An all day punk festival, the week after Rebellion Fest drained every last ounce of energy from me, why not. Its put on seemingly by the band Kicked in the Teeth and its a pretty spectacular venue. The sound system is huge and fantastic and the assault from the battery of full stage lights is equally impressive. The lineups not bad either.
Slackrrr have been causing a few waves of late, they seem to be playing gigs every where but their punishing schedule doesn’t leave them looking weary. Instead the three piece bounce around the large stage, constantly moving, visiting mic’s to shout some words and the bouncing on again. Its fast paced, skate punk/grunge inspired stuff that they deliver expertly. They do catch my attention though, they seem to have a melodic edge that they know how to use as well as a full on passionate delivery. Loud, fast, hook laden and full of soul.
Kicked in the Teeth transfix me. I’ve caught these a few times and they really do thunder along. This is hard heavy music, drums blasting, bass thundering and excellent guitar work topped by a vocalist who’s intensity matches their sound. Its relentless stuff that never stops. I feel like I’ve been beaten up (musically) after their set, the barrage they deliver even with obvious skill full bass and intelligent guitar work emanates from the drums and the band feed off the stick man and add even greater levels of hard heavy sounds.
Culture Shock with Subhumans vocalist Dick Lucas at the front hit us with heavy reggae dub influenced sounds, but a highly charged reggae with intelligent lyrics that point out society’s many ills as well as frequently suggesting solutions. A band that can make you think out things but remain up-lifting and truly positive. The sheer proficiency of this band is awesome, never sounding forced, they cruise at full speed and their pulsing rhythms build and build in a way that had the audience dancing.
Wonk Unit are also veterans. Their ever changing lineup fixed around vocalist Alex. From the outset they hit us with infectious tune after infectious tune. Their politics are to the fore in ‘don’t blame me I didn’t vote tory’ and the frank ‘go easy’ discusses alcoholism intelligently but wrapped up in one of the catchiest songs around. Band that is easy to listen to yet underpinned by a punk ethic and sound with incredibly well thought out arrangements that flow and have you singing along very early in their set.
Authority Zero are new to me but they are a confident, skate punk/hardcore that have been delivering top shows for years. The American band project a tight performance full of aggressive music that bangs into your head and then lifts upwards with some hardly there hooks that grow on repetition.
Snuff are relaxed and ready to play a set of outstanding songs on their own terms. There’s a lot of banter between the songs and it produces a relaxed atmosphere that their music sometimes usurps by it sheer full on attack and sometimes grooves into - especially the songs with some excellent keyboards. There’s excellent musicianship welded on to some fantastic songs. Snuff, still legends, still top of their game.
A great day with an excellent set of bands on fantastic venue. These people want to put Northwich on the music map. It’s already got the amazing Salty Dog venue there which puts excellent bands on relentlessly and this is a big step up and well worth the effort.
Words: Richie Yates, Photos: Adrian Wharton/Richie Yates
Links
Snuff Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/snuffukband
Authority Zero Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorityZero
Wonk Unit Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wonkunitband
Culture Shock Bandcamp: https://cultureshockuk.bandcamp.com
Kicked in the Teeth Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kickedintheteethband
Slackrrr: https://www.facebook.com/Slackrr
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