Breaking Point/Wiretap split 7"

Another SRH/CCHC collaboration here bringing together two of the UK's most active scenes. First up we have some new songs from Breaking Point. Now this is a band that makes up for the occasional mediocre song by having one of the most bizarre individuals in UKHC singing for them. Truly, if we sit down and analyse the music, yeah it’s solid and good for a mosh but that’s pretty much it...however seldom do we get the chance for a thorough analysis as the senses are more often than not, drawn to the human oddity stomping around at the front of the stage. For those who’ve not encountered BxP’s frontman Louis Gautier, i can only describe him as a Brillo pad given human form. Or for those of you familiar with Marvels premier Canadian super hero team, Alpha Flight he resembles the character called Puck (above). Here is a man, so haunted by his past and trapped in his own bizarre reality that he seemingly can no longer distinguish the simple difference between confectionary and crisps.

His lyrics plumb the very depths of gritty human experience, no doubt drawing much inspiration from his time “working the door” at a local Salsa evening in Ashford. Life is indeed cold. On to the music, mostly its kinda swaggering metallic thugged out HC, with shades of lumbering 90’s NYHC. Maybe a little Stout or NJ Bloodline influence? I dunno, i don’t really listen to that stuff too much. Drummings better on these songs than before, it seems that Ben Sakers life long quest for rhythm has finally yielded fruit. Bound In Shadow reminds me of Downpresser for some reason. I think its the vocal phrasing at the beginning that is similar. Louis has always had a strong, gutteral voice, I guess that comes from speaking up for persecuted apes back in his native Egypt as a youngster. Solid shit. I envisage much fist swinging taking place during the middle eight. The David Mayes of The Hardway fame supplies additional vocals here but i was not really paying attention to what he said or sounded like, as i was lost in my own thoughts, wondering what it would be like to watch Breaking Point playing to a crowd solely comprised of salsa dancing primates. Cheap shots aside, BXP do this style well and they do it with enough enthusiasm and vigour to make it enjoyable to watch. Fair play lads.

Cardiffs Wiretap weigh in on the the other side with three new tracks. These tunes seem to have more of a bombastic Buried Alive/Despair/Earthmover feel than the stuff on their old EP. Opening intro has an early Terror feel that I’m sure gets the floor moving. Good, fast, crunchy late 90’s style hardcore, It’s a progression I back hard.Musically Its all very well played and structured. Drummers got some pace and flare and kudos to the guitarist for wrenching the sound of a whinnying horse out of his guitar on the third track. Darke does vocals in this band as well as AOTC but I can’t help but feel his vocals and phrasing are better suited to his other band. Whilst I understand that his more balls out metal screaming style wouldn’t really work for Wiretap, it does sound like he’s not firing on all cylinders here and thats a shame because the songs themselves are really well written.

Once again I’ve been sent no lyrics or artwork for this release so I can’t really tell you anything about how it looks or what either band are shouting about.

Wiretap

Breaking Point

Purgatory Records

Wardogs Demo

Back in the OH-3, my old band On Thin Ice would occasionally cover Breakdowns March Of The White Trash and rip right into Sick People. It was fun, the crew would get a little nuts and shenanigans would often occur. Ryan from Tear It Up was studying over here at the time and would get wasted and join us on stage whereupon he would take the mic and proceed to “rap” over the intro and talk some shit. This piece of nonsense was dubbed Chill Factor, it only happened a couple of times but it was funny and stupid and we had some laughs. Franklin eventually hijacked the idea and Chill Factor became a NYHC influenced “party band” in it’s own right, though the joke wore thin kinda quick. Mostly because , as is often the case with bands of this sort, their abilities didn’t match their enthusiasm.

After hearing a fair bit of messageboard chatter, I kinda expected Cardiffs Wardogs to be the Welsh version of Chill Factor, all the chirp and lip service but no ability or chops and just Jockin’ Out. Wrong again idiot. This tape is so on the money it’s retarded. Everything about these 5 songs sounds legit. Vocalist Joe Latham sounds like a total fucking guido, (albeit with a welsh twang), like if Tommy Carroll came from the Valleys or something. The kid clearly loves the alleyway classics and there’s a lotta nice vocal nods to the likes of Straight Ahead, Side By Side and early Warzone. If you don’t know your history and are looking for a more modern comparison, think Iron Boots, Get Real or maybe some of the Lockin’ Out bands like Crunch Time. I’m a sucker for detail and Wardogs have nailed it with a scholars ear.

