No Comply

If you are a fan of the band then you really need to invest in this DVD. The live material is only really the quality of bootleg, but when a band is on a tight budget it’s hard to get good quality recordings. The live material is watchable, however it just doesn’t capture the energy that can be felt at a No Comply gig and really doesn’t do the band justice on their amazing live performance.

I think that No Comply have done a pretty good job with this DVD – including amusing behind the scenes footage from their tour, with the No Comply gang hanging out having a laugh with a number of other bands. If you look closely, members of bands such as The Mercury League can be spotted hanging out amongst the ranks. There are frequent amusing interviews with band members on this DVD and they are really what make the DVD worth having for fans of the band. When you consider what you get on this DVD, it can be seen that it really is a fine investment and is a good solid piece of entertainment. The live material could of course be better, but bonuses such as interviews with band members, the bands promotional video’s that have been shown on TV channels such as Scuzz, studio clips, and behind the scenes footage really make up for this and make way for an interesting and exciting DVD.

If you are a fan of this band then the chances are you will know about their energetic and electric live show. Do the band a favour and help fill their pockets by getting yourself a copy of this DVD – it is well worth your hard earned cash and is a must have for any avid No Comply fan. It seems that any band who’s anyone has a DVD now, so the fact that one of the UK’s finest rising artists has one really is rather fitting.

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This is the first album from the Plymouth based band and is their first release since the debut EP on Deck Cheese Records ‘Your Life Is Your Direction.’ This album has again been released on Deck Cheese however is very different to the EP in sound. The vocals are still distinctly Kelly but she seems to have improved an awful lot since the EP with her lyrics being spat out with a whole new level of confidence. She is obviously now a lot more experienced in what she is doing and as a result she has put in the performance of a lifetime.

There are twelve tracks on this album and right from the drum roll off set you know that you are in for something truly special. The sound has definitely evolved and long gone are the days of the Skacore image – the horns are still there, but instead of putting in catchy little solos, they flow with the rest of the instruments and fit in to the line up perfectly. The guitars have a cutting metallic edge to them that really suit the newly found sound of the band – this can especially be heard on track 5, ‘Close to hell and burning,’ in which Jon puts in some amazing little solos. The backing vocals of Jon are also sounding amazing – they really work well alongside Kelly’s strong lead vocals and the contrast in sound is absolutely killer. The Ska style riffing of old was good but it would definitely not fit in these days with the ever evolving No Comply. There are some absolutely cracking bass lines on this CD – Nick has really put his all in to this one and come out trumps. Stunning drumbeats are also on display as Si crashes his way through the album. The drumming has always been of a pretty high standard from No Comply – but this time they’ve surpassed themselves in their slick portrayal of them.

I had never heard a single one of these tracks before I put the CD into the player but I took an instant liking to them and found the change to be an extremely refreshing one. One of my favourite tracks on this CD has to be ‘Lifetime of destruction’ – this one really does have it all. The metallic guitar playing can be heard extremely clearly, the drumming is spot on, the bass lines are nearing on perfect, the horns are cracking, and Kelly’s vocals are as amazing as ever. The quality seems to extend on to track 8, ‘A bloody welcome,’ which is another of my favourites. It has so much bite to it as a track and could quite easily be taken out of the context of the album and placed as a single. I think that this one would have an amazing reception as a single as the bite is there, there is definitely a large degree of catchiness to it, it flows perfectly, and is just generally one of the stand out tracks of the album.

Finale track ‘A waking dream’ however surpasses all of the others – it is a lengthy little number, but you cant help but love it – no matter how much you play it, it fails to tire and the brilliance of it just seems to live on and become greater and greater. There is extremely effective use of fills on this one with a blinding guitar one, a super joint bass and drum one, chilled out horn ones, and plenty more to keep you entertained, and more importantly keep that smile on your face. Near the end it all winds down nicely with a mellow instrumental carrying on – and you can just tell that at any point you’re about to be hit with one last blast of power – and of course this does indeed come to finish off the album. It rounds the album off perfectly and leaves you completely satisfied with what you have just encountered – that being a top quality No Comply debut album.

This Plymouth sextet really does conquer all with this storming album effort of greatness. No Comply are definitely a band set to make it huge before long – they have already had a video gracing the screens of Scuzz TV with a track from the EP. So with the highly improved sound of the album there is no reason to me why they should not conquer all before too long.

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This is a 6 Track EP from Plymouth’s female fronted Skacore sextet No Comply. The fact that the band’s vocalist is female makes for something new, and having a female vocalist certainly seems to have worked for them. It makes their sound truly unique and way different from what other bands out there are doing. Hopefully Kelly will be an inspiration for girls to front their own Skacore bands and not let it be a male dominated genre. The first track, ‘Your Life Is Your Direction’ kicks off with the highly exciting horn section before you are lead into Kelly’s superb vocals. The drumming on this track is very fast paced and along with the Guitars provides a great base for the vocals to lie on. The horn section on this track is really exciting and really seems to flow well with Kelly’s vocals here to produce a really great song. The second track, ‘Decide’ kicks off with a great Guitar riff and then the Drumming comes in later, before firing you into the vocals. The drumming on this track provides quite a steady beat and the horn section is used to accompany the guitar and bass when there are no vocals. There are also some male backing vocals added into the mix in this song. The third track, ‘Misuse of Control’ again starts with guitar and bass, then drums and then vocals. Although Kelly has a Hardcore tinge to her vocals she still manages to keep them very melodic, and again there are male backing vocals. The drumming is fast paced with a strong guitar riff coming through there. There is an emotional feel to the music also, and you don’t really get this very often with Skacore bands. On the fourth song, ‘Rejected’ the vocals are not quite as Hardcore as on the other tracks and also the drumming is at a slower face, but there is a firing sound coming from the Guitar’s and the horn section works really well to give the song its finishing touches. The fifth track, ‘Falling from Crosses’ kicks off with horn section, guitar and bass. The vocals on this track are absolutely superb and the Chorus sounded really familiar. The vocals are really hardcore and the horn section really does manage to come through well. Also on this track is some very strong and powerful drumming. The final track, ‘Background Action’ is also a Skacore track and a good one it is too. You know that this band is not just another Ska Punk one because you can hear the hard edge, Hardcore vocals coming through in the songs. The horn section is again done well and the track is an extremely melodic one. At times they sound like a female fronted Capdown, but their melodic side shows that they are a lot more than that. This band can be Hardcore yet melodic at the same time, which is probably because of them being female fronted. This is a great EP from a superb UK act that will hopefully continue to flourish, gradually getting bigger and bigger, gaining many fans as they tour.

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