Show #191 - Neil Crud On Louder Than War Radio

 

First things first – apologies for the croaky voice this week. Two Spam Javelin gigs across the weekend left my throat sounding like sandpaper dragged over barbed wire. But the show must go on – and if anything, a but of Barry White only adds lurve to the hour.

This week’s playlist unfolded like a fever dream set in the 1990s. We started in the shadow of the past with Baltimore Gun Club – 1993, stumbled into Slutever – 1994, and found ourselves tangled up in Wobbly Hearts – 1995. A time capsule of angst, distortion, magic mushrooms and the need to find that someone you love..

From there, things turned darker. Prey reminded us we’re all just an Obedient Dog in someone else’s world, while Bite Back surveyed the mess around us and called it what it is – a Crazy World.

But resistance is always at hand. 77 SPEARS spat defiance with The Only Person You’re Fooling Is Yourself, and Stuntface barked out the reminder that Life Is Loud (fuckin' love that song). That energy roared on into Scotch Funeral’s tidal surge Sŵn Y Môr and Thumbsucker’s fragile yet fierce Imperfect Organism.

The middle of the show hit with a mix of swagger and menace: Viva Kinevils – Rocktober swaggered into October File – Crawl, while Two Tonne Machete slammed down the traps and Mitraille – Road Rage floored the accelerator. Somewhere in the chaos, Class whispered their own quiet truth – Too Scared To Care.

Flowers wilted under the lo-fi distortion of Soup Activists – Typical Flowers, while Mouser tore the whole thing down with their scathing To Hell With The New Nazis (courtesy of Dammit Records).

By then, it was time for some twisted philosophy. Future Of The Left chimed in with the unforgettable You Need Satan More Than He Needs You, and Awkland – Internecine pulled us further into the gloom with their internecine warfare of sound. Finally, Gintis closed the show with their gloriously titled Philosophical Transactions Of A Disappointed Physicist – the sound of resignation wrapped in melody and science beautifully set to song. And it's 21 today! (Wow!)

The Playlist – Show 191

• Baltimore Gun Club – 1993

• Slutever – 1994

• Wobbly Hearts – 1995

• Prey – Obedient Dog

• Bite Back – Crazy World

• 77 SPEARS – The Only Person You’re Fooling Is Yourself

• Stuntface – Life Is Loud

• Scotch Funeral – Sŵn Y Môr

• Thumbsucker – Imperfect Organism

• Viva Kinevils – Rocktober

• October File – Crawl

• Two Tonne Machete – Trap

• Mitraille – Road Rage

• Class – Too Scared To Care

• Soup Activists – Typical Flowers

• Mouser – To Hell With The New Nazis

• Future Of The Left – You Need Satan More Than He Needs You

• Awkland – Internecine

• Gintis – Philosophical Transactions Of A Disappointed Physicist

Thailand Day 2

Jet lagged and running on very little sleep, we dragged ourselves out of bed and checked out of the hotel at noon. The Bangkok smog and heat hit us immediately — 28°C with heavy humidity — but that was part of the city’s charm (so I've been told).

Declan spent a month in this country last year, and he text and suggested we head to Banglamphu Market, so we set off on foot. Not long into our walk, we were approached by the inevitable tuk-tuk driver. With a big smile and the usual line — “Hello my friend, where are you from?” — he tried to strike up a deal. We knew his game but decided to play along when he suggested visiting a Buddhist temple.

Once inside the souped up tuk-tuk, the script continued. Another man appeared at the temple, pretending he was on his way to his daughter’s wedding. He chatted away about how suits in Bangkok were the best in the world, made for Armani, and how we could get great deals if we wanted. Tim saw him for who he was right away and cut him off; me, I thought he was just being chatty. It was classic theatre — entertaining in its own way, but definitely a hustle.

The driver then tried steering us towards a Clothes shop, we politely, but steadfastly refused. Then on to the so-called Tourist Information Centre, a well-worn trick designed to funnel tourists into overpriced tours and shops. Recognising the scam, we again politely refused to play along and instead paid him a modest 50 baht for the ride.

