Punks set for festival

The Crash Mats . . . punk with a bit of Cheeky Girls thrown in

OLDHAM and London are the places to be if you’re into punk music, it would appear.

The underground punk scene is still very much alive and kicking in our fair town, chiefly thanks to self-proclaimed ‘idiotic’ local band the Crash Mats.

Now the ace town rockers ­– bass/vocalist Danny Barrett, guitar/backing vocalist Danny Royales and drummer Chris Webb –­ can’t wait for two high-profile all-day festivals which are sure to test the eardrums of any dedicated fan, numbers of which are expected to be huge.

First the Crash Mats are relishing the prospect of appearing at ‘Wonkfest’ again, an all-dayer which this year is staged at the Dome in Tufnell Park, London, on July 2.

Barrett said: “Wonkfest is one of the biggest independent DIY punk rock festivals in the country at the moment.

“It really is an honour for us to be on there.

“We’re opening up the main stage and it’s just going to be great.

“I’ve had one of the headline bands ­– Wonk Unit –­ on in Oldham a few times, and so they’ve asked us to play down in London now.

“We played down there in Brixton last year and that went down really well.”

The second major festival of the summer will see Barrett and the Crash Mats play at the Flair Witch Project –­ ‘a Flair for the Gold’ – which is set to take the Bank Top Tavern by storm on Saturday, August 13.

Barrett added: “We think ‘a Flair for the Gold’ is going to be the biggest musical day in Oldham this year, by far.

“To be honest it’s been coming together since just after last year’s event.

“Last year we had 10 bands play and it was a fantastic day with everyone having a great time.

“This year there will be 15 bands playing.

“As well as us there will be the Franceens, a garage punk band from York.

“Manifest are on too, and No Decorum from Stockport. For us it’ll be a major highlight.”

A special night beckons on May 28 at the Bank Top Tavern, when the Crash Mats will hopefully have their 11-track new album ­– titled amusingly ‘Now that’s what I call Crash Mats 69’ –­ available for fans to listen to and purchase.

“We don’t really want to call the May 28 gig a launch night. We’re not like some sort of uber-professional band, it’s just that we’ve got another gig there that night and we’ll have a CD with us, which will be nice.

Released through Horn and Hoof Records, the album will be available from iTunes on May 28.

LISTEN to Simon Smedley’s exclusive audio interview with the Crash Mats by logging on to our Chronicle man’s Twitter page – @Smedders1966.