Not being the type of band who'll play the trodden boards and preach to the converted, we dipped our toes into the Mod World at this Scooter Rally. The weather wasn't too friendly - it is June after all, so why put festivals on in the rain season!?
We seem to have a lot of fun playing gigs we shouldn't really be playing, be they folk festivals, metal nights, or scooter rallies. Gwyn (Tudno FM extreme metal DJ) was being pimped out by John Bowden to do the sound, so we knew we were in safe hands, and being the first band on we had the lion's share of soundchecking.
All was well until about 7pm (an hour before stage time), when veteran Mod band The Lambrettas were moved from the main stage due to technical difficulties (ie, no lights!), so they asked if they could do a 'quick soundcheck' before we went on - this did mean moving our kit and gear, so the 'quick soundcheck' did take over an hour. Still, they sounded good and being the only other real band playing tonight we felt a kinship with them; our stand together against the 'enemy' - Tribute Acts. I hate tribute bands... They should all be shot for crimes against music.
We did ask The Lambrettas if we could use their £8000 drum kit... It was a straight 'No' from their drummer and he didn't see a hint of amusement when we said we'd dive on it at the end of our set (miserable tosser).
It's ace playing to kids, they have no inhibitions; unlike grown-ups who need alcohol to release their shackles, and young Isabelle pictured here is going to form a band called The Heroes. We did try to coax young Brooklyn who was watching with his mod grandfather to join her band too.
So in front of assorted scooter boys and girls we ploughed into our 35 minutes of hot, very sweaty fun...
Set list - we didn't play Gone Fishin' or Poison By Rancid.
After enjoying Braxton Hicks’ performance at The North, I simply had to pick up their latest release, The Bench EP. Priced at a very reasonable £2, meaning you’re only paying 50p per song, so you really are getting a lot for your money. Admittedly, this CD doesn’t quite capture the energy and enthusiasm that this band showed in a live environment, but it is a good and solid mix of songs.
Opening track Gone Fishin’ is a poignant tribute to their friend Johnny Williams, who the EP is dedicated to the memory of. The song is a little repetitive in parts, but the lyrics are beautiful and you can really tell they were written from the heart. It then leads well into the second track, Poison By Rancid. It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of short songs, and this is just that – at just over one and a half minutes long, it’s a perfectly punctuated and frantic song that hits hard and fast.
Third track This Song Was Never Written isn’t one of the more standout songs. Whilst it is a good track, it almost feels a little like a mixture of the other three tracks, so it subsequently blended into the background a little, which was a shame. Closing track Depressing/Scream It Out finishes things on a high, however. A catchy little number, it had my foot tapping along from start to finish, and the way the song ends with only vocals was a nice touch.
Overall, The Bench EP is a pretty good release that is full of potential. If you like your punk, you’ll love this, but don’t go in expecting anything completely different.
Yeah, I know, you’ve heard the name. I’m not saying we don’t have history, or at least I don’t have history with Braxton Hicks. I’ve known lead singer Joe Hovis (think about it) for years, and recently he agreed to be our man looking after punk (and maybe even hardcore) for Backseat Mafia. But this is no kiss-ass payment for future services rendered. I was going to give Braxton Hicks a look in anyway.
Coming up to being a year old (Joe having put an advert out in July 2012) the North Wales three-piece, Joe being joined by Neil Crud (ex-Sons of Selina) on bass and drummer Gwion, have been out and about all over north wales and beyond honing their skills, and playing with legends such as UK Subs and Goldblade along the way.
Following on from their debut ep ‘The Bench’ comes recently released ‘The Bench’ EP, which came out on the Link2Wales label. Opening track Gone Fishin’ is instantly reminiscent of the DIY classic punk groups from the beginning of Punk, almost TV Personalities in its charm, although the shadow of NoFX and indeed the UK Subs, as well as the ghost of Welsh punk of the past (Anhrefn et al)
Second track on the EP is a case in point, the song being Poison by Rancid. No, not a cover – more a eulogy to that song, Hovis saying ‘makes me glad I don’t waste any more years / on you scumbags I thought we were close / Poison by Rancid just sums it all up’. It’s shows that Hovis’ voice can change gear to all sneering, grating punk front man, and the band add an appropriately enthusiastic racket (and I mean that in a good way) underneath.
