After some line-up changes and instrument switch-arounds, the influential Welsh rockers Funeral For A Friend released a limited edition EP The Young and Defenceless last month as a prelude to their as yet untitled fifth studio album that is due out early next year.
The opening track, Serpents In Solitude, is now accompanied by a video that makes pretty good viewing. Make of it what you will, but be sure to watch it…
It has been announced that the legendary stoner rock group Kyuss will be reuniting for a European tour, but original guitarist Josh Homme will unsurprisingly not be involved.
John Garcia, Nick Olivieri and Brant Bjork will be joined by Bruno Fevery and perform a string of 25 dates next year under the name Kyuss Lives. This includes three UK dates at the following venues…
March 31st – Rock City, Nottingham
April 1st – Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton
April 2nd – The Forum, London
The Wonder Years have been making waves in the underground music scene with their upbeat pop-punk for a while but, having signed with Hopeless Records this year (who launched the careers of Avenged Sevenfold and All Time Low) and just being announced as the opening band on the Kerrang! Relentless Energy Tour next year, the Philadelphians look set to take things to the next level as they look towards their third album. Second album ‘The Upsides’ got a proper UK release the other week with a bunch of bonus material, following the original release of the album earlier this year on No Sleep Records. We caught up with singer Soupy to talk about the band’s experiences of the UK, what music makes him happy and how things are looking for the band in general. We also spoke to guitarist Matt about skate stuff after Soupy had his turn…
For a relatively new band, you’ve already been to the UK several times. How did each experience differ and how difficult / easy did you find it to make your own way over here?
With every experience things got easier. We lost less money, we rode in better vans and we slept more comfortable places and I chalk a lot of that up to meeting friends in the UK and having them help make our tours there possible.
You probably know a lot more about UK pop-punk than many people who actually live here. Which specific acts would you recommend and why?
All or Nothing are currently writing the best songs of their career and have added Paul (ex-Chaos Days) to the mix which should add a whole new dynamic. Basement are killing it on all fronts and just signed with Run for Cover records in the US. Save Your Breath are working on a new album now and play a really energetic live show and Maycomb round out the softer side of the scene.
Hostels and Brothels is about some of your UK experiences, right? Were there any specific stories behind it?
It mostly centers around a wild party in Leeds that left one house and a lot of egos destroyed.
What’s the best thing about the band signing with Hopeless Records this year?
We get to work with an entire team of dedicated, hard-working people who care as much about the band as we do.
Why did you decide to spruce up ‘The Upsides’ for a re-release?
We wanted to give fans more. We were planning on doing another 7″ in 2010 but with the rerelease, that wasn’t possible, so just added more content toy he record.
How about your next album? Have you started writing or thinking about its release yet?
We have. The serious writing starts next month but we’re excited about where it’s going.
Do you think you’ll be continuing the positive theme or perhaps concentrating on another specific idea? Any plans to do anything wildly different musically?
I think the theme and music will be a natural evolution from Upsides. I have some ideas but nothing I’m ready to share yet and we’ve written some music but who knows what will make the record at this point.
When will you be in the UK next?
We’ll be over in February opening the Kerrang! tour with Good Charlotte, Four Year Strong and Framing Hanley.
How do you stay positive when life starts getting a bit shitty?
You accept that not everything is going to go your way, you appreciate the things that do and you work towards changing the things that don’t.
What albums make you super happy when you listen to them? Why do you think that is?
The Get Up Kids- Something to Write Home About. It’s my all time favorite record and has so many memories attached to it. When it comes on, I have to smile and sing.
When you go on tour, do you take your skateboard?
Yes I do.
Do you have time to skate much?
Not a lot. Generally, I only skate when we play at a skatepark. There isn’t much time to go find spots otherwise.
Where’s the best place you’ve skated, away from home?
My favorite spot would have to be this outdoor park in Denver. It was absolutely the smoothest park I’ve ever ridden. The transitions are all perfect and it’s got a great layout for hitting lines.
