Robyn Writes

Review: The Ambient Light – Nostalgia Trip [Deluxe Edition]

Californian post-rock outfit The Ambient Light have re-released their debut LP, Nostalgia Trip this month and added some extra tracks to make a ‘deluxe’ edition. Nostalgia Trip now boasts five extra tracks – three previously unreleased from the band’s first EP, a B-side and a forthcoming remix. The addition of these songs helps to make Nostalgia Trip a more rounded and complete record, seamlessly fitting into the existing record and creating an atmospheric and involving experience.

It’s difficult to speak about Nostalgia Trip in terms of individual tracks because the entire record feels like one entire piece. This is by no means a negative – instead, you have the perfect soundtrack to a summer evening party, from sunset to glittering starlight. Shifts in tempo work perfectly as the album goes from more upbeat tracks to slower burners, and for someone who normally needs vocals to tie a record together, I was left completely enthralled by their craft. In order for post-rock to work, you need to have a certain command over your instruments or you’re left with something pretty mediocre, but The Ambient Light are able to tell a story without words. Of course, there’s plenty of musical highlights peppered throughout – in Engram, the funky bass brings the party to life and there’s some sweet keys to boot and Everything Up Until Now… has some jaw droppingly beautiful soaring guitar lines. That’s just to name a couple, and there are many, many more. Nostalgia Trip is the perfect name; inside these elegant sonic landscapes, there’s a great deal of potential for reflection and a sense of memory embedded within each track.

Nostalgia Trip wouldn’t sound completely out of place on your favourite American teen drama, and comparisons can be drawn to Minus The Bear, Explosions In The Sky and This Will Destroy You, but The Ambient Light are more than that. Via a pay-what-you-want format on their Bandcamp page, this re-release of Nostalgia Trip will certainly command the LP the attention it deserves as well as adding plenty to an already beautiful album.

4 out of 5 high fives!

Artist Spotlight: Bike Tuff

Bike Tuff is a very rad band from Kalamazoo, Michigan. Although unfortunately, they’re not in some kind of BMX gang, as Mason explains – “The name Bike Tuff is a reference to the band Latterman from Long Island, NY. Latterman was a very influential band for me during my later teenage years. Lyrically, they conveyed a message that really struck home, and the urgency of their delivery was spot on. At the end of their song, Video Games and Fantasy Novels are Fucking Awesome!, you can hear someone yelling “bike tuff!” in the background. We thought it was a fun way to pay a little homage to a band that was so significant to us.”

While it’s definitely possible to spot the Latterman influence in their sound, it’s tricky to place Bike Tuff inside any one genre – although anchored in punk, there’s hints of pop-punk and traces of post-hardcore if you delve deep enough. It definitely has strong leanings towards that classic 90s emo sound. “While I don’t believe the genre ever “died,” there certainly has been a resurgence in younger bands that are taking a lot of influence from bands like Jimmy Eat World, The Get Up Kids, Weezer, etc., ourselves included. I think it’s partly a nostalgia thing from growing up in the 90’s and not connecting with a lot of the popular music of the later 2000’s. There are a lot of awesome bands that fall into the gray areas between emo, alternative rock, and pop punk that just have this sort of sonic timelessness. It’s no surprise that bands have been reaching back and trying to rekindle some of that spirit,” says Mason. And yet no part of Into Shore seems overly nostalgic. Of course, there are nods – ‘Vincere Vel Mori’, for example, could easily have been taken from Hot Water Music’s classic Fuel For The Hate Game were it not for the infusion of bouncy pop-punk chords throughout. However, Into Shore feels completely fresh and is entirely captivating.

