Robyn Writes

Shout out: Throw The Goat and The Bastard Sons co-headline tour in July!

Hey cool cats,

We’ve heard word of a pretty rad tour coming to our shores this July, so we thought we’d tell you all about it.

Throw The Goat are a most excellent punk band from California, and The Bastard Sons are a rowdy hardcore lot from York. The two combined can only be a beautiful thing. They’ve got support from Serpico, featuring Elliot Minor guitarist Alex Davies, but trust me, they sound nothing like Elliot Minor so it’s okay, as well as a bunch of other sweet bands.

Dates are:
4 JULY @ THE UNDERWORLD, London w/ Throw The Goat, The Bastard Sons, Serpico and Spirits
5 JULY @ EDDIES ROCK CLUB, Birmingham w/ The Bastard Sons, Throw The Goat and Serpico
6 JULY @ FIBBERS, York w/ The Bastard Sons, Throw The Goat, Lyon Estates & 1 more TBC
7 JULY @ BANNERMAN’S, Edinburgh w/ Throw The Goat, The Bastard Sons, Serpico and Roll On Three

We’ll probably be at the Birmingham date, so if you spot any of us, come and say hi!

The Bastard Sons – Bones [EP]

The Bastard Sons are an interesting bunch. Formed in 2011, the York rockers are difficult to place. Their debut EP, Bones, is really a testament to that as they combine elements of blues, metal and hardcore in order to get the party well and truly on its way. It would be easy to compare them to Every Time I Die or Fight Paris, but The Bastard Sons have a more distinctly British feel to them and craft tunes that are far tighter than the latter, in more ways than one…

Hot Town starts with a bone chilling chant that quickly descends into a hellishly delightful bluesy riff. Throughout the EP, JJ’s vocals are stellar – swapping easily from hardcore screams to pure rock and roll glory, but on Hot Town, they’re so unexpected in contrast to the music and it completely shatters any expectations that you might have. This leads the way for some excellent breakdowns that make a stark contrast to the rest of the track. Make no mistake, for all the fun twiddly guitar bits from Ollie and Alex, they know how to throw down and a combination of different styles of playing make for a ridiculous amount of fun all the way through. Soul Fur Coat takes it in that opposite direction, playing up to the metal influences far more with a solo to die for. Some frantic, but tuneful riffage and plenty of bass swagger marks it out at one of the best tracks on the release. However, that honour is reserved for final track Salem’s Rot. Combining a classic rock feel with some almost Bullet For My Valentine-esque balls, it really should belong on the Supernatural soundtrack. Clocking in at five minutes of pure groove-laden rock, the chant of “We throw ourselves in shallow graves” comes back again at the end, and putting the EP on repeat results in a perfect cycle.

While there is nothing distinctly bad about Bones, it does start to feel too familiar in the middle of the EP. In Case Of Emergency and Therapists Get All The Girls are still good fun, but it gets difficult to distinguish between the two. Nevertheless, Bones is still an excellent debut and if The Bastard Sons are this polished and this fearless so early on, then any future release is bound to be spectacular. And in the meantime, you’ve got the perfect party starter.

3.5 out of 5 high fives!