Antillectual

Remember when we did a merch design poll with 2 designs; a cheetah vs a mural from one of our favorite bars? The Bijstand mural design was favored by most, so now you can pre-order a SHIRT, CREWNECK or ZIPPER with an album of choice! We have all items in 3 color options (black/navy/burgundy) and a wide range of sizes available for pre-order only! Pre-orders are up until Sunday Feb 27, orders will be sent out at the beginning of April.

Unfortunately our financial reserves have vanished during the pandemic, this is the ultimate way to support us. Thank you for helping us out this way; it means the world to us, and makes new recordings possible(!)

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This is the news we’ve been dying to send you: WE ARE DOING SHOWS AGAIN! After being on our biggest break ever, doing some small projects and missing you a lot, we are very excited to make new plans, and music! We actually have some shows lined up, which we will be playing with new line ups…

Pandemic Projects

We decided to lay low for as long as we couldn’t do “normal” shows. We did do some things though:
Riekus recorded a “Drum Chronology” : all 54 of our songs in 5 minutes! While normal shows were impossible, Willem did some acoustic online shows. Here you can check Willem at SBÄM Online Fest 3. Unscripted Moments aka the Propagandhi podcast did an episode with Willem talking about Mate Ka Moris Ukun Rasik An for which he did an acoustic cover with the Punk Cellist. It was scheduled well in advance, but the release of our Covers EP happened in the middle of the pandemic. While vinyl sold out in the pre-order, we still have some tapes and it’s on all digital channels via our website.

New Line Up

As you read in our latest newsletter Toon has left the band. During the downtime we had plenty of time to think about what to do. Instead of looking for one and one bass player only, we decided to build an army of bass players. This makes it easy for us as a band to be flexible and doesn’t require people to cancel their own lives when helping us out. At the moment Gijs (Zero Zero Zero, Tenement Kids) and Ben (Dependent) are jumping in. The spirit is high, we’re very excited to play with them, come welcome them at the upcoming shows!

With the prospect of new band members, shows and tours, we should also think about new releases, right? Check! We’re working on new songs that we would love to release. Perhaps as an “album”? No deadline, release date or any other timeline yet though. You’ll read it here first!

Upcoming Shows

Even though this list is shorter than usual, we’re very happy with the fact that there is a list period!

• Oct 22 DE Wuppertal, Die Börse. w/ Venturas
• Nov 27 BE Wommelgem, Fort Fest 2021.
  w/ The Kids, Crackups, Dee Cracks, Priceduifkes, Captain Kaiser and many more
• Dec 29 NL Nijmegen, Friends First Fest #6
• Jun 18, 2022 De Minden, Kraetzeval

Wanna see/book us/make this list longer? Get in touch with us or Steve at Merit Based. Steve (you might also know him from his band Belvedere!) is taking care of all our European bookings, including Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Merch

As you know, we’re not in it for the money, but it does make our van go round. If you wanna support us keeping our heads above water, paying our bills now that we’ve been running dry for over a year: please check out the merch in our webshop, it’s the best way to help us out. We have all full length albums (LP+CD) available, some Covers EP tapes, the Fever and “Ramones” design and some limited leftovers. We’ll cut your shipping costs if you add the comment “Newsletter Friends First”!

That’s it for now, thanks for reading, till next time!

Missed our previous newsletter? Find it here!

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Today is the release of our COVERS EP! If you pre-ordered (thanks!), it has probably already arrived at your home. If you haven’t, this might be your last chance to order one!

In total we recorded 4 covers of “the roots of our roots” for this passion project. When the cover idea surfaced we didn’t feel like covering the bands we grew up on. Most of them are still around or reunited. It seemed much more interesting to go back some more generations and find early punk songs with a melodic vibe to them. The EP includes covers of Truth Hits Everybody (The Police), Hanging on the Telephone (The Nerves, Blondie), I Believe in Miracles (Ramones) and Search and Destroy (The Stooges). Check the first review we got!

The cover artwork consists of adaptations of the four original designs so you know it’s us. Re-designs by Andy Dahlström (Satanic Surfers). We recorded the rhythm section live and we kept dubs and edits to a minimum. This is as raw/unpolished as we get in the studio! Drums and bass recorded by Emiel Thoonen; vocals, guitars and hammond recorded by Menno Bakker at Amsterdam Recording Company. Mixed by Menno Bakker at ARC, mastering by Carl Saff.

