Band - The Horrors
Support - Crystal Castles
Venue - London Astoria (or G-A-Y for short)
Cost of the beer - �3.50 for a bloody can!

“Most exciting band since the Sex Pistols“….. this is what was thrown at me at all directions when I heard that ghoulish pasty faced-harbingers, The Horrors were going to be performing as part of the NME shockwaves tour. How could I resist? As you may have read from my review of their last album, I thought that even though I wasn’t convinced about the hype they were getting, I still really wanted to see them preform.

After a sack full of delayed trains we sadly missed Mega-Drive electro lovers, Crystal Castles but all this was forgotten by the solid sweaty wall of people all holding their tight trousers and expensive beers in antici…………….pation for the ghoulish 5-piece to slide out from the expensive biscuit filled depths of their dressing room and blast us away.

The lights went off and the the air filled with screams of teenage girl which made The Horrors spring straight onto their instruments. I put one foot in front of the other ready for a grand night of dancing….. But instead there was a slow dribble of loud noise that hummed across the sold out night over a 5 minute period….

Ok maybe they are just “setting the atmosphere?”…

Another 5 minutes passed and still the fart-like noises were humming out, but now with Singer, Faris Badwan “Rotter’ shouting haphazard cries that I am guessing were part of a song.

Then just as I was thinking about how shite this night was going to be, they suddenly kick up the tempo with my favourite track from Strange House named count in fives. The crowd also woke from their hibernation and stamped, kicked and danced to the 3 minute hit. Then as I was in a mid-dance they shuffled back into a slow “improvised” noise session with a sloppy version of Draw Japan.

Like being in the Tate Modern looking at a white wall I felt that I should be understanding and enjoying this display, but they were smelling a little like tripe. Even the mass crowd had turned to stone again and fans around me were shouting about the nice weekend they had going to Whipsnade Zoo. Whipsnade Fucking Zoo?! Everyone should be busting moves until they collapse!

For a while I was amused by the circus themed keyboard player Rhys ‘Spider’ Webb spinning around on the spot like a hypnotized puppy, but after watching this for about 10 minutes while Faris stared at a large rubik cube I was ready to get my coat.

As predicted the last song was gloves but it seemed that everybody including myself was ready to leave….. Which is possibly why The Horrors suddenly left, lights came on and it was time to get my coat.

A lot of sad faces from the true fans (which all had amazing hair may I add) as they only played for 45 minutes and didn’t come back for more..

If the rumours are true, i.e. the tour dates they have posted on their myspace; then the self-proclaimed ‘greatest band of all time’ ArnoCorps (pronounced ‘ArnoCore’) are to return to the UK for what they call ‘The Sequel’ in July. Expect thunderous amounts of hardcore-action adventure rock ‘n roll and songs about ‘Predator’, ‘Total Recall’, ‘Commando’ and ‘Last Action Hero.’ - Ballsy!

Those unfamiliar with the Austrian/Berkley/California-based 5 piece (2nd bassist Der Wolf left the band recently) can have great fun reading their ‘Arnosynopsis’ here and check out the band’s bio here. Their only album, the 15 track masterpiece entitled ‘The Greatest Band Of All Time’ is well worth �10 of your hard-earned cash, if only for the epic-sounding intro.

Any self-respecting hero should make his or her way to any (if not all) of their UK shows this summer. In the words of the great man himself; “DO IT! DO IT NOW! GOOOOO!” *riff*

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Video

A taster of what you can expect at an ArnoCorps show. See you at the party Richter!

‘Collateral Damage‘ (note how the drummer picks people up as if they’re made of paper!)

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Links

Arnocorps
ArnoSpace
AntiCulture

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Words - Ross Macdonald

Photo by Tanner, AAP. (Taken from Arnocorps Myspace)

You know when you discover a band that sound so incredibly brilliant and you’re not sure if you can believe it, and you end up pinching yourself just to make sure you’re awake and haven’t dreamt the whole experience? Well that’s what I ended up doing when I first heard The Carps.

Yeah, yeah I know - blog posts raving about the astonishing talents of band “x’ and the jaw-dropping escapades of band “y’ (“look! The keyboardist crowd-surfs in a dingy! They have 7 drummers! The singer wears a costume made of meat!!!!!111!”) are ten a penny and usually really fucking boring, much like this one (jokes.)

