Milk Teeth @ The Joiners 14/05/2016

You know you've struck a chord with a fanbase when the entire venue jumps up and down as one.
"This is fucking mad" mouths Milk Teeth drummer Oli Holbrook as he and his band round off 
their UK tour at Southampton's Joiners Arms. 

Everything that could have gone right for Milk Teeth on the night did. Everyone crammed into the sweat-box that is otherwise known as The Joiners was up for it. Nobody more so than Milk Teeth themselves who announce their intentions early on. "Let's have a good one tonight Southampton" demands vocalist Becky Blomfield and the night does not disappoint. Throughout the set, fans of the band hurl themselves on and off the stage from opener 'Brain Food' all the way through to 'Vitamins'.

About half way through the set, the members all look at each other seemingly in disbelief at what they have just witnessed. 'Swear Jar' had just left the misty air of The Joiners and Milk Teeth are in complete awe of the crowd who had just bellowed every single word straight back to the four-piece. It is at this moment that Oli mouths "This is fucking mad" to guitarist Chris Webb who simply nods in agreement. It's a testament to how far Milk Teeth have come since 2013, headlining tours, playing big name festivals and growing a dedicated fan-base.

Having released Vile Child, their first full-length album at the tail end of 2015, Milk Teeth want to showcase it the only way they know how. By turning it up fucking loud. Guitarist Billy Hutton, who already looks like a rock star, adds wailing sounds and thrashing riffs and at the same time, he adds dreamy shoegaze like effects. Particularly on 'Swear Jar'. 'Kabuki' is met with stunned silence. The reason for this is as Becky explains is because "this is one of the most personal songs I have ever written," she spoke to the crowd directly before 'Kabuki' about encouraging people to open up about mental health issues having suffered from them herself. This was very commendable and brave of her to talk about this so openly herself.

The set ends with the frantic 'Vitamins' a song which every five seconds somebody either left, or joined the stage. The song itself is just as chaotic as the scenes surrounding the stage. But this was more than a performance. This was a group of early 20-something's making a statement. There is clear passion evident in this performance, they certainly left the foundations of The Joiners cracked,

8/10

Fat White Family To Play Biggest Gig Yet

Fat White Family will play at Brixton's O2 Academy in September. 

The band call Brixton their home and have played their first shows and The Queens Head pub as far back as 2012. After the release of their second album Songs For Our Mothers, the group will play their biggest show to date.

Speaking ahead of the gig - which takes place on September the 17th - the band said "It is with joyous remorse we would like to announce a very special performance at Brixton Academy September 17, for sweet mother Brixton is on the road to well dressed irrelevance, just another open casket in a city bent on deathly formalities. Nostalgia is no substitute for community and dialogue; that being said, if we cannot prove a good example, let us be the sad reminder." 

A full list of DJ's and supporting bands will be announced very soon. Tickets go on sale this Friday (April the 8th). 

Telegram @ Lennons Southampton

Telegram @ Lennons Southampton
26/02/2016

After celebrating the release of their first full-length LP (Operator) just two weeks ago, Telegram hit the road and stopped off in Southampton to play a storming set at Lennons. 

The four-piece walk onto the stage looking like they've stepped out of a time machine forty years too late. Decorated in glam-style jackets and hair to match, you immediately think of the first wave of British heavy metal bands like Black Sabbath. Far from it. The set begins with 'Telegrame' which in many ways is the perfect opener. The song starts off very quiet and soft, and slowly the dynamic changes. The guitars get louder and the drums get quicker like an erupting volcano. Then suddenly almost as if they haven't finished the song, they propel into 'Rule Number One'. 'Rule Number One' is a manic frenzy in comparison the opener, the beat is pulsating leading it to bounce all around the bar. It's clear from this point that the band aren't just a heartless throwback to an era of yesteryear. There is clear thought behind their music. They seemed to have incorporated lots of sounds and created something fresh. 

