Finch have added a new demo called "Hail to the Fire" to their MySpace page.
Sunday, 31 May 2009
News - The Used Picture Disc
The Used will release their new single "Blood on My Hands" as a picture disc on the 30th of June.
Review - Black Sabbath - The Best of Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath - The Best of Black Sabbath
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9 out of 10
If you are one of the two or three people in the world not to be aware of Black Sabbath, then this is as good a starting place as any - particularly if you find the notion of illegal downloads a bit, well, illegal. It's choice cuts from the Ozzy era, mostly from the first two albums, and they sound as vital as ever. Influential is an understatement, obviously, when you're talking about the likes of; War Pigs, Sweet Leaf, Paranoid, Iron Man et. al. Nice to see The Wizard make the cut, too. I would have chopped Evil Woman for Hand of Doom, but hey ho.
However, the success of Heaven and Hell recently shows that there's more to Sabbath than having the naked, bathplug-wearing Prince of Darkness as their singer. The lack of any Dio-era (or, indeed, any other era) material makes a cash-in mockery of the collection as a whole. But it's still Sabbath, so musically - you simply cannot go wrong.
Listen: www.black-sabbath.com
Tracklist:
1. Paranoid
2. Iron Man
3. Changes
4. Fairies Wear Boots
5. War Pigs
6. Never Say Die
7. Children of the Grave
8. The Wizard
9. Snowblind
10. Sweet Leaf
11. Evil Woman
12. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
13. Black Sabbath
14. N.I.B.
Review - Kong - Snake Magnet
Kong - Snake Magnet
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9 out of 10
This band are what the word 'relentless' was invented for. From bowel-shuddering scream-anthem Leather Penny (which contains the finest final fifty seconds in rock) to the Babylonian mess that is K(l)ong, Snake Magnet takes the listener's head apart. Guitars are crushingly sharp - an axe with hammer attachment. Drums surely disintegrate under the best punishment this side of Bonham on amphetamines. And the vocals - ah, the vocals. Indecipherable horror, rage and passion boiling from the guts. The whole constantly sounds on the verge of total Fugazi-cide collapse or adrenaline-induced seizure. I only hope Kong survive until the album's release - so many cobwebs need their blowing away.
Listen: www.myspace.com/kongdom
Tracklist:
1. Leather Penny
2. Blood of a Dove
3. Wet Your Knives
4. Gwant
5. Good Graphics
6. Nih
7. Sport
8. A Hint of Rennit, Innit
9. Count to Nine
10. K(l)ong
Review - CAKE - B-Sides and Rarities
CAKE - B-Sides and Rarities
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7 out of 10
Released alongside the remastering of their 1994 debut album Motorcade of Generosity, this collection of nuggets shows CAKE at their best. Short Skirt, Long Jacket deserves a wider audience than that of the film Waitress, Thrills gazes at the underbelly of America in a manner sadly lacking in these days of Obama-philia - even their cover of Mahna, Mahna manages to break free from the Muppet stranglehold. In short, throw away your easy musical boxes. File under (slightly) queasy listening.
Listen: www.myspace.com/cake
Tracklist:
1. War Pigs
2. Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town
3. Mahna, Mahna
4. Excuse Me, I Think I've Got A Heartache
5. Conroy
6. Strangers In The Night
7. Multiply the Heartaches
8. Never, Never Gonna Give You Up
9. Thrills
10. Short Skirt, Long Jacket
11. It's Coming Down
Review - CAKE - Motorcade of Generosity
CAKE - Motorcade of Generosity
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7 out of 10
A remastered release of their 1994 debut, Motorcade of Generosity sees Cake - sorry, CAKE - do the necessary and wave goodbye to major-labelhood (Columbia, in their case) before the release of next-album-proper later this year. Proudly eschewing genres, the band occupy a space all their own - although fans of fellow well-read freaks Barenaked Ladies, King Missile and the Tragically Hip should find much to enjoy. Leader John McRea spins a merry, sarcastic lyric or several, while the band play 'deceptively gentle' to a tee - particularly on Satanist hoe-down Pentagram ('Your feet are dry from the ashes of dead babies. . .' McRea croons, as the Good Ol' Boys twangle in the background). Witty, talented, imaginative, though-provoking music, in other words. It's no wonder the British music 'scene' hasn't registered their existence.
Listen: www.myspace.com/cake
Tracklist:
1. Comanche
2. Ruby Sees All
3. Up So Close
4. Pentagram
5. Jolene
6. Haze of Love
7. You Part the Waters
8. Is This Love?
9. Jesus Wrote A Blank Check
10. Rock n' Roll Lifestyle
11. I Bombed Korea
12. Mr. Mastodon Farm
13. Ain't No Good
Review - Gary Go - Gary Go
Gary Go - Gary Go
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9 out of 10
I had heard of Gary Go at the start of 2009, as he was one of the artists to watch for the year. Then I found out he was supporting Take That on their sell out summer tour. I heard the fantastic catchy single 'Wonderful' and also loved the video.
I was looking forward to hearing more from Gary, and then the album turned up. I wasn't disappointed.
New single 'Open Arms' is the first track on the album, and it really pulls you into his songwriting style. Every song seemed to hit a high note with me and the next thing I found was I was playing the whole album for a second time, then a third time. I can see this laid back longplayer being a regular on my generic MP3 player this summer.
The whole album is pop at its best; the songs are epic and addictive. Standout tracks are 'Life Gets In The Way', 'Refuse To Lose' and 'Speak'. The guitar playing on the album is excellent and with the piano blending in, the whole album soars to great heights from energetic songs to big ballads. Gary is only 24, yet his songs feel like they are from someone older and have more worldly knowledge.
I am lucky enough to be going to see Take That at their tour opening concert in Sunderland, so am over the moon that I will be seeing Gary Go perform live. If he is as good live as he is on CD, then I won't be disappointed.
A real summer album, one that I can hear being played whilst all the barbeques are firing up over the UK.
Listen: www.myspace.com/garygo
Tracklist:
1. Open Arms
2. So So
3. Engines
4. Wonderful
5. Life Gets In The Way
6. Brooklyn
7. Refuse To Lose
8. Honest
9. Heart And Soul
10. Speak
11. Black And White Days
Review - Anekdoten - Chapters
Anekdoten - Chapters
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6 out of 10
And so it is that a band in existence for eighteen years can be called 'the finest young prog band in the world today'. Mind you, this is Prog we're talking about (note the capital 'P') and time has a different meaning there. Anekdoten tick all the boxes, though; expansive songs (few on offer here are under six minutes in length), sweeping gestures (strings, guitars, piano - airy grandeur par excellence), fantastical imagery (mirrors, the sea, time, etc., etc.). You get the idea. There's little on offer here for the non-Elfin, mind, once you get over the very English Drake / Barrett vocal. It's a bit like stomping around an Arctic forest - the hugeness abounds and impresses at first, yet after a while things get a bit damp and your balls shrink in the cold.
Listen: www.myspace.com/anekdoten
Tracklist:
CD 1:
1. Ricochet
2. The Great Unknown
3. From Within
4. In For A Ride
5. The War Is Over
6. Monolith
7. A Sky About to Rain
8. Every Step I Take
9. Groundbound
10. Gravity
11. When I Turn
CD 2:
1. Sad Rain
2. Wheel
3. The Old Man & The Sea
4. Nucleus (Demo)
5. Book of Hours (Demo)
6. This Far From The Sky (Demo)
7. 30 Pieces (Demo)
8. Prince of the Ocean (Demo)
Review - Prego - The Longest Calm (Single)
Prego - The Longest Calm (Single)
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5 out of 10
Continuing their trawl through late '80s / early '90s Indie, Prego arrive, with this release, at the Wedding Present and the Cure. Not a bad place to dock at, what with handling the quiet/quiet/LOUD template so well, together with a Caledonian take on the Gedge school of vocalising. Nowhere near as offensive as it might be, but not as brilliant, either. The space is still to be watched.
Listen: www.myspace.com/pregomusic
Tracklist:
1. The Longest Calm
Review - Takoma Star - Stockholm (Single)
Takoma Star - Stockholm (Single)
View The Review
2 out of 10
I'm sorry, Essex. This just isn't good enough. The world simply does not need any more bog-standard, metally-emo, shouty nonsense. If McFly become addicted to something unsavoury, like cocktails of Harvey's Bristol Cream and meths, then they would sound like Takoma Star. Potential tabloid gurning aside, there's nothing remotely interesting or exciting here, unless you like being bored and unexcited - in that case, you'll be falling over yourself. But you probably do a lot of that anyway. Get some decent shoes. John Peel's son likes them, though. Make a sentence with the following words; 'what', 'so' and 'fucking'.
Listen: www.myspace.com/takomastar
Tracklist:
1. Stockholm
Review - Revengine - II
Revengine - II
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3 out of 10
Revengine evidently use an odd mix in their fuel. Starting off like Lidl Europe, they crash into the Megadeth mosh-pit with Disco BS, before failing as a Mastodon tribute band with the final two tracks. 'My only crime is to stay alive' crows axe n' vox man Antti Jokiranta. Well, at least he's honest.
Listen: www.myspace.com/revengineband
Tracklist:
1. F(r)iend
2. Disco BS
3. The Wait
4. Yet Here We Are
Review - The Soft Close-Ups - The Soft Close-Ups
The Soft Close-Ups - The Soft Close-Ups
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2 out of 10
The Soft Close-Ups' promo suffers slightly under the DIY production values. It suffers more under the combination of awful bedsit Soft Cell and self-absorbed, Tesco's value-brand Smiths impersonations. Fireworks is probably the least tedious track on offer here, sounding like some experiment by Phil Oakey's less annoying younger brother. As for the rest, it's private school Erasure finding musical meaning in the Early Learning Centre. Virgins may cry.
