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| INSTANT AGONY LEFT FOR DEAD RAM-MAN MANGLED Wagon & Horses , Birmingham Friday 29th August 2008 With the Rebellion festival bein a washout in more ways than one for me, especially when I managed to see no bands at all. Here I am in the bowels of Digbeth for a guaranteed photo opportunity and hopefully a decent gig. Its day one of the annual 3 day Birmingham punks picnic on a warm summers night at the latest venue for the transient Birmingham punk scene who have been shifted around from pillar to post for way too long (venue wise) The Wagon And Horses pub next to a rail viaduct is potentially a good venue to host Punk Rock! Its just a pity its so fucking far from the city centre. With that in mind I had still come specifically for the Restarts whom I missed last time they hit Brum. Their recent Outsider CD has some incendiary tracks on there and has been blazing out my stereo all summer long (cheers Martin). And I will eventually get round to reviewing it but for now its the band in a live scenario which takes precedence. I spot outside the venue Ben guitarist from D'Corner Bois whose got a box of Cd's in his hand. The Cd's in question are the current split album of D'Corner Bois and Barse. I was very curious to hear being a BIG Barse devotee and Ben kindly gimme one for review. With hindsight gotta say D'Corner Bois (who ain't playing this weekend) have improved significantly, and a review will be posted shortly.. But back to tonights gig! The Wagon & Horses pub is kinda Tardis like, with a small bar full of bemused locals then a walk through a corridor and your in a Slumworld ghetto where there are a mob of black glad spiky haired Mohawks 'n' assorted punks n riff raff drinking, doing the roll up ritual and looking forthe rarest crusty t-shirt they can spot from a multitude on show through the haze. With a £6 quid entrance fee in for 5 bands and Carling at £2.40 a shot you cant grumble. There was a well organised merchandise stall at the back of the courtyard which was predominantly Restarts/protest propaganda and attire with a smattering of badges, books Cd's etc. I even managed to spot a Maximumrocknroll mag with a Stench review in the zine section. But before I could enquire about t-shirt sizes or browse for more zines off the snooty yank bird. I hear the hideously named Mangled tuning up upstairs. As I attempt to scale the steel staircase with pint in hand which leads to the gig room, I spot Dek Drongo. He gimme the lowdown on the dubious SOS records out of California who seem to have not treated the Drongos For Europe with too much respect. Its bad news for the bands and all the genuine DIY punk labels out there who inevitably get tarred with the same brush. He does assure me the Drongos will be releasing product very soon and on their own label! Dunno if the recently reformed Mangled are signed up yet? But despite the name, they do seem to have improved a load since my last sighting when they were called Hardcore. They feature Danny Fahrenheit on vocals, whose claim to fame is he's Colin from GBH's relative. And as GBH are busy touring the US, Danny does a rather good attempt at a GBH vocalisation but with less panache and a more brick shit house delivery! They crash their way through a set of energetic but not quite primed punk. A sound that owes more to the 80's than the 21st century. Which is no bad thing, but if they wanna get noticed they need something special to ensnare the kiddies. Mr Fahrenheit dressed in black and with a fetching 'Love Black People' t-shirt warms the crowd up adequatlely, while guitarist 'Tat The Cant' adds some HM touches on his "snot" guitar as Sarah Sux bashes her bass shyly. Not sure if my cameras working so go outside to fiddle and bump into Paul from Ram-Man on the stairs who filled me in on the recently departed funeral of Trogg from Contempt Trogg sadly died of Leukemia not so long back and his funeral was well attended by punks from all over, giving him a deserving farewell. Im sure Trogg would've been here tonight if he was still around. And i bet he was in spirit as Ram-Man themselves hit the stage. The name puzzled me ? I hope it stands for 'revolt against man made atrocities now', than the less enchanting cartoon character of the same name. I also heard positive things being said about this bunch on the Brummy grapevine along the lines of "worth checking out" after playing some decent sets in around the Birmingham area. Ram-Man feature Paul outta Contempt on bass/vocals and a bespectacled Andy who supplies the energetic lead vocals. They create some clever songs but were hampered by guitars strings breaking (the first of many tonight). However after a few unrehearsed jokes from audience members which would've got em bottled off a comedy club stage, they quickly return to give us more of their frantic, intense hardcore with a stylish US influence, but delivered with a conscience and fitting personified vocal. They spotlighted tracks from their recently released debut album out now on Angry Scenes records called 'Toxic Haste' which will im sure push their gigging boundaries even further. I needed a break from the sweat-box upstairs and descended down to the courtyard for some air, when I met Tom Freefall of 'FreeFall Drunk Punk Rantaphon' zine. A publication I was totally oblivious too. It comes with a generous 60 tracker CD disc of punk free fall with every issue too. Tom informs me his next 'ish is being hastily printed up as we speak. Meanwhile Left For Dead from Poly Styrene's current abode Hastings, are anything but dayglo and germ free! They are a gruesome looking trio of prison bound tattooed angry merchants who'd you swear were gonna unleash a raging hardcore stop/start New York dirge. Instead they produce a more melodic sounding SLF meets the UK Subs noise but with a load more grit. They sing about 'Violent