Robyn Writes

The New Lows – I Couldn’t Sleep

The New Lows have come up with a total low-fi delight in their third full length, I Couldn’t Sleep. Equally an indie chill out and a punk rock party, I Couldn’t Sleep is fourteen short, sweet little musical bites of joy.

The Floridian quartet are pretty tricky to pin down. Opening track ‘Losing Streak’ is melodic punk at its best, as is ‘Ferposhknickt’ (which incidentally, is one of the best song titles in the world to say out loud), but ‘Ghost’ then takes it in a totally different direction. Reminiscent of a more mellow Fake Problems track, ‘Ghost’ is unfailing in its ability to burrow its way in and embed itself in your skull, echoing around in there forever. Then The New Lows disappear in another direction as they get to ‘Stove’ and ‘Abeyance’, which are like more stripped down Weakerthans tracks, only with lyrics about Xboxes rather than Winnepeg.

Not everything is wistful and bouncy though. ‘Pilgrim’ is completely crushing, with some outstanding synthesiser work and backing vocals. However, it’s ‘Leaves’ that will be the sleeper hit of the season – with some positively sublime ‘oohs’, incredibly rocked up riffs and unrelentingly cool vocals, it’s truly brilliant. Nevertheless, almost every track has a real highlight – whether it’s the cheeky bits of piano in ‘St Sans’ or the whistles in ‘Arbor’, these little touches catch you by surprise on every listen, and I keep noticing new bits every time. The New Lows have taken cues from their punk rock beginnings though and each track is simply structured and wholly addictive, allowing poignant and thoughtful lyrics to seep through the background and into your consciousness.

I Couldn’t Sleep should please a good number of people, and the rest should be soon converted. Perfect for anyone who finds punk a little too abrasive and indie a little too pretentious, or for anyone that just likes good music, really.

4 out of 5 high fives!

Terror – Southampton Joiners, 29/10/12

A Monday night is probably the least favourite word in any touring band member’s vocabulary. Playing to twenty-or-so uninterested people in a decrepit toilet venue for little-to-no money sounds fun, eh? But Terror’s show at the dank, intimate surrounding of Southampton’s historic Joiners venue was one of those few times when a Monday night show in a grey town sees every band entice nothing less than carnage.

A sizeable portion of the sold-out crowd greets Desolated’s down-tuned and hellish hardcore. Having headlined the venue only a few months before, the band instantly hit their stride, inciting the kids at the front into a frenzy of flailing limbs. Opener ‘Betrayal’ pummels the crowd with brutal riff after brutal riff and it’s not long before stage-divers appear to pound the crowd even further. ‘Dead End’ throws some blastbeats into the mix, making their already brutal metal sound downright terrifying. Frontman Paul holds out the mic as a small pile of bodies scramble to scream and growl the band’s anti-religious lyrics. The grating feedback and concrete riffs of final song ‘Blasphemy’ sees the dancers throw themselves about the pit for the final demonic breakdown. Although Desolated are as subtle as a kick in the testicles from a pair of Doc Martens, they are already one of UK hardcore’s most formidable live bands.

Manchester’s finest, Broken Teeth, may not bleed originality but they are one of the UK’s hardest working bands. Through relentless touring of the UK and Europe, the five-piece has made fans the hard way, but now they are finally beginning to receive the response they deserve. The chugging metal-infused riffs of their crossover sound are met with rabid response. New tracks from the ‘Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked’ E.P provide Slayer-worshipping licks that rain down with ardent ferocity as the vocalist throws himself about the stage in a blur of hair. ‘The Seeker’ brings their set to a chaotic close in what was a headline-worthy performance.

There’s a tangible anticipation in the air for South Wales troupe Brutality Will Prevail and you’d be forgiven in thinking that they were the headline band such is the response they receive. Opening with short Harm’s Way cover the band launches into ‘Trapped Doors, Moving Walls’ and the opening screams of “Look into my eyes/I can see what you want me to be” are howled back at the band by a fervent crowd. New song ‘The Path’ is greeted like an old favourite, its more straight forward riff-orientated style being lapped up by those in the pit. ‘Reprisal’ displays an unrelentingly crushing selection of snail-paced chugging, opening a large vortex of flying limbs and steady stream of stage divers. Vocalist Ajay contorts his body into a plethora of violent gestures whilst challenging the audience to increase the already chaotic pit action to uncharted new levels. Despite some technical difficulties BWP’s momentum never flags. ‘Purgatory’ is a beatdown-heavy blast of pure bile that sits surprisingly well against the more progressive and expansive but no less brutal ‘Cursed’ and the driving momentum of closer ‘Heavy Eyes’. An almost flawless set from one of the UK’s most promising outfits, it’s taken them a while but BWP are now a solid and intimidating live act.

Any fears that BWP’s set would be the peak in energy are quickly extinguished. A mix of early thirties crusty punks and young hardcore kids welcomes Terror, a band that have been playing shows in sweaty little rooms across the globe for ten years. Scott Vogel is easily one the most charismatic frontman in hardcore, encouraging kids to stagedive, handing out the mic to the sweaty throng and never being short of a good old hilarious “Vogelism” (Google it). A career spanning set means no fans are left disappointed; tracks are aired from almost every release including the first song the band ever wrote. Of course, ‘Keepers of the Faith’ is saved until last and quite rightly receives the biggest sing along of the night from the humid, sweat-drenched room.

