4/5

A new wave of hardcore bands blending their sound with old school scrams music seems to have taken over the scene recently. One of those bands following this trend is Xerxes. Their fast-paced assault mixed with melodic interludes is something that has become commonplace recently. What makes ‘Our Home IS A Death Bed’ stand out is the pure passion you can hear coming from the vocals. The listener can really tell that every word that is screamed comes from the soul and isn’t just put in to fill a gap. On first listen this album is always going to be compared to Touché Amore as the similarities are apparent, but they definitely stand as their own band. Xerxes have brought real honesty and hard work in this album and it really does show.  

Since forming in late 2011, things have just blown up for Brighton based Gnarwolves. With shows with high profile bands like The Wonder Years and Spraynard already under their belt, things just seem to be getting better for this trio. Just an Insight caught up with Drummer Max Weeks for a little light hearted chat.

You have recently come of the back of your first proper tour with As We Sink, what was the highlight of the tour and how was it to be out on the road again?

Doing what you what, drinking beer, smoking weed, skateboarding, eating nice food, relaxing, getting hyped, meeting rad people, buying records, and sweating out your love for the music you make and the people you make it with is the highlight of being on tour. Not having to work your shitty job 50 hours a week just to eat and pay rent, is a bonus.

Since the sort formation of the band and the release of Fun Club things seem to have happened at lightning speed. Did you ever expect this band to blow up as much as it has?

Everything seems to have happened so fast because we push ourselves every week to do this, we don’t know any different, and we all feel so strong about the music we make and our way of life. We just want to release music, play live shows every night with the bands we respect and go skateboarding. Me and Thom have been playing this kind of music together all our lives and we are really lucky to have met a beautiful fella like Charlie who shares the same love for  fun and dirty punk rock.

Everything about your outlook as a band seems to have a light heart take on it. Is it your intention just to have as much fun with this band as possible?

For me, music is a way to express yourself and a fun fucking thing to do, with Gnarwolves, the whole fun element is right there in your face, which I love.  On the other hand there are so many hidden depths in Thoms lyrics which you can also choose to focus on if you like that kind of thing. personally for me I have shared quite a lot of Thoms experiences, being his brother, so I can relate to some of the lyrics and really feel his pains, but you can also take a step back and dance like an idiot and throw your pints in the air which I think is also really cool.

 How did you come up with the name Gnarwolves?

 Weed and frozen planet

You guys used to be in bands that played a more aggressive tone of hardcore, why the transition to something more light hearted?

We don’t only listen to heavy music, so we just did what felt right at the time. We are all angry kids so heavy music will always fill our skulls, and there are drunken talks of a loud and blast ridden project soon, so that could be fun. We are just doing what we have been doing all our lives.

Even though you guys are all based in Brighton now, you are still very proud of your Cornish roots, why do you think the Cornish music scene is suddenly booming with great talent?

The Cornish music scene has always been booming with talent, it’s just only now people seem to give a shit. The dirty Sunday and live bar shows have definitely been at the front, as before, there were no DIY punk shows to really go to. Those shows are the craziest I’ve seen for miles around. Give a kid a pasty and cheap booze and you have yourself a punk show. Get inspired

What has been the best show you guys have played so far?

We have played so many sick shows in these 6 months, and I’m so stoked to have played with such rad bands.  Playing with spraynard will always stick out in my brain, as they are one of the most amazing and creative bands I have ever heard. Young Attenborough kill it too

You have a new 7” set to be released through Tangled Talk Records, what can we expect from this next EP?

Wolves puking hot sauce

What influences you guys when you are writing music? And what bands have you taken inspiration from?

We take inspiration from our everyday lives. Working our shitty jobs, drinking too much, falling off our skateboards and our past experiences of growing up with an alcoholic dad in our quaint Cornish council estates. Writing songs won’t happen without agro..

If a ‘gnarwolf’ was a real animal what would it look like and what would its defining characteristics be?

It would probably be in the shape of a pog and could turn green when it was upset.

