ROIDH

I found this review of the Hail Brethren record tucked away on Second City which is cool.

“Emo. This word will scare a lot of people off and will probably have pricked up the ears of people that won’t really dig this, but fuck it. THIS is Emo. No gothic image, no false talk of suicide, no inaudible roars and no bullshit. This is good, honest emotional rock.

Hail Brethren are a Manchester band with DIY ethics. They’ve formed, gigged and released this in the blink of an eye, and it’s fair testament to their hard work that it’s come out this damn good. Heartfelt shouts over the top of some great instrumental foreplay – occasionally dipping into post-hardcore and returning via hardcore-punk.

Highlights of this white vinyl 12” include the smashing ‘Redefine The Point Of Waking Up’, ‘Synthetic Friendship’ and even the acoustic number ‘Apparently’ that threatens to follow suit and break down a door or two, but never follows up. Majestic stuff that will surely please fans of a genre currently lacking in action, while hopefully also helping to reclaim the tag stolen by American pop-punk bands that are feeling blue.

If you’re not already accustomed to vinyl, go dig out your Dad’s record player, buy this and suck it up.

FOR FANS OF : Rites Of Spring, End Of A Year, Hell Is For Heroes.”

Still a few copies of the LP left.

Man, I really don’t update this blog that often anymore. I should really. Anyways, The Amistad / Orphan Choir split and the Hail Brethren LP are slowly going out, please consider buying a copy of the record if you can. They’re solid records from great bands, although Hail Brethren split up, 4 of them are back as the band WELL WISHER, so they’ll be gigging soon.

I also put a DOD GONKULATOR on ebay, i’ve had it for a few years now, used it once for a gig and it sounded pretty horrible, its a mix of distortion and ring modulation in one box. If you’re in one of those kooky noise bands, it might help your sound.

Andy is selling a DOD Gonkulator on ebay - http://tinyurl.com/lcmjam

There’ll be a big update from No Idea coming in soon, so i’ll post again when thats in.

My friend Katie has started up, with the help of some other people, a non-discriminitive listings site for Manchester.

http://www.theshippingforecast.eu/

Check it out.

..is well out of date at the moment, 255s weekend tour and last nights gig have left me without a lot of LPs and CDs, so i’ll get it up to day. I have a bunch of new stuff coming in from No Idea pretty soon, so i’ll post up when thats all up to date.

“HAIL BRETHREN – ‘Hail Brethren’ (Records Or It Didn’t Happen/Stalemate) BRAINS

When you’re reviewing a record made by a bunch of dudes that you know it becomes really tough. You have to get the balance right – no arse licking, and no being a sarcastic shit. The real difficulty arrives when you either completely adore, or fucking loathe a record made by a bunch of dudes that you know. Fortunately for me, ‘Hail Brethren’ falls into neither category, and here’s why…First things first, as a collector I love the fact that it’s vinyl only. Sadly, in many ways, this fact alienates a lot of potential listeners, particularly considering that this is an LP, not a split, or single, or even an EP. I’m guessing this doesn’t worry the guys in the band so much, in which case I suppose it doesn’t really matter. Musically, it sounds genuine, for desperate want of a ‘better’ adjective. It sounds like five northern English men making passionate, real emo-hardcore crossover. The guitars are jarring, visceral and melodic in weirdly equal measures, and the rhythmical structure spans from math-y and chaotic to downright straight up rock and roll! Vocally, Hail Brethren are abrasive, but in a sort of pissed-off-geek fashion, with Mike yelping and whining in a style that pays a truly fitting homage to classic 90s emo. Can you imagine Saetia pinning Braid to the floor and wildly tickling them into submission, whilst wearing maroon cardigans, to a soundtrack of Spy Vs Spy? Not by any means my current favourite musical tipple; I can’t help but think this would have made more of an impact on me had it been made during my teens. However, pound for pound, it’s certainly one of the better records that has emerged from the Manchester punk scene in quite some time.”

