TheBoyDeadly has written the following articles:
In a move that has a nice symmetry about it, possibly the only band to rival Muse for big-show absurdity have announced live dates for November. The Flaming Lips cover the UK in a few fell swoops at these places...»
SuperMassiveMuseTour: November dates announced...»
There are no rewinds or replays tonight, and even through the soupy haze of Benson smoke and flashbacks, the mood of celebration and an earnest run through ‘Calm Down Dearest’, there is urgency and adventure and dare.»
A heady mashup of Black Mountain’s ‘Druganaut’ and Bowie’s ‘John, I’m Only Dancing’, the latest single from ‘Derdang Derdang’ is a lime-veined monster, lurching bowlegged across some sticky satellite-town dancefloor.»
The band actively work to create those sombre, reflective moments, especially early on in their set, knowing they'll encourage impure thoughts keeping the whole thing, inevitably, revolving around the big ‘It’.»
On a ridiculously gorgeous day, on the 42 bus, I make my way over Tower Bridge; making dents just South of the shimmering river Thames to Terminal Studios in Bermondsey. A lot of Jamie’s output so far was made to soundtrack days like today. Roll out the easy, sun-kissed tracks like ‘If You’ve Got the Money’ and ‘Back In The Game’ for hazy days stained by beers and barbeque grease. Others seem made more for when the heat reaches a head later on – ‘Salvador’ cutting a shady disco path through stormy summer evenings set in the capital and its outskirts.»
Usually, Coxon is just rough enough to boy off the attentions of daytime radio, but this time – despite prototypic production – he’s even easier on the ear.»
POW! BAM! AAARGH! Cut'n'paste comic book action from the Xerox Teens.»
Before, it was crowded; walls built on sound built on head-spinning method and, rapidly, a labyrinth of ideas and caustic guitar was laid in lean tracks that fizzed out before three and a quarter minutes. Now though, their victory lies in their destruction of these walls and the creation of space»
So here we are, heading out with the wide-eyed sense of adventure hooked in Burton’s Big Fish, but we’re daunted by a world that doesn’t look as big as it used to be. If this mission is gonna be long, it helps that Jeremy’s story is a good one.»
Metaphors aside, I got a huge sense of déja vu when reviewing this record. I don't know where it came from. Maybe from a dream I had about Jay Munley in spats and a tux, playing the English gent at some party my dad was throwing.»
There are two types of music that defy considered criticism. Firstly, there are those artists who make music so astonishing that there does not yet exist the reference points or language, even, to accurately describe and appraise it. At the other end of the scale are bands you loved when you were 15. »
‘Creeping Up The Backstairs’ rolls along with rapid-fire vocals and jangles with the goonish, skeletal grin of Funnybones, or some other, less menacing, kid’s TV program...»
In 'Edwould' the boys recall all the ramshackle radiance of past singles 'Happy As Annie' and 'Little Boy Lost' but hurl it back out with real poise and intent. »
Even if they don’t list them anywhere among their influences, frontman Daddy Sugar’s weaselly falsetto is annoyingly close to the Brother White's.»
After roughly four songs, Treacy drops sullenly to the ground like a shy child overcome with attention, shouting about how he’d rather be back in his cell than on the Barfly stage tonight.»
‘Adventure’ is Bloc Party’s ‘Pioneers’ if it was earning its spurs in dusty Nashville alleyways, scoring kicks riling brown-bag hobos and packing out pizza parlours every Saturday night.»
It is hard to defend a song that - though it trots along very pleasantly, making all the right moves - is essentially lacking in any kind of character, or conflict or coherent sentiment... »
My Dark Places is bona fide, warts 'n' all reality CD, full of self-loathing, bitter paranoia, delirium and defiance. But while this is pure voyeurism, you never get the feeling that Dan doesn't want you peering around inside his aching head. »
Boys and girls sit opposite each other, forced face-to-face while candy-floss indie-pop is thrown into the room by two PA stacks standing down by the stage. Looking around the room then, at the chandeliers and sculpted walls, it seemed as if an old-money millionaire had decided to throw an impromptu school disco...»
'All Too Human'…? Perhaps. The Rakes have never been the most charismatic of bands. Here, as ever, they are needy, neurotic and half-cut.»
This sullen noise steals its pulse from everything you imagine the big, dark American night to be to any one, lone traveller – puzzling, awe-inspiring, menacing and yet somehow familiar.»
The Kooks are from Brighton, they are named after a David Bowie song and they write great British pop songs.»
Hit play and 'Ladyflash' pours from the speakers with the free consistency of maple syrup; flooding your ear drums and plugging your lugholes.»
Nostalgia can be a dangerous thing for anyone, especially when done to excess. ‘Albion’, however, charms; as much a bitter lament for a land lost as it is a sweet paean to an England remembered from fading sepia photographs and dog-eared Shoot! annuals. »
This is rock’n’roll for its own sake - sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. When taken as an entity, ‘Apollo’ is typically two-faced.»
‘Tarred and Feathered’ finds frontman Johnny Cooke in a reflective mood. Wandering home alongside nothing but a trundling bassline, he sings sorry-for-himself and comes over the lonely boy on the morning after the weekend before.»
With their self-titled debut album, Serena Maneesh draw from the greatest protagonists of both rock and post-rock to construct something that while derivative, is also undoubtedly theirs.»
Getting to know Envelopes isn’t hard. After seeing them charm teethy smiles from a Barfly audience who seemed to be of the opinion that Friday night’s alright for….pouting, I decided the prospect of an interview with another hack who knew very little about them, (and who offered the added lure of being half-cut), would be too good for them to refuse. Rather surprisingly, they agreed.»
Usually when I see The White Stripes, I come away stunned. Invariably, when I remember what went on in my head later, it’s always pitched in darkness and raining. There is a different atmosphere here tonight, though.»
