SB6: free Manchester show?
Posted by jamie on Feb 29, 2012
Rumour alert: this thread came fro the wall for Sonic Boom Six’s free show in London tomorrow. Manchester, be ready.
Popes of Chillitown, the Snare, My Third Leg: IOE, London
Posted by jamie on Feb 26, 2012
Popes of Chillitown, the Snare, My Third Leg
IOE, London
24th February, 2012
Jamie
As Popes of Chillitown took tonight by the scruff of its neck, there was one brief moment where Austen Cruickshank paused for reflection, and informed us:
“You know, IOE, I wasn’t sure how this gig was going to go, but right now, I’m very fucking impressed”.
Impressed is the word, but, to put that remark in to context, this wasn’t exactly your ordinary gig. The University of London’s Institute of Education, or the IOE, is a postgraduate campus for student teachers, where many of the students are international.
It’s a pretty positive and welcoming place once you’ve navigated your way down to the Union (I’m pretty sure I came in the wrong way), but, tucked away in a corner between the bar and the patio, this show quickly outgrew its boundaries, meaning a few confused non-skankers had to pick their way through, often with big ring binders and other assorted classroom paraphernalia.
It’s not what any of us are used to, but, thanks to that positive and open-minded atmosphere, it just works. For a while I scribbled down notes next to a middle-aged Spanish man sleeping inside the Evening Standard, but by the end he was the only one not taking part, and had, at least, woken up.
We’d stumbled on the “You are here” sign in the street a few minutes too late, and got lost again inside the building: perhaps for the best, the bar seemed to be the only place that wasn’t signposted. It meant that we missed all but the very end of My Third Leg’s customarily high-speed, ratatat-tat ska-punk set. They seem to go down well, despite a few issues with the drums: “I had to re-write most of the drum lines”, Paul admitted afterwards, “during the songs”.
They’d certainly made a few friends, all the same, though, and had got the night off to a good start.
The Snare, on next, are a first-time-see for me. They’re a boisterously energetic, horn-powered, seven-piece two-tone band. Visually, as well as musically, they’re almost a caricature of what a ska band might be like as imagined by The Beano, or a Punch and Judy show, and I mean that in a very good way: theirs is a tried and tested brand of party-starting brass-heavy two-tone ska.
They waste no time getting started: from the word go, they’re straight in to their stride – bouncing up and down in time on stage, their singers taking every opportunity to step down in to the crowd where there’s more room to swing their legs around in a springy, gangly sort of skank: I’ve seen some moves in my time but sometimes these guys’ legs seem to have minds of their own.
It all goes down a storm: an initially nervous crowd quickly get the hang of it, start to shuffle, and soon there are smiles and sing-alongs all around.
In to all of this, then, step the Popes of Chillitown. It’s still new territory, of course, but, if anything, this just seems to spur them on: opener Blame Game is well received, and then, as that becomes the theme from Hawaii 5.0, the place goes absolutely nuts.
From here on, the floor just gets crazier, with all manner of moves coming out: the floor gets fuller and fuller, and, all of a sudden, you wouldn’t notice that the sliding doors out to the patio are open right behind the stage: it’s actually muggy in here – not baking hot, but the air is heavy with sweat. Matt’s lost his shirt and Austen is actually dripping a bit – his new white Popes t-shirt, the dog one, grey with that sweat and smeared with snakebite and not, as we had worried, his or someone’s blood.
As is usually the case with this lot, the night gets more surreal as it goes on, Austen and Matt eventually having a little argument as to whether or not we on the dancefloor should be leaving through those back doors to drag the smokers and shirkers in for a dance. In the end a few of them go, as the band move in to Tooting Ska Moon, and Austen’s actually behind the stage, as far as his mic cable will let him, ushering bewildered punters in while the band are actually playing.
Odd as it seems, though, it all just works: just like the night as a whole, it’s not something many of us would ever have imagined, but it goes down a treat. The band play Brave, and then Lazy Sunday and Dalking Man, and everyone, dragged in or not, is having a cheeky skank. Unless they’re actually dancing salsa, or breakdance, or some crazy foxtrot stuff that had a circle cleared around it at some point. This lot can dance, and, if they haven’t been to a punk show before, they just dance however they feel they want to. We’re all just doing our own thing down here, and it sort of just goes together. It’s surreal, and definitely totally unique, but it fits together perfectly.
Badman is last, before a mock encore (the band couldn’t actually leave the stage, but we all agreed we’d pretend) of the Outhere Brothers’ Boom Boom Boom.
