Dirty Revolution: Before the Fire
Posted by jamie on Feb 15, 2010
Dirty Revolution will release their first full-length album, “Before the Fire”, in March on Rebel Alliance Recordings.
To celebrate its release, the band will play an Album Launch show at Cardiff Barfly on 6th March, with the Melophobes and the fantastic Anti Vigilante.
There’ll also be a free instore show at Spillers records at 4pm on the day of the gig.
We Are The Union w/ Kids Can’t Fly, Anti Vigilante and the JB Conspiracy
Posted by jamie on Feb 10, 2010
Kids Can’t Fly, Anti Vigilante,
The JB Conspiracy, We Are The Union
Friday 5th February, 2009
Underworld, Camden, London
Jamie
Friday night ended up being one of those: one of those evenings where everything went just about perfectly. One of those where you find yourself a little bit sad, even as it’s happening, because you just wish that every day could be like this. We played football over lunch, but I still managed to eat a big bowl of soup at my desk in the afternoon and, to top that, we were sent home an hour early: excellent. All the more perfect, too, because that meant I could grab my ticket from All Ages before the show and save myself 50p. It meant we’d be on time, too, which was priceless, because, despite being on first, Kids Can’t Fly were the one band I really wanted to see and they were due on stage at 18:30 which is pretty loopy when you think about it.
Chips and I celebrated with a giant falafel wrap and then went to hang about and annoy strangers by loitering for ages right in the middle of a very busy pavement. We’re both small, but got our fair share of tuts and sideways looks as we stood there trying to peek through the bars and spot when the doors opened. Needless to say, this meant we were first in: the floors still smelt of polish (I know, it surprised me too) and there were a lot more staff than there were of us. All very surreal.
Kids Can’t Fly, as stated, were on first, and started off playing The Vicious Circle.. to five people. It’s harsh on them, as an undoubtedly great band, to be put on so early, even on such an excellent bill. Little matter, though, as knees and then shoulders and feet start to jig about straight away. By the end of the first song the rest of our mates had shown up, and, all of a sudden, I’m not so shy. I know, I know, only hard when I’m with my mates, blah blah blah.
KCF’s gloriously epic take on pop-punk is at once deliciously retro, loaded with vintage pop hooks, and yet bigger and more melodic in a way that is so much cooler now. On record, the attention to arrangements and the sheer quality of their songs is uplifting, but tonight, in concert, even at 19:00 (or whatever it was when they went on) they are nothing short of formidable. These melodies are infectious, and their harmonies just soar. It’s also the loudest I’ve heard a “support” act play in the Underworld, and there’s still only about twenty people here. That’s a crying shame, because anyone who got let out late or only turns up to see American headlining bands missed out on a treat.
Ryan cheekily asked us for a “two man circle pit”, and duly got it. It was basically us sprinting around like loons, but, to these tunes, it almost felt like I was going to take off. No pun intended. It’s been a long week and, despite the falafel, I’m pretty knackered. Sometimes spinning even a little makes you feel like you’re about to fall over and it lasts for ages and ages. That’s what this was like. And the spinning thing did actually happen at one stage.
Tune In and She Called Shotgun from their newer EP Strength in Numbers are both in the set, alongside a few new songs that are just lush. There’s a cover of Less Than Jake’s A.S. A.O.K. as well, in case they could get any more perfect.
The room’s filled up a lot by the time Kids Can’t Fly finish off with She Called Shotgun, and us early birds are exhilarated, a little punch drunk from all the running, and, with lungs gasping for the musty warm air and eyes still looping the loop, it’s as much as we can do to stumble still and whoop a little bit in appreciation. It’s the least the guys deserve.
Bananatown did want to have a quick chat with Kids Can’t Fly after their set, but, having resolved some personal crises and watched the JB Conspiracy, we didn’t get a chance. Keep your peepers out for that interview soon..
Anti Vigilante are something of a contrast to Kids Can’t Fly, but seriously good fun nonetheless. Josh Waters-Rudge last week called Random Hand “the UK’s premier skacore act”, but Anti Vigilante are on the up and deserve to be.
Like Random Hand, (and Nofx, sometimes, and a bit like Beat the Red Light, among others, Anti Vigilante are a four-piece, with just the one brass instrument. Except in this case it’s a sax, so it’s woodwind, but you know what I mean, it’s a horn.
