PUNKTASTIC 13.01

In the years since we released our ‘Un-Scene’ series through Punktastic Recordings (RIP), the internet has changed the music world beyond measure. What hasn’t changed, though, is how much we love to champion new music.

13.01 is the first of a new series of compilations this year, care-fully orchestrated for your listening pleasure. It’s not destined to ever appear as a CD, but right now you’re reading our compan-ion zine to the free download and hopefully that will make up for the lack of real physical liner notes.

We’re never happier than we we hear an amazing new song or a brilliant new band for the first time. In this edition we’ve got a range of pop punk, punk rock, punk and hardcore, and many of the bands are only in here because you sent them our way. Thank you and please keep it up.

These compilations have been made with love, and we’re really pleased with how it turned out. But this is just the first one so let us know what you think at one of the shows we’re putting on or via the forums.

We hope you have as much fun listening to this as we did put-ting it together. Thanks for taking the time to check out the bands, and we hope you’ll be back for more!

See you again in February,- Tom & the Punktastic Team

INTRODUCTION

01. Home Salvation - Slaves02. Nathan Detriot - Hold On Tight03. Bear Trade - Holding Pattern04. Wounds - Dead Dead Fucking Dead05. julyornever - Sirens06. Hearts & Souls - Airwaves07. Borders - The Last Walk08. Atlas - Pertichor09. Broken Window Effect - Old Blue10. Run From Robots - Sleepless Days & Endless Nights11. Dirty Kirst - The Wrestlers12. Break Ups - Setting Our Hearts To Win13. Greaterghost - Isolation

TRACKLISTING

01. HOME SALVATIONSlaves

Despite forming in late 2011 and getting out of the starting blocks quickly, Home Salvation haven’t quite had it all their way so far.

Their early 2012 debut single didn’t quite make the waves that they had had hoped, and it took them almost right until the end of last year to find a permanent bass player to complete the line up.

‘Slaves’ is one of the most recent tracks that the band have com-pleted, and it sees the band on fine form.

It’s a slow building track about vo-calist Ben’s coming of age, and in

his own words it’s a “young man’s view on a consumerist nation as he tries to get his foot in the front door”.

The patient crescendo into brutal release is something you’d expect from a band of far greater years, and it showcases Home Salva-tion’s immense potential to create a style of their own and do well over the next few years.

A statement of intent, and one that we had to replicate by having the track as the opener for our first compilation of 2013.

facebook.com/homesalvation

02. NATHAN DETROITHold On Tight

Trowbridge pop punkers Nathan Detroit may be relatively new to the scene, but they have already started making big waves.

Their first UK tour was under their belt in Spring last year, and the band have already penned two EPs, the most recent of which features the excellent ‘Hold On Tight’. The subject matter behind ‘Hold On Tight’ is a very personal one - it deals with someone that you’re very close to almost dying, and the relief that you feel when you find out that they’re okay.

Specifically, the song closes with the line “Hold on tight, you’re still my old man”, which refers to vocalist Jamie’s father recently surviving a heart attack.

This may sound a little down-beat, but the band have nothing but positive vibes, and it’s pretty much nailed in that you’ll be hear-ing plenty from them in the near future.

facebook.com/nathandetroit

03. BEAR TRADEHolding Pattern

Though Bear Trade only formed in December 2011, they’ve managed to record a debut tape, get over to the US to play Florida’s Fest, and an East Coast tour while they were at it.

Next up for the band was sign-ing to the brand new record label offshoot of long time Punktastic partners in crime Everything Sucks TV. The label and band plotted together on the the release of the band’s debut 7”, which ‘Holding Pattern’ is taken from.

‘Holding Pattern’ is a song about being young and trying too hard, and is a perfect of example of the

raw punk rock that the band is bringing to the table.

It’s exactly the sort of thing that made us so excited about putting these compilations together, and there’s little doubt that 2013 will be a great year for the band.

Bear Trade will do four UK dates with Iron Chic in the near future, and they also plan to get out into Europe as the year goes on.

facebook.com/beartradeband

04. WOUNDSDead Dead Fucking Dead

If #YOLO wasn’t so representative of dickheads in Kavos, Wounds would probably be great torch bearers for the phrase.

