Rhubarb Bomb

WILD FLAG – Cockpit , Leeds, 29th January 2012

2012-02-15T00:55:00.002-08:00

A bitingly cold quiet Sunday evening in Leeds, The Cockpit warmed only by the buzz of expectancy awaiting Wild Flag. Witchita Records Brighton/London three piece Peggy Sue sustained everyone’s interest with a fine support performance. The dual girl harmonies and folk tinged indie well received, especially during numbers as strong as ‘Cut My Teeth’ and ‘Song & Dance’, check them out.

A sign of Wild Flags high held regard was reflected by the presence of two thirds of The Cribs and Anna from Metronomy amongst several expectant band members in the packed crowd. Wild Flag, a Supergroup of sorts, many present sure to be admirers of the four girls many various bands. Me personally being a big fan of Carrie Brownstein and drummer Janet Weiss’s Sleater Kinney, a band whom I sadly never got to see, the closest being a band injury cancelled gig at this very venue in 2005. Rrrrriot Girl royalty and finally I was getting to see them Rrrrrock. And boy do they rock. This brand of power pop punk went down a treat with album highlights like ‘Electric Band’ and ‘Glass Tambourine’ and the perfect catchy gems that are ‘Future Crimes’ and ‘Romance’. Multi -talented, sometime comedy actor back home in Portland, six string Brownstein, shares vocals and competes with Mary Timony for riff wizardry and high kickerry. Rebecca Cole adds punchy keyboards with hints of the B-52’s, while Weiss holds it all together. Sounds from any number of US garage bands abound, The Stooges , Ramones and especially Patti Smith, as Carrie throws worthy shapes around the stage literally bouncing off Timony. There’s fun band/crowd banter too including a bizarre discussion on the merits of Eric Clapton. No slow hands here as the set raced on with more highlights like ‘Racehorse’ and a finale of a fitting Ramones cover, ‘Do You Wanna Dance?’ , where even the two false starts felt right. I sincerely hope Wild Flag are more than your average Supergroup and continue to record and tour together and keep flying the flag for all that is good in wild rock ‘n’ roll.

Liam Tyrell

Mi Mye 'The Time & The Lonelyness' Review

2012-02-08T03:58:00.000-08:00

Mi Mye

The Time and The Lonelyness

Mi Mye Bandcamp

It's funny how Mi Mye, the name under which Jamie Lockhart releases his music, is so influential and well regarded in Wakefield, yet sounds nothing like any of the other bands around. Debut album 'Senc Of The Shaking', released in 2010, saw a full, confident, and fun set engage the listener with ease. Gigs around that time were NOISY, Jamie pitched centre stage with his fiddle whilst as many friends as he could fit on stage swelled around him with a ferocious wall of noise. Like an interesting Arcade Fire perhaps. That's the way it COULD have gone.

Instead 'The Time and The Lonelyness', his second album (bar an Xmas collection) is a whole lot more introspective in nature. Clearly inspired by the latest live setup, a bare bones backing of minimalist bass and meandering drums, this is an, at times, unnervingly personal record. The production is striking in its unfussiness. As a record from a record producer, you may expect a flashy, showy, overblown mess. Instead we get, what is to my ears, a rather simplistic and live sounding record which only serves to strengthen the heartfelt emotion wrapped around each of these tracks, kind of reminiscent of Lennon’s open self production on tracks like ‘God’ from his first solo album. I love records that have that warmth, especially on the drums, when it feels like you are in the room with them. It's one of the records bravest, yet greatest achievements.

The album itself is 9 songs long, mainly plaintative, lovelorn pleas and ponderings, bar a closing 10 minute instrumental. Opener 'lament' has been in the live set for a while and opens with the great line 'thank you my love for being so kind / over the death of my first wife'. It rattles along and sets the up-front vocal style of the record and is the closest to previous Mi Mye records in its mix of personal lyricism but buoyant backing. A quick decent follows with a duo of stripped back, pained relationship dissections.

‘When I Wake Up’ picks up the pace once more and is a perfect mix of the upbeat and the slightly sad refrain of ‘the thing about dreams is they mess you up in the morning’. Generally there is a disregard for convention, particularly in the way the lyrics scan and flow with the music, words squished and extended to fit the emotional context rather than the rhythm. This technique works well in adding a closer personal tie to the songs, like a story being told rather than a song being sung. They’d be hard songs to cover, let’s put it that way. The album is what it is – I would perhaps prefer a couple more upbeat, sprightly numbers. But it doesn’t feel as if it was been designed to be a specific way; this record could only exist this way because these are more than exercises in songwriting. Its music, art and expression in its purest form which is, of course, the greatest thing and the records greatest success.

Perhaps the only issue I have with this record is that I don’t really know when to play it. Witnessed live, as I already have, these songs are as engaging as it's possible to be, Jamie's natural charm keeping the pure sincerity from becoming uncomfortable or cloying. It's the kind of music I live to see live. On record, this is replicated perfectly, the emotion remaining impressively intact. I just wouldn’t put it on in my car. So I guess, from the point of view of an online purchaser, it's something you have to put some time into, set the mood, find the time. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that of course, in fact it's the best way to be.

Dean Freeman

Long Division 2012 Press Release

2012-02-06T04:02:00.000-08:00

‘A Triumph… the whole thing seemed like it had been designed by music fans for music fans’ Louder Than War

After the sellout success of Long Division 2011, Indie Fanzine ‘Rhubarb Bomb’ and leading Wakefield Music Venue ‘The Hop’ are proud to announce the return of the multi venue music festival in 2012. It will take place in Wakefield city centre, June 1^st to 3^rd.

2011’s event completely validated Long Division’s faith in its combination of national Indie cult heroes and Wakefield’s own vibrant music scene.

The all day event on Saturday June 2^nd will take place across 9 venues including 2 stages at The Hop, Wakefield Theatre Royal, Wakefield Town Hall, a grade 2 listed Chapel, an Orangery and the thousand capacity Black Flag venue. The unique range of venues promises special, unique and, in some cases, very intimate gigs.

Around 70 bands will play on the Saturday. We have announced our first 30 or so, namely: The Vaselines, Art Brut, Aidan Moffat & Bill Wells, Zoey Van Goey, My Sad Captains, GentlemansPistols, Let’s Wrestle, Dan Michaelson, Standard Fare, The Spills, This ManyBoyfriends, Runaround Kids, Hookworms, Sam Airey, Heart-ships, Middleman, Treecreeper, Post War Glamour Girls, Hannah Trigwell, Advances In Mathematics, Mi Mye, Louise Distras, St Gregory Orange, Crushed Beaks, Piskie Sits, KeelHer, Imp, Tiny Planets, Protectors, The Passing Fancy, The Do’s, The Fur Blend and The Tracks.

The feedback from 2011 was amazing; alongside massive improvements to Wakefield in general, including the opening of The Hepworth Gallery and Trinity Walk Shopping Centre, Long Division really showed how Wakefield has become a great place to visit. Long Division is super convenient with all venues being within a five minute walk of one another, and the bus and train stations. Rhubarb Bomb and The Hop’s dedication to supporting local DIY influenced artists shone through with the friendly, inclusive and passionate atmosphere that characterised the weekend.

Limited Early Bird tickets for the Saturday are available for £13 from Crash Records and Jumbo Records (subject to booking fee) and in person at The Hop, Wakefield.

Special one-off events will take place on the Friday and Sunday, details to follow shortly.

Press accreditation is now open. Please reply if you would like adding to our press list.

If you require any more information, don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Many Thanks,

Long Division Team

www.longdivisionfestival.co.uk

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Rhubarb Bomb

The Hop

John Cooper Clarke @ The Hop Review

2012-01-31T06:25:00.000-08:00

John Cooper Clarke

The Hop, Wakefield

19th October, 2011 *

*Apologies for the lateness here - this has just been discovered, lost, in a folder of a subfolder on a hardrive in a cupboard.

A slightly oddly arranged evening, with the support bands playing downstairs at The Hop and John Cooper Clarke next door at Fanny & Barcadi's (due to capacity issues at The Hop). But an interesting one too.

Post War Glamour Girls were first up. Fresh from enjoying their fantastic single 'Splitting Pearls' I was very keen to check them out live. The first surprise was the age of this lot; baritone Nick Cave groaning and beautiful, powerful female backing

had led me to the conclusion they were, shall we say mature? Yes, mature. Surprisingly then they are all rather youthful and fresh faced, which for anyone who hasn’t heard them, will be of no interest. A young band? Good Lord!

But for me, it made me love them even more. They are so different from what I now see to be their peers and it was great to see a big crowd down there for them. Sinister, crawling novellas and impressive waves of sound, considering they are a pretty traditional 4-piece. I want more!

John Cooper Clarke appeared on stage with just a mic, a lamp and a table of gin. Well, that and his book of poetry. I was intrigued to see what he would be like. I know about him, but little of him. Like fellow Mancs Peter Hook and Mark E Smith he was around at the birth of punk at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester. But would he be living off the past like Hooky or still pushing an individual furrow like Smith? As it happens; neither. It's hard to say since I wasn’t even alive back then, but I get the feeling that he is probably just STILL DOING THE SAME SET as he was 40 years ago.

He doesn’t wallow in the past by telling old stories. He is, surprisingly, a gag man, rapid fire 1 liners. Some are funny, no denying, even against my better judgement.

Some are very suspect. We are perilously close to actually collapsing the universe as it seems JCC is determined to return us to a WMC in the 1970's. I feel uneasy as one section starts with 'Bloody Gypo's eh?' to riotous applause. There are bits about Dyslexics. I’m not offended, it just seems real old skool. But the crowd, sycophantic to the core lap it up. It's funny to see some of them mouthing the words of his punk poetry to utter perfection.

Act aside, JCC is amiable though slightly wobbly on his feet. That'll be the endlessly flowing gin then. There's a warmth, and a slight absent-mindedness too that makes him seem quite sweet. Not the fiery, terrifying proposition I had expected and seemingly, not a cynical exercise in raking the past for some of that filthy lucre; more the wheeling out of an artifact, perfectly preserved. The museum piece rallies angrily and joyously for one more night.

And with the headliner out of the way, we head back to The Hop for the main support. Skint & Demoralised are an entity I have not come across for a long time. It's been an interesting journey over the last few years for Matt Abbott and one which I have followed from a distance. Tonight is the first time since the dual release of S&D albums 1 and 2 last month that I have seen the new lineup and they instantly impress. The spoken word stuff is now predominantly left to a billing of 'Matt Abbott' only. The light, 'Indie-Streets' vibe also seems to have been left behind. Tonight S&D are a muscular force of pent up energy, a raucous and shredding performance of character and passion. I enjoyed the fact they felt like a 'real' band, not a singer/songwriter and some brought in backing band. The tight stage helped, all 5 members battling for room and bouncing around one another.

It all feels like a much more appropriate setting for the kind of scenario's Matt writes about and he seemed to revel in it, giving much more of a engaging 'front man' performance. With the band already working on demos for a 3rd album, it really feels like they are riding a wave and on tonight's performance I hope they keep on riding it for a long time to come.

Dean Freeman

Hannah Trigwell 'Not Enough' Review

2012-01-27T08:02:00.000-08:00

Hannah Trigwell

'Not Enough'

How many times does a busker stop you in your tracks and demand your attention? Well, Hannah Trigwell’s story begins in this unlikely fashion; Leeds-born Hannah has achieved over 2.5 million views on her YouTube channel and she has supported Boyce Avenue, among and attracted attention from Radio 1 Introducing… among others over the past twelve months.

Her first single, Headrush, was released in April 2011 and it’s a beautifully rich statement of intent; ‘stripped back acoustic pop’ will be the label that follows her around if this is anything to go by, she has an engaging voice which can sound delicate and powerful at once.

Not Enough showcases her ability as a vocalist while Break your Fall drips with the pain of the heartbroken and creates a mood that is at once upbeat and yet tragic. Herein lies Trigwell’s talent: less is definitely more and the power of restraint she shows, to avoid the clichés and stick to the basics, is the hallmark of talent and understated quality in my opinion.

Don’t just take my word for it, on the 23^rd March 2012, she’s playing at Henry’s Bar in Wakefield. Whether you see her live, or visit http://www.hannahtrigwell.co.uk/music to have a listen, do have a listen. It will be time well invested!

Matt Rhodie

The Grand 'Harbour' Review

2012-01-25T12:14:00.000-08:00

Harbour

The Grand

Self Release

Wakefield three piece The Grand have released another impressive bout of powerful indie-pop having previously brought out a self-titled EP. There is obvious influence from bands like British Sea Power, however they have definitely put enough of their own stamp on the music to avoid sounding like a replica of anyone else. The EP opens with the understated title track which sounds like you could easily be at a harbour, the band then move into some much more bouncy pop music showing some good variety. On the more upbeat songs on the EP the lyrical content is sometimes less cheery giving out a good contrast. A lot of the beats on the latter tracks also have a 50’s and 60’s rock and roll feel brought into the modern day which really seems to work well. All six of the songs on the record are of good quality and if these first two EP’s are anything to go by any further recordings from The Grand will be highly anticipated.

Matt Hill

Soulmates Never Die "Dance Contest Winner" Review

2012-01-17T08:35:00.000-08:00

Soulmates Never Die

Dance Contest Winner

(Cowsnail Records)

Dance Contest Winner is the debut EP from Soulmates Never Die which is the solo project of Leeds based singer songwriter Josh Lewis. The five tracks are rife with a brand of anti-folk which seems to be a response to the recent influx of folk music into the mainstream. As a completely DIY project, Josh records and produces everything himself, bringing folk music to where it came from. All five of the songs are short and sweet, whilst containing both honest and humorous lyrics. Although there is open bitterness towards the change in folk music the songs still speak for themselves and come across really well. It could be interesting if Soulmates Never Die start receiving some attention whether the whole anti-establishment attitude can last, but hopefully he can do it on his own terms as this is a highly enjoyable EP in which the home made feel adds to it rather than taking any quality away.

Matt Hill

8 gigs that happened in Wakefield, in 2011

2012-01-15T15:57:00.000-08:00

I guess I should have got this list together for Christmas shouldn’t I? Or published it 00:01, Jan 1st. Clogged up the twitter feed – look at my list! Of things!

Yeah well, I was having some fun and taking it easy. But as I returned to work and a face full of tedium, looped and slowed to the pace of an ice age, I started thinking about some of the cool gigs that had happened in Wakefield over the last year. It’s not definitive, but it’s the ones that stick out in my mind. I think it shows what a cool and diverse range things have happened, if you bother to come out and give something different a try. So, in no particular order:

Metronomy

23rd April

The Hop

Part of the enjoyment here was that I got to help promoter Chris Morse out with general hosting skills. So, I helped serve up Morseys infamous slow cooked chilli to them out on the rooftop. I ran the merch stall too and got some records for my trouble. And on top of that I got to interview Marc Riley who’d popped over from Manchester to watch one of his favourite bands.

But the gig itself was great too. One of those great times when a band have clearly been booked just before a mass of praise and press has swept them way above the level that would usually come to Wakefield. The room was packed and well up for a good time. The band sounded so good and it was just a joyous night, probably the sweatiest night I’ve ever encountered in The Hop.

Darwin Deez

11th June

Mustangs

Obviously Long Division was a biggy for us. So many great bands, yet I can really only take everyone else’s word for it. The most I saw of any band was 2 or 3 songs, tops. The stand out moment for me was Darwin Deez in Mustangs. I mean, that alone is pretty mental in itself. What a strange clash of cultures, the NME cool list into Mustangs, home of the kind of people and crowds we actively work against.

But as I walked in, to witness choreographed dance moves I wandered what the hell we had done. I looked around and saw the joy on everyone’s faces, people moving around, smiling, laughing, clapping. It felt great, a sense of spectacle, a real event that we’d made happen in Wakefield. It felt special, and kinda summed up the joy I felt for Long Division as a whole. A great day.

Pylon

8th July

The Hop

SO LONG I had waited for this! Pylon split in 2007, cancelling their ‘last ever gig’ that year. I’d forgotten until I found an old poster the other day, but they were also meant to play a gig for me whilst I was promoting gigs in Leeds as Geek Pie a couple of months before. It had become a sad series of similar stories over that last 6 months. I had just wanted to see them ONE MORE TIME.

And so in July, we did. I guess it would be hard to appreciate if you didn’t love them the first time around, but I can honestly say, the family tree of Rhubarb Bomb and the bands it loves and supports can be traced all the way back to them. The gig itself was wonderful, every song a pop gem, the crowd bouncing and singing along. The ‘hits’ just kept coming. I don’t know how many times I can say this, but really, if you don’t know owt about Pylon GO LISTEN NOW, then come back, and we can talk properly.

Freschard / Stanley Brinks

28th September

The Hop

Their third time to Wakefield; the first due to On The Ride (Hooray!) and the second for Long Division. The third saw them play at The Hop as part of their european tour. It was a different kind of night, with tables, candles and chairs laid out in the upstairs room. It was a quiet one, but a great one too. It had something that a lot of the gigs their can lack; atmosphere. And a sense of occasion too. Stanley and Freschard were in good spirits; once again I popped upstairs to see them and found them eating Morseys chilli – they were thrilled. It’s nice when people are glad to be in Wakefield. This happiness came across in both their at ease sets, with sweet asides and it sticks in the memory for being a lovely SOCIAL evening, sat with friends, enjoying good music. Doesn’t happen as much as it should.

The Spills

28th October

Chantry Chapel

Launching their ace debut album ‘Occam’s Razor’, The Spills hosted a lovely evening at Wakefield’s hidden gem of a venue, Chantry Chapel. ‘Above Us The Waves’ were the best I’ve ever seen them and ‘Yard Wars’ (Mike Ainsley and Tim Metcalfe) played their first gig (I think…). But The Spills themselves were great and the whole night had a sense of occasion, camaraderie and community that seems to have been lacking in recent times. Rammed full, people singing the words back, and basically a wave of goodwill from audience to band. Everyone knows The Spills have been working so hard for so long – I think everyone was just so pleased that they repayed the faith by busting out a top notch album. The fact it was BYOB, and I brought plenty, might have helped too…

Zoey Van Goey

5th November

The Hop

Personal highlight for me. I love this band and have been to Scotland to see them a few a times, so it was lovely to get them down. They are such lovely people and it was great to once again play host and see people have fun visiting our city. The set was special too, with a remix, full on dance conclusion to the evening. As the audience left, we had our own Indie disco (about 8 of us), then went to Inns for a few more, called in at the Pie Shop, then back to ours til about 4am. Top night.

Spokes

28th March

The Hop

What do I recall about this? I’m not sure. I can’t even remember who the support band was. I just have a memory of sitting and watching Spokes, with about 7 other people at the end of the night. The crowd had vanished, as it often does at the end of a Hop night. But those who stayed saw wonderful understated set by a great band. One of those special moments when you feel you are ‘in on the secret’ whilst everyone else is off getting pissed and been stupid.

Mike Ainsley / Mi Mye

25th February

The Hop.

Now, this was A LONG TIME AGO. I might be getting confused. I know Mike Ainsley, launching his album, played a great set with a full backing band. A great set, another great atmosphere and sense of kinship. The part I’m not sure on is whether this was the first time I saw the newer Mi Mye lineup. I reckon it was. The first time we saw the 3 piece Mi Mye was a bit of a revelation. EVERYONE loved the old band. But ALMOST EVERYONE loved the new one a little more. It was emotional and personal and, well basically the songs shined.

Honorable mentions (i.e. I couldn’t make it)

Babies, Spills, Fur Blend

November 20th

The Hop

Reports informed me this was AMAZING, Spills on top form, Fur Blend outstanding and Babies, another great booking by Morsey.

The Lovely Eggs / Wave Pictures weekender

Dec 3rd / 4th

The Hop

On The Ride again! What a double whammy of a takeover. Bringing back some of the great bands from Long Division paid off with some cracking gigs.

Willy Mason

18th May

The Hop

Why didn’t I make it to this one?! I cant remember!

Glasvegas

26th March

Balne Lane WMC

Complete sellout gig, a great accomplishment. Great use of Balne Lane for another large scale gig. Well done Chris Morse.

Nick Toczek - "The Britanarchy EP" Review

2012-01-15T10:43:00.000-08:00

Nick Toczek and Threshold Shift-The Britanarchy EP (Not-A-Rioty)

Writer Nick Toczek has collaborated with Bradford based band Threshold Shift to release this riotous punk rock EP. The record is definitely high energy and lots of fun to listen to without exploring any new horizons within the genre. Despite not being particular innovative the band provide some good, simple and sun songs with Monkey Brain and Shitsong standing out the most. Nick Toczek and Threshold Shift have shown that music doesn’t always have to be new and exciting to be good as they have provided a fun record which is an enjoyable listen.

Matt Hill

Boxing Club "Bunch 'O' Fives" Review

2012-01-14T09:44:00.000-08:00

Boxing Club

Bunch ‘O’ Fives

12 Rounds Records

The first thing that grabs your attention about this EP from the Wakefield trio, Boxing Club, is how it’s been packaged as an old jukebox record giving it a nice retro look. The retro feel continues with their music as they provide some impressive blues inspired rock. The first two tracks, Bound by Design and Passing Through, are far more in your face with big riffs and some nice harmonies from the start. The final two tracks on the EP, Right on Trend and Scumbag, are more melodic but still carry the same energy as earlier songs on the record. Throughout the record the band have provided some infectious pop with opener Bound by Design standing out the most. With a forthcoming album out soon as well as impressive recordings such as this all the signs seem positive for Boxing Club.

Matt Hill

Marble Valley 'Breakthrough' Review

2012-01-09T05:06:00.000-08:00

Marble Valley

Breakthrough

Sea Records

Released back in October, this is the 4^th offering from Steve West (Pavement) and his long time ‘other’ band and it has been my soundtrack to the early part of this fledgling new year.

I had never come across this band before, but they were easy to like; from West’s laid back vocals to the catchy and insistent melodies, I found time passed quickly with this album playing. They have crafted a delicate collection of sonic landscapes that range from the country-tinged clear blue mountain lake of Sweet Compression and The Dan Map Experience to the rockier outcrops of Tokyo Hands and Groover, the lithe guitars of which demand one’s attention with their measured persistence. Even the seemingly Burns inspired ode to drinking, Chin Chin which closes the album, is alive with understated charm.

Lyrically, there’s some skill here as shown in the bittersweet, philosophical phrasing of Good Life, which laments that other than dying everything has been grand! Across the 13 songs on offer here there is a sense that attention to detail and an ear for a pun matter more than mainstream success, although the word pop isn’t one I would hesitate to level at this album at times and that is no insult. Compared to some of the music you will hear this year, this definitely deserves your attention!

Matt Rhodie

Tiny Planets - 'The Trick Is To Keep Breathing' Review

2012-01-06T05:20:00.001-08:00

Tiny Planets

The Trick Is To Keep Breathing

Philophobia Music

Recent explorations through the archives of Rhubarb Bomb led me to find a review of the first ever Tiny Planets gig, which took place on 5^th September, 2009. It was hotly anticipated as they shared members, including singer Craig Newman, with former Wakefield legends The Old House. Without wishing to speak for everyone in attendance, I think that peculiar pop brilliance held by The Old House WAS present, but it was also clear this was something different. At that time, it was hard to tell whether it was a step forward, or sideways, but was promising all the same.

Regardless, there was a definite desire for a record. A free demo and an appearance on a Philophobia Compilation aside, this is that first record. It may have taken along time, but now I hold it before me I am actually glad for the wait. For one, the band have slowly improved over the last 2 or so years. More importantly, the shadow of The Old House has long passed, allowing this to be judged completely on its own merits. So, with that in mind, I command you to delete this paragraph and the last from your brain and begin afresh.

‘The Trick Is To Keep Breathing’ is a 5 track EP by Wakefield alternative rockers Tiny Planets. Initially, it caught me off guard. I think I must stand far stage left at most gigs because my overriding memory from any Tiny Planets gig is the huge crunch of guitarist Ash’s looping squall bashing around my head and making it happy. With a few exceptions (‘I Was Born’) that is less to the forefront than I’d expected. What IS present though is some mighty fine songwriting, delivered with real skill and character.

Opener ‘Jetstreams’ is a great example of this; knowing when to sit back and let the story tell itself with relatively gentle movements, slight intonations in the guitar lines over direct, prowling beats showing utter confidence. The emotional swell bubbles under the surface, carefully released at key points. I guess what I’m saying is that it’s the smart way to rock the fuck out.

Craig’s distinct vocals are key here. He avoids lyrical clichés, but wraps his unlikely musings in the sweetest melodies, with a pinch of melancholy, and a side of optimism. I really connect with that voice; it works for me, but that’s different for everyone. What is clear, taste aside, is the fantastic way which the lead vocal and that lead guitar intertwine; a gorgeous and complimentary duet (‘Islands’ is a great example of this).

If you retrieve those first two paragraphs from your minds recycle bin, I will say that there is a certain ‘Old Wakefield’ vibe to this record, which is NOT to say it is looking backwards. It has charm in bucketloads and an untouchable sense of carefree enjoyment, just in its own existence. It is music for the love of music, the big group vocals of ‘Hardly At All’ and ‘The Trick Is…’ drawing that sense of community and friendship together in uplifting fashion.

But, I hate myself as I write these words. Why does this need to tie in to Wakefield? What has that got to do with it? With this EP, Tiny Planets showcase some things that I, personally, tie to Wakefield, but this has got fuck all to do with geography. It’s a masterful example of what it means to young and full of the joy of exploration; condensing the fleeting moments of wide eyed wonder into warming pop songs, with your friends alongside you. I love the feeling that it inspires in me and I love this record.

Dean Freeman

Free Christmas Records

2011-12-22T03:04:00.000-08:00

So this is Christmas? And what have done? Only gone and diluted an already over populated internet of endless tunes by endless numbers of bands with a whole new range of Christmas ‘free downloads’. It’s not like bands aren’t giving stuff away for free ANYWAY is it? But at Christmas it seems the nice thing to do.

I haven’t been able to blink on Twitter this year without someone else popping up offering me a new vaguely xmas themed EP or track, some hastily put together acoustic reinterpretation of a old carol or weird remoulding of a ‘modern classic’. But some have been great. So I made a list, like any good boy should at Christmas. All the ones below are free too, so don’t worry about breaking the bank. Just enjoy. As a side note, one that isn’t free, but I have enjoyed all the same is the great ‘Oh! What a Not So Silent Night Before Christmas’ by Aidan Moffat. Brilliant.

