Neil Crud on Louder Than War Radio #200

Two hundred shows.

Two hundred Monday nights shouting at the void, feeding it noise, and the void occasionally shouting back.

Two hundred reasons to thank the ghosts, the gremlins, the listeners, the contributors (like Garry), the bands, the label miscreants, the fanzine scribblers, and Wyn — especially Wyn — patron saint of emergency cover slots.

No throat-clearing tonight.

We go straight in.

Rat Cage – “Emotional Blackmail” came crashing in first — a Sheffield-via-Skopje blast, resurrecting the UK Subs classic and hotly tied to that fresh issue of Raising Hell fanzine that still smells of ink, glue and one staple (Ben you tight barstard!). You can practically hear the interview bleeding through the guitar tone.

And because one UK Subs thread deserves another, I followed it immediately with UK Subs – “Kill Me,” pulled from Reverse Engineering, before letting the whole thing mutate into Finland’s finest D-beat barrage: Kürøishi – “Warhead! Warhead!” off Egocide of the Warmad. Feels like someone opened a window and a blizzard came through it.

From there the trail ran straight into surreal brilliance — Spaghelli – “Dead Man’s Sock.” Mentioned in Raising Hell, clicked the link, fell into an entire subuniverse of art, noise, and travel stories from a person who's been to roughly 90 countries.

The fanzine theme kept rolling with Diaz Brothers – “This Is My Oppressor.” Interviewed in RH #33 and carrying the weight of HDQ lineage, forming anew after the tragic loss of Dickie. Their album The World Is Yours is still on my “fix this, idiot” list.

Then: a Wyn leftover.

Chepa – “3 Jours Et 15 Heures,” rescued from the pile of CDs he abandoned here after covering my show. I copied the lot — fair’s fair.

From there things took a hard left: Hayden Hughes – “I Want You To Peg Me.” Released three years ago to the day. A classic of its kind. A kind that probably shouldn’t have a “classic” category but here we are.

Without Love – “Soul Purpose.” Played last week. Too good not to play again.

Then Decibel – “Object,” fresh from Bones, followed by a curious title-collision with Possible Damage – “Object” from their 2022 demo. Two different planets using the same language.

Dead Pollys – “Yes Sir,” from Better Off Alive, marched in next, before the mighty Wiccans – “Barbarian Queen.” Drunken Sailor Recs unwrapping something that feels almost like Black Flag with a migraine.

Liverpool haunted the next corner with Zombina & The Skeletones – “Phantom With The X-Ray Mind.”

Then straight to the political jugular:

Rites of Hadda – “Killer Profits (Tokitae)” from Inevitable Machete on Grow Your Own.

And then Two Tonne Machete – “Pigs Pigs,” an anthem about the criminalisation of dissent — the kind of track that rattles the windows of parliament if you play it loud enough.

We flew to Devon next (sort of) with Wags To Wytches – “Rage Bait,” from their second EP, complete with black “vinyl-style” CDs.

Then The Human Error – “Flags Of The World,” off their new record Ghost Army Deception, CD and download ready, red vinyl on the horizon like a warning flare.

Leicester barged in with Gout – “Just Watching (Live).” Two brothers, twenty years, one two-piece hardcore entity punching holes in the evening.

Then:

The Unknowns – “All Grown Up,” back with a second pressing of Looking From The Outside after the first sold out in a blink.

Back to Wales next — we always come home eventually — with Bad Sam – “Pedigree Poor,” off their new LP Trauma. A lyrical lashing at the wealthy feeding their pets gourmet nonsense while the poor queue for tins. Dean Beddis and Richard Glover do not do subtle.

And closing the 200th show with a wry grin because it’s too true to ignore:

The Puncturists – “They Don’t Pay Support Bands.”

Taken from I’m Not Alright.

And yes, they don’t.

And yes, it’s a banger anyway.

Two hundred shows.

See you for 201.

Or 300.

Or until this tinnitus finally kills me.

Whichever comes first.

Neil Crud on Louder Than War Radio - Show #199

The ghosts in the machine clearly had it in for me this week.

My first 30 minutes vanished into the digital ether, swallowed whole by whatever gremlin powers the Louder Than War Radio transmitter. Praise be, then, to the blessed sanctuary of Mixcloud where the entire show survives, preserved like a holy relic for the sonically devout.

