It’s been a while.
Actually 8 years since they graced the Hafenklang in a K-Town Fest wind-down event. And frank, i lost sight of them and somewhat thought they dissolved. Then in 2022 a little nugget appeared, and late in 2023 the great news of a new record made it onto my screen.
And thus i was happy as a fuck when the Hafenklang appeared as their first date on a short run through Europe in 2024.
Support was by True Gloom from Hamburg, a new band (having just played their first show on the ill-fated Booze Cruise Fest) with some known faces. They kicked off with loads of feedback and noise and then went to deliver H/C with a decent scent of Rock (at least to my single-minded mu-sick-al ears).
True Gloom (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 07.06.2024 (c) gehkacken.de 2024)
For myself the amount of pedals, effects and what have you in front of the guitar player somewhat created a wee bit of a dislike, though he managed to use some of them to positive effects.
Pity though that the singing (and thus the words) was barely audible, so i could not really make out what the crisp set actually delivered.
Luckily they have put their demo up on Bandcamp including the lyrics, so you can both make up your mind about them and get the message – this is the song i liked most:
I was a bit torn with them, they had some good moments where they sounded like a fright train and the vocals fitted into that, they also had bad moments when the guitar took way too much of a metal approach.
Still, they came across as a tight package, well rehearsed and thus i’ll be happy to see them again. Even if it is not 100% up my mu-sick-al alley.
Next No Time, nicely wasted from long travel. This is what they set out – a good mixture of old and new stuff.
From the start they were back at where they left us in 2016: Same stage personas, same drive, same aggressiveness by Adam. But very much improved on the ability to deliver the music. Back then we all envied them for their ferocious mix of classic Blitz influenced OI! and Hardcore (to quote me mate Frosch) but now they have widened their sound to carry an undercurrent.
No Time (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 07.06.2024 (c) gehkacken.de 2024)
And that undercurrent – surprise – is full of hidden melodies. Even on this banger from their 2013 EP. Here is Perpetual War:
Bang! They got something right almost ahead of time, that Oi! H/C crossover currently seems to be on of the fastest growing niches of the last few years. I do hope No Time eventually are able to capitalize now on having been there almost first.
The more they pushed forward, the more they got a bit of action in front of the stage. Sad though that only about 80 good people attended downstairs, with that number it would have felt better upstairs in the smaller room (though that was booked with another event).
No Time (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 07.06.2024 (c) gehkacken.de 2024)
Sure thing they also got their signature tune back on the map, this is the song that got me hooked onto them when i got to hear the tape in 2016:
And how did it sound in 2024? It sounded like this:
Still, a top notch song with a definite stance.
They got plenty of cheers and they even got pushed for an extra once they had left the stage. After that they where thoroughly exhausted – great start for their tour!
The only pity was that they screwed up on the merch side, their new LP Suffer No Fool made it to Hamburg somewhat … but then the parcel got returned to Euskal Herria to Menedeku Diskak.
I will now have to wait until my trusted local dealer, Sounds of Subterrania, gets his delivery from Euskal Herria. In the meantime i can already listen to this:
Almost perfect show i’d say, a great return of No Time and hopefully towards more output from them. And from where i sit i would even want them to branch wider mu-sick-ally, i think they have a great recipe at hand:
We love a lot of '80s American USHC, a lot of international punk and Oi!, anarcho-punk, and lots of the classic rock 'n’ roll bands like AC/DC, The Sweet, Slade, KISS, etc. We try to mix things in a thoughtful and cohesive manner and I hope that while we wear a lot of those timeless influences on our sleeve, at the end of the day we still sound somewhat fresh and exciting.
Keep it coming No Time, keep it coming.
PS: Shitty lights, shitty pictures. No really my bad.
