tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86421680675888816772024-03-24T11:15:23.770+00:00PLUS ONE MAGAZINESeeking out new music, often loud, always a bit different. Established in 2003, Plus One Magazine is now a Leeds-based music blog. You'll find us down the front at all our favourite gig venues.Plus One Magazinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11471075820053272040noreply@blogger.comBlogger421125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8642168067588881677.post-17694092146743469552024-03-24T11:14:00.001+00:002024-03-24T11:14:32.374+00:00Gossip 'Real Power' (ALBUM REVIEW)<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfHm7baMmTNVtbTPGJcinVvqv2ANTLcUS1gXvy3b1kG9T-7MoOxcMlPG-PB-JKpbJqwt4pazfTK3PzOos1s4rcYR97R4P8hcDPBg20ROKQmdz_2OFI5MA1Vc54nylZKVBRwgX2XUfAVVBBNseTcpt1XH5yIpfbNUyRD-msAJ_i5odEZ59DEWog9xNhG_Rl/s900/Image.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="900" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfHm7baMmTNVtbTPGJcinVvqv2ANTLcUS1gXvy3b1kG9T-7MoOxcMlPG-PB-JKpbJqwt4pazfTK3PzOos1s4rcYR97R4P8hcDPBg20ROKQmdz_2OFI5MA1Vc54nylZKVBRwgX2XUfAVVBBNseTcpt1XH5yIpfbNUyRD-msAJ_i5odEZ59DEWog9xNhG_Rl/w640-h640/Image.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0cm;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">It’s great to see <a href="https://www.bethditto.com" target="_blank">Gossip </a>back where they belong, stage front, fanatical audience wrapped around vocalist Beth Ditto’s little finger. Wowing a clearly delighted throng at the recent <i>6 music</i> festival it’s as if they’d never been away, not forgetting a barnstorming groove-laden new single ‘Real Power’ and now a brand new long player boasting the same moniker. The trio’s sixth album, released on Columbia records, their first new record in a dozen years serves as a fitting marker to the American trio’s twenty-five years together. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"></span></span></o:p></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">With Rick Rubin once more at the controls in the studio, what started as a Ditto solo affair suddenly morphed into a full band project after their brief 2019 reunion tour, celebrating a decade since the Def Jam founder’s previous production session for Gossip on their breakthrough release ‘Music For Men’. Crafted on either side of the pandemic ‘Real Power’ serves as the band’s celebration of triumph over adversity both individually and collectively.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><o:p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Full of the trademark Gossip power-pop sound, the polished finish on ‘Real Power’ stands in stark contrast to their <i>Cramps-y</i> shtik. Title track is pure Gossip at their badass best, the uber-groove laded summer festival anthem to end all summer festival anthems. Saying that, they’re certainly not one trick ponies, the standout ‘Don’t Be Afraid’ gives the Ditto vocal free reign, a blend of contemporary kitsch disco-ball mixed with Hitzville-era yearning; the denouement betraying a touching vulnerability, Ditto imploring “Hold me, like you never ever had to hold someone, like you can’t ever let go and so, don’t let go, don’t let go”. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">The Rubin influence is clearest on ‘Edge Of The Sun’ brimming with <i>Chilli Pepper</i> overtones yet the song proves infuriatingly catchy, the expansive yet lo-fi closers ‘Tough’ and ‘Peace and Quiet’ providing more of the album’s more rewarding moments. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><o:p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="line-height: 15.333332px;"><b>Words by <a href="https://twitter.com/avpriceyfc?s=21&t=WCUD3VWOU24PTQBmg-_Z_A" target="_blank">Michael Price</a></b></span><span style="line-height: 15.333332px;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 15.333332px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 15.333332px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i>Gossip <a href="https://www.bethditto.com" target="_blank">official</a></i></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 15.333332px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 15.333332px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i>'Real Power' is out now via Columbia Records</i></span></span></p>Plus One Magazinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11471075820053272040noreply@blogger.comLeeds, UK53.8007554 -1.549077425.490521563821154 -36.7053274 82.110989236178852 33.6071726tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8642168067588881677.post-13220030061344708502024-03-01T12:29:00.002+00:002024-03-03T10:22:31.557+00:00Coco ‘2’ (ALBUM REVIEW)<p style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi07D-W2c00nJaInl3EOr1eHJxHWWnjRtJfGlJmHjTd0fLHAXx7vZS0GzOMgMutJvp73PAF9A8QZcmZCOZkHNqXo7U7ajKtyB-2O960o9Hgas-nlg8YSxqJwwQ_dqWcHHcX3t8EIw7seS0FnbkNAQdOmxP9CojadFe6lRq4-l868S7cFi41_eIrM-ZgmE-k/s640/IMG_6454.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi07D-W2c00nJaInl3EOr1eHJxHWWnjRtJfGlJmHjTd0fLHAXx7vZS0GzOMgMutJvp73PAF9A8QZcmZCOZkHNqXo7U7ajKtyB-2O960o9Hgas-nlg8YSxqJwwQ_dqWcHHcX3t8EIw7seS0FnbkNAQdOmxP9CojadFe6lRq4-l868S7cFi41_eIrM-ZgmE-k/s320/IMG_6454.webp" width="320" /></a></div><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><br /></span><p></p><p style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><br /></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Continuing the near recent trend of bands releasing new music anonymously or without fanfare, experimental stateside combo <a href="https://songofcoco.com/" target="_blank">Coco</a> unveiled their titular debut long player following a bunch of early singles appearing as if by magic. Each record comprised languid, deeply infectious slices of soft rock, winning hearts and minds from many an unsuspecting listener. </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span></span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Comprising a collective of Stateside wanderers Maia Friedman (voice/guitars), Oliver Hll (bass/vocals) and Dan Molad (drums/vocals), each having cut their chops amongst a gaggle of cult bands beforehand, “2” constitutes Coco’s follow-up, seemingly a deeper dive into their alluringly kooky Americana.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">Released on 1st March via First City Artists and self produced in Joshua Tree, California, “2” feels capacious and snug in equal measure. Lead off single, the Byrds tinged ‘Mythological Man’ borrows from psych-pop from more than half a century ago whereas the claustrophobic ‘</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">Moodrings</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">’ is every bit </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">its</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> contemporary opposite, gloriously coming up for air every once in a while.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Pick of the bunch is the lush transcendent ‘Cora Lu’. Almost childlike and hymnal in places, it’s a disarming ode to Maia Friedman’s newfound motherhood, a perfect lullaby for little ones the world over transfixed by the vast expanse and bright colours of their new surroundings, yet also perfectly at home heard in front of a roaring midwinter hearth, a testament to its versatility.. </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">‘’The Swimmer’ exudes jazz-club bossanova, the cigarette smoke palpably emanating from your audio device whereas ’Wheel’ smacks of Richard Hawley meeting Scott Walker, Hill’s wistful vocal, a mix of yearning whilst simultaneously resigned to his fate. Dense closer ‘Do This Right’ is practically an instrumental, the ideal way to slowly drift back to earth. </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Deceptively abundant. </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="s3" style="line-height: 12px;"><span class="bumpedFont17" style="line-height: 20.4px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i><b>Words - <a href="https://x.com/avpriceyfc?s=21&t=OsNP9WpwW_P47lYmwf9ohQ" target="_blank">Michael Price</a></b></i></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="s3" style="line-height: 12px;"><span class="bumpedFont17" style="line-height: 20.4px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i>Coco <a href="https://songofcoco.com/" target="_blank">official</a> </i></span></span></span></p>Plus One Magazinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11471075820053272040noreply@blogger.comLeeds, UK53.8007554 -1.549077425.490521563821154 -36.7053274 82.110989236178852 33.6071726tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8642168067588881677.post-4465859635886095722024-02-27T17:42:00.001+00:002024-02-28T21:16:35.317+00:00Kill The Pain (LIVE REVIEW) The Old Woollen, Leeds, February 21st 2024<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQXGEcBwesfTfmLeWHlW3OHmDXk-uaIT4LxUOKqOHOEv54aQfs2oXGvAiU29atT0VLfxtltOIV4aa5BvCd0U9HQ9ckiTy4SZkL7IkMguoPI1A-viAf460750QcFZpMf3mz9NTxOsDKEMEMmDdyZuwO_LRCaIsPvDvajOaDRKD2Xy5ZeW75EY88TOdzEF4H/s512/KTP2.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="341" data-original-width="512" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQXGEcBwesfTfmLeWHlW3OHmDXk-uaIT4LxUOKqOHOEv54aQfs2oXGvAiU29atT0VLfxtltOIV4aa5BvCd0U9HQ9ckiTy4SZkL7IkMguoPI1A-viAf460750QcFZpMf3mz9NTxOsDKEMEMmDdyZuwO_LRCaIsPvDvajOaDRKD2Xy5ZeW75EY88TOdzEF4H/w640-h426/KTP2.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;">Chanteuses Melanie Pain and Phoebe Killdeer, rotating vocalists within surprisingly joyful French new wave covers band <span><a href="https://nouvellevaguemusic.com" target="_blank">Nouvelle Vague</a></span>, recently joined forces, the perfect vehicle to create some self-penned pop nuggets of their own within semi-eponymous side project <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/killthepainofficial" target="_blank">Kill the Pain</a></span>. Tonight sees the Gallic duo opening for their former bandmates at a packed <a href="https://oldwoollen.co.uk/home" target="_blank">Old Woollen</a>, the first of eight dates together on these shores, Phoebe adorned in a striking tinsel wig (presumably replete with the appropriate fire certification beneath the hot stage lighting) as she emerges from the gloom</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;">With her partner in crime first up alternating vocal duties serving up the alluring pop-art tinged ‘Zig Zag’, part Devo, part Talking Heads, with a European twist thrown in for good measure, next up ‘I Do What I Do’, delivers another stylish slice of taut agit-funk. By now everyone is nicely warmed up before the rafters are filled with Pain’s opening line from ‘Meditations’, namely “What The Fuck is Going On?”, everyone unsurprisingly swiftly joining in. Pick of their short but perfectly formed set was the groove laden belter ‘Chiwawa’, seemingly straight out of a New York roller rink.</p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;">The girls weren’t finished either, returning midway through Nouvelle Vague’s fabulous set of bossa nova tinged pop-classics delivering another brace; Melanie’s seductive vocal on ‘This Charming Man’ giving the original a run for its money and predictably bringing the house down. </p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;">It will take me a month to stop grinning. </p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><b><i>Words - </i></b><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><b><i><a href="https://twitter.com/avpriceyfc?s=21&t=B3PcCas6N5VNYivKr3iYWg" target="_blank">Michael Price</a></i></b></span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><i>Kill The Pain </i><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><i><a href="https://www.facebook.com/killthepainofficial" target="_blank">official</a></i></span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><i>Nouvelle Vague </i><span><i><a href="https://nouvellevaguemusic.com" target="_blank">official</a></i></span></p>Plus One Magazinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11471075820053272040noreply@blogger.comLeeds, UK53.8007554 -1.549077425.490521563821154 -36.7053274 82.110989236178852 33.6071726tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8642168067588881677.post-36050218345450489592024-02-25T12:42:00.003+00:002024-02-25T12:43:32.257+00:00Solar Eyes (self-titled) Album review<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL9w9kHvXCp0Ks-Cx5nv3zb0yGl_UOQkA_Td_1XRJywRRzSHZf-0Oi2Z3cw1Poe1z7T7oF9-Cx_Fo3JS-6zhOO2rQ6ir3VBHHVScqQBSOXgVTqk6DjM18idhyjiunGJlV1-zCIwGPBzv5bj8jk_RdmTq4DzqlEpqMIVZfS7akPawwsvOlo1skzAU6R4coT/s3000/Image.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="3000" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL9w9kHvXCp0Ks-Cx5nv3zb0yGl_UOQkA_Td_1XRJywRRzSHZf-0Oi2Z3cw1Poe1z7T7oF9-Cx_Fo3JS-6zhOO2rQ6ir3VBHHVScqQBSOXgVTqk6DjM18idhyjiunGJlV1-zCIwGPBzv5bj8jk_RdmTq4DzqlEpqMIVZfS7akPawwsvOlo1skzAU6R4coT/w640-h640/Image.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">“There’s no escape, like Alcatraz,” goes the mesmeric middle section of the opening song on the debut album from Birmingham psych pop duo <a href="https://linktr.ee/solareyesmusic" target="_blank">Solar Eyes</a>. And it’s certainly easy to get sucked in – before you know it you’ve passed the psych-getti Western stylings of ‘Dreaming of the Moon’ and greasy Oasis-isms of album highlight ‘She Kissed the Gun’, dayglo colours streaming past you as you go. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><o:p><span><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"></span></span></o:p></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">By the time you arrive at the aptly-named halfway point ‘Acid Test (The Walls Are Closing In)’, you’ll know whether you want to pop out for some fresh air or double down on the heady fumes given off by the duo’s high-octane sizzle. If fuzzed-out vocals and a Britpop swagger are your bag then you must stick around because there’s plenty more – the urgent ‘Let’s Run Away’ moves through several gears and ‘Roll the Dice’ deftly intertwines guitar and synth lines in an onslaught of hooks.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><o:p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">There are much-needed lulls in energy spread through the record, the best of which is the crooning ‘Top of the World’, which could have been smuggled out of the lobby of the Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino in a wheely suitcase. The woozy closer ‘Deep Trip’ is the perfect way to wind down after 45 minutes of genuinely captivating psych pop which wears that badge with pride without the eye-rolling “woah man it’s all so groovy” energy which plagues the genre. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i><b>Words - <a href="https://twitter.com/jpontificating?s=21&t=Y7vurSQGVjvhNa3dUtlZTw" target="_blank">Joe Ponting</a> </b></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i>Solar Eyes <a href="https://linktr.ee/solareyesmusic">official</a></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;">Watch '<span style="caret-color: rgb(19, 19, 19); color: #131313; text-align: start; white-space: pre-wrap;">(At Least)Paranoia Loves you'</span> <a href="https://youtu.be/mzHUhahWhFU?si=gV-57WXRTye_flfo" target="_blank">here</a> </span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><br /></p>Plus One Magazinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11471075820053272040noreply@blogger.comLeeds, UK53.8007554 -1.549077425.490521563821154 -36.7053274 82.110989236178852 33.6071726tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8642168067588881677.post-57502219258633465692024-02-21T13:50:00.004+00:002024-02-21T13:54:04.726+00:00Plus One's Artist in Focus: Metz<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj8QZBVl4GJ9eoHfpDqskMuIqPO55o2hS1buVVz2ZID_1vJCVoEOUpTvyKI5AKXENt6LGHBZkBjtVGUyyYI_V_mnG900hn7m7CcZlUn4dxT8J-UAQaoT52UOpb6oA4g3Ji5PwD1FFBzTym3888Wc8wyJA6O5DyvLrWDhm-PXbv1FZp9E_y3mJ28jNu10WP/s6209/IMG_6414.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4302" data-original-width="6209" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj8QZBVl4GJ9eoHfpDqskMuIqPO55o2hS1buVVz2ZID_1vJCVoEOUpTvyKI5AKXENt6LGHBZkBjtVGUyyYI_V_mnG900hn7m7CcZlUn4dxT8J-UAQaoT52UOpb6oA4g3Ji5PwD1FFBzTym3888Wc8wyJA6O5DyvLrWDhm-PXbv1FZp9E_y3mJ28jNu10WP/s320/IMG_6414.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 10px;">Photo credit: Vanessa Heins</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white;"><a href="https://www.metzztem.com/" target="_blank">METZ</a> are playing us like a fiddle, offering up a brace of new songs to give a tantalising look at where their heads are at on their forthcoming fifth album, and obviously we’ve been sucked in. ‘<a href="https://youtu.be/z4CLTZ_dTQg?si=ZbNbdkICgfBSTvY5" target="_blank">99</a>’ shoves upbeat and atmospheric verses down concrete steps for a typically discordant chorus, and ‘Entwined’ takes a sharp left turn for a dreamy middle section bookended by joyful noise.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white;">Clearly even with the fuzz pedals on, the Canadian band are still intent on knocking through the walls of sound that characterise their earlier work – all will be revealed in April, when </span><i style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Up On Gravity Hill</i><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white;"> finally drops.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><b><i>Words - <a href="https://x.com/jpontificating?s=21&t=OsNP9WpwW_P47lYmwf9ohQ" target="_blank">Joe Ponting </a></i></b></span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg42Fq8ZVbzxwpU62UBQ4yQJgYmPV72MJXUinH1lnpvdEAozBjGtkQiNFg8tD-0C8ym_aqUC3xxsfEFUzyq4EOLQGRNI85iVlcPEkkS_aNXFOeWY_ly0v_Wnw3N3tZIo1A6ZwGQKAHRBxrQU1pr43blnsx3gUEzqptaPufQqXaisN1ZlUuw09CoP8UNHxTJ/s450/IMG_6415.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="450" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg42Fq8ZVbzxwpU62UBQ4yQJgYmPV72MJXUinH1lnpvdEAozBjGtkQiNFg8tD-0C8ym_aqUC3xxsfEFUzyq4EOLQGRNI85iVlcPEkkS_aNXFOeWY_ly0v_Wnw3N3tZIo1A6ZwGQKAHRBxrQU1pr43blnsx3gUEzqptaPufQqXaisN1ZlUuw09CoP8UNHxTJ/s320/IMG_6415.jpeg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">UP ON GRAVITY HILL</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">OUT </span><span dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-decoration: underline;">APR 12th</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> ON SUB POP</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">UK TOUR DATES</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: 12px; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline;">Nov 25th</span><b style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;"> | </b><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">Birmingham, UK - Hare & Hounds</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: 12px; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline;">Nov 26th</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">| Leeds, UK - Brudenell Social Club</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word; text-decoration: underline;">Nov 27th</span> | Birkenhead, UK - Future Yard</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word; text-decoration: underline;">Nov 28th</span> | Bristol, UK - Strange Brew</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word; text-decoration: underline;">Nov 29th</span> | London, UK - Village Underground</span></span></p><p><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></div>Plus One Magazinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11471075820053272040noreply@blogger.comLeeds, UK53.8007554 -1.549077425.490521563821154 -36.7053274 82.110989236178852 33.6071726tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8642168067588881677.post-86232656809603320242024-02-14T13:13:00.004+00:002024-02-14T18:13:07.854+00:00IDLES ‘Tangk’ ALBUM REVIEW <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXX21jEzqV7jWtVAgMB0D3po52Rj4Uvb9lekI567pWBtK9_TLhcYM_j1Xcmzj5NKTzciigb1yMQHcI8Drw70-fsDTnlHTu9SdyvO7BQHYHqp4B39gdED9l6MJJtl2fKa7WQTuxVp-ucETg4Df7n_outykYFRQzZiBQDmneQc-GQIO-2dp80xdr3dJYGqLX/s3000/IDLES%20-%20Album%20Art%20-%20TANGK.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="3000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXX21jEzqV7jWtVAgMB0D3po52Rj4Uvb9lekI567pWBtK9_TLhcYM_j1Xcmzj5NKTzciigb1yMQHcI8Drw70-fsDTnlHTu9SdyvO7BQHYHqp4B39gdED9l6MJJtl2fKa7WQTuxVp-ucETg4Df7n_outykYFRQzZiBQDmneQc-GQIO-2dp80xdr3dJYGqLX/s320/IDLES%20-%20Album%20Art%20-%20TANGK.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">Whether they’ve wanted it or not, antagonism has dogged IDLES for most of their career. The Bristol band started off </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">as </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">the instigators, </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">going after </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">everything from</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> the Tories</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> to toxic masculinity, before </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">being pushed towards the back foot at the hands of a rabid media</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">, a strangely militant </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">haterbase</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> and, let’s face it, an underwhelming third album (the now all-but-disowned </span><span class="s5" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 21.6px;">Ultra Mono</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">).</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span></span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">The fightback started with 2021’s</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> Grammy-nominated</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> and soul-bearing</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> </span><span class="s5" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 21.6px;">Crawler</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">and the band have doubled down on pushing</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> their envelope</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> still further on </span><span class="s5" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 21.6px;">Tangk</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">. </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">The fact that opener </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">‘Idea 01’ was the first idea for the album tells you everything you need to know </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">about the band’s approach </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">–</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"></span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">polyphonic piano lines and gentle vocals show there was never any intention to go back to </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">the </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">post</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">-</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">punk cacophony that founded the IDLES empire. </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">That said, ‘Gift Horse’ crashes back the years – in a different life it would have kicked the album off, an undoubtedly </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">refined </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">version of ‘classic’ IDLES (a category becoming increasingly hard to </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">actually define</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">), </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">which marries </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">throaty roars of </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">“look at him </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">gooooo</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">” with more experimental guitar tones and effects best appreciated with headphones.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">With iconic producer Nigel </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">Godrich</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> brought on board alongside Kenny Beats and Mark Bowen – </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">who enthusiastically continues </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">his double life playing guitar on one side of the glass and twiddling knobs on the other – and experimentation the name of the game, it is terribly hard not to make c</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">omparisons between </span><span class="s5" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 21.6px;">Tangk</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> and the fourth album from </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">a</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> band led by a</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> certain </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">Mr Yorke. </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">‘POP </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">POP</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">POP</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">’</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">, with heavy effects on </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">even the drums and </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">a</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> glitching vocal outro</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">, epitomises this move, but that’s quite enough of that</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> for now.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">As the record progresses it becomes more and more apparent that </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">IDLES </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">are doing this for nobody but themselves. </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">‘A Gospel’ might once have been an interlude </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">but is now given room to breathe and evolve, while ‘Hall & Oates’ </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">gives more than a knowing wink to LCD Soundsystem (two of whom pop up with vocals on ‘Dancer’)</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> bristling with </span><span class="s5" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 21.6px;">Brutalism</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">-era guitars and delivery.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">Joe Talbot’s vocals have never sounded so good and so varied, </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">never better than on ‘Roy’ with its appealingly naïve arpeggios and </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">theatrically </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">squalling chorus, and his lyricism is also </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">particularly strong</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">. </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">The chorus on penultimate song ‘Gratitude’ urgently, desperately affirms that</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">“That gratitude cuts through my veins”</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">, </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">a line which</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> neatly sums </span><span class="s5" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 21.6px;">Tangk</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">up – it’s </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">minor-key catharsis </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">not </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">a shallow giving of thanks</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">, and once you’ve bought into it it’s terribly hard to tear yourself away.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i><b>Words - Joe Ponting </b></i></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">IDLES <a href="https://www.idlesband.com/" target="_blank">official</a></span><a href="https://www.idlesband.com/" target="_blank"> </a></i></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU_2bq3-TRo3brILA0GrRqInWfBHrIwx1m2EwrpfxgkpyfqAGjulsBQlRbgSTRTVomoW4O6SN80zb0WkZ6npvgRJHz2xvg46cODwUaoR1K-Il-zT0K72Z91dE503U-vgjR9eiFwc0OeOt3ixrC8wMb1fSUj1c1HRNDuN4Zx6Hq5gJrafkYtRQ2PdlwrqC1/s512/IMG_6367.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="512" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU_2bq3-TRo3brILA0GrRqInWfBHrIwx1m2EwrpfxgkpyfqAGjulsBQlRbgSTRTVomoW4O6SN80zb0WkZ6npvgRJHz2xvg46cODwUaoR1K-Il-zT0K72Z91dE503U-vgjR9eiFwc0OeOt3ixrC8wMb1fSUj1c1HRNDuN4Zx6Hq5gJrafkYtRQ2PdlwrqC1/w200-h200/IMG_6367.jpeg" width="200" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVQF1ifRnzPtKXGIkr0-vTB8eYjGeIFYkvuoZeS1H5R2BBe0wE-wJy3lS66eMUF_wfE6BhD4wPpxhIfcCMFGOOKXEEK59_FM2MDu0ZkllNLEUPCznbCXEEJcNZMe_j_-XPhciE1bK8t-_M1xJTXC-xOYR5J8ACVX9Nx3e1Z1oqk1Ave6J3gcD-s-e9JC9y/s512/IMG_6368.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="362" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVQF1ifRnzPtKXGIkr0-vTB8eYjGeIFYkvuoZeS1H5R2BBe0wE-wJy3lS66eMUF_wfE6BhD4wPpxhIfcCMFGOOKXEEK59_FM2MDu0ZkllNLEUPCznbCXEEJcNZMe_j_-XPhciE1bK8t-_M1xJTXC-xOYR5J8ACVX9Nx3e1Z1oqk1Ave6J3gcD-s-e9JC9y/s320/IMG_6368.jpeg" width="226" /></a></div><br /><i><br /></i></span><p></p>Plus One Magazinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11471075820053272040noreply@blogger.comLeeds, UK53.8007554 -1.549077425.490521563821154 -36.7053274 82.110989236178852 33.6071726tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8642168067588881677.post-74548477187124962332024-02-04T09:27:00.008+00:002024-02-04T09:29:05.360+00:00Plus One's Artist in Focus: Lip Critic<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKbHmQzA877cxgBrqSA6T_2_F2n5KaKT3k2PaSRJSRV-bmTvHsa_oz-3c25InZ2cUS6D0t54Zm0CeaIigKciS-gViHISM9pgOjXTv1EAv6WvgapBpDzDR9_jTpF79IUqz7uaFTCrgVf4Z96W72i4kJ9E9w78rF0YWq0NtHXtAWKsE88d2AoqijcFj5p8HP/s512/Image%2004-02-2024%20at%2009.18.