MARCH 2007: Live Review – Without Motive (w/ Testosterone)

Who: Without Motive, Rise to Ruin, Testosterone
Where: The Venue, Preston
When: March 16th, 2007

A few weeks back, we bumped into Wigan band Testosterone who confessed to being somewhat nervous about their upcoming gig.

Naturally, this got us curious. After all, the band have played countless gigs over the last year or so, why would they possibly be nervous about one more?

Turns out that the band were set to take their Blink 182 inspired pop-punk to do battle with two of Preston’s most popular metal bands, and they were set to do it on the Prestonians’ home turf. Certainly an interesting situation then, and one which we just had to see for ourselves.

Rise to Ruin are up first for what we later find out is their last ever gig, and on first glance, they’re certainly an imposing sight. Taking over the entire stage, they seem to be a twenty strong army, though in the sober light of day we’re inclined to believe that we’ve made this up, and there’s probably only five of them.

Either way, the point is that the metal militia currently making their presence felt on the stage look like they mean business, and sound that way too.

Throttling guitars and bass rampage over head-stomping drums, sealed with vigorous vocals that unfortunately find themselves lost amongst the onslaught of bludgeoning riffs scraping across the packed out venue.

Whilst not particularly unique, it more or less sounds good, and could easily whet the appetite of anyone with a fondness for the harshest moments of Slayer, Down, and Lamb of God.

Which many people here tonight seem to have, and whilst there’s nothing about Rise to Ruin that makes us get really excited, it seems their fans have had a pretty good time and the band themselves have played a decent farewell show. Ah, Rise to Ruin, we barely knew ye.

Testosterone appear to be heading into uncharted domain as of late, not just because they’ve agreed to be sandwiched in between two metal bands tonight but also because they’re starting to sound like a band unleashed from the shackles of the pop-punk genre by which they’re usually defined and morphing naturally into an unrestrained, pure rock band.

Taking the stage next, the band confirm such hype with new track Dirty Rock ‘n’ Roll. Arguably their best to date, the song is a whirlwind of energy; a cyclonic lead riff whipping its way into a clobbering thunderstorm of drums and bass and yet still giving those inclined to cut a rug a good excuse to hit the dancefloor. It’s a new direction for Testosterone, and one which we’re eager to see them follow.

However, the band aren’t likely to turn their back’s on what made us, and many others, fans in the first place, and follow this up with two tracks entitled The Lesbian Song and Beer; a reminder that, at the end of the day, they’re still as foolish as ever.

By now the band seem to have to done away with any nerves they had preceding tonight’s show, going so far as to joke with the metal fans in attendance and dedicate a cover of Nerf Herder’s Pantera Fans in Love to, well, Pantera fans.

This isn’t the only time the band will make light of their situation, with frontman Dave Costello later slipping in a sly dig at power metal outfit Dragonforce during a run through of old favourite Punk Rock Rebel. This might seem like a brave move, but it’s made all the less scary by the fact the crowd appear to be enjoying the show, and as the show comes to an end, it’s apparent that the band have enjoyed it too.

Finally, it’s up to headliners Without Motive to take the stage, and damn are they impressive. OK, so their rough ‘n’ tumble brand of metal takes a few songs to digest, but when it does, you know know about it and presented as it is here, in such an off-the-scale live show, it’s near impossible to complain.

With soaring vocals like sirens that signal the oncoming juggernaut of riffs hurtling at high speeds towards the crowd, Without Motive make the kind of heavy metal specifically designed to get heads banging, horns flying and the whole place rocking, which by and large, they do well.

Backed by machine gun beats coming from a drummer out of our view, the band command the stage with an intense presence, which is always nice in an age when many bands seem more concerned with pouting and looking cool than just rocking the hell out like they’re supposed to.

Fronted by a bassist/vocalist who devotes equal effort to slamming his four-stringed weapon of choice with aplomb and roaring down the mic with gusto, Without Motive round out their sound with a dual guitar attack consisting of one snake-like chap who coils round his axe, sending sinuous licks out into the madness and one clearly unfettered rhythm man who seems incapable of standing still for more than two notes.

One minute he’s climbing all over the back of the stage, the next he’s up on the speakers to the front of it, guiding someone’s hand in playing a few chords for him before kissing a girl on the front row and generally going mental, not once taking his hands from his axe or loosing the wild look in his eye and putting on such a show that, swept up in the enthusiastic atmosphere of it all, a certain member of our team hunts him down after the gig to pester him with an unhealthy amount of hero worship.

But this is no one man show, and Without Motive combine their efforts in blasting out swooping scapes of panoptic rock, whipping up an animated air of energy that, whether we like it or not, we all succumb too and find ourselves riveted by such a captivating show.

The band bring their set to a close, and it seems that everyone has had a good time, and as we take our leave, we reflect on Testosterone’s earlier anxiety.

There was no reason for them to be nervous, was there? It doesn’t matter whether a band play pop-punk, metal or post-grunge-disco-grind-tellytubbycore, great music is great music and as long as they’ve got killer tunes and an awesome stage show, people will enjoy it.

At least two of tonight’s acts had exactly those two things, and we absolutely loved it.
By Chris Skoyles

MAY 2006: Live Review – The Five-0s (w/ Second 2 Last + more), Hogan’s Bar, Leigh

Who: The Five-0s, Second 2 Last, The Bedheads
Where: Hogan’s Bar, Leigh
When: May 12th, 2006

You’d think that having raced from one end of the country to the other, on the back of a successful string of gigs, would leave a band feeling fairly knackered.

Yet as The LINC catches up with members of Second 2 Last amidst the frenzied atmosphere that preludes tonight’s show, they’re positively buzzing with news of last night’s gig in Great Yarmouth and the mad journey all the way back home to play at Leigh’s Hogan’s Bar.

