On first listen Streetfight Silence’s debut seems slightly average, not exactly an album to shout about. But in fact this record is one of those that slowly but surely reels you in with the catchiest of choruses and hook laden tracks.
‘Low’, ‘Find Me’ and ‘White Flags’ are textbook pop-punk. Think back to early You Me At Six and Fall Out Boy, back when their music had grittier riffs yet still a strong ear for melody. Streetfight Silence have their own melodic genius in Russ Merry whose vocals are exquisite. Merry hosts a range that even idols Josh Franceschi and Patrick Stump would be proud of.
Surprisingly the stand out track from ‘Cutting Strings‘ is ‘6th November’ which showcases the bands emotional integrity through beautiful acoustic guitar work and heart felt lyrics. A song that will certainly appeal to many a City & Colour fan. ‘Pieces’ closes the album in a dramatic style culminating a successful first record for the young band.
A greater punch in the production department would make ‘Cutting Stings‘ a true force to be reckoned with. Hearing these tracks in a live environment is sure to give them the extra beef they deserve and inspire many a sing-along.
Last Monday saw the Red Bull Bedroom Jam competition come to an exciting climax with Dead Harts, Golden Tanks and I Divide competing head to head in a live final streamed for all to see via the RBBJ website.
The first act to take to the stage was Dead Harts. As soon as the northern lads launched into their brutal take on emotive hardcore it was clear to see that this event was going to be a weird one. The band were absolutely caning it onstage, but with an audience made up of journalists and industry professionals the mosh pit that needed to kick of never happened.
Although also falling under the umbrella of hardcore, Golden Tanks had a different style to Dead Harts. With a swagger similar to Every Time I Die, this band wear their influences on their sleeves. Personally I’ve seen this act numerous times before and they’ve torn the stage apart, but tonight it is a more restrained performance. Maybe the pressure of the strange setting has to the boys. Nonetheless James Illsley nails a sweet solo and Tanks’ performance is an overall success.
I Divide bring a whole different approach to the final, more than anything they are a straight up rock band, the sort of thing that would dominate a more versatile radio playlist. Vocalist Tom Kavanagh sinks into the performance, he is completely overpowered by the music and barely opens his eyes throughout their set, either that or he’s ridiculously nervous. It’s probably the least energetic performance, but sound wise the most refined, a polished effort from a solid band.
As far as interludes go, having Don Broco play a surprise set as the votes are counted isn’t bad! If I Divide looked polished, Don Broco are on another level of professionalism, ‘Priorities’ is rock music at its finest. Front man Rob Damiani even manages to get the surly press filled crowd a bit hyped up. Don Broco have really stepped up their game from the early days and it’s delightful to see the RBBJ alumni demonstrating why this competition is so significant to underground acts in the industry.
Finally, host Katie Parsons brings the three finalists together to reveal the winner. This year I Divide are crowned champions, and they look thoroughly ecstatic. Their second performance of the night to celebrate the victory is full of confidence and they justify themselves as a worthy winner.
It really is a cliché to say, but it was so hard to pick between the three acts. Dead Harts were ferocious, comparable to home-grown heroes While She Sleeps. Golden Tanks had riffs with groves as commendable as Cancer Bats but ultimately it was I Divide’s slick set and catchy choruses that stole the show.
Torche
w/ Old Forest
XOYO, London
16th September 2012
An unfortunate injury to a band member sadly meant Hang The Bastard were unable to play XOYO this evening, leaving just two bands to share the stage. There has been more conjecture among underground pundits about the potential of Old Forest rather than their music: tonight’s performance did little to quell the excitement of the former, but raised some inevitable frustrations regarding the latter.
The south-west London three-piece grab strands from Seattle grunge and stoner rock with remarkable confidence, weaving them into a set of loud, down-tuned rock music, the proficiency of which belied the obviously tender ages of the band members. There can be no doubt that they have written some killer riffs and play them with intuitive composure, but it is not merely the fresh-facedness of the band that shows them to be a touch unfinished. It would be good to see them once they have taken possession of the prerequisite self assuredness to rock out, strum hard and loosen up. At present, it all makes for a rather stilted spectacle, and while their live sound is already formidable, it could just be spectacular with time.
Torche’s new album, ‘Harmonicraft’, tends very much towards the melodic side of the band’s sound. It is a brighter and less overtly riffed-up version of what some have felt the need to label, in abhorrent taste, ‘bubblegum stoner.’ The horror. However, such fuss has certainly played a part in wafting the band’s sweet yet heavy tones to some very lofty ears and there was a sense of expectation in XOYO. The venue was unusually busy for a Sunday night, thronging with an amusing blend of people who had presumably been told to be there by Zane Lowe and others who would not have needed any prompting to see this band play a genuine shore, or ditch.