Listen: www.myspace.com/thesoftcloseups
Tracklist:
1. Ditch the Theory
2. Some Sick Day
3. Birthmark
4. Fireworks
5. The Way I Don't Kiss
6. At The End Of A Good Day
Review - Ghostcat - This Is A Bust (Single)
Ghostcat - This Is A Bust (Single)
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6 out of 10
Ghostcat might be feeling their cream has gone off a bit since the Yeah Yeah Yeahs 'went disco' recently. Trouble is, when you sound like the finest YYYs tribute around, and the best track on your new single sounds like an out-take from the recording of It's Blitz, that's kind-of inevitable. Easy comparisons aside, the band are clearly Party with a capital 'P', and possess a great view on the murkier side of weekend butt-shaking. It's right there on the opening track, where Ali Cat (yes, that's what she's called) advises young women to confront chaps they fancy with the words 'this is a bust - put your hands up'. Young men not known for their subtlety in the ways of party lurrve, of course. It's 'motherfucking hands' on the naughty version - this, presumably, for those ladies whose targets seem less than willing to grasp the nork. E.B.O.T.D.F. is the aforementioned Karen O-athon oozing, pulsing and thumping all at once. Just A Little Bit is more of the same, only with more Stones guitar. Should be alright when the Yeahs move onto Jazz, or something.
Listen: www.myspace.com/ghostcatmusic
Tracklist:
1. This Is A Bust (Radio Version)
2. This Is A Bust (Explicit Version)
3. E.B.O.T.D.F. (Everybody On The Dancefloor)
4. Just A Little Bit (Meet Me In The Bathroom)
News - The Melting Ice Caps: Mise En Scene
The Melting Ice Caps are releasing a new single called "Mise En Scene" that is available as a free download from this link: www.themeltingicecaps.co.uk. You can view the video on the MySpace page.
Live Date:
22nd July at the Wilmington Arms, London
News - A Skylit Drive iTunes Pre-Order
A Skylit Drive’s new album "Adelphia" is now available for pre-order on iTunes.
News - The Maine Acoustic Videos
Check out videos of The Maine playing "Into Your Arms" and "I Must Be Dreaming" acoustically right here: www.purevolume.com/videos/516
News - Punk Goes... Classic Rock
Fearless Records has announced that the next album of the Punk Goes.. series will feature classic rock hits.
Friday, 29 May 2009
Review - The Devil Wears Prada - With Roots Above and Branches Below
The Devil Wears Prada - With Roots Above and Branches Below
View The Review
9 out of 10
Christian Metalcore heavyweights The Devil Wears Prada (TDWP) released "With Roots Above And Branches Below" on Ferret Records on May, 5th. Sophomore release and follow up to the successful "Plagues" album, TDWP step up their game with a perfect blend of majority metal substance and blissfully melodic choruses. This release is for fans of I Killed The Prom Queen, As I Lay Dying, Parkway Drive and Underoath.
The opening track "Sassafras" may put off a lot of listeners due to its heavily screamed vocals but given the chance this album could gain a lot of new fans if only given a chance. In just 2 minutes the track chances from a Metalcore song into a song to contend with Saosin and Underoath's perfected melodic choruses.
The truly brilliant thing about this album is the single things you often pick out in a great band such as a fantastic drummer or unique vocalists are all present. Jeremy does a fantastic job of some standout clean vocals, Daniel performs well enough to make most drummers sick, Chris pulls some piercing riffs and James does a fantastic job on supplying a wide array of classical piano and orchestral sections.
A fantastic amount of detail went into post-production on this record with the almost ingenious effects used towards the later side of "I Hate Buffering" which incorporates a stuttering pan effect and although not Metallica "S&M" worthy the orchestral sections that can be found throughout this release really gives it that edge over most Metalcore releases as of late
Standout tracks include "Dez Moines" (Single), "I Hate Buffering" and "Danger: Wildman". Although this may not be everyone's cup of tea, if given the chance many listeners will find something they enjoy about TDWP's latest attempt.
Listen: www.myspace.com/tdwp
Tracklist:
1. Sassafras
2. I Hate Buffering
3. Assistant to the Regional Manager
4. Dez Moines
5. Big Wiggly Style
6. Danger: Wildman
7. Bed Has A Kid
8. Wapakalypse
9. Gimme Half
10. Louder Than Thunder
News - Attack! Attack! Embark On The "Hidden Cities" Tour
Attack! Attack! are set to embark on their "Hidden Cities" tour next week.
Singer/guitarist Neil Starr explains how the tour came about, "we’ve played the major cities of the UK a few times already since we released the album, so rather than just play a few festivals and sit around doing nothing this summer, we saw this a the perfect opportunity to play in places we hadn’t visited yet. Our guitarist Ryan (Day) came up with the Hidden Cities thing, I don’t know what goes on in that kids head most of the time, but this idea I liked."
JUN 04: SWINDON, 12 Bar
JUN 05: CAMBRIDGE Radar
JUN 06: COVENTRY, Kasbah
JUN 11: STOKE, Sugarmill
JUN 12: ALTON, The Lounge Bar
JUN 13: BRISTOL, The Cooler
JUN 14: DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL (Red Bull Stage)
JUN 18: BOURNEMOUTH, I Bar
JUN 19: HARLOW, The Square
JUN 20: SALISBURY, The Barn
JUL 03: CREWE, The Box
JUL 04: DERBY, The Royal
JUL 09: WINCHESTER, Railway Hotel
JUL 10: GUILFEST FESTIVAL (Guildford)
JUL 11: RELENTLESS NASS FESTIVAL (Shepton Mallet)
JUL 16: YORK, The Duchess
JUL 17: 2000 TREES FESTIVAL (Cheltenham)
JUL 18: WESTON, The Rock Gardens
JUL 22: SOUTHEND, Chinnerys
JUL 23: GUILDFORD, Boiler Room
JUL 24: ALDERSHOT, West End Centre
JUL 25: TUNBRIDGE WELLS, The Forum
JUL 29: PORTSMOUTH, Cellars
JUL 30: LUTON, UBSU
JUL 31: CITY BIG WEEKENDER (Cardiff)
AUG 01: HEVY FESTIVAL (Kent)
AUG 02: SONISPHERE FESTIVAL (Knebworth)
AUG 13: CARLISLE, Brickyard
AUG 14: WAKEFIELD, Escobar
AUG 15: PETERBOROUGH, Met Lounge
AUG 29: SUNDERLAND, Independent
AUG 30: BARROW, The Canteen
SEP 04: HITCHIN, Club 85
SEP 05: HIGH WYCOMBE, The Blues Loft
SEP 12: BUTTERFEST (Hampshire)
News - Lostprophets Studio Blog May 2009
Lostprophets have a studio blog up here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1jGUTZLidw
News - Maximo Park - Questing, Not Coasting
Maximo Park will release "Questing, Not Coasting" the second single from their album "Quicken the Heart" on CD / 7"/ digital download through Warp Records on the 13th of July. The video is online here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqYkiZ4a1oQ&fmt=18
News - Glyn Bailey Celebrates Moonlanding Anniversary
Glyn Bailey will release a new single called "Moonwalkers" on the 1st of July as a digital download through Inane Records. The track is taken from his current album "Songs From the Old Illawalla". Glyn will be recording material for a new album that is scheduled for a spring 2010 release.
News - I Hope This Gets Your Attention
Attention have got a new song called "Whatever Gets You Through The Night" on this page: http://adsupport.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=rockthespace.fan&sproutid=GACIYO0SBQLNLPtx
News - Therefore I Am Have Got Splinters
Therefore I Am have posted their new track "Splinters" on their MySpace page. The song is taken from their new album "The Sound of Human Lives" that is being released on the 23rd of June.
News - The Get Up Kids To Tour Europe!
The Get Up Kids will be touring Europe in August. Get excited.
News - The Dillinger Escape Plan Leave Relapse Records
The Dillinger Escape Plan have left Relapse Records and have started a new imprint with Season Of Mist Records.
Source: www.rocksound.tv/news/article/dillinger-escape-plan-leave-relapse-records
News - Drop Dead, Gorgeous Full Album Stream
You can stream the entire new album "The Hot N’ Heavy" by Drop Dead, Gorgeous by going to this link: http://imeem.com/ddgrock
Review - Maxïmo Park - Leeds Academy - 22/05/2009
Maxïmo Park - Leeds Academy - 22/05/2009
View The Review
6 out of 10
A far more illustrious publication than us pointed out the irony of a song called 'Questing, Not Coasting' on Maxïmo Park's latest album so I'm not even going to pretend that it's my own line. However, as they launch into their encore it's perhaps never been more apt.
Yet this is a band who I saw support the Futureheads in the dingy Academy 2 some four years ago. While the fortunes of both bands couldn't possibly be more divergent, the display on show here only goes to make the decline of the Futureheads more poignant. For Maxïmo Park are at their best as an angry roaring beast, and it doesn't exactly take a degree to notice the shift in energies between the old favourites which have my middle age companions (more on that later) dancing in the aisles, and the newer tracks off 'Quicken the Heart'.
The argument for this could quite convincingly be put forward, that the album's only been out a little over a week but I can't help but feel that at times 'Quicken the Heart' feels a little like a damp squib next to tracks like 'Limassol' and 'Apply Some Pressure'. Maybe Paul Smith and co are trying for a more expansive and developed sound but it's a little too infrequent, and on tracks like 'Questing, Not Coasting' doesn't quite feel fully formed.
Indeed it's arguable that only a couple of tracks even get close to recreating the excitement of the previous two albums, like 'Calm' or 'The Kids Are Sick Again' with some very tight riffs. It's awkward to be complaining about bands who've obviously tried to evolve on their juddery (yes I have just made that word up) style of quick fire verse and guitars but the people are here to dance not listen to slightly wandering songs about love and loss.
Am I being too negative? Probably, because ultimately when Maxïmo Park get down to it they are very entertaining. From his stepping stone, Paul Smith conducts the crowd gamely with a loudspeaker in one hand and uninhibited dancing style which seems to owe more to Michael Jackson than slightly sozzled Dad. He couldn't really be anymore different to the League of Gentlemen type character that at one point started reading from a book as he sung a song some four years ago.
As a band they've come a long way from that act which people looked at in surprise signed to a predominantly dance orientated label. Shows like this are testament to that. However it's the bands roots which raise the biggest cheers on the night and while as a show you can't help but be impressed by the performance it just drops a little flat with the newer songs shifting the pace down. Which I suppose brings me back to my initial point, however would I be in the same position if the band had produced an album that didn't try anything new? Again probably, let's face it in the media your damned if you do, damned if you don't.
