Reggae Foundation // The Plough Inn, Taunton // 31.12.16

From the outside, The Plough looks like a welcoming country pub. Tucked away in a little space that looks like it could have been an alley way, but of course we would much prefer a pub over a shortcut any day. The inside is much more warm and inviting. Incredibly delicious pies are served, or a tankard full of pork scratchings if that's more your thing. Ciders, ales, lagers and the rest are absolutely on offer at "better-be-worth-it" prices, and worth it they always are. It even comes with its very own friendly French landlord creating the most homely experience you could ask for. But this isn't about The Plough, this is about a range of ages, classes and walks of life coming together to celebrate another year survived and endured, all under the same roof.

The event was twice described on the night as a "family affair" by mother and sister in law of the promotor, since his father and brother also make up the best of the line up. Reggae Foundation was formed in August 2014, an event designed to bring together local DJ’s, MC’s and artists who share a mutual love for Reggae and Roots music along with deliciously enthusiastic fans of the same scene. Hosting regular events at the Plough, Foundation quickly grew a popular following and unique vibe to its intimate sessions and from the get go has always been free, standing as a not-for-profit organisation to bring good quality music and a certain awakening to a previously sleepy town.

2 years on and the events are still going strong. I personally travelled from Cardiff and I know a few who made the short journey from Bristol specifically to spend New Year in Taunton, with a bunch of likeminded music eaters who enjoy nothing more than a decent gathering and the opportunity to discover friendships through the collective love and zeal for such an extraordinary genre and its counter styles. The night brought a certain atmosphere that only a close knit community would recognise. Considering the majority of guests had only just met that night, it was almost as though each person was a soul mate for the next on a level unknown to the outside world.

How can we forget the not so gentle giant that made the noise possible? Hosting the arena stands a mighty home grown sound system by the name of Reason. Standing tall in the far corner, towering over the narrow corridor. On first glance it seems pretty overkill, but you soon realise that the large stack of speaker boxes are more than necessary to fully experience the magic of the music that these events are all about. Who could have asked for a better way to bring in the New Year than with a selected family through the power of a beastly sound system?

-Little Bubbles

Check Out the Reggae Foundations next night in March.

Frightened Rabbit Album Announcement - Painting Of A Panic Attack

It's been a long long wait for fans of Scottish band Frightened Rabbit. Their last album being released in February of 2013. 3 year wait only eased slightly by lead singer Scott Hutchison solo project Owl John in 2014. However this album promises to be a great addition to an already fantastic collection of music.

'Painting Of A Panic Attack' will be arriving on 8th April this year and it's about time. Produced by The National's Aaron Dessner the album was promised by the band to be "sparser" and "less guitar driven" and the new song does not disappoint. In addition to th interesting producer choice, with this being the first album since Scott moved to America, it will be interesting to see the lyrical development in his and Frightened Rabbit's story.

Traditionally a new album from the definitive melancholy Scottish indie band means a new window into the life of Scott. A big contributor to how the band amassed it's fan base is how the songs mean something, they're not mindless drivel. They are something to sit and mull late at night with the lights turned down, and the new song is no different. 

Painting Of A Panic Attack is due to be released on April 8th

Named 'Death Dream' the song is as sombre as the title, organ led and haunting, it sounds like a faint echo, a whisper on the wind. Even for those who favour classic Frightened Rabbit from their early albums will not be disappointed - retaining the sullen lyrics and melancholy vibes. From the first song, this album sounds like it would be a brilliant furthering to the Frightened Rabbit discography while developing their sound yet further.  If the rest of the album follows in this irk, many many fans will be happy.

Review: The King Blues // Off With Their Heads - "Guess Who's Back and Pissed Off Again"

After disappearing for almost 4 years there's nothing quiet about The King Blues return. The album was initially blocked for release by iTunes and Facebook blocked them promoting their music video due to the political nature of the caption, the world has missed the kings of political punk. With an album titled 'Off With Their Heads' and with artwork appearing to depict a decapitated David Cameron, that gives you a good idea of the main theme of the record and it doesn't disappoint.

The first track, sharing it's name with the title of the album, opens with muffled sounds of someone talking before launching into "Guess who's back and pissed off again", and my goodness are they pissed off. After a politically raucous opening to the album the record proceeds to dip in and out of political messages in songs like 'Starting Fires' and 'Opposable Thumbs' but also flirts with personal issues in 'Words' and 'Pure Fucking Love'. This generally a theme in all The King Blues previous records and it just works on so many levels.

Despite these forays into personal relationships, the important message from this album is political. Messages expressing unhappiness with David Cameron's government are ever present. Also a deep dislike towards the attitude of people is clear in 'Opposable Thumbs': "Look how far we've come with our opposable thumbs" is an almost satirical or sarcastic lyric, reflecting on the fact we take everything we have now for granted and dont appreciate where we've come from.

