Monthly Archives: July 2006

The Longcut – Norwich Arts Centre

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by Jo

22.7.06

My god, the hottest night in history, and we’re indoors. The massive stone walls of this former church are not providing a chill, they’re holding the heat in and multiplying it! It’s not too bad for starters, so we get in place for the first support. The Shadow Project, local lads.. I dunno what we were expecting, but certainly not instrumentals for the first two songs! Made us sit up and take note.. they’re certainly tuneful, unlike many bands with a technical bent, and they don’t sit about messing with knobs and switches, either. Energetic and eccentric, ambient in a rock way. Their ‘Voices’ EP is available online, and is selling out. They’re very good, and should go a long way. Hope so.

www.myspace.com/theshadowproject

Mumm-Ra were on next.. managed by the same peeps as the Kaiser Chiefs, apparently. They were coming out of soundcheck when we arrived, and were promptly accosted by an enthusiastic fan. The five from Bexhill-on-Sea met at school, and have been a band ever since they knew what one was. It all sounded pretty good, but I’m really sorry lads. The heat was just too much, and we had to have a breather.. missed some of the set. They were very popular, and no doubt will be back.

www.mumm-ra.com

By now I was drinking water. Can’t stand the stuff, but needs must.

Right, here we go. The Longcut. These boys are emphatically not from Manchester, they met there. They’re not in the ‘Manc sound’ pigeonhole, and don’t want to be labelled as anything, one feels. Everyone in the place is too hot to move, but suffer gladly, especially the band, who bravely entertain. This is deeper, rockier and has a dirtier sound than the other two bands, although the ambient tones complement those of The Shadow Project. if you like Loop, it’s like a harder version of that, and faster. I wondered how Stuart was going to manage drums and singing, but it goes surprisingly well, switching from one to the other with practised ease. Keyboards thrown in as well! It’s pretty loud, good fun, the band are tight, and if it weren’t so hot there’d be an impressive moshpit. You really should see this lot live before they outgrow these venues. They’re getting a shedload of attention.

Hot off the press:

“We have an online EP available on 21st August. The EP includes four tracks, Idiot Check, Vitamin C, Lonesome No More! and The Kiss Off, which were recorded at Airtight studios. Available for the bargain price of £1.50 from iTunes/ Napster or free if you’re on the mailing list.
Our next single is out in Oct, ‘A Tried and Tested Method’. More details about the release dates and b-side details will be sent soon.”

Off you go and have a listen then.

Setlist:

Vitamin C
Late Night Bus
Gravity and Crisis
Transition
Evil Dance
Lonesome No More
Tried and Tested
Quiet Life
Spires

www.thelongcut.com
www.myspace.com/thelongcut

The pleasures of touring with German glamrockers

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by Louise

Last month I went on a mini-tour of the UK with German glamrockers; THE PLEASURES. It was their first time gigging in the UK and it was cool to see how people reacted to their wild shows… The UK isn’t used to that much glitter!

I intended to keep a Tour Diary whilst we were actually on the tour, but I’m afraid debauchery prevailed… Thus, the following article was written once I’d (mostly) recovered from the excitement and sleep deprivation.

What an insane four days!

The tour kicked off on Thursday July 13th at Nottingham’s Junktion 7. Quite frankly, after so many logistical amendments to the action plan, it’s a wonder we even found one another and made it to the venue! But we did, and did The Pleasures ever leave their mark on that place?! And I don’t just mean sticking & scattering flyers all over the place, which, of course, we also did.

All of the bands were present and correct at the venue for around 6pm. The headlining band, King Lizard, had been drinking aaaaall day with their manager, who soon slipped into booze-induced slumber during sound-check and was subsequently made an example of for several photos.

Sound-checks went smoothly for King Lizard and Sweet Seduction, but The Pleasures had a few technical issues, involving various band members getting streams of electric-shocks from their equipment and one another. But after some technical wizardry, about which I know nothing so that’s all the explanation you’ll get, the problem seemed to be under control… Though I will later find out that, during the show, Lord (guitar & vocals) received several shocks after hurtling himself to the floor in the throes of musical passion and subsequently found himself draped in an electrically-charged Dancette (vocals)!

The backstage room was a tiny, hot, humid kitchen of sorts, cluttered with the bands’ affects. Various musicians milled in and out, but The Pleasures kept it occupied until their stage time and made very good use of the single wall-mounted mirror. I watched with intrigue as the band got ready for the show, changing from jeans and t-shirts to lycra and sparkles. Dazzling colours, make-up, glitter and fake blood everywhere!

Sweet Seduction was first on the bill at 8:45, warming up the crowd very nicely with that feisty rock n roll. Then finally, after months of planning and organising (and waiting), The Pleasures were set to play their first ever UK gig. Excitement, anticipation and adrenaline coursed speedily through my veins as I watched the guys drape feather boas over their mic stands. And finally, FINALLY ‘Lollipop’ exploded into the room, bounced off the walls, reverberated in my gut… Fantastic!

The show got off to a rather dramatic start when, surely no more than 30 seconds into the set, Dancette got a little over-enthusiastic with the swinging of his mic stand and subsequently sent a large ceiling tile crashing to the floor in several pieces. In a split second, a bolt of panic sliced through me as I suddenly feared everything would go hideously wrong. But I was foolish to worry. The show went on without hesitation and a song and a half later, Junktion 7 had fallen in love with The Pleasures, rocking out to every tune, applauding and cheering riotously.

