Black Sabbath, minus singer Ozzy Osbourne, have joined up with sometime vocalist Ronnie James Dio for a 2007 tour, but will be playing as Heaven And Hell, and not Black Sabbath.
However, it isn’t because the band have argued with Ozzy [as happened before when Dio filled in], as Ozzy has said through a representative that there will be a Sabbath tour and album coming late next year.
We’ve picked a few up and coming acts who are bubbling under and have impressed us live, and over the next few months we’ll be laying them down for your judgment!
First to stand up we have the London based trio The Goodbyes whose lives shows at Borderline and The Cobden have left us reeling ( in a good way). Frontman Hen took some time out for a quick chat about why they could be your new favourite band…
Introduction time! How did you get together, how long have you been doing this music malarkey?
Forever but as this lineup about two years give or take.
How did the name ‘The Goodbye’s come about?
We were in the studio recording for the first time and we’d been debating names for ages, originally we wanted to be called ‘Morning Theft’ but it was taken. Anyway we’re in the studio when I was talking about a lyric in a Cat Stevens song called “Oh Very Young”…”The Goodbye makes the journey harder still” and in our weird way we developed it from there. The more I think about the name the more I feel it represents us. Goodbyes are so filled with various emotions and it is that spectrum of emotions that we try to convey musically.
Describe your sound to someone who’s never heard it.
I hate this one… Someone told me we were “The most American sounding British band he’d ever heard.”…I dispute it but I see his point. We sound very much like a product of our influences, an Americana band on a diet of depressing melodic indie.
Most people say playing live makes it all worthwhile, but for you what is the great thing about being in a band?
Rehearsing… I, personally love rehearsing. Everytime I have a shit day I think about the next rehearsal. I love being in the room with the guys just playing and playing and playing. We change little things at every rehearsal, I love the idea that music evolves, it really does!
What bands/artists are you most influenced by?
Hmmm….we’re all different.
Jamie, our guitarist, and I share many influences: Ryan Adams, Fleetwood Mac, Jeff Buckley, Radiohead, The Chilis (Particularly John Frusciante) etc…
But I take influence from stuff Jamie hates too… The Doors, R.E.M, Cat Stevens and actually a lot of old punk…Sid loves his hard rock and punk.
You’re about to hit the shelves in a compilation, tell us a little about that..
It’s a compilation of new London based talent called ‘Baby I’m Yours… Volume 1’. It’s being released by a start up label called ‘D.C. Baby Records’. It’s a very cool project because it really is about sharing good music and bands coming together to help each other out.
Do you agree with the Artic Monkeys winning the Mercury Prize?
Hell No! Not in the slightest. I wanted Muse to win, they deserve it the most. The Arctic Monkeys, while ok songwriters owe an awful lot of their success to the fact that they’re attached to a scene that is more about image than music. If their jeans were looser that record wouldn’t have sold so much.
When are you next playing, and how can people have a listen?
Well Sid’s going into hospital today to have his leg fixed up so the next show won’t be until December when he’s fully recovered and can hit his bass pedal again. But then on the 6th we’re playing Tommy Flynns on Camden High St. The details of that gig and the latest recordings are on our myspace which is www.myspace.com/thegoodbyesmusic
Finally – any words of wisdom for the Crossfire readers?
True story…. A polish porn baron, who was a friend of my fathers once sat me down and said in his thick eastern european accent “Henry my boy, if I teach you one thing it is this… DON’T SNAP YOUR CARROT!” That is wisdom I will one day pass onto my own children.
For more info check out www.myspace.com/dcbabyrecords
Pavement’s release Wowee Zowee is currently getting a load of airplay at Crossfire HQ and what better way to share this with you than with some links? You can click below to check out Father To A Sister Of Thought and Rattled By The Rush.
Rattled ByThe Rush
Quick Time
Real Player
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Father To A Sister OF Thought
Quick Time
Real Player
Windows Media
London Forum
13.10.06
Storming the set with ‘Downtown‘ Peaches unconventionally starts her set above the crowd on the stairwell in the same mask as on her flyer. Sliding down the banister, onto the stage, in a provocative manner for ‘Fuck or Kill’ she breaks her robot moves to spunk it up a bit for the million photographers adoring her every move.
Cleary the teaches of Peaches is no longer just about fucking the pain away, and pimping her tracks to randy adolescents, as the unlikely mix of crowd covers a broad balanced spectrum for a change. An older, mature, and definitely still sexy woman graces the stage fully clothed, and without the strap-on she wore thin behind a white veiled screen over the last tour.
