 |
||||||
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Home. |
||||||
 |
||||||
Best Viewed: |
||||||
 |
||||||
 |
||||||
|
||||||
 |
|||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||
Choose>>> Home. Discover New Welsh Music. Join us. Venues. Links.
Messages. Radio Station. News. Chat. |
|||||||
Demo Review
Sorry, no longer taking Demo Reviews for time being, see announcement on home page Reviews by David Lloyd (DL) and Anita Bhagwandas (AB) |
|||||||
Nameless (Cardiff) Swirling electrodeath feedback and rolling fuzz guitar kick off these four
tracks of gothic hill-billy brightness from Cardiff's napalm swigging Nameless. Some what dated sounding, with reminders of everything from Jello Biafra, Bauhaus to Loop, none of which is a bad thing, and pleasing none
the less. Walls of dark sound glisten with heart rending energy. If these three tracks fail to shake your guttywhups, well, Pop Idol is on tonight... OOOPS, JUST SPOTTED, NOT A DEMO, THIS IS AN EP COMING OUT ON
PETRIFIED RECORDS FEB 25th... BUY IT Verdict: 'Arf tidy like, 3 pints of snake bite and black and I will be down the front jumping. (8/10) DL Hamlet's Mill (Arizona) Impressive slice of AOR pop, which lets face it, you know me, not my cuppa brew. So for me to say impressive, its got to be. The singer carries the show with her powerful
voice. Reminded me of Natalie Merchant, Patti Smith and Stevie (get of my website) Nicks. Some lovely instrumentation, Hornsby like pianos and melodic violin. My only bug bear with the whole affair is the annoying
rhythmn guitar. It speaks with but one tongue, and its a lisping dull beat of a dialogue. The tracks which life without are magical. Jada is a real beaut of a song, floaty and carefree. But when that guitar chimes in,
it really lets the whole side down. The Ringo Starr of guitar, all flat out, perfect time and hyper clean chorus. It needs to learn that spaces are important, rather than trying to play in every availabble space. Other
than that though, little else to complain about. Got me to work through a few rain storms, and I didn't feel it was time wasted.
Verdict: Excellent production, design and songs, just work on that guitar. (7/10) DL Website: Outcold (Finland) Dodgy
clip art cover makes band look like rap-mongers only to discover nice alternative sing alongs inside shocker. A little limp wristed for my taste, and at times sounds perilously close to 'closing time' song by Semisonic.
But that aside, I've heard a lot worse, and the understated tunes and instrumentation start to become fairly hypnotic after a while. I hear lots of promise in these tracks, and a bit of sharpening could make them well,
quite sharp. Verdict: Sorry guys, didn't grab me by the cahoonies and shake, unfortunately, top marks for trying though. (5/10) DL No Fly Zone (Italy) Undaunted by New Welsh Music's last demo review, the band have gone away and worked up some new material, to show where they plan on going with their sound and
music. The initial report is that the improvement is stonking! Fear of Pain is a gliding thing of heartfelt beauty. The wall of guitars is a joy to behold, falling into the age old 'sonic
cathedral' school of music. Marry the amazing soundscape with a searing chorus, and you have one of the best songs I've heard in a good few listens. Had this been a one song review, it would have been a 10 out of 10. Unfortunately, Where the Rail Leads to doesn't live up to the first song. Much more subdued, it shares some of the same sound nuances and good production as Fear of Pain, but never quite manages to soar like
it. Dark and downbeat, it builds and fades well, but never grabs you by the danglers. Nods to Pink Floyd and other prog rockers are there for all to see and at times The Afghan Whigs come to mind. Don't get me wrong,
this is not a bad track, but its like drinking Jim Beam after a night on Jack Daniels. No Fly Zone have the bit between their teeth, they are going the right way. The 80's sound has subsided some what, and
the influences are getting more ethereal. If they can consolidate what they are doing on these two tracks, then people would be foolish not to get a piece of the action.
