Killer Parties

The Local Strangers - The Local Strangers EP

strachdan — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 22:06:00 +0100

The Local Strangers is a Seattle acoustic duo featuring Midwestern transplants Aubrey Zoli and Matt Hart. With soulful vocals and intricate harmonies, their poignant, honest, and relatable songwriting has distinguished them in the Americana/alt-country scene. They thrive on stage in an energetic display of passion for their music and create an unmistakable connection with every audience.

For a duo that’s only been together for little over 8 months its astounding when you hear the sound that is created. Bringing Aubrey’s fantastically emotive voice and Matt’s great ear for musical accompaniment together amalgamated into what can only be described as a beautiful marriage of both lyrics and song.

The first track “Hunted by Ghosts” is an introduction into the alto tones of Aubrey with Matt providing accompaniment and his own sultry vocals, “For Fear of Losing” showcases Matt’s voice, “All Along” provides more of Aubrey’s incredible voice.

However “Partner in Crime” has to be the shining star in this fantastic first outing, both voices in play again, Its almost as if they’ve both met their own partner in crime with this coupling that seems to be perfect, there is nothing of fault in this EP, including the whistling solo in “Partner in Crime”

The Local Strangers self titled EP can be downloaded for free here

Review: Frank Turner - England Keep My Bones

guitarcascades — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 13:14:00 +0100

Frank’s 3rd album Poetry Of The Deed was not perfect. It was too long and a little too samey (rock song, rock song, acoustic song, acoustic rock song, repeat). Nevertheless, it had some brilliant moments proving the ex-Million Dead frontman (and mention of his old band will be returning later in this review) certainly hadn’t lost it, merely just got distracted along the route.England Keep My Bones goes a long way in correcting many of it’s predecessors flaws. The straight up (for want of a better word) anthems are few and far between, replaced by tracks that sound closer to 2008’s Love, Ire & Song, albeit with his band (now know as The Sleeping Souls) more heavily present. Take ‘I Am Disappeared’, a perfect example of Frank’s finest word play coming together with the band in top form. It’s rather brilliant.

As with the rest of Frank’s back catalog, the majority of this albums highlights lie in the stripped down tracks. The folky ‘Rivers’, charming ‘Wessex Boy’ (note insanely relatable lyrics) and haunting ‘Nights Become Days’ being three such examples. It all comes together on ‘Redemption’, a heart-wrenching tale of a regretted break-up that is comfortably the best track on the album (unless you’ve got the deluxe edition, where ‘Balthazar, Impresario’ might give it a run for it’s money).

It has it’s weaker sides, but they at least show promise. The acapella English Curse is certainly different and interesting, but loses it’s power when confined to a studio. The Million Dead-esque (told you) ‘One Foot Before The Other’, whilst great fun and incredible lyrically, lacks the screamy vocals that music craves.

With Frank, I always find myself returning to the same conclusion. As great as he is when he’s singing about life lessons and music, his true magic is when he’s bearing his soul. Fortunately, England Keep My Bones is a wonderful balance of the two.

8.5/10

Flogging Molly Stream New Album

diamondstreetchoir — Sun, 29 May 2011 18:05:38 +0100

Rolling Stone have an exclusive stream of the new album, Speed Of Darkness from Celtic-punks Flogging Molly.

Speed of Darkness is due out tomorrow (May 30th)

Review: And So I Watch You From Afar - Gangs

merlinthegrey — Fri, 13 May 2011 12:58:00 +0100

Tearing back into prominence with their second full-length, And So I Watch You From Afar have gifted the contemporary instrumental music scene with a much-needed breath of fresh air. Never has a group given this much of a voice to voiceless music, achieved simply through their equally shared precedence within the band and truly audacious innovation.