I owe Wyn a pint for last week — his stand-in show kept my seat warm while I was holed up in a catastrophic hotel in Tirana, listening on a speaker that sounded like it had been rescued from a skip behind a nightclub. Still, his show was ace.

So now, freshly returned (though fresh feels like the wrong word after Albania), we launch head-first into Show #199, and straight into the travelogue of noise that followed me from the Balkans to Denbigh and back again.

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I began my wanderings where all good pilgrimages start: home soil, with The Affliction – “Good People.” Three minutes and fourteen seconds of pure Colwyn Bay glory — the kind of track that outlives the band, outlives the decade, possibly outlives Rhyl itself. Its video is a snapshot of people and places that still haunt the North Wales coastline.

From there the trail shot north to Cumbria with Afflicted – “Fake,” discovered by way of a review in Last Stop Sounds, before bouncing back to Copenhagen where Wyn had already planted a flag last week: NEXØ – “Concentration,” from their new EP Mindful Inaction on TNS. Wyn played it while I was wading through Albanian rainwater; now it returns as a tighter, harder punch to the ribs.

Germany beckoned next — the Black Forest gloom of Brach – “One Day,” inhabiting that dim corner where crust meets melancholy and refuses to give way to despair. The sort of track you’d expect to find echoing around a crumbling viaduct on a long walk home.

Then straight to Essex for Bad Nerves – “Loner.” Barry told me I’d like Bad Nerves. He didn’t specify which Bad Nerves, so the trail forked:

→ Essex’s self-proclaimed “best band on the planet,”

→ and then Winnipeg’s long-gone powerpop punks with “I Wanna Live With The Aliens,” because why not follow both roads when the map is on fire?

A sticker on a lamppost in Bari (always pays to sticker!) pulled me toward Romania with Avoid Humanity – “Between Now and Never,” a perfect example of why you should never travel without looking up — the scene is everywhere.

Then: Newport-ish silliness meets sincerity with Thronk – “There’s No A.I. In Team,” launching discount codes and EP bargains like confetti, before drifting into the warmth-free memory of summer with Without Love – “Soul Purpose.”

Hamburg’s Rauchen – “[Das] Brennen” arrived via Garry (who else?), ex-Death of Youth members still radiating heat. Then straight into Blackpool mud with Cock Batteth – “Mary’s Estate,” a Mick Magic-approved racket.

Wrexham came next — it always does — with Eight O’Clock George – “Barricades,” ahead of their new album, followed by Stuntface – “Million of You.” I’ll be joining them at the Magic Dragon on Dec 20th; Wrexham on a Saturday will be chaos and probably perfect.

Merseyside’s Decibel – “Visitor” shook the dust loose — their new album Bones is absolutely solid — and Belfast’s own filth merchants Rats Breath followed with “Conduit of Shit.”

Poland chimed in with AM – “Co Tam Słychać,” complete with a freshly uploaded gig video, and then Bristol’s chaos providers Cool Jerks – “We Live In Hell,” not pulled from their new live LP, but from their excellent England album.

Rich then dragged me to Greece for Distress – “Пиздаболы (Fucking Liars),” as wholesome as Greek hardcore ever gets — which is to say: not very.

And to close the travelogue, we hit the part-industrial, part-crust, all-feral universe of Schkeuditzer Kreuz – “Keep Dancing (Distruster Remix).”

Fresh off a European tour, now announcing a remix collection, and still rewriting the rules around how scorched-earth electronics should feel.

A tour of Europe, of bedrooms and basements, of stickers and cities, of bands new and dead and halfway between. That’s the beauty of it — even when the broadcast ghosts steal half an hour, the noise always finds a way through.

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FULL PLAYLIST – Show #199

The Affliction – Good People

Afflicted – Fake

NEXØ – Concentration

Brach – One Day

Bad Nerves – Loner

The Bad Nerves – I Wanna Live With The Aliens

Avoid Humanity – Between Now and Never

Thronk – There’s No A.I. In Team

Without Love – Soul Purpose

Rauchen – [Das] Brennen

Cock Batteth – Mary’s Estate

Eight O’Clock George – Barricades

Stuntface – Million Of You

Decibel – Visitor

Rats Breath – Conduit Of Shit

AM – Co Tam Słychać

Cool Jerks – We Live In Hell

Distress – Пиздаболы (Fucking Liars)

Schkeuditzer Kreuz – Keep Dancing (Distruster Remix)

Neil Crud on Louder Than War Radio – Show 197

 

Fresh—if that’s even the right word—off a Sunday night gig, throat full of gravel and ears still ringing, I kicked off the show with a track that bubbled up from the Bangor depths: Katzenmuzik & Feral Whispers – You Don’t Do Politics Do You? One of those elusive, misty projects that appear, vanish, and leave you wondering if you dreamt them. There’s been talk of a split single with Skinflick… and in Bangor, talk like that tends to linger as long as the feedback.

