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Higher Power

Higher Power’s hardcore is about positive expression of aggression and a form of escapology. It is angry music – but lyrically they convey a lot about themselves as people. It’s about finding a positive outlet for their anger, whether it’s social issues or mental health, it’s adding a social consciousness and depth to what traditionally is quite a one-dimensional genre of music.

“We’re just trying to do something different to what other bands are doing, we’re pushing the boundaries and comfort zone of traditional hardcore. We’re finding a way to convey our anxieties and issues that are happening in the world.”

Their debut LP, Soul Structure, will be released on 19th May 2017. The 12” vinyl is limited to 300 copies only and pressed on milky clear wax with orange haze. We’ve got short sleeve and long sleeve bundles available, and digital download as standard with all orders. MP3 files will be available to download from your account area on the day of release.

Pre-order ‘Soul Structure’ here

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Nervus

Nervus started as a bedroom project for songwriter M Foster. Within weeks of ‘Bones’ appearing on the internet, Radio 1 picked up on the track and Nervus quickly grew into a four piece.

Order their amazing debut album, on limited edition (300 copies) heavyweight 12 inch vinyl in baby pink with blue and white splatter. You can get the Nervus Vinyl on it’s own, or we’ve got a Nervus t-shirt and vinyl bundle available too! All purchases come with immediate MP3 downloads.

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Eat Me

If there’s two things we as a label can collectively agree on it’s guitar solos and bangers. Eat Me write nothing but bangers and the sickest guitar solos. We couldn’t be happier to welcome Eat Me to the Venn Records squad!

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Grove Street Families

Brought up on a heady diet of ultraviolent video games and Suicidal Tendencies, Southampton’s Grove Street Families are breaking all the rules with their latest release ‘The Las Venturas EP’, out now on Venn Records. Try not to flip any tables over while listening to their music, we’re not responsible for damages to your own or public property.

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Falls

FALLS combine off kilter riffs and manly sex appeal to produce a huge rock’n’roll that will get you pumping your fist and shaking your hips at the same time (if you can imagine such a thing). Needless to say this band absolutely kill it live so get to a show when they pass through your town, you will not regret it!

– I love that! – Zane Lowe, BBC Radio 1

– It has a real energy, there’s so much going on, it’s absolutely INSANE. – Jen Long, BBC Introducing

– Intelligent, thrilling pain for your ears. An extremely compelling noise. PHENOMENAL. – Adam Walton, BBC Wales

– it makes for a thrilling and utterly essential live show. Would you rather be a participant or a spectator? Falls give you no choice. – Echoes and Dust.

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Youth Man

Youth Man’s sound is a collision of visceral punk rock and angular groove. This makes the band as unique as they are exciting. Having already laid waste to numerous venues across Europe, Youth Man are set to turn heads worldwide with their first release on Venn Records. Hailing from Birmingham, this three-piece are as real as it gets and accepting no prisoners.

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Tigercub

Brighton 3-piece Tigercub are the beacon of light that the UK music scene has been crying out for. Finally there is a band that will not only inspire young musicians but remind older ones how it felt to discover great music all over again. Sharp vocals, witty lyrics, mammoth riffs and a wall of sound that significantly proves Tigercub are destined for huge success in the coming months.

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Muskets

Muskets write huge songs, it doesn’t get more simple than that. Whether it’s sugar coated grunge pop or shoegaze tinged emo punk, this young Brighton four-piece have created a sound that’s all their own. Having already stepped into the legendary Maida Vale studios for a BBC live session, the band’s debut EP ‘Spin’ is set to make them that underground band everyone will be talking about.

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Richa

Richa is a young London based band who show depth and sophistication beyond their years. Dark, angular sonic atmospheres combined with vocalist Gethyn Thomas’s enigmatic & impassioned delivery, give an intense, immersive musical landscape.

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Carnival Kids

Carnival Kids, a half-Norwegian half-British powerhouse, are about to make 2015 their own. Their unique sound combines the masterful musicianship of Thrice, the quirky noise punk of Retox and the rock’n’roll swagger of Refused.

Laurent Barnard of Venn Records/Gallows recalls his first meeting with the band

“Carnival Kids opened up a show we played at the 100 Club back in 2013. I’d not seen a band this cool and talented in a long time. Then while we were on stage playing our set they drank all the booze backstage. Instantly I knew we were going to get along!”

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Waco

Waco - Venn Records

Pure punk rock goodness from beautiful Grey Britain. The new EP ‘Sundown‘ is out on Venn Records limited to 100 tapes.

Towards the end of last year Waco uploaded the video for ‘Agitation’ and soon word spread. Radio 1 DJ Dan P Carter first played the band on his Sunday night Rock Show and now even prolific taste maker Zane Lowe is getting in on the action spinning ‘Wrangler’ during his prime-time 7pm slot.

