Skints: Fam’s Christmas Party 2011
Posted by jamie on Dec 28, 2011
The Skints, Random Impulse, Gecko
Nambucca, London
27th December 2011
Jamie
This show gets bigger every year. The Skints had admitted that it “broke their souls” to have to turn 50-odd fans back in to the cold as the fam’s Christmas party for 2010 sold out twice and would-be revellers were still turning up on the off-chance.
A year on, we’ve moved down the road to Nambucca. Again, it’s fierce cold outside, but on stepping inside we find a familiarly sated post-Christmas room. It’s two days after Christmas, and the heavy excesses have taken their toll: enough people in here have eaten so much as to be constantly sleepy, and a few haven’t stopped drinking since Christmas eve. There’s a proper party atmosphere, though, just as you’d expect when the Skints headline in London, and the sense of happy camaraderie is palpable.
We don’t find out why, but doors are opened late. It just means more pub time, though.
Gecko open up with customary, easy-going charm. Their distinctive, idiosyncratic blend of easygoing, dancefloor-friendly pop is as addictive as ever, and their unique sense of humour is an instant hit: perfect for this gathering crowd that’s still in the swing of the festive season and bang up for being entertained.
Gecko, of course, are consummate entertainers and they’re in sparkling form here. Got Science is underway before Will appears on stage, and they’re instantly in full swing, moving straight in to Best Friend, from their new Pigeon EP before adding Perkie to their line-up for their new cover, Kelis’s Millionaire. Her rich, soft voice is the perfect complement to Will and Gabe’s vocal. Si’s bass is really high in the mix, too, and the combined effect is ultra-smooth and just a little bit down-and-dirty. It all comes together perfectly, and Gecko are incredible: wonderfully danceable, and irresistibly good fun. I Got Time is a personal highlight, though Safest Bet, joined into What You Gonna Do? and later Gotta Wait are the real crowd pleasers. By their last song, Pigeon, the whole room is merrily singing, or shouting, along and the night’s off to a fantastic start.
Random Impulse* has brought his own crowd with him. Even despite their unique-ness (I know) he’s instantly, strikingly different from Gecko. Random Impulse is a rapper who also sings, rather than the other way around, and, backed by a guitar band, has fused giant, distorted riffs and a visceral, properly punk rock energy in to his dirty take on grime. Tonight the riffs are bigger and more brutal than ever.
He’s only got a short set, yet Random Impulse races through it at chaotic, breakneck pace. By Holding on til Thursday the room is a giddy, bouncing mess of jumping feet, sliding on a sheen of beer and sweat, and pumping fists. His next track, Still They Sing, is, appropriately, about singing along badly when drunk. It’s scarcely necessary, but he asks everyone to join in with the “la la la la”, as badly as possible. Thanks to the efforts of his own band, it turns in to an oddly shouty metal song, but it’s brilliant fun throughout. Rightly observing that the more melodic Best Party Ever will be a gentler end to the set and a relief from what has been something of an onslaught. Though I do mean that in an enjoyable, positive sense, I doubt I’m the only one gasping by the end.
The Skints enter to a hero’s reception from a room that, by now, is shoulder to shoulder from front to back, and has been jostling for position almost since Random Impulse left the stage.
Again, there’s precious little time for chatter, and they’re straight in to a gigantic set, packed with hits. It’s messy right from the start, and difficult even to stand up such as pushing, swaying, heaving sweaty mesh we’re all tied together in. It gets hot in the back room at Nambucca, but this is on another level.
While the Skints are playing Mindless, there are two points where we all almost fall over. Then the crowd-surfers start to come over the top of us, and then, at the third attempt, the whole pit ends up lying on each other’s legs. It’s moments like this that stay with you forever, eh? Bright Girl, predictably, and Lay You Down go down a storm too.
Fairly soon Josh is observing that they’ll need a bigger room again for this show next year, and soon has to remind a few bods that we’re all here for a good time. He does it in inimitable style:
“If it was me who’d come to see us, and I got beaten up and it ruined my New Year’s, I know I wouldn’t be happy. We’re not one of those bands who tells you to beat the shit out of each other because we think we’re cool..”
