I quite like lists. The
internet seems made for them, but I can't imagine many people care
what my favourite albums were of 2013. That doesn't really matter
though as I'm putting exactly that list up. There will be some
glaring omissions that I haven't got round to buying or listening to
yet, educate me. What I can say is that from the music I did listen
to in 2013 is that British punk rock is as healthy as I've ever known
it; obviously I get more chance to see British bands live which is
why this list is heavily weighted towards bands from these fair
isles. As it should be really, we often don't appreciate the great
musicians and bands that tour relentlessly around the country and
bring joy to us; we take them for the granted, but I for one would
like to thank them all for inspiring me and making me happy.
Instead of Facebook
telling me what my 2013 was about I thought I'd let the bands and
releases who meant something to me do that so I'll take a lyric from
each record to make into a new song/poem to hopefully sum up 2013, a
bit like that stupid game you played at school when one person
started a story and then the next person carried it on, and on, and
on and you ended up with a load of nonsense...
(Reading these back it
reads like I may have written them when I was a bit tiddly, and I
probably was, so sorry about that.)
The
band with the worst/ best band name and worst/best album name of 2013
were WSPC and the album continues the absurdity. I love much that is
absurd, I even put one of my interests as Camus' philosophy of the
absurd on a dating site I went on at the start of the year. How I got
any dates I'm not sure. Anyway, this band remind me a bit of the
first time I heard Guttermouth; if they are joking then they're
amazing and just having a good time and taking the piss out of things
they want to take the piss out of (which seems to be mostly straight
edge bands). If they're serious like Guttermouth ended up being it's
terrible. The music is kind of old school hardcore, with song titles/
lyrics taking the piss out of/paying homage to bands like Good Clean
Fun/ Gorilla Biscuits. There's far too many forward slashes in this
review. But anyway, yeah, they're a mix of Green Jelly, Gorilla
Biscuits and Guttermouth. I'm still not sure about them but that's
why they're absurd, and fun, and worth a listen.
Lyric
taken: "You always have something to say/ you never notice we
all turn away"
For some reason I wanted to hate this band before I'd listened to
them or seen them. The minor hype? The name which I wasn't sure was
amazing or shite? The fact the lead singer shares the same name as
the ECB chairman? (was this a ridiculous thought of punk being for
the working class when I was at least one generation removed from
'the working class' anyway. Has punk become/ was it always a posh
boys plaything? What the fuck has it got to do with me?). Then I
listened to the album and I couldn't get the songs out of my head,
the album is very good, extremely catchy and just nice. But then I'm
not sure I want my punk music to be nice, and I'm not sure if the
band very much fits into 'punk' music as I know it but I know the
British scene is better off for having intelligent and thoughtful
songwriters and bands like these in it.
Lyric
taken: "I can't figure out a better way than to ignore you when
you act this way/ I'm trying not to give you sympathy, I know it's
what you want and I give in so easy"
One of the good things of finally finding a girl who can put up with
me has been discovering an almost parallel music scene in indiepop
which has the same ideals and political views as punk but is much
more twee, catchy and nice, and probably has much less arguments
about who can be in their scene as the punk scene does (see above).
CMW kind of sound like Lily Allen mixed with Lemuria and sing songs
about veganism, people being ignorant and 'purging your inner Tory'.
The album is lovely and you should check it out, it's what you would
be listening to if you managed to make friends with the slightly
cooler, better looking people in your school.
Lyric
taken: "You say it's human nature to fuck up anything good/ The
only thing wrong with human nature is we listen to people like you"
This album is superb, RVIVR play pop punk but a pop punk that sounds
like its been fed on amphetamines and jangly guitars. This record is
42 minutes long but feels shorter than that due to the feeling of
urgency in their songs; I'm not sure where they're trying to get to
but it sounds like they're trying to get there fucking fast. There's
also the almost 10 minute three part 'The Hunger Suite' which shows
the bands intelligence and daring to try something to different which
sets them apart from most bands out there at the moment.
Lyric
taken: "But someone's always trying to tell me who I am, who to
love and how to fuck/ And it's time to pay the rent, kick down the
door and come outside."
