Sonic Boom Six: October UK tour
Posted by jamie on Sep 30, 2011
It’s now just a few short days until Manchester’s Sonic Boom Six hit the road for the first time in much too long. To celebrate they’ll be giving away 100 special edition CDs to the first people in the doors at every show.
Get tickets here.
Find all the details on that CD here.
See it on facebook here.
Gecko: Safest Bet (reviewed)
Posted by jamie on Sep 23, 2011
Gecko
Safest Bet (Single) – Self released, 2011
23rd September 2011
Jamie
There’s just something about Gecko that’s instantly, irresistibly, infectiously cheering. Without being like any other band, they somehow manage to produce the most wonderfully uplifting, totally idiosyncratic gems of pop songs that you can’t help yourself but fall so far in love with them so fast that they should come with some kinds of health warning.
The simple thing to do here would be to type that in Safest Bet they’ve just done it again. It deserves better than that, though, and so we discuss.
There’s a simple, catchy little intro plucked from Will’s guitar before the tune kicks in. Instantly, it’s a glorious jungle of trademark Gecko vocal harmonies and some lovely, almost steel-drum work from Gabe on keys.
Of course, the chorus is irresistibly, charmingly infectious – it could make Eeyore happy. It’s best listened to while jumping up and down, but you’ll find yourself doing that anyway. And then there’s Will’s words: there can’t be many better lyricists around right now. My favourite right now is “turn your back on logic and faceplant in to greenery”, but, if you’re anything like me, you’ll find a new gem every time. The second verse descends in to a joyously surreal skit about having a tiger as a pet, “an altogether unsuccessful outing, especially when he started growling”.
It’s tough to keep up with Will: it’s like watching two MCs battle on fast forward, in some sort of rap/stand-up comedy face off thing. I guess that’s why you’ll always find new hidden gems in his lyrics, and why you’ll be laughing as well as dancing and inevitably having to remember to breathe while you’re singing, but I promise you you’ll love this.
It’s packed with all the usual charm, and, despite the fact that they’ve been constantly surpassing themselves for years, Gecko have done it again.
In case the song wasn’t gloriously surreal enough, there’s even a video here. Or you can get the song for free here. In return, show them some love here.
Copasetics: The Stark Comprehension of Life in the Final State of Decay
Posted by jamie on Sep 22, 2011
Copasetics
The Stark Comprehension of
Life in the Final State of Decay – Self released, 2011
22nd September 2011
Jamie
I’ve been a big fan of York’s Copasetics since their first EP hit the doormat last year. They had the songs back then, and clearly set their sights on a style: it’s ska-punk in a sense, but in practice the music more based around traditional or first-wave ska, and then performed with punk edge to it: edgy, unsatisfied and unashamed. All of that comes through in the tone, and the lyrics are definitely of punk and protest songs. When it all comes together, it makes for an excellent, if awkward listen: awkward because of the unflinching subject matter of the lyrics and the way that the music lays that right out in the open, but equally excellent for not having pulled any punches and for the quality of the songs and the way they’re performed.
Where Copasetics was charmingly lo-fi all around, this year’s offering, The Stark Comprehension of Life in the Final State of Decay has picked up where the last record left off: the themes are all similar, but this is a somewhat more sophisticated offering: the songs have evolved to become longer and more complex, almost progressive, and yet they’re delivered from the same thrillingly raw, straight up, punk perspective that we saw last time. Oh, and they’ve added Random Hand’s Robin Leitch as a guest on trombone for the recording of this EP.
Opener Phantom Signals builds slowly before kicking in to, and then out of, its haunting refrain: “I was just doing what everybody does”, which returns later in the song as “I hope you get fucked for the death that you deal”. That slow, sinister intro builds slowly in to the chorus which is then picked out with a guitar hook and a three-part vocal harmony, which reappears on You’re Humming Their Tune with, get this, a solo. It’s just a little one, but it’s a departure from the way that Copasetics positioned them musically closer to the no-nonsense attitude of punk at its ideological peak. Here there’s a drop-out where the vocals finish the song on their own.