Later, Tim suggested something far more authentic: watching a Muay Thai boxing tournament. Earlier in the day we had passed the arena, so it felt like fate. We bought tickets (not cheap), found a nearby hotel, and headed to the fight.

The atmosphere was electric. The drums, the chants, the raw energy of the crowd — it was an unforgettable experience. The tournament was brutal, beautiful, mesmerising and absolutely exhilarating. We left the arena drunk and exhausted but buzzing. (Beer was £5 a pint - VERY expensive for Thailand).

I realised I had booked the wrong hotel, it was a good half an hour walk away. And walk we did! That's no bother - it was simply fate that the mistaken booking was situated on Khaosan Road - the world-famous, vibrant, and bustling street, widely known as the "Backpacker Capital of the World." Though it is only a short street, it is the epicenter of budget travel, offering a unique blend of nightlife, shopping, and a distinct, carefree international atmosphere.

We checked in, stashed our passport in the celing in the bathroom (no safe in the room) and then continued our quest to drink silly amounts of beer (now £1.95 a pint), eat street food, watch music, watch people of all creeds, colours, sexes, and species and soak up the absolutely mental atmosphere. Before we knew it the night had gone and it was daylight!

Thailand Day 1

Mally kindly took me to the Llandudno Junction at 6:15 a.m. in return for borrowing my car for the week. I met Tim, and together we took the train to Manchester Airport. By noon, we were on our flight to Mumbai.

The flight was long, though I managed to sleep quite a bit, albeit intermittently. I couldn’t help feeling self-conscious about my smelly trainers tucked underneath the seat in front of me, but I decided they deserved one last hurrah—they’ve served me well, and besides, it was a long flight.

Our plane landed about an hour late, leaving us roughly ninety minutes to make our transfer. Unfortunately, the Indian immigration process was a nightmare. The officials seemed to have absolutely no clue how to do their jobs, and had we not pushed and cajoled our way to the front of the queue, I fear we’d still be standing there today.

We just managed to catch our onward flight to Bangkok, and thankfully immigration there was far more efficient—automated and straightforward. After clearing it, we negotiated our way onto the train and randomly picked an area to explore.

That decision dropped us in a more residential part of town. We wandered through people’s backyards and along narrow alleyways, edging past an open sewer. Not the most picturesque welcome. At that point, I’d had enough. We flagged down a taxi, haggled with the driver, and ended up dropped right in the middle of Bangkok’s city centre, not quite where we intended when we used the description 'nightlife' to him.

Welcome to Bangkok! This was the swankier part of town, a world away from the alleys we had just trudged through. We finally walked into a proper hotel, booked ourselves a room for about £25, and, in need of a beer, headed out into the night. The area is considered very high-end and is sometimes described as Bangkok's "Ginza." It features luxury condos, high-end hotels, and sophisticated shopping precincts, so 'a pub' was gonna be pretty hard to find. 

Thankfully, I had downloaded the Saily eSim, which is an absolute must for travellers. Google told us The Beer Republic was a short walk away. By Thai standards, a pint of Leffe wasn't cheap - £3 - Ha ha, look at me, almost complaining about paying a mere £3 for a delicious pint of Leffe Blond!! It was so nice that Tim and I ordered it a further five times along with some incredible local cuisine. All the while The Chocolate Cosmos played their indie covers to aid digestion (particularly enjoyed The Cure's Boys Don't Cry). Drunk, we headed back to the hotel having not slept properly for 36 hours.

The Chocolate Cosmos

Show #188 - Neil Crud On Louder Than War Radio

 

Some shows take on a life of their own, and this week’s felt like one big, noisy story unraveling through the speakers.

It began with TV Face, reminding us to Get What We’re Given – a timely mantra when the world insists on throwing curveballs. From there, old-school Teesside hardcore crew Dogsflesh marched in lockstep with their March Of The Damned, dragging us into darker territory where nothing is promised and everything is contested.

