I
woke up from a dream a month or so ago thinking I wanted to release a
7" vinyl. I told my girlfriend this a couple of days later on a
weekend away in Newcastle (she didn't find it too weird as I'm prone
to waking up in the middle of the night and shouting weird things at
her like "download codes" or "life is like a bus
journey" (I think she's still waiting for the end of that
analogy, as am I come to think of it)) and she told me that I should
wait until I knew if I actually wanted to release anything. But I
already had something in the back of my mind that I didn't share with
her that day; mostly because I thought it would be an impossible task
to bring together and partly because I thought it might be some kind
of nostalgia thing with me being back in the North East where I lived
for four or so years when I stuttered through university.
There
was a ska punk band from Sunderland called 46 Itchy who I absolutely
adored. I interviewed Dan, the bass player for the first issue of my
fanzine, waterintobeer and went to see them whenever I could. Most
of the band have gone onto form or be members of some great punk
bands since then; the 46 Itchy family tree includes The Mercury
League, Offshore Radio, Former Cell Mates, Broken Few, Leatherface,
Pure Graft, Bear Trade and Rivals to name a few.
 |
| waterintobeer fanzine issue number 1 as displayed in my toilet |
Ska seems a dirty word nowadays however and it's
true that it seemed to suit the stupidity, care freeness and general
tomfoolery of ones teenage years and I'm not sure that the former
members of the band want that particular part of their past bringing
up too often, especially not in the form of something you could hold
and try to sell. So in the face of not being able to release a split
7" of current bands inhabited by ex-46 Itchy members using the
title of this blog (but with the name left blank so that the
purchaser could fill their names in themselves with a free gift
letter sticker sheet) I thought I'd make a stupid ex-46 Itchy bands
box set thing and review some of their records, because, really, you
should check them all out. And I guess, it's okay on the internet as
anything's that written is as disposable as ska music itself, which,
let's face it on the whole was absolutely shite.
I
still loved 46 Itchy though and don't (always) skip their songs when
they shuffle onto my iPod now and I'd like to celebrate them in some
way; and this is that way. A band that brought so much happiness and
fun to a (albeit quite small) group of people shouldn't be forgotten
just because ska music seems a bit naff now; at the time they did
what they did very well and enjoyed themselves when they did it.
They're much better at what they do now but as the Bear Trade song
says 'Age is a High Price to Pay for Maturity'. And, yeah, I still
hold out for a one off reunion.
Anyway,
here's a guide to make your own 7" box set; you can change 46
Itchy to any band that you loved in your youth that you know have
gone onto form other bands or do what ever you like. It'll make a
lovely Christmas present for yourself...
 |
| Some tools that you'll need |
1.
Find yourself a good quality cardboard box. I suggest using a Young'sBrewBuddy box; then you can use the contents to brew your own beer
afterwards.
2.
Find another, smaller manufactured box so that you can work out your
dimensions. I used an Ibuprofen box and copied how that was made and
multiplied the dimensions to meet my needs, for a 7" box set the
main bit should be around 20cm vertically and horizontally.
3.
Draw out where your flaps and stuff are going to go and then cut out
the bits you aren't going to need.
4.
Cut out the flaps and shape them so that they are easier to fold and
will fit together to form your box.
5.
Realise you've basically made an empty 7 inch pizza box, but still
feel quite proud of it because, y'know, you're Doing It Yourself.
6.
Now fold your flaps into place and get ready for the gluing bit.
7.
Do the gluing bit. And there you should have it; a box.
8.
Now it's time to create your cover, start by plastering old fanzines
you didn't know what to do with but didn't really want to throw away
as you know how much effort and love go into making them.
9.
Realise you have no artistic talent and other than the title you have
no idea what should be the central focus point so photocopy the 46
Itchy EP cover and stick that on. Tell yourself off as you really should have printed off the title too.
 |
| It looks better in real life |
10.
Stick the inside back cover on the back and the bands name on the
spine of the box just in case you decide to make multiple box sets
for other bands' family trees.
And
as promised here's some reviews of some of their records as that was
really the original point of this blog when it was was first mooted
by Mr TomTom, who then didn't do anything. I still hope he'll
be getting involved in the near future though.
Bear Trade- Belief
is a Graveyard (4 track 7", Everything Sucks Music)
Featuring
members of Blocko, The Mingers and 46 Itchy, Bear Trade play gruff
melodic hardcore punk somewhere in the vain of The Lawrence Arms.
I've somehow managed to miss them every time they've played anywhere
near me despite trying to see them, up until they played a matinee
gig with Caves in Leeds when I was back home for the weekend. Anyway,
I was suitably impressed; they create a huge wall of sound live but
you can still hear the melodies and quality song writing. On record
their pop sensibilities and intricate guitar work is even greater so
you get some lovely tuneful, well produced punk songs to have a
little dance to.
PureGraft/ Little League- Split (4 track 7", Specialist Subject Records)
Two
songs here from the Graft who play technical fast melodic Propagandhi
worshiping punk rock with a bit of Frankie Stubbs inspired lyric
writing going on. Maybe. It's good stuff on record but ten times
better live; when this band are on form they're impossible not to
enjoy, mainly because they look like they're enjoying playing so much
themselves.
Rivals- I'm Not An
Animal (2 track 7", Tiny Lights Recordings)
Rivals
contain a Futurehead and an Itchy; somewhere far away my teenage/ early twenties self
is very jealous of me, and probably slightly perturbed. And drunk.
Rivals play rock music, at times they sound like a less abrasive,
poppier New Bomb Turks, at other times they don't. They always sound
good though, and when I say that I mean fucking good. I mean great.
Really fucking goodly great.
I
think it's obvious I haven't tried reviewing anything properly since
waterintobeer disbanded (and I only tried a couple of times then) but
you should do yourself a favour and check out these releases. And
then maybe you can make a box to put them in.
