Keeping in line with the current montage of Nirvana whirling around the media, the fantastic Robotic Empire label have revealed their second tribute to the band.
Following 2014’s take on In Utero, which featured an all star cast of Ceremony, Daughters and Jay Reatard, this time around, Nevermind is given the cover treatment.
Featuring a diverse range of acts from Torche’s low-end sludge rendition of ‘In Bloom’ to La Dispute’s post-hardcore ‘Polly’ drawl, via White Reaper’s thrashing ode to ‘Territorial Pissings’, there’s much gold to be found here. Especially in Young Widows’ thankfully innovative spin on ‘Teen Spirit.
La Dispute/Title Fight
The Garage, London
20th September 2012
From the get go, Title Fight had the audience exactly where they wanted them. Everyone was ferocious, and as eager to sing along with vocalist, Jamie Rhoden. The crowd, ever so relentless, couldn’t help themselves but to climb on the stage at every opportunity.
At any one given time, there were at least three fans either climbing on the stage, or diving off. At first, it was quite cool; fans showing their support and singing along, forgetting about the bruises and jumping into the pit, but the novelty factor soon wore off. If not for the Title Fights’s musicianship, it would’ve been difficult putting up with such distractions. It was impressive to see them pull of a flawless set in the midst of cables being ripped off mics, and roadies on call every few minutes to fix a stand or make sure nothing else was damaged. Gang chants are one thing, but to have the crowd to sing, more like shout, to every word in the set was something else.
Title Fight occasionally drifted off in an almost shoegaze-esque fashion, taking the crowd with them in these calm moments before the storm reappeared. The set list was filled with songs from their debut album ‘Shed’, EP ‘The Last Thing You Forget’, and not forgetting tracks from latest release ‘Floral Green‘. Title Fight pulled of an awesome performance, despite the over eager and somewhat off-putting crowd.
The crowd, the energy, the feel and the atmosphere refined to a less destructive and a more aware audience as heroes La Dispute emerge. The hardcore kids seem to have got crowd surfing out of their systems. La Dispute just make the crowd listen and hang on to every word.
La Dispute, one of bands which make up “The Wave” which have taken Post-Hardcore by storm and stand out because of the their eclectic styles and lyrical content, with the majority of their songs based on true events, accounts and retelling of old stories which they’ve acquired from meeting various people on their travels. And this is precisely why the songs are so gripping. And despite being sad they’re honest memento’s to lives once lived.
Tonight’s set list was varied, covering material from the acclaimed albums ‘Somewhere At The Bottom of the River Between Vega and Altair’ and the most recent ‘Wildlife‘. The show started of with all out bruised bodies and the whole heart shrinks which perfectly exemplifies Jordan Dreyer’s vocal styling, from starting off like a spoken word poem and drifting off to screaming out the rest.
They played, for the first time live, ‘St Paul’s Missionary Baptist Church Blues‘ which was a hit with the crowd. But the outstanding song of the night, one that’s rarely played was ‘Andria’ .
After charging through a truly awesome and emotional set. La Dispute re-emerged for a two song encore. ‘Most Beautiful Bitter Fruit’ and ‘King Park’ which left the crowd roaring out loud “Can I still get in to heaven if i kill myself”. La Dispute need to hit our shores more often, too many people missed out on tonight due to the intimate venue size, plus there are many more epic songs to be heard live.
After a triumphant Reading & Leeds last weekend, the outdoor festival season has pretty much drawn to a close, but fear not, there are plenty of gigs coming up to get your teeth into for those still hungry for more gnarly music. Below is a list of shows that Crossfire recommends over September 2012.
B.DOLAN’s “The Church of Love & Ruin”
1st – MILTON KEYNES, UK – Crauford Arms (B. DOLAN ONLY, EXTENDED SOLO SET), 2nd – BRISTOL, The Croft (B. DOLAN ONLY, EXTENDED SOLO SET), 3rd – LONDON The Jazz Cafe, 4th – LIVERPOOL Kazimier, 5th – BIRMINGHAM HMV Institute, 6th – READING SUB89 (ft. headlining set from SAGE FRANCIS), 7th – BRIGHTON Coalition (ft. headlining set from SAGE FRANCIS)
Rapper B.Dolan presents ‘The Church Of Love & Ruin’. In the words of the man himself expect the following: “Inspired by the ’boutique festival’ scene, “Church” focuses on atmosphere, handpicked artists, and chaotic, inspired moments of surprise throughout the show (i.e. being part of a ‘toilet paper dodgeball’ game with 800 other people). Come & be blessed.”