This Song was never written carries on at a furious pace, this punk esthetic not getting in the way of what are actually deeply personal lyrics ‘I’ve never written a love song and this one won’t be the first’ sings Hovis, before taking us around the houses of saying just about everything but the dreaded ‘L’ word. The music, though simple, drives on, its catchiness taking the listen along with it for the ride.
The final track on the ep is ‘Depression / Scream it out’, revisiting theme’s that appeared in the first ep as well. It’s classic punk riffs mean that you can almost guess what is coming, but it’s the personal (or at least Hovis putting himself in the state of mind) lyrics ‘Depression breaks inside of me / I wanna sleep 20 hours a day / Can’t bring myself to shower or shave / and I feel nothing when I see a woman’s body’ sings Hovis. Although the track is short, in true punk style, for us its the strongest and most musically ambitious track on the ep.
Yeah, its straight up punk, classic style, which we’ve all heard before. But its catchy, interesting and what sets it apart is Hovis himself, his persona and particularly lyrically, stretching his band beyond the usual punk subject matter. Buy it, yes kiss ass? Well, not yet.
We played a fun packed night at The Skerries in Bangor tonight with the very excellent Atlas Will Atone and Psycodeth.
Good crowd, good laugh, Neil managed to snap his guitar cable clean off, Joe managed to finish Never Kill Yourself in the wrong key, lucky Gwion was there to hold it all together!
Paul of Bryce Amps not only brought his Teprha 1x12 amp for us to try out (again), he also snapped this footage of our final song Get Outta My Head.
Inferno, Bad Dog, Braxton Hicks, Jed is Dead, I Fight Lions
Dinosaur Garden didn't show up, and were meant to provide a drumkit. It turned out to be a good thing really as 6 bands was far too many for one gig, and Inferno had their set cut short anyway as time was running out (1.20am).
This was the launch night of our new EP 'The Bench' - we sold 9 copies, which, by our standards is pretty impressive - was a good turn out too...
We were a bit worse for wear due to the evil drink. Gwion was out on the town on a HMV staff party, so he turned up 20 minutes before we were due on.
Sound was poor due to karaoke mics. Lots of good banter between songs lots of interaction between band and audience - good fun..., oh and Neil bit Joe's arm.
Set list.. Macho Man / I Don't Wanna Be You / Depression / I Won't Take The Blame / Depend On You / This Song Was Never Written / Never Kill Yourself / All In / Gone Fishin' / Poison By Rancid
We were supposed to open with a new track Belly's Gonna Getcha but because our rehearsal room had been double booked, we took the safe option and did Macho Man instead. Did play 2 new tracks Depend On You and All In which we played ok. Funny not playing Government To Be and Get Outta My Head.
Neil and Joe went to a party in Tregarth afterwards where Slayer, Hendrix and AC/DC was played at maximum volume... Joe finished the evening hugging Neil's toilet...
Joe wrote this on our facebook page... 'Great
gig last night in Bangor and fantastic audience (until you started
chanting 'Weasley! Weasley! Weasley!' at me....bastards.) You know its
been a good night when you wake up hugging the toilet bowl and lying on
Neil Crud's bathroom floor completely unable to move! great times. We
flogged 9 EPs last night, hope you enjoy it (its like hearing us play
live but better.....) Hope the guys that lost their jobs at HMV get one
soon, in the mean time Gwion says he'll share his wage packet with you
all.'
The Bench EP only came out today but its already making children violent..!!
This 4 tracker is the follow up to last December’s debut ‘Never Kill
Yourself EP’ on Secrets of Sound Records and pays homage to the bench
where the band’s (and this site) friend, Johnny Williams would while
away the hours fishing.
