Feeling a little neglected by the Lakai camp lately? Are they not returning your calls? Not showing you the love you normally get from them? Marc Johnson refusing your shady offer to skate his forest ledge alone with just you?
Well, here’s an excellent reminder of why these guys are your best friends. This is amazing. AMAZING I TELL YOU.
So there are some huge acts playing Sonisphere, including headliners Iron Maiden and Rammstein. Indeed, the festival has been winding its way round Europe with some absolutely massive bills including the much talked about ‘Big Four’ gigs at which Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax and Megadeth played on the same bill for the first time. It’s safe to say that Sonisphere as a brand is making quite a name for itself with some huge line-ups and huge festival sites across Europe. But what about the not-so-huge elements? The festival finally rolls into the UK for its second year on Friday 30th July and, if you squint hard enough, you can spot all manner of up and coming young bands on the poster for the event.
And so Crossfire’s preview of the event is going to focus on all the smaller stages, with just a couple of honorable mentions of bands playing the second and third stages. So take the time out at this year’s festival to discover the little guy. You might just find tomorrow’s main stage stars. Here’s Winegums run-down of some of the ones we think are worth your precious cider-swigging time –
CHICKENHAWK
Intense and heavy and skilled musicians to boot; you could do a lot worse than kicking off your Sonisphere with Chickenhawk on the Friday in the Bowtime Bar. In fact, their set has the potential to be a highlight of the festival as the band are guaranteed to put everything they have into fucking some shit up and attempting to burst your eardrums with their unique brand of hook-heavy sinister rock music.
LITTLE FISH
Somewhat of a curveball at a festival for mainly heavy music, female-fronted Oxford-based duo Little Fish have the stamp of approval from Blondie’s Debbie Harry, Courtney Love and Linda Perry. Add to that the intensity of their live performance and you’ve got a band that are definitely worth keeping an eye out for and are certain to provide something different on the Red Bull Bedroom Jam stage on Saturday.
TURBOWOLF
Raucous and slightly strange, Turbowolf play the Jagermeister Stage on Sunday. Prepare to be enthralled by their intriguingly skewed take on classic metal and rock’n’roll. Far from sounding like recycled versions of classic tracks, the band manage to unravel totally fresh-sounding nuggets of raw energy that explode like tiny bombs in a live setting. Catch them. They’re fun.
MARCH OF THE RAPTORS
Bizarrely formed from former members of Adequate 7 and Fireapple Red, March of The Raptors do not sound how you think they might from knowing this info. They produce metallic punk rock that’s uncompromisingly full-on and filled with riffs you wish you could play, even if you’re not a guitarist. They play the Bedroom Jam stage on Friday.
POLAR BEAR CLUB
PBC have the ability to provide an oasis of relative calm within the crazy metal-oriented antics of the weekend. Melodic punk with a slight hint of indie rock which enables them to alternate between a flurry of speedy punk beats in one song and a chilled out build-up through pure melody in the next, this band are a gem amongst an eclectic group of bands on the Bohemia Stage on Saturday. Miss them at your peril.
THE GHOST OF A THOUSAND
Brighton’s favourite punks continue their rounds on the European festival circuit with a turn headlining the Bowtime Bar on the Sunday of the festival. Up against some stiff competition from Iron Maiden on the main stage and Iggy and The Stooges on the second stage, we have no doubt that the band will be able to hold their own and play their hearts out as per usual to create a set to remember. Advocating non-violence in ‘the pit’ does not hold TGOAT back from purveying their own brand of hardcore-tinged punk rock. Drummer Mem has to be seen live to be believed.
CONVERGE
If you want to hear a band who will baffle your eardrums yet leave you staring in wonder and awe, check out Converge on the Bohemia Stage on Sunday. Their intricate noise-core may not do much for your hangover but the band are just absolutely stunning live. Carnage will most likely ensue as dirty, sunburnt bodies go flying through the air. It’ll be a bit gross but kind of awesome at the same time. Probably not for the faint-hearted.
