Vaffan Coulo, Skinflick, Grot at The Normandie, Bangor

 

Did anyone go to this gig? Can you share your memories?

Both Vaffan Coulo and Skinflick were/are Bangor bands, with Grot hailing from Ynys Mon

Justin Skinflick wrote this on his blog:

I no longer have the poster, but I'm pretty sure the lineup was the iconic three: Vaffan Coulo, Skinflick and a new band called Grot, an absolutely superb three-piece metal band. This gig went smoothly, a good turnout, and no threats of violence or shutting us down. We wanted to do more.

The Students' Union weren't keen on us doing more regularly, so we needed a home—a place we could do a show a couple of times a month. Word got back to us that a pub in lower Bangor called 'The Normandie' had a back room we could rent for £40 a night. It was a strange room, quite narrow. It had a telephone box, a cage with a giant toy monkey in it, and a second floor with seating that overlooked the tiny drum riser stage. It was perfect. We begged, borrowed and stole whatever equipment we could to create a makeshift vocal PA and started putting on gigs. Bands were coming out of the woodwork, new people were turning up, and gigs were being run weekly. We barely had time to actually write music as we were organizing shows all the time. We started pulling in some bands from farther away to keep it interesting. One night we had seven bands playing, the place was pushed way beyond its maximum capacity, people everywhere. It was so hot in there that sweat was running down the walls. There was a tiny moshpit, and someone dived off the top of the telephone box. Everyone came together as one big family; it was bliss.

Vaffan Coulo in The Bangor Mail

 

Vaffan Coulo – Formed 1991. Feat; Trifle (voc,gtr), Nick ‘Bicko’ Redfern (gtr), Mikey (drms), Kerz (bass). Debut at Ffridd Bar in Bangor. Thrown off for playing song called Shit Student Wankers, police called etc. Tours of Spain & Holland ’96,‘97 almost killed the band. 3 videos for TV: ‘92 Rhedeg I Dwygylfylch” for S4C; 1995 Rich Woman Will You Marry Me for Electric Chair on HTV; 1997 “Hwyl a Helynt” for S4C. Three radio Cymru sessions, 92; 95; 96. Rel 1994 “Vaffan Coulo Yn Goch”(Madryn 015) – 4 song EP. / 1995: “Rich Woman“(Madryn 016) – 3 track 7”. / 1995: “Cowboys Cymru” (Dav120) – cassette album for Mid Wales record label / 1996: “Fast Multiplying In The Skin” (Extune/Tontrager) – split 12″ with German band Ultra Orange on German label / 1996: “Vaffan Coulo” – import LP on Crime Recs (Slovenia) which reached no.4 in the Slovenian Alt Chart / 1995: Jobs 4 The Bois – free flexi soundclash with dance producer Johnny R, released as a ltd edition of 1200 on the front of Sothach! magazine, some of which were given free with Rich Woman. Band split in around mid 98 & had songs remixed by Skinflick. (see also Slater). Kerzy (Jo Shooman) went on to work for Spank Recs and form Katzenmusik. The band are featured in Ian Glasper’s book ‘Armed in Anger’ (2012). (more) (live track from 1992)

Gorky's Zygotic Mynci - Radio Merseyside Session (24/03/1992)

Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci

Origin: Carmarthen

Fresh out of Bro Myrddin Welsh Comprehensive, Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci are currently the strangest and most exciting thing happening in the Welsh underground. Having only formed last year, they have already bypassed the usual indie tropes in favour of a chaotic, lo-fi brand of psychedelic punk that sounds like a collision between a primary school music room and a Captain Beefheart rehearsal. 

While they have yet to release a proper studio album, their self-released cassette 'Allumette' has been causing a stir, featuring skewed tracks like Siwt Nofio and Dafad Yn Siarad. 

Rumour has it they are currently recording more material in various bedrooms and local studios, further developing a sound that is as bewildering as it is beautiful. With the Welsh-language scene finding its feet through labels like Ankst, these teenagers seem poised to lead the charge with their own brand of "Zygotic" madness.

Here they are in session on Roger Hill's BBC Radio Merseyside show

Fantastic at The Mermaid, Rhyl

Scott Causer now of Cult Of Free Love and head honcho of Northern Star Records talks about the last time he played in Rhyl...

My last gig in my hometown of Rhyl was in 1993 and if you were of a cynical mindset, could be viewed as the key as to why I’ve left it so long…

In the early 90s we’d book ourselves gigs under different names (a necessary task as we sure as hell were never ever going to get booked again). This time we’d booked ourselves in as ‘Fantastic’ a reggae band from Prestatyn. We were due to play the Mermaid, the roughest pub in Rhyl. When I say rough, I mean fucking ROUGH! The week before one unfortunate soul was stabbed in the eye with a chisel. This should have been a sign… but if it was, we certainly didn’t heed it.

Armed with only a bunch of half songs and riffs (our one rehearsal was spent somewhat unwisely getting pissed and having a laugh). We turned up to find the support band wasn’t happening and also our lead singer had bottled it. Us being us, we decided the show would go on regardless. A bunch of rowdy bikers had turned up intent on causing as much trouble as possible. We decided to delay the show by an hour until we were suitably drunk enough to play.

