Complete Aural Turmoil
Mauser – Isolation (La Vida Es Un Mus)
Straight out of Gainsville, Florida, Mauser spray raw hardcore punk from the hip. I was so impressed with their debut EP, ‘End Of the Line’ (Vinyl Rites), that I even bought the red vinyl second pressing. That either tells you how good I think Mauser are, or how sad you think I am. Either way, the band are big in Japan right now, where they’ve just toured with D-Clone & Folkeiis under the “Complete Aural Turmoil” banner.
Fresh from dropping ‘Silence’ and ‘The Storm’ for the titular split tour EP (Hardcore Survives), Mauser return to the fray with this, their debut 12-inch for La Vida Es Un Mus (Vinyl Rites in the US). Pressed on lurid green vinyl, ‘Isolation’ ups both the tempo and the quality. These seven rippers are rawer than Lee Woods’ business acumen, and twice as vicious. The production here is an exponential improvement on the aforementioned ‘End Of The Line’, proffering both clarity and volume, without sacrificing any of the band’s essential harshness. There are a bunch of raw punk bands across the hardcore globe vying for your punk rock dollar right now, but Mauser are ahead of the pack by some considerable distance.
Order ‘Isolation’ from Vinyl Rites
Killing Joke: MMXII
(album, Spinefarm/Universal)
“We don’t know if we’re all gonna be here next year, we really don’t. So let’s celebrate!”
Jaz Coleman
Killing Joke have always merited a degree of serious consideration. Their first two albums and a lengthy sequence of gigs and tours imbued the original quartet with a genuine mystique and sense of danger, which allied to their groundbreaking corpus of early material served to establish the band as a genuine, puckishly transgressive, phenomenon. Thirty years or so down the line, the shock of the new has naturally subsided, while generations of acts have been influenced by, or simply sought to imitate, their singularly post-apocalyptic sound and primal worldview.
As the Joke’s fifteenth studio album ‘MMXII’ enables an extension of the kind of re-evaluation of the band’s significance and development that greeted its predecessor, 2010’s ‘Absolute Dissent’. The long view across their recording career brings into focus the sense that while Killing Joke have always sought to evolve, the groups collective identity and sonic imprint has been sufficiently strong to ensure that although the process of development has been (and remains) ongoing, pretty much everything they’ve ever recorded slots into this developmental lineage. Killing Joke are always identifiably themselves.
Obviously, ‘MMXII’ now constitutes part of this continuous equation. In terms of representing a marker along the line from where the band have been to where they are going, it fits in readily – building upon the themes, sound and scope initiated with the ‘In Excelsis’ EP and across ‘Absolute Dissent’. By doing so, the album is evidently superior to the earlier post-reformation output and is arguably among their best work since ‘Revelations’ or ‘Fire Dances’. The album opens with the expansive and portentous ‘Pole Shift’, which establishes the themes of natural, technological and societal breakdown that underpin the disc. Killing Joke have always been darkly cinematic – from ‘The Wait’ or ‘Complications’ on their eponymous debut, through tracks such as ‘The Hum’ (‘Revelations’), ‘Feast Of Blaze’ (‘Fire Dances’), ‘Night Time’ , and ‘Millennium’ (‘Pandemonium’), to several of the numbers on ‘Absolute Dissent’, the band have always had a penchant for evoking images in a widescreen format. ‘Pole Shift’ hyper-extends this into a form of cosmic grandeur like an eight minute aural companion to Olaf Stapledon’s 1937 novel ‘Star Maker’. The track accelerates past escape velocity and slingshots around a series of gravity wells, before drifting across the universal heliosheath, wherein vocalist Jaz Coleman’s gentler delivery loses none of its customary glowering sense of menace.
