You have no excuse not to know who Bloc Party unless you have been living in a South American rainforest, licking neon coloured toads for the past 10 years…
I can sum up their latest release in one sentence. It’s absolutely bloody amazing.
However as this is a review, I won’t leave it there, so let’s get the simple things out of the way first… ‘Four’ is a tour de force of indie guitar licks, riffs and hooks with all the Bloc Party trimmings.
Kele and co. have made us wait a while for their latest offering, but as soon as you press the play button, and you here the drum beat and distorted guitar that signal the start of ‘So He Begins To Lie’ you wont be able to sit still. This album works its way into your subconscious and induces some serious moments of tourettes-style head banging and foot stomping.
There isn’t a ‘bad’ track on this album. It swings between slow burning songs that build to a crescendo with squealing guitars through to some southern delta blues inspired throat-ripping guitar chords. The truth is, it is easy to love every single track on the album; so to pick a standout song is a bit of a task. Saying that, the songs that went down best here at Crossfire has to be the hauntingly epic ‘Real Talk’ and ‘V.A.L.I.S’, the hooktastic indie anthem that will have you singing along in not time at all.
If you’re into indie/rock then you should own this album. It’s one of the best albums to grace 2012 so far. A near perfect example of what Indie music should be.
Its fair to say that Hevy Festival was a resounding success this year. Plenty of ‘partying hard’ was had and the sun shone throughout! With three stages of awesome music, we though we’d bring you the highlights, the bands who really stood out, so that you can be sure to check them out at any future shows or events…
FRIDAY 3rd AUGUST
Deaf Havana
Described by some critics as ‘McFly with tattoos’, Deaf Havana are a little out of place here, especially coming on as headliners after Deez Nuts. Leaving their original southern hardcore influences behind and filling their set with pop-rock genius, Deaf Havana impress the critics and cynics a like. Old school fans will be a little disappointed that tracks from ‘Fools And Worthless Liars’ dominated, but when James Veck-Gilodi has the balls to perform a beautiful solo rendition of `Friends Like These’, a vulnerable yet triumphant highlight of the festival is being witnessed for all to see.
Trapped Under Ice
With a hench front man and chugging bass lines, basically, you don’t fuck with TUI. The kids are in their element during Trapped Under Ice’s set, these guys know how to do hardcore, everyone is moving, this is the real deal, a blistering combination of punishing punk and a whole lot of fun. Perfect.
Bleed From Within
After a small amount of heckling from the crowd due their strong Scottish accents, Bleed From Within launch into a powerful performance, a master class in modern metal. Front man Scott Kennedy doesn’t stay still for more than a second and gives the set some real guts. Riffs in the vein of As I Lay Dying blow away any remaining hangovers. After a dominating set here and having recently signed to Raw Power Management and Century Media, expect these guys to become metal titans with their next release.
Last Witness
Hevy’s line up is full of hardcore bands. Some bad ones, some average ones and some real treats. Last Witness are right up there with the best. Adrian Cecil goes absolutely nuts on bass whilst the crowd go a even more insane. The bizarre competition to ride an inflatable dolphin on top of the crowd isn’t needed, everyone is two-stepping and surfing over the barrier as it is. The bouncers certainly earned their money during Last Witness’s set.
SATURDAY 4th AUGUST
Seahaven
Seahaven’s emotive post-punk is blissful in the summer sun. ‘It’s Over’ is a calming yet tormenting track that highlights their set. Their melodies are unmatched throughout the whole weekend and fully deserve the recognition they receive from the Hevy crowd.
Bury Tomorrow
These guys had a rough deal at Hevy. First off the sound cuts out just as front man Dani Winter Bates launches into his first scream. But ever the charismatic front man, it doesn’t faze him; he interacts with the crowd at ease whilst the techies get to work. Once everything is sorted the set is victorious, Mehdi Vismara performs exquisite solos with the crowd lapping up every note with glee. Catastrophically for the band, the plug is pulled as the set over runs during the time of highest momentum. The last song is cut short and the crowd are left in disgruntled. Bury Tomorrow deserved more than just a 20 minute set, however the cheers that resound long after the band leave the stage emphasizes that Bury Tomorrow are the next big thing in British metalcore.
Glassjaw
Despite creating two genre defining albums, recent live outings from Daryl Palumbo and co. have, at best, been mixed. Fortunately, the band delivered a bursting performance of chaotic tracks taken from their back-catalogue, including ‘Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Silence‘ and highlight ‘Siberian Kiss‘.
