Tobs & Kroni, Ix Chel, Half Asleep, Imans League @ Garage Studio, Selangor, Malaysia, 03/09/2022

 Tobs & Kroni, Ix Chel, Half Asleep, Imans League (Singapore) @ Garage Studio, Selangor, Malaysia, 03/09/2022

Post-gig Photo Shoot

Moving to another country and finding a fellow 41 year old, with the same passion & love of 90s melodic skate punk as me, is worth it's weight in gold. This person is known as TOBS, and his musical project features a rotating cast of friends with similar music tastes, hence the name TOBS & KRONI, who are from Selangor. The rotating nature of the band was on display tonight, as their usual drummer had a show that night with his big rock band, so they had a stand in drummer, who also played in some of the other bands that night. Bucking the trend of using & FRIENDS in the name, the band has a unique tongue in cheek twist, of using a variation on the word 'crony', which according to etymologists, was actually used in a more positive light than today's usage of the word. It's original meaning denotes a 'long-lasting' and 'familiar' friendship between peers, and this can be said of the supporting caste of characters involved in the band, who have known each other for over 20 years, and played in various music projects together. 

When the second song 'Play Again' kicks in, it's clearly an ultimate later-period DESCENDENTS tribute, and the bass lines are the icing on the cake for that sound. Lyrically, it is akin to 'MERICAN, with it's simplistic critique of Malaysian society, and a clear rejection of letting the state influence who you are. It's that good of a song, I can give it equal gravitas to actually being a Descendents song. Many of the other songs in the set remind me of LAGWAGON, particularly the fast chord progressions, and the unique breakdowns later in the songs; and that's no surprise really considering that one of the logos that the band use is in the same font style of Lagwagon, and a recent press kit had the same background wallpaper as the seminal album DOUBLE PLAIDINUM, which is a firm favourite amongst matured Lagwagon fans. Some of the slower songs in the set definitely had a WEEZER / BEACH BOYS sound, and again that's no surprise as they have covered these songs on their albums, and who knows, maybe some of these songs where the actual covers themselves. So overall, it was musically pleasing to hear a range of styles from bands I love & am familiar with, particularly as these sounds are not widely appealing these days. Lyrically, the songs had some interesting perspectives, exploring the life during lockdown in 'Most of my friends are bored at home', and a song about Ageism called 'I hate my hair'.

Tobs & Kroni

As the set was drawing to a close, the band played a few covers. They were joined on stage by another friend of theirs, a fellow punk writer, who sang two songs by the band USELESS ID. Now this in itself was something I found fascinating. Firstly, Useless ID have a big reach, considering they have albums on FAT WRECK CHORDS; yet I had yet to meet anyone who was a fan of the band - there were people in the crowd singing along to the songs, and the singer of Useless ID also did an online solo set during the Covid-19 lockdown for Malaysian fans, as part of the 'online shows' series promoted by CREAMPIE RECORDS Secondly, this links to the geopolitical situation in the country. Now the band have stated that their appreciation of and relationship with Useless ID developed organically, however it is interesting in contrast to the Malaysia's foreign policy. Due to the conflicts in Palestinian Occupied Territories, Israeli passport holders are banned from entering the country, so it's interesting to see that despite these barriers, people from both countries have managed to establish a friendship & connection. It just goes to show that all these acts of political violence (varying degrees, but from both sides) are inconsequential for working class punk rockers with similar beliefs; and in a way, the formation of this friendship is a radical act in itself, and another example of how the band are living the values they sing about in that Descendents worship song 'Play Again'. After this performance, I definitely want to see Tobs & Kroni play again.

The story gets even better, because for the finale, I heard the unforgettable introduction to MR COFFEE by Lagwagon. So I rushed straight to the front of of the crowd, grabbed the backing vocals microphone, and sang along with band. There's a back story here, because when I was 17 years old, I tried to start a band in college, at a time when I didn't know anything about what starting a band involved. I'd arranged a jamming session with my friend Al (whom recently I hadn't seen for over 20 years, and then he magically appeared at Slam Dunk Festival in 2019, and we sang along and watched Lagwaon play together), and at the jamming session I turned up impressed with myself for spending a whole week learning and mastering the introduction guitar solo to Mr Coffee. He had learned the whole song on bass guitar, and at that point I came to the stark realisation that I had a long way to go if I ever wanted to be in a band. With all that in mind, it all came back full circle, and made me intensely happy that after nearly 25 years, I was finally able to get to perform that song live, albeit in a more limited capacity. The night couldn't get any better for me after that.    