Verdict: New and Improved, dark and searing, keep up the good work lads! (9/10) DL E Mail: Glow (London) London based band with some Welsh peeps. Lots of busy chords which don't want to stop chiming. The
songs veer from the annoying to the down right insulting. Imagine INXS snogging with Deep Blue Something, and recording the splashing noises on tape, but lo, in a flash of inspiration they see God, and start playing
Christian rock 'n roll whilst still pretending to be rock nasty boys and swearing a little bit. Cliff Richards would have this band supporting, and quite frankly, I can't see who their audience would be,
other than some really tedious young conservatives on the cutting edge of pop. I had this on me headphones on the bus yesterday, and the annoying local nutter started talking to me. Normally I use my headphones as an
excuse to ignore him, but in this instance I was happy to turn the CD off and indulge him. It doesn't get any better on subsequent listens, and I long for the nutter in my house, give me something to do rather than have
this playing. The rockier moments are mediocre and the soul searching ballads are too cheesy to get into a packet of cheetos. Production wise, everything is fine, dandy and crisp. Musically though, tired,
uninspired and limper than a month old Caesar salad. Verdict: If I lost my hearing tomorrow, I could at least see a silver lining. (2/10) DL Stiff Kittens (Blackwood) Going for the record of the most prolific e mail spammers in
the history of the modern world, Stiff Kittens is a name I know well, but as of yet have been unable to catch them or their music. Hailing from Blackwood, one expected Heavy Metal hell, and was quite pleased to be
disappointed. Strawberry Hill comes on all light, the singing like a more confident Bobby Gillespie impersonating James Dean Bradfield. Nice chimes and distant guitar crashes, rich layers and a slow rolling
chorus make this sound very good and highly professional. An inoffensive, alternative pop sing along, in a sort of non threatening, Travis kind of way, it doesn't really ping, but exists quite happily on its own terms,
and eventually you find yourself singing it over and over in your head until you get really annoyed with yourself. The acoustic version is a bit sparser, but none the less interesting because of it. The Gillespie
accents in the singing become a lot more obvious on this version. Bound is a lot more rocky, obvious influences from U2 to the Manics. Big riding guitars and space vocals, rousing chorus and pounding hooks.
I like this one a lot, sounding like a an escapee from Bono's early songbook. I'll be keeping an eye out for these guys now, would be quite interesting to see them live and get a taste of their other
material. Supposedly this Demo is a rough mix, but, to me its sounds very good. Excellent quality and on top of its game. Verdict: Hmmmm, presently surprised, will keep an eye on these guys (7/10) Clipper (Newport) A schizophrenic demo, the first two tracks are all snarling rock spittle and grunge straight out of Seattle. The second two tracks show up a mellower side and some strong song writing prowess.
Swag Tim starts with eerie wailing, and pounds in with some powerful chords and noise mayhem, building upwards to a satisfactory nervous breakdown both musically and vocally. Myself in me starts off like someone
pretending to be Muse very badly, but then wails in with some heavily vamped, metal blues guitar, before sliding into hard-core punk grindings and lots of muted power chords. Noisy and lean, good head rock that pitters
out with a thump just as you get into the groove. Night After Night takes the slow road, and just sounds a bit too folky and uninspired after the rocking assault of the first two tracks and is the weakest
track of the four. High is a strong number in the mellower stakes, with some nice bongos and rhythms which bring to mind 'you can't always get what you want' by the Stones. Strings and things make this a pleasant track,
gliding effortless into the powerful Pearl Jam like singing in the middle of the song. Verdict: Newport Band in 'actually quite good' shocker! (7/10) DL
Mank (Bangor) Probably unfair to review this in the Demo section, as it was to be released
by R-Bennig records before they went tits up, but as its unreleased, the demo section will have to do! I must admit I am not a big listener of electronica, but over the 12 tracks here, I feel I should start listening
more! Strange tunes, minimal echoes and weird vocal samples. It is much of a cliche, but in Mank's case a very fair one; their sound is one of cinematic soundscapes. Slices of music which sound like they
have been cut off a larger block of sound, created with intelligence and care. Clinical at times, downright human at others. This music is completelly at odds with the sort of music I normally enjoy, but hits enough
notes and sound nodes in my head to make it very enjoyable. At times Faust and Coil comes to mind, at others its DJ Shadow, and then Eno pokes his noggins in... Strange, experimental and enticing, the
sound bubbles and grows like froth on the sea shore. Strange hidden depths and shallows fill with noises and then disappear. Head music for computer brains.
Verdict: Not my normally cup a tea but none the less drinkable! (6/10) DL 3 Minute Warning (Machynlleth) Five fizzing tracks which whizz past with an unfaltering brilliance, the longest is
only 2 mins and 50 secs, so you can tell we are talking sharp, snappy power pop here. The comparisons are easy, and don't really do the band justice. Flaps of Greenday, Blink and all that so called alternative American
crap which the kids seem to love but leaves a taste on the tongue like a synthetic Big Mac (bit of a rant there David.... F*** Off, its my website, I will write what I want....) 3MW go beyond the mainstream, throw away,
fake arse, dumbed down American skate/ska/emo/power punk influences with Intelligent lyrics and production. The vocals are great, and determined to have you singing out like a mad man as you sit at the back of the no 61
too Fairwater, listening to them on your headphones. Crisp production, interesting musical undertones and sounds, this is a winning demo, impressing me from the first hearing. On the downside, its a bit
