Robyn Writes

Galactic Cannibal – Demo Tape

The latest demo tape from US punks Galactic Cannibal comprises of four tracks of no-frills gruff pop punk with the emphasis leaning very much towards the ‘punk’. Upon first listen, the aplomb with which the songs are delivered is instantly palpable. Lead singer Peter J Woods eschews half-sung, half-shouted blasts of lyrics from his haggard sounding vocal chords, deploring the world and fractured society in typically unsubtle punk style.

But underneath their ruff n’ ready exterior is a certain jollity which drives the songs along and injects them with a somewhat unique positive energy which few bands can authentically muster. ‘Hate Everything More’ is the perfect attention grabbing opener – “Hey! What you waiting for? Surrender to the world” Peter screams over blistering drums and viciously strummed power chords. This is four-chord punk at its best- gritty and straight to the point. The not so cryptically entitled ‘We’re Fucked’ maintains the breakneck tempo and introduces a melodic lead guitar line straight out of the pop punk handbook as Peter continues his scathing attack on society with contempt-filled shouts of “this world fucking sucks”. ‘Air Runs Dry’ begins with Peter melodically hollering over a distorted three chord riff before the band joins the party, leading up to a crescendo of anguished screams that declare “Take these arms away!”. Final track ‘Up Against The Wall’ kicks off with a classic pop punk riff, a deliciously simple lead guitar line and supremely disgruntled vocals. The track sees the band employ simple yet effective dynamics that holds back their collective attack before releasing it with unquestionable anger for one final blast of fury.

The ten minute demo is a brilliant little nugget of pop punk that stays mostly on the angry side of things. Whilst it doesn’t break any new ground, it does emit an infectious energy that is hard to rebuff. Galactic Cannibal’s back to basics style of punk rock proves that sometimes less is much, much more. This is in-your-face pop punk, with bells on.

4 out of 5 high fives!

Reviewers wanted!

Hey everyone!

Another recruitment drive for the TBO machine here. We had an absolutely fantastic year last year, and a lot of that was thanks to the amazing new contributors we took on in the summer. However, that does mean that we’re now doing better than ever and as a result, we’re getting sent a lot more material. We need some new writers to help us to cover as much as we can.

The position is unpaid, but you’ll be getting a ton of awesome music sent your way before the general public will get their hands on it, and you’ll be contributing to a fast growing site that receives over 100,000 hits a month. While we’re at current only looking for reviewers (both live and recorded material), there is plenty of opportunity to move onto other things once we get to know your style.

If you’re interested, please email ripper@twobeatsoff.co.uk with a sample of your work. Previous experience in this field is not necessary, but a passion for alternative music and the ability to write well is vital. We tend to expect two contributions per month from our writers, but we are flexible. We’re looking to take on another two reviewers at this time.

xoxo – Ripper

Interview: Life On The Sideline

This week, Ripper got the chance to chat with Life On The Sideline about their upcoming studio time, their origins and their incredible songs. Check out Outpatient, their debut EP, as a pay-what-you-want download on their Bandcamp.

You got together via a fairly unusual method – chatting online on Craigslist. How instrumental do you think the internet can be in finding people with a similar vision? And do you think it’d be the same band if you’d gotten together by different means?
You never know exactly what you’re going to get when sifting through Craigslist ads, it’s kind of a hit or miss type of thing. Nick and I (Ralph) had the same drive and motivation in turning music into much more than just a weekend hobby so I think that helped right off the bat. Assuming that we all still met through some other means eventually, I think this band would still be the same.

You’ve got a pretty unique band name – where exactly does the name Life On The Sideline come from?
We had been shooting names around for months and weren’t getting excited about any of them. We really wanted the name to embody exactly who we are and what we are about. I think it mostly has to do with most of our lives doing things we weren’t completely happy doing. I can’t speak for everyone in the band, but to me I had spent most of my life “on the sideline” going to school or focusing on work so this band kind of became one of my biggest priorities.

You’ve played shows with some other up-and-coming pop-punk bands in the US so far, like Major League. How has that helped you build your fan base? And will we be seeing you over on this side of the Atlantic any time soon?
Playing with more established bands has been awesome! We love playing shows whether it be with bigger acts such as Major League or I Call Fives or smaller local bands from our area. Fans of the national acts may come to the show to see their favourite band and could catch our set. It’s no doubt that these bigger shows get us more exposure and get more kids to check us out. Hopefully we’ll have the chance to come over to Europe before too long.

You’re going to be in the studio again this year. What can we expect?
We’re currently in the process of writing an EP. You can expect something heartfelt, honest, and some of the hardest work we’ve put in as a band.

Outpatient is only two tracks long but has already gotten you some very positive reviews (from us included!). How do you go about writing, and how will you be able to maintain that level of quality across a full length album?
Writing happens in so many ways for us as a band. I think that’s one of the best parts about us. A song may start off with a riff I wrote or a melody Nick came up with or a jam that just sort of spontaneously comes out during practice. We usually always know right away if it’s something we want to continue to work on. We all write. A lot. Between classes, on lunch breaks at work, in the middle of the night when we can’t sleep. Basically we are putting all we have into this next release and from what we have so far I’m pretty excited to put it out!

Pop-punk seems to be too inadequate and too simple to describe your sound. How would you classify yourselves? And where do you take influence from?
It’s tough, we all come from similar backgrounds, music wise, but we all listen to completely different stuff now. We play with a lot of pop-punk bands so I think we kind of get thrown into the genre. I don’t really know how to classify our sound, we just play what we feel and it just kind of comes out. Personally, a lot of my guitar playing comes from whatever I’m listening to at the time. I’m always searching for new sounds and new tones.