Andrew WK
Finishing the night, we were treated to a masterclass in partying from the king of not giving a shit, Mr Andrew WK. Opening with ‘It’s Time To Party‘, followed by ‘Party Hard‘ and ramming the theme down our collective throats with ‘Party Til’ You Puke‘, we got exactly what we were hoping for from the set. Chaotic, ridiculous but ultimately a insane amount of fun, the night drew to a close as a sea of sweat and smiles.
SUNDAY 6th AUGUST
Hawkeyes
Despite this being the third festival the band had played this weekend, Leeds bruisers Hawkeyes played one of the most compelling sets of the Hevy. Setting up his microphone in the middle of the audience, singer and guitarist Paul Astick encouraged the crowd to get as close as possible, creating a raucous basement show feel in the middle of the English countryside.
Listener
On paper, an experimental spoken-word act stands out on the Hevy line-up, but with the crowed pouring in to witness them at the Red Bull Bedroom Jam stage proves they were an inspired booking for the festival. Rousing, affecting and impossible to take your eyes off, Listener are a band to be genuinely excited about.
Hundred Reasons
Although they have put out four albums in their career, Hundred Reasons are destined to be remembered for just one. Fortunately, said album ‘Ideas Above Our Station‘ was one of the finest pieces of British post-hardcore of the noughties. Realistic enough to know that they’ll never recapture that time, yet smart enough to give fans what they want, Hundred Reasons played IAOS in full to incredible effect. Despite the waves of nostalgia, the 12 songs still sounded as fresh as the first time they were played and were delivered with boundless energy, with the excitement of the band only matched by that of the crowd.
Vinnie Caruana
Vinne Caruana, the I Am The Avalanche and former Movielife frontman loves to tell a story. So much so that he only managed to play around six songs in the entire set, whilst treating us to tales of New Jersey and his ex-wife. Despite complaining that he’d ruined his voice, the songs he played still held up, with Movielife anthems including ‘Walking On Glass‘ proving a real treat.
Descendents
After a disappointing return last year, it was great to see the Descendents on incredible form. The Californian legends most definitely deserved to play to more people than they did (sadly, this was a true for a lot of the bands over the weekend), but hearing tracks like ‘Everything Sux‘, ‘Hope‘ and of course ‘I’m The One‘ live will be a memory that anyone who still holds a torch for the band will never forget.
WORDS: Emma Wallace & Joe Parry
PHOTOS: Cat McKenzie
P.O.S.
Bumper
Rhymesayers Entertainment/Doomtree Records
It’s been over three years since P.O.S dropped his last album, the superb Never Better but he’s been a busy guy. Not content with making his own records, Stefon Alexander has been involved with his crew Doomtree’s last album, the brilliantly titled group Marijuana Death Squads and guests spots for artists as eclectic as Gayngs and Dark Time Sunshine, so we can forgive him for taking his time over the new album.
Having heard a new track live when Doomtree supported Yelawolf in London earlier this year, his love of electronic music came to the fore with the bouncing beats kicking the crowd into a frenzy and with Bumper, another track from his upcoming full-length We Don’t Even Live Here, that influence is continued. The pounding drums lay the foundation for a track which on which the rapper boasts “they on some nonsense, we on some non-stop” as the jarring chorus melody and unrelenting bassline do the rest.
If this is a sign of what’s to come from the Minneapolitan, then 2012 is going to be an even bigger year for hip hop. Check out the video of Stef performing the track live and see how long you can last without pressing the reply button. We bet it won’t be more than five seconds.
It’s safe to say that London feels like a pretty special place to be this Monday evening, a line up of this calibre is the stuff most festivals are made of and not a regular night in the subterranean confines of the Underworld. Each of these hardcore heavy hitters is capable of headlining this place on their own so it comes as no surprise that the venue is packed to the gills and the sold out sign is up on the door.
H2O are billed here tonight as the rather obvious ‘Thicker Than Water’ and are a last minute addition to this already strong bill. The NYHC posi-core outfit are as entertaining as ever, vocalist Toby Morse bounces from left to right as they tear through ‘1995’, ‘F.T.T.W.’ and ‘Fair Weathered Friend’ oozing PMA from every pore. You have to love hardcore back slapping and both Madball and 7 Seconds are given their props tonight as H2O rip out covers of ‘Pride’ and ‘Satyagraha’ respectively.
