Wednesday 22 December 2010

TNSrecords Fanzine Issue 10

The 10th issue of the fanzine (in its TNSrecords form) is now finished and on its way to the printers. It will be back in the New Year, so should be available at the Gullivers awareness gig on the 16th Jan. If you are on our mailing list we will get it in the post to you when it arrives. We will also be sending you a TNS poster and some discount codes for the new webstore (which should be up and running by then). If you live in the UK and want to be added to the mailing list, drop me an email - bev@tnsrecords.co.uk - with your address.

Anyway, back to the fanzine. If you can wait to get your hands on a paper copy we have made it available to download - just click HERE and it is all yours.


Alongside the usually rants and articles there are also interviews with Beat The Red Light, Stand Out Riot, China Shop Bull, Ignorance Is This and much more.


A big thank you goes out to everyone that advertised in this issue. You help to ensure that we can keep it free and print as many as we do. Thank you for your support, it is really appreciated.

Tuesday 21 December 2010

A FREE awareness gig


We are helping Tom Houseman from Sense of Urgency/Rising Strike fame to put on a FREE gig on the 16th Jan in support of defending the arts, humanities and education for all. It will also incorporate information about the cuts and related subjects.

There will be speakers, stalls and live sets from Stand Out Riot, Rising Strike, Revenge of the Psychotronic Man, the Hostiles, Penis Goes Where? and Ignorance Is This.

You can find out more and keep up with the plans on the facebook group
HERE

I believe they need a couple more speakers, so if your interested or want to get involved in any other way drop Andy an email - andy@tnsrecords.co.uk


Review of 2010 - Revenge of the Psychotronic Man

2010 has been a fun packed year for Revenge of... We played 30 times, which is a bit less than previous years, but there have been some belters. We have gigs already booked for next year and have already recorded six new tracks, which will feature on a four way split ep to be released early next year on TNSrecords, 5 Feet Under (Denmark) and Stikman (USA), which also features the Mighty Midgets (Denmark), Fist of the North Star (USA) and Broken Aris (Sweden). We are very excited about that feast of fast.


We’ll also have a music video and a ROCKumentary available early next year. Although we didn’t release any new material, we do feature on the 5 Feet Under, Punk Rock Generation vol. 3 compilation, which you should all definitely purchase.


So in no particular rank order, here are my highlights of 2010.


SATURDAY 16th JANUARY - TNS BEACH PARTY

Featuring - The Stupids, Revenge of..., The Emos, Tool of the Regime and Penis Goes Where? A beach party in January seemed like exactly the sort of stupid idea that only TNS pull off and everything just seemed to fall into place brilliantly. It was the first time the Stupids had played up north in a while so there was lots of hype, the local newspapers all gave the gig loads of coverage, it was significantly over venue capacity (possibly the busiest TNS gig ever) and Mikey Wong wore a beautiful skirt.


It’s not often you can say that you got hit in the face by a 5 foot inflatable dolphin mid-set is it? The atmosphere was amazing, everybody got into the stupidity of the event and all the bands went down a treat. What a start to the year!


SATURDAY 29th MAY - STRUMMERCAMP

What better way is there to celebrate your birthday than being able to pick a lineup for a stage at a festival. Myself and Bev were incredibly proud of the lineup we put together for the TNS stage and it was a pleasure to hang out with all the bands. It was a truly fantastic weekend and one of the best festivals I have ever had the pleasure of being at. It was the first time I’ve ever played a gig on my birthday and it was so much fun. Massive human pyramids galore and punk rock wheelbarrow races were my personal favourite bits of our set. It really couldn’t have been more fun.



21-26 JULY - SUMMER TOUR

Despite only being a short tour this was one of my favourites ever. All the gigs were decent, stupidity hit new levels with the invention of flash pyramids (apparently bouncers in trendy clubs don’t find them as funny as us), we acquired some superb 90s hits CDs and the booze flowed like water from a mountain stream.


We got to hang out with so many great people and really appreciate all the people who cooked, housed and looked after us... we are not capable of doing it ourselves. A big shout-out should go to the Amazingstoke massive for making our final night one of the most fun gigs of the year. Those guys have a great little scene going.


