Album of the Week: Chain Whip – ’14 Lashes’

I came to hardcore in the mid-80s as a young, disillusioned teenager pissed off at the idiocies of the world. I am now much older, still disillusioned and pissed off at the idiocies of the world but at either point in time, ‘14 Lashes‘ from Vancouver punks Chain Whip would stand as a suitable fuel for release.

Not that the band, (comprised of members of The Jolts, Fashionism, Corner Boys, and Night People) is overly political; although they obviously have a bone or two to pick, it’s just that they deliver a consummate 80s-style no-frills, furious punk attack. You’d have to be a corpse not to get up for a song like ‘On A Rope‘. There is no amateurish playing of instruments here, these guys are as tight as my pants after three months of lockdown. Over 17 minutes they rage at lightspeed, not allowing even a chance for a breather with every song pumping up the adrenaline a couple of notches.

There is a snotty I-don’t-give-a-fuck vibe about it all and the band’s instrumental talents propel vocalist Joshy Atomic’s hoarse incensed snarls. He seems to start each track singing audibly but whips himself into a frenzy by the end of the first verse. Just listen to opener ‘Amber Alert‘ for an example. The four-hole punch of ‘(I Don’t Wanna Live) in a Fucked Up World‘, ‘Concrete‘, ‘Serotonin Steve‘, and ‘Turner Street Ghost Motel‘ is just over 6 minutes of raw aggressive perfection.

This is a solid record for fans of classic stuff like Germs and bands like Wasted Time. Along with Chubby and the Gang’s ‘Speed Kills‘ and the Soakie LP, ‘14 Lashes‘ docks in high on my list of punk releases this year.

14 Lashes‘ was self-released last year but is also out via Drunken Sailor. We connected for a quick Q&A with Joshy.

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You played guitar in The Jolts and Fashionism, why did you decide to switch to vocals for Chain Whip?
I honestly can’t remember if there was a conscious reason to just sing in Chain Whip. The band originally started as a Halloween cover band playing first/second wave punk stuff from California and I really wanted to just sing as I actually kinda hate learning other people’s songs because that’s not how I learned to play. I’m not actually a good guitar player in that respect. When we started writing our own stuff we just kept it going the way it was.

How did the transition from high energy punk rock of The Jolts the synth-punk of Night People and power pop of Fashionism to the no-nonsense hardcore of Chain Whip come about?
It’s all rock n roll to me. I like lots of different kinds of music. I’m still definitely rooted in punk as a subculture and hardcore specifically is a massive part of me. All these different genres and styles have informed so much of my taste and being a record collector as long as I have and trying to devour the stuff from different countries and scenes is a lot of fun. I’m just really fucking curious. Any of those bands I’ve played in could have happened in any kind of lineage. I wouldn’t call this an evolution of sorts. I’ve always been all of those things. This is what I’m doing right now.

You guys are heavily involved in the scene beyond playing, you with Neon Waste/Taste and Patrick with Hosehead Records, how does this help/hinder your own music career?

Music Career? What’s that? I work 50 hours a week in frontline work. There is no music career. Patrick has been pretty quiet with Hosehead for awhile now. Really slowed down the last couple years but he’ll be back. He’ll get the bug.
Neon Taste started because we wanted to try and do our own stuff instead of farming it out to other labels so that’s definitely helped in that regard. The Waste side of things was to try and fill a gap that I noticed in regard to good or at least honest coverage of subculture and punk. Blogs and music zines are a dime a dozen and the general audience ones are pretty abysmal in their coverage of subculture and the punk ones can get really embarrassing with trying to create buzz/hype/social capital. I thought and still think that most of them are dogshit and was tired of reading about bands that were legitimately great being granted embarrassing interviews or clueless write-ups. I’d be lying if it wasn’t a place for me to hype my own shit as well but that was always going to be a part of it. So much of the traditional music press is based on a more sinister kind of nepotism, gatekeeping and Bad Fucking Taste and now so much if it is dying. Here in Vancouver the Georgia Straight sold to a large media organization after years of being generally bad with regard to covering underground music. Another local music magazine sold to a bigwig promotions company. It seems depressing until you realize that you can just do better than them. They don’t tend to give a shit about stuff I’m passionate about so we have to be punk about it. We have to do it ourselves if it’s going to be any good. It’s too important to be left to those that are looking to exist on advertising dollars. I don’t consider myself to be a fine writer but I do consider myself to be a fan and that’s what always made any zine I ever read worth it. To an extant NT and NW is as much a part of me as any band I’ve been a part of. Maybe even more so.

How difficult is it playing in a band and living in a city where the average house price is well over $1 million? Does it provide lyrical influence?
Vancouver is a mess. Rampant political corruption, accelerated gentrification in the Nations poorest postal code, an art scene under consistent pressure, systemic failure with regard to the opioid crisis, and a housing situation that seeks to make working people homeless. The situation is bleak. Vancouver is a cell. And that’s coming from a white guy that lives in subsidized housing with far more privilege than many others.

The BC punk/metal scene seems pretty vibrant. What’s happening with the scene these days and who would you give a shout out to?
There are so many good bands from the city right now but NT just dropped the Dead Cells LP which is fantastic and we also did the Bedwetters Anonymous 7” which is great. Honestly, both of those bands get better each time I see them play. It’s awesome watching them. Bootlicker has a couple of releases on Neon Taste and is working on some new stuff that will be great. But that’s all stuff that I’m directly involved with in one way or another. There are a lot of other great groups. Sore Points, Lie are cool. A new band called Cheat is getting their shit together and get way better every time I see them play.

What’s up for 2020?
Chain Whip got screwed by the COVID like every other person on the planet so we canceled a European tour, postponed the European release of 14 Lashes, and are regrouping to see what’s next. We’ve been writing and it’s coming together slowly but we’re in no rush to release anything right away under these circumstances.

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