Atlanta’s Manchester Orchestra are back with a cracking new album this month titled ‘Mean Everything To Nothing’ and it’s been on the Crossfire stereo since it arrived.
This week, the band asked us to be the very first website to broadcast their new video to the track In My Teeth so click here to watch it!
‘Mean Everything To Nothing’ is out now on Columbia Records
Lovers of raging hardcore will be stoked to know that US punks Government Warning are playing at Brighton’s Westhill Community Centre on 30th May.
The line up for the night also includes Wasted Time from Richmond USA, Violent Arrest and the mighty Shitty Limits whose debut album is playing weekly here at Crossfire at the moment and kicks arse.
Don’t miss this show as it’s the only one Government Warning are playing.
Battlejam is back at Cargo in London this Friday [15th].
The line up features the usual Beardyman, JFB, Ed Solo steez with this month’s guest musicians being J’M Black, Helleanor Webb and Benji Boko. The fun starts at 8pm and it is absolutely free, so as their slogan goes “crunch beats, not wallets”!
Have some Beardyman goodness to get you in the mood:
Rancid‘s latest single Last One To Die now has a full video, watch it below. New album ‘Let the Dominoes Fall’ should make fans happy. We have a preview CD here of the entire record and it’s rocking! Expect to be happy after waiting for so long!
Dinosaur Jr head back to the UK on June 9th for a show at London’s Forum venue.
Grab tickets quickly as they went on sale this morning (12 May) from here.
Rhymesayers, home to Atmosphere, P.O.S and Brother Ali, have put on another Soundset Festival in Minnesota this year.
The line up for the May event is, frankly, ridiculous and the promo video below shows what is on offer. Minneapolis’ adopted son Abjekt will be out there for this so expect a write-up in early June. Until then, get jealous:
Hardcore in America fueled the skate scene from bowl to backyard ramp in the 80’s, it was part and parcel of the make up of American youth culture. Bands that fronted this scene included the likes of Black Flag, Minor Threat, Bad Brains, D.I, The Germs, Circle Jerks, 7 Seconds, Suicidal Tendencies, JFA and so many more.
This brash sound made up of hard up, bored kids traveled across the world on skate video soundtracks and those involved left a legacy that will probably never be repeated again to such an extent.
This scene can still be found breeding in backstreets all over the World and one particular UK based hardcore band that has been on the Crossfire radar is DSA from Reading, fronted by a Scottish skater who is still flying the flag left behind by the Stupids.
Grant Mitchell from DSA (no not Eastenders!) is interviewed here by Ina from The Meaning of Hardcore Zine (Spain) to reflect on their latest quest to keep punk rock alive in the United Kingdom.
How long have DSA been going for and what made you begin playing punk rock?
OK, we started DSA around 2002 when I finally convinced some friends to start playing all these songs that I had ideas for over the years. I had a little 4 track tape machine where I used to record ideas, it was like a sketch book really. A lot of the DSA songs are older than you’d think or at least the initial ideas are. I began playing punk music because that’s what excited me, the energy, the authenticity and the idea that anyone can do it.
What does DSA mean?
DSA – Don’t Stand for Anything!
You’ve recently released your own CD, what kind of response are you having?
The CD is having a good response so far, as long as people get to hear it. We are a completely self promoted band and do everything ourselves, which is cool but sometimes takes a little longer for the news to spread. We are selling our CD through the punk independent record shops, our myspace and off course at our shows.
Your music sounds fast and furious, how does it go down live?
Our shows are getting better and better the more we play and people find out about us.
Last year you did a Spanish tour, how was it?
Spain was great, we had the best time there. The people we met were so friendly, the shows were awesome. We toured with the Spanish Hard Core band Trust Nothing, they are a great band and fun to be around on tour. We hope go back and play another tour there soon.
DSA have been intimately involved with the skate world. I’m glad to see that there are still bands defending the authenticity of skateboarding and punk rock. What do you think about the importance of the DIY philosophy?
The music and skateboarding have always gone together for us. The music has inspired us to skate and the skateboarding inspires us to play music. Personally I’m all about the old school DIY thing – it’s just the way it works for me, no one will do anything for you, especially when you can do it yourself with more authenticity and from the heart. We all got into a lot of the bands we listen to through skating, especially from the videos. The Santa Cruz videos always had a good sound track and as a tribute we sampled a part from Streets On Fire (where Jason Jesse is being marched to his prison cell). We used the sample as the intro to our album. The guys at Santa Cruz liked what we had done and used a couple of DSA songs on the Strange Notes DVD ‘Son Get Down From There‘. This was cool because it was like a big loop and we were giving something back into where we had so much inspiration from.
