New Bands

I'll get straight into it this time.

Rockets Red Glare by Rockets Red Glare: I stumbled on this by complete chance on a blog which I wish I'd followed, but now I've lost it. Drats. Rockets Red Glare is a surprisingly minimalist approach to 'hardcore'. Well, they describe themselves as a hardcore band, but it really seems to be more post-punk with pronounced math elements with tracks such as 'Backwards Masking' and 'Trance Nation'. All in all, I enjoyed it. 3.5/5.

The View From This Tower by Faraquet: Upon first listen, I was immediately entranced. The sustained density of the album is truly to be praised. I'm certain that I'll be playing this for quite some time to come. For a purist math rock fan. 4/5.

Everything Goes Wrong by Vivian Girls: It's good, but somewhat limited by the vocalist's range. She seems to be able to only sing in one monotonous tone without venturing or exploring her limits. Shame. Lyrically the album stands out with themes that bind the album together. Each song seems to reflect a chapter. To take anything from it, you've really got to listen to the whole thing in one sitting.

I've got some stuff to do, so that's all for now. There's tons more.

Also, I should mention that I'm heading down to Sydney in a week so I'll be aiming for 5+ gigs. Should be good. YES! Also +1, The Dillinger Escape Plan (my FAVOURITE mathcore band), are coming to Australia! I've never seen them before, so I'm definitely going to be getting in early on the tickets.

Weekend Gigs: Exhaustion

As expected, there wasn't much to take from the heavier gig. The sets were sloppy and more emphasis seemed to be placed to attempts at brutality.

Ha.

There was this one kid that kept trying to make a circle pit and was constantly flicking me in the face with his head banging. What did I do? I jumped in the pit and messed him up good. I hadn't been in a 'pit' for quite sometime, even though this one was fairly sedate.

I can still hear Intentions playing in my ears, just a continuation of ringing.

Well, I must say that was the craziest night I've ever seen at the Youthie. Absolute brilliance. Here's how it went down:

First up was We Caught the Craken, a mathcore band from Tamworth. The set was too short to be enjoyed - 2 songs - so I really couldn't take much out of it. It seemed tightly composed with technicality to boot.

The crowd wasn't as big as I'd anticipated for it to be, so that was a bit of a disappointment. I reflected on this as Romeros took to the stage in yet another ridiculously short set. I couldn't get into it. As much as I love them, this was the worst set I've ever seen them play. Lyrics were forgotten, the cover wasn't performed correctly, parts were out of time and there was far too much sweat in the crowd. Ha. I'm just a little old man I guess.

I'd been looking forward to seeing Crouching 80s Hidden Acronym, mainly because I've really only just got around to listening to their EP. I'm planning on writing about it soon, I just need to give it a few more listens. Their set was excellent, fast paced and packed with energy. Although I was upset that they didn't cover Holiday in Cambodia by Dead Kennedys, but oh well I guess At the Drive-In will suffice. Ha. It seemed a little awkward though with various members jumping off the stage and joining the crowd. Maybe there's one member too many in that band? Anyway, I highly enjoyed it.

Surprisingly, The Spontaneous Kevin Costner were excellent tonight. I almost considered leaving just for their set because of how shitty they were last night, but I was so pleased. I even bought their demo, which I am yet to hear. They pack so much enjoyment into their performance that seeps through into the audience. A great experience. Although the vocalist annoys me endlessly with his eccentric dancing and hand movements that seem to be reminiscent of Oli Sykes from Bring Me the Horizon. I managed to block that out and I throughly enjoyed their set. Once major setback was the bassist's foul mouth. Seriously, I don't need to hear the 'c-bomb' whenever I go to a gig. It detracted from their performance.

Intentions. Wow. What a band. I discovered them right at the beginning of this year and I have a digital copy of their 3-track demo. To be honest, I really didn't hear anything special in it at first. I've really only started to appreciate it more and more in the last month. Excellent timing, huh? They played my favourite track - Abdicate, which was truly the highlight of the night. I haven't been to a gig in a long, long time in which a band performs on the floor. It provides such an intimate experience. I had a brief chat to their drummer about Anthrax and he seems like a really nice guy. To help them out a little, I bought a t-shirt which I am still wearing. They topped off a perfect gig.

Tonight's show was by far the best Youthie gig I have ever been to, and perhaps the 2nd best Tamworth show as well. Intentions made the night for me. I was stoked.

Forthcoming gigs and the usual

In about two hours I'll be at the Youthie. I'm not sure how it'll go, it'd be cool to see The Spontaneous Kevin Costner since I've never seen them, but other than that...meh. It'll be interesting to see Your Name on a Toe-Tag 'cause I haven't seen them in about 8 months, even if the lead singer is a douche.

It is a heavier gig and they haven't particularly been enjoyable. Maybe this one might change things. I hope so.

BUUUT! The best gig ever to hit Tamworth is happening tomorrow night! Stay tuned for that.

Now for the listening:

Broom by Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin: Quite easily the best indie-pop band I've come across this year so far. I love how they aren't pissy little tweens unlike their counterparts. There's some really sincere and profound music to be enjoyed here. I suggest you oblige. They've also got another album, Perishing, that I also enjoyed.

Gig: Youthie

I went to the Youthie last night, mainly to watch a band made up of friends. They're called Romeros, and yeah, they are pretty good. The venue is starting to get a little small given the fairly recent influx of dumb-ass scene kids. All in all, I had a pretty good night, even though I was feeling incredibly sick. This year is going to kill me.

Oh well, three bands played last night:

1. Romeros

2. Red Letter Day

3. Four Degrees Hotter

Four Degrees Hotter were absolutely woeful, that is, if you actually enjoy out-of-time/shitty ACDC covers. From memory I think they played two originals, which were also terrible. Why were they terrible? Well, other than having a vocalist that sounded like Kurt Cobain with laryngitis, they couldn't hold down a decent beat, and just can't write music, at all....let alone play. I got so frustrated I went into the back room. 0/5.

Red Letter Day were also terrible; they also played out of time, out of tune, got lyrics wrong, and were generic. I couldn't really get into it. It was kind of awkward how everybody else was dancing, yet I just couldn't bring myself to move - even the lead singer (forgot his name) yelled out, 'Hey kid in the Sonic Youth shirt, why aren't you dancing?!' Yeah, good. The set was sloppy and I could barely distinguish the separate sounds of the different instruments - that probably had something to do with the fact that three microphones were positioned on each amp...great, eh? 2/5.

Romeros were very good. That isn't coming from someone that has such close ties with the band...I really mean it. They are starting to mature really well. They're even starting to get some noisey/ambiance about them...I'm excited. They even played the two new demo tracks that I wanted to hear. I also finally got around to purchasing their EP, even though I already have a digital copy - I'll write a review...and yes Dean, I might do one of the Crouching 80s EP as well. You'll have to keep reading this because I'm not going to be on facebook for a while.

Speaking of purchasing music/being a cheap bastard, I think that I'm going to change my philosophy. From next year, I am only going to buy music...and that's a promise. I think the experience of going to a dimly-lit record store is far more enjoyable than waiting 5 minutes for a download to complete.