The band will be hitting the UK in August with label mates Harker on the following dates:

AUGUST
14 BRIGHTON Sticky Mike’s Frog Bar
15 LONDON The Lock Tavern
16 BRISTOL Exchange
17 MANCHESTER Fuel Cafe
18 CARDIFF The Big Top

Joining the likes of Hot Water Music, Against Me!, Hum, Rainer Maria, Snapcase and more are the following bands:

Superchunk, Pegboy, The Movielife, Grade, City of Caterpillar, Majority Rule, You Blew It, Career Suicide, Chris Gethard, Able Baker Fox, toyGuitar, Apologies, I Have None, Rozwell Kid, Into It. Over It., Banner Pilot, No Trigger, MC Lars, Cadillac Blindside, Squirtgun, MakeWar, Great Cynics, Wild Pink, Sundressed, Worriers, Western Addiction, Tiltwheel, Timeshares, Walter, Etc., Whiskey & Co., Katie Ellen, UV-TV, Wet Nurse, Joe McMahon, The Dirty Nil, The Atom Age, Bad Cop / Bad Cop, Astpai, Pet Symmetry, Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires, Vacation Bible School, Shellshag, Extinction A.D., Such Gold, Sunshine State, Deadaires, Baggage, Decent Criminal, Honey Joy, Adult Magic, Pacemaker, Gender Roles, Post Teens, Sciatic Nerve, Too Many Daves, Aaron Rev (Success), Dredger, Andy Thomas’ Dust Heart, Boyfriend Material, Army Of Ponch, Thin Lips, Blood on the Harp, The Duppies, Lauren Denitzio, Attic Salt, SteveO and the Crippling Addictions, Debt Neglector, Nervous Triggers, Insignificant Other, Anna’s Anchor, Rational Anthem, Pale Angels, James Alex (Weston/ Beach Slang), Bat Boy, Chotto Ghetto, Sic Waiting, I Like Allie, Seth Anderson, Yotam Ben Horin (Useless ID), Old Vices, Telepathic Lines, Heat Rash, Soul Glo, Frigs, Allout Helter, Notches, Winded, Shells, Bitemarks, Divine Feed, Sandspur City, Ceramicats, Woolbright, Alumine, Quinn Cicala, Orbiter, Walt Hamburger, Gutless, and Crit!

It will take place in Gainesville, Florida between October 27-29. All details and tickets can be found at the official Fest Website. Don’t forget that Pre-Fest will also take place in Little Ybor from the 25th to 26th October!

This track is the opening number from their addictively good latest EP ‘Sad’, which was released last month on Wiretap Records (US) and Bearded Punk Records (Europe).

The band will also be supporting Astpai on a couple of UK dates in November, details of which you can find below.

NOVEMBER
21 MANCHESTER Retro Bar w/ Edgarville + Smother
22 LONDON DIY Space for London w/ Megaflora + Myelin

The video sees the band take up interest in bear suits and bird watching. The ridiculously catchy track  meanwhile was originally found on their first demo. It has been re-recorded for their upcoming mini album ‘Redwoods’, which is due for release on the 28th October via Everything Sucks Music. You can pre-order it on the group’s bandcamp page.

Additionally, Megaflora will be playing a few shows in November and one in December, details of which you can find below.

NOVEMBER
18 NOTTINGHAM JT Soar w/ Thee Mightees
19 LEEDS Wharf Chambers w/ Peaness, Crumbs + Drahla
22 LONDON DIY Space for London w/ Astpai, Kamikaze Girls + Myelin
DECEMBER
18 LONDON DIY Space for London

phot credit: Derek Bremner

The full dates as they look so far are:

NOVEMBER
09 LJUBLJANA, SLOVENIA Gromka*
10 VICENZA, ITALY Circolo Mesa*
11 SEREGNO, ITALY Honky Tonky*
12 GORNJA RADGONA, SLOVENIA Mladinski Center*
15 PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC 007^
16 REGENSBURG, GERMANY Alte Mälzerei^
17 WIESBADEN, GERMANY Kreativfabrik^
18 IJMEGEN, NETHERLANDS De Ondebroek^
19 MUNSTER, GERMANY Gleis 22^
20 LEUVEN, BELGIUM Nojo^

*w/ Deadends
^w/ Not Scientists

The tour is set to be announced in four blocks, with different bands joining them for each. The first sees them play alongside fellow Austrians Deadends.

