ESSENTIAL EPHEMERA #6 (Set-lists)

From sometime in 1982 here's a list from

 ERAZERHEAD East Londons answer to 

The Ramones and The Lurkers.

Another one from 1982 this time its from Peterborough
 Punks THE DESTRUCTORS.

Untitled.

Near Tissington, Derbyshire

I was away camping in The Peak District a bit of r'n'r, only piece of technology I took with me was a transistor radio, and a camera, so I heard the news of the shooting down of the Malaysian plane over The Ukraine, and the continued blood shed in the Gaza Strip. Wrote a few notes down in my notebook and was gonna write a piece when I got home, but....have had such a nightmare week at work, where those at the top think everything smells of roses, when it's bullshit, and have their heads buried in the sand while the workers get fucked up the arse, and when the shit hits the fan they aint gonna be the ones getting covered in it. As a result of this I haven't had the mental energy to finish the piece, so here are the notes from my notebook that I started typing up last Sunday before the week from hell at work, but hey I'm not living in Gaza and have had no loved ones blown up so as the war in my mind goes on I shouldn't really grumble.

Another 'incident' involving a Malaysian Airlines plane, this one didn't disappear, it was shot from the skies above a war-zone, leaving the wreckage highly visible for the waiting media to broadcast to the world..

The world watches in condemnation at the treatment of the murdered passengers, the majority of whom are Dutch.

Evidence tampered with, bodies looted, access denied to investigators.

No responsibility, but plenty of denials. Russia's name keeps cropping up.

Calls for sanctions are met with a luke warm response cos Russian oligarchs money is aiding economic recovery across Europe, and many countries rely on Russia for energy supplies no one wants to bite the hand that feeds them even if it is covered in blood.

I bet arms deals are still being struck with Russia; Warfare makes the world go round.

I wonder what the response would be like if 200 Americans had been on board?

It's easy to forget that the Americans don't mind shooting down passenger planes, rewind to 1988 (I think) when they shot down an Iranian civilian airliner, killing all on board.

Israel....give the Palestinians their land. Britain, America, France get over the gas chamber guilt and then perhaps Hamas will stop firing their rockets. The numbers of dead says it all....more Palestinians than Israelis have been killed! Who cares who started it, it's time to end it!

No better than savages, just with more sophisticated weaponry. Warfare makes the world go round.

So there you have it....A bit of old news, somethings never change.

ROSCOE VACANT - Article/Review/Interview, and MPFree Download!

Since I last wrote about Roscoe Vacant he has released a new album and a tape. For the album No Attack No Decay Roscoe has returned to his roots as a solo preformer. In 2008 he released the Escape From Doom Valley (Live EP) and a year later Nothings Gonna Change, but in 2010 he was backed by the Gantin' Screichs for the brilliant spikey and post-punk sounding Reckurdt. No Attack No Decay features several tracks from this, which stand naked and stripped to the bone. This is 'Acoustic Punk and Angry Pop!' full of passion and vitriol. Nine songs where the words mean something, these are songs about the small and big political picture; From domestic dysfunction to global drama; As Baghdad burns plates are smashed in the kitchen of a broken home where culture is delivered in shortbread tins to sanitised young lovers who bought it all from the liars and thieves who will not lead us anywhere because nothing is gonna change, not unless you make it! These are songs of love, pain and betrayal on several levels. If misery loves company then it needs Roscoe Vacant for a companion, because these are also songs of hope that are more real than likes of Frank Turner and Jake Bugg.

The tape finds Roscoe backed by Lo-Fi legends The No-Men, covering three songs by the arch avant garde glam/punkster that is Steve Treatment, who also contributes some of his own musings on the flipside of this brightly coloured yellow cassette. In a world of mass production and instant downloads It's good to see the ethics of DIY culture is alive and well, thanks to the good people at Topplers Records. It is also good to see that there are still artists out there pining their hearts on their sleeve and playing it for real. The album and tape are both available here, the limited number of lovingly hand crafted physical copies have all sold out, but they are sill available as downloads.

For a bit of background to No Attack No Decay, the demise of the Gantin' Screichs and how he found himself working with Steve Treatment, I emailed Roscoe, and this is what he had to say.

“Roscoe Vacant & the Gantin' Screichs started in 2010 and we released the album "Reckurdt" in 2011. Our lead guitarist Ross Gilchrist left in 2011 for personal reasons, but he and I are still really good friends. From then on we went in a different direction, moving away from grunge into more country punk type stuff. We got a fiddle player and a new guitarist in 2012 and put out a video for our first recording with that band in January 2013 "Conrad Brooks" (on Youtube just now). The band continued for a few months but it kind of petered out - again mostly personal and interpersonal reasons. I'm still really good friends with everyone in the band but none of us really want to do it again. Releasing the EP "No Attack/No Decay" in 2013 was an attempt to go back to basics and why people enjoyed my stuff in the first place - solo acoustic punk rock. It was also a means by which I could get the song that inspired the title out - "Exit Strategy". I split up with my fiancee of 9 years in Feb 2013, so that had a baring on the band too. Being able to get back on the horse and make some music was liberating."