Taking to the stage a short while after, the boys prove, if ever proof were needed, that fatigue is not a word in their vocabulary.

With their usual singer out of the fold due to other commitments, it is up to guitarist Gall to step up to the mic and assume vocal duties. A fine job he does of it too, as he leads his troops through a rabble-rousing set of chaotic punk that fuses the old school impetuousness of the likes of The Buzzcocks with the post Y2K attitude of the crop of modern punk bands currently mithering the masses.

Another band who make a glorious fusion of old and new are Neo-Glam rocks stars The Bedheads, who take to the stage next to a fanfare of old-school metal that reminds us of Slash and Metallica muso Kirk Hammet trading licks over the intro to Slayer’s Black Magic.

If looks were all that counted, it would probably be easy to simply pass these boys off as posers. One with a floppy mop of blonde hair and eyeliner, one rocking the trademark emo look, and a bassist who goes about his business sans shirt.

Yet as the band burst into their emo-meets-metal (this is not, by any means ‘emo metal’) onslaught of powerful riffage and an even more powerful stage presence, it becomes clear that such flamboyance is essential to putting on such an awesome show.

There comes a point may be once, if ever, in any music fan’s life, when they accidentally stumble across a band who look, and sound, so ready for the big time that you feel quite proud to have caught them so early on in their careers. For this reviewer, The Bedheads, like the reincarnate of Appetite-era Guns n Roses, are that band.

And so it is that local heroes The 5-Os have a hard act to follow as they take to the stage next to round up tonight’s show.

Currently ripping up and down the country as part of their ‘Wear Nothing 2006’ tour, the brothers Bradbury seduce and then beat their home-town fans with their Green Day-meets-The Offspring punk rock. Launching into tonight’s set with their usual gusto and aplomb, The 5-0s command both stage and audience, tearing through each tumultuous tune with such intensity that you can’t help but fear that they may just collectively combust at any moment.

Whilst drummer Ryan keeps things moving with a fast, thumping beat, elder brother and lead guitarist/vocalist, Adam writhes around, his guitar screaming and roaring with life. Meanwhile, Liam throttles his bass with such a fury, you’d be forgiven for thinking that his 4-stringer weapon of choice just said something rather unpleasant about his mother.

Eventually however, as all good things have a nasty habit of doing, the show ends. The 5-Os unrestrained energy wrapping up what has been, on the whole, a great night of live music
By Jack Conner

APRIL 2006: Live Review – Suckerpunch Promotions Punk Night, Twelve Apostles, Westleigh

Who: This Devastated Fan, Cockpit, Second 2 Last, Testosterone
Where: Twelve Apostles, Westleigh
When: April 28th, 2006

On a breezy Friday evening in the middle of Westleigh there lies a quiet, unsuspecting club, seemingly unaware that it’s about to be ripped apart by four ferocious, loud and lairy local bands.

On first appearance, the 12 Apostles looks like the sort of gaff your granddad might head to for a swift pint of ale and a quiet game of cards. Yet as we step inside and are greeted by Mohawks, baggy pants and the occasional ‘Offspring hoody, it becomes apparent that what we’re in for tonight, is anything but ‘a quiet game of cards’, as new boys to the local scene, Suckerpunch Promotions take charge for the night.

For all intents and purposes, we’re gonna call tonight a punk night, even though opening act This Devastated Fan are a far from a punk band.

Formed from the ashes of Quick Exit, TDF display all the confidence and smoothness of a band who’ve been doing this just long enough to be comfortable on stage, whilst still hungry to improve their game.

Lead vocalist Robbie may seem a little timid as he talks to the audience between songs, yet cue the music and he rocks out like a natural-born frontman, leading the rest of his band through a tight, powerful set.

Tinkering with a tint of ‘Sixteen Stone’ era Bush, TDF throw a bit of grunge into their metal-lite mix, resulting in a stomping, thumping show that even the most seasoned of local acts would have a hard time to beat.

So you’ve got to feel sorry for punk outfit Cockpit, who take to the stage next and seem to be having a rather bad time of it all.

Comparisons to seminal punk heroes NOFX are likely to come thick and fast for this lot, from the snarling guitars to the bassist, who for all the world reminds us of punk rock messiah, Fat Mike which, (a compliment, we assure you). 

Indeed, when they do strike up the guitars and let rip with some furiously turbulent punk, Cockpit are quite good. Sadly however, they spend most of their time playfully bickering with each other, seemingly an attempt to hide their embarrassment as it takes them almost five minutes to re-tune their instruments after every song.

At first it’s understandable, after all, who hasn’t had a bit off difficulty with something at one time or another? Yet after a while, unfortunately it all gets a bit tedious, and though the band do manage about five or six songs in their botched-up set, there’s that much faffing about in between that many people seem to have lost interest.

Which is a shame, as Cockpit show plenty of potential and youthful exuberance, and with a bit more time, and a lot more experience, they could be a force to be reckoned with.

Something that Leigh outfit, Second 2 Last, are quickly becoming. Quietly picking up an impressive following thanks to a string of live shows, namely at Leigh’s Hogan’s Bar, where, embodying the spirit of punk, the lads have sorted themselves out as Suckerpunch Promotions and put on their own shows and tonight, Second 2 Last put on a great show.

Everything you could ask for in a good punk band is on display tonight; irascible guitars, petulant vocals and baggy basslines that fit around everything like a pair of loose fitting DC Jeans, all hammered home by a relentless drummer who batters his skins black and blue.

As a small army of fans make their way to the front, Second 2 Last treat them a great display in Punk Rock 101. True, there’s nothing highly original on offer here, yet that’s not what’s really important here. What matters Is the music, and this music rocks.