NOVEMBER
09 LJUBLJANA, SLOVENIA Gromka
10 VICENZA, ITALY Circolo Mesa
11 SEREGNO, ITALY Honky Tonky
12 GORNJA RADGONA, SLOVENIA Mladinski Center

The second block is expected to be announced next week.

Astpai will be heading back over to the UK for dates surrounding Manchester Punk Festival and Deadpunk Special in Bristol, as well as mainland EU dates.

APRIL
19 NURNBERG, GERMANY MUZ
21 ZOERSEL, BELGIUM JH
22 NORWICH The Owl Sanctuary
23 MANCHESTER Punk Festival @ Sound Control
24 LONDON Veg Bar
25 LILLE, FRANCE El Diablo
26 BREDA, NETHERLANDS Publieke Werken
27 MUNSTER, GERMANY Café Lorenz
28 COLOGNE, GERMANY Tsunami Club
29 FURTH, GERMANY Kopf und Kragen

MAY
01 WIEN, AUSTRIA BACH
02 GRAZ, AUSTRIA Musichouse
06 BRISTOL Deadpunk Special Warm-Up @ Stag & Hounds (Tegan & Sara Cover-Set)
07 BRISTOL Deadpunk Special @ The Exchange

ASTPAI! You guys play punk rock from Austria and you’ve recently released ‘Burden Calls’. How would you describe the new record?

‘Burden Calls’ is the first ASTPAI record that tells an entire story from the first to the last song, which made writing and recording the whole thing a great experience. We’ve also tried to connect certain songs musically by repeating riffs or themes in different phrasings and tempi. We really hope that people take notice of the hard work we put into the record. If I had to compare ‘Burden Calls’ to other bands’ records, I would point out groups like None More Black or Samiam. Lyrically, I’m heavily influenced by artists like Fucked Up or The Hold Steady.

Is your new album politically motivated as previous ones were?

I’d say that there’s hardly any political content on ‘Burden Calls’, as it tells the story of a fictional character we created. However, there are socially critical songs that deal with topics such as oppression, abuse of power or growing up in a highly technological generation without much hope for true, pure satisfaction.

Do you have any political influences, and do you think that all punk music should be politically motivated to some degree?

I don’t think that all punk music has to be political, but I still think that the scenery that is created by punk rock should be a place for political conversations and meaningful content. In other words, I enjoy going out to watch Alkaline Trio play their bittersweet heartbreak pop punk anthems, followed by a healthy discussion about how the Freedom Party of Austria is becoming more and more populistic in their way of spreading right-wing propaganda, misleading over a third of Austrians, who decide to vote for them.

Recent “events” surrounding prominent members of the punk community brought up the point that the punk scene may not be as progressive as some thought – there’s still a great deal of sexism and homophobia. Are you surprised by that?

I’m sure, punk, if political at all, isn’t as edgy as it used to be. Still, that’s not an invitation for conservative assholes to use the scene we’ve all created as a platform for their unreflected, short sighted bullshit. On the other hand, having people like Ben Weasel share their close-minded, sarcastic and abusive views on things, makes me feel even more encouraged to speak out against what I think is fucked up about society and also, unfortunately, in this oh-so-understanding punk rock scene.

Does Austria have a notable punk community? Are there any other bands we should be looking out for from there?

Austria still has a very lively and exciting punk community. With bands such as ANTS!, Deadends, 7Yearsbadluck, Small Hours, BHF, Boredom, The Forum Walters, Sex Jams and a load more. There’s a great bunch of musicians and composers around.

With your UK/EU tour coming up, how are you guys preparing for life on the road?

Well, we’ve been touring for the majority of the past couple of years, so i feel like, we’re already well prepared for a life on the road. However, every tour has its new excitement about it, for sure. You never ever know what to expect from the shows, the crowds, the venues or the journeys. The week before tour, we’re pretty much locking ourselves into our practice room to get as many songs ready as possible and work out a solid live set.

