Flynndie Reviews: Blog #31 - The Rialto Burns - Learning to Fight

Written 28th September 2012

The Rialto Burns – Learning to Fight

The Band: Adam (vocals), Pottsy (bass), Alex and Cogsy (guitars), Shaun (drums)

So today’s album review comes from a band that someone kindly recommended on Twitter after which I decided to go out and look up a few of their tracks, and after hearing their most recent single (at the time) on the band’s website, ‘While you Sleep’, I immediately thought that the track sounded great and showed some potential.  I then found some more tracks on YouTube ‘Radiate’ and ‘For the Asking’ and I quickly found myself hooked on this band’s instant style and sound. “So who is this band?” I hear you ask (knowing full well you already know from the review title!) and the answer of course is Liverpool’s own ‘The Rialto Burns’ and today’s review covers the band’s debut album ‘Learning to Fight’ where I hope to expose more of the instant style and sound of the band that I hinted on earlier.

Round 1…..FIGHT!!!

1. Release
2. While you Sleep
3. For the Asking
4. Show me your Colours
5. Back to Life
6. Cold Hands
7. Learning to Fight
8. Radiate
9. Fingers and Thumbs
10. Slow/Fade
11. While you Sleep (Part II)

Initially opening, with buzzing, razor-sharp guitars things get underway with opening track ‘Release’ and we get our first taste of Adam’s deep, dark vocals which immediately creates somewhat more of a unique sound and style for the band. The track steadily ebbs and flows, between its gentle bass riff back to the buzzing guitars from its initial opening and keeps constantly flirting between the two. With gentle synths before an incredibly catchy, high-pitched guitar riff that accelerates the track along, ‘While you Sleep’ is a very instant Indie track, with lyrics “It takes a touch of innocence/To gain perspective on your sins”. The track constantly builds throughout but it’s the main opening riff that for me gives this track potential future ‘Goal of the Month’ backing music on Match of the Day, which is a high accolade for any band to achieve in my book! ‘For the Asking’ features high-pitched guitars blending with deep, flowing bass creating quite a chiselled sound on the track while lyrics flow “Put it on the ground/Just for the asking/I got the blues/You got the blues”, while solo guitar riffs continue to build constantly throughout the track.

Opening with a very electronic synth feel to it and a very much 80’s influenced guitar sound ‘Show me your Colours’ really does have quite a retro feel to it, with its melody and rhythm giving it much of an 80’s U2 feel about it in my opinion but with a modern take with the style of vocals and synths used throughout. The track coasts along blending its retro mix of guitar, bass and synths with a confident, carefree swagger all about it, before the track signs off with high-pitched, building synths, something you don’t see much on modern Indie albums these days but done to great effect here. Deep, heavy bass sets the early tone for fifth track ‘Back to Life’ and these continue while short, sharp guitar riffs dig and interject their way into the track nicely. “I walk these streets tonight\With a little romance in my life” vocals, being interspersed by still constant deep bass and guitars that are now slowly taking more control of the track as it goes along, it’s another track that still retains a bit of a retro feel for me and builds constantly, as quite a few tracks on this album do, finishing with repeated “I’m a sucker for love/I’m a sucker for love and it’s killing me”. ‘Cold Hands’ follows next and enters with a fast, sharp guitars riff pulling the track along, before we reach a brilliant crescendo of a chorus “I want you falling at my feet/Falling on me now/Falling from the sky” it works really well in context of the track and you soon find yourself humming along to it intentionally or not, as this track has a sense of a forlorn urgency about it throughout. Title-track ‘Learning to Fight’ is a particular percussion-driven track, with a repeated quick drum rhythm at the very heart of the track throughout, we again have softly-sung, deliberately slow vocals here really creating a brooding atmosphere for the song overall. The track features a nice guitar solo coupled with synths midway through to nice effect but overall despite the upbeat percussion this is quite a slow-burner of a track but very much deliberately so, building in its impact and atmosphere that it creates.

“Radiate my soul/In this world so cold” are the distinct opening vocals from ‘Radiate’, as guitars are again steadily, constantly building to another fast and urgent chorus. This was another very instant type of Indie track for me when I first heard it and a track I’m still enjoying on repeated listens; it’s pretty much a well-written, easily accessible Indie-pop song and is all the better for it in my opinion. Gentle, twinkling synths against cutting guitars build the basis of the melody for ‘Fingers and Thumbs’, another slower, more deliberate track here by the band before one of my favourite tracks on the album ‘Slow/Fade’. With an excellent synth slide guitar effect backed by a brilliant guitar riff, the track then eases as vocals from Adam depict an individual’s fiery characteristics, before being re-joined by the excellent synth and guitar, it’s a very pleasant, easy-listening track for the listener and one I liked instantly. The album closes with ‘While you Sleep (Part II) and this really is the ‘darker’ side of the earlier track on the album, with really brooding guitar and synth effects and no-nonsense percussion throughout, it really puts the band’s closing statement on the album and captures the complete style of the band as a whole.

So, overall what we have here is decent debut album with a band really defining their own unique sound, really capturing dark, edgy, brooding tracks with an emphasis on short catchy guitar riffs duelling with synth effects. If I could make a comparison to their sound it would be somewhat of a cross between The White Lies and ‘forgotten’ Indie band The Bravery, with certainly a hint of 80’s era U2 thrown in there as well in my opinion, it’s a very distinct sound the band produce here! I’ve been listening to the album for some time now and it’s certainly a grower with each listen and I’m going to give ‘Learning to Fight’ 8 punch-bags out of 10 here. I think it will be interesting to see how the band follow up this album and it actually shouldn’t be too long to wait now with the band already releasing the video to their next single ‘Hibernation’ which you can also see below, with a follow-up album due out soon, I currently have The Rialto Burns as “one to watch” in my book right now!

