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PLAYING OUT LOUD!
REVIEWS
Gig Reviews -
CD Album Reviews - CD Single
Reviews
Gig Reviews
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LONGVIEW / KAIKO / DLUGOKECKI – Talking
Heads – Saturday 4th October
 Whatever
happened to Longview? In 2005, their album “Mercury” briefly threatened to be a
genuine contender to Snow Patrol’s radio friendly crown with epic single
“Further” making people sit up and take notice. But when the time came to push
on from these promising first steps, they disappeared. Why? No one knows but
with a new album due next February, they are back and maybe planning that long
awaited assault to the top.
Southampton tunesmiths Dlugokecki warmed a good sized crowd up with their gentle
melodies, a lot of which were slightly reminiscent of Damien Rice. The band were
blatantly enjoying themselves too. I’ve not seen members of a band exchanging
this many smiles between each other since Haircut 100!
London band Kaiko were up next. Combining James Tyler’s fragile vocals with
skilled, urgent playing and a pretty unique sound, these boys are well worth
keeping an eye on. “Substitute For Love” was the pick of the bunch with it’s
great guitar hook and sublime climax.
Longview took to the stage like a band on a mission. Treating us mainly to new
songs, awkward looking front man Rob McVey played like a man who was determined
to make up for lost time. He has plenty of energy but at times looks like he
can’t decide if he is a romantic poet or a Weller-esque angry young man.
Longview are a difficult band to pigeonhole as they do not have an image as such
so, perhaps sensibly, they let the songs do the talking. Let’s face it, tunes
like “Can’t Explain” and “I Would” are more than enough to make up for slightly
dodgy dress sense. New songs “Sky Turns Red” and “She’s Taking Me Over” suggest
that bigger and better days are at last around the corner for the band who may
steal that “radio friendly” crown yet. Review by Paul
Lane.
THE SILVER BEATLES – The Brook – 27th
September 2008
 An
enthusiastic crowd of Fab Four disciples were treated to a lively, passionate
and good humoured set by well established “tribute act”, The Silver Beatles on
Saturday night.
The night was split into two sets. The first set mainly concentrated on the Fabs
early material between 1962 to 1964. Opening with “She Loves You”, the band
rampaged through many of the early hits such as “Love Me Do”, “I Saw Her
Standing There” and “All My Loving” along with unexpected treats such as “I’m A
Loser” and “The Night Before.”
Unlike the almost creepy Bootleg Beatles, The Silver Beatles do not take
themselves too seriously and you can tell they are enjoying themselves just as
much their audience. The show was not short on its humorous moments either. At
one point, “Paul McCartney” introduced “George Martin” onto the stage to play
the piano, before admitting that their “look-a-like” actually looked nothing
like George Martin at all!!
After finishing the first set with a wonderfully raw and energetic romp through
“Twist & Shout”, the band took a short break before returning to the stage to
cover the second phase of The Beatles career. Again, a few less obvious tracks
were thrown in for good measure. The set saw the likes of “Taxman” and “Got To
Get You Into My Life” rubbing shoulders with established anthems like “Come
Together”, “Back In The USSR”, “All You Need Is Love” and tonight’s almost
inevitable closer, an epic and joyous rendition of “Hey Jude”.
A fulfilled crowd left The Brook with a smile and a glow, feeling safe in the
knowledge that the spirit of the best pop band that the world has ever seen is
set to live on for some time yet. Gig Review by Paul Lane.
CD Album Reviews
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CD album reviews coming soon. Watch this space!
CD Single Reviews
(top)
BY MARTIN SIRL
Sticker, Star and Tape by Sam Isaac
Rather uninspiring third single from an up and coming indie popster. At heart
it’s a decent enough song and the call and response choruses owe something to
seventies punk acts like The Ruts. But in the final analysis this is just one of
those songs you hear and five minutes later are struggling to remember the
title, let alone how the whole thing sounded. Isaac’s other work suggests he is
capable of something more than this.
Don’t Drink The Water by The Stone Gods
A much more likeable effort than their previous offering this is much more the
kind of thing you would expect from a bunch of former Darkness personnel.
Opening with the kind of twiddling guitars that were so much a trademark of
Hawkins and Co this quickly turns into a fairly meaty pop/rock song with a
driving beat and subtle style changes reminiscent of Thin Lizzy in their prime.
This may not be everyone’s cup of chat but has a better than evens chance of
attracting a few new followers to the cause.
The Stoop by Little Jackie
The title track from their debut album this is sassy, streetwise hip-hop from
Brooklyn-based duo Little Jackie. Singer and lyricist Imani Coppola’s words are
the aural equivalent of an Ivan Koota painting and conjure up a picture of a
sunny Saturday afternoon in the New York suburbs so vivid it’s as if you were
there right now. Dump Lily Allen somewhere on the Brooklyn Bridge with an iPod
full of classic Motown and she might eventually come up with something sounding
a little like this.
