Tag Archives: Biffy Clyro

Frightened Rabbit – ‘The Woodpile’

Posted on by

Anyone who has listened to Radio One in the past month will undoubtedly need no help in knowing who Frightened Rabbit are. DJ Huw Stephens has been championing these Scottish Indie Rockers for a while now and excitingly they seem to be getting some attention from the British public.

‘The Woodpile’ was released on the 18th January this year and is already proving a success for the band from Selkirk. Formed in 2003 the five-piece band has also just released an album entitled Pedestrian Verse. I have listened to a few tracks from the album and I do think it is going to be very good. If you like ‘The Woodpile’ then I would definitely listen to some of the other tracks: especially ‘If You Were Me’ which is a heart-breaking song. To describe this band I think simply saying they are a Scottish Indie Rock band is enough to get the right idea. On a scale with Idlewild at one end and Biffy Clyro at the other they sit around the middle. The Scottish accent on the vocals never hidden will always indicate their roots.

The song is really quite good, although I do not entirely understand the concept of ‘The Woodpile’. The lyrics are great and there is a strong sense of emotion running through the track For me I’m going to give it a 6/10 whilst the song is good it is nothing particularly groundbreaking and if I wanted to listen to something like that I would always pick Idlewild (harsh perhaps, but true). However if you love your emotional Scottish Indie Rock boy bands then definitely give these guys a listen as they won’t disappoint.

Holly Abbott

Duke + Jamie and the Portraits + You and What We Are + Rambler

Posted on by

In memory of my Grandad, Ernie Thomson, who passed away the evening of this gig.

After arriving a tad later than expected, and having had a pretty bad day, I was looking forward to getting a good cheering up from Duke and their supports – and they did not disappoint (but then again neither did my meal before with my Valentine, Lucie). The first act of the night, Rambler, a  local young talent and her guitar, provided me with a lovely welcome to Cafe Drummond on that Thursday evening.

The first thing that I noticed about Rambler was her very engaging voice. There was a lot of emotion put into her performance, with piercing high notes that certainly made people stop and look. The nature of her voice seemed to be very much like that of Florence Welch, with the use of quirky techniques, and unlike many contemporary acoustic acts, Rambler had very impressive guitar skills. I noticed she played two rhythms at once, which added an extra depth to her performance. I don’t usually take to this genre of music, but the more upbeat nature of her songs compared to other artists grabbed my attention and, in my opinion, sets her apart from the rest.

Following on from Rambler, came a very confident (perhaps overly) three-piece band, Jamie and the Portraits. Lead singer, Jamie, was certainly a fan of cracking jokes, and despite looking as if it was past his bedtime, they put on a pretty decent show. After some *ahem* interesting warm-ups, they rushed into a very upbeat tune, which seemed to become a running theme throughout the performance. Jamie’s voice is certainly very different, in a contemporary Indie style… but it would help if you knew what he was saying half the time! (at one point, I thought he was saying ‘Pac-Man’). There is no clear pattern or style to their songs, apart from their generally upbeat nature, and this demonstrates this band’s versatility with glimpses of hope to be found. What I did notice was the continual brief pauses for silence in their songs (obviously for effect), but it doesn’t seem to work quite as well when it’s in every second song! There certainly was some interesting inter-song chat though, including; “That’s another thing we’re doing – blackmail”, (with reference to buying their merchandise) and also the declaration that Jamie does ,in fact, like Jewish cuisine.

Moving swiftly on from that was a very interesting You And What We Are… Their style could be described as Punk but with a modern Indie twist, even including distortion on the lead guitar that was almost Heavy Metal. I certainly noted a fair few different styles encompassed into their music! Firstly, with the very much Lemmy-style bassist/lead singer, and with the second song I heard some Red Hot Chilli Pepper-type flair going on. This band certainly showed the crowd what they can do, with a diverse selection of songs in their set list. I thought the lead singer could be described as the typical Indie teen heartthrob, with the band itself seeming to be like aspiring Foo Fighters. The final taster of You and What We Are was one of their newer songs, ‘Hide and Seek’, which certainly left us wanting more. It seemed to be craftily strung together to show off all the instruments (including vocals) equally well, and it certainly worked for myself and the rest of the crowd!

