PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
@louelladeville_ @PlanetMosh review of Spunk Volcano & the Eruptions @Star_GarterManc, Sunday 23rd February 2014.
Following the release of their self titled EP on 1st February ‘Spunk Volcano & the Eruptions’ ended the ‘Spunk All Over the Place’ tour at The Star and Garter, Manchester on 23rd February. Sunday, the day of worship for some, and no better way to worship than at the alter of the One-eyed, Balaclava-ed Sex God that is Spunk Volcano! Fans of Dirt Box Disco will know Spunk Volcano as one fifth of Dirt Box Disco. Spunk Volcano & the Eruptions are a four piece, three fifths of Dirt Box Disco plus Ste! Don’t worry Dirt Box Disco are still going strong so we can now enjoy double helpings of Spunk!
First up came Jonny Acoustic. Originally Electric Shite Orchestra were billed to open the show but unfortunately two out of the three couldn’t make it but the show must go on so guitarist Jonny March, the only one who could make it, did an acoustic set. Starting with Surfin’ Bird a bit of a rockabilly style number then came Engineer which went to the tune of Froggie Went a Courtin’ that famous Punk Classic! Ok maybe not but it’s a good tune and sounded pretty good Punked up! Although it could have been the third song Cranked Up, which I don’t think was a Slaughter and the Dogs cover anyway.
I’m sure you all know and love one hit wonders so when Johnny announced the penultimate song as being about the health service, a sexual fetish or whatever you want it to be in just one word Nurse we get one of those one word wonders. He said he’d never done it acoustic before but fuck it! The audience either knew it or could manage to remember one word and were singing along! We then came to ‘One more then I’m going to fuck off’ i.e. the last song Feel Alright and what I liked about this is that it was personalised or tailored to the date and venue – Sunday Night at The Star and Guitar, Gonna get some Spunk etc and it incorporated the tune and some of the lyrics to Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes although I can’t be sure but I think the lyrics were changed to Breasts, Shoulders, Knees and Toes. A good opening from Jonny and, I believe, a first acoustic set on his own so it took some Spunk to get up there! Surfin’ Bird Engineer Cranked Up Chinese Rocks Fall in Shock Treatment Britzkrieg Bop Nurse Feel Alright For one night only just Jonny March on guitar
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Electric-Shite-Orchestra/195519150521378
Next came Brassick, from the West Midlands, fronted by Nicola the only female to tread the boards tonight. A fast, energetic young punk rock band. Nicola asked ‘Are you having a good night so far?’ Opening with Pelt with pelting drums and riffs it got their set off to a good start. Hitting Home With lots of Punk posturing and shaking of her platinum blonde hair Nicola made an entertaining front woman. With a shout of ‘Thank you.You guys are awesome. Have you got your jumping shoes on? The next song’s a Jumping Number’ and Devil on a String was indeed a fast, catchy number with a jumping beat.
Nicola announced that they did have some CD’s but had sold out. So no chance to buy any Brassick CD’s tonight. Fast intro it must have been hot up there as I noticed that the Jay, the drummer had gone topless and Nicola removed her hoodie top before Free For All. ‘Big Loves. Hope everyone has a great night. We’ve been Brassick Peace and Love’ led the last song, Broken Western with ska type vibe, ending with fast drumming and a ‘Thank you very much’ and a thank you to Brassick for a great set.
https://www.facebook.com/brassickmusic http://brassick.wix.com/brassick
Set list – see photo
Nicola Hardy – Vocals
Peter MacBeth – Guitar
Jay Tatler – Drums
Jake Cunningham – Bass
The penultimate act came in the form of 2 Sick Monkeys from Swindon, Wiltshire. A band containing only drums and bass but the lack of six strings didn’t result in any lack of sound or entertainment. Fred has got to be the fastest bass man in Swindon! The speed of execution of 2 Sick Monkeys reminded me of that of The Exploited and I picked up a Dead Cities element, not that I’m saying Swindon is a Dead City! Pete and Fred seemed to share the vocals but Pete did most of the talking and told us we were getting a brand new song with some of the crappest lyrics you’re heard There’s Something Wrong With You and they well could have been but I enjoyed the song and didn’t actually pay much attention to the lyrical quality.
Pete speaks almost as fast as he sings but I got the gist that We’ll Free The Shit Out Of You is a Deadbeat song and if ‘Obama and Co formed a band, this is the song’ it was fast and loud, as were most of the songs. Pete thanked STP for ‘having us back’ and Brassick for the last 5 days as they’ve been gigging together. Coming to the end of their set Pete said ‘Thanks very much for watching. Let’s Get Fucking Wasted’ then laughed ‘That’s the alter ego I guess, but you know where I’m coming from’ Apparently they rarely get to play to crowds of so many people so Pete got his camera out and asked the audience to ‘Give us the finger’ for a couple of pictures. Fuck Off brought the set to a close and again it was chorus most people were able to join in with. With Pete’s final words ‘You’ve made two old men very happy’ and a round of applause thus ended a good set from 2 Sick Monkeys.
