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DEMOS
Cellarhigh
Sheffield’s Cellarhigh open the demo with a bluesy baseline, followed by the introduction of vocals which instantly remind me of Incubus. The demo is very bass driven; baselines take the driving seat in most of the songs. This gives the demo a huge slab of funk and emphasises the bluesy feel that Cellarhigh have got going on. The demo really grew on me the more I listened, and it even made it on to my rather exclusive iPod. Cellarhigh are some way from perfect but are still really rather promising. (JG)
The Cut - Walking Lonely Streets
The Cut’s ‘Walking Lonely Streets’ demo comes to me packaged fairly well with a pretty girl on the front: well done lads. I didn’t know what to expect from this band, not having heard them before, but on my first impression, The Cut are brilliant. Front man Alex Krzesinski didn’t miss a trick at the How To Be A Front Man master class: cocky, brash and with a fabulous bunch of stories to tell…and this is mere audio pleasure!
Track one ‘Forever’ isn’t the best opener I’ve ever heard but the band certainly proves their potential over the full duration of the demo. And sure, ‘Waste of Life’ and ‘Special’ showcase lyrical talents of an incredibly good standard for three guys with guitars and a drum kit, but it’s the instrumental that was the most memorable for me. ‘The Late Room’ is everything I could possibly want from a song: energetic but requiring no energy to listen to it…oh, you know what I mean! Any chance of some more of that, Mr. Krzesinski? (MP-F)
The Fades
This pack of vagabonds are out of control. ‘CACA’ is an amalgamation of scuzz and punk, fiery licks and catchy indie garage noise. Starting with a deep, scraping, repetitive riff, the guitar cuts and slashes its way through the song like some demonic wasp. Nervous energy then kicks in, as an impatient lead singer wails down his mike “And everybody wants the chemicals, but the chemical drive me insane”. ‘Fruit Machine’ is similarly taut and wiry, bursting out at the seams and demanding to be heard. There’s a real sense of urgency about The Fades, like their about to loose grip and slide off the edge of reason. Consequently everything has to be tightly squeezed into two minutes of howling reality.
What a fantastic record, kind of like listening to The Falls ‘Totally Wired’ after drinking six cans of red bull and watching a whole series of 24 in one sitting. (HT)
From The Wreckage
The boys from Preston have made a move several hundred miles South to the briny metropolis of Brighton, and it looks like the sea air has done them the world of good.
This second demo features three songs written since their move and their sound has matured somewhat. It still feels fresh and youthful, but there’s more harmony, more melody and more attitude to be had here. The songs urban settings, especially those of ‘Over And Over’ and ‘Jump The Fence’, could put them in the same bracket as the Arctic Monkeys, but From The Wreckage are a lot subtler than that. My only criticism is that the songs do have a tendency to fall into a swing rhythm that is a bit too gentle. Still, a few years down in the beautiful south should put an end to that sentimentality. I look forward to seeing an album’s worth of material. Chop chop, lads! (RW)
Gazelle
Gazelle are an Indie – and I mean first generation, cheeky chappie Indie with sideburns and genuine smiles – band from Little Shef. Like snowdrops, tadpoles and baby dears, they are bursting the promise of Spring, but at this stage in their development are also saddled with some elements of fragility. One of these more tender aspects is that they sound like three people. Fair play, given that they are three people, yet the strong beat of opener ‘BTF’ could be pushed up a notch with bulkier backing harmonies and fuller production (the lads do stress that studio time constraints meant this first mix wasn’t quite as they would have liked). Feed this potentially meaty track some protein shakes, and save any Gazelle ribcage exposure for an acoustic, I reckon. ‘Quayside’ is the standout; gloriously steeped in sun-shee-aiyyne circa 1996 yet still fresh, pop it on a compilation tape between Supergrass’ ‘Alright’ and Ocean Colour Scene’s ‘The Day We Caught The Train’ and go laze the day away in your hometown beer garden with your original mates. Gorgeous. Whilst you’re musing on whether to have a barbeque tonight and why Coke does taste better from the glass bottles, appreciate also the rather wonderful lines “Memories make us happy for life/Not with a memory like mine”. Indeed, the lead’s memory does seem a little befuddled; just as he’s beginning to show a rich, round strength to his voice in ‘Futures’, he recalls that he has a Northern geezer accent to capitalise on and relaxes his diaphragm, resulting in a few flat notes. Gazelle could do with deciding whether they want to showcase their accents with a conversational singing style or take a deep breath and sustain their more ambitious melodic phrases, within the scope of each track at least. However, having met the guys, they strike me as conscientious sorts, monitoring their developing sound and using anything they retrospectively deem even vaguely shitty as compost for growth. Hence, the many promises on this demo are likely to be kept, and fans too. (AF)