The album roars into life with a colossal blast of incomparably thunderous guitars and raucous cheers, which suggests a genuine sense of the camaraderie in the band and love for the controlled chaos they create. Much like their first album, the material on Gangs moves between pieces that practically drip with melody and honey-like ambience, and the likes of Homes – …Samara to Belfast, in which the instrumental and compositional prowess is nothing short of breathtaking.

However, there are intermittent moments on the album that are very familiar. That isn’t to say that those moments are badly written, but the sad fact of the matter is that no instrumental post/math-rock band, even of this standard, has yet managed to keep their sound completely fresh over time. Whilst And So I Watch You From Afar create their own voice with a far more tenacious quality than the many similar bands out there, instrumental music will always have certain limitations. Thankfully this is by no means a deal-breaker for the record, and is a very minor point. However, it is with a heavy heart I wonder how long it will be before this band has said all they have to say.

Nevertheless, this album blasts away any misconceptions that instrumental music is less innovative than the standard rock formula. The introduction to Search:Party:Animal features some of the most inventive and commanding experimentations with the timbre of a riff I’ve ever heard, making you feel as though your ribs might fracture under the sheer force of what the drops do to your heartbeat. Yet somehow the band manage to fluctuate from a veritable blizzard of piercing hooks and foundation-shattering bass to the sumptuous stroke of genius that is 7 Billion People All Alive At Once, which has grandeur reminiscent of Marcus De Vries, or perhaps a 10,000 strong army howling a war-cry.

This is an album of almost Herculean intensity, yet is at the same time wonderfully understated. Often bands in this vein tend to drastically shoot themselves in the foot by taking themselves too seriously or professing themselves to be the dog’s bollocks. Gangs, however, simply oozes with pure, unadulterated enjoyment, and to be perfectly honest, is about as close to actually being the dog’s bollocks as an album can get.

9/10

Key Tracks - 7 Billion People all Alive at Once, Gang (Starting Never Stopping) & Search:Party:Animal

For fans of Maybeshewill, If These Trees Could Talk and Talons

Merlin Jobst

Originally posted on Little Sparrow Reviews

Twin Atlantic play Manchester’s Academy 3. May 5th 2011

stellarbeam — Wed, 11 May 2011 20:41:10 +0100

Barry McKenna

Ross McNae

Craig Kneale

Sam McTrusty

Twin Atlantic

Twin Atlantic play Manchester’s Academy 3. May 5th 2011

Review: Manchester Orchestra - Simple Math

guitarcascades — Wed, 11 May 2011 19:11:00 +0100

Believe me, all is brilliant?

It must have been nerve-wrecking being Manchester Orchestra over the last month or so, waiting for Simple Math to be released and the reactions to come in from both fans and critics. Even more so because they haven’t been exactly downplaying it’s release. Giving fans a free download of the title track ahead of it’s release, a track which accurate showcases exactly what this album is about; taking their sound and making it huge.

At any rate, they need not worry. Simple Math is a terrific achievement as an album, flowing perfectly from start to finish, whilst containing many track that work well as stand alone tracks. Not every track is quite as ‘epic’ as the title track, with opener ‘Deer’ being as close as the album gets to the acoustic tracks of the previous albums, and ‘April Fool’ being as close as they get to their old “rock and that roll” sound. Many of the other tracks are rather downbeat as well, but they are matched brilliantly by the likes of ‘Mighty’, ‘Pensacola’ and the stunning ‘Virgin’.

Andy Hull is also on top form lyrically, as you would expect. The album outlines the near breakdown of his marriage, and he does this on such a raw, personal and blunt level that at times it’s a little off-putting. “Goddamn I’m tired of lying, I wish I loved you like I used to” he screams on ‘Pale Black Eye’. Throwing himself this open to the public on such a scale can’t have been an easy feat.