Knocked Out
Flynny

Track 2 ‘While you Sleep’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFXnBqyrlm0

Track 3 ‘For the Asking’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1DEhnoLimQ

Track 8 ‘Radiate’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZR6csuB5NA

New single ‘Hibernation’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzUWo-_GsCY

Band website:
http://therialtoburns.com/

Flynndie Reviews: Blog #30 - Two Door Cinema Club - Beacon

Written 14th September 2012:

Two Door Cinema Club – Beacon

The Band: Alex Tremble (lead vocals/guitar/synths/percussion), Kevin Baird (bass/synths/vocals), Sam Halliday (guitar/synths/vocals)

So recently saw the return of Bangor’s very own Two Door Cinema Club with the release of their 2nd album ‘Beacon’, the follow-up to their highly impressive debut album ‘Tourist History’ (which I previously reviewed here in Blog #11). At the time I awarded that record “8 family-sized bags of popcorn out of 10” and suggested that “these lads are a good one to watch out for in the long-term future as well”. So fast-forward 18 months since that review and the band have released their follow-up album but does this new record live-up to the high standards set by their first album and fulfil the early potential shown by the band? Well hopefully, we can cover that question in today’s review and find out what their latest offering brings.

Now Showing

1. Next Year
2. Handshake
3. Wake Up
4. Sun
5. Someday
6. Sleep Alone
7. The World is Watching (with Valentina)
8. Settle
9. Spring
10. Pyramid
11. Beacon

‘Next Year’ gets us underway with trademark synths that the band are well known for before being accompanied by an upbeat percussion rhythm and then both suddenly pausing as Alex’s distinct voice opens “I don’t know where I/Am going to rest my head tonight” before being re-accompanied by the opening synths, percussion and now an excellent, catchy guitar riff during the verses of the track. The track ebbs and flows nicely for the listener and even features a Muse-esque guitar riff midway through and overall gets the record of to a steady start. Next up we have ‘Handshake’ which opens with very much an 80’s style synth melody before the track gathers pace with guitars after 30 seconds. The synths continue to pulse throughout the heart of the track as guitars gently flow in the background before an incredibly catchy, sing-a-long chorus “She said the devil will want you back/And you’ll never find love in another man/Shut your eyes, so you’ll see young girl/And know you always have this if it’s needed back”. It’s quite an instant track, and the verses cleverly build to the big crescendo chorus.

‘Wake Up’ follows next and has a modest bass and drum rhythm initially pushing the track along, before trademark duelling guitars bridge midway through the track. The track is constantly building with guitars steadily duelling throughout before big vocals come in from Alex on the second half of the track “You got lost, lost through the night/It’s no loss, you’ll be alright”, at this point giving the track a big, epic feel to it. ‘Sun’ opens with delicate piano and Alex’s distinct vocals with the line “Ocean Blue/What have I done to you?” and features a gentle backing ‘electronic’ guitar riff throughout. It’s a very well-polished track with a backing brass section in its latter stages and is actually a nice ballad for the album. ‘Someday’ starts off with an excellent rollercoaster of a guitar riff from Sam, while Alex belts out lines “Is it a race or a chase/It’s a difficult one/Are you running faster and further away/Or just trying to keep up”. This is one of my favourite tracks on the album; it’s instantly catchy and again helps to create a big sound for the band. I could easily see this being a future single for the band. Speaking of which previous single from the album ‘Sleep Alone’ shows up next and features a fast drum rhythm against gentle guitar riffs before the band again up the tempo, with a fast and urgent rhythm as Alex’s lyrics possible portray an individual’s battle with Insomnia “He Sleeps Alone\He needs no army where he’s heading\Cause he knows they’re just ghosts\And they can’t hurt him”, this is again a big-sounding, instant track and fitting return single for the band. ‘The World is Watching (with Valentina)’ follows next and is a gloriously, beautiful track! Opening with a chilled out, calypso guitar rhythm this time we find Alex’s vocal are backed throughout the track by beautiful female vocals, possibly the Valentina of the track title itself, and although that description may sound cheesy in this review, on the record itself, this track is brilliantly put together and surprisingly works very well on the album.

Just when you starting thinking what else can these three Northern Irish lads have up their sleeves next on this record, they then turn with possibly the standout track on the album for me ‘Settle’. Unwinding with a soft, looping guitar riff the track steadily builds into a big crescendo of guitars, drums and bass and I could easily see a track like this have an entire crowd captivated by every guitar note though it’s epic journey, this is simply a brilliantly, beautiful track and the highlight of the album for me. We come back down with ‘Spring’ but with a subtly infectious picking guitar riff this is cleverly done, and again we find another track that starts slow but gathers momentum throughout while never leaving the listener behind such is the brilliance of the melody of the track. Another instant type of track, you can’t help but get caught up in the flow of the pacey guitar melodies here.

Penultimate track ‘Pyramid’ opens with one of the more understated guitar riffs on the album, a little quirky but a sound that helps to portray that associated with the mystery of the song title’s architecture, before the band pulling off their seemingly effortless trick of throwing in yet another incredibly catchy chorus and guitar riff right in the middle of the track, this is another great track on the record. Title-track ‘Beacon’ closes the album and features piano backed against a steady guitar rhythm and drum percussion, while an echo is used against Alex’s voice to great effect in its building verse before, yes you’ve guessed it, another effortlessly catchy chorus, it helps rounds off the record nicely.

