Gavin Portland

New album on sweet sweet vinyl.

2010-02-20T05:03:00.000-08:00

Okay, so there haven't been any posts in over a year. Who gives a fuck. We could've posted insignificant crap that nobody cares about but instead we waited until we had some news. So here it is.

Our new album, Hand In Hand With Traitors, Back To Back With Whores is finally out on We Deliver The Guts records in Germany which is a fucking relief!

Not only is that good news in itself but they've pressed a limited run on white vinyl which is sold exclusively by the fine boys and girls of the punkrock fortress that is Green Hell!
Go over there and grab a copy. They'll even throw a bag of GP pins in the bargain. Seriously, who doesn't want to have pins that say Traitors and Whores???

There is black vinyl as well, of course, but let's face it, white vinyl sounds soooo much better.

Go. Buy. Rage.

Click here to check it out!

The importance of being honest.

2009-01-15T02:45:00.001-08:00

2008 was quite a year. Our country basically went bankrupt and no one really knows what´s going to happen or how things are going to work out. Our politicians keep feeding us the same lies and don´t seem to feel any remorse for the damage they´ve done. But that´s to be expected. Thankfully there were some people who stood up and fought. And still do. Those people will always have our deepest gratitude and respect.

Obviously there was a new president elected in the united states. I´m intrigued how that will work out. Hopefully he´ll do some good with the bad. Something the current president didn´t do a lot of.

For us as a band the year was quite eventful. Did some touring and traveling and went to the states to record our new album. When I think about it I still find it somewhat unbelievable that we did what we did. Seemed like such an unrealistic dream when we first got the idea to go to God City and record.

When it will come out no one knows. We´re aiming for spring.

After returning from Boston we got a visit from our friends Raein from Italy. They played a couple of shows that went great and were a lot of fun. A few weeks after that Die Young came over from the states to play some shows as well. It was a good time and we hope our paths will cross again.

2008 was a pretty amazing year for music though and here is a list of some of my favorite albums released. Of course these are my personal opinions and not the bands as a whole. But seeing as the guys are men of taste I´m sure they´ll agree for the most parts. Maybe they´ll even post a list of their own.

Fucked Up - The Chemistry of Common Life

Fucked Up made a great album. Not just a great Hardcore Punk album. Not even just a great Rock album. They made an incredible all around album that I am sure will be remembered for years to come. They pushed boundaries with their song writing , lyrics and sound. One of the most exciting and fun hardcore bands around these days and they have been for quite some time.

Harvey Milk - Life... The Best Game in Town

This is a band that has had direct influences on our band so most of us were very excited when we heard they had a new album coming out. This album is everything I expected it to be. It´s crushing, draining, terrifying and life affirming. It´s almost as if they intended to do a carrier retrospective as it has strong elements from all their albums. "Motown" is possibly the best song I heard all year.

Tentacles of Doom - Brimað á Dauðahafinu

I may be a bit biased as this band includes one of my best friends and some of the most wonderful people I know. But even so, this is probably the best Icelandic "demo" I have ever heard. Gothic post punk with a surf vibe to it. Very heavy on the Wipers influence but they wear it well. I can´t wait for their next release.

Krallice - Krallice

This was a good year for blackmetal if you ask me. With releases from bands like Storming Darkness, Orcivus, Leviathan, Nactimystium, Darkthrone and of course Krallice. This is the first album this project releases. There are some members from a bunch of bands in Krallice but none that make anything half as good as this.

Able Baker Fox - Voices

Members of Small Brown Bike and the Casket Lottery playing music that sounds somewhat like Small Brown Bike and The Casket Lottery. It´s good. It´s very good. And it includes some of the best vocal harmonies heard all year.

Besides these few there were a lot of great albums released by bands like The Bananas, Dillinger 4, Trap Them, Estranged, White Lung, Cursed, Trash Talk, Ceremony, World Burns to Death, Misery Index, Torche, Deerhunter, Xiu Xiu, No Age, Pygmylush, Beach House, Sunn 0))), Grouper, Earth, J. Bannon, David Byrne & Brian Eno, Reykjavík, Singapore Sling, Morðingjarnir, Celestine, Vivian Girls, Portishead and Jay Reatard to name a few. I strongly recommend you check them all out.

