Currently available on their bandcamp on CD or digital download.

They are hatred, They are joy, They are noise for the sake of noise…

They are Not Right and this is Your Turn

Timing I suppose is everything; think Opertion Yewtree and the vile fruit it spawned; good old Glitter, Savile, Harris, Clifford and the list goes on… BASTARDS. Think for or against footballing anti-hero Chad Evans… but don’t dare think footballers and rape are isolated incidents - think of a band; a small band of determined punks comprising of a young man and two young women prepared to make a stand at any cost against sexist UK and what we get from Coventry is NOT RIGHT! To quote a late press release about the band: ‘This album is not the future of rock and roll because there has been no future of rock and roll since 1976, only an increasingly cynical series of soundbites aimed to pique the interest of the casual listener’. Not Right are defiantly not the future of rock and roll and anyone who wallowed in the anarchist punk bands of the early eighties will see blatant similarities to Crass’s – Penis Envy, The Poison Girls and in - particular the early Bullshit Detector compilation albums. The new album Your Turn could be described as a Dirty Dozen tracklist verbal assault on the senses that spiralled me back to the black and white days of Crass. I listened to the album on numerous occasions as you do and found it difficult and uncompromising however as with most decent punk albums you always discover little gems along this wretched path of punk. Think Crass, Action Pact, Paranoid Visions, L7 and Hole blended in a vat of 2014/15 anger and you’ll get my meaning.

It opens with Tory Scum and catapults us back to a time of greed, war, broken hospitals and broken education and the sad reality that there’s no need for time travel and this bullshit has kept pace with us to date and nothing much has changed as this decent protest song of a starter screams out. Balls is a song about balls, dicks and missing bits and continual sexist bullshit the female gender face from the non-changing insecure Neanderthals. The Revolution is Not Complete is a classic Anarcho in your face Anti Rape Punk; like I said difficult at times but well worth the fight through. Debate Club Wanker gives us voice overs from Thatcher, Blair and Cameron – and targets wankers in suits whose taglines are bullshit. Freedom of Speech – My gender is NOT up for debate screams Kimberly Lohman and its over as quick as it started. With Intersectionality Song I continually repeated this track and think I got the point, clever lyrics and a build-up of white noise fuzz – ‘even hard offs have it easy in their own way’ is hollered with cutting lyrics. Anti-Social Media scorns the curse of modern life through comical ancient chant and hard punk. Kirstys PhD is short – very very short and sharp. Emergency Flowerbed Rescue Team (great name for a band by the way) tells the story of the superheroes that are EFRT – this is a welcome touch of light heartedness on an album that generally aims for the chauvinist sexist jugular. Never Back Down brings us back with a bang with the band wearing the hearts on their sleeves on this track. The Facilitation of Lawful Protest may or may not be a title that has the mighty riot grrrl in mind but the sentiment is far closer to home in another decent punk track. The final track of this Dirty Dozen is My Body which machine guns down perverted arseholes and blinkered bigots in a thrash complimentary punchy finale that concludes the album.

Not Right are Kimberly Lohman (guitar and vocals), Ruth Pearce (vocals and bass) and Richard Snowdon ( drums and vocals) they have delivered an album that is anarchist, feminist punk at its purest. Your Turn will not be every punk’s cup of punk and I’m fairly confident this is exactly the targeted area the band intended. In these days in which many new bands decide to play safe punk Not Right are a million miles away from playing safe. Having spent the last few weeks thoroughly enjoying the new Buzzcocks, SLF and Rancid albums - all excellent by the way - Not Right brought me back to Earth with a bang and in the turbulent land of punk sometimes a bang is no bad thing. Give this album a listen – WHY ??? Because it’s a hard album; but then again so is real life; this is kitchen sink punk without the thrills. Thanks for the reality check Not Right.

