>>Nostalgia For Infinity

Dude Trips collects up all of Bangers’ recorded output as of earlier this year, including tunes from their splits with Dirty Tactics and Brighton’s own Break the Habit among others. There’s 10 songs in all from this gruff pop-punk three piece who hail from Falmouth (oops, sorry guys, for ages I thought you were from Wales).

Bangers took a while to grow on me but now that they have I’m really into their style of earnest and honest punk rock. Their lyrics sound heavily autobiographical, which ranges from being surrounded by fashion-focused people (“Show me anyone whose priorities aren’t fucking dumb and I’ll show you five who’ve all got love affairs with clothes and hair”) to drinking all night with friends (“Home’s just where you stop when comfort outweighs your sense of adventure”). They’re a three-piece but thanks to some good guitar lines it’s easy to think that there’s a second six-stringer. I actually thought there was until I caught them live. Yep, I get things wrong a lot.

‘Excuses be Damned’ is one of my top picks from Dude Trips, an anthemic opener with the chorus “We’ll make the next one better!” which I think is about fucking up arrangements with friends or dates, but which works fairly well if you apply it to playing shows and going on tour. “We got held up on the way up, but we’re here now so could you please cheer up now.”

It’s a shame that Dude Trips wasn’t issued as a vinyl release, since all of the tracks on it are available elsewhere, a lot of them on other vinyl records, and collections always feel a bit more special on the bigger format. Still, it’s a good CD that collects some great songs from one of the UK’s hardest-working and touring punk bands, and despite their disparate origins the songs fit together perfectly as an album. Plus, you can download the songs free from Bandcamp if you don’t want to buy it. There’s no excuse not to do one of the two.

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I’m trying something a bit different here – a live stream of Montreal punk band the Sainte Catherines playing at The Fest in Gainesville. Hopefully the embed code will work, and thanks to Erica of Yowie.com for alerting me to this.

This post goes live at 8pm and the set will begin at 9pm GMT. If my embed doesn’t work, then the source page is here.

Formed in 2005, Floridian folk-punk band Fake Problems released their first album in 2007. They’ve not been slack since then, following How Far Our Bodies Go with It’s Great To Be Alive in 2009. A year and a half on and here’s their latest offering, Real Ghosts Caught On Tape.

Back in their early days Fake Problems (along with other folk-punk outfits like O Pioneers!!!, One Reason and even Defiance, Ohio) were regularly compared to Against Me!, a band whose commercial success was beginning to accelerate its ascendance – with the inevitable side effect of many early fans either drifting away from the band or outright decrying their new direction. For better or worse, attitudes and fanbases were changing.

I mention the Against Me! connection because, although I’ve always felt Fake Problems are a band unusual and talented enough to stand on their own eight feet, it’s interesting to see the ways in which the trajectory of their creative development is following that of their Gainesville predecessors. Both bands began their careers with lo-fi releases that could only be described as folk-punk: simple but hard-hitting tunes, just-so production, and earthy yet provocative lyrics and themes.

(This is not to put them in the same pot; there are many key differences. Against Me!’s Tom Gabel’s flair  for songwriting developed earlier, for example, with their first album being a bona fide classic rather than simply a good record; Fake Problems’ Chris Farren has a knack for the personal-poetic that’s wildly distinct from Gabel’s early and more politicised lyrical subject-matter, and vocally Farren has a broader range and more classically strong voice, although both singers are unique and instantly recognisable.)

The second albums took a significantly different tack: Fake Problems, with It’s Great to be Alive, crammed the record full of almost every idea they could find. It’s a gloriously diverse album filled with a number of highly distinct songs, and shows how the band had taken leaps and bounds forwards as musicians. Ditto As the Eternal Cowboy, still today one of the most highly-regarded Against Me! releases. And then the third albums, Searching for a Former Clarity and Real Ghosts Caught on Tape respectively, both somewhat darker, more thoughtful and introspective – more mature, perhaps. And the connection is more than thematic, with both records showing restraint as well as exuberance in their songwriting, and holding together more obviously as albums rather than collections of songs.

And so, as much as the band or their fans (I count myself as one, of course) may hate me for saying it, the shadow of Against Me! still hangs over Fake Problems. But the analysis above is just one man’s opinion, and the product of following both bands’ careers very closely. And as I said from the outset, Fake Problems don’t need comparisons to be recognised as an excellent band.

