Live Review: Yashin, White Rabbit, 08/11/2012

Following the success of The Last One Standing Tour, there is so much hype for this one Glaswegian band tonight; Yashin!

Storming on stage to official intro We Created A Monster, quickly evolved into Runaway Train that went down with incredible ease. The track is pounding on it’s own but live, well it’s even better. Stand in guitarist Connor MacLeod admitted he messed up Let It Go, but even with that knowledge, the atmosphere was too fierce to notice.

In <4 we get to really notice how strong Kevin Miles’ clean vocals are and just when you start chilling out...BAM, Angel’s Song is being blasted through the ears of many tonight. The band go back to old school Yashin with Friends In High Places where the entire audience went in full swing to a great track that sounded perfect, swiftly being traded for New Year Or New York which again is such an incredible song musically.

Remember that cover of Everytime Yashin did a while back? Yeah well they’ve got something brand new. One Step Closer by Linkin Park sounds like a bad cover choice, however, after hearing it, oh my god, we could say it may compete really well with the original. The power that exploded from the amps and speakers is astonishing. Ending the show tonight with Stand Up was amazing. The song is strong and heartfelt in the first place but Harry Radford’s vocals here make us forget all our troubles and sing along, no matter how bad we sound.

Yashin were remarkable tonight and it feels that Connor has fit in quite nicely following the departure of Lewis Millen. The band are touring with We Are The Ocean in February so make sure you check them out. Twin Atlantic made it, so why can’t Yashin.

Written By: Sarah West

Dead Poets at DBs Live for IPYN

The sound that exerted from Dead Poets was insane. The vocals were amazingly powerful, which adds to Danny’s vocal ability. Hearing their EP ‘Break The Walls’ live is such an experience as the baselines are just incredible. Dead Poets are completely full of energy, which was shown in their stage presence and performance.

By Sarah West

Seize The Day at DBs Live for IPYN

Seize The Day have proved development is key to create a great band. Having had time to grow with recent changes, Seize The Day were loud and explosive at the IPYN event at DBs live. Shown through perfect live vocals, simple yet brilliant drum skills and amazing guitar techniques throughout, this band never seem to fail and are such crowd pleasers.

By Sarah West

Seize The Day headline show: Part of the ‘Epic Summer Southwest Mini Tour’ with Fel Fiasco, The Origins and Biproxy

Minus the lack of crowd, tonight wasn’t a failure, therefore, turned out to be brilliant as always.

Seize the Day owned the stage by performing a great show full of old and new material, they blasted out every track with passion and perfection. Speaking of perfection, Chris Booth’s screaming has greatly improved, which is clearly shown in Fus. The breakdown in Search in a Catalyst is intense and could even come close to being compared to A Day To Remember. Seize The Day never stopped entertaining their audience; either through music or witty banter, they please the crowd every time as we all sang as one.

Plymouth should be proud to have Seize The Day around the local music scene, who happens to be one of the few great bands to represent our city.

By Sarah West

The Devil Wears Prada Kill It In Plymouth

It was the third show on The Devil Wears Prada’s UK tour of 2012. Performing in Plymouth on February 10^th to a sold out audience in our intimate venue that is White Rabbit.

Seeing Brotherhood Of The Lake on the bill for this tour was amazing to see, as they used to be a small Plymouth band who have actually become something big. Brotherhood Of The Lake have shown that anyone can break out and become something; you just need to try. With heavy riffs and a powerful set up, they really represented Plymouth as a whole but most importantly nationally too.  

Hailing from London, Last Witness presented a very good performance by performing tracks such as “The Void” and “Exorcism”, however, they may have forgotten what band they were supporting because they could have stepped up to the plate to match the standard that was already set earlier on. Even with this, Last Witness are a brilliant band that need to be watched.

After a long wait, The Devil Wears Prada ran on stage in front of the ragingly happy crowd. Even though this metal-core band from Ohio where initially touring their new album ‘Dead Throne’, the band performed tracks from their discography including material from their EP ‘Zombie’. The Devil Wears Prada received an unbelievable reception from the sold out Plymouth show; this was shown by the enormous brutality of the mosh pits that formed throughout their set. The room was full of sweat, dripping down from the ceiling from the fast pace and ear splitting riffs, with many gaining bruised ribs but it was obviously worth every cut and scrape to witness this heavy “Christian” band so locally.