The overall feel of this album is that they are back with a bang, sick and fed up of what's going on in the world, and particularly fed up with the government. For many people in the older generation it'll feel like a modern version of the punk generated in the early 70's and for the modern generation The King Blues offer a message and music to believe in.

Over the last few years I have witnessed a slow revival of punk rock, starting with bands like Slaves and Sleaford Mods contributing to bringing the style of music and the lyrical meanings to the public eye. The King Blues tie this together brilliantly and the new album is another step in the right direction.

A politically charged masterpiece, revival of punk is on it's way - 8.5/10

-Luke

i've seen this pig fucking government dropping bombs for peace, slashing benefits, turning venues and clubs into coffee...
Posted by The King Blues on Friday, 12 February 2016

Dials Days Announcement

At the beginning of October 2015 a new festival hit the streets of Portsmouth; a multi - venue festival in place of, for one year only, the highly successful Southsea Festival. Spread across 5 venues on Albert Road, the festival brought some of the best up and coming UK bands to the streets of Pompey.

Now the team behind the festival are starting something new - Dials Days and Dials Nights - the principle being the same; bringing new and interesting artists to Portsmouth and showcasing their talent

The first Dials Days line up

The first Dials Day is being held on the 23rd April this year being held in conjoined venues of The Wedgewood Rooms and The Edge of the Wedge and we here are extremely excited about the recent line-up announcement. Incorporating bands who played Dials Festival and some new artists the line up looks very exciting. Dead Rabbits and Wyldest were both cracking in October and are to be joined by an array of local talent such as The Boy I Used To Be and some other brilliant bands from the UK. However this is not the end of the story, there are still headliners to be announced. 

The sad news is this isn't the whole story, Viola Beach were also in the mix to be playing the festival but were tragically killed in a car accident in Sweden along with their manager. The post from the Dials Crew is below.
Despite this obviously very sad news, I am very much looking forward to this all dayer and it is an absolute snip for £10, so will definitely be there!
-Luke 

The Dials Team would like to pass on our condolences to the family, loved ones and friends of the Warrington band Viola...
Posted by Dials Festival on Sunday, 14 February 2016

The Front Bottoms // The Globe // 11.02.16

In the cute upstairs of a little venue in the outskirts of Cardiff city centre the Front Bottoms took to the stage and no one could have anticipated the show they would put on.

The support took to the stage – Kevin Devine & the Goddamn Band – probably better known for their work with Manchester Orchestra on joint project Bad Books, they played a cracking set with the crowd bobbing along appreciatively. Then with a lovely speech on how they had fallen in love with the band they were supporting years ago and how they loved coming to Wales followed by the last song of the set, they were gone.

Kevin Devine @ The Globe

The anticipation started to build, the shuffling of feet to get to the front, ready for what everyone had come to see. The lights dimmed and then blasting through the speakers came ‘that song from Titanic’, everyone was taken back a bit then proceeded to shout their heart out to a classic, then The Front Bottoms walk onto the stage and play the beat of "Wolfman" and all hell breaks loose.

For a band best described as sad pop punk and on CD don’t sound crazily energetic, they know how to put on an energetic show. Within seconds there was pushing, shoving, moshing, bouncing and crowd surfing, they reduced a whole room of people to a sweaty mess within a space of a song or two, it was fantastic.

The Front Bottoms @ The Globe

As they tore through an explosive set with the crowd bouncing and shouting back every lyric the bands set came to a triumphant rendition of their hit song “Twin Size Mattress”. A very emotional song with a lot of energy, everyone in the room screamed it back providing a spine-tingling end to the show as the lead singer pushed his way through the crowd, getting mobbed by fans, the band played the song to a finish, leaving the crowd stunned. What a set and what a night

-Luke

Neck Deep // Cardiff SU Great Hall // 05.02.16

From midday anyone who walked past the Cardiff University Students Union on Friday would have seen the mass of teenagers with snapbacks, band shirts, skinny jeans and foil blankets braving the February winds to get in the prime position for the gig later that evening. For them and many others 7pm couldn't come quick enough as tonight there was a stellar line up of bands. As the day rolled on the queue grew bigger and bigger and by the time doors were open it was most of the way down the street and the floods of emo kids poured in for the first band.

Light Years exploded on to stage with a tried and tested formula of aggressive pop punk, nothing special but a good old fashioned american pop punk band. They ripped through songs off of their new LP and the crowd nodded along appreciatively, but this was only the start of the show.