Tell us three things about Gnarwolves that not many people may know?

two of us work in care,  we’re all brothers, Charlie’s tats are fake

What bands would you recommend people keep an eye out for?

Otto, Spraynard, Young Attenborough, Bangers

What does the rest of 2012 hold for you guys?

Travel as much as possible, play with our favourite bands, release a shit ton o’ wax, get signed to Warner and tour in separate buses. Shred sick! 

If you are unfamiliar with Gnarwolves you can listen to their first EP Fun Club here: 

http://gnarwolves.bandcamp.com/album/fun-club

On a cold, wet April evening, one of Southampton’s best known night clubs became home to New York hardcore band Backtrack. As the crowd of snapbacks and Purgatory Records shirts started to fill this tiny room, it was anticipated that the line up would surely not disappoint.

Kick-starting the early show were Essex thrash hardcore act Shards. My previous experiences of this band haven’t exactly been memorable, but tonight they seemed to be a bit more focused. Even though their fast aggressive style did just sound like a wall of noise at times, the band actually seemed to want to grab the crowd’s attention. 

Shortly after was the first of the touring bands. Stoke-on-Trent’s The River Card are one of the most underrated UK hardcore bands around, but tonight there was some real appreciation shown for these hard working guys; their brand of melodic hardcore gave the ‘mosh kids’ a chance to iron out the kinks. Their vocalist was a real showman and had the crowd doing exactly what he wanted.

It wasn’t until Broken Teeth stepped foot on stage till all hell started to break loose. In such a small venue it is inevitable that when a pit breaks out there will be carnage, but Broken Teeth had it under control. Playing songs from their successful 7” release really got the crowd going; getting involved with gang vocals, and one person even attempting to stage dive. Seeing bands like this really shows that UK hardcore is alive and well.

The final support band was the highly anticipated Tremors. The hardcore/punks featuring former members of Dirty Money have had a lot said about them, but despite this, are still relatively unknown. Their fast-paced, punk-influenced hardcore is in a similar line to bands like Trash Talk and Ceremony. It was good to see some of the old Dirty Money guys back in action; it was just disappointing that some of their fans seemed more concerned with hurting people than enjoying the music. As a whole, Tremors were really impressive, but some of the gloss was taken off their performance by members of the crowd.

Then it was finally time for Backtrack to set things off, and that is exactly what they did! From the opening riff of their set, bodies were running from side to side, two-stepping and grabbing the mic. It is always good to see a band travel so far and be so well-received. Even with the pit in full flow, this didn’t stop Backtrack’s vocalist walking around the floor like he owned the place. It is no wonder that this band has been compared to the mighty Terror. Performing songs off both their earlier 7” and the new ‘Darker Half’ LP, the band went down a treat. 

One of the hardest working, passionate and emotionally driven bands in the UK at the moment. We Came Out Like Tigers are like no other band the UK has to offer right now. Having pretty much toured relentlessly since the turn of the new year. We caught up with vocalist Simon after their recent UK tour with Ravachol.  

You have recently come of the back of a UK tour with Ravachol, how were the shows and what was the highlight of the tour?

It was a sick tour, some highlights were skateboarding in Nottingham, seeing so many old and new friends in Brighton and as ever, playing Dirty Sunday. A few other radical events were sprinting through Southampton, getting our shoes soaked and screaming profanities at fox hunters in Cornwall and breaking and fixing both bass heads in Cardiff.

Your brand of ‘Screamo’ is very similar to that of older bands like I wrote Haikus, I Set My Self On Fire and Circle Takes The Square. Was this band started as homage to bands like this? 

Yes and no. I actually got into I Would Set Myself On Fire For You after we were compared to them, and I think we sound less and less similar to them all the time (then again I would say that!). We listen to a lot of music that we consider to be a bit more forward thinking and progressive, and “screamo” only accounts for a small percentage of music I listen to, and We Came Out Like Tigers is meant to be progressive in nature, I don’t see the point in creating music that in any way tries to mimic something else. That said it is always going to be impossible to do something completely original. If we were to be compared to other bands I feel we could do a lot worse than those three.

