TNS: All-dayer 2012
Posted by jamie on Mar 6, 2012
TNS records all-dayer
Kraak Studio, Manchester
3rd March 2012
Rosie
First problem of the day struck very early on. Where the hell is the venue? After being asked by band members who were also lost and making jokes about dodgy back alleys we eventually found it. The jokes became some sort of reality, however at least there were signs the whole way to this bizarre venue. It was like no other…apparently it was formerly used to display art work, so I can sort of see why they changed it. An arrangement of random sofas around the place with some atmospheric (but purple) lighting was not what I’d usually expect at a punk gig!
First act of the day was Bootscraper performing a stripped down acoustic set as only 3 of 7 members were present. This certainly didn’t mean they were lacking in sound, with their line-up containing accordion, harmonica and what looked like a banjitar, it was certainly a feast of sounds, with contrasting vocals from the extremely gruff to the surprisingly soulful/mournful, complimenting the folk line up and twangy complex banjitar parts, placing them between a youthful Seasick Steve and the excitement of Gogol Bordello. They were rhythmically very tight, also a real bonus with such an array of instruments, especially when lacking a drummer!
It’s not long before Rising Strike burst on to the stage, declaring some kind of new syntax (what) and kick in to their form of extremely fast, hardcore ska with intense horn parts and screams a plenty, their sound is reminiscent of very early Capdown which I’m putting down to all the sax’s dotted rhythms as much as anything else. There’s a lot of anger in this band: they launch aggressively in to songs and often add an odd sense of confusion portrayed by the saxophone as its chromatic nature makes it sound like some kind of weird headache. This band is as mad as their sound, which appears from everywhere, like a whirlwind, destroying everything in its path.
Sounds of Swami are next to face what is a rather busy crowd for about 3pm. Originally I wasn’t taken in by their strong vocals, it seemed somewhat uninspiring, with the choruses really having to bring the songs together and a reliance on the bassist, because although I couldn’t hear him overly well I got the feeling he could carry them through. However, they progressed so much through the set. The Lions Share was a personal favourite as the bass lines did finally become apparent and the sound seemingly expanded all of a sudden, with harmonised vocals and chanty “hey”s, it felt more fuelled by emotion and definitely was a standout track from their set. The final track which I’m fairly sure they named In Retrospect also continued to redeem the earlier parts of their set as everything really did come together, so much so that the crowd felt the need to show their appreciation by creating a circle pit. No, I’m lying, apparently in Manchester they prefer human pyramids…If anyone could tell me why I’d be grateful: I’m quite intrigued as I saw about 5 throughout the day.
The Kirkz appear next, another very fast punk band, with some very bouncy guitar and bass parts and excitable vocalist really trying to involve the crowd. A semi circle of space in the crowd seems to form which he then strides around in, trying to round everyone up, ringmaster style. Their songs are particularly catchy, though I’m not entirely sure why - it could be the gang vocals as they definitely have a sing-a-long vibe to them. Either way, they are extremely engaging, the singer makes sure of that…I was just left wishing he’d actually sing a bit more because the few times that came through it was extremely enjoyable.
Sense of Urgency are driven by their horn parts, and that is by no means a bad thing. They’re the first band of the day to really get the crowd involved and have people fully singing along. Think early Less Than Jake or [spunge] if Less Than Jake had more angry, raspy vocals combined with more of Reel Big Fish’s horn parts. The Night We Exploded exposes some epic bass lines with driven horns and lovely harmonies. I can’t help but feel the vocals are somewhat out of place because the instrumental interludes are so tight and the sound is so well fused. However, I suppose that would just leave “another boring ska band”. The vocals add in an extra element that throws them further despite the fact it’s not the kindest on the ears.
Most dance-y act of the night goes to Black Star Dub Collective. So many people were in the room by this point that I could barely see the stage. With their blend of dub/ska and the featuring of melodica, keyboard and saxophone, you’d almost think the Skints had entered the room without you noticing. They had a variety of contrasting texture invading and creating a kind of chilled atmosphere with their raw vocals breaking it up somewhat. They really did get the crowds going, my only complaint being their songs were long and featured numerous interludes which often had nothing to define one from another. This aside, once their set was over there was a clear chorus of “that was amazing” from various crowd members so it seems they pleased!
I’m sorry to say that I think Hated Til Proven were the biggest disappointment of the day, whilst their songs are extremely punchy and driven, with their hardcore punk influences being very apparent, their breakdowns into more ska elements seemed to work better. Whilst they seem to be trying to do something different, it just didn’t really work as it just didn’t blend.
Faintest Idea bring what feels like the 20th wall of death of the evening with their raw vocals, brass focused ska punk. They‘re another band that seem to progress throughout their set as after a couple of songs in they suddenly achieve a massive sound with their harmonised horns (I really wish they’d tune properly next time though…), claiming a rougher sound using these instruments to really punctuate the overall sound.