BLOOD OF THE SPECTRE / DOOMED FROM DAY ONE
11th – BIRMINGHAM Scruffy Murphy’s, 12th – LONDON The New Cross Inn, 13th – SWINDON 12 Bar, 14th – MAIDENHEAD HOBFEST Hobgoblin, 16th – HIGH WYCOMBE Scorpio’s Bar
Pay particular attention to Doomed From Day One on this UK tour. The young band mix everything from The Black Dahlia Murder inspired vocals and riffs to experimental jazz in their unique sound! Out of all the dates, Maidenhead looks like the one, although it doesn’t hit the map too often in musical terms, catching them in this sweaty venue with fine ales on tap seems like an opportunity not to be missed.
DYING FETUS
16th – BRIGHTON Concorde2 , 17th – NORWICH Waterfront, 18th – BIRMINGHAM O2 Academy 2 19th – READING Sub89, 20th – MANCHESTER Club Academy, 21st – GLASGOW Cathouse, 22nd – DUBLIN The Pint, 23rd – LONDON Underworld
It’d be a challenge to find a tour that is more deadly than the’ Womb to Waste Tour’. The line up consists of headliners Dying Fetus, Job For A Cowboy, Revocation and Cerebral Bore.
GNARWOLVES
28th – LONDON Old Blues Last
Gnarwolves, a sick band, they were awesome at Hevy Fest and their latest release ‘Cru’ is always spinning at Crossfire HQ. This show is free, so there’s no reason not to attend!
HER PARENTS
18th – LONDON Camden Barfly
The Barfly is renowned for showcasing the best in new talent, with this gig being one of those nights. Her Parents are an exciting indie band born from the ashes of Dananananaykroyd, Stairs to Korea, and Internet Forever.
LA DISPUTE/TITLE FIGHT
20th – LONDON The Garage
If you are luckily enough to have a ticket for this one off show, you don’t need telling how special it will be. If you don’t it may well be worth splashing out on Viagogo or ebay. La Dispute put on a mesmerising live performance and Title Fight’s fast paced pop-punk is second to none. This is going to be amazing.
PIERCE THE VEIL
16 LEEDS Cockpit 2, 17 NEWCASTLE Academy 2, 18 GLASGOW Ivory Blacks, 20 NOTTINGHAM Rock City Basement, 21 LONDON Underworld, 22 BIRMINGHAM Asylum, 23 MANCHESTER Moho Live, 25 SOUTHAMPTON Joiners, 26 CARDIFF Clwb Ifor Bach, 27 BRISTOL The Fleece, 28 KINGSTON The Peel
Pierce The Veil are a growing phenomenon over the pond and we can’t get enough of their latest album ‘Collide With The Sky’. These shows seem pretty intimate for a band ready to explode into the scene, catch them while you can.
SCHOLARS
15th – SOUTHSEA Festival, 17th – GUILDFORD The Star, 19th – KINGSTON Bacchus, 20th – SUNDERLAND Bar One, 21st – HARTLEPOOl The Studio, 22nd – BIDEFORD Palladium, 27 SOUTHAMPTON Avondale House, 28th – RAMSGATE Red Arrows Club
The excellent Scholars are touring in support of new single Blinda Data which you can view below.
SOUTHSEA FEST
15th – SOUTHSEA, Various Venues
Bastions, Tall Ships, Polio, Veils, The Social Club, Black Moth, Gnarwolves and many more play this award winning festival that celebrates underground and independent music. Plenty of names on the bill to check out whilst they are still under the radar.
THE MENZINGERS
19th – BIRMINGHAM Hare & Hounds, 20th – MANCHESTER Moho Live, 21st – GLASGOW Captain’s Rest, 22nd – LEEDS Cockpit III, 23ed – SOUTHAMPTON Unit, 24th – BRISTOL Croft, 25th – LONDON Borderline
Melodic punk rock doesn’t get more emotional than The Menzingers, their latest album ‘On The Impossible Past’ is absolutely perfect. Expect songs taken from that release and their large back catalogue of impressive tunes.
WE ARE THE OCEAN/GIANTS
18 – EXETER Cavern, 19 – LONDON Barfly, 20 – LEEDS Cockpit II, 22 – MANCHESTER Deaf Institute, 23 – GLASGOW King Tut’s, 25 – CARLISLE Brickyard, 26 – SHEFFIELD Academy II, 27 – WREXHAM Central Station, 28 – DUBLIN Academy II, 29 – BELFAST Speakeasy
After the controversial departure of vocalist Dan Brown and with a new album up their sleeves it’ll be interesting to see the new look We Are The Ocean perform in front of their own fans. But what’s even more exciting is that skate-punks Giants are opening up the shows. We featured this band latest single ‘Snakes’ earlier in August and are expecting big things to come from them.
THE XCERTS
17th – LONDON, The Borderline
Origionating from Aberdeen, The Xcerts draw influence from iconic Scottish bands such as Biffy Clyro and Suciperro. At this intimate show the young band will be playing their critically acclaimed album ‘Scatterbrain’ in full.
