Saturday Night Karaoke are a punk rock band from Bandung, Indonesia, who take their influences from the likes of The Ergs! and Descendents. I first discovered them via BlankTV, seeing their video for Indie Rock 101 from their SLURP! record (which I have been meaning to review for a while now). 90's Revival 101: How To Elaborate A Broken Heart With A Big Muff, from the same record, is yet another lesson in how to make a super short quirky punk rock number. There's nothing much else to say apart form the fact I've had a soft spot for these guys for a while and think they deserve a bigger global fanbase. If you like your punk rock honest, dorky and short, then Saturday Night Karaoke are for you. GET ON IT!
It's interesting for me to discover new names in hardcore and even punk that don't just pop up from the same group of people from within the "scene". Some months back, I decided to check out a private show and video filming for Tel Aviv hardcore band Eternal Struggle and I was heavily surprised by how heavy and "my sort of thing" this band is. My first encounter with Eternal Struggle was their support slot with Biohazard. Whether it's exactly the same band, I'm not entirely sure. There was definitely male/female dual vocals for that show, whereas now there's just Ori, who has good gruff vocals. I also wasn't all that impressed. They came off as a very weak attempt at hardcore and did a sub-par rendition of Sick Of It All's Take The Night Off, although I still "got my mosh on". Now, their performance and this video/track has converted me into being an Eternal Struggle fan. Lost has a tough, bouncy groove, heavy riffs and some solid beatdown parts. If you watch carefully (and know what I look like), you can just about make me out, nodding my head in pure HC style. The camera-work might be a little bit shaky, but overall, it's a pretty cool video that reminds me of some videos from the early 2000s like Raging Speedhorn etc.
Out of all the hardcore bands in Israel, including my favourites like Dust, Kids Insane and 03, Eternal Struggle, especially on this track, really take me back to the hardcore I grew up listening to, such as Biohazard, Madball and even Knuckledust. I actually find it quite depressing that Eternal Struggle seem to be in a whole different scene altogether from the other "hardcore" bands out here. It's because of this that they end up not doing a lot of shows that I get much notice about and mostly having a more "metal" crowd. For everyone out there who likes groovy and heavy hardcore, Eternal Struggle are not something to ignore.
Back in my college days, I met a guy on my Music Tech course who shared an interest in some similar music and we have continued contact for 10 + years. Having had a band at the time called Muswell and then somehow ending up in the more DJ world, he is still making hard hitting music with his industrial influenced project This Be The Verse. Started back in 2014, This Be The Verse is pretty much the brainchild of "Cyrus King", who, at least on the debut Consequences EP, did most of the musicianship himself. Although obviously heavily influenced by the likes of Trent Reznor/Nine Inch Nails, Cyrus King's vocals lead more towards the shouty hardcore side of things a la Frank Carter or even Rou Reynolds. It certainly has that very British flavour to it. A few months back, This Is The Verse released the track Stubborn Youth and more recently posted an audio only video of Unveil. Whereas the former takes in prog rock influences, flipping in between being almost Muse-like to Mastodon riffage and headbanging, the latter sticks to the industrial script, incorporating an intense funky beat, crunching bass, synths, heavy guitars and a gloriously anthemic chorus.
This Be The Verse may not have discovered its unique sound as such yet, but everything that has been put out so far is enjoyable and of great quality and musicianship. Hopefully, a full length album will emerge some time in the near future. If you like what you hear and want to check them out, they will be headlining a Camden Rocks show on 5th March at Camden Barfly, Chalk Farm, London. For more info see here.
During my teens, I was discovering new bands and new genres year by year, maybe even day by day. Having liked the more Brit pop, Brit rock and alternative acts that I saw on shows like Top Of The Pops and The ITV Chart Show, to then discovering more nu metal acts through Kerrang magazine, I then discovered the likes of Terrorizer magazine and even RockSound who opened me up to more "hardcore" bands. Somewhere along the line, hardcore came into my life and I was blown away by UK bands such as Stampin' Ground and now London HC heavyweights, Knuckledust. With the help of some friends at school, I started attending small London hardcore shows at around the age of 14, pretty much seeing Knuckledust at least every month for what has to be a good 10 years straight. This year finally sees the release of Knuckledust's newest offering, Songs Of Sacrifice. Despite also having released many split cds and Eps, this is the band's 6th (I think..) full length within their 20 years existence, the first since 2012's Bluffs, Lies & Alibis. Although always staying true to their original sound, Knuckledust were not afraid to experiment a little bit on the last record. Life Struggle, their latest video and first song to be previewed from the new record, shows that the boys have gone that little bit further this time around. Starting quite iconically Knuckledust, with Pierre's growling vocals accompanied by the fast and hard musicianship of Wema (guitar), Nicky (bass) and Ray (drums), the song takes an unexpected turn when, for what I am pretty sure is the first time ever, Wema takes over vocal duties. He's, of course, done the odd back up shouting now and again, but here he actually does clean vocals, bringing a bit of sensitivity into the song. Again, a first for Knuckledust. I have absolutely nothing wrong with clean vocals/singing in hardcore, although I do remember when most of the people from this "scene" were badmouthing Your Demise for experimenting and suddenly singing and being more melodic and therefore find it interesting to hear it from Knuckledust. That said, it was probably more the "Americanising" of their sound that irritated everyone. Luckily, we don't get that here and you never will with these guys. The track goes between their fast tough guy hardcore and the more H2O/Wisdom In Chains thumping hardcore punk with a sing-a-long chorus and a classic style solo thrown in. The video also cleverly fits the changing moods of the song, with Pierre battling with himself one moment, Wema wandering around talking to himself the next and then a massive pile-on as the band play to their people. Knuckledust may be bringing in influences from different bands and even other genres like Oi and hard rock, but, unlike other bands, they somehow still manage to stay them. They are basically reinventing what the Knuckledust sound is on every record and I can't wait to check out the new album.
