Alkaline Trio, The Murderburgers @ Leeds Metropolitan University, 19/04/2014

Alkaline Trio, The Murderburgers 

Leeds Metropolitan University, 19/04/2014

At the right place, at the right time

Another year and another Alkaline Trio tour - the band sell that many records in the UK that it has become a home from home for them - they have had that much success that (god-forbid) it even creates a surplus for them to class as an income. They’ve made it, and after 9 studio albums they are showing no signs of slowing down.

When they started back in 1996 they were just a three-piece punk-rock band practicing in a garage, in a suburb of Chicago, and who dared to sing love songs  at time when emo wasn’t cool and completely off the map. At the same time, Mike Park, had started running a DIY punk-rock label called Asian Man Records out of his garage in California. This was a match made in heaven.

Asian Man Records released an incredible amount of music in those early days, and unlike some of the more well-known punk-rock labels that only released their mates bands, or bands that already had some success on smaller labels, Mike would put out stuff that he liked, without a care for association or personal affiliation. So after hearing a demo, he takes a chance on these three kids in Chicago, puts out a few of their records and the rest is history.

Despite spending a period on a major label, the band are now putting out records on their own label Heart & Skull, which is a collaboration with Epitaph Records. And despite the glitzy heights of stardom, the band still remain true to their roots, and a few songs into the set, Matt Skiba gives a short intro about Asian Man Records, before the band launch into the opening track of their first album ‘Cringe’. It goes beyond this though…

Asian Man Records have recently released an LP by the Scottish pop-punk band The Murderburgers, which as you may know is a pretty big deal. It happended in a similar way, Mike liked what he heard and put out their record. And knowing that there was an upcoming Alkaline Trio tour and that The Murderburgers were on tour, Mike Park contacts the trio, and they agree to have the Murderburgers along with them as the second support band on their UK tour. This friend is punk rock. What a result, and a decision that pays off immediately as Alkaline Trio bassist Dan Andriano tweets following the first show:

The venue is pretty rammed by the time The Murderburgers take the stage, and they do what any sensible support band should do with a 20 minutes slot, and cram in as many songs as possible – Crammy Hard, as the band might say. Normally the sound for support bands at bigger gigs is shocking, yet tonight it was spot on, and The Murderburgers sounded as good as they have ever done. The happy pop-punk melodies, combined with subtle lyrical undertones highlighting the misery of living in Glasgow, strike a chord with recent converts, such as @Vegetauren. We were even treated to an appearance from Billy Liar, who came out mid song to use a party popper during a breakdown of one of their songs. There are often poorly chosen words to describe bands in these situations, yet on this occasion I think it’s best to say that this is meant to be.  

 

One of the joys of going to bigger gigs such as this sell out show, is that it provides an exciting bottleneck which often leads to a re-acquaintance with people whom real life interaction hasn’t taken place with for some time. Thankfully for us, some people from the Boston, Lincolnshire scene had made the journey up, and had joined us for a few jars of piss & vinegar in the Dry Dock, prior to the gig. They were on good form once again, and lived up to their reputation of piss-takers, after tactfully taking-down a guy who openly admitted to being thrown out a Limp Bizkit concert for smoking an e-cigarette. My good friend and fellow zinester Marv Gagdie was in attendance, and even though he generally hates the strands of emo and pop punk, he hit the nail on the head when he said “I’d rather choose a shit punk gig than any other type of night out, anyday”.  The oracle has spoken.

Alkaline Trio were in good form once again, and played a mixed set to try and keep everyone happy. Although I only recognised them play two songs from my favourite two albums of theirs, it didn’t matter, as Matt Skiba and Dan Andriano have two of the best voices in punk-rock, and just listening to them sing along to their pop-punk sounds was enough for me.

Mid-way through the set, I noticed that my friend @Lucy_Blu and her friends had somehow managed to get onto the stage balcony that is for backstage people, which is a perfect vantage point for checking out the band; and it’s hard not to agree with them, as they are one of the sexiest bands in middle-aged punk-rock.

 

Despite the great energy of the show, and the epic crowd sing-alongs, there was a small incident that left a sour taste. Following the brilliant ‘Dine Dine My Darling’, Matt Skiba took exception to one fans reaction to the song, and started to call him out, getting confrontational with them, and proclaiming, ‘this next songs for the rest of you in the crowd’. I think Skiba needs to deal with criticism in a better way than that immature response.

However, lets not let that take away from a magnificent night, and the fact that the popularity of The Murderburgers is on the up, and that Alkaline Trio, who have made great records such as ‘Goddamit’ and ‘This Addiction’, still have the ability to reduce grown men, who really should know better, to adulation and tears.     

© Schwarzbrennen

Football Against Homophobia - Halil Ibrahim Dincdag

Football Against Homophobia

The case of Halil Ibrahim Dincdag

Many football fans across Europe may be aware of the recent ‘Kampa Showan’ incident in Sweden, where a famous activist, Showan Shattak, of the Football Against Homophobia campaign was hospitalised and put into a coma as a result of a far-right knife attack on a group of activists who were celebrating International Womens Day. This is a shocking event, particularly in one of the supposed most liberal countries in the world, and highlights that there is a long way to go to eradicate discrimination against other sexualities within society. This isn't the only concern at present though...

