Energetic hardcore courtesy of mouthy tykes from Watford. A HARDCORE band from Watford? Think you’ve heard this one before? Not according to Lower Than Atlantis. “I don’t think that we are anything like Gallows. They were just the first band from our area to break through.” Acknowledging they are equally as mouthy as their geographical →
Death by Stereo – Camden Underworld, London (21/04/2009)
Loud, fast and with the obligatory crew of tattooed fat guys in baseball caps, Death by Stereo brought every hardcore convention in the book. A sparse Underworld crowd slowly warmed to Leeds based Nanas Revenge. The group harked back to late ‘90s punk rock and the buzzsaw sound of so many Epitaph and Fat Wreck →
Zu – The Borderline, London (20/04/09)
Italian noise merchants endorsed by Mike Patton stop-off in London. Elephant Vs Leopard opened the proceedings with a sound described as being “like an elephant fighting a leopard”. This was perhaps a far reaching metaphor, in reality they came across like Shellac doused with the loose aggression of NOmeansno. Vocalist Spike cut a Henry Rollins-like →
Introducing: The Xcerts
British trio find hope in Anthemic Rock. The Xcerts might deal in melancholic tales of despair but they’re keen to stress they are not miserablists. From Aberdeen by way of Exeter, guitarist/vocalist Murray MacLeod, bassist Jordan Smith and drummer Tom Heron deal in big melodies and loud noises. Whilst the band admits the song-writing period →
AC/DC – The O2 Arena, London 16/04/09
Highly refined rock opera from one of the biggest bands in the world. The Answer came on later than scheduled and was still playing to an empty arena. With severe delays on the Jubilee line most AC/DC fans were starting cab share schemes from various parts of Greenwich. What started off as a big opportunity →
A Musical Timeline
I can’t think of any better way to get to know a person than by snooping through their record collection. The records I put forward here are not a list of my personal favourites but rather represent my musical lineage. These are the records that have shaped me and my musical tastes, they are ordered →
Rolo Tomassi – The Musician, Leicester 14/04/09
Bright young things kick off a lengthy headlining jaunt. Eleventh hour replacements for Pulled Apart By Horses, Diet Pills jangled hot-step of vicious hardcore went for the jugular. Happily a tentative hometown crowd embraced the foursome. Indeed they were forced to by spindly vocalist Garry Christopher who spent the set contorting on the venue’s →
Manchester Orchestra – Mean Everything To Nothing (Canvasback/Favorite Gentleman)
FANCIED ATLANTANS MAKE A BID FOR THE BIG-TIME. THE HOTLY tipped touring mates of Brand New have approached their second official full length with something of a swagger. Noticeably the guitars have been down-tuned and the riffs are bigger. This is the sound of a band bidding to escape the ‘emo’ tag; a goal that →
The Living End – White Noise (Cooperative/Dew)
AUSSIE STALWARTS GET BACK IN THE SADDLE AND TAKE A VICTORY LAP. THE LIVING End usually operates somewhere in the space between AC/DC and Green Day. However, over the past few years they have moved away from sounding too much like the latter. Comeback record, ‘White Noise’ almost entirely shirks their punk and rockabilly influences, →