Starring the fantastic Catbite, on tour from the US with an amazing flavour of modern two-tone/ska punk with some tinges of pop. Epic.
Also on board are:
Tag: ska-punk
Catbite and Call Me Malcolm coming to the Cheshire Cheese!
Harijan – HarijanDour, northern and brilliant. The ska punk that 2020 deserved.
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?
Millie Manders and The Shutup – Telling Truths, Breaking TiesFemale-fronted power punk that takes the listener by the horns
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.
3dBs Down – Get Your Retaliation In FirstFeaturing call-and-response out the wazoo!
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.
The LarryFish Experiment – Better Late Than NeverThe kind of silly your mum always warned you not to be...
When a band calls themselves The LarryFish Experiment, you know they are deadly serious about the artistry of their work. TLFE absolutely deliver on that deadly sincere approach in their album Better Late Than Never. By which I mean its filled, to the brim, with lovely shambolic madness.
The LarryFish Experiment are a Bristol based threepiece, playing what I would probably refer to as “skanking-obsessed pub-punk”. Its rough and ready, no doubt, but its silly and fun.
Codename Colin – Escape From EverythingRunning away from everything, with a soundtrack you can skank to...
I’ll be honest, the first time I heard Codename Colin was when they submitted a track to the terribly-titled Warrington Ska Punk compilation (get yours for just £4 in our store!). But please ignore my ignorance: storming out of Hertfordshire (which, in my defence, is about half the country away from Warrington), Codename Colin are an energetic 6-piece, playing quality ska-punk.
They’ve got a familiar horn heavy sound, immediately bringing to mind some of their current fellows in the UK ska stable, especially rising stars Call Me Malcolm (read our CMM album review here), with vocals leaning a little more heavily in the [Spunge] direction. I definitely haven’t called them Call Me Colin about 5 times. Nope.
“You Know What Mate? This Actually Ain’t Half Bad!”We got our mate to review our compilation album. He liked it, apparently...
When I heard about the recent Warrington Ska Punk Show, and listened to a few of the acts that had been announced, I was genuinely gutted that I couldn’t attend. Having lost touch with the ‘local music scene’ somewhat over the years, I have to admit that I had never heard of any of the bands. But… a quick listen to Millie Manders & The Shutup, The Siknotes and Broken 3 Ways makes me regret that!
It also reminded me that in a genre heavily dominated by American bands that we have so many great bands in the UK. I mean, there’s at least 20 – all of which feature on the compilation produced by the same monkeys behind the WarringtonSkaPunk.co.uk : “You Know What Mate? This Actually Ain’t Half Bad!”.