Last Christmas I was at a house party where I got talking to a girl
when Diesel Boy came on the stereo, I was surprised she'd heard of
them and started telling her a story about a gig in Bradford where
Southport were supporting them. I only knew one Southport song at the
time; 'Pilot' from the Killed By Crackle! compilation, when they
played this I started doing forward rolls and other stupid stuff on
the otherwise empty dance floor. That wasn't the story though; the
story was that we'd missed our last train back to Leeds and didn't
have anywhere to stay, as the gig wasn't very well attended we
managed to latch onto a group of people and go back to their house.
With us was Diesel Dave, lead singer of Diesel Boy who had pulled one
the girls who lived in the house... I hadn't thought about this for
many a year until this party but it turns out that the girl who was
with Diesel Dave and whose house we stayed at was the sister of the
girl I'd been talking to, who had just been playing and singing in my
mates living room at the party. Small world.
Anyway, This album doesn't have any of the immediate impact or
urgency of the pop punk sounds that Southport created back in their
Crackle! era but it's very good mid tempo punk rock, kind of like
Armchair Martian with bits of Senseless Things and some soul and
reggae thrown in. Good stuff.
Lyric
taken:"This might be the last time, let's hope it's worthwhile"
This is a beautiful release which almost fully captures the pure
brilliance of seeing Bangers live. I say almost as though the
production is spot on and it allows the song writing to stand out and
lets the songs to have space to breathe, listening to the band on
record just isn't as amazing as seeing them live. That's not to say
this is a bad record, far from it; there's not a duff song on it.
It's mostly Hot Water Music type gruff pop punk but you also get the
brilliant Hold Steady-ish slower number of 'Bad Jokes' and the more
metallic hardcore 'A Quite Different Coastline'. It's all good stuff
and you'll be singing along to it after a few listens.
Lyric
taken:"I said my favourite colour now is the colour of
streetlights/ she said she could never distinguish between my bad
jokes and stupid lines"
This is Down and Outs' fourth album and it continues in much the same
sing along street pop punk vein as their previous output but this
album seems a tad more melodic and mature. The twelve songs speed
along and it's the kind of record you'll just want to play over and
over again. The band have been going for ten years now and keep on
creating brilliant, catchy punk songs. Far too underrated.
Lyric
taken: "And I'll cling to what they say about a silver lining/
but it doesn't make the days of silence any less tiring"
First Snuff album in about a a decade, that's all you really need to
know but it does help that it's absolutely excellent. Everything’s
in here that you'd want from a Snuff album; Duncan Redmond’s
distinctive, Cockney singing voice, Hammond organ, trombone, the
unique Snuff guitar sound, catchy as fuck songs and great lyrics. It
sounds like the band had a great time making the album and every time
I play it it brings a huge smile to my face, let's hope it's not
another ten years till the next album.
Lyric
taken: "One look in the mirror tells you nothing stays the same/
You can wallow in your loss or accept the change."
One must have a bit of variation in their diet and I like a bit of
country music now and again, mainly because the lyrical content of
broken hearts, fucking up and getting fucked up mirror my favourite
punk song topics. Lindi Ortega is a singer songwriter from Canada,
this is her third album and I can't recommend checking her out
enough. This album is a mix of country, rockabilly and good old rock
'n' roll. She is brilliant, the album is brilliant, it will break
your heart and then mend it again and then make you want to dance in
the street. She's the best country artist around at the moment in my
opinion and doesn't get half the recognition she deserves as she
doesn't have a massive major label pushing her; she just relies on
non stop touring to get out there and do what she loves doing as she
sings "No Billboard hits, no sold out nights. We got bills to
pay, trying to make a way. Some of us wait on luck; well, some just
pray"
Lyric
taken:"Haunting every portrait of your saddest face/ your muse
is a painting that cannot be erased."
Acoustic pop punk which acts as the UK punk scenes political conscience
(or at least the part of the 'UK punk scene' they inhabit). They may
be a tad twee and seem a bit smug but I'd be a bit smug if I could
write catchy as hell, thought provoking sing a long pop songs with
more than convincing storytelling at a rate they manage to be doing.
The ten tracks on this album sound kind of connected to each other
but it's not really a concept album (even though some characters pop
up in the same songs), it more takes the ONSIND blueprint and just
makes it the best it's ever been. The Guardian often runs articles about
there not being any modern protest singers/ bands about but if they
ever took their heads out of their arses they'd realise ONSIND are
just that; this album is amazing and needs to be listened to.