Instead, Into Shore can be better described as honest, fun, and made with care. And it’s the product of a lot of hard work and the time taken to perfect their efforts – despite forming in 2009, Into Shore is Bike Tuff’s debut full-length. “School, work, living in different cities…the list of things that contributed to the extended timeline is numerous,” says Mason. “It also took a bit of time to save up money for recording and getting CD’s pressed. Aside from that, we deliberately took our time with the full length. We wanted to make sure that the songs we had were something that we’d be proud of 10 years down the road. That said, I think the follow up to Into Shore won’t take nearly as long.” It would be very difficult to disagree – there isn’t a single duff track to be found on the record; every song has at least one line or one hook that’ll sink deep into your heart. They’re also designed with a live audience in mind. Bike Tuff like it fast and loud, and preferably in as low key a venue as possible. “First and foremost, when we’re writing a new song, we’re thinking of how it will sound in a live setting. We practice in a pretty soggy basement, so it’s not hard to gauge how a song will translate. I think it really comes down to where we’re most comfortable. The best shows to play are the ones in basements where your best friends are right in front of you, yelling the words back in your face.” It’s a good mentality to have and that level of passion comes through consistently throughout Into Shore. It’s irresistible to just totally lose yourself in tracks like ‘Los Plantanos’ – showcasing a killer solo and one hell of a gang shout, it’s the kind of anthem that deserves to be blasted out wherever and whenever possible. While Into Shore has plenty of amazing musical moments, it also has some very special lyrical ones. It would be impossible to talk about Into Shore without mentioning the strong lyrical threads that bind the album together. It’s a record about love, loss, friendship and self-discovery – it’s a record that speaks to everyone on some level, and as the lyricist, Mason explains just how important that is – “I love the music we play, and having the four of us hammer out the music to a piece while adding our own personal touches to each part is a great creative feeling. As the lyricist though, I feel that the underlying music is a vessel to help the words come across in the most powerful and meaningful way possible. I write with the hope that the lyrics can stand on their own without music. I never try to write any fluff. I want all my lyrics to carry purpose within the song / overall story or picture I am trying to paint. Throwaway rhymes may sound nice, but they don’t do much for me.” It’s this keen sense of honesty that penetrates deeply through Into Shore. In a world where Ronnie Radke is still allowed to release records, albums like this are vital – grounded in emotion and memory, Into Shore is pretty wonderful.

Into Shore was self released via Bandcamp, and Bike Tuff are part of a growing community that are taking direct control of their music – “Self-releasing Into Shore allowed us to have complete control over the timing of the release. That was the biggest factor. After taking so much time to write and record, we just wanted everyone to hear the songs,” says Mason. “I think the DIY ethos is something that comes naturally to us, just because there wasn’t ever really an alternative. Back when Steve and I were 18, we decided we wanted to tour with our ska band, so we just hit up a bunch of places out of state and made it happen. I think that really opened our eyes to what was possible.” But that key DIY ethos is definitely not the only thing that Bike Tuff have picked up from the Midwestern punk scene – they have spme epic facial hair. When quizzed on how best to maintain their beards, Mason replied “No secrets here. We simply shave the hair off stray cats and adhere it to our faces with super glue. Our bassist Joel cuddles with the cats at night so they don’t get cold.”

Bike Tuff is Mason, Greg, Steve and Joel. We strongly recommend that you check out Into Shore and a few of their other releases on Bandcamp.

Review: TwoBeatsOff at Download 2013

Traditionally, I do big reviews of whatever festivals I’ve been to that summer. I’ve done Reading since TBO’s inception. I’ve done a few mini ones across the UK. I’ve never done Download in its full glory before. For that reason, and for others which will become clear, it’s kind of impossible to give it the same treatment. Did I watch a lot of bands? Well, yes. I certainly didn’t approach it in the same way as other festivals though. So this isn’t a review – it’s more like a retelling, a recreation. In essence, it’s a glorified blog post, but people make money out of that these days. Any remorse that I have is buried under my filthy festival lanyard.

I rocked up on the Thursday on a ridiculously late coach. In all fairness, this wasn’t Big Green Coach’s fault, and their operators on the other end dealt with my panicky self very helpfully. The return journey is another thing entirely, but we’ll get to that later. Fuelled by caffeine and sausage rolls, I hauled my camping gear through the Village and into the White campsite to discover that I was the first out of my friends to arrive and proceeded to set up. Have I told you that I hate camping before? I probably have, but just in case – I hate it. I especially hate festival camping, with its lack of viable showers, the people roaming around the campsite yelling ‘BUTTSCRATCHER!’ until about 6am and the fact that I never drive so I can’t bring an airbed and end up with a rock in my back at some point. It’s not cool. This festival, I was a total dumbass and only brought half a tent, so my Download experience began with me sitting on top of my rucksack, my head in my hands, deflecting blame onto my sister and father for not putting the tent away properly and swearing lots. Eventually, the rest of the team showed up and I went with Kate to go and buy a tent for the extortionate price of £50. I made sure it was purple to compensate for my fuck up, because what do I do when I’m in a bit of a jam? Accessorise. Surprisingly, the two man wasn’t that shabby. We built a gazebo. Beers were consumed. (still edge, in case you were wondering). New people were met. It was nice and chilled, and I don’t just mean the temperature. I can’t go to one of these things without a stupid amount of stress normally; there’s always some catastrophe, or it’s raining like mad, or I get panicky about something because I’m a hotbed of social anxiety when it suits me. This time was really great though, and perhaps it’s the huge difference in attitude to other places I’ve been to. I’m not saying that metalheads can’t be elitist pricks – they can be the biggest of them all, but it stems from a passion that indie hipsters just don’t have a handle on. And the less flowery headbands I have to see, the better.

