Right Idea + Rearranged - July 30 - Tilburg

Finally the day was there, almost a year after putting up my first hardcore show with The Effort and Teenage Lust, the time was right for number 2. Despite Incarnation cancelling it was a nice show after all.

Right Idea was already hanging out at the venue when I arrived so I quickly brought the food in I made for them and Rearranged and took the time to catch up with Robert Refuse Records.

The first time I met Robert was when I was driving Reaching Forward all over Europe. Robert released a Reaching Forward tape and got the band a show in Warsaw. He also accompanied us on some shows of that tour. Got us out of the hands of some corrupted cops and was one of the many in the van who suffered from food poisoning. The last time I met Robert was in 2002 so we had some catching up to do.

I also talked a bit with Nate from Right Idea about their tour so far and then the van full of Russian and Ukranian guys pulled up the curb. Rearrange had arrived and it was time to set up gear and do some soundchecking.

Eventually people from Birds x Of A Feather, Johnny Forward and more old and new hardcorekids showed up at the venue. Right in time to see Rearranged play a long but solid set of Uniform Choice, Dag Nasty inspired hardcore. I always love seeing a band on stage who got something to say. Vic from Rearranged was no let down on that part. I quickly picked up the band's new record 'New Forms'. I personally think the limited summer tour sleeve is better than the original artwork.



After our set (which went pretty okay considering State Of Affairs once again didn't practice for months) it was time for Right Idea to give Tilburg the Right Idea. These Cleveland guys played a solid set including songs from the 'Our World' record and the new 7" which I picked up as well.





The guys from Right Idea slept at the Shield house and the next morning my whole family got on the bike, went over to the Shield house and together with Jelle we bought them some breakfast and other stuff before they left for the next show in Belgium.

Though I met many bands throughout my years and heard a lot more stories about bands I can truly say I never encountered such a well mannered band as Right Idea. Before leaving they did the dishes, checked if everything was tidy. That band truly has the right idea.

Incarnation canceled the Right Idea show

It seems like 2010 isn't the right year for a nineties hardcore revival in the Netherlands. Look at the facts: Earth Crisis canceled their tour, Snapcase played Germany not the Netherlands. Strife did a show in Paris, no shows in the Netherlands.

In that perspective it may come as no surprise that Incarnation, the Dutc...h 90's hardcore revival band with (ex)members of State Of Mind, Line of Defense, Fair Fight and Strip The Threads canceled their show in Tilburg with Right Idea and State Of Affairs.

However we did manage to come up with a great replacement: Rearranged from Moscow. If you like Uniform Choice and Minor Threat this is the band you're gonna love!

See you in Tilburg on friday the 30th of July.

Youth Crew 010 compilation 7"

A new '88 in 2010? I don't think so but ever since '88 Youth Crew bands have been popping up. After the nineties youth crew revival with Mainstrike, Hands Tied, Reaching Forward, Ten Yard Fight, In My Eyes, Eyeball and Sportswear amongst others there were bands like Champion, The First Step and nowadays True Colors keeping the sound alive.

True Colors is breaking up but fortunately all over the world bands still keep going on in true Youth Crew spirit. On this compilation from Positive and Focused, Monument and Youth Crew records ten bands show what they're capable of.

The record starts with Alert who deliver a song mixing Youth Of Today's No More with an Insted vibe. Portugals' Pressure doesn't have the most unique bandname in the world, but they do have that aggressive youth crew Carry On sound I loved so much on the Roll With The Punches ep. The Italians from Fumbles In Life don't convince me. Somehow I get the feeling something is off with this record, the vocals are way too highpitched. Next band on side A is State Of Affairs, my own band. For the lack of anything better we decided to put a track from the demosessions we recorded ourselves on this compilation and I must say we don't sound out of style productionwise with the other bands. Swedish kids Forever Young are the last band on side A. They have that aggressive Swedish sound we all love.

Side B brings five more bands. Reveal The Truth deliver a short angry song. But it is Half The Battle all the way from the Phillipines who surprise me the most by a song that mixes Plagued with Rage with early Fastbreak. If this was a band from the US kids would be drooling over their ebaymerchandise in no time. Residents of Moscow Rearranged deliver a track that was already on their demo. Still a very good song however. The other band from the Phillipines Staid also come through with an outstanding track leaving place for the Americans in Outlast to really end this compilation in style with a song that shows they're the next best thing after Mindset.

This 7" probably will not reach the legendary level as the Time Is Now compilation or the Growing Stronger compilation did. However it shows there are still people who believe in the combination of aggressive music and a positive outlook. As long as that continues and bands with a youth crew sound pop up, I'm interested.

Brainwreck Records

I know I've been slacking in posting interviews here. Well that's going to change, starting now. In this time of people downloading records for free, it's a big jump to invest money in a new label. So it's kind of exciting to see two guys starting a new label and investing their time and money in new bands. Without further ado here's an introduction to Brainwreck Records and it's owners Rick and Teun:

First of all why did you start Brainwreck records? What are your intentions with the label?

R: Hey Arold! We just want to help out new bands by offering them a helping hand on releasing their demo. Brainwreck Records is basically just two friends putting out music together. Initially the idea started with Teun who offered to help out Outlive (their drummer, Erik, was in the same band as us at the time) and I came in along the way.

The first three releases are all tapes. Are you going to stick to tapes only or are you also planning to do vinyl releases in the future?
R: As for now we will only release tapes. We just want to see how everything will work out and hopefully we will release some vinyl in the future as well.


How does a Dutch label come in contact with a Russian band (Rearranged)?
T: Cesco Youth (A Step Apart fame) just pointed out a band some of his friends were doing and said they were still looking for a label to get their demo released. Since we really dig their tunes we just dropped a message and things started rolling.



Why did you choose Outlive, Rearranged and Teenage Lust as bands on your label?
R: Outlive have been friends with us from early on and we really like their new songs. Rearranged is just an amazing upcoming band with really cool tunes. The guys in the band are really nice guys as well and hopefully they will start touring in the near future. Teun knows Gilles (bassplayer Teenage Lust) for quite a while and when he heard their songs he booked them for a few shows. We kept in touch when we were in Calloused and the guys from Teenage Lust appeared to like our songs. So we came to the idea to release their songs.

I noticed that both Rearranged and Outlive also offer their songs as free downloads. Aren't you scared you won't sell any of the tapes this way?
T: First of all, if you never buy any releases then I don’t know what you’re doing in hardcore in the first place. I feel there are still a lot of people around that enjoy collecting music so it shouldn’t be a problem to sell tapes.

Myspace: Brainwreck Records