Gallows guitarist and Venn Records executive Laurent ‘Lags’ Barnard explains how he stumbled upon the band. “My buddy Steve Sears, who I’ve been working with on the Gallows and Krokodil albums, played me these guys he recorded not too long ago. They were called Waco. I fell in love with the hooks and realness of the songs straight away. Next thing I know, I’m hitting the band up to find out what their plans were for the EP release. These are anthems to singalong to until there’s nothing left.”

The quartet, hailing from the weirder ends of the UK (North Yorkshire, Jersey and Coventry), came together through their animalistic compulsion to make noise and their perverted goal to get inside peoples heads, like squatters in an empty condo. Now it looks like they’re here to stay.

Find Waco on Twitter and Facebook

www.wacoband.co.uk

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Jesus Fucking Christ

Jesus Fucking Christ - Venn Records

Jesus Fucking Christ began in Oslo, spreading like a virus across Norway and now this contagion of electronica, punk and hip-hop is making its way overseas. The debut EP “Homophobia Is Like Totally Gay” will be getting a physical release through Gallows own record label “Venn Records”.

Everyone at Venn Records can’t wait to work on this release, even the Gallows boys had something to say. Laurent Barnard tells the story, “We hung out for a bit at a punk rock show in Oslo and when he sent me the EP it actually sent shivers down my spine. At times it sounds like Blood Brothers meets Death Grips, then the music would calm down reminding you of M83 and Bjork. It’s such an interesting release for us to work on.”

Stuart Gili-Ross adds “This Jesus Fucking Christ EP is probably a bit of a departure from what people would expect a label like Venn to release as this isn’t a straight up 4 piece band with loud guitars and screaming. But to us the attitude, the bite and whole fucking vibe is undeniably punk rock and the music is definitely exciting. Its just us doing what we always do and thats release new music that we personally love with good people involved.”

Order the 12 inch EP

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Crooks

Crooks - Venn Records

In March, Cheltenham’s Crooks took 3 days out of their busy schedule to swing by Watford’s Titan Studios and record two songs with producer Steve Sears (Gallows, Hang The Bastard). The final result is ‘Still’, a breathtaking melodic hardcore record delivered with power and emotion. ‘Still’ is out July 14th through Gallows own Venn Records.

Guitar player Alex Pay is more than happy to join the roster “Working with the guys at Venn is unreal. There isn’t a member of this band that hasn’t been inspired by Gallows in some shape or another, and the fact that some of those guys are now backing our band is crazy. Best dudes, best label.”

Laurent Barnard of Gallows/Venn welcomes the young band, “Aggressive and uplifting, Crooks take a nod from early Saves The Day but bring it right up to date with their own aggressive style. Don’t sleep on this band.”

Crooks are:
Josh Rogers – Vocals
Alex Pay – Guitar
Jacob Dutton-Keen – Bass
Jack Batchelor – Drums

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Milk Teeth

MILKTEETH 2014 - Venn Records

Milk Teeth 2014 - Venn RecordsStroud’s Milk Teeth evoke memories of oversized plaid shirts, taking walkmans to school and pirate cassettes of Wayne’s World. Formed less than a year ago, 5000 miles from their spiritual home Seattle, Josh, Becky, Chris and Olly began making waves the instant “Smiling Politely” was released in August 2013. Their fuzzed up guitars, boy/girl vocals and tales of growing up perfectly balance teen angst with pop sensitivity. New single “Vitamins” is being released through punk band Gallows own record label Venn Records on May 19th.

Vocalist and guitarist Josh is excited for people to hear the new track and becoming part of the ever-growing Venn family, “We have been playing this song live for a few months now and it is hands down the most fun to play and was amazing to record. We couldn’t think of a better label for a song we love so much to come out on other than venn. Mad stoked”

Becky says Vitamins “is about the catch 22 of being in love with somebody and knowing that your relationship is headed for disaster. Love playing it live, its a proper head banger. The boys got it straight away and made my idea into the song that it is now, big up!”

Laurent Barnard (Gallows/Venn Records) is more than happy to welcome the band to the label, “Milk Teeth make me feel young again. Play it loud!”

 

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Liber Necris

Liber Necris - Venn Records

The consistently flourishing Leeds scene can now boast Liber Necris in their list of underground successes. Their latest release “Negative Creator” is the perfect blend of new school Scandinavian black metal and old school death grind. Best of all it’s the most evil release you’ll hear all year.

Liber Necris - Venn Records

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Gallows

Gallows - Venn Records

Desolation Sounds is Gallows album number four. Titled after an expanse of water in frontman Wade MacNeil’s native Canada, it features ten songs, runs for 36 minutes and might just be the most bleakly beautiful, weighty and affecting collection of music you will hear this year.