So I must admit I had quite high hopes for this record leading up to its release. I’d always enjoyed the band’s debut album ‘Tourist History’ and I was hoping this album might steadily build on it but if I’m being honest I think this record not only matches their debut album but actually take the band and their music on to another much-higher level here, with no disrespect intended to their also brilliant debut. What we have here is a genuine ‘Album of the Year’ contender for me, with excellently crafted tracks, layered with brilliantly catchy synths and some outrageously good guitars riffs and rhythms throughout the record. There is no question for me that the tracks written on this album are designed for headlining the big summer festivals and arena tours and this may actually be fitting as I can genuinely see the band moving up to this level within the next few months as I think this is a record that will gain a genuinely big following via word of mouth and the potentially excellent singles this album could deliver in the future. I can genuinely only see big things for this band in the future, they’re just too good for anything else in my book, so get on board ‘Beacon’ now then as I’m going to award this album a precedent 9 Summer Blockbusters out of 10!

Cinema Goer
‘Flynny’

Track 5 ‘Some Day’ (Live at Belsonic)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPLUBTgNxlo

Track 6 ‘Sleep Alone’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNXybY2DtwM

Track 8 ‘Settle’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmvSkf2lweM

Flynndie Reviews: Blog #29 Bloc Party - Four

Written 20th August 2012

Bloc Party - Four

The Band: Kele Okereke (vocals/guitar), Russell Lissack (lead guitar), Gordy Moakes (bass) Matt Tong (drums)

So today see’s the long awaited return of Bloc Party with their 4^th album the cunningly named ‘Four’, their first album release since 2008’s last record ‘Intimacy’, making it itself four years since the band last released an album.  The band really made a huge impact on the UK Indie music scene with the release of their excellent debut album ‘Silent Alarm’ back in 2005, with early singles ‘Helicopter’, ‘Banquet’ and ‘Two More Years’, really defining a unique “sonic-fused” guitar sound for not just the band but of any band at the time and rightly receiving a healthy amount of radio airplay, quickly help gaining the band a loyal army of followers.  This was followed up by 2007’s ‘A Weekend in the City’ another great guitar record but this time the album felt a bit more mellow and chilled out compared to its predecessor however this certainly didn’t stop the band achieving further hits with another batch of great singles ‘The Prayer’, ‘Hunting for Witches’ and ‘Flux’ all being released.  They then went on to release 3rd album ‘Intimacy’ and again showed another slight change in direction, with an album which had a much more dance vibe to it and more ‘electro’ influenced tracks than the band had previously done to date but for my money it was still a great record and I have been patiently looking forward to the release of a follow-up album and to paraphrase an early track from the band “So Here We Are” now:

Four

1.               So He Begins To Lie
2.               3x3
3.               Octopus
4.               Real Talk
5.               Kettling
6.               Day Four
7.               Coliseum
8.               V.A.L.I.S.
9.               Team A
10.            Truth
11.            The Healing
12.            We’re Not Good People

Bonus tracks

13.       Mean
14.       Leaf Skeleton

So as you can see from the track-listing above, we’re going hardcore today and reviewing the deluxe-version of the new album featuring two additional bonus tracks which I’ll also cover as part of this review but in the meantime the album gets us underway with opening track “So He Begins To Lie”.  Ok, so throughout this record the album features odd little sound-bites of the band in the studio, as is the case here, before the opening-track picks up with Russell laying down a funky, rocking guitar riff setting the foundations for the track and providing an early indication of the guitar-heavy sound that features much more throughout this record, particularly on the rock-out towards the end of the track.  ‘3x3’ follows up next, and features a frantic, menacing guitar riff from the start, with initially softer vocals from Kele, giving the track a dark yet moody sense of urgency about it and this is emphasized further with Kele’s repeated line “No Means No” in the 2nd half of the track.  Despite its dark tones, it’s an excellent, fast-paced track and progresses the album nicely.  Previous single ‘Octopus’ lightens the mood a little more and features a quirky guitar pedal effect throughout by Russell, giving the track an overall retro and unique feel to it.  With gently backing “Woooo Woooo’s” through its chorus, and a catchy melody throughout, it’s quite an Indie-pop track and I can see why the band ultimately used this as a come-back single.

With a slow, repeating guitar strum throughout it ‘Real Talk’ follows next and sees Kele again softly-sung here, as his vocals slowly reveals a protagonists true feelings for a close friend or partner as the track progresses and the track has a very calm, laidback approach to it with gentle percussion, bass and guitar nudging it along gently.  After, another brief in-studio sound-bite, we go from the gentle flow of ‘Real Talk’ to the full on guitar-rock of ‘Kettling’.  Opening with a heavy, monster of a guitar riff the track then sees a high-pitched guitar riff speeding through its verses with Kele’s vocals over the top of it, before seeing a guitar solo midway through it.  I like this track and it’s one for the guitar enthusiasts in particular.  Again, entering at a more sedate pace is 6th track ‘Day Four’, with slight jangling guitar through it, it’s a nice track and for me personally captures some of the sound the band were previously creating on ‘A Weekend in the City’.  I particularly like the hazy, jangly repeating sounds the band capture and fade-out towards with at the end of the track, providing the listener was an isolated but relaxing backdrop to close with.  ‘Coliseum’ makes an appearance next and is another slow-burner, with a distant effect used on Kele’s vocals during its opening.  This is before midway through the track when the band suddenly assaults the listener’s ears with a brutal, full-on guitar riff bringing back memories of the style of sound used on ‘Silent Alarm’, particularly the track ‘Luno’ (a personal favourite of mine). Great stuff indeed!   ‘V.A.L.I.S.’ slows the tempo of the album again, with low-fi guitars, bass and percussion giving the track a catchy tempo.  It’s a pleasant track and again captures the laidback sounds from ‘A Weekend in the City’. 

