Posts tagged Pop
Album Review Shorts: The Horrible Crowes – Elsie
Oct 29th
Short & sweet album reviews that never miss the point…
The Horrible Crowes – Elsie
RockOSaurus Says…
Gaslight Anthem frontman’s side project is a deeply sombre affair, something which hugely suits his fantsastic lyrical character creations. With the throttle lifted it’s the focus on soulful rasping vocals and poetic musings that resonate the strongest. The wide ranging use if softly picked country guitars and organs give Elsie a lounging gospel feel of comfort despite its powerful emotional clout. The right balance of mood is struck throughout with Go Tell Everybody, one of a handful of bright noisier tuneis polar opposed by the almost confessional groove of Ladykiller. A darkly passionate and vivid album full of honest warmth. No more that could we expect from the heir to Springsteen’s throne!
7.5
Album Review Shorts: Reckless Love – Animal Attraction
Oct 26th
Short & sweet album reviews that never miss the point…
Reckless Love – Animal Attraction
After a suprisingly great debut album of 80′s pop metal harking power rock that was far better than it ought to be, the flying Finn’s are back with more hairsprayed pop-rock antics. They’re huge arena sized rock is chock-a-block with overly emphasized Def Leppard songwriting aspirations, Bon Jovi’s hair and Van Halen keyboards to complete their full house of 80′s rock influences. But whilst the debut was fun, packed with memorable melodies and great sing-a-long moments, Animal Attractions stubles and falls on it’s make-up strewn face. This is mainly because it feels just too much like a mashup of melodies plucked from the aforementioned 80′s heavyweights. From the duh-duh-duh-duh’s on Dirty Dreams (Cutting Crew – I Just Died in Your Arms), the keyboard’s on Hot (Van Halen – Jump) and the vocal harmonies on Animal Attraction (Def Leppard – Animal) show that these songs barely classify as ‘new’. There are some cracking tunes regardless, such as Speedin’, but yet I’m always left wondering “Haven’t I heard that before?”. If you love big fun 80′s compilations you’ll find much to love here. But if you already own one…chance are, you “have” heard this album before.
4
Album Review Shorts: Banquets – Top Button, Bottom Shelf
Oct 16th
Short & sweet album reviews that never miss the point…
Banquets – Top Button, Bottom Shelf
RockOSaurus Says…
Barely clocking in at 30 mins in length, this the ‘full’ debut LP from New Jerseys latest laureats. Akin to Motion City Soundtrack and the Gaslight Anthem of old, they play with energetic punky guitars bursting with hooks and a real focus on vocal excellence. Following a muscular pop-punk formula their catchy power chords riffs are both accessible and cut with a raw energy which flows like wildfire through this cracking little album. Melody explodes from every perceivable angle and the uptempo racing riffs rarely relent. The sheened poppy vocals are stacked with big chorus harmonies, rapidfire wordplay, gang vocals and more ooh ooh’s than the Weezer back catalogue. As this album races along, it’s very difficult to fault for it’s determination to fit as much pop power as possible into it’s short lifespan. A very impressive debut from a band clearly destined for bigger things!
9
Download Festival 2011: Classic Rock Friday
Jul 23rd
Day one of Download Festival, over recent years has definitely been moving towards the arena of the classic/hard rock, see previous headliners of Ac/Dc(2010), Def Leppard(2009) & Kiss(2008). Again in 2011 we find another cracking Friday lineup which I could not resist. I had to be here!
CKY
After the substantial journey up from London town, I took up the position I’d be in most of the day, down front on the main stage for the arrival of the skate born, alt-hard rock band CKY. A surprisingly large crowd had gathered and we were not disappointed, as they plundered out wah soaked hard rock riffs with graceful efficiency. The seeming endless barrage of melodies were both catchy and had most of the crowd leaping/banging head like there’s no tomorrow. The standout tune had to be the epic guitar riffed 96 Quite Bitter Beings which sparked the days first circle pit, bodies literally flew in all directions. A cracking opening to what was to be a legendary day.