The rest of the 30 minute set passed without incident, but with bundles of the energy and enthusiasm I had expected from The Pleasures. Band and audience bounced off one another, kindling an undeniable buzz, which made that night a fantastic and very memorable first-UK-gig.

King Lizard followed. They’ve got style and charisma, they play trashy, sleazy fast-paced rock n roll and they have a band name that inspires intrigue. The grand finale to a great night.

A lot of loitering, mingling, photo-taking and general merriment later, we headed to our lodgings (Tour Promoter James’ house, conveniently situated in Nottingham), sorted out who would sleep where, faffed about some more and eventually collapsed into bed at around 2:30am.

Friday, July 14th

Day of the London gig. Early start. For everyone else, about 8am. For me, 5:40am. Curse my bizarre sleep(less) patterns.

Eight of us piled into the tour bus (rented minibus) at around 11am and began the journey south. Didn’t get off to the greatest start when we found ourselves heading North. But it’s ok, our driver had an excuse; “I’m German!”
Soon travelling in the right direction, a somewhat raucous and very entertaining journey ensued. Various bad-taste jokes were made about a neighbour of our host’s, who had given us an earful that morning about the level of noise she had endured upon our arrival at around 1:30am. Hell, it wasn’t me! I’d made a speedy retreat indoors to relieve my bladder. It must have been the Germans. Amongst the jokes, the rock trivia, the sing-a-longs and the unnecessary violation Mr. Pleasure (three inch tall teddy bear sporting a ‘The Pleasures’ t-shirt), we witnessed a truck transporting a skip with the legend “METAL ONLY” etched into the back of it. This entertained us all massively. Though the driver of the truck didn’t seem to appreciate our displays of rock fingers, thumbs-up and general enthusiasm as we sailed passed him. He obviously didn’t appreciate quite what he had.

A brief(ish) stop at some services, for food, saw Dancette discover the apparent phenomenon that is the massage chair. Hold that thought – we will later have much more fun with said chairs.

And so, we arrived in London, after only another one or two minor navigational glitches, at 3pm. Shortly thereafter, I was tasked with guiding Lord & Dancette across London to Totalrock radio station where they were to be interviewed at 4pm. Getting to the place was the easy part, finding the right studio in that maze of a building was another story… But eventually, with help, we triumphed. We walked into the cool calmness of the studio and were greeted by the charming DJ Twang, who played a couple of The Pleasures’ tracks (Yes It’s Us & Parade Parade) before interviewing the guys live on air, with a couple more album tracks (Honeymoon In Venice & Well Cum) thrown in at intervals.

A little over half an hour later, we were on our way back to the venue, hurrying across London in sweltering heat.

I had time to snap a few shots of the band in the beer garden before they had to sound-check. Impressively, the sound engineer was Austrian, thus spoke the guys’ lingo, so I had no idea what was going on, but nothing blew up, so I guess it went ok!

With a few hours to spare before the show, there was plenty of time to ‘chill’ for a while… Then the band were interviewed by the very lovely Nix from Pure Rawk fanzine before it was time to glam-up. No backstage room at the venue, so the guys undertook their transmogrifications in the pub. As all the other bands on the bill that night were indie types, our glam boys caused quite a stir. On stage at 9pm. The crowd weren’t quite so enthusiastic as the Nottingham lot, but The Pleasures definitely made an impression, had a good time, sold some CDs and at the end of the night had seemingly converted a handful of indies to glammies. Not bad for a night’s work. Their performance was even described as “mesmerising”. Quite!

So, Nottingham bound we were. Though not without a stop at Castle Donnington services, where Dancette re-discovered massage chairs. I got the impression this was an entertaining encounter, but as I was too busy trying to sleep in the bus, I can only speculate as to what went on in those services…

Back at James’ house it soon became apparent that the shower was leaking fairly spectacularly, which meant it was now out of order. No showers for us sweaty lot then. Nice.

After a bit of relaxation followed by hysterical giddiness, everybody eventually retired to bed. I turned the lamp out, expecting darkness to descend, but all I got was a daylight-drenched room… it was 5am.

Saturday, July 15th

So much for being at the tattoo place for midday. I woke up at 12:15, and I was the first to wake up. No matter, we did eventually make it to the tattoo place, where a few of our rabble got new tattoos, including Lord Viv, who had a pink star tattooed on his arm, to mark the tour.

For some of us, the rest of the afternoon was largely spent sitting in James’ garden talking crap, singing silly songs and painting fingernails, whilst the others went to buy coach tickets for the bands’ journey back to Stansted Airport the next day. Oh the glamorous life of a glam-rock band.

Eventually at the venue in Leicester, I sat comfortably and watch the guys lug equipment around and sound-check. Third time witnessing it and I hadn’t tired of hearing Lord scream his guts out for several seconds, into the mic, then, cool and calm as a boy could ever be, says; “That’s the loudest I get”. Mic check done. I love it.

The line up for the Leicester gig was:

Firebrand
New Generation Superstars
The Pleasures

I was looking forward to seeing New Generation Superstars, as I’d heard only good things about them. I see why. They rocked. I particularly enjoyed their rather impromptu performance of The Ramones’ Blitzkrieg Bop, which apparently they’d previously vowed never to play again. I’m glad they broke the vow.

When the Pleasures took to the stage, there was a stir similar to that of the London gig. You can see people giving their friends a ‘wow, look at these guys’ kind of glance as they wonder what to expect from the performance.

