Robyn Writes

TwoBeatsOff’s Best of 2012

2012 has been a landmark year here in Britain. There’s been some major highs – the Olympics, for one. There’s been some shit stuff too – mass scandal everywhere. But one thing that can be said is that it’s been a fantastic year for music, both here and abroad. It’s also been TwoBeatsOff’s biggest year yet. So we’re doing a best of 2012; a comprehensive list of our favourite bits this year.

Ripper

Best band: I was going to nominate a certain massive Welsh band, but that’s been a bit tainted with all the allegations going around at present. Instead, I’m going to go with one of the hardest working bands in the UK right now, and one of the most technically able. Chronographs have been working their arse off all year to put together one of the finest EPs I’ve laid my hands on in recent times. They’re incredible live, extraordinarily talented musicians for their age and are set for greatness. Recently signed to Ghost Music with their new EP coming out soon (check out our five star review here), 2013 will be where Chronographs truly hit the spotlight.

Best album: this year, my vote goes to Parkway Drive – Atlas. The Australian metalcore powerhouse have come out gold with an album that not only brings the beatdown, but some outstanding orchestral sections. It’s big in every sense of the word. I attempted to review it but essentially found my fingers going “hgrighdiogndrk” on the keyboard. Of course, mental keyboard spam is a general reaction to Winston McCall in my case, but it really just hit the mark on every level. And it managed to fully destroy the left speaker in my car because the breakdowns are just that tasty.

Best newcomer: For this one, my nomination goes to Good Friend. Even though they’ve only released one EP and not done that much else, I’ve not been able to stop listening to that EP all year. Nothing has made me grin more. If you’re a fan of stuff like The Lawrence Arms, Hot Water Music et al, then you’ll love Good Friend.

Best live act: It was a year of reformations, farewells and anniversaries on the live circuit. But of course, this one has to go to Refused. Seeing them reform and perform in London was not only one of the best nights of this year, but one of the best nights of my life. The Shape Of Punk To Come is almost fifteen years old, but is more relevant than ever today, and to see the legend that is Refused take to the stage once more is something that I will never, ever forget. Or likely experience again.

Best musical moment: I am awarding this one to Laura Jane Grace from Against Me! and the moment she announced to the world that she was transgender, and to the massive wave of support that she was given as soon as it all came out. While Grace’s bravery was incredible, it was just as amazing to see how supportive the punk scene – and the wider alternative spectrum – can be as well. Punk rock is all about being who you want to be, and it’s great to see that Laura Jane Grace feels free to let that happen. And now I’m ridiculously psyched for the new Against Me! album.

George

Two thousand and twelve will be remembered for many things- the downfall of Ian Watkins, the death of Sonisphere and the singer from Against Me!, who turned from a Mr to a Ms and sparked a worldwide gender debate in the process. It was the year metal opened its arms to pop and fully embraced the power of the hook with Torche and Baroness among others, subverting metal’s macho mannerisms and crafting albums of unashamed pomp and huge choruses. Billy Joe Armstrong conducted a very public PR stunt*cough-cough* stress-induced meltdown whilst drum n’ bass conquered the naysayers at Download Festival.

Two thousand and twelve was yet another year when some of the most influential bands decided to put aside their differences and finally cave in to the huge cheques being waved in front of their faces by promoters well aware that the reformation dollar is a very lucrative one indeed. Whatever their respective reasons, 2012 saw such luminaries as At The Drive-In taking a rather subdued attack to their intense post-hardcore whilst Refused finally did their seminal swansong The Shape Of Punk To Come justice and played to audiences hundreds of times larger than they did back in the day. Chris Cornell regained some credibility with the reformation of a grey-haired Soundgarden and the purveyors of doom Black Sabbath returned to spread the joy once again.