Finally, the main focus of the night, Duke, arrived on stage for a late-night entertainment session (if that doesn’t sound slightly perverted!). The first thought that came to my mind was that they were very much like the early style of Biffy Clyro, with irregular beats, pauses and no clear lyrics much of the time. The occasional shouting style of the vocals very much reminded me of Biffy Clyro’s track, ‘There’s No Such Thing As a Jaggy Snake’. The only thing that let this band down was the sound levels that were far too loud for a venue such as that – I think only Motorhead can carry that off! Unlike certain other bands of the night, they were very appreciative of the crowd’s presence and response to their performance. Despite the similar drum beat to each song, the pattern and the guitar riffs define each song. The final song of the night was their single that has recently been released, and it seemed like it would be the most popular among the general public. In my opinion, it was the best song of the gig! It’s quirky beats received a good reaction from the audience – a sign that they certainly know how to work a crowd!

I think this very solid ending is evidence of bigger and better things to come from Duke.

Faith Thomson

Pulled Apart By Horses + The Computers – 15/2/12

Posted on by

As one of Britain’s most exciting young rock bands, much was expected of Pulled Apart By Horses ahead of their show at The Tunnels. Having not toured for a while, and with an album’s worth of largely untested songs, it might have been understandable if their set was… well… below par. SPOILER: it wasn’t.

Things got interesting rather quickly, thanks to supporting nutcases, The Computers. They did what all good support bands do, quickly swelling the crowd within a couple of songs. Wearing white shirts and trousers, having slicked back hair, sporting a sort of possessed snarl and referring to everyone as “brothers and sisters” makes for an engaging enough experience on its own. On top of that, the lead singer’s mic stand broke halfway through the first song. As one does in such a situation, the singer duly stuck the top half of the stand to an audience member’s hand, and had him follow him around for the rest of the show, looking quite pleased to start with, but rather forlorn within about ten minutes.

If this were to happen to the majority of support groups, it would probably be so surreal that it would detract from the music. However, The Computers are far too loud to allow such thoughts to surface. Moreover, despite the copious amounts of distortion and occasionally unintelligible lyrics (unavoidable consequences of playing loud in a small room), a certain musicality shone through. One such moment occurred when out of nowhere, after a nice eardrum-mashing chorus, the ever-so-cool pianist treated us to a rather storming solo. Watching them is like watching what Pulled Apart By Horses would have been like in the 1950’s; and somehow, that is most definitely a compliment.

Pulled Apart By Horses, in their present day incarnation, are also deceptive. Of course, they adhere to the standards of heaviness expected of them, but they still have some strangely catchy riffs and choruses – often main stumbling blocks for hard rock pretenders. The brilliantly titled ‘I Punched a Lion in the Throat’, for example, juts and struts through an angular build up, before breaking into a proper chant-along chorus, before going into another completely different section.

Sounding almost like a grunge version of Funeral Party (there’s a comparison they probably won’t enjoy) or Dananananaykroyd, Tom Hudson’s voice is suitably harsh, but seems to retain an intent to remain, well, listenable. He never seems to struggle with the requirements his songs place on his voice. Neither does he resort to simply screaming out random noises in the hope no-one will notice the difference. PABH are far too good a band for that.

It is testament to their consistency that despite only having two albums, both of which comprise of mostly short, snappy songs (only 4 reach three and a half minutes between them), the gig lasts almost an hour without having to resort to any real filler. The new album’s lead single, ‘V.E.N.O.M’ gets the most enthusiastic reception. Perhaps the most anthemic thing to come out of post-hardcore since Biffy Clyro’s early albums, it is a quite stunning effort, one which should not only gain the band new fans, but also do something to revitalise the genre.

Pulled Apart By Horses are quite possibly the most important alternative rock band in Britain. Their incendiary live shows look set to help them attract the wider audience they deserve.

Pulled Apart By Horses’ new album, Tough Love, is out now. Also, check out The Computers’ This Is The Computers.

 

Alan Henderson

He Slept On 57 – Childsmile

Posted on by

He Slept On 57 are a rock trio from Inverness and have been together since 2008, and have been steadily building a growing reputation. They’ve already released two EP’s, Turn Your Back On All You Know and A Glow From The Night Light. They’ve received critical acclaim from the likes of Steve Lamacq and have been building an ever expanding fan base with their relentless touring. Now they release their new single, ‘Childsmile’, available on the 21st of November from iTunes and as a limited run of 100 singles from their online store that included a bonus track.

