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Introducing

Introducing: Backtrack

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Backtrack

Currently in the studio with producer Nick Jett (Terror), Backtrack is a fantastic up and coming NYHC band that has recently signed with Bridge Nine Records.

The album that Backtrack is currently working with Nick Jett on will become the band’s Bridge Nine debut, their first release since ‘Darker Half‘ which was released via Reaper Records in 2011.

Having first formed in 2007, Backtrack has gone on to tour with the likes of H20, Terror, Comeback Kid, Expire, Cold World, and Trapped Under Ice, and later this year the band will continue with their heavy touring ways as they hit the road with Stray From The Path, Gideon, No Bragging Rights, and Rescuer in a very busy October which will see them take in 19 venues throughout the US.

Backtrack is a band that has already accomplished a huge amount, and 2014 should be another absolutely massive year for them as they release their Bridge Nine debut and continue to bring their music to the masses.

Below you can take a listen to Backtrack’s ‘The Worst Of Both Worlds‘, taken from the band’s ‘Darker Half‘ studio album.

Introducing: The Jar Family

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The Jar Family

Hartlepool-birthed band The Jar Family have been making ripples across the UK having invented an ‘industrial-folk’ movement that may be set to move the ‘Mumford & Sons’ take on the genre into something altogether more exciting.

Their sound is like an amalgamation of everyone from Bob Dylan and Neil Young, to the likes of Stereophonics and The Verve; raw and driven.

Having seen some success after the release of their self-titled debut album which earned them support slots with the likes of Jakes Bugg, Lucy Rose, Josh Kumra and Alabama 3, the six-piece are back with a follow up album titled ‘Jarmalade‘.

It’s a strong release which delves between variations of folk-rock with hoarse vocals and twangs of north-eastern blues.

Lead single ‘Machine’ confronts the conformity of society and working life, with a somewhat robotic video.

It’s one of the more introspective tracks on the album and morphes into a face-melting belter when performed live.

Introducing: Parker

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Parker - This is PRKR EP

Parker is a new post-hardcore band hailing from Belgium, featuring former members of the bands Campus, When Hope Escapes, and Her Concept. Parker is a five-piece band, and the full lineup is as follows:

Steven Praet – Vocals
Nick Rondou – Guitar
Yannick Van Den Langenbergh – Guitar
Michiam Van Den Langenbergh – Bass
Bert Craane – Drums

With a similar sort of sound to the likes of Architects, Bring Me The Horizon, and Oh, Sleeper, the band is currently working on a debut EP, ‘This is PRKR‘, with a view to release the EP in May 2013. ‘This is PRKR‘ will consist of four tracks, and Parker will then be looking to hit the road in order to promote this new material.

You can keep up with the latest news from Parker via Facebook.

The following is a teaser video of Parker within the studio, working on the ‘This is PRKR‘ EP:

Introducing: Kurt Borutski

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Kurt Borutski is a 23 year-old Canadian musician that has made quite a name for himself on YouTube where he has built up over 2400 subscribers and his videos have been viewed more than 732,000 times.

Kurt operates under the Youtube alias KurtsCovers, and predominantly posts Blink-182 covers (and other Blink-182 side projects such as Boxcar Racer, Angels & Airwaves, and +44). Kurt has also covered tracks by several other artists (including a number of Green Day covers), however his predominant focus has been on the work of the much loved pop-punk trio that is Mark, Tom, and Travis.

Kurt has been posting videos on his YouTube channel since April 2011, and in little over a year has already built up to 238 videos, posting videos frequently and keeping in touch with his fans through his Facebook page, and also through interaction with his viewers by commenting on the YouTube platform itself in response to those that leave him comments.

Having previously focused on covering single tracks on bass, guitar, and drums, Kurt has recently taken to uploading full album covers of Blink 182’s music, and has so far posted full album bass covers of ‘Take Off Your Pants and Jacket‘, ‘Neighborhoods‘, ‘Cheshire Cat‘, ‘Enema of the State‘, ‘Self-Titled‘, and most recently the ‘Mark, Tom, and Travis Show‘ live album.

A prolific poster of cover videos on Youtube,  Kurt Borutski is not just another lifeless cover artist; Kurt injects a great deal of energy and enthusiasm with his cover videos, and you can tell that he’s a prolific fan of the artist’s that he covers (and not just because he seems to own every Blink-182 signature model instrument known to man).

