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Last Active 11-25-17 9:02 pm
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 Lists
12.24.16 2016 SUCKED THESE ALBUMS DIDNT12.24.15 big albums in the year of our lord 2015
09.01.15 Repping the local scene: Kent, England 06.19.15 Grime/UK Hip Hop
05.31.15 Cool Idea: Sort Out The Genres04.04.15 2015's been aight so far
01.21.15 The 2010s: It Had Some Decent Music01.13.15 Tryna Disguise A 'cool Songs' List With
01.06.15 I Made A Mixtape Of The Best Diy Tunes12.20.14 These 2014 Albums All Suck
12.02.14 Some Underground Diy Band Reviews10.21.14 The Best Of Uk Diy
12.20.13 Some Really Bad Albums From 201301.22.13 New Account And Favourites Of 2012

Repping the local scene: Kent, England

I recently submitted an article to God Is In The TV Zine about my local scene, so I thought I'd throw it here lol. One of the best scenes in 24 Hour Party People occurs near the end, with the club remix of Happy Mondays’ ’Hallelujah’ playing over the top of Tony Wilson, played by Steve Coogan, lamenting over his love of Manchester, ‘the crumbling warehouses, the railway arches, the cheap abundant drugs. That’s what did it in the end’. The legacy of Tony Wilson, Factory Records, and The Haçienda isn’t to be compared to that of Maidstone, the county-town of Kent. But looking at the boarded-up buildings, the stale streets, the dead air, it’s easy to sympathise. Thank god we got rock and roll to lull our troubles for as long as the amp feedback lasts. For a good two years, Stepping Stone Studios, Earls, Rafters, and the reopened Drakes were our haven, giving us dirty, fun rock music to dance to every week. A strong sense of community, of building something. Since then, Stepping Stone Studios has closed down, and the great promoter Factotum Productions has slowed down, but as shown by the great success of this years’ Maidstone Fringe Festival, the scene isn’t down and out. A lot of things have happened, but the beauty of rock and roll is it’ll always find its way. If the bands and songwriters listed here aren’t from Maidstone, they’re from nearby and have helped make the scene what it is today, they’ve helped make the days and nights of the people living in this Conservative-led monotony that much better.
1Youthblood
Vvibes


Youthblood have been around since the birth of the current scene’s incarnation, previously in the form of the more synth-driven Trophys. But where before they filled empty spaces with chirpy electronics, now they ramp it up with their raw, psychedelia-driven shoegaze. ‘100 BPM’ was a guitar-ripping start to their current form, Mitch Duce’s vocals snarling. ‘Sleep’, meanwhile, is an absolute anthem, with swirling guitar tones and bass that know when to pull back, and when to fucking soar. They’ve been absent from the live scene for a good year now, but when they’re back you’d be a fool to miss.
https://soundcloud.com/youthblooduk/sleep
2Weak Nerves
Posteverything


Weak Nerves are a veteran of Maidstone’s live circuit, always around to deliver their sweaty, slacker-grunge nastiness. The vocals on ‘Bedroom Rot’ are drowned out by the fuzzy, heavy guitar tones, and their energy live always delivers. They recently released the EP Posteverything, and it’s already one of the tastiest things this year, displaying the subtle advances in songwriting they’ve undertaken over time.
https://soundcloud.com/weaknerves/weak-nerves-bedroom-rot
3False-Heads
Wear and Tear


False-Heads’s new EP Wear and Tear is the bastard child of Nevermind’s deep-cuts, ‘Wrap Up’, offering the same nice riffs and rushes of angst-driven adrenalin that the 90s coughed up in spades. All the right vibes are here.
https://soundcloud.com/falseheads/wrap-up
4Cosmic Thoughts
Cosmic Thoughts


If the first three bands are distortion-glazed and reckless, Cosmic Thoughts are timid and anxious. Stop-start rhythms abound in the math and post-punk-inspired alt-rock, but they know a good chorus isn’t meant to be missed. ‘No Youth’ drives forward steadily, dead-eyed until the chorus hits and the relief soaks over you.
https://soundcloud.com/fatcatrecords/cosmic-thoughts-no-youth
5Frau Pouch / Bear vs Manero
Yee Naaldlooshii


Appearing on a recent conceptual split EP together (Yee Naaldlooshi), Frau Pouch and Bear Vs Manero both deliver fast-paced, kinetic art punk. On each band’s stand-alone tracks on this EP, Frau Pouch’s builds and drones, where Bear Vs Manero’s slams heavily and dirtily, like the best of early Gossip and Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
https://soundcloud.com/skingasm/bear-vs-manero-1
6Punching Swans
Mollusc


As kinetic and angular are Punching Swans, whose filthy post-punk spits and scratches. ‘Clown Karma´ is so messy and unsure of itself it doesn’t know whether to be angry or just scared.
https://soundcloud.com/punchingswansband/clown-karma-2
7Fuoco
Perverted Gaze EP


Calling themselves ‘death grunge’, Fuoco have been named one of the best live bands in Kent, and it’s probably due to their sweaty, bug-eyed bodies that these two flail about the stage. ‘Fluoxetine’ has had Huw Stephens frothing at the mouth almost as much as the song does itself, sounding like a load of punches falling down the stairs.
https://soundcloud.com/fuocoband/fluoxetine
8Lithodrone
Lithodrone


Self-proclaimed ale lovers, Lithodrone’s grunge lurches, and ticks all the right boxes. Their songs ache both vocally and subtly, the back-up vocals on ‘Come Dead’ just mis-matched enough to work.
https://soundcloud.com/brakey/05-come-dead-1
9Get Inuit
001


Now, Get Inuit are something else. Back in February, they released 001, easily one of the best EPs of the year, and have since stormed the likes Y Not? and Glastonbury. Their sun-kissed indie pop is both blissful and ramshackle, capturing those moments as you dance with your mates across cornfields. ‘Coping With Death In A Nutshell’ and ‘Mean Heart’ are both wonderful displays of songwriting chops well beyond their age. Possibly the loveliest band in Kent.
https://soundcloud.com/alcopop/get-inuit-coping-with-death-in
10Salvation Jayne
Salvation Jayne


Salvation Jayne play the kind of alternative blues rock that should be heard from pubs old as time itself, but their confidence is both blistering and invigorating. All three tracks on their self-titled EP are bloody and bruised.
https://soundcloud.com/salvationjayne/chocolate-jesus-tom-waits-cover
11upcdownc
Black Sea


Always utterly fucking heavy, Upcdownc have been shifting glaciers for nearly fifteen years. Their post-rock takes in everything from metal, drone, hardcore, but is always earth-shattering and staggeringly beautiful. Their last album, Black Sea, shows the breadth of their talent the best, going from hauntingly delicate passages to galaxy-destroying crunchiness in a breath.
https://soundcloud.com/field-records/titan
12Inevitable Daydream
Claire / Clouds


Having split up last year and reforming only a few months ago, it seems fitting to end with Inevitable Daydream, a band who are guiding the direction of the scene with every strike of their blue thunder. Every incarnation of their live performance is another chapter of beautiful violence, with roaring feedback, powerful drums, hazy skies and resistance to those bringing you down. ‘Summer Song’ is a thundering pop tune, and ‘Clouds’ is beautiful and sublime, floating above the heavens before the apocalyptic closing, dancing to the end of the world.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4hdnR0Z09w
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