Lyric
taken:"How we struggle to find meaning in the 'facts'/ A
dialogue so porous that the language drips and trickles through the
gaps"
Caves are one of, if not the best live band in Britain right now but
that energy and the feeling the crowd gets whenever they're seen live
hasn't been transferred to their recorded output in the past. Betterment puts that right and shows the band on top form and the
production of the record means the song writing, the energy and the
sheer catchiness of the tunes is finally caught on record. This
eleven track album is a little over 26 minutes long and powers along
in no time at all; you'll be hitting the repeat button before you
realise what's hit you, and then doing it again. I used to describe
them as a British RVIVR but they seem so much better to be stuck in
another bands shadow just now. They're just Caves, and they're
fucking mint.
Lyric taken:"Never believed/ never believed
in anything."
This is an almost perfect Ramones/Screeching Weasel style pop punk
album from this Scottish band which is out on Asian Man Records in
the US which seems like a pretty big deal to me. On a pop record you
don't expect a band to be original but you do expect them to be
unique; it's about using the same old building blocks and creating
something new that expresses the individuals in the band; Fraser and
co do just that and they've made my favourite pop punk record of at
least the last five years. If you ever had any affinity to that genre
you need to check this out. All the songs are catchy as hell, three
chord, three minute blasts of pop punk joy and of course what sets
them properly apart is Fraser's thoughtful, brilliant,
miserabilistic, nihilistic lyrics.
Lyric
taken:"Although I'm still not sure what I'm doing or where I'll
be at the end of the day/ If I can simplify things then I think that
I might be okay."
1.
V/A- The Songs Of Tony Sly: A Tribute
When Tony’s death was announced to the world it was the first time
that someone's death who I didn't personally know effected me in any
way; his songs were part of my growing up, part of my youth, part of
me. I was actually more of a LagWagon Fan (it felt that you were
either one or the other back in the day) and I think I only saw No
Use For A Name once and that was when Suicide Machines supported them
at the Duchess back in nineteen ninety something and everyone who was
at that gig will tell you both NUFAN and Swingin' Utters were totally
overshadowed by Suicide Machines but I still liked NUFAN, caught Tony
Slys solo shows and loved his song writing and lyrics especially and
his songs were and are a part of the soundtrack to my life. So when I
heard the news I was shaken up and spent a week or so listening to
his songs and celebrating what he did in my own personal way. This
album is a perfect tribute to the man and will hold a extra special
place in my collection forever more. Rest in peace, but may your
songs continue to bring joy to the people you touched. Cheers.
Lyric
taken: "But without you my life is incomplete/ My days are
absolutely gray/ and so I'll try let your heart know for sure/ that I
have so much more to tell you every single day."
So here's my final song of 2013:
You
always have something to say, You never notice we all turn away
I
can't figure out a better way than to ignore you when you act this
way
I'm
trying not to give you sympathy, I know it's what you want and I give
in so easy
You
say it's human nature to fuck up anything good
The
only thing wrong with human nature is we listen to people like you
But
someone's always trying to tell me who I am, who to love and how to
fuck
And
it's time to pay the rent, kick down the door and come outside
This
might be the last time, let's hope it's worthwhile
I
said my favourite colour now is the colour of streetlights
She
said she could never distinguish between my bad jokes and stupid
lines
And
I'll cling to what they say about a silver lining
But
it doesn't make the days of silence any less tiring
One
look in the mirror tells you nothing stays the same
You
can wallow in your loss or accept the change
Haunting
every portrait of your saddest face
Your
muse is a painting that cannot be erased
How
we struggle to find meaning in the 'facts'
A
dialogue so porous that the language drips and trickles through the
gaps
Never believed, never believed in anything
Although
I'm still not sure what I'm doing or where I'll be at the end of the
day
If
I can simplify things then I think that I might be okay
But
without you my life is incomplete, my days are absolutely gray
And
so I'll try let your heart know for sure
That
I have so much more to tell you every single day
That actually makes my 2013 sound pretty horrible; it wasn't, it was
one of the happiest of my life; so thanks to the bands for sound
tracking it, the friends I've shared it with and especially Helen for
just making life more fun. And if you've read this blog or any of my
previous ones (and commented or liked them on Facebook), thanks to
you too, it's kind of nice to be doing something semi creative again.
Have a great new year.