I don’t know how they did it, but our international collection of teaching students found another level: gleefully racing through whatever moves they could find as the Popes cheekily dismantle the song, rebuilding it as they go along in to a high-speed ragga/punk riot that growls where it used to rap and runs around until it’s pushed just to breathe.
The response is rapturous. Everybody wants more, but the show is sadly finished. At IOE, the students vote as to whether each band is allowed back. This strange coming together will surely be cheered back on this evidence.
Skints: signed CDs for pre-order
Posted by jamie on Feb 24, 2012
The Skints‘ new record Part & Parcel has climbed to 16 in the Play.com pre-order charts.
If you missed out on the pledgemusic campaign, you can still get signed copies from Play. Grab one here.
Sonic Boom Six: the Cluny, Newcastle
Posted by jamie on Feb 22, 2012
Sonic Boom Six, Hildamay, Rossi Noise
The Cluny, Newcastle
6th February 2012
Dave
This is my first review ever (but not the first gig I have been to) so be gentle with me as I try and guide you through my night with three cool bands.
On arrival at The Cluny Laila K (yes, THE Laila from Sonic Boom Six) met us in the car park and took us into the building as we were a bit early.
When I got into the room that housed a stage, bands equipment and the bar I was somewhat surprised at just how small it is. The place is tiny but still managed to pack in everything needed for the night. Anyone going there will be pleased to know Cider is about £2.80 a pint 
The first band, Rossi Noise, came on at about 8.30 and at first I was unsure if I liked them but somehow they just grew on me. I’d never heard them before and found the mix of electronic trickery coupled with the heavy beats and hip hop odd but enjoyable. Since seeing them I have listened to their stuff a bit more so they must have left a lasting impression. Only comment I feel I have to make is that the lead singer had an expression on his face that scared the crap outta me!
After a great show from Rossi Noise came Hildamay. I got the impression that they were the wrong band in the wrong venue. The place was too small for their big noise, not enough of an audience to give enough energy and it appeared that the band were near to tripping over each other through lack of space on the stage. Hildamay, whilst appearing very professional at what they do, just didn’t hit the spot for me. It didn’t help that they were sandwiched between Rossi Noise and Sonic Boom Six – two entirely different genres of music.
As anticipated, SB6 came on stage and blew the place away! As soon as they started playing the place came alive, they played favourites like ‘Kids of the Multi Culture’ and ‘Sunny Side of the Street’ with a cover of a Lilly Allen track, finally finishing off with ‘Piggy in the Middle’. The energy from the group as a whole was pretty amazing to watch. The last SB6 gig I had tickets for was cancelled amid much confusion and disappointment so for me, hearing Laila K telling us the band are actively trying to get more gigs in the North East was even more music to my ears – we don’t see them up this neck of the woods often enough!
One observation I feel is worth making is that it must be quite disappointing for the bands playing The Cluny as the place is so small it’s not possible to get a big audience, making it harder for the bands to get the ‘crowd’ involved - I would have liked to put that question to the bands but they probably wouldn’t want to pull the rug from under their feet.
The Skints: UK dates - October 2012
Posted by jamie on Feb 22, 2012
The Skints hit the road around the UK in October. If you haven’t seen them live, you absolutely must.
Support comes from our mates The Drop. You can get tickets here.
OCTOBER 2012
02 BRISTOL, Fleece
03 CARDIFF, Ifor Bach
04 NOTTINGHAM, Maze
05 BIRMINGHAM, Academy 2
06 MANCHESTER, Academy 3
07 GLASGOW, King Tuts
08 NEWCASTLE, Trillians
09 LEEDS, Cockpit
10 NORWICH, Arts Centre
11 LONDON, Scala
You can get tickets here.
EastPak Artist Studio: February 2012
Posted by jamie on Feb 22, 2012
In its second year, the EASTPAK Artist Studio had more than 130 artists from 17 countries convert around 200 plain EASTPAK backpacks into unique works of art, which will be on show during February. We braved the cold to get all the way to Jaguar Shoes to see a private view of the second collection.
All proceeds from auctioning the bags goes to Designers Against AIDS.
The biggest names on show at the London launch were Johnny Marr, Charlie Bowden and Marina Diamandis, but most of the work was pretty cool. For the record, I wrote “Less Than Jake” in massive letters on my backpack (yes, it is Eastpak) back in 2003. That counts too, right?
See all the pictures here.
Let’s Go Nowhere: UK dates
Posted by jamie on Feb 22, 2012
Our lovely friends in Let’s Go Nowhere are off on “their first ever proper official tour”. Hence the pun.