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="467" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKbHmQzA877cxgBrqSA6T_2_F2n5KaKT3k2PaSRJSRV-bmTvHsa_oz-3c25InZ2cUS6D0t54Zm0CeaIigKciS-gViHISM9pgOjXTv1EAv6WvgapBpDzDR9_jTpF79IUqz7uaFTCrgVf4Z96W72i4kJ9E9w78rF0YWq0NtHXtAWKsE88d2AoqijcFj5p8HP/w584-h640/Image%2004-02-2024%20at%2009.18.jpeg" width="584" /></a></div> <span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i> Photo: <span style="caret-color: rgb(96, 96, 96); color: #606060; text-align: center;">Justin Villar</span></i></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; text-align: justify;">With more drummers (two) than guitar strings (zero), Lip Critic are at the marauding vanguard of NYC punk, and pummeling new single 'The Heart' is thrilling and just a little bit stressful. Vocally it's straight up-and-down punk rock, but underneath the song is powered by frenetic work on two samplers - bringing Death Grips comparisons into the conversation isn't very creative but is inevitable. And one of the most pleasing aspects of it all is the pair of drummers are just doubling up the beats rather than intertwining complex rhythms, a means to a sledgehammer end which quite rightly smashes through any semblance of subtlety. A debut album awaits later this year.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=votp4v3M7JM"><b>Watch </b></a>The Heart</i></span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i>Lip Critic <a href="https://www.instagram.com/lipcritic/?hl=en">Instagram</a></i></span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i>Debut album coming in 2024</i></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig5OINRdJ4H16pH21Uf8Q1LrBJcPd0zTc2SHZCRPKDZ5y1VvQOyKWMRYvpLnLegLbw83uWxdKDoyGsv4uNFf1icffkFjsm32qfODsT3qbXVI04JukSRFw_eAhLZU2YxkHE0RPqMkEDNL2EuLlM4El3AxPGu_qnYrb2XuS7eKA38idyXDDqLvgKSGou4TsV/s512/Image%2004-02-2024%20at%2009.19.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="512" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig5OINRdJ4H16pH21Uf8Q1LrBJcPd0zTc2SHZCRPKDZ5y1VvQOyKWMRYvpLnLegLbw83uWxdKDoyGsv4uNFf1icffkFjsm32qfODsT3qbXVI04JukSRFw_eAhLZU2YxkHE0RPqMkEDNL2EuLlM4El3AxPGu_qnYrb2XuS7eKA38idyXDDqLvgKSGou4TsV/s320/Image%2004-02-2024%20at%2009.19.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i>Words - <b>Joe Ponting</b></i></span></span></p>Plus One Magazinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11471075820053272040noreply@blogger.comLeeds, UK53.8007554 -1.549077425.490521563821154 -36.7053274 82.110989236178852 33.6071726tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8642168067588881677.post-18508065961733177402024-01-26T12:26:00.003+00:002024-01-26T12:46:05.663+00:00Tiger Island ‘Looka Looka Looka’ EP REVIEW <p></p><p style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiayw3k_AheD4SbSX7ZebikqM7BQc953LWhjdYUQwVuhky5NVgbbF3zx4w_4SYlWJvQDxOfWnGcHWEZgr0LklrS9IGaVaipg1gjbxj-S-y7LiaBeU05rx9_LT069qmUoxs5-SoOcAElDMKXOXARLQe6gyWA0vDtlYwLCEwQOHQWZAIBkNUPRwHjJOUAScJH/s500/IMG_6301.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiayw3k_AheD4SbSX7ZebikqM7BQc953LWhjdYUQwVuhky5NVgbbF3zx4w_4SYlWJvQDxOfWnGcHWEZgr0LklrS9IGaVaipg1gjbxj-S-y7LiaBeU05rx9_LT069qmUoxs5-SoOcAElDMKXOXARLQe6gyWA0vDtlYwLCEwQOHQWZAIBkNUPRwHjJOUAScJH/s320/IMG_6301.jpeg" width="320" /></a></span></div><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">Emerging from the post Covid ennui brimming with defiance, West Yorkshire DIY punk quintet <a href="https://tigerisland.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Tiger Island</a> feel like a band stuck in a malfunctioning time machine, constantly veering </span><span class="s2" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 21.6px;">Goodnight Sweetheart</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> style back and forth from the </span><span class="s2" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 21.6px;">eighventies</span><span class="s2" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 21.6px;"> [sic]</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">. </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span></span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Don’t let that put you off though, recent release ‘Look Around You’, the frenetic lead track from the band’s second EP, the 5-track ‘Looka Looka Looka’ delivers razor sharp hooks aplenty, complemented by a hilarious video clearly inspired by BBC’s cult spoof noughties documentary of the same name, instantly transporting the viewer back to a time when a nation of kids sat in front of their seemingly giant school telly, pretending to shoot the vanishing dots from the pre-show countdown clock.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhihW11Mf2lCrOvHkYX4TpcfkXeR-wxYlfG-3tPTFgn4q5USjMkADcAR3nbjBCQ5kH98c7PR7xlWVHgClsQHWKCEnxaOxGUx-pJvm57ApaKjY_J5J356-NjeGPjZeh_jdCZXfKBKeJYbCOVAPquzTzKkdpIJoJbFnC0jG5mrIQqLVMvTF5fDV_AmKeJZggd/s533/IMG_6300.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="372" data-original-width="533" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhihW11Mf2lCrOvHkYX4TpcfkXeR-wxYlfG-3tPTFgn4q5USjMkADcAR3nbjBCQ5kH98c7PR7xlWVHgClsQHWKCEnxaOxGUx-pJvm57ApaKjY_J5J356-NjeGPjZeh_jdCZXfKBKeJYbCOVAPquzTzKkdpIJoJbFnC0jG5mrIQqLVMvTF5fDV_AmKeJZggd/s320/IMG_6300.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo : Casey McAllister</td></tr></tbody></table><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">The EP itself, self-released and promoted, belies its shoestring budget origins, each number a bright shiny nugget of super-infectious power-pop; loud, brash, catchier than measles, and guaranteed to whack you straight between the eyes before scarpering from whence it came. </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">‘Bad Women’ with its piledriving start, delivers a furiously sassy celebration of female emancipation, whilst moody groove laden closer ‘Hunger Strike’ is arguably the pick of the five. </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Penny’s sardonic vocal oozes fuck-you attitude throughout, propelled by twin guitars (Penny/Matt), a turbocharged rhythm section (another Matt and drummer Kev) with Kath’s fab new wave keys in all the right places, and so of their era they come with a black skinny leather tie thrown in for good measure.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Throwaway yet thrilling in equal measure, and expect their live shows to be a blast! </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="s3" style="line-height: 12px;"><span class="bumpedFont17" style="line-height: 20.4px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i><b>Words - Michael Price</b></i></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="s3" style="line-height: 12px;"><span class="bumpedFont17" style="line-height: 20.4px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="s3" style="line-height: 12px;"><span class="bumpedFont17" style="line-height: 20.4px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i>Tiger Island <a href="https://tigerisland.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">official</a></i></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="s3" style="line-height: 12px;"><span class="bumpedFont17" style="line-height: 20.4px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i>Watch ‘Bad Women’</i></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="s3" style="line-height: 12px;"><span class="bumpedFont17" style="line-height: 20.4px;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="s3" style="line-height: 12px;"><span class="bumpedFont17" style="line-height: 20.4px;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RdrxKV20j3g" width="320" youtube-src-id="RdrxKV20j3g"></iframe></span></span></div><span class="s3" style="line-height: 12px;"><span class="bumpedFont17" style="line-height: 20.4px;"><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span><p></p>Plus One Magazinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11471075820053272040noreply@blogger.comLeeds, UK53.8007554 -1.549077425.490521563821154 -36.7053274 82.110989236178852 33.6071726tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8642168067588881677.post-71102395006194438722023-11-27T20:23:00.010+00:002023-11-27T20:33:10.824+00:00CMAT - Leeds Stylus, 21 November 2023 (LIVE REVIEW)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIOOus3GTR4hFVC2nK2obsuZwDOQ1GfE9zHD4_hqE3FvnarQQbI8vhC5uZNmpuez506YPN-ynndLvlvihIjJrodjPQaFzPXtkiNPL0nvBZszhS157MVfon0yZ2IQX3JiRz1B-zdiShpYMLfqa6PpPoNJJas639xcOoUXt4FZ2Z2E5UTI_VpEE0Q-5NSuMc/s1440/Image%201.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="562" data-original-width="1440" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIOOus3GTR4hFVC2nK2obsuZwDOQ1GfE9zHD4_hqE3FvnarQQbI8vhC5uZNmpuez506YPN-ynndLvlvihIjJrodjPQaFzPXtkiNPL0nvBZszhS157MVfon0yZ2IQX3JiRz1B-zdiShpYMLfqa6PpPoNJJas639xcOoUXt4FZ2Z2E5UTI_VpEE0Q-5NSuMc/w640-h250/Image%201.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Continuing the trend of women taking over as the driving force in pop music, behold the sudden emergence of the inordinately talented Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson. <a href="https://cmatbaby.com" target="_blank">CMAT</a> (for short) is a sharp-witted flame haired Irish singer songwriter fast becoming one of the hottest live tickets in town. The Dubliner is behind a string of startlingly accomplished country-tinged pop singles including the beautifully expansive ‘I Wanna Be A Cowboy Baby!” and ‘Where Are Your Kids Tonight?” the latter featuring John Grant on backing vocals. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">With second album ‘Crazymad for Me’ hitting the shelves in October supported by barnstorming lead-off single ‘Have Fun’, part Scissor Sisters, part Dollywood, tonight’s appearance at a packed Stylus on her headline tour of the UK and Ireland has seen her tour schedule lengthen, the number of dates in her home city “doubling” from two to four.</span><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><o:p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></o:p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZupzlIB52wEDRRz9UiCXKt5T_yPU6g5Iy7Z-Da5UF-iorOApGJ5kZK0Bk7NsXFbF51MORLrjjrP_OCbdNAJzj-K1gBZIrgehQwASJouz1ADhWg0hDzX7OamuIW56Ga-NoA4v5UWqEFw23DFMKPAH5FwVshnXuTXXRGvPd37XmufnivN3BSeTZ62-ekxVf/s3024/Image.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="2561" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZupzlIB52wEDRRz9UiCXKt5T_yPU6g5Iy7Z-Da5UF-iorOApGJ5kZK0Bk7NsXFbF51MORLrjjrP_OCbdNAJzj-K1gBZIrgehQwASJouz1ADhWg0hDzX7OamuIW56Ga-NoA4v5UWqEFw23DFMKPAH5FwVshnXuTXXRGvPd37XmufnivN3BSeTZ62-ekxVf/s320/Image.jpeg" width="271" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo - Kate Dalton</td></tr></tbody></table><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Blacked by a quartet of live musicians and emerging to the Sheena Easton classic ‘9 to 5’ CMAT appears like the heroine in a Christmas panto opening with new album opener ‘’California’. Cavorting in front of a full-length mirror centre stage, Thompson is clearly on top form, every bit the mischievous diva with an adoring audience eating out of the palm of her hand, many adorned in pink cowboy hats. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><o:p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">The deliciously surreal ‘Peter Bogdanovic’ is a hoot and ‘Have Fun’ boasts a magnificent slow burner grooviness, the whole place seemingly swaying as one to this superior slice of soft-country rock and is my personal highlight. Naturally everyone else is gagging for “I Want To Be A Cowboy Baby!” and CMAT milks every ounce of call/response from the ecstatic crowd. Superb!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><o:p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: repeat white; line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="line-height: 15.333332px;"><b>Words - <a href="https://x.com/avpriceyfc?s=21&t=OsNP9WpwW_P47lYmwf9ohQ" target="_blank">Michael Price</a></b></span><span style="line-height: 15.333332px;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: repeat white; line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 15.333332px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i>CMAT <a href="https://cmatbaby.com" target="_blank">official</a></i></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: repeat white; line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 15.333332px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p>Plus One Magazinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11471075820053272040noreply@blogger.comLeeds, UK53.8007554 -1.549077425.490521563821154 -36.7053274 82.110989236178852 33.6071726tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8642168067588881677.post-69669258307796917842023-11-22T20:10:00.005+00:002023-11-23T21:39:20.954+00:00Bob Vylan - Leeds Stylus, November 13th 2023, (LIVE REVIEW)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5ilvW_XCKW0FOv8nY-8vU4lFbqdizx_kDBiDfPynT7crHGLO_4wS0Ew7tOLuXMBpBcv_Bf2SokM2t1_6SSm42eTrvZ_E85gVS5LZkXUtI_j2t1ucEDOf4KNhh-YWCJoVIkuCM5Z_mgB9uOtQTgdoFx32HnK757ccxRezu3SfhoZqtNJGcilTjhGmroLfh/s1024/Image.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="1024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5ilvW_XCKW0FOv8nY-8vU4lFbqdizx_kDBiDfPynT7crHGLO_4wS0Ew7tOLuXMBpBcv_Bf2SokM2t1_6SSm42eTrvZ_E85gVS5LZkXUtI_j2t1ucEDOf4KNhh-YWCJoVIkuCM5Z_mgB9uOtQTgdoFx32HnK757ccxRezu3SfhoZqtNJGcilTjhGmroLfh/w640-h320/Image.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Fiercely DIY and independent driven, London duo <a href="https://www.bobvylan.com" target="_blank">Bob Vylan</a> have chosen their own supports for this tour. (First on are fellow Londoners ‘Kid Bookie’ - seething metallers, champion swearers and besties with Slipknot’s Corey Taylor. Rap-rock and nu-metal will never totally be eradicated judging by this display. </span><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Cardiff’s ‘Panic Shack’ are the antidote. Four fifths female, an authentic punk snarl mixed with a keen sense of fun and most importantly, a breath of piss-taking fresh air on stage. </span><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">And so, to the two Bobs. When did you last do some stretching and meditation in a pre-gig warm up with the band you paid to see? No, me neither until tonight, this is live music done Bob Vylan’s way. Pre-recorded amped-up guitars are the backdrop to the relentless drums (Bobbie) and stage-stalker (Bobby). Nicely warmed up, we’re all ready for some speedy hard-hitting grime-rap-punk mashup. ‘I heard You want Your Country Back?’, ‘Pulled Pork’, ‘He’s A Man’, ‘Wicked & Bad’ all delivered with BV sharp-edged social commentary.</span><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Can you sense the angst? Off the back of some social media controversy and live confrontation with a couple of their peers recently, Bobby is keen to address this ongoing tete-a-tete head on in front of their Leeds community. He does, it’s tense, it’s over so let’s move on. A thunderous show-ending encore of Nirvana’s ‘Territorial Pissings’ brings the set fittingly to a raucous end.</span><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Bob Vylan are raw, powerful and hugely vital and boy are we in need of them right now. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i><b>Words – Pete Jackson</b><o:p></o:p></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i> </i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i> </i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i>Album number three (Humble As The Sun) is out next April.<o:p></o:p></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i>Bob Vylan <a href="https://www.bobvylan.com" target="_blank">official</a></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i> </i></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /></span></p><p><br /></p>Plus One Magazinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11471075820053272040noreply@blogger.comLeeds, UK53.8007554 -1.549077425.490521563821154 -36.7053274 82.110989236178852 33.6071726tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8642168067588881677.post-44226675003311603322023-11-14T20:25:00.006+00:002023-11-16T10:10:14.594+00:00Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard 'Therapy' (SINGLE REVIEW)<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3uKmS62ovp7Lwzl0gIHnr8ezu8-jIJsz7QZdqKUUGAXAnBezx9CFuLCjKvBUEas3WJQ9hA553FHX1_k0wRZkIJ4AnDJdI8x_h23P1yJHGr6Y-CguGbaFumHTJcZCII-qm52F5nw96L49a4FOYOlBpDfgOCJVGqhUy2jK8TIyrxi7r75X_X2sk5OlV0Hpg/s900/Image%2014-11-2023%20at%2020.13.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="627" data-original-width="900" height="446" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3uKmS62ovp7Lwzl0gIHnr8ezu8-jIJsz7QZdqKUUGAXAnBezx9CFuLCjKvBUEas3WJQ9hA553FHX1_k0wRZkIJ4AnDJdI8x_h23P1yJHGr6Y-CguGbaFumHTJcZCII-qm52F5nw96L49a4FOYOlBpDfgOCJVGqhUy2jK8TIyrxi7r75X_X2sk5OlV0Hpg/w640-h446/Image%2014-11-2023%20at%2020.13.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">PHOTO: Charlie Harris</td></tr></tbody></table><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span style="background-color: white;">Powered by an infectious pulsating groove, ‘Therapy’ is the latest single from Cardiff power pop outfit ‘Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard.’ Continuing the quartet’s migration from their</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><i style="background-color: white;">Pooh Sticks</i><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">influenced sun-drenched pop to an edgier, meatier, more industrial sound, first heard in previous single release ‘Chew,’ the new song’s cathartic subject matter influenced by lead singer Tom Rees’s personal experience.</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span></span></p><p><span><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: repeat white; line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><a href="https://open.spotify.com/track/1sLu81xmIKRbm5NsQeOCi9?si=fb78e08d92374472" target="_blank">Listen</a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: repeat white; line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0cm; text-align: center;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: repeat white; line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">‘Therapy,’ released on Communion Records, and recorded at ‘Rat Trap’ studios in Cardiff; Rees working there as producer and engineer for other artists as well as his own band, the remainder of ‘Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard’ comprising Tom’s brother Eddie on Bass, Zac White on guitars and Ethan Hurst on drums. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: repeat white; line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Already boasting a plethora of friends and fans in the right places, as well as a cult live following, the key will be whether album number two is as well received as last year’s ‘Backhand Deals’ and how fans react to more of the new direction if indeed this is the case. I expect the band will keep everyone guessing. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: repeat white; line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">With a 16-date tour planned for next spring including local appearances in Hull, York, and Clitheroe, which gives us all something to look forward to as the winter nights close in. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: repeat white; line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><o:p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: repeat white; line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span style="line-height: 15.333332px;"><b><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Words - <a href="https://x.com/avpriceyfc?s=21&t=OsNP9WpwW_P47lYmwf9ohQ" target="_blank">Michael Price</a></span></i></b></span><span style="line-height: 15.333332px;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: repeat white; line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 15.333332px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: repeat white; line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 15.333332px;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 15.333332px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuYYMKp-SMjJUMNiOfuxBMyyD2rlSNEz0B1_7LR6T0otPumzWaTgu62EToGKIgNT_CM5KInwiIq3ahxTime1B7UmPlvznqc8bH_7qvAldG5eOWaQ_q9iKVQg_Wo6IAgEFoJG-m7Dp0FJ_4GoYDppiU_5Nx6YJ9o5p9oGI7TjmhA-BPcHbw0BBP8CjAUlT2/s1200/Image%2014-11-2023%20at%2020.12.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuYYMKp-SMjJUMNiOfuxBMyyD2rlSNEz0B1_7LR6T0otPumzWaTgu62EToGKIgNT_CM5KInwiIq3ahxTime1B7UmPlvznqc8bH_7qvAldG5eOWaQ_q9iKVQg_Wo6IAgEFoJG-m7Dp0FJ_4GoYDppiU_5Nx6YJ9o5p9oGI7TjmhA-BPcHbw0BBP8CjAUlT2/w240-h320/Image%2014-11-2023%20at%2020.12.jpeg" width="240" /></a></span></div><span style="line-height: 15.333332px;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: small;"><a href="https://buzzardbuzzardbuzzard.com/tour" target="_blank">Tickets</a></span></div></span><p></p><span style="line-height: 15.333332px;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(78, 85, 97); text-align: center;"><div style="color: #4e5561; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><strong style="line-height: inherit; text-align: center;">Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard <a href="https://buzzardbuzzardbuzzard.com" target="_blank">official</a></strong><a href="https://buzzardbuzzardbuzzard.com" target="_blank"><br style="line-height: inherit; text-align: center;" /></a></i></span><br style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: inherit; text-align: center;" /></div></span></span></span></span><p></p>Plus One Magazinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11471075820053272040noreply@blogger.comLeeds, UK53.8007554 -1.549077425.490521563821154 -36.7053274 82.110989236178852 33.6071726tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8642168067588881677.post-65992567712448182452023-10-19T12:40:00.026+01:002023-11-14T20:40:48.006+00:00Lambrini Girls share new video for ‘Boys In The Band’ <p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/lambrinigirlz/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igshid=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==" target="_blank">Lambrini Girls</a> share new video for ‘Boys In The Band’ </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpst0yO1jG2uAhRXPvxnjfPaGd98Kgi0maWBQQowstQJuDhodsvR3FnkwXPRo3LYp1d58B2oZNhdi4ZYQZMhiMAzMuWC1RuluZFba0PPIOO5H9Hy05raLIVUOjh4gYEYw2jaqRTz0HO6ByXSNUYBCcyPaCZP5Es75uIAoNzgPd5q063RywHy8EL-9cOA9j/s870/IMG_5881.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="870" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpst0yO1jG2uAhRXPvxnjfPaGd98Kgi0maWBQQowstQJuDhodsvR3FnkwXPRo3LYp1d58B2oZNhdi4ZYQZMhiMAzMuWC1RuluZFba0PPIOO5H9Hy05raLIVUOjh4gYEYw2jaqRTz0HO6ByXSNUYBCcyPaCZP5Es75uIAoNzgPd5q063RywHy8EL-9cOA9j/w400-h294/IMG_5881.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">video <u><a href="https://youtu.be/Dccs1Eu9fmc?si=dgBOIN6ni8ifDL3C" target="_blank">here</a></u></span></p><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p><em style="caret-color: rgb(78, 85, 97); color: #4e5561; font-size: 16px; line-height: inherit;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Lambrini Girls: “We’ve been planning the release of this music video for a while and the recent events in the media just confirmed its relevance further. Our song, Boys in the Band- is about SA and abuse in the music scene. The recent influx of conversations of abuse culture, comes down to another bombshell revelation in pop culture when another celebrity turns out to be a nonce. However, we need to be shouting about this constantly. Opening conversations about abuse culture is appropriate, all the time because this happens, all the time.“</span></em></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(78, 85, 97); color: #4e5561; font-size: 16px; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;"><em style="font-family: trebuchet; line-height: inherit;">“We made [the video] the day after we got back from playing a festival. We were totally destroyed and just raw dogged the whole thing. We tried to invite a crowd of people down to Green Door Store where we were filming the video and only 5 people turned up. The idea behind one of the scenes was to depict invisibility by playing in the middle of an indifferent “crowd”. We had a makeshift green screen, some venue toilets and our guitars. Lilly had food poisoning and was trying not to throw up the whole time. Phoebe's trousers were ripped from behind. We made this video with Bristol director Harry Steel.”</em></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(78, 85, 97); color: #4e5561; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: center;"><em style="line-height: inherit;"><br /></em></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(78, 85, 97); color: #4e5561; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">LIVE DATES;</span></span></p><p><span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(78, 85, 97); color: #4e5561; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">21st OCTOBER - Headline, GARAGE NOORD AMSTERDAM<br style="line-height: inherit;" />21st OCTOBER - HIT THE ROAD FESTIVAL EINDHOVEN</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(78, 85, 97); color: #4e5561; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">31st October</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(78, 85, 97); color: #4e5561; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">Queercore Night of the living <a href="https://www.thewardrobe.co.uk/event/queercore-night-of-the-living/" target="_blank">WARDROBE LEEDS</a></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlbSFzErZmr3NBG2gDPm3Sac66u6UW51EDRtzhYRPQDgJmOsNkPVT_f8AtNHqJwj3kbzM3TWQyxDCQ1FUG30tAiQknG4U3xfJVP72N3C7nR07sjX6G8NEX5dtiqiBTLNf9ydsj-PnO22iUPnWRdZNksbGt0pEVm9rT58ntwAysdcAcBy5SAaZTxqUuIOmx/s1024/IMG_5882.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="1024" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlbSFzErZmr3NBG2gDPm3Sac66u6UW51EDRtzhYRPQDgJmOsNkPVT_f8AtNHqJwj3kbzM3TWQyxDCQ1FUG30tAiQknG4U3xfJVP72N3C7nR07sjX6G8NEX5dtiqiBTLNf9ydsj-PnO22iUPnWRdZNksbGt0pEVm9rT58ntwAysdcAcBy5SAaZTxqUuIOmx/w200-h133/IMG_5882.webp" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p style="caret-color: rgb(78, 85, 97); color: #4e5561; font-size: 16px; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 20px;"></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">4th NOVEMBER - LES INDISCIPLINÉES FESTIVAL LORIENT</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">18th NOVEMBER - LA CARENE BREST</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">30th NOVEMBER - LA ROCHELLE WITH DREAM WIFE</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">1st DECEMBER - Headline, LE MECANIQUE ONDULATOIRE PARIS</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">2nd DECEMBER - ZIETGIEST FESTIVAL NIJMEGEN</span></span></div><p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /></span></span></div></div><br /><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><p></p>Plus One Magazinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11471075820053272040noreply@blogger.comLeeds, UK53.8007554 -1.549077425.490521563821154 -36.7053274 82.110989236178852 33.6071726tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8642168067588881677.post-65716700156106106032023-10-16T10:20:00.001+01:002023-10-16T10:20:31.892+01:00Heavy Lungs, Hyde Park Book Club, Leeds, October 12th 2023 (LIVE REVIEW)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyi8KxluuCuq90iJKg3Wi6rfBFqByH519so_ocb7a68TOX5nI27HihBcc8ks0vet8_YepPcDL9-WelszCxYpF0tCg2NzyqG4UJtKiCJvMMkUoQKDnEpps05uVqZtggq0Tdtb0nkOELMB3NCR6Y3u6_ZxQFgmk0gs15pYGKzurMbpxCyZMmjt1B0tlqhllY/s600/IMG_5845.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyi8KxluuCuq90iJKg3Wi6rfBFqByH519so_ocb7a68TOX5nI27HihBcc8ks0vet8_YepPcDL9-WelszCxYpF0tCg2NzyqG4UJtKiCJvMMkUoQKDnEpps05uVqZtggq0Tdtb0nkOELMB3NCR6Y3u6_ZxQFgmk0gs15pYGKzurMbpxCyZMmjt1B0tlqhllY/w400-h400/IMG_5845.webp" width="400" /></a></div><p><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 13px;">Bad-timing and life’s general shit-show threatens to stand between me and a date with Bristol’s </span><a href="https://www.heavylungsband.com" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 13px;" target="_blank">Heavy Lungs </a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 13px;">at Hyde Park’s Book Club, but with minutes to spare we are united and the band are primed and ready. You’ll quite possibly know the name of their singer - Danny Nedelko, yes he of </span><i style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 13px;">that </i><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 13px;">IDLES song fame. But Heavy Lungs are so much more than that as tonight proves.</span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 13px;"> </span></p><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">The long-awaited album (All Gas, No Brakes) is fresh-as and still smouldering and this tour is hell-bent on putting the pedal to the metal and booting it head-long into willing faces up and down the country. The band accompanying Nedelko are the driving force behind the whole thing. ‘Matryoshka’ is a huge sounding slab of noise-rock. The beat-obscure ‘Dancing Man’ is a dark, repetitive beast that threatens and duly delivers with teeth clenched. The bare-chested sticksman behind the kit is a force of nature and in total synch with the throbbing, pulsing bass as the guitar alternates between desert-rock riffing and angular industrial sounds. </p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">‘Head Tilter’ boasts QOTSA-cool rhythm and Future Of The Left bass-heavy energy. Nedelko darts in and out of the crowd, lapping up every moment as though this been the wait of a lifetime. His delivery, albeit repetitive in style, complements the wild, churning noise surrounding him. ‘(A Bit of a) Birthday’ is the bands very own ‘Song For The Dead’ a stoner-rock masterpiece and brings it to a fitting, filthy end. </p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Words - Pete Jackson</p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><a href="https://www.heavylungsband.com" target="_blank">Heavy Lungs</a></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><a href="https://www.hydeparkbookclub.co.uk">Hyde Park Book Club</a></p>Plus One Magazinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11471075820053272040noreply@blogger.comLeeds, UK53.8007554 -1.549077425.490521563821154 -36.7053274 82.110989236178852 33.6071726tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8642168067588881677.post-61391934692582698012023-09-29T13:14:00.004+01:002023-11-16T10:12:35.755+00:00Blonde Redhead ‘Sit Down For Dinner’ (ALBUM REVIEW) <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCJMmgzgwBgrAsRhlxfdBYyRmiapBB-SWqwGUA-6RcqyZOB4qvJB_jWzXJwTb4efn1XuWuMOHNjSLVV4T4w1ioL22fPCU45RW6ZgQS7ls41HzkfNozXVs4SeULuAyAsLtXSBHmcR45CnXscwhakWxzHDBoo1G3gGuT06tMCOBun33r1nsTSPw-aczYHv4R/s768/IMG_5797.