It comes ahead of the bands forthcoming UK tour, which kicks off on November 1st with a PT Presents show alongside Nervus and Atiptoe.

Details of the London show can be found via the Facebook event page, and you can see the other days below along with the video for ‘Still Not Digital.

November
01 LONDON New River Studios
02 GLASGOW Bar Bloc
03 BRISTOL Louisiana
04 GUILDFORD Boileroom
05 LEEDS Key Club
06 MILTON KEYNES Crauford Arms
08 NOTTINGHAM Maze
10 MANCHESTER FAC251

The line up will feature the excellent Scholars, Venn Records latest signings, Nervus, and math-pop band, Atiptoe. It will take place on November 1st at the New River Studios in North London.

Details are available over at the Facebook event page, and you tickets are on sale now.

Punktastic regulars Young Guns, SikTh, We Are The Ocean, Norma Jean, Creeper, Tellison, Sonic Boom Six, Black Foxxes, Zoax, Palm Reader and Press to MECO also feature on the bill, but we’d hope you have at least some of those already scheduled in. Taking the diversity of the line-up into account, here are eight acts that might not already be on your “must watch” list, but are definitely worth considering.

Asylums

These Southend-on-Sea rockers have a huge crossover appeal, in recent times more likely to appear on the pages of NME over some of the more alternative magazines. Still, their upbeat blend of bouncy indie-pop and fuzzier Weezer-esque rock deserves all the attention it can get. There’s an underlying quirk to the sound too that gives it an extra edge.

Where and when: The Black Heart, 17:00

Scholars

Remember Scholars? They’ve been away from the scene for a while, but they just returned with new track ‘I Must Insist’, which is… well, odd. Driven by spoken word verses that wouldn’t be out of place in Trainspotting, it moves the Hemel Hempstead in an interesting new direction. If anything, it’ll be worth catching this lot to see if they still have the insatiably catch alt-pop in them. We must insist.

Where and when: The Black Heart, 14:00

Colt 45

This Cumbrian trio really upped their game with their latest ‘Snakes & Ladders’ EP, a huge step forward from their somewhat straightforward take on traditional punk-rock. There’s plenty of opportunity for some heartfelt singalongs to vocalist Neil Harper’s increasingly gruff vocals, and ‘All Hell Broke Loose’ has more than enough potential to be one of the best songs of the day.

Where and when: The Forge, 19:00

Kenneths

Homegrown punk trio Kenneths have been welcoming a heap of attention in recent months, having found their name on the same bills as the likes of Less Than Jake and Anti-Flag. Their relentlessly upbeat punk borrows as much from pop as it does from their heavier contemporaries, but this is far from stereotypical pop-punk. If you’re looking for somewhere to let loose, Kenneths will have your back.

Where and when: Dublin Castle, 19:00

Bad Sign

Croydon’s Bad Sign are accomplished purveyors of their art, and their dedication and experience is vastly reflected in their live performance. Their sound is almost cataclysmic in small venues, and has the potential to bring darkness in the middle of the day as they take to the downstairs of Camden’s Barfly. For something melodic with an overbearing hint of the ominous, this is the one to check out.

Where and when: Downstairs @ The Barfly, 13:30

Oxygen Thief

Everybody loves a little bit of singer-songwriter action every once in a while, and few are as well-versed as Oxygen Thief’s Barry Dolan. Sometimes full-band, sometimes not, he’ll be bringing his individual take on folk-punk storytelling to the 55 Bar. Scheduled into the evening it’s a slight rest bite from other offerings, yet the amount of noise Dolan can make with just a guitar is worth checking out.

Where and when: 55 Bar, 20:30

Drones

Drones have just returned as a new-look band with a slight shift in sound. Welcoming Lois McDougall into the fold on vocals and joined by new guitarist Tim Kramer, Camden Rocks marks one of the first opportunities to see the newly invigorated hardcore punks in action. They are on at midday too, which is probably one of the best ways to shake off any cobwebs.

