Brighton’s Barriers released their five-track EP “Time Crisis” on August 21, and one week later they’re giving it another push with the full video for “Final Fight“, premiering here on IDIOTEQ on August 28.
Shot and edited by Lewis Barnes at Barnes Cinematic, the video was filmed at Daltons in Brighton, one of the venues Barriers credit with giving local punk bands somewhere accessible to play. The band put a 20-second clip on Instagram when the song went up on Spotify, with the full video held back for today’s premiere. Check it out above!
“Final Fight” closes an EP that Barriers had already tested almost entirely in the place that matters most to them: in front of people. Every song on “Time Crisis” had been played live before recording, and all five had gone down well. The structures stayed largely intact when the band went into the studio, though they added guitar overdubs, tried different vocal tones and pushed certain parts harder.
“The chorus of Final Fight really went to another level in the studio, I belted that thing out much higher than I’d done previously!” vocalist Andy said.
Barriers are Andy on vocals, Gregg on bass, Tom on guitar and Chris on drums. The current version of the band has had to build itself slowly after a long run of interruptions.
“This band has been quite stop-start due to line-up changes, life changes ect. It had pretty much ground to a halt when I joined, so we have really had to start again from the bottom and grind for everything we have. This release is definitely a new beginning for the band, so we need to push it ourselves and get our name out there.”
That is also why “Time Crisis” is self-released. Barriers have no label behind it and, for now, no physical edition.
“We’re all big fans of physical media but honestly I think we need to build an audience before there’s a real demand for it. Hopefully it will happen when the time is right, as we’d love to see it on our turntables!”
The title came from the classic 1990s arcade game, though getting older gave it a second meaning.
“As well as a reference to the classic 90s arcade game, ‘Time Crisis’ is a reference to the fact that we’re all getting older and that we want to get this music put while we can around work and family commitments.”
Andy describes it as a surprisingly dark record. Desperation and frustration keep coming back, along with the feeling of being out of step with social cliques and whatever direction everyone else seems to be following.
“It’s a surprisingly dark record; There’s a sense of fighting desperation and frustration, feeling at odds with society’s cliques and against the grain.”
“Bandwagon” grew from Andy’s own experience trying to make music that defies trends. Bad Religion’s “Against The Grain” had already left its mark on him years earlier, right down to the phrase itself.
“Khao San Road” comes from somewhere very different. Andy wrote it after backpacking in Asia and wanted to try the kind of odd, specific subject that bands such as NOFX and Descendents had always been willing to put into punk songs.
“The exception is Khao San Road, which was inspired by my experiences backpacking in Asia. I was inspired by skate punk, specifically NoFX and Descendents, to write some more esoteric songs in lieu of the more stock hardcore subject matters.”
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All the lyrics and Andy’s vocals were already finished when Barriers began discussing a guest vocalist. Laura Le Rox came up because her voice could cut through his and because there was already a connection between the two bands. Steffan Duarte, who produced Barriers, also plays guitar in Le Rox.
Andy sent Laura a demo. She liked the song but initially would not fully commit to the recording dates.
“We tracked it without her and thought that was that. A couple of weeks later, she sent me a selfie from the vocal booth at unit 58 and I knew it was on!”
Her section changes the vocal character of “Khao San Road” immediately.
“She really delivered, the part is a real vibe shift when her high pitched vocal cuts through everything and she adds this sense of sarcasm to the lyrics making fun of gap year students in South East Asia.”
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Recording “Time Crisis” took considerably longer than the two days Barriers spent doing most of the instrumental and vocal tracking. Chris recorded the drums first at local studio Tidal Wave because it was convenient for the band. A few months later, guitars, bass and vocals were done at Unit 58 in North London across two days.
“It’s appropriately named as it was a lengthy process!!”
They recorded piece by piece so each instrument could get its own attention. Once the basic mix was in place, a handful of extra details took another few weeks to sort out. Steffan also went on tour with Le Rox during the mixing period.
“The overall mix was great but there were a few bells and whistles which took a few weeks of tweaking to get right, plus Steffan went on tour with Le Rox during the mixing! So it all took its sweet time, but we’re stoked with the end result.”
The connection with Steffan started through Andy’s friend Gabbi, who works for Cash Pistache promotions. Gabbi introduced Andy to Le Rox, and Barriers ended up playing a couple of shows with them.
“We were really into the vibe as they also blend hardcore and punk in some cool ways, and when we realised it was their guitarist, Steffan, who produced their records, we made a mental note that he could be a good choice to produce us too, which definitely turned out to be the case.”
“He definitely got the vibe we were shooting for and very quickly felt like one of the guys.”
Steffan mixed and mastered the EP. George Yarnton made the artwork, and the band photos are by Jon Sugden.
Barriers also hear a clear change between “Adversity” and the newer writing.
“The main change is that we’ve become more intentional and experienced at writing the kind of music that we feel satisfied with and hits when we play live.”
A lot of that comes down to rhythm. Before “Time Crisis”, Barriers released “Distant Memory”, which has a ring-out halfway through before switching into a full-time, bass-led section with a Youth Crew feel. Chris plays the incoming beat with a lot of swing.