From there, up the coast and inland with House Proud – Rescue Dog, the Sunderland post-punk crew flying the Serial Bowl flag with jagged charm. Then into Wales for The Dogs – I Didn’t Ask, a band that seems to be quietly (and steadily) chewing through the underbelly of the Welsh punk scene.

The canine theme ran strong tonight—no surprise really—so the next logical stop was Dogsflesh – March Of The Damned. North East (again) grit at its finest; the digital album’s out November 20th, vinyl to follow. Yeah, grit, growl, and that unmistakable bite of steel-string punk metal.

Things took a turn for the ethereal with Eve Libertine & Eva Leblanc – Rocky Eyes, live from The Horse Hospital in London. Libertine’s voice—still defiant, still poetic—remains one of the great punk echoes of our time.

Then came The Puncturists – Sceptre, from their freshly released album I’m Not Alright. No hype, no gloss—just a perfect slice of paranoid modern post-punk, dropped (ugh, yes, that word) into the digital ether.

New noise from Denmark’s finest followed: NEXØ – Concentration, from their MindfulDINACTION EP on TNS Records—a double-sided concept in recycled vinyl and brilliance actually. Then all the way to Australia with Minge Wizard – Train To Trutnov, at least I think they're from there.

Decibel – Wearing The Mask brought me right back to Denbigh, where they shared a bill last night with my own band Spam Javelin and XSLF. It was loud, a bit sweaty, and exactly what Mondays were invented to regret.

There was bile and brilliance next with Maggie Thatcher’s Rotting Corpse – Let’s All Spit On Kier Starmer, courtesy of Garry (who else?), followed by David Delinquent & The IOUs – Everybody Loves You, which Dave personally handed over like some rock'n'roll contraband.

Value Of Nothing – Die Verge was next—proper DIY spirit from Lestah, hand-dubbed, hand-folded, and fully unpolished. Then the gloriously grimy Cock Batteth – Soul Digger, which came recommended by Mick Magic, who hasn’t stopped evangelising about them since he saw them in Blackpool.

Citric Dummies – Dropped Out Of Punk is fast becoming a recurring anthem, and rightly so, before I let Bossmags – Ghost Ships drift in, a piratey but heavy heavy ska swing into their latest video offering.

The back end of the show veered darker: Wiccans – Crucifixion from their Phase IV LP on Drunken Sailor, then Salt The Snail – Ideasman, complete with their intentionally rubbish new video (worth a look, seriously). Cazimi – Foul Play was a classy highlight from their new record, while Kürøishi – Deal With It—off the tongue-twisting Käärme sisälläsi, myrkyttää maailmani—reminded us that Finnish crust remains undefeated.

Finally, we came full circle with OORYA – Horse, from the stunning Who Are Ya album on 9x9 Records—a perfect close to a night of raw emotion, distortion, and just the right amount of hangover.

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Playlist – Louder Than War Radio #197

• Katzenmuzik & Feral Whispers – You Don’t Do Politics Do You?

• House Proud – Rescue Dog

• The Dogs – I Didn’t Ask

• Dogsflesh – March Of The Damned

• Eve Libertine & Eva Leblanc – Rocky Eyes

• The Puncturists – Sceptre

• NEXØ – Concentration

• Minge Wizard – Train To Trutnov

• Decibel – Wearing The Mask

• Maggie Thatcher’s Rotting Corpse – Let’s All Spit On Kier Starmer

• David Delinquent & The IOUs – Everybody Loves You

• Value Of Nothing – Die Verge

• Cock Batteth – Soul Digger

• Citric Dummies – Dropped Out Of Punk

• Bossmags – Ghost Ships

• Wiccans – Crucifixion

• Salt The Snail – Ideasman

• Cazimi – Foul Play

• Kürøishi – Deal With It

• OORYA – Horse

Neil Crud on Louder Than War Radio – Show 196

Another hour, another glorious racket (as You Slosh once said). We’re deep into autumn now and it's pissing down outside — the nights are longer, the gigs sweatier, and the amps somehow louder. Show #196 kicked off in flight, freefalling somewhere between freedom and fury, noise and nostalgia.