'We've Got a Friend (Who Knows)' is an example of this. There's so much going on within the song that it feels like you're falling into a whirlpool. It's also clear by this point that the musical talent within the band is there in abundance. Guitarist Matt Wood adds tremendous texture to music and he does this throughout the performance. The band even treat the audience to a cover of David Bowie's 'Heroes' which (predictably) gets one of the biggest cheers of the night.

Overall, Telegram played a truly stunning set. There was more than enough going on within the music to keep the crowd interested, everything from the ever so catchy vocal melodies to the hammering drums. 'Taffy Come Home' as requested by the crowd signals the end of the show. It's a song that favours the loud-quiet dynamic much like their set. It builds slowly and then explodes into life. Telegram have all the ingredients to become a band for an age as this performance certainly showed.

8/10

The Kooks Live @ Guildhall Southampton

The Kooks @ The Guildhall, Southampton
27/01/2016

We first met The Kooks in 2006 after a string of bands caught the twangy guitar and floppy hair wave. Since then they have treated us to lots of great indie hits that can fill concert halls as well as dance-floors. Ten years and four albums later, the Brighton-based four-piece arrived in Southampton for the last show of their tour.

The set-list starts strongly, with the band dipping into Inside In, Inside Out to start the show. 'Seaside' begins the night, and naturally, the crowd are at their loudest. Another rarity from the same album follows up, the somewhat heavier 'See The World' is where we are introduced to guitarist Hugh Harris. Who, in my opinion is one seriously underrated guitarists from that early 00s era of indie music. His playing can range from aggressive chords, to intricate melodies adding great depth to The Kooks' sound. Those aggressive chords continued throughout the opening to the set, 'Always Where I Need To Be' erupted out of the speakers and despite a few vocal wobbles from Luke Pritchard, it was a strong opening few songs.

Photo credit - @touristfuture (on twitter)

It was as The Kooks arrived at the point in the show where they would play songs from the new album that doubt entered my mind and that of the audiences. That doubt about whether or not the group are relevant any more. There just wasn't  a strong reaction to any of the songs like 'Down' and 'Bad Habit' which left the room feeling flat and lifeless. Even Harris's guitar playing couldn't save them. This might have been because he was put behind a synth for many of these songs. And when Pritchard went all Chris Martin on the audience and sat behind a piano, this seemed to be the final straw. The saving grace from 2014's Listen was 'Forgive And Forget'. The songs incredibly danceable beat woke the Guildhall up again. Musically, it's like a sped up Roxanne, the guitars are twangy and strummed in a slightly jaded way, but put that with the dace-style drums and you get a decent pop song. 

'Shine On' was a strange choice to begin the encore. It's a tad lacklustre in its delivery and at this point it's clear that Pritchard's yelps throughout the set had caught up with him. His voice can at times divide opinion. On the record it can be unique and distinctive, but live it sounded soft. 'Junk Of The Heart' from the bands forgotten third album with the same name revived the crowd for one last time as the song that many people had been waiting for followed. 'Naive's instantly recognisable intro turned the Guildhall from an OAP's disco to a heaving indie-club. Overall, The Kooks have failed to hit the heights of their first album, and this shows not only on their albums, but also when they play. I cannot fault them as musicians, and the early stuff sounds just as fresh as it did in 2006, but Pritchard's vocal performance and the crowd's reaction to songs from Listen signals that The Kooks may be nearing the end. 

Best of 2015

Best of 2015

We are rapidly approaching the end of 2015 and after a great year for music, the time has come to evaluate it all and see who deserves what accolade.

It's like every other awards list you've seen. I've tried to be fair and used various elements to make the lists for instance popularity over song-writing.

