Hope Show 113 – the lowdown

Hope Show 113
1. Pup – reservoir
2. Pup – Dark Days
3. Down By Law – rebel Conformist
4. Bangers – The Pits
5. Maxwells Dead – Home
6. Black Flag – TV Party
7. L.O.T.I.O.N. – Computers Don’t Have a Heartbat
8. Apes Brigade – The Interrogation of the Good
9. Protomartyr – Dope Cloud
10. Sleater Kinney – Bury Our Friends
11. Martha – Chekhovs Hangnail
12. Bedford Falls – Anodyne
13. The Great St Louis – Mooresy
14. No Monster Club – Late Bloomers
15. Kevin Seconds – Only Drug
16. KatJon Band – Machine Gun and the Ugly Doll
17. Flies on you – Action Stations

I’m loving the new Pup album out now on Side One Dummy. Two stand out songs in particular Dark Days and REsevoir – had to play them both.

Down By Law are old faves of mine. I lost a bit of interest when singer Dave Smalley started propgating American Republican politics, they released an album last year ad are touring Europe towards the Summer

Bangers are a punk rock band from Cornwall

Maxwells Dead are on the wonderful Make That a take records singing about the punk scene in the UK. They feel part of the punk rock community that I too feel happy to be part of. They are my neighbours that I’ve yet to meet

Wanted to take a turn and move things heavy for a few songs, in case you think I was mellowing out so I reach for the trusty Black Flag. US Hardcore at its hardest.

L.O.T.I.O.N are industrial punk from New York City, pretty interesting group of people

Apes Brigade are an intersting group from Marseille who sing in English

Goober Patrol brought out a great split with 7 Day Conspiracy last year with their ‘tribute’ to their party holding government right now – Tory. Wonder what we will be singing about in Ireland after our general election next week?

Hardly Art has some interesting bands including Protomartyr from Detroit, the more I listen to them the more I like them. They are playing Dublin at the end of March

I missed Sleater Kinney when they played Vicar Street in Dublin last year, I wanted to go but it wasn’t to be, like a lot of things the real world takes priority. Martha are flying a flag that Sleater Kinney were involved in raising. DIY rock inspired by strong independent women, showing that you don’t have to be a woman with a gimmick to be in a band. Martha from newcastle are strong exponents of diy lo-fi intelligent indie pop rock punk.

The Great St Louis and Bedford Falls go hand in hand and when stories get written abut influential tuneful UK didy bands these two will be up there and with Leatherface be seen as great great bands. Funny how they can slip through cracks. Thankfuly we still have Bear Trade and Stay Clean Jolene to keep us excited about it.

No Monster Club from Dublin have a new album on the way, this isn’t on it but I havent got my hands on the record yet, I will and I will play it. I love their swagger.

Kevin Seconds was and still is the voice behind positive US hardcore band 7 seconds. There’s an introspective mood to tongihts show so I’m going with a solo song from the great man.

I saw the KatJon Band play one of their few gigs in Amsterdam a few years ago. Kat, from the ex, joined john langford from the mekons + three johns on stage and played as a two piece. Love this record

It’s been a fairly mellow show tonight with some good tunes being the basis for it. For me it’s the calm before the storm as I get ready to head out on another protest march on the streets of Dublin. We, as a nation, will get a chance to voice our collecitve opinion on the poilitics of austerity and (in)equality and the show tonight reflects a sombre mood. It’s a case of what might be or could have been. but let Flies on You finish us off tonight while we sing along to their anthemic chorus
“Please bring down the forks and spoons,
Please bring down the plates and bowls
Please bring down the dirty clothes
And pleeeeease…… bring down the government”

Enjoy

niallhope

This weeks news Feb 19

As with last week we have a few good gigs on the horizon. Dubliners are spolit for choice with two tonight

An interesting gig is happening on Sunday in the small room that is Toners. Blood or Whiskey are bringing their folk punk sound to the venue. Don’t get a chance to see the band in such an intimate venue usually, it will nearly be full of band members.