We began airborne with OORYA – Pilots, still one of the most delightfully unpredictable acts around. Steph's upcoming album Who Are Ya! (9x9 and SoL) remains cloaked in mystery, but this track alone could guide you through any storm — all throttle, no autopilot.

Then it was straight to Finland for Kürøishi – Freedom from Poverty.Ignorance.Greed.Slavery (2017). A full-force d-beat detonation from Oulu, channelling blackened crust and melodic rage in equal measure. Their tour blogs read like war journals — equal parts chaos, sweat, and heart — much like their live sets.

England (or maybe not) followed with Bragging Rights – The Wild Things, from the WEEDIAN: Trip To Wales comp. Their Bandcamp says they’re English, but who’s checking passports when the riffs are this good? We don't need borders anyway.

And while we’re questioning borders and boundaries, Citric Dummies – Dropped Out of Punk kept things spinning off-axis — another banger from their split LP with Turnstile, confirming that speed-noise is an international language.

From there, we served up Pete Bentham & The Dinner Ladies – Attention Deficit Retention, off Art Religion & Chocolate Biscuits (on Liverpool’s own 9x9 Records). Proof that satire still sounds best with a sax and a danceable beat.

Abrazos – No Authority But Yourself popped up next, courtesy of shuffle on my YouTube Music app (I've fucked Spotify off) — from the album My Street, a defiant reminder that sometimes punk finds you when you’re not looking.

Then came a welcome blast from Wrexham’s Groom The Giant, with Old Toby from their Old Toby EP. Grunge-soaked and gloriously knackered, these lads have been storming the likes of FOCUS Wales and the Llangollen Fringe — and they sound like they’ve smoked every wizard pipe along the way.

Toronto’s finest, Imploders, detonated again with Backwards, off Targeted for Termination (out on Static Shock and Neon Taste). Raw, ragged, unstoppable.

Local spirit followed in the form of Holy Gloam – Just Checking Out Again, a shimmering, melancholy single from Abergele that proves that even the quietest coastal retreats of Wales hum with noise and magic.

A deep dig next: The Lice – Fight The Front, lifted from the latest Bored Teenagers Vol.16 compilation — 26 years of unearthed classics, still flying out on vinyl. The Lice were early Teesside legends, and this track shows exactly why. And why we need to fight the Front, even though they've got a new name now and all the media give them so much fucking coverage.

Then a rare treat from the vault: Klaus Kinski – Happiness, Happiness, released this week back in 2009 as a teaser for Skelington Horse (Ankst). Every fucked-up note still slinks and snarls with that twisted, joyful arse dripping menace.

Goat Major – Powers That Be kept the Welsh noise rolling with their Ritual LP, all occult fuzz and riffs that sound like they were smelted under a mountain. Their merch game is strong too — those T-shirts (available on Bandcamp) could ward off demons.

Speaking of demons, Zombina & The Skeletones returned with 50 seconds of Beware Cosmic Plague! from In Sinistero (9x9 Records) — B-movie brilliance with a wink, a scream, and a dance step.

Then two breeds of darkness: White Dog – Storm The Streets, a Sydney punk gem sent my way by Alan Littlehales — circa 2019 and still barking loud — followed by The Restarts – Black Dog from Uprising. One of the UK’s most consistent punk bands doing what they do best: roaring truth to power.

And as if to echo that shadow, Botched Toe – Black Dog emerged from A False Glimmer Of Hope (Kibou Records). Three dogs, one fight — all snarling at the void.

Warlockhunt – Your Flaw, Your Fate cast its spell next — from their upcoming Prey LP, due 14th November on Pyrrhic Defeat. The launch party’s at G21 Chester that same night, and it’s shaping up to be biblical. 

Then came Vast Slug – Shinobi vs Mega Nonce, topical, brutal, and refreshingly unfiltered. As should have said on air — the only good nonce is a dead one.

