Robyn Writes

Review: Thousand Autumns – City Of Sun [EP]

While Birmingham has long cherished its crown as king of the Midlands and birthplace of heavy metal (cheers Ozzy!), a new county is unashamedly dominating the up-and-coming alternative music scene: world, meet Hertfordshire. While Birmingham is angry and hairy, Hertfordshire has been toning, plucking and waxing itself to perfection-in recent years creating such shiny and infeasibly pretty entities as My Passion and their pals. Yet away from the blinding light of Kerrang! Endorsements and sharp tailoring, the unsigned masses of Hertfordshire, are producing music as impressive as any signed band I’ve heard in recent years.

Recently, I’ve been having a feverish and torrid love affair with young five-piece from Welwyn Garden City (well, haven’t we all?). Thousand Autumns, like many of their contemporaries, are a young and irritatingly attractive rock band with v-necks and trendy shoes a-plenty. Yet, when discounting their trendy clothing and inoffensive tattoos, their sound sets them apart. Imagine Funeral for a Friend had a drunken sexual encounter with The Blackout; Thousand Autumns could easily be regarded as their bastard offspring. While the order of the day in today’s popular rock scene is a pretty predictable ‘sing a bit, shout a bit, chanty chorus, sing a bit, shout a bit…’, thankfully these guys keep their sound fresh and clean by not wearing their influences on their sleeve. While everyone loves a whiny faux-American singer these days, I find myself ready and willing to embrace vocalist Josh Fox for not bowing to this tasteless trend. In every live performance and every recording, you’d be hard pressed to find a point where the result could be deemed whiny.

 Although the band are mere infants – having formed as recently as 2010, their Debut EP is definitely an essential addition to any music fan’s collection. While they’ve kindly offered it as a free download on their website, it is also available in a physical CD format, which I urge you to purchase as soon as possible. ‘City of Sun’ is an incredibly neat and polished creation consisting of four brilliantly written and infectiously catchy songs, including their new and increasingly popular single ‘I Chose Not To Remember’. Opening with a riff as catchy as swine flu, it evolves into an energetic and punchy creation with a great structure and compelling melody. Featuring surprisingly good lyrics and a great vocal showcase from Fox, the whole affair is incredibly well produced. No wonder its quickly becoming a staple on channels such as Lava and the like.

‘Sent to Erase’ proves to be a far heavier track than expected – while the instrumental score could easily have been lifted from a Bullet for My Valentine album, once again their identity is firmly stamped on their work through layered and brief gang vocals (which I strongly hope they feature more in later works) and catchy, slightly softer, yet memorable choruses.‘Terrified’ is a real showcase of the musical capabilities of the non-vocal members of Thousand Autumns, particularly Alex Williams’ lead guitar work. This seems to be the heaviest offering on the ‘City of Sun’ EP, and there really are growls aplenty, and a nifty little breakdown which one can never  complain about. Yet, as much as it pains me to say so, their lyric-writing skills leave more than a little to be desired, especially in the earlier verses. They’re not so awful that they detract from the enjoyment of the song, but they are dodgy enough for a listener to raise their eyebrows; ‘…tears of children come at night. You procreated, you’re a selfish human being…’ was a line I found particularly cringey, however nicely it was sung. Sorry lads.

‘In the City of Sun’ is the powerful title-track, which wastes no time in getting started and grabbing the listener. Thankfully, lyrical control is regained, as is their impressive structural control. While being the longest track on the EP, it thankfully doesn’t descend into self-indulgence, as is often the case. The employment of tasteful gang vocals and some thigh-quivering guitar work cements ‘In The City Of Sun’ as a particular highlight and a track that was made for performance- if you haven’t found yourself with an air guitar, or a hairbrush microphone, then you my friend, need a wakeup call.