Those who might have feared Torche’s newest material might be a case of ‘too much Grohl and not enough soul’ should, I imagine, have been assuaged by their blistering performance this evening. The songs from ‘Harmonicraft’ sound refreshingly heavy live – even the saccharine-sweet ‘Kicking’ had something of the night about it – while diehards were well served by a generous haul of older songs from ‘Meanderthal’ and their self-titled debut. This was a great set. It had the populism of the Foos alongside the pugilism of Floor (frontman Steve Brooks’ previous, highly recommended sludge metal band). And, support bands of the capital take note, they looked like they were having a great time.
Devil Sold His Soul Shadows Chasing Ghosts, The Elijah
Album Release Show, The Fighting Cocks, Kingston
17th September 2012
Devil Sold His Soul released their third album ‘Empire of Light‘ on the 17th of September and courtesy of the folks at Banquet Records, they celebrated with a release show at the Fighting Cocks in Kingston that night.
If you’ve ever been to the Cocks then you know it’s a rad little rock pub that has a leopard print pool table, and has hosted some amazing shows in conjunction with Banquet (the local independent record store, run by people who love their music as much as we do). For example Four Year Strong, Tonight Alive, Let Live and New Found Glory have all graced this tiny stage. So, keeping all that in mind as well as this show being a sell out, the evening promises to be something very special.
First up to break the ice is the jaw-droppingly amazing band The Elijah. If you haven’t seen them, or heard them before, then this is a band you have to see to believe. Their music is a big batch of prog-rock, alternative and melodic songs that hit you hard. Although their set is only a short one tonight, within a minute of playing they’ve captured everyone’s attention and hold it right until the end. Their headline Underworld show on November 16th, is definitely a date for your diary, you won’t regret it.
Shadows Chasing Ghosts are up next, if I had to define SCG’s style I’d say throw Alexisonfire into a room with Asking Alexandria. So to follow The Elijah is a big ask, and to warm up the stage for the Devil boys is a pretty big ask too, one can’t help but feel a bit sorry for Shadows Chasing Ghosts as the room empties a fair bit. Unfortunately, he sounds not quite right either, making it a set full of good intentions, but it’s only just adequate in comparison to The Elijah.
Then with a quick sound check out of the way Devil Sold His Soul come on, and the room erupts as the band launch into their set. The room starts to heave as one mass, and everyone’s heads start to rock as the boys launch into an epic metal soundscape. The band are pitch perfect, you actually get nearly the same sound as you hear when you listen to the albums at home. It’s genuinely amazing. Every single person in the room is moving (to some degree) all the way through this set. Think metal meets the Pied Piper of Hamelin as everyone’s hypnotized by the set.
It was genuinely a pleasure to witness this intimate gig from a band that could definitely command the attention of a far bigger audience. They rip their way through most of Empire including a searing rendition of ‘A New Legacy’, but they also throw in some older material in the shape ‘An Ocean of Lights’, ‘Drowning/Sinking’ and ‘Dawn On The First Day’. I thoroughly recommend catching them on their tour later this year.
To celebrate the fact that it’s 2 years today since the official release date of their very first compilation – ‘Brink of the Clouds’- London based label Art Is Hard Records have announced that their back catalogue is up for FREE download until midnight Tuesday 18th September. This means 12 releases and close to 100 songs are all up for grabs!
You can download the MP3’s here. We recommend getting your ears into a bit of summery Best Friends (which you can stream below), but you may as well go wild and download everything, after all, it’s FREE!
With still many more bands to announce, the UK date of the legendary Vans Warped Tour has sold out with around two months to go until the event. This years festival will take place at Alexandra Palace in London on November 10th and the line up promises to make it one hell of a show.
As well as headliners Lostprophets and Bring Me The Horizon there are a whole host of awesome bands including Funeral For A Friend, The Story So Far, Man Overboard, Architects, Bury Tomorrow and The Acacia Strain. There are also a few controversial choices on the list including Blood On The Dancefloor!
In addition to the music event it has been confirmed that a number of Vans skate and BMX team riders will be making an appearance as well as Steve Caballero and Dennis McCoy with many more to be announced.
Although the London event has sold out there are still a handful of tickets remaining for ‘Road To Warped Tour’ headlined by New Found Glory. Pick them up here.