Light Years @ Cardiff SU Great Hall (Supporting Neck Deep)

Creeper came next, a band on the rise and who are quickly achieving cult status among fans , especially in their hometown of Southampton, they ripped through their set whipping the crowd into a frenzy; mosh pits broke out and the first crowd surfers of the evening made an appearance. They were everything you'd want in a support act; exciting, energetic and something a bit different. With a new EP on the horizon I really wouldn't be surprised if Creeper quickly shot up into popularity in the emo/ pop punk scene.

Creeper @ Cardiff SU Great Hall (Supporting Neck Deep)

With the capacity crowd riled up and ready to go State Champs hit the stage bringing their own brand of american pop punk to the stage. They rattled through songs old and new and some crackers from their latest album 'Around the World and Back' and had most of the crowd shouting a long, moshing or both. And with that the lights dimmed and a buzz filled the room, the anticipation for the next act, the shuffling of feet to get to the front as the lighta dimmed for Neck Deep.

State Champs @ Cardiff SU Great Hall (Supporting Neck Deep)

With an explosion of noise Neck Deep burst onto the stage smashing out the first parts of 'Citizens Of The Earth', the crowd bounced and swarmed in response. Known for degrading their own music on their album; "Neck Deep? They're shit mate", the crowd seemed to disagree with the pop punk band from Wrexham shouting along to every song, mostly from their new album 'Life's Not Out To Get You' but also some older tunes as well.

Neck Deep @ Cardiff SU Great Hall

Finishing the main set with the cracking 'A Part of Me' they burst into an encore, playing 'Head To The Ground' and a full-band version of 'December' before closing with fast paced hit 'Can't Kick Up The Roots' off of the latest album. Every fan left happy and sweaty from a mental gig. Neck deep  are only going to rise and rise in fame as they progress as a band, the future is bright for this band from Wales.

-Luke

YAK // Clwb Ifor Bach // 04.02.16

It's 8pm, a small crowd begins to gather outside Cardiff's premier independent music venue. Excitement building, the buzz "when are doors?", "I can't wait!" you know the drill. The doors swing open into the cute, intimate downstairs of Clwb Ifor Bach. People filter in slowly at first and then half-filling the room before the support band hit the stage, the lights dim and the music stops....

A projector flickers on, the strum of a guitar and the carnage of Swedish Death Candy begins. Half an hour of a musical hurricane only briefly stepping into the eye of the storm every now and then before being thrown straight back in to the thrashing guitars and blistering noise. Not only a feast for the ears however, a light show to accompany the madness, a genius idea: simple yet effective. Using an old projector and a bowl of water, food colouring and oil (at a guess) they managed to create atmospheric and original lighting adding a strange and dynamic feel to the performance. Paving the way nicely into YAK.

Swedish Death Candy @ Clwb Ifor Back (featuring inventive lighting)

YAK are a band tipped for big things in 2016 and from the first note you could see why. Aggressively they tore through song after song at blistering pace and the crowd responded brilliantly. never before have I seen crowd surfing in a room with only 50-60 people let alone the mosh pits: breaking onto the stage at points and band members joining in. YAK played the crowd brilliantly extending the build ups and highlighting the breakdowns, creating a buzz around the room and genuine excitement for this band.

YAK @ Clwb Ifor Bach

With everyone in the room a sweaty mess, YAK continued the madness with lead singer Olly mounting an amp and throwing himself on to the crowd microphone in hand. The mass of sweat and bodies YAK had created bounced back in glee as they proceeded through the set. As the show came to an end, the crowd whipped up into a frenzy moshed and jumped to every beat and YAK ripped through angry guitar rif in a wall of noise coming to a crescendo at the end of the set. Olly kicked over one of the drums before the end of the song before kicking over the keyboard and throwing down his guitar, wrecking the stage and the band dissapeared off leaving the older members of the crowd smiling gleefully reminiscing of bands of days they thought were gone and the younger ones left with their eyes opened to a new way of rocking.

The aftermath

Yes YAK are tipped for big things this year and oh my goodness can you see why.

-Luke

#tbt - Positive Review From Negative People

After the success of ‘Tape Deck Heart’, album number 6 from Frank Turner had a lot to live up to. Dubbed as the album which launched Frank Turner into the public eye along with his appearance at the Olympic opening ceremony three years ago, it was going to be a hard act to follow, however ‘Positive Songs For Negative People’ has lived up to every expectation.

With sing along anthems like ‘Get Better’ and ‘The Next Storm’, the album highlights a new direction in Frank’s music, reflecting his feelings and a turn for the better in his personal life. These songs are extremely difficult to not dance down the street to, or at least mouth along to while looking like an idiot to everyone else.

What I love about Frank Turner is he can write anthems but also craft songs like ‘Mittens’, ‘Demons’ and ‘Josephine’ which to an untrained ear sound very upbeat but listening to the lyrics it still reflects Franks emotional intensity which you can hear a lot more obviously in his previous albums. Despite this being less obvious, his way with words is still present and is rivalled by very few songwriters (a close second to Scott Hutchison in my book but that’s just me (still waiting for a collaboration guys)).