2008-10-22T09:27:00.000-07:00

"...we head for Hresso to watch the brilliant Gavin Portland. The hardcore quartet have been featured in Kerrang! before - their 2006 album iii: Views Of Distant Towns received a 4K review - and they exceed expectations tonight with a set that fuses the tense bristling fury of Converge with the thrilling politically charged dexterity and passion of Refused. If punk rock still means anything to you, check out their stunning new album 'IV: Hand In Hand With Traitors, Back To Back With Whores' when it emerges next month."

From www.kerrang.com

2008-10-18T18:55:00.000-07:00

"Despite their Slayer shirts and straight edge tattoos, Gavin Portland provided anything but a short sharp shock. What they did play was much more impressive: taking the free-thinking punk of Refused and crossing it with the slow-burning heaviness of Neurosis, they showed they knew how to work the stage as well as the room. Their anarchist politics might be a symptom of their youthful angst and idealism, but that same fire is what prompted them to produce an electrifying, uncompromising set. Hopefully their next album, produced by Converge´s Kurt Ballou, will give them more exposure. Although, to be fair, they´re already turning heads on the underground circuit abroad."

From Reykjavík Grapevine.

2008-10-16T08:34:00.000-07:00

Iceland airwaves. Once again. Not my favorite time of year. Drunk people even more obnoxious than usual because now they have a crowd of foreigners to impress and prove to how much fun they´re having. And tourists thinking that Reykjavík is nothing more than a big non stop party. I probably shouldn´t criticize this festival seeing as we are a part of the festivities. But the world needs heroes and the world needs hypocrites.

We´ve got three shows this weekend and we´re giving them everything we got. Who knows when we´ll get to play next.

Dillinger Four just released a new album and of course it´s magnificent. I recommend you get it asap.

Our friends in Singapore Sling have finished their new album of fuzz and feedback and I must say, it might just be their best one yet.

It´s gray and raining outside. And the world is bringing everyone down. It´s hard to find things of substance these days but one must not give up. We keep doing our best to put something out there that has some meaning and we know you´re doing the same. One day we´ll win. I am sure about that.

What's happening? This is happening.

2008-10-08T14:54:00.000-07:00

So everyone's broke and the world is ending...apparently. But I'm so sick of hearing/talking about the current situation the world economy is in, I'm not going to talk about it here.
Just a few bullet points:

In case you haven't noticed, winter's around the corner so it's time yet again to bring out the scarfs and hats and start listening to lots and lots of doom/drone/black metal to go with the impending darkness. I myself just picked up a hard copy of Deathspell Omega's Kenose and Sworn To The Dark by Watain among other things so I should be good for now.
Last weekend was kick ass coz we had the thrash-tastic Die Young playing in Reykjavik. Both shows were amazing, if you have a chance to catch them on their now ongoing European tour DO IT! Seriously, they are amazing.
Is the new album done? Yes and no. We're still waiting for it to being mastered but rest assured that it will happen...hopefully sooner than later. It really bothers me when records are delayed on account of someone else but the band screwing up, if it's really out of your hands all you can do is wait. Until then you'll have to make due with the two songs we put up on our myspace a few weeks ago. They're not mastered but you can still hear where we're heading.
If you're still hungry for some Icelandic punkrock the angry boys and girls in H.Í.M. are plotting and planning for an exciting 2008/2009 term. Go to www.myspace.com/helgiimordingjunum and rock out. There is even a treat in the new blog there.
Also, the new Fucked Up album is absolutely amazing. Chemistry Of Common Life is so ridiculous that you can't help but love it. Full on punkrock with the occasional appearance of bongodrums and flutes...like I said, just totally insane! Please please please pick up a copy, I think it just came out on Matador Records. You won't regret it.
I went to see the aerobic class that is Walls Of Jericho the other day. It was a good show, lots of pitcalls about unity and moshmoshMOSH but the greatest thing about it was a midget, wearing a flatcap and a Hatebreed hoodie that kept stagediving throughout their set. The sheer spectacle of witnessing that little man surf the pit made me realise how dire the need in the modern day hardcore scene is for variety. Don't worry, this is not one of those "things were better in the olden days" speeches but coming from a relatively young scene where most of the people there are actually misfits and outcasts and seeing the English hardcore scene that is trying to replicate the American flatcaps in every way I can't help but let out a sigh. Was it always like this? I don't know...all I know is that despite what people say the music is still kick-ass, you can't deny that. There are so many bands ripping it up it's hard to keep up.
Upcoming shows! Wednsday the 15th will mark the start of the 10th consecutive hipster-fest, Iceland Airwaves, and yours truly will make an appearance. As for when and where, well, that will have to wait mainly because there seems to be some confusion with the schedule. The problem being: there is none...even though there is a week 'til the first band steps up. We're playing 12 Tonar, the record store, on saturday the 18th around 16:00. We'll keep you posted with the other stuff.

