Author: Crossfire

When a band makes a name for itself dwelling in one area of music, and then dramatically brings introduces something very different into the equation then there’s bound to be curiosity. Imagine being presented with a fillet of salmon on your traditional steak night. Precisely, it could go either way.

Many may be delighted with the new dish, whilst the others get all grumpy and refuse to eat again. In Liam Hodge-Bane’s one-man musical army, Venerari‘s case, I’m hungry for seconds. Hell, chuck in a side order as well boss.

Liam, who labelled his stage persona ‘Venerari’, the Latin for ‘adore’, already had a fine reputation for his acoustic performances. He was gathering more respect from his peers for his dedication towards his music, and learning numerous instruments to spice up his melodies.

However, in this case he’s recorded two demos of pure Nintendo, 8-bit electronica. Quite the change. However, despite only being at early stages in this excavation, and with the possibility of more layers and vocals on the top, these songs are already something special.

“Bullets Become Wizards” immediately grabbed my attention with it’s Valve Soundsystem worthy bassline, combined with a wonderous hook that takes me back to the days of Ninja Gaiden on the Sega Mastersystem. It’s a belting track, and getting plenty of love on my iPod. Now, if only I could be arsed to go into my attic and fetch my Sega out.

Joe Moynihan

If you like your bands to sound like they have grit under their fingernails, a few shots of whisky in their bellies, and plenty of Johnny Cash CDs in their record collection, then you’d be well advised to get acquainted with Murder By Death.

The Indiana quartet, who are named after a 1976 Robert Moore film and count a cellist amongst their ranks, supported kindred spirits Against Me! on their UK tour last year and have been making plenty of new friends on these shores ever since.

‘In Bocca Al Lupo’ is the band’s fourth full-length offering, and as you might expect from song titles like ‘Sometimes The Line Walks You’, it’s a wonderfully dark-hearted affair. The band mix elements of folk, country and honest ol’ rock n’ roll into tunes that – despite vocalist Adam Turla’s world-weary tones – are brimming with vitality and infused with the band’s trademark gallows humour.

Check out ‘Sometimes…‘ on the link above, and try to catch MBD live when they return to the UK for a handful of shows in April:

10th – Cardiff Barfly
11th – London Bush Hall
12th – Manchester Roadhouse
13th – Liverpool Barfly
14th – Glasgow Barfly
15th – York Fibbers