After ‘Pole Shift’ touches down through an ort cloud of beeping Sputniks, ‘Fema Camp’ rolls in as a synth laden forced march straight into another of the recurrent theme of oppression and internment. As Coleman’s vocal effectively imparts malevolence, strangeness and wonder, Geordie Walker’s expansive, Levantine-infused guitar adds to the unsettling feeling of dislocation. Whereas this track, and ‘Pole Shift’, represent a clear extension of the sound developed on ‘Absolute Dissent’, ‘Rapture’, with a sequenced opening that calls to mind ‘Follow The Leaders’, embraces the past in the wake of its forward momentum. Described by Jaz as an evocation of the way he perceives a Killing Joke concert, the song sounds like an arcane broadcast from Chapel Perilous, its unfretted tribalism underscored by Youth’s bass, which thunders forward like an unstoppable kraken.
To a degree, Killing Joke have been chronicling the End Times for the whole of their existence. Which is fair enough – they never predicted that it was going to happen tomorrow, just that it was on the cards. Here, ‘Colony Collapse’ represents an extension to this entropic history, emerging as a stratospheric future travelogue that soars above the chaotic dystopian armageddon intoning last rites set to a soundtrack of music for the last man. Similarly, ‘Corporate Effect’ also delineates mankind’s folly as plaintive vocals are juxtaposed against behemoth rhythms and the grinding of metallic, amplified wires before the track detonates into its urgent, insistent chorus. By way of contrast, the reflective and personal ‘In Cythera’ tracks an elegiac trajectory across the sonisphere, suggesting that within the vast spiral of entropy there remains scope for beauty and love. Unusually, Jaz Coleman’s lyric explores his inner feelings referencing the island on the Hauraki Gulf where he has a modest home and the recent break up of a longstanding relationship.
Similarly, ‘Primobile’ also exercises further sonic restraint. Again something of a eulogy, the track is notable for the purity of Jaz’s vocals and the manner in which the backing is rendered counter-intuitively both ethereal and dense. An echo across a devastated aural dreamscape, the track lulls the listener into a false sense of tranquillity before ‘Glitch’ unleashes the great beast that is Killing Joke at full throttle. Once more exploring the theme of technological breakdown, the lyrics find Coleman asking “What the hell’s gone wrong?” as a malevolent djinn in the machine wreaks havoc with mankind’s fragile electronic networks. A churning, boiling broth of guttural intonation, grinding guitar and pounding beats, the song vaporises the sense of calm established across the previous two tracks.
Like ‘Rapture’ and earlier tracks such as ‘Feast Of Blaze’ and ‘Fire Dances’, ‘Trance’ emphasizes the unfettered feeling of primal celebration that infused many of Killing Joke’s live shows. As with ‘Glitch’, the song is something of a juggernaut, projecting a backdrop upon which the last tribe of man celebrate their arcane faith as the ‘Pssyche’ bassline punches through the whirling circles of primal sound. Finally, ‘On All Hallow Eve’ juxtaposes a bump’n’grind rhythm against choral synths to provide a valedictory invocation that closes the album with an incandescent glow resonating with the spent heat of a thousand suns.
On this form, one can only hope that Killing Joke continue to record the journey toward armageddon until it actually arrives.
DIY Tips For Beginners
Realities Of War – I/V
Realities Of War’s ‘Constructs Of Life’ EP was one of the vinyl highlights of 2011. Aesthetically reminiscent of the kind of artefact that altered the course of many a life back in the now distant historical era that also bore witness to the laying of the foundations of the DIY anarcho-punk & hardcore movement. Whether benched-marked against historic or contemporary standards, however, ‘Constructs Of Life’ is a treasure to behold, and – in a sense – that’s exactly the point: To have, to hold, to place the needle on the vinyl, to read the lyrics as you listen, to think about the meaning of what you are listening to, reading, looking at – to sew the patch onto your jacket, to challenge the ignorance of your social circle as a consequence of the inspiration you have gained from the experience, to forge a future for yourself that isn’t based on shallow materialistic parameters. A mere review was not going to do this release justice. Yes, it wears its influences on its sleeve. Yes, it has all been done before. No, it still is not acceptable to stand up and say: ‘Yes, sir. I will.’