The final night of the tour was hilarious. Big Hands ability to hear karaoke on a Sunday night from half a mile away is astounding. Has anybody else ever done karaoke to Joan Osborn whilst in a pyramid formation and done a humming solo to Beats International whilst on somebodies shoulders and then been offered a gig on the back of the performance... I didn’t think so!


24 AUGUST - BAD RELIGION

Although I’d never want to stop doing small underground gigs, it was an amazing, probably once in a lifetime experience to support a band I had grown up listening to at a big venue at a sold out gig.

It’s crazy playing to that many people and it was very exciting. Thanks to Andy and Kathy for sorting it and to all the people who bought our merch. We used the money to fund the new CD so your support was massively appreciated. It was a great night that I know I’ll never forget!



27/28 NOVEMBER - RECORDING

We spent a weekend with Timothy G recording six brand new tracks and also invented pyramid vocals. We are very happy with the new tunes... they are going to take faces clean off! They will be unleashed very soon!



Cheers to everybody who has helped, supported, watched, listened, purchased anything to do with Revenge in 2010. All three of us appreciate it so much and looking forward to bringing you more rock next year!

Monday 20 December 2010

Stand Out Riot latest news

Here is the latest news from the Stand Out Riot camp. If you want to sign up to their newsletter please click HERE

Anyway, this is what Francis had to say:

Hello!
...and welcome to the Stand Out Riot newsletter!
Using this we will keep you updated with all important things happening in the SOR camp, uncluding info on our upcoming album, gigs, tours, merch and other exciting nuggets of info.

This month sees the start of recording for our 2nd album, '
The Gentleman Bandits' the follow up to 2009's 'Carnival Militia'.
Tracking begins on Tuesday 28th December at Big Tone Studios in Manchester, and we're very, very excited to unleash these new tunes on our unwitting producer TiMG.

To further whet your appetites for this release, here is a recording of a brand new tune, '
Developing Detachment', recorded at our last practice!
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=754185464732&comments&ref=mf

In other news, we are having a quiet festive period on the gigs front, however we'll be back in action in mid January, with gigs on the 14th, 15th, 16th! One of which you can confirm your attendance in an online form here:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/event.php?eid=149360131783023

Now, onto the sadder news. After a decade of loyal service, our trusty guitarist Ste will be leaving the band in January, to persue his career as a full-time, proper-job music teacher. We're all very sad to see him go, but are glad he'll be around have his input on the new album. As of January, we will be looking for a full-time replacement, with the familiar face of Dave March (Chief, The Shuffle) filling in on 6-string duty until the position is filled. If you, or anyone you know think they could step up to the challenge, then please let us know!

Finally, we're having a big old sale down at our online shop, with a FREE CD being given out for free with every order! So pay a visit to
http://standoutriot.bigcartel.com. We've still got a few hoodies too, so grab yourself one before they run out and keep warm this winter!

We will keep you updated with loads of video updates during our recording session, so make sure you 'Like' (...urghhh...) us on Facebook, and check out
http://myspace.com/standoutriot for some news and tracks and other goodies.

Thanks for your support!
Francis x

Our Top 10s (ish)

As it is that time of year I thought I would ask a few people what their top 10 albums, and if they felt like it gigs, of 2010 where. As you can see, some people aren't that great at realising what I was asking for so we got some interesting responses. So in no particular order here are people thoughts on 2010 (and beyond);

Andy Davies (TNS/Revenge of...)
Top Albums (Not including TNS releases, that would be a bit biased)
Mighty Midgets - Raising Ruins For the Future
The Dead Class - Stick
Brendan Kelly/Joe McMahon - Wasted Potential
China Shop Bull - Rave to the Grave
Punk Rock Generation vol. 3
The Arteries - Dead Sea
Smoke or Fire - the Speakeasy
None More Black - Icons
Off With Their Heads - In Desolation
The Beatsteaks - Limbo Messiah

