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Hell Is For Heroes
The Neon Handshake

Today’s news of Hundred Reasons playing some final shows and getting the fantastic Cable and Hell Is For Heroes to reform to help with the send off has kicked me into doing this again after losing all sense of time. Funny really that The Neon Handshake was next on my list.

Opening with the a superbly distorted guitar and the unmistakable pounding rhythm section of Five Kids Go, it is clear from the outset that this album is going to be something special. It seemed to have taken an age for the album to release since the early airplay of I Can Climb Mountains and Night Vision, and straight from the off, you know it was worth the wait. Whilst Justin’s vocals might have been hit or miss for people, for me (and seemingly a fuck load of other then-kids my age) though they were a hit, especially in this.

Out Of Sight comes kicking and screaming out of the blocks before a beautifully melodic section before exploding again. For me, the drums in the whole album sound like drums should do, big, bright and beautiful; though it doesn’t just stop with the drums. The guitar tone is incredible and the bass cuts through just right. Night Vision is one of the singles of the album, and it showcases everything that Hell Is For Heroes is about – catchy songs which sound great and a front man who is not afraid to split opinion with his vocals, often dripping in glorious desperation.

Cut Down features a sledge hammer-like riff with a very simple yet effective song structure. Few Against Many starts off a bit weak, but around 50 seconds in, when it fully gets started, it is huge. Featuring mammoth riffs in the right places, and the right amount of melody in others, it also showcases how dark Hell Is For Heroes can be, with the lyric “Like a rat in a trap, I’ll be waiting for you, taking punches and kicks, I’ll be bait for the kill” and other desperate shrieks.

Three Of Clubs is many peoples favourite album track for good reason, a song structured with the same intention as the rest on the album; to be intensely good live, though got the translation to record down to a tee. I Can Climb Mountains is the standout track of the album, everything in the song works. A perfect song for the earlier part of the 21st century.

Disconnector is the perfect foil for the high octane I Can Climb Mountains, giving enough time at the beginning for you to catch your breath back before, as normal with Hell Is For Heroes, turns everything up to 11 and 100MPH. You Drove Me To It, whilst not being the standout on the album (though it is one of the album’s outstanding tracks), features one of my favourite parts of the album with the guitars from 1:50 in with the vocal “Give me something sacred. So deep, so high ,so long, so far, so good, so much pressure building” mixed in perfectly. Seriously, listen to the song now, and pay attention for this, right up until 2:24. It’s mindblowing.

Slow Song is exactly what it says it is, slow. Slow and then heavy. Euphoric even. 3:21 until 3:58 drowns you in a rain of pouring guitars crashing down around you, and then just think of that in a live setting. Sick/Happy is minimal in it’s verses, and has beautifully crunchy harmonies in the chorus. The album finishes strong with Retreat, with Justin singing “I never thought I’d reach the end, I’m ready to surrender” which will have been chanted back at him at high volume many a time. A superb album closer to a superb album.

I honestly cannot wait for their last two ever shows with Hundred Reasons. Transmit Disrupt was another superb album which should have got more sales than it did. Thankfully they are doing it all, one last time. From start to finish in the environment that it was meant to be heard in.

Download: I Can Climb Mountains, Retreat, Five Kids Go

Next Stop Atlanta – The Things You Do Best

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NSA - The Things You Do Best

Next Stop Atlanta
The Things You Do Best

Next Stop Atlanta release their second EP, The Things You Do Best, digitally on the 14th February 2012, with a physical release to be expected in the not too distant future. Their self titled debut EP served as a great introduction to the band, and now you can see how far the band have progressed on The Things You Do Best.

Opening with ’0:30′, a short sample track which could have been recorded anywhere in their hometown of Preston with the sirens and creepy children’s toy, the EP explodes into life with a slice of pop-punk perfection with ‘Always With The Drama’. The first thing that hits you is how well Nik, Blake and Ant play together, and how Georgia’s vocals compliment the music. The second thing that hits you is how catchy this song actually is.

‘I’m Not Morrissey’ is the highlight of the EP with its awkward guitar opening with Georgia before the rhythm section joins in and takes the song away, showcasing some fantastic songwriting; the music becoming more and more frantic, becoming a whirlwind of brilliance whilst Georgia exclaims that she is “playing with your head tonight”.

‘Get In The Van’ is Set Your Goals-esque with how you can make a pop-punk song quick in tempo, yet have the potential to be an anthem with how damn infectious it is and easy to sing along with.

