Robyn Writes

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!

Singled Out – Unfamiliar Faces [EP]

Unfamiliar Faces is probably a very apt name for this EP. From all I’d heard about Singled Out before picking up a copy, the one thing that was cemented in my mind was that they were ‘pop-punk’. Thinking that I knew what I was in for, I put the volume up and sat back. What I wasn’t expecting was a full on metalcore assault from first track ‘The God Complex’, and I honestly had to Google it to make sure I’d gotten the right thing! As I listened, I realised that actually, this wasn’t too bad. There were some great breakdowns, growls that had some fantastic tone to them and the guitar tone was really neat. It was a really good track, but my expectations had seemingly been torn in half by a musical great white.

It’s not exactly back to business as usual for the rest of the EP, but the pop-punk element that I was promised certainly rears its head. ‘Conor’s From Philly, And He Carries A Piece’ blends the two elements perfectly to create a wicked track. The guitars are poppy, but with a hint of something heavier. The clean vocals from Alex Muhich are equally as impressive as his growls, though at first, I couldn’t believe it was the same person – his range is truly incredible. That hardcore edge certainly isn’t lost though, as some impressive gang vocals come to the forefront midway through.

Singled Out don’t necessarily maintain a balance of those two styles throughout, relying far more heavily on their more brutal influences. In fact, it’s possibly the one complaint that I have about the EP – while every song is equally impressive, I’d love to see more of a balance between their poppier side and their hardcore side. It’s still incredibly difficult to throw them into any one genre though – for example, ‘Designer Genes’ has a far more rock and roll feel to it and ‘The Road Less Travelled’ wouldn’t feel out of place on a Parkway Drive album, even with the pop-punk hyperactivity fused within it. None of the songs on Unfamiliar Faces feel formulaic, but they’re all very well structured and clearly intended for a live forum. Finishing with ‘Through These Eyes’, a beautiful acoustic track, it’s clear that Singled Out are ambitious, talented and fearless. Currently unsigned with a debut full length planned for release early next year, I just can’t wait to see what they’ll do next.

4.5 out of 5 high fives!

Bowling For Soup – O2 Academy Birmingham, 24/10/12

Bowling For Soup are a band who always come with one motto – have fun or go home. Maybe this band is never going to headline a major festival, sell 20 million albums or play in front of the Queen, but one thing that can be guaranteed to the throngs of loyal fans queuing up from early hours outside Birmingham’s O2 Academy is that they’re going to have one hell of a night, and a great laugh to boot.

Live shows are the crown jewel in BFS’ legacy; they always tour the UK twice every year, bringing a stripped back acoustic set in the spring before returning in the autumn with a full band spectacle, and every time they come, they bring an impressive amount of energy to the stage. On that note, tonight’s choice of opening band is nothing less than a masterstroke. The line-up of the tour has been decided by the release of the album One Big Happy, a 3-way split album between all of the bands on tonight’s tour, but even if they hadn’t been on the new record, one feels that Patent Pending would have earned a place on this show simply through pure talent. The band arrive on the stage with roaring guitars and pounding drums, but the appeal of this band is instantly clear – and it’s pouring out of frontman Joe Rogasta in waves. The passion with which he sings, dances and generally throws himself around the stage is jaw-dropping, and he brings the most energy to a live show I’ve seen since letlive.’s famed Jason Butler – those who’ve seen him live know just how much of a compliment this is. He keeps the crowd laughing throughout almost all of his set, but also shows emotion; the impassioned anti-suicide speech he makes before “One Less Heart To Break”, a song written about a friend of the band who commited suicide. The raw love for his craft that Joe obviously brings with him to every show was on display throughout, particularly during a fantastic cover of Smash Mouth’s classic hit “All Star”, before winding to a close with the hilarious “Douchebag” – never winning any points for maturity, but at a Bowling For Soup show, one should expect nothing less.

Sadly, all the energy that Patent Pending brought into the room, The Dollyrots sucked away again the minute they arrived on stage. The members almost seemed superglued to the floor, unmoving in their straightforward “play the songs and leave” attitudes. The frontwoman Kelly Ogden has a sadly nondescript voice, not so much untalented as simply uninteresting; while the few attempts guitarist Luis Cabezas made to join in on vocals were nothing less than painful. They brought a half hour of boredom onto the stage with them, complete with a cover version of folk singer Melanie’s single “Brand New Key” – creating more ridicule within the crowd thanks to, of course, The Wurzels’ famed combine harvester-themed parody of the song. Indeed, many around me (and yes, I’ll admit, I was joining in) were singing the Wurzel lyrics in exaggerated West Country accents to keep themselves amused. The structure of this tour had to be questioned, with most agreeing that the main support slot would have been much better served by Patent Pending than the meagre offerings of The Dollyrots.

All this however was thankfully forgotten once Bowling For Soup’s intro track began filling the speakers of the Academy. The band made their way onto the stage to a tremendous ovation which they graciously took in before launching into a superb double of perennial opening track “My Hometown” and celebrity-satirizing super-hit “High School Never Ends”. From here on out, the show is a glorious celebration of the band’s back-catalogue, from classic Drunk Enough To Dance track “Life After Lisa” to more recent hits like No Hablo Ingles and new single Let’s Go To The Pub. An early cover of a song they are often falsely given credit for, Fountains Of Wayne’s “Stacy’s Mom”, sets the tone for a set full of self-deprecating humour, filled with the theme of Bowling For Soup now officially being known as ‘The Band You Can Wave To’ (yes, really) and the inevitable jokes about one another’s age, sexuality and even mothers. There was also a strange moment of band-swapping – during the closing riff of “Ohio (Come Back To Texas)”, the entire band were replaced on stage by the members of Patent Pending, who, it has to be said, finished off the song in style.

However, despite the bizarre comedy inbetween, the focus manages to remain largely on the music, a particular highlight of this generously lengthy 25 song set being the classic “Punk Rock 101”, still inspiring the loudest singalong in the venue more than 10 years after it was originally released. Surprises abounded throughout the song choices – I don’t think anyone could honestly have been expecting the sentimental “Friends O’ Mine” to pop up – and a good variation was a theme, although admittedly the setlist did rely slightly more heavily on best-selling album A Hangover You Don’t Deserve than any other. However, this is excuseable; after all, it’s the band’s biggest hit record for a reason, and seeing legendary album tracks like Shut Up And Smile popping up was welcomed warmly by the appreciative crowd.

BFS rounded off the main set with the inevitable 1985, their only truly massive song, breaking out of the rock scene and into popular culture, before beginning an encore by whipping the crowd into a frenzy with the opening riff of hometown legends Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid”, before somewhat disappointingly fading off into a cover of The Ramones’ “I Wanna Be Sedated” – still a great song, but perhaps in Birmingham, it is best to either play all of a Sabbath song, or none of it. (The point has to be made, this wasn’t the most bizarre cover of the night – that honour goes to their superb version of Britney Spears’ hit “Baby One More Time”). The night was brought to a close as all the members of Patent Pending and The Dollyrots took to the stage to party once more while BFS played final track “The Bitch Song”, but this was not to be the end as, in a fittingly weird end to a strange night, a fan in a head-to-toe penguin outfit was brought up on stage and proceeded to break-dance to a theme of Jaret Reddick’s beatbox antics.

Overall, Bowling For Soup presented a wonderful night spoiled only slightly by one uninspiring support band, but in the end, the impression from the crowd is probably best summed up by the name of the tour itself – truly, this was One Big Happy.

4 out of 5 high fives!