This seasoned Cardiff crew feature ex-members of IN THE SHIT, a current member of SOCIAL EXPERIMENT / ZERO AGAIN and a current member of STITCHED-UP, RED LIGHT SYNDROME and TRIGGER Mc’POOPSHOOT (call me prissy, but what is it with punks and deeply unfunny humour?). Live Not By Lies… is the sophomore album and, if you get hold of the CD, you get a whole other album in the form of their debut (Masters Of Mankind) as bonus tracks.
As well as a mouthful of a title, Live Not By Lies… boasts an array of influences; crust, metal, post-punk, and good ol’ chunky punk rock. The clear, cutting female vocals could be this band’s USP, rare as it is for this style, though the brevity of the songs is notable too. For a sub-genre with a tendency to dry its hands on the towel of overstatement, only two songs breach three minutes, most are just over two, with a couple coming in under that. You’ll get the gist from the off; Sacred Cow‘s stark intro of crushing riffs and hovering post-punk guitar is very much a modern metal crush, the galloping Victim bursts straight in with dark metallic punk, They Lie ushering in gutteral vocals to bring that classic male/female anarcho-crust balance. The growls grow amid Sanctimony‘s metallic squeee!, the vocals ever-more strident on the pounding System Of Slaves with its barbed bridge, before things get really interesting as post-punk guitars permeate the haunting intro to Sex Robot. While it still crushes, it does so at a dragging pace, the vocals bringing a PETROL GIRLS vocal vehemence. There’s something KILLING JOKE about the guitar cutting through on Did I, Recreant gets back to basics with just over a minute of crazed, breakneck punk, while Redemption‘s towering intro and male crust chorus kill all. Trust Overcome‘s growing dynamism is all about METALLICA, the verses spat out over the powerage before a nifty riff arrives to hop up the beat. Like Recreant before it, The Lie We Live shows less metal can still equal pulverising, while Discard‘s supreme male/female vocal chorus thrills as we get another peek at their penchant for post-metallic-punk guitar.
Having not heard this band before, the bonus tracks that make up their 2023 debut are something of a revelation coming straight after the more polished sound of Live Not By Lies…Masters Of Mankind may have all of the elements in place; spiky, post-punk guitars (Die, Treachery, Renegade), arch-metallic riffs (The Scent Of Decay, Die) and dual vocals, but the bass is throatier and more upfront, the vocals edging closer to HEALTH HAZARD levels of anger, a beautifully blunt production only enhancing the power. It’s a rattling, urgent listen, fizzing with DIY desperation.
If, like me, SYSTEM OF SLAVES are new to you, the CD will give you the full picture. A modern take on metallic crust punk, the femme vocals – backed by some gruelling male gutturals – shoulder these to the head of the pack. The band are clearly seasoned players, bashing out their brand of metallic apocalypse with surgical precision.
Released 31st July 2025. Limited edition CD version available. Vinyl also available. Joint release on Engineer Records, Urinal vinyl (UK), Rejected abused (UK), The Jans Little Hammer (Spain), Deviance (France), Mass Production (France), and DIY Kolo (France).
Coming hot off the heels of their 2024 EP “I” on Sell the Heart Records which garnered a nomination for Best Indie/Alternative in the San Diego Music Awards, Hauntu returns with ten beautifully furious songs about living through late stage capitalism and finding themselves at the precipice of a fascist state. (from label bio)
With this San Diego, CA band providing ten tracks of self-styled ‘ghost-punk’, you may be expecting 80s goth inflections, all spindly guitar and Siouxsie vocals. It ain’t that. Opener Crooked Teeth‘s anxiety is punchy, the haunting The Knife has bite even as its insistence is danceable, Rebecca’s vocals soaring as it builds. The catchy chorus of Sadist Sun sees mournful male backing vocals as fitting accompaniment to Rebecca’s cool, spooky charm, the latter more Lovich than Sioux. The dogged riffing and rhythm section of By Design backs those spell-binding vocals perfectly, but The Arrival‘s building anxiety comes with a SYSTEM OF A DOWN theatricality that is as welcome as it is unexpected. The histrionics return on the roaming End Of Days with its SOAD riffage, and the spaghetti westernisms of All’s Well (In Hell) sees the vocals straddle spooky and dramatic with aplomb. The atmospheric dirge of Bellwether is followed by the eerie, pop-melancholia of Panic, before the spirit of Serj returns on Dot Dot Dot, a wonderful slice of burgeoning melodrama.
Rebecca’s vocals are formidable, the band providing a backdrop that is at times stark, other-times locked-in ‘n riffing, a la QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE. Where The unknown Reigns truly soars though, is when drama is built in to their already heady brew, resulting in a refreshingly full-blooded listen. Excellent stuff.
Incidentally, the vinyl is a thing to behold; described as ‘coke bottle clear with red’, to my eyes it’s more ‘minty green clear with amorphous red blob’, which sounds even better, right? Sounds so rich, too. Pretty reasonable these days at 17 quid. Just sayin’.
Released on 14th November 2025. Available on 12″ Coke Bottle Clear with Red (Colour-in-colour) via Sell The Heart Records (U.S.) and Engineer Records (U.K.). Vinyl limited to 200 units pressed. Also available on CD and Digital Download.
The Calico Palace project began 2–3 years ago with frontman Travis Sanders continuing his song-writing aims in a new band after arriving to the UK. The band has already honed their live craft, performing over 150 shows all across the UK, featuring in BBC Introducing supports, regional radio plays, as well as multiple festival appearances and opening for Versus the World off their NOFX tour.