Puddle Of Mudd
In a bit of a throwback to my younger days, Puddle of Mudd emerged to a much more youthful (and tightly packed) crowd. You would not have guessed they had been away from the UK shores for 10 years, support seems as eager as ever. Playing the best of their early album’s which had so much commercial success, lead singer Wes Scantlin let fly his nasally snarls led by some crunching post-grunge guitars. The biggest roars came with an Ac/Dc cover TNT and their love/hate ballad She Hates Me which had the biggest vocal backing of the afternoon thus far. Yet, they did not play Blurry, a song a lot of people had come to hear. Whether a timing issue was to blame, I dunno? But this soured the performance as they trundled off stage to an unsatisfied chorus of “blurry, blurry, blurry...”.
Young Guns
A short hike back up the arena I managed to catch the end of the Young Guns set on the second stage. They seemed very engaged with the crowd, trying to start a teenage riot with multiple calls of “I want you to go crazy to this one”. From the back It was hard to see what the fuss was about. Clean and scream vocals mixed up well in their post-hardcore melodies many of which were pretty cool, but nothing of distinction sets them apart. 10/10 for effort in pleasing the festival youth.
Duff McKagan
I returned to the main stage to catch the latter half of ex- Gun’s & Roses man Duff Mckagan and his band Loaded. It was clear nothing much had changed since the last time I saw them, still plugging away with sleazy punk slanted hard rock. Much of their original material was met with indifference despite a few catchy guitar and vocal hooks. The same cannot be said for their closing cover tune It’s So Easy. It’s always a pleasure to see a ex-Guns n’ Roses man playing classic material as if it was 1987 all over again.
Black Stone Cherry
Black Stone Cherry followed up next with a the set of the day so far! Full of southern Rock swagger and muscular guitar riffing so deep south it chills with the penguins. Set was comprised equally of from all three albums and mixed mid tempo rockers and all out hard hitting clout with effortless ease. Swinging from the latest vocal wah (Sambora Stylie) driven single White Trash Millionaire to the powerful chorus centric chanter Blind Man and the frenzied headbangers paradise on the Lonely Train. Despite these cracking tunes, there was an unexpected highlight…a cover version!
Heavy Metal Devil Horns out in force!
Taking a step aside from the usual hard rock covers they went all live lounge on our asses and pumped out a rocked up ‘Magic FM‘ listener friendly tune,, Adele’s Rolling In The Deep. An uplifting and very popular choice which had many a black clad, leather bound macho man singing his lungs out…this alone, provided a classic Download moment! A superb performance from a band totally fulfilling their potential!
Alter Bridge
Somehow four more bands had to grace this stage. First to try were the ex-Creed associates plus one of my favourite vocalists Myles Kennedy, as Alter Bridge picked up where BSC left off! Soaring heavy rock anthems are what these guys do best, hence it was not long before they kicked into belters such as Find The Real and Ties That Bind which spark sing-a-longs and circle pits in equal measure. There are not many bands who write songs as big as Alter Bridge. Mark Tremonti as ever was a total genius with his guitar this afternoon firing off shredded solos, chugging metal riffs and harmonious sweep picked melodies at will. His arrangements are probably the most badass and technically accomplished of any hard rock band on the planet. The key to their success is his partner in crime Myles, who not only had one of the iconic rock voices of modern times, but boy he can play guitar too. An axe battle ensued towards the end of the set with both corners trading powerful knockout blows. A mesmerizing display of virtuosity from both men…I call it a tie! The crowd absolutely reveled in what was a terribly uplifting set that stuck the middle finger up towards the falling rains plans to scupper the show.
Thin Lizzy
Up next I am proud to have witnessed one of the legendary bands of rock. Innovators of the dueling guitar solo, performers of live shows that have gone down in history and true classic rock icons…Thin Lizzy are back! Albeit with a roughly cobbled together lineup of ex-members and newbies, yet with original members Brian Downey and Scott Gorham providing the core of the sound, this was probably the closest I would ever get to their 70′s magic.
Special Guest…Def Leppards Vivian Campbell
It was a set packed with nostalgia and legendary tunes such as The Cowboy Song, Whiskey In The Jar, Jailbreak…(I could list every song)…and of course The Boys Are Back In Town. New lead singer Ricky Warwick was most definitely not on par with Phil Lynott but he did a good job of belting out the chorus and getting the crowd onside. With such a huge chunk of the former lineup(s) missing it was never going to recreate the magic, but it was as good a set of rock and roll classics you will ever likely to hear!
