Laptop broke. Again. Motherboard got fried. As Kitteh can’t handle the internet (IT’S TOO MUCH, MAN), then posts have had to wait until I’m back online. And as it stands, I have a new laptop and I’m ready to go! Midnight Beast review up from the other week. Enjoy. More to come soon! (including videos. that’s right. video.)
xoxo – Ripper
The Midnight Beast. It’s very hard to escape that name if you are a British teenager. A YouTube phenomenon, the comedy troupe have taken the internet by storm. Trending on Twitter and garnering over 250,000 fans on Facebook is quite the achievement in our new cyber-age. Naturally though, YouTube can no longer confine them and it’s up to the live arena to show us just what The Midnight Beast is all about. A sold out tour all across the UK confirms that YouTube just isn’t enough – The Midnight Beast are more than just a passing craze.
The minute I entered the HMV Institute, I was aware of two things. Firstly, I was the oldest person in the room bar parents. At twenty years old, this is a highly impressive (or pathetic, depending on your viewpoint) feat. Secondly, over eighty per cent of the audience were female. Perhaps the pull of Ashley Horne and Stefan Abingdon (Dru Wakely doesn’t seem to be gathering quite so many fans amongst the ladies) is just too much; a ridiculous amount of cheerleading outfits, eyeliner hearts and initials on cheeks and shrieking that could pierce even the hardiest of eardrums is commonplace across the floor. Maybe it’s my hardcore sensibilities. Maybe it’s because I knew that I was never quite that irritating in my teenage years. Either way, I could have decimated half of the audience there and then. What had I let myself in for? My sister and I stood, trying to spot the scattered males in the room, groaning every time a new girl squealed. The band weren’t even on yet and it was fast approaching 8. A range of school disco tunes – The Vengaboys’ classic Boom Boom Boom – filled the floor. Everyone was singing and dancing. Was I a scrooge for not joining in? Quite probably, but I was far too irritated to debate it. Doors opened at 6:30, what was going on?
I spoke too soon. The most horrendous ‘rapper’ strolled onto the stage, pet DJ in tow. ‘DO YOU LIKE TINIE TEMPAH?’ Hype Man Sage screamed, before proceeding to take a huge shit all over a Tinie Tempah song. There were vague hints of original material, but they were mediocre at best; a ‘comedic’ song about bouncers barring you from clubs because you’re wearing shiny white trainers was the only thing I really remember, and it was pretty bad. At one point, he asked us all if we liked dubstep. Everyone shouted yes. I’m surprised most of these kids know what dubstep is. Or was it just the excitement? The anticipation, calling them to agree? Or desperation, to get him off stage? I know that was my reason. Ludicrous.
And finally, The Midnight Beast rose to the stage, launching into latest single, ‘Just Another Boyband’. Dancers in tow and everything. The crowd went wild. I could barely see anything for a sea of arms raised high. I could barely hear anything for a while for the two girls directly in front of me screeching ‘OH MY GAAAAAAWD!’ at each other. But apart from that, it was pretty sweet! The skits work well when transposed to the stage, with fake katanas for ‘Ninjas’, a couple of male cheerleaders for ‘Booty Call’ and more make the whole thing seem just as fun and just as silly as on the internet. The Midnight Beast sadly don’t have a large amount of material, possibly making this tour seem a bit premature, but they still managed to fill a set despite having to rely on the covers (although of course, Tik Tok is what they’re known for) and a couple of the smaller skits such as ‘Walk With Us’. Interestingly, ‘Use Ya Head’ didn’t make the cut (it was pretty dire). The boys themselves seemed to be loving it, in their trademark jerseys and children’s t-shirts. It’s clear that they are enjoying every minute; the screaming fangirls blissful to their ears, if not to mine. Debuting some new material, with guitars and basses and everything(!), they couldn’t have seemed more happy. It was infectious. The finish on Tik Tok, their most famous song, could probably be heard echoing around half of Birmingham. And it was good.
Eventually, I found myself having a good night. Is it the Year Of The Beast? According to the calendar, yes. Do I see The Midnight Beast lasting past this year? It’s hard to say. YouTube fame can be shortlived; the minute a group gets it wrong, they drop instantly off the page, never to be heard from again. However, from what I heard in Birmingham, The Midnight Beast are definitely getting it very, very right. Here’s hoping that as they progress, their audience might grow up a little bit too.
I recently featured a laptop failure. As in everything broke. Screen wouldn’t turn on, I needed a reformat… everything. Luckily, I have a lovely boyfriend who did it all for me, but it did mean that I couldn’t update for a while as Kitteh can’t work the internet, bless her. However, there’s a new post just below this one, enjoy!
Also going to be working on getting as much new content out as possible in the next couple of months. Tell us what you want to see.
xoxo – Ripper
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!
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!