Following a recent line-up change, the band was rearranged with drummer George Spennewyn and bassist/vocalist Ander Mendia Gutierrez, launching a new era with a fresher sound and reinvigorated vision. (Taken from label bio)
Can’t deny, I was all set to write these off, what with the seemingly dull band name and sleeve art more suited to a 12″ vinyl sleeve – or a gallery – than a tiny CD. Turns out Calico Palace was the titular gambling operation featured in a 1970 novel of historical fiction set during the California Gold Rush. So, one sixty-second Google trip later and I now dig the band name. That’s… so satisfying.
The band already have a new EP out, but this is the one I’ve been sent, so let’s go… Right out of the gate, it’s the vocals that’ll get you. They positively soar on Jumanji‘s emotional melodics, with just a little bite in places. Golden Days‘ busy riffage, neat bridge and those dominant, powerful vocals stand out before the mid-paced choppy, poppy punk of Down & Out gets a little funky on the verses. Empty Spaces is the more full-on experience, the bass gettin’ busy alongside some tidy verse chugging, topped off with some cheeky little guitar bits.
While CALICO PALACE may broadly be described as ‘pop punk’, it’s the grown-up variety, no goofy gurning here. These four songs of passionate, melodic punk are certainly hooky, but it’s the timeless melding of cerebrality with heart that connects on a deeper level.
Released via Engineer Records on the 22nd August 2025
I was gonna start this review with something about the ‘true essence of UK DIY hardcore punk’ but I checked my review of this band’s debut EP and waddyaknow: “bands like this are the very essence of true DIY scenes, creating their sonics without fear or favour for trends.” Couldn’t have said it better myself.
While last year’s Dreaming Of ViolenceEP got me all frothed up, this new four-tracker from the South Wales crew is a way more urgent proposition. Positively fizzing with manic energy, opener Past Mistakes‘ sizzling vocal interplay raises the temperature on a mess of fast, gnarly hardcore. All fuzzed guitar, high-pitched vocals and gang back-ups, that it also stomps ‘n pounds around the bridge adds to the furious fun, while What Roger Said‘s brief blast of gunning bass, cutting guitar, and high/hoarse vox tag-team is an adrenalised shot to the head. Hypocrite‘s swaggering, crusty-rock intro bursts into a speedy hardcore classic, leaving the fastcore-a-go-go of Lying To Your Face to finish; by which point, you’re reduced to a panting puddle on the floor. Crucial shit that shoulda been a 7″.
Released by Engineer Records on 19th September 2025.
The first in a series of reviews attempting to catch up on some 2025 releases.
Hailing from North Milan, Italy, melodic punkers NOPE feature members of LOW DERIVE, Breakmatt Fastgyver and I LIKE ALLIE. Done Grieving is their debut album.
These ten tracks of melodic skate-punk caper in an overcrowded field but they do have heart. The crash/bang propulsion of I Speak Malaise has a wickedly gutteral bass sound, contrasting with clean vocals and neat BAD RELIGION backing melodies. There are hooks; see the AVAIL-esque, revved guitars of Future Freaks Forever and the tidy speed of Art Horizons. EXTRA!! EXTRA!! offers over four considered minutes of pacy, melodic punk with more great bass work, while The Long Run: A Beginners Guide To Giving Up serves up a fast gallop with breaks and an unexpectedly thuggy bridge. Those viby, revving guitars return alongside some wicked bass lines on the emotional strain of Que Milagro, Coming Home is broken up by neat little technical guitar bits and Broken Ghosts is a thoughtful, emotional song with choppy interjections.
Ten tracks of varied melodic punk with that distinctive English-as-second-language phrasing. A throaty bass and meaty guitars give it guts when needed, the propulsion punctuated with more considered, emotional moments. The lyrics read like poignant little stories – nostalgia, personal growth, mental health struggles – that’re really rather neat. A cool listen.
Colin Burrowes is a has been, a will be, and a sometimes is in the fields of journalism, podcasting, slipping an extreme leftwinger voice into local politics in an extreme right wing breeding ground, and getting on stage to make an ass of himself with other punks when he feels inspired. He is also continually learning, growing, failing, succeeding, loving, and hopefully contributing to the betterment of this planet rather than its downfall. (from author bio, Microcosm Publishing)
Based in Portland, Oregon, Microcosm Publishing (Est. 1996) are an independent publisher and distributor of print media firmly rooted in the DIY punk ethic. That the company named “2022-2024’s fastest growing publisher by Publishers Weekly” still put out wonderful little zines like this is nothing short of life-affirming. The latest in Colin Burrowes’ series on bands that changed his life tells the tale of how an all-girl ‘vaginacore acapella rap‘ group challenged the values of his community and upbringing. A cautionary tale of generational toxic traditions, it also serves as a sobering reminder of how so many never escape its grasp.
In the how punk made me less of an asshole zine series, I share how music I unearthed in the pages of fanzines, miscellaneous bins in record stores, or heard live in scummy bars, sewage-stained basements, and well-maintained university halls, made a kid from a small, Southern Ontario town think deeply about racism, homosexuality, feminism, animal rights, prisoners’ rights, the abolition of the police, and historical events like the displacement of the Palestinian people.