Toronto-based 2 piece The Carps play a strange mix of punk rock, soul, funk (you’ve closed the page haven’t you? Sigh.) and electronica. Convoluted? Not really. Their minimalist approach of a singing drummer and bassist has been seen and done before, but they are completely different to noise-terrors Lightning Bolt, but appear to have more in common with the much missed Death From Above 1979. The bass rumbles with that familiar low-end sexual tempo, whilst the drum beats are even more furious (if possible) than that of Mr. Grainger. Vocalist/drummer Jahmal Tongue has as incredible voice; ranging from a sublime croon, to short sharp barks of encouraging fury with topical spoken word segments (see “Compton to Scarboro‘ which deals gangland peer-pressure, gun crime and one man’s struggle with his decision to rob a store.)

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As far as releases go, they have 1 EP out at the moment entitled “The Young & Passionate Days Of Carpedia‘ (which I strongly recommend) and are currently working on a follow-up EP entitled “Waves and Shambles‘ with a release date scheduled for April 18th. Tour-wise, the band has played a plethora of dates throughout Europe, including Fabric and will be bringing their brand of bass-heavy dance-rock to Paris and Antwerp in March.

Still want convincing that The Carps are great? Well, think a dirtier, sweatier sounding Head Automatica without the bullshit pop-hooks and a less volatile and diverse trunk-nosed 2 piece and you’re not far off. Or just watch the damn video below and buy their EP.

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Video

Click below to watch the video to ‘Compton to Scarboro‘. To hear tracks from the ‘Carpedia‘ Ep, click on the band’s myspace, official site or their last fm. Enjoy!

Get the Flash Player to see the wordTube Media Player.

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Links

The Carps Space
Official Site
Last Fm

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By Ross Macdonald

Yeah, yeah that time again. What with my reluctance to go out and buy new albums (well, perhaps not reluctance, just the fact nothing released so far has taken my interest, with the exception of Blacktusk, Foxy Shazam, Charlottefield and some others, previously mentioned here) I’ve turned to reviewing the humble CD that Rock Sound gives away every month. Read on….

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Meshuggah - Combustion

Pronounced ‘Me-sssshhhhoooooooooggggggaaaarrrrrrr‘ (possibly) deliver some extremely technical guitar-mind fuckery and inhumanly good drumming. These 4 minutes and 7 seconds pretty much shit over every other metal band I’ve heard recently. Good work. *Listens again.*

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Time To Burn - Emma Peel

Draining the joy out of a room like an industrial vaccum on super-suck, Time To Burn (who are possibly not the blues cover band I found on google) mix some nice doom-laden rock, rasping vocals and some quite elegant breakdowns - kind of like the end of the world, but more fun.

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Genghis Tron - Board Up The House

*air-keyboards along with the opening slavo of synthesised noise* - holy moly! It’s like Dillinger trying to play fairground songs on a Casio! The vocals are somewhat lost in the wave of blast-beat terror, but the rambling outro is a fine example of quality electronic music spliced with an almost prog-flavouring.

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The Mae Shi - Hlllyh

This is ok…the beginning of the song is pretty weak to be honest, but around the 2 minute mark it all starts to go completely insane (the drums sound like they’re fighting the guitars for control of the song) - but in all, it evolves into quite a nice punk track - from a damp squib to a firecracker!

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Airbourne - Blackjack

The fact Airbourne’s album is entitled ‘Runnin’ Wild’, it should give you an accurate indication of their sound. Cock-rawk “yeeeeeeehhhhaaaawwww-crazy guitar solo” rock ‘n’ roll that sounds like it was recorded 20 years ago. Still, the vocalist has a fair set of pipes on him.

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Farewell - Zelda

sigh.

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The Audition - Edinboro

Congratulations The Audition! I didn’t think there was a band who could sound worse than the steaming pile of horse shit known as Farewell, but you’ve achieved it! WOO!!!!111ONES!

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Plastic Toys - Tonight Only

Confusingly distorted garage punk with the kind of atmospheric effects you’d associate with Manson. However, it’s let down by the vocalist’s King Adora impression, which is not only bad, but brings back memories of that band’s existence. Ew.

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Arson Anthem - Hammer Them Out

YEH MAN THIS IS MORE LIKE IT! WADDDYAA MEAN THERE’S NO TUNE, IT’S JUST THE SAME RECYCLED FUZZY RIFF WIITH THE KIND OF DRUMMING THAT SOUNDS LIKE IT’S BEEN RECORDED IN A BISCUIT TIN?

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Kingdom of Sorrow - Lead Into Demise

You’d think Jamey Jasta of Hatebreed would show some diversity on his side-project, Kingdom of Sorrow instead of opting to slope down the same pathway of ‘riff-chugga, chug, weeeeeeeeeee chugga chug, weeeee‘ eh? They say stick to what you know, so it obviously works for him. Basically, it’s classic “breed, but slightly louder and slower.