Hands & Fingers
This CD consists of three instrumental tracks that are real experiments in sound. Whilst my taste in instrumental music includes such people as Alan Hawkshaw, James Clarke, Syd Dale, etc, where the melody still rules the day, this is more along the lines of four minute soundscapes, which I have to say are very enjoyable. Any form of melody is replaced with bleeps and squiggles which leap about upon a solid bass, drum machine and synthesizer foundation. I can hear a blend of influences from Kraftwork and Air to Syd Barrett’s Pink Floyd. My favourite track was ‘7 or 22’ which has a definite Kraftwerk flavour to it and could easily have been lifted from a 1970’s British Rail advert. I understand that Hands & Fingers do play live, although I find it hard to imagine how they can replicate this sound on stage. Still there’s only one way to find out… (GW)
Ashley Hicklin & The Troubadours
Ashley describes his music as “classical pop” and it’s easy to see why from this three track EP. Ashley’s band consists of a string quartet, guitar, bass and drums, and together they play a delightfully composed collection of songs that indeed blend the three minute pop format with cleverly arranged classical instruments. The fact that the strings have been arranged as part of the overall song, make them sound more genuine than the usual “let’s plonk the strings over the top” attitude of bands such as Manic Street Preachers and Embrace, which to me always smacked as a desperate attempt to bolster up blandness. Ashley’s voice has a nice unique sound which compliments his intelligent lyrics. On CD, this is an enjoyable listen, although I don’t expect it’s the type of music you could dance in front of the stage to at a live show, but then again, it’s a more refined sound that needs to be appreciated with a nice glass of wine or lime & soda.
Gary Williams
Kevin Kitchen
It’s not often you get to review the work of a man with such a prestigious portfolio. Mr Kitchen, according to his press, has worked with Johnny Cash, Tammy Wynette and Emma Noble, but more importantly, he has provided incidental music for Bruce Forsyth’s The Price Is Right and Supermarket Sweep. Calm down at the back.
This four-track demo is a showcase of his current incarnation as Spanish guitarist and singer. Vocally, he comes across as part club turn and part Van Morrison, but it’s a surprisingly soothing sound, as is his expert playing of the guitar. I’m not sure about his choice of ‘Clocks’ as showcase track, but ‘Chill Out’ is very laid back and jazzy, ‘Come Dance With Me’ is nice and easy and ‘She Loves Chocolate’ is a delicious instrumental piece. A surprising remedy to the winter blues and loads better than a fake tan.
Rob Wright
Mantra
II: Cycle Of Hate
The Second EP offering from Scarborough's finest metallic monster. Mantra's sound is pitched somewhere between the crushing stomp of prime-era Metallica and the classic stoner grind of Masters of Reality or St. Vitus, so expect much riffage. Obviously self-done on a fairly tight budget, this 4-tracker gives a pretty good idea of what the band is all about. When they hit their stride live, Mantra can sound pretty bludgeoning, and the best track here, ‘Somewhere I Belong’, comes pretty close to catching that power without
being overblown. The other big plus is singer/guitarist Oliver's voice, utterly doomy and believable, and perfectly attuned to the sound, and again, this EP captures him well. The production could do with being a bit denser, and occasionally they seem to be trying a bit too hard with tricksy drumming and time-changes (‘Affirmation’) but they're developing fast, and metalheads could do much worse than check this out and catch them live.
http://www.mantrametal.tk
Tim Procter
Chris Murphy & The Greenlovers
This EP- ‘Ocean’s Bone Tree’, explores folky vocals complemented by a warm musical ambience. Chris Murphy and The Greenlovers remind me of New York based band Nada Surf in the style of their songs and particularly in the way that often it is the bass that drives the songs forward; this is clearly apparent in track 6 titled ‘Misfortunes’. The vocals are very pleasant and give us an insight of what it would be like if we merged the voices of Thom Yorke- Radiohead and Coldplay’s Chris Martin together. Opening song, ‘No need for cars’ could easily slot into Jeff Buckley’s’ ‘Grace’ as lyrically and musically it follows a similar tone. Occasionally a little whiney but all in all this EP demonstrates excellent musicianship and agreeable tunes.