 Unlike many other groups in similar genres, Thousand Autumns don’t sound like some backing musicians and a disconnected vocalist; they are very much a band, functioning as a single entity. Their dedication and ambition feels almost tangible, and their music screams potential. Thousand Autumns were made for greatness – and, as much as I hate to admit it, the future’s bright, the future’s Southern. *groan*

4 out of 5 high fives!

Review: Cobra Skulls – Bringing The War Home [EP]

Cobra Skulls fast became a staple in my listening habits straight away with their debut, Sitting Army. An incredible album where everything has ‘Cobra’ in the title. Every song sounded a little different and there were songs about the lack of a scene and well… preachers and manwhores. American Rubicon, the follow up was just as spectacular, and we were left begging for the Skulls to make an appearance in the UK. Now, they’ve come forth with a new EP, Bringing The War Home, representing the beginning of a new era as they move from Red Scare to Fat Wreck. Can it measure up to their previous genius?

The short answer, is of course, yes. It’s the Cobra Skulls you know and love, but unlike previous albums, it’s clear to see where some of the influences are from on this one. That said, it’s all while sounding completely original and is a great addition to their discography. As the name may suggest, it’s somewhat more politically driven than previous material, but this is barely surprising – politics has always featured in a Cobra Skulls CD, just not as prominently. Ultimately, it’s a great listen. It’s still fun, it’s still fist pumpingly brilliant.

The EP opens on Doomsday Parade. A brass section, in my Cobra Skulls? It’s more likely than you think. The brass section as the end, as indicated by the lyric “You’ll make me a trumpet in your doomsday parade”, works well, adding to that feeling of fury and brings a completely new dimension to the song. The song itself refers to recent and ongoing troubles in Africa and the importance of uniting nations against terrorism and dictatorships, a pretty noble endeavour. Bringing The War Home certainly means this throughout – every song connects an issue in the world to America, making it painfully aware that even if you think you’re disconnected from this world of danger, you really are not. ICE In The Night is an upbeat affair, its lyrics underlying something much more sinister, as people are kidnapped in their sleep. The juxtaposition of such a jangly guitar part and upbeat vocals next to such a dark subject simply serves to make it more poignant.

Hot Sand is possibly the central affair in this whole EP, both literally and lyrically. Written from the perspective of American soldiers and discussing the state of affairs back home as well as out in Afghanistan, it perfectly displays the problems arising from, well… everywhere. It’s certainly my favourite track on the EP for its furious sound and its hark back to a previous era – the Offspring influence over the end section can’t be denied. It’s short and sweet but truly packs a punch. Give You Nothing is a Bad Religion cover that fits well with the rest of the songs, and features Fat Mike as well. Cobra Skulls really make the song their own without losing any of the original sound that made the song so damn great in the first place. This song can also be found on the Bad Religion tribute album, Germs Of Perfection.

Closing track, Life In Vain, is the perfect ender. Right from the bass lead in, it’s a pretty dancey affair and while not quite as overtly political as the other tracks, it still tells of scene politics and the struggle of making it in a band. Truly, Cobra Skulls are one of the few bands that have to worry about being original, because there are no other bands quite like them out there right now. Life In Vain is definite proof of that. It’s not quite as forceful as some of the other songs but in that respect, it makes a better closing track – a peaceful, thoughtful lead out.

Every song is under three minutes, proving that you don’t need to provide some kind of epic in order to succeed. Every song is right to the point; an onslaught of awesome. For an EP, it’s pretty expensive in the UK, costing about £7 for a CD copy but trust me, it’s worth every penny. A fantastic return for the Skulls!

4.5 out of 5 high fives!

obligatory request update

Hello! I promised myself that I’d get something up this weekend. It would have been earlier but I’ve had a nasty cold/virus this week which pretty much knocked me out. So there should be something up later today.

