Alt-UK

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Archives for February 20, 2005

Joe Viterbo – Demo 3

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I was quite looking forward to hearing this Demo, as I had heard great things about this five piece Edinburgh rock band. I wasn’t disappointed when I put the CD in and pressed play – Joe Viterbo play strong music that you can really get up and dance to, and just generally have a good time listening to. This band play rock with elements of Ska and Punk and thrown in and it really does go down a treat.

There are three songs on display here and not a single one of them fails to please. I like the first track with its storming guitar riffs, the second track with its awesome catchiness, but most of all I really love the third track on this Demo as the male and female vocals really do work well together and make way for an extremely exciting track which is great to listen to. It has some strong guitars and great Ska Punk style bass lines, as well as some truly fine drum work. This track never fails to please with its upbeat, fast paced fun – you can really tell that the band are having fun playing the music that they are and truly enjoy performing. This track radiates a lust for life with its high energy, and general musical greatness.

This is definitely a band to look out for in the future – this Demo shows signs of great promise. I would really love to see Joe Viterbo live as on the basis of this Demo I would say that their live shows are full of excitement, energy, and fun where not a single member of the audience goes home feeling disappointed. The way the male and female vocals work together really is genius as they just fit together so perfectly. It really does sound like this pair have been singing together for decades as they harmonise perfectly making Joe Viterbo a band that are vocally sublime.

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Idlewild – Love Steals Us From Loneliness

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This is the bands first release as a 5 piece, and gives us a glimpse at why the band has scarcely been seen for the last few years. Idlewild have been busy writing material and practising up in a rehearsal room in the Highlands ready for a mammoth tour in April and May throughout the UK. This could well be the best album the band have ever written and I’m really looking forward to hearing it – you can always guarantee quality with a band like Idlewild, and I really hope that they deliver with ‘Warnings/Promises,’ having taken so long to get it ready.

New single ‘Love Steals Us From Loneliness’ isn’t an immediate classic like ‘You Held The World In Your Arms,’ however it is a cracking tune and the more you listen to it the more you will love it. This track has amazingly mellow verses, coupled with a really punchy, fantastic chorus that will put a smile on your face with ease. This band really does have a lot of talent and Roddy Woomble truly is a fantastic vocalist – I think this really comes through strongly on this single, and this coupled with the fantastic lyrics on display here really does make way for a truly exciting and exasperating listen. This track has storming guitars, some strong drum beats, and gripping bass lines which really help give the song real depth.

Although this single isn’t blessed with the power and instant catchiness of ‘You Held The World In Your Arms’ it does show great signs of maturity on behalf of the band and really is testament to how far the band have come in the last few years. Being away seems to have done them a lot of good, as they have obviously had a lot of time to reflect and really write an album that represents true emotion and feeling and produce something which really means something to them. If this single is anything to go by then when the album is released on the 7th of March it really is going to be something truly special.

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The Letters Organize – Dead Rhythm Machine

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When this CD first came through my door I was expecting it to be a bog standard Emo release so I left it for a while, thinking that one day I would finally give it a listen and see if my predictions of the band had been correct. Having listened to this CD now, I’d have to say that my predictions of the band were actually incorrect; however I just really don’t feel this CD. Sure, the band aren’t that bad – but they play no nonsense Hardcore and I just feel that there are a lot of bands out there doing it better than these guys are. I guess there are elements of Emo in this CD, but for the most part it is just straight up Hardcore, with a bit of Rock thrown into the mix.

This CD is 13 tracks long, and clocks in at just over half an hour, so most tracks are typical fast Hardcore tracks clocking in at around 2 minutes a piece. If there wasn’t a short pause in between tracks, most of the time you wouldn’t be able to tell where one track ends and the next one begins as much like most Hardcore bands, The Letters Organize face the problem that most of their songs sound the same. The first track on this CD that I really liked was ‘There’s room for one more’ which comes mid way through the album and I feel is the first real breath of fresh air. However, after this track the band seem to return to doing sound alike numbers and it really does start doing your head in. There’s only so much you can take of the same track being repeated over and over, and The Letters Organize really do push it.

Sure, in this album they do show some signs of great promise and there are some great bits in their tracks that really stand out with some strong vocals, awesome guitar riffs, and blinding drum beats – but there’s just too much of the same thing and it really does get annoying after a while. I found it hard to sit and listen to this album all the way through as half an hour really is a bit much when there’s nothing that particularly makes the band stand out from the crowd at all. For the most part, this album is bog standard fast as hell hardcore and although I respect their ability it really is just far too much of the same thing.

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