By a happy coincidence, our old friends, Testosterone take to the stage next to round things off with their boisterous brand of puerile pop-punk. Just as daft as ever, if there’s anything we haven’t already said about Testosterone, then it’s simply not worth mentioning, as the monstrous Titty Twister marks the start of another bout of madness, mayhem, and bloody good tunes.

By all accounts, this is your run-of-the-mill Testosterone show; irreverent lyrics and melodic riffs mixed with comical 80’s-rock stage antics and, erm, a pink guitar, though it’s nonetheless as enjoyable as ever. Indeed, if you’ve ever seen these boys before, you’ll know what to expect.

Yet what actually happens tonight issomething seems to have happened that nobody could ever have really expected. Almost from nowhere, the crowd rush the stage, taking over the show and dancing along to every song as vocalist Dave Costello, guitarist Ian Graham and bassist Matt Higham vie for room on the now packed stage behind tubthumper Kev brown, and resort to taking it in turns at rocking out on the dancefloor.

It’s an awesome sight, and one that reaffirms the fact that, even on an average day, Testosterone have what it takes to put on a cracking show.
Words and images by Chris Skoyles

APRIL 2006: Interview – The Five-0s

Who: Pop-punk band The Five-0s (Adam, Liam and Ryan Bradbury)

The bright winter sun shines through a crisp, cool and calm air, beaming over an ordinary house that lies in a quiet, unsuspecting little village called Billinge. Hardly seems like the right setting to meet a bunch of buoyant and boisterous brothers who play in a punk rock band, does it?

Yet here we are. That ordinary house is home to the Bradbury brothers, Adam (21, guitars, vocals). Liam (19, bass, vocals). Ryan (17, drums), who together escape this sleepy village to rock stages across the country as The Five-0s.

A few hours before the boys pack up their frenzied fusion of energetic punk rock and crazy on-stage antics for a gig in Liverpool, The LINC were invited over to the Bradbury household to talk about life at home, on the road and on stage.

How did you all get into music?

Adam: We all had music lessons in primary school and stuff, like I had a few piano lessons, but I only started playing guitar when I was fifteen. Obviously I wanted to form a band after that, so I started jamming with a few mates. Then these two started playing instruments and we ended up coming together.

How did you make the transition from playing piano to picking up a guitar and playing rock?

Adam: It just comes from what we listen to.

Ryan: I still play piano. We all like different types of music…

Adam: We write our own stuff which people say sounds like this or sounds like that, but it’s all influenced by what we’re listening to at the time. Our older stuff is more influenced by Green Day & Blink 182, whereas our newer stuff is more influenced by Fall Out Boy and stuff like that. It’s still original but I mean you always take your influences from places don’t you?

After Adam picked up the guitar, was it a natural thing for you two [Ryan & Liam] to pick up other instruments or did you start playing with the intention of the three of you playing together?

Ryan: Yeah, it was sort of a case of ‘OK, he plays guitar and vocals’ so we need a drummer and a bassist, I’ll take up drums and Liam can play bass.

Did you both pick it up quite naturally once you had your instruments?

Ryan: I think we did.

Adam: When we first started, Ry’ was about 11, and he’d been playing drums for about a month when we had our first gig.

Liam: We weren’t good… but we had potential.

Adam: We were still like the best band around though!

Ryan: [laughing] Best Billinge band anyway!

You used to have a band called Sketcher….

Adam: We were called Sketcher yeah. We started off as The Edge. Then we got signed to a management company who changed our name to Sketcher because they had an advertising deal with Sketcher shoes or something. We had another guy playing with us called Gaz Birch on guitar as well, and it was going good for a while, we played with The Matches and 4ft Fingers and that in London, and played with some signed bands in Manchester and Liverpool.

We then got in touch with Bryan Adams’ UK tour manager, and we got to play two stadium dates with Bryan Adams, which was quite cool. After that though, it got a bit weird, our manager wanted to push us towards the more Girls Aloud, Busted stuff.

Ryan: He wanted us to be the next Busted, and we’re not comfortable with playing songs that…

Adam: He was pushing us to play his songs and some covers that we didn’t like. So we had a meeting with him and at the end of our contract we didn’t sign with him again, but Gaz wanted to make money so he stayed with him.

Ryan: Every time we do interviews though that always comes up so we don’t mention too much about that. We’re trying’ to move away from that now.

Adam: Now though, I think we’re a lot stronger. We play some of the same songs but the sound is completely different, it sounds more raw, tighter and together.

When Gaz left, did you ever consider recruiting a forth member to replace him?

Ryan: We thought about it yeah.

Adam: But we’re three brothers, so at the end of the day, whoever came in, it was gonna be awkward for them to fit in.

Liam: We’ve had other guitarists before but they’ve all left.

Adam: I’d love to have another guitarist. I’d love to be able to just sing and have somebody else play guitar, but I think that it just wouldn’t work. We’re all different personality wise but because we’re brothers, it’s like anybody else who came in would feel like an outsider.

So you three all live together and play together, is there any time when you get on each other’s nerves?

Adam: I don’t know. When we first started there were obviously a few arguments, but because we’ve grown up together doing the band, we know…it’s really professional the way we work. Even if we have a big argument just before a gig, as soon as we get on stage, it becomes our job. We have to play our songs and put on a performance and by the time we get off stage we’re all hyped about our performance so we just forget about whatever it was we were arguing about.

There’s hardly any arguments anyway, we’ve all got pretty passive personalities anyway.

Ryan: If somebody says something to us, we’re not gonna jump on them, we normally just let it all go over our heads.

Adam: I think that’s why we work so well together in the band.

Is there a point where the band ends and simply being brothers begins?

ADAM: I don’t know, I’ve never thought about it like that.

RYAN: It’s a tough question, I don’t see it like that, it’s all mixed.

ADAM: We’re three brothers, and we’re in a band together, and I think that’s just it, there’s no ‘two sides’ to it.