Kurt Borutski is most definitely a very impressive musician, and particularly if you’re a Blink-182 fan, it really is worth checking out his videos on his Youtube channel. There are a lot of people out there that cover the music of Blink-182, there are few that can put their personality and enthusiasm for creating music across quite like Kurt can however, and whenever Kurt adds a new cover to his channel, even if you’re not the biggest fan in the world of the work that he’s covering, you can rest assured that Kurt Borutski will still make it well worth watching.

Introducing: Bombs Into You

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Bombs Into You is a band based out of Portland, Oregon in the United States of America and their songs will evoke a mix of euphoria, anger and determination within the listener. ‘Nearly‘ is the classic emotive tune that everyone will relate to and “feel something for”, while the sudden electro beats (and Jared Jensen’s soft vocals) on ‘Fighting Over Elevators‘ has euphoria dripping from every chord. ‘Been Your Art‘ is also worth a mention as a standout tune; its own cooly-delivered venom will have your anger handled and dealt with in a few easy minutes.

There’s something delicious about a band that can serve up something that appeals so easily to a range of emotions like Bombs Into You. The great thing is that, despite their reliance on tech in the studio, out live they come off as a full and proper rock band – something akin to how Depeche Mode might work if they were still lurking in basements.

The band is currently working on a new full-length album (their second), but in the meantime there are a number of quality live and studio recordings, alongside demos available to download for free via the act’s official website.

For more information visit: http://www.bombsintoyou.com

Introducing: Sharks

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Influenced by all the best punk and rock greats – see Springsteen and The Clash (via Charles Bukowski’s raw and honest poetry), Sharks make music for the disenchanted and honest working man, and they do it very well.

Having supported Social Distortion over in the States, and in advance of playing with Tribes over here, the band has all the right scuzzy rock credentials to appeal to audiences across the great genre spectrum from rock to metal via pure punk and back again.

More importantly, this band has the drive and energy to make a real difference to punk music in 2012, and they’ve already been cracking on with that mission and touring the world.

This comes across perfectly on tracks including ‘Fallen On Deaf Ears‘ and ‘No Gods‘ – these are the types of career-defining songs that bear the passion and commitment of a band who you’d swear were trying to damage the idea of passionate and committed rock (sort of like The Clash… this lot really…really love The Clash). They’re not. They’re good, and you should listen to ’em. Go on.

For more information visit the Sharks Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/sharksuk

Introducing: Zuby

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Ever wondered what would happen if a body-building UK rapper collided with an Oxford University student. Well… Zuby is the answer. The 24-year old London-based rapper has sold more than 6,000 albums without record label support spending most weekends selling his music to fans on the street.

He is an anomaly in the world of hip-hop; having achieved an honours degree from Oxford University whilst building up a successful career in music, with three independent albums to date.

And in an era of somewhat mindless lyricism usually preaching about money, drugs and guns, Zuby’s music is powerful, raw and urban but without so much as a curse-word.

Zuby has a captivating sound fuelled by his hybrid accent, having moved to Saudi Arabia at a very early age and been educated at an American school before coming back to the UK. His voice sounds American at times, with a British twang.

His new track ‘Stay In My Lane‘ is Zuby’s first venture into dubstep; fusing sounds that make his music more tailored to dancefloor’s nationwide having already been picked up by a number of DJ’s.

It’s a winning concept that will be set to increase Zuby’s seemingly ever-growing army of young followers.

Watch the new video for ‘Stay In My Lane‘ here:

Introducing: Systemyk

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This Hull-based lot have some very credible influences and contacts – not only can they count Paradise Lost’s guitarist Greg Mackintosh as the producer of their EPs and their forthcoming second album ‘Reward For Obedience‘, but throughout their long history the four-piece (made up of Danny Barr on vocals, Lu Dixon on bass, Lee Dixon on guitar and Phil Owst on keyboards), have maintained a high profile  by touring nationally and internationally, securing a record deal with independant label Casket Music in the process.
In their eight years together the core members of the band have battled many line-up changes and as a result the music has steadily evolved from an intense crossover of industrial sounds into a more gritty and raw electro-metal assault that has won them fans and media attention from right across the alternative spectrum.