Bev (TNS)
Mighty Midgets - Raising Ruins For the Future
OK Pilot - Nerves
None More Black - Icons
Pacer - No.1
Smoke or Fire - the Speakeasy
Off With Their Heads - In Desolation
Brendan Kelly/Joe McMahon - Wasted Potential
Rebuke - Wouldworks
The Arteries - Dead Sea
Bangers - Dude Trips

Andrew (The Dangerfields)

Top 10 Albums
1. Airbourne - No Guts, No Glory
2. Helloween - 7 Sinners
3. Gwar - Bloody Pit of Horror
4. Motörhead - The Wörld is Yours
5. Killing Joke - Absolute Dissent
6. FM - Metropolis
7. Jesse Malin & the St Marks Social - Love It to Life
8. Macabre - Grim Scary Tales
9. Danko Jones - Below the Belt
10. Slash - Slash

Top 10 Gigs
1. The Wilders, Black Box, Belfast
2. Gwar, LVC, Leiden
3. Twisted Sister, Bloodstock, Catton Hall, Derby
4. Alice Cooper, Sonisphere, Knebworth House, Knebworth
5. Jean Michel Jarre, O2, Dublin
6. Cannibal Corpse, Spring & Airbrake, Belfast
7. Helloween, Hard Rock Hell, Pontin's, Prestatyn
8. Pink, King’s Hall Complex, Belfast
9. Richard Clayderman, Waterfront, Belfast
10. Danko Jones, Odyssey Arena, Belfast

Dec and Maya (Sense of Urgency)

Top Albums
Leatherface - The Stormy Petrel
Fractions - Release
Off with their Heads - In Desolation
Kirkz - Aggroculture

Top Gigs
Harijan at Star and Garter
Punk all dayer at green star, stoke
Strummercamp
Ennio Morricone

Adam (Leagues Apart)

Top Albums
The Arteries - Dead Sea
AM Taxi - We Don't Stand a Chance
The Menzingers - Chamberlain Waits
Bangers - Dude Trips
Iron Chic - Not Like This
The Flatliners - Cavalcade
Cynics - Stones I've Thrown
ONSIND - Dissatisfactions
Smoke or Fire - The Speakeasy
Tigers Jaw - Two Worlds

Fav Shows
21st March, KRO Bar - MN#1 - Arteries, Bangers, Above Them, Just Panic and Leagues Apart
15th September, Old Bell, Derby - Off With Their Heads, A,IHN, Leagues Apart, Rooftops and Pacer

Cassius (Bootscraper)

Top 10 Albums
Frank Zappa - Cheap Thrills
Nuclear Rabbit - Vicuna
Bill Frisell - Further East/Further West
The Cardiacs - Sing to Gods
John Zorn - Naked City
Oingo Boingo - Farewell: Live From The Universal Amphitheatre, Halloween 1995
Slayer - Reign In Blood
Mr Bungle - Mr Bungle
Kultur Shock - Integration
Flat Earth Society - Isms

Pook (Beat The Red Light)
(He brought them this year, so they count....)
1 Voodoo Glow Skulls- Firme
2 Hot Stove Jimmy- Theme For A Major Hit
3 Blue Meanies- full throttle
4 Pantera- far beyond driven
5 Bad Brains- rock for light
6 Guns N Roses appetite for destruction
7 Sizzla- rastafari
8 Rico And The Ruddies- hold your horn
9 John Coltrane- best of the vanguard years
10 Curtis Fuller- blue not sessions

Let us know what your top 10 are by adding your list to the comments. Bring on 2011!


Wednesday 15 December 2010

A Kirkz Christmas Tale






















Around this time of year, when you happen to find yourself at a Kirkz gig, Max usually starts hassling you with a CDR with the promise of some Christmas magic. You usually part with £1 in an attempt to get him to leave you alone and stop running in circles around you. What you end up with is a tale, first told back in 2006, in which the Kirkz explain how they saved Christmas. It contain immortal family classics such as 'Lets Get Hammered', 'Ski or die' and 'Part 4'.

So in a Christmas gift to all for this first time 'A Kirkz Christmas Tale' is available for FREE download. So now when Max approaches you can simply inform him that you have already have it.

