I have a problem with Tough Troubles. I don’t know if I like em or hate em (maybe hate is too strong a word, actually). Generally speaking, I’m careful of bands who sing about, cite and push the “DIY” agenda too much. When I say too much, I mean, using those exact words in a song with those words in the song title, in the band’s description and again cited in their influences. There is seriously nothing wrong with being DIY, I mean, this blog started out as a DIY zine anyway. But it’s when DIY is used like a “brand” or “label” concept – that worries me. Maybe I’m just being too paranoid, too precious or got it arse backwards. Am I being un-punk when I say this? Hope not.
[Video: Tough Troubles - Paraplegic]
Anyway, the music – is great. Drum machines, garage-esque fuzzed out guitars, some cheap synths and electronic stuff, vocals alternating from shouty-singing to spoken lyrics, all homebaked to perfection, I am a huge fan of the home recorded stuff. Paraplegic and Radiation Sickness are awesome tracks, Radiation Sickness in particular, Bernard Sumner-style guitars, a dark, post-punk song with some 80s goth noise thing going on.
You can also buy the cassette via Geneva Lake Records here.
ps: Bands like this should really start thinking about putting their songs on soundcloud. Or at least bandcamp. It’s the quickest and fastest way to get heard in my opinion.
Update:
they’ve just enlightened me: the whole DIY thing was an obvious pisstake (one that I’ve missed, no doubt), in response to a certain Maximum Rock N Roll writer and an incident where they got thrown off a bill for “not being DIY enough” – which is, exactly the reason why I worry about the use of DIY as an exclusive “label”.