Growing up in a Christian Conservative-dominated rural community in the 80s (“there was one set of traffic lights in town, but it was serviced by 20 churches“), a hunger for learning that didn’t fit the strictures of formal education led Colin on hitch-hikes and bus rides to libraries, book shops and record stores. It was here he discovered punk rock, Lookout! Records, Maximum Rock ‘n’ Roll and, in 1988, YEASTIE GIRLZ. For a young man squished through the meat grinder of male-dominated Christian Conservatism, the impact was seismic. The band’s music-free, punk-spirited raps on censorship, sex and feminism not only opened his eyes as a young’ un but also equipped him with the tools to move forward in life as a decent man. Using the topics covered on the bands’ Ovary Action EP as springboards, Colin waxes lyrical on sex, pornography, masturbation, religious hypocrisy, toxic masculinity and family, spinning his refreshingly open-hearted tale with concise, engaging prose.
colin burrowes
Back in those pre-internet days, YEASTIE GIRLZ never reached these ears, though I’d clocked them in the zines. Listening now, the acapella-rap aspect is something of a shock so I can only imagine the impact on Colin in the context of the hardcore punk scene of the time. The lack of music, sure, but the forthright feminism of the lyrics clearly landed at just the right time to challenge the patriarchal toxicity of his surroundings – and that’s really something, when you stop to think about it. Those happy accidents, the ‘sliding doors’ moments that take us down different paths are at once almost beyond comprehension, yet magical in their sublimity. Oozing compassion, empathy and a thoughtful intelligence, everything the anti-woke brigade envies, this little ‘zine brings a sprinkle of that magic into the world. Feed your head!
Philadelphia’s SWEEPERS’ “make weirdo punk based around themes of sweeping and cleaning, and use that as a jumping-off point for other subjects.” This, their debut album, offers up eighteen tracks of such lo-concept nonsense, in a way more exciting style than you might expect. Okay, so the speedy nerdcore of No Sleep, Yes Sweep, the clean (heh), fast punk of Clean Machine and closer Trash On Fire‘s propulsive hardcore are all great fun, but the rest… we’re talking jazz-punk madness, akin to MINUTEMEN slopping out with HEADACHE (the short-lived 90s Bradford crew). No punk churn or metallic chugging here; only two songs reach two minutes, with a bunch clocking in under sixty seconds. From Rigged Roulette‘s herky-jerky jazz-punk, Take This Mop‘s breathless artcore, the more restrained I Sweep Myself‘s 70s US punk with discordant synth, to the wild-eyed schizophrenia of Dog (featuring an actual dog) and Sweep It Up‘s gleeful jazzcore-on-speed, a dizzyingly anarchic tone runs wild throughout this album. Elsewhere, the seemingly-improvised art-jazz-punk of Tom shines, the mock blues ending dusts off This Dirty House, dual slacker vocals elevate Broom To Dream, leaving the manic Street Sweeper and the minute, theatre-prog-punk of Broom Town to wreck the room so they can get the mops out all over again. A truly unexpected delight.
Released October 10th 2025 on vinyl, cassette and digital
As the millennium loomed, ACTIVE MINDS continued to develop connections with a trio of fascinating collaborations. As always, thanks to Bobs for answering my questions, and a warm welcome to Mel Hughes (Direct Hit/No Barcodes Necessary zine) who adds insight to the second of these three releases.
ACTIVE MINDS/UMBRELLA TRIBE – Violence For Peace? split EP (Maloka – Lack of Ideals – Calavera – Peace Punk Records) 1998
The sleeve for this French, German and Japan co-release is a glossy, black and white fold-out, the singularly distressing image adorning the front adding grim context to the overall theme of the EP. The lyrics come with the relevant translations and, rather than a plain white bag, the sleeve housing the record is a cover for another bands release, presumably for recycling purposes. In my case, it’s Bedford’s forgotten indie rockers THE PECADILOES.
PP: Can you remember how this release came about?
This will have come about as a suggestion of Pablo, who I’d been friends with since S.A.S. days. Pablo lives in Switzerland, and had arranged a gig for us in Zurich on our first European tour in 1987. He also ran (with others) the Resistance Productions record label, and then later the Strongly Opposed label.
UMBRELLA TRIBE serve up just the one song on their side of this split, though at over seven minutes long it’s something of an oddity. Umbrella Anthem‘s tom-heavy, repetition rumbles along in strangely hypnotic fashion, the addition of spoken-word vocals in various languages creating a somewhat disconcerting atmosphere. There is little info available on this project, Discogs stating: “Umbrella Tribe (heavy inspiration from a photo of Hagar The Womb in Sounds magazine using umbrellas and The Mob’s “Let The Tribe Increase” LP) was a one-off project based in Switzerland but was as international as the band’s message.” The line-up is given as: voice: Miguel A. (Spain), voice: Suzy (Switzerland / France), bass and voice: Pille (Switzerland), guitar and voice: Joakim (Sweden), bongos and voice: Oné (Ivory Coast), drums and voice: Pablo (Switzerland), voice: Rania [Ουρανία Γιακουμάκη] (Greece).
Umbrella Tribe have only released this one song. What was your knowledge of them up to this point?
We knew nothing about Umbrella Tribe as they didn’t really exist – they were just a one-off project that Pablo wanted to get together for this release. He put together a number of similar one-off projects in the following years. The concept was his, so we chose a couple of songs that we’d written which fitted in with the idea of questioning the role of violence to achieve a peaceful outcome.
ACTIVE MINDS provide three tracks of questioning, coruscating hardcore punk; A Clockwork Lemon‘s stark intro gives way to a sharp, fast punker with a caustic, higher-pitched vocal, an approach that would begin to appear more as they worked towards their 2008 album It’s Perfectly Obvious That This System Doesn’t Work. Lyrically, it tackles the trend towards punk/hardcore types preaching violent revolution.
PP: Continuing your consistency in critiquing elements of the hardcore punk scene as well as the wider world, A Clockwork Lemon criticises the then-popular trend of glorifying/calling for violent revolution. Did this bring you into conflict with anyone?
I can’t remember that it brought about any direct conflict with anyone. It wasn’t the first time we’d raised this sort of issue in this way so, although I’m never surprised if there’s a bit of a backlash against something we write, I don’t think I really expected it with this one. And, as I said, the sentiments of the song fitted with the general theme of the record – it’s not as if it stood out in that context.