‘Team A’ is up next and for me it’s one of the standout tracks of the album.  Featuring, an alarm-sounding electronic riff pulsing through it, layered nicely with Russell’s guitar, the track again has another real sense of urgency about it, defining the eschewed, sonic guitar sounds that Bloc Party are so well known for.  I was lucky enough to catch the band play an early comeback gig at Koko before this album’s release and ‘Team A’ was a real standout track for me on the night, played even faster live and to more effect, than as featured here on the album, it’s a great track.  After the high off the last track, a comedown is expected, but with the track ‘Truth’, this actually quite a pleasant experience we get here, as it coasts along with an assured confidence about itself.   ‘The Healing’ is probably the softest track overall on the album, featuring a mellow guitar riff and an altogether floaty melody to it. It’s a real nice track that I really quite like but it’s almost like the calm before the storm as closing track ‘We’re Not Good People’ is a classic full-on rock track.  We’re talking fast, frenetic no-nonsense rock here that even the Foo Fighters would be proud of!  But hold on, we’re not quite done here just yet, because as I said earlier, this review is covering the deluxe-version of the album, featuring two bonus tracks and they are certainly worth covering in my opinion.

Up first we have ‘Mean’ and this is classic, old-school Bloc Party in my opinion.  Featuring a fast, catchy guitar riff at its heart much like older tracks ‘Helicopter’ or ‘Flux’, it’s therefore a very instant type of track and found myself enjoying it upon first few listens.  Secondly we have the track ‘Leaf Skeleton’ and again this is very much in the mould of old-school Bloc Party, with another catchy guitar riff pulsing through it at 100mph, this is just simply another excellent track.  I must admit I’m somewhat bemused as to why the band didn’t decide to include these two fantastic bonus tracks on the standard version of the album so I would recommend picking up this version of the album if you can just to hear these two excellent tracks alone.

So in concluding, it’s been a long 4-year wait for the return of Bloc Party but has it been worth the wait?  What we have here is an album that has been carefully crafted together by four excellent musicians, whom certainly have high standards in the music and unique sound that they create when they are together.  There was a lot of expectation and second-guessing as to what direction the band may take with this fourth album and in my opinion they have returned with a strong guitar influenced album, while still retaining the fast, sonic melodies that are distinctly Bloc Party.  Also featuring hard and heavy rock tracks, to the more melodic and chilled out tunes this is arguably the most diverse Bloc Party album to date and I’m finding I’m appreciating the tracks more on this album with each subsequent listen.  I was initially considering awarding this album 7/10 but with more listens it’s a definite grower in my opinion so I’m actually going to give this album 2 lots of Four out of 10 (see what I did there!)       

Real Talk

Flynny

Track 3 ‘Octopus’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkeUFRK4i7w

Track 4 ‘Real Talk’ (live from Terminal 5, New York)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhBbVitI0Tk

Track 9 ‘Team A’ (live from Koko, London)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tRK1iAIMT8

Flynndie Reviews: Blog #28 - Reverend and the Makers - @Reverend_Makers

Written 7th July 2012

Reverend and the Makers - @Reverend_Makers

 

The Band: Jon McClure (lead vocals/guitar), Ed Cosens (guitars/bass/backing vocals), Joe Carnall (bass) Jimmy Welsh (drums), Laura McClure (vocals/keyboards)

So mid-June saw the long-awaited return of the Sheffield-based band Reverend and the Makers with their 3rd album ‘@Reverend_Makers’ an album title which shows more than a subtle nod to online social media site Twitter.  The album is the follow up to the band’s first two albums ‘The State of Things’ and ‘A French Kiss in the Chaos’ respectively.  I really enjoyed the band’s debut album back in 2007 ‘The State of Things’.  It had some brilliantly-catchy Indie-pop/Dance tracks on it such as ‘Bandits’, ‘He said he loved me’ and the band’s Top 10 Single ‘Heavyweight Champion of the World’, that song in itself a very much ‘Heavyweight’ track and this album quickly became somewhat of a soundtrack for me during that particular summer.  The band followed this up with their 2nd album ‘A French Kiss in the Chaos’ and again featured some more excellently catchy Indie-Dance tracks aka ‘Hidden Persuaders’ and then also went back to just some good old fashioned Indie tracks aka ‘Professor Pickles’.  This album differed much more from their 1st album however, which was somewhat of a light-hearted, fun ‘snapshot’ of the hustle and bustle of modern day life in the UK, while this 2nd album had a lot more political undertones to the tracks and didn’t quite receive the same recognition received by the band’s debut record.  So after a hiatus the band have finally returned in 2012 with this new album so let’s see what direction they have now returned with on their 3rd album.

Track_listing

1.               Bassline

2.               Out of the Shadows

3.               Shine the Light

4.               Depth Charge

5.               Warts n All

6.               Yes You Do

7.               The Wrestler

8.               1+0

9.               Noisy Neighbour

10.            What Goes Around

So the album gets underway with previous download single ‘Bassline’ and what a gem of a track to mark the band’s return.  Pulling no punches it’s a clear indication that band have somewhat gone back to their roots of the debut album having released a banging, catchy Indie Dance track that grabs the listener even upon first listen.  As Jon opens the track with “All the Monday’s spent, craving for Friday’s highs/All the people want is b-b-bassline” it’s an early indication that this record doesn’t feature the political tones featured on ‘French Kiss’.  After Jon’s opening lyrics, we then get this track’s killer bassline throughout and this is a great, catchy track to get the album underway.  Opening with a nice Spanish-sounding guitar riff ‘Out of the Shadows’ continues to keep up the early pacing of the album following on after the nicely laid foundations of the opening track.  As a friend rightly pointed out to me; this 2nd track, and the album in general, smacks of the sounds of the Ibiza beach and nightclub culture from back around 2001 and it’s actually a sound that suits the band very well here.  As the infectious opening guitar riff, coasts through the heart of the track, backing synths and drums complement Jon’s quickly-spun lyrics very well, I instantly liked this track the first time I heard and that still very much remains the case now.