Have you been surprised in this ‘New Wave’ of hardcore / screamo bands that seems to have sprung up around the world?

Interesting question. Firstly I believe there is a big difference between Wave hardcore and screamo and I think this needs to be answered separately for each genre. Hardcore has always been around, although there is a big resurgence at the moment, I think it is a brilliant response to the over the top and preposterous metalcore scene that came about a few years ago, there seems to be a lot more emphasis on DIY and punk sensibilities, it’s nice to see things getting stripped back and being a bit more honest again. 

Screamo is a strange one though. I find there is a big issue with screamo at the moment, people seem incredibly critical of new screamo, especially if a band doesn’t contain members of older bands ( such as Loma Prieta, Beau Navire etc). There seems to be a big protectiveness and purist attitude towards screamo that hardcore doesn’t seem to have. I think there is very little in music that hasn’t been done already, it is now interesting to see bands come up with new takes and techniques when approaching previously founded genres. I think we will see song writing craft perfected a lot more, and see the genre more honed and developed over the next few years. I feel it’s an exciting time to be involved.

Your Self – Title EP seems to have been really well received throughout the UK and Europe. Did you ever expect it to get the acclaim it has when you released it?

Not at all, it is always really hard to see your own band as a “real” band, you view the songs in a more logical manner, you don’t romanticise the characters involved to the same extent, it always feels a lot less glamorous than when viewing other peoples achievements. We were told that getting 300 pressed would be too many, yet 6 months down the line we have nearly sold out and are talking about doing a second release… It is so exciting to see it do well, we put a lot of effort into it, and for me to know that people pay attention to lyrics about things that are insanely personal to me is incredible. I remember first listening to Crimson Curse on a black 7 inch and thinking it was the perfect medium to hear harsh and passionate music, and it has been a dream come true ever since to hear music that I am part of in the very same format. It is always exciting when your dreams become a reality!

You can tell from just listening to your music you are all extremely passionate musicians, what is your inspiration when it comes to writing music?

The main rules for We Came Out Like Tigers have always been to try anything, to make the most emotional music we are capable of and to have no rules! We want to see just how engaging these songs can be, and to try and write the sort of music we would want to hear. The lyrics do have some political content, but they are always an emotional response to various different subjects. Emotion and sincerity are the core values of the songs we write.

How did you guys come up with the name We Came Out Like Tigers?

It is actually a song by a band called Wives who I was listening to a lot when we first started. I guess the idea was that it was ambiguous. I guess we may have chosen differently had we predicted the slew of animal and tiger themed band names, but you have to pick something and I still think it is a nice reference!

What would you say your greatest achievement as a band is to date so far?

Finding three other people that I love enough to live with and tour with on a day to day basis for the last few years. When we first started writing songs I merely hoped that we would have a good reputation in a local scene, and play shows. As soon as you achieve that though, the goal posts change again, and it isn’t enough anymore. I want this band to be everything it can be, be it a couple of tours and small releases or something bigger, as long as we achieve our full potential and know we did our best and had the courage to try despite the chance that it might fail, that will be enough.

Where is your favourite place to play?

Anywhere that people like our music and are kind to us. We have played very busy shows and hated it and played to hardly anyone and been in tears over it… In the UK Albany Road is always sick, Jake Kent puts on radical parties (J T Soars for life!), Cornwall is obviously amazing, and we love putting on shows ourselves in Wolstenholme Creative Space in Liverpool. In Europe we had an awesome show in Budapest and De Onderbruck was insanely inspiring to visit, and I cannot wait to hang out with Steve, Robert and everyone else in Dobeln again. Good shows with good people are a winning combination regardless!

What bands would you recommend for people to check out, that have caught your eye on your travels?

Battle For Paris’ album is so so good, the new Ravachol songs are so sick, Rik won’t stop talking about Kaddish, Battle of Wolf 359 are a common listen in the van and For This World Is Hollow And These Hands Have Touched The Sky are really stepping it up at the moment.