Gigs on the way

Feb 19 – Jungbluth + Bacchus, Tenterhooks

Feb 19 – Alright the Captain + Steve Strong Music + A Werewolf! + We Come In Pieces, Cobblestone Joes- Limerick

Feb 19 – The Dubtones (Dublin Ska/Punk) + The Migraines (UK Hardcore Punk) + The Kluster-Fux (Offaly Hardcore Punk) + The Black Pitts (Dublin ’77 Punk) + The Divils (Dublin Ska/Punk) + Doppelskangers(Galway Noise) + The Nilz (Dublin Punk/Grunge. ex Mongohorn members), Fibber Magees

Feb 21 – Blood or Whiskey, Toners

Feb 22 – Baio, The Workmans Club

Feb 23- Shearwater, The Button Factory

Feb 25 – Skyfever + Dorsia + Crooked Edge + Key, Grand Social

Feb 27 – xSlf + the Gakk + Hooligan, Thomas House

March 3 – Lee Scratch Perry, The Academy

March 5 – The Cult, Vicar Street

March 9 – Toby Driver, Bello Bar

March 10 – The Wonder Stuff, the Academy

March 11 – The Lee Harveys + Blackpitts – Make Music Not Way, The Thomas House

March 13 – Cradle of Filth, The Academy

March 15 – Holy Waves + The Urges + This Other Kingdom, Grand Social

March 22 – Battles, Button factory

March 26 – At The Drive In +Le Butcherettes, Vicar Street

March 27 – The Ramonas + The Craic, Fibber Magees

March 31 – Protomartyr, The Workmans Club

April 2 – Peter Hook and the Light perform New Order’s Low-Life and Brotherhood, with
opening Joy Division Set, The Academy

April 2 – The Meatboides, The Workmans Club

April 8 – THE Defects + SFU +The Nils + Spaz Attack, One The Rox

April8- Toby Kaar, The Workmans Club

April 17 – Basia Bulat, The Workmans Club

April 23 – Red Alert + Takers and Users, the Kluster fux + Suckin’ Diesel, On The Rox

April 30 – Dublin Ska Festival , The Grand Social

April 30 – frau + Sissy, Tenterhooks

April 30 – Duncan Reid and the Big heads + the Lee harveys + The Divils + Steven VX

niallhope

This weeks News – Feb 12

This weeks news Feb 12

Not this week but a date for your diary – Coming up on Feb 27 and a real date for your diary post Irish General Election is Jumble Rock – a new all ages music event coming to the Hot Spot Music Club, Greystones on the 27th of February 2016 (1 – 5 pm). There will be a music jumble sale. Sell or trade your records, tapes, CDs, books, zines. €10 to set up a stall and a cheaper rate of €5 for U16s. Email at hotspotmusicclubg@gmail.com if you want to set up a stall. We’ll be playing the best in punk, garage, blues, and folk. Expect to hear Bo Diddley, Jessie Mae Hemphill, Klennex, C.C.T.V, The Clean, Joan Shelley, and many others. Come down to browse the stalls, listen to some great music, and chat about your favourite songs. General entry is free on the day.

 

Back to this week though and it’s some weekend for gigs – small, large completely diy right through to plain alternative.  Whether it’s the folk rock tunes of Frank Turner or the trash metal of suicidal tendencies the Academy will keep you interested in the major label supported acts.

However DIY and indie promoters have just as much going on – Richie Ramone is on in the Voodoo Lounge on Saturday and Obstruct are playing with the flex in tenterhooks. There’s punk rock in on the rox and State magazine are presenting the State of faces night in Whelans.

Also Cian Nugent’s Night Fiction came out on January 29th via Woodsist Records. It is Cian Nugent’s third album but his first taking on the role of singer-songwriter. Where his previous two albums: 2013’s Born With The Caul and 2011’s Doubles saw him exploring extended guitar based instrumentals with his band, The Cosmos, here he has reigned things in and focused his songwriting skills. Guitar fans, do not fear, there is still plenty of soloing and fingerpicking here. With 7 songs both solo and with his band, this album amalgamates everything Cian has done up to this point and reveals a more broad palate of influences, including The Velvet Underground, Richard Thompson, Television, Neil Young, John Lennon, Fred Neil, etc.

Recorded over a week beginning on Valentine’s Day 2014, Night Fiction was recorded in Bow Lane Studios in Dublin with Daniel Fox (Girl Band) and mixed by Brendan Jenkinson. The album’s seven songs include solo ventures as well as full-band recordings feat. David Lacey on drums, Conor Lumsden on bass, Brendan Jenkinson on organ and piano and Ailbhe Nic Oireachtaigh on viola. The vibe here is familiar yet refreshing and a logical progression for Cian.