The set-list varied each night, but it’s certainly safe to say that The Pleasures’ gloriously deep and heavy cover of T-Rex’s ‘Children of the Revolution’ went down a storm each night. And well it might, it’s fantastic.

As ever, the band gave their all and had a ball. For me, their was an air of finality to the night, as it was their last gig and the band would be going home tomorrow, but in a strange way that made it extra special, and we were all in very high spirits.

After the gig, some time was spent in the bar downstairs, basking in the brilliance of Appetite For Destruction as it blared like pure bliss through the speakers. Eventually though, we were Nottingham bound again on a mightily fun bus journey which was host to many a sing-a-long, courtesy of the Rocky Horror soundtrack and Bohemian Rhapsody. Here featured a truly classic Wayne’s World moment, when suddenly a small sea of heads before me were banging. A moment I shall likely never forget, for its comic and rock n roll value.

A detour took us to Castle Donnington services, for the guys to use the shower facilities. Needless to say, the massage chairs were re-re-discovered. And abused this time, when James, in his intoxicated wisdom, decided it would be a good idea to lie face-down on the vibrating chair. It soon became apparent to everyone within a five mile radius that this was a very pleasurable experience for James. It proved a very amusing experience for all onlookers.

Several rounds with the chairs later, we finally left at 2:40am. Once back at James’, the party kept on rolling – with an interview for OI thrown in for good measure – until the band had to leave at 5:30am to begin their journey back to Germany. No-one wanted it to end but, of course, it had to. All good things…

And so, it remains for me to summarise; it was an awesome, riotous, rockin’ few days that left us all thirsty for more.

Massive thanks to James, for being a general star, and to The Pleasures for being an inspiration and the cause of/reason for such a brilliant experience. I love you all.

Check out The Pleasures here:

www.thepleasures.de
www.myspace.com/thepleasures

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A perfect venom

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by Louise

Her name is simply; Steph.

She’s a London based singer/songwriter, managed and produced by the legendary Stuart Epps, who’s worked with Led Zep, Elton John, Oasis, Robbie Williams and George Harrison to name but a few.

When you hear Steph’s music you can see why he snapped her up. She’s extremely talented. Her music is full of soul. Her lyrics beautiful, her voice gorgeous, smooth… Floating effortlessly through beguiling melodies.

Venom is a particularly beautiful track, to which I’m currently addicted. It starts out with lazily seductive vocals and gentle string-strumming that promises so much… and delivers. Striking elegance with a spiky edge and a voice like caramel make this a gorgeously emotive track.

You can listen to Venom and three other tracks on Steph’s Myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/stephandshwepp

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Trashstock 2006

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by Louise

If you’re looking for a weekend of rock debauchery without the camping, the mud and the hefty price tag of a festival, then look no further!

Some genius has invented Trash Stock; two nights of full on ROCK, in none other than Nottingham’s Junktion 7.

This year’s line-up is absolutely fantastic:

Friday, August 18th:

DEVILISH PRESLEY – http://www.devilishpresley.com/

PATCHWORK GRACE – http://www.myspace.com/pwg

DRUGDEALERCHEERLEADER – http://www.myspace.com/drugdealercheerleader

SNAKESKIN – http://www.myspace.com/snakeskinrock

Saturday, August 19th:

THE GLITTERATI – http://www.myspace.com/theglitterati

THE HIGH SOCIETY – http://www.myspace.com/highsocietyuk

DISARM – http://www.myspace.com/disarmmusic

ZEN MOTEL – http://www.myspace.com/zenmotel

HEADRUSH – http://www.myspace.com/headrushrocks

Plus Special Guest DJs from Teenage Casket Co. on both nights!

Doors open at 9pm and the party goes on until 2am.

Fri 18 – £6 on the door
Sat 19 – £8 on the door
Fri & Sat Ticket – £12

A damn good bargain, if you ask me. Perhaps the greatest bargain you’ll ever find. No shit.

It promises to be a brilliant weekend. (With a line-up like that, it would be difficult to be anything less)!

Any questions about the gig, you can contact the promoter here: info@theriot.org.uk

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Blast From The Past

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by Davey

Blast From The Past

Thin Lizzy

Ahh, Thin Lizzy. One of the few bands you can’t fault. A leviathan in the world of rock, an immortal force, Thin Lizzy started out as the brainchild of one Birmingham-born Irishman named Phil Lynott, who wanted to create music for the working classes, by the working classes. An admirable goal. Especially when the competition was so fierce. When the band formed, complete with a name that legend has it was lifted from a Beano cartoon, they straightaway had to put up a fight against the mighty Lez Zeppelin. But The Zep’s brand of rock was, at least at that time, a more juvenile offering, and Thin Lizzy’s sense of down-to-earthness and a “novelty rock” version of the Irish folk tale ‘Whiskey In The Jar’ made the public take notice. Their most productive phase came when, after a string of unimpressive wannabe rock musicians, Brian Robertson and Scott Gorman were recruited. The guitarist slot became a revolving door, but once Eric Bell was replaced by Gary Moore, and the band could start experimenting with those twin guitar harmonies that the band name is now synonymous with, they became stable (at least for a little while) in order to kick off in style.

One of the most impressive things about Thin Lizzy was their resilience. The media in the 70’s hated hard rock and heavy metal, but the band toured relentlessly, with emotive music that really meant something, and so they were always ensured fans. The records came fast, but Lynott found he simply couldn’t reproduce a formula that worked as well as ‘The Boys Are Back In Town’. He started to write incredibly ambitious songs and wrapping them in vaguely articulated concept albums. Their huge fan base shrank into a small yet enthusiastic bunch of hard rockers – and they were the ones that mattered while Thin Lizzy was made to look like tired old traditional rock by the rise of punk. With the benefit of hindsight, this fan base is no doubt stronger than ever.