A full band version of ‘Perfection’ is next, which will be familiar to those who had the previous EP as that was the acoustic closer. A full band version does the song justice and really is an excellent version which is actually better than the acoustic version.

‘Light The Beacons’ is probably the weakest song on the EP, though that is not to say that it is a poor song at all. Quite the contrary in fact, it is a good song, though the standard had been set stupidly high with the previous tracks, though I can imagine this being a live favourite.

This EP should gain Next Stop Atlanta a lot more recognition for all their hard work and brilliant songs. 2012 is shaping up to be a good year for these guys.

8/10

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Chaotix – Black Blood

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Chaotix
Black Blood

Preston four-piece Chaotix released their four song EP, Black Blood, earlier on this month with their only marketing tactic being word of mouth. Currently one of the most exciting live bands in Lancashire, they’ve transfered some of their live energy well onto Black Blood. 

Holding no punches by opening with Sons Are Bitches, this is a brilliant introduction to what Chaotix do; riffs, a rhythm section that makes you want to move, lush layers, hooks and blood curdling screams. Sons Are Bitches shows off technical songwriting abilities that bands that have been together much longer cannot cope with, without ever losing the attention of the listener. This is a common trait of Chaotix.

Plight of the Navigator is next and, whilst unmistakably being the same band, features more singing instead of screaming which gives the song a haunted feel, especially with the backing vocals being screamed a little quieter than the moody singing. The song is a little bit less intense in comparison to the previous track yet still has you on edge. One thing that is noticeable is how well the EP has been mixed, with no instrument getting lost, and the bass cutting through beautifully.

Title track Black Blood is next and it feels more familiar to the previous track rather than the opener whilst not sounding alike. The instrumental 2 and a half minutes in is a highlight of the EP, and explodes into life perfectly with desperate screams adding an extra dimension to a superb track.

The EP ends with Sicko, a little bit more poppy compared to the previous tracks in a way that Dillinger Escape Plans Ire Works was more poppy compared to earlier works. It’s still technical and you can’t really sing along with it, but it has the hooks, riffs and melody that can get stuck in your head. A marvellous end to a fantastic EP.

You can name your price for the EP over at their Bandcamp page. This is a band that really needs to break out of Lancashire and onto the wider UK scene. There are plenty of bands that are producing middle of the road, bland music that are getting too much attention when bands like Chaotix actually deserve the attention.

8/10

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JR Ewing
Calling In Dead

I was late to hear JR Ewing and I have no idea why. Everything I love about music is summed up in the 23 minutes on this album. No bullshit, nothing fancy, just punk rock played frighteningly good, and one of the first bands that was clearly influenced by Refused, well that I can think of.

Recorded in just six days, this was the debut release of JR Ewing and opens with the intent to destroy your ear drums with the brilliant Everyone Else, which features a lot of feedback, swirling bass and pounding drums before exploding into life with vocalist Andreas Tylden screaming as if he is being tortured. The guitar sounds brilliantly raw, the way it should for a hardcore punk band. An Offer You Can’t Refuse continues in a similar vein, with a desperate “I want to be your friend” plea the only let up.

Message Received and Misunderstood has a bit more melody in the intro before (metaphorically) pounding your skull into a pavement; pretty much schizophrenic with how the song relaxes, almost as if they are gasping for breath before continuing the pounding.

To suggest that the album is all about playing heavy music hard is a little unfair, as there are hooks and even melody on this album, and this is shown expertly on album standout Stars Over Night.

 A lot of people believe that this brand of music doesn’t involve skill or imagination, though this album blows that myth out of the water. An incredible debut album by a band that was not around anywhere near long enough.

Download: Stars Over Night, Everyone Else

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 Muse
Origin of Symmetry

Bar Muscle Museum, the first Muse album didn’t do anything for me at all. I thought other bands out there that were doing a much better job than Muse were, and weren’t really going to look out for any further releases by them. That was until I heard Plug In Baby and I thought I’d give them another chance. Christ, I’m glad I did. This is the album that set Muse on the path to become one of the world’s biggest bands.

Opening with the now well-known piano led opening of New Born, you don’t expect THAT riff to happen based on their first album on your first listen. It really is crazy to think that is what I thought now seeing what they’ve achieved, but listening to this album for the first time on the bus back from Preston, as soon as Matt Bellamy started playing that riff I knew that this was something special. The instrumentation on the song, indeed the album, is marvellous. For a three piece to make the music they do the mind boggles. The guitar and bass work on this track and how the track fits together is just perfection. In fact, that is a theme of the album, the bass allows the guitar to go off on one with its effects, and it sounds incredible for it.

