All Good Bands Split: Eddyfink

*This is part one of the ‘All Good Banks Split:’ mini series

All good bands split, and today’s subject for examination are Eddyfink, London based Indie rockers.. or at least.. they were.. once upon a time.

I discovered Eddyfink by complete chance being linked off a random profile on myspace belonging to someone who I didn’t even know (as is the case with most discoveries on myspace). I played the first song on the page at the time, which was ‘immuno’. It took me about 5 seconds of the intro to realise that this band were seriously seriously good.

Quick melodic lyrics strewn delicately over a disco drum beat and choppy guitars – I can’t think of anything better. It’s kind of like Panic! At The Disco, but less pretentious and whiney, or at least.. it was.

The point of this mini series is to condemn to hell all bands who I loved that have split up (not really). I just want to share with you, dear readers, the really, really great bands that could have been.

So like any good woman who’s had some plastic surgery, I shall waste no more time. Without further a-do, here are Eddyfink, with Immuno.

Rip Curl Boardmasters 2008 Festival

Well the lineup for this year’s Rip Curl Boardmasters 2008 Music Festival is out and already its looking very promising with big names on the main stage including the Groove Armada, The Pidgeon Detectivs, The Zutons, and The Futureheads the weekend looks set to be a fantastic bash all round both sport and music wise. Its a shame to see Ghost of a Thousand on the kiddie stage yet again, not because its a shame they’re not on the main stage, more because its a shame that they have to be there at all. Who needs talent when you can have a manager with music industry ties.

The overall event takes place from the 4th to the 11th of August this year and includes some of the world’s best surfers in a pro surfing tournament, skaters in a skating event, bmxers in a bmx event, and hot women, in a bikini competition. Nice.

In addition to the main stage and the kiddie stage, ‘beach sessions’ will also be taking place every night at the beach bar – apparently Enter Shikari are opening up the first night in this tent, which sounds very, very promising indeed, and rumour has it that surf clothing superstars Surfdome (sister comapny to Wavehouse, the creators of the indoor surfing machine) will be in attendance throughout the event.

I’m going to have to see if I can make it across to Fistral beach I think!

The only thing that I think of thats missing, where are the kitesurfers?

Bang Bang Bang!

Originally posted on the 12th of May 2007

http://www.myspace.com/bangbangbangtheband

Up and coming? Maybe. Good? Definitely. Bang Bang Bang! are a Brighton based girl fronted punk band. Now, I don’t mean Avril Lavigne pop punk cry about how life’s so complicated, I mean real angry antiestablishment punk. Front(wo)man Natalie has more balls than half the pretentious self absorbed musicians that are knocking about at the moment, and she’s not afraid to show it.

So What Is It?

I think I’ve made it pretty clear that its punk, but incase you missed it the first few times… its really punk. I’ve seen Bang Bang Bang! play live a few times now, both with acoustic guitars, and fully fledged wailing distorted ones. They have yet to leave me unsatisfied after a set. Its not difficult to see that they’re heavily influenced by Nirvana, in fact, Natalie has been coined to be a female Kurt Cobain by a number of people, this is most note-able when the band play a Nirvana cover midway through their set which fits in perfectly with their style. Natalie owns the stage, and the red bits of her hair shimmer under the dim stage lighting. Looking at her before the band start playing, you really wouldn’t expect what’s to come.

‘Start A Fight’ is the song I would listen to as a good introduction to this band. Produced by Marc Waterman (Elastica, Inch, Ash) the song is angry and raw and generally a very well oiled piece of audible machinery. You can tell exactly what you’re listening to from the first riff, theres no gentle intro, theres no change in tempo, and there doesn’t need to be. You’re thrown straight in at the deep end of the very distorted, fast, powerchord-filled verse and drawn very quickly into the chorus with hails of “do you want to start a fight”. The songs boasts pure simplicity at its finest, it doesn’t need complex structures or harmonies, it is what it is, and it works.

Room for improvement?

Naturally there’s always room for improvement but with Bang Bang Bang! I’m very hesitant to suggest any specific things to change. They have a niche, a very good approach to the music business, and great style. Obviously its questionable as to how commercially viable the songs are, but with this genre of music – who really cares? The only improvement that they could make is that although they have stage presence, I have yet to witness nearly enough stage energy. It would be great to see all three of them really get into the music and move around on stage.

This band are certainly one to go and see if you live anywhere near Brighton, or even if you don’t, they’re worth the trip. Their’ Myspace stats could be better with only 8,000 hits so far, but their’ forthcoming release on the 2007 BIMM Album is likely to boost that figure by a significant amount. With plenty of upcoming gigs and a Brighton Juice FM appearance, Bang Bang Bang! We salute you.

