What did you miss in 2020? Punk suggestions for punx. Iggy. Hamburg, Germany
Intro:
Hey, i’m Iggy, immigrant from eastern “europe” living in Hamburg. I do many things, but i guess the main focus is playing in small local bands, guitar in Miley Silence, guitar and vocals in Kleymo and Unique, hosting It’s All About Punk Show on the local radio FSK. Few months ago i started small record label, called Brainwasher Records, first stuff will be out very soon, which i’m pretty exited about. I almost forgot, may be because it feels like different life right now, but we were organising diy punk shows with Nice Slice DIY Booking (will definitely continue doing this). oh yeah, me and my friends started this webzine last year with the same action, top 10 of 2019 and it was a lot of fun, so this year we decided to do this again, hope you enjoyed it. Here’re my top 5 releases of 2020 with no particular order:
GELD — Beyond The Floor
Label: Static Shock Records / Iron Lung Records
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Crazy band from Melbourne, great live shows. I heard this release at home just right after it came out, probably was working, this is was probably the most common way to listen to new stuff in this stupid year for me. Saw them live in Hafenklang in 2019, they played together with Disguise from Dublin, great stuff to be heard live. And i cannot stop listening this particular song, which is probably my favourite on this release.
Favourite song: Forces At Work.
KOBRA — Confusione
Label: Iron Lung Records
Location: Milan, Italy
I’ve just checked out, that this band was formed in 2017 and i heard them this year for the first time, I literally was listening to it a lot, i mean, really, like on repeat, which I rarely do. This is what i like about punk the most, when it goes out of some kind of typical frames, i mean saxophone in songs makes it sound really crazy, It makes me remember one old russian band from the 90’s, Химера (Chimera), they played really experimental music with self made instruments, which is totally punk, and it was wonderful. I mean, I don’t need to write here, that i really want to see them play live, because every band on this list is worth seeing, hopefully soon i can do this.
Favourite song: Confusione
CHUBBY AND THE GANG — SPEED KILLS
Label: Static Shock Records / Partisan Records
Location: London, UK
I guess this London-based band gonna be really big after this covid will end (they already seem to be big without playing a lot of shows out of UK). When i’m listening to this release, it makes me remember the summer, when I was listening to it most of the time, and especially the time I spent with friends in west Germany. We had a big trolly full of drinks and we were going through different places, like forests, lakes, small villages and yeah, Chubby and the Gang were playing in the background, probably one of the most memorable things happened with me this year. I’m really sad they couldn’t play at K-Town Hardcore Fest along with other sick bands in Copenhagen this year (check out the lineup, it makes me cry all the time i see Warthog on the list, love them), hopefully they’ll do it next time. Anyway, i listened this release a lot, and i’m still not getting bored, wanna dance all the time i hear the first sounds of any of the songs, they’re all just great, but…
Favourite song: Moscow
GAG — Still Laughing
Label: Iron Lung Records
Location: Olympia, WA, USA
I’m still really sad, that i missed their show with Turnstile in Berlin in March, just before the fucking pandemic. I did know this band from Olympia before, but they kinda opened for me second time this year. Iron Lung released 2 GAG LPs this year, compilation and this sick one.
Favourite song: Still Laughing
SOAKIE — Soakie
Label: La Vida Es Un Mus
Location: Melbourne, Australia / New York, NY, USA
There’s so many great music coming out from Australia in the recent years, and Soakie along with already mentioned GELD, but also Cold Meat, GEE TEE, Smarts, Red Red Krovvy, UBIK, Satanic Togas (thanks to Volo for introducing them) etc. is not an exception. This is crazy, but i was thinking all the time that this self-titled release from half Melbourne — half NYC band came out last year, but no, still, it was before corona virus, may be this is why i’m still thinking this way. It’s just great form the beginning till the end and i had a chance to play this LP while DJing here in Hamburg between corona waves.
Favourite song: Boys On Stage
Bonus 7":
Hank Wood and The Hammerheads — Use Me
Label: Toxic State Records
Location: New York, NY, USA
Sorry for cheating:) But i couldn’t not include this 7" into my top. Best band, best live shows and they didn’t brought any bad record, all of them are fantastic. So, this year they did it again. Really waiting for tomorrow, really love the lyrics “Tonight my heart won’t stop pounding, tomorrows gonna be a brand new start for me, tonight I’m coming down, tomorrows gonna turn my life around”.
Favourite song: Tomorrow (Tonight)
Outro: We really hope you enjoyed “What did you miss in 2020?”. Tell your friends about it and stay tuned. We’ll try to make some new sick shit this year. And yeah, we’re still waiting for some lists, so, they’ll come out when they’ll come out. Stay safe and virtual free hugs to all!❤️🖤