Near death experiences either build you or break you, and Wounds stand strong with a new album that arrived right at the end of January 2013.

In the words of the band them-selves, ‘Dead Dead Fucking Dead’ is a “straight up no brainer, rock and roll song that sounds good when you’re drunk”, and it’s all about making the most of the time that you’re given.

The entire vibe of the band is enjoying your ability to lose your-self in the music while the going’s good, and it reflects in every sec-ond of the track. It’s going to be a fantastic year for the band by the looks of it, and there’s no better time to get involved than now.

“We’re ready to die, but while we’re here we’re gonna enjoy and destroy.” is the mantra here, and with the kind of energy that Wounds are able to give us, how could we resist including them?

facebook.com/woundsband

05. JULYORNEVERSIRENS

julyornever are celebrating a year together this month, and we thought a great way to celebrate would be by being in good com-pany of fresh new bands.

The band came together with a mutual love of pop punk, but they’re not so keen to be lumped in with everyone else.

“We wanted to make sure we were writing songs that actually reflect-ed our lives and not just being another generic band with nothing new to say.”

It’s an admirable approach, but the proof is in the pudding with

their inclusion. It’s a fresh take on the genre, and one that got us very excited.

julyornever are one of the bands that we hadn’t had the pleasure of listening to at all until we reached out for submissions at the start of the year - and we couldn’t be hap-pier that we’ve come across them.

They’re a band that we hope do really well, and with any justice you’ll be hearing much more from them as the year goes on.

facebook.com/julyornever

06. HEARTS & SOULSAirwaves

Hearts & Souls started life in 2011 after vocalist Lucinda Living-stone finished her run in This City Sleeps. She teamed up with Andy Castle and Conor Dawson to complete the band, and then they set to work playing shows across the UK and making a name for themselves.

We’ve selected a track from the band’s recently released debut EP, The Use Of Living, and it just happens to feature the guest vocal talents of The Dangerous Summer’s AJ Perdomo.

Though guest vocals tend to be a

bit hit or miss, here Perdomo fits gracefully in with the female vocal, and never feels like he’s over-stayed his welcome.

‘Airwaves’ is a track about ded-icating yourself to the trials and tribulations of being in a band, and seeing your heroes pass away.

It’s a great introduction to a prom-ising outfit, and one that we bet you’ll have stuck in your head for weeks afterwards.

facebook.com/heartsandsoulsuk

07. BORDERSThe Last Walk

Taking nods from bands like Make Do And Mend, Alkaline Trio and Hot Water Music, Borders are very much at the gruffier end of the punk spectrum, and we loved the EP this track is taken from.

‘The Last Walk’ harks to tracks from Our Time Down Here’s re-cent ‘Midnight Mass’, and follows around 18 months of existence that saw them support Dead Swans, The Story So Far and more.

The track is taken from the band’s 2012 EP of the same name, and is written about Lewis Powell, who was part of the assassination of

Abraham Lincoln - the song is written from his point of view, and documents his literal last walk.

It’s a far, far darker approach to writing to most of the tracks on the compilation, but there’s little doubt that it’s a thrilling inclusion.

Borders are a band that we’re real-ly excited about - and if this is the first time you’ve heard this track then we’re sure you’ll be excited by it too.

facebook.com/bordersuk

08. ATLASPertichor

After a period of experimenting with different sounds, the Atlas line up that exists today first came together at the end of 2010.

They then began on the rights of passage that is gigging locally and trying to spread their name, and record two tracks at the beginning of 2012 with Sean Harrison of The Elijah.

They completed their four track demo with a further two tracks, and plan to get back into the stu-dio this year.

‘Pertichor’ showcases the band’s

many facets, and is a track worthy of any melodic hardcore band.

Of the track, the subject matter comes from “uncertainty on the future and dissatisfaction with the present” and juxtaposes brutal harder and more acoustic, melod-ic moments.