Featuring 4 tracks – Gone Fishin’ / Poison By Rancid / This Song Was Never Written / Depression-Scream It Out.
Available on CD copy for £2.50 (inc p+p) by clicking this link
L2W 002
When I formed Braxton Hicks, I made the
conscious decision not to be a political band. Now that doesn't mean
ignoring it completely, but i wanted to focus the band on having a laugh
and enjoying a few beers. Plus I don't know enough about politics for
us to be political and there are 100's of bands already doing it (not
knocking them, in fact some of my favorites are bands of this ilk!) but
having watched this documentary on Monday night I felt I couldn't just
sit back and not say anything.
I have tried to watch documentaries about the Hillsborough disaster
before, but have found them too upsetting and had to turn them off but i
made myself watch this one. I was shocked. I was only 9 months old when
it happened and I had never appreciated the size and impact that day
had on so many lives. My words can not do it justice the damage that had
been done on that day And this is before I talk about the police and
government cover up.
If corrupt policemen and government
employees can cover up an incident that happened on national television,
with thousands of football fans as witnesses, what can they/do they
cover up in private? It's sick.
I don't care if you don't
support Liverpool FC, hate Liverpool FC or can not stand football in
general that is irrelevant, you must watch this.
If you didn't see the documentary please click on this link.
Once you've watched it, please sign this petition to get the Chief
scumbags knighthood removed. That seems like nothing locking him up
would be the answer.
LINE UP - Vermin Suicides, Braxton Hicks, Toby Parker & The Suitcase
(from Crud Blog) - It’s a shame I have review my own gigs!! But I guess most people are lost for words after seeing Braxton Hicks
(ha ha!). We turned up at what is essentially a cool / studenty /
place-to-be-seen cafe, that transforms into a venue, with stage, lights,
great sound and brilliant vibe. Couldn’t hear a fucking thing during
the first song, and Bentham was quick to realise and got the engineer to
throb my bass up in the monitors. Joe & Gwion thought we played
well, crowd did so too, so I guess it was a good performance. Nice to
see Phil Newall endure us again, also Hockey & Richie (Bite Back), that dude from Dead Class and Carl Gintis (Wobbly Hearts) amongst the crowd. Set list – Government
To Be / I Don’t Wanna Be You / Get Outta My Head / Macho Man / Song Was
Never Written / I Won’t Take The Blame / Poison By Rancid / Gone
Fishin’ / Never Kill Yourself.
(from Crud blog) - It was organised by Bangor Youth Group, who, in hindsight may not have
allowed us to play because of said references and smuggled Port, but
without people like themselves who dedicate their time and efforts for
the greater good and not for profit then the world would be a far worse
off place.
We played our usual 25 minutes, and
like BYG, offered our services and effort at our own expense for the
greater good. Joe was on top form despite breaking a string and despite
not being able to hear each other I guess we did okay – they seemed to
like us, and the kids who got up with their guitars at the Open Mic
Session beforehand put our abilities to shame. The difference being, we
are up there playing as a band, playing our own songs, which have been
released and played on national radio, we’ve got ourselves on the covers
of national magazines, we’ve supported ‘name’ bands. That is by no
means bragging… That is quite simply stating that a band with our
limited capabilities can go out there and get our name in small print on
the poster, and time and time again it shows that it’s the bands/people
with drive that get somewhere. Britain may very well have talent, but
it’s up to you to see beyond a panel of arrogant sneering judges and
make a name for yourselves. It’s your decision… ours was to be an
unambitious punk band, I think our job is done on that front, and I’m
now quite happy to take up Anhrefn’s sub-manifesto.
There was a bit of 'afters' a day later when we received a message from BYGS...
'we hope you all enjoyed playing tonight. We had expected a bigger
turnout,but exams have just begun so I guess some stayed away because of
that. Thanks very much for playing. We appreciate your time.
