Category Archives: Various

Reviews, Various

(record review)REACH/LAID TO REST-Split e.p.

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We already featured Reach from Pomurje, Slovenia on the pages of this zine. Formed in 2016.they play modern hardcore with a lot of groove and lot of harsh and metallic riffs but with a nod to the old school influences too.

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Reach side of this e.p. contains two songs, first No Rest speaks about never stopping and always striving for your goals no matter what. The guys made a diy video for this song and you can watch it below. The second song, Sold Soul is in my opinion better, excellent mixture of faster straight forward hardcore and modern groove parts, a bit Madball styled if I must compare it to some other band. Nice to see that Pomurje hardcore/punk scene is alive and well although small.

As far Laid to Rest side is concerned, I never heard of these guys prior to this record. Laid to Rest is a quintet from Jesenice, Slovenia, and they are playing energetic hardcore punk with some metalic influences and I like their stuff a lot. Sleep Tight is a song about what all of us who are long into hardcore punk face at least once a month. Meaning, questions that are so stupid that I no longer wish to answer them like when will you grow up and when will you quit that music and stuff. All that is packed into apocalyptic hardcore punk sounding dirty and angry. The second song, namely Hellbound has some personal lyrics about fighting your own demons and personal Hell. That is the fast and energetic song laced with some groove. This e.p. is a nice record that documents the colaboration between western and eastern Slovenian hardcore scene.

8,5/10

https://www.facebook.com/reachhc

https://www.facebook.com/laidtorestcult/

https://laidtorestcult.bandcamp.com/album/split-w-reach

https://reach-hc.bandcamp.com/album/reach-laid-to-rest-split

 

Gig reports, Various

(gig report)PUNK U DEVETKI:BKD(HR)/TAHIJEVI KMETOVI(HR)/THE INSURGENT(SLO)-25.08.2018.-Caffe bar Devetka, Varaždin(HR)

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We didn´t actually plan to go to this gig, but sometimes good times come unplanned. In the afternoon hours the four of us went to Lendava, the nearby town in Slovenia to check out this year´s edition of Bogračfest and it was awesome there.

The evening came and we remembered there is a punk gig in Varaždin, so we decided to go check it out a little. The weather was not so much hot as it has been during the whole week so the short ride to Varaždin went by in a bit, thanks to our driver Allegra who drove us the whole afternoon.

When we entered the venue THE INSURGENT from Slovenia were already playing their set. I noticed that there was the new guy playing bass, but later on the guys told me that this is only temporary replacement. We already wrote about these guys on the pages of this zine, so for those who don´t know, The Insurgent are playing their vision of melodic punk hardcore, a mix of Californian sound and Slovenian bands like In-Sane. The guys in the band are young and they improve gig by gig and I am eager to hear how their first studio effort will sound like. They threw in Lagwagon and Bouncing Souls covers in their set and played about between 30-45 minutes.

TAHIJEVI KMETOVI from Karlovac, Croatia are band whose existence reaches even almost 30 years back, but I must admit that I have never heard of them prior to this gig. They recently put out their first album, so they´ve been busy all these years, hehe! The music they play is punkrock with some faster hardcore parts here and there, but mainly old school punkrock, almost that 77 vibe punk. As I understood the lyrics are in Croatian language, but I didn´t catch what are they singing about. They were okay, but I am fan of more faster stuff, so it was not my cup of tea, so to say.

BKD, local heroes were headlining this gig, hehe. It´s a joke, no one really headlined because all three bands were kinda equal but normally, BKD drew the most people in the crowd. I love how people know all their funny lyrics about drinking, then again some more drinking and everyday problems that this oi punk band sings about. Their gigs are party guaranteed, with the band joking between the songs and being just natural on and off stage. They played mainly the material from their recent debut album and also some newer material that is also awesome.

All the good things end quickly, so when the gig was over, we went home, tired, but happy that we supported another diy punk gig in nearby Varaždin. This town needs the club and needs it quickly. There are so many awesome bands and people there, the scene is not big, but it is tight and friendly community, so it would be nice to have a club and organize gigs there. Now the guys manage with house and backyards diy gigs, in a caffe bar here and there, but the club is an urgent need there. I sincerely hope they˙ll get it.

 

 

Interviews, Various

(interview)NO FUN AT ALL:Swedish punkrock legends!

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No Fun At All delivered an energy filled excellent show at Punk Rock Holiday this year. It was about time that I talked to the guys for our webzine and it was a pleasant chat we were having with Mikael and Kjell on a hot Summer afternoon.

You recently had some lineup changes in the band, how did it go, did it bring some fresh new blood and energy in the band? Yesterday at the show I saw like thunder coming out of your guitars, in my opinion you sounded even better than that show in 2016.