I.C.W.D is initially quicker and choppier, a little more two-tone, but then drops to a similarly ominous tempo. Benj’s vocal is almost growled in places. Those few moments where that uneasiness is sustained after the tempo has slowed are perhaps the stand-out point of the record: eerily queasy in their music and with Benj’s vocal almost growling in its frustration before Suzy join on backing vocals and the initial melody returns and the song fades to a quiet close. 15th Generation Copies is the epic of the EP, where that prog influence is the most evident. Think Breadchasers and get them in to eerie dub like you get on Sublime remixes and then make them angry and you’re most of the way there. The song whispers in places and snarls in others. Here it’s the horn section that lead the song off in to its breakdown. The whole thing is spookily menacing, and superbly put together and performed: it’s like an angry epic prog/dub/punk/ska thing. It disappears all of a sudden, and then the whole record’s finished. This is a great little disc, though, and a step forward from 2010’s Copasetics. They were excellent already, but here they’ve clearly evolved, and developed that distinct sound in to something really exciting. Well worth a look.
The Stark Comprehension.. is available form the Copasetics webstore here.
Tracks:
Phantom Signals
You’re Humming Their Tune
I.C.W.D
15th Generation Copies
Anti-Vigilante 2012 Headline Tour
Posted by jamie on Sep 21, 2011
Anti-Vigilante’s first (mostly) headline tour is going to happen in January. Already booked are shows in Birmingham, Cheltenham, Milton Keynes, Newcastle, Sheerness and London.
More shows will follow. Hit up Hidden Talent if you can help.
Broken Nose: recording Tree House Fire at Jamtown
Posted by jamie on Sep 20, 2011
Little update in from Dai and Dasher out of Broken Nose:
The guys have just set-up Jamtown Recording Studio in thier home town of Bridgend in South Wales. Jamtown is where Broken Nose recorded their debut album ‘No Compromise’, and are currently recording Tree House Fire’s debut EP, recording with Dirty Revolution and producing the next Broken Nose album. The studio will also be a creative hub for Trenchfoot Records, so keep an eye out for some exciting stuff.
See it on facebook here.
Hear it on Soundcloud here.
Gecko: “Safest Bet” unleashed
Posted by jamie on Sep 19, 2011
*FULL REVIEW TO FOLLOW*
The impossibly witty, endlessly lovable acoustic ska-pop urchins Gecko today release latest single Safest Bet as a free download. You can get it here.
Miacca, Def City Collect, Gecko & Joe York: reviewed live at New Cross Inn
Posted by jamie on Sep 16, 2011
Miacca, Def City Collect, Gecko, Joe YorkNew Cross Inn,
London
12th September, 2011
Jamie
Tonight’s bill was superb even after the original headliners, the Drop, unfortunately became unavailable when they discovered, if rumours are to be believed*, that one of their members was on the Isle of Wight during the afternoon.
Just a few days ago, the Drop had played the Toots and the Maytals after-party a few miles away, where the door price was twice tonight’s. To get five bands and a DJ (the Skints’ Josh Rudge, no less) for £5 is a feather in the cap (no pun intended) of Men With Hats promotions, a new promoter who have already helped to put on some really exciting shows.
As the Drop have *ahem* dropped out, there’s time to amble about before the show starts, and for a jovial, curly-haired gentleman on the door to take his time drawing unique entry stamps on all of our hands and arms in blue Sharpie. Mine was a skull and cross-bones, in case you’re wondering.
In due time, Joe York is up first. He’s chipper, and, while there’s talk of him forming a new band, he’s clearly enjoying his new solo incarnation. Joe performs a short, spiky solo set with infectious confidence, a grin, and a guitar. It’s somewhere between reggae and the sort of folk that gave us punk: articulate, aware, and angry where it ought to be. Just right, really. There’s room for a couple of Scrumptious Biscuit songs and even a cover of the Skints’ Mindless, with a bashful acknowledgement that Josh is already here. As throughout, though, he carries the song off well.