Revenge of the Psychotronic Man are intense. Really intense. They display an older sound comparable with their incredibly speedy punk rock. This band is certainly not here to settle you, expressing a lot of rage throughout. I had a couple of favourite points in this set. One was the awkward moment when the vocalist states “I don’t know how to say this, but this one’s called Tramp Rape”. Suffice to say, the song contains plenty of chanting of “tramp rape” which seems to get the crowd all the more involved. The second highlight was the wheelbarrow of death for Felch Death Fuck Storm which shows just how much Manchester party it up as circle pits and human pyramids appear throughout this song.
Penultimate band of the night Beat the Red Light provide us with really loud punching horns, beating through the screams with amazing themes coming through from the bass and heavy guitar parts, contrasting to the staccato nature of the horns. It’s a complete mix up of metal, ska and punk. Their performance is extremely tight, timing is almost flawless, often a challenge with such a variety of instruments. Their songs are catchy due to the strength of the punchy rhythms that constantly push through from the brass. Pretty much everyone is dancing for their final few songs, and well, that can hardly be a bad thing.
We have to wait around a while whilst some rather novel raffle prizes are handed out…or at least they try to hand them out. People don’t seem too eager to claim them!
Stand Out Riot eventually jump straight into their album’s opener, Get Mutual, followed by Developing Detachment. I’ve seen them once before that I could remember, and even in those few months there seems to have been a dramatic change. They still have the most ridiculous amount of energy you could possibly wish to find in their ska punk party sounds which had the whole crowd dancing throughout. Developing Detachment has a really interesting build up as the instruments slowly join in, layering up until reaching their full sound which really does sound amazing tonight. I could actually hear the violin this time which is a bonus, adding another layer of texture to their sound, which fuses together brilliantly considering how much they manage to fit in. The singer’s vocals were also definitely on form tonight, another point of progression for this band.
Half way through vocalist suggests that “fucking hell, we’re eager” – they certainly are, and throughout the set I can’t help but fill with jealousy, I certainly can’t jump around and play viola at the same time, unlike these guys that seem to have no problem dancing around with their instruments. Law and Hors’douevres brings in a proper danceable Mexican vibe with their preppy horns and the party continues with swords fights on piggy backs emerging in the crowd. This has certainly been a surreal gig in many ways. Stand Out Riot have a specific sound with direction and focus like none of the others seen today. They really seem to know what they’re doing and one can only hope that they stick to it.
And so it’s over. By the end of the day of music, I’d be surprised if anyone here wasn’t shattered. It was a really energetic and long day, especially with all the human pyramids, walls of death and various other random things that Mancs like to incorporate in to their gigs. Two days later, I’m fairly sure I’m still not recovered from that shock to the system. Massive thanks to TNS: It’s rare that you can keep people entertained for a full 11 hours, but they certainly succeeded this time around.
TNS008 / AWAS, Stand Out Riot & Sense Of Urgency
Posted by jamie on Mar 31, 2010
Sense of Urgency / Stand Out Riot / AWarAgainstSound
TNS008: TNS Records
31st March, 2010
Jamie
As tours started to come thick and fast, this review’s taken a while to get itself published. We apologise to the label and all the bands.
After TNS008 landed on our doorstep, Bananatown had a quick chat on facebook to some of the guys at TNS Records about exactly how they’d like the record reviewed: “too many people”, we learned, “review skacore as ska”. That’s a valid point, though there’s not really a total consensus yet as to exactly what skacore is. Let’s face it: incorporating new elements in to a term that’s as broad as ska already was is always going to leave a lot of room diversity, and, inevitably, dissent.
The difficulty for me, then, is to neatly sum up a genre, and, trust me, I hate using genres anyway, that could stretch from the Mighty Mighty Bosstones to the Flaming Tsunamis and, in doing so, remain cool in the eyes of one of the UK’s more discerning grass-roots labels, and one with a remarkable strength of passion for their music. No pressure, then.
Well, when the going gets tough, the tough turn to Urban Dictionary. Just for back-up, you know. And to deflect the blame.
One brilliantly named user refers to “Ska mixed with hardcore. Fast speed ska and bone crunching acoustic lyrics [whatever bonecrunching acoustic lyrics are] and name checks Folly, the Flaming Tsunamis and Big D. The next tells us “Almost all Skacore bands come from Britain and include bands such as Capdown, Lightyear.. and Sonic Boom Six.
What we’ll settle on, then, is basically a mash of a raw, angst-fuelled hardcore vocal and guitar riffs with room for a more old-school ”whoah-oh” backing vocals, horns, and the odd upstroke. There’s more to it than a marriage of ska and hardcore that gives it its name, but I’m sure you get the idea.