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="768" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCJMmgzgwBgrAsRhlxfdBYyRmiapBB-SWqwGUA-6RcqyZOB4qvJB_jWzXJwTb4efn1XuWuMOHNjSLVV4T4w1ioL22fPCU45RW6ZgQS7ls41HzkfNozXVs4SeULuAyAsLtXSBHmcR45CnXscwhakWxzHDBoo1G3gGuT06tMCOBun33r1nsTSPw-aczYHv4R/s320/IMG_5797.webp" width="320" /></a></span></div><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span class="s2" style="line-height: 21.6px;">It is</span><span class="s2" style="line-height: 21.6px;"> 30 years since claustrophobic New York t</span><span class="s2" style="line-height: 21.6px;">hree-piece </span><span class="s2" style="line-height: 21.6px;"><a href="https://blonde-redhead.com/" target="_blank">Blonde Redhead</a> </span><span class="s2" style="line-height: 21.6px;">appeared</span><span class="s2" style="line-height: 21.6px;"> kicking and screaming (and </span><span class="s2" style="line-height: 21.6px;">that is just</span><span class="s2" style="line-height: 21.6px;"> what went on between the band members) and almost a decade since their last release ‘</span><span class="s3" style="color: #121212; line-height: 21.6px;">Barragán’, almost proved the nail in the coffin for one of North </span><span class="s3" style="color: #121212; line-height: 21.6px;">America’s more</span><span class="s3" style="color: #121212; line-height: 21.6px;"> daring experimental </span><span class="s3" style="color: #121212; line-height: 21.6px;">outfits. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span class="s3" style="color: #121212; font-family: trebuchet; line-height: 21.6px; text-align: left;">Long simmering creative frictions between Japanese </span><span class="s3" style="color: #121212; font-family: trebuchet; line-height: 21.6px; text-align: left;">lead singer</span><span class="s3" style="color: #121212; font-family: trebuchet; line-height: 21.6px; text-align: left;"> Kazu Makino (voice/guitar) and her bandmates, identical Italian twin brothers Amedeo (vocals/guitar) and Simone Pace (drums) reinforced the notion that you can’t win a two front-war, with the likelihood of any future material from the trio seemingly lost. </span></p><div><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span class="s2" style="line-height: 21.6px;">In the intervening years Kazu Makino released a solo record, perhaps lancing a boil which had festered since her early days within the band. With that out of the way, she felt it was time to rejoin her muses on album number ten, although </span><span class="s2" style="line-height: 21.6px;">it has</span><span class="s2" style="line-height: 21.6px;">taken</span><span class="s2" style="line-height: 21.6px;"> </span><span class="s2" style="line-height: 21.6px;">five years to painstakingly piece together. </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span class="s2" style="line-height: 21.6px;">The title track ‘Sit Down </span><span class="s2" style="line-height: 21.6px;">for</span><span class="s2" style="line-height: 21.6px;"> Dinner’ is inspired by a long-standing band ritual, (echoed in the prison scene in ‘Goodfellas’), forming the featherbed two-part centrepiece at the album’s core, dreamy and woozy in equal measure. The rest of the album feels like decidedly grown-up soft rock with a distinctly European feel, the quality control </span><span class="s2" style="line-height: 21.6px;">staying</span><span class="s2" style="line-height: 21.6px;"> high </span><span class="s2" style="line-height: 21.6px;">throughout.</span><span class="s2" style="line-height: 21.6px;"> </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span class="s2" style="line-height: 21.6px;">We are treated to </span><span class="s2" style="line-height: 21.6px;">gloriously detached expansive pop </span><span class="s2" style="line-height: 21.6px;">in spades from the sublime </span><span class="s2" style="line-height: 21.6px;">‘Kiss Her Kiss Her’, ‘Not </span><span class="s2" style="line-height: 21.6px;">for</span><span class="s2" style="line-height: 21.6px;"> Me’, ‘Melody Experiment’, and ‘Before’</span><span class="s2" style="line-height: 21.6px;"> with vocal duties roughly split between the two singers. T</span><span class="s2" style="line-height: 21.6px;">he album occasionally veer</span><span class="s2" style="line-height: 21.6px;">s w</span><span class="s2" style="line-height: 21.6px;">estwards in terms of sound but never for too long, the brief warm Pacific </span><span class="s2" style="line-height: 21.6px;">breeze</span><span class="s2" style="line-height: 21.6px;"> soon replaced by a bracing Nordic blast headed for the Alps, the cobwebs gone for the time being. </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span class="s2" style="line-height: 21.6px;">What is</span><span class="s2" style="line-height: 21.6px;"> not in doubt is the craft behind each of the eleven songs</span><span class="s2" style="line-height: 21.6px;">, each a demonstration of how far the trio has travelled sonically from their garage band origins a lifetime ago. </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span class="s2" style="line-height: 21.6px;">They are</span><span class="s2" style="line-height: 21.6px;"> simply mellowing with age. </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="s4" style="line-height: 12px;"><span class="bumpedFont20" style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i><b>Words - <a href="https://x.com/avpriceyfc?s=21&t=OsNP9WpwW_P47lYmwf9ohQ" target="_blank">Michael Price</a></b></i></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="s4" style="line-height: 12px;"><span class="bumpedFont20" style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Blonde Redhead <a href="https://blonde-redhead.com/" target="_blank">official</a></span> </i></span></span></span></p></div>Plus One Magazinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11471075820053272040noreply@blogger.comLeeds, UK53.8007554 -1.549077425.490521563821154 -36.7053274 82.110989236178852 33.6071726tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8642168067588881677.post-22544755548938751462023-09-29T07:15:00.005+01:002023-09-29T10:20:16.818+01:00Slow Pulp ‘Yard’ (ALBUM REVIEW)<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0cm;"><o:p> </o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj03VizmYv6cfkBFNXyZnIK0o-ulP_JuHZP6EqphQvEhQ4M1zUB8ZG2hRgztEq4iCDNY47Oh2pBV1lZcDAK-xBqEN-JCoKhmvWllKsTFeqZCDPs07kxDcX8iobiZu-Op0dS0r5kh2Ae4IE4Ud9s1F0wZ2S0T1Yt2Hyrz4MdMW5H2vg_9ugzfXZ_s3DJKwaL/s700/IMG_5795.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="700" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj03VizmYv6cfkBFNXyZnIK0o-ulP_JuHZP6EqphQvEhQ4M1zUB8ZG2hRgztEq4iCDNY47Oh2pBV1lZcDAK-xBqEN-JCoKhmvWllKsTFeqZCDPs07kxDcX8iobiZu-Op0dS0r5kh2Ae4IE4Ud9s1F0wZ2S0T1Yt2Hyrz4MdMW5H2vg_9ugzfXZ_s3DJKwaL/w400-h400/IMG_5795.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0cm;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Remember when albums used to be just 10 tracks long and lasted just over half an hour? Windy City groovers <a href="https://www.slowpulp.com" target="_blank">Slow Pulp</a> are of the opinion that less is more on their expertly crafted, melancholic yet simultaneously throwaway new release ‘Yard’. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Slow Pulp’s core of Henry Stoehr (guitar), Teddy Matthews (drums), and Alex Leeds (bass) have been together since childhood and clearly know each other inside out musically. The addition of Emily Massey (voice/guitar) hooking up with them at Uni, added a much-needed focal point and it’s evident the quartet trust each other implicitly. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">The follow-up to debut long player ‘Movies’ and released on Andy Kaulkin’s super-cool American indie label ANTI-, hastily re-recorded opener ‘Gone 2’ proves that you can always change your mind at the last minute if the need arises. The bluesy twin guitar assault wraps around Massey’s yearning vocal in a slow propulsive groove and as you hear the delicate fade out, one’s first thought is ‘Who cares what the first version sounded like’!</span><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">The hip swinging hook laden ‘Doubt’ belies its slightly neurotic theme whereas slow burner ‘Slugs’ with its alluringly woozy outro, contains a riff from an old song inspired by one of Stoehr’s first school crushes.</span><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><o:p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">The second half of ‘Yard’ feels more downbeat than the first, starting with the guilt laden introspection on the album’s title track. Featuring a matter-of-fact Massey vocal with just piano for company, the sparseness is then complemented by soothing strings of resignation on ‘Carina Phone 1000’, acting as a kind of antidote. </span><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Breakup track ‘MUD’ is a fine slice of 90s sounding grunge before a left turn into the pure Americana of ‘Broadview’, complete with pedal steel guitar and harmonica, taking you completely by surprise. These longer closing tracks may point to a more mature future direction of Slow Pulp as they continue to spread their wings musically.</span><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><o:p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">We can only hope. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i><b>Words - <a href="https://x.com/avpriceyfc?s=21&t=OsNP9WpwW_P47lYmwf9ohQ">Mike Price</a></b></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Slow Pulp <a href="https://www.slowpulp.com" target="_blank">officia</a></i></span><a href="https://www.slowpulp.com" target="_blank">l</a></span></p>Plus One Magazinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11471075820053272040noreply@blogger.comLeeds, UK53.8007554 -1.549077425.490521563821154 -36.7053274 82.110989236178852 33.6071726tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8642168067588881677.post-58397923213785831712023-09-28T14:14:00.036+01:002023-09-28T17:39:41.186+01:00Anna Erhard - Leeds Brudenell Social Club, Sep 25th 2023 (LIVE REVIEW)<p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggEAw84RVkBQlcCaIaVYoOtuz8gDpppz-N551Pkx9WR2If50Tv7zavptvn1hkgxGx_d3NmM56kpjKcbXmYnzvyX7JRXwTP9kRUZ1BFndgFMZGxNX3eGzi2bagJxNi9CMLWIHnkD3VP7agzopzZ6ttZl1qysDBQhEVff0x6nmu6JvVTRnLiaLj9_Phv9GNq/s2048/IMG_5774.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggEAw84RVkBQlcCaIaVYoOtuz8gDpppz-N551Pkx9WR2If50Tv7zavptvn1hkgxGx_d3NmM56kpjKcbXmYnzvyX7JRXwTP9kRUZ1BFndgFMZGxNX3eGzi2bagJxNi9CMLWIHnkD3VP7agzopzZ6ttZl1qysDBQhEVff0x6nmu6JvVTRnLiaLj9_Phv9GNq/s320/IMG_5774.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Joining the post-gig queue at the merch table, waiting for my turn to grab a minute with tonight’s headliner <a href="https://www.annaerhard.com/" target="_blank">Anna Edhard</a>, I listen in as the 6music Dads before me politely purchase their records and shirts and thank her for coming to Leeds. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">For the last hour, Erhard and her band has swooned The Brudenell with a dreamy mix of simple but beautiful tracks plucked from albums <i>Short Cut</i> and <i>Campsite</i><i>.</i> The singer/guitarist uses subtle mischief and humour to create and turn these innocent memories and life observations into the most captivating of hooks and imaginative lines.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 29px; text-align: justify;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikG-pDi3nMQuBu2zHSMhor8yCofosr8JnEcRHgBuV1J6kj0wGpbOlWb5WTIhrBZ7EOIknEq_ugzDBCesTjOTcfucVo7taygjDYUGVTs9Yuji13hB_xi-oS0-2I3oqqlbvqDgKpZurn_V1uxt70tjC4p5N5LrNLlAT023kBim75pYA6Dem-I9WIHkmKxUGh/s3313/IMG_5776.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2345" data-original-width="3313" height="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikG-pDi3nMQuBu2zHSMhor8yCofosr8JnEcRHgBuV1J6kj0wGpbOlWb5WTIhrBZ7EOIknEq_ugzDBCesTjOTcfucVo7taygjDYUGVTs9Yuji13hB_xi-oS0-2I3oqqlbvqDgKpZurn_V1uxt70tjC4p5N5LrNLlAT023kBim75pYA6Dem-I9WIHkmKxUGh/w200-h142/IMG_5776.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 29px; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 29px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Current A-list hit <i>170 </i>is likely the reason many have found themselves watching here this evening. A charming song devised from an argument over who is the tallest. Of course. An indication along with another new track <i>Botanical Garden</i> where the next record is heading?</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 29px; text-align: justify;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">The addition of a little digital trickery on record, and live, that accompany these tracks adds a further dimension to the otherwise gentle and laid back songs. It is Erhard’s vocals though and that heart-warming accent courtesy of her Swiss-born, and now Berlin-residing locations <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>that melts The Brudenell’s onlookers.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 29px; text-align: justify;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">I buy my record, I thank her for the music and the visit to Leeds, hoping they will return one day soon, of which I’m assured they will. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i><b>Words - Pete Jackson </b></i></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i>Anna Erhard <a href="https://www.annaerhard.com/" target="_blank">official</a> </i></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 29px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 29px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 29px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 38px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 3px; min-height: 47.9px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-weight: bold;"></span><br /></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 38px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 3px; min-height: 47.9px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-weight: bold;"></span><br /></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 38px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 3px; min-height: 47.9px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-weight: bold;"> </span></p>Plus One Magazinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11471075820053272040noreply@blogger.comLeeds, UK53.8007554 -1.549077450.511271206796174 -36.7053274 57.090239593203826 33.6071726tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8642168067588881677.post-72034540544220319702023-09-22T13:23:00.001+01:002023-09-22T13:23:21.650+01:00Nation of Language ‘Strange Disciple’ (ALBUM REVIEW)<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLX79uOEfcwWkt2MGwTesQRuZfAmk2vYYdrmY8x6qj01KrBE7dqXOoXM6lShVgoFiBguaZElsCVnM2-kZ2NPfvCUh7DzMA0rnfjbGSjN-9kEA-yXQjOOCDCIppvrAzkS-aO7_ecDZMXMtKia3zTbipfBoOHzqA4i2pkGp2NlAYjczgXxJ4Zp1dFPBDx02v/s582/IMG_5764.