Although your songs are obviously serious business, you don’t take yourselves too seriously online – your Facebook page is positively hilarious. Does that help you connect with your fans, or is it genuinely just an extension of how you guys are with each other?
Haha thank you! When it comes to the actual music, we couldn’t be more serious, however when it comes to pretty much every other aspect of the band or even life we do our best to just laugh. We run all of our social media ourselves so I think it’s just our way of showing people that while life can throw you some heavy stuff, you can ALWAYS find time to just laugh and forget the small stuff.

And finally, what are you most excited for in 2013?
I’m excited for The Hobbit pt 2! Hopefully, I’m actually not even sure if it’s supposed to come out this year or not… Band wise I’m just excited to play as many shows as possible, put out new music, meet new people and trying to help my friends get through whatever hurdles they face. Thanks for having us!

Vera Grace – The Lucifer Effect

Despite being a relatively young band, formed in early 2011, the boys that are Vera Grace have toured tirelessly throughout the UK, earning themselves a reputation for destructive live shows and engaging every crowd. Now they are entering a make or break period in which they will be hoping to take 2013 by storm with the release of their new EP ‘The Lucifer Effect’ on February 7 2013.

Forged in the quiet town of Witney, a matter of miles away from Oxford University, the unsigned band can see their efforts mirrored by their fellow Oxonians, both being full of potential and bloody hard working.

Following their debut EP, ‘Rotations’, in October 2011, Vera Grace have built upon their reputation for crunching live shows with a violent brand of riff raging metalcore, noticeably taking influences from bands like Underoath amongst others.

The new EP gives pride of position to the raw, emotional, raspy vocal style of Stephen Nulty, backed by melodic but ferocious riffs and pounding drums. The thundering composition and infectious melodies show what Vera Grace can deliver, with lyrics that are solid even if they are nothing especially original or deep and meaningful, covering most of the typical themes from evil to a lack of human morality. However, even though the energy, honest lyrics and haunting riffs display all the best parts of the band’s sound, the vocals lack a degree of depth and power that is possessed by a lot of bands on the metalcore/hardcore scene.

That said, one song that goes some way to justifying the comparison to students at Oxford is the first track, “Carrier”. This isn’t because it is about tea and scones; it doesn’t have lyrics about boat races, but what it does have is a slow and purposeful rhythm, showing that the band really thought about this song and it wasn’t just the result playing all of their instruments as loudly as possible until a tune stuck. I’m not saying that is how most metal bands get together to record an EP, but when you listen to “Carrier” it is immediately obvious that the whole song has been constructed in a very precise way, something that is hardly characteristic of metalcore music.

Third track, “The Father’s Eyes”, shows another glimpse of the promise that Vera Grace hold for the future, but the repetition in the chorus can become monotonous. While it might have seemed like a point worth repeating at the time of writing the song, only the band will know whether its repetition was worth the sacrifice of any diversity and originality they could have injected in its place.

Judging by the EP in its entirety, there are a few things that need to be done if the band’s raw potential is to be transformed into something bigger and stronger which can hold its own in the wider world of music. Nevertheless, if they take the time to perfect their writing style a bit more and try to strengthen and bulk up the vocals, they promise to be on the frontline of what could be a new wave of metalcore.

2.5 out of 5 high fives!

Odessa – Carry The Weight

There are several things that pop into my head as soon as the word ‘metalcore’ has been slowly absorbed by my brain, and most of them don’t place the sub-genre in a particularly good light. For whatever reason the very first thing I associate with metalcore is “vest”, the second is “breakdown”. The third word that floats around inside my fuzzy noggin is “generic”, but then again the millions of metalcore fans around the world seem pretty happy listening to varying minutely-altered variations on the same idea. Emerging from Birmingham, a city with a fruitful heavy music pedigree, five-piece metalcore outfit Odessa bring their own take on beatdowns and vest wearing in the form of debut full length Carry The Weight.

Odessa have only been a band for about three years, but what is instantly palpable is that these five Midland lads are extremely musically competent, eschewing versatile riffs and nuances that are often intrinsically melodic. Carry The Weight features polished production that metalcore of this type typically demands, albeit to the detriment of any notion of the term “organic”, leaving the drums sounding robotic and robbed of much of their dynamics. Synthetic as it may be, the polish means that breakdowns hit hard whilst more melodically inclined moments are delivered with clarity. One aspect that can not be doubted is the sincerity with which vocalist Richard delivers growled snippets of bleak emotional turmoil. “You’re a memory I won’t dwell on” he screams on ‘Animosity’, a track which showcases the band’s dynamic ability as they alter tempo, switching from fast riffs to half-time chuggathon with ease. Each song however, rumbles past with at least one obligatory breakdown thrown in for good measure; each mosh moment seemingly trying to outdo the one before.

Unfortunately for Odessa, every track on the album sounds like it could have been written and played by pretty much every other metalcore band; bar the ones who have now decided that placing plodding synth-lines over the top of breakdowns is a good idea. The band seems to posses little or no desire whatsoever to commit themselves to creating any inkling of a distinctive sound or personality. Instead, Carry The Weight plays like a checklist for metalcore clichés. Whether it be the odd song of heartfelt ‘clean’ vocals in the chorus in ‘Breaking Point’ & ‘Carry The Weight’, the uninspired recycled riffs or the now annoyingly commonplace “bleugh” sound countless vocalists now employ to announce the arrival of a particularly br00tal breakdown, such as the particularly heavy end of final track ‘Complications’. It’s a shame really, that a band who obviously possess dexterity with their instruments and such a passion for heavy music choose to focus so much energy on imitating their similarly uninspired peers rather than providing pathways for which the tiring sub-genre can hobble towards genuinely exciting musical avenues. They certainly deserve an ‘A’ for effort, but an ‘F’ for originality.

2.5 out of 5 high fives!