Next up are old school bruisers Madball, front man Freddy Cricien inciting the now heaving crowd on the Underworlds floor. For forty five minutes they stomp with an anger and energy that’d put their younger contemporaries to shame. A set culled from their whole back catalogue is delivered with venom tonight, ‘We The People’, ‘Spit On Your Grave’ and ‘Set It Off’ are a steamroller of riffs and beatdowns that incite the crowd into whirling dervishes. Cricien leaves the stage to rapturous applause, sweat dripping from his shit eating grin.
You have to pity any band that has to follow the runaway train that was Madball, this is something 7 Seconds vocalist Kevin Seconds acknowledges as the Californian melodic hardcore four piece take the stage to a slightly diminished audience. Undeterred the four piece rip through a set of classics including ‘The Crew’ and ‘In Your Face’ that soon get the remaining crowd whipped up into a suitably moshing mood. Their faster, melodic take on punk a welcome tonic to Madball testosterone fuelled set. All in all this was a stonking night of hardcore royalty from the old to newer school, from speed to crunch, that shows that this movement is as alive and well as it has ever been.
After the collapse of this years Sonisphere festival many of the estranged bands from the fallen line up have been turning up in London to continue to make their presence felt. In a week that’s seen two sold out shows by Refused it’s the turn of Norway’s hottest metal export Kvelertak to slay London with two sold out nights at the uber tiny Borderline.
The bearded throng of punters chant as the sextet saunter on to the tiny stage and launch into ‘Sjøhyenar (Havets herrer)’, vocalist Erlend Hjelvik hurling himself into the crowd. We’re treated to further choice cuts from their 2010 debut as the powerhouses that are ‘Fossegrim’ and ‘Blødtorst’ rain down upon the swirling audience. There really is something unique about this band and their punk/metal/rock/blastbeat hybrid is difficult to define or imagine on paper yet it gels in with a sadistic coherency both on record and in the live setting. Some new tracks are aired too tonight and if monsters like ‘Spring Fa Livet’ are anything to go by album number two is going to be a bruiser.
As their frenetic set rumbles on the crammed confines of this miniscule venue really begin to heat up and mic after mic is replaced as crowd surfers and divers alike get entangled in Hjelvik’s cables as he stalks the stage. The climax of the show is a rousing rendition of ‘Mjød’ which featured in the Troll Hunter movie, fists punching in the air and the crowd mouthing along to Norwegian lyrics they can neither understand nor pronounce. This is the beauty of Kvelertak, a band who let the music do the talking and transcend language barriers. More bands need to play with this venom and conviction, album number two soon please?
WHILE SHE SLEEPS
This Is The Six
[Search & Destroy]
While She Sleeps have been a dominant force in the UK scene for a while now, so it’s hard to believe that ‘This Is The Six’ is actually their debut full length. Tracks released prior to the album dropping (including ‘Dead Behind The Eyes’ and title track ‘This Is The Six’) give a clear indication of Sleeps’s intent to make this an intensely heavy album. To add variation to the record, Sleeps follow a similar pattern to 2010’s ‘The North Stands For Nothing’, adding piano interludes where appropriate to break up the aggression. Listeners are then treated to powerful riffs that seem utterly brutal after a moment of reflection.
Lawrence Taylor’s snarling screams gives a dark overtone to the whole record, the angst in his lyrics are spat into your face, so much so that you start to worry for his larynx..! It could be said that his vocal range isn’t overly impressive but raw emotion, captivating guitar melodies from Mat Welsh and Sean Long, alongside optimistic gang chants make up for any criticisms.
While She Sleeps have already impressed with their energetic live shows but now with the potential inclusion of tracks such as ‘Seven Hills’, Sleep’s artillery is instantly strengthened tenfold. The band embark on their biggest headline tour to date this autumn with the impressive Bleed From Within, Crossfaith and Polar as support, its going to be one heavy hitting show.
Perfectly combing the raw intensity and bounce of hardcore, with sinister and deafening metal, While She Sleeps are an exquisite example of metalcore. Drawing on strengths from ‘The North Stands For Nothing’, While She Sleeps pack this album full of brilliant tracks forming an album that demands a listen and stands up to the hype.
