Welcome to this week’s Foundation Vinyl Newsletter! And it’s a packed one…

• Recommended New Releases from Daisy Chain, Destruct, Tulips, and Urskek
• A Narrow(s) Escape
• Label In Focus: Discos Enfermos Records
• One You May Have Missed: Cainsmarsh by Rigorous Institution
• Shows and Tours
• Coming Soon

It’s not often that I venture up to the rather cavernous box that is the Electric Ballroom.  But back in March, the opportunity to spend Sunday evening in the company of Napalm Death and Dropdead proved too tempting an opportunity to resist.

Rhode Island’s finest had just finished their set (more on that perhaps in future weeks) and Napalm Death’s road crew were busily rushing about the stage in preparation for their slot.  As all the usual preliminaries were undertaken, a chair and a footstool were placed in splendid isolation, front and centre of the stage.  Not a prop that I recalled ever having featured prominently in any previous Napalm Death show.

All was to become clear when the band came on stage, Barney Greenway with crutches and a leg in cast, hobbling over to take his seat, like a cheery Brummie Val Doonican.  He had broken his ankle while being more energetic than, perhaps, he should have been in Munich a week earlier and was having to complete the rest of the tour from the comfort of a chair.  Every credit to him, he didn’t allow his lack of mobility to compromise a typically ferocious show, despite it no doubt being a very distinct test of endurance.  You try roaring ‘Suffer The Children’ from a seated position – it is no mean feat.

This was one of a spate of mishaps that seemed to impact gigs to varying degrees throughout March and April. A few days prior, the Cold Brats hadn’t quite fired to full effect supporting Gel at the New Cross Inn due to a malfunctioning vocal reverb.  Meanwhile at New River Studios, Punitive Damage broke their snare drum midway through a scorching set (thankfully Layback came to the rescue with a spare).  Whereas Instructor went one better a week later, breaking their lead guitar strings during the first song, and their snare in the second!  However, composure was maintained, and the Belgians were soon into their bruising stride.

This run of misfortune got me to thinking about instances of where I have seen a band triumph in the face of technical adversity.  And there was a clear winner – Narrows at The Underworld back in 2010.  It had been a performance of punishing brutality, with vocalist Dave Verellen a monstrous presence as guitarists Jodie Cox and Ryan Frederiksen unleashed an infectiously searing sonic assault.

It came to the set closer, ‘Life Vests Float, Kids Don’t’, a perfect track to lay waste to an already reeling crowd.  Rob Moran’s thundering bass and Verellen’s guttural vocals roared the song into life, but as Sam Stothers’ drums and the guitars crashed in, one of the lead guitars cut out.  Technical finessing followed and the band fired up again, but this time both guitars cut out.  What should have been a pulverising finale was threatening to finish as a damp squib.

Vocalist and rhythm section exchanged looks and a decision was taken – who, as it turns out, really needs guitars?  Not Narrows, not in that specific moment anyway.  The gig was brought to an incredible conclusion, a song stripped bare to it is core essentials and delivered with absolute crushing intensity.

Rigorous Institution plunge us into a bleak post-apocalyptic world, where the only certainty is that whatever comes next is likely even more unpleasant than what went before.  Distorted, doom-laden crust, enriched by gothic and metal flourishes, and rasping almost spoken-word vocals open the gates to the medieval savagery of Rigorous Institution’s dystopian vision.  But what sets this band apart is their ability to forge an atmosphere of dark foreboding and dread that animates this vision, one that is steeped in the knowledge that all hope is gone as the darkness descends.

This section lays no claims to being a definitive listing!  It is simply gigs coming up in London that catch my eye and that I think people who read this newsletter might be interested in.  I will always try and highlight where a show forms part of a wider UK tour.

