LIVE REVIEW: Darlia @ Thekla, Bristol 26/09/14

Written for Middle Boop Mag: http://www.middleboopmag.com/music/live/live-review-darlia-thekla-bristol-260914

Blackpool trio Darlia have been touted “The most exciting new guitar band in the UK” by various, high-profile media platforms. Trouble is, these grandiose statements are thrown around so loosely these days that they don’t carry nearly enough clout as they should. That said, Darlia are a very important band right now, their gig at Thekla provided an insight into why, and to the steady momentum that Darlia have built up nationwide.

Front man Nathan Day’s dead bleached hair could be spotted under his black fedora, his heavily charcoaled eyes oozing confidence and almost derisory nonchalance toward the on looking crowd - who in stark contrast were a sweaty mangled mass of anticipation, hysteria and post-teen angst.

It really is quite hard to find a new band to believe in, to invest in and to obsess over – a lot of us are left feeling quite un-stimulated by today’s guitar music. It seems that new bands are completely transient - as the underlying ‘money making’ aim from their labels seems to stifle and dilute, making sure that they don’t lean too far into a particular sound, as to not alienate anyone who might come under the ‘alternative music market’ umbrella that they're trying to engage. Darlia has somehow managed to cling onto a strong sense of identity, with their dark lyrics and 90’s grunge bravado.

What Darlia upheld throughout the gig was an unmistakable confidence in what they were doing. Storming through their string of absolute blinding tracks including ‘Dear Diary’, ‘Candyman’ and ‘Queen of Hearts’, drummer Jack Bentham was topless and gleaming with sweat, Day strutted around the stage with an air of pure arrogance whilst guitarist Dave Williams seemed almost turned on by the sound of his own guitar. It was dirty. It was conceited. It was absolutely perfect.

ALBUM REVIEW: The Growlers - Chinese Fountain (Everloving Records)

Originally published at Middle Boop Mag: http://www.middleboopmag.com/music/albums/growlers-chinese-fountain-everloving-records

The Growlers, now on their fourth album Chinese Fountain, have claimed this to be their ‘most polished’ release to date. They’re kind of like these grungy LA hipsters that constantly release a stream of sick music, host their own festival in LA each year, and just generally jam over at Venice Beach.

Their sound very much falls into the subgenre of ‘Beach Goth’ (which coincidentally is what their festival is called) – known for its country, surf, pop and rock strains. Their best attribute is vocalist Brooke Neilsen’s amazingly brilliant gravelly and unmistakable voice.

‘Black Memories’, is a nice little moment, sounding a little like the ‘funk’ (for lack of a better word) of the early Police records. ‘Dull Boy’ is another one worth a listen, with its bouncy, walking down the freeway vibes, ‘Good Advice’ follows in a similar fashion.

Their previous standout tracks like ‘One Million Lovers’, ‘Humdrum Blues’ and ‘Hiding Under Covers’ are actually all on a different level from all of the tracks on Chinese Fountain. The album does pick up near the middle though, but nothing quite beats those previous gems. The lyrics remain wise and insightful, telling real stories of their human endeavours with love, their own minds and the world in general.

That said, The Growlers are in short, everything that a band should be. Their music is flawlessly rough around the edges, incredibly melodic yet filled with hooks and spirit. There was quite literally no need to slather it in lack polish - a psychedelic infused slice of raw Americana that needn't have been tampered with.

ALBUM REVIEW: PAWWS - Sugar EP (Best Fit Recordings)

Originally published at Middle Boop Mag: http://www.middleboopmag.com/music/albums/pawws-sugar-ep-best-fit-recordings

PAWWS, formally Lucy Taylor describes her music as, “upsetting disco”. Which to many probably sounds rather morose, but to fans of this sort of thing which there most certainly are (think Chvrches, or, in many respects Robyn) it does sound despondently appealing.

 

Who doesn’t love a new-wave vocal over a sugary, 80’s synth-pop background? This is what Lucy does so marvellously on new EP, Sugar. Signed to Best Fit Recordings and classically trained in both flute and piano, Lucy has been a session musician for both Bloc Party’s Kele Okereke and MGMT, which is pretty sweet exposure, giving her the platform and the hands on experience and drive to decide to create her own music.

 

Sugar is made up of four tracks – starting with the title track. ‘Sugar’ sounds almost like Kylie Minouge, a throwback to the 80’s for sure, with simple, glittering synth keys and her angelic, almost childlike voice.

 

‘Outside’  is again 80’s-centric, refined disco which is emotionally powerful.  “Will I ever get love, don’t know if I’ll ever have it in my heart, I feel like it has all run out”, she coos, Lucy has previously mentioned that she had found the writing process of the EP, “extremely cathartic on a personal level.”