Bliss is a song that when you close your eyes, you honestly feel like you could be floating away somewhere else. The drama of Space Dementia, with its build up and apocalypse-equse feel giving with to the superb Hyper Music before the lead single, Plug In Baby keeps the album flowing perfectly. Citizen Erased keeps the quality of the album high throughout it’s 7 minutes, featuring a thunderous bass-line, soft moment with a haunting guitar over a gentle rhythm section and beautiful falsetto vocals which the US label wanted removed as they didn’t believe it had the appeal for radio-play. Idiots.

Micro Cuts starts were Citizen Erased left off, with a guitar sound not too dissimilar to Creep by Radiohead (a band which haunted them in their early days. The chorus on Micro Cuts, whilst not being sing-along material, is huge, and the last 30 seconds of the song is a true album highlight. Marvellous. Screenager slows the album down again, and is the poorest song on the album; a true album filler track. Dark Shines starts of in a similar vein, before exploding like a cheap firework; disappointingly.

Feeling Good is a cover which everyone has come to know, and does the original justice. Matt Bellamy’s vocals suit the song brilliantly, and the bass sound that they got for this song is ruddy fantastic.

Megalomania is a bit of an anti-climax to a brilliant album. I’m not saying that it is a bad song, but compared to a lot of the extreme highs on the album, it leaves a little bit more to be desired. Except for one thing; the final note of the organ ringing out. A perfect close to a brilliantly overblown album.

Download: Plug In Baby, Bliss

The Rock Sound Riot Tour

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Date: 6 December 2011
Venue: Manchester Club Academy
Line Up: Every Time I Die, Trash Talk, Defeater, Spy Catcher

When the original announcement of Every Time I Die playing Manchester was made many months ago, I was excited. This is a band that I have loved for many years, and even have a tattoo with one of their lyrics and their “I” logo incorporated into it, so it was pretty obvious that I was going to go. Then Spy Catcher announced [I think] at Hevy Fest that they were going to be playing and opening the night, which was a bonus. For another one of my favourite bands, Defeater, also to be added to the bill this caused me to go into near meltdown. Then to top it off, we had a band that I have loads of time for, Trash Talk, was the final piece of the jigsaw for Rock Sound to complete the line up for the tour of the year. Excitement no longer covered it.

Opening the night was Spy Catcher [6], who had to open the show around 10 minutes doors after the doors opened, and people didn’t seem to really get into the band, or indeed move forward, leaving a massive gap in the middle of the floor. One of the charming aspects of Spy Catcher on record, and indeed other times I’ve seen them live, is the vocals, though this time it seemed that the vocal delivery was forced to be more aggressive, possibly to do with the line up. I couldn’t shake the feeling of slight disappointment off once they finished, though they did blast through Livewire, Remember Where You Were When Michael Jackson Died and the superb Don’t Like People. 

Defeater [9] open their set with a slightly re-worked But Breathing from the acoustic section of their brilliant Empty Days and Sleepless Nights, and transformed it into a massive blues song which was dripping with passion. The acoustic guitar stayed, and the full band was added to breath-taking effect which stands as one of the true highlights of the night. Straight after this, it was into more familiar territory for the crowd, with fantastic versions of Dear Father and Warm Blood Rush before launching into the deeply passionate The Red White and Blues and Bite and Sting. Seeing Defeater at one of their first UK dates at Slam Dunk, and numerous times since, this band has crafted something truly remarkable, and can perform a slick show like tonight, or the most intimate performance you could wish to see from a band, there is always one constant in Defeater shows; passion. They finish with the incredible double of a truly heartfelt A Wound and Scar and then the beyond-words brilliance of Cowardice.

Trash Talk [7] was next up, and having experienced a Trash Talk show before, I was expecting complete mayhem. The mayhem was there, but not on a scale that has been before. They blasted through 16 songs through a 40 minute set, opening with the brilliant Hash Wednesday (though this featured some technical problems with the mic). The only glaring omission from the set for me was Explode, which I was pretty gutted at not being played, but everything else was done to trash perfection, with the band being tight and vocalist Lee Spielman creating mayhem anywhere he could in the venue.