The following interview with ROW’s Steve was conducted via the medium of email. trakMARX duly thanks Steve for taking the time to be as expansive as he has been below. It’s also a timely reality check for any other bands who may be reading this: a reminder about concepts such as mutual respect, interest versus response, a confirmation that without fanzines, bands like ROW, and people like Steve, you would all be condemned to a cultural reality that insulted you face-to-face as it lifted you wallet from your inside pocket. This one goes out to all the Fagins, the fakers, the haters and the time-wasters:
Tell us about the birth of Realities Of War: how the project came together: staff, inspirations, objectives, desired outcomes, that kind of thing.
Realities Of War was born in 2005 and were formed by members of two other bands, namely Flyblown and Burning The Ppeospect. The members – Luke (guitar), Pete (guitar), Aaron (bass) and Joe (drums) – wanted to form a band with Discharge/Scandavian influences. They had practiced a number of times and written some songs, but had no singer. I was friends with all the members from driving bands in the UK at the time. Pete was booking tours, and I was driving the bands he brought over. The Boston scene at the time was amazing, full of energy, so I travelled to Boston at least once a month, and got to know Luke and Joe there. It was also the place where we practiced, as Pete and Aaron lived in Essex, Luke and Joe lived in Boston, Lincolnshire and I lived in Leeds, so Boston was a central meeting point for us all. It is very rural there, and Joe’s parents had an outhouse that made for a practice room. We actually only practiced about 4-5 times with me singing. It all happened really quickly. The only other band that I’ve personally sung for is Project Hopeless, from Sweden.
Objectively, we all wanted the same thing: Namely to sound as brutal as we could within the limits we had set ourselves. The lyrics I wrote. They were initially page long songs, but the nature of song structures in musical terms soon reduced the lyrics to a four-line/chorus basis. I felt I had not necessarily explained everything I wanted to in the songs, and that some of the lyrics could be construed as ambiguous, so the idea to explain things in greater detail stemmed from the lack of words I could stack into any one song. I remember buying the second Ripcord LP, ‘Poetic Justice’, back in 1988, and reading all the reasons behind each song on the lyric sheet, and how it inspired me to think and consider things differently. It made all the things they were singing about seem more real and approachable. So that was a vital ingredient for me: to be able to communicate on as many levels as possible, be it visual, artistically, by touch and by sound. I wanted the record to impact on people’s thoughts and feelings, to make then think and consider the themes raised in the lyrics, whether they agreed or not.
We understand that the project took over five years, from inception to delivery . . . how come? That must have been a long, frustrating, drawn-out experience?
Initially, Pete wanted the tracks we recorded at the 1in12 Club in Bradford to be on a tape. I thought the songs were so good that they could reach more folk if they were released on vinyl. Also, a tape release would have restricted the artistic side I wanted the band to represent. The tracks were recorded in February 2006, in one day (five hours to be precise), and from what I remember, we split around May that year, due to distance, energy, tour commitments of the others bands, and just personal life stuff, too. My own health was suffering at the time (I have Crohns Disease), and my energy levels were dropping.
I took on the responsibility of releasing the record. I’m bit of a perfectionist, however, and that can lead to procrastination, as nothing is ever good enough! So I kept going around in circles, changing my ideas as I went along, and becoming disillusioned as ideas faltered. I’m not technologically great with computers, and not knowing how to put things together really frustrated me – and yes, some disillusionment set in. Just through lack of knowledge. Fortunately, others had faith in me, and despite the length of time it took, the labels involved never gave me any real grief as they were all friends. Eventually, I sat myself down to finish the project. It kind of all evolved from continually sitting there and drawing, writing the info down onto paper. I was influenced by old punk records like the Subhumans EPs and Conflict – with all the info that was packed into them about where to buy alternative products relating to the problems that they were singing about: not just singing about a problem, but providing a solution too. I know a lot of information is readily available on the internet these days, but, to me, writing the explanations to each song, and then giving information about what you could do about that problem should you want to, was important to put across. Not everyone has the internet readily available (something we should not take for granted), and I still believe in the power of pen and paper in creating change and spreading ideas!