HENRY ROLLINS SPOKEN WORD
One of the most legitimate artists of the weekend, you can’t be sure what Henry Rollins will be talking about but you can be sure it’ll be entertaining. And it’ll most likely give you something to think about, also leaving you wishing you were half as eloquent as one of punk rock’s enduring legends. He’ll be on the Bohemia Stage on Sunday providing a little respite from the noise of the likes of Converge.
BRING ME THE HORIZON
Ok, so they’re not exactly tiny but Bring Me The Horizon are clearly destined for bigger and better things as they gear up for the release of their third album. It’s no mean feat for a band of this ilk to sell out the Roundhouse but Visible Noise’s BMTH did just that earlier this year and brought the venue to its knees. On top of that, it’s always heartening to see British talent doing so well across the globe. Ignore the haters and see what all the fuss is about as one of the heaviest bands at the festival take to the Saturn Stage on Sunday.
GALLOWS
Gallows have become legends in their own right and, as such, will be headlining the Bohemia Stage on the Saturday. Each and every time you see this band, no matter how many times you’ve seen them before, they never fail to amaze. Their set will be awesome. Standard.
We’ve put together a Spotify playlist of some of the most rocking songs from bands playing Sonisphere who we think you’ll enjoy. We decided not to discriminate against bands on the main stage when putting this bit together so there’s a bit of everything (well, most things) on there… Click on the festival poster below to take a listen. Enjoy!
Head to www.sonispherefestival.com for more information and tickets.
Fake Problems are currently preparing to release their sophomore studio album ‘Real Ghosts Caught On Tape‘ on September 21st.
Lead single from the album ‘Soulless‘, can currently be downloaded from the band’s website for free so head over for some punk indie goodness without having to even think about going to the cash machine for at least another half hour.
Nick Cave’s Grinderman project will be unleashing its balls-out second album full of groggy garage rock fuzz and blues on September 13th.
The first single from ‘Grinderman 2‘ is dubbed ‘Heathen Child‘ and will be released on September 6th but you can get an exclusive listen of the new Cave track through Mute Records‘ Soundcloud.
The vinyl release features a different version of the song ‘Super Heathen Child‘, featuring a gnarly guitar solo from King Crimson’s Robert Fripp. See below for the typically crazy artwork and keep scrolling to hear the new record…
Shepherd’s Bush Empire
19.07.2010
“We don’t take requests, we just play fucking everything,” squawked Lydon when his newly assembled line-up (paid for entirely by his controversial butter adverts) of hugely influential post punks Public Image Limited took to the stage of Brixton Academy last December. It was a statement that turned out to be alarmingly true as well as the band grinded through nearly three hours of the mind-bending rock hybrid that is their trademark. After years of fun but totally pantomime Sex Pistols reunion tours, Lydon was so obviously on a mission to claim his stake as one of music’s true forward thinkers and the first batch of PIL shows at the end of last year did just that, allowing him the perfect platform to deliver his intense anger and bile.
Back again for another jaunt around the UK, the warm acoustics of the Empire seem to soften the band’s sound somewhat. The past Brixton Academy appearance was harsher, more brittle, more suited to the intensity of PIL’s sound and Lydon’s vocal delivery but tonight’s show offers a more clinical and clear look into Lydon’s PIL back catalogue. He’s still on fine sardonic and vicious form, hurling abuse at the music industry people in the balcony. “If you cannot stop slumping into your fat backsides you should all fuck off home, you music industry lot are boils on my backside, you are all fucking cunts, I am above your contempt,” he spits, currently without a record label and probably not wanting one, he is as vitriolic as ever.
The music, as ever, is as relevant now as it was then. Totally undated and unsurpassed, it’s the jarring dub-infused improvisations of first two album cuts like ‘Careering’ and ‘Poptones’ that still effect the most and Lydon’s spine-tingling delivery of ‘Religion’ is still ten of the most intense musical moments you could ever witness live and the best song about religion ever (stained glass windows keep the cold outside, while the hypocrites hide inside…).
The two plus hour set flies by alarmingly fast as the likes of ‘This Is Not A Love Song’ and ‘Rise’ further stake his claim as a true music journeyman. And with the news that the band will be recording some new material, it would appear that Lydon’s journey is not over yet.