Every Time I Die [9] came to close the night with no mood to fuck about; they came to flatten Manchester and they came mightily close to doing this. Opening with Apocalypse Now and Then, Bored Stiff and then the classic Ebolarama, which sounded brilliant and much heavier than when I’ve seen them before, though this reflected in the more melodic songs, such as Wanderlust, which sounded a bit muddy acoustically. A new song called Underwater Bimbos from Outer Space was played, and sounded like it could belong on either Last Night In Town or Hot Damn!; great news. Closing with the brilliant sounding We’rewolf and the incredible Floater, the night finished with many people, including myself, in awe of what I have just seen.

Thank you Rock Sound.

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The Trees Are Dead & Dried Out Wait For Something Wild

Sikth
The Trees Are Dead & Dried Out Wait For Something Wild

Sikth are a special band. They are stupidly technical, but know how to write catchy hooks when they are needed. Or even when they aren’t needed, and are placed in songs exactly where Sikth see fit because this is exactly what Sikth want. This is very much an album that was written and created with what the band wanted to do, and not what the outcome might be. It’s just lucky for us that the outcome is insanely good. And just plain insane.

Sikth use two vocalists throughout, which adds to the hyperactive sound of the album. If this album was a child, it’d be diagnosed with  ADHD. Mikee W. Goodman is probably the closest the UK has come to having our own Mike Patton, his range and what he can do with his voice is nothing short of outstanding. It is not surprising that when Goodman, along with the screamer of the band, Justin Hill, departed in 2007, that the band could not find any replacements and decided to call it a day…12 months later!

Opening the album is Scent of the Obscene, which opens with the bass and drums going crazy with the guitar whirling around them. Then suddenly you are confronted with the aforementioned vocals. Incredible. The musicianship on show throughout this song, and album as a whole, is breathtaking. The chorus features a huge hook which can get stuck in your head for hours. Pussyfoot continues the mayhem, if not increasing it. Again, the musicianship is incredible, and the dual vocals add more ideas to the song than what most bands can achieve in a career.

Skies of Millennium Night has complex guitar work with a funky rhythm section underpinning it all together. The is no clear “standard” structure to this song, like most Sikth songs, but you never feel overwhelmed by this; just blown away. Emerson (Pt.1) and Emerson (Pt.2) act as piano interludes, which unlike most interludes, fit perfectly into the album and give you a beautiful breather.

Peep Show continues the madness and the introduction and drumming on Wait For Something Wild blows my mind every single time I hear it. Tupelo has a brilliant tribal feel to it that not many metal bands, even Sepultura, could manage. Can’t We All Dream is a slow burner but is really a beautiful song with a haunting feel.

How May I Help You?, (If You Weren’t So) Perfect and Such The Fool bring the short and sharp madness back, and the album finishes with a spoken word poem with When Will The Forest Speak…?. The ideas on this track, with no music, is still phenomenal.

Phenomenal, that is probably the best word that can describe this album, and describe this band.

Download: Scent of the Obscene, Pussyfoot, Skies of the Millenium Sky

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Amen
Death Before Musick

In all honesty, I could have picked any Amen album for this list, though I settled with this album simply because when it was released in 2004, this album never left my CD player. Glen Matlock of the Sex Pistols described Amen as “the most pissed off band since the Pistols” and he is probably right. The has been a lot of angry bands, however not on the social scale that Amen were. This album also was also released with the help of Daron Malakian of System of a Down fame, on his EatUrMusic label.

Amen were an intense band, both on CD and live; in fact, I’ve never seen a performer with so little regard for safety as Casey Chaos has, either for himself or others. Man that bloke was a performer. The only person that has come close to him is Lee Spielman of Trash Talk, and even then, he is still some way behind Chaos.

Opening with Liberation For… is the call out to get people involved; the rally cry before launching head-first into Hello (One Cord Lovers), which an open reminiscent of the Sex Pistols, before the song explodes into the punk-metal that the band mastered perfectly. California’s Dreaming is the lead single (might be the only single?) from the album and is a pure punk song dripping with rage, disgust and sarcasm (sample lyric is “I’ve never seen anything like it before / Because you don’t ‘use it’ / It’s alright”).

Money Infection sounds like the start of the end of the world with hooks. The chorus is incredibly catchy and again, is full of rage and disgust (“Rip off the willing / Rip off the dead / Rip off this empty child / Then wishful overheads”). Westwood Fallout is again in your face, and the pace of the album has not given you chance to catch your breath.

