BBQ and King Khan have released another garage rock gem. Invisible Girl is a rock n roll soul party record - all handclaps, doo wop backing vocals, 12 bar chords and familiar melodies. And quite unbelievably filthy lyrics.
Big Ripper is a monstrous record. It’s the album Godzilla has in his headphones as he’s trashing Manhattan. It’s what King Kong hears in his head as he’s beating his chest at the top of the Empire State building.
Musically, it’s an exhilirating riff stew with drums the sound of wrecking balls demolishing houses. Everything is distorted - every sound is so far in the red the dials are practically bleeding.
They know how to put on a show. ‘Course they do. They’ve been doing it for what seems like decades. In fact, some may argue, they’ve been doing the same show for the past ten years. Now, although that’s sort of true, each time they have new songs and new tricks. And even though you know all this and have seen them before, it’s still a thrill when they emerge from inside a giant screen, Wayne Coyne does his giant space bubble thing, and the band open with Race for the Prize, in a riot of cannon-fired ticker tape, streamers and balloons. So much that you almost don’t notice how good that song is. Then it’s on with the show as the balloons continue to bounce around the venue, old classics tumble out, the green lasers and the big gong make their appearance, and there’s a lot of fun going down.
In the end the main difference is the scale. Camera Obscura put on a good show, but it’s hard not to compare this gig with the previous time I’ve seen the Glasgow band this year. That was back in March at The Lexington when they played their first gig after recording their latest album My Maudlin Career. It was billed as a warm-up for SXSW and Traceyanne Campbell admitted to being a bit nervous, but there were only a few minor glitches, and in a cracking little venue with a partisan crowd, the gig was a blast.
Mystery Roar were a bit too sexy for me.
Max Tundra had more enthusiasm during that one performance than I’ve ever had in my entire life.
Deastro played 4 or 5 new songs. Then shit broke. Then they played 4 or 5 old songs. Then 1 more new song about falling in love with a vampire. And it was all awesome.
Nice Nice are currently giving away downloads of their new EP, before its physical release on 26 November.
It’s a fantastic single. The A-side ‘One Hit’ sounds like a kind of amped up electro psych Black Sabbath- all crunchy guitars, Ozzy style harmonies and sound explosions. When it really kicks off, it’s the aural equivalent of someone chucking a lit cigar into a fireworks factory.
B-side ‘Ark drum’ is a more sedate affair, with a mellow tribal feel. Sounds like Sting is in there somewhere playing the panpipes.
Photo by Amy Brammall
Maybeshewill are a three-piece instrumental trio from the Midlands, who swell when playing live to accomodate their ‘rock-ensemble’ sound. They’re currently re-releasing an amalgamation of their sold-out debut album, and four tracks from their first EP - aptly called ‘Not For Want Of Trying +4’. No messing around here.
There is something quite frightening about Converge. Obviously, the music itself has an element of terror, everyone who heard Fault and Fracture for the first time (particularly accompanied by its incredibly sinister video) certainly would have felt that fear. But what is really quite mind boggling is the fact that here are a band, now fast approaching their 20th year as a creative collective, (or at least between the reluctant hero figure of vocalist & lyricist Jacob Bannon and guitarist-come-producer Kurt Ballou) who make loud, uncompromising music. And yet, they’re more relevant now than they perhaps have ever been.
The best songs on Julian Casablancas’ solo debut are the ones in which he sounds just like himself but not much at all like the Strokes, forcing us to reckon with the notion that the two things are not as synonymous as we’d previously thought. This is a bit like playing dress-up, and for the most part, Casablancas has sense enough to only indulge in drag that flatters his features. I’m not sure what exactly you call a song like “4 Chords of the Apocalypse” — Rec room balladry?
Pulled Apart by Fucking Horses - what bands should be like. When I heard the initial announcement that Future of the Left were to support Biffy Clyro on their current tour, I was more than pleased. When PABH replaced them, it was probably the only band that I’d have been happy with taking up the mantle.
Take a break from all the herky jerky artrock sounds we know and love, and check out the country genius of Caitlin Rose.
Henry from The Young Knives recommends the Norwegian rock band Ungdomskulen...
Review - The Comic's New Format (that's The NME to you guv).
I've just read (!) the new format Comic, purely for the purposes of research you understand, in fact it's the first issue of The Comic I'...
Dave Martin recommends the post rock dynamics and baritone vocals of RedJetson
New Artrocker photographer Paul Bridgewater send us some great photos of some of our top bands of the year played in London. Check out the gallery for pictures of The Raveonettes and Sharin Foo,...
Victor Frankowski got some great pictures of legendary proto-punkers New York Dolls at their recent London Forum gig.
One of the best loved bands, Vivian Girls were touring Japan in Autumn 2009. Lots of fun was had, including modeling of awesome headphones, filming interviews and playing music. Photographer Keita...
Awesome photos of Fucked Up mayhem from Camden’s Barfly. Thanks to Brian Doherty for sending us these shots.
Artrocker.com photographer in Europe Tom Spray sends some juicy photos of The Horrors. The Primary Colours creators were playing in Copenhagen’s Vega on 9th of November 2009.
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