The album represents a new chapter in Gallows career as they move towards their tenth anniversary. Produced by Steve Sears at Titan Studios, Watford, it’s a body of work which builds upon the aggression and passion of the band’s acclaimed catalogue while opening up new horizons for the quartet. It is, says Gallows founding member Laurent ‘Lags’ Barnard, “the record I’ve dreamt about making.”

“I think the album sounds really fearless,” the guitarist explains. “It’s the sound of a band that’s comfortable with playing music together, rather than trying to fit into a certain scene or zeitgeist or any preconceived notion of what the band should be. We just ignored the outside music world and made an album that felt good in our guts.”

This bloody-minded focus has served Gallows well from day one. Hailed as ‘The best British punk band since The Clash’ upon their emergence from the fecund Hertfordshire hardcore scene, the band hammered an adrenaline spike into the body of the British music industry with the release of 2006’s feral Orchestra Of Wolves and 2009’s savage, unflinching state-of-the-nation address Grey Britain, before the departure of original vocalist Frank Carter offered an opportunity to re-assess the chaos wreaked. Re-affirming their commitment to the punk rock cause, the band re-emerged in 2012 with a new vocalist, former Alexisonfire man MacNeil, a new self-titled album, a new label (their own Venn Records) and a new-found sense of self-determination and purpose. Desolation Sounds represents the thrilling next stage of this re-birth.

“With the last album I think we put certain restrictions on the record,” says MacNeil. “We knew that we wanted to make an album that was short and fast and direct, a burst of violent energy. And we did it, and I love that record. But this time around conversations about the future of the band have all but died away and the way we can best honour Gallows fans is by making an honest record, a record that envelops everything that we love. That’s what Desolation Sounds is.”

In crafting the ten songs that comprise Gallows’ fourth album, main writer Barnard looked beyond the borders of the underground punk community and drew inspiration from unexpected sources.

“The biggest influence for me on this record was watching weird American TV, shows like Twin Peaks and True Detective and Fargo, all that off-kilter, slightly eccentric television,” he reveals. “Those series have an atmosphere and ambience that’s unsettling and unique, and I wanted to draw upon that to create an album that balances brutality and beauty in new and challenging ways.”

The result is a collection of songs which expand upon the visceral charge of the uncompromising Gallows sound while incorporating textures, tones and shading which demand a re-definition of the notion of ‘heavy’ music. From the chilling widescreen desolation of the cinematic Cease To Exist (“If I told you this was killing me, would you stop?”) to the oppressive, challenging grind of summer 2014 single Chains (“a song about internal struggle, examining the destructive impulses within us all” explains lyricist MacNeil) through to the fierce ‘talking ‘bout my re-generation’ catharsis of Bonfire Season, it’s an album which transcends expectations and showcases a unit operating at the peak of their creative powers. Bound within there is Thelemic philosophy (93 93), sludge-encased nihilism (Leviathan Rot), snarling punk rock confrontation (Leather Crown), and even a bruised, aching us-against-the-world love song (Death Valley Blue), culminating in the intense, disquieting Swan Song, something of a mission statement for a collective which has always sought to break new ground.

“The idea behind that song is that there is no end to the creative process, and to art,” explains MacNeil, “unless you give up and walk away. It’s about striving and pushing yourself to the next level. I hope I never write that one song which totally sums up our lives, and our existence, I hope that’s a moment I’m always chasing. I’m lucky to live a life where I can make confrontational music, and I’ve been doing that in some capacity since I was 17 years old: I hope to continue that for another 17 years.”

“I think the last record [Gallows] had us moving away from a uniquely British identity when I came on board, and this time we’re kinda taking the Gallows outlook – mondo chaos – to a global level,” the Canadian vocalist continues. “We have a certain way of looking at the world, and because we spend our lives travelling, our perspectives are so much broader than those represented on the earliest records. I think through your own will you create your own world, and the four of us just happen to be quite dark people – there’s no doubt that trouble follows Gallows around! This album is an investigation of that, and as a result it’s more personal and more spiritual than anything before.”

“I hope people will take the time to listen to this record and realise that Gallows aren’t just a band that makes heavy music,” adds Laurent Barnard. “Of all the records so far I think this one is the most musical and accessible we’ve made yet. As a musician there’s always certain artistic ambitions you want to fulfil, and I think with this record we’ve really satisfied those needs. Of necessity, because people live in different countries now, our time together is totally focussed and precious, and there’s no fucking around. Desolation Sounds is the most selfish record Gallows have done, because we’re writing purely to please ourselves, but I also happen to think it’s the best record we’ve ever done.”

Gallows are Wade MacNeil (vocals), Laurent Barnard (guitar), Stuart Gili-Ross (Bass), Lee Barratt (drums).

Desolation Sounds is released on Venn / Play It Again Sam on April 13, 2015.

 Pre-order ‘Desolation Sounds’

Pre-order ‘Bonfire Season’

Buy the deluxe version of “Gallows” with bonus documentary via Gallows (Deluxe Version) - Gallows
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