Gigs on the way

Feb 12 – Frank Turner + Sleeping Souls, The Academy

Feb 12 – Cian Nugent and The Cosmos + Al McKay + Bad Sea, Grand Social

Feb 12 – The flex + Obstruct, Tenterhooks

Feb 12 – State Faces of February – Æ MAK + Katie Laffan + The Witch Trials, Whelans

Feb 12 – Turfboy + Kurt! from Toulouse, France + The Craic + Orkka + Shrapnelz, On The Rox

Feb 13 – Richie Ramone, Vodoo Lounge

Feb 13 – Sophie Cooper + Tor Invocation band + Wry Myrrh, Steambox, School Street, Dublin 8

Feb 14 – Suicidal Tendencies, The Academy

Feb 17 – Kataklysm+ eptic Flesh + Aborted,Voodoo Lounge

Feb 18 – Alright the Captain + Steve Strong Music + A Werewolf! + We Come In Pieces, Roisin Dubh, Galway

Feb 19 – Jungbluth + Bacchus, Tenterhooks

Feb 19 – Alright the Captain + Steve Strong Music + A Werewolf! + We Come In Pieces, Cobblestone Joes- Limerick

Feb 19 – The Dubtones (Dublin Ska/Punk) + The Migraines (UK Hardcore Punk) + The Kluster-Fux (Offaly Hardcore Punk) + The Black Pitts (Dublin ’77 Punk) + The Divils (Dublin Ska/Punk) + Doppelskangers(Galway Noise) + The Nilz (Dublin Punk/Grunge. ex Mongohorn members), Fibber Magees

Feb 21 – Blood or Whiskey, Toners

Feb 22 – Baio, The Workmans Club

Feb 23- Shearwater, The Button Factory

Feb 25 – Skyfever + Dorsia + Crooked Edge + Key, Grand Social

Feb 27 – xSlf + the Gakk + Hooligan, Thomas House

March 3 – Lee Scratch Perry, The Academy

March 5 – The Cult, Vicar Street

March 9 – Toby Driver, Bello Bar

March 10 – The Wonder Stuff, the Academy

March 11 – The Lee Harveys + Blackpitts – Make Music Not Way, The Thomas House

March 13 – Cradle of Filth, The Academy

March 15 – Holy Waves + The Urges + This Other Kingdom, Grand Social

March 22 – Battles, Button factory

March 26 – At The Drive In +Le Butcherettes, Vicar Street

March 27 – The Ramonas + The Craic, Fibber Magees

March 31 – Protomartyr, The Workmans Club

April 2 – Peter Hok and the Light perform New Order’s Low-Life and Brotherhood, with
opening Joy Division Set, The Academy

April 2 – The Meatboides, The Workmans Club

April 8 – THE Defects + SFU +The Nils + Spaz Attack, One The Rox

April8- Toby Kaar, The Workmans Club

April 17 – Basia Bulat, The Workmans Club

April 23 – Red Alert + Takers and Users, the Kluster fux + Suckin’ Diesel, On The Rox

April 30 – Dublin Ska Festival , The Grand Social

April 30 – frau + Sissy, Tenterhooks

April 30 – Duncan Reid and the Big heads + the Lee harveys + The Divils + Steven VX

My Favourite Gig – Miles Hackett, Dry Heave Records

This is the sixth in a series all taken from the Fanzine Hope *.2. The fanzine sees a collection of 70 contributors from the punk rock world.  All asked the same question What is Your Favourite Gig. The zine is €5 including postage to anywhere  It is a benefit for Pikpa Refugee Centre, Lesvos   Pay by paypal, here

This week it is Miles Hackett from Dry Heave Records

 

Dry heave are taking old skater and thrash bands and reminding the kids that these bands once shredded.  Usually limited run and usually full on power

Miles Hackett – Dry Heave Records

NAPALM DEATH, EXTREME NOISE TERROR, BOLT THROWER, CARCASS & INTENSE DEGREE

LONDON, ULU  1989

 

