Tuesday 25 December 2012

Happy Christmas and stuff...

Just posting to wish a rather late happy Christmas to all readers and followers of 'The Screever' zine; more issues and posts will hopefully emerge in the coming year! Look after yourselves :)
xox

Sunday 2 December 2012

Bangers - 'Small Pleasures' review




Bangers - 'Small Pleasures' - Specialist Subject Records

These guys are a three-piece from down in Cornwall, and play some pretty solid melodic punk-rock with nice gruff vocals. There's something different about the recording of this that I really like, possibly the guitar tone mostly; it's kind of difficult to describe, but it's kinda muddy, and it really works with how thick and tight the bass sounds. The songs are pretty catchy with some great sing-a-longs, and actually seem really considered structurally, which I especially noticed in the verses; at times it sounds as though the personal, 'story-telling' lyrics don't fit or flow neatly and perfectly which keeps things interesting. As far as songs that stand out for me go, I'd have to say the opener 'Making Friends', 'The Love Nest', and 'Irritants', but this is all pretty great. One of the coolest melodic punk sounds I've heard from the UK for a while. (Lee)
Bangers' 'Good Livin' e.p will be reviewed in issue three...

Thursday 29 November 2012

Hot Water Music - 'Exister'




Hot Water Music - 'Exister' - RISE Records

I often find myself slightly on the fence with HWM; while half of their stuff is pure gold, and some of the greatest punk-rock I've ever heard, a lot of it can do very little for me, largely what I'd refer to as their more 'experimental' stuff. Thankfully, 'Exister', their first album in eight years, turned out to be a really solid, consistent album. 'Drag My Body' and 'State of Grace', both of which I would file under the 'pure gold' category, are probably still my favourites on here (having heard them in the weeks leading up to this release), along with the last track 'Paid in Full', the last chorus of which has a notably incredible vocal take! I think it's a little less experimental than some previous albums, most songs having quite a powerful, and structurally prominent chorus, which really helps drive the whole thing; it never really slows down, and feels really strong from start to finish, the production no doubt helping there. Jason Black, one of punk-rock's most bad-ass bassists is on form again with killer fills on the lower end throughout, and Chuck's sandpaper vocals are as characteristic as ever. If you're a HWM fan, no doubt you'll already have this; if you're also a little on the fence, I'd definitely recommend giving this a blast; if you've never heard them, check out 'Drag My Body', and be amazed. (Lee)

Sunday 11 November 2012

Come To Get Her - 'Life So Changing'




Come To Get Her - 'Life So Changing' - self-released

So these guys are from Belarus and they recorded this 7-track in a practice room and mixed it themselves, considering which, it actually sounds pretty good! They play largely mid-paced melodic punk-rock / pop-punk (plus a bit of an acoustic ballad later on), most of which is pretty darn catchy; the boy / girl vocal interplay definitely reminds me of UNDECLINABLE AMBUSCADE back when they did that song '7 Years', which is awesome despite parts of it sounding slightly off-key. The first track 'Be My Dream' is actually pretty killer, but I also love '19.12'; for starting points, check out the former for some straight up melodic punk-rock, or the latter for something an 'ickle bit more emotional, but this is really an awesomely consistent DIY release. Pretty artwork too. (Lee)
You can check out Come To Get Her, and buy this e.p from:
http://cometogether.bandcamp.com/

Friday 9 November 2012

Issue two on sale from glassofspit.co.uk


Issue two of 'The Screever' is now on sale from the Glass of Spit webstore thingy for a quid, which is pretty much just to cover postage / a bit of printing cost. Bear in mind there'll be an additional postage charge for deliveries outside of the UK though. You can visit the shop heeeere:


Or, if you make a zine yourself, or draw stuff, or write nice letters, you're more than welcome to trade something for a copy with Lee. Either drop us a message here at the_screever@hotmail.co.uk, or find him on WeMakeZines at:


Thanks a bunch :D

Nat'n'Lee
xox

Saturday 25 August 2012

'The Screever' issue two

It only took us about three years, but the second issue of 'The Screever' is finally finished and copied; it's a little smaller than A6, black and white, and contains interviews with Zine Arcade, Carnage Club, Elly Kingdon, History of the Hawk, xSomethingMoreThanInkx, a piece on National Theatre Live, as well as a bunch of other stuff like a recipe, puzzles, reviews, and other stuffff. Let us know if you'd like a copy through the e-mail address below, and we'll post one out to you asap :D thanks a lot!
Nat'n'Lee
xox
the_screever@hotmail.co.uk


Sunday 5 August 2012

Obligatory introduction... and stuff



Hello all, and welcome to The Screever's blog; a page for a zine made by two very shy, sober, vegetarians who now live about 450 miles apart. We put out the first issue about three years ago, and we're now just about ready for the second one.
As much as we love the printed media, we figured we'd make a digital page in order to keep you up to date with everything that goes on outside of the paper-y stuff; chances are we'll also post a bunch of stuff here that already appeared in the physical copy too, just in case you missed it... and that's about it for now! There should also be a link around here somewhere to our Facebook page, so feel free to join us there too, but in the mean-time, ta very much for reading, and we'll keep you posted :)


xox