Punk News Reviews

Live review: Launch Control presents – A Punk Rock Outlook 3

By Hannah Calver
Launch Control 2

Third Punk Rock Outlook gig with popular bands and an exciting new band is a success!

Reading, Berkshire, UK has a very lively Punk scene – it may be known for the annual Music Festival, but during the rest of the year, there are numerous Punk bands playing at our great venues. One of these, Launch Control, puts on gigs to showcase local talent at east-of-town-centre bar The Outlook.

New writer Hannah was at the third of these shows, along with Punktuation! editor Ruth (who has been to all of them!)

Almost Aliens
Almost Aliens - photo by Hannah Calver

First up were local Reading pop punk band Almost Aliens. They wowed the crowd with their music and an inflatable alien, which had its second outing at this gig! The sound was great, the songs were enjoyable, and they are lovely guys to have a conversation with.

They played a couple of new songs, one of them being ‘My Friends Come First’, which is on their recent EP release ‘The Summer And The Pride’.

Skinhawk - photo by Hannah Calver

Next up we had another local Reading band, Skinhawk. They have only been together 2 months, so very new to the scene, and this was their first ever gig. They are Hardcore and Nerd Punk, they were very loud and heavy. They were the first band to start a mosh pit in the crowd, who they interacted with a lot. (I was particularly impressed by their bass sound – Ed.)

They played 5 songs – all were enjoyable. Their next gig will be on the 28th October at Purple Turtle, Reading.

Launch Control - photo by Hannah Calver

Of course it can’t be a Punk Rock Outlook gig without the hosts themselves, Launch Control. Their singer Lee Switzer-Woolf is very energetic, going into the crowd and involving himself in the mosh pits. They are all absolutely lovely, friendly guys, and have incredibly fast songs which the crowd responded really well to – mosh pits, circle pits, and lots of jumping around!

They played their new single ‘Attention Economy’ which is out on all streaming sites.

Rage DC

And lastly we had Rage DC, a very well-known Punk band within the scene. They had a stand in drummer, Kenny Stevenson (usually behind the kit with Anabollic Steroids), who played with them for the second time at this gig and did extremely well doing so. The crowd loved them. They were loud, energetic, and overall an absolutely incredible band to watch. They played a couple of new songs including ‘Fuck The Man’, which was a limited edition single brought out with Tony Smith, owner of Sounds Of The Suburbs Record Store, London. It is available on Spotify and other streaming sites. Their next gig will be on the 2nd November at the Holroyd Arms, Guildford.

unk Rock Outlook 3 gig poster

Main Photo Credit / All Photos: HANNAH CALVER

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