The
title of this blog was a text I sent to my girlfriend after a gig at
Urban Bar in Whitechapel last Thursday. It was drenched in too much
mid week drinking and that feeling you get when you see a band for
the first time who make you smile so much it almost hurts. That
feeling that keeps you going back to shitty punk shows on week nights
when you're really getting too old as you have to get up at five the
next morning to continue the banality of your working life. That
feeling that adds a bit more colour to your life. Aye, that feeling.
 |
| Photo by Daz Griswald |
The
band were Maladroit, a pop punk band from Paris, France who've been
around since 2009 but I'd only become aware of last year. After I
posted this blog Daz from Griswalds got in touch to say thanks and
gave me a heads up on a label from Europe who had put out some of his
favourite releases over the last few years. The label was Monster
Zero, run by some of the guys from The Apers and one of the many
great bands who had released records through the label were
Maladroit.
 |
| Photo by Daz Griswald |
Maladroit
are a bit stupid, a little clever, a tad melancholic and a lot of
fun. They've got an album out and a handful of 7 inches and the songs
are typical pop punk fair which aren't to be taken too seriously but
are played with passion and a huge sense of enjoyment. File them
somewhere between Cletus, Nerf Herder and The Connie Dungs.
 |
| Photo by Daz Griswald |
Anyway,
when I realised I'd never got close to having a favourite French band
before (I think I may once have pretended to enjoy Saian Supa Crew to
impress a girl or something years and years ago) it got me thinking
how often the rest of Europe is overlooked. Britain only looks to
America and America only looks at itself. But what about just over
the water? It seems there are great bands over on the mainland and
that they're a little bit stuck in the 90's. The Lookout! Records
version of the 90's. It's a pop punk haven. I'm not sure why this
might be. Maybe over there they have less pretensions about what is
cool at the moment; about what our American cousins are doing. Maybe
they found something they loved and just kept doing it. Maybe they
just want to have a bit of fun and add that bit of colour. Maybe,
just maybe, they're the trend-setters. So I thought I'd have a sort
of Eurovision* song contest of bands I've heard over the
last few months that should be checked out and encouraged to come
over to Britain as from what I can tell that doesn't happen as much
as it should.
*
It's nothing like the Eurovision song contest; more just a few bands
(and semi reviews) I like who have released records on the
aforementioned Monster Zero Records. A EuroTimon** contest. With no
winners. Or rather they're all winners. They're all my new (or
existing) favourite bands from their respective countries. What an
honour.
**
My spell checker tried to change this to Neurotic. Hmmmm.
Austria
TheMugwumps- Banana Brain
Everything goes back to The Ramones for these guys; you can see it in
the leather jackets they wear, the lyrics they write and the melodies
they sing. It's simple, it's catchy, it's fun. There's a Queers vibe
going on too (who go back to the Ramones anyway) and a tinge of
Teenage Bottlerocket (who go back to the Ramones via the Queers
anyway) and blah, blah, blah. Good pop punk songs okay!
Denmark
This band are a bit different. And a lot good. This album is one of
the best things I've heard in a while and sounds somewhere between
The Weakerthans, Swingin' Utters and The Cut Ups. Songs about
drinking and playing records and drinking whilst playing records.
When they sing "While I'm sure there's many better stories to be
told/ ones of broken men and alcohol are never getting old" you
just have to agree; not when they're played and told like this. The
whole album is catchy as hell, it's poppy, it's punky but it'd
probably be a bit amiss of me to just lump it into the pop punk
bucket. It's so much more than that. Not exactly original but pretty
damn unique.
France
I've already written enough about these guys but you should check
this out, okay? It has songs called 'I Hate Your Hello Kitty
Underwear' and 'There's No "I" in DIY'. There's a couple of
songs in French too which is nice, glad to see the whole continent
hasn't been totally Americanised/ Anglicised to the tune of the
'language of pop'.
Italy
Like Bis on speed. They sell t-shirts that proudly state 'Love Songs
Only', they have a lovely Valentines Day split with Maladroit,
sprayed with perfume and a heart shaped lyric card that's just come
out. This album has ten songs on it which speed along in no time at
all. Sing-a-long love anthems that should have you bopping around
your room till you can't any more. If you have a heart anyway.
The Netherlands
The Apers- S/T
This record is actually The Apers debut album from way back in 2001
re-released on Asian Man Records. The Apers have been going since
1996 and this album is a classic of the genre. Love songs for the
demented and the unlucky. Fast, short, great songs. If these guys
were American I've no doubt they'd have been held in the same esteem
as The Queers, Chixdiggit and Mr T Experience. It's almost a perfect
example of a pop punk record. Do yourself a favour and give it a go.
You can get all these records through Monster Zero.
Or Brassneck Records in the UK stock most of their catalogue.
