Track of the Week: The Districts - '4th and Roebling'

image: rockonphilly.com

The Districts are a band I have been keeping a close eye on over the past 12 months. Their laid-back, slow-building anthemic sound an instant hit with me. ‘4th and Roebling‘ touches on the bluesy instrumental style The Districts presented us with on their debut self-titled EP back in January but brings in some garage-rock elements too, which work really well.

The track combines an uplfiting and steady intro with a hard-hitting outro; spells of feedback and rough-cut guitar parts are also apparent.

‘4th and Roebling‘ has certainly affirmed the quality of The Districts’ sound and their debut album, A Flourish And A Spoil, which is set for release in February of next year is definitely something to look forward to.

Written for PostMusicDepression.

Albums of the Year // 2014

The War on Drugs - Lost in the Dream
The third album from The War on Drugs is equally as beautiful as both of its predecessors. With a very 80's reminiscent sound, claiming clear inspiration from the likes of Bruce Springsteen and, in some respects, Bob Dylan, Lost in the Dream is perhaps one of the most listenable albums of 2014; each and every track is captivating and comforting.

Catfish & The Bottlemen - The Balcony

The Balcony is by far my favourite debut of the year. It's no secret that I am a huge Catfish & The Bottlemen fan and so the prospect of an 11 track LP from them got me instantly excited. Despite the majority of tracks on the album being familiar to us Catfish fans prior to The Balcony's release, the record as a whole is just brilliant, each track an anthemic concoction of their intense three chord, typically indie sound.

Read my review of The Balcony here.

Mac DeMarco - Salad Days

Released back in April, this album was the soundtrack to my summer. Mac DeMarco has certainly got a knack when it comes to infectious melodies and thoughtful lyrics. Salad Days offers a slightly more mature slant on his laidback slacker style, demonstrated in the number of different genres Mac has incorporated in his third LP. Definitely one of the most exciting releases of the past 12 months.

Read my review of Salad Days here.

Honeyblood - Honeyblood

A relatively new addition to my record collection, Honeyblood, the eponymous debut from the Glaswegian duo is a thoroughly enjoyable listen from start to finish. If you're a fan of Best Coast, you can definitely get into Honeyblood's surf rock, summer-infused sound.

Jamie T - Carry on the Grudge

I don't think I've ever been as excited for an album release as I was for Carry on the Grudge. Jamie T is one of the first artists I discovered for myself and his music will forever remind me of the 'good old days.' Although Carry on the Grudge takes a slightly more sophisticated and mature turn from his previous material, the album is fantastic regardless. Tracks like 'Limits Lie' and 'Murder of Crows' are even better than I could have ever imagined. Certainly the best comeback album I can think of off the top of my head. Welcome back Jamie.

FKA Twigs - LP1

Possibly one of the most talked about albums of the year, it seems everyone is buying into FKA Twigs' experimental sound. The production on this album is absolutely killer and 'Two Weeks' is easily one of my favourite releases of the past 12 months.

Royal Blood - Royal Blood

With the absence of bands like White Stripes, Royal Blood and their self-titled debut have injected the perfect dosage of rough cut blues-rock into 2014. The LP is packed with face-melting riffs and relentless percussion. I'm still finding it hard to believe that their intense sound is merely a result of a bass guitar and drums.

Read my review of Royal Blood's self-titled debut album here.

Morrissey - World Peace is None of Your Business

Morrissey will forever be one of my favourite musicians so when he released his tenth solo album earlier this year, I was pretty certain I was going to love it. Call me biased, but this album exceeds most of his previous solo work in my opinion. Raising current affairs and serious issues within his music has always been one of Morrissey's most commendable talents and while The Smiths are one of my favourite bands of all time, he's doing a pretty good job on his own if you ask me.

Ben Howard - I Forget Where We Were

Contrary to popular opinion, I really was not a fan of Ben Howard up until recently. After listening to this album several times, I have no idea why. The dark, atmospheric sound he has adopted on his sophomore LP was an instant hit with me, tracks such as 'Time is Dancing,' 'Small Things' and of course 'I Forget Where We Were' I will never tire of.

Read my review of I Forget Where We Were here.

The Family Rain - Under The Volcano

Listening to Under The Volcano, it's hard to belive that it's the debut album from band of brothers, The Family Rain. With a strict blues-rock sound comparable to the likes of The Black Keys and Kings of Leon, The Family Rain have certainly proved themselves on this record. 'Trust Me... I'm A Genius' is the perfect track to ease yourself into the bands sound.

