It’s for helping you reach your musical climax safely
TV on The Radio @ Shepherds Bush Empire 19/11/2008
TV on The Radio’s most recent long player, “Dear Science”, seems to have disappointed a number of fans equally as much as it has been, or will be, featured in end of year best of lists, yet, judging by the hysteria of an excited buzz mixed with furiously busy touts, tonight the stage is really set for them to prove their worth.
Fucked Up/Rolo Tomassi @ Camden Barfly 6/11/2008
Anyone smart enough to brave it to Camden tonight not to see a Pete Doherty solo set is in for a treat with this XFM showcase at the perfectly scummy Barfly. Although advertised as a “secret headliner”, it seems everyone is pretty confident that it’s Canadian hardcore punk outfit Fucked Up that will be taking to the stage by the end of the night.
Vampire Weekend/Wild Beasts/El Guincho @ The Kentish Town Forum, London 25 October
The rise and rise of Vampire Weekend has been a thing of wonder: last year they were swimming about in the peripheries of the music press and then, suddenly, BAM!- it’s customary for radio DJs to play at least one of their songs each hour and they’re on every British festival this summer inciting chirpy sing alongs all the way from a rainy Pyramid Stage performance to a triumphant, sweaty Leeds festival set. Whereas some bands (a certain multi-racial five piece from Florida spring to mind) received a hell of a roar in the hype department of the NME office but eventually only delivered a whimper, Vampire Weekend have consistently come up with the goods. After the festival season undoubtedly won them numerous fans, tonight the question is whether Vampire Weekend can cope in the spotlight in their own right headlining three sold out nights in a row at the Forum.
Shred Your Face at Camden Electric Ballroom, London 20 October
It’s a rainy Monday night and the self styled “Shred Your Face” tour rolls into Camden town for what is surely the biggest gig of the jaunt.
First on to an already pretty packed venue is Times New Viking who impress those who made the effort to come early. The band seem to take a particular perverse joy in creating glorious pop songs almost of the Belle and Sebastian variety and then smothering them with walls of feedback, splashy cymbals and fuzzed out vocals so that the listener has to almost decipher those gorgeous melodies.
Holy Fuck/Kelpe- Kings College London 18 October
The first time INFTC saw Holy Fuck, it was as a barely advertised add-on band in a sweaty, dirty nightclub to a few gurning clubbers who had lost their mates on the way to the bar. Now, a year on, it’s perhaps a little surprising that the band have sold out a headline show at the relatively large Kings College Union. They may not boast the hits or even accessibility of many of their contemporaries, but one thing is clear when seeing them live- they are certainly interesting and experimental enough to hold attention unwaveringly.
Brontide Interview
Brontide are a new band who, although all originating from various different places, reside in Brighton and create a stomping, mathy web of complex guitar lines, intricate bass stabs and monstrous drums. They may have only been going “seriously” as a band for a few months, but have already carved out their own particular sound and all the members have experience from various other projects. Drummer William Bowerman, formerly of (sadly fairly short lived) Nottingham band, I Was A Cub Scout, was kind enough to answer some of my questions via email after a failed meet up. Consume the words…
Rolo Tomassi/Mirror! Mirror! @ The Old Blue Last, London, Monday 22 Sept
Tonight is the launch night for “Hysterics”, the debut album from Sheffield noise psychopaths Rolo Tomassi and promises to be a well deserved celebration gig for the band. It’s a Monday night but any wet blankets are left out of mind; it’s trendy London and it’s free so, along with the fact that Rolo Tomassi are starting to whip up a bit of a media storm around them right now, the venue is absolutely packed- from the front to back of the room, up and down the stairs and spilling out into the smoky streets- there’s a real buzz of genuine excitement rippling about the place.
Los Campesinos!- “We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed”
About nine months ago, this welsh based seven piece released their debut album to what was a very positive, semi cult response, if not a transformation into mega stars. Their first album, “Hold On Now Youngster…”, and the following months, may have not seen them come crashing home smothered in hype whilst being crammed involuntarily into our mouths, but did in fact build up quite an impressive, dedicated fan base.
Lovvers- “Think” (Wichita)
Silence. The fast, wild strums of a battered electric guitar. Drums hit so hard, the skins sound at breaking point. A maniac’s voice, wide eyed with hunger, through a tinny, lo fi microphone. This is the sound of “Human Hair”, the opening song on Lovvers mini album “Think” and, before you know it, the blood is racing around your body and you’re wide awake. Throughout this release, the music refuses to slow down and, with the 7 songs clocking in at just under 13 minutes, “Think” is a fast and powerful attack on the senses.
As many people are set to start, or go back, to uni/school/college soon, we’re all scrambling around buying last minute things. But fuck the reading list and a duvet cover *, here’s a fantastic five of new bands to soundtrack the beginnings of something great.