Sense of Urgency open the record, and get four tracks to the others’ three. Three of those, though, clock in at less than five minutes’ length in total. Predictably, the pace they’ve set is blistering, and their sound is good, really good. So good that you can’t fail to be struck by it within the first few seconds. It’s basically a headlong sprint through a wall of high-speed sound. Imagine having the music fired at you out of a carwash when you’ve got your roof down and you’re most of the way there. From the first snotty, impassioned growl to the closing thud of all instruments in unison, opening track Glory Days is basically skacore’s answer to the hit-and-run, but faster, and it sets the tone perfectly for the rest of their tracks. Lowbrow is closer to two minutes than one, but comes out of the traps just as fast. The Night We Exploded sees as song explored in all of its detail for the first time, and it’s clear there’s plenty in there once it gets the chance to be properly scrutinised. Just like the other tracks, it’s packed with hooks yet bigger and meaner than would really be feasible at first peek. Everything’s been executed perfectly, and the songs here are an absolute joy. Quite what they must be like in concert is something I fear I can only imagine, but, having been pinned back and battered with glorious riffs and melodies, yes, melodies, and having had the breath knocked out of me by the sheer speed of what’s just hit me (and a cold, I admit), it’s something I’m desperate to experience. By the end of Silent Seeth you’ll be gasping for air. And that doesn’t happen too often, eh?
Quite sensibly, perhaps, Stand out Riot kick off This Is Not a Movement with a gentle strum across one guitar. Don’t be fooled, though, vocals build over an ominous drum beat before the song kicks in proper. Drawing strength and power from three vocalists and three horn players, when this does kick in it’s really something to behold. The record’s first upstroke, while totally skankable, is something of a reprieve, a quick breather before the song runs off again, becoming a guitar solo, and then a breakdown that steadily gathers power in a crescendo of vocal and brass before clicking instantly back in to first gear and running away with you again. Tessa Hunt’s violin, though not especially prominent, is a particular treat. I’ll leave you to watch out for it. Black Widow is a bit of a departure, in that it’s almost spoken throughout, and slows at parts to a rhythmic, fist-pumping chant. Throughout, though, it keeps hold of that brooding, sinister undertone, it still showcases all the instruments and finds time to break itself down in to its component parts: one horn riff is almost eerie for a second, in a way that’s almost dub, before a high-pitched violin that’s nearly Gogol Bordello before the whole song returns in all its glory and suddenly disappears to be replaced equally quickly by Law and Hors d’Oeuvres.
The band’s final track is stunning: a bassline that’s almost jazz in spots, and vocal that swings from hardcore to nearly rap and back, and horns. Couldn’t ask for much more, could you? It’s delivered at times in that same frenetic sprint, and at times slows to a more introspective, foreboding, rhythm-heavy stomp, before vanishing altogether. All together, their three songs are incredible: these guys are a seriously talented band. The songs are good but the way they’ve been put together here is really exceptional. Again breathless, though in a different way and somewhat lost for words (again, that’s a rarity), I’ve had to press pause here for sec.
Returning to AWarAgainstSound, I’ve stumbled on three tracks that bring another different take on the word skacore. To Fraud a Cause opens with a gentle, slowly building bassline that’s joined by drums and guitar and declines numerous opportunities to take off in to a riot of riffs, screams, etc. It’s almost a novelty, in this context, for a band not to include a horn-section. These guys are a classic drums-bass-and-two-guitars four-piece, and they all sing. This opening track is five minutes in length, and teases at various points, breaking in to upstrokes, riffs, and chanted vocals without ever soaring in to the epic rock that it often hints at. That’s no bad thing: there are loads to enjoy about this little song. By the time it fades out around duelling guitars and bass and a heartfelt vocal, To Fraud a Cause has done plenty to please.
For Nothing and No one takes over, and continues at a similar vein: you’re expecting a crescendo, but, at every drop out, AWAS return with choppy, peppy, ska guitars and a raw nasal vocal that’s almost spat. In these places they’re the most punk of all the bands on the record, in the musical sense, and there’s more than a nod or two towards the greats of that scene. There’s also a hint of Joey Terrifying, or Ghymp, for example, but, though evocative in places, their songwriting is pretty idiosyncratic, as well as thoroughly dance-and-skank-able. The superbly named Pull Your Twos Out Your Pocket Then Say “Do You Mean These?” finishes the disc, and is notably the biggest, rawest and most powerful of AWAS’s three tracks. Again, Ed half sings and half sneers it, and then, all at once, as it gently fades to quiet for a moment, it thumps back in with a boom, a heart-felt cry over a crescendo of guitar and the drums effectively attacked, it’s more than half-way through their last song, and they’ve allowed themselves to rock out. It’s still brilliantly executed, comes as something of a surprise, albeit a surprise that they’ve hinted at all along, and then they’re gone. The CD spins to a stop in front of me. Phew: this has been tiring stuff; it’s a great little record and one that promises a peak in to the future of our scene – especially in the North. Respect must go to the folk at TNS for the love and effort they’ve put in to gathering such a fine selection of bands and putting all of this together. It’s been well worth it, guys.
