Tag: hardcore

Categories
Buzz Chart

Giants

Giants
‘Snakes’

giants_thesearethedaysThe popularity of the Scooter is one of the most frustrating curses of modern times within our culture. 10 years ago, the enemy of all skateboarders were fruitboots but the trends of school playing grounds have shifted towards the vermin on 2 wheels. Hoardes of little shits are now buzzing around skateparks without any clue of how stupid they look; clogging up lines in their droves and draining sessions due to a lack of co-ordination and etiquette.

Today, the skateboarders from the British band Giants have released ‘Snakes‘, a track that highlights the problem and rages from start to finish. This is the first offering lifted from their brand new mini-album ‘These Are The Days’ that will be released on September 17th and available as a free download. Weighing in at just over a minute, Snakes packs more punch than a hill bomb slam at 50mph and is a great introduction to a band that are carving out some great waves in the UK hardcore scene right now.

Look out for a feature with them here next week and pre order at www.giants.bandcamp.com

Categories
Live Reviews Music Preview

D.R.I. Live at The Dome, London

D.R.I.
The Dome, London
26th July 2012

Sadly The Dome is dishearteningly only three quarters full tonight for this rare London gig from classic Texan hardcore outfit Dirty Rotten Imbeciles, touring to celebrate thirty years’ service to hardcore punk and thrash. D.R.I. are, without doubt, one of the most important and influential hardcore bands to have spewed out of America in the early eighties. So where was everybody?! Their first EP released in 1982 crammed twenty-two songs onto one 7” EP and it redefined hardcore. The songs were intensely short and fast, bristling with anger and venom. Likewise, their first full album ‘Dealing With It’ came armed with a better production but was just as pissed off and vengeful.

After that the band, like most hardcore bands of the early eighties, started incorporating more metal and rock elements into their sound. Some did this more successfully than others and thankfully, D.R.I. made the transition better than most, alongside bands like C.O.C., Ludichrist and The Crumbsuckers, they spearheaded the ‘Crossover’ movement within the thrash metal scene and combined the socially aware lyrical content of punk with longer, more complex songs influenced by the first wave of thrash bands such as Metallica, Exodus and Anthrax.

Tonight’s set is drawn from every era of the band’s long career, although thankfully it leans heavily on their early material, which despite some good moments on later albums, it’s still the first few recordings that pack the most punch. Tonight, with original singer Kurt Brecht still pacing the stage and spitting out the lyrics with the attitude and venom of a man half his age, D.R.I. play for over an hour and half, a set that includes god knows how many songs all played at hyper-speed and with ultimate precision. Not bad for a band in their 30th year. On top of that, original guitarist Spike Cassidy has recently made a full-recovery from a terrible brush with cancer and plays every song with a look of pure joy on this face. This is a man that probably never expected to get to get the chance to play these songs again and his happiness infects the whole room.

Despite the venue not being as rammed as the band might have liked it to be, those in attendance go completely crazy and and respond to classics like ‘I Don’t Need Society’, ‘Couch Slouch’ and ‘Snap’ with a tornado of energy at the front of the stage as the band feed off the crowd’s lunacy and respond accordingly.

Still dirty and rotten after all these years. Long may these imbeciles reign!

WORDS: James Sherry

Categories
Music Music News

Basement Announce Hiatus

After having just finished recording their second album, it comes as a bit of a shock that Basement are calling it a day (for now anyway). The band released this statement via social media to inform fans:

“Now Colourmeinkindness is finished, we head out to play a string of shows across America. Due to a number of personal commitments, this record and these shows will be the last thing we do as a band for a very long time. Basement has never been about achieving anything; it was simply an enjoyable outlet for creativity and emotion. That being said, we are incredibly grateful for the support we have received over the last two years. We have managed to do some amazing things and see some incredible places and the people we have met along the way will be our friends forever. We seriously cannot express sufficiently how much this means to us. We all have things going on outside of the band that require a lot of time and attention and now more than ever these things have to come first. – Basement”

Basement’s brand of emotive hardcore has been a highlight of the flourishing UK scene over the past few years. And after gathering many new fans whilst touring with Your Demise, Trapped Under Ice and Man Overboard earlier this year, it’s sad state of affairs to see these Ipswich boys disappear off the radar.

WORDS: EMMA WALLACE

Categories
Live Reviews

OFF! live at The Haunt Brighton

OFF!
The Haunt,
Brighton
18/06/2012

OFF!_thehaunt_brighton

This gig starts early, really early. We arrived just before 8pm, and opening (local) band Gnarwolves had already played. Yeah, that early! And then maybe 20 minutes later Trash Talk takes to the stage. My mate Tony confirms we last saw them in Brighton in 2008 (supporting Paint it Black) – jeez, time flies. One thing’s for sure, Trash Talk have been going hard at it in the meantime, with relentless touring and recording that has gained them a strong young fan base, which is evident tonight. From the opening brutish chords, band and front stage crowd go off. Ok, I’ll be honest; much of Trash Talk’s short, blunt, metallic hardcore doesn’t have that killer impact on me that it promises to, but they are still a captivating live act, amped on anger and loaded with surly attitude.