So what are you waiting for, just click HERE

Community Records

After their tour of the UK with the amazing 'Fatter Than Albert' the guys from Community Records got in touch to say hello. As a result we swapped some stock and now have some great releases from across the pond to sell. Community Records, if you don't already know, are a great D.I.Y label based in the USA. Be sure to check out their website - http://www.communityrecords.org/ - which also has loads of great FREE downloads. What more could you want?

Anyway, we now have the following releases in stock in the TNS distro. You can pick any of the releases for just £5 each or two for £8, including postage. As the webstore is currently being revamped (will be back in the new year), please send any payments via paypal to tnsrecordsuk@hotmail.co.uk with your address. Be quick as we only have a small amount of each.

A Billion Ernies - Dumpster Generation (CD)
Pericles - Citizens War (CD)
Stuck Lucky - Possom Soul (CD)
A Billion Ernies - Informant 10"
Fatter Than Albert - The Last Minute 12"
Maddie Ruthless - The Secret Affair 10"


Want the lot? Get in touch and we will put a deal together. If you're in America and want to get hold of some TNSrecords stuff on the cheap, head over to the Community Records site and check it out.

Wednesday 8 December 2010

Punk Rock Generation Volume 3

From previous posts you might be aware we are putting out a split EP next year alongside two great labels; 5feetunder Records (Denmark) and Stikman Records (USA). Well 5feetunder Records have just put out an awesome compilation, Punk Rock Generation Volume 3, that features our very own Revenge of the Psychotronic Man. The 34 track beast is available from Revenge of... for just £4, just head over to their webstore





If you like punk and hardcore you really need a copy. As well as Revenge of... it also features Mighty Midgets and Broken Aris, who will also feature on next years split EP, along with Antillectual and many, many more fine bands from across Europe. More info can be found on the Revenge's website here -
http://www.revengeofthepsychotronicman.com/revenge/news.html

The track list looks like this:

We Will Fly - "Fervid"

Mighty Midgets - "You Are Not Alone (the World is Full of Assholes)"

Antillectual - "Cut the Ground From Under Our Feet"

Save the Embers - "Everett"

Manu Armata - "Antagonized"

Archers and Arrows - "The Young Carpetbaggers"

Drunktank - "Last One Standing"

Kensington Arms - "Interpreting the Uninterpretable"

Nemas - "Nemas United

Goodbye Jersey - "The Beast"

Revenge of the Psychotronic Man - "Needles to Say"

The Supervisors - "Machines"

BrainDead - "To This Day"

Revolt of Darwin - "Revolt of Darwin"

Stream City - "Incompetent Doctor"

Rank N File - "People in Glass Houses Sink Ships"

Chainsaw Brigade - "System//Terror"

Kill the Rooster - "Stranger"

Phlegmatix - "Calling for a Revolution"

Still Around - "Restless Hearts"

Rovers Ahead - "One Mad Night at the Pub"

Sodomy Soldiers - "Spraypaint"

The Ignored - "Family Values Seen From A Different Angle"

Losing Must - "Believe"

7PM Meeting - "Fists of Reality"

Loudog - "In Their Eyes"

Sprome - "Unbound Underground"

Dysfunctional Kid - "2000 Cigarettes"

Broken Aris - "The Last Nail in Your Coffin"

Thought Police Brutality - "Surge and Destroy"

The Respirators - "Good Call"

Die Oi!tonome - "Copenhagen"

Lemlæstet Fosterbræk - "Metal Is for Pussies"

Stars Burn Stripes - "I Lost the Point"

Tuesday 7 December 2010

The All Dayer To End All Dayers

We haven't put on a gig for a while, we needed a break. But we miss it. So we have put together a special TNSrecords all-dayer on the 12th March next year. It will be £6 on the door, tickets info (if we have them) will follow later. Oh, its also going to be upstairs at Gullivers on Oldham Street from 3pm.