Friday was for one thing, and one thing only – HIM. Throughout my adolescence, I became obsessed with the Finnish five piece. From 2002-2008, they rivalled AFI in my affections. I still can quote the entirety of the HIM vs Bam DVD verbatim, and do so far too often with Kate. And yet unlike her, I kind of grew out of HIM. I was disappointed by Dark Light and subsequently didn’t dig Venus Doom that much, I dove deeper and deeper into Midwestern beard punk and I went through a massive break up – the significance being was that HIM was the reason that we connected in the first place. HIM became a relic for me, albeit a fond one, and I placed their albums with the reverence they deserved back onto the shelf. Kate never quit though and she arguably boasts one of the biggest HIM collections in the UK. The girl ordered twelve different versions of Tears On Tape. TWELVE. Just let that sink in. When we found out that they were doing a signing… sweet Jesus. The arena opened at midday, we went straight to the signing tent, we queued for four hours in the pouring rain. I was kind of nervous though. What could I say to Ville Valo, the man who sang the soundtrack to my teenage emotions? To Linde, who was the reason that I chose an SG for my first guitar? In the end, with Kate quaking behind me, I was ridiculously polite, but to Ville, I said in what can only be described as a vaguely sleazy tone, “‘Iya Ville, y’alright? Looking forward to the set later, it’s been a while.” I regret nothing. They were lovely gentlemen. I met some really fantastic people in the queue, even if I felt like a bit of a charlatan stood next to them. These were kids whose favourite band ever was HIM – and I certainly wasn’t a lifer. With a signed copy of Razorblade Romance clutched in my grubby mitts, we headed straight for the Pepsi Max stage.

I got the opportunity to check out some new bands that afternoon as we waited for the HIM set. In This Moment, a female fronted metal band with some crazy stage set ups and costume were there when we arrived. The dress was a little bit Lady Gaga, but if there’s one thing I love about metal, it’s the pageantry. Sweaty boys in sweaty basements are definitely my thing, but sometimes, you just need to go all out, and In This Moment were certainly a lot of fun. Turisas’ self-styled ‘battle metal’ proved to be just as compelling. Sometimes, you just need songs about being a Viking. The kids liked it anyway – a little boy who couldn’t have been more than about eight sat proudly on his dad’s shoulder, battleaxing to every song. Hero. I was pleasantly surprised by Motionless In White, having previously dismissed them as ‘scene trash’ akin to Black Veil Brides. However, their specific brand of metalcore is heavy with synths and light on the bullshit. Lead vocalist Chris Cerulli looks much better in a skirt than I do, and their live performance has an energy that’s infectious. To use my dad’s classic catchphrase (note: you have to say it in a Cumbrian accent), ‘great stuff!’ I shamefully had never seen Converge live before Download, and it was a decision that I immediately regretted. Jake Bannon and co have an intensity that’s hard to capture and even harder to channel – those time signatures were not made for headbanging – but is impossible to take your eyes and ears off. These guys were the pioneers of metalcore, and they showed everyone how it was done.

I never did see HIM that many times in my youth. Twice – once at Ozzfest at Download in 2005 and then on the Dark Light tour in 2006. It felt so good to sing along to songs I had forgotten I loved. Less talkative than I’ve seen them before, but no less charismatic, they went for a setlist filled with classics as well as newer material. The best thing though, asides from the rugs on the floor and the mirrorball, was the inclusion of It’s All Tears (Drown In This Love). Arguably my favourite HIM song, I was screaming along like a right little fangirl. Having cut down on the cigarettes somewhat, Ville instead took to playing an acoustic for a lot of the set. The more frequent inclusion of acoustic elements in their tracks is a direction that I’m really liking, and I’ll definitely be picking up Tears On Tape when I’ve got some spare cash to flash. My camera is filled with more pictures of HIM than of anything else, and skipping through the half blurred shots, I stumble upon one of Ville with a look of deep contemplation on his face and it just sums the whole set up completely – HIM are ready to take back the throne. I’m excited for the autumn tour, to say the least.