You’d be forgiven for glancing at this line-up and thinking you’d picked up an extreme metal zine by mistake, but way back in ’89 this gig, aptly named ‘A Night Of Rock N’Roll Armageddon’ was the one of the pinnacles of the, then furtive UK hardcore punk scene.  Unlike its US counterpart the UK scene had been born from the legacy of UK 82, anarcho and crust bands that moved in Crass and Discharge circles and pushed their musical power and lyrics to the very point of decimation. Sure there was a slight thrash metal influence (most of the bands on tonight’s bill are firmly entrenched in metal circles these days) but back then this was the largest gathering the UK hardcore scene had witnessed. This scene was, in all its glorious extremity, finding support in the most unusual of places,

John Peel acting as its chief ambassador.  He’d been playing and inviting in for sessions many of these bands for the last couple of years and championing their socio-political, sonic terrorism across the nation’s airwaves on his nightly BBC show. This in turn had caught the eye of the of the music broad sheets who had been devoting more and more column inches to this underground phenomena of the extreme, dubbing it Britcore. Which all ended up at this gig and its public broadcast on national television. Anyone remember Snub TV? It was the mildly alternative music show that boasted a weekly tea time slot on BBC2 and was the brain child of the unintelligible Frenchman from Eurotrash, Antoine De Caunes. The show devoted a whole episode to UK hardcore and was centred around this gig. What they filmed wasn’t pretty….

 

Five bands for a meagre £3.50 was a snip even back in the late 80’s so, expectedly tonight’s show at London’s ULU is a sell out and punks, thrashers, crusties and indie kids alike are shoe horned in to the confines of this 600 capacity venue to witness the band on everyone’s lips, Napalm Death and their all grinding, supporting cast. Earache records, who were born of and at the forefront of this movement had laid on this showcase of the extreme and the expectation was high in the air. Mansfield’s Intense Degree were up first and capitalising on their 1988 debut ‘War In My Head’ and a Peel session of March that same year are the least metallic band on the bill tonight. Their superfast hardcore more in the vein of stalwarts Heresy proving the perfect, adrenalin kick of warm up this gig needed.   Up next were another band fresh from their dropping their debut album and being taken to John Peel’s bosom, Liverpool’s Carcass. 1988’s crudely produced ‘Reek Of Putrefaction’ had already been heralded an underground classic with its blitzcore grind and medical textbook lyrics, they even shared a guitarist with headliners Napalm Death in Bill Steer. Dreadlocked frontman Jeff Walker growled and snarled like the deaths he sang about were his own, as songs like ‘Genital Grinder’ saw the first stage divers of the night leap like lemming s into the assembled throng.

 

Carcass are the most ‘metallic’ band on tonight’s soiree, their riffing and lyrical subject matter pegging them into a pioneering seat in the brave new world of ‘grindcore’, they are rewarded with an ever increasingly violent pit. Next up were the Games Workshop inspired, Coventry crust- thrashers Bolt Thrower. Their debut ‘In Battle There is No Law’ hadn’t been an Earache affair but had been released the previous year on Vinyl Solution records after they were once again championed by none other than John Peel. With a sound that was as much Discharge and Crass as it was Slayer, their raw guitars and stupidly fast rhythm section was also moving into grindcore territory. Also, like Intense Degree they boasted a female bassist, something of a rarity in the testosterone fuelled world of extreme music but a door which the punk mentality of their collective backgrounds had opened.

 

Unlike Carcass before them who were a wall of intense speed, Bolt Thrower’s sludgy crust-metal breaks offered respite from the blast beats. The crowd by now was at capacity, the squashing horde offering ample support to the occasional stage divers leaping for victory. Main support tonight were positive veterans of the UK scene, Extreme Noise Terror. This Ipswich quintet were conceived in 1985 and boasted two vocalists for that added harsh vitriol and are widely considered the forefathers of this genre and its subgenre crust-grind. Their roots are unashamedly crust-punk but having evolved and veering toward grindcore with their short sharp, political ragers that became a blueprint for the movement in its formative years.  With all this in mind ULU starts to turn to mayhem at this point and there are practically queues at stage left and right for divers to launch themselves into the increasingly chaotic pit. Cameramen are now starting to look over their shoulders as moshers barge towards them as they try to document the unconventional image of ENT and the crowd reaction alike.