Catch While She Sleeps at the following shows:
Sep 26 Birmingham The Library @ Institute
Sep 27 Manchester Club Academy
Sep 28 Sheffield Corporation
Sep 29 Glasgow Garage
Sep 30 Newcastle Academy 2
Oct 2 Nottingham Rescue Rooms
Oct 3 Bristol Fleece
Oct 4 Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms
Oct 5 London Electric Ballroom
Finally, ‘The Gig That Would Never Happen’ has arrived. It’s hard to imagine how the Swedish quintet could have emphasised their (arguably premature) demise more strongly than recording a song called ‘Refused Are Fucking Dead’, but it’s amazing what time can heal. Fourteen years later, they’re back, and after incendiary performances at Coachella, Groezrock and Download festivals (amongst others), Dennis Lyxzen’s crew are back in London to play to far many more people than they did in their original incarnation.
London quartet Pettybone are powerful and bleak as hell, and certainly don’t sound like a band on the verge of splitting up. They deserve all the attention they get, but ultimately the crowd are here for one band only.
It’s inevitable that Refused’s set leans heavily on their classic ‘The Shape Of Punk To Come…’ record, but it’s surprising how fresh and relevant these songs sound after all this time; the stop-start riffs of the opening ‘Worms Of The Senses…’ whipping the floor into a frenzy.
The band sound and look fantastic, and set against a simple backdrop with good use of lighting, they’re more than happy to let the songs do the talking. By the time Lyxzen has crouched on an upturned monitor for ‘I’d Rather Be Dead’ and clambered up the Forum’s side staircase for ‘Summerholidays vs. Punkroutine’, the energy levels have gone through the roof – and remain there.
It is, of course, an encore airing of their signature track ‘New Noise’ which truly unites all present, and gives the Forum’s foundations a serious test in the process. Refused are a band who’ve frequently had the ‘legendary’ tag thrown at them in the last decade and a half, and tonight, they more than justify it.
So, your bicycle has been in the repair shop, getting a new front wheel fitted (the old one unexpectedly broke loose after six-odd years of loyal service). You’re excited, but slightly nervous, mainly because it’s an awesome bicycle, and you’re hoping that it’ll give you as much joy with the new wheel as it did with the old one. The guys at the shop say that this new wheel is pretty impressive, though, so you’re waiting with bated breath.
You’ve probably figured out the analogy by now. Gallows are back with album number three; their first with former Alexisonfire guitarist Wade MacNeil at the helm, and probably as good a riposte to their critics and doubters as we could have hoped for.
Make no mistake, this is a Gallows record through and through. From the moment ‘Victim Culture’ kicks in after a sinister spoken-word intro, those signature raw rock n’ roll riffs, squalling guitar solos and raucous gang vocals are all present in abundance, and sounding more muscular than ever. Frank Carter left large shoes to fill, but MacNeil proves himself more than capable; a hardcore screamer among the best of them, but able to hold a tune when it’s called for (most notably on the intro of the gloriously anthemic ‘Outsider Art’, which is sure to incite mayhem live).
None of this would matter much if the songs were substandard, but among the eleven tracks on offer here are some of Gallows’ best songs to date. ‘Everybody Loves You (When You’re Dead)’ matches anything from ‘Grey Britain’ or ‘Orchestra Of Wolves’ in ferocity alone; a stinging indictment of the ‘don’t speak ill of the dead’ mentality. ‘Depraves’ surfs in on a jagged Laurent Barnard riff before exploding into a carpe diem chorus that will have you howling along with conviction. Elsewhere, ‘Vapid Adolescent Blues’ and ‘Cult Of Mary’ are hardcore belters shot through with shards of melody, seething and writhing exactly as they should.
Long viewed as plucky underdogs who have survived (and prospered) through no little determination, it seems that the adversity of Carter’s departure has resulted in Gallows returning angrier and hungrier than ever. Mark my words: this bicycle has what it takes to go the distance.
They’ll be playing the Lock-Up Stage at this year’s Reading/Leeds festivals, before embarking on a full UK tour in October.
Coke Bust / Sick Fix
Platform, London
5th August 2012
A little bit of Washington DC arrived in town tonight in the shape of straight edge hardcore ragers Sick Fix and Coke Bust. In true DIY spirit this gig is hosted in a youth centre basement, is all ages, has stalls selling feminist literature, is bring your own booze, and leave your attitude at the door.
