Former members of punk rock acts Beans, Strike First, Shaggable Sluts, The Yuppies and Bitter Grounds, Dutch veterans of the scene return with a new project called LANDMINE HEART. On their debut 7” track track single “No Direction Home b/w White Line Fever”, they mix influences like The Damned, The Stooges, Black Flag, The Hellacopters, and Motörhead, with ther own brand of noisy, fuzzy punk rock that sounds like all of the mentioned run through a blender. Catchy, yet raw at heart, the record can be checked out below, along with the first hand commentary and the music video for the song “No Direction Home”!
LANDMINE HEART‘s “No Direction Home b/w White Line Fever” 7” is out now on AggroBeat Records. “No Direction Home” video was created by Noortje Bakker.
No Direction Home:
The first song we wrote. Chemistry was immediately there. After the first rehearsal we had three songs written and this song almost wrote itself. Lyricwise it’s about not finding your place in this society, a relationship or the place you live, it never feels as “home”. Like every front door found you hoping you would find the back door open. Not knowing what direction to take in life to find your home. Where you can rest your head and ease your mind. The mistakes in life made, drifts you further away. On open sea and no direction home.
White Line Fever:
Also one of the three songs from the first rehearsal. I really love the backing vocals of the other guys on this song. I think the title will say enough about the content of the lyrics. Feeling invincible and indestructible when you are high. But when you’re high you don’t want to come down. When you are down, it’s a hell. So you just go on and on and on. Ignoring warning signs along the way and before you know it, it’s too late to go back. Live a life of lies to cover it up for those who care about you.
More about the band:
Landmine Heart, a four-headed dutch punk beast consisting of members who served the last 20 years in bands like: Beans, Strike First, Shaggable Sluts, The Yuppies and Bitter Grounds. All the members have been playing in bands since the ‘90s and this history combined with the groups ability to draw from different punk genres, enables the creation of a catchy sing-along sound that will make sure that any audience feels like they are part of the show. Landmine Heart plays highly energetic punk rock. Mix this with the attitude of The Damned and The Stooges, the anger of Black Flag, the sleaze of The Hellacopters and the power of Motörhead, then you get the explosive sound of Landmine Heart: Anthemic, filled with hooks and with lyrics relating to real life, a style firmly embedded in the historic roots of punk.
Originated/Jinxed in 2010 after the demise of their old bands. Landmine Heart was all set to conquer the scene but a series of setbacks: dead, depressions, addictions, raising a family, marriages, divorces or other bands, all conspired against the band and the momentum was lost. Or as the bands says:
“life took over”. An occasional gig here and there and a rough and rowdy live recording, made with a iphone, was the only sign of life of the band in years. But that recording and the shows gained them enough credits not to die a silent dead.Late 2016, the band returned invigorated with a new understanding of itself and pumped with a year’s worth of frustration. Jinxed from the start and more dead than alive the band reclaimed the stage and took no prisoners. But what once was a gathering of punks, skins, bikers, junkies, lowlifes and non-specified, was turned into an artfair for beggars and hangers-on. The smell of sweat and danger was replaced by the smell of roses and patchouli. The sound of the streets turned into the sound of art-school trendies who cry and whine. The only danger is the “DANGER” sticker on the back of the guitar amp. The boys were from the wrong side of town and didn’t quite fit in with the ‘art school’ scene. The band carried on regardless and somewhat helpless as something called punk, that housed everything they stood for, died a slow dead in a city once internationally known for it’s punk/hardcore scene and fuck you-attitude. Sick of what was left of that scene they helped to build, the band regained their strength on the ashes and ruins that where left behind . Eager to bring back what was lost on the way.
At the end of 2016 the band got the chance to record some songs in Studio Het Lab with Harry Holzhauer. In less than 3 hours they recorded 2 songs: “No Direction Home” and “White Line Fever”. These recordings made clear it was far from over. Aggro Beat Records (The Oppressed, The Warriors, Oi Polloi, Angelic Upstarts) was eager to press it on vinyl and at the end of 2017 their debut 45 rpm 7” saw the light of day.
Bruised, broken, bitter, down but not out. These words define Landmine Heart through out the years. It formed and shaped a sound of bitterness with a little bit of hope. But…….if you step on it, it will explode!