19^th May Subdued, Diavol Strain, Bruxism (New River Studios)

27^th May Yleiset Syyt, Stingray, Rifle (New River Studios / UK Tour)

28^th May Delivery, Es, Honk (Brixton Windmill)

2^nd June The Flex plus support (New River Studios)

3^rd June The Restarts, Destruct, Fatalist, Subdued plus more (New Cross Inn / Destruct UK Tour)

4^th June GLAAS, Zeropolis, Turbo (New River Studios)

9^th June Savageheads, Rat Cage, Subdued (New River Studios)

11^thJune Snuff Acoustic Matinee (The Lexington)

14^th June Terror plus support (New Cross Inn)

16^th June Physique, Circle None, Skitter plus more (New Cross Inn)

17^th June Keno, Nation Unrest, Can Kicker plus more (The George Tavern)

24^th June Ribbon Stage, Ex-Void, R.Aggs (The Lexington)

9^th July End It, Spy, Combust, Initiate plus more (New Cross Inn)

10^th July Fuse, Dregs, Stingray, Antagonizm plus more (New River Studios)

18^th July Doldrey, Harrowed plus more (New Cross Inn / UK Tour)

18^th July Powerplant plus support (Moth Club / UK Tour)

19^th July Diploid, Casing plus more (New River Studios / UK Tour)

20^th July Iron Deficiency, Sentient plus more (New Cross Inn / UK Tour)

21^st July Jotnarr, Wreathe (Bird’s Nest)

24^th July Faim, No Man, Dying For It plus more (New Cross Inn)

4^th August Gag, Plastics, TS Warspite, Unjust plus more (New Cross Inn)

5^th August Knuckledust, Nine Bar, Fifty Caliber plus more (New Cross Inn)

8^th August Sacred Reich plus support (The Underworld)

14^th August Chat Pile, Petbrick, and Dawn Ray’d (The Dome)

15^th September Cinder Well plus support (Moth Club)

Drill Sergeant ‘Grim New War’ EP (Refuse Records)

Existence ‘Go To Heaven’ LP (Quality Control HQ)

Fairytale ‘Shooting Star’ LP (Quality Control HQ)

Incendiary ‘Change The Way You Think About Pain’ LP (Closed Casket Activities)

Wolfbrigade ‘In Darkness You Feel No Regrets’ LP (Destructure)

Welcome to this week’s Foundation Vinyl Newsletter!  Let’s dive straight in…

• Recommended New Releases
• Chandeliers and Rattlesnakes
• Label In Focus: Drunken Sailor Records
• One You May Have Missed: Crime of Passing by Crime of Passing
• Shows and Tours
• Coming Soon

When I was updating last week’s gig listing, it was striking how concentrated the shows were at just two venues, New River Studios, and the New Cross Inn.  Not a complaint by any means, both are admirable venues, and I’ve always particularly enjoyed shows at NRS.  It is just an observation of how the ecosystem of London’s venues has changed. Over the last 5 years, numerous venues have disappeared from London’s touring itinerary ranging from the DIY Space for London and T-Chances to The Camden Unicorn.

Several factors will have shaped this increasing concentration.  Crucially, soaring, exploitative rents in central London have made the economics of running an independent venue ever more challenging and the pandemic has made those pressures even worse.

I suspect that the number of DIY promoters, those tireless souls who get so little recognition for all their hard work, may also been temporarily whittled down by the dislocation of recent years, and every promoter inevitably has their preferred venues to work with.  And, of course, these preferences will reflect how happy a venue is to host a hardcore punk gig.  An art in and of itself, even if that art is often a question of doing less rather than more.

Because, as we all know, there is nothing worse than a gig at venue that doesn’t know how to handle a hardcore show.  And this got me thinking about venues that I have visited just the once.  Some of the spaces were actually pretty successful – Paint It Black in a tiny, sweaty basement called The Fly in 2009, and The Saddest Landscape in some dark, low cellar near King’s Cross in 2012 both proved cracking venues.

Others much less so.  For example, Incendiary were to prove rather less fortunate on their first two visits to these shores, both brilliant shows in less-than-ideal circumstances.  The first was at The Enterprise in Camden back in 2012.  As the evening progressed, an increasingly worried landlord kept popping up the stairs as the chandelier in the main bar below was apparently displaying signs of distress due to the energetic crowd above.  A plea came for there to be ‘no more dancing’ and as Incendiary took the stage the immortal lines (and I’m undoubtedly paraphrasing here) were uttered ‘This is going to be a short one, so let’s make it a good one!’.  A blistering set (and a very much mobile crowd!) lasted twenty minutes before time was called…

