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Stuart McLamb

The Love Language
Nightlight
Chapel Hill, NC
April 17, 2010

A lot of buzz has been following the Love Language ever since the undeniably catchy “Lalita” hit the internet. It was just a few summers ago that frontman Stuart McLamb was living with his parents, suffering through an all-time low and finding an escape through a four-track machine in a rented storage room. (At least that’s the story that he’s been tellin’). A messy breakup, a great songwriter, and a little luck can go a long way these days. Demos of what would become the self-titled debut album made their way into the a small independent record store in the beach town of Wilmington, NC and it was here that an “executive” at Portland’s Bladen County Records heard it playing over the stereo. Bladen County would eventually release the arresting debut album by The Love Language. Meanwhile, a live 7 piece band consisting of close friends and Stu’s brother was quickly thrown together.

Having seen the original lineup, which had a magical on-stage chemistry, 7 times over the past year and a half, I was a little concerned that Stu wouldn’t be able to capture lightning in a bottle twice. Well, I’m very happy to report, in all honesty, that he did.

The Love Language

They opened with “Blue Angel”, a beautiful song off the forthcoming record that has a bit of a waltz to it. After replacing the snare that couldn’t even make it through the opener, Jordan counted off the fastest and most energetic “Providence” I’ve ever seen. At this point, it was clear that everything was going to better than fine since this might just be my favorite Love Language song, and they killed it. The bluesy ballad that is “This Blood Is Our Own” allowed the packed and sweaty crowd to catch their breath and sway collectively. Another breezy tune called “Anthophobia” on the setlist followed, but this one was new to me. This one has a summer beach feel, and it very well could have been written at the beach last summer since he was in Wilmington then. They pick the energy level way up with the psychedelic pop of “Sparxxx” which features some of the most powerful wailing you’ll ever hear, courtesy of Stu’s golden pipes. The anguish of the breakup can be felt in “Stars” and many couldn’t help but join in on the chorus. Stu’s first collaboration with BJ Burton occurred on the next song, “Horophones”, which was originally released on the excellent compilation of Triangle bands titled Hear Here.

And finally, 8 songs deep into the set, they break out “Lalita”, the infectious breakup song that started all the buzz on the internet last year. This song will never fail to disappoint. More times than not, Missy Thangs gets possessed by the beat and takes her tambourine into the crowd as she did tonight, as if there’s no way the stage could possibly be a big enough to contain the energy of the song. “Nocturne” and the 60’s infused and very danceable “Brittany’s Back” followed and here’s the video evidence:

The 45 minute set concluded with the upbeat “Heart to Tell”, the lead single off of Libraries. This was the first time I’d seen this song live and it’s an easy choice as the first single. After a few minutes off the “stage”, which meant chatting with close friends at the bar, they came back on to do a cover of Fats Domino’s boogie “The Fat Man” and closed out the show with an even higher energy song from the new album titled “This Room”. You can watch the encore here:

The Love Language

Stuart was feeling the love from the audience all night and to reciprocate he offered free shots to anyone and everyone as he left the small stage at the Nightlight. In many ways, this felt like a celebration of the signing to Merge Records and a homecoming. Up until last winter, Stu was living in the Carrboro/Chapel Hill area. But after signing to Merge, recording the new album with BJ Burton at Flying Tiger Studios made the move to Raleigh a must. With a lot of familiar faces in the crowd in about as intimate of an art space as you can get in the Nightlight, it seemed more like a party (and in fact, it was something of a birthday party for a friend) than a show. There’s no doubt in my mind that The Love Language is going to become a national act with the summer release of the new album, and many new fans will stumble upon a gem when they dig into the back catalog. But for now, Stu and The Love Language are still very much a part of the local music community and I think shows like this will always remind him and the rest of us how lucky we are to call this home. As for fans of the original lineup, this is a win-win because the new lineup is fantastic AND we now have The Light Pines to give us even more of the psychedelic pop that you crave.

Eric Chen

Click here to download the lead single “Heart to Tell”

Setlist:

Blue Angel
Providence
This Blood Is Our Own
Anthophobia
Sparxxx
Stars
Horophones
Lalita
Nocturne
Brittany’s Back
Heart to Tell
Fat Man
This Room

Returning to the UK for the second time in twelve months, Dinosaur jr take their ninth studio album ‘Farm’ on the road again – this time bringing some old friends in the form of the legendary Built to Spill.