Band Of 2015

1. Wolf Alice

2. Drenge

3. Manic Street Preachers

Album of 2015

1. Fidlar - Too

2. Drenge - Undertow

3. Palma Violets - Danger In The Club

Best Festival

1. T in The Park

2. Glastonbury

3. Rock Werchter

Best Live Band

1. Alt-J 

2. Drenge

3. JAWS

Music Moment of 2015

1. Kanye West headlines Glastonbury

2. Eagles Of Death Metal announce gig in Paris after attack in November

3. Manic Street Preachers play "Holy Bible" live in full

Song of 2015

1. The Prodigy - The Day Is My Enemy

2. Fidlar - 40oz On Repeat

3. Everything Everything - Spring/Sun/Winter/Dread

Best International Band of 2015

1. Foo Fighters

2. Fidlar

 3.  Tame Impala

Best Solo Artist

1. Florence Welch

2. Jamie T

3. Noel Gallagher

Best International Solo Artist

1. Grimes

2. Courtney Barnett

3. Kendrick Lamar

JAWS Live at The Joiners Southampton

JAWS live at The Joiners Southampton

09/12/2015

Since supporting fellow Birmingham-based indie bands like Swim Deep and Peace, JAWS have progressed significantly, creating a diverse sound and enhancing their live shows. On Wednesday the 9^th of December they played the Joiners in Southampton and only enhanced the aforementioned credentials.

Amongst the sea of denim shirts and skinny jeans stands the Joiners stage where in a few moments JAWS will blow the roof off the venue. The set begins with a new song. ‘What we haven’t got yet” which harks back to the band’s debut album “Be Slowly” full of great indie-pop hits. From the first couple of songs it’s clear that the band are great musicians. The guitars are melodic, intricate and have a really nice summery twang to them. The drums are solid, and the bass holds everything together. This all comes to a head when the band treat the audience to ‘Toucan Surf’ a track form their “Milkshake” EP. The floor begins to shake as the crowd started to seriously get in to the music. As the pace of the night is slowed with the harmonic “Think too much feel little” JAWS show us that whilst catchy two and a half minute indie-pop songs are all well and good, it’s great to have those subtle tracks which add depth to the bands live shows.

The highlight of the night arguably is the run of song leading up to the climax. ‘Be Slowly’ the perfect accompaniment to a summers afternoon lights up the dingy joiners, before another new track ‘Bad Company’ completely changes the mood. It’s a heavy and grunge-tinted song which shows the band in a new light. Gone are the summery guitars and in their place come distorted guitars which don’t lack any bite at all.

With a new album recorded and ready to go, JAWS are a band definitely on the rise and with live shows that are as polished as a band who have been on the road for 20 years, the future looks bright for the band. 

All photos taken by me. 

Rock Werchter Review: Part 4

Rock Werchter Review (Sunday)

As the sun peeks its head through the clouds, it bathes the festival site in sunlight and it's clear that the past three days have been one huge party. But there is still one day left and it turned out to be another day of superb sets. 

We begin with a stage change. British band The Vaccines are due on The Barn at half past three, but Jessie J cancelled her set on the main stage at the very last minute to the shock of some of the younger members of the audience. This meant that The Vaccines are now moved to the main stage. It's the second time the band are playing at Werchter and keen to impress once again, they begin with something new from their third album "English Graffiti". The song 'Handsome' is typical Vaccines, its fast paced, and simple setting up the set perfectly. Front-man Justin Young is another singer who puts on an accent when introducing his songs which some may not care about but it is rather irritating. Credit to him though as he is clearly a passionate front-man, regularly falling to his knees, showing emotion and walking around the stage so that both sides of the audience can see him. Their set is well polished but rarely shows signs of variety, Their songs have great live presence and they create a distinctly positive atmosphere among the audience. Songs like 'Wetsuit', 'If You Wanna' and 'Norgaard' all go down a treat as The Vaccines light up the main stage. 

It's a long wait for Kasabian who are the main support act for Muse's set when they headline later. They are the perfect warm up act and play a storming set albeit in front of a crowd who were there for Muse, but Kasabian are a sensational live band and this performance showed exactly that. After seventeen years of experience you would expect Kasabian to have mastered the art of live performance, and you'd be right. They also have such range in their songs, from the bombastic "Bumblebeee" to the nod back to the 90s rave scene "Treat" (a sound which Kasabian said inspired their recent album 48:13) and the song that gave them their unique and commanding sound "Club Foot". As well as their own songs, Kasabian couldn't resist throwing in a couple of covers including 'People Are Strange" by The Doors which they cleverly added in to then end of "Thick As Thieves" and before their final hurrah they dedicated "Praise You" by Fatboy Slim to the days headliners Muse which led them perfectly in to set closer "LSF". They did find it hard to get the crowd going but eventually they fell under their spell of bullish rhythms and began emulating front-man Tom Meighan's dancing on stage.