St Gregory Orange

Wakefield electro DOOM merchants get in the festive spirit by releasing a free 4 track EP. Ok, so officially it’s a re-release as these tracks were given away individually as MP3’s last year. But hey, you probably missed that right? And it’s not especially festive. But the songs here have featured heavily in their live set for the past year or so, meaning they are well worth getting hold of. Fans of their debut album ‘Things We Said In Bedrooms’ may be surprised by the directness here and this could well be an indication for their long awaited follow up, due in March.

The Birthday Kiss

The Birthday Kiss played their debut gig at Long Division back in June. How they get away with that? Well there’s some previous pedigree here; Sarah from The Research and Ben from The Lodger. Which should give you a fair indication of what to expect; some bloody good pop music. A title of ‘Sentimental Christmas Time’ completes the picture really; it’s a lovely piece of gentle, swinging songwriting, with Sarah’s sweet croon coming over like Mimi from Low, which is ace. Actually, whilst I think, if you’ve not heard the Low Christmas album, you should check that out too.

Napoleon IIIrd

As well as featuring on the Rhubarb Bomb xmas EP (see below), everyone’s favourite…erm… gosh, what the hell is he? Whatever, NapIIIrd has busted out a real banging Christmas tune here. It’s kind of ‘Deck The Halls’ as you know it, but not half as boring as that sounds. It’s huge! Rhubarb Bomb utterly adores Napoleon IIIrd, so I demand you go listen to this now.

Joyzine advent calendar

Wow. Now this is good. I came across this due to Rob Dee’s generous face hiding behind ‘22’ on the advent calendar. This charitble man has allowed download of SEVEN Philophobia Music tracks by several different bands. If his beard wasn’t so ginger I’d suspect he was Santa Clause. But further exploration of the calendar has revealed a whole heap of other festive treats by labels and artists equally obscure and fantastic. I’m not gonna spoil it; seeing what’s behind those doors is all the fun.

The Passing Fancy

Jolly Wakefield Folkster The Passing Fancy will find any excuse for a celebration. This year he released his Valentines single, but way back in 2008 he released ‘Christmas Time At Wrenthorpe Club’, an ode to his tradition of ending up down the local WMC, by way of various drunken disasters on Wakefield’s legendary drinking challenge; The Westgate Run. The physical copy long ran out, but this amusing, silly and entertaining tale can be downloaded for free from his Bandcamp.

Rhubarb Bomb

Hey look! Yes, we got into the Christmas spirit this year too, albeit rather begrudgingly. WAY back in 2007, under more cheery stewardship, Rhubarb Bomb released a 4 track EP, free within its pages. And it was brilliant. An absolutely top set of tracks from legendary, but now departed, Wakefield bands The Research and The Old House, plus two from the still going strong Mi Mye and Napoleon IIIrd. Surely it’s worth it alone for a track called ‘For Christmas I Got Pityriasis Rosea’?

PYT

Fellow Zine people PYT, this year newly relocated to Sheffield have released a Christmas treat in the form of a two track EP from Advances in Mathmatics, called Sad Xmas Present EP. Nicely described as the ‘first twee Post Rock band’ the EP is a pair instrumental pieces that weave beautiful paths without resorting to tons of distortion, just smart and organic harmonics, giving off a warm feeling like the atypical open log fire.

The Wind Up Birds

Finally! A simple ode to the poor buggers who have to work over Christmas. I get sick to death of the Facebook updates and Twitter tweets from mid December saying ‘Finished for Christmas!’. Though that’s coz too many of my friends are teachers I guess. The Wind Up Birds, in typically dour mood, but with pleasingly funny lyrics tell the other side of this story in a swaggering, rambunctious style, fitting of the circular grind of another dull Christmas party. It’s free, but if you choose to pay for the track it’ll all go to Barnardo’s.

Zoey Van Goey

I think regular readers will know we’re quite the fans of Glasgow’s Zoey Van Goey at Rhubarb Bomb. We had them down on Bonfire Night for an amazing gig and they’ll be back for Long Division in 2012. That short November tour was based around the release of a remix EP of tracks from their second album (which is popping up on A LOT of end of year lists). As they’ve now given all the physical copies away, the whole thing is now up on their bandcamp. For nothing! It’s not Christmassey. Not even slightly. But it’s bloody good. And haven’t you had enough of sleigh bells yet? I have. Wake me up when all the free Easter themed downloads arrive.

Dean Freeman

Imp - 'Sewerpop! How The Castle Was Stormed' Review

2011-12-19T05:10:00.000-08:00

Imp

Sewerpop! (How The Castle Was Stormed)

Philophobia Music

Imp are one of the oddest bands in Wakefield. I don’t think they’ll mind me saying that. Despite having seen them numerous times over the past… God, maybe 5 years, I still don’t ‘get’ them. By which I don’t mean I don’t like them, I mean simply don’t understand how they ‘are’.

Live, they are the ultimate expression of the runaway freight train; it MUST fall off the rails right? Any minute now, I’m sure of it. I don’t know how they write songs, they just seem to filter them into existence, each member playing their version of some half remembered childhood nursey rhyme. Or a vicious argument conducted in 5 different languages. The brilliance - and the reason most people cant take their eyes off them - is that it simply works, the perfect wall of reason at the centre of the storm.

Following on from last year’s ‘Just Destroyer’, which was a bit of a direction change, yet a positive one, ‘Sewerpop!’ sees Imp get their pop back. I thought that’d just be the PHOP hype machine churning me a line, but it’s spot on. ‘Just Destroyer’s instrumentals are gone and we are left with a sharp, urgent kaleidoscope of fractious battle to ponder over. The wandering guitar lines find their separate shapes, head out on explorative drives in country but make it back in time for the chorus. Drums and Organ hold it all together really, smart rhythms and lines. The vocals sound better than ever, the sweetly shouted hooks the horse in the glue that ties this band together.

‘The Timings All Wrong’ opens with some odd seaside soundscaping. Suggests they’ve gone real prog on us. But it’s just a warm up. The free flowing tempo and odd beats here break you in to the wandering dynamics across the record. ‘Back From Battle’ and ‘Sharkbay Nevermore’ are the beating core of this quick trip into Imp’s world. Generally, it’s a less riff-tastic record than the last, but better for it; instead a warm glow, a concise widescreen account, a smiling room, a lost letter found.

As with the music, it’s hard to tell what is going on with the lyrics, the ideas, the themes (if there are any) seem to wash over, leaving more of an impression than a firm idea. I think that is what Imp excel at. They are a pop band; the dirtiest most disturbed pop band, that tie the oblique and the half-seen, the half caught conversation and the swamping drunken declaration in a direct and sumptuous package. They don’t do it by stepping into our world, taking a look around and spewing out a reply; it is purely on their terms. You must go to them and step inside their minds. I cant recommend that, admittedly terrifying prospect, highly enough. Sewerpop! Is the best thing they’ve done thus far, though I’ve still honestly no idea ‘what’ it is they’ve done, let alone ‘how’.

Dean Freeman

Post War Glamour Girls - Suburban Barbarian Review

2011-12-16T06:05:00.000-08:00

Post War Glamour Girls

Suburban Barbarian

Sturdy Records

Suburban Barbarian, the second single from the Post War Glamour Girls is available now; but the question is, do witty vocals and shimmery, twanging guitars do the trick? Of course, the answer is yes; this has the feel of having been crafted over many a late night singalong and who could complain about that!

The mix of male and female vocals adds to the rich, slowly building air of menace as the track reaches its crescendo and the mood they conjured up in my head is of a scene from Rebel Without A Cause if it had been set in Yorkshire- all leather jackets, girls with dyed black bobs, lipstick stained cigarette ends and spilt coffee in a greasy spoon caff, but that might just be me…

The band is only just a year old but Leeds based Sturdy records have already seen the act receive praise for their first offering, a double-A side single ‘Ode To Harry Dean / Spitting Pearls’ released in October. They’ve got one live show left this year, at the Head of Steam in Newcastle on the 17^th of December, so if you can’t make it there, get over to www.postwarglamourgirls.bandcamp.com and have a listen for yourself.

Matthew Rhodie

Hymms - Cardinal Sins / Contrary Values Review

2011-12-16T05:59:00.000-08:00

Hymms - Cardinal Sins / Contrary Values

Another day, another duo! I was lucky enough to see Hymns live in the Bowery during the Tramlines Festival in Sheffield- heard of it? Small town near Rotherham? No?- this summer and they impressed with their range then as they do now on their double album Cardinal Sins / Contrary Values which builds a sense that any one of these tracks could be on the advert for the impending apocalypse. If, of course, you believe the Mayans!

Samuel Manville and Peter Reisner craft vocals, guitar and drums into an engaging garage rock meets classical meets some sort of cinematic soundtrack, but it works here, maybe more than in the flesh if I’m totally honest. The production is smooth and accents the strengths of each track without allowing one element to dominate, the guitars soar from delicate to brash and Hymns always manage to squeeze more out of it than you might reasonably expect two blokes from the midlands to manage. Worth a listen and another chance live.

Matthew Rhodie

The Do's 'Quick Fix' Review

2011-12-04T12:08:00.000-08:00

The Do’s

Quick Fix

Self released

This year, it seems that some of the most interesting bands I’ve seen live have been two-piece outfits who manage to create walls of sound from a drum kit, a guitar and a couple of voices.

The Do’s are one such combo, consisting of Elliot Oldroyd on guitar/vocals with Matthew O’Leary on drums/vocals they manage to create an interesting mix of light and shade. Quick Fix sees them open with a grunge dynamic that then relaxes into a confident slice of fuzzy guitar-driven riffing which is all good clean fun. Leave This All Behind comes in like McLusky passed them the rulebook for killer intros and never fails to please.

Between the insistent rhythm and understated vocals this Wakefield duo hit the mark and for a first outing, this free download, available from: http://thedos.bandcamp.com/ left me hoping to stumble into a boozer on a cold winter night and catch them live. You can do just that on the 11^th December at the Inns of Court and on 23^rd December at The Hop.

Matthew Rhodie

Rhubarb Bomb Christmas EP

2011-11-30T06:50:00.000-08:00

Hey!

December arrives tomorrow and with it the countdown to yet another xmas. Under my stewardship of Rhubarb Bomb i have carefully avoided any mention of the C-word these past few years because my feelings towards it are somewhat tainted. I recall an RB issue before my time had a message on the cover that ran 'It's Cliched to be Cynical at Christmas' which i liked, because it's probably true. But Christmas doesnt mean much to me because im always working. I dont mind; someone has to. But i dont get that excited about time off, drinking with friends and kicking back because that just doesn't happen for me.

HOWEVER! Just because my Christmas may suck (which it wont, it will simply be on Boxing Day instead) it doesn't mean that Rhubarb Bomb doesn't wish you a very Happy Christmas. So, as an early Christmas present to get you in the mood, we have re-released our very VERY limited edition EP as a free download through Bandcamp.

The 'Winter EP' was originally hidden away inside copies of Issue 5, released in Dec 2007. It featured some of Wakefield's most highly regarded bands of that time, namely The Research, Mi Mye, Napoleon IIIrd and The Old House. Unsurprisingly, given that lineup, the record still sounds great. Far too good to be gathering dust on a few peoples shelves. So with the very kind permission of the bands, we are re-releasing it.

I am not 100% sure, but i dont think these recordings are available anywhere else. And of course The Research and The Old House are no longer with us. Mi Mye and Napoleon IIIrd most certainly are and you will find links to more of their work on the Bandcamp.

The record is Name Your Price. As it was free before, we thought it should be free now. But if you DO decide to pay something, i can tell you it will go directly into maintaining Rhubarb Bomb and thus helping to support Wakefield music as a whole. We hope you enjoy!

Dean Freeman

DOWNLOAD HERE

Exclusive Post Reunion Pulp Interview

2011-11-29T06:26:00.000-08:00

November 15th

Showroom Cafe

Sheffield

Thanks to the ineptitude of Northern Rail, I arrive at the Showroom Cafe in Sheffield an agonising 15 minutes late. It’s been a 2 and a half hour journey from my house in Wakefield and all had run smoothly, until I got about 500 yards from the station at which point the train decided to stop, and refused to move for a good half hour. As if I wasn’t nervous enough; this meeting had taken over a year to set up and the interviewee was (allegedly) notoriously media unfriendly. Would he even bother waiting for me to turn up?

Cut. Almost a year to the day previously I had returned from holiday in Japan to the news that Pulp had reformed. I was thrilled; perhaps slightly more than most, as prior to my embarkation I had arranged an interview with guitar / violin player Russell Senior. Before the announcement, no one was really that interested in Pulp anymore – despite how most periodicals tried to rewrite the fact after the event. They were well regarded, of course, the general view being that history now declares them as one of the only credible bands to emerge from / survive Britpop. But the mountains of work they compiled either side of that momentous non event? Barely a blip.

And not even the fans expected it. I certainly didn’t when I devised a run of articles for Rhubarb Bomb which would focus on their 1994 release ‘The Sisters EP’, a personal favourite of mine. I was only 17 when they released their final album, ‘We Love Life’, yet I spent most of my university years hunting down their more obscure releases, with especial fondness for ‘His n Hers’ era electro pop gems and those disintegrating descents into ‘This Is Hardcore’ despair.

‘The Sisters EP’, released between His N Hers and Different Class was, for me, a perfect moment in their history. It was everything I wanted it to be. It mixed the dark, desperate vicious nature of ‘Razzmatazz’ with the stretched, slightly sinister pop structures they had found success with on His N Hers. It was the Jarvis of ‘Deep Fried In Kelvin’ and ‘Inside Susan’ honed down to a white hot razor of indignation and exasperation. The music was heavy, emotionally heavy. Most of their work had light and dark, moments of wit and sarcasm amongst the dissections of ‘ordinary people’s lives’, yet ‘The Sisters EP’ was what I wanted; for them to push that darker side even further with no submissions, no backing out, no joke at the end to lighten the mood. That it was wrapped in a perfect pop package made it all the better. Genius.

And so the plan was to try and meet each member who played on the EP (Jarvis Cocker, Candida Doyle, Steve Mackay, Nick Banks & Russell Senior) in turn and try and find out what made that particular record so special. That the record is rarely mentioned in interviews or critical appraisals made it all the more exciting to me and I thought it might be something they would go for; no questions about Common People or Brit Award ceremonies. Something only a ZINE would cover.

Naturally, the dramatic cycle of the articles would mean Jarvis would have to be last. But who would I try speak to first? I chose Russell. He left Pulp after Different Class and is regarded as the more… militant member of the band. Full of ideology with a thirst for experimentation. As my good friend Rob Dee said as we watched them at Hyde Park this summer ‘You’ve got to have a cool fucker on guitar haven’t you?’ So that was Russell; ‘the cool fucker’. He was also furthest from the band and I thought I would have the best chance of hooking up with him.

So in September 2010 I got in touch. To my great surprise he was more than happy for a meet up. Initially we couldn’t find the right time; trips away, bouts of flu getting in the way. Then, towards the end of October it looked like we had it. But then I received an intriguing email.

He told me that if I needed to get the interview done ‘soonish’ it would have to be via email. However, if I could wait a couple of weeks we could hook up in Sheffield and speak in person. Tantalisingly, I was told it’d be ‘worth the wait’.

So naturally I waited and flew off to Japan. Upon hearing the reformation news I was excited, yes, that one of my favourite bands was back together. I was surprised too that Russell was part of it. But I couldn’t help it – inevitably it crossed my mind; did I have some kind of massive scoop here? Would I have the first interview with a member of the reformed Pulp? Or did this mean the interview was off? I was a heavy mix of emotion, but it’s those kinds of moments the zine writer lives for, I reckon.

Cut back to November 2011. It may have taken me 2 and a half hours to get here today, but this interview's been nearly a year in the making. As it turned out, Pulp as a whole decided there would be no interviews at all. Russell had hoped they would speak exclusively to small fanzines akin to Rhubarb Bomb. But the band vetoed the idea. They wanted to maintain an air of mystery. If you wanted to experience it, you’d have to come to the shows. Russell was apologetic when breaking the news, but did promise when it had all blown over, he would still meet with me. So after a year, surely another 15 minutes wouldn’t make any difference?

I fall through the front door of ‘The Showroom’ and glance around. I see a few tables taken but don’t spot Russell. I begin walking up to the counter when I get a wave from the back of the room. He’s there waiting patiently as I walk over. ‘I’d recognise a fanzine writer anywhere’ he says and I sit down, shaking and slightly out breath. But I’d made it.

Dean Freeman

The full interview between Russell and Rhubarb Bomb will appear in Issue 3.1, due to be released at the end of February. Follow RB on Twitter / Facebook for updates, if you are that way inclined.

Constellations 2011 Review

2011-11-24T08:10:00.000-08:00

Constellations Festival

Leeds University

November 12th 2011

So Constellations returns for a second year. Last year I made it through Runaround Kids' set before going to home to spend the following week in bed with Flu. I missed a good do by all accounts so i've got high expectations for this year.

Things don't begin especially well as i arrive in time to catch the last twenty five seconds of Hookworms in the alcohol free Riley Smith Hall. Bugger. I then make my way to Mine to check out Outfit. I wish I hadn't bothered. They do nothing for me, seem a bit dull and pedestrian and each song bleeds unrecognisably into another. The beer soaked copy of The Independent on the table soon becomes more appealing.

Back To Riley Smith Hall for Zulu Winter who I know nothing about but think their name is good. They don't sound as good as their name but they do a similar thing to Outfit in a more interesting way. I reckon they probably sound better on record though. Staying in the Riley Smith Hall for Islet. I've been looking forward to seeing these again since they were a highlight at Leeds Festival in the summer. And they don't disappoint. They are quite frankly awesome. I don't suppose you can really say they have structured songs as such which lets face it doesn't matter. Their playfulness and experimentation finally fully gets the day going for me. Perhaps understandably they appear to polarise opinion in the crowd and that really is always a good thing.

Needs to be something good after that, and I could probably do with checking out some of the other venues in this festival. Well wow look at that Stephen Malkmus is on inexplicably early. Surely he should be headlining right? Apparently not and it doesn't matter really does it? I guess it goes without saying working closely with so many bands who have Pavement deeply embedded in their DNA and never having got to see Pavement myself, I was really looking forward to this. Unfortunately I'm not as familiar with The Jicks material so can't sing along even though I feel like doing so. I probably ought to rectify this as I really enjoy the whole set. I would have done so even if he hadn't dedicated a song to the people of Wakefield.

After you've watched the real thing there doesn't seem to be much point in watch a pretender straight afterwards. That's a little unfair as I have enjoyed them earlier in the year and Get Away was one of my favourite songs of the summer. But it's hardly a fair slot to put them in. So anyway, I don't watch Yuck. Instead I head back to Mine for Vondelpark. Interesting ambient atmospheric stuff for sure, very soothing, I like what I hear but I head back to Riley Smith Hall again in time for The Antlers.

After the disappointment of no 'Hospice' material in their festival set during the summer, I was at least prepared but still hopeful of a 'Two' or 'Epilogue'. They didn't make an appearance but the 'Burst Apart' material has become familiar to me now and I don't miss the older songs too much now. After seeing a couple of bands not quite getting atmospheric quite right, The Antlers are a joyous sight (sound, surely) to me. It's a perfect ending to the day for me, anything after that will only be an anticlimax for me. So; taking into consideration I've already missed a good portion of Wild Beasts due to Riley Smith Hall running further and further behind as the day progressed; I decide to leave. I've done better than last year after all.

Rob Dee

Wilco - 'The Whole Love' Review

2011-11-23T04:07:00.000-08:00

The Whole Love

Wilco

dBpm Records

During their career Wilco have been perceived by many as a contrary bunch, shifting stylistically between albums and line-ups; this stigma is one that frontman Jeff Tweedy has been eager to dismiss whenever the subject of his integrity has come into question, rather he wishes to be perceived purely as a songwriter who is interested in one thing; the song, and how best to serve it. And so when Wilco delivered their 4th studio LP to Reprise Records in 2001, the radio-listener conscious major label decided to pass, deeming the record too difficult to market, dropped the band and sent them on their way. As it happened Yankee Hotel Foxtrot proved to be the bands most successful effort yet, allowing them to drop their Alt. Country poster boy image, paving the way for the band who was to be labeled "America's answer to Radiohead". Fast forward 10 years, and the revolving door of band members seems to have jammed shut with their finest line up yet. Their live shows have bloomed into an all encapsulating experience covering material from nearly all of their previous records (see the brilliant live DVD "Ashes of American Flags"). Sadly this newly founded confidence hasn't always worked well in the studio. That's not to say they have produced bad records, it just seems to me the band were still testing the water, but now with their new self-produced record (and the first released on their own newly formed record label dBpm) Wilco sounds like a band finally firing on all cylinders.

The album's opener 'Art of Almost' is the only track on offer here that really delves into the crazy world of the electronic freak out that has been explored on previous records. Kinetic buzzes, bleeps and glitches flow alongside the rock solid rhythm section of Glenn Kotche on Drums and bassist John Stirratt, who delivers one of the dirtiest, and dare I say it, funkiest bass lines ever committed to a Wilco record. Tweedy croons over the chaos with his cut-up lines and phrases, while guitarist Nels Cline intermittently cuts through the din with chord stabs and arpeggios. Just as the song comes to it's conclusion it starts up again, this time paving the way for the biggest guitar freak out since Sky Blue Sky's 'Impossible Germany', only a hell of alot louder and faster.

After the aural onslaught of the opening track Wilco slide into the acoustic groove of the album's first single 'I Might', this song most of all shows off the talents of this band as a whole and as individuals. Mikael Jorgensen's chirpy hammond organ bounces along side Tweedy's effervescent acoustic work and another brilliant bass line from Stirratt, Cline's sinewy, distorted slide guitar adds the vinegar to this otherwise bubblegum sweet pop number, and much like Johnny Greenwood's chain-saw-buzz-stops in 'Creep', sets this song alight.

The ethereal 'Sunloathe' follows, with Pat Sansone taking the lead on piano while the rest of the band provide a swathe of dream like sound washes and prepared percussion until the 2 minute mark when the drums strike up and Cline's 12 string guitar drops in. There's more than a hint of Sgt. Pepper here, especially in the Lennon/McCartney styled backing harmonies and unusual chord patterns.

'Dawned On Me' possesses the album's first toe-tapping, head nodding, gem of a chorus, with Tweedy professing "I can't help it if I fall in love with you again, I'm calling just to let you know it dawned on me." With it's lush arrangement, instrumentation and heartfelt lyrics this track oozes summer sun and is enough to carry anyone through the coming wintry months.

'Black Moon' takes the album down a step, with a finger picked, country tinged number, complete with sweeping strings and pedal steel guitars, Tweedy delivers a near whisper through the track asking "I'm waiting for you, waiting forever, are you awake now too?".

We're back in sunshine territory now with "Born Alone", again we're carried along through the verse by Tweedy's upbeat vocals and another toe-tapping back beat from Kotche, until the instrumental refrain which sees Nels Cline rioting through a sugar sweet guitar riff until the song ultimately culminates in the band blasting it's way through an ever descending power chord assault.

Once again the band returns to it's country roots with 'Open Mind', Tweedy delivering heart warming lines such as "I could base my whole existence upon the cherry strands of your gold hair".

The next track 'Capitol City' is a bit of an odd one stylistically, even for Wilco. This is a jolly, jazz inflected ditty, replete with the odd Grandaddy style arpeggiator and some barber shop backing vocals thrown in for good measure, immediately standing out and yet fitting perfectly with the albums constant dynamic shift.

Following that 'Standing O' blasts into action with all guitars blazing, in many ways it's very similar to the other more upbeat numbers on the album, in that it features familiar key board punches and Nels Cline rips it up throughout but it still manages to hold itself with Tweedy's penchant for a strong melody, culminating in another huge sing-along chorus.

'Rising Red Lung' is another finely tuned acoustic number, again showcasing the band's unnerving ability to create dramatic sound collages, while Tweedy once again in a near whisper delivers more of his trademark quasi cut-up lyrics: "I want a wig that's been blown by something unknown, buried under a mile of snow."

The album's title track 'Whole Love' slips back into the groove with swung acoustic guitars, shimmering lead lines and Tweedy doubling up his vocals in whispered baritone and cracked falsetto simultaneously, resulting in a group vocal refrain chanting on the song's title, before the band are granted another psychedelic wigout; this one far removed from the opening track boasts delicately tumbling drums, sweeping synths and pitch-twisted guitar lines echoing throughout as the song quietly resolves.

'One Sunday Morning' continues the album's theme of alternating between upbeat songs and slower, acoustic numbers, only this time Tweedy's acoustic strumming is backed up fully by the band with Kotche providing a brushed snare (complete with egg shaker), Sansone back on piano duties (and a spattering of glockenspiel), while Nels Cline manufactures lap-steel like shimmers on his guitar (according to the sleeve notes Mikael Jorgensen provides 'wavetable scrubbing'...? Whatever the hell it is, it's working). The song flourishes into an almost ambient middle section before starting up again instrumentally; pockets of warm free form noise rise up and float along and then drop again until after nearly 12 minutes the song, and the album, fades out.

Wilco are a band I've know about for a long time, but I hadn't really given them much attention until this past year or so (in which time I've devoured all the albums, watched the DVD's, read the book and now I'm about to delve into their bewildering world of side projects), and so this is as a result my first ever brand new Wilco release, one that I'm hearing and holding in my hands for the first time alongside everyone else who has bought into the band over the years. It's a great feeling to finally catch up with a band, and for that matter catch up with a loyal fanbase that have followed them since the beginning. The feeling is made all the better for knowing that this really is the band's best album since YHF, and I can feel justified in pestering everyone I know into listening to it.

Harry Rhodes

Damnation Festival Review

2011-11-21T06:33:00.000-08:00

Damnation Festival

Leeds University

5th November 2011

If you went to Damnation Festival on the strength of my preview then I better get my apologies in nice and early. Of the four bands I highlighted only two delivered full sets. To use betting parlance Decapitated were a non-runner, which is quite understandable given that they were onboard this flight only days before:

Cerebral Bore whilst still running, were very much a three legged horse, with the absence of vocalist Som forcing them to take the Terrorizer stage as an instrumental trio. Three, it seems, was the not so magic number as that’s the amount of songs they performed, in a set that was no where near as long as the increasingly tedious preceding sound check. Whilst the band undoubtedly garnered respect from the audience for soldiering on and playing, they were already running late when they commenced their curtailed set. Perhaps they should have just jumped in at the deep-end with little in the way of a sound check, for whilst their death metal is extremely technical, as a three piece everything punched through the PA clearly as opening number, ‘The Bald Cadaver’, testified.

