Miacca: Tia leaves the band
Posted by jamie on Jan 9, 2012
Today we received the sad news that Tia Kalmaru has left Miacca. We’re still big fans of both, and the good news is that they’re all still big fans of each other.
Here’s what Ti told us:
Everything’s cool and everyone’s still friends and the band are carrying on with another member.. can you also remind people of the slackers gig?
It is my regret to announce that I am leaving Miacca. After 2 years of travelling round in a sweaty car, eating junk food, sleeping in the most uncomfortable places, having no money, failing at education and generally having the best time of my life, it’s time to move on to the next phase of my life. It’s been an almost impossible decision to make as my band mates have supported me through the hardest times of my life. They will carry on without me, with another guitarist and are going to do all gigs that are already booked.
Aislinn, Joe and Damon, good luck guys, make 2012 your year! It’s been a pleasure playing with you guys and I wish you (plus new guitarist) the very best of luck, thanks everyone who supported the band while I was a member, you all helped me grow as a person, as well as musically, in ways you can’t imagine. Keep supporting, they’re just getting started
Ti ♥
To see Miacca’s show with Jaya the Cat and the Slackers, go here.
To get Slackers tickets, go here.
This Are UK Ska: Vol. 4
Posted by jamie on Dec 23, 2011
Various Artists
This Are UK Ska, Vol.4 – Do the Dog, 2011
9th December, 2011
Jamie
This is really, really exciting: the return of Do the Dog’s This Are UK Ska series of compilations is a long time coming, but definitely well worth the wait.
In the space of one wonderful little disc, the twenty two years (twenty two!) of tireless devotion given to supporting the UK’s DIY bands get their just rewards: the list of contributors to this record reads like a who’s who of ska and ska-punk in the UK in 2011.
The disc itself is, musically speaking, as diverse and exciting as you’d expect. It’s appropriate, given the brief and deliberately open-minded mission statement on the DTD website:
“We love ska in all its colourful guises, be it old school, laid back Jamaican style ska, bouncy 2-tone ska vibes, upbeat modern ska/pop or thunderous ska/punk!”
Given the enthusiasm with which DTD embrace new and different kinds of music and the rude health in which we find our scene, the potential was always there for a compilation this broad, this exciting and of such excellent quality.
To have pulled it all together, though, is still no small achievement. It’s excellent from start to finish, with scorching tracks from some of the scene’s exciting new talent mixing it with the more established names.
Of course, you’ll get to hear new tracks from some of the bands they’ve been supporting for years: alongside the sadly defunct Smoke Like a Fish, there’s also Do the Dog favourites, Rebelation, Drewvis and Cartoon Violence. The thing is, there are also exciting contributions from a new generation of great UK bands: keep an eye out for Miacca’s catchy Would You Like Me To Be the Cat? (unless you’re George Galloway), Copasetics’ sinister-yet-excellent Phantom Signals and the incendiary Wilsonator from John Player Specials. Then, fall in love with Breadchasers’ brilliant epic prog-ska-rock skankalong Time to Stop. It’s relatively light-hearted for the band, but fits perfectly on this compilation.
There’s so much here, and it’s all so different, so interesting and so enjoyable, that I could easily sit and type about it all day. Every track is a highlight.
This Are UK Ska Volume 4 is probably the most enjoyable so far, neatly showcasing a wide variety of established and up-and-coming UK acts. A perfect snapshot of where the scene is in 2011, it also highlights a few names to look out for in years to come.
Given that this was the label who first brought us Dirty Revolution, Catch-it Kebabs and the Skints, perhaps we were right to expect a lot from this disc. It doesn’t disappoint one bit.
This Are UK Ska, No. 4 is available now from Do the Dog Music.
Ian Britt, Chapter Eleven: free London show
Posted by jamie on Nov 17, 2011
Our BFFs at Men With Hats have created a lovely acousitc show in North London that costs nothing (yes, really) to attend. Aparently they have fruit-flavour beers and everything. It’s going on (and off) at the World’s End (in Finsbury Park, not the Camden Town one).
You can watch:
Smash Peters (Miacca)
See it on facebook 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.
Skints / Gecko / Miacca: big fat London show
Posted by jamie on Sep 8, 2011
Look alive, South London. Our diamond geezers at Men With Hats announce this beast.
Yes, that is Miacca, and Will and Gabe from Gecko, and Josh out of the Skints. Oh, and Joe from Scrumptious Biscuit, Def City Collect and the Drop as headline.
Miacca: mini-tour ahoy
Posted by jamie on May 9, 2011
The lovely folk from Miacca are off on tour for a bit. Here’s what they’ve told us..