Where and when: Good Mixer, 12:00

Pretend Happy

Pretend Happy’s ‘Tired Eyes’ is still up there as one of the best debuts of the year. The Barnstaple trio will be bringing their emotional melodies to Belushi’s as lunch time draws to a close. It’ll be one of the finest chances across the day to feel all the feels, as well as sing along to some truly catchy melodies.

Where and when: Camden Cavern @ Belushi’s, 14:00

Camden Rocks takes place on Saturday 4th June. Full details, including tickets, are available via the official festival website. Punktastic will of course be on hand to check out what’s going down.

http://www.facebook.com/scholars

You can purchase the single here: http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/blinda-data-single/id558500779

And watch the video below!

The band are playing a few shows over the weekend. You can catch them at:

28 RAMSGATE Red Arrows Club (16+)
29 LONDON The Lexington (all ages matinee show)
29 HIGH WYCOMBE White Horse (16+)

They are also out on tour with Pure Love and the Social Club over late October and November.

For more on Scholars hit the Facebook page: www.facebook.com/scholars

Paul: How would you describe the Scholars sound?  Which bands did you grow up listening to? I hear a bit of Braid and some of the old-skool Deep Elm bands in there…
Sam: It’s all about energy and feeling, bands that have stayed with me since my teens have been aggressive and full of heart like Glassjaw, At the Drive In and Million Dead. When it’s so rockin’ the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, that’s what we’re striving to achieve. The song writing and the style is influenced heavily by bands like The Smiths, The Cure and Death Cab for Cutie, so there’s a fair bit of contrast. And yes there’s definitely some Deep Elm in my diet too, Benton Falls and Planes Mistaken for Stars are two all time favourites.
Chris: Myself and Mike (drums), who are a little older than the other two, grew up with punk like Green Day, Strung Out and Lagwagon, but also lots of Idlewild and Hundred Reasons. We’re all fans of Braid and bands like Penfold and Last Days of April so you may well detect a bit of them in the mix.

Paul: Is there a story behind the band name?
Chris: Nothing interesting I’m afraid – it was a name we settled upon in the very early days of the band because it had a nice ring to it.

Paul: Are there any specific things that inspire you to write, whether it be people, things, events etc?
Sam: Like anyone, I spend a lot of time dealing with normal things like hating my job, being hungover or trying to be responsible for myself. I like writing about the general insignificant daily struggle (which at the time feels anything but insignificant). I think people can relate to that kind of thing and in a way it helps me vent. I instinctively steer away from your conventional love/ loss lyrics in many ways. Not exclusively and not because these aren’t important to me but because I want us to have our own voice. I’ll also write about anything I feel is worth saying something about, our songs include references to the Stockwell station shooting and global warming (no preaching though).

Paul: Do you have any achievements or career goals you’d like to achieve but haven’t yet?
Chris: I’d say that our main focus is to develop musically and write the best songs that we can – to explore our potential as a band. One particular ambition is to play overseas at some point, we’d love to get Big In Japan.
Sam: We played a local festival recently and the big crowd was extremely fun to play to. We’d love to get on some bigger festival bills next year.

Paul: Is it true your guitarist Tom has been touring German arenas as a session guitarist for other bands?!
Chris: Almost! Basically, Tom works in the studio of a guy called Jeff Wayne, who wrote the mega-successful ‘War of the Worlds’ album in the 70s. There was a 30th anniversary tour recently and Tom was asked to fill in for the lead guitar player on one date in Germany. He had to learn all this widdly-widdly solo stuff at pretty short notice. I wasn’t in attendance but I hear it was massive and mental.