In the end, other than the light show which may well have turned me into an epileptic, I left feeling satisfied with a good performance but little more. But hey what do I know? In the wide demographic of people dancing around me, I saw some very effective air guitar, some unashamedly gyrating hips, energetic bouncing on the spot, and a man in his middle years wearing a power vest. That at the end of the day is what it's all about.
Listen: www.maximopark.com
Tracklist:
News - Yawning Sons - Ceremony to the Sunset
Yawning Sons (members of Sons of Alpha Centauri and Yawning Man) will release "Ceremony to the Sunset" through Lexicon Devil Records on the 15th of June. The collaboration project also features members of Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age, Fatso Jetson, Dessert as guests.
News - Pete Yorn: Back & Fourth
Pete Yorn will release his new album "Back & Fourth" on the 23rd of June through Columbia Records.
Track Listing:
1. Don't Wanna Cry
2. Paradise Cove
3. Close
4. Social Development
5. Shotgun
6. Last Summer
7. Thinking of You
8. Country
9. Four Years
10. Long Time
News - Dancing Gavin Gets Very Happy
Dance Gavin Dance are set to release their new album called "Happiness" on the 9th of June through Rise Records. Their track "Don’t Tell Dave" is up on their MySpace page now for streaming.
News - Polar Bear Club Album Title Revealed...
Polar Bear Club’s new album will be called "Chasing Hamburg" and released on the 8th of September through Bridge Nine Records. The album was produced by Matt Bayles.
News - Shena’s A One Man Woman...
Shena will release the second single from her debut solo album "One Man Woman" that is going to be released later this year in the form of "My Fantasy" which is due for release on the 22nd of June through No Prisoner Records.
News - Reverend and the Makers Break The Silence
Reverend and the Makers will release their new single "Silence Is Talking" on the 13th of July. The track is taken from their second album "A French Kiss In The Chaos" that will be released on the 27th of July through Wall of Sound.
Live Dates:
10 June 2009 SUNDERLAND, Stadium of Light *
17 June 2009 EDINBURGH, Murrayfield *
3 July 2009 LANCASHIRE, Beat-Herder (festival) www.beatherder.co.uk
4 July 2009 BIRMINGHAM, Ragley Hall (festival) www.monarchy-live.co.uk
8 July 2009 LONDON, Koko tickets £12.50
9 July 2009 LONDON, Wembley Stadium *
11 July 2009 LONDON, Wembley Stadium *
12 July 2009 LONDON, Wembley Stadium *
13 July 2009 LONDON, Somerset House (with The Enemy) www.somersethouse.org.uk
14 July 2009 BIRMINGHAM, Academy 2 tickets £11.00
15 July 2009 MANCHESTER, Academy 2 tickets £10,00
16 July 2009 GLASGOW, ABC tickets £10.00 08444 999 990 / www.gigsinscotland.com
18 July 2009 SHEFFIELD, Academy tickets £12.00
Headline Tour:
22 October NORWICH, UEA 01603 508 050
23 October LINCOLN, The Engine Shed 0844 888 8766
24 October SHEFFIELD, Academy 0844 477 2000
26 October LEEDS, Stylus 0113 243 4849
28 October LEAMINGTON SPA, Assembly Hall 0871 2200 260
29 October MANCHESTER, Academy 0161 832 1111
30 October EDINBURGH, Picture House 08444 999 990 www.gigsinscotland.com
31 October NEWCASTLE, Academy 0844 477 2000
2 November BRIGHTON, Concorde 2 01273 673 311
3 November BRISTOL, Academy 0844 477 2000
4 November PORTSMOUTH, Pyramids 02392 824 355
5 November LONDON, Forum 0844 8472 405
Tickets go on sale for the October and November dates at 9am Friday 29th May priced £12, except London £14.
24 hour credit card hotline: 0871 2200 260 / www.gigsandtours.com
* As support to Oasis, tickets are on sale through www.oasisinet.com, the Oasis Lo-Call 24-hr hotline, 0844 412 4638 and all usual ticket outlets.
Thursday, 28 May 2009
News - Broadway Calls: Be All You Can’t Be
Broadway Calls are going to release their new single "Be All You Can’t Be" through Side One Dummy records on the 20th of July. It will be as a special edition 7" and digital download.
News - Allegro - Allegro Forever
Allegro are going to release their 3 track EP called "Allegro Forever" on the 1st of June through ER Indoor Records (available via 7 Digital).
Live Dates:
June 5 - EP launch and video shoot - Monto Water Rats, Kings Cross
June 10 - The Cuban Bar, Camden Market
June 20 - Trosley Festival
July 11 - 333 Mother Bar, Hoxton
July 23 - Sound, Leicester Square
News - Isaac’s Aircraft Live Dates
Isaac’s Aircraft have the following upcoming gigs in support of their recently released "Friends & Foes" EP.
Saturday 6 June - The Red Room, London £5 - Headlining
Friday 19 June - Durham Uni May Ball - Private Event - supporting The Zutons
Friday 24 July - The Watershed, London
News - Alcopopular Vol. 3
Submitted: "Alcopopular Vol. 3 - Compilation released 1st June 2009 on 'message in a bottle' format.
First it was a 3"CD, then a tape. and now the third in the series of DIY-indie pop label Alcopop Record's compilations comes released as a treasure map in a glass bottle. Featuring delicious exclusively (as yet) unreleased tracks from the likes of Pulled Apart by Horses, Apples, Paul Steel, Unicorn Kid, Stagecoach any more.. This physical bottle (all prettily stickered up in Alcopopular decor) arrives complete with ye olde map - leading you to the digitally downloadable booty
See - you can pretend to be a pirate and listen to some cracking tracks. Can't beat that me hearties!
Tracklisting is as follows...
1. Tellison - Wasp's Nest
2. Apples - Theo
3. David Gibb - The Oxfordshire Brigade
4. Stars and Sons - In the Ocean (piano version)
5. Town Bike - Cock Muff Bum Hole
6. Pulled Apart By Horses - E=MC Hammer
7. Stagecoach - We Got Tazers
8. Paul Steel - Psychedelia Smith
9. Unicorn Kid - Nuts n Milk
10. Arrows of Love - Prescriptions
11. Ice King of California - I Wouldn't Want To Do That All
12. The October Game - Cast These Waves
13. The Computers - Track Four
Although the compilation doesn't see the light of day until Monday, it was officially launched (into the sea) at Brighton's' Great Escape on a blustery, hungover morning - and a team of hardcore fans will be twittering daily reviews track by track each day starting from Tuesday 26th May."
News - El Dog Album + Single Release
El Dog will release their new album "The Lamps Of Terrahead" on the 6th of July through Lo-Five Records. This will be preceded by the double A-side single "A Princess, A Monkey, The Stars and The Sea" / "-OO-", which is released on the 15th of June.
Live Dates:
Thu 28th May - supporting Sucioperro - King Tuts, Wah Wah Hut, 272a St Vincent Street, Glasgow G2 5RL. www.kingtuts.co.uk. Doors 8pm, Tickets: £6.50 from www.ticketmaster.co.uk
Sat 30th May - The Ark, Edinburgh, 5-7 Waterloo Place, Edinburgh, EH1 3BG. www.thearkvenue.com. Doors 7:30pm, Tickets £5 on the door
News - Depeche Mode Saturday O2 Show Cancelled
Submitted: "Please note Depeche Mode's Saturday, May 30th, O2 Show has been cancelled.
Following Dave Gahan's severe bout of gastroenteritis, he has been told to rest under doctors' orders.
The show will be rescheduled to a new date, which will be announced shortly.
Dave Gahan sincerely thanks his fans for their support, understanding and patience.
Depeche Mode deeply regret any problems or inconveniences the cancellations and postponements may have caused."
News - Remix Remix; The Outline
The Outline have posted a remix of their track "Dialed Down" on their MySpace page.
News - The Jonas Brothers Will Take Over The World!
The Jonas Brothers’ new album will be called "Lines, Vines and Trying Times" which will be released on the 16th of June 16. Their first single taken from the album will be "Paranoid".
Track Listing:
1. World War III
2. Paranoid
3. Fly With Me
4. Poison Ivy
5. Hey Baby
6. Before The Storm
7. What Did I Do To Your Heart
8. Much Better
9. Black Keys
10. Don’t Charge Me For The Crime (feat. Common)
11. Turn Right
12. Don’t Speak
13. Keep It Real (Bonus Track)
News - Third Eye Blind Release Date Announced...
Third Eye Blind’s new album "Ursa Major" will be released on the 18th of August.
News - Hit The Lights Update + New Tour Only EP
Read an update on Hit The Lights from Nick (Vocals), including a new tour only EP "Coast To Coast" release at their MySpace blog here: http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=2010723&blogId=491403606
Review - Anti-Flag - The People Or The Gun
Anti-Flag - The People Or The Gun
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6 out of 10
Anti-Flag are the typical "loads of promise" type band. Never seem to really break through that glass ceiling - probably due to inconsistency in their recorded material. They have the odd amazing song - but their albums are full of more too much filler to be termed "good".
Is "The People Or The Gun" any different?
No.
Starting off with the slightly acerbic Sodom, Gomorrah... the album dips until track six (the outstanding This is the First Night) then pretty much slips back into its comfy tartan slippers. It’s not that this is a bad album - it’s just an easily forgettable one. Which for a band like Anti-Flag can’t be a good thing.
What’s the point of having something to say if no-one's listening?
Listen: www.myspace.com/antiflag
Tracklist:
1. Sodom, Gomorrah, Washington D.C. (Sheep in Shepherd’s Clothing)
2. The Economy Is Suffering, Let it Die
3. The Gre(a)t Depression
4. We Are the One
5. You Are Fired (Take this Job)
6. This Is the First Night
7. No War Without Warriors (How Do You Sleep?)
8. When All the Lights Go Out
9. On Independence Day
10. The Old Guard
Review - I See Stars - 3D
I See Stars - 3D
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8 out of 10
The debut album "3D" from Michigan's latest contestant in the battle for attention in the already over populated synth-pop-core genre is I See Stars (ISS). I'll begin by saying this is a very good release on the whole, bar a few mistakes which will be mentioned later. This album is for fans of the heavier side of the pop-punk spectrum with its metal-esque break downs and bitterly sweet synth ala The Devil Wears Prada, Alesana, Attack! Attack! and A Day To Remember.