Observing from the back of the venue with clear view, tonight seemed to be a fantastic show for The Devil Wears Prada and their support; especially that it was only their third show of their tour so far. Plymouth came out in force and proved that this city is worth more bands to come visit.

By Sarah West

Sketches by Newton Faulkner

‘Sketches’ is a new EP from Newton Faulkner before the release of his third studio album; ‘Write It On Your Skin’ on July 9^th.

Newton Faulkner is an incredible singer/songwriter who demonstrates his capability to perform flawlessly with only his voice and an acoustic guitar. This in itself displays this mans’ unique talent.

‘Sketches’ is not a displeasure for Faulkner’s fans as he has developed his style to a more professional level and there is a sense he has reinvented himself.

As always, Newton demonstrates how much of an incredible artist he really is by owning the package of great musical talent and the ability to write amazing song. He’s earned the place of a recording contract those years ago and we see why.

The similarities between the four songs are simple; well written lyrics and greatly composed musicality. However, they have something that make them diverse to each other and make the listener wanting more.

“Write It On Your Skin” has a change of tempo and power from the interlink from verse to chorus back to verse. This change engages the listener because they may not expect it within the song.

“From The Bars” is a basic song in the sense of keeping everything the same considering pace, which is different compared to “Write It On Your Skin”. On the other hand, “From The Bars” really shows off Newton Faulkner’s strong vocals.

“Bricks” and “Feel” are tracks that both display his great guitar techniques and his little signature flicks very clearly. Also, they are very similar songs considering the way they’re sung as they show the strong yet vulnerable side of Faulkner.

It’s effortless to say that Newton Faulkner’s following are all eagerly awaiting his new album especially since he’s been performing several pop up shows around the country recently. ‘Write It On Your Skin’ could be said to be one of the most anticipated albums of the year so far.

By Sarah West

Don Broco release single ahead of debut album

“Priorities” is the first release from Don Broco’s upcoming debut album and from the first riff, you know this song is going to be good and Don Broco have not disappointed.

The thrashing of instruments in this arrangement is perfect and reflects the band mean business. Rob Damiani has fantastic vocal control throughout as he shows his powerful yet smooth side especially in “I miss you pumpkin, I miss you babe...”.

“Priorities” has an enormous beat behind it that equally makes the song dominant over others as it has a variation of heaviness. This song all together produces a contrast to the different elements made in “Priorities”. 

This band is the product of working hard to get to where you want to be; which has landed them to be signed with Search and Destroy Records earlier this year. “Priorities” is a song that’s worth listening to. You will not be let down with the result.

By Sarah West

All Time Low electrify Yeovil on 2012 Tour

Baltimore rockers; All Time Low performed in the overlooked Westland Leisure Complex in Yeovil on February 1^st on their UK tour of 2012.

We Are The In Crowd perform tracks from their recently released debut album; ‘Best Intentions’. They executed songs such as “Rumour Mill” and “Lights Out” that got very good responses especially by long time fans. “Kiss Me Again” developed a little change as Alex Gaskarth joined the band as the male vocals. We Are The In Crowd are a great band because everything about them is fresh and their music is truthful and gives advice.

The Maine performed tracks such as “Girls Do What They Want” and “Inside Of You”. Front man John O’Callaghan, interacted with the crowd by throwing out picks, t-shirts etc and Patrick Kirch threw both used drum sticks into the audience; who scrambled to get them from the floor. The Maine writes incredibly memorable songs, which makes them also a great band.

All Time Low burst on stage to the energized and dedicated fans that awaited them. Performing track after track with precision, All Time Low proved that no matter how hard life gets, music is always a method of escape.  Front man Alex Gaskarth was left alone with an acoustic in his hands, ready to play “Remembering Sunday”, which got a very emotional response. All Time Low returned as a whole to perform not one but three encores including “Weightless”, which ended the night perfectly. 