A Man Called Catten fortunately arrived with vocalist Paul Catten present and correct, surely a name change would have been required were he absent. “Are you ready for some nineties rock? I’m sure we can satisfy your needs.” Catten stated prior to commencing a set of songs from the band that initially brought him to the attention of the music world, Medulla Nocte. Curiously the crowd in the room had thinned out somewhat, despite there being quite a buzz surrounding the prospect of Catten plundering the albums ‘A Conversation Alone’ and ‘Dying From The Inside’ prior to the event.

In terms of reminding the audience of Medulla Nocte’s work the set was a success, I found myself reminded of early Deftones at points, although with the exception of ‘All Our Friends Are Dead’ being single of the week/month in Kerrang! and Metal Hammer, the band never enjoyed the high profile of their American contemporaries such as Chino et al. What was missing were some of the more physical elements of a Medulla Nocte gig in the nineties (I once saw original drummer Jammer, a man weighing over 20 stone, get up from behind his kit and punch an idiot in the crowd at a gig), although Catton did perform a ‘blink and you missed it’ back-flip.

Upstairs on the Jagermeister stage Illuminatus were a disappointment. Having not seen them since 2004 their sound was always likely to have evolved, but in my opinion not for the better. Back then I was a massive fan of their Anathema influenced ‘Aborted Revolutions’ EP, which I had purchased on the strength of their set at Bloodstock 2003. They even still use some of my praise for that live show in the press section of their website. Having dropped their keyboard player in the interim the remaining members have gone for a beefed up sound that never really connected with me. Julio Taylor’s stage banter didn’t help matters, with a series of unsubtle shouts of ‘Damnation!’ and the f-word leaving me wondering if this was the same band I had seen all those years ago. Depressingly, with the exception of a new bassist, it was.

Unlike Illuminatus I’ve never really cared much for Turisas and the ‘Battle Metal’ genre they sing of, but I’ll give them their dues they were one of the few bands on the Jagermeister stage who manage to get to grips with the unforgiving nature of The Refectory (A venue I rank as one of Leeds’ worst). It’s quite possible that the numbers watching them had been swelled by Manowar fans still in town after their gig at Leeds Academy the night before. ‘Stand Up And Fight’ went down a storm with the crowd, many of whom had adopted the band’s image (A cross between classic WWF tag-team Legion Of Doom and Mad Max II). By the end of the set frontman Mathias Nygard had the crowd, putty like, in the palm of his hands, splitting the audience in two, with one half chanting ‘Battle’, the other ‘Metal’, prior to the band commencing their closing number. A success all told, and the band didn’t even have to resort to their cover of Boney M’s ‘Rasputin’.

Local heroes Evile’s set saw them alternating between songs from the freshly released ‘Five Serpents Teeth’ and their ‘Enter The Grave’ debut. It’s an approach that generated something of a wave effect in terms of the crowd’s reaction. The title track of their new album is unfamiliar to me, and it seemed much of the crowd, not quite hitting the spot. ‘Killer From The Deep’ rose out of the waters and led to the first serious skirmishes in the mosh-pit. ‘Eternal Empire’ employed a slow-burning intro, akin to mid-period Slayer, before kicking up a gear in true thrash style. The four-piece then raid ‘…The Grave’ again, with frontman Matt Drake getting the crowd to ad-lib the chorus of ‘We Who Are About To Die’, for me this moment, more than any other during the set confirmed that Evile have the staying power to really go onto bigger things. Yes, in Ol Drake they have one hell of a lead guitarist, but I’m sure I’m not alone in being more drawn towards his brother’s down to earth rapport with the fans.

It certainly seems there’s no shortage of prospective member willing to join the band’s ‘Cult’. Having checked out the video (Which has had over 60,000 views in just over two months on YouTube) this was the new cut I was anticipating the most. It was inevitable they would play ‘Thrasher’ (Now over a million views on YouTube!!!), but thankfully, despite garnering a massive reaction in the pit, it didn’t herald the end of their set. ‘Infected Nations’ may not be the finale some were hoping for, I’m sure many were hankering for something else from their debut, but to me it made perfect sense. Despite the death of original bassist Mike Alexander early in the touring cycle for said album, Evile really earned their stripes whilst promoting ‘Infected Nations’ and it seems they are finally getting to enjoy the fruits of their labour.

Grand Magus excelled in the great outdoors the last time I witnessed them live. Today they are another band who fall victim to the curse of the Refectory. The room was perhaps only half full when they took to the stage, and despite charismatic frontman JB’s attempts to get the crowd to sing along to the likes of ‘Silver Into Steel’ the atmosphere was somewhat flat. The classic metal drama of ‘Shadow Knows’ (Always a house favourite when I shared a flat) is a highlight of the trio’s set and even the security guard on the balcony is nodding his head in time to ‘Iron Will’, but through no fault of their own today was a case of merely Good Magus.

Due to the running order on the Terrorizer stage being thrown out of the window as soon as Cerebral Bore started late I didn’t catch as many bands down there as I would have hoped. For me the Stylus venue is the heart of Damnation. That it was the main room at last year’s event contributed a lot to the great atmosphere. Unfortunately today’s proceedings never quite live up to the memories of 2010.

With this in mind a conscious decision to catch some of Doom was made, that’s Doom the crust band, not the Radiohead collaborator just in case you’re wondering Bomb readers. They played to a packed room and the d-beats never let up, making for an intense set that was well worth the descent into the University’s bowels.

Ascending back upstairs, I witnessed Godflesh manage to ratchet the intensity levels up even higher than Doom. Much of this is down to the volume of their drum machine; even with earplugs in it was punishing my hearing! In fact after a while it begins to feel like a full body assault and I actually made a conscious decision to leave the hall. It seems it was equally intense for Godflesh mainman Justin Broadrick, who had obviously worked up quite a sweat and was bemoaning the lack of towels onstage.

Prior to headliner Devin Townsend we were treated to some home movie antics, courtesy of his warped mind. In some ways they were reminiscent of the skits Ozzy Osbourne used as an intro to his gigs around the late nineties, in which the double-O inserted himself into clips from films such as Titanic; witness Devin in Star Wars for example. But then he ups the ante somewhat, with a series of clips revolving around his own creation Ziltoid The Omniscient, somehow I can’t imagine “Sharon” letting Ozzy make a concept album revolving around an alien in search of the ultimate cup of coffee any time soon. At the conclusion of this rather bizarre build up Devin has The Venga Boys “The Venga Bus Is Coming” played over the PA, before he appears, cheap shiny suit and all, goading the crowd “If you’re too cool for the Venga Boys, get the fuck out of here!”

What follows is a master class from Devin in how to walk the fine line between the sublime and the ridiculous. I can’t think of any other artist successfully convincing people to part with £15 for a glove puppet, before demanding “Let me see those Ziltoids” and garnering a response that suggests 75% of the audience bought one.

Musically the set leans heavily on the aforementioned ‘Ziltoid’ album and ‘The Devin Townsend Project’ quartet of albums. Although Devin goes right back to his early solo career for set opener ‘Truth’ and it’s a pleasure to hear ‘Bad Devil’, both from his ‘Infinity’ album. When Devin played ‘Supercrush’ from the ‘Addicted’ album he perfectly lambasted the sort of uninspired, expletive reliant, banter that Illuminatus’ Julio had employed earlier in the day. “Do you want to hear something from Addicted? I can’t hear you, anybody want to hear some fucking Addicted shit! Put your arse out to the right whenever you say that.” This song did highlight one of the only downsides of the Devin live experience though, namely that not all of his expansive sound can be performed live, with Anneke Van Giersbergen’s vocals being pre-recorded. Following this ‘Juular’ is yet another example of how diverse Devin’s output is, combining extreme metal with the sensibilities of a musical highlight from a Tim Burton film. Throughout the set the visuals behind the band underline Devin’s own cinematic ambitions, although in truth it’s always the slightly low budget, tongue in cheek videos that work best, with the camp comic strip shenanigans of ‘Vampira’, coming hot on the heels of Halloween, working as a perfect encore.

ANDREW WHITTAKER

Damnation Festival Preview

2011-10-31T05:55:00.000-07:00

Damnation Festival

November 5th

Leeds University

As alluded to in our preview of Constellations, the festival goer need no longer go into hibernation with the end of summer. You won’t find this particular creature mistakenly taking shelter under an unlit bonfire, which unwittingly becomes their funeral pyre. In fact you won’t find me anywhere near a bonfire on the 5th of November as I’ll be making the trip over to Leeds for this year’s instalment of Damnation festival. Where for £29 you can take your pick from three stages worth of heaviness.

Now entering its fifth year in Leeds, the festival originally began life over the Pennines in Manchester in 2005. Yours truly was lucky enough to play the inaugural event and am more than happy to report that it has very much gone from strength to strength ever since.

Damnation’s organisers have managed to score some impressive coups over the years, Carcass’ first re-union show on home soil in 2008 being an obvious contender. This year sees a plethora of bands who, as with Carcass, have called the legendary Earache Records home. The labels MOSH catalogue numbers grace the spines of much of my CD collection so let’s have a look at their Damnation bound alumni.

Influential Brummie industrialists Godflesh are playing only their second British gig of 2011. Having initially reformed for France’s Hellfest in 2010, they have played only a handful of gigs since, so this is likely to be your only chance to catch them in the near future. Much to the credit of the organisers Damnation largely avoids repeat bookings, one of the pitfalls that frequently lead to the feeling of déjà vu at major outdoor festivals.

Currently one of Earache’s highest profile acts, Huddersfield’s Evile are the only band on this year’s bill to have graced Damnation’s stage previously, and back in 2006 they were still unsigned. In the interim they have released three albums through the Nottingham label and have also had to contend with the tragic death of bassist Mike Alexander whilst on tour in 2009. With the band’s career trajectory unlikely to see them returning to Wakefield’s Snooty Fox anytime soon and hometown gigs a rarity this is an excellent opportunity to see the band on a West Yorkshire stage.

Poles Decapitated are another band who have managed to bounce back from the death of a member. Seeing them open for grind super group Lock Up at Bradford Rios in 2000 now seems like another lifetime. At the time brothers Waclaw ‘Vogg’ and Witold ‘Vitek’ Kieltyka were still in their teens, but they managed to blow the audience away with tracks from their Earache debut ‘Winds Of Creation’. Sadly, Vitek was killed in a tour bus accident in 2007, whilst Decapitated’s then vocalist Adrian ‘Covan’ Kowanek was left severely injured. It was only in 2009 that Vogg announced his plans to assemble a new line-up and this will be their first UK date since the release of their album ‘Carnival Is Forever’.

With Decapitated now signed to German heavyweight label Nuclear Blast it’s down to Scots Cerebral Bore to represent Earache’s current crop of death metal acts. I’ve only caught the band once before, when a larger than life lady supplied guest guttural vocals. Slightly more slim line Simone ‘Som’ Pluijmers, who hails from Holland, is now the band’s permanent front-woman.

For details of the rest of the bill and ticket information head to www.damnationfestival.co.uk

Andrew Whittaker

Constellations Festival Preview

2011-10-21T07:50:00.000-07:00

Constellations Festival

November 12th

Leeds University

As readers of RB will know, we are very keen in supporting festivals that offer something unique; wonderful memory generators. With summer sadly far behind us, the end of year period was once a long hard slog up til xmas… but not these days. One of the reasons to stay merry is the excellent Constellations Festival which, after a roaring success last year secured its place on RB’s ‘must go to’ list.

This year sees Constellations score a massive scoop by booking Stephen Malkmus (Pavement), which in itself will come close to warranting the £30 or so entry fee. Elsewhere, Yuck and Wild Beasts promise great things aswell as smaller but equally exciting prospects, such as Spectrals, Vessels and Ringo Deathstarr. Some of the bands on the lineup are new to RB but judging by the company they are keeping, it should be a day to remember.

And the Exhibition Hall will be expanded from last year to include a load more interesting diversions. Well, diversions is unfair, with WARP Films no less working with Constellations, it may well eclipse the main event. Specially commissioned works, a pop up cinema and the chance to purchase some unique art sounds like a winner to us

As well as all that, there are several pre-fest shows in the days leading up. Check the website for details, but Los Campesinos! at The Cockpit and a couple of Brudenell shows should certainly whet your appetite.

Constellations really does offer something different. The lineup is a spot on mix of leftfield big names and quirky unknown curios that are surely destined to make their way to the top of your Christmas list. More details can be found on their website

Dean Freeman

http://constellationsfestival.com/

Post War Glamour Girls Debut Single, Review

2011-10-10T03:16:00.000-07:00

Post War Glamour Girls

Spitting Pearls / Ode To Harry Dean

Sturdy Records

Post War Glamour Girls formed around a year ago in Leeds and this is their debut single on Sturdy Records, also home of The Wind Up Birds.

It’s always a good start when 30 seconds in I’m thinking; there’s nothing else on my ‘to review’ pile that’s going to sound like this. ‘Spitting Pearls’ is a sprawling, subterranean claw through queasy Nick Cave atmospherics, superb dynamics twisting the dark, looping tale round to an epic, screaming conclusion. It takes a few turns to get your mind around what is actually happening, so odd in its construction that it’s hard to know where it is going, a real horrorshow descent into some form of madness.

The flipside is ‘Ode To Harry Dean’ which starts off as a far more discordant beast, crunching, fire and brimstone ranting driven by rumbling tom and snare crashes and super fuzzed up lead guitar. And then it’ll cut to a sweet vocal and guitar part. And with 4 minutes down it cuts to something else that could even be described as an anthemic chorus. It works though. Similarly to SP it’s a journey, unorthodox structures surprising at every turn and it takes a while to settle in. So, a bizarre combo leaving us with; an in-your-face-slow-burner. I’ll take that.

There’s a lovely reverberating sound across the record - plucks and clicks and ghostly backing vocals - mixed with over distorted drums and crunching, abrasive vocals. It’s a massive, full sound that benefits from repeated listens. So, if you splash out for the limited edition 7”, I can assure you, it won’t be one of those that gets played once and sits on the shelf. Post War Glamour Girls just keep drawing you back for more, albeit in a rather sinister and disturbingly pleasing manner.

Dean Freeman

PWGG BANDCAMP

The Spills 'Occam's Razor' Review

2011-10-06T11:39:00.000-07:00

Occam's Razor

The Spills

Philophobia Music

Misconceptions. Rhubarb Bomb works hard to promote Wakefield and its music. A mistake is to presume everyone else is up to speed with the changes. It’s easy to forget people outside Wakefield (they do exist…) aren’t as keyed in. A lot of people I meet still think that Escobar is the only venue in Wakefield (it closed in Summer 2010). A lot of people think Lapels are the bright young things of its guitar driven Indie scene (they split in 2009). On occasion, I introduce myself as editor of RB and people think I am Rob Dee (he departed in 2008). What is all this hard work for?

During Rob’s period at the helm, Rhubarb Bomb released a compilation. My old band appeared on it, alongside many others, including The Spills. Since the tailend of 2007, my band split, side projects were formed and duly split or ignored. I started a record label, disbanded a record label and then restarted it 2 years later. I started writing for RB and then took control – it’s been two years now. I met a girl, fell in love and we’ve lived together for 3 years. It’s been a hectic time. One constant in all that time has been The Spills. Same lineup, just getting better, slowly but surely. The sick thing is, the part that blows MY mind is that they only finished Uni this summer. How they manage that?

Whilst Wakefield has transformed around them, The Spills have simply worked and worked and honed and started over and worked some more. With the wisdom of veterans and the sparkle of youth. And if ever anything was going to change those heavily outdated perceptions of Wakefield, it would be their debut album, Occam’s Razor. Not only does it prove how much Wakefield Music has blossomed in the last few years, but also that it - and they - have a fine future ahead.

Recorded mainly over two days, live on to 2 inch tape, it perfectly captures the wonderful energy of a live band. The drums ring and smash wonderfully. The bass rattles along, the guitars, clean as summer streams or raw as horse flesh sushi, fly out of the speakers, directly into your frontal lobe. But don’t be mistaken, it’s not a live cut of the band. So much care has been taken over every detail. Flourishes appear all over, little harmonies, breaks; it’s a great sounding record.

Things open with the lovely ‘Lockets’. A step on from last year’s opener ‘Fish Eye Lens’ (from Smoke Signals EP) it begins in a relaxed, laid back pose, as Guitarist / Singer Chad warmly draws us in, with an engaging, up close feel reminiscent of Russell from The Research. A couple of minutes in, the more familiar scream of singer Rob Slater arrives and all hell breaks loose; anthemic, bittersweet hell. This moment of interplay between Chad and Rob sets up the record and for me it is one of its greatest achievements. I love bands that have a few different singers. Like Sonic Youth, they bounce off one another with style to spare, yet is perhaps the knowing of that long band history that adds that extra special something to the childhood friends towing and froying.

Special moments are plentiful on this record. ‘Summer Vibes’ – wisely chosen as the free download prior to the albums release – is symptomatic of The Spills great leap forward. Equally hook filled pop and hard rocking melancholy it encapsulates the dusk of childhood summers disappearing into an unknown future; at once terrifying and thrilling. ‘Heat Death of The Universe’ channels some ‘In Utero’ heaviness for it’s grand opening and ‘Newton’s Flaming Laser Sword’ recalls labels mates Imp and the toxic, twisted riffology found across their excellent ‘Just Destroyer’ EP. Other Wakefield signposts are visible in some of the twisting guitar freefalls (Runaround Kids) or the heart on sleeve, big beat led poppier moments (The Old House). But overall, it is the sound of a very confident band making it sound easy and fun.

As with Runaround Kids, also on Philophobia Music, I am equal parts pleased, surprised and impressed that a debut album has been released that is this well formed and thought out. It’s a true ‘record’ – meaning it ebbs and flows over its running order. It has hidden moments, it has immediate rushes; it is effortless yet honed to perfection. Yet this shouldn’t be a surprise because though this is their debut, these four people have been playing together for an awful long time. They have worked their craft. The sense of four people in a room coming together and creating something great is palpable. Each plays their part. On some tracks I would say the drums are almost the lead instrument. It’s a perfect balance of musicianship that adds additional layers of sensed excitement, as well as emotion to the overall experience.

So how did a Wakefield band manage this eh? Are The Spills simply a fantastic, on form band that have totally found their groove? Or are there greater forces at work, a convergence of time and space aligning across this record, beamed across the ether from some far and distant future? As The Spills clearly know, the most obvious answer is usually the correct one.

Dean Freeman

A Collection Of Calamity 3 (Compilation) Review

2011-10-06T04:34:00.000-07:00

A Collection of Calamity 3

Various Artists

Rock and Roll Circus

This is a really cool compilation from Rock & Roll Circus, a rehearsal space in Armley, Leeds. Basically the staff there have picked some of their favourite tracks by the bands who rehearse with them. My initial thought was that it seems like a pretty cool place to work if you get to listen to this kind of thing, albeit through the walls, on a daily basis.

‘Men Only’ deliver some C86-esqe scuzzy Indie Pop with ‘Bored Bored Bored’ that is fun and brisk, which is a good thing, of course. ‘Buffalo Bones’ grind out some sleazy riffs, a lot more raw than their recent EP. ‘Black Water’ and ‘Die Hards Divide’ work a much more traditional hard rock groove. ‘Honour Before Glory’ are a definite standout with an organ led, doomy post rock workout, a cross between ‘Scotland’s Shame’ by Mogwai and ‘Videotape’ by Radiohead. Maybe.

There are some great tracks here that are quite out of the ordinary. ‘Post War Glamour Girls’ is at turns dark lounge pop and scuzzy, epic Nick Cave wailing. Really great. Moody Gowns have a much more playful take on weird with their infectious sandbox approach to accompaniment. Things get a little more disco later on, ‘Love Bites’ come on all Ladytron, with less ice and ‘Tsienna’ and ‘Bear Mask’ add their own, less electro based touches to exciting, driving tunes.

As with all comps, it is difficult to take in at once. But aside from the sheer variety here, the consistent quality of all the bands here shines through. I didn’t have to skip one. And I like the thoughtful approach to the track order too. A great little DIY release that is celebrating something great; a community of diverse but great musicians. Awesome.

Dean Freeman

Protectors 'The Stem & Leaf' EP Review

2011-10-05T07:21:00.000-07:00

Protectors

The Stem & Leaf

Philophobia Music

Another first for Philophobia Music; a 12 inch Vinyl. Sweet. And Protectors too, one of Rhubarb Bomb’s fave bands. A perfect combo?

Protectors feature members from a range of classic Wakefield bands, but I don’t want to mention them. And hopefully this will be the last time I even mention that mere fact as ‘The Stem & Leaf’ sees them finally move out of those long, tremendous shadows and establish themselves fully as an awesome band to rank amongst their past successes.

The Protectors sound is so ingrained into my understanding of Wakefield’s DNA that I find it difficult to pick apart. That’s not to say they are in any way atypical; rather that they seem timeless and current at the same time. Equally difficult is that they make it all sound so damn easy.

Basically we have beautiful, weaving vocal melodies snaking their way around energised, direct, smart and heartwarming songwriting, delivered in a super sweet guitar pop package. I say ‘basically’… Protectors do a great thing of being incredibly pop and accessible but never, ever boring. You want to bounce around and go nuts, but closer inspection reveals a genuine life affirming heart at its core, working in perfect harmony with a clued up punk Brain. Like I said, timeless and of the moment, at the same time.

There, I’ve tried describing the experience. With more a specific look at what we have, 2 of the tracks here appeared on Protectors debut album ‘Cant Shake The Moves’. As much as I enjoyed that album, it felt rather like a means to release their first batch of tunes – get them out there for people to hear. This feels much more a thought-out, purpose built piece and the 2 tracks already released benefit greatly from their remixes. The new tracks work in the anthemic qualities that made Pylon (oops! I couldn’t resist) such a joy; the pounding thrill of ‘Overtime’, the uplifting drive of ‘The Carousel’ and the gentle melancholy of ‘Shake The Moves’ all combine to successfully convey the essence of what makes Protectors so great.

It’s a great package and I cant wait to get hold of one (Yes I have a promo, but I wanna actually, y’know, buy it too. I’m sure that’s hard to understand). Solid Gold Hit, as they maybe used to say.

Dean Freeman

Zine Culture: The Inner Swine Interview

2011-09-26T08:05:00.001-07:00

Issue 2.2 of Rhubarb Bomb features an article about 'The Inner Swine', a Zine created by Jeff Somers based in New York City. Here is the full interview, minus my attempts to twist his words to fit my own blinkered view of the world. For more info on TIS go HERE

Where are you / is TIS based?

Hoboken, NJ, the unofficial sixth boro of New York City. Also, the New Jersey City with the most bars per city block, birthplace of Frank Sinatra who escaped as a kid and never came back not once, and home of the Cake Boss.

When did you start up TIS and has it run since relatively consistently since that date?

TIS was originally conceived by me and three other people in 1993. My friend Rob Gala and I were talking one night and I expressed impatience with the whole publishing thing, how long it takes. So we both sort of said, hey, let's start our own magazine! We got 2 friends and had a planning meeting, and then did a lot of wheel-spinning for 2 years. The other 2 guys dropped off, me and Rob tried to put it together as a duo but we were too different in outlook and politics and vision. Eventually Rob gave up. This was 1995 and I just took all the material I'd created, the cover our artist friend (Jeof Vita) had created in 1993, and put out issue one with no fanfare or production values.

At that point, I just wanted the first issue out. Little did I know that "no fanfare or production values" would become the general philosophy of the zine.

Tell me a little bit about yourself i.e. the neighbourhood you live in, do you have a full time job, do you have an ‘office’ where you ‘work’. Just a little bit of a picture.

Born and raised in northern New Jersey (Jersey City, where I was mugged several times as a kid). I live in Hoboken. Married, 4 cats instead of kids. Day job, sadly, but I work from home. I drink scotch, don't smoke, play guitar and post songs on my blog until someone pays me not to, and sometimes humiliate myself by playing chess.

Thinking WAY back… what inspired / motivated you to start up a Zine?

It's above - I'd never heard of zines at the time. We just suddenly thought, why spend all this effort trying to convince folks to publish us, why not just do it ourselves? It was only years later, when I started putting out the issues, that I realized there was this thing called zines, and I'd started one.

My whole life is like that. Ignorance, smug self-certainty, half-assed execution.

As a fanzine editor / writer I often experience the crushing ‘what is the point of this again?’ lows and the amazing ‘I can do whatever I like!’ highs. Is there a practical method of keeping yourself moving forwards? Or does it take a specific kind of person to do what we do?

Personally, we're talking about endless wells of self-centeredness. I don't actually care much if anyone else likes or enjoys the zine. It's for me, really. I enjoy doing it, and I entertain the hell out of myself while writing it. The fact that a few dozen/hundred/thousand people around the world enjoy it is just icing on the cake, really.

So, I've never had much trouble with motivation. The zine itself has gone from almost total obscurity to having a pretty wide distribution (back in its heyday when both Tower Magazines and Desert Moon Periodicals carried TIS) to its kind of semi-obscurity today, where a lot of people know of the zine but the actual paper readership is modest.

I think if I ever hit a point where absolutely *no one* is reading the zine, I might fold the tent up. But as long as I have some folks interested, I'll likely continue. Maybe as a digital-only kind of thing.

Your tenure at TIS has seen the arrival and dominance of the internet. How easy was it to accept the changes and what importance do you give to the physical format and why is it still relevant?

I never thought too hard about the changes. The Internet was always exciting and interesting to me, and I was super eager to get a web page up, and I remain excited to post old issues on the web page and allow anyone, from anywhere, to read the zine in some form.

The paper format is still the best. This might change. I like e-readers and I like the idea of eBooks, as long as they are DRM free and once they get into a standard format (in other words, fuck proprietary file formats). For the moment, paper still rules. It's the only way to guarantee 100% accessibility (b/c not everyone has an e-reader but everyone has eyes, natch) and the only way to guarantee that the zine you bought at Quimbys in 1998 is still usable, because your paper copy will never run out of battery life or crash and wipe your hard drive or any shit like that.

It could, of course, fall in the tub or catch on fire. This I stipulate.