I managed to catch OFF! on their initial blaze thru the UK last summer, but the gig I went to in Portsmouth was in a huge room, far too big for the show, with a small crowd, stage barriers, lacking atmosphere – a situation not conducive to a good night you’d think. Wrong! OFF! were ace, and we drove home stoked on having witnessed a very great band. So, in the much tighter and more populated confines of The Haunt, they are gonna be really great, right? Right! If, like me, you’ve had the OFF! 7”s and recent album on steady rotation, then you pretty much know you are in for a salvo of fast, tight, belligerent hardcore heavily inspired by the music singer Keith Morris originally cut his chops on, way back in the midst of time, but is delivered in 2012 sounding fresh and totally revitalised. And that’s down to the 3 fellow band members he’s aligned with, all accomplished musicians in their own right, and totally on it in keeping up the intensity.

4 songs bursts are interjected by Keith’s thoughts and anecdotes, and it’s good to know he’s still questioning and refusing to accept what his Government tells him. In other words; Punk Rock. Memories of his long deceased buddy Jeffrey Lee Pierce still cast a shadow on Keith, who questioned whether The Gun Club ever played in Brighton. I can confirm they did, late ’82, or early ’83 at The New Regent in West Street, which is now just another shitty bar, but back then was a hot bed of activity. Ack… the stories I could tell. Meanwhile, back at The Haunt, and approx 50 minutes after they started, OFF! departs to rapturous applause from the crowd… and we gather outside in the fading light, and acknowledge we have just seen a very great band. Intense, in your face and on the road with a vengeance, go see them!

Pete Craven

Categories
Music News

Metz vs Sub Pop

Toronto based hardcore band called Metz should be on your radar this year. They have signed to Sub Pop this week so get a first few bars of what’s coming and trust us that the Metz album is going to be one that we will be discussing by the end of the year.

Crunching stuff.

You can hear their Wet Blanket demo here:

Categories
Music News

Quicksand reform for Revelation 25th Anniversary Show

Quicksand reformed for a show in NY last week and ripped it up by all accounts.

Check out Walter Schreifels and co playing a set of tracks at the Glass House in Pamona, California as part of the Revelation Records 25th Anniversary Shows. Let’s hope they come back to the UK and deliver some goodness here and big ups to Revelation, a record label who released so many amazing releases in their history.

Categories
Music News

OFF! release Cracked video

A brand new OFF! video has landed on the interweb overnight for the track “Cracked”.

Categories
Live Reviews

Go Groez or Go Home

groezrockfestival2012As ever, Groezrock festival in Belgium was a bit of a blur. A pretty brilliant blur of bands, drinks, drunks, friends, work, play and partly questionable weather. Crossfire headed out as it’s one of our favs and one of the most punk rock festivals out there. This is a rundown of our experience in the crowd this time around.

DAY ONE

YELLOWCARD ACOUSTIC (W)
We kick off our weekend of bands in a chilled manner with a mass singalong in the chandelier-adorned acoustic tent as Yellowcard have each and every one present in the bulging tent in the palm of their collective hand.

MISS MAY I (J)
Brilliant live band. Lots of head moshing to this which gave us a bit of a head ache but we reckon it was definitely worth it.

THE WONDER YEARS (W)
Stage diving is mandatory at the Etnies stage and bodies are flying throughout The Wonder Years’ set. In fact, they start propelling themselves through the air before the band even kick off their first song. An excellent performance brimming with energy and complete with mass stage invasion at its conclusion.

SET YOUR GOALS (W)
SYG pick up where TWY left off perfectly with more audience participation and an effervescent set of pop punk perfection.

THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN (W)
We catch a fleeting moment of Dillinger and even this short audience with the band’s set provides opportunity to see them scaling the heights of speaker stacks and spewing forth excellent intricate heaviness in abundance.

GARRETT KLAHN (W)
A hidden gem on the line-up, the acoustic stage is woefully quiet for Garrett’s set of Texas Is The Reason classics and his own solo creations. However, it’s a magical interlude this evening with a spine-tingling stripped down version of Back And o The Left closing his beautiful performance.

GALLOWS (J)
By this point one too many Jagers had been consumed although we do remember a rad set, a rammed tent, a hell of a lot of crowd surfers and keen crazed Belgian stave-divers. The crowd were all rooting for Wade which was nice to see.

RANCID (J)
Two words: Fucking AMAZING

DAY TWO

MOTION CITY SOUNDTRACK (J)
Should have played a smaller capacity tent seen as it was half empty throughout the whole set. They lacked serious energy for such a band with lots of great songs and Pierre’s patronising chat in between songs wasn’t very inspirational.