All Time Low are a pop punk rock band that’s certainly not to be missed and everyone in the venue weren’t displeased by the music and vibes tonight.

By Sarah West

Van Susans set off Fireworks

“Fireworks” is the second official single release from Bromley boys; Van Susans, from their upcoming album ‘Paused In The Moment’. “Fireworks” seems to be stripped back; however, this sets up the listener to be surprised as the real flow of the song begins.

The piano talent is amazing and this track really highlights this throughout. The drums interlock incredibly well with the piano as both instruments and the way they are played compliment each other.

As in every piece of Van Susans’ material, the electric and acoustic guitars go hand in hand; “Fireworks” is no exception to their method as it creates a different sense of the track and builds up to the finale.

The lyrics are very meaningful and seem to have been emotionally scribed. Due to this deep emotion, the vocals just increase the suspicion this song was written on a very personal level.

By Sarah West  

Don Broco Invade The Airways

“Invader” is a recent release from Don Broco and right from the start Matt Donnelly shows his intricate drum skills, which are displayed throughout.

The man behind the lead vocals; Rob Damiani, never fails to flaunt his vocal talent on any Don Broco track.

The guitar techniques performed by Simon Delaney in “Invader” are exquisite right the way through and the way the breakdown is executed demonstrates the simple yet astounding effort this band have, then blasts straight back into the chorus.

“Invader” could be compared to a virus as both lyrically and musically it’s a very catchy, up beat piece of work written by the Bedford quartet. In addition, the repetitiveness of the chorus helps make this single much more memorable and stronger.

“Invader” is a good quality song that shouldn’t be missed.

By Sarah West

Disappointing Turn Out For Of Mice and Men

Travelling thousands of miles from California, Plymouth’s leg of Of Mice and Men’s UK tour was far from a sell out. However, this being said, the atmosphere was a lot more friendlier rather than if it was  sold out.

Having never toured outside of Japan until now, Cross Faith where amazing and proved us wrong when we say that Asians can’t rock as well as everyone else. After covering Prodigy’s “Omen”, Cross Faith gained so much more respect for being a Japanese band and left the stage on a pretty good high.

With One Last Breath from York, you would expect them to be as good as the entire line up for the tour. Even though they put on a good set and got the majority of the crowd to mosh, With One Last Breath could have upped their game tonight on this tour as they didn’t matched up well with the other bands on the line up, especially the headliners.

Bury Tomorrow was the most pleasing support band tonight as the crowd responded to them incredibly well by their music and joking around. They encouraged a lot of mosh pits to form and left the crowd wanting more.  

Of Mice and Men walked on stage to the half filled venue but that didn’t matter to them. This Californian band performed track after track with immense power; even with the disappointing turn out, Of Mice and Men still rocked White Rabbit down to the ground. Walls of death and mosh pits all left fans bruised and aching but they were all so happy to see a band that would never come to Plymouth again. Of Mice and Men admitted that Plymouth was the best show on the tour so far because of the high energy and reaction they received.

The feedback from the crowd after the gig was greatly positive and there wasn’t a single bad word to say about Of Mice and Men and their support. Everyone went home on an elevated cloud.

By Sarah West 

Dead Poets break the walls down

‘Break The Walls’ is the first edition of records to come from Plymouth-based band Dead Poets. Right from the very beginning, Dead Poets show off their amazing individual talents, which are gelled solidly together, producing incredible sounds that are certified to gain a positive response.

“Passing The Buck” is a great way to introduce ’Break the Walls’ as the guitar and drums interlock one another to make it feel the band have expanded their musical knowledge and horizons of future success. “Revolution of Revolting”, displays Danny Brooks’ ability to both scream and cleanly vocalise lyrics; this in itself shows how quickly and efficiently he can adapt his voice to different elements within their songs. Additional tracks including “One Last Stand”, “That Loaded Question” and “How Should I Put This?” all have similar soundings however,  are diverse in certain ways such as different heaviness of bass, pace and interchange of chords played; for example the bass lines throughout the EP are heavy and ear splitting, which when heard live is blatant proof of how well these guys are already doing...it’s only their EP.