The post-Thin Lizzy years were some of the best for the former members, but this success was short lives for Phil Lynott, the original Rocker, who died in 1986, aged 37. Fortunately, with Gorman and John Sykes still touring under the Thin Lizzy moniker, the legend will never die; and we’ve always got Dan Hawkins’ stage t-shirts to remind us of the name.

No doubt the greatest tribute band in the world, Limehouse Lizzy, are touring the country this summer, blasting their talent far and wide. I cannot stress enough how much you NEED to see this band, Thin Lizzy fan or not. Their talent can only be matched by the real Thin Lizzy at the height of their fame.

For anyone looking to listen to more of Lizzy’s music, and don’t know what record to buy, go with ‘Wild One – The Very Best of Thin Lizzy’. It does exactly what it says on the tin. Then get hold of ‘Cowboy Song’ as an added treat. Do this and you really have got the greatest collection of songs by an incredible band that is as famous for their live shows as their music.

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The Basement + The Isles +Sertoli

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by Emma

The Basement – Leeds Cockpit – 16 July 2006

A quiet Sunday evening in Leeds, not many people around. We went to the Cockpit to check out Irish folk rockers The Basement following the release of new (and excellent I might add) album ‘Illicit Hugs and Playground Thugs’.

First onstage were a melodic Sertoli, who were technically good and very entertaining but also rather tranquil. Their songs were well written and the vocals were excellent, but it’s more music to relax to, and the pace almost lulled me into an early Sunday snooze.

I was quickly snapped out of the trance and awoken with a bang by next band The Isles. The local boys put on an awesome show and within seconds of playing had brought in a bigger audience, turned up the volume and completely turned around the mood. The Isles played an impressive set with fiercesome levels of energy, dancing their way through their set with vocalist enchanting the small crowd with cheeky banter and a powerful presence. The songs themselves were upbeat, fun and down to earth and I would encourage anyone to take a listen at www.ilovetheisles.com. I would eat my hat if this band doesn’t make it.

The Basement entered the stage on an awesome vibe thanks to The Isles and they sure as hell weren’t going to let that slip! Playing several songs from ‘Illicit Hugs…’, the Basement played smoothly on and you would have to be half dead to resist dancing along with this band! Their folk rock combination provided a unique and feel-good soundtrack for the rest of the evening, husky vocals gravelly yet soft and soothing. The highlights for me were the gorgeous song ‘When Tomorrow Comes’ and ‘When The Night’s Gone Blue’. The Basement complete with beaming faces and straw hats look like a really happy set of guys, and this does project forward to the audience – I stood with a big smile on my face the whole way through. Music for the soul, no less, and I’m already looking forward to the next time.

You can find more information on the Basement at www.thebasement.co.uk , and I would highly recommend purchasing a copy of ‘Illicit Hugs and Playground Thugs’ as soon as you can.

Emma

White Rose Movement

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by Jo

Norwich Arts Centre 6.7.06

This is a band that I saw supporting The Rakes not so long back.. was impressed then, so the opportunity of seeing them again was greatly welcomed. It was a hot night without being jammed into the admittedly delightful Arts Centre.. we stayed outside for a while. Right, usual spaces at the back, hanging on the rail over and above the sound desk. Mm vodka..

WRM (who have a smashing logo) to my eternal delight, are steeped in 80’s class pop and rock… I recognised Bauhaus and Duran Duran without trying very hard, and it was all music (!) to my nostalgic ears. Most of this audience were waaaay too young for the full impact of memory.. (many thanks for ‘Love like Blood’ before the grand entrance!) There’s an 80’s look too… can I have Taxxi’s top? Please? Nice red completely see-through chiffon shirt worn by Finn. People ought to follow that trend. Ahem. Anyway.. those rock foundations with pop fancy brickwork gave the crowd something very solid to cling to as they jumped and moshed and partied their hearts out. And that was just the crowd on stage.. Finn’s manic, desperate running from wall to wall trying to escape the asylum, and Owen’s rocking to make the asylum more bedlamish.. heavens. I’ve never seen a bassist stand on the drum over the drummer before. Very slashy. My word, we were satisfied.. and hot and sweaty. I didn’t dance, being where I was, so lord knows what the moshpitters were like.. poo smelly.

I think we need lots more of that in our lives.

I don’t think I wore my emergency late night long sleeves at all..

Setlist

Kick
Girls in the Back (ooooo poss my fave)
London’s Mine
Test Card Girl
Idiot Drugs
Deborah Khan
Pig Heil Jam
Love is a Number
Alsatian

www.whiterosemovement.co.uk

debut album ‘Kick’ out.. see website

How Time Flies

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Welcome one, welcome all to this, the July edition of Optimum Impact.

 

July. Already! I can barely believe it was a whole two years ago that three of us went gallivanting across Europe to festivals in Brussels and Germany, chasing Darkness.

 

It was on that trip that we did most of the proof-reading for the very first issue of OI. And, of course, we kept our first Sixsister Diary. (You’ll soon be able to find that in the Archives – promise!)

 

Anywho, here we are… Two years later… Still rockin’. We hope you lot are still with us!

