Uniforms - Demo

Usually I’m a bit late to the show with any band Deeker has been in (only caught Joey T by their 2^{nd or 3rd} last Dundee gig for example) however I’d like to think I was in the know on Uniforms before most, seeing as they were discussing getting the band together in my car when we went to see Iron Chic in weegieland back in May. To be honest though I have to admit to being a bit sceptical that a bunch of drunken eedjits from the east coast of Scotland could do anything that would come close to the likes of Red City Radio, Iron Chic, or any other American fest band, etc. And I was right. Well by right I mean wrong but that’s an entirely predictable set up isn’t it. It all seemed to come together quite fast too. They formed, recorded a demo and went over to Gainsville and played a pre-fest gig before even playing a hometown show. The demo is only three tracks but they’re all crackers, it kicks off with Schoolboy Errors which is a great sing along anthem, well anti anthem really if you listen to the words. Really reminiscent of RCR, the vocals are really raw and gravelled and it’s liberally sprinkled with wee widdly leads. I witnessed them play it at Book Yer Ane Fest recently and it was one of the best things I heard that day, barring Colorado Joe and Not Superstitious by Leatherface. I was stood at the side of the stage just thinking wow! Yeah, that was about all my brain would articulate at the time, wished I’d bloody filmed them now. Next song up on the demo is Photographs which seems to have a slower vibe to it, but that’s a purely relative statement as it still sprints a long at a fair old whack, this is punk rock, ken? The song is all about looking backwards, the futility of regrets and living your life now, and gets all shouty and noisy by the end, great stuff. I Won’t Forget You brings up the rear, originally a Tragical History Tour (Deeker’s acoustic alter ego) song, and on first run through of the demo this one was the song that really stood out for me, starts off with a bit of stuttered guitar and laid back vocal and then picks up the pace and explodes into a huge sing along of a song. If you’re in any way into the ‘gruff’ punk thing or just like good melodic songs you should check them out. I reckon they fill the empty spot for new local heroes quite nicely.

Get it here: http://makethatatakerecords.bandcamp.com/album/demo

Photos from BYAF5 in Dundee, Kage, 03/12/2011.

Dunderfunk - Brick Cat E.P.

From 1989 through to '95 The Venue on Carlton Road in Edinburgh, a darkened hole of a club with strange slime on the walls down the stairs to the unintentionally unisex toilets, a place that perpetually smelt of stale beer, nicotine, sweat, and unwashed hair was my destination every Sunday. Sunday night was the Moshpit which generally meant thrash or death metal bands would be playing host to our lemming like tendencies as we threw ourselves into oblivion, swung round The Pillar or hung from the ceiling like the headbanging little monkeys we were.
It was here in around 1990 that an Edinburgh thrash band upon hearing the slap of a bass guitar metamorphosed into best funkthrashparty band ever. Dunderfunk. Sunday nights at the Moshpit were never the same. Well they were, but we just danced worse than before and got covered in donuts and silly string and foam and used surfboards indoors, wore our hair in bunches and did kazoo solos, but apart from that...
Anyway, I was going to post the two demo tapes and the live set as the Australian Dunderfunk, oh yeah, that was another thing, didgeridoos, they did that too, but I'm going to have to redo the tapes as lost the files, so in the meantime here is their one and only vinyl release The Brick Cat E.P.
Dunderfunk -The Brick Cat E.P.

Ah yes, I remember them well, those schizophrenic party days...

Spanish Gamble and Sunset Squad - Live in Muckys, Perth, 23/04/2011

Good night out all round, took most shots in B+W as were coming out better that way.

Sunset Squad:









Spanish Gamble:

Postmortem - rehearsal or demo...

This was on the other side of the Acid Reign live tape and was just labeled as Postmortem and the song titles so I'm not sure if it was a demo or a rehearsal but judging on the sound and the fact that all the songs run into each other i'm going for rehearsal. Putting it up on here as it may be of interest to some people. Postmortem were an early death metal band from Boston USA that started out as a punk band in the early eighties. I think this tape is from about '84 or '85 and you can hear quite a bit of the old punkiness to it, it's rough as fuck but that was part of the excitement of this stuff back then, it really sounded underground...

Postmortem - Rehearsal

Track list:
Just A Thought/Organised Crime/Run Amok/Armies of the Dead/Ready to Die

Acid Reign - Live in Leicester 1988

Ok here's another live tape of Acid Reign. Recorded in Leicester at some point in 1988. I wasn't at this gig so couldn't tell you if the set did actually end abruptly with the need for a shit or if I just never got given the full set. I got this tape trading in late 88/ early 89 and the tape has survived in great quality despite living in the loft, no wobbles or owt.

Set List:
1. Magic Roundabout
2. Godess
3. Two Minded Takeover
4. Chaos
5. Insane Ecstasy
6. Bully Boy
7. Sabbath Mix

Acid Reign - Live in Leicester 1988

Slaving For The Great Dictator

This compilation tape came out in '89 when the Tories were well into putting the boot into the working class, the welfare system and the public sector. Aren't we all glad times have changed...
This was an anti poll tax benefit put out by Darren of Myopic Dwarf fanzine in Bristol and along with the tape there was an A5 booklet with more info about the bands and the cause. I presume that bit is in a box in the loft with all my old fanzines.
At the time I was fairly narrow minded in the music I was listening to, so I found some of this quite eclectic but thoroughly enjoyed it apart from the Prostitutes track which is pretty bad. There's straight up punk from the likes of 4Q, Shock Treatment and Oi Polloi, some Big Black inspired stuff from Slowjam and Playground, goth punk from Every New Dead Ghost, Joy Division worship from the synth driven Dance Naked and Venus Fly Trap and the jangly ska punk of Culture Shock (which kinda blew my mind as I loved the Subhumans... but i totally got into CS off the back of this comp too) so there's no getting bored of a certain sound.


Enjoy: Slaving For The Great Dictator

Dagobah - If Music Be The Food Of Love... demo

Nick the drummer from Dagobah sent me this demo not long after they recorded it asking me if I could review it in ENZK. Which I did. I loved it. They were from Grantham in England which I actually drove through once, on a long shortcut from Nottingham to Dundee. I still don't really know where it is though as we went all over the shop on that drive but I did think 'Hey this is where Dagobah come from' when passing the town sign 'Wonder if they know the way to Scotland?'. Dagobah ended up releasing some great 7"s on Crackle Records toured the U.S. and split up and reformed and slit up again. Twice I think.



It's a very old tape that looked a bit worse for wear, there was a bit of wobble and a lot of hiss so I've digitally remastered it (run noise removal on free software off the net) for you to help out a bit. Anyway this was an old favourite of mine by a band that came across as very ramshackle and fun, which is why I loved them. So download and enjoy seven energetic and slightly rough and ready tunes from a galaxy far far away...

Dagobah - If Music Be The Food Of Love... demo