In this genre of music it is very hard to create a stand out vocal performance as it is often drowned out with over use of vocoders but Devine nails a great appearance on the mic, seemingly drifting in and out of the electro creativity. Being a sucker for an A Day To Remember breakdown, I felt right at home with the pop punk choruses followed by metal-core breakdown formula adopted by ISS on this album.
The album flows very nicely, with a fantastic musical interlude track "The Ocean" which is neatly placed towards the later side of the album. The best tracks for me on this album are "The Big Bad Wolf", "Project Wake Up" and "Save The Girl".
So all in all this is a very good release and I'm sure to be listening to it over the coming weeks, but surely this cant be a faultless album? You'd be correct in thinking that, there is just one real white elephant on this record which comes in the form of the track "Sing This!" with Bizzy Bone from Bone Thugs-n-Harmony. It really is a messy track, you can't even make out what Bizzy Bone is saying and the whole track just seems tacky in comparison to the rest of the album, leave this rubbish to bands like 3OH!3 next time guys.
Listen: www.myspace.com/iseestarsmusic
Tracklist:
1. Project Wakeup
2. The Common Hours
3. 3D
4. I Am Jack's Smirking Revenge
5. Save The Cheerleader
6. The Big Bad Wolf
7. Where The Sidewalk Ends
8. Comfortably Confused
9. Sing This!
10. Interlude: The Ocean
11. What This Means To Me
Review - Rancid - Last One to Die (Single)
Rancid - Last One to Die (Single)
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3 out of 10
Initially, when this CD refused to play in either my laptop OR my CD player I was disappointed. Saddened even, that I wouldn't be able to hear what I was rather hoping would be a triumphant return to form for a band that, in their prime, helped to shape the latter stages of my youth. As it turns out, it would have been better if I hadn't thought to visit their myspace page to listen to the song.
.And Out Come the Wolves was infused with the spirit of Ska and the ghost of The Clash. Rancid (2000) was a sharp blast of hardcore punk fury. Every one of Rancid's albums up until that eponymous turn of the century milestone was both unmistakably Rancid and undeniably unique. Since that time though, everything they have released - this included - has been unmistakably and undeniably shit. Imagine a half finished Pink song with a semi catatonic drunk slurring semi coherent lyrics over the top.
If you remember the glory days of Rancid - don't listen to this. If you DON'T remember the great band they used to be - don't listen to this. Go buy .And Out Come the Wolves instead.
Listen: www.myspace.com/rancid
Tracklist:
1. Last One to Die
Review - Youves - Cardio-Vascular
Youves - Cardio-Vascular
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5 out of 10
Remember 2003? When every other band sounded like Gang Of Four and came from Brooklyn? Youvves certainly do. Cardio-Vascular is their first release under their new moniker (they used to be called Mirror! Mirror!). If this were released six years ago, they'd no doubt be accused of jumping on the post-punk bandwagon. There's so much hiss from the hi-hat throughout Cardio-Vascular that it sounds like they left a snake in the control room. The constant dum-tish-dum-tish of the drums really begins to annoy about halfway through this album, as does the cowbell. I imagine that when they play live, they hand their cowbell to a girl in the audience and ask her to play along. They sound like that kind of band. They probably talk a lot about how they want to get people dancing and are really interested in grooves, rather than hooks. It's an admirable effort, but it does bring to mind that old heckle "don't bore us, get to the chorus".
Most, if it not all, of Cardio-Vascular has been done before. Though I doubt there's a new idea on this record, it's not all bad. To their credit, Youves hit upon some respectable discordant guitar riffs, which owe a lot to Chinese Stars. The whole record seems to act better as a flyer for their live show, points towards the fact that they're probably a whole lot better when they're playing right in front of you. On record, everything merges into everything else, creating a twenty-minute dirge of yelpy vocals, spiky guitars and disco drumming. Think of any punk-funk band from the beginning of the decade - The Rapture, Radio 4, Thunderbirds Are Now, the first Liars record, anyone, it doesn't really matter. Youves are by no means better than any of these, but they're no worse. If they play near you, go and see them. Just don't forget your cowbell.
Listen: www.myspace.com/youves
Tracklist:
1. Fully Erect Serve and Protect
2. Aladdin's Rave
3. Bigorexic
4. Another Djemba Djemba
5. Superstitious
6. My High Horse is a Penny Farthing
7. On Probation
Review - People In Planes - Mayday (M'aidez)
People In Planes - Mayday (M'aidez)
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1 out of 10
People In Planes aspire to create atmospheric, awe inspiring rock music, with epic, soaring chorus. They certainly have anthemic leanings. Unfortunately for them, they mainly have leanings towards turgid, uninspiring rock music. On the basis of these three tracks, People In Planes are a needless exercise, very much a sub-par Muse. 'Falling By The Wayside' is the token quiet song, and sounds like a shitty cross between Pearl Jam and Red Hot Chilli Peppers. They could do with 'Falling By The Wayside' (LOLZ!). 'Mayday (M'aidez)" sees the band experiment with drum machines and keyboards, resulting in something not a million miles away from The Rasmus. Here's fact for you: People In Planes used to be called Tetra Splendor. They were shit then and they're shit now. Avoid.
Listen: www.myspace.com/peopleinplanes
Tracklist:
1. Mayday (M'aidez)
2. Step Out On The Wing
3. Falling By The Wayside
Review - Terrorhawk - Now I’m Content
Terrorhawk - Now I’m Content
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6 out of 10
Aww bugger. I was really hoping I was going to like this from the descriptions, and I actually did for a good minute or so. Then the vocals started. The singer has that high pitched Imbalance thing going on (in fact they sound quite a bit like Imbalance at times) and I just can't get over the fact that he sounds a bit like Miss Piggy. I know, it sounds horrible, and I'm really sorry for saying it, but there it is. If you can get over that then this is really good - hints of the aforementioned Imbalance, early As Friends Rust, Leatherface - I really want to love it, but I just can’t!
Listen: www.myspace.com/terrorhawkmusic
Tracklist:
1. Intro
2. Bird Song Chromatography
3. Dynamite Fight
4. Chemistry
5. Spook Never Stood a Chance
Review - My First Radio - Youthful Things
My First Radio - Youthful Things
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6 out of 10
Every song on this wee EP really reminds me of something, but I can't quite place exactly what it is. This is, to say the least, infuriating. Obvious comparisons are Elbow, Six by Seven and Teenage Fanclub all lobbed into a blender and mixed up into a guitar fuelled indie rock concoction that's miles ahead of drivel like Coldplay and has a definite 90s shoegazey feel to it, only with energy and a sense of hope rather than just dreary despair. S'quite good really, if you like that sort of thing.
Listen: www.myspace.com/myfirstradio
Tracklist:
1. Youthful Things
2. Prayers over Static
3. Progress
Review - Laura Izibor - Don't Stay (Single)
Laura Izibor - Don't Stay (Single)
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4 out of 10
This is a nice summer song. It's nice. She's got a nice voice, and there's some nice piano. It's all nicely produced to make it sound very nice, in a nice kind of way. A completely inoffensive, more or less instantly forgettable and ultimately rather dull nice kind of way. You'll hear it on the radio, think "ooh, this is nice" then forget about it instantly. There'll be a lingering niceness in your day though. You'll feel a little bit nice, even if you're not sure why. Kinda like Macy Gray. Although if that's the precedent, you'll probably end up hating it after a week or so.
Listen: www.myspace.com/lauraizibor
Tracklist:
1. Don't Stay
Review - Kyza - Sin City / Go (Single)
Kyza - Sin City / Go (Single)
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7 out of 10
This is what UK hip hop should sound like. Edgy and dangerous. Quirky samples and - as a bit of a bonus - some quality scratching. And even a remix that sounds like it should be coming out of a lowered Rover 25 with a massive exhaust at the kind of volume that makes dogs walk into lampposts. Ok so that bit might not be so great, but the two lead tracks are genuinely really good.
Sin City has a bit of a West Coast US feel to it, with smooth beats and a vocal delivery that lies somewhere between Snoop Dogg and Dizzee Rascal. Go has more of a Ragga thing going on, in a UK Garage kinda way. Both tracks have a very solid feel to them despite being fairly different, pinned down by Kyza's powerful delivery.
Listen: www.myspace.com/saysoseddso
Tracklist:
1. Sin City feat D.Ablo
2. Go
3. Go Bar9 Remix
Review - Kongh - Shadows Of The Shapeless
Kongh - Shadows Of The Shapeless
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6 out of 10
The problem facing metal bands from Scandinavia is they're always up against the history of countless pioneers and predecessors from Norway and Sweden. Indeed, in the case of Kongh, a promising trio from Vetlanda in southern Sweden, they've already set quite a precedent with their 2006 demo and 2007's debut album 'Counting Heartbeats' - a rich, menacing hour of doom/sludge hybrids. Then there's the excellent records released already this year by the extreme/metal establishment - Sunn O))), Napalm Death and Mastodon. Kongh are putting out 'Shadows Of The Shapeless' during a fertile time for music and they'll need something special to stand out.
Unfortunately, 'Shadows' isn't quite it. 'Unholy Water' and 'Essence Asunder' use familiar techniques in familiar ways: quiet/loud build-ups, interrupted by periods of inconsequential drone. Both songs are over 10 minutes long but peter out not long after the five minute mark, as if Kongh are just playing long songs to pick up some kind of 'experimental metal' tag. There just aren't enough ideas in 'Unholy Water' or 'Essence Asunder' to justify the time allocated to them here. Then again, the four minute drudge of 'Tank Pa Doden' feels like little more than an interlude.
The production, by friend of the band Peter Lundin, is also lacklustre, drummer Tomas Salonen's efforts being lost in a murky mix, while guitarist/vocalist David Johansson's growls are often made completely indecipherable. Perhaps they're only meant to add to the texture of the record rather than a message.
Kongh (not to be confused with either the Mancunian trio featuring members of Oceansize, Kong; or Kong the Dutch industrial band - the reason behind the addition of the 'h') come good though on the closing pair, 'Voice Of The Below' and the title track. Here they up the BPM, the production is livelier and they take on a crusty, black metal akin to Darkthrone. Admittedly, on 'Shadows Of The Shapeless' they can't resist going back to slow, droney post-metal but after the frazzled BM before it respite is needed. With more songs like these, and with more quality control, Kongh can match the high standards they - as well as the likes of Mastodon - have set down.