The Skive – Heads on Spikes followed like an anthem for our collective discontent, and then Planet Noir – The Itch, the second track from their excellent Destination EP — Liverpool’s psychobilly-punk newcomers proving once again that the Mersey still mutates in strange and wonderful ways.

Finally, we crash-landed with Holy Coves – Falling Down, their new single ahead of next year’s album Hiraeth. They’ve just wrapped a mini-UK tour, and it sounds like they’ve taken every sunrise and hangover on the road and turned it into melody.

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Playlist – Show 196

• Oorya – Pilots

• Kürøishi – Freedom

• Bragging Rights – The Wild Things

• Citric Dummies – Dropped Out of Punk

• Pete Bentham & The Dinner Ladies – Attention Deficit Retention

• Abrazos – No Authority But Yourself

• Groom The Giant – Old Toby

• Imploders – Backwards

• Holy Gloam – Just Checking Out Again

• The Lice – Fight The Front

• Klaus Kinski – Happiness, Happiness

• Goat Major – Powers That Be

• Zombina & The Skeletones – Beware Cosmic Plague!

• White Dog – Storm The Streets

• The Restarts – Black Dog

• Botched Toe – Black Dog

• Warlockhunt – Your Flaw, Your Fate

• Vast Slug – Shinobi vs Mega Nonce

• The Skive – Heads on Spikes

• Planet Noir – The Itch

• Holy Coves – Falling Down

Neil Crud on Louder Than War Radio – Show 195 (27.10.25)

 

“Broadcasting From The Haunted House Of Love”

It’s that time of year again — the clocks go back, the pubs fill up earlier, and half the people I know are already dressed as ghouls before they’ve even had breakfast. So it felt right that tonight’s show veered somewhere between a séance and a mosh pit.

Still recovering from last Friday’s industrial-electro-feast at The Skerries, Bangor, where Skinflick, Attrition, and Schkeuditzer Kreuz summoned something wicked under the flickering lights — and with another one coming up this weekend (with White Ether, Scotch Funeral, and Spears) — my ears are still howling, but the ghosts demanded another broadcast.

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The Dead Air Sessions

We began in a familiar place: nostalgia dressed in feedback and mis-chords.
Kentucky AFC – Bodlon still hits the spot as it did back in the day; that bittersweet comfort you don’t outgrow. From there, I jumped to Prey – Toxins, because I’m still buzzing from sharing the stage with them a couple of weeks back. There’s something utterly infectious about their energy — maybe it’s the toxins.

Warlockhunt followed with Prey, the title track from their forthcoming album (out 14th November on Pyrrhic Defeat Records). They’ll be launching it at G21, Chester that very night — expect bass, sludge, and ritualistic distortion.

The new Phinius Gage single Wrong Direction came next — a total earworm that’s been burrowed in my skull for weeks — and then we hit something new and noirish from Liverpool. Planet Noir – Mary Shelley conjured a gothic hum straight out of a rain-slick alleyway. Their debut EP Destination (recorded at York’s Young Thugs Studio and produced by Steve Whitfield of Scenius) sounds hugely pleasing and familiar to the ears.

And speaking of Scenius, their Golden By No Means from the excellent 13 Billion Dark Years LP is still shimmering in my head. (Shameless plug: go read my review on Louder Than War.)

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The Punk Continues

From there, No Choice stormed back with System Of A Clown — one of five brand-new tracks they’ve recorded for an album due early next year. Decades in, and these South Wales veterans still sound sharper than ever.

Then came Citric Dummies – I Can’t Relate, from their split LP with Turnstile — I genuinely can’t stop spinning this one. If anyone spots a UK distro carrying it, give me a shout before I start importing them by the crate.

South Wales kept the momentum going with RANK – It’s Up To Us from Brave New Lows; they’re threatening new material in January, which is as good a new-year resolution as any.

Skinflick followed with Fuck The Horse — from their upcoming EP Fear Of The Hope Machine, out on Halloween. After their comeback show in Bangor, I can confirm the fire’s still very much there.

And because that night at The Skerries clearly hasn’t left my system, Attrition’s Dante’s Kitchen (Skinflick Remix) made a perfect ghostly companion piece — originally from 2005 but still reanimating dancefloors and crypts alike.

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Monsters, Moogs & Motherfuckers

Stranglehold – Sideline brought some hard-edged Birmingham bite, while White Ether – All Things Must Change felt like a deep breath before the next weekend’s gig. Then, for a hit of pure chaos, Johnny Moses And The Electric Motherfuckers crashed through with Electric Motherfuckers, from the Dam-Nations showcase on Dammit Records.

