Archive for July, 2011
Album Review: Heaven’s Basement – Unbreakable EP
0New studio E.P. from the Heaven’s Basement boys, led by new vocalist Aaron Buchanan.
Heavens Basement – Unbreakable E.P.
RockOSaurus Says:
A turbulent ride it has been, but finally Heaven’s Basement have put voice, guitars and drums to tape and have recorded a large part of their live set list, perfected over the last few years. This is easily their most accomplished and varied album to date, displaying both the raw rock power and melodic prowess throughout each jubilant fist pumping anthem.
Title track and album opener Unbreakable is a fury filled statement of intent as it unleashes a barrage of expertly wound guitars pummelling their way through many euphoric all out attack crescendo’s. The tempo, relentless and the driving bass/drum assault is unstoppable. Mixed in with some good clean vocals, angst fueled screams and a big chorus chant, an early highlight. Paranoia screams exactly that. A dirty scuzz rocker with wickedly pointed vocals from guitarist Sid. It’s the double combo of the deep and fuzzy power chords interspersed with buzzing harmonics that gives this tune its addictive bite and snarl.
This 7 track EP has very little in the way of filler with each track providing something different to enjoy. Whether it’s the funked up off kiltered blues riff on Close Encounters or the soft/loud/louder dynamics of shout-a-long pop rocker The Last Goodbye this is a mixed up bag of hard rock unlikely to be far from the repeat button. However vocals are often to be found too low down in the mix, easily becoming dwarfed by the mammoth music engine room. A difficult balancing act with some fine tuning required.
Where they have really thrown caution to the wind is on the new boundary crossing ballad Let Me Out! This superbly crafted song shines brightest as a huge step forward in their sound. It’s dark and sparse bluesy licks are restrained and purposefully beautiful which only increase the impact of the return of the loud thumping guitars for the rousing chorus line. The solo throws wailing bends like a high mountain pass and screams emotion through Sid’s six overdriven strings almost as much as Aarons hearty howls.
There is something very retro about the album closer Leeches. A bouncy riff machine gun fires off hooks at breakneck speed somewhat reminiscent of their founder band Roadstar. Of course HB have dresses it up in darker clothing and upped the throat shredding vocal shrills, but long term fans and classic rockers a like will find much to love about this rampaging closer!
Unbreakable is their just reward from relentless touring and have produced a cracking record of massive melodies, heroic guitars and kick-ass attitude! Never ones to throw in the towel, Heaven’s Basement will now surely realise the potential, obliterating their rock underground shackles once and for all!
Heaven’s Basement are playing High Voltage Festival this Sunday 24th July in Victoria Park.
RockOSaurus: 8.5/10
DoesItRock Overall Score: 8.5/10
Listen to Heaven’s Basement – Unbreakable now on Spotify!
Buy Unbreakable E.P. at the iTunes store:
The Darkness @ Shepherds Bush Empire
08th June 2011
It is with great excitement and bursting anticipation the DoesItRock posse took up position in the Shepherds Bush Empire to witnes what is was sure to be the reunion which will brighten up the rock scene with incredibly camp singing, outrageoesly tight outfits and hard rock genius. That’s right, after a 5 year break the original lineup of The Darkness are back, and ready to glam up the charts once more!
Before though we had to wait a little bit longer as Max Raptor warmed up the crowd. This was a very hit an miss set, their song melodies were good as were their energy. But the sound balance was terrible and vocals were hard to make heads or tail of. On reflection, this was not a set likely to win them any new fans. A slight disappointment as I quite enjoyed their latest studio offering.
Suddenly an Irish jig broke through the PA systems cycle of hard rock classics, as on strutted Frankie, Ed, Dan and Justin to roars and appropriately camp woops of approval from the crowd. This was their Download festival performance warm up tour labeled “…As Promised“, it surely delivered on its label as they flew straight into the quo-esque galloping instrumental Bareback. Immediately you can feel hey are having fun once more as they dart about stage using every inch of stage space available.
The Darkness
Justin had lost nothing (and gained a rather twirly moustache), as his male defying falsetto scaled into the hearing ranges of dogs soaring epic chorus’s while his flying fingers blazed the frets and his overenthusiastic body instinctively launched into split jumps at sporadic intervals. Justin was un-characteristically quiet throughout, but his antics and unhinged energy were plenty to contend with.
Hawkins & Co. back in business,,,
The set was drawn heavily from their debut and breakthrough album Permission to Land, with only one tune coming from their ill fated second LP. After years away they still sounded as joyously kick ass as they did in 2003 as they ran through hit after hit. Highlights include the racously rampaging Get Your Hand Off Of My Woman (probably the most camp fight song ever), sing-a-long classic Friday Night and the truly gigantic power ballad Love Is Only A Feeling. The new tracks given their first outings this evening were very falsetto heavy and so were tricky to decipher.
This was a show chocked full of good old fashion entertainment value, playing all the ace tricks including confetti, jokes, fireworks, and streamers. They laugh in the face of seriousness as the cat suit was unleashed, it was a cheeky little black number with a tail this time!
At the height of their success they ended their UK tour with sold out 3 nights at Wembley aren where Justin rounded out a show soloing Love On The Rocks WIth No Ice atop of a white tiger suspended 30ft above the crowd…tonight he had to settle with a 3ft box on wheels, but the premise was the much the same!