The mid-paced Ramraiding Revolutionaries may be a tuneful slice of three-chord punk, but the guitars are meaty, the vocals suitably rough-hewn. It seems odd to look back on the then-nascent craze of ram-raiding shops, glorified in certain circles as an anti-capitalist reaction to mass consumerism.
PP: Ramraiding Revolutionaries critiques the likening of the practice by some in the punk scene to a form of anti-capitalist protest. I know that BLAGGERS were particularly vocal about this. Similarly, the UK riots of 2011 saw looting and rioting lauded as a backlash to the extremes of capitalism. Have your opinions changed on this at all?
No, I don’t think that I’ve changed my opinions on this really. Obviously I have sympathy with people in need who feel they have no option but to steal to live, but I have no real common ground with anyone who is obsessed by designer labels and status symbol consumer goods, which is what ram-raids tended to be aimed at acquiring. It’s not revolutionary to be so impressed by corporate advertising that you don’t feel your life is worth anything if you don’t own certain products. This is why so much rap music leaves me cold – it perpetuates the demand for consumer garbage and designer goods, and leads to excessive peer pressure to own more stuff in order to prove your own worth.
Did you receive any feedback, positive or negative, from the song’s sentiments?
Again, I can’t remember any specific feedback we got about this one particular song at the time. It was obviously designed as a counter-argument to the stuff that people like the BLAGGERS had put out, although by the time our record came out the BLAGGERS were fading from people’s memories, having lost their gloss when they signed to EMI before splitting up, all of which had happened a couple of years before our song saw the light of day.
The Holy Babble is, in my opinion, top-tier ACTIVE MINDS. The band presumably felt similarly as they re-recorded it ten years later for their aforementioned 2008 album. Machine-gun guitar chugs its way to oblivion, heavy rock stylings building to a screaming storm. “Jesus was a hero to many,but he didn’t mean shit to me!”
PP: Where were your tracks recorded and who by? Any memories of the session?
It was recorded again by Dale at Studio 64 in Middlesbrough. It will have been done at the same time as recording some other stuff – most likely the National Lotta E EP.
PP: How many copies were pressed?
As with most of our other split records, we weren’t involved in getting the record pressed, so I don’t know. It was a co-release between four other labels (one based in Japan, and the other three in Europe). I have a feeling it may have been 2,000.
PP: What are your overall thoughts on the release today?
Whilst the recording isn’t up to the standards of what we’d do today, I think our stuff is pretty strong for the time. A Clockwork Lemon has got a pretty manic energy about it, and the other two songs became ones which featured quite regularly in our live sets – particularly The Holy Babble which was our usual set-closer for many years.
ACTIVE MINDS/URKO Split EP (Direct Hit Records) 1999
This split EP with Boston, UK’s URKO, was available only with the purchase of Mel Hughes‘ Direct Hit zine. Previously known as the highly-respected No Barcodes Necessary, along with a slew of interviews and reviews, this A4-size, 48-page issue featured a lengthy conversation with ACTIVE MINDS alongside a pithier chat with URKO. The record itself came in a clear plastic sleeve with a lyric/info sheet stuck to one side. ACTIVE MINDS provided just the one song, with URKO dishing up three of their typically primitive batterings.
Mel Hughes: My zine was originally called No Barcodes Necessary, which I started around 1993/94 and did 9 issues. Around 1999 big changes in my life where I moved from where I had been living for nearly 10 years. My changed life made me want to change the name of the zine. The ideas, etc. remained the same. I did about 4 or 5 issues under the name Direct Hit. I had always wanted to do a zine from the 80’s but never had any money. So when I started a job in 93, there were a couple of photocopiers in the building, so I made use of them, like any sensible punk would do. So, I cranked out 4 or 5 issues using them and then moved on to printing. I became a father in 2001 and my partner (now wife) and daughter moved in with me. Any money I have saved from the zine more or less went to buying stuff for my daughter, so I was back to being skint again.
What’s your ACTIVE MINDS origin story and how has your relationship/opinions of the band developed over the years?
Mel Hughes: I had been into S.A.S. who’s 7″ I had. I would sometimes buy records from their mail order. S.A.S. morphed into ACTIVE MINDS and SATANIC MALFUNCTIONS, along with respective labels Looney Tunes and Teacore. So I continued to buy records from their bands and the releases. Bobs would even tape me his old hc records when I sent him tapes, bless his cotton socks and I still have them somewhere. Down the years I continued to buy stuff from them and then had the bright idea to do the split 7′ with URKO (as I was also writing to Jas) and interview them. I interviewed Bobs and Set when they were over playing in the Warzone centre in Belfast. Interview was done in my tiny wee car. Really enjoyed doing it. I also had a band back in the late 80’s and we did a cover of Blind Acceptance. Well, down the years I lost contact with loads of people. But still buy their releases (well most of them) as they come out. I still respect them 100% as they continue to believe what they always have, same as myself and I still find their lyrics inspiring and I am so glad they are still voicing their opinion. Very important with how much crud is out there.
How did the issue sell and did the presence of the record, and the bands involved, influence how quickly it sold?
I think it sold about 800 copies. I would say the record did help. Like I had changed the name of the zine and most people would have been used to the old name. I can’t remember how long it took to sell. But zines were popular back then. Oh yeah, I have continued to keep up with the worldwide hc/punk scene. I wrote for Fracture mag and Profane Existence zine for a good few years. Doing interviews, columns, reviews etc. Helped co-release a couple of records, BASTARD YOUTH/KNIFED, etc. Over 40 years later I still champion DIY hcpunk bands and that’s where my spare cash goes. Still love going to gigs and chatting with people etc. I’ll be 57 this summer and don’t really see that changing. The cost of records and postage these days is nuts, so purchases are very limited. Gone are the days of sending 5 bucks in the post for a record abroad, or sending 5 quid to some mail order and getting 6 or 7 7″s. But I try.