Playing 80s guitar with her wild retro hair the mix of eclectic sounds could be somewhat confusing. Ranging from the almost dub-esque beats of ‘Felix Partz’ to the rock out song, non-surprisingly, called ‘Rock Show’, Peaches is a definite 1-off with no other band braving the same raw and crude sound. Another example of self-produced success, which has paved the way for other bands like Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.
This tour round, the stage sports more eye candy as Peaches is supported by the 2 Le Tigre look-alike twin guitarists, and the Blondie look-a-like drummer Sam Maloney (you may know her from The Hole), who is stuck under a wind machine and breast insinuating drum kit. After the catchy shouting of ‘You Love It’, the Berlin goddess launches into infamous 2 Many DJs track ‘Fuck the Pain Away’.
Tattooed sex gods grace the stage to peel off the remaining leg warmers whilst Peaches straddles a roadster bicycle to the track ‘Lovertits‘. ‘Shake yer Dix’ gets the crowd…*ahem* in some instances gyrating…true story! Just when you think things will settle down a huge blow up dick is kicked into the crowd, as Peaches strips off yet another layer of clothing whilst ‘AA XXX’ plays in the background. ‘Slippery Dick’ is played in tribute to the missing blow up consumed by the crowd. The sequence runs so smoothly you would think she expected it to go missing. Perhaps trial and error from previous shows?
A suddenly chatty Peaches snarls something about Peaches Geldof, and then breaks into ‘I U She’, ‘Stick it to The Pimp‘ whilst busting her finest pole dancing moves, stripping away yet more layers…you would think she would be naked by now as she rages on stage in her black knickers set…but she keeps it coming.
After a further 3 songs in her encore she comes back with 3 medals proudly mocking “I would give out 2165 medals tonight to say ‘I love you’…but I don’t!…I only have 3 medals…”. More rock than disco inferno, Peaches proves she is still punk as fuck and a hell of a lot of fun to catch live!
Words and photos by Niki Kova’cs
You’ve got to respect Enter Shikari – despite the bun fight of labels after them they’re sticking to their roots and releasing their debut single ‘Sorry You’re Not a Winner’ on their own Ambush Reality label. Having had to recently upgrade their Mean Fiddler show to the Astoria, enjoyed a nomination at the Kerrang awards and killer shows at the Reading and Leeds festivals it’s not bad going for group of guys who were relatively unknown this time last year.
Having released their first offering ‘Mothership‘ digitally, ‘Sorry You’re Not a Winner’ is being released on CD and limited edition colour 7″. It’s a heady mix of metalcore and trance like beats, lyrics screamed out so hard that the rising tension is palpable. The lyrics are too blurred to create images for the listener, so it’s down to the guitars and effects to draw up feelings and emotions – and that’s where Enter Shikari step into their own. The disco vibe layered over heavy riffs and biting guitars mesh with the wonderfully incoherent lyrics, barked out by frontman Rou. This is what The Automatic try to be – this raw, jagged offering is the real deal, fresh, vicious and very very exciting.
Enter Shikari are home-grown talent at it’s best. Progressive, innovative and something different from the endless indie bands that all merge into one another after a few drinks. Full of an acidic zest, ‘Sorry You’re Not A Winner’ is the real deal, it’ll grab you by the scruff of your neck and enthral you – turn up and the volume and enjoy, this is a sheer delight.
Mean Fiddler
15.10.06
“What’s up London?!”, screams a impossibly tiny redhead from centre stage in the humid Mean Fiddler.
It’s the final night of Paramore‘s first ever full UK tour and, so 17 year old singer Hayley Williams later reveals, also the last time the five-strong Tennessean teenage rockers will tour with debut album ‘All We Know Is Falling’, released earlier this year.
But before the climactic and somewhat saddening headline performance, fans are required to hold up their already sweaty, bruised bodies for the two supports. I’m not exaggerating – the venue is absolutely packed even before The Riverclub’s entrance. The predictable power pop rockers from Kent start up with a lively thirty minute set of songs, to surprisingly good reception. The reception is surprising because it’s clear to anyone with ears that this band is going nowhere. Their music is not original and cannot even compete lyrically or instrumentally with the bands they’ve been thrown into the same category as (Fall Out Boy rings a bell).
It’s somewhat relieving to know that there’s another group due on before Paramore’s entrance at 9.30. But that relief quickly sours into despair with one look at the musicians before us. Madina Lakes is, on appearance, a less fleshy/rebellious Towers Of London. Their music, it transpires, is also exactly that. Slushy, nonsensically-worded From First To Last-esque cliché emo with a much softer (but still irritating) vocalist. One of the guitarists stopped us outside to announce that they will be supporting My Chemical Romance next year. Thanks for warning me; I’ll know not to turn up in time to see you.
