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