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Tag: Sloppy Seconds

  • … an evening full of surprises: A first, a mainstay and a blast!

    … an evening full of surprises: A first, a mainstay and a blast!

    It was one of these dates left and right of Rebellion in Blackpool and for those who do not make that pilgrimage (like myself) it was a perfect setting – 3 mu-sick-ally different bands and a first: Shattered Faith never graced Hamburg before i believe.

    Early start on a typical Hamburg Summer day – wet, rainy and largely miserable. And the fear that many would be en route or preparing for Blackpool and as such a low turnout.

    But somewhat the three different bands drew different parts of the scene and some Blackpool pilgrims decided to watch them anyway in Hamburg too.

    Shattered Faith came about in 1978 already and gained visibility through Posh Boy (1981 7″ with I Love America) and their 1982 half live half studio LP on Prophet.

    That’s how they looked back then, and this is how the now incarnation of Shattered Faith took the stage:

    I am not sure about how many original members remain but for sure it is Spencer on vocals. And he was quite unhappy – his voice was almost gone (and during some songs was just a hoarse something).

    Pity, but sometimes that happens when you are a singer.

    EDIT: From Blackpool a mate brought home the message that the voice of Spencer was gone-gone, so he could not sing. Kerry Martinez (thus 2nd original member identified) took vocal duties. Real pity!

    Shattered Faith (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 05.08.2025)
    (c) gehkacken.de 2025

    How did they sound? Definitely not H/C but more of the California pre-H/C Punk with an emphasis on Rock. But with a very different spin than most of the contemporary bands back then.

    I do remember them most for the Posh Boy 7″ and their songs on various compilations. Here are some old 1979 demos:

    Whilst many of their songs had good structures the lack of full vocals and the somewhat a little bit off drummer made it not a full blown positive surprise. But indeed they deserve a 2nd chance, let’s see how the Blackpool pilgrims report back on them.

    Next Sloppy Seconds, a real mainstay over here in the 90s and still going strong. This is how B.A. took the stage (the rest was already there):

    I guess within the surprisingly well filled Hafenklang they had the biggest share of fans, many did sing along and came to the front.

    They positively get away with a biggest hits set easily, the bass throwing smiles and faces whilst being rock solid, the guitar bouncing around and the drummer driving it forward whilst singing along on many songs for himself.

    Sloppy Seconds (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 05.08.2025)
    (c) gehkacken.de 2025

    And front, with his typical high pitched voice, B.A. – not too much interaction but definitely more then Spencer.

    And sure they gave the lot their big hit, aptly named Germany (and remember, that ones dates back to 1988):

    More than solid set, drive, umpf and emitting fun – perfect!

    Next T.S.O.L. and they share a lot with Shattered Faith: Starting 1978 in Southern California, first record on Posh Boy and for sure the singer being … currently the one Original.

    Here is how they took ownership of the stage:

    Ups, a lot of new faces (though one definitely known): Ron (Guitar) and Mike (Bass) where out injured, so Jack got help from Tevor (D.I.) on Guitar and Brandon (Head Bored) on Bass.

    And Brandon was fully exposed by Jack on stage: His youngest daughter is with them on tour doing merch, Brandon his her boyfriend and he recently proposed to her.

    Love is in the air!

    T.S.O.L. (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 05.08.2025)
    (c) gehkacken.de 2025

    Against these two “newbies” Antonio on drums – a definite powerhouse – is already with Jack and T.S.O.L. for 10 years.

    From start to finish Jack was in a smiling mode, chatty and taking questions from the audience (but only if you properly raised your hand). So we got a bit of learning, a bit of preaching and – for me a surprise – the very friendly side of him.

    T.S.O.L. (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 05.08.2025)
    (c) gehkacken.de 2025

    And very frank, that friendliness paired with super tight, super hard and super pushy play by the others made it a real blast. From start to finish.

    Here is another one, feel the energy!

    What surprised me the biggest was the perfect sound and within that the perfect sound of Trevors guitar, never being off a chord. Wow.

    T.S.O.L. left many in the audience stunned and most people after the show chatted about Shattered Faith having something (but not being able to bring it really across) and T.S.O.L. most likely having delivered their best ever set in Hamburg.

    For me it was simply one big enjoyable surprise with T.S.O.L. providing the icing on the cake. Now it is not a surprise to me that over in Blackpool they play a top spot, 2nd but last on Sunday at the Empress Ballroom.

    Great Punk Rock show! Thanks yet again Hafenklang…

  • … Sloppy Seconds, fallen outta time but not into la-la land!

    … Sloppy Seconds, fallen outta time but not into la-la land!

    It has been a while (if my memory serves me well somewhere in the 90s down in the cellar of the old Molotow) and i guess it was only ever down to Rebellion that they put some date in continental Europe left/right of Blackpool. Welcome back, Sloppy Seconds!

    Where Sloppy Seconds where a “show”, some of the Rebellion pilgrims where a “no show”, getting stuck on the way home (with some free accommodation in AMS thanks to eg. KLM). With some familiar faces missing in the audience i guess the Hafenklang downstairs was half full (which is not bad for a Monday after Rebellion and after a Turbojugend-Nonsense weekend).