Tell us three things that not many people would know about you guys?

We suck at partying and have the lowest alcohol tolerance of any band out there that isn’t straight edge, two of us aren’t vegan and we all like computer games more than we care to admit.

What are the plans for the rest of 2012?

We have an exciting release with Dogknight Records in the pipeline for summer, we are hoping to get to Ireland and Scotland for the first time and we will be going back to Europe in autumn, then we are going to finish the year with a big UK tour. Amongst that we are going to: work just as much as we have to, fight fascism, cycle, drink disproportionate amounts of tea and coffee, prove ourselves to be of minor inconvenience to the “state”, give the compost bin in our garden a much needed dig out, buy a lot of records and sew more patches to our clothes. 

5/5 

I think it is fair to say that anyone who has listened to Black Breath knows that they can shred, as well as making some kick-ass heavy songs. Well the new album Sentenced to Life has just reaffirmed this. From listening to this new album you can tell the band have gone back to basics to gain a much rawer sound; to make it a bit more rough around the edges. This album is the type of album you talk about writing with your friends in your bedroom. It’s full of heavy chugging riffs, melt-your-face-off solos and pure ball-ripping vocals. First impressions of Black Breath could easily lead you to be mistaken that they’re another band that fell into the Converge, Trap Them, Kvelertak mix. However, this new album really sets them apart and has totally pushed Black Breath into a darker, riff-driven direction.

When a band decides to call it a day it is always a sad thing to hear, especially if that band has been part of some of the best shows you’ve been to.  This would be More Than Life’s last ever Southampton show, so here was hoping to a big blow out.

With a row of kids in beanies and snapback caps already at the front, Donnie Brasco started the night’s fun off.  To many they were an unknown quantity, but were definitely a pleasant surprise. Playing a brand of melodic hardcore that British bands just seem to have down to a ‘T’.  The vocalist’s voice was huge and really complimented the music that was being played. If you haven’t already I would highly recommend checking out these boys.

Another unknown band on the line up was CB6. Unlike Donnie Brasco, people probably hoped that they hadn’t checked them out. The bands formula consisted of really over the top build ups into predictable breakdowns.  You could see that the new wave of fans were clearly into it, as it was a chance for them to fine tune their ‘mosh’ moves. The majority of the crowd looked on as each song blurred into one another. The band themselves seemed more worried about timing their head bangs perfectly than making good music.

The heaviest band of the night and arguably the best of the night so far were The Long Haul. Their brand of fast heavy hardcore, teamed with insane drumming and gut-ripping guitar riffs that would make any Deathwish band proud, had the crowd watching in amazement. The Long Haul provided a musical onslaught from the word go. Southampton has produced some great bands recently and The Long Haul are one of the south’s shining lights. Since the release of their new EP ‘Debtors’, the band have gone from strength to strength.

The next transition went from one extreme to another; from heavy riffs to a more upbeat melodic composition in the form of Daylight. The boys from America seemed a bit jaded and tired, but regardless, nailed down a pretty tight set. In my opinion they were a very odd choice of support for a band like More Than Life, none the less they were a great band to watch. Catchy lyrics, great riffs, with some very dry American humour thrown in for fun.

As More Than Life were about to step foot on the Joiners stage for one last time, the atmosphere in the crowd had gone a bit sour. With the anticipation of this being a great send off, it could also go the other way. Once More Than Life kicked into gear there was movement in the crowd and attempts of stage diving (more people just jumping off the stage). For a band that had made such an impact on the UK hardcore scene in recent years, the reaction of both crowd and band was a little disappointing. You could see that the bands heart wasn’t in it, where as the crowd were too concerned about showing of their pre-rehearsed ‘mosh moves’.  

It is always sad to see a band you like call it a day, but it is also sad to not see them go out in a blaze of glory.    

People tend to go on a lot about hype bands, whether they deserve the praise and fame that has come to them due to internet hype etc. One band that was talked about more than many in 2011 was Touché Amore, having already hit the ground running in 2012 many doubters have now become believers.