Rock Werchter Review: Part 3

Rock Werchter Review (Saturday)

Temperatures had now soared to a staggering 36 degrees Celsius in Werchter and as we move closer to one o'clock on Saturday, American rock band FIDLAR (Fuck It Dog, Life's a Risk) are set to take the stage. Front-man Zach Carper is appropriately dressed for the weather, he's sporting a blue and white flowery shirt and shorts. He introduces the band. "we're FIDLAR, F, I, D, L, A R" as they dive in to their set with opener 'Stoked and Broke'. Fidlar's song's rarely exceed three and a half minutes, which lead to a breezy and rapid set full of quick and speedy riffs and "we don't care" style vocals. The set was over just as it began, the band blasted through songs from their self titled debut album, new songs including 'Drone' and they even treated the audience to a cover of Weezer's 'Sweater Song'. Fidlar are appearing at various other festivals this year and they will no doubt leave the audience stunned with their brand of punk. 

Up next on the main stage were British duo Royal Blood who just one year ago were declared as the "saviours of rock and roll" read in to that what you will, but they lived up to their hype by putting a red-hot set. The pair had actually played the festival on the Thursday and returned to give the Saturday crowd a dose of old-school rock and roll which both them and Royal Blood seemed to really enjoy. Opening with 'Come On Over' the duo set about breaking a few ear-drums. The only slightly disappointing element of their set was the speed at which they played some of their songs. 'Come On Over' was played at a slower tempo which meant that the song lost a bit of punch. Also front-man and bass player Mike Kerr has grown in confidence since the band first stared as he introduces the band with an American accent whilst he strutted around the stage in aviator sunglasses clearly fond of himself.  'Little Monster' saves his apparent arrogance as it completely blows away everything leaving you in awe of the riffs. Closer 'Out Of The Black' is bone-shaking ending to a set which is perhaps growing a little bit old and stale. Take nothing away from the performance because Royal Blood are a superb live band, but we want the duo to release some new material and fast. 

For all the hype surrounding The War On Drugs at the minute, it would be interesting to see if he lived up to it. The atmospheric composer bathed in the late afternoon sun did absolutely nothing to suggest that this hype is true. His performance was as dull as they come, and musically well, you can make all the little sounds come to life in a recording studio, but on a big festival stage they are rendered completely irrelevant and his performance lacked everything, even one his famous songs 'Red Eyes' was a disappointment. He drew in a big crowd as the festival advertised him one not to miss but they were left confused by this statement. If his performance was a colour it would have been beige. 

Bringing round the main stage crowd from a dreary performance would be a tough task for many bands and artists. But when you have Noel Gallagher on the bill you can breathe a sigh of relief. The ex-Oasis guitarist now solo artist took up the gauntlet. It turned out to be a brilliant performance with a few hidden surprises to boot. His opening track 'Everybody's On The Run' set the tone with it's anthemic chorus and vocal melodies. Noel Gallagher also interacted with the crowd something which The War Drugs failed to do. Gallagher seemed astonished when a member of the audience told him he was Mexican despite having ginger hair. Gallagher replied by saying "seeing a ginger Mexican is as rare as seeing a unicorn on acid" and then gave the man a round of applause. Gallagher then played four tracks from his new album "Chasing Yesterday" which although a bit samey, still had the huge choruses that you would expect from any Gallagher or Oasis song. Talking of Oasis songs, Gallagher played four in total including 'The Masterplan" and "Don't Look Back In Anger" which to everyone's delight he ended with and it was a special moment for any Oasis fan who hadn't seen the 90s group live. The perfect showman left the Werchter crowd with a smile on their face and had treated them to one of the stand-out performances of the festival thus far.