Throughout ‘Break The Walls’, Olly Reed, James Corby and Mark Hoynes exert such passion that soon formulates a continued series of  brilliantly composed instrumental of clean riffs and hair raising beats, furthermore, when establishing vocals by Danny, it adds that little touch of professionalism this local band need and seem to already have gained. Each member having the opportunity to vocalise in one way or another shows how equal this band are and how they put everything into what they do in order to make the band the best it could possibly be.

To round off, ‘Break The Walls’ is a heavy yet pleasing piece of work from the four young lads that are Dead Poets. The songs are incredibly written, more instrumentally rather than lyrically, although, over time and with loads more practise Dead Poets will be literally breaking the walls!

By Sarah West

Bromley band perform in Plymouth for the second time in 2 nights

Taken by me

Having previously performed a full set the night before at Plymouth University’s Student Union with a reasonable turn out, tonight was a bit of a let down, especially for a band that have showcased themselves in front of hundreds of people. Only seven people turned up to Cuba to watch their mini acoustic show.

However, even with the extreme lack of advertisement (on the day via the band’s facebook page) Olly Andrews, Eddie Dullaway and Rob Dullaway still did a pretty god job considering factors such as the acoustic show being poorly advertised and the 3/5 of the band not knowing anyone from the Plymouth area.  Tonight Van Susans showed that size really doesn’t matter, it’s just how you deal with the lack of that counts. Van Susans entertained the pocket-sized crowd with random, out of the blue covers by artists such as 50 Cent, Elvis and One Direction, as well as a few acoustic versions of their own songs; “Get Up, Get Out”, “Disappear”, “Bones” and “Fireworks”, which were all fantastic in acoustic. The One Direction track the band decided to perform was “One Thing”, which being present for their rehearsal, seems to be Olly’s favourite song ever! However, even when he had the lyrics right next to him, easy to read, Olly still couldn’t get to grips with the lyrics; someone needs to get practising J

Even with the terrible crowd gather tonight, Van Susans made do with what they had and they could have been like ‘oh we can’t be assed with playing tonight because no one’s showed at all’ but they didn’t, which shows they value the people coming down to Cuba tonight. The three members that performed tonight are amazingly lovely and seem to welcome everyone with open arms, also the guys know how to have a laugh, which is shown when they performed a cover of “My Heart Will Go On” by Celine Dion, which has to be said, it may actually have been better compared to the original.

Van Susans are set to release their debut album; ‘Paused In the Moment’ on May 27^th; a year and six days after their EP; ‘We Could Be Scenery’ was made public. Since then Van Susans have been updating their facebook with news and updates of video releases, processes of recording and mixing and other band information including shows they’re playing in. So everyone needs to put May 27^th 2012 in their diary as important because we want to prove to the lovely lads of Bromley band, Van Susans that everything they’re doing is for a good cause and will end up in them being signed to a major label in the near future. 

Van Susans release “Bricks Not Sticks Or Straw” ahead of debut album

Ahead of their debut album ‘Paused In The Moment’, Bromley six piece Van Susans publicise new single “Bricks Not Sticks Or Straw” available to download from March 12^th. With a fan base continually growing, Van Susans are ready to show off their musical talents in their debut album.

“Bricks Not Sticks Or Straw” is an extremely likeable track written only by Van Susans and the memorable lyrics sung with such graceful power by Olly Andrews. The band has demonstrated the use of great composition, which is verified throughout, with every member playing a vital part towards the final outcome of “Bricks Not Sticks Or Straw”, for example, Olly Groome and Rob Dullaway have developed a much bigger contribution to be heard in this track compared to Van Susans  previous releases. Also, Ed Dullaway, as usual shows off his skills in the lead guitarist department amazingly, which when all together shows that this Bromley band give everything they have into what they do best.

From playing it on repeat for a few days, “Bricks Not Sticks Or Straw” gives the impression the meaning behind the song is lending a hand to people who need it but not necessarily want it. In addition, it could also hint about never turning your back on someone you care about or even love and in the words of Olly Andrews “if it all comes crashing down, I will be there to build it up somehow”.