Best Live Band – Refused

I’ve seen so many great shows this year; chipping my tooth and suffering a very painful neck injury courtesy of a rather large stage diver at a particularly sweaty and chaotic Every Time I Die performance was definitely a night to remember. Meshuggah’s decimating and uncompromising aural assault in a large tent in a field in Kent at Hevy Fest was another. But the band who takes the biscuit has to be Refused. As they exploded into THAT riff from ‘New Noise’ at the London Forum in August there may well have been an earthquake occurring such was the seismic activity inside the venue. When the band played London almost fifteen years ago, they did so to only a few hundred people, and that was the biggest show of the tour. It speaks volumes of the bands impact on punk and hardcore and the high esteem in which they are held when, after almost fifteen years, they are selling out venues to thousands of people and playing to fields where the crowd stretches several kilometres into the distance. Yes, the reformation sparked controversy courtesy of the open letter they wrote to their fans after they split declaring that they were “fucking dead” but Refused’s classic punk message of anti-capitalism bears more relevance today than it ever did. What’s more, the band certainly knows how to put on a show, from the brilliant and highly effective use of minimalistic lighting to Dennis Lyxen taking on the role of showman rather than snot nosed punk. Through his physical contortions to his anguished scream and his mesmerizing onstage antics which usually end with the venue’s security looking rather nervous. Now though, the band truly is dead, but although the air of mysticism around the band has been largely eradicated, thousands upon thousands of avid fans witnessed their genius and the band’s message will live on for another generation at least.

Best Album – Deftones

There have been some great releases this year. South Wales bruisers Brutality Will Prevail’s threatened to become kings of the UK hardcore scene with their heavy as hell album Scatter The Ashes. Converge yet again upped the ante with All We Love We Leave Behind and Every Time I Die gave their southern fried hardcore a much needed shot of adrenaline to create the superb Ex-Lives. For sheer musical perfection though, Deftones finally crafted the album they’ve been trying to make for their whole twenty-five year existence. Although commonly and thoughtlessly lumped in with the nu-metal rap-metal nonsense of the late 90’s, Deftones were always a much more forward thinking and vastly more interesting and versatile entity. Koi No Yokan casts its net further afield than previous releases, pushing the bands experimentalist digressions to new depths whilst retaining cohesion and fluidity. The record contains some almighty off kilter 8-string riffs that would make Meshuggah jealous as well as vast soundscapes that range from the heavenly ethereal to the overcast doom. The balance between the decimating heaviness and breathtaking beauty is as close to perfection as you’re ever going to get, more so than 2010’s equally praised Diamond Eyes. Admittedly, the band aren’t exactly reinventing the wheel, but instead moulding their intensely emotional sound into a masterpiece that builds upon the successes and failures of their previous output. The most consistent band in metal just keeps getting better.

Best Newcomer – Darkshaft

You may have experienced this scenario – a gig in a tiny toilet venue on a desolate winters night in a dead end town where the few people in attendance look like they want to be anywhere other than this gig. Not even alcohol can curb your mind from wishing you were at home and curled up under a duvet like a slightly intoxicated baby. Without warning, a band takes to the stage and for half an hour they proceed to blow your socks off, as well as any other piece of clothing that isn’t securely fastened down. You stumble home trying to piece together what you’ve just witnessed, what’s more you struggle to remember the bands name, was it Darkcock? Darkschlong? ah yes, it was Darkshaft. The band is two guys, one on guitar and one on drums. Both posses screams Daryl Palumbo would be proud of and they boast a big back o’ riffs channelling everything from 50’s rock n’ roll to the sex-fuelled sweaty stomp of Death From Above 1979. Equally importantly, they posses an all important sense of humour oh, and they’re from New Zealand. They’ve only got a demo tape, a cassette, and a slightly punked-up cover of The Wonder’s ‘That Thing You Do’ to their name but with such virtuosic musicianship and beastly live performances expect to see heaps of praise for the demonic duo next year.

Best Band – Basement

2012’s best band is sadly one that doesn’t exist anymore. The UK underground was dealt a huge blow this year when Suffolk five-piece Basement decided to call it a day. This was even more so, because the band had just released Colourmeinkindness, a record of such creative brilliance and dare I say ‘maturity’ that it belied the young age of the band members, most of whom had only just reached their twenties. Their debut: 2011’s I Wish I Could Stay Here, won the hearts of kids throughout the underground with its wistful take on 90’s emo. After winning countless fans through touring places as far afield as the US and Australia it seemed the band were destined for great things and the speed at which the band’s two farewell shows sold out proved the amount of devotion the band had quite rightly garnered over their all too brief existence. Colourmeinkindness was a record of grunge throwbacks (the good type of grunge) and emo-isms (again, the good kind) that was not only heartbreakingly sincere but also wonderfully unique. As is the case when bands split up before they reach their creative peak there is an inescapable “what if?” that hangs over their dissolution. Certainly the band had the potential to graduate from the dingy toilet venues where they honed their sound and become a bonafied prospect on the UK’s rock scene. But lets no dwell on the “what ifs?” and instead celebrate a band who achieved so much in such a short space of time.