 

However, nothing could prepare the Snub TV crew, security guards, venue staff and to an extent the crowd for who were fast becoming one of the most infamous bands in the UK, Napalm Death. Their 28 track debut album ‘Scum’ had propelled them into folklore, where people not even remotely associated with punk or metal had their curiosity aroused by the band dubbed the ‘fastest band in the world’.  Their debut may have dropped two years previous but the media hype on Napalm Death was growing feverishly. As soon as they hit the stage maelstrom erupted, the orderly stage side queue of divers looked for new launch pads and the PA was scaled on each side, three or four people atop at any point, then swan diving into the vortex of bodies below. Fire hoses were sprayed upwards, trying to topple the lemmings. Chaos was reigning while Napalm Death’s soundtrack to oblivion played as its backdrop. The whole night began to feel like a Boeing 747 hurtling, out of control towards the ground as chunks of the PA fell beneath the climbers, crashing onto the heads of the sardine packed crowd below.  The Death managed to maintain course during the carnage around and after it was all over everyone spilled out into the crisp February night.

 

This show was arguably the pinnacle and end of a scene.  Vocalist Lee Dorian left Napalm Death not long after and they elevated into the metalsphere along with Carcass and Bolt Thrower who would become death metal behemoth’s in their own right (and still are to this day). Intense Degree faded into obscurity and the lone hardcore punk survivors Extreme Noise Terror would lose vocalist Phil Vane when he untimely died in 2011. But for this evening, as documented by the BBC, Britcore lived, roared, conquered and became extinct in a blaze of primeval glory.

 

Miles Hackett

 

What I’m Reading – Roy Foster – Vivid Faces

This is the first in a series of how many I eventually do.  Rather than writing a review I will ask people to tell me what they are reading and what they like about the book.  Kicking it off is Michael McCaughan telling me about Roy Foster’s Vivid Faces, the Revolutionary Generation in Ireland 1890 – 1923 Penguin Books

Is a really interesting account about some of the main and not so main people behind the Rising and subsequent insurrection and war of independence and civil war era.

Foster takes these characters and looks at not just what their cv’s were like, ie cultural nationalist or served in the British armay and then trained the irish volunteers. he looks at it from a generational perspective, almost as a generation who rejected their parents values, went out and were influenced by feminism, vegetarianism, the most remarkable things we don’t associate with that generation because we have it down to a narrow nationalist narrative.

I learned today that there were two vegetarian restaurants in Dublin at the time where a lot of them used to hang out in. It a cultural history through people’s stories that are not just tales of the great men who participated

el presidente

Bands That Changed a Life – Against ME

Bands That Changed A life – Against Me

The title of this is slightly misleading. Some bands provided direction in my life at a very young age. Some pointed me down certain roads and offered me the chance to travel with them. Some had great music. Some I was ready to die for.

Well not really but figuratively so. The first time I heard Against Me was their debut album on No Idea Records, Reinventing Axl Rose. This was 2002 and I’d already spent a life sentence listening to punk rock. I’d formed my ideas, I’d chosen the independent road road of veganism, no alcohol and diy but when the first note of that first song, ‘pints of guinness make you strong’ cam on, I was completely blown away.

The songs were stories of the day – with the politics of starving and it’s lines “It’s time for real world politics, economics, history, math and english. there are some of us who have, and some go without” My daughter had just turned three and we used to sing along wildly to those ‘Anarcho Punks are Mysterious’.

Hope had just published ‘Document: A story of Hope’ and I needed to get over to some shops in the Uk with it so I co-incided my trip to Bunker records, brighton, with an Against Me gig. It was a small packed to capacity venue that had no need for stage or barrier and the whole couple of hundred of us sang at the very very top of our voices “We rock, because it’s us against them, we found out own reasons to sing, and it’s so much less confusing when lines are drawn like that, when people are either consumers or revolutionaries, enemies or friends” I was ready for the fight. I was ready to be led a new way.

I was as excited as I had been when seeing the Pleasure Cell all those years before, or Fugazi in McGonagles.

This was THAT good.

And then I went home and spread the word. Soon after they came to Ireland. City Arts Centre was the venue as they sang of the revolution. We booked a babysitter for the night and sang strong. Against Me were the band where we all sang along, together as friends. That feeling of energy is hard to capture in words but it is an exhiliration that happens infrequently with music. It is our drug, I suppose.

More and more people wanted to listen to Against Me and the band felt that No Idea records wasn’t able to cope with the demand and they brought out the next two albums on Fat Wreck – As the Eternal Cowboy and Searching For a Former Clarity. With the second Fat Wreck release there were signs that things were changing.