ATPAI tour abroad a lot. Do you enjoy playing the UK and do you have any unusual experiences to share?

From our first tour in 2007 on, the UK has always treated us really, really well. I think we were just lucky enough to bump into a handful of great promoters and bands that became friends with us and helped us out over all the years. We’re hitting up a few new places this time and I’m excited to see how that’s gonna go.

As a DIY band you must play in so many unique venues. Is there any particular venue in the UK or Europe that you find memorable?

There’s definitely a couple of amazing places that stick with you over the years. I kinda have to point out our hometown venue first. It’s called ‘Triebwerk’ and it literally helped us with getting on our adolescent punk rock feet, jumping in a van and getting the hell out of town. Then there’s places like Le Pub in Newport, The Windmill in Brixton, Baracke in Münster, Hafenklang in Hamburg, AJZ in Bielefeld, Cassiopeia in Berlin, Ondebroek in Nijmegen, Underwerket in Copenhagen, Arena in Vienna and so many more.

Finally, if you weren’t in a punk band what would you be doing?

Literally, I cannot imagine what we’d be up to right now. None of us ever had the intention of making a career or starting a classic family life. I guess, if we weren’t travelling in a punk band, we’d be busy in another genre of music.

Check them out on their upcoming tour. Dates as follows:

SEPTEMBER
16 VIENNA B.A.C.H. (AT)
17 GRAZ PPC Bar (AT)
18 LINZ Stadtwerkstatt (AT)
19 BERLIN Clash (DE)
20 COPENHAGEN venue tba (DK)
21 KIEL tba (DE)
22 HAMBURG Rote Flora (DE)
23 HANNOVER Stumpf (DE)
24 MAINZ Haus Mainusch (DE)
25 LEUVEN Rockbar (BE)
26 LUXEMBOURG Soul Kitchen (LUX)
27 ULM Broken Stage (DE)
28 NIJMEGEN De Ondebroek (NL)
29 LONDON The Windmill
30 NORWICH The Owl Sanctuary

OCTOBER
01 HUDDERSFIELD The Parish
02 NEWCASTLE The Black Bull
03 NEWPORT Le Pub
04 PLYMOUTH The Hub
05 SOUTHAMPTON WTF Fest
06 PARIS venue tba (FR)
07 MONTAIGNE Zizor (FR)
08 NAVARRA/PAMPLONA venue tba (ES)
09 OVIEDO Calleja La Ciega (ES)
10 SAO JOAO DE MADEIRA @ Oliva Creativa Factory (PO)
11 LISBON Fantasma Cais Do Sodré (PO)
12 MADRID Rock Palace (ES)
13 BARCELONA Rocksound (ES)
14 MONTPELIER The Black Out (FR)
15 MILAN Honky Tonky (IT)
16 VOCKLABRUCK C’est La Vie (AT)
17 PRAGUE venue tba (CZ)
18 WIENER NEUSTADT Triebwerk (AT)

SAMARTH KANAL

After opening up the weekend’s seminal punk-rock festival, Groezrock, at the weekend in style, Austrian four-piece Astpai have announced they will be releasing their new album on the 22nd August 2014 in the UK and Europe, and a month later in the US. ‘Burden Calls’ will be released via Ass Card Records and Jumpstart Records respectively.

Continuing with their punchy melodic punk, the record will consist of 13 new tracks telling of doubt and misery, but offering a light at the end of the tunnel.

Hailing from Vienna, ‘Burden Calls’ will be the band’s fifth full-length amongst a wealth of EPs and splits. Astpai have already enjoyed a tour with Rx Bandits this year, and recently hit the road with fellow Groezrockers Restorations and The Smith Street Band.

TRACKLISTING:
01 Single Use
02 Dead End Talking
03 Out
04 Death Everywhere
05 After All
06 Departure
07 Ground Control
08 Down by Love
09 Resignation
10 Careers
11 Small Change
12 Oxygen
13 Emotion in the Way

The Old Blue Last show was a joy to be at. Who can fail to have fun on a line up that includes The Smith Street Band and Astpai? Check out the photos below.