The plan so far is:
May 2012
3rd Thu Norwich (Olives)
4th Fri Guildford (The Star Inn w/ Tree House Fire) (facebook here)
5th Sat Southampton (Ivo’s House w/Tree House Fire
6th Sun Basingstoke (The Way Inn)
7th Mon London (Nambucca)
8th Tue Milton Keynes (Watershed)
9th Wed Bristol (The Louisiana w/ Jim Lockey) (facebook here)
10th Thu FREE
11th Fri Newbury Canal Bar w/ Smokey Bastard (facebook here)
12th Sat FREE
13th Sun FREE (Birmingham TBC)
25th Sat Norwich Punx Picnic (facebook here)
You could help. Sweep says:
Anyone that could help us out with the remaining dates, let us know! Either in private message or at sweepgoesnowhere@gmail.com We’re cheap and friendly and tidy (Especially Liam)
See it on facebook here.
Like Bananatown on facebook here.
New Found Glory: Camden Roundhouse
Posted by jamie on Feb 20, 2012
New Found Glory
Roundhouse, Camden
17th February, 2012
Jamie
Camden’s Roundhouse is a stunning venue. On this crystal clear North London evening, you can stand on the second floor, where the walls are full-length windows, and see all the way down Chalk Farm Road in to central London without spotting one cloud.
It’s a bit like one part of the blurred intro sequence to BBC1’s glossy detective drama Sherlock, at least until you look straight down on to the usual Friday carnage, tonight swelled by hordes of hyped-up pop-punkers squashed in to lines in between mesh fences. Larry from NASIN, of course, is doing the rounds.
Five guys have come dressed as hair-sprayed, LA metallers: you know, big, crimped blonde wigs, spray-on trousers, the whole Nick Horne look.
Inside, we’re up in an equally lofty little perch: it’s like Boris Pigeon for the night up here. In a round room, it’s sort of like everyone’s dead in front of Jordan Pundik, but we actually are right ahead of him, as New Found Glory enter, to a rapturous reception, and crunch straight in to the enormous opening riffs of All Down Hill From Here.
Of course it’s totally deserved, but every time I watch New Found Glory I’m amazed at the sheer adulation that they inspire: despite the fact that their melodic pop-punk has become spikier, more aggressive, a truer reflection of their hardcore roots: they’re just as sincere as they ever were, and, on top of those giant riffs, still bigger waves of almost reverent adulation roll back on to them.
It’s totally apt, then, when Chad announces:
“We are all losers, nerds, rejects in this crowd. We are one big family”
From here, the night seems to find another level: the atmosphere was already beyond incredible, but climbs another notch after that: Head on Collision, predictably is a fan favourite, and moves seamlessly, if somewhat surprisingly, in to the Ramones’ Blitzkreig Bop: their cover somehow manages to be both surprisingly faithful to the original, and at the same time quintessentially NFG: Jordan’s vocal, as ever, so typically his own, as nasal as Joey Ramone’s but in a completely different way, and the guitar parts played just fuzzily enough to make the song New Found Glory-sweet and still pack a killer punch.
Another speech, professing the band’s love for anyone who has (note: not bought*) their album Radiosurgery, introduces Anthem for the Unwanted.
It’s breathless stuff in here now: the band eagerly racing through a hit-packed set, and a word-perfect room greedily gobbling up every minute of it: Hold My Hand, Kiss Me and then Dressed 2 Kill, “for all the old-school New Found Glory fans”, become one in a giddy, ecstatic blur before Forget My Name, It’s Not Your Fault and Hit or Miss bring the set to a close. Up in the rafters, we’ve ridden through this on waves of warm emotion: I’m feeling fuzzy even before the band return for an all-too-brief encore: just Green Day’s Basket Case and My Friend’s Over You. Somehow, by now, the stage is full: Chad plays the last song with a blue-haired man on his shoulders. It’s somehow fitting: right now, just for a moment, we are, indeed, all one family. We leave exhausted, uplifted, back in to the freezing cold, cloudless night, still taking that unity with us, the inner warmth we’ve gained an extra protection against the late winter chill.
*They did seem to encourage illegal downloading. That’s not something we endorse, though.
Brand New: Manchester Academy
Posted by jamie on Feb 19, 2012
Brand New, the Xcerts, I am the Avalanche
Academy 1, Manchester
9th February, 2012
Rosie
Excitement could be felt from every angle in Manchester Academy tonight and anxiety but that’s probably due to the weather warnings suggesting heavy snow for that evening. I know I wouldn’t be happy if I got stranded in Manchester for the night.