Listen: www.myspace.com/kongh
Tracklist:
1. Unholy Water
2. Essence Asunder
3. Tank Pa Doden
4. Voice Of The Below
5. Shadows Of The Shapeless
Review - Bashy - Catch Me If You Can
Bashy - Catch Me If You Can
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2 out of 10
I fully expected to totally hate this and, well, I pretty much do. It starts off ok but then slides into a messy mish mash of clichés and dull over production in the space of a couple of tracks. Lots of dull rapping about money, generic beats. Blah. And there's a REALLY annoying "This CD is for promotional use only" sample that plays twice in EVERY FUCKING SONG. Just when I'm starting to get into one of the slightly less rubbish songs Mr smooth voice American tells me when the album is out. I suppose it'll stop people from pirating it, and it's rubbish anyway so it won't make this review any worse I guess.
Listen: www.myspace.com/bashystar
Tracklist:
1. Catch Me If You Can
2. Before Before
3. Who Wants to be a Millionaire?
4. She's a Gangster
5. Travel the World feat N Dubz
6. Change
7. Copy Cat
8. Ransom feat Wretch 32 + Scorcher
9. Living my Dream feat Sirach Charles
10. Life
11. We can do Anything feat Loick and Jamelia
12. Sorry feat 2alon
13. What about me
14. Day Before I Die
15. Kidulthood 2 Adulthood
16. Black Boys
Review - Bellini - The Precious Prize Of Gravity
Bellini - The Precious Prize Of Gravity
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8 out of 10
OK, let's do a quick run through here - A Transatlantic band named after a 19th century composer, based around a husband-wife duo and whose members have worked with Girls Vs Boys & Soulside, releasing an album recorded by Steve Albini, on Temporary Residence Ltd (who current roster also includes Envy, Explosions In The Sky, Mono, Pinback and Young Widows), and which is only available as a combined CD & vinyl package. Yeah, I doubt this is going to be challenging Scouting For Girls' chart position any time soon.
But then why would we (or indeed they) want it to? Instead of variations on one irritating tune yammered out from behind shit-eating grins (sorry, I seem to be working through some issues), we have engaging, intriguing songs, with half-spoken, half-sung vocals, and nary an earworm chorus to be found. Steve Albini has recorded a plethora of artists (that I won't bother listing here), but I think this is the first I've heard in recent memory that sounds so much like what he does in his spare time (Shellac, Big Black, etc). Bellini don't exactly go for big crowd pleasers - the song structures are hardly simple, driven along by frenetic, arrhythmic riffs, and Giovanna Cacciola's vocals veer between quiet, sweet melodies and a more pained howl. You won't exactly start singing along with your fists in the air, but there's always something there that will get under your skin and make you tap along whenever you finally get a handle on the rhythm.
Imagine PJ Harvey doing a spoken word performance, accompanied by the Jesus Lizard. Actually, that should be all the incentive you need.
Listen: www.myspace.com/bellini
Tracklist:
1. Wake Up Under A Truck
2. Numbers
3. Daughter Leaving
4. Susie
5. Tiger's Milk
6. The Man Who Lost His Wings
7. Save The Greyhounds
8. The Thin Line
9. The Painter
10. A Deep Wound
Review - Annabel - Each And Everyone
Annabel - Each And Everyone
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8 out of 10
You know how black metal bands sometimes use ridiculous titles for their band members? Suddenly a guitarist becomes a 'Reaper of 6-string Oblivion', or the drummer now 'Pounds upon flayed and stretched human skin'. Well, it seems that this practice is no longer the sole preserve of theatrical cod-Satanists, as Annabel's Scotty Moses plays the brilliantly titled 'Thunder Bass'. But, just like in black metal, it seems a bit redundant, as it seems the storm is still quite a way off on the horizon.
In reality, Annabel are only occasionally thunderous, with sporadic forays into post-rock territory, sometimes at the overdriven, cathartic end of the scale, but mainly it's reminiscent of the more restrained, melodic sections of someone like Explosions In The Sky (sorry, but it was an obvious choice for reference). The majority of the songs are still full of lush guitar tones and twinkling keyboards, but it's at a more relaxed pace, like a stripped down Arcade Fire. (The choir-like backing vocals on 'As it Happened' in particular sound like an out-take from 'Funeral'). Some of the lead vocals are a bit strained, weirdly reminding me of Tom DeLonge, but fortunately it's a hell of a lot better than Angels & Airwaves.
If you've got a big beard and flannel shirt but think that indie is a bit too twee, or if the excessive volume of post-rock scares the tight jeans off of you, this may be the ideal starting point for you to deal with your fears.
Listen: www.myspace.com/annabelrock
Tracklist:
1. Sleeping Lions
2. People And Places
3. Castles In The Air
4. Bouquet Mines
5. As It Happened
6. in Droves
7. Adventures...
8. Parade Rest
9. You Started Thinking Again, Didn't You?
10. Widow Party
11. (As Yet) Untold Stories
News - Blessthefall Studio Video Update #3
Submitted: "Blessthefall have released studio video update #3. Check out the band tracking guitars, power outages, and fooseball in their latest MySpace blog: http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=3988262&blogId=491414287"
Wednesday, 27 May 2009
News - Century Media Artists On Tour
Century Media has the following bands on tour of the UK over the coming months:
LACUNA COIL
11th June - London, Camden Barfly
GOD FORBID support to Devil Driver
12.06.09 - Newport TJs
16.06.09 - Oxford Academy 2
IN THIS MOMENT
13.06.09 - London Islington Academy w/ Buckcherry
15.06.09 - Bristol Academy w/ Papa Roach
DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL
Friday 12th June - LACUNA COIL, IN THIS MOMENT, DUFF MCKAGAN'S LOADED
Saturday 13th June - HATEBREED, ARCHITECTS
Sunday 14th June - SUICIDE SILENCE, GOD FORBID
SUICIDE SILENCE
15th June - Cardiff Barfly (HEADLINE SHOW)
16th June - London ULU (support to ANTHRAX)
WARBRINGER supporting Sacred Reich
21.06.09 - London - Scala
DESPISED ICON
27.06.2009 UK, Leeds - Rios, Ghostfest
28.06.2009 UK, Plymouth - White Rabbit, w/ Whitechapel
29.06.2009 Ireland, Dublin - Fibbers
30.06.2009 UK, Glasgow - Ivory Blacks
01.07.2009 UK, Newport - TJs
THE BONES support to Social Distortion
08.07.2009 - Shepherds Bush Empire
TURISAS (only UK show in 2009) + THE HAUNTED + ARCH ENEMY
14th - 16th August Bloodstock Festival - Derby
WOLF supported by Cauldron
09.10.09 - London Underworld
10.10.09 - Leeds Rios
11.10.09 - Glasgow Ivory Blacks
13.10.09 - Newcastle Trillians
14.10.09 - Manchester Moho
15.10.09 - Nottingham Rock City
16.10.09 - Dudley JBs
News - Aborted Tour Gets Going
Aborted tour the UK shortly with support from The Acaica Strain & Salt The Wound:
31.05.2009 UK Plymouth White Rabbit
01.06.2009 UK Manchester Music Box
02.06.2009 UK Glasgow Ivory Blacks
03.06.2009 UK Leeds Rios
04.06.2009 UK London Underworld
05.06.2009 UK Newport TJs
06.06.2009 UK Swindon The Furnace
News - Feel The Steel!
Fat Wreck Chords will release American Steel’s next album "Dear Friends and Gentle Hearts" on the 21st of July. You can check out the cover art and tracklisting here: www.fatwreck.com/record/detail/741
News - Most-Anticipated Pop-Punk Album Of 2009?
All Time Low’s new album "Nothing Personal" is due for release on the 17th of July through Hopeless Records and the track listing is as below.
Track Listing:
1. Weightless
2. Break Your Little Heart
3. Damned If I Do Ya (Damned If I Don’t)
4. Lost In Stereo
5. Stella
6. Sick Little Games
7. Hello, Brooklyn
8. Walls
9. Too Much
10. Keep The Change, You Filthy Animal
11. A Party Song (The Walk of Shame)
12. Therapy
News - Taking Back Sunday "New Again" Album Stream
Taking Back Sunday will be streaming their new album "New Again" in its entirety on their MySpace page on Thursday May 28th and Friday May 29th. "New Again" is officially released on the 2nd of June.
News - Tonight We Have The Answers
The Answer’s new single "Tonight" has had the release date changed to the 28th of June. You can see the video for the song at this link: www.myvideo.de/watch/6446436/The_Answer_Tonight
News - We The Faceless: Isle of Dogs
We The Faceless have announced their next release will be their new single "Isle of Dogs" which is due to be released mid August.
News - A Second Chance For Shinedown...
Shinedown are releasing their new single called "Second Chance" on the 22nd of June ahead of their album "The Sound of Madness" on the 29th of June.
News - Burn The Rokettes
The Rokettes will release their new single "Burn Baby Burn" on the 29th of June through Delicious Records.
Live Dates:
July 10 - The Dublin Castle, London
July 17 - Cockermouth Rock Festival, The Lake District
News - Revere - New Single
Revere will release their new single "As The Radars Sleep" through Albino Records in July. The video can be seen here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Jl6a6f8NAo
News - The Ghost Of A Thousand Album Launch Shows
The Ghost Of A Thousand will play two free album release shows. Their album "New Hopes, New Demonstrations" will be released on the 1st of June.
30 May 2009 Audio w / This City (16 +) Brighton, UK
1 June 2009 Bloomsbury Bowling w / Outcry Collective and Warship (18 +) London, UK
London support acts - OUTCRY COLLECTIVE and WARSHIP
Brighton support acts - THIS CITY and BLACKHOLE
News - Enter Shikari Remixes Online Stream
Enter Shikari’s new album "Common Dreads" is released on the 15th of June and their new single "Juggernauts" is out this coming Monday (1st of June). In anticipation of the release the band has two remixes available. Here’s the press statement:
"Enter Shikari's front man and DJ Rou Reynolds had this to say about the choices of remixes for this particular single:
BLUE BEAR - TRUE TIGER REMIX - http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid17823878001?bctid=24014430001
'A Local label to us and good mates who we thought could give Juggers a tidy dubstep mix; and that’s exactly what they’ve done! They’ve kept the feel good vibe of the track which isn’t really heard much in the dubstep world but I think it really works and sounds gorgeous.'
