This is even more impressive given that they didn't have their regular drummer with them. I really enjoyed Hot Mass. I think they were potentially one of the more overlooked bands at MPF but, for those of us who did take the opportunity to see them, we were treated to a great set.

After Aerial Salad I had decided to split from the gang and head to Underdog to check out a few of the acoustic artists. I had plenty of time to get between venues so I didn’t hurry but when I got there and found the previous act, Enda McCallan, was still on I kind of wished I’d been a bit quicker so I could have heard more! The two or three songs that I caught of this Manchester-based Irishman sounded great so at least I know that he’s worth checking out – and now you do too.

Up next at the Underdog was Steve Millar aka Arms & Hearts. I’ve reviewed some of his releases so was fairly familiar with the majority of songs in his set but this was my first time hearing them live. I think I can safely say that the songs sound even better live! And that was despite a few technical difficulties that Steve seemed to be having with his guitar cutting out. To top things off, he was playing so enthusiastically and passionately that one of the strings on his guitar broke mid-song and so he had to borrow Enda’s for the rest of his set – but not before finishing the song he’d started with one less string. Punk rock! A perfect acoustic set at Manchester Punk Festival wouldn’t be complete without the artist unplugging completely and joining the crowd for one last singalong. It happened last year with Stöj Snak and Arms & Hearts chose to do the same for his final song, Fortitude. Hearing and seeing all sorts of punks singing ‘Home is wherever you happen to be tonight.’ was one of the special moments that makes MPF so wonderful.

I chose to stick around at Underdog for the next act, The Lab Rats, who are a folk punk duo consisting of Molly (Bolshy) and Adam (Wadeye). I’ve recently reviewed their latest album, Utopia, although it is not due to be posted until later this month. In short, it’s great and so seeing them live at MPF was essential for me. Molly and Adam, who play acoustic guitar and mandolin, were also joined by a chap who played a cajon (a box that you sit on and play with your hands). Although still acoustic-based, this was quite the contrast to Arms & Hearts but that’s one of the great things about the festival – there’s lots of different types of punk on offer. The Lab Rats’ set consisted of a few songs from Utopia as well as some others that I was less familiar with plus a new nameless song. There was also a fun cover of Your Heart Is A Muscle The Size Of Your Fist by Ramshackle Glory that induced much dancing and even a small human pyramid. Excellent stuff.

Staying in Rebellion, next to take the stage were Dayton, Ohio's The Raging Nathans. The Raging Nathans were one of the bands I was most looking forward to seeing all weekend and they did not disappoint. Playing fast paced melodic pop punk the band (who were borrowing Tommy from Wonk Unit to play drums on their current UK tour) put in a big performance. Obviously they are more well known in the states but if they put on performances like their one at MPF on the rest of their tour they are going to gain more and more fans. New album, Cheap Fame, is one of my favourites of 2018 and it was fantastic to hear those tracks in a live setting. The band were clearly having a lot of fun on the stage and seemed pretty stoked to be a part of MPF. They were one of few American bands to play a set that wasn't the headline set over the past four years. This is a great testament to the festival that they are now getting smaller American bands coming over to be a part of the fun. Unfortunately I had to leave Rebellion a little early to make sure that I got in to The Bread Shed for The Bennies but The Raging Nathans slayed and I'm really looking forward to seeing them again.

With an even greater contrast in punk style, the next band I had in store was Australian psychedelic-doom-metal-ska-punk rockers The Bennies. The Bennies were playing at Bread Shed and were bound to be popular so I dashed over there as soon as The Lab Rats had finished. I was right to hurry as the venue was very nearly at capacity and there was still five minutes or so before the band would be on. I met back up with Colin who was chatting to Nige from Don Blake – not a band who were playing this year (although they have previously) but attending the festival as a fan nonetheless. As the room was super packed we struggled to get a decent view but having seen The Bennies more than a few times (three times just on their last tour!) I was quite happy just to have a dance – and I certainly did dance as it is impossible to stand still whilst listening to The Bennies! The band has a bit of a reputation for being a party band, not least because of their song Party Machine, and they brought the party to Manchester – something about the date might have helped too. It was cool to hear a number of songs from the latest album, Natural Born Chillers, as well as classics such as the aforementioned Party Machine, My Bike and, the very appropriate, Legalise. This was also only the band’s second show with new bassist Nick (who is also in CPRW favourites Foxtrot), as Craig sadly left the band a few months ago – Nick was great. It was only about 6.30pm by this point but the Bennies had well and truly got the party that was Friday evening started.

Before Stand Out Riot were announced I had a small suspicion that they would be playing MPF due to TNSRecords re-releasing their fantastic The Gentleman Bandits for the first time on vinyl. When my suspicions were confirmed, I was over the moon. I'd only gotten to see Stand Out Riot one time before, at the first MPF, and had been itching to see them again. If I'm correct this was only their second show since that first MPF show, the other being on new year's eve of 2017 so you could forgive the band for being a little rusty. If they were, however, they didn't show it. Realising they didn't have the longest of sets but having a real determination to get through as many songs as possible meant that they steamed through their set playing banger after banger. Highlights for me were most definitely Developing Detachment and The British Nazi Parade. Stand Out Riot did a fantastic job of keeping the energy in the room going after The Bennies superb set. Having these two bands play one after the other was a stroke of genius by the MPF collective. Not a single member of the band seemed to stay still throughout Stand Out Riot's set and were clearly having the best time on stage performing together once again. What a great band Stand Out Riot are, no doubt one of my highlights of the entire weekend. I hope I don't have to wait until MPF 2021 to see them again!