Real Ghosts Caught on Tape focuses on the themes of disappointment and disillusionment, but does so with Farren’s trademark wit and the band’s usual sense of play. Opener ‘ADT’, for example, juxtaposes lyrics like “If home is where the heart is / I do not have a pulse” (simultaneously heartfelt and revelling in its melodrama) with a simple and hooky song that demonstrates subtle flair beneath that simplicity. It’s immediately followed with ’5678′ which leads with the fantastic lyric “5, 6, 7, 8, oh God is good but I am great’, an insincere arrogance that’s all the better for being delivered in a faux falsetto. Yes, Fake Problems are as playful and fun as ever, and the restraint exercised in the recording of this album helps bring that to the fore.

Other songs particularly worthy of mention include ‘Soulless’ with its 60s/70s party tune rhythm, ‘Complaint Dept’ which strongly recalls Vampire Weekend (ordinarily I would not mean that as a compliment), and ‘Ghost to Coast’, perhaps the most sincere song on the album and certainly its most outright confessional.

The old adage ‘ones to watch’ has applied to Fake Problems for many years, and still does, but it’s also safe to say that with Real Ghosts Caught on Tape the band have matured into something truly excellent. You owe it to yourself to give this record a listen.

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Apparently Banquets are named for a brand of beer, so I was going to open with a predictable joke about pissweak American lager. However, it turns out that the parent company of Coors (who make Coors Original, aka. “the Banquet Beer”) are also responsible for mid-range beers like Grolsch here in the UK. They’re also responsible for Reef. The dangers of brand association, Banquets!

Fortunately these guys play some cool and goddamn tight anthemic punk rock. On my first few listens I liked what I was hearing – though what I was hearing didn’t seem unique enough to remain particularly memorable. Yet the four songs presented here have grown on me, and I think this is an EP that every so often I will happen across, remember, stick on again and enjoy.

It’s a shame that this sounds like damning with faint praise, because Banquets clearly know what they’re doing – their musicianship is faultless, their songs are well-written, their vocalist has excellent range and control, and their lyrics strike a chord with me. And yet, and yet, it just feels like there’s something missing. Perhaps I just expected a little more from an EP where every component is right? Something more than the sum of its parts?

Anyway, top tune here is ‘Eleanor, I Need a Garden’ – a really catchy number with some cool gang vocals from the rest of the band, and a satisfying pinch harmonic to boot. ‘What a Bunch of Aaron Burrs’ is built around tight, speedy guitar work and features the lyric “When you awake, it’s morning / And you’ll be 28 alone”, which if you add a hangover will describe my birthday in about a month. I’m touched!

Another interesting lyric pops up in ‘Lyndon B. Magic Johnson’ which opens the EP: “I should have more bitter within me / I just need more hurt to heal.” The song itself is a solid, pacey number, in contrast to the final track, ‘I Wish I Was a Little More Lou Diamond’, which cuts the tempo for a slower-building number with some faintly haunting gang vocals.

There’s a lot of neat references in this EP’s song titles (as well as its Lebowski-referencing name and the band’s beer-homage moniker); I’ve just gone and read about Lou Diamond, an old-school US marine from the early 20th century who sounds like kind of a badass – in an awesome, irreverent kind of way. The references are US-centric so I can’t say how recognisable they’d all be over there, or if like me they’d have to go away and look them up… still, it’s a nice touch and a different spin on the usual nostalgia you see from melodic punk bands. (Funnily enough I read about Aaron Burr several days ago – he shot and killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel in 1804. Politics used to be so visceral!)

So, this is an EP that I feel is well worth a listen, and I’ll be keeping an eye out for future releases from the band – whilst hoping that they bring their A-game instead of an exceedingly polished B-game. And then I’ll feel less guilty for being harsh on a band I rather like.

Official Site | MySpace | Black Numbers Records

If it seems like just a few weeks have passed since I reviewed a record from an ex-Latterman outfit, that’s mainly because it was. And like Iron Chic, RVIVR are generating pop-punk tunes that are fun, catchy and warm… although lyrically RVIVR are more upbeat than the scathing outsider poetry of their counterparts.

