Crud World Domination Enterprises give you
THE COX
As the scene built
around Bar Blu in Rhyl flourished, so was the punk scene with Dave Cox, Ste Cox
and Leigh Cox being the catalysts of most things happening. The two factions
rarely crossed although there was no anomosity, just different musical tastes.
Centred mainly around the Dudley Arms from 2002
onwards The Cox's Punk In Drublic nights were a huge success.
The Cox spearheaded
an influx of full on punk bands into the scene, with Gape probably being the
most extreme. Emerging from a swamp in 2003 Gape do
not hide behind their instruments. Llanfairfechan's finest (and probably only)
hardcore thrashed out punk band promised to deliver and they delivered enough
to put any midwife to shame. A guitar amp pushed to the absolute hilt, so loud
it kept cutting out in protest at being so blatantly abused by this teenage
upstart. And a front man with so much energy like a spastic on speed with a
ferret down his pants, this guy could give lessons to any other vocalist in the
business. Rhys Mwyn (ex-Anhrefn) would give the young bands he had taken under
is wing a Clash live video to study and say 'this is how I want you to be on
stage.' Something many regarded as a good idea, but now those minds may be
changing; in fact, chuck those Clash videos away and come and watch Gape.
Musically their live set was to the extreme, like The Electro Hippies on a bad
day but that didn't matter and thye didn’t really care, Gape were not out to
please their mums and dads who stood in the audience.
Fuck off mum, fuck
off dad.
The Cox also brought with them the punk ethic of merchandise and would have
their ‘Full Length’ LP and ‘Nailbomb The Dancefloor’ EP tucked away in their
bags if anyone was brave enough to approach them after a show, but it was punk
bands from out of the area who showed the locals how to do it, eg. Shatterhand
had their CDs, t-shirts, badges and fanzines all neatly displayed and
accessible. They call it Networking, and for the bands that do it, it works.
Neil Crud ranted,
'Local bands like Ethergy, Crave, Gape and Six Year Hangover; four bands who all played in the space of a week, and not one CD
between them was available on the night, not one anyone could see anyway. Even
a CDr sold for a quid is a profit, and more importantly you’re leaving a legacy
in someone’s house, something they’ll play, and maybe play to their mates, who
may come and see you next time and buy that CD etc. It’s called Advertising, if they don’t know you exist they won’t come
and see you and won’t buy your CDs. It all goes hand in hand; spread your
disease, sow your wild oats, you’re in a band playing gigs and making music for
one reason; you’re in the entertainment business, so stop doing half a job!'
The Cox were a band who wore their full blooded hearts well and
truly on their torn punk rock sleeves. This hardcore punk band lasted two years
from forming in 2002 after having a jam for a laugh. Rhyl based Leigh Hodson
(ex-Floaters Revenge) on guitar and vocals, Ste Ska on bass and
They were
industrious with their effort, enthusiasm and output and Steve set up their own
Drunk Munkey Records in February 2002 to release the EP 'You Know Who We Mean.'
An album called ‘Al Bum’ by Jibberish and the Chinese Chicken Balls EP preceded
this release. A compilation CD came out in January ’03 called Monkey’s Feces
Vol. 1 (complete with spelling mistake!) featuring bands from the
'You Know Who We
Mean' was seven rough and ready tracks recorded at Leigh's house in summer 2002
opening with Drunk Munkee which
remained in the band's set until the end, as did Speak Up. The EP also included two songs that were ten seconds
long, plus a version of Elvis Presley's Falling
In Love and ending with What's The Point (in Johnny).
If you were a full
on punk band The Cox would fall over themselves to help you, if you weren’t
then you were either ignored or treated with suspicion or even hatred, as John
Bowden from the more heavy rock orientated Kobe found out,
‘We had somehow become double booked at The Dudley with The Cox and they
were very aggressive towards us and didn’t want us to play.’
Neil Crud also saw
that gig and remembers,
‘
Drunk Monkey had changed its name to Pigtown
Records (a reference to the literal English translation of Steve Cox’s hometown
of Mochdre) and released Hektor’s ‘Mullet’ EP and a month later The Cox put out
the ‘Too Soon’ EP. The label was played down by the band and Dave described it
as Leigh’s computer CD writer and a few punk bands.
In January 2004 The
Cox released a 4 track single Nailbomb The Dancefloor that turned out to be not only their
finest moment, but was also voted Best Single of The Year in the Link2wales
2004 Poll. Neil Crud was jumping through hoops when he first heard the single,
‘I couldn’t believe my ears, its gotta be one of
the best singles in my collection, its unbelievably good.’
The vocals were by
drummer Dave Cox for this track, who had a far more distinctive voice than regular
singer Leigh. It also had probably the best sleeve you'll ever want to own,
having illegally lifted a huge chunk of Disco
Inferno for the opening of the song, they also took the Saturday Night
Fever picture sillhouette of John Travolta and turned it into their own.
Adam Walton shared
Neil’s almost orgasmic enthusiasm but stressed he could never ever play a track
on BBC radio that had the line: “Die DJ you fucking cunt.” Determined that this
song should be heard by the masses and not by a few hundred punks in a very
tight and insular scene, Neil Crud edited the song by flipping the two
offensive lines backwards and burnt off a few copies.