Read my review of Under The Volcano here.

Alvvays - Alvvays

Alvvays' self-titled debut is a shimmering indie-pop masterpiece. You only have to listen to the albums opener 'Adult Diversion' or the dreamy 'Archie, Marry Me' to be enlightened to the bands' uncanny ability to deliver wonderfully nostalgic indie-pop.

Drowners - Drowners

It seems forever ago since Drowners released their eponymous debut but it's certainly been a favourite of mine over the course of the year. 'Luv, Hold Me Down,' 'Unzip Your Harington' and 'Shell Across the Tongue' are all reasons for why this album should be recognised as one of the best of 2014. Fans of The Cure need this album in their lives.

Read my review of Drowners' self titled debut album here.

Metronomy - Love Letters

Devonshire quartet, Metronomy's fourth studio album is a clear progression from it's cult favourite predecessor The English Riviera. Despite being a huge fan of the gaudy, electronic sound explored by Metronomy throughout their previous material, I really like the sophisticated and demure direction the four piece have taken on Love Letters. Very Parisian.

Read my review of Love Letters here.

Bombay Bicycle Club - So Long, See You Tomorrow

Although their debut will always hold a special place in my heart, Bombay Bicycle Club's fourth album, So Long, See You Tomorrow, is pretty impressive. Bombay are a band who constantly seem to regenerate their sound on every album and their newest release saw them embrace the more electronic elements of their repertoire. Stand out tracks would have to be 'Feel,' 'Luna' and 'Come To.'

Read my review of So Long, See You Tomorrow here.

Warpaint - Warpaint

Warpaint's self titled sophomore album builds on the ethereal and atmospheric sound of their debut but in a much more accessible way. Tracks like 'Love is to Die' and 'Hi' highlighting their celestial tenor whereas 'Disco/Ready' and 'Keep it Healthy' are the kind of tracks you would expect to be appreciated by a much wider audience. I didn't think I could love Warpaint anymore than I did after hearing their debut but their sophomore effort has swung it for me.

ALL IMAGES BELONG TO THEIR ORIGINAL SOURCES



Catfish & the Bottlemen, The Ritz, Manchester [03.12.14]

After several years of constant gigging and attempting to break out of their small seaside setting of Llandudno, it’d be fair to say that 2014 has been Catfish & The Bottlemen’s year. With a debut album that well and truly surpassed all expectations and a sell out UK tour, it seems everyone is buying into their anthemic, three-chord indie sound.

Unsurprisingly, the Ritz is completely packed out on this cold December night and the prospect of Van McCann and co. arriving onstage creates a wave of excitement that’s diffused throughout the entire venue. It might be early days for the mop-headed quartet but the impact that their hard-hitting anthems have had on us all already is pretty mammoth. Kicking off their energetic set with ‘Rango,’ closely followed by ‘Pacifier’ immediately puts the Ritz’s infamous bouncing floor to the test as every member of the crowd surges in an attempt to haul to the barrier. Opening with two of their biggest and most well-known tracks is certainly a bold move but as they power through the rest of their short but sweet set list, the logic behind this decision is clear as each track just gets bigger and bigger. Not to mention the crowd who just get livelier and livelier.

Anthem after anthem is thrown at us; tracks like ‘Sidewinder’ make it obvious that Catfish & The Bottlemen’s debut LP, The Balcony, was a hit with this Mancunian crowd as the whole venue exclaim “whoever you’re mixing your drinks with is dying to go to town on you,” which is impressive to say that the album is only a few months old. Whereas classics like ‘Fallout’ brew a rowdy, intoxicated crowd; “I was a test-tube baby, that’s why nobody gets me” uniting the crowd as they recite the lyrics to each other in unison.

‘Homesick,’ ‘Kathleen’ and of course ‘Cocoon’ enticed the crowd but it wasn’t until ‘Tyrants’ that the true extent of euphoria was established. Its screeching guitars and brash spells of percussion proving to be the perfect culmination to a brilliant set, particularly as the track draws to a close and comes back in at around three and a half minutes.

For a band that have only recently started to gain the recognition they have been working towards for so long, it’s clear that all this hard work has paid off as everyone packed into the Ritz tonight is left wanting more. I’m pretty certain I’m not alone in wishing that the set would never come to an end.

Written for Altmusicbox.

