"You'd Feel The Same"

You’d Feel The Same
Runaround Kids
Philophobia Music


With the utmost respect to the rest of the Philophobia crowd, the label’s 2012 truly kicks off with this release by Runaround Kids, one of their most established bands and one of Wakefield’s great hopes. You’d Feel The Same is the first in a series of varied and interesting releases they have planned for the year, including an upcoming split vinyl and cassette with We Are Losers and The Spills.

The track itself reminds me of Bloc Party – not in its’ sonics but in the way Kele’s crew tended to release a standalone single after an album (Two More Years / Flux / One More Chance) as an indication as to the direction they were going to develop next. With that in mind we can expect a louder, more anthemic, more stuttering year from the Runarounds.

Stuttering is an apt word here; the opening smashes open your stereo with heavily distorted drums and a large, pleasingly messy sound. The immediacy of this comes across like an excited yelp, a tourette sufferer desperately trying to express something sincere, jilting around to find solid ground to condense a relationship into a split sentence of honesty. Like the Manics trying to squeeze a whole youthdom of boredom into the three minute timescale of Motown Junk. And that’s just the first twenty seconds.

It does all come together shortly after. Multiple, heavily condensed sections alternate, the first seeming like a chorus, then another and then another. The hooks are everywhere. The production is varied too with lots of one-off quirks and effects working alongside the structures geared to those with short attention spans. I like that. It’s great to review a track and be half way through and still be hearing new things. There’s loads going on here, it’s a massively impressive three and a half minutes. It’s like a greatest hits compilation in one track. Kind of.

It certainly sets the band up for a great year. It’s a pleasing step forward from their still ace debut album and feels even more of a representation of their live show. Properly top stuff. If you are quick, you will be able to get yourself the ace bundle of everything they release over the year through their bandcamp. Otherwise, get a copy with a limited edition T-Shirt and you are laughing.

Dean Freeman

Johnny Foreigner / Runaround Kids Video

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!

Runaround Kids - 'Linked Arms' Review

Runaround Kids
Linked Arms
Philophobia Music

Runaround Kids, in case you weren’t aware, are from Wakefield and have been spearheading Philophobia Music’s charge towards Alt-Indie DIY label saintdom for about a year now. RKs released their debut EP in August 2009 but it all really came together just 12 months ago when they won the normally Leeds-Centric Futuresound competition to play at the Leeds & Reading Festival. A 7” followed in September and since then they have been busying themselves, along with Spills singer / guitarist Rob Slater on production duties, in creating this, their debut album.

At 10 tracks, with only one passing the 3 and a half minute mark (by 16 seconds) it’s a brief, blistering affair that cleverly plays to their strengths as a live act. Despite its short, set like length there’s plenty going on here with a lot of thought going into the dynamics and structure. An album is a difficult thing to get right, but essentially they have nailed it first go. There’s a lot of one off breaks, unexpected turns and sudden jolts. It’s full of tricks, but not tricksy, instead revelling in every vital second.

Musically it’s hard to pin point. I hear the DNA of a generation of Wakefield bands pulsing through its edgy pop hooks, post hardcore despair and melodic sprawl. Yet it’s something new. Jack and Rob’s rhythm section could happily sit alongside many Wakefield greats such as Dugong or Pylon, yet it’s George’s idiosyncratic guitar with its impatient approach to dynamics - every note played with a freshness that suggests the joy of invention when you first hit upon a killer riff in your bedroom - that adds the extra spark. As a three piece they compliment one another sublimely and it’s this interaction that keeps your attention to very end.

Highlights are the simplistic but uber catchy ‘Cant Lose Lover’, the best example here of a soundtrack to a youthful summer spent wasting, whilst the stuttering guitar explosions that populate the verse of ‘Cut Yr Losses’ and the joyous crescendo 2 minutes in of ‘Last July’ sees the ADD approach to song length and structure come together with breathtakingly confident brevity. The band has built on the things that made them so interesting in the first place; the duel vocals work fantastically, and the chanted choruses, especially on the unfortunately titled ‘Wont Fuck Her Sober’ (which humorously has perhaps the catchiest chorus of the record) document the passion of youth with great style.