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="577" data-original-width="582" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLX79uOEfcwWkt2MGwTesQRuZfAmk2vYYdrmY8x6qj01KrBE7dqXOoXM6lShVgoFiBguaZElsCVnM2-kZ2NPfvCUh7DzMA0rnfjbGSjN-9kEA-yXQjOOCDCIppvrAzkS-aO7_ecDZMXMtKia3zTbipfBoOHzqA4i2pkGp2NlAYjczgXxJ4Zp1dFPBDx02v/s320/IMG_5764.png" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 18px;">Sometimes the sound of a penny dropping can ring as loudly as a firework in certain ears. For <a href="https://www.nationoflanguage.com/" target="_blank">Nation of Language</a>, a lightbulb flicked on as the New York trio looked out over the crowds gathering to see them play in 2021, the post-pandemic giddiness which brought live music back with a bang. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 18px;">Suddenly the band, whose first two albums had slowly formed legions of lockdown fans, saw first-hand the impact their songs had on the listening public, and they realised once and for all their mission – to give as much to the fans who turned up wanting to dance as they do to those arriving wanting to cry.</span></p><p style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p><p style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">Frontman Ian Devaney speaks of the “tightrope” this presented, and </span><span class="s5" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 21.6px;">Strange Disciple</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> sees him and bandmates Aidan </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">Noell</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> and Alex MacKay walking it with maybe a slight tilt to one side. There are no ballads here, with tears instead coming from the luscious arrangements of songs like the spellbinding closer ‘I Will Never Learn’, sounding like the gentlest iteration of New Order covering a Joy Division B-side they found flicking back through a past life. ‘Sightseer’ too supplies melancholy and introspection, with a depth of sound and feeling which is never quite reached by the more dancefloor-led tracks, although they probably aren’t looking for it anyway.</span></span></p><p style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p><p style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">There are, though, certainly more of them. ‘Sole Obsession’ is sure to resonate with fans of the mid-teens new wave revival spearheaded by bands like Everything </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">Everything</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">, but Nation’s influences are surely drawn straight from the source – the pointy synths of ‘Surely I Can’t Wait’ and ‘Too Much, Enough’ are plucked straight from the mid-eighties record shelves, and the bass-led ‘Stumbling Still’ makes more than a passing reference to a certain Peter Hook. </span></span></p><p style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p><p style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">Stumbling is something the band would have been particularly eager to avoid on </span><span class="s5" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 21.6px;">Strange Disciple</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">, the third release in what has become a triptych based on modes of transport – first album </span><span class="s5" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 21.6px;">Introduction, Presence</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> represents the motor car, its follow-up </span><span class="s5" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 21.6px;">A Way Forward</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> becomes the locomotive and this latest release lands on its feet as an album inspired simply by walking. But pedestrian it is certainly not, as the band take strides into uncharted and exciting territory. </span></span></p><p style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i>Words - <a href="https://x.com/jpontificating?s=21&t=OsNP9WpwW_P47lYmwf9ohQ" target="_blank">Joe Ponting </a></i></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i><b>Nation Of Language <a href="https://www.nationoflanguage.com/" target="_blank">official</a></b></i></span></span></p><p style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> </span></p>Plus One Magazinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11471075820053272040noreply@blogger.comLeeds, UK53.8007554 -1.549077437.940039616623082 -36.7053274 69.661471183376918 33.6071726tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8642168067588881677.post-82189418596781273802023-08-17T21:12:00.001+01:002023-08-17T21:13:50.936+01:00Minor Conflict ‘Bright Lights, Dead City’ (EP REVIEW)<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH8TUm3Uylj1pcxhLKIAHZV509Fe2T-TuhUgsuxM7lHNEWjOJK3PrwBdOcRXAK-YfuAAM5BtrdaXgomRR6WrEKGNMwUWlGxTbKhfqGV9TFoGpIUKoHoqyiftkruJpELD9gZlDnFRE2ywKLzjg-0GcUGfhc3fzHfVQq5pffzOzI4xTR_vxXL0PU0fqNAiS7/s1000/IMG_5590.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH8TUm3Uylj1pcxhLKIAHZV509Fe2T-TuhUgsuxM7lHNEWjOJK3PrwBdOcRXAK-YfuAAM5BtrdaXgomRR6WrEKGNMwUWlGxTbKhfqGV9TFoGpIUKoHoqyiftkruJpELD9gZlDnFRE2ywKLzjg-0GcUGfhc3fzHfVQq5pffzOzI4xTR_vxXL0PU0fqNAiS7/s320/IMG_5590.jpeg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: 18px; text-align: left;"> </span></div><p></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Unconventional West Country alt-pop quartet <a href="https://www.instagram.com/minor_conflict/" target="_blank">Minor Conflict </a>are yet another one of those bands fusing pop with avant garde with quirky additional instrumentation thrown in for good measure. </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Don’t let that put you off though, the twin vocal assault of razor sharp lyricist Josh Smyth (vocals, bass) and oddly detached Nathalie Whitehead (vocals, harp) combine to paint an austere take on twenty-first century Britain. Completing Minor Conflict’s line-up are Robbie Warin (trumpet, keyboards, sampling) and Marcus Jeffrey (drums). </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Following on from last year’s woozy dystopian single ‘Office Block’ was always going to be a big ask but 4-track EP ‘Bright Lights, Dead City’, released on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/prahrecordings/" target="_blank">Prah Recordings</a>, takes things to a new level, fusing St Etienne suburban cool, the skittishness, idyll proneness of Black Country New Road and the wistful nostalgia of Betjeman. Taut, urgent opener ‘White Ring Binder’ invites the listener into the eerily voyeuristic scenario of unwanted eyeballs reading someone else’s diary, words never designed to be seen by anyone but the author. Whitehead alternates between curt matter-of-factness and ethereal opera swimming around Smyth’s matter of fact delivery, all propelled by a taut rhythm section, brass and harp vying for attention around the edges.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">The music-hall tinged ‘Second Hand Time’ boasts the lyrics adorning the EP’s title although the song’s most telling lyrics ‘grey visions on a grey afternoon’, really capture its humdrum disaffection. Hypnotic ‘Living Statue’ is seemingly an ode to the joyless repetition of being part of the rat race whilst funereal yet freeform closer ‘Platform Two,’ sounds a little different, perhaps due it being recorded at J&J studios in Bristol, the preceding trio laid down at Glasgow’s Green Door studios. </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Promising. </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><b><i>Words - <a href="https://x.com/avpriceyfc?s=21&t=OsNP9WpwW_P47lYmwf9ohQ" target="_blank">Mike Price </a></i></b></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i>Minor Conflict <a href="https://www.instagram.com/minor_conflict/" target="_blank">official</a> </i></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></span></p>Plus One Magazinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11471075820053272040noreply@blogger.comLeeds, UK53.8007554 -1.549077425.490521563821154 -36.7053274 82.110989236178852 33.6071726tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8642168067588881677.post-33545224913377526182023-07-27T21:07:00.000+01:002023-07-27T21:07:02.387+01:00Locate S, 1 ‘Wicked Jaw’ (Album review)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1RlHxwaIqdE2JdbZZDXEMDeSg9NKSmtK7ieqU0lRu_TfooFU9PXIlHhKveKHnfTpfo3TctIHZj-fV3MhV6tfK46FfPLY1l4qxoq6HKu8yLU84MiLLFAHM4nTGYnb28NHFHK6M0FgkEoylxSwFM9wDXlKKNteBieZVQavyTLPKgQQdglvjfK-h-PlXICBR/s3000/IMG_5473.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="3000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1RlHxwaIqdE2JdbZZDXEMDeSg9NKSmtK7ieqU0lRu_TfooFU9PXIlHhKveKHnfTpfo3TctIHZj-fV3MhV6tfK46FfPLY1l4qxoq6HKu8yLU84MiLLFAHM4nTGYnb28NHFHK6M0FgkEoylxSwFM9wDXlKKNteBieZVQavyTLPKgQQdglvjfK-h-PlXICBR/s320/IMG_5473.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><p style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">Despite slithering away from </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">any </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">consistency of genre, there’s no sense of a blindfold-and-dartboard approach on <a href="https://locates1.com/" target="_blank">Locate S,1</a>’s third album</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">, which careens from bossa nova to psych-rock with a grace so impressive you quickly stop noticing it at all.</span></span></p><p style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span></span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">And that is meant as the sincerest</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> of</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> compliment</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">s</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> to Christina Schneider, who draws deep from many different wells to make </span><span class="s5" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 21.6px;">Wicked Jaw</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> one of the most intensely interesting records of the year, so naturally is its on-paper haphazardness orchestrated.</span></span></p><p style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p><p style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">Lead single </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">‘You Were Right About One Thing’ kicks things off with </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">a </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">sultry </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">hotel-lounge </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">backing for Schneider’s </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">pristine</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">vocals, </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">which </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">lilt into an </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">entirely new</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> timbre on</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> latest single ‘Go Back to </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">Disnee</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">’, which </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">in reality goes</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> right back to Rio de Janeiro’s samba-jazz roots.</span></span></p><p style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p><p style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span class="s5" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 21.6px;">Wicked Jaw</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> is more guitar-focused than previous Locate S,1 </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">records</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">, leaning into frantic u</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">p-tempo </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">pop </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">on ‘Have You Got It Yet?’</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> and delivering duelling Thin Lizzy </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">leads</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> in a memorable intro to the </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">surprisingly</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> epic ‘The Hard Way’. But, if you hadn’t already guessed, elsewhere things go in numerous directions at </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">once –</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> on ‘Daffodil’ a full-on psychedelic wig-out is followed so immediately by free-flowing jazz piano that you wonder if someone flicked the keyboard’s </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">preset</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> dial halfway through recording</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">, while </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">‘Heart Attack’ is</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> pure pop, all sparkling synths, smiling melodies and nimble basslines.</span></span></p><p style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p><p style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">And just as the transition from genre to genre is so smooth as to barely register, so too is the move from first to second to fiftieth listen – beware, </span><span class="s5" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 21.6px;">Wicked Jaw</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> might suck you in and never let you go.</span></span></p><p style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i><b>Words - <a href="https://twitter.com/jpontificating?s=21&t=OsNP9WpwW_P47lYmwf9ohQ" target="_blank">Joe Ponting</a> </b></i></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><i><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;">Locate S, 1 <a href="https://locates1.com/" target="_blank">Official</a> </span></i></span></p></div>Plus One Magazinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11471075820053272040noreply@blogger.comLeeds, UK53.8007554 -1.549077425.490521563821154 -36.7053274 82.110989236178852 33.6071726tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8642168067588881677.post-83643392228533834172023-06-04T20:22:00.005+01:002023-06-04T21:03:09.348+01:00Osees - Leeds Brudenell Social Club, May 31st 2023<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQD9QXBLiQEIRsI90f04xwNfz-rzP3hl2ql1YypuUMf0eSA1_hSFbBDnCI-YG8_MsbloJIGl9nWSSuGrQkkDIiheDy9lFQZMwqbbIDsFMUIUN7wdNldbtEVwla186mSHgihUjqYWI6Sd1qyVAghGCDFFdnOayjtBaDaJSe2qfTt6QGHWBSNqi2WX7NpA/s2048/IMG_5047.