If you’d like us to take a look at your work, don’t hesitate to email it to us – ripper[at]twobeatsoff.co.uk. Depending on what kind of music you are, either Kitteh or I will take a look at it and if it’s good, hopefully spread the word a bit!

xoxo – Ripper

Review: Opting For Oblivion – Tomorrow Starts Today EP

Opting For Oblivion, by their own description, are a ‘punk/rock/metal’ band, hailing from Stoke-On-Trent. Despite some lineup troubles, they’ve managed to get their act together and have recorded a new three track EP, Tomorrow Starts Today. It’s certainly an optimistic title, indicating a fresh start and a hopeful future, but does the EP provide that? That is the question.

Opening track, To Your Grave, was perhaps not the best choice of opener. I’m of the firm opinion that you open and finish with your strongest tracks, and To Your Grave is potentially the weakest song on the EP. From the offset, I’m struggling to find where the ‘punk’ is in this, or even the ‘metal’. Misclassification is a common thread in the British music scene, with bands often referring to their influences as opposed to their actual music. But that’s cool, I’ll let it slide. I refuse to let slide the quite frankly average guitar solo in the middle, which sadly permeates its way throughout the rest of the EP – it sounds a bit like a stuck record and admittedly, fairly grating. The vocals are somewhat tinny, possibly down to the production, but interestingly this doesn’t follow through the EP, which is something to look forward to. On the whole, the track has that generic rock feel, the kind you encounter all too often at ‘battle of the bands’ nights down your local. If you like that kind of thing, then this track’s for you. If not, skip to the next.

Next track up is 6/8 < 1. Interesting title, sadly uninteresting song. It starts out a bit more promising than To Your Grave, but ultimately becomes the same slow, plodding affair. Opening with an attempt at a cocky classic rock riff and a bit of melody, it sounds more commanding before sliding back into a slow vocal section, then back into the riff, and back again, then a bit of bass, but not a twiddly guitar solo – this one’s much improved on the last song, but it’s still pretty generic. It’s garage rock 101, but sadly not the kind to make you want to mosh hard. Or even really bang your head.

The best track on the EP is most definitely its last, The World Through A Broken Lense. Probably should point out that ‘lense’ is spelt wrong. The opening is faster paced, with less focus on the “rock!’ and more on the melody. It’s more impressive than the rest because it’s not trying to grab your attention straight away and in that, it actually succeeds to make itself noticed. The vocals are still a bit dicey; I’m struggling to make out a fair few lines. But it sounds right with the music and that’s what matters. However, the song reaches a logical end and then starts right back in again, extending it past what would have been the right length and drags it out, kicking and screaming. Despite this, it’s not a bad track and if Opting For Oblivion go with this kind of approach, the future will be much brighter.

The EP was recorded over the space of a couple of days, and if that means produced as well, then it makes sense as to why the production isn’t so great. On my ‘recently added’ playlist, it goes from this EP straight into a Youtube rip of the new Panic! At The Disco song, which in comparison sounds almost live. And we all know Youtube rips are not the audiophile’s first choice. The Opting For Oblivion EP is fuzzy in places, the vocals aren’t clear and the guitar solos are particularly painful. Whether that’s production or not is up to you, but personally, I think that this EP would be much more listenable if it was tightened up a bit and the levels were adjusted.

It’s not my kind of music, I’ll admit that right from the off. The kind of grungey, classic rock/garage rock doesn’t do it for me at all. The first two tracks are especially painful in that regard. However, the last track shows a lot more potential. If the band decide to take that kind of direction, they might just stand a chance.

1.5 out of 5 high fives.

updates!

Hey guys, new stuff up tomorrow. It’s been a bit of a long week.

Also, Kitteh has really really bad tonsillitis, so everyone wish her well! Hoping she gets better soon, she’s really been suffering.

And again, if you want TBO to look at your band’s latest release, please email me! ripper[at]twobeatsoff.co.uk is the one. Depending on the sort of music, either Kitteh or I will have a look and hopefully get the word out about your band! We really want to dig into the UK scene at the moment, a lot of good stuff coming out.

That said, my review tomorrow’s gonna be about Cobra Skulls. They’re American. But they’re super awesome.

xoxo – Ripper