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Sign ‘Thank God For Silence’ LP

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by Davey

Good god, you could just inject this kind of rock straight into your veins for an instant shuddering high. That’s what Sign’s LP feels like. Fronted by the enigmatic Zolberg, the only 19-year-old guitar prodigy around, the Icelandic power quartet simply demand attention with their G ‘n’ R/Glitterati type brand of hard rock, complete with spindly threads of sadness, sex, hope, wonder, and an obvious love for what they do.

Less knowledgeable beings could mistake their music for dumb teenage din, but there’s a lot of intelligence and worldly wisdom behind this LP, as opposed to the naivety that tends to cut through and ruin much of today’s youth rock. On top of this, they are breathtakingly dexterous with their instruments, making the most of the power of the harmony, vocally as well as instrumentally.

The title track of this LP stands out as the most epic, heroic song, stretching Zolberg’s vocal talents to the limit, atop a heavy backdrop of thick, sticky-sweet rock. Opener ‘Lift Me Up’ is similarly grand; a taste of things to come. I simply cannot fault this. And it seems they’re going down well in England without my adoration, having sold out the London Barfly back in February (their first visit to the UK), thanks to the omnipotent force that is MySpace. The band is currently in the throes of a very busy schedule, so I would recommend keeping an eye on them for their next visit to our fair shores.

Trust me, they fucking RAWK. And a little something for the girls… Zolberg is VERY pretty!

www.myspace.com/sign

www.sign.is

Protest The Hero – Kezia Album Review

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by Emma

Kezia is the debut album from Protest The Hero following a couple of previous EP releases. Within seconds Protest The Hero launch a full on attack and the first thing you are hit with on this album is the face-melting opening riff of the brutal, interchangeable sounds of No Stars Over Bethlehem. Blinding.

Next track Heretics and Killers continues the assault, boasting unrelenting drums, blistering thick guitar riffs and switches between Killswitch-esque power vocals to an oddly calm speaking tone. The album is led in this way and the songs are of huge proportions, belting you through fierce riff after riff. Last track A Plateful Of Our Dead is tremendous and rounds the album off nicely.

Not for the faint hearted, Kezia is technically brilliant and bold. Excellent showmanship and range here. This album is a real credit to Protest The Hero.


Saves The Day – Sound The Alarm Album Review

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by Emma

It’s an accomplishment that Sound The Alarm was completed at all considering the amount of chaos and upheaval the band have managed to work through with the departure of original bassist and problems with their record label. The result? Saves The Day give us another major album and fans will not be disappointed. The album spits in angry bursts and is quite aggressive at times (the first few tracks led by Head For The Hills are fast and pointedly furious in this way).

Sound The Alarm does soon take a turn for the sweeter though, and Eulogy and Dying Day riff their way into a much happier mood although the lyrics still show a sadness and vulnerability. The tracks on this album are all solid and the composition is difficult to fault. Percussion is particularly good and I am impressed with the great thrashes and beats pounded out on the drums during the majority of the tracks.

Saves The Day once again prove their worth and I am sure that Sound The Alarm will contribute to another great year for this band after all it took to get there.

Moneen – The Red Tree Album Review

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by Emma

Recent release The Red Tree is an outstanding album from the fantastic Moneen, following up the Switcheroo split EP they released last year with Alexisonfire. Moneen have made a massive musical leap and The Red Tree really is something to behold.

The album kicks off with the magnificent sounding and just as cleverly titled Don’t Ever Tell Locke What He Can’t Do, a statuesque song that truly dazzles. This just begins to show us what Moneen are capable of and the rest of the album only builds on this and gets better and better. I find it almost impossible to decide on the best tracks as they are pretty much all anthemic, watertight monsters of songs. The music is grand and Kenny’s vocals are bursting with feeling and are pretty much flawless. I can just manage it though and I think that Bleed and Blister does stand out as an awesome, epic track with enough twists and turns to keep it active and exciting. The album closes on the beautiful The Song I Swore To Never Sing.

The Red Tree is perfectly orchestrated and carefully written, Moneen have put so much into this and as a result anyone listening to the album will get so, so much out of it as I have. This is without a doubt one of the best releases of this year.


Rescue The Astronauts EP Review

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by Emma

Your Scissors/My Seatbelt

Your Scissors/My Seatbelt is the first EP available to buy from Derry sweethearts Rescue The Astronauts. The four-track disc produced by Neal Calderwood is a fine introduction to the raw talents of the ever changing five-piece rock outfit. I’m just a teeny bit disappointed that the awesome Crowds Of More Than One wasn’t included.

Track one I Am Your Sugar Rush trickles in with a strange movie-esque tinkle of bells and then suddenly blasts into action with grilling guitar and kick ass drums. The verses are brilliant with colourful and slightly aggressive vocals, lyrics to die for and are peppered with raw screams. The chorus is a little more gentle and brings down the pace a little, but in true RTA form is catchy as hell.

Second track Throwing Paper Airplanes is more pop-like and is a milder track with sweet harmonies and an inoffensive backing track. This song is a theme song for the young broken hearted and is a really cute little track. Lyrics are sweet and vocals are suitably enchanting.

Finely Tuned Frequencies is the third track and the eye of the EP and is such a quirky but beautiful ballad to tug on the old heartstrings. The song is expertly written and the guitar and percussion are perfectly executed to add a heavier undertone to the track. Ferris captures a rawness, intensity and versatility that shines through this track, but writing is the key and this is where the boys’ biggest talent lies.