Paul: What’s better/worse – someone who downloads your music illegally but takes an active interest in the band and comes to shows or someone who buys the CD, listens to it once and then puts it on a shelf never to play it again? Are you worried about how the industry appears to be going with the death of the CD?
Chris: That’s a bit of a conundrum. As a band, we want as many people to hear our music as possible, and if more people hear our music thanks to illegal filesharing then that’s a good thing. However, we’re also firm believers in the value of music as an art form, and it’s pretty worrying to see just how disposable music has become for a lot of kids these days. I think what we’d really like is for people to give bands a proper hearing, almost regardless of how they obtain the music. As musicians we spend a lot of time agonising over lyrics and arrangements and it’s a bit disheartening to think that the fruits of our labours will be acquired for free en masse with a million other tracks and listened to only when the shuffle function on an iPod dictates. Until now we’ve given away demo tracks as they’ve not cost us much to record and we’ve wanted to spread the word. Hopefully this will stand us in good stead for when we release something properly, and that people who like us will be willing to part with a bit of cash. I don’t think that going to a gig and/or buying a t-shirt makes up for illegally downloading a record – most developing bands won’t be making much more than a tiny profit on either shows or merch sales, certainly not enough to cover the costs of recording and pressing an album. As for the industry…I think it’s going to have a tough time of it in the future. The cleverest bands are asking themselves why they actually need a label now. The bands that succeed will be those that are constantly thinking about new ways of engaging their fanbase. I can think of quite a few examples of bands that are awful musically but have marketed themselves exceptionally well and are doing very well for themselves.

Paul: With MP3 technology and CD sales sliding even further away is there still a need for majors and has it levelled out the playing field with the indies?


Chris: I’m not totally sure that there is a need for labels anymore, indies or majors – bands that are smart enough and willing to put in the effort can do a lot of what a label does for themselves. The internet puts so much at our fingertips. Because of this, I reckon the future is brighter for bands and musicians than it is for labels. However, that’s not to say that I want labels to disappear, by any means. There are loads of labels doing lots of interesting things and adapting well to the changes in the industry. I loved that Polyvinyl Records released the Of Montreal album on 7 formats, including tote bag and paper lantern.

Paul: What music are you guys currently listening to? Any bands/records you would recommend we check out?
Sam: Oslo’s finest, Lukestar have been one of my favourite bands since Chris saw their video on a music channel in the early hours and knew I would love it, can’t wait for them to come back to the UK. Tom (guitar) will be happy if I mention Algernon Cadwallader which he listens to almost constantly.
Chris: I personally have been enjoying new albums from The Faint and Phoenix of late…in terms of UK bands, we all love Canterbury, Don Broco, Blakfish, Joey Nightmare, Hearts Under Fire, Tell it to the Marines, Pharaohs…I really wish The Maple State would start playing gigs again.

Paul: Are you writing any new material yet?  Have any plans for further releases yet?
Chris: We’re always writing – the process slows down a bit when we’ve got lots of shows or when we’re recording but there’s always new stuff in the pipeline. We’ve no plans for any formal release as yet – we’re trying to write a whole load of songs and let them develop before we spend lots of time and money on a proper album or EP. In the meantime you can expect lots of different demo CDs, lovingly handmade by Scholars.
Sam: We’re more and more pleased with everything we write, comparatively we’ve not been a band for a particularly long time so we’ve been honing the skill over the past year. We never regard anything as perfect so we will always improve songs somewhere down the line. Having said that, we’re still very much into our older material, we’re not the type of band that throws old stuff out of the set without very good reason. There are songs that are written that we have no intention of playing live at the moment, just because we’re not done playing our current set yet.

Paul: You’ve got to the last round of Deal Or No Deal, there’s two boxes left, one with £250,000, and the other 1p. The banker offers you the swap, what do you do? 
Chris: Hmm…I’m not familiar with the rules of this show, but I’m highly cautious by nature so I’ll take whichever option is the least likely to end in disaster.
Sam: Put a gun to the back of Mr Edmonds’ head and demand the banker tells me where the flipping money is; before I deliver Noel’s balls in a bright red box you sonofabitch.