NERO REMIX: http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid13590588001?bctid=24014432001
'We’ve always really looked up to Nero as drum and bass producers, and felt they could do a great job with Juggers. He really accentuates the euphoria of the tune and rivals any big dance floor club banger with this!'"
News - Billy Talent: Billy Talent III
Billy Talent will release their new album called "Billy Talent III" that was produced by Brendan O’Brien (Rage Against The Machine, AC/DC, Mastodon) on the 13th of July. The album will be preceded by the single "Rusted From The Rain" on the 29th of June.
Live Dates:
JUNE
Tues 9 LONDON Camden Underworld
Wed 10 NEWCASTLE O2 Academy 2
Fri 12 DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL Main Stage
AUGUST
Fri 28 READING FESTIVAL Headlining Lock Up Stage
Sun 30 LEEDS FESTIVAL Headlining Lock Up Stage
News - Rob Thomas - Solo Album Release
Rob Thomas (ex-Matchbox Twenty, Tabitha’s Secret) is bringing out a new solo album called "Cradlesong" on the 29th of June and his first single will be "Her Diamonds" which is out on the 22nd of June through Atlantic Records.
News - Ice Nine Kills Cover Aerosmith’s "Cryin"
Submitted: "Ice Nine Kills have posted a cover of the Aerosmith song "Cryin’" on their myspace page. Ferret Music and Red Blue Records recently announced they will jointly release the upcoming album this fall. They will also be having a run on the Warped Tour this summer."
News - A Skylit Drive: "Those Cannons Could Sink A Ship" Digital Single
Submitted: "A Skylit Drive’s digital single for new song, "Those Cannons Could Sink A Ship," is now available on iTunes. Check out their MySpace page to listen to the new song from their album "Adelphia"."
Tuesday, 26 May 2009
News - For Today - Immanuel (The Redeemer)
For Today has posted their new song called "Immanuel (The Redeemer)" which features guest vocals by Joe Musten from Advent on their MySpace page. The track is from their album "Portraits" that is due for release on the 9th of June through Facedown Records.
News - Rise Records Announces New Signing!
Rise Records has announced the signing of pmtoday. The band will head in the studio with Kris Crummett in September and will be looking for an early 2010 release.
News - The Friday Night Boys Pre-Order
Submitted: "The Friday Night Boys have three ways for fans to preorder their new album Off The Deep End. It’s available for only $8 in The Fueled By Ramen Webstore, available with an exclusive t-shirt from Glamour Kills or on tour from the band where fans can get a limited-edition laminate along with it. Two songs from the album are streaming now on the band’s MySpace!"
News - CobraCam.TV
Submitted: "We’ve posted the eighth episode of Cobra Starship’s weekly webisode series on CobraCam.TV. Filmed by Jack The Camera (who previously worked on TAITV with The Academy Is...), the new series follows the band on The Believers Never Die Tour with Fall Out Boy, All Time Low and Metro Station. New episodes are posted every Monday and are available the following day for free download through the iTunes podcast."
News - All We Know Is Falling : The Deluxe Edition
Submitted: "Paramore’s debut album All We Know Is Falling was re-released as a Deluxe Edition exclusively on iTunes today. It includes the entire 2005 album, two live songs and three music videos. To celebrate and introduce newer fans to the album, we’ve featured the ’All We Know’ music video on the band’s MySpace and website. This video (the first video they ever shot) was previously not available on iTunes until now. All the songs and videos are also available for individual downloads."
News - Professor Green Stabbing
Submitted: "Ironic on the run up to the release of his first single since ’Before I Die’, ’Hard Night Out’ (released July 6th) that such an incident should take place.
Perhaps even more ironic was that he was stabbed in the left side of his neck where a tattoo saying ’Lucky’ now sits, put back together by some 40 stitches.
Lucky he is. After a minor altercation escalated Professor Green was stabbed in the neck with a broken bottle at Cargo on Friday 22nd May while enjoying a night out at Dirty Canvas.
3 suspects have since been detained and Green is recovering after 3hrs surgery to repair damages done. According to doctors its a miracle that main arteries were brushed but left intact, as were major nerves and Green, apart from his scarring stands to make a full recovery."
News - Stephen Dale Petit - As The Years Go Passing By
Stephen Dale Petit releases his new single "As The Years Go Passing By" on the 15th of June through 333 Records.
News - Placebo: The Arena Tour
Placebo have announced a UK and Irish arena tour in December. The dates are as follows:
December
Tuesday 08th Birmingham LG Arena
Wednesday 09th London The O2 Arena
Friday 11th Bridlington Spa
Saturday 12th Manchester Central
Monday 14th Glasgow SECC
Tuesday 15th Dublin Olympia Theatre
Tickets go onsale Friday 29th May at 9am.
Tickets £25 regional / £26.50 London
Dublin tickets are 40 Euros inc booking fee
www.gigsandtours.com 24 hr cc hotline 0871 2200 260
News - Latitude Festival Update: 26/05/2009
New Latitude Festival updates have come in today as follows:
OBELISK ARENA
~ Datarock ~
UNCUT ARENA
~ Marnie Stern ~ iLiKETRAiNS ~
~ Wildbirds and Peacedrums ~
SUNRISE ARENA
~ 65 Days Of Static ~
~ Asaf Avidan and The Mojos
News - Rancid - Full Album Stream
Rancid have put their entire album "Let The Dominoes Fall" up on their MySpace page for streaming. The album comes out on the 1st of June through Hellcat/Epitaph Records.
News - Argon 40 Double A-Side Single
Argon 40 will release their new double A-side single "Stay / Free Fallin’" on the 13th of July.
News - The Stupids - New Album & UK Dates
The Stupids are releasing a new album called "The Kids Don’t Like It" on the 13th of July through Boss Tuneage Records.
Live Dates:
JUNE 7th : LONDON The Old Blue Last - ALBUM LAUNCH GIG w/SHITTY LIMITS and SECTION 13
JUNE 12th : SHEFFIELD Casbah w/SECTION 13
JUNE 13th : NOTTINGHAM The Old General w/SECTION 13 (NOTTINGHAM PUNKS PICNIC)
JUNE 14th : BOSTON Indian Queen w/SECTION 13
JUNE 26th: BRIGHTON Hobgoblin w/SOUTHPORT
JUNE 27th : KINGSTON Fighting Cocks (support TBC)
JULY 12th: WAKEFIELD Escobar (Headlining Beefstock - 3 day punk fest)
AUG 2nd : LONDON Camden Underworld w/ADOLESCENTS
AUG 9th : BLACKPOOL Winter Gardens REBELLION FESTIVAL
AUG 28th : MARGATE The Westcoast
Monday, 25 May 2009
News - Far-Less Are Over
Far-Less is calling it a day. Here’s the blog about it:
http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=2262664&blogId=490312716
News - Mathletes - Free EP
Mathletes are giving their debut EP away for free on their MySpace page. The EP was produced by Josh Cain (Motion City Soundtrack) and Jordan Schmidt (All Time Low, Sing It Loud and The Morning Light).
News - Asteria - New Demo Online
Asteria has posted a new demo of a song called "Sink or Swim" on their MySpace page.
Review - Mutiny On The Bounty - Danger Mouth
Mutiny On The Bounty - Danger Mouth
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7 out of 10
MOTB have both the pleasure of being the first Luxembourgian band that I have ever heard - to my knowledge - and they also have an acronym that appears to be a mashing of Minus the Bear and Match of the Day, now I can definitely hear the influence of an ex-Botch fingerboard botherer but I'm not spying any football filtering through, although I can imagine the over inflated cheese and onion grin of Gary Lineker bopping up and down, side to side to track 1 Call Me Cheesus.
Imagine a darkened room, then imagine that room slowly, terribly slowly mind, brightening from a tiny twinkling that seems to glint just less than a dozen pairs of eyes, facial features start pushing their way forward out of the dinge. An arched eyebrow here, a flared nostril there and although it has taken a few moments less than forever to fully illuminate everything in the room, you still blink those shadows away until the fully formed members of At The Drive-In, Thursday and of course Minus the Bear are stood there, beckoning you to listen to the record that they are all holding, which, if memory serves me correctly, is how I was first introduced to the music of Mutiny on the Bounty.. Or (which is more likely) instead of memory I have been accessing the medial inferior and pre-central areas of my brain as well as the hippocampus (which isn't halls for fatties), middle temporal regions and the limbic areas.
If that had happened however, the invitation would have come from three bands that appear to have left a huge indent on Mutiny on the Bounty, there is also a drizzling of a more punk slice of rock, think Rancid slapping the arses of Rise Against, which comes across most heavily on Go Hide Your Neck.
MOTB definitely fit into the roster at Big Scary Monsters, although they are a more accessible option, a gateway band perchance? Anyways they still get a Big Scary Thumbs Up from me, as they are definitely my favourite band from Luxembourg and they would have to be extremely unluxembourg to not charm everyone who listens to them.
Listen: www.myspace.com/mutinyonthebountytheband
Tracklist:
1. Call Me Cheesus
2. Give Me Linux And I'll Kick Your Arse
3. Continents
4. The Art of Escapology
5. Cruz Canerlaria
6. Go Hide Your Neck
7. Instructions to Sink
8. 1,2,3,4 I Declare a Thumb War
9. Comfort In Silence
10. We Are The Man
11. Single Man Orchestra
Review - Telegraphs - We Dance In Slow Motion (Single)
Telegraphs - We Dance In Slow Motion (Single)
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7 out of 10
On We Dance In Slow Motion these Brighton upstarts successfully capture the snake bite fuelled, strobe lit posturing of a Tuesday night in Indie basement - Audio.
Hailing from these sunny shores, Telegraphs (Darcy Harrison, Hattie Williams, Darren Le Warne, Sam Bacon and Aung Yay. or Gary to his mates) compose the kind of steely Graham Greene novel that gets heads dancing and feet thinking. Not content with merely providing a soundtrack for physical jitters, front-man Darcy pens lyrics that may or may not be about moments from his and bassist Hattie's now defunct romance.