LIAM: Even when we’re not on stage where always playing about with instruments and music all the time.

ADAM: It’s not like we’ve got two lives or anything. It’s not like there’s the band life and then the home/brothers life.

LIAM: It’s just…. life.

What do your parents make of it all?

ADAM: They’ve been really supportive since we started. They don’t wanna get too involved because they don’t wanna tread on our feet or anything, but they always help us out. Dad takes us to gigs and helps us out a lot. If we didn’t have him we’d find it really hard to, especially in terms of finance like travelling down to London and that. Fair enough sometimes you might get paid for a gig in London to cover petrol or whatever, but you still need the money to start with in the first place.

Do you not drive them mad making noise all the time?

RYAN: Well, we don’t have a drum kit here because we don’t rehearse here, but I’m always on the piano and stuff.

ADAM: I have a tendency to play my guitar at two in the morning so obviously they get annoyed at that, but other than that they’re just really supportive.

Where do you rehearse?

RYAN: Fuzzbox at the minute.

You recorded a split EP with Smudge last year, how did that come about?

ADAM: We’ve known Smudge for ages, we used to skate with Dan Fisher [Smudge guitarist] all the time. When we formed a band he was always coming to our gigs, so then when he formed a band we were really supportive of his band too.

LIAM: They basically phoned us up and asked us if we wanted to do the EP because we’d done a couple of gigs with them as well.

ADAM: They practice in the Fuzzbox as well, and I always go out on a Friday with them so we’re all good friends.

We made 100 copies of the EP, then did a two-week tour in February [2005] and it actually sold out half way through the tour so that was really good.

Where did you go on tour?

ADAM: It was mainly around the North West. We went around Nantwich and Stoke, Manchester and Liverpool, and we played in St. Helens, Wigan, just all over.

Are you friends or fans of any other local bands?

RYAN: Yeah, quite a lot actually, but now you’ve asked I can’t think of any!

ADAM: There’s a lot of bands in St. Helens were friends with as well. Because we’ve been playing for five or six years we’ve kind of just got to know everybody who we’ve been playing with.

What do you make of the music scene at this level? Is there a lot of competition between bands?

RYAN: I think there is. There’s a lot of bands who’ll tell people to come and see them, but then tell them not to watch bands [who are also on the bill] there’s quite a lot of that going on.

LIAM: Indie bands do that a lot.

ADAM: That’s my experience, you get a lot of indie bands who do that but with punk bands, they’re all really supportive of each other. I guess maybe indie bands support other indie bands. That’s the competition bit, between different alternative bands.

RYAN: There’s a lot of people who go to local gigs these days. It died out a bit a couple of years ago, but it seems like a lot of people are getting back into it.

What kind of fans do you normally attract?

ADAM: The age range is kind of between 14-18, so obviously we struggle to fill venues that are 18 and up.

With venues in Manchester where it’s over 18s because of alcohol and stuff we maybe get ten or twenty people down, but if we play somewhere like an all-ages gig at the Roadkill in Liverpool where we’re playing tonight, we get loads of people down.

They enjoy our music, but they know that when they come down to watch us there’s a bit of a social thing there as well, so I think they come for a bit of both.

By ‘socialising’ you mean people come down to meet other people who like you guys and who are into the same sorts of music?

ADAM: Yeah, like we played at The Citadel [St. Helens] and a lot of people came down there just because they knew other people were coming.

RYAN: There’s a lot of ‘bad’ bands as well though. There’s a lot of people who say ‘oh I’m not watching the bands’ but they’ll just go down to talk and they’ll say ‘oh this band’s rubbish’. I think if you put good bands on as well, I think it’ll start something.

LIAM: What are you trying to say?

RYAN: I’m just saying that, from what people have told us, they’re like ‘Why don’t you play with some good bands’…. I don’t know what I’m trying to say but…

LIAM: You could name some bands Ryan if you want….

RYAN: No no, I’m not…I just mean that people go out to socialise instead of watching the bands, whereas if you put good bands on, people would want to watch them.

ADAM: The thing at the minute though is that a lot of bands are like, ‘emo-metal’, hardcore bands, and I think that people are like…Not bored of the scene in general, just bands who are trying to do that and can’t. There’s loads of bands out there that just play Drop-D and scream all the time and can’t actually play their instruments. A lot of kids see that and think ‘wow, that’s really good’, but then they see a band who can really do it well, and…. There’s just too many bands who can’t actually play.

If you could pick any bands to play on the same bill with, who would you pick?

ADAM: Locally it would be our mates’ bands, because we could see them play and then have a good gig as well.

RYAN: In terms of signed bands…Whitesnake.

LIAM: Blink 182.

ADAM: Fall Out Boy, there’s not that many big bands that are like us at the minute, I think Fall Out Boy are the main ones, and then it’s older bands like Green Day and Blink. The Get Up Kids, I don’t think they’re going anymore, but bands like that would be really good for us to play with.

What should people expect from a ‘5-0s live show.

RYAN: Crazy!

LIAM: Sometimes we dress up stupid and mess about.

ADAM: We try and focus mainly on the music obviously, like we practice loads and try to get it sounding as good as we can.

LIAM: But if people don’t like the music then at least they can watch a good show.

ADAM: Yeah, it’s like there’s two different sides to it. There could be a band on stage who are really good, but if they just stand there and play, it’s like ‘well, why don’t we just go and listen to your CD’, but if they come out and jump around and have fun then people will just go ‘what the hell?’ and want to watch.

We always try and do something different every time so people don’t get bored. It’s more of a show, isn’t it? It’s like a musical or something!

LIAM: I wouldn’t call it a musical!

RYAN: It’s just a bunch of insane people dressing up and playing music.

You’ve also recorded an album?