As you can see above the line-up will be:

Beat The Red Light - http://www.myspace.com/beattheredlight
The Dangerfields - http://www.myspace.com/thedangerfields
Stand Out Riot - http://www.myspace.com/standoutriot
Revenge of the Psychotronic Man - http://www.myspace.com/revengeofthepsychotronicman
Faintest Idea - http://www.myspace.com/faintestidea
Bootscraper - www.myspace.com/bootscrapermusic
The Kirkz - www.myspace.com/thekirkz
Sense of Urgency - www.myspace.com/senseofurgency
Leagues Apart - www.myspace.com/leaguesapartmusic
Ignorance Is This - http://www.myspace.com/ignoranceisthisuk

It should also be the Manchester launch gig for the new Beat The Red Light and Stand Out Riot albums. So it is shaping up to be an amazing day. Please spread the word and make sure the day is booked in your diary.

Punk and Ska that will take your face off!

Saturday 4 December 2010

Revenge of... website is back!



The Revenge of the Psychotronic Man website is back up and running, so go and check it out -
www.revengeofthepsychotronicman.com


This means that their super deal is back up. You can pick up a t-shirt, the album 'make pigs smoke' and TNS002 split EP with the Fractions for just £13. They have had a new batch of t-shirts so they are now available in all sizes again.

Andy is now going to work on sorting the TNS site out, if you have any magic website skills and want to lend us your knowledge give us a shout.

Tuesday 30 November 2010

It's Booze Time



Over the weekend Revenge of the Psychotronic Man were in the studio to record 6 tracks for an international split that we will be releasing around April next year.

Tim G (Big Tone Recordings) had the pleasure of putting up with Revenge of... for two days, listening to the rough mixes it sounds like he did a great job.

If you have seen Revenge of... play over the last few months you would have heard most of the tracks recorded, although there are a couple that will be new to you. It might not sound believable but I think this EP is even faster than the album, 6 tracks are over and done with in under 7mins 25 secs. The track listing is:

1. Drinking in the Van
2. Not My Fight
3. It's Booze Time
4. A Political Hot Potato
5. D.I.Why?
6. The End of Everything

I think there must have been a worlds first at Big Tone this weekend: the gang vocals on 'The End of Everything' were recorded in human pyramid formation! Davey Psychotronic was up from the big smoke to record some video footage over the weekend so we should hopefully see that in the near future with some samples from the EP. We will also probably make 'A Political Hot Potato' available for a free download once Tim has finished with the mastering. So look out for that.

If you weren't already aware, these tracks are going to feature on an international split EP alongside 5feetunder Records from Denmark and Stikman Records from the US. It will also feature the Mighty Midgets (Denmark) , Fist of the North Star (USA) and the Broken Aris (Sweden).

Andy and Niels (Mighty Midgets) are working together on the artwork, which should produce something very interesting. Each of the bands/labels have a similar DIY ethics and we all feel it is a really good way of helping great bands be heard further a field. It's a real pleasure to be working with a group of like minded labels and bands.

"IT'S FUCKING BOOZE TIME"

Monday 29 November 2010

WARNING: May Contain Cuts

Here is an article by Tom Houseman (Sense of Urgency/Rising Strike) that will feature in the next issue of the fanzine, which is due out next month. Enjoy.

WARNING: May Contain Cuts

After decades of spin doctors, broken promises, and bare-faced lies, it should at last be widely acknowledge that the lifeblood of British politics is misdirection. With that in mind, it is bizarre that we have taken at face value the coalition government’s zealous imposition of its cuts. “We all have to do our bit”, chant the slack-jawed public into the reporter’s microphone, as if repetition will suffice in the absence of thought or discussion. The more sophisticated version of this mantra is the claim that “I’m not happy about it, but public sector workers/students/the arts have to shoulder their share of the burden”. Underlying this claim is the ultimate misdirection: by assuming that the state (i.e. the taxpayer) should only pay for things that contribute to the economy, we’re making massively important statements about what society is and should be – and as long as these statements slip under the radar of public debate, austerity budgets will continue to go unopposed.