Some folks wax on poetically about the hand-crafting of a zine, but I don't. Making a zine was always and remains a fucking chore. If I could hire some neighborhood kids to collate, fold, staple, and stuff these motherfuckers for pennies, I would. I would lock them in a room with unsafe working conditions and put on a sash that says EVIL CAPITALIST OPPRESSOR and laugh and laugh as they begged me for food and water.

"Keeping folding!" I'd shout. "If you get 500 done by midnight you each get to look at a glass of cool water."

And the children would cheer.

I’ve noticed a lot of (music) fanzines nowadays really taking hold of the ‘DIY’ tag and bending it to their corporate means i.e. Fake DIY. They are magazines disguising themselves as Fanzines. Although your perspective is a little different, is the line, morally, for you? (example; receiving advertising monies to cover certain issues)

That's been going on forever; advertising/marketing folks are always sniffing out trends and co-opting them. Back in the mid-1990's there was a moment when zines were "cool" and you saw a bit of marketing using the zine/DIY aesthetic.

I shrug at that stuff. I never messed with advertising precisely because I didn't want to have to worry over anything like that. For me, the zine was always meant to be a fun way to get writing out into the world. But then this is why I will die poor and miserable, because I've been losing money on the zine since day one. It never paid for itself. And who cares?

As for a moral line, eh, I don't worry about shit like that. Fake stuff gets found out and left behind. I let the universe sort stuff like that out. More and more these days I think people feel that as long as they are entertained, they don't care about issues like whether you're getting paid to write something with a certain slant. Used to be people got up in arms when artists "sold out" etc, but today advertising is seen as a vector to promote yourself. The culture has changed.

Where does Fanzine writing sit in relation to ‘Art’ and ‘Journalism’?

That's a trick question. "Art" is totally subjective. You can call a zine art, and who can argue? "Journalism" has guidelines and techniques. You can be trained as a journalist. Most zine writers are not trained as journalists, but that doesn't mean their writing can't approach the standards of journalism - and sometimes do.

But, of course, I've used this trick my whole life: My zine is a personal project meant for fun, so if I get anything wrong, if I am woefully misinformed or just plain stupid on a subject, I just laugh and say "Zine!" and I am excused. This allows me to say the most fantastic things and get away with it.

If you want your zine or DIY project to be taken seriously as journalism, you have to be up front about it and adhere to some basic principles. You have to own your ignorance and mistakes. If a zine does that, sure, it can be journalism.

What weight do you give to the aesthetic of a fanzine, as opposed to the content?

None, as a rule. Have you *seen* my zine? It's hideous. And when I come across zines in the wild, the ones I like are the ones filled with text.

That's personal, though. I am a word guy, not an image guy. I have seen some gloriously beautiful zines, visually speaking, in my time. It's just I value words over images and design. Part of this is my inability to create something visually beautiful. Since I can't do it, I don't value it.

Do you feel that The Inner Swine is tied geographically to where you live? By that I mean, if you lived elsewhere, would it be radically different; could it only come from the mind of someone who lies in Hoboken?

No, but of course it *is* a product of a man who has lived his whole life in this area, so of course there are cultural things in there. They're largely invisible to me, of course.

Where else has the fact you produce TIS taken you in life?

Anywhere you would otherwise have never got to? Nope, but that's a product of me being generally antisocial. I always rejected the idea of "community". When I started putting out TIS and I connected with other DIY publishers, there was some sentiment that I had joined a "community" and had resultant privileges and duties, which I always ignored. As a result I don't go to any gatherings or get involved with any zine-related things. I am a rock. I am an island.

I do get quite a lot of letters from prisoners as a result of giving TIS away free to prisoners. This has been universally entertaining, I have to admit. And I wouldn't have done it otherwise.

What has been your proudest achievement since TIS began?

You mean zine-related? Probably a tie between keeping it going for 15+ years and putting out the collection, "The Freaks are Winning". Getting that collection out (with the help of the awesome clint johns at Tower Magazines) was pretty cool!

Dean Freeman

2011 Summer Festival Roundup PT2

2011-09-26T03:24:00.000-07:00

(Part 1)

Indietracks - 29-31st July

An Indiepop festival at a Railway Museum in rural Derbyshire

Last year’s festival of the year obviously had a lot to live up to. And what it provided was simply more of the same. Indietracks is what it is. Due to where it takes place, it cant grow any larger or expand. It just does what it does, which is provide obscure and brilliant Indiepop in a lovely setting (9). The site is small, but the fields in the distance and the trains in the foreground offer a vibrant yet quaint place to spend a weekend. Value for money (7) is a different issue. The weekend ticket is a fair £70 and prices within the festival itself are acceptable. It does suffer from the lack of on site camping, meaning the only real option is to go to the private one next door at £25 a night. As this is integral to the festival I’m deducting points under VFM instead of camping. It heaps the price up massively.

The range of bands this year was, to my uneducated Indiepop mind, a little lacking. There were what I presume were great bookings from bands all over Europe, mixed in with local up and coming and various legends (7). What was lacking was a genre straddling ‘big name’. Edwin Collins and Herman Dune were interesting, and quality, but I needed something more. It’s designed as a niche festival, I accept, but after the brilliance of the lineup last year, the score had to come down. However the stages (8), exactly the same as last year were still pleasingly variant.

The facilities (8) were great (I’ve never seen so many decent toilets at a festival) and there was plenty of parking and all that. Food & Drink options seemed a little more limited than last year, but what was there was fine and fairly priced (7). The inclusion of local ales was a big plus.

Excluding the actual price of camping, as mentioned, the quality of the campsite was the best at any festival this year (9). There was plenty of room for a start. Millions of water taps and often cleaned toilets. Very good showers, if you are into that kind of thing. And an onsite shop for forgotten items. They also put on an after party in a marquee if you want to party into the early hours. I guess the only downside is the 10 minute walk to the actual site, prohibiting the old ‘nipping back to the tent for a beer’ thing.

The organisation was well put together, with plenty of helpful staff directing cars and sorting out any problems (7). Kind of runs itself in many ways. The vibe (9) is hugely laid back, more like a gathering of friends. Because of that, perhaps, there isn’t often a rush of excitement when a band hits the stage. But it is very appreciative and inclusive and celebratory and the general atmosphere is what makes the festival the success it is. I had a great time at this years Indietracks (8). It scores lower because the sense of something new wasn’t there and I realised I wasn’t as big a fan of Indiepop as I thought (last year I was deceived by a more Indie…rock? Lineup). I still love Indietracks and it is a festival to be proud of. The lack of a hook for me personally altered the scorings but overall the festival continues to provide for its fans, which seems to be enough.

Score: 79%

Clarence Park

A Free festival in a park, Wakefield

Bar a break for a couple of years, Clarence Park Festival has been running since the early 90’s and is organised by the ‘Wakefield Music Collective’. That is to say, a group that calls itself the Wakefield Music Collective, not a collective of Wakefield musicians / promoters etc.

The value for money is unarguable (10) since it is free. The setup seems to change from year to year, but 2011 saw one main stage, the bandstand, with some bands also in the beer tent. It’s a nice location (8), especially on a sunny day, with a large grassy hillside rising up from the front of the decent sized stage. Parkland surrounds if you want to go for a wander and Wakefield Town Centre is just a 10/15 minute walk away.

The bands and artists were traditionally a mix of local acts and travelling ones. This year we had a pretty lacklustre collection of bands (3). We had diversity, but quality? The thing that really winds me up about Clarence is that it makes no effort whatsoever to represent what is happening in Wakefield. The scene Rhubarb Bomb knows and supports was represented by Piskie Sits alone who had the honour of playing in the beer tent at midday. This band has been part of Wakefields live music scene for nearly ten years.

I don’t know what the criteria is but the only audience it seems to be catering to are people who just need a bit of background music to their mid afternoon beer drinking. Or ‘families‘. Which is fine, but it could be so much better. The stage itself is a great focal point (7), it’s just a shame that there aren’t two stages, as there used to be, as change overs are slow and disrupt the flow of the day.

Facilities (5) are basic as can be, as is the food and drink options (6). Thankfully Ossett Brewery were supplying the booze which added much needed local flavour. Elsewhere, the absolute bare minimum. Just the same lack of imagination evident in the lineup. Where are the local producers? Farm shops, cake shops, RHUBARB! Something to give it some character. As for accommodation, you aren’t really expected to camp so the general score is 5, but I’ll give it one more (6) since it finishes nice and early, in time to get the bus home.

Organisation (3).Again, I’m coming from the perspective of someone who spends a lot of time trying to promote Wakefield and culture within it.. Turnaround times were mammoth and a general sense of chaos and lack of direction prevailed. In short not very professional. Is that important? Well, as ‘Wakefield’s longest running festival’, yes, it is. Because to be going this long and be this inept sends out a message to the audience, to the bands playing, to Wakefield in general. To be this half-arsed is OK. Perhaps ‘professional’ is not the word. It should have been ‘Is this inspirational?’ That IS important. And the lack of cohesion and vision in the organisation brings the whole thing crashing down. Hence a poor score for the general atmosphere (5), though people just out for a sit on a hill enjoyed themselves.

Clarence is a frustrating experience (4) for anyone artistically driven. The opportunities for improvement scream out to anyone with half a brain. If this were the festivals first year, I would be right behind it. The knowledge that this is the result of so many years work is simply depressing.

Score 57%

Leeds Festival - Sunday 28^th August

1 Day at the massive festival in Bramham Park.

As detailed in the review at the time, Leeds Fest was a refreshing change from the rest of the festivals this year and despite reservations, a decent conclusion to the summer festival season that gave me something to think about. But here at the fest of the year awards (please note there is no physical award) we about cold, hard scoring. So here we go.

Value you for money is always tricky (6). But £90 for a day (placing it as more expensive than most whole weekends in these reviews) is pretty massive. I want a lot for that. All in, food and booze if you are really going for it, you are probably near £200 for the day out. But it can still be good value. In terms of amount of bands, you do pretty well. And variety too. But by my reckoning you have 11 hours of music over the day. With going to the bar and eating, I reckon you will do well to see 9 full sets. At a tenner a pop, it’s ok if you see all the biggies. But only just. If you pop to the Introducing stage, maybe not. I still think it is over priced as, aside from the bands, there is little else going on.

The setting (6) is non descript, a big festival plonked randomly in the countryside. The only engagement with nature is the churning of grass into mud. The drive in was great though, I hadn’t realised how beautiful the surroundings were. I wish they could find a way to make better use of the park. Couldn’t they open up a few other fields, just wide open fields with hay bales to sit on and acoustic acts and NO FENCES OR BURGER VANS? It would be nice to escape in to the country for when it all gets too much.

Band wise, well, nothing much took my fancy in terms of big names, but the variety is there big time. I saw some new things I liked, some I didn’t but I was grateful for the choice (8) and the amount of stages and the quality (9) meant there was always something going on somewhere, contributing to a bustling, energetic atmosphere.

The toilets! Yes, no problems this year, no horror stories as previously, which is good considering I was there on Sunday. But I only went once, so maybe I got lucky. Still a shortage of them though (6). The quality of the food outlets is alright, the quantity overwhelming. I think it’s just a sign of festivals improving generally that the old cliché of the dodgy burger van has all but vanished. Still, would have liked to have seen stalls selling more local stuff, something to tie it in to, y’know Leeds and Yorkshire and that. And some cheaper options.

Probably the biggest reason I haven’t returned to Leeds is the camping. I didn’t mind it when I was younger but I couldn’t deal with it now. I didn’t stay over this time, but I make my judgements from the condititions in the GUEST camping section, which were pretty terrible. The main issue is overcrowding. So many tents are squashed together, I find it awful. I like the camping aspect of it, the social thing. I like making my tea there and having a mid afternoon can back at base. I found it all very uninviting and rather unsafe. God knows what it would be like at night (5).

Organisation was impressive I thought, with everything running smoothly from arrival to departure with one massive exception. There were no timetables available. Anywhere. I saw one guy selling programmes for a £10 outside. I didn’t get one and never saw anyone again. Not that I’d want a weekend programme anyway. But I didn’t know what time any bands were on. Bar staff couldn’t help. I found a tiny A4 timetable on the outside of the Alternative tent but had to rely on asking passers by for the rest of the stage times. I really enjoy looking at the schedule and planning my day, instead I was left wondering aimlessly. Terrible (but overall, pretty good – 7)

And so, the vibe. Well, go to my Leeds Fest review for more detail here. There was a positive, excited, frantic vibe; part 18-30 holiday, part musical exploration. You kind of need to be outside yourself to enjoy which I think means being a combination of a) young b) drunk c) REALLY into music. If you start thinking too much it doesn’t work. But if you are out for a good time and/or really want to see lots of music it works. It’s just tiring amongst the crowds and doesn’t often feel inclusive, bar great moments on the main stage (7).

But I enjoyed it (7), more than I expected. It does its job. But it’s far from being the best of the year because it lacks something very important; personality.

SCORE 68%

2011 Summer Festival Roundup PT1

2011-09-26T02:27:00.000-07:00

(PART 2)

Live@Leeds - 30th April

A Multi Venue All Day trip around the city of Leeds

For the third year running, the Rhubarb Bomb festival season begins with Live@Leeds. The scale of the event works to its advantage for me. I never get a feeling of fatigue when considering Live@Leeds, because I always end up somewhere different. I don’t dread sitting in the same soggy field that I was in last year; it’s something I very much look forward to.

This year saw a price increase on the ticket. It’s still £17.50 for a massive amount of bands and as such value for money is a definite plus (9). That the festival takes place in a city is a plus point too (8). I’ve actually rated that one higher than last year – though I assure you, it is the same city. The difference is that I appreciate the city festival more now. It has so much to offer and it is so easy to make a brilliant day out of it. The only negative would be if you happen to go there a lot anyway. I don’t as much as I used to, so I enjoy it.

The selection of bands this year almost matched the standards of previous years (8). A big negative for me was the scheduling, in that every big band seemed to hit the stage at the same time, which was likely a ploy to enable them to run at a larger capacity. Although not the organisers fault, I also found myself only visiting 3 venues, due to scheduling. I missed the element of walking around the entire city from previous years, but the lineup didn’t draw me enough. I had to decide my final band out of a range of 3 or 4 and reverse engineer the day, which means I didn’t get to see as much as I would have liked.

However, for pure levels of choice, Live@Leeds is pretty unbeatable. The range of venues (9) is colossal, meaning you can be lazy and hang around your favourites, or head out and explore. With events taking place in spaces as different as the uni and tiny Milo’s it’s a great experience.

The fact it all takes place in venues that already run and exist means to facilities all round are above your general festival standard (8) and the range of food and drink options is staggering (10). None of them are officially connected to the festival, but you have the choice of anything from a quick Subway to a full sit down meal and, aside from the range of venues included, you can always sneak off for a cheeky Sammy Smiths pint, or for an overpriced cocktail. Totally down to you, and I enjoy building my day around a top quality meal.

Accomodation (5) does lose Live@Leeds some points. Obviously, camping is not included, or an option. I would like to see some kind of discount service set up with a hotel chain, or some other options explored. A taxi home is a good £25 for me, so some form of accommodation might offer another option.

There was some good organisation (8) on display this year – ticket exchange was brisk, staff were very helpful, through to the doormen and the bar staff. Areas for improvement would be the placing of bands in venues. The Well was a problem again, with their room being rammed full and no one managing punters trying to squeeze in. Are they booking bands too big for that venue? Or is it just fluke they get the cult favourites? It’s two years running I’ve not been able to get in there now.

The overall vibe of the festival (8) is a positive one; music lovers wandering the streets on the lookout for something amazing. I marked it down slightly last year for lacking a sense of community due to the way it is spread thinly across the city. I would say the festival lacks an overriding ‘personalilty’ or atmosphere; you are largely left to create your own buzz and you don’t especially feel part of something, unless you make the effort. But the tools are given to you to do that, so ultimately it is down to you.

This year I thoroughly enjoyed myself, DESPITE not getting to see or do much. I wasn’t too pleased with the scheduling and I have a suspicion the festival is really starting to spread itself too thin. For this reason, it has ended up with a slightly lower score than last year. But, though having some reservations, I had a fantastic day (8) out for very little money and will still massively look forward to it next year.

SCORE: 80%

Wireless Festival - 3rd July

3 Day Festival in Hyde Park, London.

A newbie for Rhubarb Bomb, Wireless was a three day festival that I attended on its final day only. For this there was one reason, and one reason only; Pulp. It had been the first date announced when their reunion was confirmed and my eager friend gobbled up some tickets whilst I was in Japan. As a massive Pulp fan, he knew I’d be chuffed to see them.

So initially the £50 entry fee had seemed a bit of a rip off, until I realised it wasn’t a Pulp gig, but a whole day of music. There were numerous stages with bands on all day, and although some were the kind you would have seen at a festival 10 years ago, overall the value was pretty decent (8). The setting itself was rudimentary. Though the idea of a festival in a park in London sounds good, and the excitement walking through the park towards the site, seeing people play cricket and sunbathe really brought on the summer atmosphere, once you were inside, it was like any other corporate festival. And once you were in, you weren’t allowed back out, so in theory it could have been held anywhere (6).

There was a decent range of bands; from The Horrors, to The Hives; from Roky Erikson to Yuck. But in fairness nothing that really excited me as I was there for Pulp only. I didn’t feel encouraged to go seek out new bands as I already had an impression (whether correct or not) of those on the lineup. It would only take a couple more bands to have swayed it (for fans of Grace Jones for example, the score would be much higher). As it was, the bands I saw were good background music whilst waiting for the main act (7). The stages themselves were typical big festival set ups. Absolutely fine, but nothing interesting or unique, though the sound was decent throughout (7)

The facilities (7) were above average, with stewards managing toilet queues. The range of Food stalls was great and the prices not too steep. Drinks wise, prices were impressively low, with a pint under £4 – cheaper than the pubs just outside the festival. Course, as a northerner I was always going to feel scandalised (7).

Accomodation issues (5) as this wasn’t a camping festival. Again, no effort to help out financially with overnight stays – perhaps more crucial in London than anywhere else. We were lucky in that we found a very reasonable hostel. But no thanks to the organisers.

The organisation was standard throughout (7). As mentioned, good work with the toilets, though there were problems with huge queues getting into the site. The tickets had barcodes on, so surely it should have been a doddle? I think it was the very security conscious security guards holding things up, which is hard to complain about, but I will because we missed two bands waiting to get in. And it’s not like they were thorough as I sneaked in 3 cans of Strongbow upon my person.

The general vibes were good, in that the sun was out and there were plenty of places to sit and chat whilst taking in the tunes. The image the festival was trying to project (as mentioned in my review) was confused – it wasn’t some ultra cool youth orientated event; it was a pleasant but ultimately bland festival. The relaxed vibes were appreciated, it should try build on that instead (7).

My overall enjoyment was massive – but thanks to Pulp. If this were judged as a Pulp gig with ‘extras’ it would score a lot higher. But as an actual festival? Doesn’t make the grade. It is COMPLETELY dependent on the line-up. You wouldn’t go to just hang out and check out some new bands. It doesn’t have the personality or the bands for that. All said, I had an amazing time watching Pulp, who were fantastic and the rest of the day was a build up to that, in a safe and steady environment (7). If there were someone brilliant playing next year, I’d be happy to go but otherwise I wouldn’t even consider it.

SCORE 68%

Latitude - 15^th – 17^th July

Massive Arts Festival in a forest in Suffolk

Latitude was the first ‘big’ festival RB had encountered for a few years. As such there was a mix of excitement and serious doubts. Could I really be bothered with the crowds and the mess and the hassle? Thankfully, Latitude turned my expectations on their head and it lived up to the 2^nd hand hype I’d received from various friends.

As it’s a large festival, it has a large price, in the region of £170. But for that you get an AMAZING array of entertainment. If you approach it as a music festival you may be disappointed; compared to something like Leeds Festival it doesn’t have the biggest names or the sheer amount of bands. But the ones it has are great. Quality not quantity. The attraction for me though was the other things, which are given equal billing; the comedy, the theatre, literature, film. The kind of thing I wouldn’t go out of my way to see usually, but it’s all there for you and you end up places you wouldn’t expect. It IS a lot of money, but in terms of what you get, brilliant (8).

As for the setting, well I loved it (10). It was a big site, bit it wasn’t crushed at all. Some elements were typical corporate festival, meaning lots of stalls and open spaces. But there wasn’t advertising everywhere. Even the big screens by the stage, between bands, weren’t showing ads. Just the logo. So it has the advantages of the large festival, but then also exploits the landscape to genius effect. There are stages hidden in the woods. Performances take place on and in the lake. It feels like every nook and cranny has something going on, yet you still feel like you are in the countryside and away from ‘life’. A perfect balance.

As mentioned the range and quality of the artists is exceptional (9). I don’t know much about theatre but my friend did and he assured me some of the stuff there was a major coup for Latitude. Some performances were Latitude exclusives, never to be repeated. Perhaps the only downside for me was the lack of an AMAZING headliner, but fuck it, they had The Cribs; they were headliners for me.

The range and number of stages was excellent but one major downside for me was that some were far too small. Perhaps it’s more a ticket / organisation issue, but I missed a lot of things I wanted to see because I couldn’t get into the tent. Fair enough, some were just really busy, but I question the logic of putting a Q&A with Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon in the tiny Film Tent. Still, it’s likely me and my lack of recent big festival experience (7)

Range and quality of food and drink was good. The choice of food was endless and these days, with a tiny budget I tend to cook at the tent. So it was really hard to decide which stall to visit with for our one allotted ‘bought meal’. Beer was pleasingly cheap for a festival too, around £3.50 for a pint and bars were plentiful and we rarely had to queue. (8)

I heard mixed reports on the camping. There were issues with water supply at some campsites. Ours was fine and there was plenty of space, but then again, it was ‘guest’ camping. From what I saw of the main camping areas, they were slightly squashed in but totally manageable and close to the main site (8).

Organisation was good (8) and I felt like everything was under control. From people managing toilet queues (and explaing how the female urinals worked) to the masses of ‘helpers’ stood around waiting for questions and offering directions, it seemed well managed. It was good to see so many staff around. The bar system with the recyleable cups was a great idea too, and worked without a hitch.

The vibe around site was spot on (9) with no scenes of idiotic inebriation witnessed, instead a polite and engaged crowd. I accept that my tastes may have changed and younger crowds may find it a little too steady, but I felt very much at home there. It was certainly one of the best festivals I’ve been to (8) and perhaps my actual enjoyment was only brought down by the weather, which is well beyond the fault of the organisers, but it did make life a little more difficult. With an improvement there and a couple more bands I REALLY want to see, plus being able to get in the tents and we would have something close to a perfect outdoor festival experience. Im just hoping I can afford to go next year.

SCORE: 83%

Issue 2.2 Released

2011-09-26T02:16:00.001-07:00

Issue 2.2 of Rhubarb Bomb is here! There's allsorts in there, which i am not going to spoil by listing here. But there are some great comment articles about things as varied as First Wedding Dances, Swimming in North Yorkshire and The Riots. And some music bits too, including our festival of the year round up. Just go get one really, and have a read.

RB is available for free from a variety of places. Distribution begins today, so keep an eye on our TWITTER or FACEBOOK to find out where.

As ever, thanks to all the writers, photographers and the uber designer Copy Paste Repeat for making it all possible. Enjoy x

Johnny Foreigner / Runaround Kids Video

2011-09-16T04:59:00.001-07:00

We apologise for the lack of Vlogs recently. We really enjoyed doing them but unfortunately we had two cameras die on us and just didnt have the pennies to fix em. However, we might have the capabilities to produce more - we're gonna give it a go at Richmond Fontaine next week. As it goes, we have managed to retrieve some footage from back in April when Johnny Foreigner and Runaround Kids played a free gig at The Hop. It was the day Runaround Kids finished recording their debut album 'Linked Arms' which of course is awesome. Enjoy!

Elks release Live @ Long Division EP

2011-09-14T01:22:00.000-07:00

As you may recall, Rhubarb Bomb put on a festival back in June called Long Division. Did we mention that? Well, turns out that Elks, who played what i reckon to be the noisiest set of the day, recorded their efforts and have now released it FOR FREE on bandcamp. How good is that? Fans of hard rocking, gigantic grinding riffs should head HERE for a look. If you aren't sure, check out this video of part of the set

Podcast - Episode 7

2011-09-02T08:11:00.001-07:00

The new Rhubarb Bomb Podcast is available to download for free through iTunes. Just click HERE.

It's a quick blast through the things that have caught RB's ear over the last month, with tracks from Labyrinth Ear, Tiny Fireflies, The Spills, Red Riding Quartet, Post War Glamour Girls and Richmond Fontaine, as well as information on upcoming gigs and the new issue of RB, which will be out at the end of September. We hope you enjoy it, and spread the word!

Dean

Leeds Festival (Sunday) Review

2011-08-31T11:59:00.000-07:00

Leeds Festival

Bramham Park

Sunday 28^th August 2011

I last attended Leeds Festival in 2005 and since then I feel I have broadened my horizons in regards to what I expect from the festival experience. As such, it felt strange to be returning after such a long time, much like returning to your primary school and seeing the tiny chairs and tables, the climbing frames that once seemed so towering. I used to buzz off this?

Which I don’t mean to sound condescending in anyway. In opposition to my simile, Leeds Fest is the festival that towers over all others, seeing as many as 65,000 people over its 3 days (or so they say). Sophistication, nuance, subtlety; look elsewhere. This is about a sense of event.

But due to my previous experiences, which form a collage in my mind of burning burger vans, refugee style camping, toilets erupting and overflowing and lots of ‘lads’ getting pissed with their backs to the bands, I felt some apprehension. But excitement too, like that first day at school.

And I was pleased to see things had improved. Organisation for start was greatly improved. I mean, ok, you don’t go to the festival to admire the signing on the M62, but the contempt with which punters once seemed to be held was all but gone and I felt welcomed to the site, thus improving my anticipation. The only annoyance was that our camera was deemed ‘too professional’ by the stewards and wasn’t allowed in. Frustrating to then spend a lot of the time stood behind people with iPhones raised as we watched the bands.

The site was in decent shape despite the downpours over the previous days. It was busy in there, but manageable. I quickly became aware of being much older than most of the people around me. I have to admit, the main reason I was here was for Pulp, but with a sense of curiosity, we explored.