    Very early The Hawaiians from sunny Westerkappeln kick off the evening, too early for me as i was outside chatting to a surprise tourist from St. Ingbert of all places.

    The Hawaiians somehow where a fit and then not. Why?

    Well, Sloppy Seconds mark themselves as Junk Rock but i think they would rather qualify under #ramonescore. And that puts them into Edone territory. And that is where The Hawaiians would have fitted best.

    Rather than playing on a rainy, stormy and dark Monday inside the Hafenklang with their sun glasses on they should play the sunny outdoors of Punk Rock Raduno in Bergamo.

    The Hawaiians (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 07.08.2023 (c) gehkacken.de 2023)

    Stage attire (perfect unified stage attire, always a bonus), stand-up drums and light-weight Pop Punk of the more enjoyable sort. Nice but somehow thrown under the bus on this occasion. The Edone Pilgrims in the audience (i could make out like 6) though where happy and i was too – at the end they got some friendly applause for their short set. Go and check them out yerself!

    Sidekick from LA in the US of A followed suit with a less comprehensive stage attire compared to The Hawaiians. But as a travelling band on a shoestring budget you may not waste too much effort and keep it to street attire.

    Sidekick (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 07.08.2023 (c) gehkacken.de 2023)

    For me they where like a mixed bag: On the positive side they had quite good multi-vocal singing and some of their songs did hit the late 1990s/early 2000s CA Pop/Skate Punk vibes. On the other hand the set somehow lacked inspiration and not all songs really had it.

    It wasn’t too long so it wasn’t that painful for my single-minded mu-sick-al ears but if a set of 10 songs includes 3 covers, mmmhhhh – not that great. But they seemed to enjoy on stage and they did not have hick-ups, telling me that they mastered instruments and portfolio. As ever, form your own view!

    Finally it was time for Sloppy Seconds, by now more or less eagerly awaited. And here is how they kicked off and how B.A. took the stage:

    Rarely a band is able to field such a fitting, such a convincing and such a fan favored kick off song upon entry on a German stage. And because that is a fan sing-a-long almost anywhere, here we go:

    Well I thought
That I meant something to you
But now I see that it's untrue

I guess you must have slept
With every guy you ever met
But I'm gonna get you back
If its the last thing I ever do

The stains on your mattress cannot hide
The fruits of your labor stuffed inside
But, while your in la-la land
Whispering the name of another man
I'm gonna turn my back
And leave your cheating ass behind

I'm gonna run away with your money
And buy a ticket to Germany
I'm gonna sleep with every single slut on the Reeperbahn
And I'll be surfing down the River Rhine (Whoo--oo--ooo)
And you'll be standing in the Welfare line
You're money and you're honey
Are long gone!

It's nothing personal
You saw to that
You're just a person
Who does her best work on her back

But if you're 'wakend
By an obscene call
I sprayed your number on the Berlin wall
I've seen the soldiers as they pass it all around

Imagine all the dick that you once missed
Because you couldn't find the Communists
East or West
Your still the best deal in town

Go!

I'm gonna run away with your money
And buy a ticket to Germany
I'm gonna sleep with every single slut on the Reeperbahn
And I'll be surfing down the River Rhine (Whoo--oo--ooo)
And you'll be standing in the Welfare line
You're money and you're honey
Are long gone!

You're money and you're honey
Are long gone!

You're money and you're honey
Are long gone!

    Perfect start and it only got better. Against the solid backline of drum & bass you had the guitar as a bouncing ball and B.A.s very typical thin and rather high pitched voice. And from the large rooster of songs (actually, for their length of existence their complete output is rather small) they had a great selection for the lot. And the lot was there, up front and fully into it. It felt like they never had been away…

    What made them somewhat fallen outta time was that they still give a damn fuck about political correctness and continue to perform songs like “I Don’t Want to be a Homosexual“. I am damn sure that at some locations nowadays they would be expelled without even trying to reconcile the lyrics. 

    Sloppy Seconds (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 07.08.2023 (c) gehkacken.de 2023)

    I liked it, me mates liked it and specifically i liked the stage attire of B.A.: That “front row chain” (as this is the only other place i have seen such jewelry) worn across both the Descendents shirt and the big belly – nice! I asked a mate who sings in a band too to try that one out, it sure will give him more stage presence!

    Nice show for a piss poor Monday and nice surprise that a long time pen pal, record producer/dealer and punk memorabilia collector all the way from St. Ingbert came down to the Hafenklang on his tourist errand through Hamburg.

    … a surprise tourist and a happy bunny! ( (c) gehkacken.de 2023)

    I only wonder if his daughter liked any of the mu-sick – did she? Nevermind, she was born after Sloppy Seconds disbanded initially and to her they may have sounded like from another planet. For me it was neither La-la-land nor “another girl, another planet” it was simply #thereaintnuthinbetterthanlivemusic!

    Continued recovery wishes go out to the face still missing, though the hospital he has been transferred to now almost has a view towards the Hafenklang.

    Big hugs big man, these evenings are your evenings!