Telegraphs fit somewhere between Bloc Party and T'Arctic Monkeys, if both bands turned up the overdrive a couple more notches to give a sleazier swing, much like a back alley quadraphonic fuck, to the music. It's not unlikely to expect to Telegraphs to start popping up everywhere in the not so distant future.
Listen: www.myspace.com/telegraphs
Tracklist:
1. We Dance in Slow Motion
Review - Oceans - Nothing Collapses
Oceans - Nothing Collapses
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8 out of 10
I have to confess I'm disagreeable to this from the start, as when I was a young sprog I went to see a chimney in Shoreham being razed, and let me tell you, that collapsed like a Portuguese footballer except it didn't roll but it went down from 106 metres to nothing and that happened right next to an ocean (well it's more of a sea) so if anyone should know about things collapsing then these guys should.
Fortunately my worries for this band halts at their knowledge of controlled demolitions along the West Sussex coastline, because from the subtle get-go of Lit Up Under Streetlights these boys display a tremendous sense of majesty. Just as the sound begins to drown under waves of distortion, a light melody cuts through like a scalpel across an eye. The sound is clarity in itself (and that snare sound! The 'kah' sounds like a million single cells of bubble wrap being popped simultaneously) and the emphasis here is on melody, unusually clandestine notes ring out like a fire in a piano full or Passeriformes.
Obvious comparisons will be made to tour mates Pelican and also Russian Circles, Red Sparowes, Mogwai, Envy and anyone else that finds themselves under the stratosphere covering umbrella term that is post rock. Oceans however can claim a seat at the top table as their twisting, weaving yet humble music flitters around as if trying to emulate Pynchon or even Joyce as it warps from Minus the Bear style finger tapping (Boy Detective) to the Helladic turbulence of Traps and Traps.
On the aforementioned Boy Detective the build up to the astounding gang vocals led denouement is a rush in itself, slowly placating the listener with understated shifts and progressions before it is realised eight minutes down the line that this has morphed into a meticulously overwhelming cathartic conglomerate.
This is not an album that should be consumed like a finger buffet; it needs to be absorbed as a whole, although the tracks are strong enough to stand up by themselves if you insist upon enlisting the random function on your media player. To truly appreciate the finer nuances of Oceans third effort (first full length) you must be willing to immerse yourself, to be lowered into that big blue, a drive-thru take away this is not, it is a battling between night and day, it cloud gazing and it is Tsunami-like. Bathe in Oceans.
Listen: www.myspace.com/broceans
Tracklist:
1. Lit Up Under Streetlights
2. We Are The Ruins
3. Ways With Wolves
4. Boy Detective
5. Sound of Static
6. City At Peace
7. Terrified of What We Might Become
8. Traps And Traps
9. Your Plane Leaves Tomorrow
Review - Kieronononon - Three Man Party
Kieronononon - Three Man Party
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7 out of 10
The surrealcore trio of Goatboy, Orta and Floatstarpx, together known as Kieronononon, are back with their follow up to last year's 'Brutaltechnopunk' EP (a haphazard bash-up of hardcore and low budget 8-bit electro), and it's even more of a WTF? patchwork than before.
'Three Man Party', Kieronononon's fourth EP in three years, adds even more styles to their brutaltechnopunk mix. Horrors-style garage psych, death metal and even more B-movie shtick are thrown together on the sludgy 'And You're Not James Bond Either', while 'Eventually He Did' turns out as a free-form, spoken word grindcore number. Grind pops up again on the Red Hot Chilli Peppers-meets-early Napalm Death (with Zig and Zag on vocals).
Most noticeable is their use of fuzz and feedback, as noise duo Fuck Buttons do, on the burring electronic of 'Vampire Vodka Party?' and the (slightly) more conventional hardcore of 'But I Really Shouldn't Have', which is drenched in it. They manage to fit a Goldie Lookin' Chain style rap in there too.
'Three Man Party' doesn't quite have as many good songs as its predecessor, but this gang of roughed-up musical magpies are still one of the underground's best kept secrets nonetheless.
Listen: www.myspace.com/kieronononon
Tracklist:
1. And You're Not James Bond Either
2. Vampire Vodka Party?
3. But I Really Shouldn't Have
4. Eventually He Did
5. Not A Million Miles Away
6. And Dinner Was Ruined
Review - Castrovalva - Castrovalva
Castrovalva - Castrovalva
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7 out of 10
Leeds bass & drums instrumental duo Castrovalva (Anthony Wright - bass; Dan Brader - drums) started making music after a house party, when they plugged a Nintendo and a bass into an amp and started making what Wright calls "weird noise". Naysayers will say it should have stayed a drunken idea at a party, but that's to overlook the fact that Castrovalva are more than some easy comparisons to other bass/drum duos (Lightning Bolt, Death From Above 1979, That Fucking Tank).
Admittedly, until they get some more pedals and buttons and Wright's new, customised bass-cum-noise smorgasbord, their options are limited and the likes of 'Bison Scissor Kick', the springy 'We Don't Go To Ravenholm' and stop-start 'My Father Bleeds History' do blend into each other after a while. But on the groovy duo of 'Max Rhodes' and 'Triceratops', with their fat, meaty bass sound and splatter-and-smash drums, Wright and Brader sound formidable.
The ambient, melancholic blips of 'London Kills Me' are all that's left from the weird noise of their earliest days, and perhaps bringing back the electronic elements (or adding vocals, as on the death metally 'Bellhausen') would give Castrovalva more depth. For the time being though, this is a promising display of untamed brute force.
Listen: www.myspace.com/castrovalvamusic
Tracklist:
1. Max Rhodes
2. We Don't Go To Ravenholm
3. Dream Carpet
4. Bison Scissor Kick
5. London Kills Me
6. My Father Bleeds History
7. Bellhausen (featuring Leemun Smith)
8. Triceratops
Review - Last Harbour - Saint Luminous Bride
Last Harbour - Saint Luminous Bride
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8 out of 10
Last Harbour are borne of a sound that dwells in dark underground drinking establishments. They sound how Bon Iver might if they only played at wakes or if they plied Nick Cave with enough barrels of rum to come and sing with them. The menacingly dark music that Last Harbour make is akin to a confessional scene in a Georges Bataille novel. A worrying cloud parks itself neatly over the listeners head as soon as Saint Luminous Bride begins and the this does not let up, in fact it grows darker, denser and crackles with revolutionary vitriol and melancholy. This is not the revolutionary type that might be represented by a red fist (or right hand) that you might know and claim to agree with. No this is an internal revolution a cleansing that has nothing to do with ethnicity and all to do with the soul, catharsis and not implausibly exorcism.
At times the slow, sometimes sparse often overflowing trudge of Last Harbour can provoke a pang of worthlessness not dissimilar to watching Sympathy for Mr Vengeance, 21 Grams or perhaps Irreversible backwards, all of which leave the audience with an overbearing sense of despair. And for this four track EP to be mentioned in the same breath as those four films is nothing but a testament to the process of Last Harbour. Too often musicians forego the concept is less is more and forget the power of playing the perfect notes rather than as many as possible, thankfully Last Harbour are not guilty of that crime, proof of which can be found specifically on the clambering of Brothers and left to their own devices this Mancunian collective could produce something as breathtaking and heart-wrenching as Jane Doe. A Converge comparison? Far flung from left field that came, yet musical comparisons are not purely based upon sound - crack that one if you will.
Listen: www.myspace.com/lastharbour
Tracklist:
1. Saint Luminous Bride
2. The Rifleman & The Bird
3. Brothers
4. Hewn
Review - Heirs - Alchera
Heirs - Alchera
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6 out of 10
The press release alone for Heirs made my balls tighten; from the list of influences to the casual mentioning of James Plotkin mastering their album, this compact disc would have to spit in my face, shit in my CD player and then rape my virginal (not to mention underage) speakers for me not to like it, but to be honest it would still be doing pretty well, I mean it's not every day that a CD goes all "de Sade" on audio equipment is it?
On with the real words now then, Plague Asphyx certainly draws on a certain JKB's previous body of work, although we are talking early days, not Napalm Death early however. That's right Godflesh early and although this ticks all the boxes a slight feeling of running at half power is present. Then Mockery starts up sounding like Isis, Grails, Earth and Swans fighting in a sack, where the sack is a recording studio and their weapons of choice are sound waves, which, I must add, are being flung about, not so much willy-nilly but certainly with gusto, even if it is organised. Low level rumblings abound make up a rather meaty mid section before graciously giving way to a more sustained melody and then finally dying out in a repetitive stream of feedback.
Heirs hail from a city that brings back shaky memories of colossal consumption, gallons of goon, kerb hugging and the loss of a passport, make of that what you will and so it could be these connotations of fast paced snapshot euphoric lightning recollections that halts any affinity between the music that Heirs play and that easterly city, obviously that is my own fault and should not reflect upon Alchera ... but it does, however as soon as I write I must retract because the flattening castigated conclusion of Cabal wiped the spit from my mouth, which still contained the crystallised echoes of my daft thoughts from not a moment earlier. This is where the album really finds its rhythm with the stomping riff and war conjuring drumming of Mandril sounding like a march to doom, destruction and death.
Heirs are certainly vying for their inheritance, unfortunately for them they will have to wait a while longer, as their rock comes across a little too calculated, perhaps the baking heat of 'Stralia is not the right climate to accurately capture the spiralling helix of hope and despair that so well befits this type of music. Yet a "writing off" this is not and I will happily listen out, with ears open wide, for any further advances from the Heirs camp.
Listen: www.myspace.com/heirsmusic
Tracklist:
1. Plague Asphyx
2. Mockery
3. Cabal
4. Mandril
5. The White Swell
6. Russia
Review - Enter Shikari - Juggernauts (Single)
Enter Shikari - Juggernauts (Single)
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9 out of 10
It’s one of the biggest clichés going, every band claims that they’re original and that they combine all sorts of genres (primarily indie bands when they try to convince you that they have influences of jazz in their generic tripe), but Enter Shikari, they nail it, with style.