ADAM: Yeah, we did it at the same time as we did the EP. We recorded two songs for that and then recorded the rest of the songs after the tour with the money we made. We never got round to releasing it though because we were too busy trying to get a deal so that we could hopefully re-record it. But we decided that we just wanted to get it out there and get the songs on CDs.

We originally only had twenty copies because that’s all we could afford to make. Then that sold out pretty quick so we’ve gotta make some more.

What does the album sound like?

ADAM: There’s a lot of different styles because we’ve got some of the old songs on there as well. So there’s songs on there that are like punk and rock and then there’s stuff on there that’s acoustic.

It’s a bit like a mix between Brand New and Green Day.

RYAN: It’s very English sounding as well, there’s too many bands out there that sound American. OK, we play American music, but you know, we’re English.

ADAM: The thing is, with my singing, when I sing quietly I sound English, but then if I sing big and loud I do sound a bit American, but a lot of American people who’ve heard our stuff say we sound English and a lot of English people say we sound American.
It’s kind of good though because people from this country think we’re an American band and the American’s think we’re English.

RYAN: A lot of English bands do well in America don’t they?

ADAM: Yeah. It works the other way too, I mean The Killers, they’re American but they sound really English.

RYAN: I always thought they were!

And you’re off on tour again soon?

ADAM: Well we’re on a French tour in the summer. We’re just waiting for confirmation of dates and stuff like that at the minute. That’s being organised by a French band called Madcaps. We were supposed to be playing with them at The Cavern [Liverpool] last week but it got cancelled because they double-booked or something, but we’re trying to get a few gigs organised so that they can come over here and play with us in Manchester or Liverpool.

How did that come about?

ADAM: We were both playing The Cavern at the same time, and then they got in touch. I can’t remember if we mentioned it or they did, but it just came together.

How does the live show compare to the recorded output?

RYAN: You can express it more live.

ADAM: I think when you record, you spend a lot of time listening to tracks and concentrating, you kinda of loose the energy, but when we play live we just hammer the instruments, running around and playing. If we play a wrong chord it doesn’t matter that much. Live, it just sounds really big and in your face, but when in the studio, you loose all that.

What does the future hold for the band?

ADAM: I think we’re all happy just doing what we’re doing, just building up people’s awareness of the band.

RYAN: A small label deal would be good.

ADAM: Yeah, possibly a small label to release something so that we don’t have to do all the work of releasing things, but I think we can do a few albums and organise tours ourselves, we don’t really need a label.
If we were to sign, we’d want a deal where we could tour with signed bands and have an album released in shops because those are the sort of things that we can’t do on our own, but everything else we can manage ourselves.

That DIY spirit seems to be very prominent in music at the minute, with the sense that you don’t need a label to get your music out there. How much of a role do you think the internet has to play in all that?

ADAM: I think it’s a big thing. Myspace is genius! It’s the best thing out there for promoting bands and promoting gigs. You can just type in the postcode of the place where your next gig is, find people in that area who might like your stuff, and ask them to check you out. Then it just grows from there, like they’ll tell their friends, and their friends will tell their friends and so on.

LIAM: The only problem with Myspace now is that it’s getting too popular you know? Everyone’s just gonna go on and find something else. Like even Radio 1 are catching on to it about ten years after everybody else.

RYAN: What did we do before Myspace? Know what I mean, it’s like, how did we get people to come to our gigs?

ADAM: We had to literally phone them up. We used to phone people and get them to come down. Now with the internet though, you just press a button and your off.

And finally, what would you say to any fans of yours who’d read this?

ADAM: Keep coming to the gigs and that.

LIAM: Buy the album!

ADAM: Yeah, just come down to the shows and talk to us because we don’t have any friends!
By LINC Staff Reporter

JANUARY 2006: Interview – Testosterone

Who: pop-punk band Testosterone

It’s been an excitingtime  for pop-punk pranksters Testosterone. Support slots with Kerrang Award nominated The Ga*Ga*s, record deal offers, and now they’re debut album is due out anytime.

The LINC with singer/guitarist Dave Costello, rhythm guitarist Ian Graham, drummer Kev Brown and bassist Matt Highton  before their much-anticipated Co-headline slot with Wigan’s angriest girls Hatemale at the The Tavern,

So you’ve just finished recording your debut album, what should people expect from it?

IAN: Catchy little songs

DAVE: It’s all about Ian’s love life basically

IAN: Or lack of one, rather!

MATT: I just hope people aren’t too offended by it.

Why would they be?

MATT: Erm, the lyrical content, we’re just a bunch of idiots really!

During the recording, you were having problems coming up with, or at least agreeing on a title for the album, have you sorted that out yet?

DAVE: We have, it’s gonna be called Let’s Grab A Sock, It’s Time To Rock! It’s actually a line from a song by a band called Zebrahead called Playmate of the Year

IAN: We just thought it was funny, ‘cos we like rockin’… and we like socks!

How does the song writing work in Testosterone?

KEV: You’ll have to ask Ian about that!

DAVE: I’ll give you the low-down. Basically, Ian goes for a night out, has a drink, meets a good lookin’ girl who dumps him the next day. So then he writes a song about it, brings it to me, then I do the music, record it and send it back to him for him to tell me whether he likes it or not. That’s pretty much how it works.

KEV: And then six months later, Matt and me get told about it!

IAN: Yeah, that’s it!

MATT: Yeah, like at band practice a week before we’re supposed to be playing it!

One thing that’s always noticeable at your shows is the little tiffs between Ian and Dave. How much of that is genuine tension, how much is stage show?

IAN: It’s all real! I hate this guy, seriously!

DAVE: Yeah, and I hate you, you *****!

IAN: The only reason we’re in a band together is because we need each other.