The number of stages is impressive, the NME tent is fucking huge, bigger than most festival main stages. The comedy tent was new to Leeds Fest for me, amusingly called the ‘Alternative Tent’. The compere did his job well and got people sat down and squashed in and I felt a million miles from the bussle outside. I never thought a comedy tent would work at Leeds, due to inevitable drunks and hecklers. But it did and offered the alternative it claimed to be. Jimmy McGhie opened up with a mixed set, veering from what I feared would be a whole set of crude overacting and for the sake of it swearing to a section on being too English and reserved. Parts worked, and I began to understand him more when he revealed his need to hide behind voices (hence the sways in his comedy). His approach wasn’t revolutionary but was hard to dislike, winning the mostly young crowd over. And I was pleased his deconstruction of the vacuous culture of ‘T4’ was so rapturously received. There’s hope for the young yet.

Mark Watson followed in his breathless, relentless style that simulates a man unable to think something without saying it out loud. Again, he is a nice guy expressing things we all kind of think and know, but taking them one step further. Hang on, isn’t that ALL comedy? Yeah, but Watson shares a mad warmth that comes across well in the tent, though I would say the set was slightly too long. That would perhaps be down to the fact he was reusing some material from a few years before when I saw him in Wakefield. It’s not to his detriment; it actually made it clear that what appear to random interjections and stream of consciousness are all pre-scripted and it made me appreciate his method of storytelling more for it.

There wasn’t much on the bill that took my fancy. The Kills disappointed on the NME stage. Funnily enough, I’d not seen them since they played at Magna for Pulp’s ‘Last Ever Gig’. The large stage didn’t suit them. The beats were too quiet and the dirty guitar riffs became repetitive far too soon. It was a shame because Alison Mosshart looked fantastic and when she joined in on guitar, a greater dynamism was found. We left early to catch the end of Madness on the main stage who were a wonder, filling that perfect mid afternoon ‘feel good’ slot. I was impressed to see them play an array of either Ska classics or new stuff (I couldn’t tell which) including ‘Out Of Space’ that The Prodigy sampled – sorry, don’t know who did that originally. Then they dropped a run of classic singles, House of Fun, Baggy Trousers, It Must Be Love etc and the already jolly main stage crowd came to life. They were dancing all the way to the back. Festivals are about great moments like that.

Elsewhere, we tried to see as many unknown bands as possible. This was severely restricted by the fact that there were no programmes or timetables available anywhere on site. This really pissed me off. I didn’t know what time ANYTHING was on. Why were there no provisions made for the Sunday only day crowd? So, I saw a fair few bands but I’ve no idea who they were. And as these were generally up and coming bands it annoys me even more that I can’t tell you who they are.

The BBC Introducing stage seemed to be a success and it’s a great asset to the whole Leeds Fest setup. The only band I can name that I saw was Spector who initially impressed with their swagger and big tight sound. But over the set they turned slowly into The Killers, which was awful. If they can reign it in, they might be able to head off on the tangent we all wished Brandon Flowers and co had taken after Hot Fuss, instead of the self aggrandising shitbags they turned into.

The variation of the bands, though nameless was great. I saw a reggae band play a Nirvana set (I saw Lithium, Polly, Sliver & Dive) some kind of Post Hardcore, Folk Pop… aw you know the genres. With the aid of a programme or a general direction, I could have had a ball. You guys know I’m a sucker for organisation, and that was piss poor Leeds Fest.

Nevermind. The evening drew in and I gratefully avoided The Strokes completely. Pulp arrived and played a similar set to the one at Hyde Park earlier in the summer, with the additions of Razzamatazz and Pencil Skirt. It was a different experience from towards the back of the crowd, but Jarvis was, once again, on fine form. All his Vouge-esqe moves, his seeming inability to not make love to every square inch of the stage. It was triumphant, absolutely. And being the second time I’d seen them, it gave me chance to appreciate the rest of the band too, especially Russell’s much missed wandering violin adding an air of sinister malevolence, as if to prove it wasn’t just a populist showcase or a dip in nostalgia.

Jarvis acknowledged the cold evening and they tried their best to keep everyone moving, but the appearance of Bar Italia towards the end was a slowy too far as my feet sank into the mud, my toes frozen rigid. Naturally they finished with Common People. Much greater than the last time I saw them play it at Leeds Fest when they were clearly sick of it. Whatever issues they had back then are gone now. You could feel them savour every moment.

So in a bizarre conclusion to my earlier references to the past, to childhood, to school, I end Leeds Festival - where I have felt very much an adult to my fellow festival goers - bopping around to band I adored through my mid to late teens. It wasn’t til the next day that I ‘got’ what had happened. As a reviewer and general analytical person I often focus too much on the details (how much were the pints? What was the person to square inch of space ratio? How much fun am I having expressed as a percentage?) whereas festivals aren’t about that. Leeds Fest wasn’t the best festival of the year FOR ME. But for some of the kids here it will have been life changing. Leeds was the first festival I went to in 2001 and here I am, still going to festivals. It’s for the young people who don’t give a shit about ANYTHING except having a good time and seeing some bands. Just because my expectations mature and grow doesn’t mean Leeds Fest should.

I kind of accept it for what it is now and if it gets these kids into the whole experience, I’m glad it exists. Being that it is marketed at youngsters, I feel there could be more measures to make it safe – but suddenly the over the top security measures I find so intrusive MAKE SENSE. It’s to do just that.

I still wouldn’t camp there. And it is still massively overpriced (Bus back to Leeds £4.50, Pint £4.20, day ticket £90). The line up this year was varied, but didn’t contain much that interested me. Unlike those kids, I’m harder to please and far too cynical. But, it’s a good thing. Leeds fest is a good thing again.

Dean Freeman

Issue 2.2 Launch Night

2011-08-30T10:56:00.000-07:00

The next Issue of Rhubarb Bomb will be released on September 24^th at a launch party taking place in Chantry Chapel, Wakefield. Chantry Chapel is over 650 years old and resides on a bridge over the river Calder. It’s a beautiful venue for intimate, memorable gigs and something in Wakefield to be proud of.

There will be sets from St Gregory Orange, playing tracks from their hotly anticipated 2^nd album, The Spills, whose debut has just been completed, will be playing stripped down versions from that and Siobhan Reilly, heading down from Glasgow will be debuting some of her fine new folk compositions. More bands will follow.

Entry to the chapel is £5. That’s a little more than you would usually pay for a gig, but the event is also bring your own booze, so overall you will be able to have a cheap night. On top of that, there will be a free raffle, some free cakes (feel free to bring your own to share too) and a CD Compilation exchange. Burn a disc at home, do a fancy sleeve and pop it in the Mix Cd box, taking someone else’s at random. See what you come away with! The gig is open to all ages too.

A new issue is a big thing for us, we work hard on getting them together. Rhubarb Bomb is free and everyone who puts it together works for free because they believe in the fanzine ideal. We like organising these launch nights as it’s a real opportunity for people to get together and do something a little different. We would love to see you down there and have you support Rhubarb Bomb, Wakefield Live Music and general Good Stuff.

Cheers,

Dean

Facebook Event HERE

The Cat That Walks Alone - 'Evans Throne' Review

2011-08-26T08:21:00.000-07:00

The Cat That Walks Alone

Evans Throne
Allign Romance

The Cat That Walks Alone is the title of one man band Cameron Laing who has experience writing for ‘various major label artists’. Which of course turns me off immediately. Yes, for no good reason, but hey, I’m reviewing it and I’m just being honest.

The sound here is some kind of dense folk pop with an impressive propulsion and sense of momentumn evident throughout. Synths and beating drums open things up and the song is built around the chord progression of a thousand 80’s Indie Pop songs, though most of all ‘The Streets Have No Name’ is brought to mind. This is where I kind of feel the ‘songwriter’ aspect coming through – ‘yes it’s predictable chords, but look what he does with it’. Well, to a point, the voices in my head are correct; the levels and layers of instrumentation and melody are smart and very well done, as is the clean and upfront production. But nothing new here.

The short, sharp title track leads into B-side ‘Love Will Always Come’ which is a much gentler creature (you can imagine it now right – picking guitars and fat piano chords?), predictably so. Except it kicks in half way through with what a friend of mine would call ‘disco’ beat. Distant horns swirl in and it’s pretty affecting, more homely and honest.

It’s these moments of surprise that work best on this single. In many ways it feels too much like they’ve thrown everything bar the kitchen sink at it; an approach which on the whole works, but I’m not convinced the songs underneath are strong enough and perhaps the thing most lacking is a strong personality behind it. Cameron’s voice has a sweet C86 tone to it, perhaps too laid back for the full on folk rock attempted here. Technically, the whole package is faultless but I feel I’m lacking something to hook onto. Still, could imagine hearing it on Radio 2, so maybe I’m not the fish it is trying to lure.

Dean Freeman

Two Trick Horse "S/T" Review

2011-08-20T07:22:00.000-07:00

Two Trick Horse

Self-Released

They may purport to only have two tricks, but the duo of Stephen Livesey and Sam Coyle offer us three tracks on this demo. That one of those is an instrumental means that we don’t get too much lyrical insight, a shame given that they cite David Peace’s novels as an influence. Opening track “Kensington Gore” charges out of the blocks, repeating the line “This is a dream”, which given that Peace’s novels frequently blur the lines between reality and dreamlike sequences (Well they’re usually nightmarish!) seems appropriate. They then slow things down, introducing a slightly Sabbath-y air of menace (Think “Electric Funeral”) to the proceedings, which works well.

Instrumental track “Horsepower” reminds me of Therapy?, particularly their pre-“Troublegum” work. Placing it bang in the middle of the running order does seem curious though, as it does rob the release of what little momentum had been built up. Closing track “Assassination Summer”, as with all the songs, was recorded in December of 2010, yet its title, which is repeated frequently, and the opening lines, can’t help but bring to mind the recent shootings in Norway. Musically it is upbeat hardcore, along the lines of sadly short lived Dutch band Razor Crusade (Must dig out “Infinite Water” for a listen), although Livesey’s vocals lack the level of intensity that would befit such subject matter.

As a demo there’s definite promise, the production sound is not overly polished, coming across more like a rehearsal tape (I swear the sound at the start of the CD is a tape recorder button being pressed), which if I’m honest suits the stripped down material.

Andrew Whittaker

Lorenza Woods "S/T" Review

2011-08-20T07:10:00.000-07:00

Lorenza Woods

S/T

Self-Released

Lorenza Woods may be an unfamiliar name to readers of the Bomb, but if you’re a Wakefield based music lover I suspect you will have come across some of the band’s members down the years. Significantly three quarters of their line-up (Guitarist Mik Crone, bassist Trevor Nicholls and drummer Matt Larkin) were previously in the long running K.O. Kaine. With Adam Phillips departing in late 2010 they opted to change their name before recruiting a vocalist.

Whether they ever contemplated retaining the K.O. Kaine moniker I’m not sure, but replacing Adam with Sarah Green (Not the Blue Peter presenter of the 80’s!) surely forced their hand. I can think of only one precedent of a metal band replacing a male singer with a female and going onto bigger things whist retaining their name, Swedes Arch Enemy. Their demos with Angela Gossow fooled many people into thinking that her vocals were in fact those of former Carcass frontman Jeff Walker. Whilst Green can unleash an equally fearsome roar at times, she often employs a clean style, which for me doesn’t always sit comfortably with the music.

What of that music? Well a recent piece on the band in the Wakefield Express hinted that they are looking to hark back to the sound of local bands such as Pylon, Milloy and Wrinkle; but that this release was comprised of K.O. Kaine music that never saw the light of day. What could be said is that they hark back to the time said bands made their mark, the late nineties and early noughties. Opening track “This Part’s For You” kicks in with a riff very much in the mould of Atlanta, Georgia’s finest rap-metal export, Stuck Mojo circa 1996’s “Pigwalk”. Later there’s a groove the size of that state that closes out the song which brings to mind the not so fine nu-metal band Coal Chamber. When Sarah is at her most aggressive, spitting out lyrics with an almost rapped delivery the deceased Wakefield band that most readily springs to mind is Crone and Larkin’s pre-K.O. Kaine outfit, Freak K.O., who were also female fronted (Confused yet!). This is the sound of the band operating in familiar territory, but there are hints of them stretching their wings into more melodic areas.

For much of “Outside In Fading Out” the band continue to trigger memories of the late nineties, especially the Tarrie B fronted Tura Satana. Although the mid-section serves as a breathing space, allowing Green’s clean vocals to take centre stage before Mik Crone displays his shredding skills with a suitably OTT solo. For me the contrasting styles don’t quite gel on this track, coming across as somewhat contrived. Thankfully “Non Believers” steers away from this approach, sticking almost exclusively to a commercial goth-metal sound ala Lacuna Coil et al. Although at nearly six-minutes in length it could outstay its welcome for some. At just over four minutes “Soldier Boy” continues along these lines with greater success, Green’s almost operatic wail being tempered by some subtler guitar work from Crone and an undercurrent of keyboards.

With the more commercial leaning of the final two tracks it almost feels like a game of two halves (Tracks 1-3 and 4-5). Clearly Lorenza Woods are still honing their sound and I do wonder if defining themselves with a physical release at this early stage might later be something of a millstone around their necks. As I alluded to earlier their present sound brings up a lot of memories of bands that I listened to in the past and if I wanted a nostalgia trip I’d more than likely dig out something by Clawfinger, Kill II This or Lacuna Coil rather than reach for this. But if those sounds still rock your boat you’d be advised to head down to the dark waters depicted on the cover.

Andrew Whittaker

The Glass Caves "S/T" - Record Review

2011-08-16T12:35:00.000-07:00

The Glass Caves
S/T
Self Released

This four-track release throws up some interesting questions. On the basis of the second ditty, err “Ditty Do”; The Glass Caves clearly have it in them to pen a catchy tune. It very much reminds me of James and if I’m honest I could easily imagine the Mancunian legends performing it to large crowds where it would go down a storm. Whether its writers have the potential to reach out to such an audience is debatable and to play Devil’s advocate for one moment I wonder if a young band would rather a more established act become better known for performing their songs?

“Rose With A Fever” follows, flirting with some Latino sounds, and there’s a powerful surge towards the end of the song when they pull out the big guns (Well a huge synth!) which makes for an impressive hook. Elsewhere though the blend of synths and guitars is less successful, opening track “Red Lies” throws several shapes, but is ultimately just a little too awkward for its own good. Thankfully the final track “Crystal Black” holds up its end of the bargain, with a strong, simple chorus and a slight air of a Mancunian influenced swagger.

So one crowd pleaser and two other decent cuts, if “Ditty Do” were the lead track I think this would make an excellent three track single. But as it stands it is certainly a promising effort.

Andrew Whittaker

Indietracks 2011 Review

2011-08-03T06:12:00.000-07:00

As followers of the RB Podcasts may be aware, I have enthused about Indietracks a hell of a lot over the past 12 months. The mix of DIY quirkiness and the genuinely friendly nature of the festival made it a winner for me last year. But as I said the other day, the NEW and the UNKNOWN are big aspects of what makes a festival for me. Would it be as good again?

For those late to the party, Indietracks is a small (about 1000 people) festival set within the grounds of Midlands Railway Museum. There’s an outdoor stage in front of a grassy area, an indoor stage in an old railway shed, a small stage in a corrugated iron chapel and various other small stages including a moving steam train and impromptu sets in the merch tent. It’s a lovely, compact setting with great views of the countryside all around.

Last year the first band I saw was The Hillifields whom I had never come across before but set a great standard of unknown gems for the rest of the weekend. This year, just the same, we came across Tiny Fireflies, a guitar / synth 2 piece that also feature in Very Truly Yours and many other bands. The sparse but warm interplay between the pair was wonderful, the minimal beats bouncing off the rail shed walls. A great start, though the aspect by which it set the standard for the festival was actually in the incestuous nature of the line up. According to the programme pretty much every band consists of members from at least 4 other bands whilst simultaneously playing in 3 different bands on the day. The first band on the Sunday were trying to soundcheck but their keyboardist was busy soundchecking on the other stage!

All of which suggests the kind of inclusive atmosphere of the festival. Also impressive is how far and wide many of the bands have travelled, with many bands from America and Scandinavia in particular. New York born Jeffrey Lewis was an absolute highlight, performing an electrifying set with his 4 piece backing band.

Man, he looked like he was having fun, his rambunctious anti folk giving an admittedly needed jolt of excitement amongst the occasionally pedestrian jingle jangle from the main stage. A cover of Sonic Youth’s 100% pleased the crowd as did a Tom Petty cover. Would have happily watched it all over again.

Edwyn Collins and Herman Dune were the headliners this year. Edwyn was a disappointment, though not through fault of his own. There were generator problems over on the main stage and he was switched to the shed last minute. Basically I couldn’t get in. The sounds wafting out were good, a tight band in place around him. After his brain haemorrhage I kind of presumed he was just ‘better’ now, but he seemed to struggle with his between song speech and clearly has a long way to go, so massive respect that he is out here on tour, entertaining the crowds and singing more than competently. Just a shame I couldn’t see anything, but ‘Rip It Up’ sounded good.

As for Herman Dune, well I didn’t get to see the whole set as my good lady Jayno had finally succumbed to a massive bout of flu and we had to head back to the tent. I liked what I heard though, surprisingly muscular with some parts coming off like ‘Spencer Percival’ by I Like Trains and, as I walked down the country lane to the campsite, the distant sound of a cover of Sonic Youth’s ‘Dirty Boots’. Dammit!

Elsewhere Indietracks has always been a good one for finding little nuggets of greatness. Victoria & Jacob, though previously known to RB have progressed nicely and threw a blinder in the chapel. Both with sets of Korgs and various samplers, the sound is full of layers but relaxed and laid back, Victoria’s vocals guiding the tracks to blissful highs. Afterwards, Heroes of the Mexican Independence Movement featured someone from Fonda 500 as well as loads of other guys from other bands. They were ramshackle but amusingly so (in the right way) and packed a fair few decent tunes.

Just Handshakes (We’re British) offered something slightly more lively than the MOR Indiepop on the main stage and their sound seemed to suit the open field, bathed in sunlight. Berlin Brides played some interesting and loud electro pop, a perfect mid afternoon wake up call.

White Town (of ‘one hit wonder’ fame with Your Woman in 1997) is a massive Indietracks fan and usually pops up somewhere. This year he did a short acoustic set in the Merch tent which was lovely, his delicate songs pleasingly honest and down to earth. His calm, hushed tones transformed the tent into a little haven for 15 minutes and he even played ‘the only hit I ever had, or ever will’ which was great for people like myself, not so familiar with his other work. A lovely moment.

Later in the tent I mistakenly (drunkenly) misread the handwritten sign stating what i thought said 'RM Hubbert' from Chemikal Underground was playing. Instead I got MJ Hibbett but thankfully he was great, with some spot on singalong stuff with some clever points being made about artistic credibility vs mass appeal plus a lovely cover of 'Boom Shake Shake Shake The Room' by The Fresh Prince and Jazzy Jeff.

These little unexpected moments are what Indietracks are about but this year didn’t quite have the magic of last year. I think this is likely because I am not a massive fan of Indie Pop. Hang on, I know it’s an Indie Pop festival. But last year had great crossover appeal, especially the Day 1 run of Standard Fare, Slow Club, Shrag and The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart. It seemed this year that the gaps were filled with rather generic offerings instead, the names of which, like the music, washed over me at the time.

Of course, it’s par for the course with a niche festival such as this. Bigger fans of the genre will have likely lapped it up. It wasn’t even a big problem, as that kind of thing is ideal when sitting on the grass with an afternnon cider. The festival had enough of those ‘ooo that’s cool’ moments but not enough ‘Wow!’ moments to match last year.

However, it’s great to see the festival is as strong as ever in terms of its individuality and commitment to providing an interesting and involving weekend. The tables in the merch tent, buckling under the weight of homemade record sleeves and DIY labels treasure troves of stock, with the labels and band members stood proudly behind them told me all I needed to know about Indietracks – that the scene is alive and well and events like this are core to keeping them alive. For that alone, Indietracks, I salute you.

Dean Freeman

Ash @ The Duchess, York, 25th July

2011-08-02T13:04:00.000-07:00

I THINK I last saw Ash on their Free All Angels Tour and Snow Patrol were touring, back in the days when the SP live show featured some one on Decks and Beats. Christ, I’m showing my age aren’t I?

Well not really, for, as Ash perfectly prove, age is a state of mind. Frontman Tim Wheeler is but 34 yet Ash have a hugely enviable back catalogue behind them with many years still ahead. It’s 10 years since I saw them and in that time they’ve released ‘heavy’ album Meltdown, lost Charlotte Hatherley, released ‘final’ album Twilight of the Innocents’ and released a single ever fortnight for a year in their A-Z Series. In many ways they’ve ridden the changes of the industry pretty well and now have the dual benefits of being seen as legends whilst still being young and vital enough to roll with the times and make music that still matters.

All of which left me slightly surprised they were playing a venue the size of The Duchess in York. Surprised but excited. The Duchess is an old fashioned venue in the proper sense; underground, low ceilings, painted black artex walls and a LOUD sound system. Ash came onto the stage to a backing track that may have been a Bladerunner cut. Tim Wheeler, blessed with eternal youth sports a huge grin. Bassist Mark Hamilton, typically serious, is wearing a lovely vintage haircut of grungey curls, circa 1995. As the Tie Fighter SFX that opens ‘Lose Control’, the opening song from their debut ‘1977’ hits the crowd like we’re in a wind tunnel, I can tell we are in for a great night.

The first half of the set is very 1977 heavy, with ‘Girl From Mars’ coming 2nd in the set, closely followed by the classics ‘OhYeah’, ‘Goldfinger’ and ‘Kung Fu’. Tracks from the mini album ‘Trailer’ that proceeded ‘1977’ also make an appearance, yet they are all aired with the conviction of that band I saw 10 years ago, which is impressive in itself.

There’s not too much from the Hatherley era, though towards the end we get ‘Shining Light’ and the encore closes with ‘Burn Baby Burn’. The pure pop power of these undisputed classics does make it hard for the newer songs, especially the more experimental A-Z tracks to fit in. But most of it does. They play the instrumental ‘Sky Burial’ which is a good 8 minutes long, a massive sense of relief from the band that they managed to get all the way through. It’s a lull in the set certainly, but works as a mid set break and it’s pleasing to see something new, stopping the whole affair from becoming an exercise in nostalgia.

The enjoyment the band appear to be taking in this more intimate of gigs is clear to see. Wheeler, with coming up to 20 years experience in a band is still modest and a little shy with his between song banter and the whole event makes me feel part of something rather sweet. It’s also one of those moments where you check yourself, and realign your expectations; Ash are STILL brilliant. I always knew it, but this great gig was the little reminder I needed. To think I’d forgotten makes me feel rather ashamed. Must be the old age I guess.

Dean Freeman

Great Festivals: Kuipersfest 2009

2011-07-29T06:56:00.000-07:00

What makes a great festival experience? One element that I feel is often overlooked is the sense of adventure, the experience of the new and unusual. Of course, it is all relative. When I was 17 and went to Leeds Festival for the first time, it was incredibly new and unusual . A free pass for the weekend, as much beer as I could carry, as much music as my ears could take. It was probably the first time I ever put up a tent and I marvelled at these cans that contained an ‘All Day Breakfast’. It was the early days of the 21st century and anything seemed possible.

Attending that particular festival 5 years running saw a steady decline in my enjoyment of it. It was a combination of many factors; familiarity, overcrowding, changing tastes. But also the fact that it wasn’t new anymore. Ok, the trip from Wakefield to Leeds wasn’t exactly a step into the great unknown, but it was the first step in a life of festivals. I was just bored of taking the same step over and over again.

Since my last Leeds Festival experience in 2005 I have sampled from the vast and constantly growing platter of festival ‘experiances’ on offer. I marvelled at the Leeds Fest Carbon Copy V Festival and flew to an airfield in Poland for Opener. I sat in a rainy, abandoned forest in Windermere for Fell Foot and relaxed in a Railway Museum for Indietracks. Latitude, Rough Beats, Live @ Leeds… the variations continue on and on. But what about that sense of adventure? Many festivals now market themselves as ‘an experience’; simply putting on bands in a field is not enough nowadays. Alex James is organising ‘Harvest’, a food and music festival. Where you can watch KT Tunstall whilst eating his finest homemade cheese. Latitude itself offers Theatre, Comedy, Poetry, Literature, Film, TV, KNITTING WORKSHOPS amongst many others to keep you busy through the day.

Yet it all takes place within a very safe and very controlled environment. Of course, we are thrilled that there are toilets that actually work. And food that won’t kill you.All good advancements. But how long before a festival essentially becomes a home from home? Latitude already has an onsite restaurant that has ‘proper plates and cutlery’. There were sofa’s in the tents to sit on. You couldn’t see the stage but you could watch it on the big screen, like you were in your own front room. If you missed a band, Sky had a tent where you could sit (on a sofa) and watch them. There was a little shop down the road where you could get a morning newspaper.

Yes, Latitude is different in this manner, but these extra touches which actually make ‘the experience’ more enjoyable will soon become the norm, with festivals battling to give and ‘all round package’ that appeals to the mass middle class interest in festivals. I’m not glorifying the dirt and squalor. I approve of everything that Latitude and its equivalents do to make my weekend more enjoyable. It’s just so bloody safe. There’s nothing unique in the homogenised Festival Republic experience, there’s no story to tell.

In Summer 2009 I went to the most interesting and unique festival I have ever come across. The bands were all completely unknown. It had no facilities whatsoever (not even running water or electricity). It took 2 and a half days to get there. But all those factors added up to something quite amazing and an ‘experience’ I will remember for the rest of my life. In summer 2009 I went to Kuiperfest.

My friend and folky chap The Passing Fancy had visited the year before and spoke of this strange but wonderful festival perched on the edge of a valley, amongst the olive groves of sun scorched Spain. I don’t recall when we decided we had to go. I kind of get these things in my head and they just happen without me realising. After driving to Munich and back a couple of years before I had an urge to make the drive to Calciete, the nearest town, about an hour outside Barcelona. This, coupled with the Passing Fancy’s fear of flying, cemented it – we would make the trip in my 3 door, 1 litre Corsa.

Day 1 saw myself, Mr Passing Fancy and Jayno take the relatively easy trip from Wakefield to London. There we picked up the 4th member of our team – Rich. As well as Mr Fancy and myself having separate gigs booked, Passing was also performing a piece of theatre, for which I was providing the soundtrack. So, amongst the tents, bags, sleeping bags and beers we also had the set of the play and 2 acoustic guitars. Every nook and cranny of my tiny Corsa was filled. There was no room to stretch or move. Very much the proverbial sardines in a can.

