Southampton Leisure Complex Could Become Massive Music Venue

The leisure complex - that was opened 19 years ago - lit up Southampton. But Leisure World could be bulldozed to make way for massive music venue.

This is the latest piece of the masterplan to turn Southampton into the "capital city of the south". The city council chiefs want to build a rival to Bournemouth's International Centre. Southampton City Council leader Simon Letts was on site last week to set out his vision for the centre which would attract big name bands, star comedians as well as academic conferences.

He said: "Southampton has a rich history and industrial past. And now it needs to be a modern; vibrant European city and the capital of the south of England." Comparing the planned centre to London's O2 Arena, he said it would link with other developments to turn the waterfront into a "vibrant public space rather than being a collection of streets bombed by the Luftwaffe and reconstructed after World War Two.

Council officers will analyse the scheme's feasibility over the next nine months, with plans coming together before the end of 2017.

The Enemy Announce Spilt

The Enemy announce split after ten year career. 

Coventry band The Enemy are splitting up and the end of their current tour after a ten year career, it has been confirmed. The band announced the news on April 6 via their social media accounts.

The group formed in 2006 and just a year later would go on to secure a chart topping album We'll Live And Die In These Towns. With a name inspired by some graffiti on Coventry's Kasbah nightclub, the album sold over 300,000 copies. They went on to make three more albums which have amounted to over 1,000,000 sales.

In a statement on Coventry nightclub The Empire's Facebook page, frontman Tom Clarke wrote: "Ten years, four albums, well over 1,000,000 record sales and uncountable sell out tours is not too shabby for an alternative indie band."

"The fans kept me going when I thought nothing else might. To all Enemy fans, I adore you."

Clarke wrote a heartfelt letter detailing why the band decided to split.
Read the letter HERE.

Gig Guide April 2016

Here at The Real Thing we know that live music makes the world go round. Therefore every month we will bring you some gigs that we think you should definitely fork out for. Here are our picks for April 2016.

The Coral @ Concorde 2 Brighton
Tuesday 5th April
Contact Venue For Tickets

Noel Gallagher once said that The Coral were the greatest band to come out of Liverpool. High praise indeed. The Coral returned with a brand new album in March this year to critical acclaim and are out on the road promoting this release. Indie dancefloor classics like 'In The Morning' and 'Dreaming Of You' will no doubt appear in the set and will leave you dancing all night.

Eliza and The Bear @ Islington Assembly Hall

Thursday 7th April
Tickets £13.50 - www.seetickets.com/event/eliza-and-the-bear

Indie rock outfit Eliza and The Bear will play a homecoming show at the Islington Assembly Hall. As a live entity, the band are energetic and seamless. Their style of breezy indie-rock is always going to be a crowd pleaser, but it's the ease at which the band flow from song to song which impresses us.

The Big Moon @ The Joiners Southampton
Tuesday 12th April
Tickets £6 - www.seetickets.com/event/the-big-moon

One of the most talked about bands of 2016 in a tiny sweaty venue. What more could you want? The Joiners is steeped in history, and bands will ALWAYS want to play there. The Big Moon will be hoping the history of the venue will set them on their way.

Jah Wobble @ The Talking Heads Southampton
Thursday 21st April
Tickets £15 - www.wegottickets.com

Post-punk pioneer Jah Wobble will play an intimate set in the heart of Southampton on the 21st of April. With a wealthy back catalogue and having been in one of the most influential bands of the 20th century (PiL), this is one not to be missed.

VANT @ The Dome Tufnell Park London

Wednesday 20th April
Tickets £8 - www.seetickets.com/event/vant

VANT are another one of those bands on everybody's lips. They broke on to the indie scene last year and have since gone from strength to strength. This year they released their single 'Fly-By Alien' which firmly asserted their position on the underground scene. But with great songs and an ever growing fanbase, VANT won't be part of that underground scene for much longer. 