This City

Originally posted on the 8th of May 2007

http://www.myspace.com/thiscitymusic

This City were a very interesting discovery for me, it happened one evening a few months ago at the Brighton Engine Room. I was there to see a band called RazorFace, and This City happened to be headlining. At first I didn’t take much notice. More boys in tight jeans with tattoos and lip piercings… big deal! As soon as they started playing though, my attention was drawn away from the conversation at hand and towards the stage. It’s hard to put your finger on exactly what it is, but this band have something that makes you really want to watch them.

So What Is It?

Its essentially Emo alternative indie rock, although This City prefer to refer to themselves as “Hardcore Pop” which isn’t actually a bad description. Take a disco beat, throw in a strat, some yelping, and you’re nearly there. Now, that doesn’t sound impressive, until you add the catchy choruses and frequency filling harmonies… THEN. It becomes a thing of beauty.

The Mates-Rates Song-For-Sale for me is definitely ‘Romantic’, which starts off with what could be any old intro for any old band, a high electric guitar riff and a lot of tomtoms, the song doesn’t really kick in till that first riff ends, and the song moves into the verse. This segment chops straight in with a disco beat that is so unbelievably good that I sometimes listen to the track just to hear the drum beat. How many songs can you say that about? The guitar riff that flows over the top is choppy, feels perfectly in tune with the beat, and is a real foot tapper. When Chris starts singing though, you realise that This City aren’t “just another Emo band” because, he doesn’t suffer from what I call “eyeliner syndrome”. Which translates roughly into any vocalist that feels the need to sing all his/her vocals in long drawn out notes with some sort of emotional attachment that tries to induce tears. Instead, he is aggressive, and energetic, he almost spits out his lyrics and commands attention. ‘Romantic’ then shifts smoothly into the chorus, where harmonies rain in, and guitar riffs get much more distorted. It’s exactly my cup of tea.

So what is it lacking?

For the type of music it is, it lacks very little. This City have very tight package now after having suffered from AWOL drummer syndrome for a good few months. (Their’ previous drummer is now the lead singer for hardcore band the Architects.) What they do lack, is commercial appeal – the interesting thing is that they’re not very far off the perfect mix. The proof of that is in the number of hits they’ve had on Myspace in a mere year of existence, in their recent radio 1 airtime, and reviews in both NME and Rocksound. If they could just tighten their songs a little for performance purposes, and start writing in a slightly more traditional structure, keeping their fiery passion firmly in place, they would have mass potential.

I’m not going to lie at this point; I think that this band are brilliant. It’s not just that they play good music, its that they’re fun to watch and to listen to. It’s a type of music that is hated by a lot of “traditional music fans” at the moment, and I think its time those people realised that U2 are dead and Elton John is shit. You have two choices: stay stuck in the 90’s, or listen to This City. I know which one I’m doing.

Andrew Balkwill

Originally posted on the 4th of May 2007

http://www.myspace.com/andrewbalkwill

I discovered Andy one night while I was at the SkyBar in Brighton having a drink with a few friends. I hadn’t planned on going specifically to see anyone play, and I certainly hadn’t expected to see what I did. It was a usual acoustic night in a posh bar, pretentious guitarists, and girls who thought they could sing. Then Andy came on with a big keyboard and nothing else.

Andrew Balkwill is one of the UK’s finest examples of how there is some absolutely amazing music out there, and no one knows about it. He seems, at the moment, to be gliding from bar to pub to the occasional venue, slowly accumilating a loyal following who are beginning to spread the word. A bit like the Pied Piper on steroids. The intriguing thing is that I dont think he actually realises just how good he is.
Which is refreshing to say the least.

So, what is it?

Its Alternative Piano Pop, now dont get me wrong, I hate labels more than anyone else. When I say ‘pop’ I dont mean McFly, I mean popular music that is user-friendly enough to have mass appeal. Think Keane, mix in a little Maroon 5, inject an 8th of The Beatles, and you’re pretty much there. Beautiful melodies played on the piano, accompanied with excellent vocals, and a rhythm that gives you a headache from the inability to NOT nod along to each song.

The recommend a friend song is definitely ‘Let Go’ which can be heard on the link to Andy’s myspace at the top of this entry.
It instantly begins with a choppy section of light piano chords and a sliding bassline, something that makes you want to tap your foot and simultaeously sway slightly. The vocals dont jump out at you at first, but the lyrics are clearly audible, and as the first chorus comes you realise that he really does have an amazing voice. Andy has a definite talent for arranging his songs as the slow smooth rhythms fade into and are contrasted beautifully by fast chopped up sections before dropping into an almost deathly quiet mid section.