(LH)
http://www.chrismurphy.co.uk
The Parody
What is this humble reviewer to make of a band called The Parody? Is it a joke? Should I take this too seriously? Is it just sheer irony? Or should I just get on with reviewing the actual music? The singers voice, unfortunately, puts me in mind of Nickelback (sorry) but I shall try and ignore such terrible comparisons for the rest of the review. This is all very American rock and smooth to the extent that you could imagine picking this up on your radio as you undertake the classic road trip across the US of A. It’s sheer professionalism and sheen blows most other demos out of the water, almost belying the infancy of the band. If you are a fan of the genre they are definitely a band you should be looking out for.
Mike Reynolds
http://www.theparody.co.uk
David Paterson - On The Ground
Basically, this is the sound of one man and his guitar. It’s a format as old as the hills and to really stand out in this day and age needs either outstanding talent or an unusual twist. Whist David is a competent singer, guitarist and songwriter, there’s not much here to give his music that certain something that people like Jonn Gomm and Benjamin Wetherill possess. There are some nice moments though when David experiments in finger picking styles on ‘Peace’ and unusual rhythms on ‘Wait’. David also uses his music to tackle subjects that he obviously feels strongly about, which include poverty, the state of the world and (I think) religion. I’ll be honest and say that this isn’t really my cup of tea, but I’m sure there are many people who like their music with social commentary and they could really find something in David’s songs.
Gary Williams
Restlesslist
There’s a tendency to assume that if a rock band has no singer, then they must be overly-introspective muso types with too many Mogwai records. This is certainly not true of Restlesslist, whose ‘Butlin Breaks’ is the nearest thing I’ve heard to a summertime pop record in 2006 so far. The track is awash with trumpets and cha-cha rhythms and ends up sounding like some sort of perverted game show theme tune. ‘The Cowboy Song’ is rather bleaker and starts of like a sparse Four Tet record before the keyboards take it in a rather more sinister direction and you start to suspect that they’re maybe not so friendly after all. Definitely one to keep an eye on. (SM)
mel@staygold.co.uk
Rhode Island
If Ed Harcourt had thieved the Bluetones' blueprints, read them every morning during the tea-break of a thankless nine-to-five and daydreamt about being trapped in a loveless marriage, he would have probably have engineered a mutated exaggeration of Rhode Island's charming 'Happy Birthday EP'; a cosy quartet of spring-yearning, angst-pop treasures that crave for the luscious green turf on the metaphorical 'other side'.
Opener 'Big Two-Hearted River' is a no-nonsense, shoe-shuffling ode to escape, with a hook and beat infectious enough to stave off the strongest of antibiotics while the lilting melody of the title track, that masks an occasionally sinister lyrical edge, belies the damp, winter misery and begs to be played with the car windows down.