Then when Incendiary returned on tour with Mindset a year later, there was a last-minute venue switch to an American theme bar, The Rattlesnake in Islington.  A rather bright back room, surrounded by plastic Americana, and a sort of handrail around part of the stage did not bode well, but the gig itself was explosive.  The issue came with the security.  During Incendiary’s set, I could see that one of the security team was looking ever more agitated by the swirling dance floor.  After the set, I could hear him being calmed down by his colleagues – ‘It’s just the way they dance’ – but it’s fair to say that he looked utterly unconvinced.  When the crowd erupted again during Mindset’s set, he waded into the middle of the pit, and even ended up on the stage trying to grab the microphone, putting a temporary stop to the show.  His colleagues ushered him from the room, still slowly shaking his head at the madness of what he was seeing…

So, what is the moral of these tales?  Firstly, let’s make sure that we support the great venues that we do have.  And, secondly, never, ever host a gig in a theme bar.

Post-punk excellence from Cincinnati’s Crime of Passing on well-crafted debut LP.  The arrangements are spartan yet perfectly judged.  Austere guitars interplay with stabs of icy electronics and occasional waves of saxophone above a pulsating rhythm section.  The vocals serve to bring this carefully constructed palette to its fullest fruition, ranging from impassioned semi-shouting (see World on Fire) to haunting ethereal murmurings (as on the beautiful closer, Ways of Hiding).

This section lays no claims to being a definitive listing!  It is simply gigs coming up in London that catch my eye and that I think people who read this newsletter might be interested in.  I will always try and highlight where a show forms part of a wider UK tour.

13^th May Poison Ruin, Powerplant, Keno (New River Studios / Matinee)

19^th May Subdued, Diavol Strain, Bruxism (New River Studios)

27^th May Yleiset Syyt, Stingray, Rifle (New River Studios / UK Tour)

28^th May Delivery, Es, Honk (Brixton Windmill)

2^nd June The Flex plus support (New River Studios)

3^rd June The Restarts, Destruct, Fatalist, Subdued plus more (New Cross Inn / Destruct UK Tour)

4^th June GLAAS, Zeropolis, Turbo (New River Studios)

9^th June Savageheads, Rat Cage, Subdued (New River Studios)

11^thJune Snuff Acoustic Matinee (The Lexington)

14^th June Terror plus support (New Cross Inn)

16^th June Physique, Circle None, Skitter, plus more (New Cross Inn)

24^th June Ribbon Stage, Ex-Void, R.Aggs (The Lexington)

9^th July End It, Spy, Combust, Initiate plus more (New Cross Inn)

10^th July Fuse, Dregs, Stingray, Antagonizm plus more (New River Studios)

18^th July Doldrey, Harrowed plus more (New Cross Inn)

19^th July Diploid, Casing plus more (New River Studios / UK Tour)

20^th July Iron Deficiency, Sentient plus more (New Cross Inn / UK Tour)

21^st July Jotnarr, Wreathe (Bird’s Nest)

24^th July Faim, No Man, Dying For It plus more (New Cross Inn)

4^th August Gag, Plastics, TS Warspite, Unjust plus more (New Cross Inn)

Drill Sergeant ‘Grim New War’ EP (Refuse Records)

Existence ‘Go to Heaven’ LP (Quality Control HQ)

Fairytale ‘Shooting Star’ LP (Quality Control HQ)

Varoitus ‘Ikuinen Sota’ LP (Phobia Records)

Wolfbrigade ‘In Darkness You Feel No Regrets’ LP (Destructure)

Welcome to the first Foundation Vinyl newsletter!  I’m sure the structure of this will evolve and change over the coming months, but the basic aim will remain unchanged – to bring you all the news and reviews of the latest arrivals at Foundation Vinyl.  So, here we go:

• Recommended New Releases
• From Liverpool With Anarchy
• Highlights From 2022
• One You May Have Missed
• Shows and Tours
• Coming Soon

‘The greatest power the capitalist class have over our lives, is convincing us that betraying each other is the only way to survive’ (Inferno, Dawn Ray’d).

I’ll be honest black metal generally does little to stir my soul.  For me, it too often lacks the hardcore-inspired velocity of the 1990s’ death metal that spawned it, and too often seems to be mired in the grip of decidedly dubious politics.  There are of course honourable exceptions – the most notable of which, perhaps, have been Liverpool anarchists, Dawn Ray’d.

