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!

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!

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?

I’ve 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 I’ve 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 shouldn’t 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 it’s not totally judged by ticket sales it’s normally in the criteria somewhere. Just because a band has a lot of friends, doesn’t 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? It’s 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, that’s 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.

Mainstream Football Is Shit!

Here is an article that Andy has written for the next issue of the TNSrecords Fanzine, which should be out in a couple of months. Enjoy.

As you may have read in previous issues of TNS, I love my football. Not quite as much as I love my punk rock, but I do love the beautiful game. But, as with many people, the nature of football these days really doesn’t sit well with me morally or socially. The capitalist nature of the greed driven, over commercial modern game surely cannot sit comfortably with the ethics of any punk fan? Football surely goes against everything we stand for in our music community yet for football we somehow seem to be able to turn a blind eye to it all.

The punk rock community prides itself on being self sufficient and trying to exist outside of the imposed systems and rules that capitalism gives us. We put on our own gigs, release our own records and fanzines and we have a community that reaches around the world. And what’s more, the vast majority of this is done on a not-for-profit basis. It’s an amazing thing. The community spirit and camaraderie associated with football really reminds me of what I experience at punk rock gigs; a feeling of unity and of friendship and of enjoying something exciting as a community.

But personally I can no longer feel this way about football. I can’t watch all the greed and lack of loyalty without cringing. I can’t watch people with no real interest in football taking over teams and running them into the ground, but I also hate the thought of people throwing money at their new play thing and demanding instant success. The modern game has no integrity and nothing to make someone with socialist values warm to it. I stopped paying to go to big games many years ago. I don’t want to put money in the pockets of these people. Of course boycotting games is only half the problem solved. The TV companies are just as bad, as are the newspapers.

However, here lies my problem; I miss it all. I want to support football, I want to go to games and I want to enjoy it again without feeling guilty. I like football.

So what are the options?

I’ll come to that shortly, but here is a little bit about my personal association with football to set the scene. I grew up in Stafford with neither of my parents really having an interest in the game. With no immediately obvious local team to follow, as an 8 year old just getting into the game, I (like many kids in my area) was always gonna go with Liverpool or Manchester United as my team. For me, influenced by a family member my particular choice of red ended up being that of Liverpool.
Obviously I went to games here and there but as with so many football fans once my team was decided my loyalty was hammered into me and remained even though I couldn’t really justify why.

When I reached about 14 years of age I started to go and watch my local team; the mighty Stafford Rangers. This presented a whole new experience to me. Going to regular games with school friends made me really appreciate why it was important to follow your home team even when they were a bit shit (I still today check for the Rangers scores). However, when I went to uni it became a choice between going to punk gigs or going to the football as I didn’t have too much money and I went to less and less games, but continued to watch Liverpool on TV because it was easy to do so. I also played Sunday League for many years so although I hardly went to games, football was still a big part of my life.

I relocated to Manchester about 10 years ago and have been here ever since. My allegiance to Liverpool remained throughout, but I only went every now and again and a few years ago decided that I didn’t want to spend any more of my cash on football as I was completely disheartened by the way it was going, but also because none of my friends supported them these days... I mean I was in Manchester... why would they? It all just took the fun out of it.

However, football is something that is ingrained into anyone who has ever been a fan. You can’t forget about it and obviously I have watched from a distance how it has deteriorated further and witnessed the destructive ways of the likes of the Glazers and of Hicks and Gillette. I realised the only way back for Liverpool was huge irresponsible injections of cash and just don’t like the idea. And although I check Stafford Rangers results I don’t see Stafford as home any more. Also would the Rangers really be any different with a bit of cash behind them? I really don’t know?

What I have written here became a regular pub discussion for myself and my immediate group of friends (3 of which had also relocated from the Midlands at a similar time - Villa, Stoke and Wolves fans) and a couple of disheartened United fans.We began to chat about Hamburgs St Pauli - a team widely respected by the punk rock community for their ethics. Their left leaning policies include not being owned by one particular owner giving power to the fans, anti racism/homophobia/sexism campaigns and a general anti capitalist agenda - it was punk rock football.

“Why can’t we have a team like this?” asked Bev, a Villa fan. Then I said the unthinkable (especially considering I am a Liverpool fan), “We have... FC United.”

FC United of Manchester is a community football club owned and democratically run by its members. They seek to change the way that football is owned and run, putting supporters at the heart of everything and to show how this can work in practice by creating something both sustainable and successful. Here are the clubs core principles taken from their site (fc-utd.co.uk):

1. The Board will be democratically elected by its members.
2. Decisions taken by the membership will be decided on a one member, one vote basis.
3. The club will develop strong links with the local community and strive to be accessible to all, discriminating against none.
4. The club will endeavour to make admission prices as affordable as possible, to as wide a constituency as possible.
5. The club will encourage young, local participation - playing and supporting - whenever possible.
6. The Board will strive wherever possible to avoid outright commercialism.
7. The club will remain a non-profit organisation.

FC United was formed in 2005 by Manchester United fans in protest to football being taken away from the fans through commercialisation, with the Glazer families leveraged buy-out being the final straw.

As a Liverpool fan, I do not like Manchester United. I don’t want them to win anything, but that said, I still wouldn’t wish the Glazers on anyone and their troubles were disappointing to see as it epitomised everything I believe to be wrong with the game and it was a shame to see a club with a proud history (like Liverpool) going this way.

But apart from the association with Manchester United, FC United seemed to be everything we were looking for: an ethical, anti-capitalist, not-for-profit football club, done for all the right reasons on our doorstep. Also, as a group of friends, this could be great; a local team who we could go and watch together. After 10 years in Manchester here was a team we could cheer on collectively, who also fitted in with our moral ideas.

So last week we went for the first time and it was fantastic. I wondered how difficult it would be for someone who is quite a loyal person to support a new team, but I was soon won over. It was great to be at a game again, especially with my mates and I enjoyed the style of football too. People talk about the difference in standard from the top leagues, but I grew up with non-league football so I can definitely assure people that FC play some good stuff!

I don’t expect us all to be fully fledged FC supporters immediately but I guess that’s part of the fun. I can’t disregard Liverpool just yet, but I definitely want to be at many more FC games.
I was worried about how FC fans would take to non-United fans coming (especially Liverpool fans) but chats in the pub after the game suggested that it shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Despite our different starting points with football the people I chatted with shared common ground with regards to the state of the game. Most FC fans we spoke to saw FC as an individual club, which was what we wanted.

This is also my local team now. We’re all in Manchester for the long haul and I for one want my kids (should I have any) growing up watching a club with the moral message and standing of FC.

We shall see how it all goes, and at this point it’s too early to guarantee we’ll all become fanatical supporters (although I can see it happening) but for now I’m just excited about the ride. It’s great to be watching a relatively new club from early days. Personally I’d love FC to shake off any association to United and to be supported as a club in their own right, because that’s what FC deserves. Getting their own stadium could help this to happen and you can read more about their community shares scheme on their site.

Can FC and other such teams (AFC Wimbledon are now in the Conference) cause a football revolution? It will be hard to change the habits of footballs elite, that’s for sure, but what they are doing certainly needs backing by any football fans who share their principles. I for one am inspired by the fan power that has lead to this clubs existence.It could, just maybe be the start of a football revolution, but for now it’s certainly punk rock football! Come on the reds!

Andy

This article was written two weeks prior to the unbelievable FA Cup result away at Rochdale, which was one of the best matches I have ever been too. Fantastic atmospere and the sort of drama that makes football so amazing. I’ve been to a few games since writing this and I am loving it!