Unfortunately though you put us in a bit of an uncomfortable position -
with all the swearing and reference to drugs etc (I really hope I'm not
going to have to answer to anyone about it)...and the empty bottle of
port didn't go down too well when the member of staff found it in the
toilets either...
We are a volunteer group that are trying to
establish youth events in Bangor and to shine a positive light on young
people. So far we have a really good relationship and level of trust
with the community and we work hard to maintain a 'clean' image and to
sustain the ethos of the venues we use e.g Blue Sky Cafe.
That aside, I can say that we all really enjoyed your set - you're very talented and you have a great stage presence.
I think the guys (Loui Bryn and Jonny) are really keen to invite you to some of the over 18 gigs they organise. All the best with the rest of your gigs.'
Joe replied, 'Apologies i did mean to move that bottle of port from the toilet, but
forgot about it.... I wasn't being a rebel without a cause, port
genuinely helps my voice and at the gigs where i havent drunk it I've
lost my voice mid set! we tryed our best not to swear and did apologize
where we could, as you can imagine we are not used to playing to under
18s! We censored a few of our lyrics too... but I can imagine they hear
far worse language in the playground. We hate drugs and never use them
or advocate anyone to use them. I would hate to think that we would ever
get you shut down, if that is the case I would be happy to fight your
corner and will take full responsibility for any offense we caused on
the evening. Other than that glad you liked our set and hope we can play
again in the future, to under or over 18's!'
And BYGS replied, 'Thanks very much for your message. I'm sure there won't be any come back
at all, but I wanted to highlight it -just because we were put in a bit
of an awkward position once you'd gone - I mean you did make reference
to Speed and the port you'd drunk too much of.you're right the children
will have heard (and used) much worse language before. I appreciate you
did make the effort and thanks for cencoring your lyrics!its just, I
have to maintain the aims and objectives of the youth group in any night
we put on - we sometimes have people of interest drop in on our nights
to see how they're going.
Thanks very much for your apology, it's appreciated and accepted wholeheartedly.
You guys'll do really well (can't believe you've only been going for
6months) - a good number of people turned up solely to see you play last
night (even in a cafe!) which was ace.'
LINE UP: ArtisFiction, Inferno, Braxton Hicks, Atlas Will Atone
(from Crudblog): We were due to play at another venue in town, while this gig was on,
which was silly. One horse towns have enough trouble hosting one night,
let alone two. The gig was thankfully pulled and as an olive branch we were given the opportunity to bake under the stage lights
and face a difficult audience at this metal night. That’s exactly what
happened, they were a tough audience, or at least didn’t know how to
react to Joe’s piss-taking banter, ‘We went down like a lead balloon,’
he later said. I think we lasted 20 minutes, a great diet though, as I
lost about half a stone in the heat!
Braxton Hicks are featured on the cover CD of this month’s Vive Le Rock magazine, alongside the likes of Killing Joke and Wilco Johnson.
Available from WH Smiths and other good newsagents, the magazine has a
print run of 15,000 and specialises in punk, garage, primal rock’n'roll,
new wave and 80s hardcore.
Braxton Hicks track is Never Kill Yourself taken off our
debut EP of the same title and is described by Vive Le Rock as ‘a
slightly unhinged collision of The Minutemen and Snuff.’ – On hearing
the description, Joe Hovis said, ‘Two fucking ace bands, one of
which is quintessentially British which is a bonus.’
We are soon to release their follow up ‘The Bench EP’ on
link2wales records, and plans are afoot for the label to reissue ‘Never
Kill Yourself EP’ which has now sold out. There is also a debut album
planned for release in September… Vive Le Rock
(from Crudblog): First up it was Braxton Hicks (pic by Emma Barry),
pretty sad when I have to review my own gigs, but hey! It’s my band and
I’ll type if I want to, and no other fucker will write about us! We
came, they saw and we played conkers with the crowd. A decent enough
set, plenty of mistakes from me as usual and plenty of good humoured
banter with the locals, who seemed to like us… And a huge hats off to
Rob Talbot, the promoter who made tonight, and many other excellent
nights past and future possible at this great venue. Without people like
Rob, events like these would not be possible; we’d be left with shitty
pub gigs, awful tribute and covers bands or ‘big’ gigs where the money
making whores take your wages. There is a need for venues of this size
that are independent of any corporate pressures, they are perfect for
bands of Goldblade’s stature, not just perfect, but an absolute
necessity, and also a springboard for cruddy bands like mine who
normally have to play those shitty pubs to 4 people (3 of them bar
staff).
