Name:
Cabbage
The band is made up of frontmen, Lee Broadbent and Joe Martin; guitarist, Eoghan Lifford; bassist, Stephen Evans and drummer, Asa Morley.
Hails from:
Mossley, Greater Manchester
Genre:
Punk, specifically garage punk
Three words to describe the artist:
Fun, political, angry.
Make your case:
Have you ever asked yourself the question, what if Sex Pistols was formed 40 years later and were from Manchester? Well, you can stop asking because the answer is Cabbage.
As a Northern university, I think we should be supporting our local bands especially when they are contributing to modernising the best genre of all time and Cabbage is a good place to start.
Hailing from the same town as my very own mother, Cabbage piqued my interest. They were on a list of punk albums to look out for in 2018. I was blown away on first listen and that very rarely happens. From that moment on, I wanted to spread the word of one of the best modern punk bands out there. They have been embarrassingly overlooked as one of the main bands of the overdue punk renaissance that we have been having over the last few years. Bands like Slaves, IDLES and Shame have all received deserved praise, but Cabbage is rarely uttered amongst them and that angers me. Unlike these bands, the criticism that those bands make statements without actually saying anything just doesn’t apply to Cabbage. It is impossible to not know exactly where Cabbage stand.
The lead singer has an apologetically Mancunian voice, there is no doubt where this band is from. Cabbage have a unique combination in that they can do not only high tempo punk that sends your pulse haywire but also, more impressively, they can do slower more melancholic tracks incredibly well.
What playlist on your iTunes/Spotify Library should they be on?:
Your punk playlist! If you don’t have a punk playlist, stop reading this and go make one and be sure to put Cabbage on it. If you have a playlist that you use to get blow off steam and release your anger at the world, then there are a number of tracks that could fit perfectly on there. Definitely add the songs ‘Postmodernist Caligula’ and ‘Celebration Of A Disease’.
Early Influences:
There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that they are influenced by the punk bands of the 70’s such as Sex Pistols and The Undertones. Cabbage have a similar anger to the former but have the more pleasant sonic qualities of the latter. If there wasn’t some influence from John Cooper Clarke, I would be baffled. Cooper Clarke is the most Mancunian man on the planet and Cabbage seem to be proud of their origins. Another band that you see the influence of is The Fall. They have a dark but incredible sound that can be found on Mark E Smith’s work on some of the songs.
Favourite Album/Project:
Cabbage’s best work is their debut album ‘Nihilistic Glamour Shots’. The album opens with the mind-blowing track ‘Preach To The Converted’ and keeps up the incredible pace for a few great tracks and then it slows down for a breather with one of the best songs on the album ‘Disinfect Us’. Following that, there are many great tracks. The album has an incredible conclusion from the heart-racing ‘Obligatory Castration’ to the slow, creeping, atmospheric ‘Subhuman 2.0’.
Stop what you’re doing and listen to this:
As much as I would love to make the song ‘Reptile State Funeral’ the song to recommend because of the whispered line that only says “Michael Gove” or the sublimely titled and written track from their EP ‘Young, Dumb And Full Of…’, ‘Grim Up North Korea’. It has to be ‘Obligatory Castration’. This banger is one of the catchiest tracks I have ever heard. The choruses are the earworm you just cannot get rid of, I’ve had it on my favourite songs at the moment playlist ‘Jammin’’ for months.
Twitter: @ahcabbage
Instagram: @cabbage_band