“Bricks Not Sticks Or Straw” is a very respectable song that has come off of their unreleased debut album ‘Paused In The Moment’, which is set to be available to physically own later this year. If you haven’t already download this song along with other released track “Disappear” do it as soon as you can via Amazon and iTunes because these guys make exceptional music together and want to bring happiness to everyone from their lyrics. 

The Blackout! The Blackout! The Blackout! play intimate venue in the Southwest.

April 14^th 2011 was the day in which Welsh band; The Blackout, headed towards Plymouth to perform in front of countless individuals at a local venue; White Rabbit.

Everyone in the venue was bursting with excitement and ready for the night ahead, which began with newly risen Texas-born rapper, Hyro Da Hero. Right from his opening song “Sleeping Giants” everyone began to cheer and jump around in front of him. Hyro Da Hero sounded very similar to a refreshed and revitalised version of Rage Against The Machine where both acts gel both hip hop and rock together to create an altered sound of music that is very different from other musical talents we have today. It wasn’t the last time the audience saw Hyro Da Hero due to being featured on The Blackout’s track “Higher and Higher”, he returned to the stage during the headliners set and got blown away by the support with that song and his overall performance.

Travelling thousands of miles from Michigan, The Swellers entered onto the stage and were all ready to rock. Having been around for 9 years, the amazing vocals of Nick Diener, lively bass from Anto Boros, dynamic guitar talent by Ryan Collins and the perfection of crashing cymbals by Jono Diener were definitely not to be missed. Performing a mixture of tracks such as “The Best I’ve Ever Had” from their many albums including recent release ‘Good For Me’ received a great response from the South West crowd and it was amazing to see everyone having a laugh. The Swellers are another one of those bands not to overlook and are supporting Norfolk-based band Deaf Havana on their UK tour 2012.

An enormous wait was over, the stage lights dimmed completely down; the crowd knew what time it was. All the way from Wales, The Blackout burst onto the stage where the audience in White Rabbit went absolutely wild and screamed at the top of their lungs.  From the very first moment Sean Smith and co-vocalist Gavin Butler sang the opening of “Save Our Selves” everyone could definitely tell this night would go down in Plymouth’s musical history. 

Subsequent to playing track after track from every album recorded, The Blackout were simply astounding to watch and if you didn’t know the meaning of up close and personal before, well tonight was a perfect example. The Blackout put on a high octane performance, which made the crowd develop high spirits, as well as the band due to the upbeat reaction they received from the audience. Sean and Gavin kept their extreme high levels of energy throughout and Gareth “Snoz” Lawrence did incredibly well considering he broke a few fingers just days before the Plymouth show. Ouch! The members of The Blackout were having a lot of banter with each other and the audience, until it got out of hand when an audience member shouted up, “you guys are crap and a perfect waste of airtime on the radio” to which Sean Smith responded, “if you think that and hate us then why did you pay money to see us?” We presume he left pretty quickly after that confrontation. Once the final single, “Never By Your Side” rang through the many ears, The Blackout thanked everyone for supporting them through thick and thin and wanted to let everyone know how much we were in their hearts as fans. It was a great night and to spend it with a room full of The Blackout fans was amazing.

Until Next Time.

“WELCOME BACK MATTHEW LEONE”

Exeter Lemon Grove was home to the concluding show of Madina Lake’s 2011 UK tour on November 18^th.

The night begun with first support band; Super Happy Fun Club who performed tracks such as “My Life’s A Mess” and “Partners In Crime” from newly released EP; ‘Go Fun Yourself’. Being hardly known to the British public, the Chicago 6 piece gained a positive response from the crowd right from the word GO! Guitarist Bradley Chagdes had a malfunction half way through their set, where his guitar went kaput, however, the problem was swiftly solved and was hardly even noticed by the already gathered crowd due to most eyes being on lead vocalist; Stubhy. Every song Super Happy Fun Club executed were well written and had a get-up-and-go feeling when listening to them. So it’s safe to say that Super Happy Fun Club proved themselves to the mass of the Lemon Grove and will be high on many people’s play lists.