Hello!
[SEE THE ACTUAL STUFF ON FACEBOOK HERE]
Love Miacca ♥
xxxxxx
p.s. we’ll be organising more tour stuffs for Summer and/or September where we’ll be travelling a bit further afield if you can’t make any of these
So there you go. See you at the front.
Gecko: on tour in May
Posted by jamie on Apr 11, 2011
Gecko get the summer started by hitting the road again in May. They’ll be all over the UK.
Fri 13th MAY @SPANKY VAN DYKES, Nottingham
http://www.spankyvandykes.com/
Support from Liam O’Kane and the Stabilisers
Sat 14th MAY @CARGO, London
http://www.cargo-london.com/
Sun 15th MAY @Cardiff University May Ball
http://www.cardiffuniversityballs.com/
Wed 18th MAY @RETRO BAR, Manchester
http://www.myspace.com/retrobar
Support from Jeramiah Ferrari, Perkie and Tessa Hunt
Thu 19th MAY @MILO, Leeds
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=39747875374
Support TBA
Fri 20th MAY @THE CROFT, Bristol
http://www.the-croft.com/
Support from Liam O’Kane, Perkie and Miacca
Sat 21st MAY @BUFFALO, Cardiff
http://www.buffalocardiff.com/
Support TBA
Loving the cutesy artwork by Lauren Avery.
See it on facebook here.
Miacca: With Love and Anger
Posted by jamie on Apr 3, 2011
Miacca
With Love and Anger – self-released, 2010
8th March 2011
Jamie
There’s something endearing about the way that Miacca approached Bananatown asking us to cover the release of their new EP. “I understand that you usually write about more established bands”, they said. Bless. “..any chance you could do a review of our EP?”.
It only took a little bit of research, though, to find out what those “more established bands” have been saying about Miacca. Their myspace, for example, features praise from the likes of Dirty Revolution, the King Blues, and the Sonic Boom Six. If only all this were happening on twitter, they could almost be some sort of alternative Justin Bieber, if that’s not too much of an oxymoron*. Either way, it’s sufficient praise to belie the modesty in their original approach.
With Love and Anger is a short EP containing four tracks of plaintive acoustic ska that’s based around guitars and the two female vocals. It’s simple without ever coming across as standard, and manages to maintain its refreshing sense of honesty throughout.
Immediate as the songs are on occasion, there’s a sense of restless anger that never really goes away: whatever the songs are about, there’s an edge to them that comes from the sense of injustice that bubbles away just under the surface through the disc.
The songs are polished, and, for the most part, short and fairly sweet, so the edge to this record, and it does have genuine bite, comes mainly from the subject matter, which ranges from defiant anger with the political establishment to frustration with a girl who is governed by her boyfriend.
Opener Liberties (are a Luxury You Can’t Have) is particularly sinister. The melodica, in particular, is a treat, as are the vocal harmonies in the chorus. The song starts steadily and becomes bigger and more sinister as it goes on. By the end it’s picked up a bassline that’s full on dirty. Anger is similarly dark, and, if anything, angstier than Liberties.
I’ve Got a Boyfriend Now, up next, is a little more up-tempo, and sugary-sweet pop in its execution. That anger’s never gone away, though, remember. Those harmonies from Liberties come to the fore and the tune’s a pretty, light, floaty little one. It’s actually lovely and angry at the same time. Like all of the songs here, it’s beautifully direct, telling stories about real life just how it is. The lyrics are brilliantly succinct, and charming not just because of the way that they sum things up so neatly and quickly, but also fit perfectly together to form great little songs.
The last song, Would You Like Me to Be the Cat? is a hilariously bonkers take on George Galloway’s political suicide on Big Brother. Those deliciously sincere lyrics pop out quickly to embarrass him: “it’s all about publicity, or maybe they’re in to bestiality” is probably the best example. Then there’s the harmonies. Then there’s a catchy little bassline. And the chorus. And then it’s done: a short, sharp slice of attitude that’s fun but never loses its bite. The songs are brilliantly put together, and the disc as a whole fully lives up to its name.
*The Justin Bieber analogy is here because lots of celebrities talk about Justin on twitter, and that made him famous. In the same way, there’s a stack of quotes about Miacca on myspace from various luminaries of the UK underground. Lily Allen got big on myspace, but isn’t as funny as Justin Bieber. I think the name” Bieber” is funny on its own. Also, other celebrities were never that keen on Lils in the beginning. Cheryl Cole was really rude about her. Grr.
Track listing:
Liberties (Are a Luxury You Can’t Have)
Anger
I’ve got a Boyfriend Now
Would You Like Me to Be the Cat?
