Reviews

Indifference Demo

June 3, 2004 by Rich Leave a Comment

This is the first demo from the Welsh band Indifference and already you can see that they have the potential to be a stunning band and they have only been going for 6 months! The demo kicks off with a great guitar riff and then it goes into the singing of Ian Chalmers and you can definitely hear Lost Prophets style singing, but the difference is this band are far greater and have been going for far less time! The songs on this demo have some great lyrics and also some greatly catchy tunes. The songs tend to be quite mellow but then have spurts of more hardcore sounds in them so you can see that they have a heavier side to them than what they are showing with this demo, and maybe this heaviness will come out more in the next demo. At times they sound more of an emo band than anything like in “Vision of Inner Sense” it kicks off with an emotional sounding tune that lasts roughly 30seconds before you are taken into the lyrics of the song. The final song on this demo though is completely different to the other three. It takes a rapping approach that bears the title “What Is Perfect?” It is rather short and basically has the singer asking the question in the title. It does not really fit in with the rest of the demo but maybe they are trying to say “How could we make a perfect demo when perfect cannot be obtained?”

Reviews:

Rich

UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.

High Society – The Discrimination EP

June 3, 2004 by Rich Leave a Comment

This is a good offering of punk from Ashford’s punks High Society. This is their debut EP and sometimes when bands release their debuts well they’re rather crappy but this EP is definitely not crap! There are 5 tracks on this EP, tracks 1-4 being comical punk and track 5 well it will either amuse you or just piss you off. It is a few minutes of the band playing with a Furby that they got free with a McDonalds Happy Meal, and even if it does not amuse you, the band certainly found it amusing and had great fun making that track! Track 4 is entitled ‘Why Don’t We All Just Jump On The Ska Bandwagon?’ and rather mockingly contains a trumpet, so I take it that these lads aren’t too keen on the Ska Punk that’s going around at the moment. So here you have a 5 track punk CD that contains some strong vocals and also a lot of humour, not forgetting a track for all Ska haters. The band were going to splash out some money to get artwork done on the CD but in the end they decided to be very punk rawk and have written the name of the band and EP on the CD with marker pen.

Rating:

Rich

UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.

Hacksaw – The Official Punk Rock Anthem Of The 2002 World Cup In Japan And Korea

June 3, 2004 by Rich Leave a Comment

I don’t know a lot about this band but I sure as hell like their music. I’m not sure what they would class themselves as but I think a fitting description would be ‘comical pop punk.’ The first track, ‘Anthem’ is a tribute to the World Cup just like you would except because of its title, but the other 7 songs on this c.d. are truly comical and catchy pop punk songs. In my opinion ‘Fox Hunter,’ ‘Lets Get Wasted,’ and ‘Geese,’ are the songs that really stand out on this c.d. and show Hacksaw performing to the best of their ability. Although the cover and title are to do with football, track one is the only one that is actually about football so if you are not a fan of football don’t let the title make you avoid listening to this c.d. as you will be missing out on a mighty fine c.d. Some of the songs on this c.d. would probably be classed as pop punk but there is also some punk rock on this c.d. so they use varying styles depending on the mood of the song. It is a very British sounding c.d. with typically British lyrics, for instance ‘Beer and whisky egg and chips, lets get wasted,’ this sounds like the typical kind of thing coming from a British person. So all in all this is a good mix of pop punk and punk rock with an essence of humour added into the bundle.

Rating:

Rich

UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.

Chief Libido – Push Start

June 3, 2004 by Rich Leave a Comment

Before listening to this CD I was getting very excited. First of all, I found the cover art amusing as it features the band trying to push start and then I was about to take the CD out of the case when I saw the people that they thanked. ‘No Comply,’ ‘Capdown,’ ‘Spankboy,’ could it get any better than this?! The answer to this question was yes. The first track, ‘Pissin’ in the wind’ sounded really cool, kind of a Ska Punk track. The vocals are Punky with a Ska influence, and are really good. The drumming is also good as it is fast and has a Ska’y beat to it. The Guitars are also quite powerful and work well with the drumming. Track 2, ‘Since She Came’ has a Ska feel to it also and the way that the guitar is used to sing to you is really cool. They are a bit like 4ft fingers, a Punk band with a Ska feel about the music. The drumming is good and fits well with the Punky vocals. The guitar solos on this song are excellent and the Guitarist here sure can play! The third track on this EP is a cover of ‘Karma Chameleon’ and is carried out in a Punk fashion. I laughed when I first heard this track as that advert has been on TV a lot lately about BT with the phone that they keep getting their mate to ring up to hear the song played. They manage to cover this song well, punking it up loads and generally making a good job of it. The fourth track, ‘Life ends (when you’re dead)’ also has a Ska element about it . The Ska feel is really created by the Drumming and it is cool that they are able to do this. The guitar riff is strong and the vocals are kept very Punk to create another good track. The fifth track, ‘Push & Shove’ is also a good song and again the drumming creates a Ska feel about it. The vocals are good and Punky and the Guitars finish the beat off giving it a raw feel. The guitar solos are always good and the guitarist sure is good at what he does and knows his stuff. So special respect is to be shown towards him! Hidden away, a long time after the final track ends comes the hidden bonus track, which plays many parts o pop songs with the kazoo. This ends with them saying ‘***** off,’ and then ‘This has been 66 point shit FM.’ Its one of those things that you have to hear to understand and appreciate!

Rating:

Rich

UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.

