misterben has written the following articles:
Frayed, the bubblegum rock three-piece from London, have released their first recording since 1999's well-received 'I'd Love To Go To Egypt' single, in free MP3 format. An unmixed version of 'Girls Get It Better' is currently available from the band's official website»
Trash Stars - the name says it all. With impeccable timing, just as the best of the loud, raucous rock'n'roll bands like the Yo-Yo's seem to be fading out prematurely, and the thriving American punk scene sadly gets more and more radio-friendly, along comes a band which, alongside the Black Halos»
Described by early critics as some sort of punk/glam/disco hybrid, with this single the Mau Maus present a mixed bag, in terms of both style and quality. The title track is a slightly tacky but instantly catchy disco pop song, and even if the appeal wears off after repeated listens (which it does to these ears), there»
When The Beekeepers split up, they divided into two unequal parts - the first being Jamie East, who has already been featured on these pages; the second being Lucas J. The band has recently released some free MP3s of its new material on its website, www.lucasj.com. To access the»
The British Underground Rock Band Site, renowned for its excellent online resources for both musicians and music-lovers, has announced the release of the final CD in its BURBs Audio series of releases. BURBs Audio is a subscription series which was launched back in June, and every two months »
Ginger, of The Wildhearts and many other projects, has recently announced more news of his solo career. Although it is unlikely that his first single will be released until June, it appears that the intention is still to release 12 singles before Christmas. Further to the four tracks mentioned in Drowned »
In about mid-February, I opened up the letters page of Rock Sound magazine and had all my worst expectations utterly confirmed - three pages of what was otherwise a reasonable attempt at rock journalism had been set aside for people to childishly dictate what others should think. It was nothing but "This ban»
Song titles like 'We Luv U', 'Stoopid Ass' and 'Rock the House' suggest a tackiness which, if slightly evident on this album, does not tell the whole story. Although this 'superstar' group also features Chris McCormack from 3 Colours Red and Jay Butler from RealTV, it seems that the creative force behind this album co»
Very rarely do the various facets of creative genius combine to create a band which you can honestly say is incredible in every respect. Honeycrack had it all - imagination, accurate five-part vocals, tight playing and that indefinable knack for songwriting which has evaded even some of the most successful a»
Ginger, ex-Wildhearts leader and creator of such varied projects as Clam Abuse, Super$hit 666 and Silver Ginger 5, has recently announced his intention to become the world's most prolific songwriter by releasing a single a month for a whole year. It is likely that the first single will f»
The only problem with those who attempt to make their act more exciting by uniting music with an inspiring image is that, for every band that succeeds and subsequently takes music to another level, there is a plethora of bands that fail to match their wacky / trendy / atmospheric / other (delete as appropriate) imag»
Grand Theft Audio, the band featuring ex-members of RealTV, The Wildhearts and 3 Colours Red, are to release their first UK single, We Luv You, through Sci-Fi recordings on March 12th. The single will be released on a CD and vinyl format, with the vinyl version including exclusive B-side Fuk U Iz It?<»
AntiProduct are currently justifying their reputation as the busiest band in the UK, having recently announced on their website that they are currently planning a tour of Ireland, a full UK tour and an acoustic show at the 12 Bar Club in London, the latter being likely to tak»
Antiproduct, Janus Stark and Plan A are amongst the bands performing at a special charity gig at the London LA2 on January 27th. The Five Miles High event will run from 1pm to 10pm, and as well as the various bands performing, the notorious Changes One reco»
Lumiere have announced that they are to play their first live dates since a major re-working of the band's lineup towards the end of last year. Although not all of the dates are confirmed, it seems likely that they will all take place in the Camden Town area, with the first confirmed date seeing a return to the ban»
London bubblegum rock 3-piece Frayed have recently been in the studio recording five tracks to be included on the follow-up to their debut EP, which was released independently on the band's own Sour Lemon label at the end of 1999. The five tracks are entitled 'Machine', 'Girls Get It Better', 'Songs Of Our Lives»
Christmas is coming. Above all, apart from the goose getting fat, me spending all my money and everywhere becoming crowded with annoying shoppers, what that means is the return of a past era of music. My dissatisfaction with the majority of acts on the current rock and pop scene (and the majority of artists featur»
A while ago, the members of one of the mailing lists that I'm on decided to set up a 'tape circle': everyone on the list had to put together a compilation tape, which they then sent to the person next to them on the list. After a few weeks the tapes would get passed around again, and the process would continue until e»
The first thing to be said to The Relatives' credit is that they are willing to admit that their work is hugely influenced by The Wildhearts, something which many previous culprits have been unable to confess to. In fact, The Relatives probably fall somewhere in the middle of the Antiproduct / Wildhearts / Backyard Ba»
Sometimes you can get so used to listening to half-decent bands that you forget what it was that made you fall in love with music in the first place. Every now and then, something comes along to remind you, and when it does, you can't believe that you ever had feelings for anything else. Dye #2 is all about contrasts,»
Silent Cry have had their fair bit of criticism in the past, mostly based around their tendency to pad out live sets with unoriginal covers, and the very obvious nature of their influences. Thankfully, in this first CD release, the band has really started to develop the potential that it has shown from the outset. Th»
