Noise Annoys?

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Thursday night, and I am having a drink with friends. Friends who saw My Bloody Valentine last night. Tales are told of post-gig telephone calls terminated after it becomes apparent neither side can hear anything for the tinnitus now ravaging all ears exposed to this unholy noise. I am told the venue are handing out ear plugs to patrons. There is a reprise of their famed noise improv on ‘You Made Me Realise’ that ‘is like a jet plane taking off’. It’s the same story I’ve been hearing all day from the multitude of friends who attended the first night. ‘I lasted three songs before I had to use the earplugs’, says one. Hot damn, this sounds fun. Eventually, I remember to finish my beer and actually go to the gig, and one excruciating ankle cramp (don’t ask) later I arrive... midway through the first song. Whoops. If anything, though, it only heightens the anticipation. I can hear a familiar melody set atop rumbling bass while I’m still only halfway up the street. Awesome. As I...

Sound like The Futureheads, need to sound like themselves

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Look See Proof, a very English four piece played King Tuts on the 4th July, supporting the release of their debut album. They were quite good, actually.

A baptism in the key of E.

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By all rights, I really shouldn’t be here. The New York Dolls without Johnny Thunders (or Arthur ‘Killer’ Kane or Jerry Nolan for that matter - all three are deceased) should be as big a turn-off to the purist in me as the likes of Queen without Freddie Mercury. It’s an act of musical heresy akin to the Rolling Stones without Keith Richards. And I’ve already satisfied my curiousity as to the worth of this line-up once, when I caught the 21st century New York Dolls at Leeds festival a few years ago, playing to a depressingly uninterested outdoor crowd in the afternoon mere weeks after Arthur Kane's death. Hearing the Dolls stellar 70's songbook (the holy text of rock and roll from an alternate universe where sleaze rock reigns supreme) live was great fun, sure, but all far too polite and neutered to ever convince that this was really the Dolls. Yet something tells me I shouldn't miss this, and so I force myself to get dressed despite the heavy toll taken by last night's drinking...

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Since being declared one-hit wonders with their single Creep in 1992, Radiohead has proven to be anything but, rising to become one of the biggest British rock bands around and releasing several Grammy-winning albums. The band has spanned genres, from lightweight pop-rock and simple riffs to complex guitar-driven anthems, jazz-influenced songs and bizarre electronic dance-trance melodies. This experimentation is fuelled by the highly creative natures of the members; lead singer Thom Yorke released his solo electronic album ‘The Eraser’ in 2006 whilst Johnny Greenwood is a resident composer for the BBC and, in addition to being the band’s lead guitarist, can also play several other instruments including the viola and organ. His brother Colin Greenwood mans the bass and synthesizers, and the remaining two members are Ed O’Brien on guitar and backing vocals and Phil Selway dealing with percussion. Their newest album ‘In Rainbows’ hit no. 1 in both the UK and US charts and has been...

Rubbish

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Silent Cry is Feeder’s sixth album but it could easily be any of them as they all sound the same. Bland rock acts can sometimes muster offense by their blandness but Feeder can’t even reach that pinnacle of Snow Patrol turdness. Brisk drums, banal guitar work married to insipid vocals and melodies are the order of the day in a fashion that makes the Stereophonics resemble the Supersuckers. We Are The People opens the record on would be chest beating anthemics, “Why do we pray? Why do we talk about angels flying on their golden wings?”. Even fucking Creed would’ve thought twice about this track’s pompous metaphysics, marrying rubbish lyrics to big diet-metal guitars. Dragged out to nearly five minutes, We Are The People well…drags. Follow up Itsumo is more or less the same song but with louder bass in the mix. Miss You is slightly better, a brisk pop punk number that rattles along and manages the record’s only true spark of life. Being Feeder of course there are rubbish...

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Sparks? "Who are Sparks" you may ask. If you asked that question I just slapped you. Metaphorically of course, I deplore violence (mainly because I'm terrible at both giving and receiving the slings and arrows of physical harm). Sparks are the band most likley to occupy the "underated genius" bracket in their fans' music collections, if not the whole shelving unit. I've only recently discovered they had recorded material outside of This Town Ain't Big Enough For The Both Of Us and by God (or other appropriate blasthempy relating to your particular choice of imaginary friend) I am very, very glad that I did. There isn't any particular reason to write this, other then the non STD related burning I feel to do so. Sparks last album, Hello Young Lovers, was released in 2006. I reckon it would be nice to discover if anyone else loves Sparks, or attempt to introduce folks to their brilliance (perhaps circumnavigating the 80's apart from All You Ever Think About Is...

Ex-Darkness boys bring ye olde rock and roll to Glasgow.

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Not an easy band to sell to prospective new listeners, are Stone Gods. Such are the fickle vagaries of fashion and taste that the phrase 'featuring ex-members of The Darkness' is probably far more likely to elicit laughter than excite interest these days. The band themselves seem to be aware of this, and have continually stressed the fundamental differences between their old outfit and this one. For one, no Justin Hawkins, and with him goes the inimitable screech and camp sensibilities that first gained that band attention yet probably most doomed them to novelty status. In his place is a much-heavier musical direction captained by Richie Edwards (not that one, obviously), the bassist who replaced Frankie Poullain (he of the infamous handlebar and pirate gear look) for the latter half of the band's career, now firmly embedded in the guitar-slingin' frontman role and taking to it with a quite remarkable level of enthusiasm and ability, exhorting the crowd to go mental and...

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Queensryche, internationally renowned prog metal band from Seattle perform concept albums Operation: Mindcrime I and II at the Carling Academy Glasgow on Friday 13th June 2008.

Rock, Dublin, SiAn Records, Jaded Sun. Gypsy Trip

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This is an amazing album. From the first note to the last chord I loved the whole thing (with minor lulls around Crazyman and Higher—so minor they're hardly worth mentioning). The dirty rock sound, the not-entirely-unreminiscent-of-Rod-Stewart vocals, the crashing loudness, the lyrical stretch from sweet to silly to downright dirty, have all added up to make Gypsy Trip a staple on my mp3 player since it dropped through my letterbox. Jaded Sun are a Dublin based five-piece formed in 2003. They released an EP Raw in 2004, the title track of which broke all download records in Ireland. In 2005 they were asked to pen the theme to the remake of 80’s cult snowboarding film Apocalypse Snow (I’m not gonna pretend I’ve ever heard of this film before much less seen it). In 2007 they went into the studio with a view to making a rock album that felt “fresh and exciting”. I’ll nod my head to that; they did a bloody good job. Bits of it reminded me of AC/DC, bits of it reminded me of...

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For anyone not familiar with her work, Stockholm-born Lykke Li is probably best classified as a pop singer, although only in the same way that Kate Bush or Prince are best classified as pop singers. Her debut album, 'Youth Novels', produced mainly by Bjorn from Peter, Bjorn and John, is a damn fine listen, somehow positively rammed with catchy hooks while still sounding strange and mysterious. Live, she's a little less ethereal and more just straight-up funky, with a percussion-heavy, brutally minimal sound that often forgoes bass altogether a la prime period Prince. It would be ridiculously sexy even if she wasn't a 22 year old Swedish lass. Interestingly, she's a much braver and ballsier singer live than on record, equally at home with dark folk-tinged epics and quirky dance-pop numbers. In particular, first single 'Little Bit', already a favourite of mine on record, proves emotionally devastating in the live arena. Great moves too, made even more adorable by her...