And So I Watch You From Afar - Gangs

I bought this record after seeing ASIWYFA for the first time. It was in the Scala on the second night of their tour and they had blown me away. I'd listened to the first album on bandcamp beforehand and thought I knew what to expect, but I was wrong. I'd figured it'd be an evening of mathy-post-rock; instead it was all-out-riffy-as-fuck-party-post-rock, and I was amazed.

Sarah had been ranting about them from the off, but I missed a few chances to see them. When a friend raves adoringly about a band it's usually worth at least checking them out, especially when you respect their music taste (and sometimes even if you don't). She'd probably said the first LP isn't a patch on their live shows, which can be said for this one too. But that's only because their live show was incredible and no one can ever quite capture that on record. This record does come close though. The adrenaline comes through, and some of the tunes are so massive it would be impossible for them not to sound good. I think it was just that the live show was so awesome.

And this is a great record. The opener gets the blood pumping within seconds, and the only rest comes when you have to turn it over. 7 Billion People All Alive At Once is my highlight, the first ever vocals adding so much (still no actual words). I've used it as an opener to mixtapes a number of times. Side 2 doesn't disappoint at all either. The triple gatefold sleeve is pretty lovely too. A great record from an even better live band.


Format: 12", triple gatefold sleeve, insert
Tracks: 8
Cost: £15 new
Bought: gig
When: 03/05/11
Colour: black
Etching: none
mp3s: download

The Bouncing Souls - How I Spent My Summer Vacation

A truly classic album. Last year The Bouncing Souls played four nights in London, each night playing two of their albums in full (a concept I adore). I only had Hopeless Romantics and Summer Vacation at the time, so I went to those two nights. I think part of the reason why the Summer Vacation night was so good was because every single song was massive and such fun to jump around to and sing along. I like the excitement of knowing that they're going to play certain songs. It's almost like being prepared for the excitement somehow makes it more enjoyable, even though I know it should be the other way round (the joy of a good surprise).

True Believers and Gone are two of my favourite Bouncing Souls songs, but the other 11 are all excellent. That Song starts the album perfectly ("I put the needle on the record, and I play that song again"). Manthem and Break Up Song are exactly the songs you expect them to be, but make a great duo. Gone is fantastic way to close the album, and a cracking song on it's own.

I bought this one on the same trip to Amoeba as the Low + The Dirty Three record, and a whole bunch of others. I think this album has always been in print and I'm sure Banquet have had it in stock at various points, but I was spending money and I'm glad it got caught up in that storm. It's basically a perfect punk rock record; songs about music, girls and hanging out with friends; upbeat but heavy. Like I said, a classic.


Format: 12", picture sleeve
Tracks: 13
Cost: £11.68
Bought: Amoeba San Francisco
When: 07/09/10
Colour: black
Etching: none
mp3s: no

The Arteries - Beers

The final release show for Beers was a bitch to get to; a Sunday night, rail replacement buses, losing people on the way, rain, and not quite knowing where in Swansea Monkey bar was. Still we made it and had a great time again.

In my mind, this is the heaviest of the three. Somehow everything just seems turned up. The songs are still catchy as fuck, as all Arteries songs have been before and after this record. Three Cats is my favourite here. There was some sort of mess up with the order so they ended up with all the records the night before the show without any outer sleeves. A full night of folding brown paper results in the sleeve in the pictures. I like it personally. I can see its a shame they don't all match, but what's more DIY than sitting up all night folding sleeves? They went to town on the packages: Jamie's artwork, lyric sheets and coloured vinyl. The records were all coloured to match the titles, although I'm not sure I've ever seen beer this colour (but what do I know with my colour-blind eyes).

In the end, the three EPs were put together to make their debut album Blood, Sweat and Beers (minus one song from each, with a new one added in). It's a cracking album, but having seen the EPs come out it felt like we were more involved in the process somehow, seeing the album take shape. I like a good project and this one was a fantastic one. I'm excited to see them again tonight because I have such fond memories. But also because they're ace.


