Top 10 Punk Rock Beards – The Band Edition

It’s time. Our punk rock beard list finally returns. Some of you may or may not remember a piece that I wrote in 2008, compiling some of my favourite dudes and their super rad beards. I didn’t expect it to be a big thing, but somehow now, when you search ‘punk beard’, we’re the first thing on Google. It’s been a big year for facial hair, so it’s time to get serious. Get ready for the band edition.

DISCLAIMER: this might just be a list of sweet bands who have a couple of members with beards, either currently or just ‘tour beards’. But who gives a shit, there’s beards involved!

10) Summerslam 88
Summerslam 88 very rarely have facial hair but when they do, they look like skeezy 80s dudes. They also do sweet skatepunk that sounds like the Offspring when they were good.

9) North Lincoln
Beard punk. What a genre. Were North Lincoln ever really ‘beard punk’? Probably not, but they were kind of brilliant. And look at that full beardage going on there.

8) Fights and Fires
Worcester ‘geekcore’ lads like sitting on cannons, apparently. They also like beards a lot because their current logo is a guy with a massive beard. And most of them have one in some way or another!

7) Every Time I Die
Do you remember that time when all of Every Time I Die thought ‘fuck it, we’re all gonna grow beards and look kinda dirty?’ I sure as hell do. It was awesome. And if nothing else, Andy Williams has enough beard for everyone.

6) The Menzingers
Quintessentially rugged and responsible for some of the finest punk records of the 21st Century. You know it.

5) The Lawrence Arms
I don’t care if they’re not real moustaches. Nobody cares if they’re not real moustaches. And now these dudes have signed to Epitaph, which is not the home of the beard, but, along with another band further down on our list, they’re making it a classier place.

4) Darko
Darko’s beards were unexpected and highly surprising. But excellent. Skatepunk probably shouldn’t involve beards but I’m very glad it does.

3) Bike Tuff
We did a feature on these guys a few months ago, and while Into Shore is probably my favourite emo-revival-esque record right now (and possibly forever), these dudes all have pretty sweet beards.

2) letlive.
Jason Aalon Butler’s beard is a thing of beauty. Furious, furious beauty. Nothing else needs to be said.

1) Arliss Nancy
LOOK AT THE MAJESTY OF THOSE BEARDS. Arliss Nancy probably couldn’t function without said beards. Americana blended with punk aesthetic to create something kind of beautiful, Wild American Runners is deep and heartfelt with a touch of jaded gruffness that can only come from beards that excellent.

Honorable mention: Enter Shikari
Can one class Shikari as punk? I suppose that imposing trance on post-hardcore and trying to make people more aware of the broken society we live in through their lyrics is pretty punk. Not usually known for the beard, this new video reveals a different side to them…

Shout out: Fights and Fires Make New Album ‘Pay What You Want’

Yo! Little thing here for you – if you’re into noisy Worcester lot Fights and Fires, all of their back catalogue, including latest album We Could All Be Dead Tomorrow, has been made ‘pay what you want’ on their Bandcamp. In essence, you could pick up all their stuff for free. Or you can donate as much as you feel like, and we would certainly encourage you to.

Check it out!

Fights and Fires / Thirty Six Strategies / The Best Revenge – Firefly, Worcester, 30/5/13

So. This gig. Three “hardcore” bands two storeys up above a moderately scummy side street in an inoffensive county town in the Midlands. On a school night. Grateful for it happening – not much happens in Worcester. But expectations were not excessive. By way of context, the venue – the Firefly – is a three-storey Georgian pile with a maze of rooms, a competition-class range of draft beers and a quirky top floor gig space like some kind of stylish boutique drawing room. The place does occasional open mic nights and puts on the odd band – but nothing regular or high visibility. The place keeps a fairly low profile – no website, minimal publicity outside its own walls, even their facetube page is a bit undercooked – but has the makings of an absolute gem of a venue. Seriously. And the place was, to be fair, packed out. £3 – Three quid in. Bargain. Quid a band. Not going to argue with that. And so. What evening’s entertainment did you get for this princely sum?