First onto the floor are the female fronted Sick Fix who lurch into a set of grindcore fuelled hardcore. Pounding with a rage and intensity of acts like Nails their twisted riffery chugs and lacerates through the blast beats to the beatdowns and is only let down by the small PA that just cannot handle a noise of this magnitude. Vocalist Michelle Northam vents her spleen in a guttural fashion, her face reddening with each rasp as she paces back and forth. This girl has some serious lungs on her. Tracks from their forthcoming debut album ‘Vexed‘ are aired tonight and after thirty minutes of relentless brutality they are greeted with rapturous applause and a queue at the merch table. This is band that takes no prisoners.
It’s Coke Bust‘s second visit to these shores and if you caught their last London show in 2010 you know you’re in for a treat. It becomes quickly apparent that they are sharing their drummer with Sick Fix, this man has to be a machine! After 30 minutes of blast beat skin pounding during their set he’s back to do it all over again with Coke Bust, a task which he makes look effortless. If only it were an Olympic sport, he’d be in for a medal. Coke Bust are just as fast and furious in their song delivery as their support tonight but in contrast encompass a more traditional hardcore sound, buzzing riffs and beatdown’s providing a cutting backdrop to front man Nick Tape’s scathing delivery, as he throws himself left to right, thrusting the mic into the crowd for odd gang chorus. A new track from their recent Vaccine split 7″ is debuted alongside more familiar material from their 2010 debut ‘Lines In The Sand‘. As the crowd is ushered forwards for the finale the pit erupts in a fitting climax to an awesome show.
It’s great to witness two bands that take the power and precision speed of grindcore but manage to break it’s monotony yet retain its ferocity. Sick Fix and Coke Bust manage this whilst each putting their own unique spin on it. If this is the new sound of hardcore emerging from DC these days then we can expect more excellent shows by young bands like these.
It is very hard to try and pinpoint music with blanket terms such as Down Tempo, some people may even refer it as Post-Dubstep, but I find that hard to believe. The likes of Four Tet have been making this eloquent genre around the same time as Dub-Step came out, in the late nineties. That statement may offend some people, but the matter of fact is, this is no competition. And I’m not comparing Mr. Parish to Mr. Hebden either; I’m just trying to give a little scope on this sub genre of electronic music that can be as slippery as an electric eel. It’s a style of music I generally find hard to connect with but the atmospheres created are second to none and they usually send me into some kind of dream like induced stupor, however that is not to say that statement is derogatory and that I don’t enjoy it.
Alex Parish A.K.A Adolescent is a Brighton born producer who on his debut EP is only twenty-one (oh the irony) and it is a well thought out package. I found it very easy to work to; music to me has different purposes and this serves well as great background music. From the art work to the samples, Parish pieces together an ethnic worldview catalyzed through his musical soundscape. From the foreign quire sample in Golden Halls Pt. 2 to the word play in the track names such asHangshai. It is apparent that a back to basics, minimal characteristic, influences his style. There are some intricate moments on the EP, for example the piano on K:TV is fazed in and turns the heavy synth on. This is synchronized with the beat and makes for a nice feature. I found it hard to tell in the arrangement of the song where the Wu Tang sample from Severe Punishment fitted in, but that says to me that it is mixed in incredibly well.
You could find it in the chilled out bars of Brighton or you could understand it from the multi cultural markets and the global understanding that is practiced in and around the streets of Brighton. On the other hand, it could just be that he has a good imagination. Whatever Adolescent’s influence is, this EP is a really good start and I wish him all the best.
It’s been over three years since P.O.S dropped his last album, the superb Never Better but he’s been a busy guy. Not content with making his own records, Stefon Alexander has been involved with his crew Doomtree’s last album, the brilliantly titled group Marijuana Death Squads and guests spots for artists as eclectic as Gayngs and Dark Time Sunshine, so we can forgive him for taking his time over the new album.
Finally, ‘The Gig That Would Never Happen’ has arrived. It’s hard to imagine how the Swedish quintet could have emphasised their (arguably premature) demise more strongly than recording a song called ‘Refused Are Fucking Dead’, but it’s amazing what time can heal. Fourteen years later, they’re back, and after incendiary performances at Coachella, Groezrock and Download festivals (amongst others), Dennis Lyxzen’s crew are back in London to play to far many more people than they did in their original incarnation.