Next up on the bill was IX CHEL from Kuala Lumpur, whom I was interested in seeing play, after seeing some of their video packages on social media. I would class them as more of a Pop Punk band, but they did crossover into more Punk Rock elements throughout their set. They played through a range of styles, some fast, some slow, some punky, some indie pop, and had some nice melodic vocal harmonies, akin to Heather from the TEEN IDOLS. I wonder if these range of styles is with deliberate intent, or if it's because they are a new band, they may still be figuring out their identity in their early stages of their existence. I would definitely say that they are a good gateway band for modern audiences who are interested in exploring these styles further, and they had soft warm personalities which many people will find endearing & will be able to connect with - they had a good presence on stage and established a nice rapport with the audience. On a side note, there were a few children at the show that night, and this band aptly represented that family friendly vibe to the proceedings. It's great that there is a venue around where ALL AGES shows are welcome, and definitely a plus point that there is a no-smoking policy in the gig room, unlike some other so-called punk spaces. 

Ix Chel

Then it was time for HALF ASLEEP (originally from KEDAH), who featured two members of Ix Chel, and the drummer who played with Tobs & Kroni. They definitely had one foot more in the camp of the modern pop punk sound, but they did vary up their style often, and did make some tributes to the past. For example, they started off with an epic song like SPANISH LOVE SONGS, and then immediately went into a THE SPECIALS style number. Then they played a fast song, which finished off with a call back to the previous SKA song. Then later in the set, I am getting an ALKLAINE TRIO vibe to some of their songs. So overall, there was a lot of interesting elements to their set, and it was kept varied enough to sustain my interest. I must also give a special shout out to their guitar player, who was nailing some epic STRUNG OUT style guitar solos. 

Half Asleep

Between the bands, I was going round and talking to people, which is always just as enjoyable as watching the bands themselves. I met a nice bunch of young people who had travelled to the show from Pahang. One of them was wearing a BAD RELIGION 'Against the Grain' shirt, which is the same design as my tattoo, so we enjoyed having a chat about our mutual appreciation of the band, and having a singalong to Generator. One thing I have learnt from all my time ONT ROAD, is that punk transcends all cultures, identities & social characteristics.

The headlining band was IMANS LEAGUE, a three piece from Singapore, who were doing a weekend tour in Malaysia - it's great that the borders are finally open, and that we can welcome foreign bands again. I had previously seen them play in Malaysia during the 'Friends From Far Away Places' show back in 2019, and you can read about this elsewhere on the blog. They've been a band for quite some time, and they have definitely nailed down their style, and that was the predominant approach throughout their set. It was nice to have them here, and support the international punk rock family. 

The final positive I'd like to highlight about the show, was that before the bands played, they were introduced by an MC who gave a brief run down & biography about the band, and sometimes this veered into a short Q&A with the band members. I'd like to see this happen at all shows, as a casual fan it's nice to get some context about the band you are going to watch. 

A photo of a poster on the wall of the venue, from when NOFX played in Malaysia. There are clips from the show on Series One of the NOFX Backstage Passport TV Show.

Rebellion Festival 2022 - Thursday 4th August

Rebellion Festival - Thursday 4th August 2022

They have cancelled their upcoming European tour'. This was the message I received in the 'Leeds Bad Religion Fan Club' group on social media, five days before the festival was due to begin. This was hugely disappointing news. The reason for the cancellation was 'a family emergency', and we suspected instantly that it might be something to do with the wife of bassist Jay Bentley, who has expected to give birth around this time. Thankfully, we heard the news two weeks later that mother and baby had come through and survived what was described as a life threatening & traumatic experience for them. Operation Rescue was completed. 

Now usually the cancellation of a heavyweight headliner doesn't have much impact on what is usually a stacked day of middleweight  American punk-rock bands. However, in a post-covid world, there weren't as many of these type of bands booked as usual, so it felt a little deflating. Despite this, there was a solid undercard of quality super-middleweight UK bands booked to fill the void. So for a change, rather than having to take it steady, and pace ourselves in the build up to the main event, we decided just to cut loose, go all in, and move from 0-100 by the time the third band had hit the stage.

I started the day at the introducing stage to catch MONDO WAVE, who were decent, and had a catchy SLAVES meets SLEAFORD MODS-esque song in their set. I thought this was going to be MONDO WAVE on MONSTER ZERO RECORDS, whose releases sounded like AGENT ORANGE surf style punk rock. Maybe it was the same band with a new style, maybe they are a completely different band [answers on a postcard would be nice], whichever the case, they were a good warm up for the days action.  

