TEN YEARS OF TOTAL VICTORY

A long post of many parts after which we will shut up for a while.
Worcester, June 2017

(EDIT: a general flavour of this entry can be found in French with this interview with Alter1fo)

HISTORY
Ten years ago Total Victory formed in Queens Park, Bolton. Back then you still had great bands like Moco and The VCs and Neurosync and we wanted to join the party. Now we're the embarrassing guys at the party who won't leave.

We're not doing anything special to mark this moment other than writing this.

MAY / JUNE TOUR 2017
The tour of France that took place to promote the record is complete and we'd like to thank everyone who put us on, played with us, came to see us, gave us food, let us sleep at their place, or helped us in any way with promotion. And a special thank you to Ste who drove and played extra guitar, and Andy, who deputised on drums for James.

photo by Jesse Overman / Blast Radius

In the week before the tour commenced there was the bombing in Manchester. A lot of people got in touch to ask if we were safe; people who felt sufficiently enough about us and our association with Manchester to check on us. It was really nice and fortunately we and everyone we know who was at the show was fine.

As a sidenote: let us never take people like Morrissey seriously when it comes to politics. The man has sung some songs. That is all.

RECORDS / VINYLE
English Martyrs is now out there in the world and we hope that it is being enjoyed where it has found homes. It was a record that presented the band with unprecedented logistical and personal challenges that created a number of arguments and private tensions. But now it is out I think we're very happy with it and are glad for the experience.

There are a few copies of English Martyrs and vs. Big Electric for sale at our bandcamp. I would suggest looking around if you live outside the UK before purchasing. We're happy to ship anywhere though.

Distributors such as Kapitan Platten, Clear Spot, Rejuvenation, Bertus, Goodfellas have it. It is already available here:

Mondadori (Italy)
Bigoût (Lyon)
HMV Japan
Shiny Beast (Netherlands)
X Mist (Germany)
Discogs
Vicious Circle (Toulouse)
La Face Cachee (Metz)
Le Laboratoire (Toulouse)
Transat (Poitiers)
Bis Auf Messer (Berlin)
Radiation (Rome)
Ciel Rouge (Dijon)
Voice of the Unheard (Bordeaux)
Music Fear Satan (Paris)
Blind Spot (Rennes)
Rockin' Bones (Rennes)
Discopathie (Marvejols)

Finally, here are a couple of early reviews
- DCALC
- Mowno
- David Snug
- Colourhorizon (in English)
- Perte et fracas
- Electrophone

DOWNLOAD CODES / Codes de téléchargement
There are none in the vinyl (sealed). If you want one, write to us, telling us where you picked up a copy and we will send you the download.

NATIONAL SERVICE REPRESS
We're just waiting on copies, it is happening.

FUTURE (CONCRETE)
We're playing FREAKSHOW in Gigors-et-Lozeron / La Drôme. There's probably going to be a warm-up show or two somewhere in the UK for a slightly reconfigured line-up. And maybe another European date to make mad stacks of cash. Enough of my yakking though: check out this great poster!

that can't be the right order though

FUTURE (TENTATIVE)
We're going to do a 7" single or maybe a split. We say this every year but it makes more sense now. There was one song that we left off English Martyrs that is a good song but didn't make sense on the record. There are also a couple of tunes that could do with recording before we go on hiatus. Hiatus, you say?

FUTURE (ABSTRACT)
Right now we're thinking about the future of the band.

That Total Victory, the band who were loudly said to have "sucked" by actual friends of ours (thanks Jim!) after their first gig, are still going is extremely wild to me. Mainly this because my previous two bands lasted 6 and 18 months respectively (i. apathy and ii. bitter hatred) and in my opinion we have managed to put out some good stuff and make some lasting connections.

But we're not navel-gazers by nature. Does this look like a touring party of navel-gazers?

literally ZERO navel gazing

Much of this thinking about the future is informed by some concrete things that happened in the past.

At some point in January 2017 I got a phone call from Matt E telling me that he was leaving the band.

TV's first response to crisis, if possible, is to find solutions and groan and process later. During the call, without processing what this might mean for he or us, we suggested that Matt hang on until the tour had completed. He assented. Because he's good like that.

The tour was conducted in good humour and the door is not closed, not on our side anyway. Matt has been incredibly important to what we've done so far and the idea of 'replacing' him is laughable.

So. We've not split up. Not yet anyway. But there will be no shows in 2018 unless something extremely unrefusable turns up. But don't worry, look around! There are great rock groups out there like 21 Pilots and Royal Blood that don't make me want to shit my skull out!

MAKES U THINK

Tarye no lenger toward thyn herytage;

      Hast on thy weye and be of ryght good chere.

Go eche day onward on thy pylgrymage;

      Thynke howe short tyme thou hast abyden here.

from 'The Testament of John Lydgate', John Lydgate (pub. 1520, thought to be written in the late 1450s)
 

such...eloquence