Album Review: TNSrecords Vol. 4 – Cheap Cans, Broken Vans + Basement Bar Bands

Starting life as ‘That’s Not Skanking‘ zine back in 2003, the TNS ‘brand’ has evolved through a number of guises – band night promoters, label, distro, festival organisers..zeitgeist fashionistas (?!) – The ‘Boris’ t-shirt *continues* to sum up the collective consciousness – in a perpetual, prominent position within the DIY punk collective. Working tirelessly, and not-for-profit, they’ve reached a milestone 100th release and invited us all to celebrate. Jordan Lloyd, frontman with Incisions, who have the honour of opening the album, leads the tributes: “Punks fucking love moaning. Especially on the internet it seems, and usually about the wrong things. You’ll never see the ethics or motives behind TNS brought into question though, and that says a lot with such a tough crowd.”

For a fuller history, there’s a dedicated zine available in the TNS100 range, written by Andy & Bev themselves. Aaaaaand there’s a jigsaw featuring the artwork from all 100 releases! A lot of work has also gone into a series of podcasts to accompany the compilation, which feature many of those involved discussing the TNS back catalogue chronologically. Comprehensive, hilarious, and always insightful, you can find them over on YouTube.

Onto the record itself, then – 

The guys have been really gracious and expansive in their track selection – choosing not only bands from their own roster, but thoroughly embracing their core values: “We wanted to include some bands we’d never worked with before who we wanted to give some exposure to, very much in the spirit of our first release. We didn’t want it to be a retrospective, as we wanted it to be forward thinking. We certainly aren’t claiming this represents the whole of the huge and wonderful DIY scene. This is just where we are now. “

First off, it’d be daft to try and comment on, or detail every one of the 33 tracks. Secondly, one of the joys (and arts) of a compilation (olden times playlist, I suppose) is the cohesion and thread of theme across the songs in one package. It’s an overall mood.

So ‘Vol 4‘ – without singling out, or excluding anyone in particular – offers up the bombast of the likes of Haest, The Domestics, Pizzatramp and Youth Avoiders adjacent to the ska tones of Faintest Idea and Harijan. The swaggy Aerial Salad, Brassick and Skinny Milk rub shoulders with folk flavoured Stöj Snak and Tim Loud. There’s speed, anger, fuzz and bizzareness.

A sonic spectrum.

There’s even extra treats in the form of previously unreleased tracks from Nosebleed, The Restarts and Davies‘s own Knife Club.

Truly spoiled.

Anyway, the music, though absolutely righteous, is *almost* incidental. It’s what brings every artist and listener together, yes, but this release is a revelry of much more – ideology, spirit and community. Symptomatic of the scene. “There is a tentative list for next time round if this goes well, and we are convinced this sort of compilation is worthwhile,” TNS suggests. I’ll throw a potential title into the ring then:’ Vol. 5 : Livestreaming the Lockdowns’. Anyone?

Here’s to another 100 releases,

Cheers guys.

Like tonnes of good music that’s been curated with care and delivered with devotion? ‘Cheap Cans, Broken Vans + Basement Bar Bands‘ is available in a variety of formats and bundles through the TNSrecords website. Keep up with the latest label news via their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram channels.