Best Musical Moment – Sabbath reign supreme at Download

The performance of rock legends Black Sabbath at this year’s Download festival was given added poignancy given that guitar hero Tony Iommi had been diagnosed with lymphoma only a few months previous to their performance. But in true metal fashion they soldiered on like the true rock Gods they are, producing a performance that belied not just their age but their collective drug consumption over their 40-or-so year existence. Ozzy, who by all accounts has defied medical science, was far from the shuffling and barely coherent star he is most known for. Instead his voice was powerful and his performance undeniably engaging whilst around him the two original members (minus drummer Bill Ward of course) provided their doom-laden take on blues, a sound which gave the world the blueprint for all of modern metal to follow. Sabbath are once again back in the public conscience as kings of heavy metal, and long may they reign.

Colin
Best Band – Green Day. While Billie Joe’s sad personal problems may have put a dampener on the end of their year, they went above and beyond in 2012 to make this the best year for the band’s fans it could possibly be, particularly us in the UK. Three (count them – 3!) new albums, suprise(ish) gigs at Shephard’s Bush Empire and Reading, and an under-appreciated but absolutely excellent debut UK tour of the stunning American Idiot musical, genuinely the best show I’ve ever seen.

Best Album – This is a tough award for me. Because, in all honesty, my favourite album released in 2012 was Weapons by Lostprophets, which is a controversial choice for obvious reasons. But while Watkins’ actions are to be abhorred, the other 5 members of the band should not be punished, and they have made a truly great album here. If this isn’t an appropriate choice for the award, then second place would go to Shinedown’s superb Amaryllis.

Best Newcomer: A combination of Brummie pride and pop-punk loyalty leads me to give this award to Taking Hayley. I honestly think that’s a name you’re going to hear a lot more of in 2013, particularly with their success at the UK Warped Tour and a headline tour already announced and selling well for February. Although an honourable mention must go to Fearless Vampire Killers – grandiose is not the word. Insane bunch, but fantastic music.

Best Live Act: Possibly another sentimental, Brummie choice from me, but having never thought I’d ever get a chance to see them in my lifetime, I can’t give this award to anybody except the almighty Black Sabbath. An incredible band making a much celebrated return this year, I saw them closing Download Festival and they absolutely blew me away, which is something considering my favourite band in the world, Metallica, had played the previous night. Their entire set, from their eponymous opening song to a thrilling Paranoid closer, was superbly crafted and Ozzy Osbourne is still the most incredibly entertaining frontman in music. Plus the mere fact that the performance took place after Tony Iommi’s battle with cancer was stunning and a wonderful moment for music.

Best Musical Moment: A pop-punk bias only gives me one possible answer: The announcement that finally, the UK was getting our own, proper, standalone Warped Tour date. Not as part of another festival, but a bonafide, independently organised, UK Warped Tour date. The organisation at the event, travelling between stages and rooms, was nothing less than awful, but that didn’t matter one bit – the atmosphere was incredible, the bands were brilliant (ignoring Blood On The Dance Floor, obviously) and New Found Glory were there. That’s all that matters. Superb news, and I eagerly await Warped Tour 2013 UK.

Club Smith – Appetite For Chivalry

Four piece indie types Club Smith are one of the newest act to spring forth from Leeds’ very fertile underground music scene. Appetite For Chivalry boasts productions from Will Jackson and James Kenosha who, between them, have helmed releases from fellow Northern indie boys The Cribs as well as Leeds’ finest sweaty rockers Pulled Apart By Horses. From these facts you’d expect the album to be a worthy musical endeavour yet the end result is something … well … just plain weird.