Jamie T, Manchester Academy [17.11.14]

 

PHOTOS COURTESY OF HANNAH ALDERSON

 

There was a certain air of disbelief diffused throughout Manchester Academy last Monday as it held the second Mancunian date of Jamie Treays' long awaited comeback tour. For me, and many others, Jamie T provided the coming of age soundtrack to my adolescence- Panic Prevention being an album I constantly find myself going back to after seven years, simply for a small dosage of nostalgia. Vivid recollections of underage drinking come flooding back whenever the likes of 'Sheila' or 'Dry Off Your Cheeks' make an appearance on shuffle on my iPod. Jamie T has always been one of those musicians I idolise; an unsung hero whose lyrics are so relatable they're almost amusing, and his five year absence from the music industry simply added to his allure.

 

Opening with 'Limits Lie,' a firm favourite of mine taken from his third and most recent LP, the air of disbelief I mentioned previously turns into complete awe as the man who has been in hiding for five whole years suddenly emerges from hibernation with a track that can only be described as incredible. It's quite impressive how a musician who has been totally off the radar for such a long time (and never really received any major mainstream success prior to his long break) can have such a huge impact on a crowd.

 

Tracks from Panic Prevention ( a la 'Operation' and 'Salvador') were obvious hits with the crowd, most of whom could recite every viciously spat lyric with ease. However, Jamie's new album, Carry on the Grudge really proved itself amongst fans; 'Peter,' for example, brewing a rowdy intoxicated crowd from start to finish. 'Turn on the Light' was another peak with its steady and constant drumbeat and excellent lyrics, again, most of which the crowd knew well, whilst tearjerkers, 'Murder of Crows' and 'They Told Me it Rained,' force the crowd to wrap their arms around one another in adoration. The true highlights, however, come in the form of 2009's Kings and Queens LP; tracks such as 'The Man's Machine,' 'Spider's Web' and '368' filling revellers with irrevocable excitement as each and every member of the crowd recite the lyrics to each other in a state of absolute shock that the songs we once drank straight vodka to on parks are now being played live to us by the man himself. 'Emily's Heart' another notable moment: "bruised and bloody, I'm lying on the ground" sang at the top of every lung in the venue, out of tune, but with conviction.

 

Now you don't need me to tell you that 'If You Got the Money,' 'Sheila' and 'Sticks 'n' Stones' were all inexplicably good so I'm not even going to attempt to review them, but all that needs to be said is that Jamie T is back with a vengeance after his five year disappearing act. So thank you Jamie, for gracing us with your presence, as the old saying goes: it's better late than never.

Review: Reading & Leeds Festival Line Up

Mumford & Sons. An interesting and somewhat disappointing choice of headliner.

image: telegraph.co.uk

As the ever so shy sunshine has decided to grace the UK with its presence over the past couple of weeks and the Coachella live updates on Snapchat have thrown us brits into a pit of deep depression, we are reminded of everyone’s favourite time of year- festival season. One British festival that stands out for its primarily alternative line up and its cool, youthful crowd is Reading & Leeds and this year they are back with yet another slightly controversial choice of headliner.

When I look back to 2009, a time when I was desperate to get to Bramham Park but a mere 12 years old, the prodigious line up was the sole reason for my hunger to dig out my wellies and sleep rough for four nights. ‘Arctic Monkeys, Radiohead, Kings of Leon’ read the top line of the line up poster and I was sold. Not to mention the masses of incredible non-headliners that came underneath them on the bill. Now it seems that the R&L festival organisers are getting skinter, their crowd is getting broader or peoples’ taste in music is just getting shitter. I don’t know but Mumford & Sons? Just what the fuck? For a festival that is supposed to embody the idea of youth, excitement, rebellion and loads of other cool abstract nouns, Mumford & Sons are the last band I would choose to replicate that ethos (even if I do enjoy a good sing-song to ‘I Will Wait’ when I’m feeling extra farmer-chic). Putting Metallica next to them is another bizarre choice. A heavy metal band that haven’t produced an album in seven years when the majority of Reading & Leeds attendees, in recent times, are underage shufflers dying to get off to the Relentless stage where they can throw some shapes to Duke Dumont till the early hours without getting laughed at by actual music fans, I just don’t know. I’m sure Metallica’s set will be epic but I’m not sure that the festival’s ever-evolving crowd will be as appreciative as they should be.