Johnny — once the guitarist for punk legends Menace — is back in full throttle alongside Pat Manic Jr. and Paul von Paulus. Together they sound like a bar brawl in 4/4 time, gearing up for album number two in 2026.

Keeping it in the Dammit family, The Phantim swooped in from Lüneburg with Ghost In My Chucks, off the same Dam-Nations October compilation — proof that you can be undead and stylish.

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Falling Into The Void

Things turned darker again with Intercourse – Cadaver Resume, from How I Fell In Love With The Void. It’s one of those albums that feels like it’s peeling the paint off your brain — beautiful, uncomfortable, and entirely necessary.

Then came a long-awaited moment — OORYA – Pilots, a new track from the forthcoming Who Are Ya! album on 9x9 Records. I’ve waited so long to hear new Oorya material, and it’s exactly as wild, weird, and wonderful as expected.

Imploders – Nuke This City detonated next — a frantic blast from their Targeted For Termination LP (out on Static Shock Records). I caught them in Liverpool last year, and they nearly tore the roof off. The recorded version is only marginally less dangerous.

And to almost close out the show — because it is the season of the supernatural — Zombina & The Skeletones arrived with Haunted House Of Love, from their upcoming In Sinistero album on 9x9. If any band can turn horror into happiness, it’s them.

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Playlist – Show 195

• Kentucky AFC – Bodlon

• Prey – Toxins

• Warlockhunt – Prey

• Phinius Gage – Wrong Direction

• Planet Noir – Mary Shelley

• No Choice – System Of A Clown

• Scenius – Golden By No Means

• Citric Dummies – I Can’t Relate

• RANK – It’s Up To Us

• Skinflick – Fuck The Horse

• White Ether – All Things Must Change

• Stranglehold – Sideline

• Johnny Moses And The Electric Motherfuckers – Electric Motherfuckers

• The Phantim – Ghost In My Chucks

• Intercourse – Cadaver Resume

• OORYA – Pilots

• Imploders – Nuke This City

• Zombina & The Skeletones – Haunted House Of Love

• Attrition – Dante’s Kitchen (Skinflick Remix)

#194 - Neil Crud On Louder Than War Radio (20.10.25)

I wasn’t alright.

At least, that’s what The Puncturists kept telling me as I set up the mics. Their song I’m Not Alright was bleeding out of my superdooper headphones — jagged, raw, true — and maybe it was right. It had been a long week.

Between chaos and noise, Imploders crashed in from Toronto with Out Of Time — their new LP Targeted For Termination dropping just in time for their European tour — and I followed it with The Social’s Out Of Time for symmetry’s sake. Two versions, same sentiment: the clock’s running out for all of us.

Somewhere in the static, I could hear Brython Shag shouting Dwnsia Ne Granda! from a warped tape of a 2014 gig — live, hectic, glorious. The sound of a band that could turn even a breakdown into a dance. I smiled. It reminded me that this radio thing has always been a bit like resurrection — pulling ghosts out of old hard drives and half-melted CDRs.

Kuroishi’s Warhead! Warhead! was the sound of fallout, chaos, and caffeine in equal measure — and to balance it, I dropped Attitude’s old 1987 cover of Warhead from their The Good, The Bad & The Obnoxious EP. Decades apart. Punk’s own echo chamber. By the time Stranglehold hit with Tried & True, the levels were in the red and Garry’s grin was audible even through the static. Birmingham hardcore pride, pure and simple.

Down in the basement, 10 Jules were working the faders. Steve Scenius/Klammer has been helping them finish their new EP Maelstrom – Amok. The lead track, Catacombs, filled the room with low-rent fuzz and that beautiful post-punk decay that makes you want to stare at your shoes and nod. “All the best,” he said before disappearing into the noise.

Then came RANK, rolling in from a practice room somewhere near Newport, their Brave New Lows bouncing off the walls. Jon was still buzzing about chaperoning Kuroishi on their UK tour, and it showed. 

Bad Sam followed with Popcorn And Blood, a teaser from their upcoming Trauma LP (out November), and then, because I can’t resist a good word clash, I threw in Alien Matter – Popcorn And Prostitutes. Seemed rude not to.

