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