The ‘Constructs Of Life’ EP is THE complete package: aural, visual, textual, conceptual – it feels like an artefact as soon you remove it from the card delivery mailer. Was that intentional and are you happy with the results?
Yes, it was frustrating at times, but I am genuinely happy with how it all turned out. I wanted the record to be a package. A book. Something that was aesthetically good to touch, look at, and listen to. Planning the cover so that all constituent parts were interconnected in the record’s presentation. My friends at Footprint Printers, when I originally took the cover to them, discussed with me the possibilities and practicalities of what I desired, and how it could be achieved. To begin with, I wanted something Crass style in a big fold out sleeve, but their printers could not do that scale of printing. So we discussed ideas, and the book concept came through really strongly as I was talking, and we sat and worked out how to do it together. The card, too, was deliberate. I didn’t want a black and white sleeve. To me, it is too easy, and not enough thought goes into some punk bands releases. Although the title of the band is Realities Of War, and we could easily have put a war picture on the front cover, the content of the songs did not reflect that imagery. At the time, I was reading a book by Dorothy Rowe, who I saw speak at the anarchist book fair in London one year, and whose writing is very down-to-earth, and makes a great deal of sense to me. The book dealt with constructs by looking at how we can live more comfortably and creatively within ourselves by achieving a fuller understanding of how we experience our existence, and how we perceive its annihilation by understanding how the type of person we are, be it an extrovert or an introvert, can impact on how we as humans construct the lives we create for ourselves – partly through the type of person we are, and partly by our outside influences, and how we interpret them. It was all really interesting, and subliminally fitted in with some of my lyrics, especially ‘Look Within’.
The original title of EP was going to be: ‘Liberty . . . Just an Illusion’. Pete never liked it, so I was searching for something else, and when ‘Constructs of Life’ popped into my head, that made the decision for me. It just made sense. As the introduction to the EP states: “Experiences of what we learn and how we live begin from birth”. We are constructed by our social background, environmental upbringing, how our families and friends treat us. So many facets influence us and construct us, shaping the individuals we become as much as our own introverted or extroverted personalities. I think it is really important we look at how we live our lives. Punk seems to have lost some of it potential to inspire change over recent years. There’s an element of nihilism: “what’s the point in caring” – just party, party – which is fine, but I see/hear a lot of language around that is informed by sexism, racism, and intolerance, that to me doesn’t make it fine. I’m not saying we should have rigid rules, however, but the contemporary scene does not seem to reflect the ethics that I believe, the ethics I gained from listening to punk bands and reading punk ‘zines when I was younger, and what I consider punk to be about.
So many of these issues were once not tolerated at punk gigs, or at least were challenged. Now, it seems that if you have an opinion, you are a PC fascist, telling folk how to live their lives. I’m not into telling people how to live their lives, but I would encourage folk to think and look beyond their constructs or previously held beliefs to how we can build and create a better world to live in. No one said it would be easy, which is why I think so many folk become disillusioned, but we can and have changed and built alternatives, and it is up to us to make the most of those opportunities.
When I was younger, certain bands/releases opened my eyes. I became increasingly aware of punk through bands like Dissent, Dead Silence, Heresy, Ripcord, Electro Hippies, Cringer – bands that put across ideals that I believed in, that were a means to change/create something new. I think the internet is partly responsible for the current malaise. So many folk download music now, but a download does not provide the lyrics, the artwork, the feel of what a band or an individual is trying to put across, and that, for me, is as important, if not more so, than the actual music. We are losing something.
Footprint Printers are also an ethically based Co-Op based in Leeds, and keeping the release as environmentally friendly as we possible was as important as the politics of recording the EP at the 1 in 12 Club, the UK’s longest running autonomous social centre, also based in West Yorkshire. The punk scene has built and created alternatives to big business, and it is up to us to support and use them. My friend Paul from The Autonomads produced the patch for me. Again, something creative: the flower represents the ‘Constructs of Life’ too, with the left stem being a bud (the construct), and the flower being ‘life’.