Format: 10", brown paper sleeve, insert, release show ticket, numbered
Tracks: 5
Cost: free (with the ticket), new
Bought: release show
When: 26/10/08
Colour: yellow?
Etching: none
mp3s: no

The Arteries - Sweat

I will cautiously say that Sweat is my favourite of the EPs. Divergence is certainly my favourite of the songs and Shortcuts is pretty awesome too. I made it to the release show for this one (pretty sure The Slowdance and The Cut Ups were supporting, but I could be mistaken). Cardiff to Swansea always felt like more of a trek than it actually was, but it was certainly worth it. I'm also reasonably sure that they played a cover of Turbonegro's All My Friends Are Dead (it seems covers at the release shows were a thing, and I might be right in remembering that they played Bon Jovi at the Beers show).

The sleeve has "Sweat Party" printed on it, which couldn't be more true: it was sweaty and it was a party. They're a party band and there was a great atmosphere at the shows. I think everyone in South Wales was so fond of them it was great to see them releasing these awesome records (DIY through and through) and doing so well for themselves. (In the pictures for Sweat and Beers I still have the nice screenprinted tickets for the shows telling you which number record was yours. I have numbers 31, 187 and 61, respectively. I think some people managed to get all three the same, which is pretty cool.)


Format: 10", die cut sleeve, insert, release show ticket, numbered
Tracks: 5
Cost: free (with the ticket), new
Bought: release show
When: 20/07/08
Colour: clear
Etching: none
mp3s: no

The Arteries - Blood

I'm going to see The Arteries tonight for the first time in ages. I've never seen them play a bad show, so I'm looking forward to it. With that in mind, I thought I'd write about their first three 10" EPs.

I can't remember the first time I saw The Arteries. It was certainly whilst I was living in Wales but we saw a lot of bands over those two years. I definitely didn't make to the release show for Blood (I was away, a perfectly good excuse) so this one was picked up eventually from Damaged in Cardiff (it contains a press release from Jamie for Welly, who ran the shop, which I guess he accidentally left inside the sleeve). I'm pretty glad he had a copy in because I'd have been gutted to be missing one of the trilogy.

There's an urgency to the start of No Guts No Glory that doesn't stop at any point over the three EPs. "Tell the world we're here, this now is our time" couldn't be more appropriate. The four songs that follow don't disappoint either. With just five short songs you're left wanting more, which makes it very convenient that there are two more to come.


Format: 10", die cut sleeve, insert, press release, number 31/300
Tracks: 5
Cost: £6 new
Bought: Damaged Records, Cardiff
When: 27/09/08
Colour: Red
Etching: none
mp3s: no

New End Original - Thriller

I just spent half an hour carrying out the BBC's online Musicality experiment. My results weren't very surprising: I am very enthusiastic about music but have very little by the way of talent. These things I knew. However, I was surprised that I only scored 51% for Emotional Connection. Lots of music means a lot to me, and certain records to places and people. Evidently there's more than that to an "emotional connection". Or perhaps I just didn't answer the questions honestly enough. Either way, here is a record to which I had a strong emotional connection best forgotten.

I got this record as a present from my ex-girlfriend (by the time it arrived it was a belated six month-iversary present). I'm a big fan of Jonah Matranga's music and had been since I bought a copy of Tin Cans With Strings to You nearly 10 years ago. I've seen him countless times and have albums of his under more names than I can count. This record though has always been my favourite. I first heard it years ago when Hugh brought the cd round to my house. I enjoyed it, but forgot about it a bit. A few years later and a few weeks after we moved to Cardiff, Jonah was playing in Spillers. We went along, watched the show and got him to sign some of our cds. Hugh had Thriller on vinyl by this point (which I was quite jealous of) and got it signed. I'd been listening to it during the day (I was still jobless at this point) and remembered how great it was. Rarely are there so many incredible songs on one album. Some months later (now with a job) I was in Generation Records in New York and found the cd for $2. I was very happy with this purchase.