Negative points? Well, though the briefness of the record is no bad thing, it is a shame to hear previous single ‘Falling Into Better Hands’ make a reappearance. Fair enough – it is one of their hookiest tunes and sits on the album perfectly. Just, for the fans who already have the 7”, it’s a bit of a shame. Another newbie would’ve been nice.

As it is, “Linked Arms” is a perfect document of who and what Runaround Kids are right now. You can’t ask more from a debut record. Yet they give more, and despite my comparisons to a live set, this isn’t all noise and bluster; it is a brilliantly paced set of songs. Gentler moments ‘A Way That Works’ and the wistful close of ‘I Tried’ showing a greater emotional spectrum that you would care to expect from a band, collectively, not even in their 20’s yet. I’m too old and cynical but if, in ten years time someone told me that Linked Arms had been the soundtrack to their summer of 2011, spent drinking in parks, skating and starting a band then I wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest.

Dean Freeman

Linked Arms is released August 8th.
The album is launched at Brudenell Social Club, Leeds on August 6th

Live @ Leeds Review

Live @ Leeds 2011

The sun radiates upon the collected wristband wearers sat outside the exchange as they listen to a band in a tent. It’s Rhubarb Bomb’s first festival of the year, the multi venue extravaganza that is Live @ Leeds. The weather has done the city proud, but I feel less good myself. A combination of having finished a night shift at 7am that morning and an incredibly snotty nose and sore throat don’t conspire to promise me an AMAZING time. But the vibes are instantly good. With a box of brand new Issue 2.1’s under my arm we pace up to Faversham for the first band of the day.

Arriving at The Fav we find many a friendly face outside. It’s a beautiful day and it’s pretty tempting to just stay outside on the picnic tables. We don’t though, because this is the Runaround Kids and, seemingly, wherever they go, Rhubarb Bomb must follow.


With an album recently complete (due in August) the band confidently showcase a lot of their new material. “Cant Lose Lover” stands out as breaking away slightly form their usual driving 2 chord variations with its sliding, weaving chorus (is it a chorus? I don’t know). Basically they seem to have expanded on all the good bits from their previous single and EP, namely, the expanded instrumental sections, the spiky vocal passages and the use of two vocalists, with Bassist Jack noticeably contributing more. They even drop regular closing track ‘Clandestines’, rightly choosing to move onwards and upwards. But most of all, and more than ever they look and feel like a group, 3 individuals, each virtuoso in their own right, but also tightly locked into together; like a proper band man. And they look like they are having fun too.


Outside for a pint and back inside for Piskie Sits. On form, as ever these days, they deliver a short sharp set of riotous yet honed slacker pop brilliance. Singer Craig is the focus; on the tight stage only guitarist Harry Rhodes has space to ‘rock out’ (which he obligingly does). Craig, with his band kicking out the jams around him seems to exist within his own bubble, off in his own world of imagination from which he draws his acute observations. I like that detached otherworldliness. It also makes me notice; I NEVER see him before a Piskies gig, hanging around, talking to people. He just seems to ‘beam in’, then out again. Otherwise the band are tough and tight and confident but pleasingly maintain a feeling that you don’t quite know what is going to happen. The only thing to let it down is the consistently bad sound within The Faversham. It’s never been a great venue for sound and today the drums are almost lost and the nuances of the guitar work not as pronounced as they should be. Still, most of the crowd, resplendent in their chequered shirts (at least 50% are wearing them) lap it up enthusiastically.


Foolishly ignoring many peoples advice to stay and watch Squarehead (who were amazing, apparently) I instead am recommended to go check out Arthur Rigby & The Bakervylles at Stylus. From the write up and the stage set up as I arrive I anticipate sub Mumford & Sons type folky balladearing (i.e. M&S’s turgid ‘mass appeal’ output). What I get is kind of like that, I guess. The singers voice from the word go reminds me of the Kings Of Leon guy (very bad news) and the music is probably somewhere between Mumford and Arcade Fire in that it is an intricately constructed sound around some basic chords and structures. There are 8 people on stage, a nice bit of brass and some keyboard all helping the songs of Arthur Digby rise and swell with emotion as required. It’s all very accomplished and polished, the sound is huge but accessible. Looking across the stage I can see that exact setup working on Jools Holland, that kind of music; the harmless folk section of the show. All very well, but I also find it very boring. Plenty of people in the crowd (including the chum who recommended this to me) are well into it, but it is not my cup of tea at all.