James Sherry
02 Islington Academy, London
22.07.2010
There is something honest about the DMCs; it’s almost like the last bastion of the hip-hop culture that hasn’t been diluted. The UK has a long legacy of greats in the genre and hopefully this night will help eliminate those that aren’t yet worthy, and produce a legitimate contender to battle for the world crown.
For those that don’t know, this is broken up into two contents: the head to head Battle for Supremacy, which is fought over ninety second bouts, and the main Championship is over a more controlled six minute set. The judges are all on point; most are ex-world finalists themselves, so we are in safe hands.
The Battle for Supremacy is the aggressive side of battling, after plenty of DJs were drowned way out of their depths, the final head to head was the only fair battle of the night: DJ Rasp, cocky as ever, and a confident Deceptakut. Now Rasp is a guy who more than taking pride in winning, takes pride in destroying his opponent. He made it to the final bout without extending himself too much, and naturally went to work on his opponent. The set was hot but Deceptakut came back with a quite not quite as speedy, but put a bit more “music” in to it and comes across way funkier. The judges could feel that and Deceptakut took the prizes, and a trip to the World Finals in October. I can’t wait to see what he cooks then.
The night was hosted by Billy Bizness and Inja, inbetween battles, Inja stepped up for the nights first PA and smashed it, rocking the grimey street classic “Hat Low”. This guy is way underrated, such a comfy flow.
The winner of these six minute sets gets a chance to stand up and compete with the best in the World Finals and a chance at winning the Gold Technics. Some very different sets appeared this year with DJ Downlow causing a stir in the crowd, but not with the judges, showing that bringing your crew might help you win a battle of the bands, but when champion DJs are the judges they are constantly comparing DJs against their own experience and skill level. Mr Eclipse was victim of the customary “technical difficulties” and Killer Tomato also had troubles with his kit.
The badly named Johnny One Move came in with a solid set to get third, but Mike L returned to the DMCs with a fresh set that made everyone bounce, as well as keep the judges nodding in approval at his technical ability, but last years champ DJ Jeppa was the one to come through and take it by a single point. Jeppa is an out and out turntablist, very serious, very crisp and might not come across as what you want from a hiphop DJ, but technically he is super tight and again goes to the world finals to rep for the UK. Best of luck to him…
The other PA’s on the night were from TY and a storming set from the elusive Klashnekoff. Due to the DJs running on a little longer, they had to work through a set of Klash-classics to make sure the crowd left feeling fulfilled. But fifteen minutes of Klash is probably worth the same as an hour of 90% of emcees out there. He was definitely on form to coincide with the release of his next LP, ‘Back to the Sagas‘.
So that’s the UK DMCS sorted out, the World Finals are in London again this year at KOKO on the 17th-18th October. See you there.
PP
One of the best female rappers out there, Chicago’s Kid Sister, has posted a new video.
The Herve and Sinden produced ‘Big N Bad‘ is accompanied by a lot of summer fun in her hometown featuring appearances from some of the Fool’s Gold fam, A-Trak and Flosstradamus.
The song is cut her 2009 debut album Ultraviolet. You can check out a behind the scenes look at the video here.
As Danny Dyer might very well say “If Kid Sister was a wolf, she’d be big and bad.” Or something. Just watch the video. Midwest bitch…
Toki Wright has put his new video online.
The Minneapolis MC and community worker’s track More Fiya is taken from his Rhymesayers released album A Different Mirror. Turn it up and let it bang…
Brooklyn indie rockers Les Savy Fav are due to release the first album since 2007’s superb Let’s Stay Friends. Root For Ruin will be released on September 13th through Wichita Records.
The band have offered a new track for free to treat those honest folk who didn’t download the album as it leaked over the weekend. Those that have and would like this band to continue making excellent music have been asked to donate whatever they like to the band here in exchange for the forgiveness of all their sins and the promise of cookies from Jesus Christ himself.
You can hear ‘Let’s Get Out Of Here‘ by entering you email address into the widget below.
RVCA spent March heading East and doing what they do best: get the fuck dowwwwwwn.
Here’s their second installment in their East Bound and Down tour, featuring Leo Romero, Cory Kennedy, Austin Stephens, Cairo Foster, Keegan Saunder and more getting gnarly as they hit up a variety of skateparks. Rad.