'Ghost Mice'...in Birmingham!?

'Ghost Mice' - The Hare & Hounds / Kings Heath, Birmingham / 22nd June

I can't find a bigger image than this one, but basically 'Ghost Mice' will apparently be coming over from the States this year, and will be playing the ATTA Girl clubnight in Birmingham in June... that's pretty incredible news. 'GM' are easily one of the greatest, most inspiring folk-punk bands I've ever had the pleasure of discovering, so I'm pretty darn excited about this; if you're in or around Brum in June, whether folk punk is or isn't your bag (as there'll be DJs and a bunch of other rad stuff going on too), you should DEFO try to make this...

ATTA Girl, the collective organising this can be found here:

http://www.attagrrl.co.uk/

and the Facebook page for the event can be found here:

http://www.facebook.com/events/398030360286888/

Awesome stuff! :D
xox

Gabriel Kuhn - 'Sober Living for the Revolution' review

Gabriel Kuhn - 'Sober Living for the Revolution' - PM Press

300 pages

I've never been too fussed about reading up on Straight Edge as a scene or movement; I've always just lived that way because it's what worked for me on a very personal level, however I thought I'd give this a blast, mostly out of curiosity. So what we have here is a collection of interviews and writing from a number of figures with varying degress of involvement with SxE over the years, including the 'founder' himself, Ian MacKaye. There were a couple of traps that 'Edge: The Movie' fell into that I'm glad weren't present here, these being a.) very North-American oriented coverage, and b.) largely male-oriented coverage. In contrast, this book is very heavy on the European side (including ManLiftingBanner, and Dennis from Refused), and features a number of women doing positive things (xSisterhoodx and Emancypunx Records) in what, along with hardcore in general, can often be seen or regarded as quite a masculine scene, so that was awesome to see. Admittedly I must agree with the review I saw of this in Maximum RockNRoll 336, in that the pieces by Nick Riotfag, one on queer culture within Straight Edge, and the piece 'Towards a Less Fucked-Up World' were two of the most interesting reads in the whole book. The interview with MacKaye was actually one of my favourite bits too, if only because it's always funny to hear him discuss how disproportionate the Edge scene became with regards to his initial, personal contribution. On the whole though, aside from a couple of rare exceptions (Point of No Return's 'Bending to Stay Straight' I found incredibly and unnecessarily long-winded), this is a pretty concise and informative collection of Straight Edge history, equally of use to those unfamiliar and educated alike. It's also printed on a nice off-white paper... (Lee)

Happy Christmas and stuff...

Just posting to wish a rather late happy Christmas to all readers and followers of 'The Screever' zine; more issues and posts will hopefully emerge in the coming year! Look after yourselves :)

xox

Bangers - 'Small Pleasures' review

Bangers - 'Small Pleasures' - Specialist Subject Records

These guys are a three-piece from down in Cornwall, and play some pretty solid melodic punk-rock with nice gruff vocals. There's something different about the recording of this that I really like, possibly the guitar tone mostly; it's kind of difficult to describe, but it's kinda muddy, and it really works with how thick and tight the bass sounds. The songs are pretty catchy with some great sing-a-longs, and actually seem really considered structurally, which I especially noticed in the verses; at times it sounds as though the personal, 'story-telling' lyrics don't fit or flow neatly and perfectly which keeps things interesting. As far as songs that stand out for me go, I'd have to say the opener 'Making Friends', 'The Love Nest', and 'Irritants', but this is all pretty great. One of the coolest melodic punk sounds I've heard from the UK for a while. (Lee)

Bangers' 'Good Livin' e.p will be reviewed in issue three...

http://bangersbangers.co.uk/

http://bangersbangers.bandcamp.com/

Hot Water Music - 'Exister'

Hot Water Music - 'Exister' - RISE Records

I often find myself slightly on the fence with HWM; while half of their stuff is pure gold, and some of the greatest punk-rock I've ever heard, a lot of it can do very little for me, largely what I'd refer to as their more 'experimental' stuff. Thankfully, 'Exister', their first album in eight years, turned out to be a really solid, consistent album. 'Drag My Body' and 'State of Grace', both of which I would file under the 'pure gold' category, are probably still my favourites on here (having heard them in the weeks leading up to this release), along with the last track 'Paid in Full', the last chorus of which has a notably incredible vocal take! I think it's a little less experimental than some previous albums, most songs having quite a powerful, and structurally prominent chorus, which really helps drive the whole thing; it never really slows down, and feels really strong from start to finish, the production no doubt helping there. Jason Black, one of punk-rock's most bad-ass bassists is on form again with killer fills on the lower end throughout, and Chuck's sandpaper vocals are as characteristic as ever. If you're a HWM fan, no doubt you'll already have this; if you're also a little on the fence, I'd definitely recommend giving this a blast; if you've never heard them, check out 'Drag My Body', and be amazed. (Lee)

http://hotwatermusic.com/

Come To Get Her - 'Life So Changing'

Come To Get Her - 'Life So Changing' - self-released

So these guys are from Belarus and they recorded this 7-track in a practice room and mixed it themselves, considering which, it actually sounds pretty good! They play largely mid-paced melodic punk-rock / pop-punk (plus a bit of an acoustic ballad later on), most of which is pretty darn catchy; the boy / girl vocal interplay definitely reminds me of UNDECLINABLE AMBUSCADE back when they did that song '7 Years', which is awesome despite parts of it sounding slightly off-key. The first track 'Be My Dream' is actually pretty killer, but I also love '19.12'; for starting points, check out the former for some straight up melodic punk-rock, or the latter for something an 'ickle bit more emotional, but this is really an awesomely consistent DIY release. Pretty artwork too. (Lee)
You can check out Come To Get Her, and buy this e.p from:
http://cometogether.bandcamp.com/

Issue two on sale from glassofspit.co.uk

Issue two of 'The Screever' is now on sale from the Glass of Spit webstore thingy for a quid, which is pretty much just to cover postage / a bit of printing cost. Bear in mind there'll be an additional postage charge for deliveries outside of the UK though. You can visit the shop heeeere:

http://glassofspit.bigcartel.com/

Or, if you make a zine yourself, or draw stuff, or write nice letters, you're more than welcome to trade something for a copy with Lee. Either drop us a message here at the_screever@hotmail.co.uk, or find him on WeMakeZines at:

http://wemakezines.ning.com/profile/LeeTaylor

Thanks a bunch :D

Nat'n'Lee

xox