I was lucky enough to catch RVIVR on one night of their UK tour a few weeks ago (and still hope to post a short review here) and although I’d not listened to them much – and was feeling dog tired – I was impressed by their energy, their obvious down-to-earth vibe and between-song banter, and of course their songs. I wished I’d known the latter well enough to sing along a little, particularly to the tune with the intro that reminded me of Leatherface.

(These days almost everything reminds me of Leatherface in a roundabout way. Even I’m getting a bit sick of referencing them in reviews. On the other hand their influence on the US melodic punk scene via Hot Water Music, Jawbreaker et al is well-documented. Anyway, I’m supposed to be writing about RVIVR, not fellating Frankie Stubbs.)

The Dirty Water EP boasts 5 tracks. I wish I could say I recognised some of them from that show, but I can’t – blame booze and brain. Fortunately everything on offer here is a keeper. My favourite’s the closer, ‘Resilient Basterd’, which I’ve just learned is a Shellshag cover. Well, fuck. Definitely prefer RVIVR’s pacier version, though.

First track ‘Seethin’ highlights some of RVIVR’s immediate strengths, namely pacey and melodic punk rock with simple, hooky work from the band’s strings, and toe-tapping choruses blending simple chords with simple licks to highlight catchy vocal lines and fist-in-the-air singalong segments. The dual singers work well together, their lines weaving in and out in a very relaxed fashion. ‘Tallest Tree’ pulls the pace back a bit, with sparse and tight verses emphasising how well the band’s members work together (of course, pulling that off live is the real test).

‘Tiny Murders’ opens with the female vocalist, whose style I prefer a little to the male singer (she reminds me of a grittier, more aggressive Lemuria). It’s a bit more of a playful tune, throwing discordance and feedback into an initially simple tune of varying pace, eventually building to a tumultuous crescendo made consistent only by distant gang vocals. As with its predecessors it’s a well-judged song, each instrument contributing just what is needed to make the whole more than the sum of its parts.

Then there’s ‘Had Enough (Of This Hell)’ which is back to the formula of the first couple of tunes – but it’s a welcome return, thanks to some great chord progressions, neat guitar work and more great vocal lines. It’s also a darker tune lyrically; I don’t have the words to hand, but from what I’ve made out it’s about dealing with the loss of a friend through music. Oh yeah, and this song also features the most prominent use of a brass section, something that fades in and out on occasion through the EP.

Not much need for a conclusion after all that positivity, is there? Check out this EP, or go and catch RVIVR live if you’re able. Apparently they’re really nice people too!

Official site | WordPress | MySpace | Yo-Yo Records

Hey, I’m digging this! It’s another record self-released via Bandcamp for free/£voluntary download, and I’m liking it enough that I think I’ll fling a few bucks the way of Iron Chic. Okay, there’s nothing new here – this is fast-paced driving melodic punk rock and everyone knows that by this point just about everything you can do at the core of this style of music has been done. What’s left, though, is what a band’s personality and style brings to the sound; the personal and confessional touches that elevate music into the realms of genuine passion.

There’s two main things to be said about Not Like This. The first is that if you’re a fan of melodic hardcore or pop-punk then you’ll share my opinion that just about every song on this record is one that you’re torn between singing along to with your fist in the air, or hurling yourself into a sweaty moshpit to stomp feet and pump fists. The opener, ‘Cutesy Monster Man’, is a perfect example with its toe-twitching bass and drums, simple yet catchy chord progressions and obvious yet effective hooks. Throw in the cathartic lyrics, melodic vocals and chorus “woahs” and you’ve got a classic punk rock anthem. Hell, that makes it sound so easy, but rest assured that Iron Chic have got “the touch”. And that’s not such a surprise, really, as whilst researching (aka. googling) the band I’ve found that two comparisons which crop up a lot are Latterman and Small Arms Dealer, which seems a bit cheeky given that the band features members of both. Latterman are well-known purveyors of this type of punk rock and they do it damn well; Small Arms Dealer I know less well (thanks to Deep Elm and one of their regular, awesome and possibly slightly crazy promo campaigns sending out free CDs to twitter followers) but they’re not shabby either.