Adam immediately
played it, and then played it again and again. At least five times, with Neil
also airing it on Radio Wales and his own Link2wales show on numerous
occasions, and both Neil and Adam tried to arrange the band to record a session
for the BBC show.
‘They didn’t want to know because it wasn’t an exclusively punk rock
programme.’ Explained a morose Neil. ‘Leigh had a
phobia about travelling and wouldn’t even go as far as Betws-y-Coed to record
the session.’
That explains why
The Cox never played anywhere too far from home, and possibly Leigh’s
non-appearance at a Penrhyn Old Hall gig that the band played regardless of his
absence. Wayne The Bastard remembered that performance
as,
‘…an open mic event, as various folk had a go. After a promising start,
it all went a bit pear shaped and they, like the audience, gave up and headed
for the bar.’
So The Cox were on self destruct before things
got off the ground, and by all intents and purposes, true to their punk rock
beliefs. This was iterated when Dave Cox approached Neil at a gig in Penrhyn
Old Hall asking his thoughts on the band attempting to sue the BBC for editing
their song without permission.
‘I didn’t tell him it was me who did it, but did try to explain about
biting feeding hands.’ There was no law suit, and probably never would’ve been
as Neil pointed out, ‘They were so tight, they used to charge me to get into
their gigs to review them!’
Previous to The Cox, Dave and Steve had plied their trade in Mochdre
based punk band Chinese Chicken Balls in 2001 along with Gavin (voc, gtr) and
Gorro (gtr), although Dave actually joined later in March 2002 replacing Tom.
This band released a demo "Live E.P." which had eleven rough and
ready songs recorded live at the Penrhyn Old Hall 22.06.02. They also had two
tracks Since The Start and Three Wise Monkeys on the Munkey Feces compilation, their sound was that
of a very young punk band with very flat singer. They changed their name to
Hektor in March 2003, but by now The Cox were already a going concern.
Dave and Leigh had
already played together in 2001 in Floaters Revenge, who were previously called
Superweak
then Terminal CC before opting for the Floaters banner. Dave
was then a mohican sporting vocalist-guitarist, as was
Leigh, and they were flanked by the equally impressive looking ex
After seeing
Floaters Revenge at the Carpet gig Andy Fatman described them as ‘bad punk
rock.’ He was probably right, but what is good punk rock? The
clean-cut Green Day playing sanitised chord progressions with millions of kids’
dollars in the bank or the dirty stench driven Floaters Revenge? Not two
tosses were given by the band at that opening slot as they strummed up with
nothing to prove, the attitude was to just get pissed and make a noise, if the
words fit and it’s in time, then all the better.
A lot of these bands have over-lapping dates, as it was quite common for
members to be trying their worth in other outfits and offshoots, which quite
often become the reason for the main band to split. Dave then decided to give
up guitaring,
‘I really can't play it very well at all! I can do chords (bar chords)
but that’s it, I'm not patient, confident or talented enough to try and get
good at it so what's the use? That's why I tried out drums instead which I'm
better at by millions than I am on the "axe".’
Neil Crud first caught up with The Cox on his birthday at the Fairview
Inn in Llanddulas in November 2002,
‘What I was doing in Llanddulas on my birthday beggars belief. And I had
to walk three miles home afterwards!’
In his review though
Neil could see a potential, more in Dave than the band:
“…In drummer Dave
Warburton, they have the making of someone who could play a pivotal and
influential role in how the underground scene spans out.
The Cox are messy, under rehearsed (and that's their CD!) and only 4 gigs into
their promising career. They have so many songs that Wayne [The Bastard]
suggested their set list would've been better written on a flip chart. In fact,
their songs are so short and punchy that I went for a piss and they'd played
another two by the time I'd given it 3 shakes!
In Lee [Leigh], The Cox have a great front man who is and looks the part with a
guitar slung round his neck and a perfect stance, it's of no surprise that the
electric cut out 4 or 5 times during this onslaught of songs.”
The same month as
the release of Nailbomb the Dancefloor came
the album ‘The Full Length Cox’ which was smattered with politically bent
subjects and a few personal attacks, including a pet hate of theirs, Jonny
Lantern (of the Llandudno band Lantern) where they refer to him as an impotent
nob-head who couldn't make his girlfriend come! The exchanges went on and on
between the two bands and, to the outsider were very entertaining. Dave
describes their choice of subjects,
‘We write songs about whatever’s on our minds. We've got a few serious
songs (about anti-BNP, anti-war, unity, education, failure etc) and a few funny
songs (Nailbomb The Dancefloor, I Wanna Be Ron Jeremy,
Itchy Pants, Whats The Point In Johnny? etc). In general our songs are about
looking out for each other and doing what you want to do no matter what people
say or do (and lobbin grenades in discos).’
On his spat with Lantern, and in particular with Jonny, Dave said,
‘I can be an arse wipe so I'm not that surprised when people slag me off
and I know for certain that Lantern want me in a box. But, fair enough if
people don't like us or our music or whatever, cos everyone's different,
musical tastes and people's personalities can clash. Basically, we don’t give a
shit if people like us or don’t like us (musically or personally).’