‘The men who stole our lives, can not be allowed to enjoy their prize’ (Requital, Dawn Ray’d).

Now I must confess, I have always been something of a fan. Even before, I suppose, they actually existed in their current form, having first discovered their then-maelstrom of folk-infused black metal as We Came Out Like Tigers.  And yet I can say without hesitation that, as much as I have hugely enjoyed their previous releases, the band has set new heights with the release of their fourth full-length ‘To Know the Light’ (Prosthetic Records).

‘There is grief in seeing yourself hardened, your younger smiling self pummelled’ (In the Shadows of the Past, Dawn Ray’d).

It is not that they have reinvented themselves, but rather that they have heightened what they already did in every sense, taking it to a new level of intensity.  Musically, they continue to forge an expertly constructed blend of blast-beat driven black metal and haunting violin-driven folk, not just juxta positioning them, but deftly intertwining them, so that they become a single, organic entity.  One would mean nothing without the other.  This is an album that sweeps seamlessly from brutal rage to mournful melancholy.

‘I can’t help but smile, at the fascists curious insistence, of demanding to have a master, and daring to call that resistance’ (Wild Fire, Dawn Ray’d).

Yet this is not the melancholy of defeat, nor the yearning of misplaced nostalgia, but a defiant rage at what we have allowed the UK to become.  It is a fierce recognition that alternative futures can be realised.  Lyrically, the album is perhaps best engaged with as a political polemic, not that the band would necessarily see it as such.  Not every prescription or solution may be wholly agreed with, but the challenge to society’s rampantly engrained socio-economic inequality and the cartel politics that have hollowed out our democracy, is an essential one.

Now, unfortunately, I have not been able to source any copies (as yet!), but I encourage you to seek this album out wherever you can – it will reward your engagement.

‘As often as I readily commit, to what I still hear and read and see, that life is still worth living, without gods or masters or heroism’. (Brushfire, Ghostlimb)

Difficult Loves sees Ghostlimb continue their exploration of powerfully disciplined hardcore, skilfully constructed song structures that interweave raw, infectious melodies and moments of quiet reflection to both amplify and leaven the band’s crushing intensity.  Lyrical themes range from ecology to urbanism, totalitarian purges to US interventionist foreign policy, ensuring that this is an album that unashamedly nurtures intellectual engagement nearly as much as the desire to hurl yourself from a stage, which is surely what all great hardcore should do?

This section lays no claims to being a definitive listing!  It is simply gigs coming up in London that catch my eye and that I think people who read this newsletter might be interested in.  I will always try and highlight where a show forms part of a wider UK tour.

8^th May Bib, Decultivate, The Annihilated, The Domestics plus many more (New Cross Inn)

9^th May Delivery plus support (Shacklewell Arms / UK Tour)

13^th May Poison Ruin, Powerplant, Keno (New River Studios / Matinee)

27^th May Yleiset Syyt plus support (New River Studios / UK Tour)

2^nd June The Flex plus support (New River Studios)

3^rd June The Restarts, Destruct, Fatalist, Subdued plus many more (New Cross Inn / Destruct UK Tour)

4^th June GLAAS, Zeropolis, Turbo (New River Studios)

9^th June Savageheads plus support (New River Studios)

16^th June Physique, Circle None, Skitter (New Cross Inn)

9^th July End It, Spy, Combust, Initiate plus many more (New Cross Inn)

10^th July Fuse, Dregs, Stingray, Antagonizm plus more (New River Studios)

18^th July Doldrey, Harrowed plus more (New Cross Inn)

19^th July Diploid, Casing plus more (New River Studios / UK Tour)

20^th July Iron Deficiency, Sentient plus more (New Cross Inn)

21^st July Jotnarr, Wreathe (Bird’s Nest)

4^th August Gag, Plastics, TS Warspite, Unjust plus more (New Cross Inn)

Destruct ‘Cries the Mocking Mother Nature’ LP (Skrammel Records)

Drill Sergeant ‘Grim New War’ EP (Refuse Records)

Existence ‘Go to Heaven’ LP (Quality Control HQ)

Fairytale ‘Shooting Star’ LP (Quality Control HQ)

Hellshock ‘Shadows of the Afterworld’ LP (Ruin Nation)