 

Described by some as being influenced by bands such as Hundred Reasons, Biffy Clyro and Twin Atlantic, He Slept On 57 have a meaty, full rock sound that is tinged with melody and emotion. Not in a terrible so called ‘emo’ way, but in a good Jimmy Eat World type of way. New single ‘Childsmile’ is a great example of their sound and influences. It kicks off with a distorted riff before the entire band implode loudly and cleanly onto the tune. It’s chock full of loud, slow burning riffs and tight, precise drumming that implies upon the song throughout, and even better the singer doesn’t try to take on some American sounding twang but sings in his own voice, sounding very similar to the vocalist from Twin Atlantic at times, an influence they’ve often been linked with. The song takes a downbeat turn midway through before a bass riff motors onto a thrilling finale of explosive drumming and buzzing guitar riffs, with echoing vocals.

 

If He Slept On 57 are to make it to the next level, they’re certainly going the right way about it with this release. It sounds fantastic, is a driving catchy rock song that displays the skill of all involved and is certainly very radio friendly. More songs like ‘Childsmile’ will surely see them arrive in the mainstream sooner rather than later. Good stuff.

 

Like them on Facebook! Click here

Stuart Manson

The Dykeenies + Tango In The Attic + Duke – 21/10/11

Posted on by

@ The Tunnels

The best way to consider the relative success about a gig is by how you relay it in the standard post-gig chat to the friend that couldn’t make it. Sometimes there’s a sort of generic chat about how it was okay, but they didn’t miss a lot – you bleat on about the people around you, how drunk you were, the sudden realisation that the lead singer isn’t bad looking. With The Dykeenies, there was none of that. Said friend was subjected to an hour long rant with the words “amazing” and “awesome” banded about an unnatural amount, and the focus on exactly the right thing – the music.

Setting off the evening to a pretty good start were local band Duke, who had the unenviable task of playing to a, sadly, quite empty floor as the crowd came in. However, the lack of audience was by no means a reflection of the music’s quality, as it’s pretty clear that the three piece band are growing with each performance and ones to watch in the future with a some great Biffy Clyro-meets-Johnny Foreigner style tunes in their repertoire.

Following Duke, to a much bigger crowd, albeit in an awkward semi-circle, were 5 man Fife band Tango In The Attic, who came loaded with guitars, synths and even a sax to really kick the night off. Their mix of synth-y, dancey indie went down incredibly well, especially their preppy single ‘Jackanory’, causing a wave of seriously questionable dancing to sweep The Tunnels. Special props go to the two teenage girls who looked like they’d wandered in from a Twilight screening, breaking both the ice and the still largely intact semi-circle with a hilarious fusion of after school dance-class moves and ‘serious rocker’ hands.

Finishing the night off in amazing style were The Dykeenies, who, as ever, put on a pretty incredible show. From the moment they launched in to “Are You With Me Now?” to their triumphant, mosh-y closer “Sounds of the City”, the crowd was clearly enthralled with frontman Brian Henderson’s flawless vocals and slightly awkward banter. Despite some top notch backing from his band, it’s clear who the star of the show was, with the lead creating an incredibly watchable figure on stage, despite some bizarre on-the-spot dancing and a lot of sweating, Henderson oozed a lot of charm and energy. Playing a set that seemed to please both hardcore old-timer fans, as well as newcomers, the first half of the set was definitely in ‘above average’ territory, with each song being better than the previous, culminating in one of their signature songs, “Waiting For Go”, which seemed to have the whole crowd singing. The point that tipped the balance firmly to ‘excellent’ as opposed to merely ‘good’ was the song that launched the band, with art rock anthem ‘New Ideas’ marking the start of some pretty intense jumping and seemingly unleashing a new energy into the room, which just built and built before the gig drew to a strangely abrupt close and the band jumped behind the merch desk to chat with fans.

There’s an underlying sense of self-doubt that seems to plague The Dykeenies, with Brian Henderson needlessly saying at one point to a fairly mystified audience “I’m usually more charismatic than this”. The lack of confidence seems to be the bands biggest barrier, and the thing stopping them from being where they genuinely deserve to be. But as their rivals from back in the day continue to turn mediocre or fade into obscurity, it’s clear The Dykeenies are here to stay, better than ever, and well worth checking out.

Gav Hastings