Just like earlier, their cover of Sam Cooke’s You Send Me is a timely breather. New single Ratatat is a proper party song, and then the Skints wrap up with Murderer and then Change the Channel. They return for an encore of Up Against the Wall and finally Culture Vulture, and there’s the promise of free shots from the bar as well. It’s testament to the excesses of the season, and of tonight in particular, that a few of us just can’t take no more**
* We’ve linked to this Guardian article on Random Impulse because we really liked it.
** See what I did there? They played that too, by the way.
This Are UK Ska: Vol. 4
Posted by jamie on Dec 23, 2011
Various Artists
This Are UK Ska, Vol.4 – Do the Dog, 2011
9th December, 2011
Jamie
This is really, really exciting: the return of Do the Dog’s This Are UK Ska series of compilations is a long time coming, but definitely well worth the wait.
In the space of one wonderful little disc, the twenty two years (twenty two!) of tireless devotion given to supporting the UK’s DIY bands get their just rewards: the list of contributors to this record reads like a who’s who of ska and ska-punk in the UK in 2011.
The disc itself is, musically speaking, as diverse and exciting as you’d expect. It’s appropriate, given the brief and deliberately open-minded mission statement on the DTD website:
“We love ska in all its colourful guises, be it old school, laid back Jamaican style ska, bouncy 2-tone ska vibes, upbeat modern ska/pop or thunderous ska/punk!”
Given the enthusiasm with which DTD embrace new and different kinds of music and the rude health in which we find our scene, the potential was always there for a compilation this broad, this exciting and of such excellent quality.
To have pulled it all together, though, is still no small achievement. It’s excellent from start to finish, with scorching tracks from some of the scene’s exciting new talent mixing it with the more established names.
Of course, you’ll get to hear new tracks from some of the bands they’ve been supporting for years: alongside the sadly defunct Smoke Like a Fish, there’s also Do the Dog favourites, Rebelation, Drewvis and Cartoon Violence. The thing is, there are also exciting contributions from a new generation of great UK bands: keep an eye out for Miacca’s catchy Would You Like Me To Be the Cat? (unless you’re George Galloway), Copasetics’ sinister-yet-excellent Phantom Signals and the incendiary Wilsonator from John Player Specials. Then, fall in love with Breadchasers’ brilliant epic prog-ska-rock skankalong Time to Stop. It’s relatively light-hearted for the band, but fits perfectly on this compilation.
There’s so much here, and it’s all so different, so interesting and so enjoyable, that I could easily sit and type about it all day. Every track is a highlight.
This Are UK Ska Volume 4 is probably the most enjoyable so far, neatly showcasing a wide variety of established and up-and-coming UK acts. A perfect snapshot of where the scene is in 2011, it also highlights a few names to look out for in years to come.
Given that this was the label who first brought us Dirty Revolution, Catch-it Kebabs and the Skints, perhaps we were right to expect a lot from this disc. It doesn’t disappoint one bit.
This Are UK Ska, No. 4 is available now from Do the Dog Music.
Skints / Gecko / Random Impulse: Christmas show
Posted by jamie on Dec 20, 2011
This year the Skints’ Christmas party has moved down the road to Nambucca. Support will come from lovably impish acoustic-ska-pop raggamuffins Gecko and the ridiculously brilliant Random Impulse.
See it on facebook here.
Get tickets here.
Robb Blake / Liam O’Kane: 2012 mini tour
Posted by jamie on Dec 17, 2011
Our boys Robb Blake and Liam O’Kane are off on tour together after Christmas.
Full dates as follows:
January 2012
Wednesday 11th - The Parish - Huddersfield
Thursday 12th - Stereo - York
Friday 13th - The Winchester Gate - Salisbury
Saturday 14th - The Garage - Swansea
Sunday 15th - The Full Moon - Cardiff - w/Captain Accident
See it on facebook here.
Free the Aceh 64: petition
Posted by jamie on Dec 16, 2011
In Aceh, Indonesia, 64 punks have been arrested, forcibly washed and sent to a military academy for "rehabilitation". The images of innocent people having their heads shaved and their colthes confiscated (and replaced) by the establishment there are deeply disturbing.
We’d like to help our brothers and sisters over there to regain their democratic freedoms.
You need to get signing and sharing the petition here . Thank you in advance for your help.
Noble as it is, we’re not supporting Aborted Society Records ‘ mixtape campaign because they’ve asked for tapes of music:
"..entirely of [the sender's] choosing as long as it’s somewhat falling in the punk/hardcore/crust genre."