So instead I head off to catch Fight Like Apes. But for the second year running (last time for Middleman) I am unable to even get into the room at The Well. It’s chock full. Can’t even get my head round the door. Are Live @ Leeds putting too big bands in there? Or do they just happen to pop the ones with cult followings there? Shame, I heard the show was pretty cool.

By now it was time for dinner. Now, one of the great things about Live @ Leeds is that you don’t need to grab a dodgy burger or a Subway; you can actually eat somewhere nice. For me, and our group, it’s now part of the whole experience of the day. After dashing madly around, it’s a relief to sit down for an hour and relax. So, in the spirit of that, I will also review where we ate.

We stopped for tea at a place just over the bridge from The Well called Veritas. It’s a sweet little place, a pub that serves a selection of Real Ales and interesting wines. It has that sociable pub feel but is a little more classy. It’s got a deli with loads of different cheeses and olives. And a pretty cool menu too. I had the Moroccan Lamb Pie which was divine. Someone else had a burger which looked tasty too. A couple quid more than Weatherspoons and you can have a genuinely great meal. The fact you can do that is one of the things that makes Live @ Leeds special and ties it to the city it is celebrating. Veritas is a great little place with a varied menu. Without detriment to the musicians, sitting in there with a bottle of wine was one of the highlights of Live @ Leeds this year.

Refuelled, we headed over to Stylus once more. Compared to last year I didn’t get to see as many bands. Partly being tired, partly being ill, I didn’t feel like dashing about. But to be honest there wasn’t as much that grabbed me this year, and the majority that did was scheduled to overlap. I’d have loved to have seen The Twilight Sad, Honour Before Glory, or Frightened Rabbit, but couldn’t. Instead, in the interests of having a good time with a group of friends, we went for something we knew we’d all enjoy; Slow Club and The Futureheads.


I only caught the second half of Slow Club due to some RB delivering but Stylus was pretty rammed. The band should have been on tour promoting its new album, but due to sickness it has been delayed. Meaning this was their only gig in the foreseeable. The band seemed a little shaky and under rehearsed. For some bands this could be calamitous but in this case it just added to the charm of it. The simplicity of their songs combined with their ability to fill a space as big as Stylus with that sound shows what a great band they are. I do wonder where they can, or intend to go now. It feels like they have found their level; playing small to medium sized venues. Could they go any larger and keep that intimacy and sense of fun? I always remember seeing The White Stripes (who I am no especial fan of) at Leeds Festival and realising it could be done. Do Slow Club want to, or indeed need to? I don’t know, but here they showed themselves to be a fine festival band.

And finally The Futureheads. Wow, they do an amazing thing and almost make me feel 17 again, which is odd, because I was 20 when they released their first album. Half of the set tonight is taken from that debut album and it’s quite possibly down to this that myself and the entire audience have such an amazing time. A cracking 1-2 of ‘Decent Days & Nights’ and ‘Robot’ kicks off a bouncing set which sees the band in carefree, possibly drunken spirits, Singer / Guitarist Barry in particular looking like he was blagging his way through the lyrics quite often.



The lyrics and vocals were then surprisingly put to the forefront for an acapella interlude. Oh yes - showcasing songs they’ve been writing for a new purely vocal album they leave Stylus in shocked awe. Those familiar with the debut album would be perhaps less surprised by this turn of events, featuring as it did ‘Danger Of The Water’ a beautiful example of the acapella style. Here they expand that and it kind of develops into something like ‘The Crimp’ from Mighty Boosh. It’s that mind boggling and bizarre. When they kick into the second of their vocal only numbers you can feel the crowd feel uncomfortable – ‘oh, it wasn’t just a one song interlude… ok’. And then when they go into the THIRD!? But they nailed it and the audience totally went with it, even getting the chance to join in on a barroom singalong about The Dun Cow Pub in Sunderland (my favourite pub when I was at uni there, by happy coincidence).

However, they then crank up their guitars and blast out another fast paced run of classics, ending with the killer trio of ‘Carnival kids’, ‘Hounds of Love’ and ‘Man Ray’. Awesome, what a night. It made me wonder why I ever stopped listening to them.