Last but not least is Ideas To Resuscitate, upbeat and fluctuating between soft, high pitched vocals with a toned-down backing to powered throaty bursts of musical brilliance. There are parts of this track that are so well composed I wish I had written it myself!

In short, get yourself a copy (you can order online via the website) and I promise that you will love it.


City and Colour – Dallas Green

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by Emma

Interview – Dallas Green (City & Colour) – York Fibbers – 24 May 2006

Wednesday, 24th May 2006 in York, and I was lucky enough to bag my dream interview with the truly wonderful Dallas Green. Most of you will know Dallas from Alexisonfire, the hardcore screamo band from Canada who are doing extremely well and are currently embarking upon a mammoth European tour. On this day however, Dallas was here to play one of few solo shows as City & Colour, his awesome acoustic side project which is far from the aggressive tones of Alexisonfire.

Emma: Hi Dallas, I won’t keep you long because I know you need to save your voice, so first of all I just want to ask how are you finding the tour?

Dallas: Oh it’s good, yeah, it’s been surprising to be the first time over here by myself

Emma: Is it really strange to be here playing on your own without the rest of the guys?

Dallas: Not really, ‘cos I’ve been doing it for a while and I have always played shows by myself, so it’s not really that big a deal.

Emma: How does it feel being the main focus of attention, I guess if you have been doing it a lot you will be used to that?

Dallas: Um, I don’t know…I have never really been into the whole attention thing you know, I just really like playing, and that’s what I do of course, so its always weird just to have people kinda focus in on you, you know what I mean?

Emma: Yeah, how do you deal with that?

Dallas: I just try and be as honest as possible and let people know that I’m just there…you know I’m just a dork who loves to play guitar and to sing and that’s it!

Emma: Do you think that you are playing to the same audience with City & Colour as when you play with Alexisonfire?

Dallas: Yeah I think that most of the kids are kids that know the band you know and have been nice enough to check out the solo stuff, but there are some people, especially in Canada and stuff, there’s been a lot of people because my songs are on the radio now and stuff like that and there’s people that weren’t really into Alexis that are coming out to the shows basically because they’re not really into aggressive music or whatever. I think here it’s mostly people who are into Alexis.

Emma: Have you released any songs from the album at home?

Dallas: Yeah, Save Your Scissors was the radio single, the first one and the new one’s gonna be Coming Home

Emma: Sometimes was released over her last year…

Dallas: Yeah in November

Emma: …what has the feedback been like so far?

Dallas: Yeah it’s been really good, most of the feedback has been really good, and I haven’t heard a lot of negative stuff…I mean, I’m sure there’s lots of people that would throw it aside because of the band I’m in, you know, a lot of people don’t like that kind of music and they just figure that what I’m doing is probably not that good. So but everybody’s been really nice about it so…

Emma: Good, do you intend to continue with City & Colour, or is it a temporary side project?

Dallas: Yeah I mean its just like whenever we have time I just do it like you know what I mean like I’m only over here because we’re doing a European tour with Alexis. After tomorrow I fly to Germany, the guys – I just talked to them they are flying to Germany today so when I tour – it’s only when we have time, you know. But I’ll do another record because I always write songs, you know what I mean

Emma: Do you have your own favorite song from the album that is special or personal to you?

Dallas: I think that day old hate is my favorite song, and I don’t know why…that song just moves me in a way… I always save it to the end because I don’t feel right singing songs after it – it feels like it’s an end.

Emma: Moving on to the Switcheroo album that you recorded with Moneen…

Dallas: Yeah

Emma: How did you perceive their versions of your songs?

Dallas: I thought they were great, it’s funny, I can’t really sing Accidents the way I used to sing it anymore. Everytime I have to sing it like Kenny sang it, just from hearing that version of the song. It’s pretty funny I think.

Emma: And how did they react to your versions of their songs?

Dallas: They really liked them, ‘cos they really wanted to hear what George was gonna do with their words and stuff so that was fun.

Emma: Do you have a particularly fond or funny memory of being on tour either by yourself or with the guys?

Dallas: I don’t know…most of the moments I have on tour are pretty funny, especially when we are on tour with bands that we get along with like Johnny Truant. When we toured with that band, we all got the word Yeti tattooed on us – just a funny word that we were saying a lot, so we thought why not! We’ll tattoo it on us!

Emma: Well your not afraid of tattoos anyway…

Dallas: No, I’m not! There were some people where actually that was their first tattoo that they ever got so it kind of hurt!

Emma: Okay, so when you are on tour, what is the thing that you miss most about home?

Dallas: Um…I think just my family. I’m really, really close with my family and, you know, we always have these moments where we all sort of meet in the kitchen and then we just end up having a big talk for a really long time and stuff so I miss my family most of the time.

Emma: I bet you’re on the phone to them all the time when you’re away!

Dallas: Yeah, always

Emma: So this year you are all set to play at the Download festival

Dallas: Yeah

Emma: Are there any other bands there that you would want to check out if you have the time?

Dallas: Yeah I’m gonna go and see Johnny Truant play ‘cos they are playing the day before and a band called Khoma who playing right before Johnny Truant who I’m really excited to see. I’m gonna watch Alice In Chains, and I’ll probably go and watch Guns N’ Roses just to see how awful its gonna be!

Emma: not Metallica?

Dallas: No, I don’t have any intent on going to see Metallica! Billy Talent! I’ll probably go see them, and Opeth.

Emma: Will you be playing any of your own solo songs?