Mikael: Thanks a lot! It was absolutely necessary to bring in some fresh new blood, like in the last couple of years the things were going, how should I put it…

Kjell: Going downhill!

Mikael: Yes, things were going downhill! We had this new songs, and we wanted to do a new record, we needed some fresh energy to get this feeling back again.

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Does the title of the new record, Grit, has some deeper meaning for you, like grit for staying in the scene for so long, like a stiff upper lip or it is only a random title?

Mikael: I think it is a good name for a feeling, like when you are doing this for 25 years and you need this extra grit to get it going.

I remember you guys back from the 90-ies with all the Swedish bands explosion, do you still have the same hardcore and punk ideals as back then, when you look back would you  change something, is there something you regret doing or not doing?

Kjell: Obviously, we are now 25 years older, so that has to count for something but I think in our hearts we are still enjoying the punkrock music and the scene and everything about it, but we all made our mistakes, hopefully we learned something from them.

Mikael: We are doing this in the same, but let´s say it, more mature way.

Kjell: Exactly, I think we are more focused now and the main thing for us is to come to the club, festival or whatever and make a good performance, maybe back in the day other things were more important.

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How was the show for you yesterday? I think you enjoyed it, I saw it on your faces from the front row where I was.

Mikael: That was brilliant. In the top section of my all time favorite shows, I think. It was really good.

Kjell: I think we all agreed that it was better than 2016.

Yeah, for me too!

Kjell: That was an awesome show also! But I think we had better time yesterday.

You also played some new material yesterday in the setlist, two or three songs from Grit.

Mikael: Yeah, we played three songs.

The album came out on Bird Attack Records, are you still with them?

Mikael: Yes, we are.

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I saw on your Facebook page that you only like do three or four shows, then you go home, then you return again for two, three shows and go home again. Are you on longer tour right now?

Kjell: It is just one more show right now, on Friday in Austria.

Mikael: During the Summer, we do like festivals and then you do like a couple of club shows, but in Spring we do it more regularly, like ten shows in a row, it˙s gonna be one in December as well.

If I am correct, I saw that you also go to the U.S.A. like in the Autumn?

Mikael: Yeah, we also do Canada, one or more shows.

Lots of American bands say that the European kids are much more enthusiastic at the shows than the American kids. Is it true?

Mikael: We haven´t been there since 1995.(laughs) but, yeah.

Kjell: That tour was really good, but we were also 25 years younger, so it made a big impression on us, but we´ll see this time how it will go.

You also have daily jobs, you don´t live off your music?

Mikael: Yeah, we all have our jobs, band is just a hobby.

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In Croatia, many people consider Sweden as a promised land, like heaven on Earth, but as I read, there is also problems with rising right wing and fascist tendencies over there?

Mikael: Yeah, they got like 20 percent, maybe even more and they call themselves Swedish Democrats or something like that.

Yeah, the same is also in our country, the ruling party present themselves as center moderate right wing catholic party, but in fact they are the same ones that were here ruling when we had a war and when our country was robbed.

Mikael: So in the Autumn, there is going to be election so we will see here in Sweden how things will work out.

Which part of Sweden are you from. Where do you live?

Mikael: I live in Stockholm, that is like the middle of Sweden.

So, what are the plans with the band for the immediate future?

Mikael: We are writing some new material, new songs.

Kjell: We haven´t really talked about it, but we are well aware, but we will probably play shows promoting this album for at least a year or maybe more, and then we have to talk about what we wanna do next, make another one or something.

Mikael: There is not gonna be ten years between the records this time around though!(laughs)

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Can you still remember the first punkrock show that had a significance for you, which kind of grabbed you by the balls to put you on the scene, make you start the band and play music?

Mikael: For me it was a hardcore show. It was Youth Of Today show. They played in Kjell´s hometown back then.

Kjell: The drummer used my drum kit.

Sammy Siegler?

Kjell: Exactly, it was Sammy Siegler. He was 14 years old, he was very young back then. His Mom has packed his tour gear(laughs), it was back in 1989.

Mikael: That was my first show with stage diving and really got me into this hardcore music.

Kjell: Yeah, they put X´s on their hands back then(laughs).

Have you ever played a show with some Croatian band or listened to some punkrock or hardcore band from Croatia? We have a pretty awesome scene right now. Many younger kids ask me how it was in the 90-ies and I tell them that now is better than ever, all those awesome bands, promoters, kids. I think you´ll agree, if we had that kind of mighty weapon, I mean Internet, back in the 90-ies instead of tape trading, although tape trading had it˙s charms too!

Kjell: Yeah, it was different back then.

Mikael: We need to come play to Croatia. So where is the best place to play in Croatia?

I think Zagreb. It is the capitol and has some great clubs like Vintage Industrial Bar or Močvara and Medika.

Thank you for the interview. It was an honour to have you in my zine.

Both: Thank you, it was a pleasure.