The original idea of Punk Rock was DIY ethos and ethics caveated with a unique brand of thinking outside of the box vision with a brazen mix of ‘we can do anything’ attitude. No more so was the case than Thursday 10th July when over 100 + punk rock followers donned their sea legs and boarded the Pride of Exmouth on what was the first and I certainly hope not the last Devon maritime themed Punk Rock seaborne extravaganza. The vision came from Exeter’s Punk mecca the Cavern club and young Exeter punk rock Svengali Nick Heron who’s can do drive ensured this event was sold out from an early stage (he even donned a snazzy sailor suit that would have made Captain Sensible green with envy for the evening).

On tonight’s seafaring menu were three helpings of local and further afield Punk Rock nastiness that all went down like that big boat that hit the iceberg...

First on the deck and with a bite like pissed off cobra were Swansea’s ‘SSSSNAKES’.These boys took the lead and set the benchmark for the night; as an opening act all the while the crowd were still trying to get their head around we were on a boat the Ssssnakes led from the front. With frontman Jamie Morrison acting the snake - he lurched, hissed, writhed, coiled and struck like the punk rock predator he is; this was early Buzzcocks, Teenage Fanclub on speed with a Swansea skatepunk twist, the crowd initially were agape as Morrison threw himself at them hard and fast all the while the band kept it tight aggressive and wanton throughout the set, a great start to the night and as the sun slowly begun to set on the fantastic orange fire - sky backdrop; I thought 'this cruise was a fucking great idea'

Next up were the BIRDSKULLS hailing from Brighton, Exeter and Bournemouth it would seem these lads were thoroughly at home on the water. The lads were unassuming calm and confident throwing out a Nirvana teenage angst love sick blues punk sound that picked the crowd up from the start; young serious and talented they stood their ground and delivered a strong credible performance that straight off the back of the opening act was no mean feat.

Exeter’s THE CUT- UPS took the headline tonight and fully deserved it was, they almost looked Clash cool as the Cavern veterans took to the deck and brought the night to raucous ending. They gave us a mix of aggressive powered pop punk with poignant English sentiment. By this time the evening’s rum ration had kicked in as the ship headed into the setting sun and back to Exmouth; like desperate swabbies we craved more as The Cut – Ups finished up and brought an end to this unique punk package. Massive thanks go to the Cavern Team in Exeter who championed Nick’s vision, the staff on the Pride of Exmouth who were fantastic and especially Captain Nick who is hoping a repeat performance next The final few words go to SSSSNAKES frontman Jamie Morrison who I managed to catch up with on the top deck as we poured ashore. Jamie’s been doing Punk since he was 11yo; ‘Punk is still about DIY ethics’ doing your own thing and doing it your way’. That’s what the Ssssnakes are about!!!

All tonight’s bands delivered in spades and tonight was not only refreshing but loudly reassuring that Punk in the sometimes sleepy hollow that at times is the South West is far from sleeping – it’s kicking!

The last time a Punk line-up of such stature graced a Glaswegian stage was many years ago, Mrs Thatcher was on a roll, Listen and Bloggs sold decent records and Adam Ant and Toyah were in then charts. But Punk Rock visited Glasgow Apollo with vengeance, one nighters like Apocalypse Now or Gathering of the Clans gave us the likes of Chron Gen, Infa Riot, Chelsea, ANWL and The Exploited, they were intense drunken violent Mod and Bouncer infested nights that certainly put play to such episodes occurring in the apparent hallowed Glasgow Apollo again. But as the song says,’ that was then – this is now’, over thirty years and many attempts to relive the bad old days Glasgow gets its long overdue Punk festival and a visit from some highly credible Punk Heavy weights courtesy of the North East calling team, John Conner and his crew.

