Chris Mansfield & Fences

Presented as dull throbs of heartache and ruminations, Chris Mansfield's music, penned under the name 'Fences', is so very daintily poetic that it seems to bleed the emotions out one by one. He hails from Seattle, and counts Sara Quin as an avid fan. So much of a fan is Sara that not only does she appear on the track 'My Girl The Horse' currently streaming on his myspace, but she's gone all out and produced Fences' upcoming debut album set for release this September.

Much of Fences' style can aptly be described as pop, yet there is a tarnished almost strained harmony to his tracks, a real cathartic presence which deftly sweeps aside any encroaching notions of the all too familiar 'pop cheesy-ness.' Chris' songwriting prowess is powerfully refreshing, the first track streaming on his myspace, 'Boys Around Here' rolls around for three minutes in a playful bundle of comforting melody, partnered so soothingly by a voice almost as spider web thin as the late Elliott Smith's. Such a web does well to carry the weight of Mansfield's lyrics; all in all very touching, nothing less than poignant at best.Check this act out, your time and attention would be very worthwhile spent here.

Chris can be contacted at myspace.com/fencesvswolf or at sadcastle.blogspot.com

Hannah

taken the weekend she came to stay

last weekend, kiss makeup and testicles

The little boy's rule

There is this moronic, yet highly amusing, prank going round at the minute. As soon as you notice someone going for a piss you can shout 'little boy's rule!' and by rights they have to drop their kecks and urinate freely with the coersion of a gentle breeze against their buttocks. Note: 'little boy's rule' cannot be claimed if the target is already in mid flow.

No Class - Tape

Goodness gracious, Kansas City! Perhaps we all should have realised earlier that the American Midwest sticks out like a sore thumb as a prime candidate for number one breeding ground of turgid punk rock? Separated from the white water scenes of L.A, Boston, New York and Seattle, it's inhabitants seem to have congealed together a sound more 'paint thinner' than actual audio. Step forward No Class, peddling a furious adulteration of sure footed, aggravated, mid tempo hardcore. This cassette will pin your bollocks to the wall and slap you about with a nightstick of Negative FX swagger. Imagine a modern day Nig-Hiest without all the blowjob / ejaculate bravado, equipped with a lead vocalist who, for all intents and purposes, sounds like he's brought a throat of boiling nails to the fray.

'Tired. Bored. Angry. Violent' is a degenerative scum-mesh of every irk you've ever felt. 'Finest Hour' - a provocative ham fist of rebellion. No Class do a fantastic job of conveying just how little they sympathise with you, 'Your rules don't apply to me' and 'No, no the answers fucking no, it's no, again it's no!' being exquisite examples of the aforementioned lack of empathy. This act are a beartrap of a band, but unquestionably fun to listen to, this 'Tape' cassette is one of my favourite releases I've heard in a long time. Ravaging, unwavering resolution and spite sloshes around in a piss pot of realised angst, along with everything else that made Hardcore Punk great in the first place.

Contact the band at The Way You Treat Me for copies, I'm also sure that Negative Kevin has covered this release on his site Fashionable Activism


Throwing themselves around a basement in Chicago

Arrived at George's to find this,

Adam

the quality seems tarnished here, shot in my back garden, all natural

Snottin' out and Black Flag

Black Flag




Lewis getting rid of what looks to be a pint of mucus

Suddenly everybody decided to shave their heads

This is Gilbert, he had everything buzzed off, I caught a few 'work in progress' shots where he had only a long fringe left to compliment his new #4 all over.





Here it is.




My brother Lewis going for the Liam Cormier style half head shave, later on he plastered his new trim down and made it into a righteous devil lock, all misfits style.

Early July

me and the lover

Burning Kitchen - Damned If You do... Damned If You Don't

Why the fuck have I found myself listening to potent Riot Grrrl acts over the past week, and moreover absolutely loving it? This group, Burning Kitchen, hail from the icy climes of Scandinavia - Sweden to be precise. I get the feeling that this would have been a record that Kurt Cobain would have enjoyed. He really valued Punk Rock that managed to convey a pissed off attitude whilst propping that hatred up on a scaffold of simple pop structure and melody, much like Wipers who were coincidentally one of his favourite groups.

This record is beautiful in it's simplicity, blatantly Punk Rock, blatantly melodious, a combination which would fail a band with a more jellified backbone, yet Burning Kitchen run with the formula and churn through a gravel pit of 10 songs in 15 minutes. Pick this up and give it a try.