 

‘Give Your Love’ is pop at its best, sleek and stylish all the while remaining poppy and fun. The EP ends with ‘Just Be Kind’, which was purposefully the last track, in line with the ending of a relationship.

 

What Lucy has come up with on this EP is just consistently great music. The strength of her first single alone, ‘Time To Say Goodbye/Slow Love’ from last year grabbed the attention of and got her signed with Three Six Zero, who are affiliated with Roc Nation, with this in tow, Sugar will hopefully create the same catastrophic waves. 

ALBUM REVIEW: James Yorkston - The Cellardyke Recording And Wassailing Society (Domino Records)

Originally published at Middle Boop Mag: http://www.middleboopmag.com/music/music-news/james-yorkston-cellardyke-recording-and-wassailing-society-domino-records

This release marks James Yorkston’s sixth full-length LP of original material, his last release was 2012’s I Was A Cat From A Book. With collaborations aplenty, nothing much has changed on first listen – the record seems to naturally follow suit in that dreamy, soothing way that we have grown to love.

Yorkston has consistently been able to create a very specific mood through his ability to storytell with the world that he draws the listener into - images of a gloomy, insignificant Scottish town dance around your subconscious, and the feeling of being trapped within the obsolete.  

 His relationship with his children is also touched upon, along with the everyday heartbreak of just being a human being, toiling with the push and pull of responsibility, whilst desperately still trying to hold onto the notion- only if for a second – of being free.

An appearance from Hot Chip’s Alexis Taylor on the production side is a wonderful interjection of something a little different to the record.  ‘Guy Fawkes Signature’ is a spoken word piece – with the gentle tones of fellow Scott KT Tunstall, Taylor’s Hot Chip-esq steel drums pirouetting in the background.  Other appearances include The Pictish Trail, Emma Smith and a little more from Tunstall.

CRAWS is 16 tracks long, a perfect treat for those music fans who enjoy to wallow and slowly digest in an album, returning again and again, whilst more and more of the essence of the record becomes clearer. It’s an incredibly comforting yet sombre creation, and is worth your full attention.  

LIVE REVIEW: Jagwar Ma @ Old Crown Courts, Bristol 12/06/14

Originally published at Gigwise: http://www.gigwise.com/reviews/91787/jagwar-ma-@-old-crown-court-bristol-12062014

Last night, Jagwar Ma played an old crown court in the backstreets of Bristol – and as you can imagine, it was unbelievably awesome. The gig was part of the Lumia Live Sessions, their concept – to showcase emerging artists in the most unusual of settings. Before this show, the sessions have hosted Ella Eyre in a fairground museum in Devon, and Years and Years in a disused tube station in London.

The abandoned courthouse still has its original courtrooms, holding cells, jury boxes and grizzly ageing decor. It made for an incredibly eerie setting, but highly complimented Jagwar Ma’s grungy, almost anarchic presence. A rave in a courtroom, made up of competition winners, who collectively seemed to be their most diehard of fans.

The band were situated in front of the judge’s bench, with fans surrounding them all the way round the courtroom. The room was darkly lit and the acoustics provided by the incredibly tall rustic ceilings were amazingly brilliant.

Jagwar Ma, made up of front man Gabriel Winterfield, guitarist Juno Ma and bassist Jack Freeman played with everything they’d got, opening with ‘What Love’, a ravey little number to get the crowds juices flowing. Gabriel bought his typical ragged, Stones Roses frontman attitude, wearing classic Adidas and leopard print socks.

They played all of their best-known tracks including ‘Uncertainty’, ‘Man I Need’, ‘Exercise’, ‘Let Her Go’, ‘Come Save Me’, and ‘Four’. It was incredible, made up of hit after hit, making for a neat little set, performed with passion, soul and irresistible beats. The volume was incredibly loud and the energy from both the band and energised fans was electric.

Finishing with ‘The Throw’ – their breakout single - the crowd completely lost it. There was one guy in particular, who was almost in tears at the pure elation at how good the whole thing was. Jagwar Ma had obviously clocked him, and noticing how passionate he was, signed his vinyl and gave him one of their plectrums. From a live show, there was nothing left to give. It was perfection, and pretty much iconic.

Photo credit: Rebecca Cleal 

LIVE REVIEW: Angel Olsen @ The Lantern, Colston Hall, Bristol 10/06/14

Originally published at Middle Boop Mag: http://www.middleboopmag.com/music/live/live-angel-olsen-lantern-colston-hall-bristol-100614

Angel Olsen is a folk singer from St. Louis, Missouri. She and her band are currently touring her second studio album, Burn Your Fire For No Witness. It’s been two years since her critically acclaimed debut, Half Way Home, and there has been a slight switch up in style.