Third track ‘Shine the Light’ drops-down a gear from the first two tracks initially featuring acoustic guitars and catchy keyboards, this track happily reminds me a bit of the style of sound the Happy Monday’s were famed for creating and it’s actually quite refreshing to hear this type of hedonistic sound again on a modern record.  As Jon’s sings the repeated line of “Shine, Shine the light of luck on me tonight’, with its backing vocal’s it’s almost gospel like and to me again, is a bit of a nod to ‘Hallelujah’ by the Monday’s which is a great thing indeed!  Opening with industrial-strength synths, ‘Depth Charge’ is every bit of a banging track as opener ‘Bassline’ as the combination of layered synths and bass carry the track to another night club level, while subtle keyboards also give the track a bit of an underlying ‘ska’ feel to it.  It’s another instant track on the album and is cleverly layered with instruments upon careful listens.  While the album so far has had quite a clubbing, dance vibe to it ‘Warts n All’ really goes back to the Indie-Pop sound of the band’s first album and they totally nail it here!  Featuring quite a funky guitar riff throughout interspersed with the catchy line “Arrrrre……you showing me your good side?” it keeps the flow of the album going nicely and excellently just towards the end of the track Jon’s vocals go all distant and you just hear him individually playing the main riff of the song on an acoustic guitar in the distant, it’s a brilliant effect and an excellent way to close the track.

‘Yes You Do’ is a short but nice slowed down ballad mid-way through the album, featuring gentle vocals and soft, strumming keyboards here and a nice slide guitar effect through the track, it’s a nice chilled-out track and allows the listener a little rest-bite from the overall ride of the album so far.  Things begin to pick up again with 2nd single from the album ‘The Wrestler’, which I would define encapsulates the trademark sound that the band are known for, as it initially builds from a modest drum rhythm and guitars before a very big sounding chorus, as all the time The Reverend himself masterfully spins lyrics how we can as individuals sometimes create persona’s for ourselves on the outside, much like the larger than life character of a wrestler.  It’s a nicely put together track and really helps defines the sound of the band in my opinion.  Opening with an initially psychedelic guitar riff ‘1+0’ is a track that helps comfortably fill the album, as it buzzes along with guitars, bass and drums all chugging along as one all the time layered with synths giving the track a busy, electronic feel to it, it’s a bit of a romp on the album.

Penultimate track ‘Noisy Neighbour’ opens with a lone jangly guitar riff, before receiving the full momentum of the band at action pulses the sonic track along, and this theme continues as the track becomes interspersed the initial guitar riff through these walls of sound which help captures the track’s title ‘Noisy Neighbour’.  Again this is a very fun, light-hearted yet infectious track which for me is very much the running theme throughout the album as a whole and is all the more better for it.  We close with ‘What Goes Around’ and this seems to be a fitting closing for the album, featuring an up-tempo drum rhythm and more jangly guitars through it, it seems to be the closing statement that the band are back with a triumphant return embracing the roots of their early Indie-Pop Dance sound yet still progressing nicely here.  I think this 3rd album is a real return to form for Reverend and the Makers, not that the 2nd album was in anyway bad as I actually really enjoyed it, but I feel this more carefree, hedonistic spirit captured by this record suits the band’s style of music much more all while Jon’s fantastic lyrics paint out intriguing tales for the listener to dissect.  So despite this UK summer having been so far much of a washout, whenever I give this album a listen it certainly lifts my spirits with its charm and positive vibes and I’m happily going to give this album 8 B-b-basslines out of 10 and hope with repeated listens, the British summertime finally turns up as this album would again be more than a fitting soundtrack for it!              

Depth Charge
Flynny

Track 1 ‘Bassline’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZrABRh99n8

Track 2 ‘Out of the Shadows’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeCKsEdzYK8

Track 7 ‘The Wrestler’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NXpclmylo4

PS. I'd also recommend if you can to check out the deluxe CD version of the album as it features an excellent bonus disc featuring some tracks not on the main album and some excellent re-mixes of other tracks that are, there's some proper underground remixes on that bad boy!

Flynndie Reviews - Blog #27: Tribes - Baby

Written 4th July 2012

Tribes - Baby

The Band: Johnny Lloyd (lead vocals/guitar), Dan White (guitar/backing vocals), Jim Cratchely (bass), Miguel Demelo (drums)

Today’s review sees me somewhat gate-crashing the party late, but after a kind recommendation on Twitter I’ve finally come across the 4-piece Camden-formed band Tribes, whom cite bands such as The Pixies, Nirvana, R.E.M. and Pavement amongst their influences, so today’s review covers their debut album ‘Baby’. So with the formal introductions done, let’s get straight into this one and see what the album sounds like:

Line-Up

1. Whenever

2. We Were Children

3. Corner of an English Field

4. Halfway Home

5. Sappho

6. Himalaya

7. Nightdriving

8. When My Day Comes

9. Walking in the Streets

10. Alone or With Friends

11. Bad Apple

Opening with a somewhat quirky yet enjoyable guitar riff, opening track ‘Whenever’ gets the album underway and it’s a decent, catchy, sing-a-long track that sets the tone of the album nicely. Johnny’s vocals are textbook for the style of Indie-Rock sound the band captures on this album, while this first track features the chorus “I don’t know how you dream up all the things that you say/Never died in an airoplane, while spiraling away” being nothing else but simple yet incredibly catchy lyrics, you can’t help but get caught up in it. ‘We Were Children’ follows up next and is somewhat more of a power track which really helps define the big rock ‘n’ roll sound the band capture on this album. The verses features powerful vocals from Johnny, flirting guitars and bass from Dan and Jim respectively and thunderous drumming from Miguel, before reaching the chorus of the track, which sees Johnny’s vocals more softly sung and the catchy hook “Oh no stranger, you’re just like me”. The overall sound of the track reminds me somewhat of The Pixies, which is always a good thing, and it brought a little smile to my face when I discovered the band had already supported them on tour in the past.