Despite all this, all the brilliant musicianship and the wonderful addition that is the orchestra (and the children’s choir on ‘Virgin’), and the fact that this is, without a shadow of a doubt, a fantastic album, it just doesn’t feel an album you could fall into in the same way you could their previous works. It’s too deep into itself at times, primarily due to the lyrical content, and whilst the variation within the album compared to the other two is rather astonishing, it never quite hits the heights of the last minute of the title track. Nevertheless, Simple Math showcases a band who have thrown everything into a record, carefully crafted every second, and it is has paid of in a big way.

9.4/10.

Stream: Maybeshewill - I Was Here For A Moment, Then I Was Gone

guitarcascades — Tue, 10 May 2011 16:45:03 +0100

Check out the new, rather brilliant, album from Maybeshewill.

Maybeshewill - I Was Here For a Moment Then I Was Gone by I LIKE PRESS

Listen to this: Tall Ships - Hit The Floor

guitarcascades — Tue, 10 May 2011 13:02:00 +0100

Stop everything you are doing and listen to this. Battles meets early-Foals forms possibly the best single of the year so far in the form of the new single from Tall Ships. It’s a perfect follow up to last years There Is Nothing But Chemistry Here EP, retaining the loopy guitars but it’s considerably more catchy and upbeat than anything they’ve done before.

Hit The Floor by Tall Ships

Review: The Lonely Island - Turtleneck & Chain

box-elder-deactivated20110514 — Mon, 09 May 2011 16:20:14 +0100

All bets are off, the best album of the year is here

Comedy albums have always been a bit of an odd ‘un, and most of the time deserve quotation marks around the “comedy” bit. In recent times we’ve entered something of a renaissance for the genre, with Kiwis Flight of the Conchords and Saturday Night Live’s Lonely Island trio.

Picking up where the first album left off, Turtleneck & Chain is nineteen tracks of knowingly childish, scatological humour, performed by three guys who sound close to early Beastie Boys’ vocal style, with a slew of insane guest artists.

The previously-released “I Just Had Sex”, a parody of dumb R&B songs featuring uh Akon (who is either extremely self-aware of extremely dumb) is a stand-out, along with “Attracted To Us” featuring (and produced) by Beck — a song that could easily be adopted of the theme for the Michael Cera/Jesse Eisenberg crowd — Michael Bolton ruining a gangsta party tune through his obsession with “Jack Sparrow” and Justin Timberlake managing to top his previous collaboration with the group on “Motherlover”.

What really sets The Lonely Island apart is how God-damn good the production on these “joke” songs are; honestly, many rappers would kill to have beats this good. But really, wouldn’t you rather have Nicki Minaj and cult film director John Waters instructing you how to be a voyeur than another 50 Cent-wannabe rapping over these cuts?

Some parts fall flat — “Threw It On The Ground“‘s anti-establishment screed isn’t as entertaining sans visuals, “Japan” is better as a concept than a two-minute track — but overall, The Lonely Island remain the one part of SNL that deserves to be shared with the rest of the world.

If you didn’t like “Jizzed In My Pants”, “I’m On A Boat” et al from the group’s first album, there’s nothing new for you here to change your mind. But if you have a sense of humour and an ear for good tunes, enjoy!

8.9/10
Watch the video for “I Just Had Sex”

Video: Tellison - Say Silence (Heaven & Earth)

guitarcascades — Mon, 09 May 2011 11:08:12 +0100

Say Silence is the first single to be released from the second album by Tellison, ‘The Wages Of Fear, out June13th.

For pre-order details and upcoming tour dates see the bands website.

Reading And Leeds Lock Up Line Up and Analysis

diamondstreetchoir — Mon, 09 May 2011 00:49:28 +0100

Last week the line up for the Reading and Leeds lock up tent was revealed. The lock up tent acts as a bastion of punk rock at the festival (which is headlined by My Chemical Romance, The Strokes/Pulp and Muse this year) and this years line up does not disappoint.