Overall it was a different Live @ Leeds this year, for me at least. Due to either the scheduling, or simply my personal taste, I didn’t find myself running about all over the city trying to see as many bands as I could. Knowing I was going to end up in Stylus for the Slow Club / Futureheads double whammy kinda kept me round there. Overall the line up didn’t excite me too much but ultimately I had an excellent time; with so many places to go, so much to see and so much to do, it would be hard not to. I was also pleased with the general helpfulness of staff – even in the venues who presumably have no real connection with Futuresound. Perhaps I didn’t get to make enough of Live @ Leeds this year but for me the fact that I don’t feel pressured to see everything and be everywhere led me to have a more enjoyable day. Great times; well done Live@Leeds.

Words: Dean Freeman
Photography: Jayne Woodhead

Piskie Sits / Godspeed VLOG

Here's our latest VLOG, a video review of the Piskie Sits EP launch at The Hop, some clips from our Cafe Rhubarb launch night at Henry Boons in Wakefield and some (lousy) footage from Godspeed you! Black Emperor at Manchester Academy. The sound is ok though and the projections look pretty cool. Enjoy!

Constellations Festival Preview

Our recent round-up of the Summer’s huge variety of festivals had left us a little sad. Would we really have to wait til next May for it all to start again? Well, of course not, there’s still loads going on, including all the ATP stuff (sadly not for us this year), as well as something that’s looking quite special: Constellations.

Taking place in Leeds on November 14th at Leeds University, it has a chance of matching the joy and variety of ‘Live @ Leeds’ with the added advantage of keeping it all under one roof – essential as winter closes in.

3 stages will host some fantastic bands, including some of our favourite Leeds regulars, alongside some truly exceptional visitors from further affield. The difficult decisions as to where to go and who to see will begin immediately at half two, but naturally the Bomb would head off to see Wakefields finest ‘Runaround Kids’. After that, who knows, but I would personally have to go for a run of iLiKETRAiNS, Sky Larkin, Liars, Los Campesinos! and Broken Social Scene. A great band I came across just the other day, ‘Cloud Nothings’ are there too and, well, there’s not really a weak moment.

Sadly, I will not be here to see it. Whilst it seems like an awesome way to spend a miserable November Saturday, it’s not quite enticing enough to cancel a trip to Japan. Not quite. But I feel genuine sadness I can’t be there and as such, a RB writer will be there to document the whole event for me (and you). It sounds to me like a great combination of spot on local talent and interesting and unusual artists that probably wouldn’t come to Leeds so often and that is all put on in conjunction with some of great independent enterpirses (Wichita, Dance to The Radio, Brudenell, Drowned In Sound) makes it even more worth the while. Look out for that upcoming review and for more info go to www.constellationsfestival.com

Dean Freeman

Interim Reviews

Roland X reviews the odds and sods that arrived too late for the last issue, but soon for the next.

Freebass ‘The Singles’
Hacienda Records

Freebass; the long discussed collaboration between legendary bassists Peter Hook, Mani and Andy Rourke. This is a promo of, presumably, what were or will be the singles from their debut album ‘It’s a Beautiful Life’.

When I first heard of this project many years ago, I was pretty excited about it. Not especially because I expected an amazing record to appear, but because of the madness of it – three bassists? How would that work? But considering their styles – Hooks high end melodies, Mani’s low end driving hooks and Rourke's bouncy multi octave approach, maybe it could work…

What has finally appeared is something a lot more conventional. After seeing Peter Hook’s spoken word, it comes across much more as his baby, a chance to play in a band once more after the dissolution of New Order. And so we have a ‘full’ band setup, mildly jangly guitars, run of the mill drums and a slight eighties production. Vocals are supplied by Gary Briggs, veteran of some bands I’ve not heard of. It’s all a bit earnest for me, a bit plodding, more an exercise in hitting the notes on some pretty dull melodies with no memorable lyrics of which to speak.

Opener ‘The God Machine’ is probably the best here, ‘Smiths’ guitars and a propulsive beat, plus the flash of excitement when Hooky’s bass appears. But I wouldn’t say it’s anywhere near his best... I don’t know what I expected really, but a lot more than this. ‘Kill Switch’ is pretty ploddy, but moves to something more interesting in its synthy chorus, a stadium Depeche Mode, on the cheap.