Admittedly, 'With Love and Squalor' lacks the summery warmth of that which surrounds it but by the time the sublime 'Ladybird' fuzzily closes matters, Rhode Island have banished any memory of the EP's skip-past track and added the endearing fragility of Belle and Sebastian, as well the unfulfilled romanticism of the Magnetic Fields, to their emotional melting pot. Frustration never sounded so good! (CH)
http://www.rhodeisland.org.uk
The Situationists
If someone was to ask me to pick one band that captures everything that is good about music in Sheffield right now, I’d point them in the direction of The Situationists. They take the quirky pop heart of some of the area’s most fondly loved local bands like Champion Kickboxer, Balor Knights and The Yell, but combine it with a lo-fi semi-anthemic edge that is so fashionable nationwide currently thanks to the likes of Bromheads Jacket and Arctic Monkeys. The band features members of Umlaut who seemed to collapse in on themselves just as they were on the brink of big things. Let’s hope they don’t make the same mistake again because in an understatedly graceful kind of way, this lot could be quite special. (SM)
http://www.myspace.com/situationists
Soberskin
One of the problems with new bands in their early days is that they tend to pile so many obvious influences and clichés into their music that nothing distinguishable can be found. Soberskin fall into this trap, which is a shame because they’re clearly not a bad band. They do a nice line in hands-in-the-air psychedelic rock with some monstrous basslines and a few neat electronics underpinning the whole thing. However, it’s all a little bit too “Manchester” at times and lyrically it’s dreadful. Whoever writes the words needs to put the rhyming book away and start coming up with something of substance or else nobody is going to pay them much attention. (SM)
http://www.soberskin.com
Tamed Beast
What sin against nature have I committed to warrant having to listen to this? Prisoners in Guantanamo Bay get off with less. Being subjective, offering constructive criticism and other such journalistic niceties may be royally discarded just this once because Tamed Beast and this four track, forty-six minute horrendously irritating monster of an EP is undisputedly atrocious on every possible level imaginable. Assumingly it fits into the field of electronica and if this now qualifies as plausible, respectable electronic inspired music I'm going to launch that one, solitary Kraftwerk CD straight out of my window. The whole thing seems to have been recorded with someone twatting about with a Van Der Graff Generator in the foreground while incoherent blips and blaps with no shape or form do nothing to warrant any music merit in the background. Impossible to listen to. (LR)
Ten Seconds of Chaos - On Second Thoughts
Patiently waiting for the spit and snarl of early Manics records to come back into fashion, Ten Seconds of Chaos are sticking to their formula of ten-gallon man-rock with added spunk until everyone bloody well likes it, ok?
The highpoint of this, their latest three-track offering is undoubtedly 'Apathy is Easy'; a four-minute, melody-driven, lick-caked reminder that straightforward adrenaline rock is at it's best when it contains a nifty chorus, an instantly recognisable intro and a desk-tapping hum-along tune that doesn't detract from the ferocity and fire of the thumping
accompaniment.
Indeed the demo's second track, sandwiched between a pair of passable support acts, provides the perfect overview of TSOC's output; demonstrating that they're happy to slip in the odd cliché and their lyrics wouldn't exactly have shown up John Betjeman, but going on to prove that these factors matter not when the music is tighter than Russell Grant's leotard and the band continue to fire out riffs fizzy enough to send your average, indoor scarf wearer scurrying for the Britpop room at the alternative disco. Fiery! (CH)
http://www.tensecondsofchaos.co.uk
Tonik
Woot! Back to the normal rock/metal demo fayre, how I missed thee. The tracks on this demo are all available for free from www.tonikband.co.uk. They seem to describe their music as indie-funk, I’m not completely sure how that is meant to sound but it is time to find out. The opening track begins with, what I assume is some interesting bass work and male vocal that sounds like it was sung in the room next to the equipment. This isn’t a complaint as it gives the track an epic quality. Back to the definition, indie-funk probably isn’t far off the mark but it’s more rock with the occasional funky bass-line wobbling it’s way through. However, these boys are definitely worth checking out at one of their upcoming gigs. (MR)
http://www.tonik.co.uk
Toy Heroes
Leicester based Toy Heroes produce here a collection of songs that twist and turn through the cobweb of emotions weaved to formulate modern existence. Title track ‘Painful Painless’ exudes a delicate quality, effortlessly crying out with the sweetly melancholic twin vocals of Anna and Jud, which meet the ears in perfect harmony. However, beyond this musical idyll there is a glint of something raw, which is over-coated with the sugary candyfloss lining of airiness and light. This is a rawness that could be transformed into something much more jagged and wholly poignant.
Toy Heroes have all the correct ingredients for poignancy, juxtaposing a flavour of bitter-sweetness with a medley of beatbox, synth and powerful drums, which shows the record’s attempt to surface alongside those that have made it onto mainstream airplay. But this appears to duck below genres and not quite emerge fully as a rounded piece. ‘Painful Painless’ is however painted with the musicality of a band who clearly know each other inside out and nevertheless produce an offering that is light on the ears and wholly refreshing for the soul. (AD)
Turton&Jewitt – 2002
Consistency is key in music. I mean in good measure, not to Oasis-esque extremes. Clearly, this is not a fact that Turton&Jewitt have been made aware of. Sure these could be two very talented guys, but this really is a smoke and mirrors job on the production and remix front. Imagine the scene: Turton: How could we possibly improve on this? Jewitt: I know, get Paul Harrison in to remix.And so the EP is remixed, overdubbed and goodness only knows what else.
