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Masters of the art of standing outside the mainstream whilst simultaneously gaining widespread recognition and acclaim from the industry, Placebo finally returned to Glasgow’s SECC to deliver the niche which they have carved out over the years.
Confessions must be made. I never was a fan of Placebo till a couple of years ago. Infact, that’s not probably not strong enough. I had a fairly intense dislike of them, for no reason that I can articulate. Having my own voice compared to that of Brian Molko in my musical endeavours (Closet Organ) only served to add fuel to the fire.
I can’t get enough of this band. Seriously. Part of me feels that I should probably shut up about Pulled Apart By Horses before everyone else gets sick of the sound of them. Infact, maybe that wouldn’t be an altogether bad thing; protecting them from the droves of idiots who will no doubt jump on the populist bandwagon.
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.
Alec Empire is perhaps most famous as the leader of Berlin based group Atari Teenage Riot, who between 1992 and 2000 produced some of the hardest, fastest and heaviest music of the era. They were...
If you aren't one of the stupendously fortunate 177,500 people trekking to Somerset this month, you may want to move on to the next article, as it's quite likely that the following words could induce...
Having missed their explosive tour through the States towards the end of ’06, I felt terribly deprived when I missed seeing Love is All in action. All the buzz concerning this Swedish punk, pop band...
A juicy set of Pulled Apart by Horses photos to enjoy with the review of their gig at Captain’s Rest in Glasgow.
Electro punkster, show girl Merrill Nisker aka Peaches promotes her latest album, I Feel Cream produced by Simian Mobile Disco’s James Ford. Peaches shared stage at KOKO on the 13th of December...
Peaches, Kap Bambino, Hanway Troof and Drums of Death were playing at KOKO on the 13th of December. Artrocker loves Kap Bambino so much, we made a dedicated photo gallery. Check out Peaches pictures...
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. Read the review of the gig here.
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