Education, like art, is not an investment. It should not be judged in terms of its expected financial return, as it has an intrinsic value not captured by its profitability. More importantly, education and art are completely disfigured when left to the brutal logic of cost and benefit. The students who, increasingly, make their university choices with only careers in mind will only learn what is useful for business, until academia is nothing more than the training of the account managers and sales executives of tomorrow. If art is only viable in spaces that attract the approval of private financiers, at best, it will only ever reflect the preferences, lives and experiences of the rich. At worst, it will go the way of all cultural commodities, becoming ever cheaper and more disposable. (In this way, acquiescing to the cuts is tantamount to making the X Factor the model for all creativity).

Lurking behind the increase in university fees and the various cuts to the arts, to education, to public services, and to benefits, is the awful inner logic of a society in which capitalism sets the terms of debate. The government is trying to abdicate our responsibility as a society to guarantee the integrity of things that would be destroyed or mutilated if left to the logic of the market. They are attempting to render all social life subservient to the open competition of narrowly-defined self-interest. As any sane person can recognise, such naked competition will only ever have one result: those with the necessary resources will acquire yet more, while those born with little will die with nothing.

Learning for learning’s sake, art for art’s sake, genuine democracy, and protection from extreme poverty, are not luxuries that can be restricted to those that can afford it when a nation finds itself strapped for cash. They are society itself. If we do not protect these fragile spaces from the overbearing logic of the market, they will wither and die, leaving us with nothing other than a new feudalism, where we serfs eke out an immiserated existence, paying tribute to the Lord-Bankers for little more than the right to keep working for them.

Monday 22 November 2010

Beat The Red Light talk to TNS about recording their new album

Here is an interview with Beat The Red Light that will feature in the next paper copy of the Fanzine.

Beat the Red Light are one of the best live bands I have ever seen and it is an absolute pleasure to be releasing their brand new album on TNS. Here is what the guys had to say about the new CD.

TNS) Can you introduce yourselves please?

Pook)
Pook - throat and trombone.
Tim) Tim, I play drums in Beat the Red Light.
G) This is G of the rhythm section, bass division.

TNS) What can we expect from the new album? What’s it called and how is it sounding? Can we expect an even bigger mix of sounds?

Tim) The new album is called Salt the Lands - This has taken so long to write that every song has a slightly different feel. I can’t contemplate how many favourite cds I have had since we started writing a couple of years ago. It sounds BIG!!
Pook) The new album is sounding to me like perfection! We’ve just recorded the majority of it, well Mike BEEF Lankaster (our guitarist) did. Don’t be fooled by the fact that one of our band members is recording it, it aint on an 8 track. We spent the last 9 days getting cabin fever in Ipswich getting PERFECT takes! No 99% takes were accepted. We know what each other are capable of and wanted perfection! It’s been the hardest 9 days but totally worth it. Expect long epic black metal, grind, thrash and ska played in an epic way!
G) It’s coming along quite nicely, there’s horns, shredding and songs about zombies. It sounds like BTRL but just stepped up a notch.

TNS) Is there any particular theme to the lyrical content?

Pook)
No theme, just different topics. The lyrics are quite a lot darker. I’ve recently just came out of a very dark place. I’d just split up with my girlfriend of four years, I was working twelve hours a day and still not earning enough to pay the bills, let alone rent. I went a bit of the rails. I kinda got myself stuck in this mental hole, but I’ve scramble out of it now. Some of the lyrics are about all that stuff.
Ones called ‘One Love Hypocrite’ and it’s a direct look at the homophobia in dancehall. I love Sizzla, Capelton and Buju Banton, but the homophobic lyrics have to go. Then there’s ‘Solanum’ which is a zombie survival guide, and the black metal song ‘Salt the Lands’ is about going on a killing spree, oh and sacrificing virgins! Then there’s ‘Bleeding Nose’.
Tim) No idea mate, have you tried understanding what Pook screams?
G) We might be into prog but we are not a prog band!(yet) This is not a concept album!!!

TNS) How was the writing and recording process?