“From the moment we played that song live, it was an instant high point in the set. Always got even the most passive crowds up on the dance floor.”
They kept following that reaction. Barriers move between fast skate-punk beats, slower skank rhythms and 2-step sections, and the heavier rhythmic side tends to work especially well on hardcore bills.
“We’re keen to play to our strengths for maximum crowd engagement, so we do tend to switch between fast skate-punk beats and slower skank beats. Seems to work for us!”
The crossover also affects who responds to the band.
“It really depends on the overall bill but we are definitely on the heavy side for skate punk fans, we tend to get a better reaction at hardcore shows because we have an emphasis on 2-step beats in our songs.”
That mixture is easy to trace through the records Barriers picked when we asked what shaped their writing. They started with skate punk, then widened the list into hardcore and a couple of less obvious records.
Pennywise, “Full Circle”
“The sound of So Cal Punk- absolutely iconic”
NOFX, “Ribbed”
“You knew they’d be here- best song writers int the game, love the guitar work on this one.”
Andy later expanded on how much of the Barriers sound comes from the record.
“A huge influence on the Barriers sound from the drum style to the basslines and guitar attack. Similar to Descendents, they also write some very esoteric lyrics on songs like ‘Food Sex and Ewe’, which references Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, counterbalanced with an austere song about the death of a fan, ‘The Malachi Crunch’.”
Strung Out, “Twisted by Design”
“Has that technical edge that really inspires us to push harder”
RKL, “Riches to Rags”
“Incredible playing and such a bad ass attitude”
AFI, “Black Sails in the Sunset”
“The gothic hardcore King’s of 90s punk, always an inspiration”
88 Fingers Louie, “Back on the Streets”
“Really cool well written songs, but easy enough to work out how they’re put together. Basslines balance the line between being really cool but not too difficult to learn.”
Bad Religion, “Against The Grain”
“We’ve always been inspired by fast and melodic punk rock, and there are few bands who have done that as well as Bad Religion, particularly on songs like ‘Anesthesia’. As a lyric writer, I also hold Greg Graffin on a pedestal as one of the best. Even the title ‘Against the Grain’ has been something that has influenced me, which is apparent on our track ‘Bandwagon’, which is based on my experiences trying to make music that defies trends.”
Descendents, “Cool To Be You”
“Descendents have been a favourite band for a long time, they have a unique sound, incredible musical chops and top tier songwriting. They are also not afraid to write unconventional lyrics to what is expected in punk rock.”
The age of the people writing the songs matters here too.
“We particularly like this album, as it is very clearly written from the perspective of an older person with life experience talking very explicitly about parenthood and marriage struggles (‘Maddie’, ‘Anchor Grill’)… only to then write a song about farts (‘Blast Off’)!”
Tiny Elvis, “We Are Not All Civilians”
“A band that isn’t talked about nearly enough; it’s criminal that so few people remember this album. It’s an influence on how fast we play and really holds up.”
The other members of Barriers saw Tiny Elvis live in Brighton during the 2000s and still remember how they carried themselves onstage.
“The guys saw them live in Brighton back in the 2000’s and they had an amazing stage presence. Well worth checking out.”
Comeback Kid, “Wake the Dead”
“Our biggest inspiration as punk dudes playing hardcore. You can hear that speed and gallop that calls to mind skate punk, but there are some hard hitting pit parts and those absolutely huge sing along anthems.”
This Is Hell, “Sundowning”
“Kind of in the same bracket as Comeback Kid, but a darker sound and vibe. I was listening to this a lot when I wrote ‘Time Crisis’ and ‘Adversity’, the way it switches between speed and groove and the dissonant note choices were a huge inspiration.”
“Also a band that should be talked about more as one of the best hardcore bands from that era.”
Those records also help explain why Barriers can end up sitting a little awkwardly between punk and hardcore bills. Fast melodic punk is built into the writing, though the slower beats and 2-step sections have increasingly become part of what the band know works in a room.
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Brighton gives them enough rooms to find out.
Andy still sees the city as a creative place, though keeping an independent venue alive there has become expensive. Barriers miss Sticky Mike’s Frog Bar and the Pressure Point, both important parts of the city’s earlier punk and alternative circuit.
“It’s always a blow when a favourite local venue closes and it can take a while before something fills the void.”
For the last few years, the Pipeline and the Cowley Club have been two of the places Barriers can rely on.
“I’d say for the last few years, the Pipeline and the Cowley club have really held it down as far as being very cheap to hire DIY spots that are perfect to host a small punk show.”
The Cowley Club, a co-op run space, remains particularly close to them.
“The Cowley Club is an absolute institution for Brighton Punk, we absolutely love it and are always stoked to play.”
Daltons has arrived more recently and given the band another option.
“The most recent venue that has been a real lifeline for the Brighton scene is Daltons. It’s a bigger space but very accessible and artist focussed. We love those guys and hope they’ll be around for as long as possible!”
It is also where Lewis Barnes filmed “Final Fight“, bringing the new EP back into one of the rooms Barriers currently depend on.
“Time Crisis” is out now, self-released by Barriers. Stream it via Bandcamp and Spotify, and find more from the band at barriershardcore.com.
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