Embedded deep within their debut album (2007’s ‘Cross Contamination‘) are classic hard-hitting goth influences like Gary Numan and the aforementioned Paradise Lost (see ‘Can’t Carry On‘) alongside the more contemporary work of cult industrialists Zeromancer and the keyboard-driven decadence of the Deathstars (check out ‘Ghost In The Machine‘). For their second album though, the band have stepped things up to a whole new level embracing heavier and more full-throttle metal influences like Killswitch Engage and Spineshank (the latter’s new material shows a progression away from industrial in to more metalcore territory).

Despite their brutal new approach to live performance and sonic delivery, thematically the group look to discuss personal relationships and emotions to an unusual depth, with the central aim being to appeal to every person no matter what age, or situation.

It is my opinion readers, that Systemyk are worth your attention because their music is affecting, unapologetically raw and totally direct. It does also help that they are one of the hardest working acts on Hull’s scene having played relentlessly throughout Yorkshire (they’ve also completed an tour of the Czech Republic most recently).

Indeed, their drive and determination is such that they have secured a dedicated and loyal fanbase and despite the gap between albums, over the last year they have been working hard to promote the new material on large and intimate stages alike.

The band’s second album ‘Reward For Obedience‘ will be out later this year.

Introducing: The Carpels

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Birmingham-based five-piece The Carpels are about as eclectic as you can get, creating a merged modern sound from a vast array of genres including punk, dubstep, indie and electronica.

The band scored a record deal with local label One Beat Records last year which is owned and run by Jon Brookes (the legendary drummer of The Charlatans) and his business partner Ian Light which has exposed them to a huge influx of attention from the industry.

Last month they played at The Queen of Hoxton in London as part of the club night This Feeling with fellow Birmingham outfit Tantrums. There, they were snapped by Libertines photographer Roger Sargent, who has a reputation for shooting bands which are heading for the mainstream.

They were also fortunate enough to have their debut single, Sand, played on BBC Radio 1 as part of Rob da Bank’s show and by Mark Radcliffe on his show on BBC 6Music.

For a band that’s still in its infancy (most of the boys are only 18 apparently) they seem to be causing a sensational storm!

Their new track, called ‘Handshakes‘, was produced by Jim Spencer who’s worked with New Order, The Cribs, Doves and Shaun Ryder amongst others. It perfectly exemplified the clean sound that The Carpels are becoming known for with screaming vocals and catchy lyrics.

Introducing: Testtone3

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Photo: Annique Albericci

Testtone3 should be hailed one of Leeds’ most exciting and innovative bands of the last decade, coming across like a phat (note, the ph…) mutant crossbreed of Pendulum and Hendrix, the group is made up of Adam Gauton (vocals), Andrew Precious (bass) and Richard Precious on synths and programming alongside the more recent addition of robo-armed drummer Matt Collinge.

As stated, the band’s music crosses genres in a way that few other acts in the North of England can confidently boast. Taking the heavier parts of Pendulum and mixing that in with the punk snarl of The Prodigy and the accessible guitar goodness of Mr. Hendrix, Testtone have afforded themselves a strong reputation on a local and national level for raucous-yet-technically-sound live performances and solid recordings. With a slew of well-received TV and radio appearances recently, the band is starting to see their hard work pay off with some nice festival spots over this summer.

The band formed in 2004 with a core mission to create a hybrid between electronic music and classic rock and roll sounds. The four have been credited in the past as one of Yorvik’s hardest working and most accessible live acts and they have toured extensively in the north which has afforded them dedicated followers in key areas like Hull, Leeds and Manchester.

The act’s first EP, ‘Fuelled By Substance’ was released in 2007 and central tracks like ‘Goin’ Down’ and ‘Get On The Dancefloor’ display the band’s feel-good attitude toward making music to enjoy and dance to. On the former, sky-scraping classic guitar riffs meet jackhammer beats inspired by The Prodigy and The Chemical Brothers and Adam G’s Brian Molko (Placebo)-esque vocal stylings for a resounding and heavy-hitting combination.

The band has more recently released an EP, ‘Mind Graffiti’. Early indications are that the group has evolved from a scene standouts into a polished electro-rock juggernaut set to give the likes of Foals and Does It Offend You, Yeah? a decent run for their money. The thing that separates Testtone from the aforementioned big-hitters and other up-and-coming local crossover bands on the scene is their energy.

Call me clichéd, but honestly the live performance has to be seen to be believed. This lot are mental on stage and their approach is effortlessly entertaining. It’s like one massive rollercoaster night out, Testtone3 is pure skull-candy.