The gig starts at 1320hrs sharp and in a patriotic stylish touch two of the cities longest serving stalwart and uncompromising punk bands lead the charge. The Red Eyes take point and fire us through a tight set that opens up with This is my Life, the Red Eyes sound reminds me of Slaughter and the Dogs; tight and raw – they fire through Kids, Wasting my Time, You sold Yourself, Dumbing Down my World, Forever, The End of the World finishing up with Norah Louise Kuzma… the quick set leaves us in not doubt the deadline for the bands is tight and to that end the mighty in more ways than one Fire Exit take the stage, Fire Exit are still going strong since 1977; Scotland’s longest surviving Punk Rock band open up with punk party anthem We’re gonna drink, followed by the excellent Townlife; we’re watching a band that enjoys themselves. Fire Exit literally fire through the remainder of the set – As long as we’re alive, Talking about Myself, Going Crazy, Wheelchair Outta Control , Trust, Burn the Churches (apt for the sectarian city in which is the bands playground). Timewall takes us back to when the band were boys in 1979 and when it comes to encores this band don’t mess about; Runaway (yes the Del Shannon one) followed by The Boys - First Time and the first two home-grown city bands have set the bar. A great start! Next up are The Fiend from South Sheilds, I first witnessed the Fiend at the Rebellion aftershow if I had to describe them in one word INTENSE would be it. The band almost never made the gig courtesy of some boy racer almost completely taking the van out, front wing and mirror gone and van scrapped to bits, once you witness this band live you could imagine the fate if the boy racer was caught alone… Your Town will Burn Tonight opens the set and the angry hardcore men from Northern England kick up a storm; Dig Your own Grave, Fires of Hell, Don’t Let them Die, Fuk it!, Judgement day, Lie and Deceive, Death from Within, Stand Alone finishing with the magnificent; Remember Who We Are? And Glasgow will lads, Glasgow will.

Jarrow North East Oi legends Crashed Out swagger on stage like they own the place and for the next 30 minutes they do! Opening with Battle of Orgreave, they smash through Jarrow Song, Town that Died, Just another Gig, One for the Boys, What do you know, Raise your glasses finishing with an ode to Bonnie lassies everywhere Cushy Butterfield, like the bastard children of the Rejects and Upstarts Crashed Out come out fighting and maintain a heavyweight boxers stance throughout the powerful set, you can’t beat a band that sticks to its guns!
SLF legend Henry Cluney steps fourth alone armed only with guitar, there is no denying Glasgow is the second home to SLF; the Barrowland stage reeks of 23 years of Fingers sweat and Henry knows this; he fights through what I can only describe as terrible sound, the last thing you need when solo (sort it out please ABC) unperturbed Mr Cluney plays to his and his crowd’s strengths; Gotta, Alternative, Soldiers, Breakout, Edge, Wasted, Suspect amongst many classics all get an airing, he should have known better when asking for request in Glasgow as straight away Running Bear was called out and of course the man obliged and delivered in style under difficult sound circumstances.

GBH have played Glasgow many times and knowing they stepped up to the mark after Watties frightening incident made them all the more welcome. They obliterate through their set with typical GBH savagery, Unique is followed by one of the best Punk Rock intros ever: Race against Time, they know time is short and give us, Knife Edge, State Executioner (dedicated to Jimmy Saville and Lost Prophet’s singer…). Generals, City Baby and City Babies Revenge get spewed out at breakneck and of course Alcohol ( it is Scotland after all) all get smashed; angry eyeballs are thrown at the sound-team ( C’mon ABC sort it out!) but this is GBH and this is Glasgow, a brilliant but short set from Birmingham’s finest. The Business take the stage next, I’ve followed The Business since early days and for some reason I have never caught them in Glasgow, but tonight’s the night and I am not disappointed. The set is pure football, drink and Oi, Fitz looks bemused at the huge; no in fact massive glitter ball that hangs from the roof and the Glaswegian crowd below, Southgate, Handball (for Diego Maradona – a Scottish Icon incidentally) get blasted out but Guinness Boys sets the crowd at the front alight followed by Back in the Day, Suburban Rebels and even the glitter ball gets a mention prior to Smash the Discos, that leaves us with the one and only Harry May in a short but punchy set by the London boys.