Culture', humanitarian issues and 'support' and knock out occasional digs at dead South African dictators which are about as relevant to people like me as Hello magazine. Most of the set is off there current 'All Yeast In Cider' album that seems to have scored them regular gigs all over the UK and in Europe. Left For Dead on tonights performance seem like a band who make up the numbers on a punk bill more than trying to hijack the headline attention. Which is a shame coz they do have a good delivery and song structure but I think the snarly 'heard it all before' growl leaves em short of a lifeline to drag em out the depths of the ooze they seem happy to dwell in. They have been going long enough to realise their limitations, but maybe that's how they like it? Second out of town band of the night comes in the shape of Birkenhead's Instant Agony, who id never seen or really heard before? Considering they had releases on Flicknife Records back in the 80's I should be more aware I spose? Lead singer Hocky is a regular face at punk festivals and gives off a persona of a sorta Scouse Charlie Harper crossed with Bones outta Lower Class Brats in his black Trilby and stage craft aura. He hit us with easily the best front man routine id seen all night, using a mic stand to good use, which looks great but not many punks seem to adopt this tactic these days. He stalked the stage looking to 'Take Control' of his own situation. Just a pity his didn't take control of of the inaudible and seemingly weak vocals which sadly don't live up to the visuals. Maybe he had a cold or needed some projection lessons from Pete Wylie? Coz the Instant Agony we were promised didn't come out the speakers it was more of a dull pain and way too low in the mix from where I was standing The band were on form on tonights performance with their UK82 sound that was dispatched tight and with no thrills, but to good effect. They look like a band who can turn it on as they delved into long lost tunes from their 80's heyday interspersed with their more powerful tracks off their latest album called 'Exploitation'. But really need to sort the vocal volume out before they next hit a stage. Oh and before I forget Hocky is after submissions for a book hes writing on Eric's, Liverpool's legendary punk club. So if you gobbed on the Buzzcocks or toucjed Joeys smelly sneaker tell Hocky! Final band of the evening are London crusty oiks the Restarts. A band who back in the 90's were releasing DIY ranting tapes to a dismally minuscule punk outcrop. Nowadays they have grew into a formidable 3 piece of angst, protest and bang out some clued up punk rock with a worldwide rep! With their unmistakable black Restarts backdrop in place they soon attract a packed crowd upstairs in the Wagon. You can see from tours of the States and Europe the dust of success is still caked onto their combat boots. They have become a fierce contender for the UK's most popular street punk band over the last few years and are probably the last of the BIG unsigned pink outfits to come outta London. The band however dont need labels and do it all themselves. In case your unfamiliar (where the fuck have you been?) they spit out a formidable 3 pronged attack with the snotty Dalek like vocal of Kieran on bass leading the charge as he stares you in the eye, you know he means it. Alongside Robins less rabid but more rowdy delivery on guitar they epitomise protest punk in the 21st century. While the lanky Darragh on drums slips in some obnoxious vocal touches whilst he pounds his drum kit. The two front men ain't very big in stature and were almost dwarfed in comparison by the towering brummy throng up stage front. But they more than make up for it by sheer stage presence and sonic overload, as they command a no messin straight to it kinda vibe. Meanwhile as I struggled to gain some decent band shots kneeling on the side of the stage the leather and black was erupting all around me. I couldn't soak up the highly popular opening number 'Timewaster' as much as id like for all hell was being unleashed. But I doubt whether anyone else was complainin. This is a band who have a snotty, camp demeanour about em, but songs do need introducing especially to cunts like meself poncing around in a 'cowboys' t-shirt (without the slogan). I have to admit I do like this bands sound a lot more than most of their comptemporaries, even though i don't always agree with everything they sing about. They do seem like the genuine article whether singing about global warming, Biometric Identification or Homophobia. But like a lot of other bands with morals and a conscience about how we live and eat, the art is in the delivery not always the reason. And these punks do not trigger a double standards alert like so many others, and understand exactly how to achieve that. Fast, sharp, blasts of transistorised buss saw rowdiness with occasional melodic skanky touches keep tonight's crowd right on their toes. Most of the tunes came off the very good Outsider album, with title track 'Outsider' and its duel vocal and high tension chorus couldn't fail. Nobody was gonna ever walk away from tonight's set while these fuckers play, even though it was sauna like conditions. It ain't all deadly serious at a Restarts gig either, despite the pouts and slogans daubed across the kids backs. They can lighten up the room as they blast out the comedy of 'Big Rock Candy Mountain' whilst still giving off the underlying message even amidst loads of broken strings and guitar problems. With a band blowing off anthems like cluster bombs and enough attitude to arm a nuke the Restarts are breaking their balls on small stages all over the world these days with the kinda style and panache that bands like Discharge and Conflict become legendary for...i reckon its the Restarts turn for some instant gratification! PETER DON'T CARE |
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