Wall of Sound presents: “2019 YEAR IN REVIEW” – by Wall of Sound Writer Carys Hurcom
2019 was a GREAT year for punk releases, and it was the year I got to finally see Ice Nine Kills live, meet Spencer Charnas, do a face to face interview with the guys from Reel Big Fish and fly to Melbourne, not once but twice to see some awesome bands. All in all, not bad. And I met boss man Browny….
Top 10 Albums of 2018
1. Rammstein – Rammstein
2. Zebrahead – Brain Invaders
3. Bad Religion – Age of Unreason
4. Set It Off – Midnight
5. Millencolin – S.O.S
6. Refused – War Music
7. Bayside – Interrobang
8. Much The Same – Everything Is Fine
9. Blindspot – Final Allure
10. The Decline – Flash Gordon Ramsay Street
Top 5 Songs of The Year
1. Zebrahead – ‘Do Your Worst’
2. Ice Nine Kills – ‘Your Number’s Up’
3. Panic! At The Disco – ‘Into The Unknown’
4. NOFX – ‘Fish In a Gun Barrel’
5. MxPx – ‘Franco UnAmerican’
(I know it is a cover, but the updated lyrics for 2019 are pretty cool)
Top 5 Videos of The Year
1. Rammstein – ‘Deutchland’
2. Ice Nine Kills – ‘Savages’
(If you love Flight of the Conchords, you should watch this)
3. Refused – ‘REV001’
4. Bad Religion – ‘Do The Paranoid Style’
5. New Years Day – ‘Come For Me’
Top 5 Gigs of The Year
1. Ice Nine Kills at Stay Gold, Melbourne, 5th December 2019
FUUUUUUUCCCCCKKKKKKK!!!! Finally got to see Ice Nine Kills and they did not disappoint. Bands who use props, costumes and theatrics to tell the story of their songs, always bring an extra element to their gigs, and INK just killed it. Screaming at the top of my lungs whilst stone cold sober, singing along and jumping like a manic is always a good indicator of how much I enjoy the show, and I swear I pissed the people off around me with how loud I was. Gig Review & Photo Gallery here
Photo Gallery by Clinton Hatfield. Insta: @ampd.agency
2. Zebrahead with Death By Stereo at The Bendigo Hotel, Melbourne, 3rd May 2019
Speaking of being loud… I fucking love Zebrahead, they are so much fun live and put in so much energy into their performances. Dan Palmer, did double duties on guitar that night, and god, the man can shred! When singers Matty Lewis and Ali Tabatabaee were having a competition to see which sides of the stage was the loudest, Matty pointed at me and said “Well, we’re good, we have this chick” (yep, told you I was loud!)
3. Good Things Festival at Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne, 6th December 2019
Bad Religion, Reel Big Fish, Ice Nine Kills, The Bennies, plus meeting some of your fave artists in the flesh (listen to our GTF podcast here), yeah that was pretty special. Festival Review & Photo Gallery here
Photo Gallery by Luke Sutton aka @LukeaSutton
4. Millencolin with Goldfinger at Metro Fremantle, Perth, 2nd of March 2019
John Feldman, Mike Herrera and the rest of Goldfinger blew the roof off Metro Freo, their energy was just awe inspiring! I have seen heaps of punk/ ska bands, and that was one of the best performances I have ever seen from any band. Gig Review & Photo Gallery here
Photo Gallery by Kim Anderson. Facebook: Shoot The Wicked Witch Insta: @shootthewickedwitch
5. Friends n’ All Fest with Flangipanis, Nerdlinger etc at The Civic, Inglewood, Perth, 16th of Feburary 2019
Lots of beer. Lots of friends. Lots of great local and national bands. What else could one want?!
Favourite Band Discovered in 2019?
There were a few bands I knew of, and listened to a bit, but didn’t really fully appreciate until I saw them live, so technically although I did not ‘discover them’, I guess I discovered how much I really appreciate them. Death By Stereo are fucking amazing live, so much raw energy, hardcore punk at it’s best. While, Man With A Mission were crazy fun, I never knew that Japanese men in wolves masks singing a hybrid of pop/ rock/ punk/ DJing was something missing in my life, but apparently it is.
Next Big Australian Band to Watch?
I hope it’s Perth lads Blindpot, who signed to PEE Records this year, cause the guys are just real stand up blokes who make great music and always put on a fun live show.
Most Looking Forward in 2020?
Next year I am going to Europe, specifically to go see Rammstein in Lyon, France (couldn’t get tickets to their Berlin show) in July. That will be the highlight of my year hands down but seeing Mad Caddies for only the 2nd time ever in April will be pretty god damn special.
Words by Carys Hurcom @CarysWos