What are your overall feelings on the release 25 years down the line?
Ah man, still proud as punch to have been able to have released something by a band I respected (and continued to do so) for many years. Coupled with adding URKO on the other side who were relatively new at the time and mad as fuck. Can still listen to it and enjoy. I wish I had done a proper cover, but I was a broke skinflint and it was already costing me a good bit. Horray for soaped stamps, lol. I hope other people out there continue to enjoy what I put out back then.
Bobs:
PP: How did you come to release this EP through Mel Hughes’ zine?
I’d known Mel for a few years beforehand, and he wrote saying that he wanted to put out a new zine. This was going to be a more “professional” looking mag than the usual Xerox-type publications – more like “Future Now!” had been some years earlier. Mel said that he was planning putting a 4-band compilation EP in with the first issue, and he asked us to contribute to it – which we agreed to do. Given the time constraints of getting 4 bands on an EP, we only recorded one song, so we were a bit surprised when the zine came out and the accompanying record was only a two-band split EP. Obviously the other bands who were supposed to be on it hadn’t got their shit together in time, but from our point of view it hadn’t been intended to be a split at the time we put our stuff together for it.
PP: What were your connections to URKO?
I’m not sure if we had any direct contact with URKO at the time, but at some point we did get to know Jas a bit and he organised a gig for us in Boston. He struck me as a really nice guy – very enthusiastic and friendly. It was a tragic shock that he died so young.
AM’s sole offering is the machine-gun motorpunk of Punk Rock Fantasy Life Existence. With a vocal style reminiscent of Ignorance-era DISCHARGE, it’s a mid-paced powerhouse, re-recorded almost ten years later for the It’s Perfectly Obvious… album. The lyrics were on-point for the time, pointing out many in the punk and hardcore scene’s glorification of armed rebels and violent insurrection in other countries, focusing on the Zapatistas uprising in Chiapas in the nineties.
PP: Punk Rock Fantasy Life Existence lyrics are about the glorification of armed resistance happening in other parts of the world – I’m thinking of the Zapatistas uprising in Chiapas in the nineties, something the scene seemed heavily focussed on. What do you think fed into this and how have your feelings on this evolved over the years, if at all?
The song is not a criticism of armed struggle for those in situations around the world where this seems to be appropriate to them, and where those people themselves will have to deal with the consequences.
Instead it’s about how easy it is for others in much more comfortable situations to try to piggyback on those struggles in order to boost their own radical credentials. It’s easy to put a poster on your bedroom wall of a masked gunman, or wear a T-shirt in an apparent show of solidarity, but these things can just be empty, meaningless gestures. It’s not new. Che Guevara has probably been the most popular poster design in the world since the ‘70’s. The Clash used to wear Baader-Meinhof T-shirts, and when the Dead Kennedys sang “Holidays In Cambodia” they were talking about college-educated “activists” in the United States who praised the actions of the Khmer Rouge from the security of the other side of the world.
Yes, the Zapatista uprising was something that garnered a lot of interest in the ‘90’s, and that’s pretty understandable in my opinion. It’s stated aims and opposition to the neoliberal agenda would have chimed with the views of many throughout the world. But, in addition to that, the image of rebels with balaclavas and AK47’s looks cool to people who live pretty passive lives but who fantasise that they are rebellious action-heroes.
The thing which made us write the song was actually a place we stayed in while we were on tour. Whilst we’re always grateful for anybody putting us up and letting us sleep at their place, there was one occasion that stands out when the guy lived in what was clearly self-inflicted squalor. His primary interest seemed to be in getting fucked-up, rather than any sort of self-care, yet he had an EZLN poster on the wall.
We just thought about the ludicrous nature of this – that people on the other side of the world had actually taken up arms and risked their lives to try to liberate people from living in situations which were probably better than those which this guy had voluntarily created for himself. He was, supposedly, a supporter of their movement, but how would they have responded if they met this guy who spent his time getting wasted and living in shit? He had such disdain for those who were trying to move him into better accommodation for his own good (the squat he lived in, and where we stayed, had been condemned and had no electricity, running water or sanitation), and seemed to think that he was living the epitome of a counter-cultural life.
The three URKO songs are typical of their bleak, primitive hardcore. Rough stuff, both lyrically and musically, with little variation in the raucous pummeling, unless you count a dissonant guitar solo in Swine, a slower bridge during Genghis. With titles like (I wanna) Fuck You Up, I’m sure you get the nihilistic picture.
PP: What was/is your take on URKO’s bleak, nihilistic lyrics, being in such stark contrast to your own more positive outlook?
Yes, as a split EP the contrast seems quite stark and odd. Whilst I always liked URKO, I’m not a massive fan of their lyrics to be honest. I’ve never been able to identify with the sentiments behind songs like (I Wanna) Fuck You Up.
When bands write wholly nihilistic stuff, I never really know if they’re being serious. As I said, Jas seemed such a friendly guy. I remember getting the 12” by DYSTOPIA called Human = Garbage. That’s about the most nihilistic, misanthropic title you can come up with. Yet the thanks list in the record was enormous. I’m not sure I even know that many people, let alone like them, and I’m a pretty positive, optimistic person.
PP: Where was this recorded and who by? What are your thoughts on this release today?
I think this was probably recorded at the same session as the UMBRELLA TRIBE split, although I can’t be sure. Definitely at Studio 64 again though.
I think it needs to be seen in the context of how it came about and how it was distributed. It’s not like our other split release for those reasons. We had no direct link with URKO in putting it together, there’s no artwork for it, and it was only distributed through being included free with Direct Hit. For that reason, it’s kind of like an accidental split EP to me. We contributed to it assuming it would be a compilation, and our track always strikes me as the way we’d contribute to a compilation rather than how we’d put together our half of a split EP.