We decided that we’d take Saturday fairly easy. There would be sitting – we had stood up for a total of about thirteen hours without taking a break the day before. Do you remember when you were sixteen, and you’d get to the venue about five hours early, queue so that as soon as the doors opened, you’d run and get to the front centre barrier and it wouldn’t even cause you to think twice? I don’t really, as the searing pain in my calves indicated. One thing that Download made me realise is that I need to get back to the gym. Oh boy. We spent a rainy morning in the tent reading Pick Me Up and doing the arrow-words while battering a packet of Jaffa Cakes. What can I say? There was nothing great on until later. Our first band of the day was Empress. They weren’t too shabby. Your basic kind of alt-rock, slightly Muse influenced but with a heavier edge. They all looked so young! Heart Of A Coward were typically raucous and bouncy. I wonder if all hardcore/deathcore bands get their banners and graphics designed by the same person, because they all look the same except with different letters. Either way, lots of heavy breakdowns, lots of fun. Bury Tomorrow carried on that theme, and it’s easy to see why they’ve had so much praise heaped their way lately. Slamming their way through a stellar set with lots of energy and a knack for killer hooks, they had the crowd pleading for more at the end of their set – the first time I’d seen that weekend. Uncle Acid And The Deadbeats have a very 70s feel. Stoner doom with a touch of rock and roll, they were loud. There was a lot of bass. It’s great chill out stuff, but not necessarily the kind of thing you’re that enthused about seeing at a festival. Chthonic were a total surprise. The Taiwanese metallers had brought a mini Thai orchestra with them and proceeded to hammer out anthem after anthem, all while dressed up like space age warriors. Because why the hell not? My highlight of the Saturday, and indeed, one of my highlights of the whole festival, were Kvelertak. I’d been introduced to them in passing a few months prior; they’d appeared in someone’s Spotify notifications on Facebook and I’d thought ‘huh, why not’. The best way to describe Kvelertak is to imagine Andrew WK singing in Norwegian with less piano and more black metal. It’s party rock with a terrifying intensity. Vocalist Erlend Hjelvik showed up with no shirt and a freaking owl helmet, and was diving into the crowd at every opportunity. That’s not to say that the rest of the band weren’t rocking out just as hard, but they didn’t quite have the same disregard for personal safety. The next morning, my bangover (you know, that horrible neckache you get the morning after a night of proper headbanging) was in full force, but it was so, so worth it. And then we went back to the tent because we give no fucks about Iron Maiden. Sorry, Bruce, I like your son better.

Sunday was hot. And I had donuts for breakfast. These are two excellent things. We went to the arena early to catch The First. The King’s Lynn five piece are well on their way to greatness, combining their wonderfully melodic and layered take on pop-laced post-hardcore with an absolutely explosive performance. Especially well done as it was proper early. Nice one, lads. We decided to do a bit of festival shopping before winding our way back into the crowd for Five Finger Death Punch. I have to admit, I’m not a huge fan. If the vocals didn’t have any clean bits, then maybe, but they have too many so I’m generally like ‘whatevz.’ However, lead singer Ivan did pull up a bunch of kids – and I mean kids no older than 12 – on stage who sat there flipping the bird and singing along to every word, and I couldn’t help but think that was pretty cool. But they’re no Parkway Drive. I fucking love Parkway Drive. I have ever since the Smoke ‘Em If You Got ‘Em EP, and it’s been an absolute pleasure watching them rise and rise. Atlas was totally my favourite album last year and if you’ve never been to a Parkway show, then I implore you – get on that. It’s always a ridiculous amount of fun. The band themselves are flawless – every note is dead on, every drum beat is precise, Winston McCall’s vocals are just as brutal as on record. And they do it all with a massive smile on their faces. We didn’t really watch Stone Sour. We ate pulled pork sandwiches and I complained about how Corey Taylor didn’t know what he was doing with his hair. (For the uninitated, one time when we were coming back from a night out, in all seriousness, I announced “So, Corey Taylor has long hair when he’s in Slipknot and short hair when he’s in Stone Sour. This is a conscious decision. Right? Right?” For the record – still straight edge.) I had my mind kind of blown by Ghost. I wasn’t expecting a parade of dudes in massive black cloaks, and then a singer dressed up like some kind of satanic reverse Pope. And I certainly wasn’t expecting doom and black influenced metal with some proper soulful vocals and a ton of synths. But I liked it. I liked it a lot. I didn’t like it enough to purchase the special edition of Infestissumam with the butt plug, but enough to plump for the regular one. Sorry, Papa Emeritus. We hung out on the grass while Airborne yelled loudly – they’re alright, and highly preferable to AC/DC because there are no twenty minute long guitar solos, but it’s not really for me. Neither are A Day To Remember, no matter how hard I try to like them. Theoretically, they’re my ideal band – they’re like New Found Glory but with heavier breakdowns. I just can’t get on with it though! That’s not to say that I didn’t appreciate their set at all – t-shirt cannons, toilet roll wars and the most insane display of crowdsurfing I’ve seen in years were all a lot of fun to witness. They clearly love what they do and a lot of other people love it too.