Reading Saturday/Leeds Sunday

Mighty Mighty Bosstones, The King Blues, The Bronx, Capdown, Leftover Crack, Comeback Kid, Boysetsfire, Street Dogs, Teenage Bottlerocket, Title Fight, Sharks

Reading Sunday/Leeds Friday

Descendents, Flogging Molly, Face to Face, Hot Water Music, Bedouin Soundclash, Off, The Black Pacific, The Menzingers, Your Demise, Spycatcher, Mouthwash

I’m looking forward to the festival a hell of a lot more now with this announcement, especially The Mighty Mighty Bosstones The Bronx, Teenage Bottlerocket, Flogging Molly and Hot Water Music. I also intend to catch Title Fight, Capdown, Comeback kid, Menzingers and possibly a few of the others bar clashes on the other stages.

For many the Lock Up announcement has renewed their faith in the festival, despite missing bands that were thought to be certain (Dropkick Murphys and Bouncing Souls anyone?) The Descendents are a huge pull due to their lack of touring recently and a good number of excellent punk and ska bands.

Apologies for the late upload, have been swamped with work this week.

Andrew

Review: Tyler, the Creator - Goblin

box-elder-deactivated20110514 — Thu, 05 May 2011 12:09:49 +0100

Much like the foul-mouthed tirade against uncooperative music blogs that opened his first album Bastard, Odd Future leader Tyler’s follow-up Goblin features several caveats, including: “Hey, don’t do anything I say in this song, okay? It’s fucking fiction”

It’s sort of hard to talk about Tyler and his Wolf Gang without getting into a moral debate about the content of their lyrics, but dammit I’m gonna try. People can enjoy Eric Clapton’s “Layla” without worrying about him being a homewrecker trying to cop off with his best mate’s wife.

First and foremost, Tyler’s skills as both an MC and a producer are totally unique in the current cookie-cutter hip-hop landscape. His voice is gravelly to an almost Tom Waits-level (definitely more so than a nineteen year old’s voice should be) which makes the rhymes he is (at times literally) spitting all-the-more vicious.

The rapper’s mind was already a very, very dark place, full of Oedpial complexes, Daddy issues, and transgressive impulses; now, the internet hype machine has dumped a whole extra portion of neuroses into that mix of things to rhyme about.

Goblin is an angry, scary album, full of teenage angst and self-destructive urges (no more apparent then on the incendiary ”Radicals”, with the chorus “Kill people, burn shit, fuck school”), with Tyler spilling his guts with lucid and disturbing intensity and delivery.

And he does so over sprawling, dense, atmospheric beats that recall a more contemporary — and more aggressive — spin on Tricky’s Maxinquaye.

Tyler and his Odd Future ilk are a thoroughly modern hip-hop group. Self-aware to beyond the usual rap pop culture references, nakedly confessional but with transgressive flights of fancy, dark but somehow still with a pop sensibility shining through at times; yep, a fucking walking paradox.

8.8/10

Goblin is out on XL May 5th
Watch the video for “Yonkers” here

Stream Manchester Orchestra's "Simple Math"

diamondstreetchoir — Mon, 02 May 2011 17:25:00 +0100

Manchester Orchestra’s new album “Simple Math” is due out this month and the band have followed in the footsteps of many bands these days and released a stream of the new album online. However this, unlike the others, is only able to be accessed after the completion of a puzzle (drag any of the ten shapes to the correct spot on the row of squares, get 5 in their right position and the stream unlocks and plays)

On first listen it’s excellent and this writer can’t wait to get his physical copy.

http://www.columbiarecords.com/simplemath/

Listen to this: Frank Turner - Peggy Sang The Blues

guitarcascades — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 14:51:05 +0100

The first official single from Frank’s upcoming 4th album England Keep My Bones.

Have a listen, I think it’s wonderful.

Frank Turner - Peggy Sang The Blues by Epitaph Records

Also, here’s the “leaked” track I Am Disappeared, just for good measure.

Frank Turner - I Am Disappeared by Epitaph Records

England Keep My Bones is out June 6th Xtra-Mile Records.