So after the success of their first record Enter Shikari are back with ’Common Dreads’ and the first single ’Juggernauts’ and in turn the problems labelling it. Sure there are roots in hardcore with a massive pop chorus combined but there are so many more nuisances than that. From the opening insanity of the synth attacking you something ferocious to Mike Skinner like observational lyric driven verse and then acoustic soft melody ending, then is no shortage of styles and remember, this song is 3 minutes and 43 seconds long.
So you thinking with all these styles it’s gotta sound like a complete mess right? Well you couldn’t be more wrong and the annoying part is, I don’t know how they do it! When reading back my observations it appears this track should be a big pile of noise but it completely works as a song and better yet for their mass appeal, a pop song.
It’s not perfect, some lyrics are a bit naff and the vocal has a slight hint of irritation but these are niggles that aren’t even worth considering with this solid effort, it’s almost like they’ve worked out how to be completely original in 2009 and that’s no mean feat. The world is theirs for the taking until the replica arrive and completely ruin the moment.
Listen: www.myspace.com/entershikari
Tracklist:
1. Juggernauts
Review - Metric - Sick Muse (Single)
Metric - Sick Muse (Single)
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6 out of 10
The world is awash with low level indie bands, any reviewer can validate this. They’re everywhere and anywhere but the trick is to move out of the middle of the road and into the fast lane. Metric took 3 years out to attempt this and if the single is anything to go by... they could have done with another year.
Don’t get me wrong, ’Sick Muse’ is more than decent, a nice steady beat controlling the rhythm while the strong melodies take centre stage. Couple this with disjointed guitar riffs and a nice verse to chorus layout and you have a decent indie pop song. But where is the 3 years work the press pack promised me?! There is nothing particularly outstanding and it lacks any real creativity it’s just kinda, you know, there.
I’m sure Metrics fan base would disagree with me and I’m positive some people out there are happy with their 3 minute fill of Metric and if that’s the case then consider the single a thumbs up. From a personal opinion though, I fail to see how this track cannot be completely discarded ten minutes after hearing it, it’s just not memorable enough.
I was being a tad facetious with my 3 years statement because this is just a single and not an accurate representation of an album which I’m sure Metric feel is heartfelt, I was just a little, underwhelmed.
Listen: www.myspace.com/metric
Tracklist:
1. Sick Muse (Radio Edit)
Sunday, 24 May 2009
Review - Various - Lavotchkin / Crocus - EP Split
Various - Lavotchkin / Crocus - EP Split
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8 out of 10
Blasting straight out of the speakers, Newcastle based Lavotchkin spare no time in marking their territory. Moving away from the Botch-ism’s of their earlier material. Their 3 tracks display a more grown up, bigger, dirty, rock approach to their chosen genre. Earthy sounding guitars and hoarse screaming rule here. "You Were Dawn" tears away from the starting line, bouncing and smashing its way through before the slowed-down-Hope-Con-sounding "Abandon" sluggishly bullies its way into your head. Wrapping it up with "Clouds" they end on a positive and chaotic note. This bodes well for their debut album.
Crocus hail from Falmouth (that Bastion of rock) and have been listening to Gravity Records roster quite some from this recording, which is no bad thing and they do build on this influence. Mixing in a more punk approach with some technicality in the playing department. Think of all your favourites; Hot Cross, Saetia, City Of Caterpillar, Swing Kids etc and then take that sound and mix it with something very home grown. You have Crocus.
It's maybe a bit early to be heaping too much on them but the 3 tracks show a vision and skill that left to breathe and develop could be mighty impressive.
There you go; 2 awesome British bands.
Listen: www.myspace.com/smalltownrecords
Tracklist:
1. You Were Dawn - Lavotchkin
2. Abandon - Lavotchkin
3. Clouds - Lavotchkin
4. A Spiritual Polemic - Crocus
5. Ignorance We Swallow - Crocus
6. Fear Of Water - Crocus
Review - Telegraphs - We Were Ghosts
Telegraphs - We Were Ghosts
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8 out of 10
History shows that couples in bands can produce some of the most intense and revealing music about relationships, from Blondie to Sonic Youth to Fleetwood Mac to (and this is the most apt musical comparison when it comes to Telegraphs) the Smashing Pumpkins. The debut album by Brighton five-piece Telegraphs was written by singer/guitarist Darcy Harrison and singer/bassist Hattie Williams as their relationship ended, and on emotionally charged songs like 'The Argument' and 'So Cold' it shows. They're still friends and (fortunately for us) bandmates, and their harmonies sound excellent on the likes of 'Notes From An Exit Station'.
Album opener 'The Argument', punchy alt. rock with hints of Biffy Clyro, ¡Forward, Russia! and Read Yellow, sets the tone with Harrison singing, "Here comes the argument... take it back! Take it back!" While on the thrilling, epic-emo 'Your First Love' he shouts, "Your first love is dead!"
On these, 'We Dance In Slow Motion' and past single 'I Don't Navigate By You', with Williams on lead vocals and sounding not unlike Read Yellow's Michelle Kay, Telegraphs produce riff after riff. They're relentless, exhilarating and in America they'd be on a major label (or at least a label owned by a star on a major label) with a sound as big as instrumental 'Drop D Not Bombs'. As it is, it falls to the excellent Small Town Records to propel them towards alternative stardom.
The quieter 'Forever Never' gives them space to show their talents as singers, songwriters and musicians more clearly, as Harrison sounds like a man scorned and the rest of the band burn through a post-rock type arrangement behind him. The anti-surveillance society single 'The Rules Of Modern Policing' also shows how good Harrison and Williams' personal songs are by comparison. Saying the UK in 2009 "feels like 1984" isn't as firey as their songs about fractured relationships. If they keep capturing the messiness of human nature this well, Telegraphs will be a band we want to stick together for a long time.
Listen: www.myspace.com/telegraphs
Tracklist:
1. The Argument
2. We Dance In Slow Motion
3. Your First Love Is Dead
4. Forever Never
5. Drop D Not Bombs
6. I Don't Navigate By You
7. The Rules Of Modern Policing
8. So Cold
9. Notes From An Exit Station
10. Eyes Stitched Open
11. What's So Good About Goodbye?
Review - Hovercraft Pirates - Mixtape
Hovercraft Pirates - Mixtape
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6 out of 10
What kind of a name is Hovercraft Pirates? I dread to think what names were rejected; Segway Ninjas or Vikings in Capri's maybe?!
The album is called "Mixtape" and it sure does resemble one of those - a mixed bag of mid-90's Fat Wreck Chords/Epitaph punk, beer swilling jigs, desert-rock blowouts topped with noodly muse-isms - Hovercraft Pirates have neatly arranged all their influences in a tidy pile and then learnt how to recreate them without getting caught.only they haven't quite got there.
Starting off with "Rica", building up slowly to a sleazy tub thumper of an introduction to the Irishmen that has everything going for it, its only when it turns the corner into an epic stadium sized shredding solo that makes me think that I might have stumbled on the next big thing.
No.
"Always Free" sounds like something Tim Armstrong wrote and threw away when he was 15 and he wrote 8 Pink songs, so he knows what's rubbish. Not sure what happened during the next two songs.then track 5.
"Just Another Rock Song" is a fine example of pure party rock, with some Fugazi mixed in for good measure.but merges into a rolling space rock drone. The problem with Hovercraft Pirates is that they have prioritised the wrong influences. As a music fan you should like a broad range of bands, from the cool bands you use to impress people to that funky house tune that is always on the radio that you should hate but it gets into your head like one of Khan's earwigs. But would you include EVERYTHING into the pot when cooking a band? One hand yes, but there should be some quality control. My example of this is the song "Happy/Free" - what's with the ska-punk? Without it, I could at least take the song seriously. Behind the ska is an atmospheric backing with a huge smash hit chorus.shame about the ska. The finishing track "Dreams" is the big-ender that further proves Chris Blue's skills as an axe-shredder. For a three-piece these boys have a big sound and know how to craft an anthem but need to think about where they want to go and to let go of the ska-punk thing.
But I see they played on the U.S. Warped Tour in '08, so what do I know!?
Listen: www.myspace.com/hovercraftpirates
Tracklist:
1. Rica
2. Always Free
3. Bar Fights and Deserts
4. We're Not Heroes
5. Just Another Rock Song
6. Happy/Free
7. Hell
8. Going Down
9. Wanna Go
10. Bring Your Guns
11. Rock*
12. Dreams
Review - The Voodoo Trombone Quartet - South Westerly (Single)
The Voodoo Trombone Quartet - South Westerly (Single)
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6 out of 10
Apparently this band began as an in-joke, starting with a band name and only then coming up with the music that the name suggested. If they had done it the conventional way, they could have also chosen 'The Sunny D Players' or maybe 'Ribena Brass Orchestra', since the opening horns and bass line instantly gave me an unfortunate mental picture of your stereotypical advert of annoyingly chipper teens quenching their raging thirst. Not the best start.
Fortunately, it turns out to only be a momentary setback, as once the vocals begin it transforms into a distinctly summery pop hit, something akin to a British version of Smashmouth. It bounces along in a fairly standard, but nonetheless enjoyable way, and singing along to the chorus ('the North, the East, the South Westerly breeze is moving us on") becomes second nature almost immediately. That's once you can remember the order the directions go in, of course.
Listen: www.myspace.com/voodootrombonequartet
Tracklist:
1. South Westerly (Radio Edit)
2. South Westerly
Review - FACT - A Fact Of Life (Single)
FACT - A Fact Of Life (Single)
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5 out of 10
There are a myriad reasons why metal and synths don't mix (I'm looking at you Enter Shikari). Japan's FACT have managed to almost make it work - 'A Fact Of Life' is an admirable mix of metalcore riffs and rave keyboards. Rather than sounding like an afterthought, the electronica elements, in particular the autotuned vocals, elevate FACT from being subpar to slightly above par. It's an interesting idea but it's not interesting enough to warrant repeated listens. The remix version fairs a little better, though it starts out slow, it concludes with a savage mix of guitars and breakbeats. FACT has some interesting ideas up their sleeve, but interesting ideas don't always make for great songs.
Listen: www.myspace.com/factjapan
Tracklist:
1. A Fact Of Life
2. A Fact Of Life (Boom Boom Satilettes REMIX)
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