LINE UP: Wobbly Hearts, Mexican Walking Fish, Heldinky, Electric Valves, Braxton Hicks
(from Crudblog) I was initially nervous at playing in front of people who are my peers,
but who are far better musicians than myself; Duncan Black, Dewi Gwyn,
Chris Combi Markwell, Carl & Rob Gintis just to mention a few. The
nerves soon ebbed away and we gave as good as we could give, and judging
by the response I guess they enjoyed it, and the Bryce amp that Joe
plugged his guitar into blew me away – amazing sound.
Spent the day at Rockcliffe in Llandudno recording the 3 remaining tracks to go on The Bench EP Depression, Poison By Rancid, This Song Was Never Written.
Neil doing his 53rd take of Depression and getting depressed about it...
We've been busy learning / writing new material. Here Gwion gets his teeth into the new song, Neil struggles with the longer words and Joe wonders what the fuck he's doing with these two tards.
LINE UP: Arcade Avenue, His Finest Hour, Braxton Hicks, What The Dickens?
(review by Combi Chris) With all the subtlety of a shotgun blast to a nun, Braxton Hicks
(pic above) are next up, and are a spitting, swaggering salute to the
classic days of punk. The Christian Union meeting must’ve seemed like
catnip to guitarist/vocalist Joe, who decided to address them directly:
“If you’re Christian, give us a shout!” A meek, terrified response
followed, but hey! it’s the meek that’ll inherit the Earth, right? Well
played, Christians. Well played. These punks are really fast: Joe’s strumming skills are a lesbian’s wet
dream, Neil Crud becomes a Tourette’s sufferer when he straps on his
bass, whirling, twitching and capering his way everywhere, yet somehow
not managing to miss a single note. Getting flipped off by him mid-song
was just lovely – cheers, mate! Haha! As for Gwion, the drummer? An
angry, pale, technically-proficient musician, his battering of his poor
drumkit can only be truly described as musical spousal abuse.
Their set was a roaring, frenzied statement of musical intent,
punctuated by their amazing closing song, ‘Never Kill Yourself’. I have
to admit, I did sing and bang my head to this tune: it’s just too catchy
not to. Punk’s not dead, people: it’s still as weird as ever.
(from Crudblog) We played our set, we dripped our sweat. We got a
good response, hell, some even knew the words! Which ain’t bad, as the
songs will be alien to the vast majority and not a cover to be heard;
more so because we lack the talent to master anyone else’s tunes! Our 28
minutes of making a racket consisted of Macho Man / I Don’t Wanna Be
You / Depression / Get Outta My Head / Poison By Rancid / Gone Fishin’ /
Government To Be / This Song Was Never Written / Never Kill Yourself.
It was cold on the promenade in Old Colwyn, the fishermen lined up in thermals, hoods and gloves gave it away as Gwion and myself pulled up alongside Johnny's Bench.
'I bet they didn't get body paint, I bet it was car spray.' I muttered as we climbed out of the car. My reference was to spraying our hands orange, paying homage to one of the madcap things Johnny used to do, simply for a laugh.
The days when this gang of punks lived carefree lives, throwing each about and throwing up at The Dudley Arms have long gone, some have grown up, some have moved away, some have had kids, some have to work, some have fallen out big time and some have died. This is why Joe organised this day to shoot a video for Braxton Hicks' next single Gone Fishing which is, of course about Johnny, he who died six years ago after a night out in Manchester.
It would've been brilliant to have had everyone there, the whole gang there, but, like I've just said... Those days have long gone.