Which 5 bands would you say inspired DSA?
There are way more than 5 bands that have inspired us, but if you’re looking for a ‘if you like them you’ll like DSA’ comparison of 5 bands, then here goes:
1) Dead Kennedys
2) TSOL
3) Circle Jerks
4) D.I.
5) Stupids
Is Punk dead?
Not on my ipod anyway! Seriously though, punk is getting older and there are a hell of a lot of bands playing new and old. It looks more alive now than ever. As long as people stand up and say fuck you and don’t get sucked into the mainstream there’ll be plenty of punks
Any last words?
Just want to say thanks to anyone that’s checking us out and to all those who supported us on the recent tour with Trust Nothing and Rage DC.
Find DSA at their MySpace here and read a review from the tour here.
On May 28th, Amnesty will celebrate 48 years of human rights campaigning and advocacy.
Mach Schau presents Dirty Stop Out, Little Barrie and The Dirty Feel in aid of Amnesty International. There will also be DJs, art, comedy and film from Future Shorts with special performances throughout the evening across 3 floors. The fun will take place at the Cobden Club on Kensal Road W10 5BN. The doors open at 7pm and the party will run till 2am.
Neil Thomas of Mach Schau said “It’s a real privilege to be supporting Amnesty International and raising awareness of their causes through an event such as this with music, film, comedy and art under one roof.”
Tickets are only £8 and it’s for a brilliant cause so make sure you pick your ticket up from www.machschau.co.uk or www.ticketweb.co.uk
You can also check out the facebook event here.
White Horse, High Wycombe
2nd May 2009
OK, its been a little while since I explored the punk roots that led me to being all but thrown out of every house I lived in until the age of 21. Years after being infected with the sounds of Black Flag, Descendents etc via skate vids, I got asked to check out some current punk bands on the Don’t Trust Anything UK Tour.
Arriving at the White Horse venue in HighWycombe I instantly thought is this the right place? The venue has many uses advertised out front, footie matches, pool competitions and a strip club! Then a couple of gnarly, tattooed up geezers start pulling in amps and start to fill up the stage area – the bar staff are replaced by a couple of punk rock chicks and low and behold – we have a gig!
First up are Bracknells RageDC. Talk about authentic UK punk vibe, this 4 piece has a strong old skool vibe, but an awful lot tighter than their 70s predecessors. Definitely heavily influenced by the likes UK Subs, but with a much richer sound. Plenty of sing-a-long anthems here too, well worth checking out if they are playing in your area, RageDC are a well oiled punk machine.
D.S.A. have been kicking around for a couple of years now, and after a getting a few tunes on the latest Strange Notes DVD – Reading’s finest are on a roll. Like RageDC, this is a very authentic sound, but more influenced by US punk rock like what came from the Dead Kennedys and Adolescent’s hectic, but punchy hardcore. “Gotta Skate” gets the lead singer animated, and in turn the place bouncing, its not the biggest crowd, but everyone is stoked off the set. The quality of the bands on display here really deserves a bigger venue and crowd, but that doesn’t deter the band from giving any less than 100% – this is the perfect band for a skate event!
Now the headline is a very different animal, Trust Nothing are from Leon in Spain and have a very unique sound to be very proud of. This is a departure from the nights core punk sound and enters the hardcore realm.
The band more than look the part, and are more than look ready to launch in to their set. Now this is going to be a hard sounds to describe – think Madball, Pulling Teeth and Cromags in a fight with Zeke and you won’t be too far off the mark. “War” is a perfect example of the range of sounds these guys (plus 1 girl!) can acheive, check out their myspace, and definitely look out for future tours. Ina, the lead singer has so much energy, bouncing off the walls and floors seems to his natural order of things, and blindfolding himself and launching in to the crowd doesn’t stop him from missing a single lyric!
All in, Im stoked, punk’s alive and kicking, just needs a few more people to get off their ass’s to show some support – punks always been about the live element and with the evolution of the sound and talent on tour, do yourself a favour, log off youtube for a night and go see a live show!
Philip Procter
The Prodigy‘s latest single Warrior’s Dance released today is below on video for you to view. Invaders Must Die got to number one for a reason, look out for them this summer at UK festivals.
Warrior’s Dance – uncut from The Prodigy on Vimeo.