So, it's been a while since I last blogged, as I've been mad busy with final year work and postgrad applications/ interviews, but in the last week or so there's been a couple of things that I really thought deserved my attention and meditations within the great world of the 'punk' music scene (I use this term in the loosest sense of the word, so leave out the "OMG WTF, THAT TTLLY IS NOT PUNK. UP THE PUNX OI OI!!!" comments please).
Firstly, on March 21, NOFX frontman and legendary punk joker Fat Mike performed at Emo's Annex in Austin TX during the final night of SXSW festival. However, this was no usual performance and what happened on the stage that night was something that no music fan with any prior of knowledge of NOFX would have predicted.
Mike appeared as alter-ego Cokie the Clown (which also happens to be the name of NOFX's latest EP) playing an acoustic set of NOFX songs, both old and new, on a minimal stage that featured a stool, a small bar table and a television set. He came onstage, in full clown regalia, pouring a tray-full of shots of tequila before handing these out to the crowd and downing a few himself. Now, to anyone familiar with NOFX, a description of this behaviour might not come across as that out of character, being notorious for their onstage clowning around (excuse the pun) and intoxicated antics, but very early on in the set, with his sombre facial expression, it was very clear that this was going to be no party.
Beginning with his opening address "Has anybody here ever witnessed a rape?", Mike (or Cokie), then proceeded to recount to the crowd the most traumatic and disturbing events from his own life, interspersed with songs. These events included the aforementioned rape of a girl at a Vandals show in the late 80s, his failure to prevent his friend's suicide before stealing his stuff, and Mike's assistance in the suicide of his own mother. The tales, though told in an intimate and personal manner, were recalled with an icy detachment from Mike that made them all the more disturbing. Any attempts made by drunken audience members, expecting a fun, NOFX-esque show, to lighten the mood with heckles were quickly shot down with stern, biting replies from the clown, repeatedly insisting "this isn't fucking funny".
Finally, as Mike left the stage, leaving behind an already-gobsmacked audience, the TV was switched on, showing a video made just prior to the clown's entrance onto the stage 40 minutes before. The footage showed Mike pissing in a tequila bottle backstage, before taking to the stage and pouring the shots and handing them out to the unsuspecting audience members.
A full news account and comment can be found here and the full, 40-minute video of the performance can be seen here, despite requests from NOFX's label Fat Wreck for any footage to be removed from the internet.
After watching the video of the performance I really did not know what to think. When I'd first heard about it, I thought it sounded like an excellent publicity stunt on Mike's part, with the
subsequent ban from ever playing Emo's again only working in NOFX's favour, furthering their anti-authority image. However, when actually witnessing what happened, it was hard not to believe what I was seeing. It was really very, very unsettling and difficult to watch, and it was clear the audience really weren't sure how to take it either.
I saw NOFX headline a small stage at Download Festival a couple of years ago, and what struck me was their complete fun-loving attitude and stupidity on stage, which frequently would overshadow the relatively serious political and social messages behind some of their songs. Mike is now 43, and by the sounds of things has had to deal with some pretty awful situations in his life, and perhaps this cathartic release onstage at SXSW was just a case of the cup finally flowing over the brim. After years of clowning around onstage and letting his music do the talking, it was time to make it clear that, like anyone, there is more than one side to Fat Mike, and that you can't play the joker all of the time.
The second big music event I want to talk about is what could have easily been thought to be an early April Fool, when earlier this week this photo appeared on Taking Back Sunday's website, appearing to show the reunion of the Tell All Your Friends-era members once again. Earlier news releases on the band's website, stated the departure of bassist Matt Rubano and new boy guitarist/vocalist Matt Fazzi, leaving questions of why and who would be filling the openings.
The reinstatement of John Nolan, on guitar and vocal duties, and Shaun Cooper, on bass, was confirmed on Wednesday when the band released this youtube video, showing the five members who wrote and recorded TAYF having a laugh with some firearms together.
The text reading "Sometimes it takes some time to remember where you were headed in the first place and the people you intended to go there with. there's no hard feelings, just the future" is no doubt a positive and optimistic message to fans, but is it really going to see a return to form for the band?
The photo that appeared on TBS' website earlier this week.For those of you who know me, you will know how highly I regard Taking Back Sunday and especially their debut album Tell All Your Friends, which topped my 50 Greatest Albums of the 00s feature at the end of 2009. But anyone who knows anything about TBS themselves will know what a tumultuous relationship the band have had among lineups, resulting in a ridiculous amounts of changes in the past ten years, usually under shady circumstances, which remaining members would refuse to discuss.
After leaving TBS, Nolan and Cooper went on to form Straylight Run who produced a great debut album, an EP, and a not-so-great second album, with each release drifting further away from TBS' sound, while TBS' own direction veered away from the genre-defining TAYF. In February, Straylight Run announced their ever-so-fashionable 'indefinite hiatus', which was no doubt influenced by John and Shaun's return to TBS, or vice versa.
I'm just a little sceptical about this return to the 'original' line-up. Like I said, TBS drifted away from the sounds created on their debut, and John's writing took a complete U-turn in Straylight Run, which makes me question where this will take the newly refurbished TBS. Perhaps the move will help create something truly magical, and fingers crossed there will be a tour coming to our shores soon, having personally never seen the band play any songs from TAYF in the lineup it was recorded. That said, knowing the unreliability of the band and its previous changes, this could all fall flat on its arse before it even starts.
Maybe it's like one of those great relationships that comes to an end for one reason or another, before regret takes over (and excuse the cliché) and you only realise what you've got when it's gone, leading both sides to make amends and give things another go. But are things ever really the same the second time around? Watch this space, I guess...
Lastly, just a quick mention to two albums I've had constantly spinning in the last couple of weeks. Both are sophomore efforts from two of my favourite bands, Four Year Strong and Kids in Glass Houses, with their new albums Enemy of the World and Dirt, respectively. I loved both of the bands' debut albums and was ridiculously excited about the follow-ups, and in both cases I was not disappointed.
EOTW was a long time coming for me, and it has seen the band move up a notch,
with much slicker production and you can tell the band have really spent a long time on perfecting the songs. I don't know whether I'd say it's better than Rise or Die Trying but it is definitely bigger, and a natural progression for the band. Ican't wait to see the band tackle some of the new songs live when they play Slam Dunk Festival in May.
Again, Dirt, is the album you can tell Kids In Glass Houses wanted to, and were meant to, make. It is a complete step up, or should I say 'storey up', from 2008's Smart Casual, with a wider variety of songs that you can tell have had endless effort put into them. You can still tell it's KIGH, but they've been brave in branching out into different sounds, while making an excellent poppy record; 'For Better of Hearse' could easily have been written by McFly, whereas 'The Morning Afterlife' is a power ballad even Jon Bon would be proud of. The introduction of Frankie Sandford of The Saturdays on 'Undercover Lover' isn't really needed, but the song itself is a lesson in creating great upbeat pop-rock. The invasion of the excellent second single 'Matters at All' (which I reviewed a few weeks ago here) of Radio 1's airways, is hopefully a signal of the good things to come from such a talented, hard-working British band, that deserve all the success they can get.
For those of you who made it this far, sorry for such a long one, but I felt we needed to catch up, it had been too long, and I hope it was of some interest.
Anyway, until next time, catch you on the flipside....
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