Overall, its fine; inoffensive middle of the road late eighties Hacienda backing music. Its surprising that there isn’t really a memorable hook amongst these three songs, be it bass, guitar or vocal. Press for the album suggests some of the tracks have a darker edge, which may certainly help. Perhaps its testament to the weight of expectation. Hearing Hooky talk with passion about Freebass makes the results all the more disappointing, but fans of the less famous Factory bands will probably enjoy the sounds and styles here. As for me, I’d rather listen to New Order…Actually I’d rather listen to Monaco, but there you go.

The Holidays – 'Golden Sky '
The Passport Label

The Holidays hail from Sydney, Australia and, on the evidence provided on this single, produce lovely little percussive summer soundtracks… which is presumably a lot easier when you actually get to see some sunshine. Golden Sky is a percussion heavy piece of Indie funkadelia, kind of like The Rapture trying to record an album in the Caribbean with bongos and rum based cocktails. Its’ all about the rhythm here, the falsetto vocals and stabbing guitars countering each other nicely to build up the complexity. Ultimately it’s a pop record though, the refrain of ‘It’s alright, alright’, whilst perhaps the most clichéd in all of music, works in bringing a sense of structure to it all. It kinda reminds me of the outro to 'Bleed From Within' by The Music, the careful layering up making it almost irresistible to dance around to.

B-side ‘Heavy Feathers’ ratches up the tropical feel with a steel drum melody running through the whole thing. Vocal harmonies pile over one another and it all feels very sunny. The structure is again pretty loose and it’s a little more downbeat but a worthy B-Side all the same. Well worth keeping an eye on for the future.

Scott Wainwright – 'Every Man Has His Critics '
Soshanna Music

Well, with an album title like that, surely Scott Wainwright is setting himself up for a fall, right? Well turns out its all to do with ‘God’. Yes, that big man who lives in the sky. I would’ve liked to have reviewed this album purely on its musical merits, but the press release goes into some details about Scott’s ‘deep Christian faith’, as does the artwork, containing an essay on his musings on God in relation to creativity. It’s not heavy or too preachy, but it’s serious, and really left me wondering what on earth I was going to be hearing.

‘Bonkers’ is the word that springs to mind initially. This album covers a lot of bases. First track ‘Down the Line’ opens with a nice 4/4 jazz influenced beat, then some ‘funky’ bass. Then we get some country style Harmonica… and then the vocals which are…odd. Very odd! It’s a kind of Americanised, hoedown, speak/talk drawl that I’ve got to say I found very strange (Scott is from Yorkshire). The next track contains an out of place Tuba playing the bass line and an unsophisticated guitar line, and then those vocals again. Baring in mind the press release states this is the result of a NINE year song cycle, I think these elements could have been brought back together in a much less messy fashion. But then suddenly it all drops out, leaving a solitary female voice over some delicate picking and its absolutely lovely, and moving too. But then it cuts to the Tuba and crappy sounding guitar again!

The album has some moments that stand out – instrumental ‘whispers from the undergrowth’ is delicate and wistful and ‘blueberry jam and lemonade’ is sweet with some gentle banjo and those lovely backing vocals once more.

Generally though we are in country / folk / blues territory, and some tracks like ‘kiss like they do in France’ work as standards of those genres. But overall, the jarring between the other styles attempted makes for an uncomfortable listen (see the ‘hard rocking’ of ‘here for you’). And I find the vocals just too much to enjoy. It’s bizarre, because I’m not saying Scott is a bad singer; I’m not given a chance to find out, because it’s as if he is singing in character throughout, a Dylan-esqe delivery that is simply not convincing on any level. One of the better tracks here, ‘Out in the Open’ features that same type of rasping verse, but then, bizarrely, has him using his ‘own’ voice for the chorus. It’s not even consistent.

I guess the best thing about ‘Every Man Has His Critics’ is it avoidance of preaching its Christianity too heavily within the songs. Because that would have killed it dead. I was looking forward to a bit of good old Christian bashing, for I do, quite strongly, dislike and despise organised religion. But with this there’s no need really. The idea that God is a creative being, and the key to man’s happiness is to be creative too is fair enough. Of course, if it were up to the church we would still be living in the dark ages believing the world is flat and basically every advance in every field of science / art / literature would never have happened. But that’s beside the point – Christians only ever pick and choose the bits from the Bible that suit the ideas they’ve already got, so new ideas have never been part of the deal. Which is apt, as here, on this album, we see a lot of run throughs of particular genres types with no real originality. There will be people out there who find Scott’s voice engaging, and those people may find a lot here to delve through. As for me, the vocals are impenetrable and the music is too derivative, despite the obvious skill on show. It all comes in a beautiful digi pack, which shows this is a real labour of love, but, whilst I praise the DIY nature of the undertaking, the songs aren’t strong enough, whilst the vein of Christianity running through it is the final nail in the cross.

