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Last Active 11-25-17 9:02 pm
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| 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. | | 1 |  | Youthblood
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 | | 2 |  | Weak 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 | | 3 |  | False-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 | | 4 |  | Cosmic 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 | | 5 |  | Frau 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 | | 6 |  | Punching 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 | | 7 |  | Fuoco
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 | | 8 |  | Lithodrone
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 | | 9 |  | Get 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 | | 10 |  | Salvation 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 | | 11 |  | upcdownc
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 | | 12 |  | Inevitable 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 | |
helpoemer420
09.01.15 | www.godisinthetvzine.co.uk/author/liam-whear/ | BandNewbac
09.01.15 | cool list | Archelirion
09.01.15 | I'm from Ramsgate, so the other side of Kent, but it's really cool to see a list of bands that I'd consider local to myself on here ^.^ Really liking the sound of Punching Swans right now. | helpoemer420
09.01.15 | I included entries for the bands in the list that weren't in the database (as they had no albums/EPs out) but sputnik app swallowed them so lol check the articles for more cool shit. High are my favourite there | DanielNightLewis
09.01.15 | I'd have also added: Screen Wives, Mr Lizard, Sky:Lark! and Escucha. All great bands. Love Cosmic Thoughts too, their old bands (Man Hands and November Coming Fire) were great heavy bands! | helpoemer420
09.01.15 | I can't remember if I've seen Screen Wives lol but I have heard their name mentioned about | Sinternet
09.02.15 | Urgh I can't stand Kent. It's such a tedious and boring county. Sweet list though, don't know any of these so I'll check them. 1 and 9 look like ones I'd enjoy. | kdobailey
09.02.15 | Didnt realise Kent had a scene tbf so I'll deffo check these. | DanielNightLewis
09.02.15 | Kent has produced some great bands over the years, the Cantebury scene in particular was outstanding a few years back when bands like Battle of Wolf 359 were still knocking around. | Judio!
09.02.15 | Nice, will definitely give some of these a listen. | helpoemer420
09.02.15 | i hate living in kent lmao | ParanoidAndroid96
09.02.15 | looks like there's a ton of good stuff here. I love 24 Hour Party people, I just saw it a few weeks ago | ParanoidAndroid96
09.02.15 | you're lucky to live by a scene like this, I live in some shitty suburb in the states. this place is like a cultural gutter | StrangerofSorts
09.03.15 | oh fair, stuff happens in Kent?
Good list man - been thinking of doing a ting like this for Bristol but am a little intimidated by it. | anarchistfish
09.07.15 | "Urgh I can't stand Kent. It's such a tedious and boring county."
yeah fuck kent
I didn't even know there was a scene | NorwichScene
09.07.15 | Maybe I should do one. Check out Ducking Punches |
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