Big Scary Expansionism

So i've been hearing alot of rumours going around the "emo"/bromo community about a certain uk label trying to storm America. Turns out it's true, Kevin Douch (aka. big scary monsters) is signing bands, employing promoters, here's a link to what he said about it. He's also signed two of my favourite bands casavet and grown ups, both getting pretty big on the "scene".



I wish him all the best, but kind of worried he'll lose focus on the uk side of things, i mean already he's clearly struggling on his own to keep on top with distribution, even if all the promotion makes it seem like stuffs going fine. He owes me orders from 6 months ago I'm yet to chase up, I don't think I'd buy another physical release from him again. Also he failed to release the Pennines/ ttng split because he didn't have time, lazily putting it straight to itunes.



He's clearly a guy who loves the music and what he's doing, but jesus before starting up new shit Kev, stop going to America to watch the get up kids, stop posing for photos: CHECK YOUR FUCKING MAIL ORDERS AND SEND ME THAT (now kind of obsolete) FUCKING SPRING SAMPLER.

Hair Traffic Control

this post will be very factual so get out your notepad

hair traffic control are a pretty cool 4 piece (when you get past the silly name) who've had attention from some pretty cool labels (big scary monsters stuck them on their "to let" unsigned compilation a few months back). i told them i d write some stuff a while back but becuase im dumb i forgot.

on their new ep (let's do lunch) they make cool music like (i love doing this nme style band referencing to inadequately describe a band) the frentic fuzzy sounds of lightning bolt crossed with the more refined aspects of giraffe? girrafe!.

instrumentally this music is really sophisticated. The guitars arent as clean as their math pop contemparies, and i m sure neither are the band memebers. Not a bad thing though and when combined with fuzzy bass lines and solid yet fraught drums combining for a few awesome wall of sound moments.

honesty is my middle name (that was a white lie though, sorry) so i will say at times the vocals seem out of place and at times detract from the brilliance of their instrumental work (particulaly on the opening song "hobo gauntlet"). But i'm just picking holes in what is really good and inivetive music. Check 'em out: MYSPACE HERE AND BUY THE EP HERE

Shapes & Brontide, The Chameleon, 06/8/09

Yesterday I went to another amazing buttonpusher night at the dingy yet homely (and sadly half empty) chameleon. The gig space of the chameleon (at the top of the building) gets boiling in the summer, but theres nothing better than getting sweaty and watching some rocking bands. There always seems to get friendly crowds who really enjoy the music and fewer annoying scenesters at these nights which makes for a good atmosphere.

These Waves are probably the best derby band at the moment (possibly ever) and pretty much the only way to hear them is to travel to derby or nottingham and watch them support bands in gritty venues.
They brought a really good show full of energy to the cramped "stage" area and seemed more confident with their music than ever. THrashing about while playing and flicking their fringes. Edgy post hardcore with the same mathrock elements that made bands like Meet Me in St Louis and Secondsmile special. Shouty vocals and screams ontop the stop/start wall of sound they create is really interesting and each song is really solid. THe vocals which at times before had seemed a bit scratchy were sounding much more refined today, probably their best performance I've witnessed yet. Sadly this band have fallen on hard times and so i implore you to support them.



Alright the Captain are an awesome local instruMENTAL band who created alot of noise for three guys. I've heard them described as aggresive experimental rock, metal, prog rock, deranged art surf ... what comes to my mind when i hear them though is really tight math/metal like 65daysofstatic playing metallica with some cool spacey noises to boot. Loud, experimental and bloody good to watch. Their set was full of energy and really captivating, using the bass to create moments of surf style distortion and a mathy guitar line over some mental rythms. Surprising that such a small local band can be so good.



Brontide have blown me away before, their sheer musical genius and charisma but this time it was the performance they really stepped up a gear. Tim brilliantly loops guitars and slowly builds a huge wall of layers and tension, before manic explosiosive breakdowns that make your eyes pop out and have the whole band moshing like glamrockers. . With a change in the setlist the whole thing didnt flow aswell as it had previous times, but put that down to lack of practice since they havent really had a chance with a buzz of activity in several different projects. Still there was only one break from their relentless set as they play a new song to finish with. Some of the best techy-math music ever; like battles bashing russian circles with a loop pedal.
I really need to get a picture of tims pedal board... its pretty epic. GO AND SEE THEM LIVE OR ME WRITING THIS HAS BEEN WASTED TIME.



I thought Shapes would be really, really, really good live, but they were only really good. I think the problem is they lack some of the subtlty of their records in live shows, didnt stop the racket they made being very fucking good and the performance easily matching any other band of the night. Sweaty and topless they jumped and spat and screamed out the entirity of the new ep and a few oldies, tearing it up. THe songs sounded alot more distorted and harder live, with the shouts and screams less precise and more haphazard. THe mathy feel of their eps was lost to a more jagged hardcore sound. Set highlight was the short but brilliant Trampled By A Horse... amazing stuff, and as the name suggests pretty brutal.



Anyway the Shapes and Brontide tour is to support their new split 10": HOLY MONSTERS (holy roar + big scary monsters)
it also features the tupolev ghost and holy state who are also amazing. BUY IT HERE

Talons

This post was destined for TEENAGE HANGOVER (another blog) but my friend tom was already writing about them so even though i went on a lot in the truck post i'll GO ON EVEN MORE HERE...



A recent signing to one of my favourite labels: Big Scary Monsters, this young instrumental six piece might just be my new favourite band (and that means you should atleast give them a listen right?)
These guys are my age so its a bit condescending for me to say they're "barely out of school"... o well. Barely out of school it's surprising that these guys have written some really epic tunes. They are like beautifully polished glass... thats been broken just for the the hell of it; perfectly broken And the most striking thing about them: They sounds big. Real big.
Not your ordinary Godspeed-esque post rock though... This is an edgy wall of sound, with more heavy breakdowns and beautiful build ups than a fast paced game of jenga.
The two guitarists create complex intertwining parts (perhaps with twiddly mathrock inspiration) backed by a brilliantly frantic rhythm section. However its the 2 violinist creating the shrill melody which helps create deeper more elaborate sound than many of their contemporaries.
One of the things a lot of these bands get wrong is that they don't know when to stop, when to turn off the wall of sound and interplay between guitars, but talons pull it off perfectly.
Their debut single the pearl is out in a couple of weeks and it's really something special. 5 freaking stars.
O and if you get the chance to see them live DO, it's where they come into their element. Talon's myspace