“I've been a fan of Steve's for about 5 years. I knew Allan from the NoMen because we have mutual friends but also because he was in the legendary Scottish folk punk band Nyah Fearties from the late 1980s early 1990s. The Steve collaboration just came out of that. I wanted to cover some of his less well-known songs and songs he'd only really demoed or played with his band The Ticket Inspectors in the late 1980s, so I recorded the 3 songs on the cassette. It was very spontaneous.” 

For more info on Roscoe Vacant take a trip to his Facebook page and you can visit Topplers Records here. 

One last thing.... I thought I'd save the best till last....Here is an exclusive unreleased 4 Track collection of Roscoe's work selected by himself for your ears only! Enjoy!

Sunday.... Sermon/Scribblings/shit* (*Delete as appropriate)

From fiddling their expenses to fiddling with kids, some of our MP's past and present have no shame in abusing their power, or should I say the power that we the people give them. In a true and pure Democracy they would be there to serve us, not themselves, and certainly not to spy on people, behind a smokescreen of fear of terrorism. “If you've done nothing wrong then you've got nothing to hide.” Is that why dossiers re Child Abuse in Westminster have 'been lost' or can't MP's be trusted to look after any information securely. Anyway....Just who decides what is wrong? The people that control the machinery of the state, that's who! Our politicians, that's right the very same people who have a perverse view of right and wrong. So....when the politicians are on the 2015 General Election campaign trail pleading for votes and promising everything, don't believe a word they say, and don't let them kiss your children!

While shit goes down in Britain, over in the Middle East the Israelis and Palestinians bomb the fuck out of each other, where is the Peace Envoy; former Prime Minister Tony Blair? Sack this self serving cunt now! If he was on performance related pay, he'd owe us. Wait up he does....we are still waiting for an explanation as why Britain got involved in the war in Iraq, don't tell me that they've lost the results of The Chilcot Enquiry, or are they just re-editing it, because it's findings are right; Our leaders took us into an illegal war against a threat of terror which wasn't really there until they started bombing Baghdad, now there are terrorists everywhere and because of this policies and laws have been drafted and created that proport to protect our freedom when they actual take it away. Tony Blair shouldn't just be put on trial for war crimes, but also for crimes against human rights.

HEY HO ALL GONE!

The last surviving member of the original  Ramones line up died the other day.  R.I.P Tommy!

BAD BREEDING - *Article/Review*

Bad Breeding may apply to a lot of the yoof of today, but not to these four lads from my home of Stevenage, a place where in their words “nothing really happens except nothingness itself.” I can't argue with that. I've lived in Stevenage most of my live and the only things that have happened are when people have got up off their arses and made them happen. Respect! to Bad Breeding for keeping the musical match alight and giving the world another name (along side Fields of The Nephilim, Scum of Toytown and Chron Gen) to remember Stevenage by instead of just Lewis fucking Hamilton and a couple of football players whose names escape me.

Bad Breeding have already been featured in the NME radar page, and played on BBC Radio One by Zane Lowe. Their debut single Burn This Flag b/w Age of Nothing is released by Hate, Hate, Hate Records in August as a limited (300 copies) 7”Vinyl or Digital Download. 

Burn This Flag is a two minute Molotov cocktail of anger and frustration waiting to be hurled over the barricades and like a suicide bomber with a suitcase full of Semtex; it will blow your fuckin' head off! Age Of Nothing is a slightly longer assault that chops, changes and charges right at ya knocking you off yer feet then kicking you in the face. Bad Breeding are a blast of pure molten and brutal Punk Rock, in the vein of Discharge, Conflict and the UK Subs, but with a sound that is totally their own. This is angry music for angry times.

The single can be ordered here from Rough Trade Records and the band can be found here at their website.

ELECTRIC RIVER - *Interview*

In a time where people are living for the now with little thought for the future; an age of all style and no substance instant access self gratification, Electric River are a storm of fresh air, they have taken their time, walked their own path and worked hard, as a result they have evolved into something very special; full of style and substance. Their album Faith and Patience is a life affirming and uplifting listen; pure and perfect, righteous rabble rousing Rock'n'Roll, they are on the cusp of greatness; with positive reviews of the album poping up in the pages of Kerrang, Classic Rock, Vive Le Rock, Big Cheese magazines, and even The Sun newspaper! Electric River are destined to be another band that really matters. Their time is now!

Enough of what I've got to say, It's time to read what Electric River's Vocalist/Bass player Sponge has got to say....  

What would you be doing if there was no Electric River?
I think it would be different for each of us, that’s what is great about being in a band together since being kids. We all lead our own lives outside the band but are very much like brothers, everyone has their own traits and; things they like to do. I’m pretty sure we’d all be playing music though,that runs through all of our veins.

Are you going to be revisiting any more of your 'old songs' for future releases?
Never say never, there are a lot of them! But right now we are concentrating on completely new material to follow up ’The Faith and Patience’. But it is very early days at the moment, we tend to write around 40 demos when getting an albums worth of material together.