But what’s it lacking? There is a definite empty space there.

Vocal harmonies. All of Andy’s songs would benefit fantastically from some contrasting vocal melodies to fill in some of the frequency gaps, and to contrast certain vocal sections from others. That said, his latest song ‘The Other Side’ does make use of some harmonies, but they are far too quiet, and sound like they were added to the song rather tentatively.

Andy has some serious potential to go a long way in the music world, but at the moment it seems like he hasn’t quite figured out the best way to promote himself. His ‘myspace stats’ could be better, and he could certainly do with booking a few higher profile gigs given that he’s every bit as good live as he is on record. If he can find a way to get himself out there a bit more I have no doubt that we will be hearing a lot more of Andrew Balkwill in the future.

Enter Shikari

Originally posted on 30 April 2007,

Having anything to do with music means you have to spend a lot of time on MySpace. Which is difficult if you’re like me and you can’t stand browsing through millions and millions of teenagers’ personal profiles. If you can filter through the filth though, there is a world of discovery to be found.

Enter Shikari are a slightly ironic band to be the first on the page because they’re not THAT new anymore. Nevertheless. Humour me.

For a start, you can tell you’ band is getting somewhere when your myspace profile tells you that your songs have been played 29,151 times today.. and that’s just on the one web page. Even in the grand scheme of things thats an impressive figure when you think that its double the capacity of Wembley Arena.

So what is it?

In essence, it’s a mix of trance melodies, electronic samples, and hardcore rock. Whic, you have to hear to be able to understand really. It’s not something that you can easily put together in your’ head without some idea of what to expect. Formed in 2003, the band was originally a collaboration of genres to appeal to all, though it had a somewhat opposite effect for the first 3 years or so. Then in 2006, things started turning around as their’ fan base grew and their’ music progressed. By the end of the year, they were on several large festivals and had placed a couple of big national tours on their repertoire of accomplishments.

‘Sorry You’re Not A Winner’ is the song you will have most likely listened to if you’ve ever heard of this band before, being their main myspace profile song and having just made and released a video for it.

Starting with a slightly deranged trance keyboard synthesiser riff before bringing in a catchy little bass-line, the intro is quickly followed by a metal guitar riff, before again diving into the unknown with a complete stop for several hand claps. Then the song actually gets going. The band make good use of time changes throughout the verse, and carefully placed screams make for interesting but not painful listening. The melodies are nothing if not catchy, and the band really show their true colours in the breakdown midway through the song where nothing but a synthesiser and vocals lead straight into a full-on metal screaming middle-eight and discordant outro.

Sure, Enter Shikari definitely suffer from the ‘Emo’ label thrust upon so many bands these days, but it’s hard to find any Indie bands at the moment that DON’T get called Emo. The key point will be if they can break free from the stereotype by progressing their style rather than their music, because, as far as sound goes, this band definitely have something good to offer. I’d like to see them step out of their’ pigeonhole.

What are they lacking? Mass appeal. The sound is fresh, interesting, and generally something that could definitely fill a gap in the current music market, but the lyrics leave much to be desired. The structure of the vocals means that often there is a scream at the beginning of a line, meaning the second half of the line makes no sense. A scream at the end of a line however, is usually intelligible, and one can figure out the word based on what came before it.
Half of a band’s success relates to whether or not the audience can connect with the emotion conveyed in the subject of the song. If the subject of the song isn’t clearly dictated in the lyrics then the eventuality is that fans will be singing along, but not really knowing what they’re singing.

With an average of about 4,000 plays every single day since they registered on myspace alone, they’re clearly set to go somewhere, the only question that remains in my mind is, when they do get somewhere, how long will they be able to stay there for?

Its All About The Venue

I’ve been to a fair few gigs in my time (seriously) and some venues really accentuate every artist playing there, they have great acoustics, a great atmosphere, and generally provide a really enjoyable evening. London venues are famed for this, the London Underworld, the Metro, the Electric Ballroom, the Astoria, and of course we couldnt forget about the Camden Barfly.

A few miles south however, its rather a different story. Brighton is always famed for being a ‘music city’ with the likes of the Brighton Institute of Modern Music being established there along with big names who have come out of Brighton in the past like Fatboy Slim, and The Kooks – but Brighton venues really don’t live up to the acts that have come from them. The Pressure point for example, is dark, cramped, never fills up, has a tiny stage, and terrible acoustics, which is also true for The Engine Room, the PavTav (if you can call that a venue), and the Beach. The only one which redeems itself slightly is the Concorde2, which is a 700 capacity venue… so its really only a head above the rest because it has the budget for a decent sound system, other than that its not great, curtains cover the windows like some sort of corporate events venue that been turned into a goth palace.