Bathroom Gurgle by Late Of The Pier
If you can get past the eighties nostalgia and obvious Kraftwerk influences this
is actually very good. After the best part of a minute of broody electronica
this explodes, quite out of the blue, into a high energy dance anthem which is
as clever and as innovative as anything likely to hit the clubs this year. I’m
not sure how you categorise the Donnington 4-piece, but at this rate Late Of The
Pier run the risk of becoming unclassifiable.
Love Or Whatever by The Rivers
Indie nonsense from a Brighton group with a lead singer who sounds a lot like
that guy from Kings Of Leon. One would guess that The Rivers are aiming for that
same kind of charming garage band rock but sadly this falls well short,
comparisons with its comtemporaries being the only thing to drag it temporaily
clear of complete anonymity. The accompanying Heroine Hero is even more
forgettable having not only a daft title but some mid-song whistling that would
have Whistling Jack Smith turning in his grave.
Fly Away by Honey Ryder
Honey Ryder are a London twosome: Lindsay O’Mahony and Martyn Shone, who pinched
their name from Ursula Andress’ character in Dr No. Fly Away is a powerful yet
strangely unfulfilling number full of lush strings and soaring guitars, with Ms
O’Mahony’s vocals topping the whole thing off ion some style. I think the main
problem here is that the song outstays its welcome slightly, the evidence
provided by the slightly shorter acoustic version here which is more succinct
and quite simply…well, better.
Indestructible by Disturbed
Unpleasant dirge from Chicago’s Disturbed. Indestructible opens with an
impressive range of wartime sound effects but it’s not long before you begin to
realise that this is actually the best part of the track. The moment Disturbed
make their appearance the whole thing turns into the kind of run-of-the-mill
heavy metal the average 16-year old can churn out in their spare bedroom after a
few cans of Special Brew. Gloomy, doom-laden rock of the kind that used to be
popular back in the middle ages but which these days is best avoided.
La La Love by TD Lind
Upbeat pop from the much-lauded singer-songwriter who writes the sweet pop songs
in the style of Crowded House and Beatles c.1965. It’s certainly refreshing to
hear someone who sounds like they’re actually enjoying life and doesn’t mind
telling the whole world about it. The downside here is the song itself which
threatens to be good but in the end never actually goes anywhere. The intro is
great but once you’ve heard it you’ve just about heard the whole song. Great
jangly giutars and vocals that sound like a young Phil Collins on acid; all
stirring stuff but just when you think this is really going to take off it
stops.
You Made Your Bed by Red Blooded Women
Cleverly put together electro dance of the type that would make Donna Summer
proud. This is disco music for the modern era but with its fair share of dark
and bitchy undertones. RBW’s influences are clear to all with Kraftwerk, Moroder
and Kylie all casting their not-inconsiderable shadows over this to varying
degrees, the end result emerging as a neatly crafted piece of pop that meets the
needs of the ears and the feet in equal doses.
Rockstar by Reemer
Manchester’s Reemer return with an everyday story of your average working class
rockstar wannabe. Driving, industrious pop which is tailor made for the gusto of
live performance yet seems strangely lacking in oomph in a studio context. The
accompanying Words is a more accomplished effort: a meaty ballad which is much
more than mere filler, illustrating that these boys are not only accomplished
musicians but classy songwriters to boot. Reemer’s first two singles have been
good. Numbers 3 and 4 will be better, I am quite sure.
Same Old Lines by Rod Thomas
A catchy little number from London-based Welshman. Track 1 here is that rare
thing: a ukelele-based pop song not seen since the days of Tiny Tim. This one
has relationship breakdown as its subject matter with Thomas crooning “I’m bored
with the same old lines as last year. It’s not you it’s me. It’s over”. Yes,
we’ve all been there at sometime in our lives but the not many of us would have
the composure and talent to pen a song quite as sweet as this one afterwards.
ARGH EP by The Cathode Ray Syndrome
A strange cocktail from a band whose members hail from..well all over. At times
this is dark and brooding while at other times it posesses a certain ambient
beuaty which is frankly quite touching. All in all this is a critic’s nightmare:
rock music that defies classification and not a vocal in sight. I can detect a
touch of King Crimson in the musical make-up of tracks like the opening
Mexicanism, while New Rock features a surely deliberate lift from Kraftwerk’s
Trans Europe Express as its main theme. Warning Lid even hints at the subtle
jazz-rock of bands like Caravan . It would be wrong to claim this is always easy
listening but it is never less than interesting from beginning to end.
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