Heading over to Gorilla for the first time since picking up our wristbands, we were about to see one of mine and Colin’s most-seen and much loved London-based bands, Apologies, I Have None. Robyn and Brett met back up with us at Gorilla and I know they were very much looking forward to seeing Apologies for the first time as they were one of the first DIY UK bands they listened to (they even wrote about the band in their Top Ten before the festival). It’s safe to say that they were not disappointed. As I mentioned already, I’ve seen Apologies, I Have None many times before so there weren’t really any big surprises in their setlist for me but what I will say is that their performance seemed slicker and more polished than ever – and I mean that in a good way. It was also great to see the band play to a huge crowd, who were all singing along to every word, outside of London. From opening with The 26 to closing with Sat In Vicky Park and plenty of other songs from London, Black Everything and, latest album, Pharmacie in between, the whole performance was simply top notch stuff. There was also what seemed like a spur of the moment stage dive moment from frontman Josh McKenzie at the end of their set which was a joy to watch. You had to be there.

The day's big headliners were American punk legends Death By Stereo who were celebrating twenty years as a band and Lightyear who are one of my favourite bands ever. For that reason it was pretty much a no brainer for me who to watch – Lightyear! This was not a decision I regretted as Lightyear played one of my favourite live sets ever. Not just from Lightyear but from every band I've ever seen on a stage. It was just the most ridiculous fun from start to finish. Lightyear are a band who just make me have the best time regardless of what mood I might be in. Having them back is the best thing ever. I bloody love Lightyear so much. Like DBS, Lightyear have also been a band for twenty years now and have gained a big and diehard following. Gorilla was absolutely packed with people skanking away and singing their hearts out to all the classic Lightyear tunes. And every single one of Lightyear's songs are classics. The usual Lightyear schtick was happening on stage with the morris dancing during Blindside and getting people on stage for a dance off. The band also played a game of human tombola. "What's human tombola?" you might ask. Basically they got their guitar technician to cover himself in raffle tickets and he jumped into the crowd and encouraged the crowd to pull the tickets off him to win some merch. It was quite silly but completely Lightyear. There was also a nice moment during A Pack Of Dogs where they paid tribute to Jim Bowen. Any Lightyear set is always a special occasion but seeing them playing a gig in front of so many people who have as much love for the band as I do was such a special moment. It also felt so fitting that one of the most beloved DIY bands in the UK of the past twenty years played the fastest growing and best DIY festival in the UK. This was absolutely fantastic.

After Lightyear it was time for the after parties. In the tiny Zombie Shack a bunch of bands were doing cover sets, including Aerial Salad playing a Green Day set, Revenge Of The Psychotronic Man, Danny from Fair Do's and Tree of the MPF collective doing an Oasis cover set, Tim Loud and pals covering Crass and a Beat The Red Light and Faintest Idea supergroup playing an Operation Ivy set. As you can imagine this was a highly anticipated portion of the weekend. We hurried out of Gorilla after Lightyear dashed round to Zombie Shack only to be greeted by a huge queue that actually continued to grow to perhaps three times the size by the time we decided to leave it. Emma and I decided to stick around in the queue while there was nothing on but decided to abandon it so we had enough time to walk around to Bread Shed so at least we got to see something. I have to say I didn't hear any moaning from people in the queue which was very refreshing, everyone was chilled out and being extremely patient. On leaving the queue we bumped into our buddy Paul from Be Sharp Promotions who was determined to stick it out and see Operation Ivy. The following morning I expected to walk past and see him asleep in the corner still waiting to get in but I'm happy to confirm he did manage to get in.

The first band we saw at The Bread Shed after party were Rotten Foxes from Brighton. Rotten Foxes were a band I knew nothing about and when they took to the stage wearing tiny denim shorts and the band's bassist sporting an impressive mullet I did begin to wonder what on earth was I about to witness. What I did witness was a great fun hardcore party punk band. I'm not a great listener of hardcore music but when I see bands like this live I can't help but enjoy it, as did plenty of the crowd around us. The MPF collective always do such a superb job of picking the right bands to play their after parties, always finding these high energy bands that keep energy levels up and prevent people from flagging after a long day.

After Rotten Foxes, Robyn and Brett, who had managed to get into the start of the covers set, met up with us to watch our final band of the day, Start At Zero. Start At Zero are a four piece skate punk band from Slovenia. Regrettably I don't really remember that much about their set because I was absolutely shattered but I do remember really enjoying them and I'm looking forward to checking them out some more. They played really fast and did get the crowd around me pumped up. Hopefully they'll be back in the UK again soon at a time that isn't past my bedtime.

After Start At Zero we decided to head back to our Air BnB and were speaking about our days. After only two days of the festival I had decided this was the best one yet and we went to bed super excited for the final day of the festival.

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