Yesterday’s Advent Calendar treats came from old friends of the site Vienna Ditto (remixed by The May) and Elephants & Castles – you can still download both tracks here. Today we’ve a pair of tracks from two bands who wear their politics on thier sleeves.
As always, the tracks are completely free to to download and there’s no need to sign up to any mailing lists to access the tracks (though if you’d like to you can join ours here), but with the UK’s independent music venues in peril following almost a year of covid restrictions, we’d love you to make a donation to the Music Venue Trust‘s #saveourvenues campaign if you enjoy these tracks. You can make a donation to the fund, or to a specific venue of your choice here.
Let’s face it, 2020 has given us plenty to protest about, what with the mishandling of the Covid pandemic, the ongoing shambles of Brexit and the murders, police brutality and systemic racism that led to the Black Lives Matter movement filling the streets of cities across the globe. And there have been plenty of raised voices in the music world, calling out those misusing their power and shouting for change. Today’s tracks come from two whose polemic particularly caught our ear this year.
REAL(s) – Wilhelm Scream
London space punk disruptors REAL(s) debut D.S.L.B has been one of our favourite albums of the year at Joyzine HQ, striking a perfect balance between putting an important message across whilst still making kick arse punk tunes and prompting our editor Paul Maps to proclaim it “one of those rare albums where pretty much every song could be a single” (read the full review here and a similarly glowing write-up from Take Dada Seriously here).
The vinyl edition comes complete with a manifesto of poems, artwork and recommended reading (including Mark Fisher’s ‘Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative?’, from which the band take their name) and a #votingtorykills sticker, which gives you an idea of the stance taken throughout its eleven tracks. Today we have the video for latest single ‘Radiation’ and a free download of album track ‘Wilhelm Scream’.
Download ‘Wilhelm Scream’
If you enjoy this track please consider making a donation to the #saveourvenues campaign
Keep up to date with REAL(s) on their Facebook / Instagram / Bandcamp
Those Fucking Snowflakes – All I Want for Christmas Is for These Dickheads to Fuck Off
A band who can never be accused of mincing their words, Blackpool noise/math punks Those Fucking Snowflakes burst into our consciousness last year, proving that swearing is both big and clever with the Tory-baiting video to their debut single ‘Stop Being Dickheads to Each Other‘ and have remained high in our esteem ever since.
They’re due to release an EP, Everything Is Absolutely Fkkkkkkd via brand new label Louder Than War Records on 22nd January – we premiered the video of the first single from the record, ‘Due Some Terrible End’, which you can watch here.
This is an Advent Calendar, right – so what could be more festive than a flurry of snowflakes and a new twist of ear-drum piercing festive mainstay ‘All I Want for Christmas’. Performed in TFS’ inimitable style, ‘All I Want for Christmas Is for These Dickheads to Fuck Off’ is dedicated to Laurence Fox, Donald Trump and anti-maskers everywhere.
Download ‘All I Want for Christmas Is for These Dickheads to Fuck Off’
If you enjoy this track please consider making a donation to the #saveourvenues campaign
Keep up to date with Those Fucking Snowflakes on their Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Soundcloud
Come back tomorrow for more exclusive tracks + check out the tracks from previous windows, all of which are still available to download:
Day 1: Piney Gir ft. Roxys + MJ Hibbett
Day 2: Brixton Hill Studio Band + Friends
Day 3: Oh!Gunquit + The Kecks
Day 4: Salt The Snail + Dead Horse
Day 5: The Awkward Silences
Day 6: AKDK
Day 7: Lost Map Records – Friends of The Guinness
Day 8: Mister Solo + Fightmilk
Day 9: The Indelicates + Dexy
Day 10: The Burning Hell + Velvet Starlings
Day 11: Granfalloon + elkyn
Day 12: LOUD WOMEN FEST – I, Doris, Genn + Breakup Haircut
Day 13: PaulFCook + West Midlands
Day 14: The Long Blondes + Michael M
Day 15: Hot Sauce Pony
Day 16: Hey You Guys, Peter With Rosie, AWWBLOT + Peter Richard Adams
Day 17: Jean Genie’s Massive Hugs
Day 18: The Fades, Lark + The Reverse
Day 19: Omni Bael
Day 20: PET wife + Useless Cities
Day 21: Vienna Ditto x The May + Elephants & Castles
Not heard REAL(s) before and loving this. It’s worth looking up the ‘Wilhelm Scream’ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_scream) which is stock scream in-joke amongst film makers and sound designers.