There are stomping synth-infused alt rock songs which lie in polar opposition to heartfelt slow burners, making an album that’s already musically befuddled sound even more disjointed. The album kicks off in a rather unassuming fashion of ambient noise, punctuated by a rather rusty sounding bass before the rest of the band enters. As opener ‘Mantra’ unravels what is clear is the band certainly has musical ambition but not yet the means to hone said ambition into a coherent selection of enjoyable songs. Second track ‘No Friend Of Mine’ is a much more direct, post-punk affair but sounds like its performed by a completely different band. Trebley, off-kilter guitar and dancey drums make this energetic track ideal for a live environment yet is at odds with the more introspective elements of the record. The grating bass guitar and catchy chorus yearn to be loved by intoxicated teens in indie-discos. Follower ‘Beautiful & Useless’ could have easily been penned by the Young Knives. It’s constructed out of similar vocal harmonies and jerky rhythms which yes, make the track catchy but because of its juxtaposition with the pounding grunge madness that came before it, the song’s pop hooks lose their intended impact. The record takes another strange turn for ‘I Don’t Want To Show You That I’d Lost Faith’. The lead singer’s voice resonates with the vocal histrionics of Muse’s Matt Bellamy over minor key piano arpeggios and slightly off putting atmospheric guitar effects. ‘In Arrears’ is two and a half minutes of inoffensive guitar-driven indie and plodding synthesiser lines that dissolve into welcome feedback, leading into ‘Nonchalant’, another distortion-drenched soulless indie-dance track featuring a now very annoying warbling synthesiser. ‘Lament’ features elements of much promise, clever bass meets with unorthodox percussion but the song repeatedly delves back into indie-disco territory, turning a track that could have been a truly interesting aural exploration into one that is rather drab. Album closer ‘Young Defeatists’ sees the band back on the right track, utilising sublime dynamics to make it one of the highlights of the album. It builds to an expertly crafted crescendo that gives way to a short minimalist piano piece, bringing the album to a dignified close.

Appetite For Chivalry is the sound of a band that has yet to find their niche. Throughout the album they hit upon several genres- post-punk, alt-rock and disco-grunge to name a few but while some bands may be applauded for creating and album with such a wide plethora of genres, Club Smith just seem to be blindly grasping for a sound to call their own. The band need to decide if they are going to produce by-numbers Kaiser Chief indie tunes or expand on their more atmospheric and introspective abilities which, through tracks such as ‘Mantra’ and ‘Young Defeatists’ the band are more than capable of. Appetite For Chivalry is a shaky effort to say the least, but one that the band will hopefully build upon to mould their own unique sound.

Two and a half high fives!

Chronographs – Nausea [EP]

It’s been a strange couple of years for Chronographs. After a sneaky rebrand, they burst onto the scene with ‘The Outhouse Sessions’ in 2010, and they’ve been playing shows here, there and everywhere, all while writing, recording and maintaining a presence on every social network possible. With several members still finishing off their degrees, it can’t have been easy. Nevertheless, all the hard work has paid off. Nausea is one of the best releases I’ve heard all year.

Immediately, Opticks is an aural assault. Though in the beginning, it’s frenetic and brutal, the track storms through any expectations as soon as the clean vocals hit. It’s a refreshing change in a scene where having the gruffest vocals or the meatiest breakdowns is paramount, but Chronographs deliver on both fronts all the way through the EP. Tom Benson’s exquisite bass is also a huge highlight here, as in this kind of metal, bass is all too forgotten.

Veritas continues to straddle that fine line between melody and brashness, but really launches into the breakdowns too. Chronographs are more than technically proficient, but it’s great that they don’t necessarily overdo it; the temptation to launch into eight minute long guitar solos just because you can does not necessarily mean that you should. And that makes every little flourish in the drums, or every catchy little guitar line, even sweeter. Inanis, recently featured in one of Metal Hammer’s compilations, is a beast of a track, thanks to Jon Sinfield’s vocals – such a unique and distinct tone greets you every time you stick a Chronographs track on.

The title track, Nausea, is the best track on offer here. Everything about it is perfection, drawing all the elements displayed so far and putting them together into an aggressive explosion of a track. But the best part is the semi-classical section towards the end – a bit like Opeth, but with greater brevity and far more of a cool factor. Finisher Resolve is just sublime. Lyrically, it’s far more mature than its contemporaries, and there’s this bit at the end that’ll have you screaming along with joy.