Where would you love to go skating?
There’s a new skatepark in Venice Beach that I’d love to skate. Hopefully I get a chance to when we’re in LA doing our new record.
Who’s your favourite skater?
I haven’t kept up with it much recently but Andy Macdonald was always my favorite. Dude is so consistent. Rules.
Amazing news broke today that a Scotland Yard marksman deliberately inserted song titles into his verbal testimony whilst giving evidence under oath to the inquest of the shooting of Mark Saunders on September 27.
High ranking rozzers responded to this farce today saying “The Met takes this matter extremely seriously as we expect the highest standards of all of our staff. The officer has been removed from operational firearms duty.”
Whilst Scotland Yard work out exactly what tracks Officer AZ8 included in his speech for fun, we though that we would bring you 3 tracks that could have been in his play list. Comment below on what others we could have included.
Jazz Cafe
26.10.10
Last time Black Milk played a show in London, he rocked a packed out Cargo, delivering his sharp, snapping drums from his albums Tronic and Popular Demand to a baying crowd who hung on his every word. A hard act to follow no doubt, but the Detroit producer and rapper managed to top it thanks to his live instrumentation, which featured keys and drums as well as a DJ and some tracks from his new opus Album Of The Year.
Appearing from the balcony at Camden’s Jazz Cafe, a venue he recognised as legendary and felt privileged to play, the man otherwise known as Curtis Cross dropped down as Long Story Short smacked out from the speakers and hands were immediately raised in salute before pounding the air in support. The old tracks garnered a lot of cheering from the brilliant Losing Out [sadly without Royce appearing] and Give The Drummer Some which allowed the drummer to showcase his energetic and infectious rhythmic talent.
The new tracks also went down well with Black And Brown, Oh Girl and Distortion whipping up a frenzy, despite the album not having been out long, which only goes to show the talent of the producer and rapper, who performed with a smile on his face throughout. Not to be outdone, AB, his keyboard player, a demure and understated chap, provided some sung hooks with a soft yet extremely powerful voice.
So with the crowd shouting out tracks and vocally showing their support for J Dilla, the show ended with Sound The Alarm to cap off a very enjoyable night for performer and punters alike.
Abjekt.
Beans of legendary leftfield hip-hop act Antipop Consortium has announced that he will be releasing a new album in 2011 through the similarly abstract and forward-thinking label Anticon.
End It All is due to be released on February 15th 2011. Perhaps the most exciting news surrounding this release is the impressive roster of collaborative artists that appear on the record. These include Tobacco, Four Tet, Clark, Interpol’s Sam Fogarino, Nobody, Son Lux and Bumps.
Apocalyptic electronica pioneers Salem have announced a string of UK dates following the release of their critically acclaimed and genre defining album King Night earlier this year.
The band will play five live dates at the end of this month.
Wednesday 24th November – London Shoreditch Church
Friday 26th November – Manchester Islington Mill
Saturday 27th November – Leeds Nation Of Shopkeepers
Monday 29th November – Nottingham Bodega
Tuesday 30th November – Bristol Thekla
The Forum/93 Feet East
29.10.10
Photography: Lionel Tapper
Below: Black Pacific leaaaan back
Despite having a gloriously full line-up of acts – Sum 41, The Black Pacific, Riverboat Gamblers and Veara – we only managed to catch a sliver of Sum 41’s set at The Kentish Town Forum. What we do see though is everything you would expect of the band, in a good way. The venue is packed to the rafters and the air thick with perspiration as kids (and those who were kids when Sum 41 first came into existence) bound around and sing their hearts out with unending energy. Fortuitously, we manage to catch “the hits” ‘Fat Lip’ and ‘In Too Deep’ which obviously go down a storm and sound just as anthemic as they always did.