‘Corner of an English Field’ continues and is a bit more of slowed-down affair on the album, featuring an acoustic guitar layered with an electric guitar riff over the top of it during the verses with powerful vocals from Johnny before another big sing-a-along chorus “In the corner of an English field/With the Devil trying to cut a deal” comes in mid-song. 4th track ‘Halfway Home’ sees the band’s attempt of a somewhat more softer ballad track on the album, with a nice gentle, electric guitar riff flowing through it as the lyrics paint out the troubled relationship of a couple backed with gentle “Oooooh’s” before the track picks up in tempo for its final thrid and the song’s protagonist’s reveals that he is actually comfortable with the couple’s relationship the way it stands after all. Previous single ‘Sappho’ follows and with its opening guitar riff it surprisingly reminds a bit of early-era Blur, which again is another good thing by me. This is actually a really decent track, with a great bridge in it and lyrics portraying the carefree, lifestyle of a girl called ‘Sappho’. ‘Himalaya’ is a slow-burner of a track, driven by percussion and gently layered electric guitar again, before another big power chorus, featuring guitar solos and even more “Oooooh’s”, this track is in every sense a big rock ballad on the album.

Up next is possibly my favourite track on the album ‘Nightdriving’, which is again another slow-burning affair but features a nice and excellent guitar riff, through the heart of it, before we feature another massive chorus from the band in true rock fashion before interestingly the track closes with what sounds like radio-spoken samples, which actually gives the track a bit of nice twist and originality to it. Opening with a much more upbeat drum rhythm and guitars ‘When My Day Comes’ is a lot more lively track in the 2nd half of the album and shows a real injection of energy on the album. It’s a really fun, enjoyable romp of a track which the band really nails well here. ‘Walking in the Street’ starts with echoing drums and then features a low-fi guitar riff initially just teasing along, and this really reminds of the type of sound R.E.M. used to occasionally create in their earlier days. It’s a simple, easy going track and sits nicely in its place on the album. ‘Alone with Friends’ opens with acoustic guitar and ‘distant’ vocals from Johnny, and continues to build in layers as it steadily flows along. It’s a slow-winding, hazy track reminding me a bit of Travis from their ‘The Man Who’ days or even ‘Tender’ by Blur. It’s a nice track, that I could easily picture going down well at a festival, as a red sunset draws a long day to a close. The album closes with final track ‘Bad Apple’ and this again another more slowed down track on the album, featuring nice guitars and high-pitched vocals from Johnny, to bring the album to steady close.

So overall I’ve been enjoying this debut album from Tribes over the few listens I have given the album so far. The band does have somewhat of a textbook Indie-rock sound about them but on the tracks on this album that they apply that to, they do very well indeed and you can see how some of the bands that they cite as influences have helped shape the band’s style and sound with this record. I think with some of their songs, they aim to write some big sing-a-long anthems which they certainly achieve, while other tracks aim to provoke the listener’s thoughts and they seem to reach a nice balance of the two. It will be interesting to see how the band approaches their second album, but in the meantime, this is an album I would have no problems making a recommendation to check out as it is very much an enjoyable record and am going to give it a strong 7 Babies out of 10 and mark the Tribes down as a band to currently watch closely in the future.

Keeping Tribal

Flynny

Track 2 ‘We Were Children’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52QHnUF13hs

Track 3 ‘Corner of an English Field’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ms5wze-A948

Track 5 ‘Sappho’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anVPXNnUkkk

Flynndie Reviews - Blog #26: Maxïmo Park - The National Health

Written 11^th June 2012

Maxïmo Park – The National Health

The Band: Paul Smith (vocals), Duncan Lloyd (guitar/backing vocals), Archis Tiku (bass), Lukas Wooller (keyboards/backing vocals), Tom English (drums)

So today sees the return of one of my favourite bands, Maxïmo Park with their 4^th album ‘The National Health’.  The band arrived on the Indie scene back around 2005 with the release of their debut album ‘A Certain Trigger’, which for me is a true Indie classic and genuinely one of my favourite albums of the past decade with classic tracks ‘Apply Some Pressure’, ‘Graffiti’, ‘Going Missing’ and ‘The Coast is always Changing’, I’ve listened to the album more than I could ever remember and still enjoy it to this day and would always recommend to check it out.  The band then followed up this great debut record with the more mature sounding but still high-tempo, solid albums ‘Our Earthly Pleasures’ in 2007 and then subsequently in 2009 their 3^rd album ‘Quicken the Heart’, another great two albums under the band’s repertoire and thus establishing themselves as a firm favourite with Indie Kids across the Nation, which brings us nicely to today’s review subject ‘The National Health’.