DAVE: Pretty much…Nah, we do get annoyed with each other, but I think that’s natural, because in terms of the band, we’re quite close and we write the songs so sometimes there’s a battle between us to get what we want in terms of the songs, but on stage we do exaggerate it a bit. Like at The Ga*Ga*s gig, we did milk it a lot.

Another noticeable aspect of yours shows is how heavily their success depends on the crowd. If the crowd are up for it, you’re whole show works better, if they’re not, then it seems like you don’t perform as good…

DAVE: That’s pretty much how we see it.

MATT: I think it’s just that you get more relaxed when there’s more people there, especially if it’s people who you know. You just kind of get into the swing of things easier.

IAN: It’s like, when you’re playing a song, if people aren’t reacting to it, you just think ‘Why the hell are you here? Are we doing this right?’

Have you got many people coming down for your gig with Hatemale tonight?

DAVE: I hope so!

IAN: Matt’s got to wear a skirt as well tonight.

OK, you tell people that you play ‘Spunk Rock’. What on earth is Spunk Rock?

DAVE: It’s rock… but spunked up, that’s pretty much it.

IAN: It’s like the next level of rock. A lot of bands will go ‘Oh, I like a girl, I want to hold her hand’ we just take the lyrics a bit further.

DAVE: And talking about getting caught in your girlfriend’s underwear!

The simplest way to describe your music is ‘pop-punk’; the pioneers of which were Blink 182 and Green Day. Green Day have grown up and Blink 182 have split up. Is ‘pop-punk’ a dying genre?

IAN: I don’t think so, I think it just needs another band out there that can do that.

DAVE: I don’t think pop punk will ever die out because when you here it you’ll like it, it’s just fun.

MATT: There are a lot of bands out there though who play this sort of music. It’s not just Blink 182, the only reason people liken us to them is because they were the big mainstream band. There’s loads of pop-punk bands out there, they just stay a bit more out of the mainstream.

KEV: I think people are always gonna like it too, because there’s loads of bands out there who jump on the bandwagon going ‘Ooh, we’re all miserable, let’s go and write some really depressing songs’, our music is just fun and upbeat, and I think people will always want that.

IAN: I think the closest thing around now is Bowling For Soup. Their last album was amazing.

What would you each say is your favourite Testosterone song?

MATT: I suppose mine’s The Thing About Love it was the first song I learned to play with the band.

DAVE: Yeah, probably mine as well. It’s just class; I love doing the little solo in the middle!

KEV: I’d probably say High School, because that’s one of the first ones that I learned with them and, well, I just like it.

IAN: Ok, mine’s either Hot College Girl or High School.

DAVE: Hi, I’m Ian, my favourite songs are the ones about me.

IAN: Yeah! Any song about me has gotta be good! Nah, seriously, I like Hot College Girl because it’s got a really cool riff in it, and when it kicks in I just feel really good. And High School because I finally got to tell everyone I hated at school what I thought of them.

A lot of your songs, like you said earlier, are about failed relationships and girl troubles, how come you can take all that and make it sound really fun, rather than, as Kev said, being all miserable about it.

MATT: We don’t wanna be ‘emo’, that’s why! We hate emo!!

IAN: DOWN WITH EMO!!

MATT: It’s just rubbish.

IAN: Ian-mo isn’t though. Ian-mo is the way forward. Nah, to be honest, when I’m writing, I just don’t wanna be too depressed about it. There’s gonna be other people going through the same thing, and I think if they can here one of our songs, then maybe they’ll think ‘Oh, it’s not that bad, let’s dance!’

DAVE: If we arrange the songs differently though, with acoustics and stuff, they do come out depressing, but the music behind it, that’s what really makes ‘em happy.

What’s been the highlight for you guys so far?

MATT: For me, it’s just been joining the band, them letting me be in it. I think Kenfest (Free summer outdoor gig in Wigan) as well. That was pretty cool.

DAVE: The Ga Star Ga Stars gig was cool, all the kids going ‘Wooo! Testosterone!’

What was so good about that gig?

DAVE: Well, I’ve been in a few different bands for a few years, but I’ve never really played on a big stage, with people dancing to our music in front of us and then cheering for each one of us when I introduced the band. Then they didn’t even really enjoy the other two bands that they’d come to see, and didn’t seem to bother. That was ace.

IAN: There’s a few for me. We played a gig with The Gods Of Rock at Christmas at The Topspot, which was cool; everyone was up for that. The same when we played The Presidential in Ashton, everyone was dancing and it as just really cool. But yeah, I think The Ga*Ga*s definitely was a big thing for us, it was just amazing.

KEV: I think the highlight so far was the last gig we did at The Presidential in Ashton. IT was packed, and everybody got really into it. All you could see was people dancing, which was awesome.

Speaking of The Presidential, you played a big charity gig there on September 25th with nine other bands. Do you think it’s important for bands to get involved with charities?

DAVE: I think so definitely. You have all these bands that go out and make loads of money for themselves, surely they can take one night off to play for charity and help out.

IAN: I think bands are important for charity, because they can help to raise awareness, but I don’t like these bands that dedicate themselves to one charity and shove it down people’s throats. If you do that people just stop listening.

KEV: Like U2?

IAN: Yeah, Bono’s an idiot.

What kind of fans do you attract?

DAVE: Teenagers… and immature adults.

MATT: Guys and girls who basically just don’t want to grow up, so people like us!

DAVE: I think the main core of our fans are really the people who ‘get’ our sense of humour and aren’t offended by what we say!

IAN: I think we really speak out to Hatemale as well, they’re probably our biggest fans!

You’re playing with them at The Tavern in Wigan tonight. A band called Testosterone with songs about girls and a band called Hatemale, it’s a bit of a battle of the sexes isn’t it? You looking forward to it?

IAN: Yeah! I can’t wait for it!

Has the show been deliberately booked that way?

