I am unashamedly a big fan of Dan and Laura (aka Beyond The Gap). After putting on their annual Mean City Fest weekender, they could have taken a break but instead they made sure that The Restarts didn’t miss out Scotland’s biggest city on their latest UK tour.
Kicking things off were Direct Action. Many will know Daniel Caterer from being the vocalist and guitarist in Aftrshocks after their incendiary set at Rebellion Festival earlier in the year. Not to be confused with the Belgian or Canadian bands of the same name, their brand of oi infused agitprop leaves no-one in any doubt about their politics (socialist pro-Palestine and against the racism of Tommy Ten Names and his followers).
A brief 7 song set peppered with covers (Drongos for Europe, Angelic Upstarts and The Partisans) with a tightness that no band should have on only their 7th gig. Ther original material (Direct Action, Fuck the SWP, Suthanthiram, and Gun in Hand) showed how quickly they have defined their own sound.
It won’t be long until they follow Daniel’s other band in appearing at Rebellion.
Brazilian hardcore punks Agrotoxico were a band who hadn’t been on my radar despite their 30-year career. For many, knowledge of Brazilian hardcore starts and ends with Ratos De Porão and Chaos AD-era Sepultura. However, Agrotoxico are a totally different beast.Over the course of a set their spanned their 3 decades, they never let deviated from the intensity of their brutal brand of hardcore. Like a sledgehammer to the face, their longevity has not dimmed their aggressive approach one iota. Songs like Neoliberalismo Em Ataque Frontal, Lobotomia Geral, and Marcas Da Revolta showed exactly why they have lasted so long.Hopefully it won’t be too long until they are back on these shores.
When you see The Restarts live (and I have numerous times) you know what you are going to get. Left wing hardcore streetpunk with a dollop of ska. It is a recipe that doesn’t need to be deviated from.
Like their tourmates, Agrotoxico, The Restarts curated a career-spanning setlist to please fans old and new. From long-term favourites like Outsider to relatively recent tracks from 2019’s Uprising, they never took their foot off the gas for the 50 minutes they were on stage.Rambunctious, without ever becoming chaotic, the interplay between Kieran Plunkett and Robin Licker would have been worth the journey across Scotland alone.
If only all Monday’s could be this fun!
