Kaddish are from Dundee and play heartbreaking, shitkicking screamo. Jangly guitars, howled vocals and melodies that rise and fall into chaos before breaking down into moments of quiet contemplation.
I first heard Kaddish when I bought the split 7" they did with Battle of Wolf 359. The track on there, Combray, completely blew me away. It's too lazy to compare Kaddish to the likes of La Quiete and Funeral Diner, they have taken that chaotic hardcore / emo sound and managed to avoid the dreaded PAES trap that all too many bands fall into.
This record is so good, even my cat likes it:
I've reduced this to £6 postage paid as I'm desperate to clear some of these at the moment!
Spraynard were the touring band for our friend Dave House on his United States tour a couple of years ago. He wouldn't stop going on about them and eventually people starting drawing [very flattering!] comparisons between them and my band. We started chatting online and somehow we managed to book a ten day UK tour. It was one of the best weeks of my life.
On this record, Spraynard continue their domination of New York-meets-Gainesvillian pop punk whilst Break The Habit cut two tracks that build on the split with Bangers with two tracks that they hope have a more emo influence [I'll let you decide that though]
You can download the Break The Habit side of this split from the MySpace, and the Spraynard side from their Website. Also, don't forget to check out Spraynard's amazing début LP on Runner Up Records.
I only met the Calvinball boys about a year ago, but we became friends instantly. Their poppy, throaty Latterman-meets-Lawrence Arms pop punk was exactly the sort of music I was desperate for at the time. With these boys you know exactly what you're getting; there's no bullshit, there's no egos - just four lads getting pissed and singing punk rock songs.
This record has five more anthemic pop punk songs that made me fall in love with them to begin with. The lyrics on this record are more self-reflecting than on the first. Dave talks about the awkwardness of living and working in an area where the BNP are in power and his decision to move south to try and get away from it all in Brighter Lights. "The hit", No Matter How Hard You Try hits a nerve whilst talking about the near-death of a friend. This is an awesome EP. You will love it.
The artwork is by Calvinball guitarist and artist to the stars, Joseph William, and was screened by Pete from Cutting Class. I actually don't have any copies of these to sell at the moment, speak to Calvinball, they do.
Their first record, Live Fast, Go To Bed Early is up for free download from here. It's anthemic, it's great.
Bangers play Jawbreaker-influenced poppy punk rock and Break The Habit seems to sit somewhere between Lifetime and Latterman. The idea for this record came about at The Bridge House Inn, Copsale where both bands were playing their first gig. We had a lot of problems actually getting this one, not least because I was in my final year of University. In the end it turned out really, really well. There was more amazing artwork by the unfuckwithable William Exley and the record sounds great.
We pressed 350 of these on heavyweight black vinyl. I hand-numbered the sleeves. They are pretty much all sold out, although Andy @ Records Or It Didn't Happen or the nice dudes at Banquet Records might have a couple left. Act fast!
Burning Times was a revolution. I don't think I was alone in Brighton in feeling disillusioned with the local punk and specifically the hardcore scene. Bands were breaking up and less and less people were turning up to shows. Out of the spine of Abandon Ship came Burning Times; a three-piece thrashing out hardcore songs and reuniting a scene. The shows at the Cowley Club were some of the most passionate and reaffirming moments that I don't think have ever been equalled since I have been involved in punk rock.
This is a much-overlooked follow-up 7" from a band that meant the entire fucking world to me for a very short period in time. I was honoured to be involved in this record. This band are sorely missed.
You can buy this record for £2.50 postage paid by clicking here:
Kelly lived on my sofa for a few months at the end of 2007 and start of 2008. It was at this point that she had been writing these songs and playing a few shows. I just sort of ended up releasing this. I was really, really happy with how it turned out. The artwork was done by Leah Stewart and William Exley and is kept together in a really neat screenprinted sleeve.
The songs are sweet, pop folk. Lots of people from the punk scene often find themselves slipping into Billy Bragg mode and playing some of their band's songs acoustically. Kelly managed not to fall into this trap whilst still playing simple, heartfelt songs.
She now spends most of her time playing more alt-country, whiskey-soaked songs in Livers And Lungs with a bunch of other great dudes from the South Coast punk scene.
I have now SOLD OUT of this. Kelly might have a few copies left, speak to her!
This release sort of came out of nowhere. I had met Pete and Laura from Omerta a few weeks earlier when my band played with Pete's other band at the time, The Mingers. The next time we saw The Mingers Pete said that they were looking for someone else to get involved in helping them release this record. Somehow I agreed to hand over some money and This One's For The Crew records was formed.
On this record, Omerta play blistering, crust-influenced thrash. Laura's vocals spew out terrifying screams as the rest of the band keep a slight amount of structure and purpose amongst the chaos. I was never really into this style of music, but always had a soft spot for Omerta. Try and check out their 12", We Will Never See The Snow Again too. It's sold out now but really worth picking up if you see it in a distro.
On the flipside, Whores Whores Whores play chaotic metallic hardcore. Spazzy guitars and drums with howled and screamed vocals in a way that would appeal to fans of Botch and earlier Converge. I only saw them once. They were mental, as you'd expect.
You can pick this record up for £2.50 postage paid here:
If you don't have paypal, please feel free to get in contact with me.
I've been meaning to start a blog for a while, and seeing as I've not got the smarts to build my own website, and am too cheap to pay for someone to do it for me, this seems to make sense.
This One's For The Crew is a DIY record label and promotions collective run by Jay and Lizi in Brighton, UK. We have put on an awful lot of punk rock shows and have released seven records.
I will be trying to keep this fairly updated. Maybe you care. Thanks a bunch.
