'The Collective - Volume I' (Album Release)
'The Collective - Volume I' Album Release
When life has been as difficult as it has for us all recently, you can either moan about it and get all overwhelmed (which is VERY easy to do), or you can adapt, roll your sleeves up and make the best of it. We’ve been working hard and staying positive, and while our calendar of quarterly gigs is frustratingly on hold until the government eases up on regulations, we really wanted to do something positive and give something back to our bands and fans.
And so, today, we are absolutely delighted to offer to you all, for FREE or Name Your Price, our first ever compilation release ‘The Collective - Volume I’ - available only on Bandcamp (CLICK LINK). We will also be releasing a short run of 200 Limited Edition CDs, 100 of which are available to purchase now and will be released next month.
When I first dreamed up starting Civil War back in late December 2018 / early January 2019, this was one of the first projects I wanted to create - a way of highlighting and celebrating some of the amazing music from the bands I knew around the grunge and stoner scene in London, the UK, and in one or two exceptions in Europe too. Around that time I had just finished reading a book called ‘Everybody Loves Our Town’ all about the nascent grunge scene in Seattle, and one of the main things that they did that made that scene different was that they all tied together, supported each other, and made a run of amazing (and now famous) compilation albums that helped spread awareness about future world-beating bands like Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Green River, Mudhoney, The Melvins, and last but not least, Nirvana.
I remain totally convinced that a new wave of this type of heavy music (New Wave of Grunge - NWOG?) is gonna blow up in the next couple of years, but most of all, I absolutely love the music and the bands featured on this album. I have never been totally happy with the terms grunge, or stoner, or desert really, but until something else better comes along that is what we are broadly stuck with to describe this heavy, original music, lying somewhere between hard rock and metal, united by heavy guitar sounds, big riffs and choruses, and a directness and musical honesty that you can barely ever find on commercial radio or in the charts.
The bands on this compilation have been absolutely amazing in their support of this project and have let us use and promote their tracks for free, and we take this as a massive vote of confidence for what we are doing. Huge thanks go out to all of these musicians for contributing, and also to my friend Dan M for his help and advice, Ryan O for his continued support of this project, and Matt Bacon for his advice and suggestions when we talked about this idea over a cigar a month or two ago. Musically, every one of these 14 tracks says something different, broadly moving from classic grunge sounds, briefly towards real alternative rock, and then back into heavier stoner / desert vibes as a finale.
This album has been a labour of love to create, but I am so proud of how it has turned out. If you want to support what we are doing (which we do completely for free, not even including our own website costs and hours and hours of time), please do choose the ‘name your price’ option on Bandcamp, even if it’s just a quid, a buck, or the equivalent of a coffee or a beer. If you are in a position to you can order yourself a copy of the CD or even a T-shirt along with your download, but if you are really struggling and can’t afford anything, then we’ve got your back. You can have the music for free. All we would ask is that you might give the album a share on your socials or tell a friend, and be part of this movement. Otherwise, just ENJOY IT and take a listen to these amazing bands. I’m telling you, they are the real deal.
Until we can all meet again, keep it civil.
Dave K @ Civil War HQ
P.S. “From small acorns, mighty oaks grow” - this quote is my current mindset with Civil War. Big things to come in the next year!