Pook)
Long!!!! We’ve been playing ‘Bleeding Nose’ since our first tour so it’s been years we’ve been writing this album! The recording has been the longest nine days of my life! Not accepting anything less than 100% perfect takes! Like I said earlier though, the hard works paying off!
Tim) Very weird and, for me, very disjointed. Writing has taken for ever, since writing ‘Bleeding Nose’ we have had a member change, stolen one of our trumpet players back from Chilli and the guitarists have moved from two hours away to two minutes. To be honest it is only in the last 6 months that we have really got into our groove.
The recording process has been even more strange, the studio that we were booked into for three months backed out on us with 24 hours notice - we all have full time jobs so couldn’t move the holiday so we HAD to find somewhere to do it (massive thanks to everyone who made suggestions). For me this meant that I was only there for 3 days and then had to go back to the ‘shire’ to carry on working. I am sure everyone can imagine how gutting it is being so far out of the loop.
G) Like all the Vietnam war films ever made, all rolled into one! The Horror.....the horror!!!

TNS) Your ep was very well received and the live show’s have been unbelievable. Did you feel this album had a lot to live up too?

Pook)
Not really, It just feels like a natural progression for me to push the boundaries. See how much heavier we can take it. We recently just played a set of just new songs and everyone seemed to enjoy them, I mean I’m totally stoked with the response to the e.p but to me that was just a really good demo knocked up in three days. We’re taking our time on this one and we haven’t got a producer who doesn’t know what we’re capable of so doesn’t push us for better takes! You want the job done properly, ya gotta do it yourself!
G) Most definitely, that’s why everyone has been pushing each other so hard in the studio, hence the Vietnam comments. The E.P. Was made whilst the band was still in a line up transition. ‘Salt the Lands’ benefits from the more settled line up. I’m right proper stoked with it. I really hope people dig it. The new stuff seems to be going down well live so I’m gagging to tour the album too. Next year is gonna be a messy one me finx!
Tim) To be honest, the band has changed so much since the EP that it would be a shame to try and compare the two. So yes, I think that this record will be a much better reflection of what our live performance is like than the EP. This is a snapshot of what has happened in the last couple of years, I’m really looking forward to carrying on the momentum

TNS) How do you find your mix of styles affects your audience? Do you think this will appeal to metal and ska fans equally?

Tim)
For me it all depends on what mind set you are in when you listen to it. Hopefully people will like the heavy as much as the subtle and get what we were going for. With any luck it will be as interesting to everyone as it is to us.
G) Well, you can’t please all the people all the time can ya? We do what we do, that’s that. People either like it or they don’t.
Pook) Yeah, the e.p was I’d say more for the ska/punk fans, this one is definitely more for the metal fans! There’s only one songs on this album which doesn’t have a drop of ska in it. One ska part on the album is done in 5/8? Try and skank to that!

TNS) What have you got lined up to promote it in 2011?
Pook) Well we hit europe with the killer Stand Out Riot! That’s gonna rule and we also plan to do a tour with the Junk, can’t bloody wait!
Tim) TOUR!!!! I can’t fucking wait. It’s been over a year since we last toured and it has felt like forever. It is not that we haven’t wanted to, it just hasn’t been possible. If you have seen us before, imagine what we’re gonna be like coming out of a year long drought!!!
G) Tours, a sex tape and a giant inflatable bus stop cock which we intend to fly to London and attach to the 02 arena, thus using the old millennium dome as a scrotum.


Salt the Lands is out in February on TNS.

Wednesday 17 November 2010

TNSrecords from the latest ASFAR

Here are some reviews of TNSrecords releases from the latest copy of A Short Fanzine About Rocking. Make sure you pick up a copy, it is well worth a read.