In places they’re peppy and skankable as well as snotty, and at times they’re dirty and full on and almost Oi, but really they’re a punk rock band at heart. For me at least.
It’s the first time I’ve seen them, but of course, I’d heard the hype. I do know Tabzy, after all. It’s well deserved: Anti Vigilante are a very good live band: they’re tight and have a good collection of songs that they enjoy playing, and they’re a pleasure to watch. Backing vocals are good, and nicely placed, riffs are just right, you can mosh and skank to them (but not at the same time) and they’ve got a sax. It’s top.
That clutch of bodies in the empty semi-circle at the front whirl around happily throughout, as Anti Vigilante rattle through a good length set list with minimal fuss. And then they’re gone. Quick as that.
It’s a while since I’ve seen The JB Conspiracy play live. I fell in love with them, at the Underworld, when they were Duff Muffin. It was right after the Solabeat Alliance split up, so I doubt I was the only one looking for a new favourite band. They seemed to sort of disappear, and came back as the JB Conspiracy. They still play Pipe Down, but sadly On the Beer doesn’t show up any more.
Instead, the new-look band are bigger and noisier, sharply dressed, and altogether a bit more “serious”. Pipe Down from the Eagle Eyes EP does get an outing tonight, but only as a sound check: van problems meant that the guys were late and had to soundcheck during the gig. That must be what kept Kids Can’t Fly waiting until 7 to go on. Good job, too. After that, the only other real oldie is The Patriot, also from Eagle Eyes.
“We haven’t played that for ages”, says Leek afterwards. “I hope it didn’t show”.
It didn’t show one bit: for a band with so many musicians and so much going on, the JB Conspiracy are ridiculously well-drilled, and super-tight at all times.
Tonight we’re treated to a few new songs amongst set made up mainly from the songs on This Machine, though This Machine itself is a notable omission. Rumour has it, by the way, that there’s a follow-up to This Machine on its way “soon”.
Tonight, though, it’s all fairly standard JB fare: horn driven, peppy, soulful ska punk with keyboards and that tasty old-school vibe that they’ve had nailed since pretty much forever.
The level they’ve practiced too means that live performances are often fairly similar to each other: the guys are a “serious” band these days, and focus on delivering a good, tight, super-danceable set. They do it very well, and there’s full on skanking pretty much start to finish. We are only a small crowd, but the extra space comes in handy, and we can make full use of it. Those of us in early are pretty tired, by the end of this, but it’s the happily worn-out sort of tired, like a well walked dog stretched out on a rug in front of an open fire dreaming of running after sticks.
That cosy dog, all belly-out and twitchy-paws, would probably enjoy the smell of crumpets and some gentle Bing Crosby, cold jazz, etc. We Are The Union would not hit the spot quite so much. “If you haven’t heard them”, Kids Can’t Fly had written to us, “think Less Than Jake meets Four Year Strong”. If that sounds ace, then WATU were not a disappointment.
Not much for the sleepy heads, though, and there are a few tired bodies around by this point. We Are The Union come out of the blocks fast: a bruising, straight-up take on the rock-with-horns thing more than a ska-punk band in my book. They’ve got a horn section, but they’re not ska. It’s more of an assault, much more in-your-face than a lot of the more melodic American stuff that’s around at the moment, but they’ve got the hooks, the songs and the level of ability that say that they could, and probably should, become as famous as major-label bands that sound similar, if not intense. I like Falloutboy, for example, but they could learn a few things from WATU.
Refreshingly, though, WATU come across as thoroughly genuine, down to earth guys who are delighted to be touring and playing their music. It’s the first time I’ve seen them, but they’ve brought a clutch of fans who clearly adore them and follow their every move. On this evidence, that clique should expand in to a decent-sized crowd very quickly, and, for all of the at-times-intimidating power behind their music that could almost scare a few away, their sound is just right for them to be packing out arenas, I reckon.
Tonight they’re on fire, moving the pit around at will and entertaining those of us too breathless, at the back, and more intent on skipping. As performers, We Are The Union dominate a stage and a room like bona fide rock stars: they’re totally in control, and yet as one with all of us, and take time to have a joke at the same time. And then they slay us all over again. I was pestering for a CD afterwards, put it like that. And I’ll be at another show. Phew.