Clapton FC Ultras - leading the way in the UK in support of Kampa Showan

The Eccles & District branch of FC United of Manchester, are currently flying the flag of ‘Football Against Homophobia’ within the club ever since our alliance with the fans of Tennis Borussia Berlin that took place during a post-season tour in 2013. They are at the forefront of the campaign in Germany, and recently, some of their fans have been involved in a heart-warming story surrounding the ‘Football Against Homophobia’ campaign.

This particular case concerns Halil Ibrahim Dincdag, who is a long-standing Turkish football referee (pictured at the start of this article) that ‘came out’ back in 2009. Since then he has had his referee licence revoked, and has had to move to Istanbul to escape media attention and protect his family – although being gay is not illegal as it is in many Muslim countries, Turkish society is still strongly homophobic. Since then he has lost his job, and has been unable to referee. That is until the fans of Tennis Borussia Berlin & Rote Stern Leipzig found out about his plight.

For more background to his story, see here: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/gay-referee-gets-red-card-in-turkey-1718056.html

The fans managed to make contact with Halil, and invited him to come visit them in Germany. This proved to be difficult in the land of bureaucracy, as his visa was denied several times. With many Turkish immigrants already living in Germany, the authorities are taking a hard stance on issuing visas. However, they were eventually successful, and it led to a dramatic twist in the saga.

On Tuesday, Tennis Borussia Berlin played a friendly match against Türkiyemspor, a team that started in the late 1970’s, which are supported by many Turkish immigrants living in Berlin. How apt then that Halil, in his first competitive match since his ban within Turkey five years ago, led both teams out onto the pitch with tears in his eyes, and went on to referee the match.

He has been described by the fans who arranged this trip as a great guy, very modest, yet firm, fair, and confident in his refereeing ability.  Despite all the complications he has faced since coming out, Halil claims that he doesn’t regret coming out, as he sees this battle, one in which he will be taking to the European Court of Human Rights, as something of upmost importance.

 

Yesterday he refereed his second match, Roter Stern Leipzig’s first vs. second team, which was described again as an emotional affair. In this instance, some of the Berlin fans even travelled down to Leipzig to support Halil. Who would have thought in this day and age there would be fans that can be classed as supporters of certain referees? That my friend is what we call post-modern football.  

Today, Halil Ibrahim Dincdag returned ‘home’ to Turkey to carry on his underground lifestyle, to continue with his battle to become reinstated as a referee, and to combat homophobia in football and Turkish society. Wasn’t that a great opportunity that the fans of Tebe and Roter Stern had provided for him? All of us at the FC United of Manchester Eccles & District branch wish him and all the Football Against Homophobia campaigners all the best in their struggles, and will being to look at ways in which we can support the campaign at our new home in Moston, Manchester.

© Schwarzbrennen

Bad Religion - The Dissent of Man (Review)

Bad Religion – The Dissent of Man

 Following the return of founding member, Epitaph label owner and co-songwriter, Brett Gurewitz, after the bands flirtation with the major label Atlantic, the duo of Graffin and Gurewitz have since written and recorded three albums: The Process of Belief, The Empire Strikes First, and New Maps of Hell, which have been regarded by fans and critics, and self proclaimed by the band as “The Unholy Trilogy: Part Two”; the original trilogy being: No Control, Suffer, and Against The Grain, which are known as the bands best output. Whilst the latter trilogy saw the band encapsulate the passion, energy, and conviction of their youthful punk-rock days, their latest release, a clever play on words, ‘The Dissent of Man’, represents a significant departure, coming across more as a mature rock album, something which they failed to do with the making of Into the Unknown, The New America, and No Substance. With some hit, and some miss, here is a run down of the tracks from the album:

One thing that the band have always managed to do is capture the mood of the time, and in this part of the epoch where global protest movements are making a significant return to humanities conscience, and the protestor was named Time Magazines person of the year, ‘The Dissent of Man’, with it’s front cover of an angry youth throwing an object in anger, perfectly encapsulates this period of modern history.

The album kicks off with ‘The Day The Earth Stalled’, which will no doubt ease in the casual Bad Religion listener, with a familiar fast-paced rhythm, combined with a catchy sing-along chorus, which is completed by the usual harmonious backing vocals. And then it starts to slow down, yet the lyrical content takes a classic Bad Religion trajectory.

‘Only Rain’ is a song about the rationality of atheism, a theme made prominent through singer Greg Graffin’s book ‘Anarchy Evolution’. Firstly he decries the old pre-scientific values of our ancestors by declaring, “Hey scientist please save us from our rainy days, because your counterpart in the magic arts is manufacturing judgement day”, and during the chorus lambasts the superstitious naturalists, who haven’t evolved to the scientific paradigm by declaring “rain fell like judgement, across my window pane, it felt like judgement, but it was only rain”: Here we feel Graffin being articulate, cutting, and poignant as ever.