It’s getting irritably late – over two hours have passed since everyone entered and it shows, security having to squirt bottles of water down throats of fans in the first few rows to stop them passing out from the strain of keeping their great view of the stage. Finally the band emerges, a little sheepish. Guitars are plugged in and the fiery songstress begins thrashing her head in time to the opening of previous download single ‘Emergency‘. Cue frantic screams and the show kicks off…
After having recently cancelled their Reading and Leeds festival appearances, as well as many shows in the US, due to the intermittent fragility of Williams’ vocal chords, it’s almost a blessing that Paramore have managed to make it thus far. Incredibly, despite the fact that this is their last appearance, Hayley’s voice is completely top notch – she hits difficult pitches with enough struggle to show that she’s putting her all into it, but is still safely able to pull off every word she sings. The setlist is similar to that of their Give It A Name (Introduces) set earlier this year but, considering only about 30 people turned up to see them then and there are over 800 people in the room now, it’s doubtful that many of those here tonight have heard any of the record live yet.
The set flows through highlights of the album including ‘Conspiracy’, ‘Pressure’, ‘Franklin’ and title track ‘All We Know (Is Falling)’. Also featured is an acoustic cover of the Foo Fighters’ ‘My Hero’ – a risky but impressive rendition.
All comes to an end just under one hour later with a surprisingly moving rendition of ‘My Heart’, the lyrics of which are dedicated to fans of the band. I’ve yet to work out why my stomach flip-flopped at that point – perhaps it was seeing Williams and her band up on stage, clearly putting all they had into this performance, emotional not just because it was their last this year but also because it meant that, finally, they would be able to return home. With an average age of 18-19, it’s pretty incredible that this band have survived an entire year without touching base.
Although the reference is quite obvious, I can’t help but flashback to this time three years ago. A certain pint-sized, loveable but aggravated pop punk princess was on that very stage belting out very similar songs. Six months later, she had a number one album and a year after that, she played Wembley. However much anyone tries to deny it, Hayley Williams is the new Avril Lavigne. Paramore are a fast-blossoming, soon to be stadium-ready band. And that’s really not a bad thing.
Cathy Reay
[Photos from www.myspace.com/paramore]
With Tom Delonge having enjoyed critical success with his post Blink offering Angels & Airwaves, it’s now turn for the other two thirds of the arguably most successful pop punk band of our generation to step up to the plate.
Frontman Mark Hoppus and drummer Travis Barker have teamed up with Craig Fairbaugh (who already played with Barker in Transplants) and Shane Gallagher (The Nervous Return), and bought onboard bought Blink producer Jerry Finn as executive producer, to create an album that maintains the best elements of Blink, but is slashed through with a darker, most progressive electronic sound.
Debut single ‘Lycanthrope‘ was debuted on Tony Hawks Project 8 Xbox game, and whilst there’s no escaping that Hoppus’s vocal will forever bring you back to Blink tracks about banging the neighbour and the girl at the rock show – this is like Blink all grown up. Hoppus remarks “We’re not divorcing ourselves from the past, but we are pushing beyond..” The sound is more mature, Jerry Finn’s concocted a masterpiece of a mix, with keyboards, electronic drums and a gently throbbing bassline caressing a catchy but not cheesy chorus. As Barker himself puts it “If Blink was the daytime, Plus 44 is the nighttime.”
This is in exciting debut from a band who are moving and growing, Hoppus and Barker have maintained the accessibility of Blink, but +44 is darker and edgier. If you thought you’d outgrown Blink shrug this on for size – after all, what’s not to love about a band named after the UK dialling code?
The album “When Your Heart Stops Beating” is released on 13th November.
A mate of the Crossfire crew has just buzzed us in with some lovely star spotting news. Global phenoms and cheerful chaps Dangermouse and Cee-Lo, otherwise known as the mighty Gnarls Barkley, have just had their passport photos snapped by our friend.
Did she try and smuggle a picture of herself with them into the passports? Did she get them to pull stupid faces? Who knows, but one thing is for sure, Crossfire is the hook up for globetrotting music associations! Say Cheese!
Paul McPike, a man from Oregon, has claimed that a song he wrote has been stolen by Green Day.
McPike filed a lawsuit against the band, after claiming he had written the American Idiot album in college. He went on to state that a friend of his “leaked” the tracks to Green Day who used them to make their album.
However, the judge ruled that McPike didn’t have enough evidence and threw the case out.
Coventry debutants The Enemy are releasing their first single, 40 Days And 40 Nights on November 6th on limited 7″. If you want to check out the video, then click on the links below.