Day 2 saw us hit the Channel Tunnel and enter France. The weather was glorious as we sped south, our spirits high despite the crushed conditions. We put on our comp CD’s and chatted away. We stopped at massive aircraft hanger super stores and picked out ham and cheese for dinner, the sandwiches I had made the previous day now a gooey, sweaty mess in our travelling hotbox. To avoid Toll roads we took smaller A Roads, then found ourselves worryingly short of fuel. Which meant Rich and I had to grapple with our limited French to find a petrol station. “Er… Voiture… Gasoline?” The kind locals drew us a map. However, the majority of the day was spent on the Motorway, which wasn’t the most exciting drive. But by the time we hit Bordeaux around 10pm it was great to think of the progress we had made.

Day 3 saw us awake in the beautiful French city and take in croissants by the river. The only regret was that we did not have time to explore. With some trepidation we got back into the car, now more chaotic and restricting than ever. Not to worry; by days end we would be at Kuiperfest.

By dinnertime we had hit the Pyrenees, the huge mountains that separate France and Spain. This is what these longs drives are about. We wound our way up and through and down. After 10 minutes in a cool, shady tunnel we emerged in Espana. Looking out over the barren, sandy vista’s felt amazing. After some low moments in France, with Rich especially succumbing to Cabin Fever, we felt good again.

Our last experience of civilisation was a stop for food in Alcaniz. After that we hit the endless desert roads. For hours we drove through a nothing landscape, empty ghost towns surrounded by craters and dust. As light began to fade, so did our spirits. The journey had been amazing. But we had reached the line now. We needed to arrive.

The roads became smaller and more winding. The venue for the festival does not exist on Google. I don’t use Sat Navs, but it wouldn’t have been on there either. We missed the dust track the first time, but doubled back. We weren’t sure, but a sign pointing to an old church was the clue we needed. 15 minutes down the bumpiest, dustiest dirt track eventually brought us to our destination. As the sun vanished completely, our tents were up. It was too dark to take in our surroundings but we didn’t care; someone had got us an ice cool beer and that was all that mattered. 56 hours, 1200+ miles later, we were here.

The next day we were able to explore the site. The only buildings were the house of organiser Jon Bon Figlio (his real name), which was off bounds to punters, a shack the size of a garden shed, which was the bar and a row of hand built toilets, the fourth wall of which was missing, meaning you had a view of the beautiful valleywhilst you befouled it.

Water was brought in from the town in bottles. No electricity was required. Breakfast, Dinner and Tea were cooked out of the back of a camper van. They rung a bell when it was ready and for a couple of euros you could have fresh salads and scrambled egg on toast. There were no fences on site, no barriers, not even a designated camping area. Find a spot amongst the olives trees, preferably with a chance of shade early morning and you are set.

The sense of quiet was amazing. There were maybe 150 people at the festival, spread liberally across the stepped ridges. Myself and Mr Fancy went to rehearse our sets and walked for 20 minutes round the rim of the valley, far from the campers. Our guitars had warped in the heat and we could not get them in tune, but had a go anyway. On our return we were told everyone could hear us perfectly, such was the peace that engulfed the festival.

The music, as well as some theatre and stand up comedy took place in an area that had nothing to distinguish it, bar a little wooden log a performer could sit on. Performances went on late in to the night. The audience there were the most appreciative I’ve ever seen, with even the most generic singer songwriter material being met with understanding silence and handsome applause.

The heat was intense, much greater than I could usually deal with, but the fact there was nothing to do but relax made it bearable. Sometime I would go sit in the car TO COOL DOWN. One time I nodded off with my feet up on the dashboard and for the rest of the festival I had sunburnt ankles. Nothing else, just the ankles. To help cool off, the organisers ran minibus trips to a nearby river each day. Nothing to do there but get wet and try and catch fish and it was wonderful.

On the 2nd day we craved SOMETHING and drove to the nearby town 45 minutes away. We looked round and ate some tapas and returned to the tent. 2 friends, Sam and Cherry had joined us, by the more conventional means of an airplane and we just sat around, talked and watched some artists do their thing. The play went down well and Mr Fancy and I enjoyed our sets. We saw some absolutely terrible Shakespeare and a bonkers piece of performance that featured a man dressed as a giant vagina and two guys with water pistols as Penises. But it was more about the sense that the 6 of us had made it all this way, to the absolute back of beyond. Not for a festival that was advertised, that will get Guardian and BBC approval or that you could search out on E-Festivals and buy a ticket. Something truly alternative and unknown, a literal trip into the unknown with 100 people from different corners of Europe that will never meet again. That was what made Kuiperfest so amazing and why it will always stick with me.

At the end of the weekend Mr Fancy, Sam and Cherry headed over to Barcelona for a few days. Rich ended up staying in Spain for the summer, working his way around. Jayno and I drove the 1200 miles back, passing through Andorra, Avalon and Lille. By some fluke we had got a 5 star hotel in Andorra for 40 euros a night. The sight of us arriving in the reception, 4 days of unwashed living hanging upon us must have raised an eyebrow. I thought I’d got a real healthy tan until I got in the shower and realised it was about an inch of dust clinging to me.

It’s rare to get ‘experiences’ in life like that and the more festivals are marketed as such, the less likely they will be in achieving what they claim to offer. I hear of the amazing secret areas of Glastonbury, the ‘real’ festival but I expect they are not really secret, just not of interest to the U2 / Coldplay / Beyonce adoring mass market it is now sets its sights on. The community element is alive and well though, especially in the smaller niche festivals and outside of adventure, that is another key element to a successful and enjoyable festival. This year I am heading back to Leeds Festival and whilst I won’t be camping (that is an ‘adventure’ I am not willing to under take ever again) I am interested to see if that sense of involvement and togetherness exists at all, especially during Pulp’s headline slot. Yet I know that it can’t ever be anymore than a good day out – the true experiences take a lot more searching out, are more elusive and all the better for it when you find them.

Dean Freeman

Photographs: Richard Cole

Long Division Video

2011-07-28T14:02:00.000-07:00

Check out this short montage of shots from Long Division put together by Matt Sidebottom. It kicks off with Darwin Deez bigging up the festival then cuts to loads of different bands. Can you spot yourself in the crowd?!

Long Division Retrospective

2011-07-24T12:10:00.000-07:00

I can barely believe it is only 6 weeks since Long Division took place in Wakefield. Not because of some seismic shift in the makeup of our fine city, a blossoming culture of artistic ambition and civic pride. Just that it seems like some fevered dream now. Perhaps like all unuexpected success; did it really happen?

We are saying farewell to Long Division 2010 with a night of celebration at The Hop, Wakefield this coming Wednesday (July 27th). Headlining are the wonderful ‘Let’s Wrestle’ who were THIS CLOSE to being on the LD lineup itself. Supporting are Piskie Sits and hotly tipped young band Vinyl Party. Alongside this, the official Long Division photographers will be displaying their best shots for you to peruse. Each print will be a one-off, framed and available to purchase on the night, with all money going to our brilliant and hard working (and generous!) team who worked their socks off all weekend for the love of it.

There was a hope we would have a film to show on the evening also. This may or may not take place. Hopefully we’ll at least have some live footage to show whilst you enjoy a pint. It’ll be your last chance to get your hands on Long Division Merch and we may even have an announcement regarding next year.

And, most importantly, it’s FREE in. LD is nothing if not cheap.

Hope to see you there. We would love to hear your ideas for next year, as well as feedback from this year.

Dean Freeman

Podcast Episode Six Released

2011-07-23T13:00:00.000-07:00

The new Rhubarb Bomb Podcast is now available to download for free through iTunes. We’ve changed the format slightly, making them a little shorter but with the intention of releasing one a month.

Episode 6 looks ahead at what is coming up in August, which includes an interview with Runaround Kids bassist Jack Winn ahead of their album launch and a track from that very record. We also look at upcoming festivals, including Indietracks and Beacons and the bands RB is looking forward to most. The podcast includes a range of music, from a band’s first ever demo to tunes from more established artists. The change basically gives us the chance to play the records we are into asap, and for you to check out what’s been impressing RB

The next podcast will come at the end of August. If you have information regarding events you want us to mention please email us at therhubarbbomb@googlemail.com and, as ever, if you want us to review your record, with the possibility of it getting played on the next podcast, head to the website for the address.

Thanks, and spread the word!

Dean Freeman

Mondo Cane - 'Do It' Review

2011-07-22T07:55:00.000-07:00

Mondo Cane
Do It
Self Released

Back in Issue 1.2 of The Rhubarb Bomb’s physical format I remarked that Mondo Cane shared their name with one of Mike Patton’s many musical projects when reviewing their “Guaranteed Personality” EP. I suppose they deserve some kudos for sticking to their guns and keeping the name, despite the competition. It’s not only the name they’ve retained since that last release, the title track showcases a familiar quiet/loud song structure, with fuzzbox a plenty. “Popular View” is more evenly paced, but relies on the same dynamics. At two tracks long “Do It” is a useful reminder of this band. I’m not sure I’d want to hear a full album along the same lines, some greater experimentation would be welcome, but if you’re already a fan of the band I’ve no doubt this one’s for you.

Andy Whittaker

Redwood Thinkers - 'Fade So Simple' Review

2011-07-21T03:32:00.000-07:00

Redwood Thinkers
Fade So Simple
Self-Released

Summer’s here, which means that not only is it festival season, but there are also all manner of villages galas, summer fetes and such like. Yours truly was in attendance at one such event recently, a beer festival in aid of my old scout pack (I’m guessing Redwood Thinkers enjoy the odd alcoholic beverage as they thoughtfully included a bottle opener / key ring with this CD.) where for the majority of the day we sat outside, enjoying the weather and a range of brews. As the sun set and temperatures dropped we headed inside the scout-hut where we continued to enjoy a range of brews! An acoustic duo played a set in the corner of the venue, although I suspect if you’d asked any of my fellow drinkers what they thought of them they’d probably have replied “What band!” I can easily imagine Redwood Thinkers playing similar events and garnering a such a reaction.

“Fade So Simple” is on one-hand an impeccably performed and produced effort, on the other it’s such an ‘easy-listen’ that it actually began to irritate me. In fact I nearly flung it out of my car window when the song “No-one Looks Happy In Cars” came on. As someone who cycles to work quite regularly and then proceeds to monitor the North East’s motorways for 8 hours plus I would agree that a lot of motorists look pretty glum. However, I had been enjoying that days drive until that point (Mental note, I should have stuck to the Turbonegro CD I’d been listening to previously!) Somewhat bizarrely the next song, “Falling Down”, starts with the words “Take a car”, talk about mixed messages!

Having established that “Fade So Simple” does not make for good driving music I then attempted to listen to the album whilst doing the dishes. Suffice to say I didn’t make it all the way through. It took something approaching masochism for me to finally sit through all ten tracks in one sitting (During a coach trip with my earphones in to block out the driver’s skipping CD!). There are hints of Kate Bush in Kezia Roberts’ vocals, but her frequent repetition of vague emotional sentiments such as “But no one can deny this feeling, this feeling, this feeling etc” during “This Feeling” and “So nice to meet you, so nice to meet you, etc” on “Burnt” would have had me checking if the needle was stuck had I been listening to this on vinyl. I would say that “Chemical”, with male vocals akin to Eddie Vedder and a whiff of ‘grunge-lite’ is one of the few songs that doesn’t rile me. Closing final track “Worship The World” with a ‘funky’ bass workout, organ flourish and drum solo, seemingly in an effort to showcase the musician’s talents one last time, however, set my blood boiling again!

In the interests of professionalism I have listened to the album again whilst typing these words, an experience which has left me desiring a nice cold beer to relax with, now where did I put that bottle opener?

Andrew Whittaker

Latitude Festival 2011

2011-07-20T04:49:00.000-07:00

Latitude Festival
Suffolk
July 15th – 17th

My festival life began at Temple Newsam in 2001. Since then, I have been to a number of what I call ‘big’ festivals; Leeds many more times, plus V and Opener in Poland. But for the last few years I’ve avoided them and gone for the smaller ones. The individual touches appeal to me, the attention to detail, the less corporate, money driven aspect. Space to relax and unwind, socialise and not feel as if it’s an effort to have a good time. With 40,000 people expected to turn up, Latitude was a return to those large scale events I’d long avoided but, with all the positive things I’d heard about it, I hoped it wouldn’t be a return to being shepherded round a field like cattle, from one atypical indie band to another.

It was almost a whole weekend we were there. We got there teatime Friday, the long journey from Wakefield smooth enough. We had to leave Sunday teatime so we sadly missed headliners Eels whom I were looking forward to immensely. But in between I saw enough music, theatre, comedy and much more to make the journey worthwhile. On top of that, the care put into the festival was a joy to experience.

The Friday was spent exploring the site, which is huge but totally manageable. It seems bigger than it is because there are so many little corners with things going on. There are the usual large stages for music, alongside tents in decreasing size for Comedy, Literature, Theatre, Poetry, Caberet and then further stages in the woods, by the lake – basically anywhere they can squeeze something in. In the best way though, it all fits into the environment with natural ease. Even when busy, walking around is never a problem or a crush, and though they could do with more seating, if the weather is fine you can always find a spot of grass to perch on and chill out. God – doesn’t sound like much to ask does it? But after Leeds fest horrors, it came as a massive relief.

Friday wasn’t the best days line up for me, so I didn’t mind spending the time wandering around. I caught some of Paloma Faith on the main stage. I didn’t / don’t know anything about her, bar kooky appearances on Never Mind The Buzzcocks but she was pretty good, perfectly matching the bright sunny vibes cast across the main field. The National popped up later. Everyone loves The National it seems. I’ve never had chance to hear them and I don’t especially think this was the best way to do it. From what I gather they are a bit of a grower. The sound was impressive, but they kind of sounded like a really slow Interpol to my untrained ears. With a bit of gentle Elbow grandness. No point me describing them here anyway, because no doubt, unlike me, you’ve actually heard their records.

Elsewhere I caught David O Doherty, again who I had seen on Never Mind The Buzzcocks (more on that soon) over in the comedy tent. Before arriving the Comedy Tent looked like the hottest ticket to me. When I arrived the place was rammed, but it wasn’t a big deal to sit outside on the grass with a pint and watch on the big screen. He was the headliner for the day – weirdly comedy headliners go on at 6:30pm at Latitude. I reckon it’s to counter drunken heckles. He was great though, I enjoyed his little Casio keyboard tunes and his take on Irishness which was far less clichéd than it sounds now.

Among the many tents was a ‘Film & Music’ tent which earlier in the day had hosted an onstage interview with Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon. We popped down to watch the Beastie Boys Short Film ‘Fight For Your Right: Revisited’. We caught the end of some terrible female singer whose only trick was to lead with her breasts in a swanky ballroom gown whilst singing covers (of what I forget now). Programme says ‘Camille o’Sullivan’ and perhaps it is just unfortunate I saw her after Paloma who does seem genuine in her individuality whereas Camille certainly did not. However, once gone, we dashed to the front of the tent to get a good view on the massive screen behind the stage. Then REALLY STUPIDLY they started playing it on the screens at the side of the stage only. Except the volume was so quiet we didn’t notice for 5 minutes. We were so far forward we couldn’t see. So we just left. It was annoying that they bigged it up in the programme and then just played it whilst soundmen pottered around the stage for a switch over of bands.

Finally on Friday we caught some theatre. My well informed theatre friend informed me this was £25 a ticket on the westend (or whatever) and we should definitely take a look. Bare with me here as this takes some explaining. Basically, amongst all the stalls and stages they had built a hotel. Called the ‘Electric Hotel’. It was 4 storeys high and was all windows down one side, with blinds across. We’d seen it through the day and wondered what on earth it was. Performances took place at night. You were given some headphones and invited to sit in front of the hotel – on the grass, whilst people walked around – and watch. When it began, the hotel lit up. The blinds pulled back and we could see people in different parts of the hotel; some in their rooms, some in corridors, some in the bar on the top floor having a drink. Through our headphones we could hear different things that were going on. Never any speech, but foot steps, music, atmosphere. It was pretty amazing – footsteps of a maid walking around and knocking on doors, obviously pre-recorded were synced up with the actors brilliantly. It was amazing just to look at and the voyeuristic nature of it made it intriguing at the same time.

The whole concept blew me away and I was startled… for about 15 minutes. Then I started to get a bit annoyed. After 30 minutes I was furious and had to leave (the performance was 60 minutes). Why? Because, after creating the most amazing set I’ve ever seen – BUILDING A HOTEL IN A FIELD! – and one of the best concepts ever… nothing happened. They pulled one of the most convoluted tricks in theatre and started looping things. Ah yes, she’s going in that room like she did last time. That’s ok if things change, but literally it was the same. I’m sure if I stayed for the whole thing something would have happened. But I was so angry at the director for being so lazy with something that was potentially the greatest thing I’d ever seen. All I wanted was some kind of story. What a waste.

I awoke Saturday morning to the sound of a million frozen peas being unloaded upon my tent. The weatherman had been correct – torrential downpour. In my anger the previous night – at not being able to get the stove working to cook up a burger – I had rampaged the tent ever so slightly; I awoke to find my waterproof inside out… in a puddle. What a moron.

Despite this we got into the arena nice and early to start queuing for what I hoped would be one of the best parts of the weekend – a live edition of Never Mind The Buzzcocks in the comedy tent, with Noel Fielding, Phil Jupitus and yesterdays David O Doherty. We stood in the rain, in the mass of people waiting to get at the tent for nearly 40 minutes. The gates opened, a mad rush, a crushed herd of punters head for the tent. We end up about 2 feet from the tent with no view whatsoever. We head round the side but no luck. We stand there in the pouring rain under the umbrella for 10 minutes and then decide it’s not worth it. We can’t see a thing and it is pissing it down. Because of the overnight conditions people are now standing on the periphery of the comedy tent; if it had been dry we’d have been able to sit down and still see. We walk back to the tent and hear roars of appreciation way back at our campsite.

Missing things due to the crowds was a big problem at Latitude. Now I’m home and can think I would put it down to me not going to a big festival for a few years. I’m out of the habit of getting down early for a good spot. I’m used to just turning up now. Things didn’t run to time very well either, meaning well laid plans for the day were disrupted and acts missed. I was most gutted to miss Tim Key, the only thing I gave a shit about in the poetry tent – it was rammed full. I missed a piece of theatre by Whippets Productions due to it starting early. By the end I didn’t even bother trying to see Dylan Moran, Mark Watson, Adam Buxton, Mark Lamaar, Ralph Fiennes and loads more because I knew I would have to get their an hour early to secure a spot. The rain forced a lot of people into shows they didn’t even care about which made it all the more frustrating.

Of course another point here is that in the real world I consider my tastes fairly niche. People I work with probably haven’t heard of Ian Curtis, let alone Tim Key so I almost expect these places to be empty. But at Latitude my ‘secret interests’ are mainstream in a lot of cases. The guy off Charlie Brookers Screenwipe? Oh please! Etc.

Saturday was a good day though, despite the awful weather. At the comedy tent we caught the end of Robin Ince, who I have a fair bit of time for. We had to watch from outside, but slowly worked our way under the cover of the tent, inch by inch. I was disappointed with Robin though. A lot of the comedians seemed to at least mention families in someway, at least acknowledging the family friendly environment. But Robin did that awful thing of telling stories about the ‘hilarious’ things his kid does. At first it seemed he would do it in a self aware and ironic manner. But he didn’t, he just told stories about the time his kid said that inappropriate thing or did something silly. With the swarms of children mingling around and the dedicated kids area I started to worry I was at the wrong festival.

Perseverance at the comedy tents led to better things though. A one-two of Doc Brown and Jon Richardson really got things going. Doc Brown is a rapper turned stand up. He too starts with a bit of child related stuff, but then drops into a rap about how English rappers are unable to brag about where they come from like their American counterparts – due to their inate Englishness. Hence a rap about getting 3 shirts for a fiver down at Primark and driving a Ford fiesta. The act comes alive after this and he periodically drops into a rap, with backing track to back up his points. It’s great – funny but talented too. I like the fact he comes from a different background to most comedians I’ve seen. He’s friendly , approachable and knowledgable and his rap upbringing has given him a really interesting, and amusing outlook on life. Great stuff.

Jon Richardson pops up on stage IMMEDIATELY after due to things running behind. He’s quite a well known face on television now, popping up on various panel shows. I saw him at The Hop in Wakefield a couple of year back and had enjoyed it but it’s great to see that a) he has improved massively since then and b) has not become ‘accessible’ after being on telly. He’s more neurotic than ever, focusing on his OCD when on tour, when at festivals and how it stops him forming any type of meaningful relationship. It works because I believe he is actually like that. I see a bit of myself in his attitudes of finding disgust in almost everything but he takes it past what would be a logical conclusion for most people. And from there floweth the comedy. He’s really smart but down to earth. As he says himself; ‘With most comedians you leave thinking, hey, he’s going to do alright for himself. With me, it’s more like ‘Is he gonna be ok? Should I be worried’. Excellent.
Due to not being able to get into a few tents, as mentioned, a fair bit of Saturday was spent on the main stage. The rain, that had not stopped for about 7 hours, subsided slightly for Seasick Steve. I don’t understand Seasick Steve. I am heavily opposed to Country, Folk, Blues… seemingly every influence he has ever had. But I think he’s amazing. I think it’s because you know he is for real and he is clearly loving every second. He is joined on stage by a drummer and by the former Led Zeppelin bassist. I don’t own any of his records but I enjoy every second, so much passion and good humour. He wheels out a procession of unlikely looking homemade guitars, including one with just one string. The band jam for some sections, clearly loving every second. Despite the rain returning it feels like the whole field is stomping away. At the end he takes about 5 minutes to leave the stage, reluctant to leave the appreciative crowd behind.

As The Cribs hit the stage the sun appears from behind a cloud. They are probably the most un-Latitude band on the bill. We manage to get to about the 10th row without having to so much as say ‘excuse me’. Not because there isn’t a crowd, but because it’s a different type of crowd. Someone stands on my friends toe during an energetic number. They turn round and apologise. Wow.

But the set itself is sublime. Ryan is wearing a bright pink wig. They storm straight into ‘Cheat On Me’, a touring guitarist now filling in for Marr. They don’t miss him one bit. It takes a couple of songs for the crowd to get going. At first the Jarman’s seem terribly out of place. But then the circle pits start and the gig comes to life. Ryan tells the crowd they woke up in Great Yarmouth that morning in the pouring rain and didn’t expect anything from today, but they really enjoying it. The majority of the tracks seem to be from ‘Men Needs, Womens Needs, Whatever’ alongside generous helpings from the other albums and what appear to be a couple of newbies, which seem to be full of the usual melodic delights. They play ‘Be Safe’ which is brilliant, Lee Ranaldo shown on the big screens, adding his spoken word.

2nd last song is ‘Mens Needs’ and as they launch into ‘City of Bugs’ from the most recent album I begin to think they should have ended a song earlier. But I am so wrong. I never fully got into ‘Ignore the Ignorant’ and presume the run through will be a bit tired, anitclimatic. But live it comes to life like I would never expect and it proves to be a thrilling conclusion.

Later into the evening we call in to see Echo & The Bunnymen who are outstanding. I should know more about them, I know, but they are just one of those bands I know a couple of songs by but don’t own a thing. Judging by the crowd reaction they were playing some classics and as ‘The Killing Moon’ hits I’m there with them 100%. The huge echo-ing sounds round the massive tent is perfect. It’s not often a band you don’t know has such an effect, but I guess they are bloody legends aren’t they, so it’s no surprise.

The bands finish quite early at Latitude (and comedy finishes at 7pm) which leaves you wandering the odder stuff for entertainment. We popped for a pint to the cabaret tent as there was a Stones/Beatles cover band. Course I object massively to that, but I thought as background music for a pint it’d be ok. We found a comfy tree by the tent and sat there listening but ‘No Expectations’ were surprisingly dull, making McCartneys touring band sound like the fucking Sex Pistols. Absolutely by numbers and without an ounce of personality. Shame on them.
The poetry tent had cleared since us missing Tim Key and similarly we sat for a pint with something in the background. The female compere dropped some typically bleak poetry about some kind of relationship bother. Then Nathan Penlington came to the stage. I enjoyed his 10 minute slot, though it raised more questions than anything, the main one being ‘what is poetry?’. He told stories, read some of Uri Gellar’s terrible poetry, did a magic trick and read a poem. It was enjoyable but unusual. Judging by various other acts I saw in passing, plus what I gathered from the programme, spoken word / poetry / rap / reading out loud all seem to blur into one now. I guess part of it is making it accessible to an audience, especially a festival one. It didn’t really convince me to go see poetry live anytime soon, but I’m still glad it was there and given an outlet. In fact a great thing about Latitude is that despite Music having the biggest stage, it feels like all the strands of the arts are treated with them same respect, as well they should.

On the way back to the tent we witnessed something very strange by the lake. We were on our way into the woods, through the crowds, when I saw some giant inflatable Moomin type characters bobbing past, like Sprirted Away characters. We then spotted a person attached to a massive balloon floating our way. Like a trapeze artist they were spinning around as the balloon fell and raised itself up again. I’m talking way up in the sky here, dangerously high. The person lowered themselves down and touched the Moomins one by one and they dissolved to nothing. Then the balloon man flew away. It was awesome, mostly because it was totally unnecessary, but also because if we’d not happened to have been passing at that very moment, we’d have missed it. Well cool.

Which brings me to the little touches that made Latitude so great. As soon as we arrived at the campsite we dumped our stuff and started to unpack the tent. Immediately two volunteers rolled up and offered to help us put it up. 5 minutes later they were on their way and we were in our tent having a beer. The campsite was excellent, though admittedly we were in the guest site. Toilets generally were amongst the best I have seen at a festival including, to the mass amusement of my girlfriend, female urinals. The general campsite had a supermarket selling goods at reasonable prices, including fresh milk, homemade cakes, locally sourced meat and newspapers.

Within the arena the prices were acceptable – about 6/7 quid for a meal, which is steep but the choice was massive and the quality very good. Pints were a reasonable £3.90 for Tuborg or Cider. You had to pay a £3 deposit for a cup which at first seems a bit costly. But it’s actually a genius move – it means there’s no littering and people keep hold of their cups. At the end of the weekend we got our 3 quid back.