Most of the tracks are just one of the two rambling over some crummy backing track and the remixing ensures that the listener doesn’t have a fucking clue what they’re listening to. There are thirty-eight tracks in all, spanning over an hour’s worth of, well, noise really. Track four: ‘West Coast’ is quite clever though, okay one line of it is, “Today I was in the Victoria Quarter, looking all the rich men’s daughters”. Yeah ‘cause we’ve all done that once. Perv. (MP-F)
White Star Magic
With the picture of lead singer ‘The Duke’ painted to form a merge of Jagger, Gallagher and Brown, it’s pretty easy to figure out the kind of swagger and attitude that frames White Star Magic. But they fail to project little of the former icons’ defining, cult-forming ambience and quality. Tracks such as ‘Casino 21’ and ‘Medicine’ travel pint-in-hand through the waves of indie sound-a-likes that are drowning the UK’s music scene at the moment and provide the perfect soundtrack to a blurry Saturday night. However these songs fail to ensure that White Star Magic will receiving the generic stamp of approval as they lack a defining stand-alone sound that is being cried out for. But that doesn’t mean that they should be dismissed entirely. The band’s efforts to create a solid sound and scream through stretched vocals and smooth beats are evident as they resonate with a feel-good vibe on ‘Jonny’ and ‘Gramapan’ that you can never get enough of. So, as you clutch your pint on a Saturday night and stumble through the local indie hot-spot these songs will be sure to envelop you with their dingy, escapist vibe. White Star Magic will undoubtedly reverberate in the mind the following day, with that longed for morning after feeling. (AD)
Cal Williams Jr. - Driving as a Form of Prayer
This isn’t just an album, it’s an experience. Whether you’re the sensitive type or not Driving as a form of Prayer will take you on a compelling journey of emotions, some of which you didn’t even know existed. Williams Jr’s voice is so delicate that at times it feels like a figment of your imagination, audible only to you. His music is built upon emotive melodies, smooth textures and diverse instrumentation which when combined, are powerfully and inescapably moving. ‘Ocean Springs’ and ‘Whither Will’ are particularly affecting. A captivating and addictive mix of acoustic folk and blues that will stimulate, invigorate and liberate you. A truly beautiful collection of songs. (ED)
http://www.calwilliams.co.uk
worriedaboutsatan
You can’t really dispute that Satan is a rather sensible thing to be worried about. He does embody all the evil in the world after all. So, already we’ve established that worriedaboutsatan are rather grounded, wise people. Good. And of course, with a name like worriedaboutsatan we can derive further conclusions. They have a pretentious name with a disregard for the normal laws of typography. Thus, they’re going to be pretty odd.
Pretty odd, yup, got it in one. This EP is ten tracks of ambience with occasional bursts of disorientating noise, and sampled speech clips. This could mean that it’s severely up it’s own arse unlistenable rubbish. But it doesn’t. This is actually rather good. The quiet pleasant moments are actually very pleasant, and the discordant nasty noisy bits are sufficiently nasty. You can put money on them adoring Sigur Rós and Mogwai, but that’s no bad thing, really. (TG)
http://www.myspace.com/worriedaboutsatan
The Yarns
Ah. You can see what they’ve done with the name there. They’re called “The Yarns” because their songs are, like, little stories. Like they’re spinning yarns. Clever that. Anyway, they describe themselves as “Bob Dylan being ripped off by Yorkshiremen and Leicestrians”, which I suppose is because they use acoustic guitars and there’s a bit of harmonica on ‘What You Could Have Been’. They also cite Dizzee Rascal as an influence, presumably in a bid to appear in touch with the kids because this is essentially just standard acoustic rock. There’s not a lot of melody there, but their tales of nights on the pull, boring relationships and the daily grind of the rat-race are perfectly listenable. (SM)
johnmcman@gmail.com
This month’s demo reviews by Emma Dakers, Amy Dyson, Alix Fox, Maria Pinto-Fernandes, Chris Hutcheon, Helen Thornton, Jack Goodhand, Tom Goodhand, Lucy Hackett, Ste Mills, Rob Wright, Gary Williams, Tim Procter, Luke Ramsden and Mike Reynolds
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