What’s your perspective/perception/experience of owning the means of production, and your take on the ad-hoc underground network that facilitates distribution?
For me it was really important. I didn’t want our release to be put out by someone else, who didn’t necessarily care how we wanted things to be, or what the band represented. Doing it ourselves was all part of the punk philosophy, and even if it meant taking longer to release the record than planned, those principles were important. Fortunately, friends who believed in the record and in me helped by putting money forward to contribute towards the release. This is friendship. It is part of the DIY ethic, because we are doing something creative together: using the DIY network punks have built over time to support a record, help with distribution, and develop ideas for the future. As mentioned, the 1 in12 Club was really important in that process, and Bri, who does the recording there, has really grown into that role, producing some amazing sounds for bands in a studio built by its Members through hard graft and commitment.
What’s your take on the UK’s contemporary DIY punk & hardcore underground? Groups you rate? Labels you admire? Scenes you support? ‘Zines you read?
I think the UK has a lot of great bands. I think some don’t get out there enough and promote their ideas or beliefs. The last few years, I’ve been primarily located in Leeds, Bradford, and London. Bands that have stood out for me have been from Leeds: Closure, Torn Apart, Mob Rules, Cry Havoc, Dry Heaves, Skiplickers, The Afternoon Gentlemen Warboys, War All The Time, Vinegar Strokes . . . Nu Pogodi are great new band . . . Etai Keshiki too . . . Life Destruction, Executive Legs and Harry Callahan share Gwen [ex-Molliger] as lead singer, and both bands are a potent force. Doom are back together, and are better than ever!
Labels? I don’t know. Active Rebellion are, for me, the most active label that have consistently been releasing solid releases through cooperation with other European labels of late. I’m not particularly into ‘labels’, although a label can build a certain ideology/ethic around them with regard to how they operate, for instance Dischord Records in the USA. Active Minds/Looney Tunes are still inspiring. I appreciate some labels develop just through circumstances (e.g. Flat Earth only released bands that were friends). I think more bands should release their own records if they really want to be DIY, even though finance may be hard to come by. You meet so many more people by putting the effort into it, whether this be through distribution, learning how to print sleeves, communicate!
Scenes that I support? Whatever is original, exciting, challenging. I found a lot of the Riot Grrrl bands that were in Leeds some years ago more ‘punk’ than some of the supposed punk bands that existed at that time. The political discourse of ‘zines, DIY gigs, discussions that are more thoughtful and inclusive than some punk gigs that are pretentious, in that a lot can depend on who you know, or what you look like. This is a sweeping generalization. There are a lot of good people out there doing a lot of good things. The crust scene seems the most destructive, yet musically can be really exciting. A lot of bands that go out today under the moniker of crust or crasher punk take their influences from bands in the 80s/90s that were once the most political and lyrically challenging, yet crust, for me, has now become (for the most part) a mode of dress, and an excuse for not thinking/caring. A real shame. Again, not all crusty punks are like this. Musically, a lot of punks are creating challenging new music and politically agitating through gigs in DIY spaces. In Leeds now, we have Wharf Chambers, a new Members run Co-operative, and in Bradford we have the 1in12 Club. Both built by committed folk who have been involved in DIY politics and ideas/music for many years.
Zines? I personally do not read as many as i used to. I don’t get much from reading about an individual’s angst. I appreciate it. I just don’t want to read about it. I find a lot of zines lack any humour, or have any questions that challenge a band/individual. Again, the internet and a lack of face-to-face questioning makes it easy for bands to type their replies and make sure they say the right things through editing. I still read, One Way Ticket To Cubesville, Ripping Thrash, Maximum Rock’n’Roll, and other individual efforts, as and when I come across them. I wish there were more. I am planning a Means To An End ‘zine for a DIY Festival that I am organizing at the 1in12 Club, to put across the ideas that are often ignored, or do not have space/time during the Festival’s weekend.
Is the ‘Constructs Of Life’ a one off, or can we expect another Realities Of War EP in 2017?