The second of the two main things to be said about Not Like This is its lyrical subject matter: like much of the melodic hardcore that has such an intensely devoted and large, if dispersed, fanbase, its themes and subject matter focus on nostalgia and misspent youth (‘Timecop’), existential confusion (‘Time Keeps Slipping Away’), hatred of work (‘Black Friday’), lost idealism specifically regarding punk rock (‘I Always Never Said That’) and so on. These songs are obvious a source of great catharsis for vocalist Phil Douglas, and with these universal themes addressed so passionately and skilfully its likely that they’ll resonate with ‘the kids’. Actually, I’m going to break a an unspoken and possibly non-existent rule and quote another review blog, namely Can You See The Sunset, who said “that combination of words and chords … it just fucking resonates”. That is pretty much it, right there.

Official site | MySpace | Blogspot | Bandcamp

Junior Battles are another recent discovery and another I’m really pleased to have been introduced to. Hailing from Toronto – home of Cancer Bats, Broken Social Scene, Holy Fuck and the unstoppable Fucked Up among others – Junior Battles play irrepressible and infectious pop-punk that’s kinda 90s throwback in sound but doesn’t simply mimic what’s come before.

Apparently they’ve toured the US with O Pioneers!!! and there are some similarities there, especially in the tongue-in-cheek song titles (‘Major Label Bidding War’ and the Back to the Future hat-tipping ’Roads? Where We’re Going, We Definitely Need Roads’) although Junior Battles are less with the gruff ‘n roll and considerably cleaner… plus they have some amazing melodies. Like all the best pop-punk that’s what they really nail; catchy guitars and vocal lines backed up by a fat bass sound and restrained, precise drums. In the lead guitar work I’m also picking up elements of The Menzingers and once or twice (chiefly in the intro and verse of ‘Update Your Resume’) there are even traces of Leatherface and Jawbreaker.

For my money ‘Roads’ is the standout track and it’s an awesome closer; yet another punk rock paean to the shitty van and being on the road it successfully brings together everything most awesome about the other three tracks and distils it down to pop-punk brilliance: ”We’ve had a real good time, we’ve got a few good friends and gasoline. We’re got a five hour drive, we’ve got to make it home and go to sleep.”

I fucking love pop-punk, so trust me when I say that this is pop-punk done right. Check it out! Free download from IYMI at the link below, or buy a copy from Square Up if you’re a ‘weenil nerd’.

Myspace | If You Make It | Square Up Records

In a post-Hot Water Music world it’s good to know there are bands keeping the dream of blood, sweat and beer alive. Hailing from Atlanta, Campaign play punchy, gruff melodic post-hardcore ala. “the Gainesville sound” that descended from, er, Sunderland’s Leatherface.

The Hot Water Music comparison is probably one that’s been made in almost every review of this band but it’s perfectly apt. Gunmoll, Small Brown Bike, Billy Reese Peters and other vintage No Idea Records outfits are also good reference points. With It Likes to Party Campaign aren’t pushing this established sub-genre in any new directions but they’ve got their own identity and the EP’s title is spot-on. What you have here are five fast-paced, explosively dynamic punk rock anthems played with passion and panache.

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A moment of serendipity: a couple of weeks ago I swung by a show to catch Welsh punk trio Bangers and also endded up seeing Philadelphia’s Dirty Tactics. Their intense, hard and melodic hardcore punk rock and varied songwriting impressed me and I bought their new album and split 7″ with Bangers. Two days later I received an email from Flix Records asking if I’d be interested in reviewing said records. I’d not mentioned the show or the records anywhere on here; it was just a pleasant coincidence.

Anyway, Dirty Tactics are composed of ex- or current members of Finished, Restaurations, Giving Chase and Highlights, including an ex-roadie of One Man Army; a band with some punk pedigree. It Is What It Is constitutes their second full-length release, following on from ’07′s Love is Dead, Art is War.

The record opens up with a clip from an old interview with punk rock alumni The Clash: “Why do you think punk rock started in the first place?” “…it’s got nothing to do with them any more. And like, Rod Stewart gets up there and starts going on with the string orchestra… it’s not what you feel like. You’ve got to have music what you feel like. Otherwise you go barmy.” “I think their attitudes really stink anyway. There just has to be new groups and that’s what you got.” It’s a fitting excerpt for a band set on forging their own identity within the over-saturated (wonderfully over-saturated, but still) genre of melodic punk rock.

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