The performance area was prepared for second support act of the night; My Passion, who leapt on stage with such energy that blew everyone away. From the first vocal sung, the audience were hooked and couldn’t believe how Simon Rowlands (bassist) wasn’t plummeting to the ground after performing repeated split jumps off amps, stools and the drum kit. My Passion performed songs from both ‘Cooperate Flesh Party’ and ‘Inside The Machine’ such as “Day Of The Bees”, “The Girl Who Lost Her Smile” and recently released single “Lily White Lies”. After developing a fan base over the years, My Passion certainly know how to please a crowd no matter what the size, the result is always the same; screaming girls wanting attention from the members, fans singing their lyrics and a little mosh pit to grow.

After an extensive time, “Lila, The Divine Game” finally reverbed through the sound system resulting the audience to go utterly mad with pure excitement. The Chicago headliners; MADINA LAKE were equipped to complete their UK tour of 2011. The band everyone were waiting endlessly for, emerged from the side lines and blasted track after track such as “Welcome To Oblivion”, “Hey Superstar” and “Never Take Us Alive” from following albums, ‘From Us, Through Them, To You’, ‘Attics To Eden’ and prior release ‘World War III’.

After his brutal attack in 2010, the return of Matthew Leone (bassist) was extremely wishful thinking. But a miracle happened and now he’s standing in front of every single fan getting back into what he knows best alongside twin brother; Nathan Leone, drummer Dan Torelli and guitarist Mateo Camargo. There was a super fan amongst everyone, who kept a banner with him saying ‘Welcome Back Matthew’, brought it to each show on the tour and got fans to write messages of thoughtfulness to be then given to Matthew directly. Front man Nathan Leone, interacted heavily with the crowd and was telling anecdotes of life resulting in him quoting, “Never take s**t from anyone, and if anyone treats you like s**t then just crap in a box, wrap it up and mail it to them!” He really did this too!

Once “True Love” came to its closing stages, everyone in the building of the Lemon Grove went into a thunderous roar of cheering, applauding and general positive emotion for this band that have been through so much in the past couple of years. Madina Lake are one of THE best bands and ahould not to be missed. They are amazing people in every way shape and form.

Come back to the UK soon guys!!!

Van Susans’ Debut EP “We Could Be Scenery”

Bromley based indie band; Van Susans, released debut EP ‘We Could Be Scenery’ on behalf of Beatnik Geek Records on May 21^st 2011.

Being a hardly known British band, Van Susans have played shows in venues such as The Clapham Grand, London’s famous 100 Club and London’s O2 Academy either as support or for charity gigs. Recently, Van Susans have toured with The South (formally The Beautiful South) around Scotland and a one off show at Islington O2 in mid February-start of March.

Van Susans is a collection of young men who have a similar objective and came together to create music, which is understandably amazing and truthful. Each song in its own right has a purpose and is enhanced by the beautiful vocals and obvious London accent of Olly Andrews because his voice bonds completely well with the music and lyrics that’s written solely by the members of Van Susans themselves and is in fact remarkable lyrically, vocally and instrumentally, this is why they’ve obtained such a growing fan base, which by the looks of things won’t stop increasing.

‘We Could Be Scenery’ showcases 5 independently written songs, including a remixed version of previous song release “Bones”. They all have a connection with each other that’s demonstrated through the fluidity between song changes and every track by Van Susans is written to perfection.

Their debut EP begins with “Cha Cha Bang” where the link between acoustic and electric guitar is brilliant because it confirms that two different forms work well together because the chords used, sound simple yet produce great sounds, alongside with Rob Dullaway on percussion, it shows that this band means business as soon as you listen to them.

“Get Up, Get Out” is more acoustic based compared to the rest of the EP because the rest has some sort of addition musically to make it a whole. This track starts off in a quieter tone and builds up to a slightly louder one; a positive note for this is hearing the intricacy of an acoustic performance.

“Plans” is more up tempo and makes the listener tap their foot or even dance because it sort of has an Irish feel to it in a few sections of the song. The drums are used a lot more, therefore, Tim Dullaway has a bigger contribution in the song to use his bass. In future recordings, Van Susans should adapt on Tim’s ability and maybe give him a bass solo because from the modest hints that we hear, he deserves a chance to show us what he can do.