DAVE: I think so, I think it’s a good idea.

IAN: I’m playing a pink guitar tonight though, so that just makes everything a bit confusing!

A lot of bands from the Wigan area tend to venture out and try their luck on the Manchester and Liverpool scenes, yet you’ve stayed pretty close to home so far, why is that?

DAVE: I think we’re going to get ourselves a name round here, and then try and take it a bit further.

IAN: We’ve only been together for a year really, some bands are together for a whole year before they even gig, but I think we’ve done pretty well for ourselves so far, supporting a signed band…

DAVE: Getting offered a deal, which Ian turned down.

Why did you do that?

IAN: I just didn’t think it would do for us what we wanted it do. We got offered a deal to get our CDs in shops, and possibly work with Warner Bros. on soundtracks, but they didn’t seem to know what they were gonna do with our music, how to market it. They were gonna take a way our creative freedom, and I didn’t want to sign a deal just for the sake of saying that we had one.

Do you think that’s what a lot of bands do?

IAN: There are a lot of bands out there who just want a deal and want to be famous rather than play music, we’re not like that. We’re gonna hold on till we get something that’s right for us. I mean, I hear they’re looking for a new Busted, we could do that.

Do you think you’ll get what you want?

DAVE: I hope so.

What’s the most rock ‘n’ roll thing you’ve ever done?

KEV: It depends how you define rock ‘n’ roll. I went for a pee in the corner of a pub because I was drunk. They threw me out, and I got banned from my Student Union at Uni.

MATT: I was involved in a satanic ritual drinking something vulgar and worshipping vegetables.

DAVE: I was there too, I killed the vegetable.

IAN: The most rock ‘n’ roll thing I’ve ever done was standing on Matt’s amp at the last gig!

KEV: That’s rubbish!

Right, where do you see yourselves in five years time?

MATT: Smouldering on the ashes of history.

DAVE: Still rocking out. We’ll probably still be trying to make it and cursing Ian for turning that deal down!

IAN: I see these guys backing me up in my new band, Ian & The Banshees.

KEV: Rehab.

And finally, any message to your fans?

DAVE: Basically, to everyone who’s supported us, we just want them to know that we are very, very grateful to all of them, they show up to pretty much every gig, they put up with Ian’s ego, and I hope that they’ll keep doing it and don’t get bored of us. Thanks guys keep on rocking!
By Chris Skoyles

OCTOBER 2005: The Fight (w/ Smudge + Inglory), Club Nirvana, Wigan

Who: The Fight, Inglory, Smudge
Where: Club Nirvana, Wigan
When: October, 2005

Back stage at Wigan’s Club Nirvana, Jack Turley, drummer with Dudley’s finest punk exports The Fight is giving a quick post-gig interview with The LINC, dropping his enigmatic rock star quote “It’s like the cereal without the milk” at every opportunity.

He’s obviously not talking about tonight, where an audience starving for good music lap up his band’s sweet yet crunchy rock ‘n’ roll like a big ol’ bowl of Kellogg’s, milk and all.

Yet before the main course, naturally comes the starters, and first on the menu tonight are two of Wigan’s most delicious musical delicacies.

On their website, local boys Smudge define themselves as “Pop-punk/Experimental Emo”.

Get rid of the ‘experimental’ part and you’ll get a clearer picture of this melee of slicing riffage, chopping rhythms and stirring, straightforward vocals.

Smudge mix your usual emo and pop-punk formulas with a defined stage presence and a bassist who sports one of the finest ‘Misfits-like hairdos since Jerry Only himself.

Not that hair should have anything to do with the music, but this is emo after all, where style rules over substance any day. Fortunately for these lads, they’ve got both in equal measure, and it’s good stuff.

Good soon turns to great as Screamo lords Inglory pounce on an unsuspecting Club Nirvana and threaten to rock it to rubble with a vicious, melodic, soothing and disturbing performance that is tailor-made for a venue of this size.

From the moment they take to the stage with such overwhelming gusto to the moment they finish, having ravished everyone in attendance, Inglory flood the spacious club with an ocean of anthems.

Their ferocious yet melodious sound crashes over the no-mans land that is the dance floor like a tidal wave, whilst on stage the band are mesmerising.

There are only five of them, but to look out at the energy and passion with which the boys launch themselves into each number, it’s as though a swarm of super-charged rock beasts have swarmed the stage to destroy the club. Fantastic.

And so on to The Fight. After being spotted by American pop-punks New Found Glory, the Black Country foursome recently completed a stint on the now legendary Vans Warped Tour, before bringing their infectious brand of attitude infested punk home for a UK tour, and finding themselves here in Wigan.

With the crowd still reeling from Inglory’s attack, K8 leads her boys into an onslaught of ferocious punk riffs and snarling vocals.

Taking a pop-punk formula perfected by the likes of Good Charlotte et al and adding a definitive British working-class rebellion, these Vans-wearing vagabonds work an already enlivened crowd into the proverbial frenzy with their catchy-yet-grouchy songs and in-your-face stage presence.

More of a poke in the belly rather than a punch in the face, The Fight –not entirely unlike their two predecessors tonight- offer little that they can claim uniquely as their own, yet this hardly matters.

Every spiky skewer of guitar, banging bassline and bouncing beat that dash together under K8’s cocky and confident voice acts as a call to the dancefloor, an incitement to rise up in the name of punk rock and declare a war against all that is bad about music.

A war that, if tonight’s standards are anything to go by, will soon be won.
Words and images by Chris Skoyles

MARCH 2005: Live Review – The Ga*Gas (with Testosterone), Cafe Nirvana, Wigan

Who: The Ga*Gas, Zen Motel, Testosterone
Where: Cafe Nirvana, Wigan
When:  March 5th 2005

From the press, to the Internet, to conversations between folks across the borough, there is a buzz ahead of tonight’s visit to Wigan by London rockers The Ga*Ga*s, heightening the air of electricity surrounding the newly re-vamped Café Nirvana.