Any more acoustic/stripped down versions of your songs planned?
Possibly… we’re going to be releasing some singles over the summer and have talked about what we are going to put on as b-sides/extras. Again a lot of the initial ideas for songs are written on acoustics when we are just trying to piece together what we call ‘flows’ or ‘rounds’, to make sure the melodies and basic skeletons fit together nicely for our songs.

Which ER song do you enjoy playing most? and what one goes down best with the audience?
I really like This Garden Will Grow as it has a personal connection with me and my life growing up in Ashford. I love the fast pace ending too, but there are so many. Watersong is a great one when the band is really in the zone, it's weird, it's like we are on some strange sonic level together. Obviously Keep The Engine Burning has been going down a storm and Hold Your Nerve seems to be the common ground with most audiences around the country but we just love playing, if the audience is going off, it just drives us even more.

Favourite films
I watched ‘Wolf Of Wall Street’ recently and absolutely loved it, I am now a fully fledged Di Caprio fan. People probably think i’m mental but I’ve never really fully appreciated him as an actor before WOWS.

Favourite books
I read a lot of biographies, mostly music related but I also really like Ross Kemp’s books. I’ve just got ‘Things The Grandchildren Should Know’ which is E from The Eels memoirs, I’m really looking forward to delving into that. But it’s hard to pick a favourite, I think one of the greatest rock n roll books has got to be Ozzy’s, its so fucking funny.

Favourite albums
Literally couldn’t pick, there are way too many!

Favourite TV program
That's really hard, I think TV has changed so much over the last 5 years. I barely ever watch everyday TV but love a good series, some of my favourites have been Shield, Dexter and of course Breaking Bad and Sons Of Anarchy, but there are so many these days, its hard to find the time to catch em all!

Should Tony Blair be put on trial for war crimes? (Discuss)
I read Arnold Schwarzenegger’s book recently and what was interesting to find out that at the end of the day there were so many things he wanted to do for California and how fucking surprising it was that though he was ‘the guvnor’ how many people around him had to clear his every move, how it wasn’t his soul decision and how one thing would effect another parties / company / states political gain/misfortune, so he was told no or forced to do things he didn’t want to really do. What I’m trying to get at is Tony Blair was probably a face to a lot of puppets, pulling a lot of very different strings. I’m not defending him, he’s a well educated person with his own brain and political interests but if he was put on trial, they need to bring in every single person that was involved with the Iraq war and trial them too and get the whole thing out on the fucking table. I was really too young to fully understand the full ins and outs of our fucked up dealings with the middle east at that time and I am not a historian neither politician, I play in a rock n roll band! The relationship we have with the middle east is completely fucked up and I know a lot of people out there are calling for Blair to go on trial. So I would say from the point of view that we are ‘Suppose’ to live in a democratic society and Blair ‘has nothing to hide’,what harm could it do? I think the general public would get some closure from it and they deserve that.

The Clash or The Sex Pistols?
The Clash for me, I love both but The Clash were around for longer and developed into something much bigger than the initial band. I would say London Calling was a pinnacle album that ER listened to in the early years and though true ‘Punk’ fans usually don’t admit liking that album, for me it was one of the best things to come out of that era. So many diverse influences on one great record.

Rolling Stones or Beatles?
So hard… of course The Beatles just have such a great catalogue of songs and I think most kids are introduced to The Beatles at such a young age, it almost feels like part of your heritage. But The Stones definitely had that more grittier darker thing going on, which generally I would dig more if those bands both came out tomorrow… Can’t really decide, its a draw gentlemen.

Has the response/reaction to Faith and Patience surprised you?
I definitely have been surprised at the reviews, I don’t really know what we expected. We just wanted to make an album we were extremely proud of, so the kind words have been a nice cherry on the top really. I’m just glad people are connecting with it and can’t wait to get back out and tour it.

Is Britain in a good or bad political, social and cultural place at the moment?
Britain is an amazing place. It’s a cultural melting pot, however, if we believed what we read in some of the papers, then I think we’d be inclined to feel scared of that. Our perception of the country however comes from travelling it in the back of a van and with that we’ve generally always met really good people. Class struggle still exists and up the other end of the scale so too does corporate greed and corruption. A political shake up is due and I think most people are now very aware of it…but that’s a healthy thing. There’s only so long apathy can last.

Will you be voting in the 2015 General Election?
If it means it will stop other parties like the BNP or UKIP getting a run at things then yes, but that’s about as much use as I can see from my vote the way things currently stand.

What are ER's plans for the future?
We’re currently working on a bunch of music videos, and hoping to tour later in the year. We’re also writing for our next follow up to our new record.

Have you got an Electric River manifesto?
It’s not really a manifesto but more of a saying - ‘You’re only as strong as your weakest link.'

All that is left to say is ....Thanx to Sponge for taking the time to answer my questions, and if you haven't done so already check out Electric River over at their Website or Facebook page, and get yerself a copy of Faith and Patience.