ceremony 19/03/12

Hello! so last night I went to see ceremony in kingston at the fighting cocks, Im an asshole cause I only watched 2 bands at this show, them being: stab and ceremony - I did breifly catch the other bands but they sounded garage punk and I don't like garage punk - Told you I sound like an asshole! anyway I watched stab with members from abolition and hello bastards - I had seen them a few times before but this time they really grabbed my attention, they were tight, the frontman was good to watch and seemed passionatly legit - they sound like despise you which is really good, I enjoyed their set. between them and ceremony I caught up with some old friends and got overpriced chips from planet pizza. unfortunatly I was so into catching up with friends I actully missed 20 minuites of ceremony's set - which sucked but its ok cause Im going to see them tonight in london. But anyway from what I did see of the set (about 4-5 songs) I really really enjoyed. In recent years ceremony have been releasing stuff that sounds like if social circle at sex with johnny cash which as you can geuss by the description Im not a big fan of HOWEVER the fact they play these songs and then play older hardcore songs mixed in really works well mainly cause im excited that I know after a song I dont like I get to hear for what to me, is a hardcore classic - so it kinda built suspence and excitment because I had no idea what they'd play next and when it was somthing I liked it was a plesent suprise. I dont think they intended for it to be like that but whatever - I liked it in a strange way. Im in no way saying their set sucked in any particular way - I really enjoyed it - probably one of the best bands I've seen in months - I urge you to go to the london date tonight or another. 10/10

xxx

Benchpress - stay hated

Got this today, purely because of the description that read 'hard shit' and the fact their name is 'benchpress' - I remember a tough guy straight edge band called 'benchXpress' from years ago - So I figred it could be them? I can't find out much about this band, perhaps they sold out and took the X out - who knows? not me.

But whatever the case this 2012 ep brings me back to the whole early 2000/mid 2000 tough guy stuff (think lionheart, final prayer, sworn enemy) - guys wearing gym shorts with flatpeaks and when every other gang vocal was 'Fuck you'. I am guilty of liking this sort of stuff purely cos it sounds like music you'd drive a chopper too. The riffs are catchy, angry bouncy mosh and the lyrics are basic , about fighting and pain. Its so bad but so good just like that whole genre of hardcore.
Download it here : http://www.mediafire.com/?im8ppsnccx3lv5o

Hands tied 96 self titled

Been listening to this ep a lot recently, arguably one of the best youth crew revival bands hailing from new jersey - theres not a lot I can say about youth crew as its not the most progressive of styles, so when I look at youth crew bands I generally look at lyrics and riffs as a pointer on how good they are, a lot can end up sounding the same but bands like hands tied grab your attention, remind you why you love it and give you a fresh but at the same time familar sound. Its angry youth crew done well minus the cheese for fans of ten yard fight who don't like all the lyrics about football (why wouldn't you though)

download it here: http://www.mediafire.com/?zzqrmyzmaxj

BANE 11/03/12

So I went to a show on sunday, This tours only uk date was in London at the underworld - supporting was Ironxcurtain, survival, broken teeth, Cruel hand and rotting out - please bare in mind all my reviews are through my own perspective and based on my own opinions so sometimes ill miss a band cause im getting a chip wrap or taking shit or something, unprofessional but thats life!

So I geuss first off before I talk about performances Im a little confused about the order of the bands playing for some reason Iron curtain are opening however I felt like survival should considering the facts that IxC have been about for over a year, have more releases and are playing their hometown? and yeh I know it's a small thing but its just a personal gripe I geuss.

so Iron curtain open representing the London Straight edge with pissed off youth crew - they get a good crowd reaction and kids go off for them, frontman danny (dbc, cbbc, abc 123) gives an energetic and captivating performance and the band are generally tight. check them out. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Iron-Curtain/133972186667920

on next are survival - I don't know their stuff so I find a good place to observe. I found their set enjoyable, they play hardcore in the vein of righteous jams, rzl dzl but with some hardcore borderline metal riffs thrown in. the whole room seems to react to them so I geuss they had fun but truthfully the drummer and the frontman seem like the only ones who are really enjoying themselves but each to his own. They do a righteous jams cover toward the end which gets people pumped - overall it was fun to watch.

after a bagel break I come back to find broken teeth playing - Ive seen this band numerous times over the years and personally im not that big on this genre of hardcore which is sorta that no warning - trapped under ice sound however after much thought I respect what they do and if your into that then there the best in the uk for it, kids mosh hard though admittedly I only watched a couple of songs.

honestly I spaced on the next band, cruel hand - im not gunna lie they've never done anything for me personally and maybe at the time if I knew I was gunan review the show I would of watched but I didnt, guilty as charged.

However I did watch rotting out although I only listen to their older stuff I enjoyed it their set and they played some oldies in which I lost my hat....it was a good hat so that kinda bummed me out, but thats life. rotting out - good, losing my hat - bad.

finally after a good 4 hours of hardcore Bane were gunna play. I've seen bane about 4 times and every time I have noone/little people seem to care which is a shame because there a decent band and hardcore veterans. kinda reminds me of a grandparent you know you should visit more often but you just dont due to laziness and lack of thought...but when you do they get so happy and stoked just by the fact your there in person, as were bane. they get a great well deserved reaction, loads of kids stage diving and loads of kids singing along - it was nice to see after seeing them so many times with such a different outcome.

thanks for reading

XXX

An Introduction

Im a firm believer that anyone invovled in the hardcore scene should be giving something back..back to what? well the way I see it hardcore has given me a great group of friends, bands to play in and experiences I'll keep with me for a lifetime - However cheesily that sounds....
If your straight edge like myself you can sometimes tend to find that a lot of your social life revolves around music and naturally hardcore. But between the fun we have at shows and the music we play there is the rest of the world, we can't go on tour forever and most of us have shitty jobs to pay for shitty apartments. So knowing this I figre I have a computer and the internet so doing a webzine is a easy and constructive way to spend time.
I plan to review releases of old and new bands and to generally review the odd show I go to. I'm also gunna write opnionated posts that I feel relate to everyone, not just myself. And hopefully I won't get lazy.

I hope you enjoy the webzine

XXX