The most adorable and emotionally touching song on the EP, “Glow” starts with Olly Groome on piano, which changes tempo and tone throughout. He has a gift when using the piano and is applied fantastically to this song. The drumming is lighter throughout this track but still has enough power to bring the song further into perspective due to the straightforwardness performed. In the bridge, lead guitarist; Ed Dullaway, shows off his astounding talent, which when you see live looks absolutely effortless but in truth it’s not. This song can have a significant importance to anyone because the lyrics are written straight from the heart and are quite expressive to listen to when you’re going through a rough time. 

On March 12^th, Van Susans’ new single “Bricks Not Sticks Or Straw” will be released, which after listening to their EP constantly will be fantastic in every way possible, so I advise each and every one of you to listen to their music, watch their videos and when you get the chance see these lovely boys live because they’re heading to hit the big time soon.

Exclusive Review: Baddies – Bronto (Single)

In

In advance of their second album, Essex indie Quartet Baddies release new single. With their follow-up album approaching, Hit The Floor has been given an exclusive preview of “Bronto”.

The Essex band is a little similar to Transplants, due to particular drumming styles in which Jim Webster (Baddies) and Travis Barker (Transplants) perform. For example, in “Bronto” the drumbeat slightly increases in speed and volume throughout, however, still linking to the concept of the song. This gives Baddies new track more of a rhythmic dimension.

In comparison to Baddies previous releases, it has to be said that “Bronto” is an improvement lyrically and musically for the band, as it seems they have finally found themselves. You can notice this from the lyrics as they are reasonably memorable, mainly the chorus rather than verse and along with a fine tuned guitar and bass, it produces a great sound as a whole, which fans of Baddies will appreciate. For people who aren’t fans or have never heard of them before, this single will take a few listens until understanding their style of music.

 

After listening to their initial single “Bronto” from their forthcoming album, we’ve agreed that we can’t wait to hear more of this record when it’s finally unleashed onto the world and it sounds as if Baddies are a band that aren’t to be missed, so go check out their Myspace!

Note: As you can tell I wrote this review for Hit the Floor magazine, but unfortunately I missed the deadline and it wasn’t posted onto their website :’( So instead of my writing going to waste I’ve posted it onto here for everyone to read. Thank you J

Faulkner gives it his all @ America’s Cup

As part of the America’s Cup that came to Plymouth in early-mid September, a whole host of entertainment performed throughout the week including the likes of Michael Collins (Britain’s Got Talent) and Mad Dog Mcrea, but the artist most people were extremely excited for was Newton Faulkner.

Taken by me

Newton played on September 10th at 8pm and the much-anticipated crowd stood waiting in the sharp rain until finally the ginger-deadlocked dude emerged from the cover to take centre stage on Plymouth Hoe. With an acoustic in his arms, he was geared up to entertain the awaiting Plymouth audience that gathered in the pouring rainfall and chilly weather.

Faulkner performed an assortment of tracks from his debut ‘Hand Built By Robots’ and follow up album ‘Rebuilt By Humans’ as well as a couple tracks from new album (name unknown) that’s due to be released some time in 2012; such as ‘Badman’, ‘Dream Catch Me’, ‘U.F.O’ and ‘Robot Woman’ (new song). Every track that was performed received an immense response from the crowd and was shouting such things like “We love you!!” and one guy yelled “I want to eat your hair!” near the end of his set, which of course gained a load of laughs from everyone who heard because we weren’t expecting that at all.

Prior to performing his cover of ‘Teardrop’ by Massive Attack, Faulkner attempted to play the theme tune from Matilda (film), and because the track doesn’t make any sense he was having a little trouble with it but laughed the fact he wasn’t able to complete it. But hey, at least he attempted it in front of us all. Throughout each song, every individual who came to see him that night sang their hearts out to him and apparently you could hear us on the Hoe singing along from nearly quarter of a mile away!

Taken by me

It’s safe to say that Newton Faulkner gained a lot of respect and pure love from the Plymouth audience who tried to bundle their way to the front or at least get a better view of him and some were a little upset when he left the stage, but all in all it was a simple yet excellent show he put on, which definitely illustrated his big talent vocally and instrumentally.