The Fall @ The Garage London
Monday 25th April - Thursday 28th April

Tickets £25 - www.allgigs.co.uk/The_Fall

One of THE most important bands of the 20th century - who are still making music to this day - are The Fall who hail from Manchester. Mark E Smith and Co, were part of the first punk movement that shook the north of England in the late 70s. They aren't conventional punk as you know it. They were/are incredibly anti-fashion and created really dark, pounding music. As they progressed, their style changed and they became more of a commercial outfit. With over 30 albums and goodness knows how many singles, Mark E Smith is one of England's most enigmatic musicians. This one will be be worth forking out for/

High Tyde @ The Haunt Brighton

Friday 29th April
Tickets £6 - www.seetickets.com/event/high-tyde

Having previously championed High Tyde, we know exactly what the Brighton-based indie outfit are all about. The combine super indie pop melodies with aggressive (at times) guitar bursts. There is a lot to be excited about if you're already a fan of High Tyde because with clear parallels to The 1975 the band should aim high.

Wolf Alice vs Fat White Family

Wolf Alice vs Fat White Family

The two were once tour buddies. Now however in a recent interview, Fat White Family labelled Wolf Alice "absolute drivel for angry 9 year olds". 

Saul Adamcewski from the Fat White Family - whose second album 'Songs For Our Mothers' was released in January this year - also stated (whilst on tour with Wolf Alice) "I won't be doing the rest of the Fat Whites tour because I cannot stand to listen to Wolf Alice for another night." Frontman Lias Saoudi also got in on the act. "There's so much landfill indie and crap industry fodder at the moment," "All these horrible bands like Slaves and Peace and Wolf Alice." 

In an interview with DIY magazine, Wolf Alice vocalist Ellie Roswell said that "There's an element of truth in what they're saying," "But I don't think they should call out other bands, you know?" Is she calling her own band shit there? Or have I misinterpreted that? Ultimately this boils down to opinion. 

Bassist Theo Ellis added "Fuck Off" to the argument. 

Revisited: Crystal Castles

Revisited: Crystal Castles (Self-Titled)

So far in this mini series of album reviews, we've brought you The Psychedelic Furs, The Strokes and Tubeway Army. This month we are taking a different approach. In 2008 Crystal Castles released an album which went on to make number 39 in the NME's Top 100 Albums of the decade. Eight years on and one member down Crystal Castles are still going strong. But their debut album still remains a signal-post in modern electronic music. 

Album opener is simple at best. Lyrically, it's just one line repeated throughout "La cocaina no es buena para su salud / La cocaina is not good for you". The line is sampled from a track by Death From Above 1979 called "Dead Womb". In terms of the instrumentation, this song largely reflects the entire album. It's very minimalist electronic music with a rudimentary beat. From here on, the energy on the album intensifies. Exemplified by the following track "Alice Practice" which in simple terms is a platform for vocalist Alice Glass to shout incomprehensible lyrics over some jarring and harsh electronic sounds put together by Ethan Kath. In fact Kath stated in an interview in 2008 "I want to make the most annoying sounds ever for Alice to scream over". (NME 2013) 

Following track 'Crimewave' is where we hear what Crystal Castles can do with electronic music. The melodies they create with the music are at times, sublime. There are clear characteristics of glitch music within the album and this song in particular. At times the music is loose but it's clear that this is done on purpose through experimentation and listening to strange chiptune music. 

The album is a lengthy affair with 16 tracks in total. The midway point of the album takes a slightly different direction, gone are the harsh electronic sounds and in come softer pleasant sounds. 'Good Time' sounds like it could have been lifted from a GameBoy edition of Pokemon and 'Vanished' is one of the strongest songs on the album. Sure, lyrically it doesn't really make any sense and the vocals are - at times hidden behind an effect - but the hook of the lead instrument (whatever that may be) draws you in like a fish on a rod. 'Knights' is a relentless instrumental that comes out of nowhere. Its driving beat is infectious; but the harshness is lifted meaning that the mash of electronic glitches aren't irritating. They come together to create something soft in comparison to previous tracks.