‘Constructs of Life’ is a one off! Definitely. It will not be repressed, as far as I know. It would be nice to keep it in print, but I don’t think demand for the record will be that strong. I can’t believe that records of the 1980’s used to sell in their thousands, and now a band has trouble shifting 500 copies! Obviously, we are no longer exist as a band, so promoting the record through gigs is not an option – but the record is still available (I have about 50 copies left) from me at:
‘realitiesofwarrecords@yahoo.co.uk’
£4.50 post paid in the UK – or at gigs in Leeds/Bradford. I do the cafe at the 1 in 12 Club every last Saturday of the month, and there is small stall with 1in12 Records on show too, so if you’re passing, fancy a veggie burger or tofu and hummus wrap, pop in for a cup of tea and a chat! For European/Rest of the World prices, please contact me. I don’t do trades as this is a one-off release, and I do not have the time or bodily capabilities to run a distro anymore! Thank you for your interest, and to anyone who is reading, thanks for reading this interview. It is appreciated!
You can also order ‘Constructs of Life’ from La Vida Es Un Mus
Are You Receiving?
You lucky people. Once again trakMARX has been casting their pods. This time around chirpy misanthrope Deke Lee Turgid introduces his special Falklands Anniversary Special Breakfast Show, recorded in the window of Allders department store in Croydon before a crowd of hostile shoppers.
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Kicking Against The Pricks
RVIVR – ‘The Joester Sessions 08–11’ (Rumbletowne Records)
“We are a band that play for the true weirdos, freaks and queers, not the mainstream bro-dudes that mosh.” – Matt Canino
RVIVR (pronounced Reviver)’s co-vocalist Matt Canino (Ex-Latterman/Ex-Shorebirds) has a voice with a wounded-soldier-stance: a voice that bleeds relative truths like an anterior aneurysm. Canino shares vocal and guitar duties in Olympia’s RVIVR with Erica Freas, whose own voice isn’t any the less affecting. In unison they complement each other like sex and sobriety.
RVIVR have a rep as a political band, self-professed underground radicals, tackling issues around gender equality, homophobia, minority oppression, and the environment. RVIVR reflect a mirror image of a crumbling male-dominated society back in the faces of the bare-chested fuckheads who seem to think punk rock means slam dancing the fuck out of the smallest person in the mosh. This band are out there, actively challenging cock-jock perspectives on the functionality, continuity and relevance of punk rock as genre in 2012. Other legitimate targets include the patriarchal dominance of government, media and commerce. For this alone they should be applauded, loudly, and quite possibly from a standing position. This is hearts-on-their-sleeves sincerity in action.
Let’s get the lazy comparisons out of the way. RVIVR remind this ageing punky waver of the kind of rush he used to get whilst banging out Superchunk’s ‘No Pocky For Kitty’, back in 1991. To extend the lazy analogy, Matt and Erica have just become my new millennia Mac & Laura. Sonically, the guitars warm the cockles of these compromised arteries in the same way the accessibility and pure-pop suss of Sharks/// and Tenement counterbalance the distorted rage at the raw-punk/noize end of the punk rock spectrum, circa now. Lyrically inventive, thematically intense, harmonically addictive, RVIVR have invaded my ears in much the same way the American military have invaded the Middle East (the only differential being the time span: RVIVR have captured the metaphorical oil fields beneath my theoretical ‘Stans’ in a mere matter of days!).
‘The Joester Sessions 08–11’ re-masters RVIVR’s previous, namely the ‘Life Moves’ 7″ (2008), the ‘Derailer Benefit’ 7″ (2009), the ‘Dirty Water’ EP (2010), plus one unreleased track (2011), to create the perfect introduction to a pretty much perfect pop-punk panorama: the power of positivity personified. The band’s label, the idealistically-sound, homespun, Rumbletowne Records, have a whole host of equally engaging artists on their roster, and a refreshing approach to getting their music into your homes. Your support would be welcomed.
- Contact: wastebin@trakMARX.com
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