Next up are the Likely Lizards, a semi-acoustic incarnation of Bananatown favourites Gecko which start off as just Will and Gabe but later adds Si as well. The setlist is similar, but the songs, of course, sound notably different: softer, more relaxed and ever-so-slightly more soulful. With neither Amy nor Maisie present, Gabe is on his own on backing vocals, and harmonises perfectly with Will on lead. Too Much, in particular, and I Got Time are treats, but the stand-out moment is a stunning cover of the Temptations’ My Girl. It’s slowed almost to a walking pace and sung in pitch-perfect three-part harmony. I’ve not seen them do this before, but we can only hope it pops up in their live set more often. Their cover of Cleaning Out My Closet is also even better stripped down to its bare bones: more immediate, and even further removed from the original which just reinforces that distinctive, idiosyncratic Gecko charm.
They’re short on time, but Gecko manage to get away with not playing Guanabana Juice thanks to cheeky, impish cocksure charm and the quality of the new song that turned up in its place. That’s pretty much what they’re about, I guess, and it’s certainly what we get from them tonight: impishly lovable, distinctively idiosyncratic and with ridiculously good songs. Tonight they’re stripped down for the acoustic set, and still sound lovely, just in a different way.
Brighton’s Def City Collect are a different proposition altogether, but thoroughly enjoyable nonetheless. They’re relatively new as a band, and still charmingly raw, but mish-mash punk, ska and hip-hop together at speed and with boisterous enthusiasm. There’s seven of them on the little stage, and moving around so much it’s a wonder nobody falls off. They don’t, all the same, and in the meantime a good time is had by all: their songs are peppy throughout, and enjoyably raucous at times, and always have loads going on: the basslines are huge, and they’ve got three vocalists, two guitarists and keys.
It’s the first time I’ve watched them, and so it’s sort of a rule that I sit down and pay attention. That said, they seem irresistibly danceable, and have most of the room squashed together in a little posse in front of them, pogoing up and down. Given that it’s their first London show and that they presumably filled up their van on their own, I guess it’s fair to say that they went down pretty well.
Without the drop, Miacca have been promoted to headline, and step up nonchalantly. The room’s been filling up steadily since doors, and they’ve got a big old crowd in front of them now. They roll through their original songs with practised ease showing off all the gems on their first EP With love and Anger, and a down-and-dirty cover of Sublime’s Santeria that’s heavy enough on the bass and boozy, gravelly enough to be strikingly faithful and completely belie the bashful introduction it got from Smash: “you’ll probably know this one better than us”, she blushed, but they nailed it.
More surprising was their seasick, skankadelic roll through George Michael’s Careless Whispers. It shouldn’t work, but it really, really does. It’s an impressive performance: short and sharp, but with enough quality in the songs and in the performance to suggest that Miacca could go on to be the next big thing. Tonight’s for having fun, though, and they’ve brought that by the bucket. We’re all positively glowing by the time Josh takes to the decks. That was as good as you’d expect. I’m sure I don’t need to say more.
*It’s probably not responsible to repeat every rumour one hears, and believe me, we don’t. But sometimes it’s just good fun and other times a chap needs to post his article and can’t get his facts checked in time.
New Found Glory: Radiosurgery up for pre-order
Posted by jamie on Sep 14, 2011
Radiosurgery, the new record from New Found Glory, is now available for preorder. You can see the video in full here, and/or pre-order their album from the button below.
Jaya the Cat: new album 2012
Posted by jamie on Sep 14, 2011
Jaya the Cat have posted this update on the progress of their new record.
So I guess we owe you an apology. Out of the three main goals we set out last July, only two will come to fruition. We regret to inform you that we will not be releasing our new album this year. Almost all of it is recorded and mixing is going well, but once everything is done and we’ve cut a new deal with whoever is gonna release this thing, we’ll be in 2012. We were hoping it wasn’t gonna come to this but apparently this is the way the universe wants it to go down. The good news is that the promise that this album will be FUCKING AWESOME remains true! We can’t wait to share all of this with you guys.
Slowyear: first ever show SOON
Posted by jamie on Sep 14, 2011
In a secret location in North London, lo-fi punk recluses Slowyear are getting ready to play their first ever show. This is exciting, because it means that their second show will (hopefully) be soon and somewhere we can all go.
Support will be from Deadmath and the lovely Failure By Design.