Candycaine – Promo CD

June 3, 2004 by Rich Leave a Comment

This 2 track promo CD from Candycaine shows some fine work, with two cracking songs. It was the first time I had actually heard this band and I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was – but also deeply saddened at how short this CD was. It seems to be emotionally driven music and just sounds really friendly and uplifting. I have been playing this CD over and over and I still have not got bored of it. The vocals in the first song, ‘Written All Over’ are lightly sung and it is really melodic making it a top tune to chill out to. The second song on this promo CD ‘The Callow’ is also melodic Emo and has light spoken vocals without any hardcore tinges; quite a lot of Emo seems to have more hardcore bits in but not this band. This is the sort of CD you could put on when you are working and be soothed rather than distracted and it really gets rid of all background noise sending you into a chilled out world. I really like this band and would rate them as one of the finest bands in the UK underground scene. If you haven’t already checked out this band, then check them out now, if you don’t then you will be missing out on one superb band and you are at a great loss.

Rating:

Rich

UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.

Butterfinger – What More Do You Want?

June 3, 2004 by Rich Leave a Comment

This is a 4 track CD from the Leeds based band, Butterfinger. It is only their second EP but does not sound like it, it sounds like this band have been going for years because they have a unique sound and play some top quality tunes. The first track on this CD entitled ‘Random’ is very hardcore and fits in with the instruments well to male a very high quality song. The vocals are sung really well and the guitar riff is just so strong and then there is the power of the drumming. The second song on the CD, ‘Psycho *****’ keeps jumping from a hardcore sound to a more Emo sound and seems to work really well, which leaves you with a desire for more. The fact that it is unpredictable makes it twice as exciting as it would be normally and you never know when the style is going to change. The third track on this CD is ‘Don’t Think Less Of Me’ and it has a kind of Kurt Cobain sound that brings out the bands grungier side and I really love this song because it shows that the band are not afraid of change and can make any sound and make it sound good. The fourth and final track on this CD is called ‘Nothing Left To Loose’ and again shows the bands experimental side because it id more of a Punk track and even though it is completely different to the other 3 tunes it is still a great tune and you can tell that they are really putting their all into their songs. This band make some awesome tunes and even with such a high stanmdard they manage to incorporate humor into their songs so as well as being entertained by their great tunes you can also be entertained by their humor. This band are awesome and hopefully sometime in the near future I will get a chance to go and see them live.

Rating:

Rich

UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.

Bulletproof Electric Revue CD

June 3, 2004 by Rich Leave a Comment

This is the third album offering from the band Bulletproof Electric Revue and is a good one too. Their songs have a unique sound and every song is completely different which shows that they have many different influences and take them from many different genres. In the song ‘Miles Gone’ they sound like The Prodigy but they do not sound like this is any of their other songs so really this CD is suitable for people into any types of music. Track 4, ‘Satellite’ sounds like a Sweet song so you can tell that this band have taken influences from 70s music as well. The brass section that they have makes them sound highly individual and tears them away from all the mainstream nu-metal tripe that is going around at the moment. As every song is different on this album it is hard to take everything in and digest it all as it is full of surprises and completely action packed tunes. There are 12 songs here, all packed with individual goodness and tweaks. These songs are all very melodic and sung very tunefully, with the vocals at a good pace that is not too fast, not too slow but just right for the pace of the instrumental side. It is hard to say who this band sound like because there are so many different styles to their music and it is impossible to pinpoint any one particular band that they sound like as it is just a mixture of many. There is some great music here and I hope to hear more from this band in the future. Check this band out if you are willing to try out something new, as this is definitely that. Maybe this band will make way for more bands like them.

Rating:

Rich

UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.

Funeral For A Friend – Between Order And Model

June 3, 2004 by Rich Leave a Comment

Funeral For A Friend are an emotion driven band, like Hundred Reasons and produce powerful music that gets deep down inside you and the lyrics of their songs, even their sound just touches your heart. This band takes Emo and combines it with Hardcore to make their music not only emotional but also very hard hitting. This debut 4 track EP from them combines Emo with Hardcore in every single track and works very well, sending you on a rollercoaster of emotions as you sit and listen to it playing. Although it does contain a lot of Hardcore elements, it is still a very relaxing EP and you could easily sit in the bath listening to this and just chill out totally. Each new track is a completely different journey of emotions and when listening to it you can really feel what they are going through, and it is almost as if when you are listening to it you enter inside of their bodies and start feeling exactly what they are feeling. This is a great Emo/Hardcore mix and I would like to say everyone get this CD when it comes out on August 26th so you can sit back and relax.

Rating:

Rich

UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.

Battleska CD

June 3, 2004 by Rich Leave a Comment

Battleska are based in Harlow and are an instrumental Ska / Punk/ Funk/ Swing/ Jazz band. They combine all of these elements to produce superb Ska fuelled tunes with lots of added surprises. The only vocals they include really are a few random Oi’s , but there is one song with vocals and for the most part they do not need vocals anyway as they are superb without them. The song that does include vocals is ‘Lets Battle’ and is a truly awesome song. The word ‘Oi come on, lets go, lets battle!’ really get stuck in your head after listening to it a few times and it is just awesome. They have a very unique sound to the few vocals that they have which makes them stand out from the others as they have such a new sound. They do not put on any whiney American accents and I respect them for this. The saxophone on this CD is played well throughout, on some tracks bringing a Ska feel to it as it is played in a traditional Madness kind of style. In other songs however, the sax makes them sound more Jazzy, but no matter what style they are playing they always manage to pull it off somehow. The drumming is quite slow paced on this CD as it fits in with the style of the music and if it were any faster it would seem out of place. The guitar and bass lay down the basic beat with the drumming on this CD and as there is an absence of vocals most of the time with this band, the saxophone really seems to come through and take the place of the vocals meaning that they are not needed. This band is here to entertain you, while also having a great time themselves. This is a good little 8 track here, and this band seems to take in a hell of a lot of influences.

Rating:

Rich

UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.