Every now and again, I am fortunate to get my blog noticed simply via the wonders of the internet and a bit of facebook promotion. Recently, I got sent a 2 track EP by Diabolus. Hailing from Andover, UK, Diabolus play a mixture of first wave black metal and death metal with just a hint of hardcore reminiscent of bands like Liar and Arkangel. The title track, which already starts off sounding like a very professional recording with a spooky sample of, what sounds like, a dripping tap, creaking doors, girl screams and some intense build up music, is about 4 minutes of pure evil. For those into black metal and death metal, this is familiar territory. Vocalist Luke (if indeed it his him doing all parts) supplies brutal low pitched growls and the slightly more "possessed by the devil" style shrieking. It's so good that it makes you wonder if he's actually Scandinavian. There's fast riffing (Adam - lead guitar, Tim - rhythm guitar) and thunderous drumming (Kurt - drums), as is signature of death metal, but there is also slow heavy grooves, including a pretty heavy "beatdown" and a keyboard accompanied melodic section near the end. The melodic part, instead of making them sound like any other black metal band, is more reminiscent of an old British band called As She Screams, who used to incorporate keyboard into their mixture of death metal and hardcore. Second track, The Bay Harbour Butcher, starts off soft and melodic but then the blasts and growling join in and it's a scary ride from there on. As well as sounding far more black metal than Wasted Air throughout most of it, it also keeps in with modern metalcore, with the use of a slow, simple yet effective spacious groove which would make some people want to break things. There's definitely something here which is a bit new compared to other bands out there, at least as far as I'm aware. As well as being perfectly suited to a black, grind or death metal show, they have something about them that would also go down well with hardcore fans, especially those of the early more metallic European sound. This EP is brutal and just polished enough to sound both professional and gritty at the same time. Although this isn't what I'm normally into and I'm not 100% taken in by the name, I'm hoping the band get themselves an album out soon and more people will become aware of Diabolus. 4/5
This is an absolute first for Punkalovich. Despite there being a few shows in Tel Aviv, including friends Almunim Metim, NEAT and Mondo Gecko, I have traveled to Jerusalem to the underground basement known as Strauss. Situated in the very Haredi area of Zichron Moshe/Geula in Jerusalem, this venue is the absolute opposite of its surrounding; a special place where punks come to enjoy cheap beer and noisy music. Tonight, it is the amazing DUST and MooM who have brought me over to the holy city.
Rainbow Cobra
Starting close to 11pm, first band Rainbow Cobra get under way. I was previously unfamiliar with the band but turns out that it is another band involving crazy Juan (Shchurdistan/Dilema/Bat Hayam HaKtana/etc..) on guitar/back up vocals and (South African) Rob (Marmara Streisand) on drums. With Eran on vocals and Daniella (ex-Mitan vocalist) on bass, the music is pretty much in the same lines as some of Juan's previous bands, playing pretty noisy crust. His guitar skills and evil vocals have always been the best things about everything he's been in and that stays the same with Rainbow Cobra. His riffs flip in between old school thrash and death metal, even sometimes throwing in some classic soloing. As impressive as that is, it tends to feel let down by Eran's vocals which are mostly repetitive shouting that don't always compliment the musical style. Things get more interesting when Juan and Eran do dual vocals. The songs come across more brutal and take me back to when dual vocals/2 vocalists was quite the trend in the late 90s/early 00s. Eran is at least quite a character to witness but his vocals alone just don't impress me. All round, there seemed to be a few mistakes here and there which they at least laughed off and flowed with, which is better and more professional than stopping and starting again. For someone who seems to have been drumming for a long time, Rob's drumming is still pretty minimal. When it comes to playing grooves, their effectiveness tends to get lost and fills in general come off as weak. But I guess this is what punk was always meant to be; energy over skill. Besides Juan's aforementioned talents, there still isn't really anything in the performance or the songs that make Rainbow Cobra really stand out. 2/5
MooM
Ever since I first saw them some time back, I fell in love with MooM. They play a mixture of crusty powerviolence and sludge a la EYEHATEGOD. The EP (see review) is everything one hopes in an EP of this style; short with both fast parts and slow breakdowns and just extremely heavy. Whereas the EP, recorded originally as a demo, has a raw roughness about it, in a live setting with good enough sound, the band sound so tight that it's unbelievable. I didn't really make notes throughout the set because I just wanted to enjoy them. Although I've seen them before, this is the smallest setting I've seen them in and managed to get myself right in front of them. This is how MooM need to be viewed; right up close. Every single little movement every member of the band makes is an important and magical experience. The way Sima (vocals) screams with possibly even more gusto than she does in Not On Tour, Gad's (bass) antics as he vigorously plays and how his face goes all demonic as he growls, Ezra's (guitar) cool demeanour and Heshbon's (drums) flailing yet totally rhythmical arms all make MooM's live performance one of the most exciting I've ever seen. I found myself grinning from ear to ear and trying to stop myself from punching anyone or breaking anything. It might be difficult to tell songs apart at the moment but that will change with time. Obviously, this style is not everyone's taste, but being someone who appreciates the likes of EYEHATEGOD, DOOM and more beatdown bands like Xibalba, MooM give me the hit I need. They're basically the nearest thing Israel has to a beatdown and maybe even the nearest thing Israel has to a tight powerviolence band. 5/5 Side note: After MooM, I decided to go for a walk to try and find somewhere open to just buy a soft drink or something. Not only did I not find anything nearby open, but the streets were an absolute mess. The large trash cans had been set on fire and turned over with rubbish flying all over the place. There were fire engines and also quite a few police vans present. Turns out, this was a violent protest by the Haredi community in response to the death of a baby, allegedly shaken by a carer/nanny, whom the community did not wish to have an autopsy that the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court had ordered. It's all a bit crazy, but it's interesting to know that this sort of stuff happens over things like this.
DUST
I have probably said this enough times on this blog, but I frickin' love DUST, I do. They may have been playing the same set of songs for quite some time, bar a few new ones which I still haven't quite gelled with yet, but luckily the majority are songs that I am more than happy to hear and go crazy to time and time again. The tracks from their first record, all of which they play tonight, still get me super pumped. Numb still has one of my favourite intros; melodic and a little tribal, giving it quite an epic feel, before smashing into hardcore groove and the shouting of "WAAAAKE THE FUCK UP!" As well as songs like Midas Touch, Slipping Away and PMA bringing out the hardcore kid in me, currently unreleased but already live staples such as Plastic, Role Model and the (usually) set closer Sick and Tired sound as awesome as ever, even in this tiny place. Once again, frontman Eyva was happy enough to let me do that final line of Sick and Tired. Don't really know how it sounded, but I always have fun shouting it. Dust take after bands like John Coffey and even The Bronx, in some ways; having that hardcore energy and PMA but experimenting with more stoner rock-like riffs and grooves and different time signatures. Most hardcore in Israel is along the lines of straight up hardcore punk or border on metalcore with low toned "chugs", but DUST take all their influences and make hardcore that's a whole lot more interesting. Ofek (guitar), Guy (bass) and Ran (drums) are all incredibly competent musicians and consistently tight. Evya does have a strong voice but he tends to do the same thing a lot. I'm only starting to notice this after about 2 years of seeing and listening to them. As much as I still like his vocals, I guess I would just love to hear him suddenly try some melody or use some more rhythmical/rap-like delivery. Unfortunately, he is also one of those many frontmen who will walk up and down looking at the floor for most part of the show. He does interact with the crowd at times, which is more than some, but it's maybe something that he and other vocalists (including myself) need to pay attention to. A DUST debut album is meant to happen soon and I for one can't wait for it. Although some of the new stuff I hear in shows get a bit lost on me, I am interested in any other tracks they might have up their sleeves. 5/5
Last month, Tel Aviv based duo, Mongar, finally released their first EP, Spectra Visions. I first experienced Mongar at a show at Koro back in November 2014 (see review). I say "experienced" because it's not just seeing them and hearing them but being amazed by how much creative musicianship can come from only two people. As witnessed in the live show, Mongar, made up of Roman (guitar/effects) and Hagai (drums), play experimental, instrumental post/math rock. This record, although only 4 tracks, shows off their style pretty well, as well as showing their versatility. The EP starts with the quite bluesy sounding Sheriff Goodman. With its twangy guitars, steady drumming and a few "spacey" effects, it has the potential to be a theme tune to some sort of sci-fi Western. Whereas Sheriff Goodman has very much a set style and even theme to it, the other three tracks on here lean towards the 65daysofstatic/Alright The Captain style of experimental instrumental music. They all still stay quite futuristic and calming despite a few shots of heaviness. Doklyn is a trippy track that experiments with time signatures and rhythm patterns. It's relaxing but gets more punchy as it goes on. Zoltar and Chocky are more metallic, with the former fusing doom-like blasts with smooth electro and samples and the latter taking more from the Meshuggah school of playing.
For those who don't really like instrumental and/or experimental music, the tracks are still short and comprehensible enough that they should be considered enjoyable by lovers of music in general. Mongar manage to show an ability to even make soundtracks and soundscapes, which is a very admirable and respectable quality. I am glad that, on top of being impressive live, they also pull off great recordings with slick production and a lot of professionalism. I'm looking forward to an album and more shows! 5/5