Limp Bizkit, on a scale of one to awesome, were the shit. From the minute Fred and co bounced out and slammed into the opening riff of Rollin’, it was clear that we were in for the best party of the weekend. And party we did. Throwing some serious shapes, Kate and I shook our booties through a classic Bizkit set. They even brought up a guy who sang on stage with them at Download FOUR YEARS AGO to do it again – and he picked Half Nelson. Hero. Otherwise, Break Stuff! Nookie! Faith! My Way! Take A Look Around! Fred Durst’s MASSIVE beard! Wes being cool as! Sam’s light up bass! SO MUCH TURNTABLE! How much more do you need to know how brilliant this was?! I don’t think I’ve had so much fun outdoors before. We missed most of Rammstein, but we got there just in time to see Till spraying some dude dressed up in BDSM gear with fake jizz. There was a small girl dancing on top of a bin that saw it as well. Aces.

If my Download experience had ended there, it would have been the best weekend ever. Alas, it didn’t, and I had to wait an hour and a half for my coach because Big Green Coach were so disgustingly disorganised. We could have left at least half an hour before we did, and after being loaded onto the wrong coach twice (!) and then missing my bus home because I got to my drop off ninety minutes late, I spent my Monday being ridiculously miserable. I guess that’s a lesson learnt – check your tent properly, drive there instead and potentially pack appropriate reading material. But otherwise, I think that Download will become my festival of choice. Varied enough to keep even the most sceptical rock fan happy and with a spirit of fun unlike any other, Download rocked pretty hard.

Sundowners – The Larger Half Of Wisdom

Is indie-punk even a thing? Is it possible to mesh sweet, occasionally twinkly melodies with slightly less gruff, but still kind of raspy vocals and speed it up until it’s acceptable to put in your ‘summer punx road trip’ playlist? Arguably, yes, because Sundowners have done it. The Larger Half Of Wisdom is definitely not your average punk record, and it’s far better than your average indie-rock record. Made for summer days and BBQs, this is the perfect record to stick on when you’ve got friends with less-than-eclectic tastes vying for the iPod.

If it weren’t for a sardonic, wisecracking lyrical agenda, these tunes would probably be highly radio friendly. ‘Bird World Country’, with its scathing attack on inequality has a stupidly catchy chorus, playful solos and just the right amount of slowed down palm muting. Even in such a short space of time (the average track length is about 2:30), Sundowners’ vocal harmonies have a way of burrowing deep into your subconscious and the choruses to tracks like ‘Dig Deeper’ and ‘Belly Up Buckle Down’ will reverberate around your melon for ages. It’s incredibly easy to lose yourself in the quick and steady rhythms, the pretty jangly guitar lines and slightly vintage and scratchy feel of the album, but throughout, you’re often jolted back to reality by straight-up punk aesthetics. ‘Hold On’ is arguably the ‘punkest’ track on the album, harking back to Eternal Cowboy era Against Me! in its melodies and lo-fi instrumentals, but it doesn’t overplay its hand. Final track ‘Revolving’ could have been something grandiose and over the top, judging from the opening it’s given in ‘Oh No’, but instead, it’s a fast and simple punk rock romper that’s danceable as all hell and breaks into a completely wicked gang chorus towards the end. That probably sums up the whole record. Dropping the pretention, and the legacy of Midwestern beard punk laid out before them, Sundowners instead create a record that’s lots of fun and fit to burst with pretty, tuneful riffs.

If you like philosophical, fast and tuneful pop laced punk with a sense of reckless abandon and soul, you could do a lot worse than get into Sundowners.

4.5 out of 5 high fives!

Shout out: New letlive. album out this July!!

Exciting stuff – the new letlive. album is on the horizon! The Blackest Beautiful will be released on 8th July and their new song, ‘Banshee (Ghost Fame)’ is available now.

Jason Aalon Butler has this to say about the track – “This song explores the tragic humor in entertainment as an industry as opposed to an art. Sonically this track was a pretty suitable representation of the record’s sonic spectrum. We also employed some elements of groove that we have always been fans of.”

You can pre-order the record from the band’s store and if you do, you’ll get this track to download RIGHT NOW. It’s the start of a new era, ladies and gentlemen. Get ready for letlive.