Lantern had replied
to What’s The Point in Johnny with
their own Jonny’s Song but being a
bit more grown up about it with the line: 'you don’t know me, you don’t know a
thing' (although Dave and Jonny were in college together). And seeing a hornets nest buzzing to be broken Neil Crud asked Dave if
he’d review a Lantern gig for his website. He did and wasn’t very
complimentary,
‘Its hard to give an un-biased review because my
hate for Johnny really makes me want to rip them completely.’
'The Full Length
Cox' is a slab of 17 tracks of aggressive punk rock exactly how it should be
played and showed they did have a conscience for the poor and needy, the
country and as they'll tell you, 'we're the voice of an angry youth and we will
take no shit from you.' Recorded this time at The Sty (which was probably
Leigh's house again, in August '03, it was a pity they
never mustered up the funds to make this sound in a proper recording studio as
the songs showed true power. Anyone who can sing, 'Blair is his [Bush's]
poodle, fucking arsehole let's rip off his nuts,' deserves to be heard! Dave
confirmed this,
‘Yes, everything was
recorded in Leigh’s house/garage but Ste thought it was be cooler if we said
Sty Studios the sad cunt ha-ha!!’
By now The Cox were
a serious force to be reckoned with, but it wasn’t all plain sailing to get to
the point where the crowd were chanting songs such as Roxtar and Out of Darkness
at their live performances, as Neil Crud pointed out in a review after seeing
them in the Dudley in Oct ’03:
“I last saw The Cox
on my birthday in 2001, like me, they were sloppy, disorganised and basically
out for a laugh, my problem since then is that’s the image that has stuck with
me for the last 2 years. I’ve not taken them seriously, it’s like remembering
someone from school who was a complete arsehole, you
expect them to be the same later in adult life, when invariably they’re not;
except of course in my case.
The Cox, surprised and amazed me, expecting that same arsehole from school, I
got instead a mature young adult who knew where he was going in life, not quite
there but definitely on the right track. This is perhaps not the way to
describe a gobbing punk band but The Cox are for sure serious about the way
they’re going to have a laugh. With 1.30min punk songs that rip through a set
that was too long for their own good, this 3 piece have set out their stall to
assault your senses.”
When you’re actually
the force behind the hugely successful Punk In Drublic nights held mainly in
Rhyl you were going to have ample opportunity to play at as many shows as you
could organise, and The Cox (being that force) popped up at almost every
occasion, either on the bill or filling in last minute for non-appearing bands.
Dave Cox explains,
‘Out of the eleven
gigs we put on whilst we were together we only played five, and it would have
been less if it wasn’t for the frustration of not being able to play anywhere
else, but I do agree we were a bit selfish.’
Because of Leigh’s
unwillingness to travel you were almost guaranteed to stumble upon a Cox gig in
Rhyl, be it at The Dudley, the Crescent, the Morville and even the more
conservative Bar Blu. When Dave was asked if The Breeding Ground had inspired
him to take up the gig promoting reins he was pretty vocal,
‘I think the
Of course it
couldn’t last forever and by March 2004 The Cox would play their final gig and
it was what many would describe as one the best gigs seen in Rhyl for many
years. They said it would be their last gig for a while as Steve was heading
for further education and the bright lights and college scarves of
Steve Sync said of
the gig,
‘They blasted out their first number, and what a fucking great noise it
was, loud, powerful, a bollock churning wall of sound pissing over the solid
mass of bodies in front of them. Every time I saw The Cox, they impressed me
more and more, and they were getting better and better by the gig. They played
a great set including everyone’s favourite Nailbomb The
Dancefloor.’
In his review of
that legendary night Neil Crud wrote:
“The Cox have developed into a crowd pulling, professional tub
thumping excellent outfit, epitomised by a packed crowd singing all their
songs. This shows if you are genuine, believe in what you do and are hard
working, then the dividends do pay off. I’m trying to recall the last time I
saw a local band have so much vocal support and probably have to go as far back
as the Psychosexual Sex Terrestrials in their heyday (before they tried to be
serious) to find anything near what we saw and felt tonight. I have a video of
that PSST gig from 1992, the gig was just across the road at The Mermaid, the cameraman
had to stand on a window ledge to avoid being battered by a crazed crowd, it was a great show and great fun. Tonight was one of those
nights and they don’t happen that often; everyone was out for a good time and
that’s what they got and that’s what its all about. Lets face facts, there’s no light show, projections,
pyrotechnics or costume changes going on here, this is a punk rock gig in a
grotty pub in a boarded up area of town. All there is on offer are loud
guitars, excellent music and bags and bags of energy.”
The Cox split up in
June 2004 having achieved what they set out to do, Leigh went into recording
for Pigtown’s releases, while Dave and Steve teamed up with local punk
photography student Milton and formed Boycott UK, who were supposed to make
their first appearance supporting the UK Subs at The Morville in Sept '04 but
as Dave explained at the time,
‘We didn’t play that
in the end cos there wasn’t enough time for us to play, but we did play a few
gigs at the
(Isaac Hunt)
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