The Punk Heart Festival comes to Shanghai this week - a tribute to the punk scene kicking up a storm around China as well as a celebration of the International punk friends it has embraced along the way. Special guests of honor are Madrid-based hard oi streetpunkers Non Servium. Founded in 1997, they’re as hardcore as they come - fierce drum rhythms, potent bass lines, steadfast guitars, and lyrics that take on punk, skinhead, and hooligan culture. They’ll be joined by Xi’an’s The NONAME, who likewise have been stirring the fires of punk music in China since the turn of the century, crafting anthemic sing-along punk with a 90s skate punk twist. Rounding out the festivities are Suzhou Oi! punk act Never Regret, freshly baked street punk act Stirrers, and Mini Koala - not afraid to bring some metal-inflicted headbangers to their sound.
Xinxiang punk mainstays Pumpkins have always followed their own arrow throughout their careers - slowly but steadily expanding their sound whilst retaining the grit, charisma, and sincerity that made them so endearing in the first place. Their latest LP Xinxiang Boys - a reference to the industrial hometown that shaped them - shows the band firing on all cylinders and using all the tools before them - giving their raw punk sound its hard-earned ethos while indulging their newfound psychedelic kick to give their tracks a woozy, sweaty exuberance that’s intoxicating. A rip-roaring ode to rock and roll in all its mania and allure - the band is in town courtesy of FENDER and will be throwing a ‘not-so-secret’ show at OKOK late this Friday, performing a staggering 90-minute set.
Wenzhou’s Fuck Your Birthday - whose name alone should get them front in line for any future birthday parties - return with their newest EP - BBQd. At just over ten minutes, the guitar-drum duo is having a blast - delivering their potent brand of churchy, grungy, fuzzy, math rock-laced tunes that are equal parts melodic and uproarious; gruff and intricate garage rock favorites Hey! Lily!, known for their magnetic combustible performances.
Love Bang is throwing an epic end of summer bash this Saturday afternoon - nine crews and labels, ten hours of music, mad flavors, one roof! The daytime house party in the sky will be going down at Pilipala Dai Cuisine in Changning Qu. Expect community vibes featuring barbecue, Yunnan dishes, cocktails, drinks, and two hug subwoofers pumping out a delectable spread of hip hop, R&B, dancehall, house, club music, techno, and more. Lineup features plenty of Shanghai’s best, including Alter, Bathhaus, Fresh Mint, Gully Riddim, Ji Collectí, Love Bang, Popasuda, and Sugar House, plus Tom Yeti, Cavia, Heatwolves, and a rare performance by 永福女团. Rooftop party, Love Bang style. Dig it.
Nachtblut (which means Night Blood) from Osnabrück, Germany, is vintage Gothic black metal. Brooding, aggressive, and at times bordering on orchestral, the band combines harsh layered guitars, heavy industrial drums, new-wave synths, and explosive riffs — coupled with forbidding vocals covering politics, religion, and history with a scalpel. If you’re itching for metal this weekend, then there’s no better game in town.