The big jumps in tempo makes it an exciting track from the band, and sets them up for great things in the future.

facebook.com/atlasuk

09. BROKEN WINDOW EFFECTOld Blue

Generally, if your band started life over beers at a barbecue, you’re doing things right. Broken Window Effect came together from mem-bers of Cadillac, Ducking Punches and Billy No Mates doing just that.

The band’s sound is primarily indie punk, with plenty of Ragan and Springsteen thrown into the mix.

Their track for the compilation is based on a true story - it’s about relationships that clearly aren’t working but the two people strive on as a force of habit and it focus-es on the aftermath of a difficult breakup, alcoholism and violence.

You can expect great things from the band this year, and we’re hop-ing to get out and see them live as soon as possible!

facebook.com/brokenwindoweffect

10. RUN FROM ROBOTSSleepless Days & Endless Nights

Run From Robots formed in 2009 and were - by their own admis-sion - a little bit clueless about what they were doing at first. They played a lot of shows around Bris-tol, and eventually figured out the sound they were comfortable with in the traditional, trial and error way.

The band has come a long way from the early shows in 2009 - they’ve toured Europe and the UK, and produced an EP they are rightly proud of.

The band wanted to write songs about touring, working hard, writ-ing tunes and having good times.

This track features Ben Scarr from As We Climb, a band that actually toured with Run From Robots on their first tour of the UK - it sums up the ethos and approach of the band, and also happens to have a massive chorus.

Fans of The Wonder Years should love it, and we’re hoping to see plenty more from them over the next few years.

facebook.com/runfromrobotsofficial

The Wrestlers11. DIRTY KIRST

Dirty Kirst are a punk rock band that produce a sound so colossal you’d be forgiven for thinking they must be more than a four piece.

Hailing from the small town of St. Neots in Cambridgeshire, the band play songs about friendships, politics, death and addiction, and also play fucking fast - and that’s plenty of our boxes ticked.

Since 2005 DK have done everything themselves, stamping their collective feet over creation, collaboration and output. It was in that year they wrote, recorded, produced and released their first album.

As far as they’re concerned, the members of Dirty Kirst are really only half the band - “The other half are those amazing people that hang around to watch us play a show; the people that buy the shirt; the voices screaming the lyrics back. After all, a gig isn’t really a gig without an audience.” - which is something many bands and fans can relate to.

The title of the song comes from the name of a pub in their home town, and also happens to be a massive tune.

facebook.com/dirtykirst

12. BREAK UPSSetting Out Hearts To Win

Break-Ups got together in August 2012 and since then have played strings of shows and have also recorded six songs - which will be released as their debut EP on Cats? Aye! Records in March.

Playing catchy, clever pop-punk, the three piece plan on playing everywhere as much as possible this year, and have their first tour booked for 1st - 7th March. They share the same DIY ethic as many of the bands on this compilation, and we couldn’t be happier to have them involved.

‘Setting Our Hearts To Win’ is about losing and pissing off

friends/lovers and was actually pencilled for the second compila-tion before we moved it forward - for obvious reasons.

We think the band are going to be one to get behind over the next few years, and we thought we’d give you a chance to hear them sooner rather than later!

facebook.com/breakupsuk

Isolation13. GREATERGHOST

GreaterGhost started life working together in a music store in Stoke. They made a pact that if they were all ever bandless they would come together and form a band and that’s exactly what ended up happening.

Once together they fell into a crea-tive flow and began writing songs and material faster than they could structure them into songs.

The key to their unique sound is the blend of the four members personal music style with bands they love, such as Circa Survive, Thrice and Finch.

The track chosen for the compila-tion is about finding your identity as a person and being comfort-able with it. Although it sounds quite dark, if you listen hard you can hear how positive and encour-aging the lyrics are.

‘Isolation’ is a huge track with incredible dynamics, and we thought it would be a perfect clos-er for this first compilation.

facebook.com/greaterghost

Thank you for taking the time to read this magazine and for listening to our first compilation of 2013.

If your band would like to be on one of our monthly compi-lations, then please send a song and a bit about yourselves

to tom.aylott@punktastic.com.