Her debut was a collection of wispy acoustic numbers that very much harked back to the 1940’s. Her new record has switched from acoustic to electric, gathering a greater deal of momentum and propelling the singer up even higher than before.

Burn Your Fire For No Witness on record, is completely commanding. It is almost hypnotizing, as the pain and passion bleeds through the speakers. But live, at Bristol’s Colston Hall, well it was a particularly special show, the audience entranced and completely silent, in awe of this amazing artist.

This Bristol date was the last stop on her seven-stop UK tour. Angel, throughout her performance, had her fans in the palm of her hand, singing straight into the crowd with a devout, almost unblinking stare. It was utterly mesmerising.

Between tracks, she would crack jokes, simply to lighten the mood, and they were actually really quite funny. Closing with ‘Sweet Dreams’, Angel and her band thanked the crowd profusely, and as they left the stage there was a common consensus that everyone wanted just a little bit more of the remarkable Angel Olsen. 

Photo credit: Rebecca Cleal 

PREVIEW: Bath In Fashion

Written for Shoon, appears on the company website. http://www.shoon.com/articles/this-weeks-bath-in-fashion.htm

Bath in Fashion is upon us once again, a glorious week of programming that celebrates the British fashion industry; its origins past and present. It’s a time when the picturesque city comes alive with street-style, fashion celebrities and a wealth of exciting events for everyone to get involved with. These include style debates, stage workshops, style counsel, exhibitions and installations.

This year, it’s the turn of fashion giant BIBA, marking their 50th anniversary. It’s a time for celebration, reflection and insider know-how. Starting life as a London fashion store in the 60’s and 70’s, BIBA had a humble beginning, stocking affordable fashion for its customers. BIBA is now housed by House Of Fraser, and its creator Barbara Hulanicki will be leading the talks, joined for a debate by former Fashion Director from The Telegraph, Hilary Alexander.

Other guests include Meadhame Kirchhoff – cited as the most creative duo at this years’ London Fashion Week, as she talks about her work with Sarah Mower, from Bath, who is currently the Contributing Editor of American Vogue. 

Other speakers include Mary Homer, MD of Topshop and Clarks’ creative designer Paolo Gabreilli as part of the Fashion As a Business segment of the week.

Bath in Fashion Pavillion is a main feature and will showcase a programme created in partnership with Selvedge Magazine, visualising the imagination and poignant skills of local craftsmen and women from the area and beyond. 

Nina Campbell, (below) will also be hosting a master class on interior design, which will explain how she uses colour, texture, lighting, art pieces and flowers to create the perfect indoor space.

ALBUM REVIEW: Foster The People - Supermodel

Originally published at Gigwise: http://www.gigwise.com/reviews/89568/foster-the-people---supermodel-columbia

Californian three-piece Foster The People are best known for their breakthrough single ‘Pumped Up Kicks’, which was released in 2010. Front man and former jingle writer Mark Foster essentially dressed one of America’s historical tragedies (The Columbine High School massacre of 1999) in a happy hat, and a worldwide hit ensued. It was a good song, but the dark narrative was a strange juxtaposition against the cheerful whistles and happy-go-lucky beat.

A self-titled EP and their debut album Torches (which includes singles ‘Helena Beat’ and ‘Call It What You Want’) followed, and did do exceptionally well across the US, Australia and Britain. The following singles followed the same formula, and Foster’s jingle-writing background is very apparent, their music does lack a certain depth, but bloody hell it’s catchy.

‘Coming Of Age’, the bands lead single from new album Supermodel, is pleasant – an easy, universally identifiable narrative about (you guessed it) coming of age, set against sugary sweet, LA- centric indie/pop and syrupy guitars reverbs.

The album is said to be a comment on fame and how it can change people, and how those around you can also change as a product of the (what I imagine to be the most minimal amount of) fame. It’s a nice idea, but doesn’t carry much weight for the FTP guys, who are still relatively new on the scene, and haven’t really done that much yet, in the grand scheme of things.

The record on the whole is fine, but isn’t really anything to get too excited about, it’s pretty transparent, and different songs seem only to mimic their influences, take ‘Fire Escape’ which just screams Bon Iver, or ‘Ask Yourself’ which is essentially Talking Heads territory.

A second album from Foster The People is like being offered seconds of a meal that you didn’t really enjoy that much anyway, you’ll have a bit more, you suppose, you guess it would be rude not to, but you could really have done without that last slice. 

ALBUM REVIEW: Cheatahs -Cheatahs

Originally published at Gigwise: http://www.gigwise.com/reviews/88577/cheatahs---cheatahs-wichita

Cheetah’s self-titled debut was created in an old, stone-floored cottage in Devon - which is a strange setting to imagine a record like this to have been born in. Their self-titled album sounds as its cover connotes – fiery, decollate, hazy and slightly Americanised – a far cry from the chocolate-box, parochial setting in which it was indeed crafted.