I think it’s fair to say Penetration and tonight’s headliners the Damned have seen most of it when it comes to Punk Rock. Pauline Murray is simply Patti Smith cool as they open up with Future Daze, the band are tight and old school numbers are pushed out, Life’s a Gamble, Lovers of Outrage (which reminds me of Poly Styrene for some reason) Movement and Free Money are followed by the classic Don’t Dictate which always delivers. Danger Signs, Nostalgia, Come into the Open follow, finishing with the brilliant Shout above the Noise.
The Angelic Upstarts storm the stage and the Glasgow crowd are fired up and ready, 2000,000 voices sets the scene in what I can only describe as blinding set by one of the country’s best Punk bands. Never ‘ad Nothing, Police Oppression, Last Night Another Soldiers all go down a storm, there is no doubt Mensi has and always will wear his political heart on his sleeve and no more so than Solidarity, this was a brilliant rendition that had the crowd eating out the palm of the Upstarts hands. Leave Me Alone, You’re Nicked and I’m an Upstart catapulted the crowd back in time but the finale The Murder of Liddle Towers gave the Glasgow crowd it tight. The company I was with on the night were NOT big Upstarts fans… they now are, awesome performance from these fine Englishmen!

It’s now well past our bed time and Grandchildren outside have turned up in cars to pick up their Grandparents… Yes we stink of piss but we still have The Damned to watch and we’re not going home until we’ve seen the Captain. The Damned take the stage, by this time my eyesight, bad back, piles, gout and dementia are all brand new and I’m up then front giving it large. Time is short and as usual the band don’t mess around and give us it short and sharp, Love Song, Neat Neat Neat, New Rose, Melody Lee, I feel Alright, Anti Pope, Smash it up amongst other classics are banged out by this time the clock was seriously ticking as the Damned finish up a fantastic day and night to what was now a packed venue. Elated, tired and it was only 10 o’ clock. If confirmation was ever needed that Glasgow need its own Punk Festival then tonight was it. Wattie you and the Exploited were sorely missed get well soon! Let’s hope Scotland Calling is a regular occurrence.

Epilogue: Audio after show party…
For some the night was still young and we headed to Audio in Midlands Street, the former and much missed Rockers bar is now re-opened and re-named. Fire Exit who had been on the go all day threw out another drink fuelled set with much help from the crowd and guest appearance from a 60 year old Captain Sensible who gave us Glad it’s all over. This was a rare treat indeed as were the excellent Mid- Life Crisis who as a mainly cover band gave us classics from DOA and Wire amongst many more. A singalong ensued and slowly my shutters came down…

Surfacing out of Como in North Italy The Leeches new album Underwater has a bite like Great White Shark lurking in the Mediterranean Sea. The opening track ‘I’m Everything to me’ gave me an instant flashback to The Ruts. However there’s a definite New York (Ramones) influence on these Italian bad boys. ‘Piranha Boys’ continues the maritime theme with a stomping vibe dedicated to the killer fish. ‘Serious’ deals with the boredom of everyday life in what could be described as a short and punchy Oi number. However any doubt about these lads influence ‘Feelin’ Alright Tonight’ confirms The Leeches as a force of Punk Rock good; this track is awesome, it has a brilliant Ramones sing-along chorus that had me continually on the rewind. Defiantly one of the album highlights. ‘Down on my Knees’ is punky ball breaker telling us ‘we can go to die’. ‘Vanilla Coke’is a strong powerful Rancid tinged classic; don’t be fooled by the song title this is a great well played up surging Punk Rock song. Stop the Clock fires on all cylinders at 100 miles per hour, a track that should have the crowd open mouthed and crazy. ‘Nothing at All’ continues the theme of short no nonsense Punk. ‘Standing on my Tomb’ is the bastard child of the Ramones and Alkaline Trio.  ‘My Life’ is about sticking to your Punk Rock guns without comprise ensuring the fun element remains in this music we love. ‘To Hungry to Pray’ is man’s continual battle against… ‘Wait for it’ – the fridge!!!It’s another great singalong about not wanting to be fat (many of us will get it). ‘Me 262’ strangles the life out of this Blue Oyster Cult classic totally owning it, BOC never had it so good in my eyes. This is a unique, well played with strong vocals and dare I say it very respectful cover reminding us of the horrors of WWII. The final offering’ Into the Storm’ is a ballad guitar intro that had me thinking the Leeches had got sentimental and folky! I was wrong, they don’t let us down by firing us into a brilliant Punk finale in this fine debut album. I’ll admit like all good albums it took a few listens and by then I was hooked. It would be great to see the Leeches on the UK shores sucking on our Blue British Blood. Maybe Rebellion is calling to Italy? I hope so and will be watching and waiting.