Nausea is perfect. The next challenge will be for Chronographs to pull off this kind of standard across a full length release. 2012 may have been the year where Chronographs started to establish themselves, but 2013 is where they’re going to seize the alternative throne once and for all.

5 out of 5 high fives!

Alexisonfire – Brixton Academy, 2/12/12

Tonight’s show at the prestigious Brixton Academy hosts the beginning of the final chapter of the most well loved post-hardcore band of the past decade; a band that spawned a plethora of imitators all trying to capitalise on the band’s unique and dynamic emotional tension. After somewhat fizzling out back in 2010 after the release of their confused E.P Dog’s Blood, it seems that these handful of final shows have reminded the thousands in the venue, as well as the many more left without tickets, just how much these five unassuming Canadians meant to so many people.

As the venue fills, Brighton hardcore heroes The Ghost Of A Thousand take to the huge stage to unleash their rock n’ roll tinged hardcore. Although they came out of retirement to play this show at the behest of the headliners, Ghost are every bit the tight, well oiled punk machine they used to be. At first, the crowd greet the band with reserved politeness for the antagonistic no-holds-barred opener ‘Left For Dead’, but the rock n’ roll inspired ‘Bright Lights’ gets those at the front moving. ‘Up To You’ ups the ante, with vocalist Tom Lacey heading into the crowd as fans scramble for the mic. Lacey produces the quote of the night, perfectly summing up the predicament of both bands: “They say you play Brixton academy twice in your career, once on the way up and once on the way down. It’s nice to be back.” ‘Black Art Number One’ sees the small rowdy gaggle at the front throwing themselves around the pit as if their lives depended on it before final song ‘Bored Of Math’ comes to a close with three members of the band held aloft by the crowd.

Tonight the ravenous crowd will be treated to a whopping twenty-three song set spanning all of two hours and encompassing every Alexisonfire release from their debut through to their Dog’s Blood E.P. As the lights go down and the Alexisonfire banner descends at the back of atmospherically lit the stage the levels of excitement is almost unbearable and as the band take to the stage they’re greeted by deafening screams from both sexes. The opening chiming notes of ‘Crisis’ send the crowd surging towards the front as vocalist George Pettit’s characteristic screams erupt from the cavernous stage, the crowd now a writhing mass of crushed bodies. As the song reaches the chorus Dallas Green’s vocals are pretty much drowned out by the baying crowd. ‘Get Fighted’ is the perfect follower, a song about fashion and hairstyles being irrelevant and having a good time taking precedent. ‘Waterwings’ from their 2001 debut album receives a raucous response even though a vast majority of the crowd would still have been a few years off their teens when it was released. ‘Old Crows’ has the audience pogoing along to the bouncy punk riff, the chorus of “We are not the kids we used to be” very much echoing with the crowd and the teenage years that Alexisonfire provided the soundtrack to. ‘Control’ has the crowd replicating every nuance of Dallas Green’s impossibly sumptuous voice and is the track that perhaps best showcases the band’s masterful use of dynamics that made their 2004 album Watch Out! so brilliant. The slow burning intro to ‘You Burn First’ has the audience resembling a coiled spring, exploding as George Pettit’s screams signal the audience to go completely batshit, his now thirty year old frame projecting his grating scream just as fervently as he did ten years ago. ‘We Are The Sound’s’ call and response interlude appears deafening but this seems tame compared to ‘This Could Be Anywhere In The World’ which has every member of the five thousand strong audience sing and scream back every single word of the song that became a global hit. ‘Dog’s Blood’ gives a glimpse of the direction the band would have headed in, its more experimental leanings still retaining the classic Alexis clean vocal and screaming dynamic. ‘Accept Crime’ shines a light on the band’s more outspoken and political output, advocating free speech and freedom of expression by declaring “We will be free/ To use our bodies as we please”. ‘Boiled Frogs’ and ‘Drunks, Lovers, Sinners & Saints’ boast some of the band’s biggest choruses and reiterates why Crisis was such a successful album. ‘Charlie Sheen vs Henry Rollins’ is the surprise of the night, a slightly obscure track that draws a blank with some but for those in the know it is a welcome surprise. Pettit takes to the organ for the relatively slow paced ‘The Northern’ with Dallas’ voice soaring and showing no signs of fatigue after twenty songs. ‘Accidents’ is greeted like an anthem, the sweaty throng throwing their weary bodies around the various pits whilst the chorus and “whoahhhs” of the interlude are shouted back at the band by hoarse vocals chords. Returning to the stage after the inevitable encore, the slow-paced off-kilter rhythms of ‘Rough Hands’ give way to the expansive punk rock of ‘Young Cardinals’, giving the more rowdy fans a last chance to throw their sweaty bodies into each other. A sprawling rendition of ‘Happiness By The Kilowatt’ ends the show in positively epic fashion. The song falls and rises in several crescendos, with Dallas’ voice never faltering before the song ends in a piercing wail of feedback.