A mate has checked this out on facebook, and told us:
"they don’t want any Sonic Boom Six on the tapes/cds because, and I quote, "it’s music for chavs".
Whatever your feeling on SB6, and, for transparency’s sake, we’re enormous fans, we don’t feel we can support a campaign that’s as narrow, musically speaking, as this one. Given the context, their actions also appear slightly hypocritical.
We’ll plan to put together a suitably open-minded response in the next few days.
[UPDATE]
As you’ll see in the comments below, this post has proved a little controversial. We’ve since apologised to ABSOC for any offence caused, although it’s our view that parts of this post would have to be taken out of context to create that level of offence.
Our intent was to state that we didn’t feel we could be involved in this campaign as ABSOC had specifically stated that they only wanted other forms of music.
We were upset to feel excluded from what is, clearly, a great idea. We called the campaign noble, but said we couldn’t support it.
Apparently the "SB6/chav" comment was from one fan and not the view of ABSOC as a whole. We’d misunderstood this and for that we apologise. Please consider that part of the post withdrawn.
The "suitably open-minded response" was meant o refer to a response to the original arrests. It appears it’s easy to overreact to writing on the internet. Ah well.
Big D: Dave all clear
Posted by jamie on Dec 16, 2011
Fantastic news: Big D’s David McWane has had his operation, and it looks like it’s been a success. Here’s the full story from Ryan (out of the band):
*THIS JUST IN!* - Brie Finn, our Dolly on the Scene down there, has reported that Dave is OUT of surgery, did “terrific” (even though he was sleeping), and that the operation could not have gone smoother, and that the cancer is GONE!!!
Yeah, yeah, the cancer musta’ left to join a Scream-o Emo band! DAH!!!
But honestly, thanks everyone for your support, showin the love, and we’ll keep you all in the know of what’s happening, when it’s happening, where it’s happening…
THANK YOU ALL, BIG D FAMILY!!!
-Ryan/BigD
SB6: 2012 UK dates
Posted by jamie on Dec 14, 2011
Indestructible Manchester genre terrorists Sonic Boom Six have added extra dates in support of their stint on HMV’s “Next Big Thing” festival.
Support on all dates comes from Hildamay.
Feb 6, 2012 - Newcastle, (UK) @ the Cluny
Feb 7, 2012 - Leeds, (UK) @ The Cockpit
Feb 8, 2012 - Birmingham, (UK) @ The End @ The Ballroom
Feb 9, 2012 - London, (UK) @ The Barfly
Feb 10, 2012 - Southampton, (UK) @ The Joiners
Feb 11, 2012 - Nottingham, (UK) @ Rock City
Barney says:
Expect some NEW new tunes from the forthcoming album and all the fun of the fair that the Boom are known for.
Get tickets here.
See it on facebook here.
Slackers: 2012 dates and tickets
Posted by jamie on Dec 13, 2011
Our mates, the ever dapper New Town Kings will take their swing-core two-tone sound on tour with The Slackers next Spring.
The brilliantly chaotic Tyrannosaurus Alan replace Broken Nose, and join in on all dates EXCEPT Bristol.
See it on facebook here.
Get tickets here.
APRIL 2012
13th LONDON ISLINGTON O2 ACADEMY *early show*
14th BRISTOL FLEECE
15th MANCHESTER MOHO LIVE
16th NEWCASTLE TRILLIANS
17th LEEDS COCKPIT
18th SOUTHAMPTON CELLAR
There will be more dates to come in August 2012
BTRL: High Wycombe show on Thursday
Posted by jamie on Dec 13, 2011
Big night on Thursday in High Wycombe. Neville Staple’s cancelled due to illness, so Beat the Red Light are going to play instead, and it’s now free entry. Support comes from Bored of Justice and Jump the Gun.
See it on facebook here.
Get well soon, Neville. Love, Bananatown x
Big D: David McWane update /special shirts
Posted by jamie on Dec 13, 2011
Our friends from Boston’s Big D and the Kid’s Table have sent us this latest update on David’s condition. It’s good news. The short version is David will undergo an operation on 15th December, and should be on stage with the band again in Spring.
To celebrate, they’ve created some special t-shirts, proceeds of which will go to Cancer Research. You can see and get those here.
If the picture’s too small, you can enlarge it here.