Runaround Kids – 'No Dreams / Falling into Better Hands '
Philophobia Music

Rhubarb Bomb was part of collaboration between various Wakefield establishments that took some bands down the The Windmill in Brixton last February and Runaround Kids were part of that crew. Bassist Jack was manning the merch stall and in order to pass the time, he defaced our front cover, changing it from ‘Rhubarb Bomb’ to ‘Runaround Bomb’ in honour of the seemingly endless name dropping they had been receiving.

Well, it’s a nice little feeling to see that we were right early on, as this double A-side is released on the back of their glorious Leeds and Reading Festival appearances. Don’t believe any nonsense you’ve read comparing these guys to The Cribs – its lazy journalism that has only one Wakefield reference point – though it might not be long before RKs become the second. ‘No Dreams’ rattles along furiously and is the best indication of their live show; riotous, delicate, youthful and carefree – whilst ‘Falling Into Better Hands’ betters it with the subtly applied Sonic Youth chords and the evener bouncier noisy punk spirit. It’s a great step forward from last years ‘Kiss Chase EP’, ‘No Dreams’ in particular showing a greater pop awareness without sacrificing any of the energy, the youthful spirit, or the FUN. In fact, if I had the time, I reckon I could SCIENTIFICALLY prove that listening to this record makes you feel about 5 years younger… unless you’re already 18, in which case it doesn’t. It just makes you glad to be 18. Fantastic debut single, with so much promise for the future. Don’t let us down Runaround Kids…
The Whatevers – 'Rhapsody in Blue Jeans / You and your Twisted Romance '
Holiday Records

Listening to this record takes me straight back to the Indietracks Festival this summer. Not because The Whatevers were there, but because of the opening chords of ‘Rhapsody…’ just SING to me of the wonderful weekend I had there. The chiming guitars, sweet boy / girl vocals and the gentle chorus melodies. There’s more to it than that though, an ace guitar ‘solo’ popping up half way through, noisy and dirty adding further character to the whole event.

The band are a two piece and the interaction of them both singing is what makes this special. They are both great, characterful voices, Mike with a sad but hopeful Edwyn Collins croon and Kate with a polite Emma Pollock melodic approach. I believe this is their first single, and as such it’s a great effort, the C86 thing is a pretty easy style to do a cheap approximation of, but The Whatevers have put their own stamp on things. The single is available for a free download from Holiday records website, which releases loads of great free single downloads. So go look at this, then see what else you can find.

Wakefield to London Coach Trip

In our recent interview with Piskie Sits and Runaround Kids, they both mentioned a gig they played together at The Windmill in Brixton, back in February, as one of their favourites. Which reminded us that our good friend Abi Standish put together a video documenting the trip, which we've put below for your viewing pleasure.

The trip itself was organised by Rhubarb Bomb, in association with Philophobia Music, Louder than Bombs Records and Geek Pie Records; the idea was for each to choose a band to take with them, get em all on a big coach along with all our friends and transport the awesome spirit of the gigs we put on in Wakefield down to the capital. It was a great success and we all had a wonderful time - its difficult for bands from somewhere like Wakefield to head down to London and draw a crowd and can be a really anti-climatic experiance. But by all working together, it paid off. Im sure we'll be heading off somewhere next year too.

Big thanks are due to The Windmill for helping us organise the night and for making us feel welcome, and to Elks, an ace band from London who headlined for us. And also to Liam from By by, without whom the whole thing couldn't have happened. Enjoy the videos!