Having said that, I have no problem with the way it came out and the fact that Mel went ahead with two bands rather than wait for stuff from the other bands to come in. I’ve been in the same position myself on numerous occasions – waiting for bands to get their acts together and putting back (and sometimes putting off entirely) projects which you spend significant time working on. Mel will have reached a point where everything else was reading and he just didn’t want to wait around any longer, so went with what he had. Punk Rock Fantasy Life Existence was a song I always liked – not absolutely typical of our other stuff, but a pretty good representation nonetheless. And it’s pretty decent recording.
Pressed on translucent green vinyl (210 copies), black vinyl (630 copies) and clear vinyl (160 copies). Each individually hand-numbered.
ACTIVE MINDS/AN-ATTÂ Split EP (Hammerwerk, Capeet Records, Sacro K-Baalismo, Libertad O Muerte, Existence Distribution, Erdkampf) 1999
This release was a benefit for Forward, an organisation campaigning against the practice of FGM (female genital mutilation). Included with the record are lyrics and an article on FGM written by Agnes, the singer of AN-ATTA. The record had a troubled journey as AM’s contact in AN-ATTA (formerly ANOMIE) disappeared from sight having been sent the artwork for the release. Thankfully, the recordings for both bands had gone to one of the other labels involved:
PP: This six-label release had a troubled journey. How do you feel about the whole debacle today and did the ‘missing’ person ever turn up?
It seemed like a bit of a troubled journey at the time, but these days we’re used to releases getting delayed and taking longer to come to fruition so it’s just one of those things. The “missing person” you’re referring to is Gilles from An-Atta, who we’d met originally when he was in his previous band Anomie, and yes, he did get back in touch.
Gilles was the initial driving force for the split EP. It was his idea to do it in the first place (originally as a split with Anomie), and it was his idea to do it as a benefit for Forward (which we were very happy to do). The EP would be a co-release with many different labels, but all being co-ordinated by Tiberiju from Sacro K-Baalismo. The layout of the sleeves (along with the printing of them) was something Gilles took on though, and we were happy for him to do it.
Both we and An-Atta had provided the master tapes and label artwork to Tiberiju, and he set about getting the records pressed. Once that was done, he just had to wait for Gilles to send the sleeves. But at that point Gilles stopped communicating with either me or Tiberiju, for reasons that I don’t think I ever found out, but these things happen – people have upsets in lives which can knock them off course (hopefully just temporarily). But of course this in the days before everybody was regularly using the internet, so it was quite easy for communication lines to go cold in those circumstances.
The records had been pressed for about six months whilst waiting for Gilles to get back in touch and send the sleeves. It seemed like a long time back then, but by our expectations today we probably wouldn’t think it was so unusual. But it was the lack of any contact at all that people were worried about. And all that time, the labels involved had put money into pressing records which were just sat there doing nothing. Eventually the decision was taken (not by us) to give out the records to the labels who’d paid for them, and let them put their own sleeves together. That’s why there are numerous different sleeves available.
Shortly after this was done, and many of the records sold or sent out to distros, Gilles got back in touch. He was quite upset and angry that the records had gone out without the sleeves that he’d done, which he had actually got printed. He sent me a couple and they looked really good. It was a shame that they didn’t end up on more of the records.
In all, there are around nine different sleeve variants. The sleeve of the one I am reviewing is a simple, black and white wrap-around with insert, loaned, with warm thanks, from Andy Cactus.
PP: With the release being a benefit for Forward, and FGM getting some mainstream publicity in the intervening years, how do you feel the campaign played out?
At the time when we put it out, I can’t remember there being much mainstream interest in the issue of FGM at all so it was something we were very happy to do in order to raise a bit of awareness.
Clearly the subsequent publicity achieved regarding the issue helped to place the understanding of it before mainstream society very successfully. This has resulted in FGM being specifically outlawed in most western countries, as well as in many of the countries in which FGM has been traditionally practiced – all of which is obviously good news.
ACTIVE MINDS’ two songs are led by the rollicking An Alarm Call For A Sleeping Population. The squelchy keyboard intro leads into a melodic, hooky song with raucous-yet-tuneful vocals and a bass line playing a propulsive hook behind white noise guitar. The combination of synth and bass lends it an almost gothic, post-punk vibe.
PP: Alarm Call… sees the return of the ‘squelchy’ synth and there appears to be a bass line in the song too. How was this achieved and any thoughts on why some songs need it and not others? Is it as simple as it just feeling right?
The bass line is a synthesized bass, and all the synth tracks on the song were created on an old keyboard that I used to use. I made the track by programming segments, and then recording them onto an old four-track cassette recorder. These days, if we’re doing something similar I would record it digitally on a computer, but back then it was “old school” techniques.
The decision to use synth on some tracks tends to arise when I think of a hook-line or melody which needs to sit above the guitar chords. Being a two-piece band we can’t create this unless we either overdub something or use a backing track. I never wanted to start overdubbing stuff that we could play as just the two of us, so playing to a backing track was (and still is) our preferred technique.
To play to a backing track though, you can’t just have the melody lines coming in at random throughout the song, as it would be impossible to keep in time with. Therefore you’ve got to have a constant backing rhythm going through the song. Using a synth bass to do this allows you to create some other interesting counter-melodies as well, but the original impetus for doing it at all is to get the overlaid melody into the song – once that’s been decided then creating a bass line is really a necessity.
Considering this record was released twenty-five years ago, the lyrics are depressingly familiar; abuse of the planet, the depletion of its natural resources and the need to act fast to turn it around.