The clever play on words returns with ‘The Resist Stance’, which, as is the case with The Day That The Earth Stalled, follows a more traditional Bad Religion song formula. It comes across as a rallying call to all those taking a stand against oppression, yet remains critical to the potential of an emerging dogma by proclaiming “the state of your resolve, makes you quickly devolve into a fundamentalist”.  Hitherto, the album stands up to the test, and then it takes a turn for the worst.

No whilst the sentiments of the collusion between church and state echoed in the ‘Wont Somebody’ are welcome, despite being somewhat worn, an amendment to the chorus provides more insight into the song; “Wont Bad Religion please come up with something, because this formula don’t seem to be impartially appealing, and all of this song puts this album down in the ratings, so a good song we’ll have to keep on waiting.”

If a single was to be penned for release from this album, in order to capture the attention of the casual alternative music listener, then ‘The Devil in Stitches’ has all the hallmarks of a radio friendly, melodic, and catchy anthem full of great chord progressions. It was very difficult to attach a specific meaning to the song; Gurewitz’s lyrics are usually not as forthright as Graffins. According to those who love their computer and regularly post on the fan site, thebrpage.net, and Mr. Brett himself, it’s a modern love story based on a biblical tale. Whether you believe in love or not, you’ll certainly enjoy this song.

The dark side to social attitudes permeates in ‘Pride and the Pallor’, which covers the idea of superstitious and irrational behaviours originating from religious beliefs, being passed down through generations, and this spiralling out of control, leading to an ironically prophetic hellish existence for the human species.   

‘Wrong Way Kids’ is a retrospective look at the Los Angeles punk-rock scene of the early 1980s, something that the band was very much involved with. The song draws parallels with ‘You Don’t Belong’, alluding to the wrong turns some people took in their lives, during the early days of punk rock. Themes of this calibre are almost inevitable for a band in their late forties, yet it is relinquished from becoming a grandeur act of self-importance by being doused with elements of humour, such as the line ” the kids today are gone away, petitioning the dust, with nobody to look up to, because they’re looking up to us””, and self-mockery, with the chorus making fun of their liberal use of ‘woahs’, goading the listener to “Singing woah, woah, wo-oo-ah”, a template copied over from their atrocious single ‘Honest Goodbye’ on their previous record.

There is a reason that so many academics are fans of the band, and this is due to Graffin’s lyrical ingenuity, often able to summarise a historical or sociological essay into a three-minute melodic harmony. ‘Meeting of the Minds’ is one of those songs, looking at the historical transformation of rational thought, starting in 325, through to Old Tennessee in the last century, and onwards to an idyllic futuristic fantasy of the intelligentsia and politicians coming together to come to the conclusion that “no longer will the market decide, what the government will provide”. Nobody can accuse them of becoming universal cynics; a healthy, radiant and optimistic outlook still remains in their old age.

‘Someone To Believe’ is about the weak willed members of society, the ones who ‘find’ God and ‘meaning’ in their life, the way in which their attitude and persona drastically change, which “feels like a spring equinox after a long winters sleep”. Imbeciles ‘awaken’ when they have someone [God] to believe. 

Throughout ‘Anarchy Evolution’, Greg Graffin argues that evolution is an anarchic process, in which the human species has no control over, and this relates to the theme of the next song ‘Avalon’. It’s about the reflective phases that humans go through in their life, and the negative impact that focussing on past regrets can have. Yet this idea is flipped into a rallying call for people to not get caught up with the minutiae of the past, and instead look to the future and create your own Avalon, a place to be comfortable with when you die. This links into the theme of the book, it’s all too easy to look back on the travesty of human existence and take on a defeatist attitude, it’s better to create something ideal for the here and now.

Bad Religion have never shied away from producing a subtle song about heartache, yet none have come across as bitter as ‘Cyanide’, a four minute epic about being apart from a loved one, or in the case of Gurewitz, is the thing he describes as missing akin to kissing cyanide, a reference to his days as a heroin user? If I long for you it will make me return and deliver me to death? The bitterness is usurped when ‘Turn Your Back On Me’ kicks in on the next track, a beautifully sad, and brooding number.

And then the overt politics is back with a vengeance with ‘Ad Hominem’, a scornful attack on the bourgeoisie who think that they are divinely better than the poor. ‘Where The Fun Is’ is not even worth mentioning and is almost inevitable that it will be featured on the soon to be released ‘Worst of Bad Religion’ CD, entitled ‘How the hell could Bad Religion get any worse?’

As a rule of thumb, Bad Religion have always closed their albums with a strong and catchy number, yet ‘I Won’t Say Anything’ breaks with that tradition, and leaves it with a flat end to the proceedings. There isn’t the usual big bang, in which we expect from our atheist peacemakers, just a steady fade away into insignificance, perhaps a suitable prelude to our own species’ existence. 

Finite - A great track that never made the album cut

The Dissent of Man is still out on Epitaph Records.

©Schwarzbrennen