Robyn Writes

Three more days.

Three more days and then my final year exams are over.

To put it pretty bluntly, that’s exactly why the site has been so slow at updating the past month and a bit and why I haven’t put anything online in the past two weeks. It’s been crunch time as me and literally all my writers/people who want to be involved in the website haven’t been able to contribute anything lately. I tried my damned hardest at the beginning of this term to keep updating once a week but these have been the most important exams of my LIFE. And the last exams that I will likely ever have to take.

Once those final exams are over, Kitteh and I are going to be raiding Crash Doubt Festival and we’ll be bringing you as much coverage as we can get away with. In the interim period, we’re going to be getting through our list of reviews. So to the PR companies/record labels, we’re deeply sorry and we appreciate your patience. To the bands that send us in their stuff, we’re even more sorry. But once Tuesday 29th May is done, then TBO is back online and we will not or cannot be stopped.

At the heart of it all, we’re just a bunch of kids that really like alternative music and we physically can’t shut up about it. So don’t worry – TBO will certainly be back with a vengeance.

Love you all,
xoxo – Ripper

Underwater Tiger – Where Miles Become Meaning

Underwater Tiger hail from upstate New York. Where Miles Become Meaning is their debut album, yet the band have been building up hype well before this release and managed to accrue a cool $5000 towards the album production thanks to a fast growing fanbase. Luckily for them, Where Miles Become Meaning is a great start for the band.

Immediately, I was swept away by the opening title track. Where Miles Become Meaning is a song with conviction and is already a fantastic display of the talent on board, beginning to showcase the great vocal dynamic going on within the band. All the band make a decent vocal contribution and the different voices coming through, intertwining with each other, sounds incredible. The introduction of a children’s choir at the end creates a powerful opener and a song that is presumably very hard to top.

While the title track is indeed a tour-de-force of emotion, the rest of the album doesn’t exactly pale in comparison. Underwater Tiger are clearly gifted songwriters and some amazing sweeping guitar can be found all across the album, but in You’re So Surreal in particular. There’s beautiful piano threaded through the album as well – Shipwreck Love starts out as a typical piano ballad and ends up being an awesome guitar and synth driven ride. Dioscuri is a completely instrumental track where all of their craft comes to the forefront and proves that they don’t need vocals to showcase their talent at all.

Although all the songs on the album are put together well, the album does start to get a little too familiar in the middle. It may be inevitable with this type of music, but songs start to blend together and fade into the background. There are exceptions and towards the end of the record everything starts to pick back up again, but that kind of soft, melodic OC-affair song starts to become a staple midway through. The band are at their best when they start to take some risks, like in Where Miles Become Meaning, Dioscuri and Treading Days, which has some great hardcore influences coming through. There is nothing particularly bad about the album (bar a few cringey lyrics about sex coming through) and in some ways, that familiarity is nice – the album is perfectly reminiscent of the early 2000s alternative scene – but Underwater Tiger really are most impressive when they start to explore.

Where Miles Become Meaning is a good, solid debut album. Made for lazy summer days, this album’s coming out just in time and is a great sign of things to come.

3.5 out of 5 high fives!

What is TBO up to at the moment? AKA revision hell

You’ve probably noticed that updates have been even slower than usual. And for that, we’re really sorry. Right now, Kitteh and I are in the final year of our undergraduate degree and right now, we have exams to prepare for and dissertations to finish. We’re trying to update once a week (maybe with a little leeway either side – might be once every two weeks but with more stuff than usual) with reviews and spotlight features until our exams are over and we can start putting a lot more effort into the site.

We have pretty much a whole month free in June so if you’re a band based in the West Midlands and would like us to interview you, then get in touch! All the contact details are up on the ‘contact me’ page, or you can Facebook us – the link to that is just to the right.

Thank you for your patience and thank you for checking us out in the first place. This started as just a fun little project between friends and now it’s so much bigger than that. Can you believe we’re almost four years old?!

xoxo – Ripper

Good Friend [EP]


Good Friend are the phoenix that rose from the ashes of Under Stars And Gutters, a great Northern Irish punk band. As sad as I was about USAG’s breakup, having discovered and fallen in love with them when they were on tour with The Lawrence Arms a few years back, the new EP from Good Friend is an absolute cracker and a fantastic sign of things to come.