The Waiting List

1.   When I was Wild
2.   The National Health
3.   Hips and Lips
4.   The Undercurrents
5.   Write this Down
6.   Reluctant Love
7.   Until the Earth would open
8.   Banlieue
9.   This is what becomes of the Brokenhearted
10. Wolf among Men
11. Take me Home
12. Unfamiliar Places
13. Waves of Fear

So, with the band’s reputation for frantic, fast-paced and fun guitar records, things get underway on ‘The National Health’ with opening track ‘When I was Wild’……a minute’s long piano-ballad! Ha! This was somewhat of a surprise for me when initially listening to the album but actually I think this sets the tone nicely for the record as a whole, with Paul’s delicate tones complimenting Lukas’ sweet piano piece nicely, before the much more familiar, upbeat, frantic tempo of ‘The National Health’ comes crashing into the record.  This is distinctly recognisable Maxïmo Park territory here, and the band’s first-ever title-track, with Duncan’s guitar riff achieving 0-60mph within a split-second of the song opening and dueling for supremacy on the track with keys from Lukas and bass from Archis, all why Paul’s lyrics literally “Paint a portrait, of the National Health” here.  3^rd track and previous single ‘Hips and Lips’ again, like opening track ‘When I was Wild’, shows that on this record in particular, the band have made more of an attempt to expand the boundaries of their sound somewhat more than they have done on their previous records, with an altogether different sounding track than those of their past, with a track that slowly, builds and burns at the listener with it’s quite electronic, almost techno sounding vibes buzzing through it.  The synth’s like sound to this track give it a more of a darker, somewhat sinister feel for a Maxïmo Park track but it’s a sound I quite like and I love the video for it featuring a certain young Thomas Turgoose, also recognisable as Shaun from the film and TV series ‘This Is England’ which you can watch at the bottom of this review.

‘The Undercurrents’ follows and this for me is a real standout track by the band and really shows a much more mature sounding track from them, with gentle flowing guitars and keys, before a quite distinct bass carries the opening of the track, as Paul’s lyrics create the picture of a couple’s relationship under the strain of busy lifestyles with lyrics “We both have a lot on our plates” and “Somehow the work was worth the wait“ indicating a hint at “The Undercurrents” that forms the track’s title.  With another distinctly synth feel to it, ‘Write this Down’ is next and is back on the more familiar Maxïmo Park track with verses that flow along nicely, before the big sounding, sing-along chorus the band are highly recognised for in the past.  ‘Reluctant Love’ follows and wow, this track really has a charm of its own!  Showing the softer side of the band, as the gentle guitar and bass and rhythm of the track takes the listener by the hand and out for a romantic date, it’s no secret that this is another track that focuses on a couple’s relationship, but such is the smoothness of the track it’s hard to but anything, fall for it’s somewhat romantic charm.  Things get a bit more up-tempo again with ‘Until the Earth would open’.  This is another easy-flowing track for the listener and again has somewhat of a cheeky little charm about itself, with an incredible catchy guitar riff and rhythm pulsating through it before the catchy chorus hooks the listener.

However, after the cheeky charm of the last two tracks ‘Banlieue’ again hints at a slightly darker, menacing sound for the band with its jagged guitar riff throughout it and distant effect used on Paul’s vocals during its verses.  Here we have a track that sees the band getting a little more psychedelic, again what I would consider some newfound territory for a Maxïmo Park track but again another sound the band seems to pull off effortlessly.  ‘This is what becomes of the Brokenhearted’ sees the fully-fledged piano ballad on the album that the band hinted at earlier with their opening-track that again is not subtle in its attempts to woo and charm the pants of the listener, which it succeeds to do with the great care and attention that has clearly gone into this track.  ‘Wolf among Men’ gets us all up and rocking again, with guitar and synths swirling around each other and pulling the listener along for the ride, it has such a carefree sound about it, you can’t help but smile and dance like-a-loon while listening to it (or maybe that was just me then!)

Upon hearing 10^th track ‘Take me Home’, I initially felt this track had somewhat of a ‘Wild West’ vibe to it but clearly we’re talking in a good manner here.  The piano’s and guitar in particular on this track remind me somewhat of the type of sound R.E.M. were creating on their 1991 album ‘Out of Time’ and I can’t help but picture the band taking over the Grand Piano in a saloon bar and having a good-old fashioned hoedown with this track.  What follows next is quite simply an outstanding track with ‘Unfamiliar Places’.  Just a good old-fashioned stripped-down acoustic track, with both the most softly sung vocals and guitar on the album, this is the perfect track to listen to alone as the rain beats down hard on a window pane, it’s without question the most emotional track on the album and possibly Maxïmo Park’s most tender track to-date, it really pulls at the heart-strings of the listener.  Closing track ‘Waves of Fear’ leaves the album finishing in a trademark Maxïmo Park fun, frolicking rock-out as was always very much the case with previous albums and as so remains the case here.  With fast paced guitar and frantic keys towards the closing of the track it ensures the album closes on another high.

So overall, this 4^th album ‘The National Health’ sees Maxïmo Park remain at the top of the game and if anything, their 3-year break since their last album ‘Quicken the Heart’ in 2009, I think the group have even evolved more since then and this album as a collective whole really shows the band at the height of their song-writing ability since their debut album ‘A Certain Trigger’ in my opinion.  However, this record is very much a different kind of animal to their debut album and their more recent past two records, with the band really pushing at the peak of their musical prism.  I honestly think you would be quite hard pushed to find many bands that pack quite a range of different sounding guitar tracks into a 40-minute record, with what comes across after listening, as somewhat at an ease to them.  There is a lot to take in on this record, providing a depth that I’m hoping will see me listening to it for quite a while to come yet.  I’m going to award this record 9 Stethoscopes out of 10 here as I’m already impressed by this album after my first few initial listens and am already now counting down the days until I go and see the band play at the Shepherds Bush Empire later this November.