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQD9QXBLiQEIRsI90f04xwNfz-rzP3hl2ql1YypuUMf0eSA1_hSFbBDnCI-YG8_MsbloJIGl9nWSSuGrQkkDIiheDy9lFQZMwqbbIDsFMUIUN7wdNldbtEVwla186mSHgihUjqYWI6Sd1qyVAghGCDFFdnOayjtBaDaJSe2qfTt6QGHWBSNqi2WX7NpA/s320/IMG_5047.jpeg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Formerly Thee Oh Sees and Oh Sees plus numerous other incarnations, the legendary California outfit now simply go by the moniker <a href="https://www.theeohsees.com/" target="_blank">Osees</a>. Which is to the point, as are the twenty plus songs in a set tonight that is electrifying from start to finish.</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span><a name='more'></a></span><span style="text-align: justify;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: justify;">This, the first of two sold out nights at The Brudenell has quite the crackle of anticipation and high expectation. We could easily have found ourselves in a less favourable, much larger, venue but thankfully leading man at the helm, John Dwyer, retains a long-standing love affair with this place. Fondly recalling mid-set an invite to play here and sleeping upstairs afterwards some years ago.</span></div></span></span><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 29px; text-align: justify;"><br /><span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">The set up is a familiar one to anyone who’s seen them before. Two drummers front and centre with Dwyer to their right and bassist far left. A Fifth member sets about some unidentified instrument hidden behind a flight case to the rear. The energy is relentless, through old favourites ‘I Come From The Mountain’ and ‘Toe Cutter-Thumb Buster’ to the ferocity of most recent album A Foul Forms’ ‘Funeral Solution’. Osees (and Dwyer particularly) have an unrivalled urgency playing <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>live, going about their work as if was their last ever opportunity to play this furiously charged-up rock and roll. No time for bullshit from a crowd member who receives a “go start your own band, dickhead” in response to his lame heckle. </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">I suspect more than a few of this crowd will be back for round two tomorrow night. I’m leaving wishing I was one of them. </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i><b>Words - Pete Jackson </b></i></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Osees <a href="https://www.theeohsees.com/" target="_blank">official</a></span></span><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"> </span></span></i></p>Plus One Magazinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11471075820053272040noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8642168067588881677.post-18546408832615208962023-05-29T09:58:00.003+01:002023-05-29T10:01:20.660+01:00Billie Marten - Leeds Brudenell , May 20th 2023 (LIVE REVIEW)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDNAQClRILI1cN9oDpVtAJ1NxOnkxygeQgEjOA2IlfhIgEvOIncVZkd85pqLT9ZIJTP-KLQ-OOIrqlXzbd7I32Wir884aXZcXMv_V_qn_9ozqUHSnhfQx-1bB6raDIs3qyudSeldrqyiz9fwLXCk50I42qJhxuQoaJPtzwFqfw2xQtsB5XkqYiT00urg/s1080/IMG_5031.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDNAQClRILI1cN9oDpVtAJ1NxOnkxygeQgEjOA2IlfhIgEvOIncVZkd85pqLT9ZIJTP-KLQ-OOIrqlXzbd7I32Wir884aXZcXMv_V_qn_9ozqUHSnhfQx-1bB6raDIs3qyudSeldrqyiz9fwLXCk50I42qJhxuQoaJPtzwFqfw2xQtsB5XkqYiT00urg/s320/IMG_5031.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Having experienced hundreds of live shows over the years, in all that time, I could probably count on one hand the number of occasions a band or performer failed to return stage front for an encore. That was until, the spiteful armoured bollock Covid wreaked its havoc, with every post pandemic gig I’ve attended since, suddenly bereft of an encore. </span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span></span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Fortunately that changed tonight as local troubadour <a href="https://www.billiemarten.com/" target="_blank">Billie Marten</a> returned for a delightful denouement, performing ‘Liquid Love’ and ‘I Can’t Get My Head Around U’, capping a quietly assured set of unassuming yet lovingly tooled songs, lamenting love and loss, the packed Brudenell throng wrapped around the Yorkshire lass’s little finger throughout. </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">Originally asked to play The Stylus, their loss was Brudenell’s gain, the famed social club’s new second room providing the perfect level of intimacy, the ideal complement for Marten’s delicate vocal. Tonight she’s flanked by a quartet, giving her folky musings just enough oomph to </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">nicely</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> fill the venue. </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Drawing heavily from fine current long player ‘Drop Cherries’, released on Fiction Records, Marten gets things gently underway with ‘This is how we move’ and the eerily detached ‘Just Us’. These are soon followed by ‘Willow’ and ‘Arrows’ although the sublime ‘Betsy’ from an earlier Marten release, punctuates things perfectly.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">As her band members depart, leaving Marten seemingly naked, save her guitar, the divine ‘Vanilla Baby’ fills the void. Marten’s effortless and tender vocal cuts through the rapt silence like a knife. Indeed Marten’s could be one of the loveliest voices I’ve ever heard fill the Brudenell rafters, lush, breathless yet simultaneously crystal clear whilst never having to try too hard. </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Playing debut album favourite ‘Milk and Honey’ by request, the throng sing back the chorus line “All You Want is Honey”. The achingly beautiful ‘Toulouse’ proves a joy before the main set concludes with Marten switching to keys for the loved up ‘I Bend to Him’ and ‘Nothing But Mine’ before the aforementioned encore.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Surprised and delighted in equal measure. </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="s2" style="line-height: 12px;"><span class="bumpedFont20" style="line-height: 24px;"><i><b><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Words - Michael Price</span></b></i></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="s2" style="line-height: 12px;"><span class="bumpedFont20" style="line-height: 24px;"><i><b><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /></span></b></i></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="s2" style="line-height: 12px;"><span class="bumpedFont20" style="line-height: 24px;"><i><b><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /></span></b></i></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="s2" style="line-height: 12px;"><span class="bumpedFont20" style="line-height: 24px;"><i><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Billie Marten <a href="https://www.billiemarten.com/" target="_blank">official</a> </span></i></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p>Plus One Magazinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11471075820053272040noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8642168067588881677.post-59396012391855047342023-05-07T09:13:00.008+01:002023-05-10T10:44:57.962+01:00Quasi - Leeds Brudenell, May 1st 2023 (LIVE REVIEW)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZyJCfFZrfoUYbUv5MxzgfAF3JdqocHd-BCU4mcf4bdcnxV9MgckeJIk3SS7mHuilj3jJX13C2LpH8t4dWHTxqFV-rleOrN87A22fmX8wHbSHj1GLauseMcY9aSW0DKBTXVxlcjmCyS7olTDN23ELkcGyj_HckFELbD5U6_exL-g1Uye2QvGSLbwExAw/s1754/5816AB1E-24B3-4732-8973-8D3808A2CD1E.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1754" data-original-width="1240" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZyJCfFZrfoUYbUv5MxzgfAF3JdqocHd-BCU4mcf4bdcnxV9MgckeJIk3SS7mHuilj3jJX13C2LpH8t4dWHTxqFV-rleOrN87A22fmX8wHbSHj1GLauseMcY9aSW0DKBTXVxlcjmCyS7olTDN23ELkcGyj_HckFELbD5U6_exL-g1Uye2QvGSLbwExAw/s320/5816AB1E-24B3-4732-8973-8D3808A2CD1E.jpeg" width="226" /></a></div><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">It’s a quarter century since I first tripped over <a href="https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100050527627877" target="_blank">Quasi</a>, a formerly husband and wife duo peddling a slightly cartoonish yet strangely alluring </span><span class="s2" style="background-color: #fffffa; font-style: italic; line-height: 21.6px;">Rock-Si-Chord</span><span class="s3" style="background-color: #fffffa; line-height: 21.6px;"> powered</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> indie-pop, the instrument in question producing a </span><span class="s4" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 21.6px;">phat-as-phuq</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> sound, somewhere in between Wurlitzer, Rhodes and Harpsichord. Their superb break-up track ‘I </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">Never Want to See You Again’ graced many a late 1990s music magazine compilation although I have absolutely no recollection of their support set before Elliott Smith’s unforgettable 1999 Manchester University show which I was supremely fortunate to witness, funny that. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">With Quasi’s belting new Sub-Pop powered long-player ‘Breaking the Balls of History’ still fresh in the mind, the chance to catch this wisened duo at Brudenell proved too good to pass up. Heartening to see these guys on the road again after so long, and with a cracking new record to boot, drummer Janet Weiss looking mean moody and magnificent in her too cool for school white framed sunglasses whilst her partner in crime Sam Coomes creates sonic terror on his keyboard, the thing seemingly made of titanium, withstanding all the abuse meted out upon it. </span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Predictably, all the smooth edges on their record are tonight replaced by a looser, harder live sound yet still as tight as one of Janet’s drum skins, their effortless harmonies as intertwined as ever. Quasi get things underway with new album curtain raiser ‘Long Last Laugh’ the duo then blasting through their setlist openers, predictably dominated by their new record including ‘Nowhereville’ and ‘Back in Your Tree’ whilst barely pausing for breath. A sublime ‘Queen of Ears’ with it’s glorious dreamy middle eight is a particular favourite although ‘I Never Want to See You Again’ proves hard to beat. We even get a fine cover of the Breeders ‘Do You Love Me Now’, the Quasi version cheesy, queasy and breezy in equal measure. </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">Keep on </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">rockin</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">’ in the free world you two. </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="s5" style="line-height: 12px;"><span class="bumpedFont20" style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i><b>Words - Michael Price</b></i></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="s5" style="line-height: 12px;"><span class="bumpedFont20" style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="s5" style="line-height: 12px;"><span class="bumpedFont20" style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i>Quasi <a href="https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100050527627877" target="_blank">official</a></i></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="s5" style="line-height: 12px;"><span class="bumpedFont20" style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i>Brudenell <a href="http://www.brudenellsocialclub.co.uk/" target="_blank">official</a> </i></span></span></span></p>Plus One Magazinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11471075820053272040noreply@blogger.comLeeds, UK53.8007554 -1.549077449.041355192276676 -36.7053274 58.560155607723324 33.6071726tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8642168067588881677.post-43198417913883250562023-04-10T19:37:00.003+01:002023-04-10T19:42:16.205+01:00boygenius ‘the record’ (album review) <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc0Tbxw4SrdQ1PbCVCs2GcFiU-ioTMga_1XvpdJibx_Lu8zHjMxJXudUau3kTgBdps7BHODRb4g0PbMVNm_UJc5lg5jVYcJPEHnLWADPI_yXITLpIPaOOJCA6j7dwy5PdmmjwwdgzbP7U_ZRW_4t0u7Yh3BKuTPLX89Q0CPmJtrTLdHSpfYqhH5i34MA/s1200/EE6A4CFA-77B2-45C4-818D-FB09B470BA53.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc0Tbxw4SrdQ1PbCVCs2GcFiU-ioTMga_1XvpdJibx_Lu8zHjMxJXudUau3kTgBdps7BHODRb4g0PbMVNm_UJc5lg5jVYcJPEHnLWADPI_yXITLpIPaOOJCA6j7dwy5PdmmjwwdgzbP7U_ZRW_4t0u7Yh3BKuTPLX89Q0CPmJtrTLdHSpfYqhH5i34MA/s320/EE6A4CFA-77B2-45C4-818D-FB09B470BA53.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">“</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">Supergroup” feels like one of the most loaded terms in music. It’s a statement of fact, but one which carries a potent subtext of inevitable creative differences and clashing egos, underwhelming </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">output</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> and </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">bitter </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">recriminations – in a word, disharmony.</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> But </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><a href="https://www.xboygeniusx.com/" target="_blank">boygenius</a></span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">, the collab</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">oration between </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">Julien Baker, Phoebe </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">Bridgers</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> and Lucy </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">Dacus</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">,</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> is the very definition of harmony and respect, a united front against the concept of “women with guitars” as a genre</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">.</span></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span class="s4" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 21.6px;">the record </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">is beautifully written from every angle, its lyrics carrying an honest poetry which has Bridgers admitting “I’m 27 and I don’t know who I am” on the gorgeously yearning ‘Emily I’m Sorry’ before </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">Dacus</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> intones </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">seconds </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">later</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> o</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">n</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> ‘True Blue’ </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">that </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">“it feels good to be known so well”</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">. </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">Track listing becomes an artform as </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">boygenius</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> arrange the album’s 12 songs with beguiling simplicity into the only order that could possibly make sense, lyrical themes blossoming and blooming while the instrumentation moves from the squalling fuzz of ‘$20’ to the gentle caress of </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">‘We’re </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">In</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> Love’.