If one song would summarise this brilliant album it would be 'Black Panther'. Instrumentally it's pure chiptune. But somehow it creates a sense of euphoric emotion leaving you shocked that this electronic music does have soul behind it. Again, the lyrics are incomprehensible, but that doesn't matter when the instrumentation does all the talking. It's so breezy and joyful that it leaves the dark opening set of tracks far behind. The album is a journey. A journey that you will never want to end.

9/10

End Of The Road 2016

Teenage Fanclub, Thurston Moore and more added to
End Of The Road 2016

Teenage Fanclub, Thurston Moore and comedian Stewart Lee have all been added to the bill at End Of The Road festival 2016. They join headliners Joanna Newsom, Animal Collective and Bat For Lashes.

Elsewhere, Savages and Scritti Politti join the already announced headliners at the festival. These include: Cat Power, The Oh Sees, Bill Ryder-Jones and The Big Moon. End Of The Road takes place between September 2nd -4th at its usual home in Larmer Tree Gardens in Dorset. 

"We're very excited to be playing at End Of The Road this year". Says TFC's Norman Blake. "We've been busy in the studio and the festival presents us with a fantastic opportunity to share some of the songs from our next album". The festival have also added: Local Natives, Broken Social Scene and JD McPherson, 

For more details about the festival please visit - endoftheroadfestival.com

Eagulls Announcements

Eagulls Announcements

This week, Leeds based post-punk outfit Eagulls treated us to a treble of announcements. First of all they have announced that their second album entitled 'Ullages' which will be released on the 13th of May 2016 on Partisan Records. Secondly, they have announced a series of gigs in support of this new release (see below) up and down the UK showcasing this new album. And last but by no means least, they have released a brand new song taken from the album. The track like 'Lemontrees' before it shows Eagulls in a new, softer light. "My Life In Rewind" is draped in shimmering guitar sounds reminiscent of The Cure and with a much mellower vocal and leisurely pace, it's nowhere near as harsh as anything from the bands first album. 

In 2016 Eagulls will play: 

(Picture taken from Facebook) 

Blossoms At Most A Kiss: EP Review

Blossoms - At Most A Kiss

Heading up the BBC's sound of 2016 and with an ever-growing fan-base, Blossoms a five-piece based in Stockport this week released their 'At Most A Kiss' EP.

We've heard quite a bit from the band, who in 2014 released "You Pulled A Gun On Me" which gave us a taste of things to come. In the same year, they released their single "Blow" which really put them on the map. The latter combined elements of various genres creating a sound unfamiliar to the ears of many music fans. In 2015 they went from strength to strength with the release of the "Charlemagne" EP which saw them not only improve as a band, but gain serious recognition and radio play. Fast forward to February 2016, on the verge of their debut album the band teased fans once again with another EP "At Most A Kiss". 

The title track is one that's drenched in vintage style synths. These synths along with the other instrumentation create a pop-rock sound with a certain style harking back the 60s. Yet, it sounds very fresh and clean. "Fourteen" follows suit but has a distinct funky feel to it, with heavy emphasis on the bass-line which takes the focus away somewhat from the vocals and at times can be distracting if you want to hear what Tom Ogden has to say. "Wretched Fate" the third track from the EP drops the heavy, centre staged synths allowing Ogden's vocals to shine through the glistening guitars and synths in the background. The sound is very jangly and has a sheen to it like polished wood. Final track "Misery" is very minimalist and basic. Simply, it's a rudimentary piano scale with Ogden's vocal over the top which if we're splitting hairs is a tad wimpy and lacking any serious bite. The track is without doubt the weakest of the four, but it does show the band in a new light and prove that they might not be a one trick pony. 

A mixed bag then. Without doubt "A Most A Kiss" is the pick of the bunch. It will be interesting to see where Blossoms go after this EP. 

7/10

Blossoms are on tour. Catch them at these shows:

The Welly Club - Hull 24/02/2016
O2 Academy - Leicester 26/02/2016
Albert Hall - Manchester 27/02/2016
The Tunnels - Aberdeen 02/03/2016
Kasbah - Coventry 04/03/2016
The Sugarmill - Stoke 05/03/2016