The Songs are short, simple and straight to the point..although the the guitarist slips in some tasty little leads here and there. None of this sounds forced or laboured, just some dudes playing the music they love. I can get down with that. Props to whoever recorded this... the guitar tone and production are perfect, lending the whole recording an air of legitimacy. If someone told me this was a lost demo by a band from the LES circa 1986, I would not doubt them. I understand these songs are coming out on a self released demo tape and on split with a band called Bang Bros (who I’m not familiar with), so if the classic NYHC sound is your bag you’d do well to pick up this tape. Couldn't find any Wardogs pictures or flyers or owt, don't even think the demo has a cover yet though I imagine Alex B will be invoking the spirit of Sean Taggart soon enough, so instead here's a picture of two of my own wardogs, Mister Feet and Little Lou. Recognise.

Along with The Hardway, Wardogs are the most authentic sounding NYHC inspired band I’ve heard in a good long while. A real breath of fresh air. Now, if they would just cover Panty Raid live.....

Woof!

Crossbreaker demo

Part of the reason i started the reviews section of this blog was to get switched on to new music. I’ve been around the block as far as hardcore and punk is concerned and as one gets older, it becomes increasingly difficult to relate to new bands. It’s very easy to slip into the jaded mindset that often accompanies turning 30 and become disinterested in hardcore, art, hobbies, whatever, as other things start to take priority in your life. These days i view hardcore once again from an outsiders perspective and i’m enjoying hearing new bands again. I don’t know shit about Crossbreaker other than they are from Wales and obviously enjoy the support of the burgeoning scene there. I picked this tape up based purely on the fact that i had some loose change in paypal and the tape had Rasputin on the front cover, I’m a sucker for esoteric references. Opening track Disengaged bleeds up with an acoustic melancholic riff which builds the tension before smashing in with the drums and churning guitars. I expected the vocals to come in hard but the singer hasn’t really got the throat for that kinda work and opts for a more honest clean approach which totally works, reminds me of Dan Mills from the Cold World demo. Musically this is weird mix, some parts remind me of Burn with those kinda jangly sounding but still hard riffs. There’s obviously an appreciation for those massive early Rise and Fall style breakdowns here too, a lot of bands of this generation have clearly been influenced by that band, I’m not a fan but i’ll take that over ripping off Guns Up or rap music or some other bent shit. I feel that this is still a band in their early developmental stages and with a little more hair on their balls and some ground up glass in their diet,their next release will be right on the money.

www.myspace.com/crossbreaker

Ark Of The Covenant demo/7"

I already posted an uncharacteristically gushing review of this Welsh bands demo on a couple of message board. For readers who don’t frequent the same online hives of scum and villainy as I, here’s an amended version of that post. I believe these recordings are now actually being released as a 7” rather than a demo, normally i frown on that kinda jumped up bullshit move, but in AOTC’s case i make an exception as this is too good to languish on a tatty CDR.

I’m not one to deal in hyperbole nor do i subscribe to the "yeah but they are good dudes/sympathy mosh" school of thought, so when i say that the demo by the aforementioned metallic hardcore outfit Ark Of the Covenant is "the shit" you should know that i'm not yanking your plank. Drawing very obvious influence from the sounds of early Arkangel and Day Of Sufferings “Eternal Jihad” album, this is total metallic hardcore fanboys wet dream. From the crisp production through to the cheese-dick spoken word section, every detail/cliche is correct and executed with a precision and vengeance that only comes from players with a genuine scholars enthusiasm for their chosen style. I hope that when i see this band play live, the guitar player is wielding a black jackson guitar and there are two stripy t shirts, some "curtains" hairstyles, at least one pair of canvas Airwalks and a demo with a played out Gustave Dore illustration on the front.

Likewise, in two years time i hope that the band will have turned their back on the principles that once defined them, started peddling drugs/knocking their girlfriends about and begin wearing Lacoste tracky tops and tight fitting caps in an effort to look like they've "moved beyond the narrow minded constraints hardcore". I don’t have any artwork for this record so instead here’s a picture of my favourite Welshman and one of the forgotten fathers of occult fiction and decadent horror, Arthur Machen.