The Creature Comfort are a legendry missing band from Manchester who became lost in the void between The Stone Roses, The Smiths, Oasis and the plethora of talent that emerged from the Northern City. Having regroupedand more than making up for lost timethey have delivered a powerhouse of a debut album which willsee itself as much at home on a Punk website as any other mainstream music rag. On first playing this CD (in the car) two things happened to me; firstly, the hair on the back of my neck stood to attention and secondly, I was pulled over for speeding. (Honest.)

The album is an eclectic mix of psychedelic 70’s punk and funk mixed with Manchester swagger, the opening track ‘Sauce’would fit perfectly in a 70’s Stranglers Hope and Anchor gig minus Hugh Cornwall, an ideal opener and a vision of things to come.‘Sally Sucks’ is a late 70’s post punk dynamo John Peel would have drooled over, blistering Clash guitars and drum rolls with Ian Curtis monotones enlightening us on the explicit oral skills of ‘Sally’ as she ‘ sucks and blows away’.

‘I Do Need You’ is a blistering 7 minute indietrack reminisce of The Doors, with thumping bass, heavy drums and the story of a broken heart. 1,000 Miles is a psychedelic classic that is guaranteed to get people shaking, a great touch of sixties recall here with a modern twist.  ‘Step Down from theSky’will see young(ish) pretenders like Kasabian and The Arctic Monkeys tip their hats to these ‘Manc’ lost Boys.‘Windowpane’is the bands insight into love and the edge of Moss Side, a rocking funky ballad that has ‘the world revolving around Love and Passion. ‘Electric Eyes’is modern New York cool funky, the crescendo of ‘Rockets flying outta this world and satellites orbiting space’ gradually takes us into the heart of a brilliant track coupled with a female vocal that fits perfectly. I Do Love You (Radio Edit) bring us to closure in what is highly credible first rate album. It has a real classic feel to it similar toThe Strokes first album, creature comfort is a band that have simply been gone too long. Vocalist Ben Le Jeune states the album is about ‘an awakening from hibernation, true punk ethos, sticking to your vision, no compromise, DIY ethics’. ‘That’s absolutely fine, keep it coming boys – keep it coming.

This is the second offering from this manic trio from St Albans in Hertfordshire and it is a cracker, it’s an eclectic mix of fast and furious Punk Rock fused with a healthy dose of respectful ska. The opening track ‘Getting late for the Punk Rock gig’is a well- constructed  well played intro that delves into some surf spy music guitars that had me sitting up immediately. ‘Quiet one’ (which has beenreleased as a single) is a blistering powerhouse of a song that has singerPakoMugica vocals flipping between Green Day and Jake Burns anger that works well, however the strength in this track is aggressive Punk Rock guitars, these boys are no amateurs and deliver from the start in this gem of an album. The onslaught continues with ‘The City is burning’this is what I can only describe a modern Punk classic, musically this has a certain Dead Kennedys guitar feel to it, mid song it breaks down into an atmospheric surf guitar silence, slow pounding drums and bass take us forward’Spinning away’, into the brilliant chorus, for me this is the song of the album.‘Gangster Ska’completely changes track with simple honest to God ska, its fast paced and any song that combines the words Ska and OiOiOi may sound clichéd but this is defiantly not the case, I would safely lay heavy odds that live this is a firm favourite that would get any crowd stomping. ‘Kadaver’ sneaks up on you with the awesome spy/surf music guitar, its great punk that takes us into dark lyrics with strong backing vocals. ‘Satisfaction’is another peach that would sit impeccably on Stiff Little Fingers debut album. I don’t know if this is intentional but it certainly works for this guy’s voice is hardcore cool and a real breath of fresh air, musically Brockerand this track in particularare squared away, these are not 2.5 minute good punk songs but well thought out 5 minute classics. ‘Hey’ gives us a Psycho-billy intro and another good track backed strongly with punk harmonic backing vocals and ska beat guitars. ‘Imagination’isamphetamine speeded punk dealing with reality; it’s a roller coaster 5 minutes of punk and ska tackling life’s highs and lows. ‘One man mosh pit’ is attitude and swagger dedicated to the mosh pit animals’,the mosh pit will never die’ they scream alongside hysterical guitars as the band keeps it razor sharp and tight. The final track ‘She’s a Wolfman’ is 50 seconds of well… I’ll let you judge! Having read up on Brocker on their website I’m surprised I’ve not caught this band before, if you don’t believe my hype get on their web site and watch the City is Burning video, this is a band that seem to punch well above their 3 man weight but it’s also a band I reckon would be hard to put on their arse. A thoroughly decent powerhouse of punk and ska delivered in style. Well done lads. I for one will not be waiting to catch themlive; I’ll be going out my way.