In Unprotected Sex with Multiple Partners Tom (as she was then) sang of “how long is this really going to last” as it became a band that needed to write songs to pay their bills. You could feel the pressure coming on and it finally popped when Sire Records signed the band. The backlash hit hard and heavy. I was disappointed they went off my road but it was totally their choice and I respect any band for that. I find it ironic when people in full-time jobs or those who have made lifestyle choices rally against a band because they have chosen a route not agreeable to them. Especially those who believe in freedom of choice.

I’m torn as to whether it’s a pity or not that their debut major record label release is their worst. On the next album, White Crosses Tom (still Tom) explained “I was a teenage anarchist, looking for a revolution” and we sang along “Do you remember when you were young and you wanted to set the world on fire” but he then goes on to say “the scene got too rigid, it was a mob mentality, they set their rifle sights on me” which is such a shame. What a horrible way for someone who wrote so many great songs to feel. But tom was searching out for her real identity and finally emerged after leaving Sire Records as Laura Jane Grace. She had been dealing with gender dysphoria since childhood and in 2012 finally came out as transgender. Their next album (most recent studio one too) was entitled Transgender Dysphoria Blues and is a concept album about a trans prostitute.

Against me still play sporadic gigs and Laura Jane has a solo tour coming up. I still remember that gig in Brighton and when I need to give an explanation of what music can achieve I hark back to 200 people in a packed room of strangers ready to embrace as if we had seen the greatest sporting achievement of our lives.

niallhope

Book of the week – Kim Gordon, Girl In A Band

Kim Gordon

Girl in a band

Faber Press

Wrapped in what must be the most understated title ever we get Kim Gordons autobiography. Kim was the bass player in hugely influential guitar noise band Sonic Youth. For over 30 years the band forged new ground for guitar based music. Always evolving, forever moving.

In an interesting twist we get the last days of the band to begin with. Kim was married to Thurston Moore for 27 years, all that time playing together in Sonic Youth and when that marriage hit the rocks the band did too. When talking about their relationship it feels at times like I was a fly on the wall of a therapy session. This books publishing must have had a cathartic effect on Kim. Some home truths are exposed.

Once that’s out of the way we hear of her youth. Growing up in l.a. A year out in Hawaii and another in Hong Kong. Early holidays in Oregon.  I have vivid memories as a kid going to the cinema to see an old Peter lorrie movie. My memory of it is that it was called “the hand” but Kim reminds me in the book that it was “the beast with five fingers”. While I was hiding behind the seat in front of me at the cinema Kim was in fear that the chopped hand with a life of its own was under her bed waiting to pounce. I guess that film had a profound effect on both of us.

However Kim’s life after that was a life of beatnik, jazz, cool music and New Yorker magazines.

As autobiographies are tales of people’s life’s to date we hear the sadness of her fathers passing, her older brother’s mental illness, her breeding in art and tales of former lovers including the story of an on off relationship with Simpsons score composer Danny Elfman.

It was another Dan, Grantham who introduced punk rock to an open minded Kim Gordon and who stated that rock an roll was more important than art. Kim was more no wave with its vulnerabilities than punk rock with its attitude and aligned herself with that scene

Before putting this book in my hands Kim Gordon and sonic youth were, to me, all about New York. It’s the city I associate the band with. Of course, being the u.s everyone is transient so Kim ended up there but sees it now as a city changed. 35 years later its unrecognisable from the cheap, dangerous and eclectic land it was. It kind of sounds like Dublin. Major retailers and very few quirks. Capital is driving out innovators. “New York City today is a city on steroids.”

Much of the book is made up of short stories, snippets from time. Sonic youth collaborated with many interesting people and many of these are mentioned. Kurt Cobain, Raymond Pettibon, Spike Jonez, Chuck d, Henry Rollins and more. It’s a list of those whose influence has helped shaped alternative culture in the U.S.  Of course Kim is a strong independent female voice swamped at times in this mans world. In her description of Karen carpenter where Kim States “she was an extreme version of what a lot of women suffer from – a lack of control over things other than their bodies, which turns the female body into a tool for power – good, bad, or ugly” it sums up a generation better than a legion of sociologists writing tomes

Now, with Sonic Youth finished, art plays a large part in her life but the art of music is never far away and although she exhibits in a New York Gallery I’ve no doubt there will always be music in her life.

niallhope

Label of the week – Dischord Records

Label of the Week
Dischord Records

http://www.dischord.com

SO what can you say about Dischordrecords? A label that has sold over 5 million items. A label that has influenced so many musicians and bands. A labelthat has brought out consistently good releases since the Teen Idles Minor Disturbance 7″.