Set List
The Nirvana Song
Inside/Outside
No Brakes
Doomy Punk
Never Say Never
Zombie Holocaust
There’s Something Wrong With You
Nail In The Sky
What D’You Know?
We’ll Free The Shit Out Of You
Happy Days
One More Second
Fuck Off!!
Fred Nus – Drums/Vocals
Pete Tower – Bass/Vocals
https://www.facebook.com/2sickmonkeys
At last the man we had all been waiting for Spunk Volcano erupted on to the stage carrying off the one eyed mohawked balaclava look with the style and panache that only the real Spunk has! Today the balaclava was accessorised by lots of safety pins and the Mohican was a tango shade of orange! Ppening with I am going to kill myself but fortunately he didn’t otherwise the show would have been over before it began! After a killer opening we got to a sticking point with Sellotape which is on Spunk’s new EP and there is a promotional video and whilst the video is good, live is better! Next up came When the Devil Spits You Out a great Punk track, then Spunk asked ‘Who’s got the new EP? Three? Brilliant will get me a new car’ (Ha – A three wheeler then? I can just picture Spunk in a Robin Reliant)! She’s the Girl was followed by a ‘Throw back song’ as Spunk said ‘Anyone who’s a similar age to me – 24’ I think an offensive comment was shouted as he then said ‘Fuck Off! I meant 24 stone you cunt!’ and we got another track from the new EP Crossfire a fast number about wanting to play childhood favourite Crossfire rather than subbuteo or lego or riding on his big red chopper!
Then Spunk stripped off his leather jacket to a few whoops, mainly from male audience members but I’m sure I did a loud whoop myself! In response to the catcalls Spunk shouted ‘Stop Getting Hard ons – You Can Smell the Sex oozing off me now! Some call it BO – I call it sex!’ The next song, Superior Brain Damage was dedicated to an audience member with ‘This one’s for you, you fuck up!’ Starting slowly then very fast. After this one there was a quick pause for breath and someone shouted ‘Get on with it!’ Spunk’s replied ‘I’ll get on with it in my own good time Sunshine!’ Then announced the next song with ‘This next song Manchester – Has anyone here ever fell in love? Not with a dog, or a racehorse, or a pint! This one’s called I can’t Stop Thinking About You a nice Punk love song with lot’s of whoa, whoa, whoas. Another Nail in Childhood’s Coffin a song about the decline of everything since childhood and being ‘Stuck on the M1, Stuck on the M6’ which probably takes up a large chunk of most people’s childhood!
Ste asked us to give a cheer for Brassick and the best DIY band, 2 Sick Monkeys. ‘Oh For Fucks Sake, When you spill your tea, When you stub your toes, When you accidentally put your dick in your Dad’s mouth!’ was the introduction to For Fuck’s Sake a short, fast song with the chorus ‘You drive me crazy. Oh for fucks sake, what is going on?’ ….. and then there were three, as we only had three songs left. First came Failure is not an Option, which Spunk said was a bit of a throw back to bands he used to like, such as Discharge and GBH a very fast, aggressive song which was also very short. It can’t even have been a minute long. Before the penultimate song there was an introduction to band – from Dirt Box Disco Maff and Chris plus Ste. Platform 3 was that penultimate song about picking up a sexy bird from the rail station and had a bit of an Ever Fallen in Love by the Buzzcocks flavour. Then with a ‘No shitting about this is the last one’ a few Thank yous and ‘I’m sure we’ll see you again wherever we congregate’ we came to the last one What You See is What you Get and with Spunk what you see really is what you get, no frills just classic punk with flavours of The Buzzcocks, GBH, Dirt Box Disco (there’s a surprise) and a bit of Motorhead here and there too! A great show and a great end to the week! Manchester got Spunked!
Set List:-
I Am Going to Kill Myself
Sellotape
When the Devil Spits You Out
She’s the Girl
Crossfire
Superior Brain Damage
I Can’t Stop Thinking About You
Another Nail in Childhood’s Coffin
For Fuck’s Sake
Failure is Not an Option
Platform 3
What You See is What you Get
Band Members:
Spunk – Vocals and Guitar
Ste – Guitar
Chris – Bass
Maff – Drums
https://www.facebook.com/svate
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