First on – The Best Revenge. Spunky skate punk. Coulda been watching Snuff or Jailcell Recipes in May 1991 at JB’s in Dudley with a copy of RAD magazine in the pocket of my Skull Skates pants. In my book, that’s a good thing. A very good thing. Proof of the strength of the formula that it still sounds as good and bright now as it ever did. Nice.

Next – Thirty Six Strategies. Melodic female-fronted hardcore. Now. Some proper heavy hitters with serious alt and punk pedigree in here – not least the fairly legendary punk vet Ian Glasper (google him and you’ll see what I mean). Female Vocalist exactly as it says on the promo material – Debbie Harry, but maybe a touch of the Shirley Manson. Great, great voice, great look, professional strength songs – although maybe could do with moving around a bit more. But what do I know. This can look undignified. I remember seeing a sweaty Brody Dalle over-enthusiastically rocking out to her music at the old Birmingham Academy (nee Hummingbird) some years back, and it was all a little embarrassing. In any case there’s a lot of the high-end proto-emo Dischord / Dag Nasty about this band. Rocking out just wouldn’t go. Leave that for Paramore or that shocking vehicle for that chick out of Gossip Girl. This band only formed last year, and are already getting coverage in the national music press – and are apparently supporting the venerable (and downright glorious) nomeansno when they play London in a week or two. And very, very damn good luck to them indeed.

And finally – headline act. Fights and Fires. Never heard of this lot before. Only afterwards did it click that all the merch on sale was theirs… Four chirpy kids in matching shirts and a bit of a speccy geek up front. Nice line in banter. Thinking this’ll be breezy pop punk at best. Then the geek made a noise. A righteous, proper hardcore noise.

Now. Bend me over, smack my arse and call me fucking Gabriel. I was not expecting THAT.

Energetic, tight as you like and with a sound like Trash Talk at their most melodic, with very Bronx-style vocals… and nothing wrong with that (damn… that geek, he’s good). Whilst the influences are undeniable, these boys have a real distinctive sound of their own – a line in heavy ultra-chugging breakdowns that the kids went wild for and that in its rock and roll-ishness is very now indeed.

Despite knowing a hell of a lot better I have to report that I found myself being sucked in to the moment and went a bit feral. And spent a good part of the remaining evening running around with teenaged boys on my head. Which they seemed to appreciate, anyway. That I found myself doing this with half of the previous band on (Thirty Six Strategies) – I definitely had my head in the bassist’s armpit, I remember that – all added to the experience. Awesome. The remarkable thing is that this band (Fights and Fires) have been going for 5 years and have a serious back catalogue. A back catalogue that you can pick up on Bandcamp in ten minutes for less than a packet and a half of fags – go on. Do it. They deserve you.

Apparently too they play all over Europe. Relentlessly. They are probably one our main current punk exports to the Eurozone. But they exist entirely beneath the surface in the town where they all grew up and (I guess) still live. That’s right. They and in fact all three bands are from this self-same, nondescript county town… Worcester. It also turns out – thanks to the magic of the interweb – that the record label they are signed to, Lockjaw Records also originated in… Worcester [editor’s note – while Lockjaw certainly began in Worcester, the label was taken into new ownership last year and is currently prospering elsewhere in the West Midlands].

It’s not a big place. Great place to bring up kids. Good amenities. Good motorway access to the rest of the country. Nice people, nice countryside. Gave the world Elgar. But thought to have absolutely no underground music scene. Nigel Kennedy used to live out in Malvern next door to an old colleague of mine. But that’s about the length of it. You’re pretty much right off the beaten touring track – anyone heading for this neck of the woods either goes to Birmingham or Bristol. So unless you like tribute bands, blues and harmless acoustic, received wisdom was: nothing happening. If this unexpected triple-headed act of smashing it was anything to go by, you never know whether something just might.

I understand that this is planned to be a monthly thing – last Thursday of the month. Next one is apparently going to be mathcore. MATHCORE? In this town? Needless to say, I’m going. Will let you know how it goes.