From the opening chords of Dance On, Graves, you know that something special is about to happen. From a fast-paced melody rammed intro, the song breaks into the first verse and some excellently gruff vocals. While we’re not in Chuck Ragan realms of gruffness, the vocals are rightly self-assured and ready to kick ass, fitting just perfectly with the tone of the EP. There are some powerful gang vocals scattered throughout the EP and Good Friend use the punk rock staple well. Dance On, Graves has one of the best written choruses of this year without question and will be in your head for days. And we’re still on the first track here. The colourfully named Oh Fuck Off, Crazy Kev! is a two minute tirade about apathy and homesickness that definitely wouldn’t be out of place on a Larry Arms album, except it’s got a killer key change at the end that completely changes the game. Hospital Walls rounds off the EP just perfectly with yet another knockout chorus. At just under seven minutes, it’s three tracks of pure incendiary perfection; punk rock with a real sense of melody and emotion that so many bands strive for and just fall short of.

Good Friend are writing the punk rock anthems our generation sorely needs. While we’re seeing a great show of bands from across the ocean, Good Friend are one of the best things to come out of Ireland right now. Go and pick the EP up from their Bandcamp today so that they can make more incredible music.

5 out of 5 high fives!

Artist Spotlight: Held By Horses

I heard a rumour a while back that summer would soon be upon us. Considering I’m sat writing this while hail stones assault my windows, I won’t hold my breath. But, should the seasons ever change and the sun grace us with his burny presence, I think I’ve found the chilled soundtrack to your summer. ‘Held By Horses’ are a young four piece from the depths of Essex who, despite the hardcore connotations that all ‘by horses’ bands seem to hold, play delightfully catchy soft-rock tunes.

Looking at them, you’d be surprised they were old enough to play in any venues but, as is the case more and more nowadays, their youth gives them edge. Their sound is fresh, sincere and uncomplicated. Too many bands in similar genres try and set themselves apart by stretching their talents far beyond their capabilities, yet Held By Horses know what works for them and stick to it. By no means is their sound uninspiring or samey, but solid.

Refreshingly, for a female-fronted band, their singer does not try and sound like Hayley Williams. This fact on its own surely merits a listen? I’ve lost count of the number of shows I’ve gone to where there’s a tiny redhead on stage forcing unnatural tones through her face, trying painfully to replace her Dagenham accent with a Tennessee one. No. Tiny vocalist Harriet Reynolds has a wonderfully individual, quirky tone to her voice (rather akin to that of Ellie Goulding) which is allowed to take centre stage without being overpowered by heavy basslines or distracting riffs. While Reynolds is understandably the main focus or selling point of the band, it couldn’t be so without the solid backing of the rest of the band who, despite not attempting any particularly complicated passages, are all compelling and accomplished musicians and performers.

With a new EP (‘In History’) due soon, they’re definitely a band you’ll want to get your teeth into. Until then, why not head on over to their Facebook page: www.facebook.com/heldbyhorses and have a listen to the few tracks they have available for streaming. ‘Who We Are’ is a particularly catchy offering with a particularly sweet, summery riff and a chorus that can’t help but get you swaying. As far as lyrics go, there’s a few clichés thrown around, but overall, they’re bloody good. Who We Are is also accompanied with a video, should you wish to go snooping. Nicely filmed with a running University-themed storyline, but the obligatory ‘band in a forest’ shots are a little too sedate to make the necessary impact the track requires. ‘Give You The World’ is my particular favourite; it’s upbeat, peppy, and works as a great showcase of Reynolds’ beautiful tones. While I urge you to listen to all tracks on offer, their cover of J-J-J-Jessie J’s ‘Do It Like A Dude’ is an odd one, but well worth your time. It baffles and entertains be in equal measure. One can’t help but think that a tempo change would make it fit in far better with their repertoire, but nevertheless, give it a go – it’s an interesting take.

Held By Horses may not be breaking down any barriers in terms of re-inventing the genre, but what they do create is not only music, but an entire atmosphere that one can’t help but be absorbed into. I wouldn’t be too surprised to see them high up on festival billings in no time at all.