As stated in a previous post, I was trying to think of somewhere I could send my dad for a live review and it just so happens the wonders of Peterborough beer festival had the answer. Featuring several of his favourite things - ground hops in a liquid format, pub games, ‘crumpet’ and Oliver Reed t-shirts (okay not that), why not let the master brewer review some of the bands? So off he went to sit on a stolen chair, in the middle of the entertainment marquee, with the back of the festival programme to scribble on and half of mild.

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Bands - King Kool, Plastic Soup
Venue - Peterborough Beer Festival
Cost - Fiver
Date - 23rd August
Beer - loads

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The rather crowded stage was set halfway down the long side of a very large marquee. The audience of about sixty people were aimlessly scattered on the large grassed area in front of the stage, with enough open space to park several full grown blue whales.

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King Kool

This was a duo made up of Dan Donovan and Joe Mason. The blurb in the program describes them as quote: “Kicking breed of art garage rock” - whatever that means. The singer was dressed in black reminiscent of Johnny Cash. Unfortunately, that was where the resemblance ended. I endured three songs as the vocalist seemed to be in competition with the drummer in a ‘who can be the loudest’ match. I could not determine any distinguishable words as Joe, the exuberant gum-chewing drummer, drowned them out. The singer to show his virtuosity played a harmonica and short solo on the guitar when the drummer took a breather. The patrons were offered CDs at £7 each. Amazingly none of the paying public rushed to buy a copy. To me, the overall sound was akin to being interned in a forty-gallon drum with several bricks and rolled downhill.

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Plastic Soup

Comprised of four exuberant performers, this group enthusiastically belted out three numbers with the volume and musicality of a jet engine. The lead vocalist wore trousers that appeared to be made from the skins of four Dalmatians. The first number seemed to be called ‘Plastic Soup’, with the singer who appeared to have watched a Mick Jagger video, attempting to copy some rocking moves. The rest of the numbers were a cacophony of sound that assaulted your ears harder than a bailiff banging on a door on rent day. They left much to the imagination as to what the lyrics were about, as the vocals blended into a wall of noise. The low frequency bass made your teeth vibrate enough to give white finger to your lips. (I don’t get this at all – Ross.)

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Links

King Kool
Plastic Soup

Peterborough Beer Festival

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Intro - Ross
Words - Mad Mac

After a brief stint away from the writer’s desk, Mad Mac returns to the fold to pen more words of wisdom on the current ‘hot’ acts that are trawling the musical airwaves. After the slamming he gave (The) Foals last time, how will indie-darlings Johnny Foreigner go down? Let’s see…

(If you want your band/song/face reviewed by Mad Mac, drop us a line to the usual e-mail address or why not try the ‘Ask Mad Mac’ button at the top of the page.)

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The Hold Steady - Sequestered in Memphis

During this very long intro I was begining to loose the will to live, in fact I was not sure I would live long enough to hear it finish. But finish it did. I felt the vocalist lost his way wondering around the Southern States. With enough listens I think this one would grow on you, but then so can ringworm.

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Me First and the Gimme Gimmes - The Boxer

Puts me in mind of the Sex Pistols trying to annoy by murdering a well known classic. Remakes can be risky and can be rubbish if the rendition does not work - it does not work. Pity.

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Jay Reatard - See/Saw

Very hard on the drums (ear drums). I feel the drummer brought his own drum kit along and they had to let him play, even though it tried to drown out the vocalist (if only.) The lyrics very samey all I could understand was “she freaks me out” repeatedly, a bit how I felt at the end.

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She & Him - I Was Made For You

High school musical type tune, I felt it tried to remind me of “Grease” - it didn’t. The girl tried her best, hope she is good looking and they have better material than this. (She is and I perhaps should have picked a better song, faux pas on my part - Ross)

Johnny Foreigner - Salt, Pepper and Spinderella

Bad sounding percussion. Reminds me of banging your head against a metal locker at school. The ending cannot start too soon, or be too short, unfortunately is does go on a bit to make the track seem longer, it succeeds.

Pulled Apart By Horses - The Lighthouse

Pulled apart by horses? It felt like it! The end would be a blessed relief, which is exactly what it was. The finish was a bit abrupt it does seem that the “Music Appreciation Society” or the “Noise Abatement Society” had got to the mains power. My life was not enriched by this listening experience.

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Nice. If anyone has any ideas for gigs to send Mad Mac to, post your comment below or drop us an e-mail. Preferably somewhere he can sit down if need be and one that won’t cost me an arm-and-a-leg in ticket price/travel/beer.

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Links

‘Stay Positive’ by The Hold Steady is out now through Rough Trade.

‘Have Another Ball’ by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes is available from the Fat Wreck Chords site. You can also download an MP3 of ‘The Boxer‘ as well.

Jay Reatard stuff can be bought from the Matador Records site, including the singles comp that ‘See/Saw’ comes from.

‘Volume 1′ by She & Him is out now on the Merge Records site.

‘Waiting Up Til It Was Light’ by Johnny Foreigner is out now on Best Before Records, but the site seems confusing, so try Amazon if you want to get it.

Pulled Apart By Horses have all their songs available for free download from their website, check it out.

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Intro - Ross
Words - Mad Mac

Band – Scream! Shout! Say Nothing
Album – The Animals Still Run This City
Label – Scylla Records
Release – 01/09/2008
Sounds like – Screaming! Shouting!

Hertfordshire’s Scream! Shout! Say Nothing are certainly making a name for themselves on the underground circuit. Having toured with Star Wars-types Bossk, the over-hyped Enter Shirkari and the sadly missed Cutting Pink With Knives, they’ve finally got round to releasing their debut album, ‘The Animals Still Run This City.’ After witnessing their impressive set at Club 85 several months ago, I was intrigued by the prospect of hearing their recorded output. Let’s take a look…

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I know from previous articles I have bitched at length at how bored I am of music with generic scream/sung vocals and how it’s about as interesting as watching all 800 of my dad’s holiday slides whilst consuming gallons of grey paint, but I genuinely find Scream! Shout! Say Nothing’s brand of passionate hardcore a breath of fresh air. For one thing, they know how to write a song, mixing the kind of intricate guitar work of Meet Me In St. Louis & Secondsmile with the steady driving rhythms of Latterman and their own unique brand of headstrong vigour.

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Opening track ‘When It All Goes Dark, The Animals Still Run This City’ immediately earns itself the Keep It Fast seal of approval. The volatile opening of rapid fire drums, rattling-punk guitars and Ben Davies’s hast-filled vocal attack are a short sharp shock to the system. It bolts from my speakers like an over zealous greyhound, eager to sink its teeth into the robotic hare that always stays a few steps ahead. The soaring chorus gives a gigantic nod towards the heavy rock of Hell Is For Heroes, whilst the utterly fantastic gang-vocal chant of “hey heart beats, don’t fail me!” bring to mind the angst-ridden rampage of Hopesfall’s ‘Waitress.’ This is the kind of enthusiastic and majestic post-hardcore that will pump new life into the dead veins of the UK scene - a fantastic start.

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To prove that they haven’t put all their eggs in one basket, the 5 piece hit back with a storming 2nd track in the form of ‘Fulfil The Roles Boys…Fulfil The Roles’, which despite it’s sombre introduction, complimented by soft saxophone overtones and slow-burning build up, proves to be one of the most progressive and spirited sounding pieces on the album. The main body of the track pulsates with such crushing rage; the guitars grinding new furrows of unsettling menace within the listener, whilst the vocal yelp gives a nod towards the anger and tension associated with Poison The Well.

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The 11 minute chug of ‘Einstein I Ain’t‘ dips up and down more times than a fat man and a midget on a see-saw, changing from a crushing and I mean, crushing metallic attack, to an almost ambient, unrehearsed instrumental arrangement. This is also the only time when the vocals sound slightly off, which is one of the very few criticisms I have about this album.
‘The River’ is a stark, biting track, with the lyric “say what you like about us, just keep your opinions to yourself” screamed as though personally attacking the listener, whilst the caustic rumble of guitars, bass and drums drills new seeds of desperation and rage.

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The last track, ‘Gimme Inner Peace Or I’ll Mop The Floor With Ya’ keeps up S!S!SN brand of resolute dedication to creating powerful and honest music. The punishing tirade of sound is tempered only by the inclusion of a melodic saxophone, trumpet and Euphonium interlude that should feel out-of-place, but oddly slots in rather nicely. The last minute is then consumed by sound as the rest of the band crash in; complete with a gorgeous vocal chant that absolutely floors me.

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In conclusion? I wish there was more to be honest. At 5 tracks, this album feels slightly short, but at a running time of 35 minutes I can see their decision in sticking to this modest number. It’s over far too quickly, but that just means you get to hit the ‘play’ button again which is never a bad thing. One of the best UK releases I’ve heard this year, a terrific slice of sincere, intense rock music – terrific work guys.

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Links

Scream! Shout! Say Myspace!
Official Site
Label

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By Ross Macdonald

Hi! No sarcastic introduction this time or any cover-star baiting. Just some honest reviews and an mp3 of the best track off the compilation. Nice.

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Soulfly – Unleash

The one thing about a Max Cavalera band is that you pretty much know exactly what it sounds like even before you listen to the opening bars. Mixing the right elements of Soulfly’s typically abrasive thrash metal with some interesting world-music influenced breaks and a squealing guitar - business as usual for the Brazilian mob.

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Alesana – This is Usually The Part Where People Scream

Well it’s happened; I’m officially bored to tears by screaming in music. Thanks, Alesana; you’re boisterous, but woefully hackneyed take on the genre is doing nothing for me. In fact, I’ve had to turn this down, for fear that anyone who witnesses me listening to this tripe will think that I’m some pre-pubescent bed-wetter who likes music with all the depth and charm of a turd sandwich.

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We Are The Ocean – Don’t Be Careless

Take note: this is how you do it. London’s We Are The Ocean know how to sucker in the kids, playing the kind of scream/sung melodic hardcore that welsh-boys Funeral For A Friend used to peddle. The vocals give a strong nod towards Dallas Green of Alexisonfire with equal gusto and vitality. Promising.

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Harvey Milk – Barn Burner

I’m not sure whether all Harvey Milk songs sound like this, but I pray to god they do. At just over 2 minutes in length ‘Barn Burner’ is a rampant rock ‘n’ roll facepunch of dirty, fuzzed out riffs and machine gun drumming. This chews up the airwaves like fat man let loose in a chocolate factory. Absolutely brilliant, one to crash your car to.

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Capricorns – Seventh Child Of A Seventh Child

Instrumental band Capricorns say a lot with their music. Some would consider this difficult for a band without a singer, but when you’re making this kind of pulverising racket, who needs some weedy little fart shouting into a microphone? Not these guys. With the kind of drummer you’d kill one of your own friends to have, this doom-laden approach to metal is hard to beat.

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Mouth Of The Architect – Rocking Chairs and Shotguns

Mouth of the Architect are one of those bands that relies on huge passages of winding sound, interspersed with the kind of vocal roars you would normally associate with various wounded animals or enormous men with beards. Come for the dread, stay to be ground down into a fine powder by this Ohio noise-brigade.

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Apse – From The North

Not really sure what to make of this. It kind of washes over you like a really cleansing shower, but doesn’t really go anywhere. Sure, there are some nice moments, if sweeping passages of the same note tickle your fancy. Ultimately though, it’s pretty dull. I’m sure live, it’s equally as un-enthralling, but I could be completely wrong of course.

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Rinoa – Atlantis

This is a bit like listening to Poison the Well covering Deftones songs, with a dash of Hopesfall in the mix. Impassioned screams, complimented by strong instrumental passages and the kind of rough and ready sound that you’d associate with a plethora of underground European hardcore stalwarts. Seriously good work guys, one’s to keep an eye on.

Racebannon – Awaken

This one time, I heard two cats fighting to the death outside my window. Suffice to say, it sounded better than the fuck-awful racket Racebannon class as music.

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Disarm – The River City Ransom Death Pact

I’m a massive sucker for really fast-paced punk rock, so it comes as no surprise that Disarm’s brand of riffs o’ plenty appeals in bucket loads. It’s all there, the “woaaahhh yeahs” the snarling vocals, crashing drums and driving guitar lines. Formulaic as an excel spreadsheet, but oddly pleasing.

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Calabrese – Voices Of The Dead

A horror-rock band without a stand up bass? Shirley not! Calabrese are 3 brothers who all look like they stepped off the set of Greased meets The Krays. Whilst some kinds of horror punk can be pretty hit and miss, this is surprisingly pleasant with a huge chorus and buckets of potential.

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Withered – Dichotomy Of Exile

Someone’s been listening to ‘Blood Mountain’ too much! Oh yeah, that’s me. Also, it seems American metallers, Withered have been spinning one or two Mastadon albums as the riffs on ‘Dichotomy Of Exile’ sound even more beefier and heavier. It then all goes a bit black metal then, which doesn’t interest me in the slightest and the “yappy the back flipping dog” vocals are complete pony until the throaty roars kick in. Bit of an odd one.

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Fellsilent – Immerse

For the fanatical metal fan in us all, this will probably appeal in truckloads. In this case, it does very little except irritate and sound woefully run of the mill. Okay, so it has the detuned guitar shriek and the scream/sung vocals aren’t too bad, but it’s all a bit ‘what’s the point?’ Fellsilent? If only.

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The Psyke Project – Poems Written By Kings

Apparently their drummer wants to nob Madonna. Yikes. Maybe he can win her over with his drumming, which is nothing short of terrific on this track, all double-bass pedals and inhuman stick work - lovely. The rest of it is pretty good as well, coming across a bit like doomed-hardcore heroes Cursed if they decided to extend their sound with even more foreboding.

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Vessels – Look At That Cloud!

Instrumental five-piece Vessels hail from Leeds, so no wonder they sound a bit down in the mouth! Just kidding. I really don’t know what to say about this, other than it draws to mind the kind of extensive ‘build ‘em up, knock ‘em down’ approach to sans-vocal rock that This Will Destroy You have, with the closing eruption of sound at the 6.30 mark spewing forth a wonderful crushing conclusion.

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Sounds

Click on the player to listen to ‘Barn Burner’ by super-fast noise bastards, Harvey Milk.

Get the Flash Player to see the wordTube Media Player.

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Links

See above for band myspace links. Harvey Milk’s album ‘Life…The Best Game In Town’ can be bought from Relapse Records here.

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By Ross Macdonald

Band - Less Than Jake
Album - GNV FLA
Label - Sleep It Off Records/Cooking Vinyl
Release Date - last week I think
Sounds like -The glory days of 2001, playing Mario Kart/Goldeneye and not having a care in the world.
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Leaving Warner Bros. records is possibly the 3rd best thing Less Than Jake have ever done. The first being writing an album as stunning as ‘Hello Rockview’ and the second their ‘biggest mosh pit ever’ at Reading in 2003 (I should know, I was there.) Finally free from the clutches of the money-grabbing, record-toning down corporate blow-hards, the ska-punk 5 piece are now able to release what they want, when they want on their own label: Sleep It Off Records. The result? ‘GNV FLA‘ a supposed return to glory days - but is it? Well, let’s see….

Let’s be straight about this, what I heard from ‘In With The Out Crowd‘ was pretty dire. (Hard words for me to say, as I’m a notorious LTJ fan) It was like a really fifth-rate pop-punk band ripping off Chris Demarkes vocals, whilst playing the most watered down mush ever created and passing it off under the glorious Less Than Jake name. Urgh. Thankfully, the Gainesville boys have got over this brief decent into madness and produced something that is more in line with their ‘Borders and Boundaries‘ work.

It’s a sombre, melodic start in the form of ‘City of Gainesville’; light-ska licks, coupled with a distinctly summery brass section and a slow drum beat. Then it suddenly erupts into a fury of punk rock splatter with ‘The State of Florida’ acting as the albums brief, but sprightly one-two punch. It’s the 3rd track where they really find their feet in the form of ‘Does The Lion City Still Roar?’ It’s classic ‘Jake – immensely danceable intro, a cracking chorus and an underlying beat that will capture the ears of fans of old with ease. Unlike their previous two albums, it seems as if trombonist Buddy and saxophonist J.R. have actually been given microphones to record their instruments into – the brass is increasingly prominent and a refreshing and welcomed return to their sound.

‘Summon Monsters’ sounds like a cut from ‘Hello Rockview’-era, whereas the fruitless-sounding nature of ‘Abandon Ship’ could possibly be directed at the band’s past attempt at stardom on Warner Records, especially in the line “treading water with weights around my neck, a shipwreck of restless accidents.” Perhaps even the line “Give me some forgiveness” could be directed towards those who gave their previous efforts a lukewarm/negative verdict.

What ‘GNV FLA’ seems to have that ‘Anthem’ really lacked is energy and a huge chunk of attitude. ‘Settling Son’ is an example of the terrific pace this album has. It also showcases the band telling the song’s protagonist to basically do something worthwhile with their life and even though it may seem like you’re in a precarious position; “walking the tight rope” it’s better to take the chance and make something of yourself rather than waste it going up in smoke, working in some shithouse factory.

Then again, the song could be about cigarettes.

The catchiest song ever for 2008 award goes to ‘Golden Age Of Negative Ways.’ Twee-handclaps, some outrageously parpy brass and lyrics that hark back to ‘Gainesville Rock City’ song-writing that slaps a huge grin on my face. ‘Conviction Notice’ focuses on financial troubles, with the lines “money can’t buy happiness” and “dollars and cents are not making sense” showing that despite the band’s exuberant, adrenalin rush of punk rock, they’re concerned about fiscal matters, or at least are willing to sing about it.

What sets this apart from other Less Than Jake albums is the way vocalists Chris and Roger compliment each other so well. This is quite possibly their strongest album vocally; both singers singing to an exceptionally high standard for melodic punk rock, with Chris’s gravely drawl sitting nicely next to Roger’s slightly higher-pitched and grimy shout. This is easily their best work since ‘Borders and Boundaries’ and dare I say, possibly better than the 2000 release itself. A fine return then from one of my favourite bands, definitely one for the fans to sink their teeth into and a great starting point for anyone interested in exploring their music to see what the fuss is about - a solid slice of punk rock, with enough ska to keep the die-hard fans waving their arms and shaking their feet until the end of time.

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Sounds

Click on the player below to listen to ‘Golden Age Of Negative Ways.’

Get the Flash Player to see the wordTube Media Player.

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Links

Less Than Jake
Less Than Myspace
Sleep It Off Records
Cooking Vinyl

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By Ross Macdonald

Band - Arnocorps
Support - Thirteen Wolves, Dagobah
Venue - Dublin Castle (should be re-christened ‘The Dublin Living Room’ - it’s tiny)
Beer - niceessshhh
Cost - Tenner

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Considering I’d been waiting for this for a good 2 years, I wasn’t actually that excited until I got to the venue and attempted a mid-air handshake/arm wrestle with Holzfeuer (lead singer of Arnocorps) - fucking win. They must be the nicest band ever. I swear to god, they spent most of their rehearsal time talking to fans, shouting the words “GOOOOOOO!” getting photos taken, calling people “godamn heroes!” and drinking. Anyway…THE GIG:

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I caught the tail-end of Dagobah’s set, which was unfortunate as they sounded pretty good. A Skate-punk, thrashfest that I wouldn’t have minded hearing more of in the future. Unfortunately the next support band, Thirteen Wolves, I could have done without. It was a bit like watching that ‘band’ who cover all the songs on Guitar Hero. Except it wasn’t like Guitar Hero where you fuck-up the ‘Sweet Child Of Mine’ solo, turn the console off and play Gears of War instead - you carry on, trying vainly to keep in time before your fingers fall off and you end up planting the over-sized controller in the tv screen. I’ve never been so bored in my entire life at a gig (well, save for watching The Kits or this awful death metal band I had to endure at Esquires once. *Shudders*) It was a cock-rock horrorshow that I could have done without really - so bad in fact my friend tried to fit her fist in her mouth at the title of one of their tracks, which I think was some garbled nonsense about a wizard. Normally, comedy-Warhammer-lite shenanigans would be up my street, but really….no…..just no. Plus, they kept pronouncing Arnocorps wrong. (’Arno-core’ for those uninitiated) There was a big cheer from the back of the room when they announced their last song - thank fuck. Possibly the worst band I’ve seen this year.

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As the opening bars to Little Richard’s ‘Long Tall Sally’ kicked in, a great cheer rose up from the audience, proving that 1950’s rock ‘n’ roll is still popular with the kids (considering it was featured in the opening scenes of sci-fi action horror Predator.) As the closing bars tell us to “have some fun tonight,” the band everyone has been waiting for troop on to the stage - Arnocorps are here.

Sadly, it’s a disappointing start. What should have been a glorious action adventure rock ‘n’ roll fest was hampered by the terrible attitude of some over-zealous fanboys who’d probably had one too many beerskis and had been watching tales of heroic action the previous night. Get the fuck off the stage you epic twunts and let the band play. Do you actually think I want to see you hurling your sweaty forms into the crowd, possibly braining me with your oversized feet as you thrash about like an epileptic on fire? No, I don’t. Suffice to say, ‘Predator’ was nearly ruined due to this, however it’s kept together by vocalist Holzfeuer’s display of crowd safety and terrific showmanship in keeping things in check. I probably sound like a miserable old bastard for saying this really. I know you should have fun at a show, but really there should be a line drawn between ‘having a laugh’ and ‘being a world-class cockend.’ I have to say though, the sight of everyone singing back the lines “what happened Dillon? You used to be someone, I could trust? TRUST!” was particularly heart-warming.

Some may say that Arnocorps are a slight one-trick pony. Sure, most of their songs follow along the similar pattern, but what they lack in variety they make up for in volume and on-stage banter, spliced with their film-heavy lyrics and reckless attitude. They plow through their most well known songs to start wit. ‘Terminator’ is greeted with rapturous applause; the steady drum and bass build up erupts into the well known chant of “Nice night, for a walk? Nothing, clean right?” Soon all decorum is lost as the Dublin Castle turns into a whirlwind frenzy of air-punches and Schwarzenegger quotes. ‘Commando’ goes down well with Holzfeuer asking the audience what they had for breakfast (the answer is always ‘Green Berets’.) ‘Collateral Damage’ is run through flawlessly and is possibly my favourite track of the whole evening – pure, adrenalin filled punk rock with a sooth-as-silk bassline and a terrific vocal chant at the end.

“Only sing this song if you believe it about yourself” Holzfeuer says. He shouldn’t be worried though, everyone in the room is hanging off his every word and the cry of “I’m Ballsy! I’m a stud! I don’t take shit from everyone!” is echoed back at the giant Florida/Austrian with gusto. “This is a goddamn, anthem of our generation” he bellows and there’s no disagreeing with him, or the band on that one. During ‘True Lies’ they pull several troops on to the stage to act as the ‘Arno-chorus’, an act that is later repeated during the ‘this song will never end’ saga of ‘Running Man’(everyone and I mean everyone, is encouraged to run on the spot), which had bassist Toten Adler crowd surfing on a guitar case – a prospect that was both amazing and slightly worrying at the same time, especially his near head-plant from the make-shift surfboard. Once again though, several chumps ruin certain moments by yelling incomprehensibly down the microphone, only to be ejected from the stage by the man-mountain of singer. At this point, the stage invasion is getting incredibly tiresome, but the band battle on with a rousing rendition of ‘End of Days’, possibly dedicated to all the choir boys and to all the goddamn heroes out there, ‘Last Action Hero’ delivers the upper-cut of uniting everyone in a frenzy of bonding, unity and brotherhood under the Arnocorps banner of valour and bravery.

Other set pieces, aside from chucking people off the stage include drummer Gellend Adler’s drum solo and wet t-shit competition (he’s undefeated, even again the rather striking young lady who took up the courage to challenge the power-house stickman.) They even manage to run through several new tracks (‘Kindergarten Cop’, ‘Red Heat’ and another about us Brits that I can’t remember the name of, but damn it was mighty fine.) The ending though, is disappointing. Instead of a thrilling version of ‘Total Recall’ they play ‘Eraser’ perhaps the weakest track on the album. Promising to “mix up their set” for the rest of their tour, Arnocorps exit, from what has been a night full of mixed emotions – some good, some bad but on the whole, ballsy to the max.

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Links

Arnocorps
Arno-Myspace
Anticulture

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Words - Ross Macdonald
Photos - Jason Kahl

Apologies again for the delay in new posts. I’m actually supposed to be making a forum for a friend at the moment and it’s been slow work, but I’m hopefully on course now, so I can concentrate on posting on Keep It Fast (he says!) Anyway, here’s another Sound Check review for you to enjoy/endure.

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Alkaline Trio - In Vein

This is Alkaline Trio? Great Scott Marty, I’d have called you a lying bastard if I hadn’t read the back of the CD and seen their name glaring out at me. Containing almost none of the edge, catchiness or hint of emotion that their older songs had, this is a poor attempt reviving their gothic-lite punk career. The chorus isn’t bad though, but really they can do much better than this.
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All Time Low - Dear Maria, Count Me In

Ah pop-punk. It’s like that friend at school who you were always embarrassed to hang around with because they were so wet, yet were so ridiculously happy, they’d probably ask you to beat them up just to make you look good. All Time Low are like that. Pretty standard affair, no-surprises, no-frills radio friendly pop-punk that bounces along like a truck full of springs going over a cliff.

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Less Than Jake - Summon Monsters

From the rumbling bass and rapid-fire drums, I knew that Gainesville punks Less Than Jake were finally back to sounding like they did 7 years ago, circa their ‘Borders & Boundaries’ era horns-a-plenty parpfest. The brass is still slightly repressed, (think Rocket From The Crypt rather than Reel Big Fish) but the five-piece still know how to write a tremendously vibrant slice of summer-ska punk, with a chorus so crammed full of hooks you’d think they were taking it fishing. (Stay tuned for album review soon.)
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Former Cell Mates - Always
Former Cell Mates obviously listen to a lot of Hot Water Music. In fact, I swore this was a track by the Gainesville 4 piece at one point. This teeters on the edge of Latterman territory, but not as fast and with less gravel-like vocals. It’s a pleasant enough tune, but hardly original really. Yet more post-hardcore fodder methinks, although the guitar solo at the 2 minute mark is particularly fine.
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Secondsmile - Everything And All That’s Inbetween

Yet more tappy, twiddling rock music from Big Scary Monsters. Being familiar with Secondsmile’s music, I was always slightly let down by their sound, which always seemed a bit flat. This is the polar opposite however: the guitars screech and whine under the strong tribal drumbeats and the vocals punctuate through the howl impressively. Fine work from a promising band who are about to release their second album.

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The Legacy - Fire And Brimstone

I like this. It dips somewhere between the abrasive, throaty hardcore of Give Up The Ghost and stark stand-offish nature of Cursed, with the band’s own touch of raspy vocals and distorted fuzz beneath the build up of anvil-like drumwork. Worth checking out.

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Melvins - The Smiling Cobra

Having only heard a few tracks by Washington’s Melvins, I’m kicking myself for not listening to them sooner. This can only be described as fucking amazing. The guitar roars and wails as though it’s been de-tuned and re-tuned at the same time, whilst the duel drums pulverise any subtly this track has into dust under a haze of some monstrous bass riffs and terrifying screams. Sludge/noise/rock whatever you want to call it, it’s pretty special.

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Cult of Luna - Curse

The slow build up of dread means it can only be one thing. Super Hans has finally got a record deal, or Cult of Luna are on this CD. Thankfully it’s the Swedes and they make short work of my hearing by bludgeoning it with their soundscape of orchestral metal that hums and reverberates with a furious cacophony and vocals that could strip paint – a savage beast of a track and no mistake!

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Valient Thorr - Infinite Lives

Valient Thorr are one of those ‘hilarious’ bands that has a wacky back story. In this case, they landed their spaceship in North Carolina in 1957. Really. Despite this somewhat ludicrous tale (see more on their wikipedia page) their sound isn’t bad, reminiscent slightly of a 21st Century Van Halen. I could see them getting slightly tiresome after a while though. There probably really ‘wacky’ live as well. Oh god no.

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Keith Caputo - Troubles Down

Along with Fu Manchu, this is possibly the perfect song to listen to whilst roaring down some dusty road in a souped-up Cadillac in a backwash corner of America. Don’t expect stoner-rock though, this lifts straight from the Velvet Revolver school of huge riffs, drawling vocals and a cool-as-fuck attitude.

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D-Rail - Tonight…We Party!!!

A predictable start, which only makes me look at the screen and check the running time. Two minutes? Yeah, I can hack that. D-Rail have already suckered me in by playing their hand early in the form of the gang-chant vocals that I love so much. Apart from that, standard hardcore affair that’s been done so many times before; it’s like looking at a painting done entirely in beige.

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Nachtmystium - Your True Enemy

‘Nachtmystium’ sounds like a spell from the Undead Warhammer magic card pack. You have no idea what I’m on about do you? Even the bassist is called Jon Necromancer! Plus, from the photo I’ve seen they all look like reanimated corpses. Oh yeah, the music. Think black metal, think really fast, think drums going “dugga dugga dug dug” and think about how monotonous that all sounds. Bleh.

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Ascend - Ample Fire Within

As someone left their guitar too close to a speaker? Oh right, it IS music, gotcha. Only joking. This is actually pretty good, for something that I thought was going to rip off Cult of Luna, instead decides to scare the crap out of me by sounding similar to the music on the last level of Doom 2, but with more terror. Chanting over the top of SunnO))) inspired feedback, coupled with some seriously distorted bass? Hell yeah. Great track and superb band name as well.

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Errors - National Prism
I think I’ve seen these guys live. They were supporting Rolo Tomassi with another band that were absolute pony. One of them had really crappy disco drums that every vaguely pop/electro band has. Thankfully, it’s not Errors, who actually sound like the diet coke version of Battles, only slightly less interesting. Big barrel of ‘meh’ right there.
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The Ascent of Everest - Mountains

The Ascent of Everest could not have a more apt band name. Their music is a grand, all-encompassing pillar of post-rock that should be back-tracking some slow motion battle sequence in a film and not on a CD being reviewed by a socially inept Games Workshop fan. I’m a sucker for these kind of things, even though I bitch about listening to anything over 10 minutes long, I can’t help but love it sometimes. (Lovely violin bit at the end as well.)

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Links

See above, I’m off to try and make something listenable from the horrendous fuzz I recorded a few weeks ago.

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By Ross Macdonald

Band - The Night Marchers, duhh!
Support - The Kits
Venue - 100 Club
Beer - ouch.
Verdict - Whhhoooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

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Ahh Speedo, is there nothing he can’t do? The man’s a tour-de-force of pure rock, there’s no denying that. His CV boasts the very cream of rock music, from his time in the mathy pioneers Drive Like Jehu, rock ‘n’ rollers Rocket From The Crypt, surf punks the Sultans and the barbed frenzy of Hot Snakes. Now he returns with The Night Marchers and boy are they something.

Before the main event, there’s the supports to get through. I’d arrived late at the venue, which I wasn’t to bothered about. However, what did tick me off was the only support band of the night decided they’d be late as well - thanks. Once The Kits finally started, I began to wish they hadn’t even bothered. I’d have much preferred to listen to the DJ spinning dad-era rock ‘n’ roll all night. Imagine the most un-offensive, watered down garage rock imaginable. Got that? Right, now add a hideously high bass tone and drown out all the guitars so only the piss-weak solos can be half heard, and add in vocals that sound like they’re being shouted at you in another room through a wasps nest. Yeah, I pretty much thought it sucked. Big time. Even Speedo seemed to agree with me: he left during the second track.

After some more ‘best of the 60’s volume 2‘ and several more pints of wallet-raping beer, The Night Marchers blasted their way on stage. Tommy Kitsos’s driving bass heralded the first song of the night in the form of the hip-shaking rock ‘n’ roll of ‘Bad Bloods.’ Just hearing Speedo’s “HUH!” as the song picked up was music to my ears. It’s a brilliant opening tune, with a terrific driving chorus and melody. Superb. From this outset, I already knew tonight was going to be a memorable musical treat. No disrespect to the other band members, but Speedo has the kind of stage presence that leaves you mesmorised. You’re drawn to his every word, laughing at his sarcastic and scathing humour, loving the quiff…if you were to look up the words ‘rock n’ roll’ in the dictionary, they’d be a picture of him giving you the thumbs up.

Faster than Speedy Gonzalez on Redbull, they launch into a raucous rendition of the first track from ‘See You In Magic’; the ever pleasing and chugging riffage of ‘Closed For Inventory.’ The Night Marchers might just well be the perfect band of Speedo’s that you can enjoy without being battered to death in a windmill of flailing limbs. Those of the glasses wearing nature like myself, had nothing to fear in terms of losing their precious eyes to a misplaced fist then to several misplaced feet as their only source of seeing power is ground into a fine powder. Despite this, everyone and I mean everyone was having the time of his or her lives. ‘In Dead Sleep’ ploughed it’s noisy furrow through everyone’s ears; it’s dark, menacing tones enveloping the 100 Club, whilst the joyous pop-rock gem of ‘I Wanna Deadbeat You’ brought on the first biggest sing-along of the evening (and perhaps my closest chance to hearing what a Rocket From The Crypt track would sound like live.)

The jaunty strut of ‘Who’s Lady R U?’ confirmed just how brilliant The Night Marchers are live. The gloriously riff-heavy bass work that slides into the hook-laden chorus is a joy to hear, as is a rousing rendition of the summery guitar-driven pop of ‘Jump In The Fire.’ At one point, Gar Wood started using his guitar as a ‘rifle’ to shoot members of the audience, wearing a smile that was so big it looked as if his head was about to fall off.

The highlight of the set though was the ridiculously brilliant 1-2 punch of ‘Scene Report‘ and ‘Fisting The Fanbase‘ two tracks that did not feature on ‘See You In Magic’ but should have. ‘Scene Report‘ throws itself around like as Tasmanian devil on fire; the energetic guitar work being put through its paces with real gusto - terrific slice of punk rock. Unfortunately my brain was knackered by beer and my only memory of the last track, was that it rocked. HARD. Possibly one of the best songs I’ve heard this year, seriously. With no encore (and rightly so, the only way they were going to top ‘Fisting The Fanbase’ was by playing it again, possibly faster) The Night Marchers left the stage like the sweaty gods they are.

My only regret is not seeing them on the other 2 London dates before, but then I’d have less money than Northern Rock and be visiting this website everyday. Goodbye.

Sounds

If you fancy hearing what The Night Marchers sound like, click below to listen to ‘Closed For Inventory.’

Get the Flash Player to see the wordTube Media Player.

Links

The Night Marchers
Vagrant Records

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Words - Me
Pictures - Marc Jeeves

Band: Down I Go
Album: Tyrant
Label: Undergroove
Release: Now!
Sounds Like: George W. Bush sneaking into the White House, Ceaucscu demolishing buildings, Pol Pot filling mass graves, Idi Amin dismembering his wife, Ivan the Terrible killing indescriminately.

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What’s bugging me at the moment is the fact that this album and this band will no doubt be overlooked, which is a crying shame. Since their inception, the London-based 4 piece known as Down I Go have been on a wild ride, from self-releasing a concept album about Dinosaurs; to their first proper release ‘This is Disastercore’ (also, a concept record about 13 of the most horrific accidents in the world.) They then self-released the mini CD-EP ‘This is Robotcore’ – 5 minutes of frantic, juddering noise-rock, before collecting themselves for their next album, 2008’s ‘Tyrant.’

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In many respects, ‘Tyrant’ is the iceberg that will sink any other band’s quest to make my ‘top album spot’ at the end of the year; simple as that. What we have here is 12 tightly packed bottles of potent rage, ready and waiting to explode with the force of several thousand history books fitted with several tons of gelignite. ‘Tomas de Torquemada’ (the first Inquisitor General of Spain) already raises the bar way into the stratosphere with its volcanic energy. The meandering riffs and sporadic beats bring to mind the work of Botch, but even more relentless and guttural, whilst the string section adds a new dynamic to their sound, strengthening the melodic parts (the very few that exist!) like the wheels on a torture rack.

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Grain-quaffing, land confiscating, murdering, Russian nutjob ‘Joseph Stalin’ is next. Sounding more like a distorted space invader theme, this track morphs into one dangerous blast of metal, complete with the wondrous chant of “GLORY TO STALIN THE GREAT!” which I find myself shouting at passers-by nowadays. No wonder people cross the street. Possibly one of the slowest, but sludgiest sounding tracks, ‘Stalin’ pulverises the listener with its starving hands, drowning the listener in feedback like rivers of blood.

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Not even the Romanian leader, Nicolas Ceaucesu is safe; and quite rightly so, the bread-stealing, house-demolishing shithead. On ‘Ceasucesu’, drummer Ben Standage adds his melodic, but gravely tone to the vocal proceedings, which compliment vocalist Pete Fraser’s staccato range. Possibly the most catchy song about bread-shortages ever and some lovely gnarly feedback courtesy of guitarist Alan Booth.

The finest moment however, appears in the form of ‘Saparmurat Niyazov’, and ode to the leader of Turkmenistan; a man who had an ice palace constructed near the capital, banned dogs/beards/ballet and had a huge gold rotating statue of himself created that always faces the sun. Bonkers? Just a bit. A well known fan favourite, it truly shows Down I Go’s potential as one of the best heavy rock/metal bands the UK has ever produced. The steady, rumbling build up that eventually erupts in the gang-chant climax of “TURKMENBASHI! FATHER OF THE TURKMEN!” is unsinkable.

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The sinister tones of Marek Bereza’s bass, herald the start of ‘King Leopold II,’ possibly one of the darkest, and sinister sounding tracks on ‘Tyrant.’ Pete and Ben’s vocals overlap to create a sinister droning monotone, backed by a throat-burning roar. In addition, the harmonies involved in the lyrics, ‘brutal torture, not your fault’ seem somewhat unsettling.
Those looking for more riffs than they can handle, would do well to listen to ‘Henry VIII’ (he was a shit) at full blast. It’s a track that lurches around just like the wife hording, excommunicating, arm-flailing, fat bastard. The use of trumpets on the breakdown is a nice touch, adding even more body to the track as the lyrics ‘birth burdens your rule!’ are shouted like a drunken football chant, despite them actually referring to Henry’s failure to acquire a suitable male heir.

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‘Idi Amin’ sees Down I Go rattle through 2 odd minutes of ‘difference of opinion’ style wordplay, by celebrating Amin as a glorious president, before slamming him for his irrational, brutal, racial and diabolical behaviour, backed up by some extremely techincal, glitch-heavy metal and some lovely ‘ooooaaahhh‘ backing vocals. Possibly the greatest bit about this track is the jam-session style jazz outro, that detracts from the harsh tones of the song in such a way, yet still feels part of the overall concept. Marvellous.

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The closing track ‘Ivan The Terrible‘ uses the subtle but gorgeous string section that has backed most of this album to full effect in the closing 2 minutes. It’s quite an unexpected change, as the crushing heaviness of Down I Go’s sound is suddenly replaced with the soft tones of the violin, viola and cello; only to return at a calmer, but stronger pace, culminating in one of the best closing tracks I’ve ever heard.

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Despite it’s modest running length of just over 30 minutes, Down I Go take you on a long and breathless ride. ‘Tyrant’ is certainly their most accomplished work to date and sets an almost impossible standard for the next wave of British metal and hardcore bands to topple. Lyrically, it’s a crash course in tyranny condensed into 12 rabid slabs of ferocious energy and erratically brutal musicianship. Oh yeah, just so you know - album of the fucking year.

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Sounds

Click here to listen to ‘Saparmurat Niyazov‘ from ‘Tyrant.’ Oh yeah, learn to ice skate!

Get the Flash Player to see the wordTube Media Player.

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Links

Down I Go
Myspace I Go
Remember This Day Forever
Undergroove Records

Words - Ross Macdonald

On Saturday I made the always fun trip to London and attended RoTa at Notting Hill Arts Centre. Despite it being a free gig, I still had to pay the £13.55 for the pleasure of visiting the big smoke, but still, it’s a day out and seems better than sitting on the Internet all day arguing about whether Peep Show has turned shit (it hasn’t) and trying to do Doom 2 speedruns (almost impossible.)

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The first band, An Emergency wasted no time in doing exactly what they said they were going to do at the beginning of their set: “play fast and loud.” An Emergency are a three piece, consisting of 2 guitarists and a drummer who proceeded to thrash out 30 odd minutes of danceable punk rock, interspersed with light comic banter in the form of a short debate about the merits of Marathon bars changing their name to Snickers. They seemed even more jagged and angular than when I last saw them; like 3 hedgehogs filled with starch wearing jumpers made of razor blades. Those looking for the missing link between Dischord’s Q and not U and San Diego’s Hot Snakes would do well to listen to An Emergency. Energetic, packed with boundless enthusiasm and quality punk rock that you don’t see much of nowadays.

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After that spirited performance, Jonquil took to the stage, a band I knew very little about. In comparison to the frantic mess of exuberance I’d just witnessed, this collection of musicians were a concise arrangement of different sounds and styles that complimented each other beautifully. At times their sound ranged from drunken sea shanties (see ‘Lions‘, a jaunty 2 minute romp) to wonderful melodic, layered pop music and of course, gang vocal chants which I love like a fat man loves cake.

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With the afternoon nearly over and much gassy,watered-down beer consumed, This Town Needs Guns took to the stage. It’s easy to see why this oxford quartet is so highly regarded in indie circles. Their tight, tappy emo rock falls into the similar vein as Kinsella types, American Football and Owls. With this type of guitar rock making a considerable dent in the music scene (see Pennines, Tubelord for further examples) This Town Needs Guns are currently ahead of the pack. Despite their dubiously long song titles (‘Want To Come Back To My Room And Listen To Some Belle & Sebastian?’ which prompted the light-hearted heckle of “you emo bastards!” much to the amusement of everyone, including the band.) they were an impressive and elaborate set of musicians, even though I felt both guitarists were trying to play different songs at varying speeds at one point. They ended with a blistering rendition of ’26 Is Dancier Than 4’ a fine performance and a solid end to a great afternoon of music.

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Links

An Emergency
Jonquil
This Town Needs Guns
Big Scary Monsters
Try Harder Records
Faux Disc