Doug Martsch – Built to Spill

Built to Spill are highly regarded by almost all indie-rock fans and peers alike – their skillfully sculptured guitar noise is embedded in the psyche and its influence can be found in many contemporary bands. Tonight they look every bit the aged-rockers you would expect, fantastically un-touched by modern life.

The first twenty minutes of Built to Spill’s set tonight is forgettable – mainly because I missed the first twenty minutes… (who puts on a grown-up rock show at 7:30!?) – however, walking in to a swathe of orchestrated feedback is a joy. Watching a band so content in themselves is really soothing and the crowd stand in respectful silence at the alter of BTS. As you would expect, a mixture of old classics and tracks from their latest record “There is no enemy” get an outing tonight but “Car” is the song that we’ve been waiting for and it hasn’t aged a bit.

Heading to the bar in the interval I was greeted by a polite lady seemingly asking me for £3.60 for a pint of lager in a plastic ‘glass’… She didn’t even apologise.

J Mascis appears to be intent on deafening the whole of West Yorkshire tonight with 26 twelve-inch speakers and 4 amplifiers (that I could see) pointed threateningly at the assembled. They stroll on stage and without saying a word or a tentative tune-up launch into the guitar soaked indie rock we have come to expect. Although Lou Barlow made a few brief comments and thank-yous it was essentially a back-to-back wall of songs from start to finish, just as it should be. Classics like “Freak Scene” , “Out There” , “The Wagon” and a careful selection of tracks from their two latest records were played with a ferocity that many current bands half their age would give their unlaced plimsolls for…

Dinosaur jr

Mid-set, Barlow takes a moment to announce that the long time band member Murph has been taken ill and to make his replacement feel welcome. Although he didn’t hit as hard as Murph he was tight and an impressive last minute replacement… (anyone know who he was?)

Ears ringing, I left content, as drunk as I could afford and with a feeling of sweet nostalgia. It seems Dinosaur jr can do no wrong. Still riding high on their victorious return they are still turning out the best ear splitting indie rock money can buy and with the average age of the first ten rows under 25 it’s clearly not just nostalgia that is filling the venue tonight.

Rob Che

Built to Spill official site

Dinosaur jr official site

The Kissaway Trail / The Temper Trap
Cat’s Cradle
Carrboro/Chapel Hill, NC
4/8/10

The Kissaway Trail

The Kissaway Trail opened the show on a perfect spring night in North Carolina to a fairly packed Cradle. While it would later become apparent that most of the people got there early to get a good spot for the headliner, this 6 piece band from Denmark won most of the crowd over early with their energetic and infectious brand of indie rock. I knew next to nothing about the band, and visited their myspace just a little earlier in the day once I decided to go to the show. I listened to one song, “SDP”, and thought it was pretty good, but not necessarily anything unique or great. However, even from waiting outside in the cue to get in, I could tell this band had a great live sound.

As is the case with many of my favorite bands, it’s hard to place my finger on what makes them so great. Their songs are fairly straightforward and rockin’. The rhythm section propels in a manner that gives most of their songs an anthemic feel. They throw in splashes of melodic synth to give tunes a danceable quality. You can feel some of the heartbreak in the quaver of the lead vocals which draws in the sympathetic listener (and probably acts to repel some). And while the songs are fairly straightforward and don’t have many changes, they do tend to build up to a climax where frustrations are released and catharsis is reached through the banging away of instruments and soaring vocals.

The Kissaway Trail

The energy they put into playing was a reflection of how much these songs meant to them and this outward display won over much of the audience who were probably as uninitiated as I was. While some bands will try to win over a new crowd with banter or overdramatic playing or shoegazing indifference, other bands just have “it”. If you’ve ever seen Hammer No More the Fingers or the Love Language, you’ll know what I mean. You get the sense that these guys would bring the same joyous energy just playing in their living room and that there’s really nothing else that they’d rather be doing.

In the 40+ minute set, they covered a decent range of emotions, tempos, and songs, including a brilliant take on Neil Young’s “Philadelphia” (which can be found on their new full-length album Sleep Mountain). Had they not prefaced that it was a cover song, no one would’ve known because they made it their own in all the right ways. This is saying a lot because the original is one of the most haunting and arresting songs by one of the all-time greats. The Kissaway Trail definitely have their own sound, but it’s a mix of a lot of familiar sounds: some parts 80s, a general Brit-pop vibe, and the sonic depth of your favorite post rock. Needless to say, they left quite an impression on someone who went in with no expectations. I left the show with their new album Sleep Mountain and have given it a few spins. It does a great job of capturing the energy of their live performances and getting the most out of these emotionally-charged anthems. This will definitely make my best of 2010 list.