Leeds Festival Fringe - Aug 19th

Thanks to everyone who made it to the opening night of the first ever Leeds Festival Fringe, curated by our goodselves. There were two gigs on in Leeds, an acoustic do at The New Conservatory and RBs handpicked selection at Carpe Diem. We had a lovely time and would like to thank Mickey and his team for putting the whole thing on and the staff at Carpe Diem who were absolutely lovely. And, of course, to the bands:

The Spills

Got things off the a cracking start, playing songs from their brand new 'Smoke Signals' EP, which got a crackin review in our most recent issue.

www.myspace.com/bumthespills


Mi Mye

Jamie Mi Mye fiddled alone, playing his wonderful and wisftul tunes, minus his usual backing band. It was a lovely treat and makes us all the more excited for his upcoming album

www.myspace.com/mimye


Runaround Kids

We'd booked them way before they ended up winning Futuresound and claiming their place on the Leeds and Reading Festivals, so it felt like quite a catch to have them join us. Another blistering display. For an interview with them, see our latest issue.

www.myspace.com/runaroundkids


Standard Fare

Fresh from a tour of NYC and surrounding areas, and from a festival season including Latitude, Indietracks and SXSW, Standard Fare were as fantastic as ever, songs new and old mixing together in a set that had 'classic' written all over it from start to finish. We love 'em. For an interview with them, again, see our latest issue.

www.standardfare.co.uk

Thanks to all who made it down. For more info on the Fringe Festival, go here:

www.leedsfestivalfringe.org/

Rhubarb Bomb Podcast

Our first ever Podcast is now complete and available to download from iTunes for FREE.

As Rhubarb Bomb is only currently released quarterly, we wanted to fill those gaps with something else. And a Podcast seemed the ideal way to let you know about the exciting records we’d come across and events that were going on in the interim. We intend to continue this process, with the distinct possibility of special ‘one off’ editions too.

Episode One is 60 minutes long and sees myself joined by part time Rhubarb Bomb contributor and ‘renowned’ folk musician ‘The Passing Fancy’, as well as Mr Rob Dee, head of much respected Philophobia Music for a pleasant chat about allsorts. We’ve squeezed in 10 amazing tracks, including exclusive first plays of tracks from Runaround Kids, Buen Chico, Mi Mye and a track from the upcoming Philophobia Compilation, ‘Under the Bus Station Clock’. We’ve got the brand new Pains of Being Pure At Heart single ‘Say No to Love’ (interview with them in the next issue too) and we also announce and play tracks from the bands that will feature on the opening night of the first ever Leeds Fringe Festival, which we are curating, on August 19th.

http://itunes.apple.com/podcast/rhubarb-bomb/id381555466

Tracklisting:

Say No To Love - The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart
Cost Of Living - Salvage My Dream
Falling into Better Hands - Runaround Kids
The Rash That Grows - By By
Sense Of The Shaking - Mi Mye
Happiness Is Important - Buen Chico
There's A War - Victoria & Jacob
Two White Ghosts - Zoey Van Goey
Philadelphia - Standard Fare
Its Lethal - This Many Boyfriends

Storm The Charts

Last Christmas saw a group of music fans mobilise themselves in protest to the monopolisation of the Christmas number 1 by Simon Cowell and X factor. They had amazing success in getting Rage Against The Machines' 'Killing In The Name Of' to the top of the charts and kept the X factor winner off the top in the process.

Since this campaign there have been several other attempts to get songs into the charts this year; Rangers and Leeds United fans managed to get ‘Simply The Best’ (Tina Turner) and ‘Marching On Together’ into the top ten respectively.

Getting old songs back into the chart is all well and good though, but what about getting new musicians in there? And instead of concentrating on one song, how about the whole chart? Storm the Charts, the brainchild of Wes White, has that very aim.

Over the past few weeks over 500 applicants has been whittled down to 40 through a mix of public vote and choices from some prominent guests. The only criteria for applying was that the bands weren't on a major label and haven't charted before.


'Starting the Sunday of Glastonbury, we're asking everyone to download as many different songs from the list as they can - and we'll see what happens. We don't know if we'll chart but we're going to give it our best shot!' Wes White.

Included in the list are 2 of Wakefield’s finest, and Rhubarb Bomb favourites, namely Runaround Kids with their track ‘Lois Interprets’ and Imp with ‘Party’. So get yourself to iTunes and come 4th July (wonderfully renamed 'Independents Day') you can be part of this ambitious and potentially historic project. And if you really want to get behind it check out the rest of the list at www.stormthecharts.com

ROB DEE.