Review: Brontide - Sans Souci

guitarcascades — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 16:21:00 +0100

I fear that modern post-rock is in danger of doing what “indie” music did in 2007 and become very stagnant very quickly. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of great bands and exciting music about, there just seems to be a little lack of innovation.

Not that Sans Souci falls into that category. It is innovative and exciting on a level I haven’t heard in years. Varying from layered guitar loops, akin to Battles, to almost Sigur Ros-esque dreamy chords and then onto huge, heavy riffs that remind you of early Glassjaw.

It is all crafted so wonderfully as well. Recording as one 52 minute piece of music has ensured is flows brilliantly from start to finish, and the bands ability to switch between styles so easily and freely removes any chance of it ever becoming anything close to dull. Take ‘Limehouse Ink’, a track which opens with one of the heaviest riffs on the record, before evolving into music that could you dance to, before returning to crashing drums and distortion.

Albums like Sans Souci do not come along every day. It is clear so much work has gone into this record, and combined with amazing musicianship it has led to a stunning piece of music. The bar for instrumental musical greatness is fairly high, Brontide have, if anything, pushed it higher.

9.3/10

Sans Souci is out on Holy Roar Records on May 30th.

Listen to this: Manchester Orchestra - Virgin

guitarcascades — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 10:10:59 +0100

So, it would certainly appear we are in for variety when Manchester Orchestra’s third album Simple Math drops in May. The title track is was grand, orchestral and simply stunning, second track to be released ‘April Fool’ was much closer to the sound of their second album, and now we have been given ‘Virgin’, which is another game entirely. Listen below.

Virgin by Manchester Orchestra

Review: Johnny Foreigner - Certain Songs Are Cursed EP

guitarcascades — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 13:40:00 +0100

This EP comes on the back of a frisbee, which is an argument for the continued production of physical music if I’ve ever heard one, but lets not get into that.

It seems reasonable to judge ‘Certain Songs Are Cursed’ as a precursor to JoFo album 3, due later in the year. It appears to cover most of the bases the band have covered throughout their career. Both ‘What Drummers Get’ and ‘Twin Sisterzz’ are reminicient of the noise-pop of their first two full lengths, and are up to sratch quality-wise as well. The second two tracks touch on the quieter side of the bands backcatalog, with the “cursed version” of ‘Johnny Foreigner Vs You’ being close to 199x and ‘Certain Songs’ is closer to the slow ones from last years You Thought You Saw… EP, both of which are rather beautiful for the most part.

‘Certain Songs’ is both the best and worst thing about this EP. It outlines the bands project for this album, to get fans to write and record their own speeches about what music or certain songs mean to them, that will then become part of the record. It is a wonderful idea, however, the vocal sample that makes it onto this EP is a let down. It is a reading of the speech posted on the bands blog to outline the idea behind the project, and, simply put, it is spoken badly; putting a down on the end of an otherwise rather great EP.

8.2/10.

Sean Collison

News: Hold Your Horse Is live album and tour.

guitarcascades — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 13:25:42 +0100

In order to raise cash to record their debut album, hopefully out by the end of the year, Hold Your Horse Is have decided to release a live album, available for download from their Bandcamp for as much as you are willing to donate (£1 or more).

The album, titled ‘Like, Live And Stuff’ was recorded at the Camden Purple Turtle in London on February 15th, whilst the band were on tour with Mojo Fury, and includes previously un-heard track ‘Absurd’.

The band are also having a t-shirt sale.

Like, Live And Stuff can be streamed below, but it’d be nice if you’d chuck a few quid the bands way if you like it.

Like, Live and Stuff by Hold Your Horse Is

Hold You Horse Is will also be playing the following gigs with Ute:

1/6: Edge Of The Wedge, Portsmoth
2/6: The Flapper, Birmingham
3/6: Ryan’s Bar, Derby (free entry)
4/6: Windmill, Britxon (Cats and Cats and Cats all-dayer)
5/6: The Croft, Bristol

Listen to this: Brontide - Matador

guitarcascades — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 12:46:01 +0100

The first track to be taken from the bands debut album Sans Souci, out on Holy Roar Records on May 30th.

