The Team I'm supporting......

St Pauli FC from Hamburg, Germany has a large cult following despite quite modest success on pitch. They have a large and loyal fan base not only are they the first German team to officially ban right- wing nationalist activities but the fans have a strong influence into club making decisions. The fans are responsible for the team’s unofficial emblem, Alex Rosamilia, guitarist for The Gaslight Anthem regularly wears a cap with the punk inspired skull and crossbone design which has become an iconic image for the club.
The Gaslight anthem are not the only band to support the club, Californian band Bad religion have been following for years and they’ve even played a charity match against St Pauli’s third team in 2000. Georg Holm, bassist of the Icelandic band Sigur Ros and Editors guitarist and synthesiser player Chris Ubanowicz have also been known to wear the unofficial merchandise. St Pauli also take influence from their rock musician fans as they open their home matches with 'Hells Bells' by AC/DC. 



Alex Rosamilia wearing St Pauli FC cap


It is no coincidence that punk bands have been associated with St Pauli as they both share anti-racist, anti-fascist and anti-sexist ideologies. It may explain why the club has the highest female fan base in all of German football. In a world of sport that is plagued by hooliganism I am glad there is a team as popular as St Pauli who proudly adopts a set of values which may change the face of football and an epic soundtrack to go with it.

Herve- Together

I instantly loved the track and video intrigued me but I had a vague feeling I’d heard this song before.

As I was watching one clip caught my eye, it was over in a split second but rewound the television for a second and third look. The skydiver bore an uncanny resemblance to my buddy Roger who I met travelling in Australia. I instantly signed onto facebook and posted the video on his wall. He responded a few hours later replying ‘you found me, it was filmed for the video two years ago’ which explains one thing… How I may have heard the track before. At this point several of our mutual friends had commented, we all met on a three day sailing trip around the Whitsunday islands off the coast of Queensland, snorkelling the Great Barrier Reef and playing drinking games in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

None of us were surprised as he’s an extreme sports enthusiast who had the funniest and strangest stories to tell. I strongly believe in the saying ‘ Life is about the people you meet’ because even across the other side of the world this video with little Roger’s head being blown off has managed to make me smile.

New Music

Listening to the same music and Sick of it All? Find Replacements for your old music….here’s a few easy ways to find Brand New artists…

1. Watch BMX/Skating videos either on youtube or extreme channel. Not only will you learn a few new tricks but the tracks are listed on screen.
2. Plan B pick up free music magazines which you can find in record stores
3. Or the next show you go to, turn up when doors open and check out the support acts.

So don’t be a Radiohead and go and discover The Unseen artists out there!!

My Spotify Playlist

Enjoy..............

http://open.spotify.com/user/cswain1986/playlist/3kE1qlFyY8rKhaeNGqgNMW

Single of the Week

My single of the week is by Glasvegas, Euphoria take my hand. When I first heard this track I swapped radio station and never thought about it again. It was only when I caught the video halfway through and mistook them for a slightly trendier Manic Street Preachers that I suddenly took notice. In this track there is a fine line between a song that has been modified by special effects to make it sounds like you're in a lucid state of mind as the track title suggests and the lead singer being violently throttled. Although I agreed with the latter in the beginning as does my dad who walked into my room and asked "What the fuck is this, dinners on the table" to the way you perceive the track after a few listens.

So the advice I give to you is to persevere and now I'm off to persevere with the rest of the back catalogue

The Vaccines- What did you expect from the vaccines?



The Vaccines Debut album



The Vaccines are:

Justin Young - Lead Vocals

Árni Hjörvar - bass

Freddie Cowan guitar

Pete Robertson- drums

Bargain buy from HMV for £5.99 the new album from The Vaccines- What did you expect from the vaccines?. Released on March 14th I wonder what to expect from a band that formed in the summer of 2010 with sold out UK tours and supporting the likes of Arcade Fire and Mumford and Sons.

I first discovered The Vaccines on Jools Holland and was instantly attracted to Justin Young's relaxed, nostalgic tone and the band's nonchalant attitude on stage. At some points you wonder if Young has recorded the album two feet away from the microphone especially on tracks such as 'Blow it up.' The whole album offers a mixture of upbeat instrumentals combined with confessional lyrics and has a real sense of beginning, middle and end. This is not only represented in a candid account of life after a difficult break-up but also musically with a punchy start, a solid fluid centre and on the final track an angsty crescendo.


The band's writing style is similar to singer/songwriter Frank Turner who with more poetic flair offers a frankness (sorry) about topics of rejection, finding love and loosing friends. The Vaccines also take a personal approach to writing especially in track such as 'Lack of Understanding' and 'Post Break up Sex' as Young writes 'I can't believe you feel good from post break up sex.' The simplicity of the lyrics is one of reasons this track is my favourite on the album. The vulnerability of the words suggests it has come straight from Young's diary unlike mainstream artist Rhianna, somehow I find it difficult to believe that she enjoys whips and chains as much as she claims on her top ten hit S & M.


My only criticism would be of the first track 'Wreckin Bar.' It's a potentially good starting track and introduces the album well but at the same time I feel it could be tweaked into an amazing song in its own right, especially as the album itself is 33.17 minutes long. But I'm not going to dwell on this as I love all 1 minute 24 seconds of it. It is obvious they are a band who love and take influence from some of their favourite artists such as Beach Boys and openly admit "none of us listen to much contemporary music" and who blames them when we have to listen to songs about S & M....no thanks.
www.thevaccines.co.uk