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Romeo Must Die - Who Died And Made You God?

I’m really not having much luck this month am I? Rock Sound needs to step up its game a bit. Anyway, file this under painstakingly average metalcore that’s been done about a billion times before and guess what? It was boring then, and it’s still boring now. Next!

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Biomechanical - Fallen In Fear

Okay, the beginning is actually insane. It sounds like the start of the Unreal Tournament title music fed through distortion pedals! Viciously theatrical metal, that almost out-does Meshuggah in the heavy stakes. Also, incredible guitar-solo during the 2 and 3 minute mark - that’s the kind of stuff to make your fingers bleed if it appeared on Guitar Hero 15.

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Bloodjinn - Inhale Exhale

“Come….play my gaaaaaammmeeee…” oops, wrong band. Bloodjinn’s vocalist is obviously not worried about speaking much when he’s older and given up the life of a rockstar - the way he screeches on this track, I’m concerned his vocal chords are going to snap and twat me in the face. Shouty-thrash/hardcore that brings nothing new the table, but is still pretty competent.

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Winds of Plague - Angels of Debauchery

If Winds of Plague don’t sing about Warhammer or Tolkein books I’ll eat my shoes. *Puts CD on.* YES! My trainers are safe. A self-proclaimed ‘Lord of the Rings death metal hardcore band’ - freakin’ excellent. I’ll be buggered if I know what their vocalist is saying (difficult through the burbling low roars) but this is genius.

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Between The Buried And Me - Sun of Nothing

11 minutes? You can take a running jump sunshine. I know people who rave about BTBAM, but I just don’t see (or hear) it really. It sounds like one of those mix cds your metal-loving friend makes you, and to show their diversity, they slap into some ambient noise, flamenco, a touch of jazz and a dash of emotion rock. What I’m saying is, this is a mess - like getting a nice bowl of soup, only to have some chump pour pick “n’ mix and monster munch into it.

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Links

See above, I’m going to watch The Shield.

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By Ross Macdonald

Band - Cutting Pink With Knives
Support - Ice Sea Dead People, The Smoking Hearts, Scream! Shout! Say Nothing
Venue - Club 85, Hitchin (old haunt)
Cost - �5

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A chance to see 4 bands for 5 quid in the day-glow tastic walls of Hitchin’s Club 85 was too good an opportunity to miss; so I headed on down for what proved to be both an exciting and disappointing night (more on that later).

The first band, Ice, Sea, Dead People (terrific name) were a pulsating wave of furiously noisy art-punk that fell into the same realms of catchiness as the common cold and Les Savy Fav. Incredibly tight in some places, but wildly out of control and abrasive in others, this Bedford trio deserve a much higher billing nest time they play. The intense barrage of ‘Hence Elvis‘ (the bands debut single) is a strong reminder that the spirit that Q and not U left is not dead yet. Erratically excellent.

If Ice, Sea, Dead People ripped holes in people’s ear-drums with their rhythmic slabs of condensed aural-battery, George Street’s The Smoking Hearts stamped all over the remains in steal-plated boots. Like receiving an unexpected fly kick, they blasted onto the stage and started pummelling their dirty punk rock into the audience’s ears. Vocalist “Rodd Lethal’ (ho, ho, ho) had obviously been to the Matt Caughthran school of “how to be an insanely brilliant frontman.’ His attitude, stage presence (or lack of, as most of the time he was dancing around the floor like an electrocution victim) was full of venomous fire; whilst the riffs chugged out like Winnebago Deal covering songs by The Bronx.

Hertfordshire’s Scream! Shout! Say Nothing were next, fusing earnest sounding post-hardcore with huge anvil-like choruses. Vocalist Ben Davies seemed to shift from a bile-spitting monster to a crooning heart-broken shell of a person at the drop of hat. His tendency to be everywhere at once was both charming and worrying i.e. rolling around on the floor amidst several enthusiastic dancers. I felt that in some places they were slightly lost to most of the audience, who seemed to prefer slamming into each other during the heavier parts and not doing much else during the really beautiful parts (which drew to mind the sound of a young Isis and even *Shels!) Overall, they should be pleased with their performance - it was passionate, incredibly tight and any band that sounds similar to Secondsmile gets my vote.