The programme was expensive - £9. However, the programme is a 350 book, a proper book with masses of information in and makes a decent souvenir. Though, as the only way to get a timetable, it is a bit much. Perhaps there should be a timetable only option for a few quid.

I found staff to be very helpful. There were a lot of ‘information’ people around to point you in the right direction. People in shops and stalls were friendly too and fitted in with the general easy going atmosphere. I didn’t see any drunken idiots shouting and causing bother. People were drunk, don’t get me wrong. I saw paramedics attending to a few. But there was no fuss. It was a family festival afterall, but I’m glad that the family aspect did not affect the quality of the acts. I heard some right swearing from the comedy arena, but the whole thing was still family friendly. I saw a lot of young girls, 13/14, going around in groups and at some other festivals that would worry me.

Saturday night ended in the woods with a DJ delivering some pumping tunes. Felt real counter-culture. But safe, y’know? Sunday arrived and the weather seemed to be coming round to the festival spirit.

We kicked off with our first bit of theatre – Crunch! The theatre was great, about 500 capacity but it felt very intimate. Crunch! Was a one man show based around the idea of money. ‘Gary’ appeared to be one of those money making, pyramid scheme scammers. He laid out his 5 point plan for a better financial system. He held an auction for an envelope containing an unknown amount of money and someone came out smiling. Using evidence (including a trillion dollar Zimbabwean Bill) he tried to talk the audience round to his philosophy of ‘Richism’. It all built towards a climax that I don’t want to spoil here, but it involved the audience seriously questioning its attitude to money in a most extreme manner.

The show was great because it was unpretentious. It has to be said for a lot of the stuff at Latitude actual – words like ‘Literature’, ‘Poetry’ and ‘Theatre’ scare / bore the shit out of some people, but most of what I saw here was really engaging. The key here was Gary himself. Clearly elements were scripted, but he addressed the audience directly and bounced off their responses. It’s difficult to keep that up over an hour whilst building to a pre-determined climax but he did it with style.

I popped over to the main stage to catch 20 minutes of Kele (of Bloc Party) doing his solo thing. I kinda liked his solo album, or about half of it. Its Galaxy FM dance moves were unexpected certainly, especially as they were tinged with some pretty heavy regret and despair. Would this win over a mid afternoon festival crowd?

Surprisingly, yes. Kele had a proper band with him and seemed in incredibly high spirits. He was battling against the worst downpours of the weekend but was working the crowd like a seasoned professional. Smiling and everything. Maybe I got the guy completely wrong. They played a medley of Boc Party tunes that sounded completely different (Blue Light, The Prayer, One More Chance) but it was his own stuff that stood out. Shame I had to leave before he wrapped things up.

I ended my Latitude with a piece of theatre, a piece developed especially for Latitude between SpyMonkey and Peeplokyus. The latter of those are one of my favourite theatre groups (not that I can name many) having made two of the best pieces of comedy I’ve seen in theatre (Spyski and their version of Hound Of The Baskervilles).

In short it was utterly bonkers, silly beyond what I previously thought were the boundaries of silliness. It was based around the Jekyll and Hyde story and featured a cast of 6 playing multiple characters. It was created to appear under-rehearsed but by happy co-incidence was also under rehearsed. As is often the Peepolokyus way, the actors slip out of character, into the character of the actor and argue on stage. There were some amazingly off the wall moments that you expect from them. Some parts were so over the top slapstick it was beyond belief. But it was piss funny. Basically this was a greatest hits set for theatre, playing to the festival crowd. It wouldn’t work in it’s current state as a touring piece, but as a one off piece I was thrilled and it was a great ending to my Latitude.

Overall I was very impressed with Latitude. I heard there were some issues with the water supply (again…) and a shortage of wood chippings in the main campsite. I didn’t encounter any of this and from what I witnessed staff were on the ball in dealing with the boggy conditions. The festival had the right atmosphere, and though its headliners weren’t as massive as some other festival, the general experience was spot on. If the weather had held, it would have been even greater. As it was, it became a bit of a trial making it around the site. But with lots of new and interesting things to see, I will be surprised if I find a better festival experience this year.

Dean Freeman

Pylon Setlist

2011-07-18T11:42:00.000-07:00

Pylon played their last ever gig yesterday at Out Of Spite Festival at The Well in Leeds. At least I presume they did – I had a freebie for Latitude. But after the joyous evening spent at their warm up for that final appearance I don’t feel I missed out – though they will most certainly be missed. Below is a scan of their set list from that Wakefield gig (review HERE) to remind us that as well as writing some of the best tunes ever, they were also incredibly childish… :) Cheers guys x

Elks / Black Helium Split 7" Review

2011-07-12T12:46:00.000-07:00

Oh My Oh My Oh My / Summer Spells
Elks / Black Helium
Death Pop

Ah! The good old fashioned spilt 7”. Right boys, you got one song to impress, you better make it a good one…

Elks, who graced RB’s very own Long Division this year, earning themselves a swarm of converts, open things up. As those at LD will be aware, they play loud, low slung power dirges of brain rattling beauty. My bones were shaking and I was next door. Elks have two albums under their belt; the first was a little more math rock influenced but the last – ‘Boy Wander’, which saw the band become a three piece, was a whole lot more dirtier; a blues influenced beast, a swarm of malevolence. Unsurprisingly after the live show, it’s a route they’ve continued down. Perhaps even more than Boy Wander it’s an accurate reflection of their live show in terms of its swagger and attitude and ball breaking volume. Perhaps it doesn’t quite have the hook a split single benefits from or the dynamics of some of their other tracks; instead, at 2 and a half minutes it just grabs you by the proverbial with one hand and punches you in the gut with the other. But in a nice way, of course. As an advert for what Elks are all about, you couldn’t ask for more

Black Helium are new to RB and with the opening, dirge slow riff of Summer Spells it’s clear why they are sharing a vinyl with Elks. There’s a more atmospheric approach here, with 60’s echo effects all over the vocals and a verse that is part Slint, part Psychedelia influenced early 90’s grunge. It’s a bit unsettling, again in a good way, the chorus breaking the daze of the spun out verse. It’s a chorus but it doesn’t have a hook, instead just volume, a fuzzed out, hellish riff and a wailing vocal that recalls Hawkwind or some similar era reference (probably early Sabbath). The press promised some Daydream Era type guitar interplay – I would liked more of that angle but Black Helium have a knack of bashing out a relentless, grinding riff and coating it in some fine atmospherics that, despite being twice the length of the Elks track, leaves me wanting more.

Dean Freeman

http://deathpoprecords.wordpress.com/

Pylon @ The Hop - Live Review

2011-07-11T07:53:00.000-07:00

Pylon
The Hop, Wakefield
8th July 2011

Last year Rhubarb Bomb ran an article on Pylon under its ‘Lost Bands’ header. The case for the prosecution to them being ‘lost’ was that they never completely fulfilled the potential they seemed to have. They were adored in Wakefield. They were part of a tight collective of amazing musicians and friends who made Wakefield an interesting place to be. They influenced a whole range of bands, as well as record labels, promoters and fanzine writers. But after the release of their debut album (proceeded by two EPs) they split, with a farewell gig pencilled in for Out of Spite Festival, 2007. As often seemed to be the case in those last few years, it fell through. Next week they play that final gig at Out of Spite. But tonight we have the amazing honour of seeing them in Wakefield and, goodness me, I’m excited.

It has been interesting talking about Pylon recently, as RB has on its Long Division Podcasts. I’m just old enough to remember seeing them at what was perhaps their prime during my late teens - the right age to be hooked. But to some of the bands coming through now they are just a name, partly mythical perhaps. So it was pleasing to see a real mix of people in the crowd. Those hot young things and those who remember it the first time round. One of my first gig experiences was seeing Pylon at Players – it was in that same venue around that time I was given a flyer advertising a coach trip to Joseph’s Well, Leeds to see the band that eventually became The Cribs. It’s good to see 2 of the Jarmans down to pay their respects.

Which makes it sound terribly austere. It wasn’t. It was fucking awesome.

Apologies are due to the support acts – I didn’t bother. I was here for one band and one band only. I was right down the front. The band looked a little nervous setting up. Rob Taylor is tootling on his Hammond and that classic sound (to these ears) takes me way back. I can see the setlist at the feet of singer Joe. There’s plenty to get through.

Pylon kick things off and instantly the sound is huge. I think the new PA in The Hop might be slightly too loud. Though to be fair I’m stood RIGHT NEXT TO IT. The sound is immense and the energy instantaneous. They kick off with a couple of earlier EP tracks, ones I’ve not heard for a while. But, somewhere deep in the recesses of my mind lie those words and melodies and I’m singing along. How much useless rubbish rattles around our brains? By the time they launch into ‘Name In Lights’, opener from their debut, the whole room is in rapture. The band are having a great time, there are smiles all round. There’s banter from the crowd and I’m sure I saw the raffle guy from the old ‘For The Love Of The Game’ nights.

About half way through it feels like they’ve played all their songs. But they keep digging out the ‘hits’, every one a gem I’d half forgotten. The pure power of Pylon is in their melodic abilities. Through the ear ringing howl the vocal hooks shine through. Every song over flowing with some shining, optimistic beauty. Because I’ve only had their recorded output to enjoy over the last FIVE YEARS I’d forgotten the power of them as a live band.

There’s something amounting to perfection in these songs, some untouchable glimmer of a singular, complete moment. Standing there I feel like I could actually be watching the best band that has ever existed. Now I know that sounds ridiculous but rather than a comment on their songwriting or WHATEVER, I’m really getting at the ideas of what makes a band ‘great’. Pylon are so unknown in the grand scheme of things but watching them inspires because it backups what you already know; that ‘local’ bands, ‘obscure’ bands, LOST bands can mean the world – and in this case they have the tunes to back it up. Pylon write such amazing, anthemic music they could be huge. But they don’t need to be huge to be amazing. Out of every band playing in the world tonight, Pylon could be the greatest but the only people who will ever know are the 100 or so in this room. That’s a good feeling.

So anyway, yeah, I quite enjoyed myself. I’m glad I got to see them again before they disappear for good. In a week where RB has also seen Pulp come back from the dead, it naturally leads to introspection and the nature of all this band malarkey. But looking back, as much as I love Pulp and they are one of the most important bands EVER to me – I FELT MORE hearing ‘Yo Yo Blue’ than Disco 2000 – because Disco 2000 feels like a point in time, wonderful nostalgia. ‘Yo Yo Blue’ and the rest, have something to give TODAY. I hope they manage to play more shows and even make more records. But the magic they had, and have again tonight, lives on in Wakefield and if that torch continues to be passed on, we have nothing at all to worry about.

Dean Freeman

Pylon play their last ever gig at Out Of Spite on July 17th

Pylon’s music is available here: http://pylon.bandcamp.com/

Action Replay - Burning In Ice Review

2011-07-09T03:01:00.000-07:00

Action Replay
Burning In Ice
Hellfire Productions

From 2002 – 2006 ‘Swedish Melodic Death Metal’ were words I frequently typed whilst writing for a previous publication. Judging by “Burning In Ice” title track it would appear Brummies Action Replay have been influenced by said genre and whilst I remain a big fan of bands such as Gothenburg’s In Flames it takes something extra special for new acts plying this sound to turn my head these days. Aimee Flower’s powerful, crystal clear; vocals on this track certainly help Action Replay to stand out from the legions of bands fronted by males of Viking stock. Musically there’s an extremely tasteful solo around the one minute fifty mark from guitarist Matt Draycott, although the ‘breakdown’ which precedes it does sound contrived and somewhat redundant.

Track two “Darkest Days” starts off with some quiet Tool-esque introspection but largely reminds me of ‘German Thrash Metal’ gods Kreator at their least thrashing, circa Endorama, when frankly they couldn’t get arrested over here. Me, I’m quite partial to the darker/slower sound they introduced at the time. Again Flower’s vocals are a million miles away from Mille Petrozza’s harsh tones, although I personally find them a little two polished.

Third track, “Caught Between Us”, allows me to continue our geographical genre lesson, harking back to the early nineties when San Franciscan ‘Bay Area Thrashers’ such as Metallica and Testament started penning ballads. The guitar work here evokes memories of Testament guitarist and sometime Rodrigo Y Gabriela collaborator Alex Skolnick. Skolnick remains an exceptional guitarist whose return to Testament instantly boosted them in the live arena, so when I compare Draycott to him believe me that is a compliment.

“Cut You Down” closes proceedings on an upbeat note. For me it’s the only track where the band sufficiently escapes the shadow of their influences and tries to forge their own identity. Ultimately “Burning In Ice” is a release I would have praised a decade ago, but Action Replay (Apt name given that they seem to be offering condensed highlights of various metal genres at their most commercial) have probably missed the boat, with Italian’s Lacuna Coil having long since taken this kind of female fronted metal to the masses. If you want to hear a British version of them though then this could be for you.

Andrew Whittaker

Indietracks Festival Compilation

2011-07-08T08:31:00.000-07:00

Yes yes yes, I know you get sick of RB going on about Indietracks. But for the last time; it’s with good reason! And talking of reasons, here is another one. Indietracks has put together a 40 track compilation featuring bands playing at this years festival. It’s available for download and contains tracks from some of the more well known bands (Herman Dune, Crystal Stilts, an unreleased demo from Jeffery Lewis) as well as lesser known but equally brilliant acts. Of course, the idea is to download it and pop it on in the car on the way. But if you can’t make it to Indietracks for whatever reason (I’ve yet to hear a good one) it’s still well worth a listen.

The Comp is just another of the brilliant little touches that Indietracks excel at and that attention to detail is what makes the festival for me. You can download it from the make do and mend bandcamp

http://makedoandmendrecords.bandcamp.com/

and you can pay what you like. Before you head off and pay nowt for it, bare in mind that all the money goes to the Midland Railway Centre who allow use of their site every year. They need a few pounds to keep themselves going, so give em something… And there is still time to get your tickets: a bargain £65 for the whole weekend. Hope to see you at Indietracks!

Dean Freeman

Black Moth / XM-3A Split 7" Review

2011-07-07T02:49:00.000-07:00

Black Moth/ XM-3A
Split 7”
New Heavy Sounds

It’s slightly disappointing to receive a promo copy of Black Moth and XM-3A’s split 7” (On clear vinyl no less!) on CD, but ultimately it’s the content I’m here to review, not the format.

As with any split release one band is going to triumph over the other and take the plaudits, in this case it’s Black Moth, with their contribution “Spit Out Your Teeth”. It largely reminds me of former Hole and Smashing Pumpkins’ bassist Melissa Auf der Maur’s solo work, with Harriet Hyde’s vocals in particular reminding me of Melissa’s voice with a slight air of L7 creeping in. The lyrics are suitably kooky, hinting at dark, windy nights and black cats. If the line “If you believe me I can’t let you go, I couldn’t let something bad happen to you, you’re safe with me here, so stay with me here and nobody evil of bad will come near.” was sung by a man it would sound laughable, but Harriet delivers it perfectly. With a couple of heads down, balls-out riffs (The one around the three minute mark is suitably Sabbath-esque) upping the ante at just the right time there’s much to suggest that Black Moth’s album, which is slated for an autumn release, will be worth investing in.

XM-3A weigh in with “It’s Possible – Part 1”, which frankly leaves me with no desire to hear “Part 2”. It’s the vocals which kill it dead for me, which to these ears sound like Austin Power’s character Fat Bastard attempting to impersonate Lemmy. And the lyrics, well the line “I go down to the town, I think I’ll take a look. I go into the library, guess I’ll get a book.” just sounds awful. Granted the repetition of the songs main motif “It’s possible, not impossible.” succeeded in burrowing into my brain, that’s not to say I enjoyed the experience. There is a flicker of hope in the music, which with some meaty riffs and a hint of organ reminded me of long lost Brit hopefuls Headswim. Ultimately if you choose to put out one track on a split release though that’s what you’re going to be judged on and on the basis of this four and a half minute track I won’t be scouring the racks for XM-3A’s future releases.

Andrew Whittaker

Wireless Festival (Pulp) Review

2011-07-06T07:55:00.000-07:00

Wireless Festival
Hyde Park, London
3rd July 2011

Wireless Festival was a 3 day festival; RB could only afford to make it for the last day, though with Pulp headlining the final night, was there any real need to waste 2 days waiting for the greatest band ever?

I heard that Aphex Twin were amazing on the Saturday and I regret not getting to be art of that. However, Sunday is where we were and thus the review begins.

I don’t recall going to Hyde Park before. I’m not a big London lover. I can manage 2 days tops, but even then I get a bit stressed by it all. I don’t like busy places, I don’t like things noisy and hot and sweaty and I don’t like the fact that you have to get the tube everywhere, randomly popping up in some suburb not knowing where the hell you are. I also don’t like how expensive it is and the fact it loves itself a bit too much.

HOWEVER. We managed to get a hostel right on Hyde Park for just £20 each a night. We could see The Albert Hall out of our Window. The Natural History Museum was a 3 minute walk. And being in upmarket South Kensington made us feel all fancy. Hyde Park itself was a good venue, it was great to sit in the park and chill before the festival itself started. It also meant you could have a few cheeky beers before hand to save on dollars as once you were in, YOU WERE IN. No re-admissions.

Getting in was a problem as the queues were massive, meaning we missed Yuck and all but the end of Metronomy, pretty much the only two bands on the day time bill I cared about. The tailend of Metronomy was excellent though, amazing I saw them in The Hop, Wakefield just a few months before. Admittedly they have intentionally got a hell of a lot more accessible with recent album The English Riveria, but it was the right move. They sound great in the mid afternoon sun.

We find a good spot to perch and sit on the grass. The festival isn’t too busy and there are plenty of spots to sit and drink and chat, near enough to hear the bands, but far enough to be heard over the noise. It makes the best of being in a park basically. Although it is busier by the end, it never gets too busy.

Bands come and go – The Horrors surprise me as I thought I pretty much despised them. I hated them when they arrived but I’d heard good things about the 2nd album. Not enough to listen to it, but from what we get here I’m really impressed, swarming walls of noise with a Primal Scream penchant for dirtiness and euphoria in equal measures. Cool. The Hives, who we are all surprised to hear still exist, arrive next. They are entertaining, front man Howlin' Pelle Almqvist spurting odd and humorous asides between songs. They are exactly as we remember them sounding. Pleasing background music to the pints.

TV on The Radio, another band I never got into, pop up next and again I’m surprised that I’m actually liking what I hear. The sounds are dense and interesting but the atmosphere of the festival, or at least the space around us, is geared more towards socialising and I’m not paying a great deal of notice.

For the first time we leave the main stage and head over to catch Foals. It’s almost as if this festival was made up of bands I’ve heard loads about but know nothing. The tent is full and again the sound is good. But we stand outside and let the fans squash in. Around us are plenty of food stalls, offering plenty of variety. Price wise we are talking £4 a pint and about £6/7 for food. Pretty pricey if it were a northern festival but in London it’s close to a bargain. There are plenty of security staff around, some of them even monitoring the toilet queues to makes sure people don’t jump ahead.

The overall festival vibe surpasses what I expected would be overly corporate. It’s inclusive and, I guess, relatively family friendly. Amusingly, the big screens by the stage between bands show vox pops taken with the crowd and interview sections hosted by a T4 wannabe and Huey from Fun Lovin Criminals. The festival they are showing on screen seems to differ wildly from what I see around me – talks with Skins like teenagers about all the hot boys and girls and getting drunk and Huey spouting like he’s at some California frat beach party. Weird, because the festival was a lot nicer than the image they were seemingly trying to project.

So we caught the last 5 minutes of Grace Jones. I don’t know anything she’s ever done, except play MayDay in ‘A View To A Kill’ and was probably right to assume her music wouldn’t be up my street. But she astounded us all by performing her entire closing number whilst hula hooping non stop. And she weren’t just stood there. She walked around the stage introducing the band. Like she’d forgotten it was there. Then she walked off, hula hoop still going. Nice work.

And so the wait began. For the mighty Pulp. I had had mixed feelings about the reunion. In general I viciously disapprove of band reunions for the sake of it. I’ve seen a couple. I saw The Pixies at Leeds Fest. I had a great time during the gig. But it was wrong, and I knew it (and proved very unpopular when stating it). If they’d got an album out I wouldn’t mind. But we’re still waiting.

With Pulp I was excited because Russell was back. For me that seemed to give it the stamp of approval it needed. And hearing they’d got together due to a mutual friend passing away and them realising life was too short – I can deal with that. I think if anything I perhaps felt a little jealous as I had made the effort to attend their ‘last ever gig’ at Magna in Sheffield which had been amazing. I couldn’t say that anymore.

The festival seems Pulp’s natural home now though. Come on and play the hits… except they don’t have a massive amount of ‘proper hits’. And the excitement of seeing ‘I Spy’, ‘F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E’ and ‘This Is Hardcore’ again, alongside the singalong favourites was the perfect combination of feel good and subversive.

As expected they opened with ‘Do You Remember The First Time’ which seemed slower but more driving than I remember, Jarvis’ opening line of ‘You say you want to go home…’ sounding so strong and alluring – exactly as if the last 17 years had not passed. As ever Jarvis is the greatest thing going here. With this reunion in particular, it all rested on him. The band sound tight and perform efficiently if not without any particular flair (stylish Russell aside). Jarvis is the key. If there had been any sense from him that he was going through the motions it would have fallen apart. But from the very beginning he was back, putting ever ounce of passion and playfulness into his performance.

He introduced every song and it was good to hear him reminisce about his years in London – though very much a northern band, most northerners do forget that it was London that made the band when it counted, or as Jarvis puts it; ‘the clash of Sheffield and London’. Pleasingly they illustrate this with ‘Mile End’ which though played a lot during the Different Class tour I’d not heard live before, only available on the Trainspotting Soundtrack.

The set continues with great song after great song. 9 of the 12 Different Class tracks get an airing, leaving 3 from His N Hers, 1 from This Is Hardcore and 1 from We Love Life and Mile End. I expected more from His N Hers but it seemed they ran out of time, with Jarvis asking the time and then playing Common People. I reckon they wanted to play Lipgloss of Razzamatazz, which would have been amazing and probably preferable to Bar Italia. But, it has to be said, it was a festival and the festival favourites naturally got the best reaction; ‘Disco 2000’ was immense, ‘Something Changed’ got a huge singalong and ‘Babies’ got people bouncing around like it was 1995.

‘I Spy’ was a highlight. Jarvis started on the floor on his back with perverse callings of ‘I’m coming to get you… I know where you are’ as the band built an unnerving wave of sound. He then came down to the audience with a camera and stuck it in their faces, to great comic affect. Once the beat kicked in it thrust into life, much greater than the record. ‘Pink Glove’ had a fantastic propulsion to it as well and it was good that the band had clearly worked on some of the tracks, tighten them up for the festival audience.

There wasn’t a track that didn’t satisfy. ‘This Is Hardcore’, a personal favourite, soared over the park. It was those moments that justified the reunion for me. Such a crazy, conceptual piece of devastating music being fed to the Disco 2000 ‘masses’ was a triumph. It also made me realise that I had mellowed some in the years since Pulp left us in that I happily sit in both of those camps now.

But that was the overriding feeling – it didn’t feel like they had ever left. Officially they never split, but it felt right for those songs to be part of NOW. They didn’t feel like relics, it didn’t even feel like nostalgia. Of course I hope they make another record. But if not, any excuse to get Jarvis back in front of a field full of people is worth it. It’s where he belongs and it makes the world a better place. Jarvis closed the gig by saying ‘see you again, maybe in another 10 years’ but I’ve got a feeling it’ll be sooner than that.

As a festival, it was a good experience; the trip to London with friends felt like enough of an adventure to warrant to cost and it was something new and different. I’d have been less impressed I had just popped to Leeds for the same thing. The atmosphere was good and the organisers seemed to care that you had a good time, though ultimately it is just another corporate festival.

Dean Freeman

Photography by Joel Rowbottom

Philophobia Music - 'To Dare Is To Do' Review

2011-06-30T11:43:00.000-07:00

Various Artists
To Dare Is To Do
Philophobia Music

This is a new compilation from Wakefield label Philophobia Music. It contains 2 tracks each by Above Us The Waves, Gary Gore & EE Viles and Daniel Lancaster. All those bands appeared in various forms on the excellent full length PHOP comp ‘Under The Bus Station Clock’ last year. With a lot of high profile releases from its more well known bands (Runaround Kids, The Spills, Piskie Sits etc) since then, Philophobia wanted to celebrate its lesser known stars too.

To Do Is To Dare has pleasingly old skool PHOP packaging, a handmade cardboard sleeve that folds out to reveal 3 separate mini CDs (you know those proper small ones, about 3” in diameter?). It’s a pointless but brilliant touch that makes things like this worth buying. But what of the music?

First up is Above Us The Waves who’s self released EP ‘A Gene’ was well received last year. They are the most ‘typical’ band here in relation to the label. Those with a vague interest in Wakefield sounds will know what to expect here, fuzzed up guitars, energetic, spritely stuff. Those with a greater interest will see the difference here, less slacker, less poppy, more rickety and runaway; wirey and fractured. There’s a strong sense of authenticity here; AUTW have a seriousness, a dark streak that a lot of their peers avoid. Not that this isn’t enjoyable; the lumbering crescendos of ‘X-Ray Eyes’ in particular are moving and certainly point to much future potential.

Gary Gore & EE Viles is a collaboration between Junior Swimsuit and Swords, as last heard on the aforementioned PHOP Comp. It continues the labels occasional foray into electronica. Both tracks have a really great, individual sound. It’s light and airey, bringing to mind some elements of The Postal Service or the playful side of Aphex Twin. That’s not a reference I like to use; it’s what people fall back on who don’t understand the subtleties of this kind of thing. But it’s accurate here as this is Electronica from the minds of Indie kids and it fits it is so full of melody as opposed to groove or momentum. It also reminds me a little of ‘Worrywort’ by Radiohead but again, that just shows my own limited field of knowledge.

The first track, ‘Decades Erased’ is vocal free, allowing the alternating melodies to take lead. It’s interesting that it’s a collaboration; it feels like a robot duet, with lines coming and going, moving in and out of focus. It works well. The second has a heavily altered vocal hook which adds some variation. Both tracks take a long time to sink in, full of invention and leaps through strange territories of inverted logic, but are equally accessible and dreamlike, so completely worth the effort.