Sure, the band could have benefitted from a little more rehearsal but this is cynical nit-picking in an otherwise perfect performance from a band that helped define modern heavy music as we now know it. I think it is fair to say, that no one leaves Brixton Academy with a shred of disappointment.

Old Flings – Spite

Old Flings came into existence in late 2010 as an outlet for Matt Evans (Just Die!, Megahurtz) to create full songs out of the more subdued and personal acoustic songs he had been writing for the year previous. To lend a helping hand, Evans called upon bassist Jordan Luff (ex-Just Die!) and drummer Travis Hollifield (ex-Nights On Fire) and the first Old Fings line up was formed. After a period touring, mostly up the US East Coast, Hollifield made his escape into the world of big rig trucking and he was replaced by drummer Phil Hickey (Collapse). After releasing a first demo in late 2011, the band have followed it up with their first full-length, Spite. The band describes their music as “90s-era Revelation Records meets Gin Blossoms meets Smashing Pumpkins meets Hum meets Samiam”, and while comparing several different bands doesn’t help conjure up a sound very well, the description is largely accurate. If forced to describe the sound in a combination of genres, it would have to be something along the lines of melodic hardcore combined with a bit of alt rock and power pop anthems.

Opening track “TBC” gives the album a lively, bouncing start. The drum and guitar provides a relatively gentle, funky rhythm with some nice vocal and instrumental transitions into the chorus. The production sounds a little rough, but purposefully so, as if every corner and edge doesn’t have to be smoothed over and why should it be? One thing to note straight away is the promise of 30 second or so instrumental, which is catchy enough to make the soberest of crowds dance around like idiots. “Merry Go Round” has a similar sound, perhaps a little less bass heavy with a more prominent and consistent drum beat, but like TBC it starts off livelier than the rest of the song follows. The jazzy guitar and bass combined with Evans’ more drawl vocals is reminiscent of a Don Broco(ish) sound.

Third song “Senseless” has a strong guitar dominated intro, with the song juxtaposing the chirpy riffs against more gloomy vocals. The repetitiveness of the same chords being repeated throughout can seem to become a little monotonous despite head-nodding, foot-tapping beat, but this is shattered with another interruption by a nice guitar solo which makes me thankful that Evans decided to inject some electricity into what were formerly acoustic tracks. The intro to “Grip” lures the listener in with mellow bassline, but whether it is Evans’ glum vocals or the similar structure that most of the songs have, nothing really makes this stand out from the rest.

“The only things I care about in this goddamn life are me and my drums and you.” The quote by Watts from the 80’s teen romance Some Kind of Wonderful kicks off “Apathetic” which unlike the name suggests is quite an energetic song. The name of the song instead refers to the subject matter, as you probably expect, with Evans asking whoever the song is aimed at “It seems you’d rather cry than strive, are you already dead inside?” The song gives pride of position to a larger selection of drumming prowess than any of the previous tracks, or any that follow, with several positive riffs.

The album as a whole seems very late 80s/early 90s in both sound and influences. Drawing on youthful experiences isn’t necessarily a bad thing though and is probably to be expected considering how most of the songs started out as personal acoustic numbers thought up by Evans. Altogether the album is a solid release, but it would benefit from a little more variety. All songs seem to be cut out of a common framework and Evans’ vocals can become a tad melancholy and overbearing at times. That said, it is a good album and for fans of The Samiam and Texas Is the Reason it’s a must buy.

3.5 out of 5 high fives!