We then hit the Empress Ballroom to see PIZZATRAMP from Wales. I'd heard good anecdotes about the band, and after seeing their set, I can see why there is good chatter about the band. Essentially it was fast punk-rock, glued together by comedic banter from the singer, who was calling everyone from Bono, Taylor Hawkins, his band members, and merch crew, TOTAL CUNTS. It was highly amusing, and the rest of the crowd were lapping it up too. Middle fingers up all round.

Pizza Tramp

SUZI MOON from the USA had got some pre-festival hype from some of our crew, so we went off to the PAVILLION to see them/her play. They had style, panache, and solid structured songs; pulling off an impressive set to a packed audience. This was a nice surprise, and akin to the Rebellion experience of ending up seeing bands you've never heard of, and enjoying the result. 

Suzi Moon

Then it was back to the Empress ballroom for the safe pair of hands, WONK UNIT, who have grown into some form of modern epitome of what UK punk-rock is in 2022. A lot has to do with the charming personality of the singer, a lot has to do with carving out their uncommon style, and a lot has to do with years of relentless touring. They have become a seven piece band now, complete with keyboards; and they had us dancing down the front, throughout the whole set. It was great to see two UK bands, getting strong reactions, and large audience on the main stage at such an early point of the festival - well deserved. 

Wonk Unit

We had previously seen THE BOUNCING SOULS on the outside stage of the festival, many years ago, and they were all decked in casual clothes, looking like respectable family men going to a PLAY DATE. This time round they came out on stage, looking like the Bouncing Souls of old, with the singer sporting his classic Oi! hat. I must say that they were pretty remarkable this time around, playing lots of old classics to keep the fans happy.  

The Bouncing Souls

The same can't be said for ANTI-FLAG, who hardly played any old songs, and it was 90% of their later material. Which was a shame, because I stopped listening to any of their new material after 2003, however, all those new songs are probably what got them over to a larger crowd, and a large crowd they did attract. It was the usual modern day Anti-Flag, lots of showboating with jumps, spins, crowd clapping, breakdowns in the songs, and even a punk rock homage medley - all the hallmarks of what you'd find at a GREEN DAY concert. There is no doubt about their artistic talent, and I have huge profound respect for their outspoken political messages, which is still going strong 30+ years later, even though there has been waves, where this style was no longer cool anymore; but the Anti-Flag of my youth is no longer making my heart beat like it once did. 

Ant-Flag

By this stage, I had drunk far too many pints of IPA from the newly welcomed, FARMERS BAR pop-up, so I decided to take some down time, by going to get some food. My stomach was very happy about this, but then I started to get insanely bad hiccups. So I went to the local Co-Op, only to find they had sold out of Gaviscon (sign of the times - Buckfast still available, Gaviscon out of stock). Thankfully there was a kind punk on hand, who gave me a check up, and then donated to me some RENNIE to help ease the pain. I then took some solace in the dark Theatre stage watching parts of the JOE STRUMMER & JOY DIVISION movies, managing to finally get rid of the hiccups. It was around this time that NEVILLE STAPLE was due to play, but unfortunately he had cancelled too. I also had well-meaning ideals to tick the box and see HAWKWIND, but the outside stage seemed so far away at that point, so I went up to the Spanish Hall to watch some FEROCIOUS DOG (Acoustic). Simon the Gardener is a massive fan, and he's unsuccessfully tried to get us to like them in the past, even persistently when we wind him up calling them the MUMFORD & SONS of punk rock. I will actually now take that all back, as they were a really enjoyable watch.

Honest Tom & I were excited about rounding off the night by watching THE DEECRACKS who are on MONSTER ZERO RECORDS, which is basically the 'go to' label for any modern bands that play pogo power punk like SCREECHING WEASEL. Unfortunately there weren't many people around in the large venue, and despite our best efforts to get a pit going, it fell flat, and the night petered out unceremoniously.  

The next morning, despite the absence of a heavyweight headlining band, the actual real main event of any trip to Blackpool, is of course the Punk Rock Mini Golf Tournament, held at the challenging links course outside the entrance of the Pleasure Beach. Some training earlier in the week at a new crazy golf course in Leeds paid off, as I was successfully able to hold off two-time champion Honest Tom, and plucky newcomer Nat On A Rope, taking command on the back three holes to take the title, joining Mellortron as a two time winner. 

Even though the day didn't turn out as expected, it was fun to experience the event in a different way this time around; and it definitely gave me the impetus to go for another full weekend in the future, rather than our usual Thursday day trip. Most importantly, in a post Covid world, it was just great to be out reconnecting with the people and the music again. 

Another round of mini-golf?