Natural resources are being depleted, yet we act as if the Earth must be defeated and brought under control for humankind’s use. With this attitude we place all our heads in a noose… (An Alarm Call For A Sleeping Population)
PP: how do you feel about the lyrics to this song today, in light of the last 25 years? Imagine if the ‘alarm call’ had been heeded back then?
I think it’s a lyric that could have been written at any time in the last half a century and still been relevant – unfortunately. It’s all about the industrialised world’s desire to “conquer” nature rather than work in harmony with it, and the devastation that such thinking inevitably brings. I don’t think that much has materially changed in all that time.
The True Theory Of Relativity may, on the surface, appear to be four minutes of stark, chugging punk, but it features some nifty, damaged guitar mangle and a slowed-down grind ending. No strangers to a clever lyrical turn, it explores the idea that concepts like “insanity”, “obscenity”, and “crime” are relative to what’s perceived as the norm. It’s thought-provoking stuff.
PP: Where was the EP recorded and who by? Any memories of the recording?
Again, I’ve got no specific memories of the session, but I know it was at Studio 64 and recorded by Dale Tomlinson. It will have been part of another recording session, but I’m not sure which other stuff was recorded at the same time.
PP: Confused sleeve situation aside, any idea how many copies were pressed in total?
As with other split releases when the pressing was handled by someone else, I can’t remember. Something tells me this might have only been 1,000, but I can’t be sure.
PP: What are your thoughts on the release today?
I think it’s a real shame that the release happened in such a shambolic way, without the artwork Gilles had done. When I eventually saw the sleeve he’d done it looked great, and would have helped to pull the whole thing into a coherent whole, with the benefit for Forward being very much front and centre in the record’s presentation.
Musically, I always really liked An Alarm Call For a Sleeping Population – I thought it was one of the stronger songs we’d recorded up to that point. And I think the AN-ATTA stuff is really good too.
Speaking of AN-ATTA, this appears to be their sole release, which, considering this is some real passionate DIY punk with many moving parts, is incredible. The anguished dragging of Il Est Temps De Réagir (Time To React) speeds up, hoarse, dual male/female vocals occasionally screaming over oft-disjointed music. It’s tight as hell and there are occasional spoken femme vocals and even a violin for atmosphere. Cela Me Fatigue (It Annoys Me)‘s chugging intro sees the violin enter the fray again before building to a tortured wall of sound. The guitar has an impressively stark feel, giving the whole an apocalyptic vibe that really lands.
Despite a somewhat torturous release, this EP emerges as a fine example of ACTIVE MINDS’ many collaborations, both sonically, and as a puzzle-piece in the crucial building of FGM awareness.
confidence is a performance, and comedy is just confetti. (Stage Name)
Connecting with the poet behind the poems is crucial when waxing lyrical on the subject of mental health. Essex spoken word artist and mental health poet Ricky Frost presents this collection of poems (“to tackle the trauma that’s passed on from previous generations“) via a framework of themed sections. Common threads wind throughout, helping to foster a sense of the author’s inner self, as well as providing the building blocks of his journey. The ‘introduction‘ section lays the groundwork; the utterly beautiful Empty Orchestra‘s meditative flow on filling silence with music (“Although conversation can be slow, silence is still the most broken thing I know“) contrasts with the familiar, punchy beats of Unfinished, though the latter’s style isn’t typical, in this book at least. The Growing Up section is abundant with the most aching, melancholic prose; My Friend In White links a snowman at the end of the street to the bittersweet pang of childhood memories, while The Great War connects the war-time truce in 1914 to the uneasy peace of fractious families at Christmas. A canny trick is employed on the double-dad-whammy of The Magician and The Carnivore – the former’s tale of deception, familial blood and passed-on traits is transformed into the latter by cutting out swathes of prose to reveal a more harrowing view. Similarly, Things I Never Said (“the man that scared away the monsters that hid under my bed, failed to fight the ones in his head…“), is whittled down to a fractured narrative of naked, painful truth. Suicide, guilt and the elasticity of time come together on a touching love letter to a family member (Did You Know), Just Figures lays bare the lie behind forcing childhood gender stereotypes, and a fractured family attempt to heal after a parent leaves the home (The Man Of The House). The Why Men’s Mental Health? section features the titular poem and, while it’s tempting to isolate parts here, this would only serve to diminish the impact of such an incredibly affecting piece of writing. The subject? Toxic masculinity struggles to break its cycle as thirty-one seamen traversing stormy waters refuse to break from traditional patterns. Elsewhere, in I Can’t Decide What To Call This Poem, anxiety’s chaotic complexity is woven into sublimely elegiac detail:
How do I explain that this cage of cartilage and skin is convinced there’s a reservoir within, that anxiety can take a liquid form; a mistake can take the shape of a man-made lake. A memory becomes an estuary as I meander a wondering worry.
(I Can’t Decide What To Call This Poem)
The Love and Loss section balances the succinct (Falling Knife Has No Handle and They Say) with longer pieces like the sublime I Did Not Know Him:
Although I did not know him I’d like to think he laid eyes on skies disguised like tiger stripes as he lingered on the fringe of beauty
(I Did Not Know Him)
More stylistic quirks appear as We Do Not Say Goodbye Just Once‘ single paragraph is /punctuated/by/slashes/ and The Bullfrog Man‘s adoption of a more pugnacious approach, a la James Domestic, softens into heartfelt understanding as it’s revealed there’s more to the story than meets the eye. An introduction to the Lads Need Dads charity heads up the Love and Healing section before a parted couple meet to dissect their failed relationship on the aching throb of Post Mortem:
It was a simple post mortem performed from a love that once was. An autopsy of the moved on.