Fast-forward a few years and I was having a conversation with my now ex-girlfriend about how jealous I was of Hugh's blue vinyl of Thriller. We'd been to see Jonah together, and taking on my comment she sought out a copy as a gift for me. Thoughtful as it was, we of course broke up (not long afterwards) and somehow this record got caught up in my negativity and how much of a dick she was being, so I didn't listen to it for ages. I'd flick though my records but skip past it because I thought it'd remind me of her and annoy me all over again. Eventually I realised this was stupid and played the record. Despite the connections I'd made to it, it was still awesome. I may have made these associations in my head, but the record is so good I forgot all about them.

Lukewarm is one of my favourite of Jonah's songs and I'm glad he plays it live so often. When I got the cd I was already getting bored of my job and knew I should do something more interesting. That songs became a bit of an anthem for finding a career I liked more and getting on with it. The whole of Side 3 is amazing. I love how Weary Progress brings it all back after the slow Better Than Ever. I also love Better Than Ever and Better Than This as a pair of songs, each closing half of the album, and how great Better Than This is as a closer in general. I'm not quite sure whether calling this a "Jonah album" is massively underplaying the role the band had in the recording, but it's an incredible record either way (I'm a big fan of Texas is the Reason too, a band I got into entirely independently). Jonah's live shows with an acoustic guitar are great, but I think his voice works so well with a full band behind him. I've had the good fortune to see full band shows a couple of times and they're treats too.

The colour of the vinyl is probably a factor in why I now own this record. I like to have my favourite albums on vinyl, so I probably would have picked it up on any colour eventually, had I seen it. The blue is lovely. This one was shipped over from the states, and the sleeve took a minor battering it seems.

So maybe the BBC experiment was right. If I can completely ignore an emotional connection for the sake of good music, maybe I don't associate emotions with music that much. Or maybe the associations I thought I had were just really insignificant in comparison to the ones I'd made years before about how great the music is and the positivity of songs like Lukewarm and Better Than This.

Format: double 12", insert

Tracks: 11
Cost: free, second hand
Bought: gift
When: 06/01/11
Colour: Blue
Etching: none
mp3s: no

Attack in Black + Baby Eagle - Attack in Black and Baby Eagle

I bought this one whilst on holiday in Canada a few years back. A bunch of us had been travelling around the East a bit and at the end I had a few days to kill in Toronto, so I did the usual and went out in search of record shops. I found a couple of good ones, this one came from Criminal Records (I just googled them and it turns out they've closed down. Sad news).

I got into Attack in Black after seeing them support Far in TJ's in Newport. The name is terrible, so we assumed they'd be shit. Luckily they were the exact opposite; fantastic songs played awesomely, and the singer had this cockiness that added to their charm. Hugh bought Marriage on vinyl at the show and I remain annoyed that I didn't/jealous of his copy. I got the cd from my sister at Christmas and I adore it. The thing that got me was that it was so different to my memories of their live show. But it turns out that is something Attack in Black seem to specialise in; every one of their records sounds totally different. The songs they play here sound more like the ones on Years, but it was around the same time so it makes sense I guess.

It's a split record in the way I always felt splits should be: two bands covering each other's songs. Attack in Black take on four songs by Baby Eagle, and vice versa. When I bought it I think I hadn't even heard of the Constantines, let alone known the singer also wrote songs as Baby Eagle, so we can safely say I bought it for Attack in Black. Their songs are good, but I really do prefer the heavier sound they used to have. The dual vocals on Let Wander Your Restless Hearts are lovely though.

I really enjoy the Baby Eagle side. Maybe its because I know the songs as their originals. I bought Years on the same trip so I didn't know Leather Jacket and Leaving Your Death... that well. However, I had listened to Inches and Ages and Marriage countless times and these covers are great. I think it's because they're punk songs originally (whereas the other two are basically country). When stripped down like these versions (Marriage is nearly spoken-word) are you can see them as much more.

It's a short record, but it's pretty nice. I'd fully recommend picking it up, although Marriage is the essential Attack in Black record as far as I'm concerned.

Format: 12"
Tracks: 8
Cost: £10.35 new
Bought: Criminal Records, Toronto
When: 13/05/09
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: download