Dallas: No, whenever it’s us, it’s us and that’s it.

Emma: I saw you play once where you did an acoustic version of Side Walk When She Walks, and that was pretty special…

Dallas: Yeah, that’s cool

Emma: So for someone at our age you have really achieved a lot, do you feel that there is still a whole lot more to achieve?

Dallas: Oh I always like to play for more people and have our music get out to more people but, I think what we’ve done and what I’ve done is unbelievable like for me Because I never really figured…I never really had a lot of faith in myself, you know, I always knew I really enjoyed singing and playing and stuff, but I never thought it would get to where other people would enjoy it especially across the world and stuff like that. So I don’t know, I’m pretty happy. If it all got taken away from me tomorrow I would be angry probably, but I wouldn’t be totally devastated because I’ve done more that I ever thought I could, so…

Emma: I’m gonna move onto a subject that’s close to both of our hearts now…I read that Jeff Buckley really changed your life and was a massive influence. How did his music affect you?

Dallas: He made me want to sing! Before…I didn’t really sing too much before I listened to him. I was kind of afraid you know. It’s a hard thing to do especially when you’re not that confident, to sing in front of people and see what their reaction is gonna be. Before that I was really into instrumental stuff, like Mogwai was really big in my life before him, but then I found Jeff Buckley and he just made me wanna sing, just listening to him, so he’s responsible for me coming out of my shell.

Emma: And he was the same way too – like he didn’t want to sing until he realised how much people wanted to hear him sing

Dallas: Yeah

Emma: Do you have a favorite track of his?

Dallas: Dream Brother has always been one of my favorites to listen to and there’s a song that he does…they re-released Live At Sine – the double CD – it was originally a four track EP but they put out a double one and the first song on the first disk he did this thing where he just kinda stopped and clapped and sang. I love listening to that.

Emma: I also heard that you are really keen on skateboarding?

Dallas: Yeah, I’ve been skateboarding my whole life

Emma: Do you have much chance to take time out while you are touring to do stuff like that?

Dallas: No I hurt myself like a year or two ago skateboarding and I had to wear a cast and so I try not to skateboard on tour, because that was the eyeopener. As much as I love skateboarding – if I fall and break my hand on tour – there goes the tour, so when we’re off I’ll skateboard but when we’re on I don’t – so its not much!

Emma: So you will have to wait a while now before you can!

Dallas: Yeah, and then I forget all the stuff that I could do before!

Emma: A few months ago I got to interview George and Wade when you played a gig in Leeds…

Dallas: Oh, cool!

Emma: And I was asking them about the roles that you all have on a personal level within the group, and they both said that you were the sober one who made sure everybody else stayed in line, like almost the mum of the group! What do you think about that?

Dallas: Yeah, I’m definitely the mom! Well I’m the oldest so I immediately took that role, like those kids, they grew up in this band you know what I mean so when we started they were 17 pretty much so they have had to experience their late teens and early twenties on the road. So I immediately took the role, like I would sorta stay focused and let them grow up and party and do their thing, you know what I mean? And it worked well because that’s the way I am by nature I’m just kind very focused and driven you know?

Emma: What would you like people to take away from listening to your music, what would you like them to get out of it?

Dallas: I just hope that people get that its just honest, I really just want it to be about the song. I mean, I’ve never really wanted it to be about the way I dress or the way we dress or you know, what kinda fight we got into with another band you know ‘cos I think that a lot of the music today is popular because there’s a story behind it. I really don’t care about that you know, and like at shows in Canada especially, girls will yell out ‘you’re sexy’ or something like that and I just kinda say, you know I appreciate that but I really hope that you like the songs and that you’re not here because you like the way that I look. You know, that’s not what its about, it’s about the how the song makes you feel and that’s all I’m really trying to do.

I thanked Dallas for his time and stayed around for the show, which was nothing less than amazing. After generously staying around before the gig to chat to fans and sign many t-shirts and CDs, Dallas performed most of the tracks from album Sometimes along with a couple of other songs (including, to my delight, Side Walk When She Walks) with no more than an acoustic guitar and his achingly beautiful voice. The room was packed and an awed audience sang along to Casey’s Song and Save Your Scissors. Dallas bubbled with cheeky humour as he shared a few little stories from his tour with the crowd and involved interaction from tour manager Ollie. Dallas certainly won over the room with ease and the quiet simplicity of his songs shone through and made it one of the most gracious, relaxed and entertaining gigs I have ever attended. Heaven!

Sweet Seduction

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by Louise

I first saw Sweet Seduction playing at the finals of the UK Unsigned Rock event, held in Birmingham on May 26th. The classic riffs, gritty vocals, and energetic performance impressed me enough to make me mither for an interview. Drummer Randii was kind enough to indulge me…

1) How are things in the Sweet Seduction HQ?

Fine, we’ve just recorded 12 tracks of which 4 or 5 we’ll put out as an EP and the others will be locked away as they’re re-recordings of existing EP & Album tracks we’ve released in the past. We may tease people on MySpace with the new production and the alternate beginnings to some tunes or maybe stick a live recording of a Whole Lotta Rosie (AC/DC) on there if not on the EP as a VCD or something. Other than that still slaving away getting back to our old gig ethic, we’ve had a couple of chilled, well for us anyways, months gig wise with recording etc.

2) You recently took part in the UK Unsigned Rock event and won a slot at the Bulldog Bash. What did you think of the whole experience and the other bands involved?