The album was recorded as one 51 minute piece, so this is just a taster of what it has in store.

Matador by Brontide.

Review "Wasting Light - Foo Fighters"

diamondstreetchoir — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 13:18:00 +0100

‘THESE ARE MY FAMOUS LAST WORDS’ and with that scream, Wasting Light, the Foo Fighters 7th album explodes into life. Wasting Light has been heralded as the return to the days of “The Colour And The Shape” however by looking back to the bands past, they’ve evolved into something different, and just as good. The album contains none of the acoustic ballads that have been featured on the previous two albums, instead the focus is on the hard, fast and huge sounds that are found en mass throughout the record. The band have created one of the highlights of their career by returning to the hooks and power of the early albums.

The first half of the record alone places it as one of my favourite in the bands back catalogue, Bridge Burning, Rope, Dear Rosemary, White Limo and Arlandria are all excellent pieces of rock and roll. Also of highlight are the closing two songs, the slower paced I Should Have Known with whisper-like vocals regarding former friends and enemies, and album closer Walk that features an astounding bridge with Grohl screaming ”I Never Want To Die”. Every song on the album has a sense of anthem and are certain to be incredible live.

As mentioned before, the album starts with a bang with the aforementioned “Bridge Burning”, a sign of the power and quality of songs to come, before moving onto first single “Rope” with it’s bass focused verses and anthem chorus. Following in this style and slow verse, powerful chorus comes “Dear Rosemary”, which features vocals from Bob Mould (Formerly of 80s hardcore legends Hüsker Dü) before the band turn the distortion up to full on the blistering “White Limo” with Grohl screaming unintelligible lyrics (the only one I can understand is “Limooooooo”) over furious playing from the band. Closing the first half of the record comes “Arlandria”, one of my favourite songs of the year so far due to it’s groove in the guitar playing and Grohl’s excellent vocal performance (especially during the breakdown).

Unfortunately it’s after this point that the album shows one of it’s few weak points, “These Days, Back & Forth, A Matter Of Time and Miss The Misery” all are a bit too similar. The songs are still excellent but they follow almost identical patterns of slow chorus bursting into large chorus. Whilst this occurs earlier in the album as well the sound is fresh enough and differs enough for there to be a definite difference in the songs, “Back and Forth” has it’s infectious chorus, “These Days” seems to be built for being played to an arena full of fans as the sun goes down. That said, all of the songs still sound better then almost anything released this year so far. However it’s in the closing two songs that pushes Wasting Light into album of the year territory. Firstly there’s the haunting ” I Should Have Known” which builds up Grohls regrets and feelings regarding what was happening in regards to his friends/family/bandmates, in particular a few lines do at least refer to the late Kurt Cobain (for the first time in a Foo Fighters song despite some claiming every song refers to him). Before kicking in with a bass breakdown (courtesy of former Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic) that is heavier then anything dubstep has to offer. Album closer “Walk” is another stand-out track. With a style that seems similar to fan favourite album “With Nothing Left To Lose”, “Walk” is a beautiful explanation of how Grohl built himself and the band into the rock stalwarts that they are today. The entire song is excellent, but the breakdown that ends with him screaming “I Never Want To Die” pushes the song into one of my favourite from the band.

As a whole, Wasting Light is a tremendous album, moving away from the softer side of the band found on the previous two albums, and going back to the start has allowed the band to move forward in a way most didn’t think was possibly after 16 years together. Despite a weaker second half, the Foo Fighters have made one of the best albums of the year, and possibly one of the best in their career.

9/10

Download: Dear Rosemary, Arlandria, Walk

Andrew Dolan