The Darkness
After Wednesdays encounters with tonight’s Sub Headliners still fresh in the rss feed, I’ll be brief. The Darkness did exactly what they do best, entertain! A huge portion of the crowd you could feel were willing them to be rubbish. Those were soon won over by jaunty pop rock numbers and some good old fashion showmanship from the moustached Hawkins. By far the most spectacular set of the day. Comprising of all the usual glitz of confetti, streamers and fireworks, with the surprising addition of giant flame throwers. You can’t fault them for trying to keep the crowd on their toes! I was having a whale of a time, but then it is The Darkness, they only know how to make the good times roll!
Nothing like a naked flame to warm the cockles
It was an agonising wait in the ever plummeting temperatures and drizzling rain for tonight’s headliners Def Leppard (ring, ring…2009 called, says they want their headliner back)! Only 2 years since they last graced the Donington stage, they were back for more stadium sized rock. Their sound can only be described as gigantic. You really can feel with every beat of the drum skin, every hi-hat smash and every massive power chord. Yet it is so melodically balanced, making their pop rock classics sound great! To be honest I hadn’t been expecting much, but with each passing intro I kept thinking…damn I know this!
Def Leppard
With an arsenal packed with livewire rockers and a bursting heart full of soppy ballads this was the finest show of pop metal outside 1984. Tunes such as Animal, Rocket, Two Steps Behind and Pour Some Sugar On Me ignited my Def Leppard flame which had long been extinguished. They turned in a superb performance, one absolutely worthy of their Headliner status.
Acoustic Time
With jubilation at what was one of the best days of rock I’ve seen and sadness that it was all over, I trekked back out the front gates and back down the M1…singing Def Leppard tunes all the way home at the top of my very weary lungs!
The Darkness @ Shepherds Bush Empire
Jul 16th
8th 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.
Max Raptor
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
Jul 14th
2nd 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
Jul 2nd
2nd 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.
Wolfmother
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!
Camden Crawl 2011: Day Two
May 31st
1st May 2011
Well rested, showered and fuelled by ‘full English’ we set out for more exploits in Camden for day two of the crawl.
Kicking off today’s live music extravaganza was the ever reliable grunge revivalists Dinosaur Pile-Up. We have long been admirers of these boys performances and today was no exception. Their big dropped D riffs boomed out livening the early crowd and treating them to a dose of cheery nirvana-esque rock with plenty of catchy melodies and a tonne of chugging rhythm guitars. We were lucky to be treated to some older gems in the shape of Opposites Attract, new material which sounded great, as well their bigger numbers such as Traynor. A cracking start to yet another sunny day.
Dinosaur Pile-Up
From here we mooched over towards the Summer Sundae Special Edition event out on the sun soaked Roundhouse Terrace, only to find Dry The River limbering up. After fighting through a sea of promotional material being thrown our ways we settled and enjoyed what was a mellow laid back folk set. In the sunshine it sounded excellent, the violin especially making an impression. Yet with mellowness comes bliss, and with bliss comes sleep…which is not the greatest asset for a band. One for throwing on the stereo for a lazy Sunday afternoon.
Dry The River
The mood swing between these and our next band was colossal. Somewhat strangely ,the crowd were packed in tight for the emergence of NYC’s latest hardcore punk exports Cerebral Ballzy. Their “I don’t give a flying F**k” brat attitude and a love of black flag et al seemed to cause more headaches than circle pits, with the non-receptive crowd. They missed about as much as they hit as their front man ran amok through the crowds inciting foul language and generally causing havoc. Musically this wasn’t a great performance even though there were a few decent hooks hidden in there. Their lifeblood is to make loud and supremely fast punk to get knotted to…on this count they succeeded greatly.
Cerebral Ballzy
Indeed the reason for the indifference was plain to see once Cerebral had left the stage. Currently riding a huge over inflated wave of hype are the hip hoppers Odd Future or OFWGKTA (I did wonder what young heavily made up teenage girls were doing at a hardcore punk gig). I departed, but Mr. Flowers stuck around…
Meanwhile…I continued my search for cool new music and found a jazz musician playing what looked like a carpenters saw. I promptly turned around and stumbled by chance into the Vox busking sessions to catch James Page. This young acoustic strummer had plenty of melody in his heart and honesty in his lyrics. Tales of london life and what else…girls, were lively and highly enjoyable. This was a tough/drunk crowd to perform for plus all the while having a multitude of technical difficulties, he showed his spirit and professionalism to battle through admirably.