one paced, and although each song has its own identity it would be interesting to see if 3MW had any other sides to their repetoire. Failing that, great tunes, great sound and refreshing like an ice cream cone to the
nads. Verdict: Much to shout about here! (8/10) DL E mail: No Fly Zone (Italy) Holy eighties revival! No Fly Zone are an Italian band that swing from dark gothic rock to
punchy grunge to polished synthetic within the space of a few bars. Brooding intensity, classy sound and some fresh ideas playing hard against the new wave influence of many new wave pop punksters like the Bunnymen,
Cure, Chameleons UK and the Cocteau Twins. Nothing is Nothing sounds like Chris Issacs meets The Cure and get into a fight over who owns the fuzzbox whilst Pearl Jam watch on in disgust at the spectacle of
the two be-quiffed wonders going toe to toe. Quiet, gloomy moments explode into life with some pounding riffs and space vocals. Scaled in the category of mini epic, this one has just enough of something to make it quite
special. Tonight sparks of with chiming guitars, and brings to mind a less polished and self righteous early U2 circa October. The strange European accent of the singer is in full affect as he rolls
effortlessly through the song. Welcome takes a more spaced out soundscape and melds it nicely in a vaguely rolling tune, horns and many layers add some great textures in this lolling track, builds up nicely
with more reverb drenched bangs and whizzes. It's hard to put your finger on what sounds so eighties about it, but its there... The synths, the guitars the phrasing, the singing, the sound. Yellow gives us
more of the same, great choral work and a distinct nod to Tears for Fears. OK No fly Zone, you have made your point. You can sing, you play your instruments, and you have some fresh ideas! Production is
superb, everything in its places and sounds crisp and honey drenched. The singing is maybe a bit too smooth for my liking (but that's just me!) and despite the many eighties strains, they put enough of themselves into
it and divert things nicely. Just when you think you have one song fixed, they throw in some different textures and branch away just to throw you. Verdict: Yes I loved the eighties, but with enough of
their own vision, they can break that tag. If they could just attack things a bit more, they could be very good! (6/10)DL E Mail: Driftwood (Port Talbot) Swinging rock which plunders many a good influence to create Driftwood's pleasing demo offering. Nothing fresh or particularly
innovative happening here, but what there is are 4 competent tracks. Please Forgive Me is a roaring, pleading giant of a song in its Neil Youngesque guitargasm assault, raw and rocking. Religious vigour
and symbolism punctuate the croaking, redemption seeking vocals. Fade Away, once again takes the Neil Young guitar attack rock on at full force, which surprises me as they site the Manics and Stereophonics
as influences, me thinks they do themselves a great disservice there. They got more going for them, although some of the lyrics on this track have plunged the Manic's overtly politically and self righteous song lyric
book, but do veer to the cheesy side 'Unemployment is at a high.....' Still some good solid music to smooth over those cracks. So Brand New is the weakest track of the 4, Light weight and throw away
compared to the guitar assaults going on in other places here. Chiming and unexciting. Together Again bring's to mind Gorky's, with the singer's West Wales accent working to good effect in the group
chorus. More political lyrics, but mixed with some strangely weird lines about dogmeat and stuff! A real tidy tune with a rousing chorus. Verdict: A mixed bag, could go either way! The good stuff is verging
on great, the bad on mediocre. Keep an eye on them and keep fingers crossed. (6/10) DL. Sunday Poet Initially concerned due to
the shoddiness of the packaging, very uninspired! The first tune wades in with a healthy cross genre lilt, fusing the unique vocals with highly poppy catches, hooks and rhythm changes. American college rock traces flit
across this, with jumps to stomping pop breaks, and the odd Beatlesesque orchestration. Lovely stuff, top track. Whoever, more rocking movement, and more of those great vocals, the singer has one of those
great Scandinavian English singing voices that bring the wannadies to mind. Lots of changes are the order of the day again. Kinda familiar sounding, but with its own unique twist. The final track has that
lovely (and purposeful?) lo fi condenser mic sound, which suits it down to the ground. A mellow piece of acoustic lo fi indie pop, brings the band Deus to mind and passes off in its understated and tasty manner.
Pleading and sweet. Verdict: Some good stuff here, not the most original, but affecting none the less. (6/10) E Mail them @:
This is pointless. It does nothing conveys nothing evokes nothing! An appallingly average singer who is upstaged only by the feeble band. Generally abysmal but on the good side it does have a number of other uses. A
door stop, cure for insomnia and a frisbee to mention but a few. 2/10 (AB) 0789972304 or Baby Doll With titles like 'Society Debris',' this generations dead' and 'assassination is the only left politics', you'd be forgiven for immediately thinking would-be manics.
And disappointingly you wouldn't be far off the mark. But with a little nurturing 'Baby Doll' should be able to find their own style. Hey it worked for king adora didn't it? 6/10 (AB) The Eclipse Blimey it's the new coldplay or one of the countless other NME championed bands. Quiet, and
tuneful it takes a dejected approach on guitar music. Very middle of the road but definitely talented. Can't say im too fussed on the name though. 7/10 (AB) Daniel-020 724 915 14
|
|||||||
|
|||||||
Choose>>> Home. Discover New Welsh Music. Join us. Venues. Links.
Messages. Radio Station. News. Chat. |
|||||||
 |
|||||||
|
|||||||
 |
|||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Last Updated Feb 2002 |
|||||||
Quick link! Jump to Discover New Welsh Music Listings pages: |
|||||||
Please sign our guestbook! Tell a Friend About us! Join our Mail List! Buy Our T Shirt!
|
|||||||
bravenet.com