Released on August 11, No Excuses: A Live Tape in Honour of Nathan Ashworth pays tribute to a Melbourne music legend.
“Thanks all for coming. This is power.”
Shove vocalist Bella Kranjec stood in front of her band, and while she was referring to their song called Power, the statement lingered in the room a little longer than any note they would soon play.
No Excuses: A Live Tape in Honour of Nathan Ashworth Tracklist
- SHOVE – Power
- Cutters – Surveillance Drones
- Skid City – Better Off Ted
- Silva – Silva Theme
- Future Suck – Hell For Leather
- Phil & The Tiles – Elixir
- Power Supply – Let’s Do This And Let’s Do That
- Future Suck – Fire Season
- Skid City – Frozen Creature
- Silva – Organised
- Power Supply – I’ve Got Feelings Too
- Cutters – Depresso Rant No.69
- Phil & The Tiles – I Can’t Live In A Living Room (Red Zebra cover)
- SHOVE – Control
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In October 2021, Kranjec lost her husband Nathan Ashworth to stage four glioblastoma. The two were hugely involved in Melbourne’s punk and hardcore scenes and were familiar faces to many.
In his honour, Kranjec organised a charity show at the Thornbury Bowls Club in April 2022. She couldn’t have expected just how much people would contribute, with attendees and the broader community raising over $10,000 for the Cure Brain Cancer Foundation.
The gig featured the likes of Future Suck, Power Supply and Phil & The Tiles, along with Kranjec’s own band Shove. Hardcore icons Swab were also set to perform, but had to pull out due to illness and were replaced by Cutters.
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Now over a year after the show, the local label Rack Off Records has released a compilation album containing recordings from the night mixed by Alicia Saye (Deep Heat, Hacker), further contributing to the fundraiser. Local artist spiderxdeath contributed to the poster and merch, while Mikey Young mastered the collection or tracks as a donation.
On the record, each band offers their own strain of punk, culminating in a snarling compilation of tunes emboldened by the cause. Unreleased tracks by Future Suck and Cutters make their debut appearance and the release also marks the first time local noise rockers Silva’s music has been commercially available.
It’s a strong display of the scene’s unification; since their inception in 2019, a majority of Shove’s output has been put out by Rack Off and most of the lineup have played with the band before. The over $10,000 raised significantly demonstrates the power of community and compassion.
“[Nathan] loved a good time spent with good people and this show was just that,” Kranjec wrote for the cassette release. “Now that he’s gone, we’re left to keep giving it a good crack for him. No Excuses.”
To buy the album and support the cause, head here.