Bootscraper - Country and Eastern
Leeds based self proclaimed agro-folk band Bootscraper are a welcome suprise, as it's always nice to come across a very good band that you've never heard of before and it's even better when it's not your average punk release. To the truth is it would be hard to lump this into any genre. There are signs of a lot of influence - 'There Will be Blood' sounds like a Gogal Bordello b side while 'The Sundown Kid' has a similar vibe to the mad caddies flirt with their country edge. The variety of instruments as well as the interchange between the two vocalists makes for interesting, layered music which does not get boring, while the mix between the faster folk songs and the slower country/bluegrass songs helps add diversity. Despite the range of genres on display it does become apparant half way through that this will not appeal to everybody. Tracks like 'The Ol' Waterin' Hole' could easily be too much for people who aren't fans of the gypsy and dare I say it, pirate theme. That said, Bootscraper do well in not relying on gimmicks even with the obvious temptation. I'd bet a fair amount of money that they can really pull it off live, but there's certainly a lot to enjoy on CD too.
A Short Fanzine About Rocking

The Dangerous Aces - Deny All Resonsibility
Well someones got to take responsibility for this. These street punks from manchester have served up a pretty awful 10 tracks of lo-fi punk here. Definitely more old than new school punk inspired, but that can't be used as an excuse for an album that sounds like it's been recorded on a digital camera. If I listen closely there is some decent bass work in most of the tracks and some pretty crazy guitar solos, but overall it sounds messy and singer Moz isn't the most talented vocalist to say the least. I guess a few of the oi crew may like this, but for anyone else, avoid.
A Short Fanzine About Rocking

Faintest Idea - Ignorance is This
Straight up punk here with a bit of horns and ska. When they get going Faintest Idea are pretty good, but personally, there's clearly a difference in quality between the two parts of their sound withthe punk tracks being hard hitting and in your face and the ska tracks coming across a bit cheesey. Luckily there's more of the former and where Faintest Idea will never win prizes for originality this is a decent album for fans of Rancid and the UK ska scene.
A Short Fanzine About Rocking

The Kirkz - Agroculture
There is a running joke between a couple of friends of mine about the Kirkz and how they are a god awful live band. Personally I can't be certain, I may have seen them on one or two occasions but they've never made an impression which I guess is a bad thing. That said, this isn't a bad album. It's samey all the way through but it's mostly fun and gives you plenty of chances to sing a long to the shouty choruses, indeed the first 3 tracks are literally the best here and would have benefitted from being spread out more. Everything here is at least worth a listen if you like rough round the edges underground UK punk.
A Short Fanzine About Rocking

Tuesday 16 November 2010

What the fuck are Battle of the Bands all about?

I thought that it would be a good idea to have an online record of Andy's article on Battle of the Bands from issue 6 of the fanzine. So here it is, to re-read or check out for the first time. If you're interested all the back issues (TNSrecords issues not the That's Not Skanking ones) are available as pdfs on our website.

What the fuck are Battle of the Bands all about?

Ive been meaning to rant about this for a while, but only just got round to it. What is the point of a music competition? When I go to a gig (or play a gig for that matter) I want every single band to be mint. I want to come away thinking Ive seen some great music. The last thing I want to do is to sit through bands hoping they are shit so mine/my friends band can win a HMV voucher or something. I cannot understand how anyone genuinely into music would want to put one of these things on. If you want a competition go to watch some sport, or if it must be music related go and vote on Pop Idol or the Eurovision song contest.

That is what a battle of the bands is really, a low budget version of that sort of mainstream shite.

To be fair I know bands who have got to do some great things because of competitions, such as quality gigs or studio time, but the way I see it, they shouldnt have to enter a competition to be noticed and it is a sad state of affairs that bands do need to. If someone from the music industry likes a band, why not just help them rather then asking them to compete in a competition?

(There is a simple answer to that; people from the music industry are money grabbing wankers)

The thing about most battle of the bands is that they are nothing more than a glorified popularity contest to make a venue/promoter a bit of money. Nearly every one of these competitions results in the band who sells the most tickets winning the prize and even if its not totally judged by ticket sales its normally in the criteria somewhere. Just because a band has a lot of friends, doesnt mean they are good. Also, the judges more often than not are influenced by their own personal taste. How many people can honestly say a band from a particular genre is better than one from another? Its nearly always about opinion. Obviously some peoples opinions are more informed than others, but they are at the end of the day still opinions.

Anyway, I needed to get that off my chest. If you are in a band and you want to enter competitions, thats your choice so I wish you well, but personally I think music is much better without a competitive element and that a community where bands support each other is much more enjoyable.