Ah, Household Name. One of the true institutions of the UK punk rock scene. The best UK label for longer than your grandmother can remember. You all know what bands they given us in the past. Well, on this cold but sunny Sunday afternoon in Brixton town, we had a showcase of their current roster, and a barbecue that I stupidly missed out on due to eating just before I arrived. (Someone else can review the food. I?m not sure it would be fair for a vegan reviewing a barbecue anyway.)

The lineup was lengthy, but sadly not quite as advertised. Former Cell Mates did not play, which was very disappointing as I?ve never seen ?em, and You Me And The Atom Bomb were off too. But, the afternoon was still kicked off by those cheeky chappies, 2 piece Londonites Apologies, I Have None. They are a drum kit, some chords strummed on a trebley guitar and 2-part, sing-along vocals. They are something a bit different, and can write a fine tune or two. They told me they weren?t quite on form tonight, and asked me not to review them (lesson 1: tell me that, I will), but a couple of nervous moments aside, these boys are onto something real nice. A tip for 2009 I reckon.

Next up were 2 Exeter bands, The Dead City Stereo (drafted in to replace the bands who pulled out) and The Cut Ups. DCS have a real nice, polished rock sound going on. Everything reeked of Old-school 3 Colours Red to me, which is just wonderful news. The Cut Ups followed up (their album is out on HHN in the new year) with a gruff sound that reminds me of a band I love, Small Brown Bike, but they struggled a bit following the bigger sound of The Dead City Stereo and they lost me a bit mid way through.

I already reviewed the Arteries not too long ago, supporting Smoke or Fire. They played just as blistering a set as before (ok, let?s be honest, pretty much the same set), but me and my mates were nodding heads inanely like the Churchill Dog throughout. These boys have whatever ?it? is. Most of the crowd seemed to already know that too.

The Arteries must be tough act to follow, but the Zatopeks were my solid gold tip for the evening. They came on, plain up owned the place. Literally owned it. Having seen Sebby, the guitarist at many a show, even my own ones, I know that they live and breathe the scene, and their philosophy seems to be have fun, look how you want, play quick and fuck what anyone thinks about any of those things. The tunes are fucking ace too. A bit like Street Dogs mixed up with All and a little bit of the Beach Boys. The singer spent most of the set in the crowd, the rest of them just play like a fucking machine. Catch them when they come round again.

Last up were Milloy. Last time I saw them they were clearly drunk and they do the bravado thing damn well. Mix the two and you have dynamite. Tonight they were a bit more down the line. Still with the odd bit of crowd abuse and vocals that could cut through glass mind. They have some clever tunes too. All they were lacking tonight was the party atmosphere that ended at the end of the Zatopeks set.

This lot are all the class of 2009 for HHN. Will be a good year I reckon.

Mike

Anyhow, the lovely L Morgan was the second act on tonight and the first I got to see. She is a solo artiste from the South Coast, equipped with an acoustic guitar and an amazingly strong, loud voice complete with a nice, southern accent. L is well known to the tight fraternity that is the underground DIY acoustic circuit, and this is the first time I?ve seen her playing with full bands, but she sounded great. With a voice as loud as hers (when she sings that is?) it isn?t hard to compete, even sans rhythm section, with them all. Her songs are catchy and her choruses are easily hummable, so always a pleasure. (8/10)

Next up were 7 Years Bad Luck, all the way from Austria. I?m a big fan of the Austrian scene, they have a lot of great bands for a relatively small country. 7YBL are not such a familiar name over here ? yet anyway ? they are a 3 piece, playing pop punk like it was 2001 all over again. I heard they?ve just had a drummer change ? bringing in a mate and training him up, which didn?t do them too many favours. They clearly have decent tunes, but you need to be tighter than?something very tight when you?re a 3 piece, and the execution tonight was a little wayward. Still, decent stuff. (7/10)

Last on were one of Household Name?s newer signing, Milloy. With all the swagger you?d expect from a band from the NW, they are one hell of a band. Going for a fair while now, this is apparently their first London show in a year tonight (yes, yes, Kingston isn?t really London ? fuck off) and they are proud to indulge in a bit of ?southerner baiting? with a bit of polite abuse, but it is their ability to write a fucking good tune which really makes them stand out from most of the bands touring the UK right now, not to mention that they are polished and good to watch. This lot are the UK?s answer to Hot Water Music. But with a rank northern accent. (9/10)

Mike

If you’ve been reading Punktastic over the last week you’ll have noticed me professing my love for Milloy in a recent review of their album ‘More Than A Machine’. Tonight I only manage to catch 3 songs as I had to rush off to interview Against Me! (which will appear on this month’s podcast), but what I heard was top class as usual. It would be unfair for me to score their performance having not seen all of it, but they dominate The Cockpit’s main stage with the same effortless grace that they do every pub in Leeds and have been doing for years. Their hard work is bound to start paying dividends very soon.

Quickly coming back from the interview I catch a good half of Murder By Death. Having neglected to check these guys out before I arrived, my mind was fairly open, and their brand of Western, desert rock was fairly welcoming. Vocalist Adam Turla is very talented, there’s no denying that. His voice sounds like it’s been fermented by 20 years of whiskey drinking and his aura is one of conspicuous warmth. Cellist Sarah Balliet seems to alternate between firmly backgrounded and positively haunting. When she’s in full flight it only adds to the sound which gave me an impression of a dusty American drought-ridden prairie. Gruff, soulful, not-quite-staring-at-your-shoes introspection. Having listened to some MP3s since seeing them live, I can definitely say this is a lot more impressive and engaging in the flesh. 7.5

By the time Against Me! take to the stage there’s a real hubbub of excitement. Quite obviously this was too much for some people, who proceeded to try and expend some of it by continually crowd-surfing and stage-diving throughout the entire set, but I guess there will always be idiots. Tom decries one of them taking a picture from the stage with his camera phone at one point which receives a cheer from certain (read: older) sections of the crowd. The band themselves are on top, top form tonight playing a decent mix of old and new, but thankfully sticking to the good ones from the (relatively) mixed bag that is the new record (Don’t Lose Touch, Miami, From Her Lips). You can criticise AM! from afar if it takes your fancy, but it certainly looks like the negative voices are fuelling a hungry desire from what I gathered by talking to them, and what was very evident for all and sundry in their live show. They’ve still got it. 8.5

Spud