Cutting Pink With Knives have always been a favourite band of mine, particularly live, so naturally I was delirious with joy when they came on to the stage. For the short time they played, they didn’t disappoint. Splicing material from their two most recent long players, “Oh Wow!‘ and the stupidly happy “Populuxxe‘ they were in fine form (despite faulty microphones at the beginning); vocalist Eddy spent most of his time running around the bemused crowd, whilst bassist Alex threw himself from stage to the floor like some kind of schizophrenic weeble. It’s blink and you’ll miss it, pop-grind - in 5 minutes, 5 songs have been played and they plough on and on, battering you into submission with programmed beats and intense screams of delight. It’s like a pack of kids in a sweet shop! “Coasts‘ is a particular highlight, as is the noise-riot of “Fuck You I’m The King of France’, whilst “I <3 Structuralists‘ and “My Head Is Full Of Teeth‘ sound simply gorgeous.

However, due to the incredibly stupid and intimidating behaviour of one particular drunken patron (who it also appears was responsible for several other incidents during the gig), Cutting Pink With Knives were forced (for their own safety) to cut their set short. It’s a great shame when the actions of one person can spoil such a brilliant evening for everyone else.

(Expect another review of CPWK when I go see them supporting the rather awesome Cadence Weapon in a few weeks, oh yeah!)

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Links

Cutting Pink With Knives
Scream! Shout! Say Nothing
The Smoking Hearts
Ice Sea Dead People

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Words + Pics - Ross Macdonald

Missing a support band at a gig is a double-edged sword. It can be a relief (example - you thank the gods you didn’t have to stand watching that musical car-crash) or it can be steel toe-capped kick in the shins - painful, for about a million years. This was somewhat how I felt after missing The Computers, but gig clashes are inevitable and sometimes we have to live with the decisions we make!

For a band with such a geek-centric name, their musical style is the polar opposite of what I was expecting. Naming your band after something made of “spiders webs and magic” (Superhans) is an instant wrong-footer in that respect. The Computers are a four-piece punk rock band from Exeter, who sound like a sexual combination of Henry Rollins-era Black Flag playing Rocket From The Crypt songs. They also give nods towards howling rock-n-rollers, The Turbo A.C.s combined with frantic speeded up, physco-billy punk. In fact, this pretty much kicks the ever-loving shit out of most punk bands I’ve heard recently. It’s quite malevolent, sharp and incredibly tight, with some gorgeous bass lines and guitar flourishes that make them stand out from the quite stagnant crowd of Epitaph-by-numbers, carbon copy posers.

They are also almost impossible to search for on the Internet, which gives back links to various operating systems I should be interested in as well as discounts in PC World.

Currently, the band appear to be unsigned (lord knows why) and their only material seems to be a self-released single/ep on their myspace page, which you have to message the band to get hold of. With dates in France and a gig supporting double-bass-toting oddballs, The Peacocks, catch hold of The Computers and their runaway train of riff-tastic, gritty punk rock.

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Video

I’m doing a terrible job of describing/writing about this band, so I’ll just leave you with this video of them, put together from tour footage.

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Links

The Computers Myspace

It is with a heavy heart that I report the demise of Surrey’s, Meet Me In St. Louis. After the departure of vocalist Toby in late 2007, the 4 piece decided to continue, playing instrumental sets and inviting audience participation/sing-a-longs on some occasions whilst they searched for a new set of lungs to fill the vacant frontman slot. However, after a particularly emotional gig on Monday night, the band issued a statement on their myspace, giving reasons for the split. It reads:-

“Hi,
I’m writing with great regret to inform everyone that Meet Me in St. Louis has reached its end. This is due to a loss of another member (Paul) and the agreement that the band would not be the same if that member were replaced. It came as a shock to the rest of us as our plans for the next few months were extremely positive after such a bumpy ride at the end of 2007.

When Toby left, we all felt pretty low but we got through it because we knew that the music would be written by the same 4 people and essentially be the same. Although he had input musically it was minimal and was mainly focused on vocal melodies and lyrics. We were able to carry on with confidence and either get a new singer or continue instrumentally. Unfortunately, the same could not be said in this instance.

I cannot tell you precisely what the reasons for Paul’s decision are. I think it was a snowball effect of events over the past 3 years that made being in a band extremely hard to deal with and eventually became too much. So that’s it.

On a positive note, I personally have had the most exciting 3 years of my life. I think that we’d all agree on how proud we are to have been able to create music with each other and perform it to so many people. Writing and playing shows, whether it be to 20 people or 200, was what we lived for. It was what we were, for 3 years. At times, it was fucking gruelling but overall, incredible.

It wouldn’t have been possible without the help and encouragement of so many people: Our family and friends, fans (a lot of whom have become friends!), BSM and Xtra Mile, promoters, every band we’ve ever played with, everyone who’s put us up for the night or more, anyone who’s given us a review, anyone who’s ever taken pictures for us, every sound man that let us play really really loud, even those who didn’t I guess… Without these people, we wouldn’t have an album and playing live would have been really fucking dull. Although the band has come to an end, I’m pretty sure we’ll never stop playing music and hopefully other projects will be as exciting if not more.

So once again huge thank you’s and many apologies to everyone.

The end.

Oli and MMISL”

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There we are…another promising young band bites the dust after just 1 album and 1 EP. Meet Me In St. Louis were one of the most hyperactive and interesting bands I’ve seen…their presence, sound and general attitude was so fresh and vibrant. They will be missed. Good luck for the future guys. (Past feature on the band with an MP3 can be found here.)

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Links

Big Scary Monsters

Meet Me In St. Louis

Being a trooper, I managed to make it to two gigs in one night. EFFORT! Not even the opposite ends of Camden could stop me from being present at Tommy Flynns first, before sprinting (ok, ok fast walking) my way across the drug ridden streets of goth central to the Barfly. So, what happened? Well….read on!

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Band - Mr_Barbs
Location - Tommy Flynns, Camden
Date - 2nd Feb

It wasn’t long before Chris Barber (aka, Mr_Barbs) took to the stage, acoustic guitar in hand and the nervous tension he claimed to be haemorrhaging nowhere to be seen. You have to hand it to the guy, after all this is his first gig and having a faulty guitar lead when you’re only 15 seconds into your first song is something that can crack your composure, but not someone like Mr_Barbs. A quick change over and the music resumes. How do 20 odd minutes of melodic acoustic rock sound? What makes Mr_Barbs stand out from other performers is how well crafted and memorable his tracks are. In this respect, he strongly reminds me of Hereford’s Gossamer Albatross and the combination of harmonica and guitar gives the proceeding a nice Green Day-era “Walking Alone‘ feel.

Tracks such as the lonesome sounding “Thursday‘, contain some nice tongue-in-cheek humour, especially in the line “and I know that it isn’t very long, but I’ll sit and write another awful song…” and the subtle romance of “Now I Know What I Know‘ are conveyed well tonight. Altogether, a solid performance from a promising young act; the kind of first gig most bands/solo artists would kill for.

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Links

Myspace

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Band - Gay For Johnny Depp
Location - Camden Barfly

Fuck me - bands like Gay For Johnny Depp should be locked up. No band should be this pant-wettingly good. They’ve probably made some kind of unholy pact with Satan, despite the fact vocalist Marty Leppard is dressed as a vicar on this, their last gig of what has apparently been one tremendous tour. I read in an interview about another band the singer and guitarist are involved in, called God Fires Man, in which the vocalist stated that the camptastic four-piece have probably only “practiced 5 times in the last year” in comparison to his more “serious’ band. From the furious racket they made tonight, you’d be scratching your chin thinking “that sounds like bollocks mate.” They open with “Cumpassion‘ and already the guitars are squealing like someone’s been fisting a pig and the barfly is laid to waste in 2 breathtakingly short minutes. After that, the New York queer-machine set about killing music in the best way possible. Blast-beat slabs of noise-punk are scattered like a machine gun set on automatic fire and thrown down some metal steps.

Ultra-swearothon anthem “No Teeth, Thumbs Up‘ encourages the audience to chant the words “Fuck You! I Want To Fuck You!“ as loud as possible (Shirley this rivals Limp Bizkit’s “Hot Dog‘?) Whilst “Sex In Your Mouth‘ encourages us to praise “Johnny” as much as, ahem; possible. It should be noted that vocalist Marty Leppard has an incredible stage presence (his enthusiasm for performing gives nods towards Matt Caughthran from LA bruisers, The Bronx). When he’s not trying to hump his band mates, the mic-tech guy, various parts of the stage, he dives into the audience in an effort to violate anyone and everyone around him.

Set highlights include a wonderfully scrambled version of “I Hate Our Freedom‘ as well as a totally barbaric run through of “Fucking Isn’t Cheating‘, which sends the assembled Johnn-fanboys at the front into a tornado of frenzied excitement. Gang-chants of “IT’S THE END OF THE WORLD!” unite everyone as a powerful force of anger, love and pain. The scuzz-hardcore rage of “Kill The Cool Kids‘ ends the agonizingly short set in total chaos, with yours truly laying on top of the aforementioned singer screaming the words back at him. No encores (”we haven’t got anymore songs!“ - Leppard) but that’s not important; what is, is that Gay For Johnny Depp are one of the most exciting, hilarious and entertaining bands I have ever seen. Proper balls-in-your-mouth rock action.

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Links

Gay For Myspace
Official Site
Label

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By Ross Macdonald