Rock fans of all ages gather outside the venue in anticipation. However, only ten minutes before the masses are due to crash through the doors, the two support bands are still stuck in sound-check and various members of staff are hurriedly trying to finish tasks ahead of this venue’s grand reopening.

But last minute scrambles are not the thing for uber-cool rock stars. According to one bystander, The Ga*Ga*s are not even in the venue.

Not to worry, we’ll catch them later, as local pop-punk heroes Testosterone take to the stage to open the show. And what an opening it is! Combining all the best bits of Blink 182, The Offspring and NOFX, adding surfer-rock style guitar solos and topping it off with a good dose of humour, the boys whip the crowd into a frenzy, encouraging them to dance along to songs about girls, being rock stars, and an unrequited love for Avril Lavigne.

Yet it’s not just Testosterone’s good-time rock ‘n’ roll that keeps the enthusiastic crowd entertained, as the onstage banter, and faux-rivalry between frontman Dave Costello and rhythm guitarist Ian Graham elicits loud cheers and laughter to the point where Ian produces a T-shirt mocking his bandmate, and awards it the person who dances with the most energy and excitement to their next song.

“When I was in High School I was a loser, now I’m in a band, I’m so much cooler,” sings Costello in High School, as a throng of enthusiastic girls rush towards the stage to get a little bit closer to one of the coolest bands around.

You can’t help but feel for London sleaze-rockers, Zen Motel, as they take to the stage. With their predecessors having hometown advantage, and the headliners backed by a huge record deal and tonnes of promotion, singer/bassist Lee Wray & co. have the hardest job of the evening.

As such, the band get off to a slow start, seemingly playing to themselves. Yet the crowd soon warms to their infectious brand of sleazy, dirty rock, saluting a sound which comes across as something akin to Guns n Roses getting into fisticuffs with Motorhead, by indulging in some vigorous headbanging.

Their set draws to a climatic close, shaking the club to the ground with Devil Song, a thumping anthem baring more than passing resemblance to Atomatic Bitchwax.

But now for the main event.

When your bass player is former Anti-Product loony, Toshi, you come with a personal recommendation from Wildhearts legend, Ginger, and you’re label-mates with legends like Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden, you’d have every reason to be confident.

And The Ga*Gas surely are.

Frontman Tommy Gleeson certainly oozes the kind of swagger normally reserved for ego-fuelled, stadium-filling rock stars, as he leads his band into the kind of radio-friendly, 80’s metal influenced, anthemic rock that landed them a deal with Sanctuary Records.

Carefully constructed songs like Left Of Centre and Jessica float and glide into every nook and cranny of Café Nirvana, filling the entire venue with their ‘Old Skool’ rock, and for the first half of their set at least, you can’t fail to be impressed.

However, after that, something happens that caps off the earlier buzz with an awkward sense of anti-climax.

The enthusiasm of the once large and eager crowd surrounding the stage at the start of The Ga*Ga*s set has waned, and now, while only a few hardened fans remain rocking out at the front of the stage, most gig-goers simply treat the band as backing music to their conversations.

Not only that, but the so-called ‘Saviours Of Rock ‘n’ Roll’, noted for being exciting and fresh, are, only halfway through their set, becoming somewhat bland.

It seems as if The Ga*Ga*s have quit playing any actual songs, and are simply churning out layer-upon-layer of “Bourbon & Cigarettes” rock ‘n’ roll riffage, which, although good enough to impress Sanctuary bosses, fails to impact on the Wigan crowd.

The Ga*Ga*s, with all their hype and media attention promised us so much but, in the end, deliver so little, in striking contract to the top-notch performances given by Testosterone and Zen Motel earlier in the evening.
By Chris Skoyles

June 2004: CD Review – Remarkable Upstart – ‘Our First Demo’

Who: Remarkable Upstart
What: Our First Demo

As I slipped Our First Demo into my CD player, by Wigan’s up and coming pop-punk band Remarkable Upstart, a wave of expectancy flew over me as I had heard many good things about them.

The CD didn’t disappoint; containing three beautifully constructed songs from the Wigan-based quintet.

The members of the band have normal names, except that is for the guitarist “Nutter”.  One wonders whether his parents had the foresight to give him this name? Was he just extremely lucky? Or more likely, it is an alias to fit in with the radical stereotype that being a rock and roll star entails? 
 
House kicks off the demo, and it isn’t unlike the Black Sabbath hit Paranoid at the beginning. The bass comes in, the drums really start, and then in come the vocals. It seems to be a parody of all the great punk band songs of the last few years, influenced by groups such as Alkaline Trio and the big eyebrow teen band Busted.

Saying that though, House is a good song in its own right, which will no doubt capture the hearts of any pop-punk craving audience.

Third song which is crazily the second song on the demo, is another excellent demonstration of pop-punk at its best. The vocals of lead singer Adam Holt are shouty and energetic to begin with, following some exceptional guitar play.

Holt keeps the song constantly exciting and the drumming is also amazing. This is a superb song, with good vocals and lyrics set to the background of several guitar solos. It encapsulates the teenage angst, which punk usually tends to do, and it works to great effect.

The final track on the demo, What’s the point? is a great end track as it is punchy and contagious. With the singing possibly at its best here and the bass having a raucous effect on the song, it’s a suitable song to end the demo.

The only criticism here is the way it actually ends. You expect another verse or, perhaps, some solo work but you are left wondering whether your CD player has been smashed up internally by tiny invisible men.
 
Overall, this is a great first demo and Remarkable Upstart are sure to be on the big scene in a year or two if they keep working hard. Keep it coming boys!
By Jamie Clark