As one of the founders of the label, Ian McKaye states

“After nearly a year of playing together, the Teen Idles decided to break up. It was late summer 1980 and the only thing left to sort out was what to do with the money in the band fund. All of the money we had earned from our 35 concerts went into a cigar box in my room, and we had managed to save over $600. Instead of splitting it up, the band decided to release a record.

It was clear from the beginning that no label would be interested in putting out a Teen Idles record, particularly since we were no longer a band, so we decided to do it ourselves. We turned to our friend Skip Groff, who ran a record shop called Yesterday and Today. He had put out a number of small releases on his own label, Limp Records, and was able to explain the basic mechanics of putting out a record. We came up with a name for our label, started designing the cover, and sent off the tapes to a pressing plant. Finally, in December 1980, the Teen Idles’ “Minor Disturbance” E.P. (an eight-song 7″) was released. This was Dischord Records #1.”

It all sounds so simple, start a band, release a record, play a gig -do it yourself. And you know what? It is.

 

My introduction to the label was the flex your head compilation, which documented the DC hardcore scene at the time. Through this I got to listen to and read about bands like SOA, Untouchables, Youth Brigade and Deadline. The power and the spirit from that record still influences me today.

The label is still releasing records and it’s not just represses and hidden gems like Youth Brigades first demo.

It has put out Soccer Team’s second lp and is involved in Red Hares new record Lexicon Mist which includes a Lungfish cover.

I could write forever about the label but this is here to remind you of its existence.

niallhope

Hope Show 112 – the lowdown

Hope Show 112 the lowdown

1. The Specials – Racist Friend
2. The Men They Couldn’t Hang – The Ghosts of cable Street
3. Chumbawamba – The Day The Nazi Died
4. New Model Army – Better Than Them
5. Steve ignorant – If this is the way things are
6. Four Letter Word – Johnny Foriegner
7. Funeral Oration – This Punk Thing
8. Fifteen – Punk Song
9. Refused – The Shape Of Punk To Come
10. Francis Black – Legal Illegal
11. Mike Park – Korea is so far away
12. The Hanson Brothers – Brad
13. Toxic Waste – Burn Your Flags
14. The Restarts – Jihad

Starting off tonights show with a few songs around racism and the feeling that somehow some people are more superior to another depending on where they are born. I was born on the North side of Dublin and grew up playing football. I still go to games and have friendly rivalry with people from other areas. There is no way that can and should be confused with any feeling of superiority. We are all here by virtue of birth and pure luck as to what land you land on

The Specials sang “If you have a racist friend, now is the time for that friendship to end” while the men they couldn’t hang sang about the time Fascists took the streets in the UK. There was a battle of Cable Street with people willing to stand up to those spreading hate.

Hate was trying to spread itself in the capital of Ireland today and hundreds of people were out to show that we wouldn’t blindly accept prejudice. At times it was a bit intimidating as Garda Special Riot squad drew their batons in an effort to prevent those standing up to hate mongerers from getting near those peddling racism. I thought of this song as it seemed like us, with our families, were going to be attacked and then thought of Chumbawamba’s the day the Nazi Died and wondered why those who look at history don’t see that hate is wrong.

“We’re taught that after the war
The Nazis vanished without a trace
But battalions of fascists
Still dream of a master race

The history books
They tell of their defeat in 45
They all come out of the woodwork
On the day the Nazi died

They say the prisoner of Spandau
Was a symbol of defeat
Whilst Hess remained imprisoned
Then the fascists they were beat

So the promise of an Aryan world
Would never materialize
So why did they all come out of the woodwork
On the day the Nazi died

The world is ridden by maggots
The maggots are getting fat
They’re making a tasty meal
Of all the bosses and bureaucrats

They’re taking over the board rooms
And they’re fat and full of pride
And they all came out of the woodwork
On the day the Nazi died

So if you meet with these historians
I’ll tell you what to say
Tell them that the Nazis
Never really went away

They’re out there burning houses down
And they’re peddling racist lies
And we’ll never rest again
Until every Nazi dies”

“Truth is only what we need it to be” Said Justin Sullivan when he was writing Better Than Them for New Model Army, at times we may feel that way but truth be know we are not. We all have doubt but we need to show humanity

“We are not like them” and “I know where I stand”. I stand with people who are trying their best, people looking to make the world better for all, people willing to work together regardless of colour or creed. Thankfully we outnumbered those who opposed us today.