Celavi have stopped by my Instagram feed all-week — they’re playing The Nelson on Thursday — so I replayed Sori because it deserves another spin, especially now they’re popping up in Metal Hammer and beyond.

Then came a sharp turn. Schkeuditzer Kreuz unleashed their Systematic Death — a CRASS cover that somehow manages to be even more feral than the original — and I found myself thinking about radio as controlled anarchy. 

Things got wonderfully weird when Proprioception took over with Rubberist, from their EP My Salvation Lies in the Church of You. Garry flagged that one for me — three young punks (Beau, Archie, Evie) making something utterly subhuman out of distortion and devotion. Right after, Brandyman’s Cockpit from that old Adam Walton Session (2010) brought a strange, nostalgic calm.

And just when I thought I’d hit the emotional floor, IKHRAS إخرَس tore the ceiling open with Anwa3 Al-Mowt – أنواع الموت. Every sound on that track feels like a different kind of death — and a different kind of life. Thanks, Garry (again), for the reminder.

By the home stretch, it was pure catharsis. Citric Dummies with I Don’t Like Anything (and I still can’t find a UK distro shifting that LP, so if anyone knows, shout!). Then Death Pill from Kyiv with Haters Gonna Hate — fierce, fearless, defiant. Punk from a warzone.

And finally, because I couldn’t end without a little sun after all that shadow, Diet Pills closed the night with Sun. A 2011 gem that still burns bright — and incidentally, they're the band that gave us Thumbsucker.

Full circle. Noise, fury, friends, and feedback.

That’s all I’ve ever wanted radio to be.

Spam Javelin, Thumbsucker, Prey @ The Skerries, Bangor

Saturday night in Bangor's The Skerries was exactly what a local gig should be: packed, loud, and full of glorious uncertainty. As the person handling the booking (a role I don't embrace often, thanks to the sheer terror of "what if no one shows up?"), my anxiety levels were already pegged. Add to that the fact I was also playing with Spam Javelin, and you have a recipe for jitters.

Fortunately, the venue’s backroom was overflowing with freshers—new grant money in hand and hungry for something that wasn't chart pop—ready to dive headfirst into the local scene.

Just to complicate my night, our main drummer, Llion, was off earning some cold, hard cash playing covers like a true drum whore—probably polluting some poor bar with 'Sex On Fire' or other crowd-pleasing nonsense.

Enter our short-notice saviour: Gwyn from Emissaries Of Syn (or "Emissaries Of Gwyn," as he's known around these parts). Gwyn, who even toured with a surrogate SJ lineup years ago, stepped up and absolutely smashed it. We resurrected some old-school Spam Javelin tunes for his benefit and blasted through an energetic 30-minute set. Jitters gone; everyone was ready.

Next up were Thumbsucker, the two-piece power-violence ensemble who had travelled down from Leicester. And when I say they played, I mean they ripped Bangor a new proverbial arsehole. One of the members, who I remember playing the same night as Spam Javelin’s debut over ten years ago, delivered a relentless, ear-muff-testing set.

In 25 minutes, they were over before they started, barely pausing for air. The result? A room full of people left shellshocked, exhilarated, and maybe a little confused—in the best way possible. Ace.

Finally, it was time for the headliners, Prey (although there's none of that 'headlining' nonsense in our punk rock world). They are usually a highly uncompromising outfit, but tonight, they were elevated by the presence of Laura, whose uncompromising vocal style added another layer of intensity to their already immense sound.

Their set was also short, sharp, and totally shocking in all the right ways, ensuring the energy level never dropped. It was great to see, especially since the crowd was engaged and sticking around.

The night wasn't just about the music. I was glad to see the merch table busy, moving not just Prey and Thumbsucker gear, but even shifting two of our Spam Javelin vinyls!

The experience continued back at "Hotel Bastardos" (my place), where the quest for maximum consumption was completed with the opening of a vintage (2023) bottle of Penderyn Whisky. We finally crashed around 2 AM.

Both bands must have been on a mission because when I woke up, they were gone! Thumbsucker had a matinee gig back in Leicester, and apparently (I'm told), they looked "a bit delicate" after their little Bangor adventure. Worth it. All's well that ends well—a great gig, great people, and a night where nothing went wrong (unless you were watching a covers-band a few miles away).

Prey on Bandcamp
Thumbsucker on Bandcamp