Order

We had 500 EPs made, but after sending out label and pre-order copies there are less than 40(!) left. You can still get one via our webshop; combine it with a shirt, album, tape, etc. Shirts are still available in S/M/L tight fit and S/M/L/XL loose fit. Just like the EPs: while supplies last … Besides releasing cover versions of these classic songs on a classic vinyl format, the EP is of course also digitally available. Check our Covers EP page to play the EP via Spotify, Bandcamp, Youtube and all other services.

Online acoustic sessions

We’re throwing a release party on Friday May 15! These days this means that we will go live via FB and Insta to celebrate the release, play some acoustic songs, do a Q&A and whatever else happens! Reply to this email with your (song) requests! The day after, Saturday May 16 aka Lagwagon Day, Willem is doing an acoustic set for Boatless Booze Cruise. A charity online festival with proceeds going to suffering venues in Hamburg, incl bands like The Creepshow, Teen Agers, Travels & Trunks

Toon has left the band

Sorry for ending this newsletter with a downer, for some this might come as a complete surprise, others were already in the know. It is with a heavy heart that we inform you that Toon has decided to leave the band. We wish him the best of luck with his (musical) endeavors and thank him for all the time and energy that he put into our band since 2014! What’s extra sad is that the last shows we were supposed to play together have been cancelled because of corona. For the remaining 2020 shows we already have a neat plan, including a very appropriate replacement solution. We will tell you all about it as soon as we know 100% sure that the currently booked shows are taking place.

That’s it for now, till next time! Then we can hopefully tell you all about our plans for the 2020 shows! Thanks for reading, stay in touch …

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Our Covers EP will come out on May 12, starting today you can pre-order it! We created some nice bundles including a shirt design, stickers, pins and full length albums. Check in tonight to hear Willem play some (cover) songs from our HQ!

Pre-orders

You can now pre-order our Covers EP via our webshop! We added some nice bundles with a Cover Shirt, full length, tapes, stickers and pins options. Since getting merch at a store, show or festival is not an option at the moment we added reduced prices on multiple EPs. That way you can order a couple and distribute them to your friends (at 1,5m distance!) or throw one in their mailbox as a quarantine gift. Distribute It Together! With every pre-order comes an instant download of 2 tracks.
Order the Covers EP / Cover shirt / Cover EP+shirt / Covers EP tape / EP+Shirt+Album bundle

Acoustic Live Stream

Tonight, Sunday April 12, at 20h00 CET Willem will do an acoustic live session to celebrate that pre-orders are available. Come hang out, expect some of the covers from the EP and some original songs. BYOB, tell a punk! Check in to our Facebook or Instagram page to join in!

Touring

In the overview below we also included the shows that got canceled because of Corona. We can’t guarantee that the other shows will take place. Keep an eye on our site, FB, Insta or Twitter for more info and instant updates if anything happens.

• CANCELED Apr 24 CH Lugano, Punk Rock Weekend
• CANCELED May 21 UK London, The Amersham Arms
• CANCELED May 22 UK Manchester, Retro Bar
• CANCELED May 23 UK Bristol, Booze Cruise
• Jun 20 DE Minden, Kraetzeval
• Aug 22 DE Karben, Karben Open Air
• Sep 18 DE Wuppertal, Die Börse
• Oct 03 NL Den Bosch, The Anthem Fest (World Skate Center)
• Oct 30 NL Oss, Groene Engel
• Dec 27 NL Nijmegen, Friends First Fest #6

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We’re doing an advent contest, because FREE GIFTS are what all Christian holidays are about, right?! This idea is 100% stolen from Tim Vantol, credits to our former brother on bass!

Every day from Sunday December 15 – Tuesday December 24 we will post a question on one of our social media channels for you to answer. Make sure to follow us via Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and answer the questions (DM!) when they pop up over there! The person with the most correct answers wins two albums of choice (LP/CD) + a shirt of choice + two Friends First Fest tickets. The winner will be announced on December 25.

Merry Christmas!

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