STREETPUNK THE MOVIE – Filmed, Edited and Directed by Stuart Newman

Being one of the 102,000+ that watched the movie on You Tube on an unedited and miniature screen it’s an unexpected type of pleasure to watch it in all its full re-mastered glory. There is no doubt that the years of time and effort Stuart Newman has put into this movie were motivated through a complete labour of love for all things Punk Rock. What he delivers us is a fascinating behind the scene, in depth look at Punk Rock artist’s and followers alike. It’s the Good, the Bad, the Ugly, Mad and Sad, warts and all punk documentary that is completely relevant to the one and all that has followed this music since the early years.

It’s worth having on its own for the excellent soundtrack of 21 bands featuring UK Subs, Angelic Upstarts, The Varukers, One Way System, Menace, Red Alert, Oxymoron to name a few, but all contributors are great Punk bands in their own right. However, although the bands the movie thrusts upon us get the Punk Rock juices salivating there is a certain magic in the interviews with the fans all beginning with the leading question of “What their definition of Punks is?” Some are too pissed to respond, some are intelligent, some angry, some downright hilarious, but all fascinating even if at times I did cringe, ( but then I am getting old).

Highlights for me were the fact that Newman’s charisma (if that’s what it was) helped him armed with a video camera gain the complete trust of some of the biggest Punk names of the eighties, allowing him close up and personal access, before, during and after their shows. It was humbling to watch the elation of some of the bands as they were captured by Newman directly after the show with the bands obviously enjoying the gigs as much as the frenzied pogoing crowd to their front. The editing of The Short ‘n’ Curlies, Houses for the Homeless live performance is simple and effective Punk Rock art. Watching Mensi losing the rag with can throwing fans, Max Splodge smiling at being on the receiving end of timid bottle throwing Chaos UK all adds to the fun.

Newman’s endurance task takes us on a journey beginning at the Sex Pistol’s reformation of 1996 which is received both hot and cold with the interviewees. The visit to the infamous Stokey Punks Picnic a year after the Pistols gig is a scene I can on only describe as carnage, with the final road leading behind the scenes at Holidays in the Sun in Morecambe 1997 which as we know would become, WASTED and then the mammoth REBELLION Punk festival courtesy of its instigator Darren Russell. Within the DVD cover Newman gives a very honest and frank write up by describing the reasoning behind this epic task. On watching this you have to admire the man who spent years in the front line Punk Rock trenches producing all the best bits for our entertainment. In his write up and I don’t want to steal his thunder, you get the impression of a man who sailed close to the wind in meeting many hundreds of his idols in what I can only imagine could be a very dangerous pastime possibly resulting in disappointment and heartache. I truly hope this is not the case for this is an extremely important DVD documenting a history of a part of our scene that could have been easily overlooked. Get it, watch it, and enjoy it. This moment in time and this man’s Punk story should be heard.

Steph

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