The last double hit is from former Lapel (Philophobia’s first band) Daniel Lancaster who has been rather quiet since the bands split some years back. However, here we have a pair of astoundingly confident tracks of acoustic based pop, with a full band backing. There are great production touches all over the place but it never feels overly showy. The songs at the heart of all this are strong and it’ll be interesting to see what happens when they are played live. Like all the tasters here, it bodes well for the future.

This whole EP is a success as it gives enough to raise interest in these lesser known talents yet also leaves me wanting more, from all of them. I like the awkwardness of it too – that it’s on 3 different CDs. What, I got to get up AND CHANGE THE CD to hear the different bands? Yes you do. That’s the kind of hardcore fan that Philophobia is here for. Course you can always download it if that sounds like too much effort.

Dean Freeman

http://philophobiamusic.bandcamp.com/album/to-dare-is-to-do

Doctor Robotnik: An appreciation of Old Skool of Evil

2011-06-30T05:27:00.000-07:00

Sonic The Hedgehog celebrated his 20th birthday this week. As a child I was very much a Sega convert, though I think even then I knew Mario was much better. But the fast and direct, simplistic gameplay was what made the series such a success and the deviation from it what made later Sonic games completely suck (along with the 3rd Dimension).

Having recently played through the original run (Sonic 1-3 + Sonic & Knuckles) once more on the Xbox Arcade the thing that struck me most was Sonic’s arch nemesis; Dr Robotnik. Sonic now seems very much of his time, not quite a ‘Poochie’

but very much a constructed mascot with irritating early 90’s ‘cool’ and ‘attitude’. Whereas Dr Robotnik is a villain in the classic sense – stupendously ambitious and bombastic and laughably flawed. Much as it is fun to deconstruct 80’s action films, so it goes with Robotnik; as you travel deeper into the world he so desperately wants to conquer, we see the massive contradictions in his approach to defeat Sonic. No, I’m not taking this too seriously.

Whilst Sonic, upon its release in 1991, revolutionised what could be done with a 16bit console, the games are unsurprisingly simple now. But therein lies the charm and the first game in particular still stands up to scrutiny. Simple characters, with obvious motivation placed in imaginative environments – that is what made these early games great and why Nintendo still rules with its run of Mario titles. Despite leaps and bounds in technology, a lot of games still deal with the same simplistic characters and stories – but with the pretension of being proper art. I’m playing GTA IV at the moment and though whilst it is undoubtedly a magnificent achievement, I’m not feeling engaged at all. If you just ‘copy’ the real world, is that being creative? And if all your stories are taken from popular film… and shown via cut scene, is that a step forward?
So there is an appeal to the old skool villain, with simple wants and ridiculously complex ways to get them. It’s overblown and laughable and that’s what makes it fun. So in homage to simpler times I’m going to take a look at the major contradiction at the heart of Robotnik and what makes him fun; his massive intellect and the scale of his achievements against the fact he can’t stop a hedgehog that can run quite fast.

First up: Dr Robotnik is smart. With an IQ of 300 you would expect him to have no trouble defeating Sonic. The origin goes that he was the kindly Doctor Kintobor who actually helped develop the shoes that allow Sonic the run so fast. But after a nasty incident he became utterly evil and intent on destroying… everything. His skills with mechanics in particular are a feature of the Sonic games. He has managed to enslave the entire population of Mobius in metallic robots. He has built huge flying warships and even a space station called the ‘Death Egg’. He built a Metal version of Sonic that was even faster than Sonic himself. Some of the zones Sonic visits are factories the size of cities built with the aim of producing robots to destroy sonic. He has even developed TIME TRAVEL. This guy is really, really smart.

So it’s odd that when you actually meet him in the games he can seem, well – a bit stupid. With all that knowledge and experience you would perhaps expect him to have some pretty dastardly schemes up his sleeve. Or at least be a bit more prepared. But no, on playing through the series again, it becomes apparent he’s not quite as smart as we’re led to believe. Here are my favourite appearances, as end of level boss, naturally.

The Car of Death !
Emerald Hill Zone – Sonic 2

After suffering embarrassing defeat in Sonic 1, you would expect Robotnik to come out fighting. Just to show whose boss, y’know. So, in the 12 months he had to plot, what does he dream up? A Car with a spike on the front. And how does he employ this mischievous vehicle? He drives… side to side… very slowly. One of the things about Sonic, other than being fast is that he can jump. Robotnik has clearly forgotten this and has to suffer the embarrassment of getting bopped on the head over and over again. Almost half heartedly, with one hit left he will fire off the spike from the front of the car, but it’s too late. What a waste of time

Spikey Balls of Death!
Starlight Zone – Sonic 1

Here, in classic villain style, Robotnik supplies the tools of his own demise. He clearly didn’t think this through. The basic idea is ok – drop exploding spike balls onto Sonic’s head. That’s a good starting point. Also, fly the ship at a height Sonic cannot reach. Awesome. Now where to hold this battle? How about by some see-saws? And instead of trying to hit Sonic, why not load the spike balls onto the seesaws, thus enabling them to be sprung back up towards the ship? Hmmm, what was that IQ again? What was basically a sound and despicable idea has become and accident waiting to happen, and once again, with little effort, Robotnik is defeated. Back to the drawing board!

Nosiness
Hill Top Zone – Sonic 2

It’s fair to say that constant defeat will damage your confidence. In The Hill Top Zone Robotnik has done a lot right. He’s picked a perilous environment for Sonic, who has to negotiate sheer drops and volatile lava. By the end, Sonic will undoubtedly be pretty knackered – the perfect time to strike. And Robotnik may have a real bastard of a contraption to take him down – but no-one has ever found out. Because, due to what can only be apprehension, Robotnik starts the encounter by popping his head out of the lava for a little look around. No weapons, no movement, just a cheeky nosey round. What was he expecting to see?! Result: another piece of machinery obliterated.

Laser (of death!)
Flying Battery Zone – Sonic & Knuckles

By the 4th game Robotnik had improved. Here was a fool proof plan. Simply trap Sonic (or Tails…) between 2 impenetrable force fields. Then have a laser shoot at him, whilst the gap closes in. Even better, Robotnik gets to stand at the side, chuckling manically. Simple and to the point. Only he is let down by shoddy workmanship (as is often the case). After 6 or 7 blasts the laser, intended to take out Sonic actually ends up blowing up the room and letting him escape. It’s TOO POWERFUL. Oh Robotnik!

Curiosity
Oil Ocean Zone – Sonic 2

The great villains never learn. They never sit down, evaluate what went wrong and build on those lessons learnt. They run on pure instinct, manic enthusiasm. So, sadly, only 2 zones after making himself a sitting duck at Hill Top, Robotnik designs another ship that lies in wait, this time in the oil ocean. Ok, he sends up a shooty laser thing. But, perhaps due to the fact he is hiding in jet black oil, he has to pop his head up and see what’s going on. Hey, maybe Sonic is dead this time?! He has to check. Only to find, no he’s not and, oh dear and now Robotnik is defenceless. Isn’t there an easier way to do this?

Routines (Death by Boredom)
Launch Pad Zone – Sonic 3

I remember being very disappointed as a child with Sonic 3 as I completed it in one day. Playing through again made me realise it wasn’t completely because I was a freakishly good games player for a 10 year old, but that it was perhaps due to the rubbish ‘last’ boss, Robotniks final stand. Perhaps it was due to Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles being designed as one game then split later in development, but the last boss is pants.

After battling through the launch base of Robotniks latest ‘Death Egg’, Sonic manages to grab hold as it takes off, ending up on a small platform underneath the ship. Robotnik appears in a strange ship that fires – you guessed it – LASERS. He’s not put much thought in as they are piss easy to avoid. He also follows the same routine over and over. Left, Right, Left Right. Use your imagination man! After you defeat that contraption he comes back at you with… a giant pair of grabbing hands! Wow. He is easily dispatched, and inexplicably, defeating his tiny ship ends up destroying the entire Death Egg, which Sonic & Knuckles shows us to be the size of city or a planet or something. How did that happen?! To be fair, makes about as much sense as a lucky shot down an exhaust port taking out a space station the size of a moon, so maybe it’s homage.

Robotnik has wildly insane ideas – the majority of which actually come together. But he constantly bottles it at the last moment. Perhaps he’s more a behind the scenes type guy. Perhaps confrontation troubles him. In fairness, later in the series he did actually succeed in killing Sonic – as a franchise that is – with the insane scheme of trapping sonic inside a massive pinball machine. Thus Sonic Spinball was born. And when things couldn’t get any worse – Sonic 3D. It’s crazy to think that Sonic 3D and Goldeneye on the N64 were released less than a year apart.

So there you go, a stupid trip down memory lane in memory of old skool evil. Robotnik, we salute you.

Indietracks Interview

2011-06-29T03:10:00.000-07:00

With just one month to go until Indietracks, the Indiepop Festival that takes places at Midland Railway Centre, we had a quick chat with Organiser Stuart Mackay about how the festival came to be...

What was the inspiration for creating Indietracks?

There wasn't really any inspiration, it was something that happened by chance, and if anything it was born out of laziness. After endless travelling around the country to shows I thought why not have the bands come to me?

What is your background; are you a musical type branching into business or a business man branching into music festivals?

Just a railway enthusiast who enjoys music!

With so many festivals taking place, especially smaller, niche festivals, how important is it for a festival to have a USP?

Don't know if we have a USP anywhere, is it something we should have? I guess I should investigate. Is it something that connects to a computer like a USB?

Indietracks has carved itself a rather ‘Twee / Indiepop’ space in the market. Do you think smaller niche festivals are the future, as opposed to massive events like Leeds Festival that try to please all the people all the time?

But we all have different tastes, the majority of the population have a broader musical taste and so bigger festivals suit them. There's always been niche events, blues festivals, country and western shows etc so we're not really starting anything new really.

It may seem a strange question, but how important is the actual music at a music festival? It seems that Indietracks works as hard to provide an exciting and comfortable atmosphere as it does on its lineup.

We don't really work hard to provide that atmosphere, it just happens. The audience brings it with them, it's just the nature of indiepop people. The music is important to us and we work hard to provide a balanced bill of old and new, big and small from home and abroad. But I know what you mean, the music isn't that important to some of the audience who'll spend a lot of the time not watching bands but just enjoy being there with so many like minded people.

Is previous business / organisational experience essential in organising a festival?

Seems not since I didn't have any, common sense should be all you need, you can seek out all the info you need quite easily. I tackled it by thinking what would I like/expect if I was to turn up at an event like this?

This year I have organised my first large scale festival. Is it normal to have sleepless nights worrying about the tiniest of details?!

Yep. All part of the fun!

With the current economic situation I am treating festivals such as Indietracks as my ‘holidays’ this year. Do you think that is a common view and has it helped you ride the financial storm at all?

Well it'd be a pleasing thought if people thought it was more important to give up proper holidays in favour of indietracks, but not sure how widespread it is.

Do you find the pressure of selling X amount of tickets, signing contracts and negotiating fees diminishes your love of the music and festivals in general?

Yes, dealing with booking agents and the commercialisation of the industry sucks, all they're interested in is how much money they can screw out of you. We have a capacity smaller (1,000) than regular touring venues, yet mention the word festival and all they see is pound signs in front of their eyes.

What has your proudest moment thus far been?

Getting Team Indietracks to tackle all the organisation, leaving me with just interviews to do :)

Indietracks was Rhubarb Bomb's festival of 2010:

(http://rhubarbbomb.blogspot.com/2010/09/summer-festival-roundup-pt-1.html)

More info on this years lineup (including Edwyn Collins!) can be found here:

http://www.indietracks.co.uk/

Dean Freeman

Andy's Long Division

2011-06-29T02:11:00.000-07:00

Long Time Rhubarb Bomb contributor and Long Division Fringe Festival Curator Andrew Whittaker tells the tale of his Long Division experiance...

I guess it really hit me what Long Division could achieve when my brother and I handed out several hundred flyers at Belle & Sebastian’s Leeds gig exactly one week prior to the start of the festival. Rather than simply ignoring my attempts to thrust a yellow postcard into their hands, the majority of folk seemed genuinely interested, with several exclaiming “The Wedding Present!” By the time I’d got back to my car and drove past the Academy’s doors they weren’t all lining the pavement either.

Friday

Friday night at Long Division kicked off rather appropriately with One Day, After School… playing upstairs at The Hop. Easily the tightest performance I can recall from this current line-up, had I not brought my trusty earplugs the powerful bass drum could easily have robbed me of my hearing at the weekend’s outset.

The Bambinos followed with an engaging set. Their cause certainly helped by a charismatic front-man whose frequent hand gestures recall prime Jarvis Cocker.

Maybe it was the always excellent Blackberry Cascade (4.8%) courtesy of Saltaire Brewery taking effect, but the punkier leanings of Leeds’ Eagulls simply did not connect with me. It didn’t help that The Hop’s upstairs windows allowed the last of the sun’s rays to lift my mood higher. A band more suited to darker, danker surroundings I feel

Shrag on the other hand perfectly suited to getting the party-mood I was in ahead of the rest of the weekend. In places they put in me in mind of one-time Wakefield four-piece The Picnic Solution, thankfully they appear to have more staying power than said quartet. And despite a lengthy journey up from Brighton they seemed genuinely pleased to be in Wakefield and to be associated with Long Division.

Saturday

Somehow the fuzzy feeling in my head on Saturday morning never manifested itself as a full-blown hangover. This meant that I was back in The Hop in time for Protectors lunchtime set. Despite the relatively early timeslot, a pre-gig chat with bassist Matthew Parkes and drummer Tim Bradley revealed that the trio were more than happy with the turn-out.

Their set was an early highlight of the day, with the infectious “Honeymoon” and “Catwalk” getting my head nodding in approval. Whilst banter revolving around such subjects as “Which Lynx scent most resembles body odour?” (Africa seemed to be a popular contender) showcased the band’s sense of humour.

A short walk across the road to Mustangs to catch Napoleon IIIrd and consume half of the worst pint of lager shandy I’ve ever tasted (It was still a little too early for full-blown alcohol.) was in contrast to the preceding set something of a disappointment. A faulty projector and some slightly unforgiving acoustics were not conducive to vintage Napoleon and the mooted backing band he’s assembled equates to a live drummer. To be honest this is no bad thing as it meant there was little to distract from watching Napoleon manipulate his various instruments and samplers (One of which appeared to resemble the ‘Gold-Run’ from Blockbusters) and for avid Napoleon watchers Mustangs offered some excellent vantage points.

Following that my day went further downhill, although only in the geographical sense, as I ventured down Market Street to The Graziers (Or The Craziers as I like to dub it post midnight) to take in acoustic performances by Pylon and The Brown Hound James Band.

When I associate musical performances with The Graziers the first thing that comes to mind is karaoke or ‘Cowaoke’ as the posters advertising the post Long Division entertainment proclaimed. The reality was therefore a pleasant surprise. The vibe, aided by the extremely reasonably priced barbeque in the beer garden (Very tasty Hot Dog £1), was akin to the Love Of The Game all-dayers that used to take place at the much missed Jockey.

Pylon’s set saw Chris Charlton making his second appearance of the day. Coming so soon after Protectors he could have been forgiven for being knackered, if he was it never showed. However, despite the two Chris’ (Charlton was joined by bassist Chris Bonner) best efforts, a group, who I shall refer to as the ‘Graziers Girls’, were vying for the crowds ears at the same time as the onstage duo. Sadly, the Graziers Girls, with their admittedly impressive lung power (No microphones required!), frequently drowned out acoustic versions of songs such as “Says Al” with their discussions on the merits of Skittle flavoured vodka and shouts of ‘Tom!’

Ah Tom. Boris Becker / Jensen Button lookalike ‘Tom’ was something of a star, taking up not only the tambourine shaped gauntlet thrown down by Chris Charlton during Pylon’s set, but popping up again to provide some excellent vocals during The Brown Hound James Band’s brief set. I seem to recall Matthew Broadbent performing five songs under his Brown Hound guise. The set length, coupled with a degree of nonchalance creeping into his performance left me wondering how much of this gig was on autopilot. There was certainly something missing to mark this out as a classic performance.

Thankfully my first trip of the day to the Town Hall recharged my batteries and blood alcohol levels. I’d steered clear of the beer for the early part of the day, but with several friends meeting us at the Town Hall who obviously had a thirst for a few beverages it was time to hit the bar. Despite only catching the end of Fonda 500 ’s set I’d say it was the catalyst for the day’s proceedings to kick into top gear.

Mi Mye were certainly up there with the best of the line-up. Front man Jamie Lockhart, a.k.a. the “Scottish Bruce Springsteen” has such an infectious stage presence that he didn’t really need to trash the turquoise electric accordion at the end of their set, but fair play to him nonetheless for bringing a sense of rock ‘n’ roll to the interior of the Town Hall.

There now followed a debate amongst my group of friends as to whether to stay at the Town Hall and watch The Birthday Kiss featuring former Research drummer Sarah, brave Mustangs which was bound to be heaving for the much hyped Darwin Deez or return to The Hop to catch The Kate Jackson band.

All but one of us opted for The Kate Jackson Band (My cousin rated The Birthday Kiss by the way.) and we were greeted by the biggest crowd I’ve ever seen upstairs at The Hop. Still at least I was able to get in without any problem through the door at the back of the room, following Jackson’s performance the queue for Los Campesinos! rapidly snaked into the courtyard.

Back to Jackson though, she’s not the first former Long Blonde to set foot on The Hop’s stage, bassist Reenie Hollis’ Bon Bon Club graced the stage late in 2009 with their set of covers. To be honest said band came across as a bit of harmless fun, Jackson on the other hand seems deadly serious. Having bided her time she has come back with a sound which is a million miles away from The Long Blondes’ “Couples”. I found myself comparing one song to Chris Issacs “Wicked Game” crossed with The Cult’s “Rain” and another to No Doubt. I’m sure those descriptions may put some fans of Jackson’s previous band right off, but there’s no denying her powerful voice suits the material perfectly. Jackson has seemingly toughened up, which suggests she is in this for the long haul and I for one look forward to hearing her first solo effort.

Having being impressed by the atmosphere at the Town Hall earlier we decide to board the return ‘beer train’ there (It’s safe to say the alcohol was starting to take affect) for I Like Trains. The decision was largely based on the fact that my brother had bumped into a girl earlier in the day that had travelled over from France to take in their performance. We reasoned that such dedication was all the recommendation needed to check them out and they didn’t disappoint.

I Like Trains come across like a latter-day Anathema fronted by The Editor’s Tom Smith and their performance had a majesty which seemed tailor made for the Town Hall’s confines. The crowd were certainly getting into it, in the case of one Wakefield councillor perhaps a little too much as he proceeded to spill his pint over my brother’s girlfriend!

With the Town Hall now winding down I grasped the chance to take in some of Emmy The Great at arguably the jewel in Long Division’s venue crown, Wakefield Cathedral. In the past I was in the audience for the recording of Radio Leeds’ Christmas Carol service here, but this was the first time I have seen a musical performance in the Cathedral free of religious connotations. The acoustics were superb and when she was playing Emmy proved she was an appropriate choice to perform in such a venue. Between songs her banter was somewhat curious, I assume ‘the mall’ she mentioned was The Ridings and I’m sure she swore at least once, but The Rhubarb Bomb got a shout out so I’m not complaining.

Having taken in all the venues with the exception of Henry Boons (Which had closed its’ doors at 17:15) I felt a quick glance in Mustangs to see the start of The Wedding Present ’s set was the logical next step. The dance-floor was heaving and all the prime viewing spots were already taken by the time the band hit the stage and a show of hands complete with wristbands for a photo opportunity confirmed the inaugural Long Division’s success. With this being the case I left Mustangs to take in a few songs by local lad and fellow fringe curator Matt Abbott’s Skint & Demoralised.

As I walked down Bank Street with my girlfriend discussing the days events I don’t mind admitting I got a bit of a lump in my throat and somewhat teary eyed. My day was nearly over, but what a day it had been, everything I had seen and heard made me proud to be a resident of The Merrie City of Wakefield. I think the only thing that could have improved the day would have been hearing Abbott sing “I love this city”, but with work beckoning at 5am I didn’t get to find out if he aired said song.

Sunday

Sunday may well be a day of rest for sensible folk, but I’d already done 8 hours of my ‘day job’ prior to heading to The Bull & Fairhouse where I was putting on five bands as part of Long Division’s Sunday Fringe.

In all honesty I’d little idea what a curator was supposed to do and Joe from Diamond Studios had already got the P.A. sorted by the time I arrived, so I busied myself with writing out beer tokens for four of the bands. This ate up enough time for me to then be in a position to dash up to The Hop to see if I could blag anything from Dean to help make the event a success. Fortunately he had one of the back-drops spare from the day before and once secured over the Fairhouse’s window it was the proverbial ‘icing on the cake’.

Soon enough I was stepping onstage, in the capacity of curator, to introduce Frozen Flame. A young band from Leeds who have yet to sit their GCSEs let alone spend beer tokens (I furnished them all with a Long Division t-shirt instead), their level of talent left the audience extremely impressed. With a sound that hinted at Faith No More and Incubus they eased the crowd into what would at times be quite a heavy evening.

On paper Biolab 666 were the heaviest band on the bill, with drummer Sharif ‘Diz’ Dyson having performed with a vast array of death and black metal bands down the years. They are very much his baby and he was proud of the fact that his current outfit may raise an eyebrow in local circles. Granted there is a fair share of blast beats and growls, but they are very much a groove orientated machine, albeit one who were clearly too extreme for some in attendance who left during their performance.

I was heartened to see a few familiar faces when I took to the stage with Red Riding Quartet but still wondered if we would also prove a little too heavy for some individuals. I needn’t have worried. By the third song, “Kelly”, the audience had already chanted “Wakefield, Wakefield, Wakefield…” (I thought that only happened at Cribs gigs!) after I engaged in a bit of banter with a gentleman wearing a Castleford Tigers shirt and enthusiastically sang along to sections of said song. It’s only taken me fifteen years but it seems I’ve finally written a decent vocal hook!

I was conscious of the fact that I had devised a running order for the evening and it would have been a tad hypocritical if it had all gone to pot thanks to us. However, some vocal encouragement from Goggle Eyed Psycho, who were playing after us, led to Long Division getting two exclusives: a brand new Red Riding Quartet song and our first full-length nine song set.

Goggle Eyed Psycho had not only graciously allowed us to extend our set but they had also agreed to perform an acoustic set especially for Long Division and it was a privilege to hear these stripped down versions of their material. Front man Dyl McPrice even donned a rather fetching blonde wig in honour of this being a ‘Fringe’ gig.

Headliners Clown also went that extra mile for the evening, in the case of drummer Gareth Heeley some 170 miles by train from Edinburgh to make it back to Wakefield. The band has been in existence since the mid-nineties, albeit with a different line-up, and their experience shows as they deliver the goods with consummate ease.

It may have been a case of beginners luck, but the buzz I got from being involved with Long Division, even on a relatively small scale, means I’m already looking forward to the prospect of 2012.

ANDY WHITTAKER
All Photography Jon Pinder, except Napoleon IIIrd by Jayne Woodhead

I Am In Love - 'I Want You' Review

2011-06-28T09:03:00.000-07:00

I Am In Love
I Want You
Robot Needs Home

I Am In Love are a shiny brand new band from Leicestershire who only formed about 6 months ago and this is their debut single. According to the press release it has ‘imminent Daytime Radio 1 Airplay’ – how have they managed that so quick?! Though, to be fair, RB is a little behind schedule with its reviews, maybe it is all over daytime Radio 1 right now, I’d never know.

Initial impressions are that they heard Darwin Deez when he broke last year and thought ‘we’ll have a piece of that’. It opens with a sweet, slightly retro programmed beat and some delicate electric strums. The vocal is slightly dreamy too, but doesn’t have that NYC slacker drawl. It makes up for it in POWER. By the chorus we are joined by some vaguely Ladytron-esque synth noises followed by some Errors-like guitar stabs. As the song progresses the band’s admitted Bloc Party influence comes through. The song builds with the constant threat of bursting into a full on 4/4 stomper. Instead, they keep it interesting, creating layers of melody with a hint of melancholy holding it together, as per the best BP songs.

The Radio 1 mention initially made me very suspicious of some manufactured project but I’ve got to say I like this enough to keep an eye on the bands developments. The saddest thing is that both B-Sides are remixes, so I’m left with no further clues as to what the band are all about. That said, the 2nd remix (The Rise and Demise of John Remix) is very sweet, a mix of Blade Runner synth and 80’s piano balladering.

So, there is a chance that I Am In Love are in fact a massive prospect for the future. Their touring schedule has had them round Europe for the last few weeks. I’m hoping I might get to catch them at a festival over the summer to find out whether the rest of their output leans towards wet sentimentality or smart, melodic and rich sound textures hinted at here.

Dean Freeman

Athletes In Paris - 'Borrowed Time' Review

2011-06-27T05:32:00.000-07:00

Athletes In Paris
Borrowed Time
The Animal Farm

Fresh, major chord, mass appeal pop with a large, upfront production. Athletes In Paris are from Newcastle and have supported a range of artists including Frankie & The Heartstrings and The Futureheads. Don’t let that fool you though; yes, they have the requisite regional accent but this about as musically broad as you can feasibly get whilst referring to yourself as ‘Indie Pop’.

The lead track on the single, ‘Borrowed Time’ has Radio 2 written all over it; inoffensive and meaningless bringing to mind sweeping shots of a half attended afternoon festival slots. The production here is clean and hi-fi – they are a T4 band, basically. With the right song they could easily be polluting daytime television, no problem.

This isn’t the right song though. It’s a good starting point for the ambitions they have; the pounding 4/4 beat (a trick repeated on the 2nd track) that gets you moving, the approachable acoustic guitar backed with a slightly chimy / slightly funky guitar. As an antidote to the many lo-fi demos RB receives I didn’t mind it at the start… but it quickly becomes repetitive and doesn’t build to the euphoric crescendo this kind of thing needs to. They try it with that trick in pop songs where they layer up the words from the verse with the words from the chorus at the end. You know that one? Yeah, great. Ultimately, any good vibe from the fresh opening is worn away through repetition and the lack of any edge whatsoever. A tennis ball has more edge than this.

As mentioned, the B-Sides basically remix the same tricks. I can honestly see a certain type of person loving this; if my mention of it ‘not having edge’ makes you huff, then it’ll be right up your street. It’s ‘up’ and fresh-faced, but ultimately it’s summer fluff.

Dean Freeman