The Wedding Present + more across Manchester Academy.
C-30s No6 EP
CD
Out Now
Dorset alt rockers C-30s mash up indie, grunge, punk and proto-punk influences to produce 5 catchy tunes on their latest release.
The C-30s have been pumping out their indie and grunge adjacent melodic punk sound over the last couple of decades. With roots firmly planted in the Dorset punk scene, they’re energetic and upbeat with loud guitars, a bit of fuzz but not too much distortion, and melodies in the vocal delivery. There is a summery feel to these tunes, which is appropriate as the sun’s rays have just started reappearing and the evenings get lighter. In a world that is feeling so god damned negative, the C-30s bring a feeling of positivity.
This is a band that sound like they have one foot planted on either side of the Atlantic. If you can imagine Husker Du jamming with the Wedding Present then Pleased To Meet You might be what you’d get. Something about the uplift on Andy’s vocal on the chorus has me thinking of late 80s/early 90s pop punk bands like Senseless Things and Drive from Merseyside (if anyone remembers them?).
Wake Up slows down a little with a more rhythmic song structure and the guitar work wanders in the direction of Pixies, especially the way that Sonic’s bass and Dom’s drums maintain a steady course allowing Mr Nazer to get a bit playful.
Danger UXB starts as a melodic guitar work-out with layered guitars and some phaser, but the wailing guitar break in the middle, like so much of our shared punk rock culture, probably owes a debt of gratitude to the Stooges via Brian James (RIP).
For the final two tunes, I Quit and It’s On, C-30s plunge headlong into more of the grunge sound I was expecting with a touch more fuzz. I Quit has a scratchy wall of big guitar backed up by a thumping rhythm section and a pissed off sounding vocal on the verses which leads into a catchy as hell chorus. It’s On has a jerky garagey vibe and consequently puts me in mind of MC5 playing at Ramones speed – a high energy combination and a great way to finish off this latest offering.
They will be playing a few gigs around their native Dorset in the coming months so keep ’em peeled to feel the energy of the C-30s live experience.
Available direct from C30s via
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Words by Nathan Brown. You can read more from Nathan on his Louder Than War archive over here.
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