Oblivion Stereo is packed full of hooks again. This is something that Amen do brilliantly; write pissed off songs which are full of rage and are in your face, though have melody, hooks and are generally brilliant songs. Casey Chaos is a superb songwriter. The album continues to deliver blistering song after blistering song right up until album closers Fuck In LA and The Summer of Guns, which is a bit of a slow burner, but when it comes to live, my God does it come to life.

This is an album that deserves to be listened to by anyone who claims to be into alternative music. It is an album of consistency, strength, rage, sarcasm, hooks, riffs and utter contempt with the world. It also features some of the finest songwriting of the early part of the 21st century. Amen were pissed off; Casey Chaos with the world and the band with Chasey Chaos. It was inevitable that a band with so much hostility was going to meltdown. Though before the meltdown, they left us with three fantastic albums – 2 more than the Sex Pistols ever did.

Download: California’s Bleeding, Oblivion Stereo, Please Kill Me.

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Verse
Aggression

The are hundreds upon hardcore bands that are, quite frankly, shit. There is little in way of ideas or imagination in a lot of bands. Then a band come along with a blistering album which stands heads and shoulders above most released, not just in that year, but in the genre as a whole. Verse have been both those bands, though thankfully they did leave us with Aggression, their third and final album before they broke up.

Opening with The New Fury, which is the albums standout track, sets the tone for the album and is one of the defining tracks of hardcore. Sean Murphy screams and sings as if his life, and yours, depends on it; often breaking with sheer emotion. Whilst this album is the stand out track, the rest of the songs aren’t lacking in quality either, which goes to show how strong the album actually is.

The album is built around Story Of A Free Man, which is split into three chapters; The End of Innocence, The Cold Returns and Serenity. The story is how his father goes of to war which he doesn’t believe in, how he ends up in a rage and a depression and how he becomes and addict once his father is killed, and then decides enough is enough, and walks away from his troubles a free man.

Earth and Stone starts the wind down of the album perfectly before Sons and Daughters speeds it back up, before slowing it back down perfectly, leaving you wanting more, building an incredible atmosphere around the track. It is without doubt a breathtaking moment.

The is melodic moments and the are heavy, chug-a-long moments. Verse experimented within their own boundaries, but what they did on this was brilliant and there wasn’t a bad song on this album. Such a shame that they split up whilst they were on the upwards trajectory.

Download: The New Fury, Story of a Free Man

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Shoes and Socks Off

From The Muddy Banks of Melitzer

This is probably the rawest album I’ve included in this list. It was self recorded by Shoes and Socks Off, otherwise known as Tobias Hayes (former frontman of Meet Me In St. Louis) in his bedroom above a motorcycle shop and was available on a super limited CD with hand made packaging, which is lovely. I first discovered Shoes and Socks Off when supporting Kevin Devine at the rather wonderful The Deaf Institute in Manchester, where I was told by John Bills (http://penguinorchestra.wordpress.com) about how amazing this guy is. My God how right he was. We spent the majority of Kevin Devines set outside smoking talking about it, as well as getting nostalgic about amazing British bands which have now gone, as well as how great Tool are.

Anyway, back to  the album. As I’ve said, this album is the rawest on the list, and it is pretty much just Toby Hayes and his acoustic guitar in his purest form. The closest you can get to his live show. This is also his debut album, and shows maturity beyond his years. His voice was made for this bluesy acoustic music. Opening with Hang In There Buddy, it is a pretty basic yet beautiful song which Hayes’ voice is central to. I’m A World Class Assassin is one of, if not the stand out track on the album. A quicker tempo than the opener, Hayes sounds like he is in a rush to get everything he wants to say. Yeah But slows the tempo back down to a similar one to the opener. Funny Haha is as impassionate as ever, if not more so. Towards the end of the song, you can hear the desperation in Hayes voice.

The album is full of high points, and every song has it’s own personal greatness. The is not a single bad song on this album. Vice Magazine Has A Lot To Answer For hits so many of the right notes, as does Epic Sweet Proportions.

This album was the first in a project that Hayes decided to do with Shoes and Socks Off, which was as strip down and make an album raw as the songs could possibly be to be released first, which is this album, and he released Hand Reared Suburban Piglet, which is the same songs, but with a full band / instrumentation. I love both albums, though this one just has the perfect imperfections which makes music great.

Download: I’m A World Class Assasin, Vice Magazine Has A Lot To Answer For.