Pretty late with this one, but thought I'd write a little about the records I bought when I went to the Our Time Down Here and Good Luck gigs a couple of weeks back.

Good Luck - Into Lake Griffy LP
Usually you know exactly what you're getting with No Idea Records, as 2 thirds of their roster seem to be gruff American punk bands that like to wear shorts and sing about drinking. However, Bloomington, Indiana's Good Luck come as a very pleasant surprise. For a start, they're fronted by a female with a very cool set of vocal chords on her. Not in the sense that they're anything out of the ordinary, just very unique and that's one of the charms of the band. Aside from the vocals, the other thing that marks them out from the rest of the gruff punk ilk is the guitar work. Instead of straight ahead powerchords there are some delightful jangly parts which owe more to indie acts than any punk rock band. Combined with the more orthodox punk drumming it creates a really satisfying sound. I hate using the term "grower" to describe an album, but that's truly what this is. Even after not listening to it for a couple of weeks I still had some of the excellent lyrics going around in my head.

The Don Ramos Players - The Don Ramos Players LP
Here is a band that have a good ethos to this whole being in a band thing, having spent time in various other projects they describe Don Ramos Players as "taking it back to when being in a band was fun". Despite this, the lyrical content doesn't always share the same positive outlook but this thoughts the somewhat melancholic punk rock really well. These aren't songs about high fives and rad times, but the realities of life and it's all the better for it. Whilst they're not reinventing the wheel, it's still a solid record which I'm sure I'll be putting on for those evenings when I'm in a reflective sort of mood.

Caves/Pure Graft/Big City Plan/Calvinball - Split 10"
An absolutely excellent record showcasing two songs apiece from 4 of the best bands in the UK punk rock scene at the moment. First up are Caves from Bristol, challenging the myth that punk is a boys only club. It's nice to hear female vocals, makes a change from the identikit gruff bearded male vocals that seem to have infested the scene. The two songs on offer here are both catchy, straight ahead tunes and are very impressive for a young band. I'm definitely looking forward to what these guys get up to next.
Pure Graft offer up something a bit faster and more hardcore influenced. I'm going to start sounding like a broken record, but again these songs are really promising for a young band. And how can you fail to like a band with a song called "Pugs V Dan Yemin"? These guys seems to love four-ways and have another one out sometime soon with Rooftops, Broken Few and Ssssnakes.
Big City Plan's first song on this split instantly reminded me of old school Alkaline Trio, which is definitely a good way to grab my attention. There's some awesome shout-a-long sections on display here, and they definitely keep up the high quality of the two previous bands.
Finally we have Calvinball who bring the split to a close wonderfully, with uplifting, melodic songs that makes you feel truly happy to be alive as corny as that sounds. Fast verses, slower bouncing choruses and Bill Hicks soundbites. Excellent! I think on the basis of these two songs they may be my favourite band on here, but it's hard to choose from such a great handful of acts.

Spraynard/Break The Habit - Split 7"
Spraynard seemingly came out of nowhere and have made quite an impact with certain members in the punk rock underground. For an unsigned American band to make it over to the UK for a tour when many more established acts struggle to make it happen is impressive. Unfortunately I missed it when these two bands played together, but at least I have this split now to forever remind me what a fool I was.
Spraynard like to keep their songs short and energetic, not wasting time repeating their lyrics ad nauseam or extending their songs with instrumental interludes. Straight and to the point, both songs here are catchy and bouncy with just enough of a gruff edge. It's just a shame it's all over so quickly.
Break The Habit are a band it took me a while to check out, which is pretty lame on my part as I know the guitarist (there I go name dropping superstars again) but in my defence I'm not best friends with him so I can be let off. The vocals here may not be to everyones tastes, being rather high pitched, but it certainly beats those pop-punk bands that sing with faux American accents. With one of the members recently finishing uni, it seems the band may end up not being as active anymore which would be a real shame.

Good Luck - http://www.myspace.com/wearegoodluck
The Don Ramos Players - http://www.myspace.com/thedonramosplayers
Caves - http://www.myspace.com/wearecaves
Pure Graft - http://www.myspace.com/puregraft
Big City Plan - http://www.myspace.com/bigcityplan
Calvinball - http://www.myspace.com/thisiscalvinball
Spraynard - http://www.myspace.com/spraynardpa
Break The Habit - http://www.myspace.com/wearebreakthehabit