The Libertines are quite obviously the festival’s saving grace this year. Playing together for the first time in four years at Hyde Park last year, the volatile four piece’s set is possibly the most eagerly anticipated UK festival slot of 2015 as it will be one of their first major performances since signing to EMI and revealing plans for a third album back in November last year. They are joined by some incredible names on the mainstage, a la the Cribs, Jamie T, the Maccabees and Kendrick Lamar- so if I do decide to take the tedious train journey from Manchester to Leeds again this year, you can bet it will only be for the Friday. Having said that, Reading & Leeds do tend to pull it out of the bag on the smaller stages, with a bunch of our favourite bands from the past couple of years such as Catfish & the Bottlemen, Royal Blood, Circa Waves, Wolf Alice etc and a few nice surprises added liberally like Alvvays, Ben Khan and Jamie xx.

I think the anticlimactic headliners are pretty expected now, take Eminem in 2013 for example, but Reading & Leeds is always worth it regardless of the line up. You could have One Direction on there and it would still be a top weekend. I, myself, haven’t been too impressed with the line up for the past couple of years but I still enjoyed every minute of the festival regardless. There is definitely something to please everyone on 2015’s line up and if not, sitting round the campfire with all your mates is 100% worth the ridiculously high entry fee anyway.

Review: Ben Howard - I Forget Where We Were

image: benhowardmusic.co.uk

 

On the surface, Devon based singer-songwriter, Ben Howard’s second album is a much darker affair to his Mercury Prize nominated 2011 debut, Every Kingdom. With the upbeat and acoustically driven tracks of 2011, such as ‘Only Love’ and ‘Old Pine’, being replaced by hauntingly atmospheric instrumentals and melancholic lyrical content. However, the slow-building warm hues of his previous material haven’t been lost in the blur of sparse chords and the overall moody tone he has adopted on his second pursuit.

 

You could say 2012’s The Burgh Island EP was the first inkling that Howard was venturing into slightly darker territory, with tracks like ‘To Be Alone’ possessing similar atmospheric and immersive instrumentals that wouldn’t sound out of place on I Forget Where We Were. ‘Small Things’ for example, opening the album with reverb-ridden guitars, complimented by reflective lyricism; “has the world gone mad, or is it me?” ‘Rivers in Your Mouth’ however, is much more up-tempo with fast paced percussion that somehow sounds reminiscent of Bruce Springsteen’s ‘I’m on Fire’.

 

The album’s title track is a true reflection of Howard’s ever-growing credibility since the release of Every Kingdom. Its slow-building structure comprising of a sombre guitar melody and faint drums is surprisingly infectious. However, it isn’t until the goose bump-inducing climactic section, as Howard cries “I forget where we were,” with conviction, amongst a plethora of overbearing percussion and a suspenseful guitar line, that we realise the true extent of the track’s impressiveness.

 

Howard explores the folky elements found on his debut within the track ‘In Dreams’. Its intricate introductory guitar riff and echoing vocals sounding reminiscent of Every Kingdom’s ‘Diamonds’. ‘She Treats Me Well’, however, introduces almost R&B tinged drum beats; perhaps the catchiest track the record has to offer.

 

Both ‘Time is Dancing’ and ‘End of the Affair’ are slow-building and gradual. Constant instrumentals providing the framework for their approaching capstones. The former, an outburst of existing instrumentals and repeated choric vocals, the latter building up into unusually progressive guitars and tortured vocals which sound awfully reminiscent of the overall sound adopted by Foals on Holy Fire.

 

Although 2011’s Every Kingdom was undeniably incredible, the brand new direction Ben Howard has chosen to take on his second record has most certainly paid off. The darker, more atmospheric dimension to his sound that he has unearthed within this album is definitely more to my taste than the joyous nature of his debut.

 

 

Written for PostMusicDepression.

Review: The 1975 - 'Medicine'

image: tmrwmagazine.com

 

Marmite four piece, The 1975, are just one of many bands and musicians contributing original material to the Radio 1 curated rescore of the film Drive. Given its very 80's, synth-driven existing soundtrack, it was pretty clear that the Wilmslow quartet would be reverting back to that ambient, electronic sound explored within the string of EPs they released in the run up to their debut album.

'Medicine' possesses the ethereal side to the band's repertoire, demonstrated on earlier tracks like 'Facedown' and 'fallingforyou;' which is certainly a welcome dose of nostalgia given the bombardment of rhythmic indie pop tunes found on their debut (which seem to appeal mostly to the masses of One Direction fans the band have acquired along with their rapid success rate anyway).

With repetitive love infused lyrics and a haunting combination of atmospheric synth and soft percussion, The 1975 have succeeded in delivering a track perfect for the Drive soundtrack. Not only this but 'Medicine' may have even restored the faith of some of their oldest fans; this is certainly the case with me, anyway.