On the NHS

Flynny

Track 3 ‘Hips and Lips’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1d910sRZgs0

Track 4 ‘The Undercurrents’ (acoustic) – Mahogany Session

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uskBv8lusnU

Track 6 ‘Reluctant Love’ (acoustic) – Mahogany Session

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCS4GwP8Cpc

Flynndie Reviews - Blog #25: Catfish and the Bottlemen - The Beautiful Decay EP/Broken Army single

Written 16th May 2012:

Catfish and the Bottlemen – The Beautiful Decay EP and Broken Army single

The Band: Van McCann (vocals/guitar), Billy Blakeway (guitar), Benji Bibby (bass/vocals) Dr. Bob (Drums)

So it’s been a while since my last Indie review on here, but I’ve decided to review an EP of a very much up and coming band I’ve recently stumbled across on Twitter and have really being getting into lately Catfish and the Bottlemen. Originally hailing from Llandudno, these four, young Welsh lads are intent on making it big with their explosive, full-on rock ‘n’ roll Indie style, so I’ve decided today to cover their ‘The Beautiful Decay EP’ in today’s review in particular, as from what I’ve heard from the band so far, this EP really encapsulates the sound that they are all about. Also as an added bonus I’ve also decided to review their most recent single ‘Broken Army’.  So let’s get this show on the road then.

The Beautiful Decay EP:

1. Sidewinder
2. Bodies
3. Harlot
4. Collide
5. Tyrants
6. Trippin'

So the EP gets underway with previous early single ‘Sidewinder’, gentling starting with light-guitar strumming, before an early trademark rock ‘n’ roll guitar solo assaults the listener’s ear and sets the pace for the track, and the EP, as a whole. Van’s distinct vocals, paint the picture of a young couple’s relationship with great lines such as “Give me some/Assumptions I/Can make of you/Cause you’re getting lazy/You used to frustrate me” setting the tone of images for the style of songs that the band tend to produce. The infectious guitar solo from the start swaggers in again halfway through the track nicely and on the whole this opening track gets this EP off to a good start.

‘Bodies’ follows up next and steps-up the early pace set by opening track ‘Sidewinder’ by another gear or two, with guitars frantically duelling for supremacy while opening the track before lyrics hint at a couple’s relationship being strained by outside interference of other people. The track has a nice desperate, unwinding instrumental bridge in the middle of it before the powerful lines “Please get me/Away from him/As he’s starting to do my head right in”, and the final part of the track sees the band rocking out nicely, and the song as a whole has a nice pace about it and flows along effortlessly. Third track ‘Harlot’ follows up next and really has a bouncy rhythm to it throughout, yet still retaining the jagged guitar sound that the band achieves throughout the EP. Layered with catchy guitar riffs and solos over it, the track maintains the flow of the record again nicely, and we see some of the more powerful vocals on display on the EP from Van in particular on this track.

Next up ‘Collide’ continues to maintain the momentum of the EP again with duelling guitars throughout it, but this time with some emphasis on distortion backing the fast and furious paced verses, the band effortlessly get the balance between the two just right, probably due to their dedicated, commitment of playing ‘live’ shows. Penultimate track ‘Tyrants’ follows and slows the pace of the EP arguably for the first time but in a good way naturally. Somewhat of a light rock-ballad, the track features guitar with a slight echo effect initially as the track, slowly burns and builds itself through its opening verse, before unleashing bursts of guitar heavy rock. The 2nd half of the track features an excellent Indie riff, again slowly building and closing this excellent track, before blending smoothly into final track ‘Trippin’, an instrumental which sees the band close the EP, in their now familiar style of fast, frenetic guitar-rock.

I’ve been listening to this EP for a few weeks now and I must say it has been on heavy rotation on my playlist of late, simply due to the manner in which the band have effortlessly created their own, unique, catchy rock ‘n’ roll sound, with simple but engrossing tales summing up the parts of their songs.  You can tell that this band really care and believe in the songs they write and prove this with their dedication to constant touring and ‘live’ shows. I would happily award this EP 8 'Tyrants' out of 10, as I’m very much into the band’s big, explosive rock ‘n’ roll sound and I’m really looking forward to an album from Catfish and the Bottlemen, which I’m hoping they may put out later this year. However, for the time being this ‘The Beautiful Decay EP’ is a great introduction to an up-and-coming band that show so much promise, so feel free to check the EP out on the band’s website www.catfishandthebottlemen.com.

But, woooah, hold on, because as I promised earlier I was also going to cover the band’s most recent single ‘Broken Army’ which was actually the first track I heard by the band and was released last month and is also still available from the band’s website. With an initial aggressive, rock riff ‘Broken Army’ is another catchy Indie rock track, but somewhat more at a controlled pace, layered with a nice balance of duelling guitars and distortion, before the track’s infectious chorus bursts through and teases the listener “Keep Breathing/Keep Breathing/Settle down you’re home and I guess you got what you came for” being belted out by Van. It’s an excellent single and I’d advise you to go check it out. The single is backed with b-side ‘Ayatollah’ and is possibly the most alluring track by the band to date, again suggesting and hinting at a young couple’s relationship, the smooth guitar’s throughout gently take the hand of the listener and runs off into the night with the listener being entwined in the tangle of the tale being told by the band here.

So as you can no doubt tell, I’m really liking what I’ve heard so far from Catfish and the Bottlemen, we’re talking good fun, rock ‘n’ roll tracks, that have an air of confidence and a swagger about them but never taking themselves too seriously which in all adds up to a nice, distinct sound for the band and certainly one to keep an eye out for in the future, which I very much plan to do so.

Simply Decaying ‘Flynny’

Single ‘Broken Army’ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-GM6z2EqPA

Track 1 ‘Sidewinder’ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqR19NYRwXU

Track 2 ‘Bodies’ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVi-oaZ6Xm0