(Post Mortem)
You Owe Me A Coke‘s ode to the sweet sting of true love is distilled down to just eight lines for Cooking For Two, but I have to pat this poet on the back for exquisitely encapsulating how my partner and I experience our road trips in the perfectly delightful Driving To Jupiter. He even avoids any potential oversweetness in his eulogy on the unique way couples communicate (Familect):
Dig another grave for every relationship that can’t be saved. Every romance that fades, every friend that moves away every close colleague that quits, a love language ceases to exist.
(Familect)
The final section, What Can We Do To End This Cycle?, asserts the importance of men’s mental health, concluding: “Love and support are absolutely the key to understanding the world and understanding ourselves better. Love is, and always was, the answer“. Some clichés are clichés for a reason, though there’s nothing hackneyed about the final poem in this collection; tender, poignant, Lego Moments sees Ricky beavering away at the apex of his emotional wordsmithery as the looming figure of his father resurfaces.
At 100 pages, this impactful little book does a lot of heavy lifting. Consistent, even as it veers into some engaging experiments in structural technique, the stories are relatable and revealing, resulting in an immersive sense of connection. Doubts and vulnerabilities caper alongside confident pearls of wisdom as emotions are stirred, heartstrings tugged, all earned through careful, caring wordcraft. With its strong message of self-improvement, self-care and the nurturing of empathy, my heart ached, leapt and glowed in equal measure. A real gem.
With two EP’s, a whole year of double A-side singles and a live album, Sheffield’s 77 SPEARS have been busy since their formation in 2021. They’ve developed much in that time so it’ll be interesting to see how this, their debut album proper, shapes up.
The first thing that grabs you is just how, for a band unafraid of a little experimentation, they remain committed to their core gnarliness. An ominous, dirt-noise intro ushers in Here Comes The Steamtrain, old school vocals dominating a motorpunk juggernaut. You’ll think you’re in for more of the same when Human Vampires hits – and you are, kinda. Thing is, you’re so used to Tj’s twisted vocal, it’s genuinely delightful when he drops into some slacker-goth melodics. Embrace Your Failures‘ offbeat drum pattern spars with the kind of repetitive riff beloved of RUDIMENTARY PENI, though RP wouldn’t have been seen dead near this songs’ catchy chorus. The expansive biker-rock of Everything You Can Imagine Is Real steers clear of fretboard frippery, instead embracing sharp soloing and a hard rock breakdown and, by contrast, the spazzy hardcore hit Drowning In A Swamp Of Self-pity squeezes instrumental showcases into a slammin’ 38 seconds. Surprises continue as indie-rock is filtered through a hardcore mangle on Advice From Robert Frost, spiraling tuneage and dancefloor rhythms navigating around many a cool bit, the fast D-beat of The Ego Has Landed steers psych-funnel guitar toward a cut-price crust breakdown, while the bass steps up on the driving Surviving A Nightmare. Jazz Cigarette is an identity crisis in song, in the best way. There are clues though; the titles’ tilt at a MR BUNGLE song, a rumbling intro avec deep Mike Patton whisper, and multiple changes in style and tempo reveal a squalid, speed-addled FAITH NO MORE. Similar sprinklings appear on Vocation Insurance as it moves from anguished, Patton-esque phrasing, a semi-spoken verse giving way to jerky hardcore with gothic overtones, and the intense Dearth From Above‘s seething vocal turn sees a goth-punk gang-party crashing an indie-disco dancefloor. Oh yeah, and ‘cos they haven’t yet tried writing a swamp-punk anthem, they throw in the cathartic, rock ‘n roll blow-out of The Art Of Living A Seemingly Meaningless Life – shades of TALL BOYS – all heady guitar adventures and the catchiest of chorus refrains. That’ll do it.
Tying together all this rambunctiousness are three pieces of atmospheric punctuation; the weird haunting of Romance, the experimental interlude of Reason – like CRASS‘ It’s You filtered through a dossy, trip-hop kaleidoscope – and the gently throbbing heartbreak of Immortality. Bravely closing the album with such a delicate arrangement of synths, samples, electro-drums and minimal guitar and bass, this is a masterclass in restraint amid so much cacophony.
As ever, Tj’s lyrical vignettes on the human condition are a breath of fresh air in a scene awash with overworn themes. Whether it’s letting go and enjoying life (“Breaking all the rules because they’re making all the rules, and now I’m making all the rules because they’re breaking all the rules“), or Human Vampires balancing eating animals with the way people suck the life from each other (“What do we give back to this world? We take all these gifts and throw them away. We steal beating hearts from fallen prey. We suck the life out of our world“). The drama of Everything You Can Imagine Is Real (“This is another start, and I’m ripping all the sinews of my beating heart apart because we are all too human at the end“), maintaining positivity (“Show forgiveness because the only way it is through. When making plans understand that there’s a chance of failure, and there are lessons to learn in all of life’s adventures“), and ditto for The Art Of Living A Seemingly Meaningless Life (“My inner-child is crying, can it help me understand the magic and the tragic in this world? It’s alright. It’s okay. There’s always another night and another day“). Occasional nods to religious language to strengthen a point are as effective as ever, none more so than on Dearth From Above‘s “logical conclusion to a seemingly eternal questioning of purpose.”
Like a seed. Like a witch. Spend a lifetime sucking on lemons. All we love we lose and all that’s left can’t help us now. It was all a dream, is this yesterday? When I’m sleeping, I’m not feeling. Get up. Get out. Get in. I’m finding comfort in sleep. It’s my only escape. No hope. No faith. No use. No truth. No love. No God. There’s a Dearth from above.
(Dearth From Above)
Both musically and lyrically, Fighting Reason With Romance sees 77 SPEARS striving for something meaningful, nourishing even, without losing sight of their visceral, DIY roots. They’ve succeeded.
PERSONAL PUNK 