As the venue began to fill (tonight was sold out) London’s own, Apologies, I Have None, took to the stage. The four-piece are one of those bands that has capitalised on the success of the recent ‘Soft-core’ buzz. Creating a very upbeat sound with three different variations of vocals gives a very powerful sound, and you can see why they are starting to get a reputation for producing good music. They sounded like a blend of Polar Bear Club and Balance & Composure, with an English twist. For the people in the crowd who had not heard them before, they were definitely impressed.

The basement room at XOYO was now starting to get really stuffy as more bodies piled in to see Baltimore’s Pianos Become the Teeth. A bit of a technical blip at the start of their set when the microphone wouldn’t work didn’t faze them, and not a foot was put wrong by the band throughout the rest of the set. Known for their passionate lyrics and moving music, you could just see the look of awe on everyone’s face as they watched in amazement.  A wave of heads nodding as each riff kicked in. Playing songs from both albums to the effect that gave you goosebumps at witnessing how talented this band is.

For tonight’s main attraction, and reason why this was a sell out show, Touché Amore jumped straight into their set with ‘Tilde’. From here on out there was no respite between songs; if there was it was only for a brief second. A crowd that was rather subdued and in awe had suddenly turned wild. Fists pumping, bodies flying, it is no wonder that Touché Amore is flying the flag for this new wave of hardcore bands. It is hard to see why people don’t like this band: with such great energy, a huge amount of talent and after playing show after show, Touché Amore have become so stupidly tight that they can play songs incredibly fast without hitting a bum note. The show ended with Touché Amore’s front-man jumping into the crowd, with as many members of the band as possible jumping on top of him.

We may still only be in March but this has set the bench mark for shows in 2012 pretty high.    

So may only previous experiences of the XOYO venue in the heart of London’s trendy Shoreditch area, had been rather relax atmospheres. So when I heard that it would be housing one of the craziest hardcore punk bands I’ve ever seen, I just had to see this for myself.

Starting the night off were 4 piece powerviolence act Stab. Definitely a good choice of opening act as the burst on the stage at full speed. With a pocket rocket of a front man running around the stage like a lunatic screaming down the microphone. Despite the great start the bands set seemed to all merge into one, as each song in turn appeared to sound identical to the last. The one saving grace that stab did have was the insane ability of their drummer. Even though the bands set was only about 15 minutes long, watching the speed of the drummer play was mind blowing. If you haven’t heard stab they are definitely worth checking out.

Following this short but sweet set was Brighton’s Sauna Youth. To me and many others in the crowd they were an unknown quantity. I’m sure many were also hoping that after their set it stayed that way. You can understand why they were chosen as support (what with the new direction Ceremony have gone down), with their brand of electro punk, I guess it’s a very acquired taste. With a similar sound to the bands like The Yeah, Yeah, Yeah’s and the Distillers, but there was just something lacking. Maybe it was the ‘hipster’ mentality the band seemed to have, but they just generally just seemed to miss some pop. They had about a handful of admirers in the crowd, everyone else just looked a little bored.

What was about to happen I don’t think XOYO has, or ever will, see anything like the carnage that happened. From the opening riff of ‘Hysteria’ the whole room opened up, with no sign of letting up until the band left the stage. Of course Ceremony are going to cause chaos, it’s what they do best. By the second song the stage dives were in full flow, one mic lead had been broken. The whole room ended up witnessing all hell break loose, as the security barrier was ripped away and it now became a free for all. Apart from the chaos Ceremony powered through their set in blistering pace, plays songs from new album ‘Zoo’ as well as classics like ‘Sick’ and ‘Pressure’s On’. Despite the band / crowd managing to break at least three microphone leads, you could not fault the energy, passion and showmanship of Ceremony. Things came to a bit of an abrupt end as the band closed with the always favourite ‘Kersed’. The crowd rushed the stage to try grab the mic, which in turn ended up with a wave of people falling into all of Ceremony’s equipment. As soon as this happened that was the end of the night. It was quite fitting that a night of such carnage should end in chaos as it did.