The Unknowns might have Lost Me, but that’s half the fun of radio – you’re not supposed to know exactly where you’re going, particularly when you lose your shownotes. By the time Vast Slug crawled in with the brilliantly titled I Look Forward To Reading All About Myself In Your Suicide Note, things had already become beautifully unhinged.

The brutality continued with Times of Desperation, who left us Skinned Alive, and The Skive, who dragged us back to reality with the rough-and-ready supermarket bargain bin brilliance of Bargain. Just when you thought you could breathe, Son Capsun was up there, a Sniper On The Roof Of Tesco, aiming barbs at the mundanity of suburban life.

The middle of the set went global. AM checked in to ask Co tam słychać?, before PESD prowled like Hieny and Polish punk legends Armia growled To Moja Zemsta. It felt like a whole Eastern Bloc uprising pressed into three quick punches.

Hearing Tests reminded us what it’s like to face down a Bully, then Derwyddon Dr Gonzo gave us a surreal ska detour with Chaviach. By the time Mr Huw took us through Ein Budreddi (our filth, our grime), my heart was sufficiently warmed and throbbing.

Punitive Damage then baptised us in flames with Baptism Of Fire, which felt like the perfect lead-in to Schkeuditzer Kreuz, who demanded we Keep Dancing even as the walls shook and the floor melted beneath our feet.

The endgame came thick and fast: Takers & Users served up Bombscare, Exaust ripped open an Open Wound, and GURT rolled in with the sludgy stomp of Sludge Puppies. And to sign it all off? J Pump & The Bulldozers flattened the night beautifully with No.1 Auto.

What a ride.

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The Playlist – Show 188

• TV Face – Get What We’re Given

• Dogsflesh – March Of The Damned

• The Unknowns – Lost Me

• Vast Slug – I Look Forward To Reading All About Myself In Your Suicide Note

• Times of Desperation – Skinned Alive

• The Skive – Bargain

• Son Capsun – Sniper On The Roof Of Tesco

• AM – Co tam słychać?

• PESD – Hieny

• Armia – To Moja Zemsta

• Hearing Tests – Bully

• Derwyddon Dr Gonzo – Chaviach

• Mr Huw – Ein Budreddi

• Punitive Damage – Baptism Of Fire

• Schkeuditzer Kreuz – Keep Dancing

• Takers & Users – Bombscare

• Exaust – Open Wound

• GURT – Sludge Puppies

• J Pump & The Bulldozers – No.1 Auto

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Next week I’ll be away travelling, so Martin from Noises From The Bottom Left Corner will be stepping in for me. He’s got impeccable taste and a knack for spinning chaos into gold, so tune in and give him your ears. I’ll be back the week after, hopefully in one piece.

Live gigs live sheet

This is my personal archive of the live sets I’ve seen over the years – pieced together from memory and old diaries. Some gigs were life-changing, some epiphanic, many unforgettable… and a few I’d probably rather not remember. But every single one has left its mark – not least in the form of my raging tinnitus.

For many of these shows (though not all), you can find reviews over on the link2wales site.

First gig I ever saw were The Jam, supported by The Vapors at Deeside Leisure Centre in 1979

The list itself lives in a constantly updated spreadsheet – every time I log another band I’ve seen, it grows.

Dive in, explore, enjoy – and maybe you’ll spot a few you were at too.

Neil Crud - Bands Seen

Show #187 - Swamp Fest & Louder Than War Radio (01.09.25)

  

Steve Steve Steve of White Ether, harnessing that feedback

Still recovering from the weekend when I hit the airwaves for this one. At the time, drinking all that Abbot Ale felt like the best idea in the world… but come Sunday, my head begged to differ and I spent a lot of the day in the recovery position.

Little Swamp Fest 2025

Saturday was all about Little Swamp Fest, a hidden gem of a festival tucked away in rural Ynys Môn. It’s not your average event – it’s private, run by friends, for friends, with bands made up of (you guessed it) friends. I’ve been going six or seven years now, and it never fails to deliver.