The Xcerts appear launching straight in and it’s incredibly loud. First impression is the bassist is over excited and looks quite pained throughout the set. I felt like the band were constantly engaged in what they were doing however somehow failed to be engaging. Murray Macleod’s vocals are passionate as ever but with a slightly raw quality to them which is definitely a positive. They however weren’t overly clear in a lot of places which was quite frustrating.
I felt the bass lines were lacking, it lost clarity from the songs and as a result it felt like the drummer carried them through the set which was particularly evident on the penultimate song which was rather bland otherwise.
They warmed through the set though and finally won us over in the final song, pushed through by interesting effects even if the singer tried to push his vocals possibly a bit too far.
Next up – I Am The Avalanche. They seem like a lively bunch and the sound is full as full can be. Their coordinated backing vocals in opening track Holy Fuck consisting of several “woah”s and “hey”s are a nice touch. The lead vocals aren’t the most soulful but they seem to work, raw as they are. The audience seem enthused and the coordinated clapping begins. Not bad for the first song of the set!
Shock opening to The Gravedigger’s Argument, “this song is about killing my ex wife and burying her in my backyard” says vocalist Vinnie Caruana, but luckily adds “I didn’t actually do that”. Well it’s always nice to be reassured. It’s a fast, punchy number and their inclusion of second vocalist line makes it somewhat reminiscent of a heavy, fast Taking Back Sunday.
Amsterdam is introduced as a song about going to Amsterdam with friends, mushrooms and puking. Background to songs is always a nice addition. The lyrics are pretty disappointing when compared to the other songs but I guess this way they’re more memorable with “Amsterdam I miss you”. Brooklyn Dodgers is a very catchy song with more sing-along and chanting so once again the audience get to it and join in.
Now the part of tonight that everyone’s eagerly waiting for. There’s something about Brand New…I always feel that in theory they shouldn’t be this good but something about them makes their music infectious. The atmosphere is insane. Everyone is anxious and hyped for their appearance, especially after the 35 minute wait as they arrive late to the stage. A tonne of smoke is pumped on to the stage, creating an eerie ambience.
They opened unexpectedly with Welcome to Bangkok but the sound is immense, massive. Different noises just come from everywhere and blend in this incredible way that immerses everyone. They posted the set list from Nottingham a couple of days ago so it was a good surprise to see they’d altered it tonight.
The fact that they have two drummers for the first half of the set encourages a colossal effect, especially as the fling themselves in to Archers with that heavy drum opening. Until about midway through it barely feels like a gig. Everyone is mesmerised. It’s like stunned silence. It’s not until the chorus that everyone appears to realise where they are and start moving. It’s an odd reaction. The layered vocals are particularly striking here, it’s something Brand New do in a lot of songs – like Jesse just has so much to express to the world that he has express them over each other.
They kick in to Millstone which is an expression everyone’s post-teenage angst, a song of reflection, past mistakes. To be a fan of this band doesn’t require the usual love it does for any other band, it requires obsession and you can see that in the crowd tonight. It’s true that they may be classed as “emo” but Jesse’s vocals have something for everyone. No one can listen to their music and not find a song they identify with, whether it’s that of a broken heart, disappointed in others or disappointment in themselves, need to escape, a cry for help or the need to stop holding yourself back. It’s all in there.
Sowing Season (yeah) really takes over. The crowd seems to explode, particularly distinctive in the massive sing along for “I am not your friend I am just a man who knows how to feel. I am not your friend, I’m not your lover, I’m not your family.” Jesse’s shrieking “yeah”s are pained and as with each of these songs you feel his emotion and his passion, he hides nothing.
3 tracks off Daisy, probably their weirdest album, follow. There are also massive and angst ridden but for a moment it seems to become a ‘proper’ gig with less focus on such intense emotions are apparent with a lot of the other songs, however, it is nice to see the inclusion of Sink, which provides much comment of “oh my god, I know this one” from teenage girls surrounding…Groan.
Then we get that bass line. Yes, it’s time for Sic Transit Gloria. Another mass explosion for the chorus through which you can just tell everyone reverted back to age 16 again as people don’t fail to comment on throughout the evening. These songs are just perfect for teenage agony.
Okay I Believe You But My Tommy Gun Don’t follows and it gets the best crowd response ever. I don’t think there was a person in that room that didn’t sing every word. I could barely hear Brand New over it and it was awesome. It’s the point in a gig where it’s apparent that everyone in the room is all there for the same thing, they all love it that much and not much else matters anymore because everyone is just living for that specific moment. This may seem like a dragged out emotional description, but as I said, these fans are obsessive to the point this band could probably cock up completely and the fans wouldn’t care. Luckily they didn’t though! The lyrics of this song are particularly appropriate for this point as “I just want to believe in us” - well the fans certainly believe in Brand New and nothing, not even a certain awful track on Daisy will change that.