Its only been 35 years in the waiting but today marks the release of a promo video for Sex Pistols’s classic ‘Holidays in the Sun’. Unlike the Sex Pistols other single’s from the infamous ‘Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols’ (‘Anarchy in the UK’, ‘God Save The Queen’ and ‘Pretty Vacant’) no promo video for ‘Holidays in the Sun’ was ever filmed.
The newly released promo video was edited by longtime Sex Pistols collaborator Julien Temple and has been compiled from previously unreleased footage especially for use on the limited edition super deluxe box set ‘Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols’.
Temple comments on the vibrant video saying:
“The live performance was shot using one camera and shows the extraordinary captivating quality of the band at the time. There was shock in the room, it was hypnotising, contagious, and unfolded right in front of you. It was filmed in Penzance in September 1977, the Pistols arrived unannounced and the audience couldn’t believe what they were getting”
Limited edition super deluxe box set ‘Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols’ is due to be released September 24th through Universal Music UK.
This isn’t the first time Giants have graced our buzz chart, earlier this summer they launched into the top spot with lead single ‘Snakes’. Now with a mini-album to add to their arsenal, Giants are again dominating the Crossfire stereo.
The band seem to display what a lot of hardcore and punk bands are lacking at the moment, it’s something that is impossible to put your finger on, but this band just get it right. Basically, their style is gnarly as fuck without the guys taking themselves too seriously.
‘These Are The Days’ races through as an adrenaline fueled assault. ‘When It Comes Down To It’, ‘Bottled Up’ and ‘Snakes’ are barely over a minute each, but why drag out the length of a song when you’re already nailing the point in a nutshell?
The bass and guitar tone of the mini-album gives the overall impression of an old school skate punk record, whilst the occasional ‘two-step’ pace and constant aggressive vocals propels ‘These Are The Days’ straight back into the realms of present day hardcore. This is a little corker that needs to be blasted out at full volume.
With a mental live show, stated as a ‘must see band’ by yours truly at Crossfire and tipped to be the next big thing by Metal Hammer, UK band The Safety Fire are hot property right now. After putting out an insanely strong debut in ‘Grind The Ocean‘ earlier this year we needed to grab a chat with the eccentric band. Backstage at Hevy festival journalist Emma Wallace caught up with hilarious front man Sean McWeeney, and banterous guitarist Derya Nagle who were suitably dressed in Hawaiian shirts! Here’s what went down…
How have your festival performances gone down this summer?
Sean: Well today we played Hevy, and considering we were on at 12:30 I was pretty pleased with the turn out. I thought people would still be dying in their tents, but it was quite busy.
Deyra: Yeah I mean its always hard when you are a smaller band or on early in the day but that performance went well. I heard it was a lot busier than for the bands at the same time yesterday. Pretty pleased!
Sean: But the problem with playing so early is that you finish early and get drunk early and you still have the whole day and night ahead of you to drink!
Deyra: Just to point out, we aren’t alcoholics. We don’t drink before we go on stage. We’re good boys like that. At Download we played at like half eight in the evening, but we didn’t drink before that, and there was plenty of hanging around before hand that could have been taken up by drinking! Download was cool actually, we played before Gallows and Cancer Bats. It was rammed. It was ace.
Sweet! Guys, I can’t really ignore it anymore, what’s with your attire today?! Hawaiian shirts aren’t that metal!
Deyra: Well we are at a festival so why not eh?! Hawaiian shirts are where it’s at. The sun’s out today, and I think you can thank us for that.
Sean: The shirts have a nice little story behind them. We originally bought them all in Florida when we were touring there.
Deyra: And someone told us they have a magical power. And earlier on today none other than Andrew W.K. gave us the nod of approval. You know one of those looks that are like ‘Yes Sir, you look mighty fine.’
Sean: Indeed, it was actually a point and a nod. You can’t get better than that. These shirts were actually bought at a Salvation Army charity store on a highway. Someone might have died wearing this shirt. They cost the equivalent of about £1. And they are beautiful shirts so you can’t miss a bargain like that. So essentially, what we are doing to metal is bringing the Floridian sun over to England. I think it might catch on you know, they are gorgeous and I’d love it if people turned up to shows in floral shirts, i’ts injecting a whole lot of colour into a goth club. All the hardcore kids are in tie dye, but I’m not sure, you need something more formal, I mean these shirts have buttons. They might make an appearance on the BTBAM tour!
They are beautiful indeed…Well you’ve bought us on quite nicely to the tour. How are you feeling about that? Excited?!
Deyra: Its going to be a lot of fun! We know the Periphery guys really well who are on the tour. Playing at Shepherds Bush Empire will be special. We’ve played all sorts of venues in London, right from the bottom to some of the best.
Sean: It’s great to play to a passionate crowd after years of playing to one man and his dog.
