A lucky happenstance found me in sunny London town this week, so I took the opportunity to visit the New Cross Inn for the first time.
For those of you who don’t know, the New Cross Inn is the spiritual home of much of the UK ska scene, with basically every band ever having played there nineteen times, it hosts the incredible Level Up Fest and, of course, its operated by the lovely Paul Smith and is the oft-home of the Be Sharp Promotions gang.
Shout Louder have organised a fitness challenge to get our scene ready for gigs again!
Warrington Ska Punk’s very own Chris is running 150km during March… That’s the distance from his house to The Salty Dog in Northwich. 7 times!
Click here to help MVT with yer dosh!
I need to start this review with a confession. Cards on the table time. It’s this: I love what TNS Records represent, absolutely. I absolutely love who they are in the scene, I love their DIY ethic, their stand out values, their inclusivity. But… I struggle to love a lot of the music they release. The problem’s not them – its me.
They’re just a bit too ferocious for me. Their music? It’s wild, it’s untamed. It’s punk with the limiters taken off. And, I’ll be honest, I spent most of yesterday evening reading by the log burner, listening to Nina Simone, and some very chilled out Pama International reggae. And so, the brutal reality is… TNS Records are too punk for me?
We are all trapped inside again due to Lockdown 2.0. However, just before we went back into it, I got to do some fell running up Pendle Hill. Thanks to some inspiration from TNS Andy, I decided to set it to a soundtrack of some 2000s rock, and some 2020s ska punk.
After half a decade as an absolute stalwart of UK Ska Punk, Millie Manders and The Shutup have finally put an album together.
Now, it’s always a challenge reviewing something by someone you are totally in awe of. Not only is Millie utterly ferocious in performance – whilst managing to be friendly and generous in person – she also lives with a cut-me-in-half-and-I-bleed-truth integrity. Whether its her youth musician development tutoring, or her unceasing championing of the under-funded and under-loved Norfolk Arts scene, she’s there. Plus she drew a unicorn mermaid that my 6 year old daughter thought was amazing. She’s slightly intimidating really, but that’s fine, because truly awesome people are meant to be.
This review is not one of my normal ones. I usually listen to an album 20 plus times, really get to know it, so I can give you my honest balanced opinion.
I missed 3dBs Down the first time round. Again. (I also missed The Skints – catch our Skints & Bedouin Soundclash review here). They still sound pretty fresh, despite my decades-long lack of observation. There’s a definite late 90s twinge going on – I’d bet good money they enjoyed the odd Spunge & Goldfinger albums back in the day – but it’s a long way from cookie cutter third wave. Its relaxed – for punk anyway – but it still has an edge
The first takeaway from your listening experience will be the great stacked vocals littered throughout. There’s dual harmonies on basically every chorus coupled with solid shout interjections in songs like “At Your Signal“, multilined vocals at the end of “Moussaka“, etc. Matt’s vocals actually remind me a bit of those of (long dead) band Bingo Tonight, especially on “Idiot Ignorant Evil“. There’s a definite a poppy hook on a lot of the singing, although it’s juxtaposed with some decently heavy riffs.
I’m not really sure why I am writing this review.
Perhaps its just the nature of obsessing about nothing during Lockdown. Sometimes, in our ephemeral hobby of being ‘into’ music, a particular record just grabs you. In this instance Toodles and the Hectic Pity absolutely grabbed me.
So it’s not often that I get an unexpected vinyl through the door. I mean, I say that. I regularly get music through the door and I’m like “Oh Right! I forgot I ordered this…”
But in this situation, it was an album I’d never heard of, from a band I’d never heard of. It turns out that Smooth Lee are a ska band from fair Belgium. I asked them why they so foolishly sent their music 500 miles out of their way to the grim wastelands of the North West…
