A Punk Rock Manifesto 2009-2019

It seems odd to me having such a lavish scene retrospective for only the last ten years. It also seems crazy when the essays included within speak of bands like GORILLA ANGREB and NO HOPE FOR THE KIDS as those classic bands of yore. This is, of course, my age showing and what a beautifully packaged labor of love this record is. Clear vinyl and a top-notch book included with gorgeous photography and well-written essays from notable scene participants make this a must have for punk enthusiasts. The essays speak of a widely diverse scene and this record does a fair job in its portrait of such. Besides NIGHT FEVER, I can’t say I’m very familiar with the artists on this comp but it’s very diverse from the beautiful darkwave of MOTH to the slam and dance of MOTORSAV. From the ADVERTS-style melodic 77 punk of BIG MESS to the lush feminine synth-punk of KOLD FRONT, you get a nice mental photograph of a diverse and welcoming scene. My personal favorites are the freight train to the face core of NIGHT FEVER, the ENO-esque robotic jams of CHAINSAW EATERS, the URINALS-style art-punk of EVEN DWARVES, the D-beat thrash of DEATH TOKEN, ’80s Brazil raw punk of JUNTA, and the refreshing post-punk of MELTING WALKMEN. You can just feel the sticky-floored, smoked-filled rooms ripe with the sour stench of old Dutch lager. I say dive on in. (MRR)


Our take: This is Copenhagen is the second compilation of contemporary(-ish) Danish punk we’ve had in the past couple of weeks, though this one presents a very different view of the scene than the recent Öresund HC Omnibus LP on Adult Crash Records (though there is a little overlap). According to the excellent, informative liner notes inside This Is Copenhagen’s gatefold sleeve, this LP documents the era of Copenhagen punk between the well-known “K-Town” scene with bands like Amdi Petersens Armé, No Hope for the Kids, and Gorilla Angreb, and the contemporary Copenhagen scene. This Is Copenhagen encompasses the years just after when the original location of Ungdomshuset—which was the hub for the K-Town scene—was demolished by the city of Copenhagen in 2007. While these may have seemed like wilderness years to outsiders, This Is Copenhagen shows there was still plenty happening, particularly if your interests were broader than the stripped-down punk the K-Town bands played. Of course there’s plenty of that on This Is Copenhagen, with Junta, Death Token, The War Goes On, and Night Fever carrying over sounds and personnel from the earlier era, but This Is Copenhagen also showcases the more melodic punk of Big Mess and the more post-punk-oriented sounds of Chainsaw Eater, Kold Front, and Melting Walkmen, among others. The music is strong throughout and the extensive liner notes bring it all together, providing a detailed snapshot of this fertile period of Copenhagen punk history.