It was good, we were quietly confident as we played last year and seemed to be one of the bands that got mentioned in reviews despite being on the Unsigned stage and most press concentrating on the main stage… That and the fact it was local and in 06 the scene for us in Birmingham has picked up ten fold. As far as other bands go, our mates and fellow Rock n Rollers Headrush are playing also, but UK Unsigned in general was quite a mix because the same regionals were for Bloodstock as well so we had a lot heavier stuff goin’ down like Dead Weight, who are awesome at what they do. I believe they’re on Bloodstock, I’m trying to talk them into the Bulldog too as its a lot heavier this year.

3) You played the Bulldog Bash last year, tell us about that..

It Rained!! Right fucking before we went on stage, but y’know we managed to attract people over to brave the rain and stay at the open air stage rather than run to the Main Stage which is in a marquee… So can’t complain too much, just a bit of bad luck I guess. I gather the 2nd stage will be moved near the main stage this year to gain the unsigned bands more exposure and passing punters, it was a bit out the way last year and you had to hope people were curious or the riffs would travel and pull people in from the stalls… Let’s just hope it’s sunny this year! But yeah, what’s not to like about the Bulldog? Bands, Beer, Bitches, Being Tattooed, Bikes and other stuff beginning with B… And its the 20th anniversary this year so will hopefully be the biggest yet!

4) You were previously know as the Wild Roses, why did you change your name?

We needed to, and I think we’ve progressed because of it, every reviewer saw the easy way out… a classic rock influenced band must want to be Guns n Roses, especially with a name like that right? And its pissed us off, we did actually play shows where people turned up and expected us to be a GnR tribute and we were like “yer can stick Sweet Child o Mine up yer ass, were not playing it!” So yeah we have that GnR influence but we also are influenced from 70s, 80s, 90s and even 00s stuff. Sweet Seduction does hint a bit towards Glam/Cock Rock but that’s where the heart lies as a whole I guess, we can all agree that every member listens to Skid Row where as only a select few do the Backyard Babies or say Beautiful Creatures. To be fair the band started off as an out and out cock rock band until Savage and me joined and brought a lot of modern Sleaze influences… so the Wild Roses may have been right at the time, the difference now being we’ve changed a hell of a lot and people used the whole GnR comparison as a put down even after that. Now the GnR thing is just someone trying to pigeon hole the band as they do all bands, and maybe said person doesn’t have a wider knowledge of the Sleaze/Classic Rock genres. The only bad reviews we tend to get these days are from narrow minded idiots who have something against Classic Rock before even putting the CD on, and at the end of the day we get more AC/DC comparisons since changing the name and its hardly a put down being compared to the two biggest Rock bands to walk the planet!?

5) What’s the best gig you’ve played and why?

Well there’s two answers to this… Both complete opposites… The one where we headline and have full control of the audience, the sort where every lyric is sung back to you. Then there’s also no better feeling, especially being an unsigned band aiming to gain fans, when you support and are appreciated by an audience that aren’t there for you. We’ve played with a whole host of signed/touring bands… We’ve played with the Sweet (well, Andy Scott the remaining member and session musos making up the rest of the band) a couple of times now and both of them were to 4/500+ people and we went down pretty well as I guess you’d expect from an audience of people who are fans of a band who’ve influenced bands that made a big impression on us such as Motley Crue… And of course we all now love the Sweet too because of it, they rock hard live and have heavier stuff than us! I remember the first time round, we were called up to play on the morning of the show and being quite shocked as the only song I knew of the Sweet’s at the time was Blockbuster and it didn’t scream rock n roll… well I was wrong! But yeah, as said above next to that it would have to be headlining the Flapper a few months back where we had the crowd singing back to us louder then the PA, that’s a massive high also.

6) Which track do you most enjoy performing?

Well most of them but we’ve all got favourite tracks and some not so, but that’s what becomes of five different people with different opinions, you have to agree to meet in the middle. For me it would have to be Crazy City Blues & Down in the City… Partly because they’re newer and we’ve not played them for the past two years, and partly because I think we’ve improved as a band and this is the result. Also I reckon we’d get lynched if we didn’t play Good Time Girl because people know it from MySpace and it’s nice going to a new city and seeing people singing along. Other than that, for much the same reasons, One Hell of A Night. And because it’s an anthem and you’ll get the gist of it and can be singing along by the second chorus even if you’ve not heard it ever before. Only problem is we hate practicing it because we play it every set without fail, although live it’s a different story.

7) Tell us a little-known fact about Sweet Seduction

Errrrr, someone related to Sony told us to go for Eurovision 07… They should have given us a contract instead!? I don’t think it’s really the done thing unless you’re established. The UK wouldn’t accept a rock band, fans would only moan they’re selling out. Although its ok to vote for a Finnish band most haven’t heard of, I mean people knew of Lordi but they’re gonna make big business over here because of that now, and fair play to them, I voted! Rock fans are really fucked up in their ethics. Although if the offer were to come along… ha ha.

8) Whats the bands motto?

…..One hell, one hell of a night….

9) Are pyrotechnics the way to go?

Fuck yeah!!

10) What can we expect to see from Sweet Seduction in the rest of 2006?

The usual hard work ethic. This is what we do in life, we’ll just keep building on what we’ve laid down already. With the amount of bands getting attention and signed out there, that couldn’t go toe to toe with us half cut, we can only assume we’re unlucky and expect to get snapped up some time soon.

Check out Sweet Seduction’s MySpace for gig dates: www.myspace.com/sweetseductionmusic