CCHC #59: SUPERTOUCH at le pub w. Harbour, Tremors, Loose Nut & Joshua’s Song

As the penultimate CCHC show, this was always going to be something special, and with Supertouch headlining one of only 3 UK dates, I think it goes without saying that everyone was super excited.
The supporting line up was also really well placed, and a real mix of bands representing some often overlooked UK talents, along with openers JOSHUA’S SONG who had flown in from belgium to bring their brand of grunge laden hardcore to Wales. These guys played a real tight set, the singer was probably the strongest point, he had a huge voice and gave them an edge that I haven’t heard in a lot of other bands. They sounded a bit like Quicksand or Rival Schools musically, but vocally a lot cleaner. I was into them, their melodies reminded me in part of Supertouch themselves, so they were definitely a fitting opener for the show. The rumoured Justice reunion didn’t go ahead in the end, but it didn’t matter because these guys were great.
Next up, Dublin’s own LOOSE NUT who I had confused in my mind with someone else and as a result wasn’t looking forward to. Needless to say when they kicked in to their My War worship style jams (the singer even looked like Hank a bit, long hair era) I was loving it. They obviously had fans in the crowd as there was some dudes singing  along and getting wild at several points. The best track in my opinion was the one they played three from the end, it had a total slow bass and guitar line and really aggro vocals. After the show I downloaded their demo and so should you, great band.
Thirdly, a band I’d been waiting to see for ages, TREMORS, ex-dirty money, now awesome, from London. Their demo tape is wild, I think if you scroll down far enough you’ll find a link to it on here actually, and they played pretty much all the songs off of it, plus one new one from some compilation, which sounded even better. They were good but I think I preferred Loose Nut’s set, up until the point where Tremors did Hometown Hatred which is just ridiculous. The vocals are again what sets these guys apart, so aggressive. If you like stuff like Antidote and Void you should listen to this tape, it’s really cool.
Finally, acting as main support were Cardiff’s own HARBOUR. Due to some issues in timing they didn’t have long to play, but I think that suited their frenetic energy as a band. There was no pretence, jumping straight into Blank Billboards from their split 12″ with Facel Vega, and continuing onwards with suitable fury. The new stuff they played from their CTW release “Gwalia Deserta” convinced me to pick up a copy on the way out, it sounded even more technical and forward thinking than the 12″ (review of that coming soon I guess). They finished with a Bad Brains cover and a bunch of people lost it, including some euro dude in a tie dye cro mags shirt. BIG TAKEOVERR YEAAAHHH.
By the time SUPERTOUCH took to the stage, Mark Ryan was fucked. Never has a truer line been sung than the opening to Engine last night. But then again, who cares, because he was just the right amount of drunk to get up in people’s faces, and even though it’s been over 20 years since they started as a band, his voice sounded as good as it did on “The Earth is Flat”. Focussing largely on the material from that record (not that I’m complaining), the band sounded a lot heavier than they do on record, which was cool to hear. When I first heard their LP it passed me by a bit, but I think, like a lot of people, one day it just clicked and I loved it. A lot of my favourite songs were showcased – Engine, What If, How Do You Feel, Shame, just to name a few, and it’s great to see that these songs still make sense 20 years on. They played a couple of new songs from the Revelation Records release “Lost My Way”, which I love, although unfortunately I think those tracks were where Mark being wasted had an effect on his vocals. Nevertheless, a finishing double of With Time by Agnostic Front into their own NYHC classic Searchin for the Light saw everyone lose their minds. A truely brilliant band and a reunion that did not disappoint.

As usual, big thanks to Alex for putting all this on and making it possible in such a small venue.

ps. if you have video/photo evidence I’d love to see it