We knew as the first notes rang out that this was quite possibly the worst decision we had ever made when Johnny Napalm, our newly appointed singer got slapped by one of the bikers. Wearing shades and a flasher’s coat, he didn’t see it coming. We ploughed on… We lasted a total of 15 mins before we had to abandon the show due to numerous fights breaking out and as the launching of numerous projectiles in our general direction began to land (the last straw for me was a pint glass smashing right by my feet).

Johnny and myself made an attempt to escape through the back only to be confronted by 2 rabid Alsations. We then realised the only feasible way out was to make our way through the fighting taking place in the narrow bar in front of us. Tony the punk kindly and politely stopped taking one of the bikers apart to let us through with our gear. Amazingly, we managed to escape with all of of our body parts intact. We made it to the safe haven of the Bistro only to be met with angry punters who demanded their money back and one deliriously drunk dude who thought we were the best thing he’d ever seen.

Unsurprisingly, this was the last show I ever did in Rhyl. We were rumbled big time. No-one would ever host us again after this. We held the dubious accolade of being the only band to have ever been banned from the Mermaid. That was ok though as I really had no intentions of playing there ever again. Steve Rastin, a local journalist managed to immortalise Fantastic and published this surprisingly kind and accurate review. Now I don’t know about you, but reading this… this is a show I’d LOVED to have watched!

Standards by The Alarm

Released in time for the Christmas market, Standards serves as a summation of The Alarm’s 1980s output — a decade of big-hearted, big-sounding rock anthems that aimed for the rafters and often reached them. Rather than a new studio record, it’s a compilation of the band’s defining moments, drawing together hits like “Sixty Eight Guns,” “The Stand,” and “Spirit of ’76,” alongside a few fresh touches: the newly recorded “The Road,” a reworked “Unsafe Building,” and a rubbish cover of “Happy Christmas (War Is Over).”

It was a stop gap between last year's Change (their fourth studio album) and next year's swansong Raw. As a collection, Standards captures what made The Alarm distinctive — their mix of punk earnestness, folk-rock idealism, and stadium-scale ambition. Tracks like “Sixty Eight Guns” still carry a raw, uplifting energy, and “Spirit of ’76” remains a stirring anthem of youth and resilience. For newcomers, Standards is an accessible entry point: it distills the band’s most recognisable songs and presents them in a single, cohesive-enough package.

Yet hearing these songs side by side also exposes some of The Alarm’s limitations. Their grand, impassioned delivery sometimes teeters into over-earnestness, and without the momentum of a live performance, the production can feel a bit heavy-handed. The compilation lacks the narrative flow of a proper album, moving instead through snapshots of different sessions and producers across the decade.

Still, Standards succeeds in its main goal — to remind listeners of a band that, for a time, stood shoulder to shoulder with the likes of U2 and Simple Minds in their drive to fuse passion, politics, and melody. It’s not their most subtle or unified record, but it’s a strong, heartfelt portrait of The Alarm at their most anthemic. For anyone curious about the band’s legacy, this is where to start.

Bomb Disneyland Sept 1989 BBC Radio

Bomb Disneyland session on John Peel's show

Shortly after their Peel Session and the release of their debut, the band ran into legal trouble. The Disney Corporation famously filed a complaint regarding their name.

[taken from link2wales.co.uk]

Deeside based punk-grunge band (1987-89), feat; Mark Cooper (gtr,voc), Prud (bass) (feat on a V8’s video shoot, sadly died of septicemia), Scott Preece (drms).
Another former drummer Barry St.Clair formed Dearly Beheaded in 1992 and original drummer was Tash (Steve Gorst) (later Carnage, Cousin Grace) who recorded 'Why Not' with them until he broke his wrist.
They released a number of records (incl; LPs Bomb Everything (05.89) and Nail Mary) under this name until they were contacted by a lawyer / representative of Disney who while telling them they couldn’t use the name, actually said: “We are not a Mickey-Mouse company”! (They changed their name to Bomb Everything) This sounds like an urban myth but it did happen. 

Scott went on to play for hardcore punks GBH.
Bomb Everything was produced by Robert Heaton and Justin Sullivan of New Model Army.

Butthole Surfers and Darling Buds at Riverside Suite, Newport.

This was the year those crazed motherfuckers hit our shores in an acid-crazed frenzy like no one had seen before. August 5th, 1987 — the Butthole Surfers rolled into Newport's Riverside Suite like a derailed freight train from the underworld, dragging LSD, feedback, and naked nihilism in their wake.

Fresh off the back of the album, Locust Abortion Technician, they weren’t just playing gigs — they were conducting psychic surgery on every town they hit. Gibby Haynes was wielding a megaphone like a flamethrower, sometimes a shotgun. Paul Leary's guitar sounded like it had been dragged through a swamp full of broken teeth. Behind them? Smoke. Strobes. Film loops of surgery and car crashes. And yes, Kathleen Lynch, the infamous bald, topless dancer twisting through it all like some deranged shaman.

Support that night? The Darling Buds, Caerleon’s own jangly pop hopefuls, still in the glow of their earliest shows — and I bet Andrea and co were wondering what alternate dimension they'd stepped into once the Buttholes kicked off.

If you were there, you probably don’t remember all of it. And if you weren’t — you’ve probably still heard the stories. Newport was never the same.

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