Justin Hawkins sporting a cheeky tash
With more performances like tonight, surely it will not be long before these heights are scaled once more. A sub headline slot at Download festival is up next for the boys…I’ll be there to see of they can top this triumphant comeback show!
Art Brut @ The Lexington
02nd June 2011
So many gigs, so little time to write…It must be the summer!
After enjoying a fine but hideously expensive Brooklyn Lager (Cheers Docktor) at the cool pub/venue hangout The Lexington we ascended to welcome tonight’s warm up act, Baddies.
Baddies
From their sound, it is quite clear to see they missed the bus out of the mid 00’s choppy indie rock, being left to wallow through the mud that’s been caked on for 5 years or so. The sound wasn’t fantastic with overpowering chiming power chords and muffled vocals. Their matching uniforms (with top buttons done up) screamed geek, a look in not sure they were after. Plus they broke gig rule #1: Do not insult the crowd. “…you might not be the clapping sort of crowd…“, quickly followed by #2. If its not going well, do not add kerosene to the fire!!
Art Brut
Art Brut kept their fans waiting eager for a glimpse of the Londoners playing the 4th of their 5 night stand here at the Lexington. When they did arrive it was met with jubilation and roars from the ‘older than your average’ gig crowd packed in this evening. From the first spoken vocal of Lead Singer Vocalist Storyteller Eddie Argos and his first call of “Are You Ready Art But…Let’s Go” to the very last, he was a magnetic presence on stage. His tongue in cheek wordplay and honest observations of life love and lunacy were waited on with baited breath all night long.
Eddie Argos
Seeing as most of his lyrics are conversational it’s no surprise to report that he likes a bit of banter, laughing and joking with the crowd and updating lyrics to the present, such as “Even though I’m 28 31″ rolled out on DC Comics & Chocolate Milkshake. This humour and openness were great qualities which connected himself with his captive audience. Emily Kane also got a nice live rework treatment with an extended interlude that documented the next chapter when Emily got in contact. To find out what actually happened is a live gem I’ll leave for you to find out individually.
Musically the set highlights consisted of the sharp jagged chords of My Little Brother, the playful DC Comics and the uncontrollable Modern Art with it’s chaos call “Modern Art, Makes Me Want To Rock Out” sparking crazed scenes. New tunes were not massively well received, but their newer deeper sound was full bodied and disguised many cunningly understated melodies in its midst.
“Sit down class…”
After 4 nights in the same venue (1 more to go) they knew how to work the London crowd without becoming stale and repetitive keeping the set list mixed up also (sadly no airing for Direct Hit tonight). They are a brilliant live band for one reason and that is their talismanic front man who despite his random tales of booze and chance encounters, feels very, well…normal. That connection drives everything the band do and once backed with sharp and catchy little ditty rock tunes, it’s difficult not to love! The chants of “Art Brut Top of The Pops” faded into the night bringing a thoroughly entertaining performance to an end, from one of London towns very best live bands.
Wolfmother @ Kentish Town Forum
02nd June 2011
After their failed attempts to make the 18 hour, globe circumnavigating flight from their Melbourne homeland this time last year, Wolfmother finally make it unscathed to the UK for a long overdue tour appearance. It is not only their flight here which can turn back the clocks, their 60’s psychedelia infused hard rock sound firmly flings open the door of nostalgia almost as wide as the bands ever lengthening Woodstock tribute haircut’s.
Turbogeist
Despite the trip down memory lane this was sure to be, tonight’s support came from the new furious punk poppers Turbogeist, last seen in a chaotic Camden Barfly not so long ago. It was a tough gig as the nights headline act’s musical tastes and their own have little crossover appeal. It’s not a shock to report that the docile crowd did not really seem all that interested. In this cavernous theatre their sound was less in your face and their choruses were not big enough to grab the required attention. A limp set from an exciting underground band unlikely to break out from the clubs on tonight’s showing.
Wolfmother had no such trouble in diverting eyes stage wards as the sound system bulged with huge power chords pumping out thumping drums, thundering guitars and heart pounding bass lines. Stockdale and co certainly look the part as they ply their trade as hard rock throwbacks with no sign of irony, just simple honesty and a dedicated retro love drip from their instruments all night long. Their guitars are colossal as they rumble through the deeper crunching spectrum with bulldozer like efficiency.
With so many expertly riffs each song inherently spark heads a bopping and caused a fair few circle pogo pits for the over enthused. The real key to their success tonight lies in their breakdowns. Many bands can play big and write big chorus’s, but Wolfmother marry this with wandering interludes of trip out psychedelia lulling the crowd into their world of dreamy soundscapes. Of course only to be send crashing back into the main riff for the next bout of ecstatic melodies at the pinnacle of these epic crescendo’s. I’m pretty sure every song had an extension of some sort.
They played the best of their two released LP’s including the guitar hero classic Woman, the manic boogie shuffle of Apple Tree and the hammer-on melody maker The Joker & The Thief. They also managed to throw in a brilliant cover of The Doors Riders On The Storm, complete with whacked out organ solo. During a jam they also somehow managed to culminate different underlying melodies into the solo and verse of Stairway to Heaven, thus completing tonights led zep homage and everybody’s incredibly enjoyable evening!
The Wolfmother ball will stay a rolling as long as there is desire for what has come and past…no time soon then!