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">The range on display is mesmerising, </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">disparate threads woven together into an intricate tapestry which reveals more details the more attention you pay – perhaps it took a couple of goes to realise that yes, the lyrics to ‘Leonard Cohen’ really do include the line “I am not an old man having an existential crisis at a Buddhist monastery writing horny poetry”.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">‘Not Strong Enough’ </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">is euphoric as it </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">soars on vocal harmonies and builds to a dizzying climax with a refrain of “always an angel never a god” and ‘Satanist’ tingles with just a hint of grunge</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">,</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> while ‘Cool About It’ is bare bones folk, tipping its head knowingly to Simon and Garfunkel’s ‘The Boxer’.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">Anyone caught up in the slipstream of these three </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">talented singer-songwriters will feel immediately at home</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> here, but</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"></span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">together </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">boygenius</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> are more than the sum of their parts. </span><span class="s4" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 21.6px;">the record</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> deserves to be judged on its own merits</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">, a</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">lmost too many to count</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">, </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">which </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">place</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">it comfortably in the 10 best albums released this year – and yes, it’s only April.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i><b>Words - <a href="https://twitter.com/jpontificating?s=21&t=OsNP9WpwW_P47lYmwf9ohQ" target="_blank">Joe Ponting</a></b></i></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i>boygenius <a href="https://www.xboygeniusx.com/" target="_blank">official</a></i></span></span></p>Plus One Magazinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11471075820053272040noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8642168067588881677.post-41129901307397324742023-03-27T20:25:00.006+01:002023-03-27T20:34:09.863+01:00Fidlar ‘That’s Life’ <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWYdQyLmhMqs5J8hKvHUYJ_12vbw59vnJbDPKfj2iAYZatSLSIc3EbXnpX2BlRmGidBiXNyVRSl9yj9gfVMg5z5QB0azQKr8VcXjtcYeMqpQ6_Sfi0M0DUAZBZO28X18ePmHhIN_6un3MyXasa7GOyQXVuVZXu7ndQD2QjYoPi0DGFeVSfIh_1Q-q13w/s300/E072C00A-1F2C-4BE7-A485-0026FC3626B4.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWYdQyLmhMqs5J8hKvHUYJ_12vbw59vnJbDPKfj2iAYZatSLSIc3EbXnpX2BlRmGidBiXNyVRSl9yj9gfVMg5z5QB0azQKr8VcXjtcYeMqpQ6_Sfi0M0DUAZBZO28X18ePmHhIN_6un3MyXasa7GOyQXVuVZXu7ndQD2QjYoPi0DGFeVSfIh_1Q-q13w/s1600/E072C00A-1F2C-4BE7-A485-0026FC3626B4.jpeg" width="300" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.6px;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; line-height: 21.6px;">Four years can feel like a lifetime, and in few places are 48 months so keenly felt as in punk rock. You can do a lot of growing up in that time, could end up drinking a lot less alcohol and, at least in terms of this </span><span style="font-family: trebuchet; line-height: 21.6px;">particular genre</span><span style="font-family: trebuchet; line-height: 21.6px;">,</span><span style="font-family: trebuchet; line-height: 21.6px;"> get</span><span style="font-family: trebuchet; line-height: 21.6px;"> a lot more boring. </span></div></span><p></p><p style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span></span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.6px; text-align: justify;">But that’s not the </span><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.6px; text-align: justify;">case </span><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.6px; text-align: justify;">with <a href="https://m.facebook.com/100044191731100/" target="_blank">FIDLAR</a>, who pick up where they left off to mostly good effect</span><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.6px; text-align: justify;">. </span><span class="s5" style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: 18px; font-style: italic; line-height: 21.6px; text-align: justify;">That’s Life</span><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.6px; text-align: justify;"> follows 2019’s </span><span class="s5" style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: 18px; font-style: italic; line-height: 21.6px; text-align: justify;">Almost Free</span><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.6px; text-align: justify;"> and from the arrangements right down to the production it’s clear the Californian band have musically matured and moved on up, but the lyrical thread of being broke and wasted hasn’t slackened in the slightest.</span></div></span><p style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p><p style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">And that’s the record’s blessing and its curse</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">; t</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">he six tracks they’ve turned out for this EP are glorious to a note, exhilarating slices of classic punk rock butting up against 2023’s angular IDLES-</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">esque</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> take on the genre, but </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">listen too closely to Zac </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">Carper’s</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> vocals and </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">the constant</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">, ceaseless references to drugs just get a bit tedious. </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">Yes,</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> that’s the point of FIDLAR – which after all stands for “fuck it dawg, life’s a risk” – and it would be a travesty if the band had returned all grown up with the straightest of edges, but it’s hard not to think that at least one track could forego the fentanyl or pass on the pills. </span></span></p><p style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p><p style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">Because the tunes are good here, seriously good. Lead single ‘FSU’ sleazed the band back onto the scene</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> with </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">a lead-heavy stomp, the </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">breakneck </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">bass-led ‘On Drugs’ </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">explodes from comparatively</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> restrained verses into</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">a joyful</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> Basement Jaxx </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">interpolation (</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">“where’s your head at</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">??</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">?”</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">) and </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">‘Centipede’ strikes </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">a </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">perfect </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">Weezer</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">-y </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">balance between shambolic and powerful</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">.</span></span></p><p style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p><p style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">FIDLAR won legions of devoted fans by t</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">elling us how much life sucks when you get </span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">sober</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;">, so when all’s said and done it’s probably for the best that they haven’t cleaned up much, regardless of this reviewer’s misgivings. Lyrical quibbles aside, </span><span class="s5" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 21.6px;">That’s Life</span><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"> is one of the best cuts of punk rock served up so far this year.</span></span></p><p style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i><b>Words - <a href="https://twitter.com/jpontificating?s=21&t=OsNP9WpwW_P47lYmwf9ohQ" target="_blank">Joe Ponting</a></b></i></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Fidlar <a href="https://m.facebook.com/100044191731100/" target="_blank">official</a></span> </i></span></span></p>Plus One Magazinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11471075820053272040noreply@blogger.comLeeds, UK53.8007554 -1.549077427.086602055731511 -36.7053274 80.5149087442685 33.6071726tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8642168067588881677.post-89652199713146971662023-02-14T11:25:00.005+00:002023-02-17T22:21:55.638+00:00Quasi ‘Breaking The Balls Of History’ (album review)<p><span></span><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi9-UzYRxtJY1D11KMjM3_iHO94xDdwMtWOWZz_Qxg5DCo2qvhtc1b1l4PIRP36LNO_CeCSPf6uDsDFKr7YS3vIFcexo-X5VBs4cP5NSLt-Ql_ZtMqwtIDgae-EQXMOYsq3vu7JZ9j0W4LdGqggYifi1iQo40HjoC3Fdgbg-a19erOOivAO--Ivov3Uw/s640/3D39BB50-C7A7-4DE8-B93A-ECA876F667AA.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi9-UzYRxtJY1D11KMjM3_iHO94xDdwMtWOWZz_Qxg5DCo2qvhtc1b1l4PIRP36LNO_CeCSPf6uDsDFKr7YS3vIFcexo-X5VBs4cP5NSLt-Ql_ZtMqwtIDgae-EQXMOYsq3vu7JZ9j0W4LdGqggYifi1iQo40HjoC3Fdgbg-a19erOOivAO--Ivov3Uw/s320/3D39BB50-C7A7-4DE8-B93A-ECA876F667AA.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Quirky West Coast duo <a href="https://m.facebook.com/people/Thee-Quasi/100050527627877/" target="_blank">Quasi</a> have been intermittently ploughing their cerebral psyche pop furrow for three decades now. Their 10th long player, the eagerly awaited ‘Breaking the Balls of History’, sees the former spouses Janet Weiss (Drums, Vocals) and Sam Coomes (Keys, Guitars, Vocals) reunited in the studio after a decade or so, the intervening years spent doing a million and one other musical projects, most notably Weiss’s involvement with Sleater-Kinney. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; text-align: left;">“Breaking the balls….” marks Quasi’s debut on famed seattle alternative label Sub-Pop Records, with 18 dates in Europe penned in for this Spring, including a May Day appearance at Brudenell Social Club. The band are clearly making up for lost time as they originally planned to return to the studio in 2019. This was put on hold firstly by Weiss’s recovery from a car accident (double leg break, ouch!) before covid wreaked its havoc, forcing the duo off the road. Nevertheless, the duo jammed together every day, with ‘Breaking the Balls of History’ the natural end product. </span><span style="font-family: trebuchet; text-align: left;"> </span></p><p></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Recorded in Seattle and produced by John Goodmanson, (another Sleater-Kinney connection), the 12-tracks of shimmering pop conceal a darker underbelly of post covid neuroses. Coomes is in full spleen venting mode, dismayed at his nation’s political upheaval as well as the proliferation of many a batshit community thanks to their amplification by social media in front of an audience with sod all better to do thanks to covid enforced isolation. It’s potent stuff all right, all propelled by Weiss’s rock steady beat driving forward Coomes phat Rocksichord sound. </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Opener ‘Last Long Laughs’ opens with a brief Coomes scene setter before Weiss’s piledriver drums kick in. Quasi’s trademark vocal harmonies are still effortlessly intertwined, proving old habits die hard and I’m getting a definite fab fourness about the Quasi sound on this record too. Throw in a smattering of gallows humour, Coomes intoning on the opener “You cant let the bastards bring you down” and you’ve conclusive proof that our nations finest export, namely sarcasm, is equally valued on the Quasi side of the pond. </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Lead-off single ‘Queen of Ears’ seems like it’s throw together from a bunch of non-sequiturs chucked against a wall to see what sticks, whilst ‘Gravity’ proves another Beatles tinged slice of woozy pop perfection containing smart references without really going anywhere else, but then again it doesn’t really need to. </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Coomes takes a swipe at his country’s political failings in the frenetic ‘Riots and Jokes’ whilst’ ‘Doomscrollers’ laments the consequences of covid enforced isolation whilst taking a swipe at aforementioned crackpot fringe groups including climate change deniers and anti vaxxers. </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Weiss takes lead vocal on the queasy otherworldly ‘Inbetweenness’ whereas on the 70 second title track, Coomes’ frustrations almost boil over. Penultimate track ‘Rotten Wrock’ has a glam laden groove before the dreamy denouement ‘The Losers Win’ rounds off a fine return to form. </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 21.6px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span class="s2" style="line-height: 12px;"><span class="bumpedFont20" style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Words - </i></span></span></span><i><a href="https://twitter.com/avpriceyfc?s=21&t=80uEG0kQKS4nr1iHliwbLQ" target="_blank">Mike Price</a></i></span></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /></span></i></p><p style="line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Quasi <a href="https://m.facebook.com/people/Thee-Quasi/100050527627877/" target="_blank">facebook</a></span></i></p>Plus One Magazinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11471075820053272040noreply@blogger.comLeeds, UK53.8007554 -1.549077425.490521563821154 -36.7053274 82.110989236178852 33.6071726