Review by Ed Godby for A SHORT FANZINE ABOUT ROCKING.

www.myspace.com/ashortfanzineaboutrocking

What is going on in Manchester? Early in January there is a weekend for your punk rock social calendar, on saturday 3rd January, Party Carpet and Tony of Death host their monthly REFUSE TO LOSE clubnight, its at the Retro Bar on Sackville Street from 10pm to 2/3 ish. The last 2 months have been pretty decent and the atmosphere is very welcoming. As for music, expect a mix of stuff you found at Tonys old night Middle Finger Response, bit of old skool, with some bits of indie rock thrown in to keep things interesting.

Then, the day after, Daniel Cost of Living and The Real Collective are putting on THE STEAL, THE SHITTY LIMITS and THE SCEPTURES, plus a couple more bands, again at the Retro Bar, it should start around 7pm.

If you’d like to re-read the information I just posted but on myspace, you can do so here

www.myspace.com/refusetolosemcr and www.myspace.com/therealcollective

All is quiet on the ROIDH front for the moment, but I can tell you that the ROIDH distro will be with the 255s at the following dates on the Campaign for Real Ale tour.

11th December - The Adam and Eve, Digbeth

12th December - Robbins Well, Leamington

13th December - The Fawcett Inn, Portsmouth

14th December - The Croft, Bristol

So come along, all shows are cheap apart from bristol because thats a show with GUTTERMOUTH (!) yeah, 255s are playing with GUTTERMOUTH. For real.

In terms of Releases, all three vinyls are currently selling ok, if you don’t have a copy, don’t sleep on them. Future releases I am looking to do the vinyl version of the ABOVE THEM album which should appear at some point in 2009, I am also looking to open a ROIDH imprint for releasing CDs as Records… is vinyl only.

Take care, thanks as always for your support.

DISTRO UPDATE

as always andy > @ < roidh.co.uk to discuss buying stuff.
Andy

My friend Steph makes this super sweet handmade jewellery, so if you’re looking to get an early christmas present in for your missus or yourself, then you can do no worse than go here.

www.doedesigns.co.uk

Anyone who buys something from her can get Free Postage from my Distro until the new year. Thats a promise, just email me when you order my stuff and i’ll double-check it with her.

Andy Malcolm of Collective Zine had these kind words to say about the Hail Brethren LP.

“I have been mightily impressed with this fine slab of chunky vinyl. Hail Brethren is from oop north, but they crank out a record that would be quite at home on No Idea. That doesn’t mean they sound like Hot Water Music. Not that much any way, not unless you count Forever and Counting, and there’s far much more to it than just gruff vocals over grooving post-hardcore riffage. Hail Brethren love to throw in the emo, with plenty of cry baby bits amidst the gruffness. They don’t do the gruff all the time, sometimes desperately singing a bit, in their funny accents and all. The LP oozes energy and a passion that I tend to crave in music of this kind, I am pretty sure that live they stagger around on stage bumping into each other and that kind of thing. Best song is “Synthetic Friendship”, which swoops and soars in turn, love the booming bass and chuggy guitars on this one, and the super twinklemo part towards the end. Could have done without the Owen-esque acousticzzz at the end of side A mind you. Luckily as soon as you flip it, they’re off to the races again. Hurrah! The second side contains no shocks, no disappointments, no shame. Except another acoustic track. GUYS?! So yeah, it’s more of the same. Blistering melodies, urgency and occasional pauses for breath. I really love it when they get the twinkle on, they have it nailed more so than most bands that’d be so bold to try and work it into music otherwise so hefty.

Well, there you go then. HB have cranked out a dashed fine debut here, especially as they haven’t even recorded a single or anything prior. The cheek of it! Basically if you need a sonic comparison, then it’s a bit like Yaphet Kotto, Small Brown Bike, End of a Year, and Resonance. There you go! Why did I bother with the rest of the review eh?”

So yeah, really chuffed with that. Its a great LP, and for £7.40 paypal it can be yours.