They note half way through that they’re only over here because they know we want to see them despite the fact that they have no new album that they can offer us. It’s certainly true. The excitement tonight is simply unreal.
Onwards we go, but back in time as we’re graced with 3 tracks from their first album. It’s good, really good and finally some real pits emerge. Seventy Times Seven is the real killer with all of its rage fuelled glory. They’re just bloody good punk/rock/emo/whatever songs and they’re executed as well as ever.
Jesse is a man of few words. It’s been said that he doesn’t like talking to fans so he speaks a surprisingly large amount tonight, even apologising for his apparel. Apparently he’s been wearing the same clothes for a few days….Well at least we can’t smell him from the crowd although I’m fairly sure the crowd is smelly enough as it is. He then gives the audience a choice between Play Crack the Sky or Soco Amaretto Lime. I think everyone’s yelling for both songs, but he continues with the theme of Your Favourite Weapon.
For the final part of the gig we’re launched in to a few more tracks from The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Of Me. Limousine is possibly the most depressing song they’ve ever written and that’s saying something. But as that guitar kicks in after almost a couple of minutes it becomes somewhat liberating; “yeah you were right about me, can I get myself out from underneath this guilt that will crush me”. It’s a song of admission and it just builds and builds until that climactic riff after 5 minutes, it’s an incredible release. And calm resumes. The audience seem frozen by the overwhelming power that this band radiate.
The whole performance is simply infectious and this continues through to the end with Degausser and You Won’t Know. Unfortunately I had to leave early to catch my train home but not until that guitar riff appears just over half way through You Won’t Know – it’s stunning. Their guitar parts are just so distinct and somewhat inspiring. Brand New are a band that always exude this kind of thrilling experience when you see them live and that doesn’t look set to change any time soon, and that itself is a wonderful thing.
Almeida: Fantastic Massacre
Posted by jamie on Feb 15, 2012
Almeida
Fantastic Massacre – Bells on Records, 2011
7th February, 2012
Rosie
Having gained significant praise from their ‘Masters of the Universe’ Split EP in 2010, Progressive thrash/melodic hardcore band Almeida have returned with their first full length offering, Fantastic Massacre.
They don’t exactly ease you in to their album, with their first track Kinslayer opening like a punch in the face. By no means is that supposed to be an offensive simile, but if their music is anything to go by, they want to grab your attention and not necessarily in the friendliest manner. They certainly don’t hold back at any point during the record, making at an extremely bold first offering.
This album presents a variety in every aspect, from the contrast of raw, angsty screams to the anxious rather more melodic vocals. They have high pitched, blistering riffs, which are clearly comparable to the likes of Dragonforce, then contrasting with the extremely fast paced and punk influenced drumming, clearly demonstrated in the opening of Kings Of Contempt. Even the lengths of songs vary more than any album I’ve ever seen, from just over a minute to a huge seven and a half minutes. With these constant changes, there is no opportunity to be bored, in fact, it’s more likely to make you feel somewhat seasick as it throws you about through it’s different qualities
Throughout the album you’re confronted with constant bursts of energy. It barely slows down until you reach Ice Cream Song, an instrumental offer that contrasts to everything else you encounter with its gentle acoustic guitar, which then slowly builds in the last 30 seconds until you’re returned to the upheaval that is Bale Fire. That rest, however, was definitely need it because some of these tracks are so intense that you’re practically left breathless just from listening.
The penultimate track Reservations (III) seems to be a complete mash up of just about everything, with the tone changing entirely about two thirds of the way through, an interlude of calm before breaking back into a more hardcore setup as the metal guitars return once more for the slower, gutsy and somewhat dominating ending. The final track By Sin of Omission displays a variety of complex rhythmic patterns within in its depths, helped along by some sporadic time changes. Instead of ending with some form of explosion as I had expected, it just fades out, feeling like the whirlwind we’ve just experienced has disappeared whilst leaving us with the slightly unsettling feeling that it’ll clearly come back and get you when you’re not looking.
It has been said that Almeida are hard to define and I can definitely see why with their mix up of different ideas throughout and for the most part it blends in a satisfying manner rather than just descending to chaos. What they’re doing is not necessarily groundbreaking but they seem know what they’re aiming to achieve and they’ll ensure you pay damn good attention to it!
Get Fantastic massacre from the TNS Webstore here.