Four Letter Word were from Wales and were singing abot “Johnny Foreigner at the turn of the Century, trying to highlight peoples ignorance.

I moved on to a set of songs with Punk in the title, just to make sure you are under no illusions where this shows heart is.

Funeral Oration were from the Netherlands, Fifteen were from the Bay Area in San Francisco who say the “only thing that matters if you’re in a band, can you successfully divert the next generation from accepting racism”. Exactly.

Refused were from Sweden, their “Shape Of Punk to come” album was hugley influential at the time. Their gig in Dublin on a Saturday afternoon was the shape of memories to come, for sure

I mentioned last week about the new Songs Of Solidarity and Resistance compilation which proclaims that “Written history is nothing more than the propaganda of the victors. If you want the real history you’ll have to go to the folksong” Ewan McColl has written his version of modern history and here Frances Black takes on his Legal illegal, “Don’t upset the oul’ apple cart”

Mike Park has upset many in his day. His Asian Man record label has highlighted many freat us hardcore and ska core bands. Indeed Mike was in and has toured the world many times. His acoustic warblings always make me smile.

Nomeansno were another seminal Canadian band and are held in huge regard in punk circles. I’ve seen them many times and have always been astounded at their sound. Their offshoot, Hanson Brothers, were the ramones playing ice hockey arenas. Brad is the hanson brothers covering nomeanso, Confused? You will be.

Toxic Waste were from Belfast, never interested in borders or hate. Burn your flags exactly.

Finishing off tonight with the Restarts and Jihad. Don’t forget evil is evil, bad things happen in many countries.

Peace

niallhope

This Weeks News – Feb 5

Lot’s happening in Cork this week with the Quarter Block Party

Gigs this week

 

February 5-7 – Quarter Block Party is a three day music and arts festival

Feb 6 – Kluster Fux + SFU, Suckin’ Diesel + The Divils, Kluster Fux album launch, On
The Rox

Feb 12 – Frank Turner + Sleeping Souls, The Academy

Feb 12 – Cian Nugent + The Cosmos, Grand Social

Feb 12 – The flex + Obstruct, Tenterhooks

Feb 13 – Richie Ramone, Vodoo Lounge

Feb 14 – Suicidal Tendencies, The Academy

Feb 17 – Kataklysm+ eptic Flesh + Aborted,Voodoo Lounge

Feb 18-Alright the Captain + Steve Strong Music + A Werewolf! + We Come In Pieces, Roisin Dubh, Galway

Feb 19 – Jungbluth + Bacchus, Tenterhooks

Feb 19-Alright the Captain + Steve Strong Music + A Werewolf! + We Come In Pieces, Cobblestone Joes- Limerick

Feb 22 – Baio, The Workmans Club

Feb 23 – Shearwater, The Button Factory

Feb 26 – GAVIN AND THEE ICONS, SUN MAHSHENE, BRASS PHANTOMS, BUZZ CAGNEY, The Mezz

March 3 – Lee Scratch Perry, The Academy

March 5 – The Cult, Vicar Street

March 9 – Toby Driver, Bello Bar

March 10 – The Wonder Stuff, the Academy

March 11 – The Lee Harveys + Blackpitts – Make Music Not Way, The Thomas House

March 13 – Cradle of Filth, The Academy

March 18 – THEE PENNY DREADFULS + EVIL ECHOS + GLASSGEARS, The Mezz

March 22 – Battles, Button factory

March 26 – At The Drive In +Le Butcherettes, Vicar Street

March 31 – Protomartyr, The Workmans Club

April 2 – Peter Hok and the Light perform New Order’s Low-Life and Brotherhood, with
opening Joy Division Set, The Academy

April 2 – The Meatboides, The Workmans Club

April 8 – THE Defects + SFU +The Nils + Spaz Attack, One The Rox

April8- Toby Kaar, The Workmans Club

April 17 – Basia Bulat, The Workmans Club

April 23 – Red Alert + Takers and Users, the Kluster fux + Suckin’ Diesel, On The Rox