Just A Minute With Los Campesinos!
About half of LC! sat down in their dressing room at The Cockpit to tell us all about swine flu, their lovely fans and new album out in Feb.
Really massive thanks to these guys for chatting with us as they weren’t feeling great. Get well soon!
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The Drums “Summertime!” EP Review
***** Five Stars
Track List:
1. Let’s Go Surfing
2. Make You Mine
3. Don’t Be A Jerk, Johnny
4. Submarine
5. Down By The Water
6. Saddest Summer
7. I Felt Stupid
What can be said about The Drums that hasn’t been written already? The release of their new EP Summertime! comes amidst a ton of hype, favourable write-ups and plenty of love from the press. Maybe surprisingly, one thing that definitely can be said is that the Brooklyn-by-way-of-Florida based band have absolutely lived up to expectations and delivered a joyously brilliant debut EP.
“Hang on a minute, it’s flippin’ October. They wait til NOW to release Summertime!?” you ask. Well, the EP may be named after the brightest of seasons, the hand claps and whistling may sound happy, but frontman Jonathan Pierce’s lyrics reveal a darker depth with themes of love lost rather than summer romance. Lead track Let’s Go Surfing bursts with pure sonic pleasure but much like the other tracks, the super-upbeat and cheerful is juxtaposed with darker, even nihilistic undertones: “Mama, I wanna go surfing / Oh mama, I don’t care about nothing”. The accompanying video (directed by David Fishel) was shot on a beach – but at night, which is a nice visual metaphor for these conflicting themes.
Personal favourite Don’t Be A Jerk, Johnny goes a little further: “You used to be so pretty / But now you’re just tragic”, making it a bona fide bitter break-up song. The Drums have already (very quickly) perfected the art of masking tones of depression and sadness with energy and sweetness, an innocent charm and unbridled enthusiasm in their sound. Down By The Water takes things down a notch, with a melodramatic use of 80s-style drums and synths for a hopelessly lovelorn chorus, but things perk up again right away in Saddest Summer, a more new-wave sounding track with incredible urgency, hi-hats and processed claps.
Comparisons to The Beach Boys were bound to arise but what’s really great about The Drums is that you could also compare them to The Strokes, The Cure and even Joy Division meaning that this EP is perfect for both sunny and rainy days. The only thing wrong with Summertime! is that it’s not a full album. More, please.
Scars On 45 @ The Faversham 21/8/09
Bradford six-piece Scars On 45 made a triumphant return to the stage last Friday at a packed-out gig at The Faversham with support from Olfar and fellow Bradfordians Redwire. The indie/acoustic favourites played their first gig in a while after a few months in the studio putting the finishing touches to their much-anticipated debut album and delighted fans by playing a couple of new tracks from it. The gig was at a recession-busting price of FREE so everyone got their money’s worth and then some as Scars On 45 showed why they’re one of the most popular acts on the local scene.
A lot of the crowd were already quite familiar with some of the tracks - you can follow the band and hear their music on MySpace, ReverbNation, you name it, they’re on it – which made for a great atmosphere after the warm up from supporting acts. Playing favourites such as Heart On Fire and Give Me Something, the band didn’t suffer too much through a couple of sound issues and Burn The House Down and Loudest Alarm went down a treat, showcasing the kind of melancholy in lead singer Danny Bemrose’s songwriting that coincides so well with the upbeat backing and melodic tones of vocalist Aimee Driver. You wouldn’t be wrong comparing these guys to Death Cab or Elliott Smith; Scars On 45 have got making sad things sound really pretty down to a tee.
Unfortunately I had to skedaddle early, halfway through Beauty’s Running Wild which has probably become the band’s most notable track after being featured prominently in an episode of CSI:NY, but the thing I’m absolutely gutted that I missed is keyboard player Nova’s Bono impression, which, from the above photo, seems spot on!
More:
Read it on LMS
Photo by: Dave L Photography
Scars On 45 on MySpace
The Just A Minute Project: Mucky Sailor on Vimeo
Mucky Sailor say a few words after their excellent set opening for Marnie Stern at The Brudenell.
Just A Minute of Stern’s on-stage banter at her show at The Brudenell, Leeds.
The Just A Minute Project:
vimeo.com/channels/justaminute
justaminute.tumblr.com
myspace.com/marniestern1
MARNIE STERN @ THE BRUDENELL SOCIAL CLUB 21/7/09
Marnie “God amongst shredders” Stern returned to the UK this month with support from some Leeds favourites and Japanese new-wavesters Nisennenmondai. British Wildlife and Dirty Otter put on the co-headline show at a bargain price and ensured a good turnout at everyone’s favourite social club, The Brudenell.
Kicking off the night were father-son combo Mucky Sailor, dressed quite (in?)appropriately in shiny lycra jumpsuits. Their mixture of trance-like keyboards and crazy energetic drums was a great start to the evening as people started trickling in to fill up on Red Stripe and gather round for the next act That Fucking Tank. With a decent crowd beginning to form around them the Leeds duo began an intense set of their baritone guitar and minimalist drum tunes. Listening to That Fucking Tank at times feels like ‘someone tuning-in and out of classic rock radio stations’ and the audience was suitably warmed up by lovely familiar riffs from ‘Parklife’ to ‘Dancing In The Dark’.
New-bill additions Tartufi were the first act of the night to actually play on the stage and their San Franciscan noisy rock toned down the room for a bit with a partly aggressive, experimental sound and angst-ridden melodies. With numerous guitar changeovers and loop pedals they provided consistent noise, so much so that at times it was hard to believe there were only two people on stage. Simultaneously lo-fi and intricately busy Tartufi make a captivating live act and added an interesting other level to the line-up. After what seemed like an eternity Nisennenmondai took to the stage with a decent crowd and kicked off their set with a trademark post-punk instrumental. Maybe it’s the language barrier or perhaps it’s just me but their whole set just seemed rather charmless and, dare I say it… a little dull. By this point I was knackered and they had sold out of Red Stripe, which may have contributed to my lack of enthusiasm for the Japanese trio who were giving me the exact opposite of what I was looking forward to from Stern. Technically they were probably great, but I was getting antsy after sitting through FOUR support slots and just wanted to get Nisennenmondai’s set over and done with.
On a positive note, it was absolutely worth waiting for Marnie Stern and her band who took to the stage swiftly and apologized for the delay, getting straight into it much to the crowd’s delight. Performing favourites from her sophomore album “This Is It…” such as “Transformer”, “Ruler” and getting everyone involved for “Prime”, Stern’s infamous shredding technique and busy style held up well in a live environment, a wonderful barrage of urgent vocals and two-fingered guitar accompanied by punkish bursts of drums and straight up rocking out from bassist Malia James.
The quality of banter was to match the musical aspects as Stern and James engaged in some now notorious “vagina talk” and bigged up the crowd no end. “Can we take you guys everywhere with us? Let’s just rent a big fucking bus…” The addition of small anecdotes also gave great insight into Stern’s career as a bit of a late-bloomer as she admitted to not knowing how to get more friends on MySpace and not being a born musician. “I figured out you could just practice a lot and get good at it.” The Brudenell seemed to get the jokes and love the show, so much that the traditional kissing booth that Stern and James implemented at the merch table was sure to make them a few extra quid for the rest of their tour. With some great support but a couple of rocky bits, the night ended a successful one with ears ringing suitably and spirits high.
More:
Read it on LMS
Photo by Tommi Murshed Parish
Check out more photos from the gig by Bart Pettman
Just A Minute With Marnie Stern and Mucky Sailor Video