This year was meant to be extra special on a personal level, as my own band Spam Javelin was finally set to make our debut. Our host Nick has been pestering us to play for years, and at last the stars aligned… until the gods of misfortune intervened. Our drummer Llion pulled his back on the eve of the gig. Drummers, eh? Love ’em or hate ’em, you can’t play without ’em. Well, unless you have a few Abbot Ales in you and someone hands you a Strat.

So yes, I was coaxed into doing four or five Spam Javelin songs solo on Bryce Amps’ gorgeous Fender Strat and amp – and you know what? It was a nervous blast and a bit rubbish ha ha.

As for the rest of the day: Spears took us on a spaced-out trip and I enjoyed the blues of Serious Bizness and the fun of Black Sheep, while White Ether were the real knockout. Their extended set was spot-on, particularly enjoyed their newer material, and honestly, a debut album from them is long overdue. Once again, Little Swamp Fest proved to be the perfect collision of music, mates, and merriment. Here’s to 2026!

OK... on with the show -
With the weekend’s excesses still lingering, I fired up this week’s show with a dose of grit: Sleaford Mods’ Tweet Tweet Tweet. Hard to believe it’s ten plus years old already. The track raged against right-wing nonsense back then, and here we are in 2025, with even more of it to shout about. Some things never change, apart from roundabouts (apparently).

Also marking anniversaries was Wendykurk – 22 years since they released their one and only album Soft Meat. That band used to scare the living shit out of me (in the best possible way), and it was a thrill to dust them off again.

Big thanks, as always, to Garry Davies for digging up fresh treasures. His contributions are a backbone of the show, and this week he unearthed Potato Skins’ hilarious Diet Squad. That in turn gave me the excuse to blast Riot Squad’s Speed Cameras – perfect pairing. Garry also supplied Hearing Test’s sweaty sludge-punk energy and Grail Guard’s fiery Coventry hardcore.

Other highlights

• Scotch Funeral – Sacrifice My Teeth kept their Ever & Ever momentum alive.

• White Ether – All Things Must Change got a well-deserved nod after their Little Swamp Fest triumph.

• Hearing Tests – Mob Rule, London post-hardcore at its noisy, dissonant best.

• Tragedy – Enter The Void, Portland hardcore bruisers from their LP 'Fury'.

• A scattering of global chaos: Fight The Bear, PESD, Gerinc – all firing on full cylinders.

• Smarts – Golden Arches, lifted from their album Who Needs Smarts, Anyway?.

• More Kreuz carnage: Schkeuditzer Kreuz – Trips & Trepidations, proving Swan Grinder is still shaking the rafters.

• Split System – It Ain’t You (Live in Stockholm) kept the Aussie machine rolling and what about that TV Face track!!

• Pete Bentham & The Dinner Ladies – Is There Life in Rhyl. The title says it all.

• And finally, the grind onslaught: Internal Rot – Muted Destiny, from their blistering new split with Mutilated Cop (just out on Nerve Altar – go grab it on 7” or digital). I only managed to squeeze about 30secs in, but will play more next week.

The Playlist – Show 187

• Sleaford Mods – Tweet Tweet Tweet

• Antisect – Black

• PESD – Co tam słychać

• Fight The Bear – Sleazy Joe

• Gerinc – Fogságban

• Scotch Funeral – Sacrifice My Teeth

• White Ether – All Things Must Change

• Hearing Tests – Mob Rule

• Grail Guard – Our Streets

• Potato Skins – Diet Squad

• Riot Squad – Speed Cameras

• Wendykurk – Chain Of Daisies

• Tragedy – Enter The Void

• CoVid 21 – Everythings Fucked

• Smarts – Golden Arches

• Schkeuditzer Kreuz – Trips & Trepidations

• Split System – It Ain’t You (Live in Stockholm)

• TV Face - Boots, Pocket, Coffin

• Pete Bentham & The Dinner Ladies – Is There Life In Rhyl

• Internal Rot – Muted Destiny