Leaving the venue we are met with the surprise of two double decker buses which are there to take a chosen few (competition winners and media etc) to 93 Feet East for the afterparty. Quite a novelty but also quite handy, meaning that we can avoid the trek from North to East via multiple transport links with one direct mode of transport. Nice. Once we arrive at the site of the party, we’re chivvied upstairs to a private room where we’re greeted with a free bar (yes, it appears they do still exist). So suffice to say it was a rather raucous occasion as Jim Lindberg (formerly of Pennywise; now of The Black Pacific who performed earlier in the night) and one of Sum 41 took to the decks for eclectic but well-received sets. Everyone was merry to say the least and partied into the wee hours of the morning. A very successful Friday night!
Chirps Galore
Sum 41 brought out the teenager in all of us.
Keith Morris, that dreaded shouty bloke famed for his sterling vocal work at the beginning of Black Flag’s finest hours and singing in Circle Jerks is back in a new hardcore band called OFF!
Alongside him in this project are other veteran players famed for their roles within classic bands made up of Dimitri Coates (Burning Brides), Steven Shane McDonald (Redd Kross) and Mario Rubalcaba (Rocket From The Crypt, Hot Snakes). The results are straight up, 1 minute long tracks played fast with a classic 80’s hardcore sound.
Taste some of OFF! from the video below with some mini ramp skating in it and look out for the release on Vice Records titled The First 4 EP’s boxset which includes a limited edition Raymond Pettibon poster on November 23rd.
Shoreditch,
Friday 29th October
The last time we witnessed Atlanta’s Black Lips grace a London venue they played a typically feisty set at the Electric Ballroom and went home fighting each other, so their return to UK soil tonight was always going to be interesting. From the set list that they brought to this Dr. Martins branded free show it’s clear that the band have been focusing on a return to form, by writing more of those amazing catchy garage pop tunes that they are known best for and tonight the Lips decided to treat the audience to a bunch of these at 12.30am to a pissed up crowd who were fueled by an impressive £2 bar.
Opening track Sea of Blasphemy was greeted with a lively pit which only increased with enthusiasm to the sound of 2009’s single Drugs which is played as if it’s hanging on a hinge. New song Let’s Go Out and Get It calms things down a bit as people judge their new work before O Katrina brings the first storm of the stage with the invasion shutting the PA down and bouncers wondering what the fuck is going on. This is exactly what I love about seeing this band, they invite the party to the fridge, stock it with hard liquor and then drink it with everyone up close.
When the PA finally gets switched back on and brows are wiped of Jack Daniels and Carlsberg the down tempo Dirty Hands brings the Beatles’esque sing-a-long to the dance floor followed by the new found, countrified swill of Dumpster Diving, another new track inspired by drummer Joe Bradley’s passion for jumping into bins. I did this once on the Strand, pissed off my tits on shots and ended up rising with a chestful of another man’s dinner and ale that had been puked up and left for someone as wasted as me to dive into to. Joe’s experience was slightly more fruitful as this new track apparently pays ode to his lucky dive in Hawaii where once inside the wheelie bin he found a lap steel guitar that is actually used on the new recordings the band have been working on in the studio recently.
Spirits are raised to the familiar sounds of Cold Hands, one of the stand out tracks from 2007’s Good Bad Not Evil album, the record that really brought Black Lips to the attention of the UK press and beyond. The new tracks that follow sound in a similar vein, as if the band have decided to rekindle the upbeat vibes of this cherished release following the mixed reviews that followed the release of 200 Million Thousand. New stand out tracks New Direction and Family Tree both front big choruses powered by the Lip’s most infamous garage steez and get a great reaction before the metal-mouthed Ian Saint Pé informs the baying crowd that Bad Kids will be the finale of tonight’s entertainment that only ignites another full stage invasion to end the set.
Overall their fans should be stoked with the new tracks that are said to be released in March 2011 produced by Deerhunter’s guitarist Lockett Pundt and with rumours fueled by a studio interview with the band on the Spin website this year suggesting that Cole and co have also reached out to producer Mark Ronson, their 6th album could see a return to the catchy garage pop that they are most famous for.
Dani Alves