The Bad Times – 2012 [demo]

The Bad Times are a Coventry based hardcore band who have had roots in the local scene for years before coming together in 2011. It’s obvious from this five track demo that they know what they’re doing, and have managed to put together a visceral and compelling example of why hardcore isn’t dead in the Midlands.

The first thing is that it’s definitely fast. After a doomy, downbeat lead in to ‘No Cities’, it’s straight into business with some of the most frenzied screams I’ve heard in ages and the tempo goes off the chain. This demo takes cues from a more classic hardcore style, as is evident from the breakdowns in ’13 Days’. It’s a refreshing change from the ever increasing presence of the metalcore chugging that’s more commonly found at the moment. The Bad Times aren’t afraid to take a few risks either. ‘Rat Race’, the most impressive track on the demo, starts off slow, before bursting into a melody driven verse that positively batters you with its fury and intensity. There’s a desperation in these demos that just completely knocks you for six, and combined with the competence that The Bad Times have to display, it’s hard to put this down as just your average hardcore effort. And the drop in ‘Memo’? Simply incredible.

The band are playing Kasbah in Coventry on the 23rd November along with local heavyweights Finish Him!, who are old TBO favourites. Get down there and get in the pit because The Bad Times are actually very, very good.

4 out of 5 high fives!

The Last Word – Endlessly Crashing

Subtlety – this is a word that metalcore troupe The Last Word have either never heard of or view with disdain. With their debut record Endlessly Crashing the group have shunned and eradicated any notion of rawness, integrity and originality in favour of the most brash, hyper-produced, polished and frantically daft collection of songs humanly possible. The whole album has a general feel that all of the band’s members have ADHD to varying extents, never content to let a song breathe but instead filling it with as many over-the-top musical theatrics and pointless little sound effects possible. The drums have been polished and beefed up to such an extent they are downright robotic and a relentless double kick never lets up, always pounding away with machine gun precision. The guitars peddle the same old metalcore riffs and techniques with similar robotic meticulousness. Throaty screams and growls give way to ‘clean‘ vocals which are admittedly very well sung and soar above the cacophony of instruments. “I tried to save you. But I couldn’t save you” are just some of the ‘deep‘ and ‘insightful’ lyrics offered by the band. Nevertheless the choruses do have some sing-a-long potential, even if the words are apparently meaningless quasi-emotional phrases strung together to form some kind of half-coherent narrative.

Opening track “The Crushing View” is arguably the most ludicrous on the album. Synthesised strings and military drumming instill a sense of over-the-top pomp, a theme that remains for all fourteen tracks. “Faith In Chaos” follows with crushing beatdown after beatdown and histrionics from all band members instantly reaching levels of ridiculousness. A much needed respite is reached in the closing seconds of “The End Of Us” in the form of an uncharacteristically delicate piano sequence that ends all too quickly before “The Tempest” erupts in a flurry of Protest The Hero guitar theatrics and glitch sound effects that do nothing except return attention to the artificiality of the record. “This Was Never Yours” a song which has inexplicably racked up over a hundred thousand views on Youtube shows the band’s more mellow side for about five seconds before it launches another full and unrestrained assault on the ears. “The Closing Chapter” is he token ‘emotional’ song. Despite featuring acoustic guitars and more gentle approach by the band the production is still so synthetic and clean you can almost smell the bleach. Closer “Lost In Between” attempts to end on a similar level of pomp as the opener, again employing the dreaded synth strings in an attempt to reach epic proportions yet ultimately ends up sounding like every other song on the record- bloated and devoid of sincerity.

To put it simply – this album basically sounds like Enter Shikari if they didn’t have any taste or forward thinking capacity and kept the swept fringes. With any luck, this album will be the death-knell of this terrible synthetic brand of generic metalcore. However, considering the success of bands such as Asking Alexandria and *shudder* Motionless In White it seems that this dead end sub-genre still has some life left in its decaying lungs. Expect to see The Last Word on the cover of Rocksound in about a year.

1 out of 5 high fives!

Sorry And The Sinatras – The Kings Of Shamble Street [EP]

If you like your punk rock simple, heartfelt and fit to bursting with catchy riffs, then Sorry And The Sinatras are the band for you. Fronted by Scott Sorry, former bassist of The Wildhearts and Amen, along with a bunch of other punk rock veterans, it’s a short and solid blast of big tunes.

Opening self-titled track ‘The Kings Of Shamble Street’ is bloody good fun – gruff and shouty life affirming punk rock noise at its best. ‘Valencia’, a tale of junkie love, is a lot more toned down than the previous opener, but equally as fun. However, it’s ‘Pretty Letters’ that’s the jewel of the release – fast paced, with some brilliant vocals. The chorus is absolutely fantastic, and I’ve been singing it for days. Much like ‘Bleach and Gasoline’, it would be a standout track when done live, and I’m sure that Sorry And The Sinatras are more than capable of putting on a show.

The cover of the classic The Replacements song ‘Bastards Of Young’ is a really nice addition to the EP. Fitting in with the rebel tone, it also feels like a sort of lament – has apathy taken over the youth of today? Is punk rock even really still alive? It’s clear from this EP that Sorry And The Sinatras are going to try their damned hardest to keep it all going. It’s certainly a great take on the track, by all means.

Composed of ‘lost tracks’, The Kings Of Shamble Street certainly doesn’t feel that way. Confidently self-assured, Sorry And The Sinatras have definitely given it some bollocks. It’s hardly groundbreaking, but it’s an EP that’s definitely worth a bit of love.

3.5 out of 5 high fives!