And make no mistake about it, the goths do come in their hundreds. Now the modern word for goth is emo, perhaps you’ve heard of it, a couple of years ago I used to get to a lot more gigs than I do these days and there were always a few emo’s but they were relatively convervative and kept themselves to themselves.

Last week though, I went to see a band who I’ve been listening to for some years now, but they were supporting Aidan… which I didnt realise until I got there, meant that there would be 700 hardcore emo’s there. These kids behave like absolute chavs, and generally were just there to drink, push eachother around, and throw stuff at the performers. The only distinguishment that I could make between them and your bog standard run of the mill chav was that they didnt have common accents, or wear tracksuits. You see emo’s are generally middle-class kids who are sick of getting everything they want from mummy and daddy, so they rebel, and thus the posh-emo is born. Who are angry and very well spoken.

When I used to go to gigs 2-3 times a week I remember there being ’scene’ people, but they either kept to themselves, or just had a really good time and enjoyed the music. Now it seems like booze-britain has just spread down yet another avenue… brilliant.

Paramore Are Officially Awsome

T4 famed band Paramore aren’t actually as ‘new and fresh’ as you think, in fact their most recent songs were released on an album about 2 years ago now. Nevertheless I for one am glad that my eyes have been opened to this fantastic trio. At first I just liked the song (Misery Business), then her voice grew on me a great deal, kind of like Kelly Clarkson but better.

Then recently I watched this youtube video of an acoustic version of the song, and my respect for them went to a whole new level.

Lead singer Hayley’s voice, even in such a raw acoustic session is absolutely incredible, something that one assumes with today’s recording technology is generally merely generated for the record and played back during ‘live performances’. Not so with paramore, there are no vocal effects or help needed with Hayley as she literally stands out a mile from the thousands of other female fronted rock bands. The difference between her and the others is that she hits every note effortlessly, she has great tone, she sings with genuine emotion, and she has 2 very very good guitarists supporting her.

Oh, and she’s hot too.

I’ll give you two guesses what’s going on my waterproof mp3 player this weekend!

James Blunt Should Die

I am sitting here in my office, southern FM is playing through the radio (how unfortunate), and all I can hear, is the teeth grinding, kidney squeezing, testicular killing, mind numbing, anything-but heart wrenching voice of James the prat Blunt.

In all seriousness, if I wanted to hear the voice of an 8 year old whinging and moaning about how difficult her life was, then I would go to a primary school, and find an 8 year old girl to sing to me. The fact remains that I don’t have any interest in inflicting this shrill noise upon my unsuspecting eardrums, and they would far rather listen to something decent, so James the munt Blunt does not register on that list.

This shrill boy from Wiltshire (oh yes, rather, indeed) was in fact christened ‘James Hillier Blount’ but deemed himself important enough to need to change it for more of a ‘rockstar’ alternative. He should have taken an events management london job to be honest rather than have cursed us all with is putrid excuse for ‘music’. Yet another reason for him to be shot, but who’s counting.

Today, I think we have concluded that James Hillier Fairy Blunt is the worst thing in the history of mankind.

</rant>

Telecasters All The Rave

Playing guitar is a beautiful thing, and if you’re anything like me then the only thing better than playing any old guitar, is playing an American Fender Telecaster. Its just a whole new level of pleasure.

So what makes an American Fender Tele different from any other old piece of wood with 6 strings?

A lot of things.

To start with Tele’s have superbly thin necks, which, for someone coming over from a Les Paul type guitar is like a breath of fresh air, followed by a storm of a whole lot more fresh air. Much much more comfortable to play, and it makes chord transitions far smoother because you can more your fingers more quickly up, down, and around the neck.

Secondly, the Tele has a far flatter neck compared to Les Paul, which actually makes it a little more awkward to hold down a chord, but once you adapt to this, I have found that the sound is far more pure from chords held on a flat neck as opposed to chords held on a rounded neck. Naturally playing solo’s on a flat neck is also far quicker as you can have your action set much lower.

Third is weight. Weight weight weight. A Les Paul around your neck might as well be a bucket full of bricks, you’d like to thrash it around while you play but if you do there’s always the chance it’ll smack into you and seriously hurt! Tele’s are light, not too light, but a really nice weight, and easily light enough to allow you to ‘thrash’ more comfortably, if you know what I mean.

And finally, Fender electrical components are just far superior. With my Les Paul I used to experience (very minor) crackling when changing pickups and sometimes when turning the volume up and down, and this was AFTER being serviced! Tele’s have none of that, its all smooth, and wired correctly, and there’s not so much as a hum from the internal electrical components to put you off.

In conclusion, the American Fender Telecaster is possibly the greatest guitar of all time.