I'm done for the night.

Listen to Trap Them, I'm not joking.

Halfway through.

2008-08-25T19:23:00.000-07:00

So after three days in the studio we've gotten everything down. It's been going well, the tracks kick ass. Tomorrow's a day off so we're probably just going to go to record/comic book stores, eat ice cream and listen to good music.

Life is sweet and this album will slay.

seriously.

2008-08-17T12:17:00.000-07:00

Someone sent this video in our direction. It´s a show we played at Stúdentakjallarinn in December 2006. Probably the first show we played after the release of Views of distant towns. I have no idea who recorded it or put it online. But I hope he´s cool with us putting this on here (if not get in touch and we´ll remove it).

Played a couple of shows in the last few days. Trying out the new material. Went alright. Could have been better. The show on Tuesday will hopefully be good. We´re playing with some killer bands so my hopes are high.

For the record...

2008-08-12T16:36:00.000-07:00

So the tracks for the new album are pretty much down. The guys have done their thing and all that's left is for me to finish some of the lyrics for a couple of songs and some tweaking here and there. Obviously we're very excited about this album and you'll hear why once we catch the songs on tape. I won't bore you with details coz every band out there is going to say that the new album is a step up from the last one and how it's more mature and/or heavier and/or whatever...The album is titled "Hand in hand with traitors, back to back with whores" so that should give you a pretty good idea about the direction we've taken. We are very confident that the material we have in our hands right now is something that will matter to people who know their shit and maybe even some who don't, who knows. We start recording at the end of next week in Godcity so you can expect a new song up on our site soon and believe me, it will kick your ass.

If you're in Iceland come to Organ on tuesday (19.august) and see us play. With us are the youngbloods in Skitur and Muck so we're in for a heavy night. Also there'll be a pretty cool interview with us in the next Grapevine that comes out on friday (15.august) so be sure to pick that up...all we do in it is talk about punk-rock and hating people which is pretty much what we're all about.

Just over a month ago Verse from Boston released their third full-length, Aggression, and to be honest it absolutely destroys! It's good to know that there are dudes making intense, passionate music out there. They were always promising but needed to get their shit together and develop something serious and holy crap, have they ever. I can't find the lyrics to this album anywhere (you try googling 'Verse lyrics') and I haven't been able to pick up a physical copy yet but they sound like a treat from what I can pick out by listening. Seriously, get a copy of this album along with Have Heart's "Songs to scream at the sun" from Bridge 9 and enjoy coz you won't find a lot of bands doing this thing better than these two.

www.myspace.com/verse

www.myspace.com/haveheart

xKollix

Taking a brake. . .

2008-08-12T07:05:00.000-07:00

This photo is taken with a fish-eye lomo camera. check out www.lomography.com really intresting photography.

Love, compassion and tolerance

2008-07-30T19:25:00.000-07:00

Today a local news agency received a letter.

Apparently someone's going to detonate a bomb downtown during the annual Gay Pride parade, because "spreading AIDS is nothing to be proud of".

Two thumbs down.

2008-07-29T05:04:00.000-07:00

We are writing and rehearsing songs for our new album. Writing is going well. Recording starts on August 22nd. We´ve got a few shows planned for August as well and I think I can speak for all of us when I say we´re very excited.

2008-07-25T06:56:00.000-07:00

UNDER THE MAUD MOON

1

On the path,
by this wet site
of old fires-
black ashes, black stones, where tramps
must have squatted down,
gnawing on stream water,
unhouseling themselves on cursed bread,
failing to get warm at a twigfire-

I stop,
gather wet wood,
cut dry shavings, and for her,
whose face
I held in my hands
a few hours, whom I gave back
only to keep holding the space where she was,

I light
a small fire in the rain.

The black
wood reddens, the deathwatches inside
begin running out of time, I can see
the dead, crossed limbs
longing again for the universe, I can hear
in the wet wood the snap
and re-snap of the same embrace being torn.

The raindrops trying
to put the fire out
fall into it and are
changed: the oath broken,
the oath sworn between earth and water, flesh and spirit, broken,
to be sworn again,
over and over, in the clouds, and to be broken again,
over and over, on earth.

From Galway Kinnells Book of Nightmares.