Tag Archives: Boston Manor

The French Connection: Chunk! No, Captain Chunk!/Trash Boat/Boston Manor at Sound Control, Manchester

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“This song is all about friendship,” says a bright-eyed Frenchman. “This stage belongs to us all, I want to see some STAGE DIVES!” he continues, as the signature down-tuned riff of ‘In Friends We Trust’ kicks in to the apparent approval of the assembled crowd, most of whom ended up on the stage for the majority of the song (causing much consternation in the lone security guard). Thus ended a night of pop-punk revelry, spearheaded by French upstarts Chunk! No, Captain Chunk!

Rewind a few hours and there’s a 30 man-strong queue snaking round the block outside the innocuous entrance to the basement of Manchester’s premier live music venue; Sound Control. The notable sporting of le tricolore on t-shirts and jumpers is notable, but it is still 30 minutes till even the opening act is on. Some folks, it seems, really are keen on tonight’s (nowhere near sold-out) show. As show-time draws nearer we filter in, to be greeted by the stale air and bare walls of my second home. First up is Boston Manor, the Blackpool quintet and new acquisitions of pop-punk powerhouse Pure Noise Recordings. Kicking off with some slight technical difficulties, the representatives for the North of England are undeterred, launching into crowd favourites like ‘Peach State’. ‘Stop dropping names, and playing games,’ roars frontman Henry Cox incorporating just the right amount of grit into the performance. Vocal harmonies and instrumentation are on point as BM launch into ¾ of new EP Saudade, the singalong chorus to ‘Trapped Nerve’ being a personal favourite. Rounding off the performance with a rendition of ‘Driftwood’, the Blackpool boys acquit themselves well in a whirlwind performance that leaves us wanting more. A full-length for 2016 would be ideal, boys.

The French Connection: Chunk! No, Captain Chunk!/Trash Boat/Boston Manor at Sound Control, Manchester

‘Sleep for the rest of my days…’

Next up are Hopeless Records’ Trash Boat. Whilst on record comparisons between TB and fellow pop-punkers Knuckle Puck are frequently levelled, live it is clear that Trash Boat are a whole different kettle of fish. Taking a much more direct approach to pop-punk than the afore mentioned Knuckle Puck, Trash Boat go down a storm with the kids at the front as the first few mosh pits start to form. Material from this year’s Brainwork is recited word-for-word, whilst unheard material kicks up one helluva circle pit. High energy and delivered with passion, the originality of Trash Boat might be questionable but tonight’s performance isn’t, and there’s something to be said for that.

The French Connection: Chunk! No, Captain Chunk!/Trash Boat/Boston Manor at Sound Control, Manchester

Singalong with the Trash Boat boys…

After a surprisingly long time setting the stage up (25 mins? Really?), it’s time for the headliners, Chunk! No, Captain Chunk! A band as zany and surreal as their namesake (a Gonnies reference), Chunk champion a self-coined ‘bipolar’ take on mixing metalcore and saccharine pop-punk. Complete with crushing breakdowns, pinched harmonics and singalong choruses, Chunk are nothing if not unique. Starting with the chugging riffwork of ‘Hater’s Gonna Hate‘, the crowd immediately explodes in a shower of crowdsurfers and sweaty moshers. Whilst the lyrical content of most Chunk songs is generic at best and downright incomprehensible at worst, there are fingerpointers aplenty as lead vocalist Bertrand switches with very little warning between screamed and clean vocals.

The French Connection: Chunk! No, Captain Chunk!/Trash Boat/Boston Manor at Sound Control, Manchester

Crowd-surfing with Chunk…

The lack of any real bridge between hardcore and pop-punk sections is the signature of a Chunk record (and is what sets them apart from the likes of A Day To Remember), and the Parisians only accentuate this live. Set highlight was possibly the cover of Smash Mouth’s ‘All Star’, which saw yours truly crowd-surfing with considerable aplomb. Whilst sometimes it’s kind of sad when a cover gets one of the best crowd responses of the night, Chunk have never taken themselves too seriously and this breakdown-ridden cover doesn’t really serve to undermine any of the original material on show. The set is rounded off with In Friends We Trust, a suitably pop-punk end to a night that made up for what it lacked in originality with ballsy riffs and unadulterated energy. Overall this music is good fun, and if people would only get their heads out their arses they might see it as such…

Joseph Wynn

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Saudade by Boston Manor

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UK pop punk has always been a bit lame. The weather’s crap over here so we can’t go out skating that much, so I guess this is hardly surprising. However, of late we’re having a bit of a surge of quality UKPP that’s hard to ignore. Leading the way are the shamelessly poppy (and none the worse for it) Neck Deep, their sophomore Life’s Not Out To Get You being a critical and commercial success. In their wake, however, there have been many other bright lights of the UK scene starting to step up to the global stage. This year we saw south-coast emo merchants Moose Blood take to the fabled US Warped Tour, whilst UK bands are being hoovered up by American heavyweight record labels like Pure Noise or Hopeless. I’m not patriotic, but to finally hear bands not harking on about graduation or the price of a Taco Bell is genuinely fantastic.

Of the UK pack the latest to step up to take a swing at the big-time are Boston Manor, weighing in with their Pure Noise debut Saudade. The Blackpool quintet kick of the EP with the picked single notes of ‘Gone‘, which soon gives way to some more typically pop-punk riffage. Cutting across the top of all this is the incredibly distinctive vocals of Henry Cox. Cox’s control at the higher end of his range is stunning, incorporating just the right amount of grit to the performance. The track’s bouncy chorus with a singalong bridge of ‘wrap me in bedsheets’ makes for a promising start.

The pace drops for the single ‘Trapped Nerve’. Already a live staple, this song once again errs on just the right side of aggression, focussing instead on the nuanced minor arrangement of the band as a whole. This song introduces one of the more interesting facets of Boston Manor; they are by far and away the most mature pop-punk band on the circuit today. Not that this is to the detriment of their pop-songwriting chops, with the ‘so chew me up, spit me out’ of the chorus a notable fists-in-the-air moment.

The third track ‘Asleep at the Wheel’ is also the third track to clock in at around 3 minutes. Again focussing on a slower intro riff and dropping into a breakneck verse and singalong chorus it would be tempting to point to the pop-punk clichés dripping off every song in this EP. However, the band puts such a distinctive stamp on these songs it’s impossible not to appreciate the degree to which they’ve ripped up the pop-punk rulebook. The northern accent sitting atop everything, the introspective lyrics focussing on establishing a feeling rather than chastising an ex, I hate to say it but pop-punk has never seemed so goddamn grown up.

The EP is rounded off by ‘Shade’, another song clocking in around 3 minutes. Again it focusses on a slower intro building to a faster verse and catchy chorus. This is the one weakness to the EP, there is little variation between songs. All clock in the same sorta time, and the virtues I can extol for one are the same I’ll talk about for the next. This is not necessarily a bad thing, on a 4-song EP it’s tempting to get pulled in too many directions and lose any cohesiveness to the sound. That said, about twenty listens in I’m still struggling to tell where one song ends and the next begins. But all things considered, this is a fantastic progression in sound from debut EP Driftwood: the production is better, the songs more distinct and there is a definite sense of BM carving themselves a niche. We can hopefully expect big things from these northern upstarts in the future, and I for one can’t wait. Long may the UKPP revolution continue!

Joseph Wynn

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