Deyra: And to be on tour with Between The Buried And Me will be something else. We feel that musically we are closely matched. They’re one of those bands where we think our style is very similar and I imagine their fans will be open minded and listen to what we do and enjoy it.
Are there any bands out there at the moment you think deserve a plug?
Deyra: Let’s go with all our old tour buddies Rise To Remain and Bleed From Within.
Sean: No not Bleed From Within! I’m starting a tongue-in-cheek hate campaign against them so plugging them doesn’t really work! They are from this area in the north of England called Scotland. You can barely understand them when they talk. They say ‘Hello we are Bleed From Within’, but it sounds more like ‘Bleed From Wuthwon’ or something bizarre like that.
Deyra: Sean isn’t actually a dick. We take the piss out of them and they do it to us. We tend to do it in interviews the most. I think this is about round three of TSF v BFW. Scott, the pretty front man, stole a pair of Sean’s sunglasses, he didn’t like that very much. So now, we have a bit of banter with the guys, a bit of friendly beef. Make sure they find out about this though, make sure you get me in there quoted as saying ‘Bleed From Within are from Northern England’.
Sean: But yes, they are a great band. We’re just better haha!
Catch The Safety Fire on tour with Periphery and Between The Buried And Me at the following shows:
OCTOBER
1st, Reading – Sub 89
2nd, Wolverhampton – Slade Rooms
3rd, Glasgow – The Garage
4th, Newcastle – O2 Academy 2
5th, Manchester – O2 Club Academy
6th, Leeds – Cockpit
7th, Bristol – O2 Academy
8th, Southampton – The Brook
The Xcerts
The Borderline, London
13th September 2012
I remember the first time I saw The Xcerts. It was a cold and damp late summer night up in Glasgow. Having just moved there, and therefore knowing nothing about the Scottish music scene, I was truly happy and surprised to be watching them play in the crypt of a converted Church. So I set off for Soho, pumped and in an almost euphoric state, to see this trio blast their own brand of distorted punk-rock pop laced music into the faces of Londoners.
The first thing to mention is that the Borderline has never been the biggest venue, but tonight it is rammed, as you walk down the stairs you have to squeeze past people trying to get a view of the stage. On top of this it’s hot as hell, but there’s a real buzz in the air as we all wait for the band to walk on stage. All of a sudden they appear and the music starts.
Now this is the part where I’m suppose to tell you how much I loved the show, and how it was ‘THE BEST GIG EVER!’, but it wasn’t. The sound at the start of the set was shocking, and when I say shocking I mean really crap, as you can hardly hear the guitar or vocals beyond a wall of distortion. Thankfully after about three songs the problems with the P.A. is sorted, however, although the majority of the audience seems to be really loving this play-through of their 2011 Scatterbrain album, I’m not blown away at all. I loved their first album, 2009’s ‘In The Cold Wind We Smile’, and I have to admit that I’m not the biggest fan of ‘Scatterbrain’, but I really thought it would gain a whole new dimension live. It didn’t really have that effect. While you can’t really say it’s a bad album, in my opinion, it’s just not as good as their debut effort.
The crowd are ready enough to sing-along towards the end and the band thank everyone for their enthusiasm. You can really tell it means a lot to them to see an audience who has embraced their music and a gig format such as this completely, but then it’s all over as they round up the set up after about 45 minutes and there’s not a trace of any earlier material, just one older track could have done the job.
You can’t fault the band’s musicianship, they played exactly the same way as the very first time I saw them in Glasgow, but the poor sound at the venue added to the lack of a truly gob-smacking set list made this, very sadly, just another ‘good but not great’ gig.
If you went and were new to the band, then I can appreciate you’re going to disagree entirely, but for anyone who’s seen them play live before this was not the best gig the boys have played.
Devil Sold His Soul
To celebrate the fact that it’s 2 years today since the official release date of their very first compilation – ‘Brink of the Clouds’- London based label Art Is Hard Records have announced that their back catalogue is up for FREE download until midnight Tuesday 18th September. This means 12 releases and close to 100 songs are all up for grabs!
GIANTS
With a mental live show, stated as a ‘must see band’ by yours truly at Crossfire and tipped to be the next big thing by Metal Hammer, UK band The Safety Fire are hot property right now. After putting out an insanely strong debut in ‘Grind The Ocean‘ earlier this year we needed to grab a chat with the eccentric band. Backstage at Hevy festival journalist Emma Wallace caught up with hilarious front man Sean McWeeney, and banterous guitarist Derya Nagle who were suitably dressed in Hawaiian shirts! Here’s what went down…
The Xcerts