James Page
After a huge trek out to Kentish Town, we were glad to find a band about to begin in the Bull & Gate, this was Five Working Days. A triumphantly jubilant set of rockabilly/ska pop later, we were smitten. It was lively and highly entertaining in this tiny pub corner. It’s a surprise they all managed to fit in really! Stuffed full of a good “cockney knee’s up”, we headed into the Forum for what turned out to be a rather costly mistake.
Five Working Days
Frankie & The Heartstrings failed to appear at their appropriate stage time, we consulted the schedule…yup this is right, we agreed! A quick foray into the twitterati revealed more disappointing news. Frankie & his Heartstrings were at home and were never scheduled to play the Sunday! Bad form Camden Crawl!
Still we had Benjamin Leftwich Francis to enjoy instead. After 10 minutes of boredom inducing folk crooning I departed, more than a bit saddened!
The Phantom Band
Heading back into Camden central (by bus this time), I found myself in an almighty queue to get into the Proud Galleries, for one of the big highlights of the festival. After the floodgates opened I somehow found myself down the front! Sporting a look of bewilderment and smugness, I settled down to watch The Phantom Band after a slightly awkward Q&A session from Radio Ones new music maestro Huw Stevens. A very eclectic set followed with plenty of blips and bops overlaying their already well stacked guitars and melancholic yet purposeful vocals. They made big powerful atmospheric indie rock with effortless ease, without really having to strain. Playing a wide variety of quirky instruments they managed to squeeze out melodies from all angles. Never losing track of the main melody was key to their success, as it was these that formed the heartbeat of their songs amongst their proggy sidesteps. A great little set of diverse rock!
Graham Coxon
The venue had long been full to capacity, turning away latecomers because next on stage was the true British guitar legend, ex-Blur guitarist and accomplished solo artist, Graham Coxon. Meekly shuffling onstage it was apparent he wasn’t here to mess around as he and his ample sized band quickly hooked up their huge effects pedal boards to their Marshall’s and begun to ring out crunching power chords galore to the delight of the fans.
Sporting his trademark stripy Tee and Glasses, Coxon & Co got quickly into their stride playing brilliant upbeat rock numbers from Love Travels at Illegal Speeds including Don’t Let Your Man Know, Standing On My Own Again & I Can’t Look At Your Skin each teeming with energy and pulse racing urgency. The business of getting the crowd onside was complete, thus the set spiraled into a swarm of new material, many of them debut’s including City Hall, The Truth & a cracking little punchy number Running For Your Life. These new tunes were catchy and enjoyable pop-centric rockers, showing promise for his upcoming album.
He was joined on stage by Shingai of The Noisettes in a striking (and short) red dress, providing vocals for another new tune Billy Says. As Graham himself put it in the Q&A, “I get a lot of stick for my singing…It’s nice to hear my songs sung by a girl, gives it a different feel”. We agree. This bluesy number was ace and vocals were soulful and bright, adding a totally new slant to Coxon’s usual monotone fare. A few more newbie’s later the set was wound up with the euphoric rocker Freakin’ Out to end with a bang. This was a great intimate gig packed with classics and new tracks alike. A very rare opportunity to catch a legend doing what he does best!
Coxon and Shingai
We hightailed it to The Black Cap for our final band of this years Crawl, Johnny Foreigner. Opening with an A Cappella verse from the front pairing of this lively trio, they soon clattered their guitars and spliced riffs with rhythms forming a jubilant racket of insistent indie rock. Again new material took the forefront, but these tunes were like all JF tunes…exciting and exhilarating. The pairing of boy girl vocals is always at the heart of their shows and this was no exception. Highlights came in the shape What Drummer Get (from their latest EP sold as a Frisbee!!), Eyes Wide Terrified & the irrepressible Salt Pepper & Spinderella. Their onstage presence and artistic backdrop (courtesy of a mac, a projector and a white bed sheet) were great, as their bantered with the crowd and produced a livewire performance of the highest quality.
Johnny Foreigner
This year’s Crawl far outstripped last years in terms of quality acts, performances and thankfully…weather. Let’s hope they can maintain the trend for next year!
