Van Coke Kartel: Clean Punk, Blurry Lines
November 30, 2007 – 12:02 by JohnFrancois van Coke is a very busy man. If you look on band management agency Punkskelm’s artist listing, you’ll see the man’s mothership Fokofpolisiekar, soloist Francois Van Coke and the newly launched Van Coke Kartel. Three artists. One man. Let’s take a look to see if the flammable frontman’s energy managed to match the hungry Cape Town crowd’s appetite at the Mercury last night for the launch of Van Coke Kartel’s self-titled debut album and support tour…
Taxi Violence frontman George van der Spuy and bassist Loedi van Renen made a guest appearance, and for a brief, blurry moment, you could be forgiven for thinking that the five-man entourage was, in fact, an incorrectly billed Fokofpolisiekar.
| A few words with Francois and some gig action |
We won’t make any bones about it: Van Coke Kartel’s music is an unabashed, carbon copy of that of Fokofpolisiekar, the band which kick-started Afrikaans punk and raised up more than one controversial incident. From kroegbaklei to injuries of revelry to the famed Vok God incident, these guys have some stories to tell.
So, what is Van Coke Kartel? A purist way of telling Hunter and Johnny to take a break? A way for FOPK mastermind Wynand Myburgh to regain the reigns? Does it matter? The house was so full of loyal fans – yeah, people do travel from the Northern to the Southern suburbs – that even the guys standing on the back benches were screaming along with the three-piece SA music heavyweights. It’s good to see Van Coke himself getting some guitar time, while Myburgh and poster-absent drummer Justin Kruger thrashed out, also going tekere with T-shirts and promo flyers for upcoming band aKing.
The band ticks nearly all the boxes. They have a magnificent presence, a genuinely iconic punk image and are well ahead in their merchandising (beforehand, press were given a copy of the CD and a branded guitar plectrum and matchbox.) However, what they make up for in gold print they could work on in their repertoire. Still, they had a good 300 people chomping their teeth in appreciation. This band, too, knows how to deliver clean punk rock.
Francois was very kind in his backstage chat with us, and always has been when I’ve approached him for photos and videos. But there’s a certain restlessness behind the man’s eyes, perhaps to do with the fact that right after the show, they packed up and headed straight for a Pretoria gig scheduled for just 24 hours later. I hope to see VCK allow him, Wynand, Justin and the whole gang of FOPK skelms still achieve their full potential as not just a punk band, but a voice that says, “not us. You.”
In the same key ::
Discography ::
2007: Van Coke Cartel (self-titled)
Did you know ::
Upcoming tour dates ::
30 Nov 2007: Pretoria, Zeplins with Fuzigish & Kidofdoom
1 Dec 2007: Harrismith, Woodstock
2 Dec 2007: African International Tattoo Fest, Durban
5 Dec 2007: Red Door, Pietermaritzburg
6 Dec 2007: Backstage, Margate
7 Dec 2007: Burn, Durban
8 Dec 2007: Playhouse, Durban
10 Dec 2007: Raggies, East London
11 Dec 2007: Tapas Al Sol, PE
15 Dec 2007: Kaktus, Langebaan
19 Dec 2007, Berties, Gordons Bay
21 Dec 2007: Summer X, Cape Town
26 Dec 2007: Groot Gees Rock Fees, Stilbaai, Western Cape
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5 Responses to “Van Coke Kartel: Clean Punk, Blurry Lines”
Thanks pravda23.
Keep up the good work!
Till next time.
By Geezer on Dec 3, 2007
excellent informed opinion. thanks, geezer. Ashtray Electric is a CT-based indie rock band, saw em once a while ago. Check out a vid here:
http://overtone.co.za/musicblog/unitr-up-to-some-new-tricks/2007/10/27/
we’re doing well, we’re really hitting the underground hard, so keep checking out.
By pravda23 on Dec 2, 2007
I have to say, I don’t think that VCK is a carbon copy of FPK.
For one, VCK does not have the intricate guitar lines that FPK had – mainly attributed to the fact that Johnny is not playing I think.
And if we want to start putting these guys in genre’s (which I hate doing by the way) we’ll see that VCK leans way more to straight forward Rock and Roll than Punk. Not that I think FPK was Punk either.
The lyrics also have a different feel altogether to them.
This is also the same problem with FotoNaDans – Everybody thinks they sound like FPK – but by god, they are two totally different entities that share nothing but the place they recorded their albums at.
One might argue that this is exactly it…
For me it’s the same vibe as people saying Interpol and Editors sound the same.
Nice article and clip though.
Who the hell is Ashtray Electric by the way?
By Geezer on Dec 2, 2007
because it’s all about who’s better, right? haha. why don’t we split up next time, and cover two gigs? in fact, tell everyone who’s into journalism to get off ass. now.
Cape Town’s got more artistic talent it knows what to do with.
By pravda23 on Dec 1, 2007
John B is a freakin’ brilliant writer. I do support him so but I cringe with inadequacy upon reading his reviews. I too was at the show and produced a writeup, but realise it is horrid in comparison to Johnny B’s. Pravda, your’e my hero. Let’s take over the world together. Topnotch review, son. Jon
By Jonhenry Wilson on Nov 30, 2007