More importantly he revisits his old stripped down style in this album, not seen as much in ‘Tape Deck Heart’, and there are a few more intimate songs such as ‘The Angel Islington’ and especially ‘A Song For Josh’ which certainly brings a tear to the eye in a touching tribute for his friend who committed suicide in 2013. These songs recognise the journey Frank’s been on and despite this album being titled as ‘Positive’, there are still bad times in anyone’s life. Songs like these show that you have to move through the bad times to make the good times better, a theme present throughout the album.

Overall this is a stunning album, reflective of Frank’s usual skilful lyricism but with a positive twist: 9/10

-Luke

Review: Nevermen // Nevermen

A project devised by TV on the Radio's Tunde Adebimpe, Faith No More's Mike Patton and Doseone A.K.A Nevermen have just released their debut album, a very long awaited album at that. Having started recording in 2008 when Adebimpe and Doseone met in a Brooklyn warehouse with Patton then getting involved in the project later down the line, the self-tited LP was finally released on 20th January 2016 on Lex Records.

'Nevermen' wouldn’t be described as fitting into any particular genre, almost conceptual and alien at points, this album with its strange faded vocals, strong beats and bizarre samples floats across many genres and is an absolute feast for the ears. Dabbling in experimental hip-hop and smooth sounds with hints of indie and acoustic; at points it feels as if Elbow and Young Fathers had done a collaboration; throw a mish-mash of wind-chime and drum samples into the mix with a few eastern sounds and odd synths and then you have Nevermen. A somewhat strange mix to say the least but a mix that grabs your attention and ears with both hands and gives them a good shake.

It's one of those LP's you don't know how to actually feel about, inventive and different but distracted and seemingly random at points. That being said 'Mr Mistake', 'Tough Towns' (the two singles from the album) and 'Dark Ear' are the highlights of the LP; strong beats, catchy and different. Despite this, the rest of the album is still worth a listen because with each listen it begins to make more and more sense, songs which on first listen are seemingly random slowly piece together to reveal an underlying musical understanding.

Album Cover for 'Nevermen'

The important thing is seeing the musical influence of all 3 members on the album; the beats and hip-hop from Doseone with faded hints of TV on the Radio and in some songs like ‘Mr Mistake’ the strong sound of Faith No More comes through as well. Only once you appreciate this and the album has had time to run through your ears a few times, can you appreciate the quality of Nevermen and their debut LP.

Rating - 7.5/10

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Review: Slaves // Are You Satisfied

For many years my dad has plonked CD’s and Vinyls down on my desk of old punk bands. “You’ll like this” he’d say and I did. I’ve always enjoyed kicking back and listening to some Clash and the Sex Pistols.

You see my dad grew up with the punk movement, the politically motivated, hard hitting movement that dominated the rock sub culture in the 70′s. Something remembered by everyone, and loved by many,it brought rebellion and angst to the forefront of music and allowed people to protest in a new and popular way.

But as with many great era’s of music it died away long before I was born in 1996 and to me, and I’m sure to many others, modern popular music is drab, dreary and meaningless. With the exception of a few bands, angry meaningful music was dead.

FInally, however there may be hope.

Halfway through April, my sat me down and said “We need to see this band Slaves”, I didnt think too much about it, it was a cheap gig so I decided to go.

The night before the gig was the first time I listened to any of their music, I switched on soundcloud and listened to their song ‘The Hunter’. From the first note to the very last note I felt as if I had my brain smashed out with a punk rock sized brick. It was incredible. A fantastic riff, a brilliant tune and a thumping beat matched with brilliant lyrics that meant something. A protest song.

The next 24 hours went so slowly, I hadn’t been this excited for a gig in a long time. We trundled down to Portsmouth to a fantastic venue called The Wedgewood Rooms. The two support bands were brilliant and everyone was fired up and ready for the show. While we waited they had reggae music playing over the system, not the normal choice for a punk band, all of a sudden the lights dimmed.

An explosion of noise erupted around the venue, the first notes of ‘The Hunter’ twanged out and the whole crowd appeared to stop still before becoming a frenzied mass of bodies moshing and dancing to the rebirth of punk.

During the gig and after I had never felt such a buzz of an excitement, such an atmosphere around a band whose first album went unnoticed by most of the world. Within weeks they appeared on Radio 1′s live lounge. Bringing this brilliant sound to the country again.


They have received the first Kerrang Spirit of Punk award, and I’m sure many more are to follow after a magnificent first album. The very same album which I plonked down on my dads desk and said “You’ll like this”.

(10/10)

-Luke