Punk band Title Fight are streaming the first part of their tour documentary online (which was directed and edited by Alex Henery). The film features Title Fight performances on massive stages as support to Rise Against from the April/May 2012 “Endgame” Tour.
Title Fight are over in the UK next month for a one off co-headline show with La Dispute at The Garage in London before heading of on a full Euro tour.
Former Thieves have had some bad luck over the past couple of days with van trauma in mainland Europe and illness plaguing the band’s members. Yet they’re gracious and potent on stage tonight, their visceral yet carefully paced set pulsating through the venue despite a largely unmoving crowd. This two band bill makes for a show that rivals La Dispute’s last London appearance at the Underworld with Touche Amore. The rather more intimate feeling of The Borderline lends itself well to both bands’ clear desire to connect with the audience. Despite everyone’s lack of movement for the openers, you can tell they’re being well received as attention is fully on the music emanating from the stage. The bar is quiet. It’s the music everyone is here for tonight.
La Dispute have already proven themselves as live favourites amongst those in the know on these shows. Their deeply emotive music verges on the uncomfortable at times but tonight’s unrelenting emotion is delivered with a rawness and a sincerity that is undeniable and ultimately appealing. Perfectly crafted songs balance sparse textures with dramatic riffs and vocals that sound so close to breaking, you can’t help but empathise with the lyrics.
Ever the socially conscious, La Dispute have chosen to donate a portion of their merch sales to Teenage Cancer Trust tonight. They also requested a donation (of any amount) from those lucky enough to be on the guestlist for the event. There’s certainly a sense that this is far more than a token gesture and that this a band who really want to make a difference wherever they can. And it’s oh so evident that their performance tonight has made a difference to each person present. Stirring stuff.
The song, Harder Harmonies, is taken from their upcoming album Wildlife which is released on October 4th via No Sleep Records. It will be their first album since 2008’s Somewhere at the Bottom of the River Between Vega and Altair.
Last year we had a monster supply of straight-up-no-messing-around FREE music for you all to wrap your ears around. Our Soundcloud become some sort of portal to a place where you could pick up music files and essentially sleep with them. OK, OK, really, it’s just a sort of music blog style thing where we gather a bunch of things that are available (and cleared artist’s themselves… no leakyjoes here I’m afraid) for free and round them up so you don’t have to sift through all the crap that stinks up Tumblr, WordPress and Blogspot on a daily basis. Here’s some bangers to kick start 2011.
On a electronic and beat tip we have fist pumping beats and eclectic production from the likes of innerpartysystem and Andreya Triana who get the remix treatment from Starkey and TOKiMONSTA respectively. Bars, beats and big tings come from a selection of capable wordsmiths, including Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne, Rittz, Yelawolf, Big Krit and Jaylib. Realness sans loops comes from La Dispute, And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of The Dead, Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeros, Mogwai and Wavves. Get stuck in.
Searching For A Pulse / The Worth Of The World
No Sleep Records
Two of the pre-eminent members in burgeoning Post-Hardcore scene ‘The Wave’, La Dispute and Touché Amoré release this brand new split 7”inch Searching For a Pulse / The Worth of the World. This pairing of some of punk’s most exciting young blood means expectations are set high, but the two bands meet them convincingly.
Touché Amoré kick off the split with I’ll Get My Just Deserve, which is boosted by the contributions of La Dispute’s distinctive vocalist Jordan Treynor. The ascending guitar melody injects the track with a great sense of urgency, which is just as well, as like most of Touché Amoré’s material the song is over in a flash. But it’s the vocal interplay between the two singers that is most impressive about the record’s first half, and although very brief, hints at the further potential of this collaboration.
La Dispute offer the weightier half of the release, which picks up where their immense 2008 debut left off. How I Feel is the heavier of the two tracks, working around up-tempo guitar riffs before breaking down into an epic shouting contest between the two vocalists. The 7”inch is rounded off by the slower paced Why It Scares Me, the record’s calmest offering which puts emphasis on Treynor’s lyrical sprawl. Whether or not you like La Dispute, or indeed this record, will ultimately hinge on what you make of Treynor’s melodramatic vocal style.
Personally I like a little melodrama in my hardcore, and few do it better than both La Dispute and Touché Amoré. As expected, then, this split is one of the year’s standout punk releases and promises much for the next full lengths from both bands.
Whatever Nevermind
Punk band Title Fight are streaming the first part of their tour documentary online (which was directed and edited by Alex Henery). The film features Title Fight performances on massive stages as support to Rise Against from the April/May 2012 “Endgame” Tour. 
Two of the pre-eminent members in burgeoning Post-Hardcore scene ‘The Wave’, La Dispute and Touché Amoré release this brand new split 7”inch Searching For a Pulse / The Worth of the World. This pairing of some of punk’s most exciting young blood means expectations are set high, but the two bands meet them convincingly.