Destroyed by Madness

REASON TO LEAVE Sally Pepper The Blossoms, Stockport Saturday 23rd September 2023 (Photo by Phukin Photos) Reason to Leave have made a name for themselves across the DIY punk scene with a streamlined, conscious, and upbeat take on classic skate-punk. Tonight they team up with Horn & Hoof label-mate Sally Pepper and 77 Spears to celebrate the launch or their new Rise & Grind EP at Stockport institution the Blossoms. As an added bonus, Rejected and Abused join the party with The Hate , On the Brink , and Omega Tribe It’s an unusually warm and sunny day in late September, with the city buzzing from their team’s 5-0 demolition of Disney faves Wrexham FC down at Edgeley Park. Making the walk from the station to the venue, there’s a celebratory feel in the air which seeps into the pub’s atmosphere ahead of the six band noisefest.  The Hate , 77 Spears , and On the Brink warm-up the crowd with sweaty, in your face sets before  Sally Pepper brings everyone up close and pe...

THE CRASH MATS 69 Spotify Listeners Can’t All Be Wrong Horn & Hoof Records (11/09/23) Sticky riffs, dank beats, and absurdist tales… Oldham’s very own punk-pop-skacore power trio are back with 15 minutes of unrestrained fun! Warm, inviting, and guaranteed to leave you in a spin, The Crash Mats hybrid sound splashes colour across the DIY scene with giddily infectious songs that get the feet moving and the belly laughing. Starting their new LP as they mean to go on, the snappily titled 69 Spotify Listeners Can’t All Be Wrong rolls out with a jaunty guitar line and descending melody on We’re Not Going Back…, a 50-second protest against a certain budget-bakery’s menu offering. The food-related lyrical theme spreads itself across the album with Revenge of the Sausage Roll stomping along on a ska groove and football-terrace chorus, and Curry Party’s blaze of guitar noise and driving tempo enough to give anyone the munchies. Grabbing bits and pieces from across the punk spectrum, the albu...

GOING OFF Crossroads / Weak Links Church Road Records (080923)  Manchester’s very own grimy hardcore prospects return with a deliciously horrible double A-side, full of metallic grind and nihilistic despair. It doesn’t seem two minutes since Going Off spat out their fantastic full-length debut What Makes You Tick?, and this surprise release follows on from that statement by doubling down on the dirt and the sludge. Crossroads is an assault on the senses with bludgeoning guitar, doom tempos, and Jake’s in-your-face vocals front and centre to contemplate on the choices we face in life and the darkness that we suffer as time - and life - passes. It’s a crisp production courtesy of Chris at Noiseboy, with a fabulous bit of guitar squeal on the bridge to break the downward spiral, albeit temporarily.  Weak Links somehow manages to cover itself in even more filth, flipping between the two-step groove of its opening assault and the tar-like sludge of the second-act. The ever impressi...