ALKALINE TRIO (J)
We always find that despite how much we fucking love Alkaline Trio their sound live is pretty shocking. So we were glad to hear that they weren’t as bad as they normally are but it still wasn’t brilliant (Skiba if you are reading this – sort it out!) Their set was varied of old and new tracks which went down well however they didn’t play Armageddon so they lose 5 points.

THE BRONX
Undeniably one of the weekend’s highlights, The Bronx have become one of our ultimate festival bands, always bringing the party and the hits, with plenty of engaging banter from Matt in between. In fact, he proposes to the entire crowd present, becoming the ultimate crowd pleaser in the process.

WATO (J)
Sound was slightly dubious and by no means loud enough for such a great band. Despite the fact that their set was not advertised they drew a decent crowd. (They also played v well despite a mole telling us that they were absolutely shitfaced and the drunkest they have ever been for a gig.)

THRICE (J)
Thrice played a much anticipated set to a packed out tent of over-eager fans keen to see one of their last shows as part of their farewell tour. They did not disappoint and delivered a storming set including crowd pleasers Deadbolt and Stare at the Sun.

GORILLA BISCUITS (W)
More Etnies stage insanity at this point with a neverending barrage of stage divers and crowd surfing. The classic hardcore is certainly one of Groezrock’s big pulls for many of their regular punters and it’s great that the organizers bill such legendary bands in such an intimate tent so everyone can get involved. If they can squeeze into the tent, that is.

REFUSED (W)
What can we say? One of our most anticipated bands of the weekend and they did not disappoint. Huge sound. Riveting stage presence. Seminal songcraft. The energy at the main stage when New Noise kicked in is a feeling that will not soon be forgotten. Catch this band whilst you still can.

Brought to you by Jaimo (J) and Winegums (W).

www.groezrock.be

Categories
Music News

Cerebral Ballzy UK tour dates July

New York punks Cerebral Ballzy return to the UK in July this year as part of their European tour. The tour dates that were announced last night are all listed below, look out for them in the UK from July calling at Southampton, Andover, Newport, Liverpool, London and Tunbridge Wells.

CB have played 2 Crossfire events over the last 2 years. If you have not seen our interview with this lot, click play.

Categories
Features Music

Introducing Sexwolf

sexwolf1It took no longer than 10 minutes to interview Sexwolf. We don’t even have a fitting introduction for them other than their incendiary metallic hardcore reached us last month and some of it kicks arse. So let’s just get to the fucking point…

Who the fuck are Sex Wolf?!

Four guys living that tough life, unions, being on strike, we’re down on our luck, it’s tough, so tough! (Rich – melodies and poetry, Mulv – Bass, Jenk – Skin division, Joe – midget.)

Why the fuck did you call your band Sexwolf?

We like sex as in the act of lovemaking, Coitus. We also think wolves are remarkable animals. What could be better than wolves fucking beast lipstick lovemaking?………We are Sexwolf!

What other fucking names did you have before you chose that one?

We were originally called Statham- as in Jason, cockney, Mexican, crime-fighting, risk taking, bald cunt! His arms are majestic but once you have a random conversation about animal porn, Statham’s always gonna take a back seat!

What the fuck is going on in the Birmingham hardcore scene?

I’ll be brutally honest we havnt got a clue most bands we play with are not local. Every show we have played in Birmingham have been with bands around the country like Failsafe, The Plight, For Eyes who are very good bands! We see ourselves playing around the country and not so much in Birmingham regularly!

Who the fuck do you think you are having a drummer that is capable of sounding like a machine gun?

It’s not intentional he has full body tourettes from an overweight cock!

Why the fuck where you ‘brought up to fuck up’?

If you ever felt like people think you are useless, well I wrote a song about how you feel when cry wanking! Our songs are open to interpretation because we have no idea what they are about we just want you to sing along at full volume!

Who is the biggest fuck up in the band?

As a collective we each have our fuck ups. For instance, Jenk masturbates so often his sister in the next room has to wear headphones to stop the nightmares! Mulv has a big head like in circumference! Rich has the rhythm of a spastic slow lorris on ketamin! Joe is just a prick, midget prick.

Why the fuck do you still have a Myspace page?

Because Tom seemed so friendly.

Why the fuck did Refused get back together?

Deep political reasons. I suppose they are a voice of a generation and own the hardcore scene, oh, and shit loads of money I guess!

Why the fuck are you pro boners and tits?

Listen, this is a serious subject. We love titties. We all sucked on our mother’s until puberty or until dad got jealous! Boners are the reason the world goes round, you know men are a dominate force we are men who stand boner proud! We promote soapy tit wanks!

Why the fuck should people listen to your music?

We promote good times and sound track to fully ram to the point of pleasurable prolapse….we want to bring back a bit of fun at shows everyone is so serious with there shitty, two step bollocks! We want star jumps and leap frogging and human pyramids! Listen to us it will make you smile!

Find Sexwolf on Facebook.

Take a free download of ‘Brought Up To Fuck Up’: