Blitz Kids step up their game in every possible way with Run For Cover. The four-piece have a back catalogue flecked with brilliance and it seems now, the band have grabbed what makes them special, and are running with it.
Dashed with poise and charming fury, Run For Cover overflows with grand understanding. If this is the shape of things to come, it’s going to be a pleasure fitting Blitz Kids into your lives.
There’s a confidence to The Ocean. It has all the swagger of a band who have found their groove and are enjoying the swing of things.
Getting ready to release their second album, Tonight Alive are starting to craft expectations. From the soaring power of the vocals to the juttering understatement of the instrumental crash, The Ocean makes grand promise.
No matter how impressive something is, eventually it becomes mundane. Luckily, Nina Nesbitt still has plenty of tricks ferreted away.
Latest single and the title track for her fifth ep, Way In The World takes another step forward in lyrical prowess with the delivery bounding with unmatched skip. Despite the acoustic guitar being Nina’s weapon of choice since the beginning, Way In The World is her tentative first step into the world of folk and, as you can expect, it’s an impressive dance.
Live. Tonight Alive
With. Transit and Gavin Butler
The Fleece, Bristol. 29th May 2013
First impressions count. Anything from a firm handshake, a shared interest in the intricate plotlines of Neighbours or a super-neat haircut can force you to make a judgement call. From that instant, you form an idea of a person that they then have to live up too. Music is no different.
Getting an idea of a band is equally as sudden. On record it’s a group effort but in the live arena, making a good impressions falls to a single person. That’s why the best bands have such captivating and enigmatic frontmen. It’s never a case of a one-man show, rather a group performance led by a talented ringleader.
They don’t come more talented then Jenna McDougall of Tonight Alive. Controlling band and crowd alike, she feeds off the raucous punk abandon before exploding about the stage. Backed by an impressive climbing wall of instrumental chaos, Tonight Alive are quickly growing into one of the most exciting prospects in music.
Gavin Butler from The Blackout is a slightly different prospect. Armed with only an acoustic guitar and decadent warmth to his voice, the Welshman trades hardcore parties for gloomy folk. Playing with overwhelming charm and surprising poetry, Gavin Butler exposes a lesser-seen side to his musical exploits. Equally as compelling as the day-job, these haunting odes of misery create an atmospheric hush. If The Blackout ever decide to stop the party, Gavin Butler has an open-ended invitation for the future.
With a history as rich as Transit’s, it might be difficult to consider the future. However, led by the energetic craze of Joe Boynton and the marvel of Young New England, Transit are a band making all the right impressions. Despite being a long way from home, the Boston five-piece make themselves comfortable with a brash assault of emotionally charged punk-rock. Unrelenting and passionate, Transit play a dynamic blend of punk charged fury with pop-led stability. It’s intelligent, it’s heartfelt and it’s glorious. What else is there?
Well, there’s Tonight Alive. From the skipping snarl of Breakdown to the forceful sway of To Die For, the scaled up brutality of their pop-punk, snakes without apology. Delicate nuances flit left and right as the tumbling deconstruction rolls on. Tearing it apart from the inside is the colourful strut of Jenna McDougall.
Now fully grown into her talent, tonight the vocals are simply breathtaking. Dynamic, powerful and beautiful, they give weight to the message. Songs about struggle and self-belief are delivered with admirable insight and parade as Tonight Alive cast out self-doubt.
Leading the room with charming command and riding the stuttering breakdowns with impressive range, Tonight Alive come together to create a lasting impression of brilliance. Humble despite the reactions and already capable beyond promise, Tonight Alive really are fantastic. And this is just the start.
Live. Deaf Havana
With. Evarose
Bucks SU. 23rd May 2013
You can’t be a hero without victims. The constant dog-fight of the British music scene continues, and there’s still no sign of an amicable conclusion. Guitar bands are the soldiers in this scrappy battle for supremacy. Some achieve heroic worship, while others fall to the wayside, victims of their own success, personal lackings or bad luck.
Recently, Deaf Havana have been followed by the whispers of heroics. The name conjures up a legacy not fully realised while their history is strewn with bridesmaid-esque comparisons. That is, until now. Warming up to re-enter the field of battle, Deaf Havana played their first full band show of the year. When they leave the fray at the close of 2013, they’ll be untouchable.
Now then. It wouldn’t be an exciting tale without a twist and tonight, Evarose provide theirs. Warping the gang mentality that fuels the war, the Oxfordshire quartet offer up a new angle of attack. Bleak topics are filtered through charming punk growl and dangerous pop mastery. The forceful buzz of instrumental groove pushes you against a wall. Then the biting entwine of edged vocals compel you to push back. This exchange could get messy, but precision shines through as Evarose’s dark dance bewitches. It won’t be long before their peers are off defending chunks of kingdom, while Evarose sit pretty, presiding over all.
Tonight though, it’s Deaf Havana who rule. From the surge of the crowd, the smiles on faces and the very vocal support, this is clearly a dictatorship of love. With humble blushes, Deaf Havana exploit this admiration. Tackling old and new alike with surprising melody, infallible beauty and roaring hunger, the six-piece slip into a fearsome assault.
Their arsenal leans heavily on Fools and Worthless Liars, with Hunstanton Pier and The Past Six Years both devastating with poetic punch. But it’s the probing shots of new material that offer the most danger, with the explosive scope of Boston Square merely a warning shot.
Taking the die-hard spirit of the scene and cutting it with an endearing ability to tell stories, Deaf Havana have a unique vantage point. Teetering on the edge of something truly special, this band of brothers have seen war and learnt their game. The room captured, Deaf Havana emerge as valiant heroes. Now, onto the next victims.
Live. The Great Escape 2013
Alcopop Vs Big Scary Monsters
Fools Paradise Vs Bad Math
The Great Escape festival prides itself on being ‘Europe’s leading festival for new music’. While taking over Brighton city centre for two and a bit days and playing host to over 350 acts, the festival does indeed parade an impressive array of musical talent. However, the boast of being the leading festival for new music is far to general. The whole affair could be streamlined with abhorrent ease. For two glorious days, The Royal Pavillion Tavern led the way in showcasing the very best in music.
Indie labels rule supreme, Big Scary Monsters teamed up with Alcopop Records for an all-day showcase on the Friday while promoters Bad Math and Fools Paradise programmed a lengthy takeover for the Saturday. The first day displaying perfect examples of boundary pushing brilliance while the second saw boundaries forgotten, as the most ridiculous yet wonderful artists took to the stage.
Day 1.
The haunting lament of Katie Malco comes in dangerously provocative swathes. From the subdued point of acoustic guitar against the wavering beauty of voice, to the magnified fear of the full band numbers, Katie Malco sings songs to marvel at.
Doctrines are also a marvellous proposition. The grunge direction sits at odds with the math-excess of their arrival, yet this contrast only sweetens the reality. Surges of fury break the waves of groove-punk as the Manchester four-piece breakdown with surgical precision. The scratched vocals deliver rare insight as Doctrines find truth in all that surrounds them.
Camera Lucida is full of brave expanse. Driving keys and jaunty riffs take Gunning For Tamar into new territory, yet on stage, they seem right at home. The dynamics of their sound take on bold adventure alongside ragged emotion. It might have been the penultimate show on a ten-week tour, but the intensity of Gunning For Tamar was as tireless as it was fantastic.
It honestly seems like Gnarwolves are never, not on tour. So a return to their hometown is obviously met with a heroes welcome. Their boisterous skate-punk courts obnoxiousness but marries charm as the three local boys do good. Captivating the crowd with a relentless assault of sharpened anthems, Gnarwolves incite a real sense of danger and garner glorious results.
The jangly-indie charm of My First Tooth takes the aged spirit of folk and renovates it. Cautionary tales about love are backed with the twang of an acoustic while the combined force of the bass and drums give the poetry a very modern drive. Straddling the present, My First Tooth wrap soaring hooks in beauty and charm.
Freeze The Atlantic know a thing or two about writing hooks. Their rock might be noughties but the songwriting is already classic. Every song sounds huge as the five-piece blaze a trail of fiery anthems. The Pav Tav may only have capacity for hundreds, but that doesn’t stop Freeze The Atlantic treating it like an arena.
Stagecoach have every reason to celebrate. Ten years into the band and they’ve just released their debut album. It surpasses all expectations, as do the five-piece live. Their rock has its heart in the garage, while engaging like all good pop music should. Rattling through a weighty collection of excellence, the band nod to the past as they deal with the ambitions of the future.
Day 2.
Turning a solo project into a fully formed band is a challenging affair. Hot Glass rise to meet this challenge, then soar above it. The melodic sway of the distorted vocals creep under walls of scuzz. With shoe-gaze intent, the band manages to draw you in with sweeping climbs and rough tumble.
Olympians are the most ludicrously superb band. Tearing apart the everyday with a four-pronged acapella attack, the belting voices convey beauty and emotion. Twinkling loops and droning synths tie together the eclectic drive while the occasional riff or instrumental storm pull you this way or that. Despite all the wonderful madness, the core of Olympians music is threatening melody and a dangerous understanding of feelings.
Not stopping throughout their set to receive much deserved applause, Our Lost Infantry are a band completely confident in their music. The delicate whisper of keys sits below lofty vocals with fragile allure. Supported by an onslaught of guitars and the off-kilter attack of drums, Our Lost Infantry invade hearts and minds with little resistance.
Hold Your Horse Is concluded their set with half the drum kit in the crowd and the strings torn off the guitar. And this wasn’t all that surprising, which should give you an idea to the ferocity that Hold Your Horse Is play with. Dealing in big riffs, the three-piece overflow with excited fury. Ragged and brutal, their music soundtracks the chaos they instigate. And by ‘eck, is it good.
The solo project of ex-Tubelord, Joseph Prendergast, is quite a departure. Not just from his own history, but solo projects in general. There’s no acoustic guitar here as Joey Fourr, along with cassette tape samples and the jarring electro bounce of his guitar, brings his colourful dream-punk to life.
The angular rock of Wot Gorilla? is a multi-sensory wonder. The four members seem intent on playing in surging isolation, performing in a lonely bubble of their own craft. Yet with perfect symmetry and deliberate shimmer, Wot Gorilla? cast progressive magic. Jaunty and delicate before disappearing in a twisting whirlwind of surprise, the Halifax four-piece look and sound fantastic.
Pirate Video Company have been at the Pav Tav for thirteen hours. They’ve seen the constant flow of intimidating brilliance that’s passed through. Does this put them off? Does it fuck. Their snarling punk growl and screaming hardcore spirit lead the charge as an unexpected shadow of melody follows suit. You might be confused into thinking that Pirate Video Company have something to prove, but tonight is just another example of their passion, their talent and their overwhelming greatness.
From thrash-pop to nu-wave punk, The Pav Tav offered an eclectic alternative to the hype and hustle of The Great Escape. Light fittings were threatened, a zesty new form of crowd control was implemented and there were a fair few songs about Jurrasic Park.
While The Great Escape has left a legacy of promises and future-greatness, the weekend at The Pav Tav celebrated the brilliance that already exists. The labels, the promoters and the bands. They’re all doing brilliant things now and will undoubtedly continue to do so in the future. So don’t wait and watch, get involved and enjoy.
Below are some twitter links to make your lives easier.
You can also enjoy a couple of free downloads. This birthday compilation from Bad Math and this label sampler from BSM/Alcopop.
If you need anything else, just ask Justdip.
The Wonder Years – The Greatest Generation
History is important. It allows for context and its influence can be felt daily. With music, the legacy of a band often impacts how a release is received. However, you won’t need to know about television shows, a trio of preceding albums or a grand narrative to appreciate that The Greatest Generation by The Wonder Years is one of the most brilliant things you’ll hear this year.
Sounding like it’s been lifted from one of the many plastic pop-punk bands who deal in haircuts and bravado, the American twang of Dan Cambell is already a familiar friend. Leading a charming offensive of reassurance and realism, The Wonder Years balance familiarity with surprise.
Backed by a sweeping drive of infectious hooks and tumbling choruses, The Greatest Generation takes the considered rebellion of pop-punk and ages it. The smirks and smut are replaced by aged fears and simple longing. Angst makes way for pointed fury as The Wonder Years take a genre and make it so much more.
The hopeful want of We Could Die Like This plays off against the painful memory of The Devil In My Bloodstream. The Wonder Years stand still and collect their thoughts as the torrential flood of the present washes over them. The nostalgia ridden Teenage Parents looks to the future grasp of I Just Want To Sell Out My Funeral with equalling acceptance. The past is as sure as the future and The Wonder Years aren’t going to waste time fighting either.
Burning with unrivalled intensity, The Greatest Generation uses a troubled history to fuel its fire. Evoking a sense of grand toil, there’s an overbearing impression that The Wonder Years have poured every ounce of their being into this album. Emotions are still running high. Every screaming jolt of abandon or enticing twist of refrain is backed with honesty and fraught feelings. For a band on their fourth album, that’s an impressive feat.
Doused in the bitterness of reality and celebrating the suburban struggle, The Greatest Generation is a powerful hunk of Americana. Personal and relatable, The Wonder Years highlight the fight of the everyday. Ultimately, everyone loses but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try.
The history of The Wonder Years might be a specialist subject but The Greatest Generation will go down as a defining album in the pop-punk genre, and the year.