The American sounding grunge hue clearly derives from the drummer and producer of the record, San Diego born Dean Reid. Vocalist and lead guitarist Nathan Hewitt , originally from Canada, and James Wignall (guitar, vocals) from Leister, met whilst working at a bar in Camden. The pair became great friends and eventually in 2010, after years spent messing around in numerous punk and rock bands, decided to form a band of their own. Cheatahs was born.

The four-piece went on to spend a couple of months touring the US with surf rock stoners Wavves and FIDLAR before completing the album, you’ll find many a nod to both bands mentioned on the record, which was finished off in an east London studio when the band returned home.

Cheatahs have managed to come up with an album that sounds so utterly nostalgic and familiar, whilst steering clear of those often copyright infringing tendencies that put other bands like this in the ground before they’ve even taken off. Think Nirvana, Interpol and even Tame Impala – the record is a haze of low-fuzz, moody rock homage, washed out and distorted down to a T with little room for complaint.

LIVE REVIEW: Bombay Bicycle Club - O2 Academy Bristol, 12th March 2014

Originally published at Middle Boop Mag: http://www.middleboopmag.com/music/live/live-bombay-bicycle-club-o2-academy-bristol-12th-march-2014

Bombay Bicycle Club are our very own home grown, quintessential indie band. The fresh faced poster children of their generation – but can their fourth album in four years, a fast turnover for any band, do enough to keep us interested?

BBC dove in with their game changing debut record (I Had The Blues But I Shook Them Loose) back in 2010, followed it with a folk-acoustic offering (Flaws), dabbled in art-rock shoegaze (A Different Kind Of Fix) and have now added beats and loops on their current album So Long See You Tomorrow. They have fearlessly done the unthinkable – considerably reinventing their sound with each album, pleasing current fans and keeping them thoroughly refreshed, whilst attracting new ones in their droves.

Their fantastic new album has finally taken the idiosyncratic North London foursome to the lofty heights of the number one spot, which is surprisingly their first. What an achievement - the entire LP was also their first to have been entirely self-produced– promising wholly raw talent and hopeful longevity for this superb band, without needing to hide in the shadows of impressive producers.

Most bands are either loved for their ‘happy’ or ‘sad’ music, it’s not often that a band can receive equally strong reactions live to these opposite ends of the spectrum. Their live show did just that, sweeping us up in the dizzy euphoria of ‘Carry Me’, back down to the bashful heartache of‘What If’.

Having spent the last year travelling Turkey, India and Asia, Front man Jack Steadman is said to have drawn the exotic influences on the record from these travels, finding not only himself – but the true essence of the band, as trite as that sounds. ‘Feel’, another gem from their latest record was an amazing moment live, and gauging the crowds response to this unusual swerve in sound – it seems these risks have well and truly paid off.

Their performance was a whirlwind or colour and noise through their impressive back catalogue, mixing the old with the new, cherry picking from the best with no vanity filler ballads or boring, overly long instrumentals. The audience was excitable and completely consumed throughout. 

They have in the past, (and still to this day) been criticised for lacking an identity. But does having a number one album suddenly mean that they should start smashing up their guitars and making grandiose statements about the state of ‘modern music’ during their live shows now? They are a band of few words, with art and craft at the forefront of their imaginations.

LIVE REVIEW: Anna Calvi - Komedia, Bath - 12th February 2014

Armed with shimmering second album One Breath and her Fender Telecaster guitar, British singer/songwriter Anna Calvi is back on tour, playing a modicum of European and UK dates. Her self-titled debut album won the once-shrinking-violet countless awards and a 9/10 from NME, a modern day rarity. 

With a blue sunny sky graphic as her backdrop, Calvi looked every bit as stunning and intriguing as before. As a performer, Calvi is irresistibly alluring – effortlessly commanding the attention of everyone present with an entrancing yet humble stage presence.

The Domino Records protégé opened with ‘Suzanne and I’ - a firm fan favourite from her debut. ‘Sing To Me’ oozed confidence and unmistakable sincerity about her craft, and the stunning ‘Cry’ was every bit femme fatale as it needed to be when played live.

Her cover of Bruce Springsteen’s ’Fire’ was the moment of the night for most, and her version of ‘Desire’ was incredibly special. Calvi’s encore was a real chance for her free, less inhibited side to shine. She barely spoke throughout the performance, which added even more to that undeniable mystique that wasn’t compromised once throughout the evening.

Calvi has previously spoken about once having a phobia of singing, and called it a ‘block’ on wanting to hear her own voice, this is probably the driving force as to why her vocals and guitar are now so acutely in harmony, having learned both skills at different times. Tonight was an intense, un-punctured performance from an incredibly exciting artist.