Setlist:
Friendly Fire
Beat Your Heartbeat
New Lipstick
Philadelphia (Neil Young cover, appeared in the movie Philadelphia)
Smother+Evil=Hurt
61
SDP

The Kissaway Trail – official site

The Temper Trap>

The Temper Trap

Even though The Kissaway Trail won over a lot of fans with their set, it was clear that many were there just to see The Temper Trap. From the second they took the stage, the crowd of 500 or so (very impressive considering it was a Thursday night and their first time in North Carolina) in the palm of their hands. It was pretty clear that they set up the stage to put the focus on frontman Dougy Mandagi. There’s also no questioning his vocal prowess on stage. His songs tend to have memorable hooks and he demonstrates good versatility as a songwriter, although most of his songs are co-written with other band member(s). He certainly puts everything he has into belting out the vocals and the sound is mixed to highlight his powerful voice. It’s a bit unusual for indie rock bands to be so vocal-centric and it’s difficult to pull off, but Dougy seems genuine enough in his delivery and just flat-out gifted that it really works with the audience. Also, it should be mentioned that this crowd was a little more on the mainstream side than the indie side, perhaps due to the band’s single being featured in the movie 500 Days of Summer. (Admittedly, this is how I found out about the band.)

The Temper Trap>

In any case, the band was energetic and powerful, even if they seemed more like a backing band for Dougy. This was all more evident when Dougy was the only one out signing merch after the show. With only one album to play songs from, they tore through most of the songs off the album and had a lot of the crowd mouthing the words to most of them. “Sweet Disposition” got a huge response and rightfully so, but their set had a great flow and there weren’t any lulls in the set. They seemed to stretch most of the songs out a little more and used some really great transitions to keep the audience captivated. At times, they create an almost disorienting wall of sound with their 3 guitars and the rhythm section as in “Resurrection”(link to video) and “Science of Fear”(link to video), but they also produce some beautiful atmospherics with in “Fools”(link to video) and “Soldier On”(link to video). They closed the set with an extended, 9 minute version of “Resurrection” which included Dougy trading his guitar for a drumkit midway through the song and some unexpected pyrotechnics (see the video) that had the crowd going wild until they reappeared for the encore. They opened the encore with a new slower song “Rabbit Hole” which had a very mid-90s Radiohead vibe to it. This song starts with just Dougy on acoustic guitar and vocals, drums come in later, and a jutting guitar line joins to build up to the song’s climax. They closed the show much the same way they opened, with a really loud and rockin “Science of Fear”.

The Temper Trap definitely put on a great show and they have a bright future as they straddle the line between indie and mainstream rock. Unlike The Kissaway Trail who have a common sound in their songs, Temper Trap appear to still be searching for their own sound. At times they sound like Coldplay, Arcade Fire, U2, etc., but the songwriting is strong and they have plenty of time to find their own voice. Fortunately for them, they’ve got a charismatic frontman with a killer voice to help them find it.

Setlist:
Instrumental Intro
Rest
Fader
Fools
Down River
Love Lost
Soldier of Fear
Sweet Disposition
Resurrection
Encore:
Rabbit Hole
Science of Fear

The Temper Trap – official site

On Saturday evening, The Cribs played The Dome in Doncaster promoting their, ironically titled, Ignore the Ignorant album. Support bands for the tour were chosen by the band and on Saturday night featured Los Campesinos and 70s punk icons The Slits.

Support bands with touring bands are often just label-mate-contractually-obliged pairings rather than considered partnerships; thankfully Los Campesinos fall into the latter camp and the assembled gang of music fans (I use that term loosely) seemed to buy into the indie rockings. It was good to see that all the hype this band received was actually deserved and they delivered a set as energetic as a puppy full of Mountain Dew… The British Arcade Fire? The best sound of the entire night was wrung from the neck of a fine vintage SG of the Camp’s guitarist though I think their version of Pavement’s ‘Box Elder’ may have been lost on 99% of tonight’s crowd. A great start to the night.

Within moments of The Slits taking the stage the mood quickly swings into the realms of uneasy before plummeting, within 4 bars of dub bass, into a full on attack of the band. First with ‘boos’ and chants of “OFF! OFF! OFF!” before physical attacks on the band begin, with bottles and glasses (albeit plastic) and even coins being thrown at the band on stage.

The Slits handle it with an estrogen fueled counter attack; “You guys need fucking educating, we invented this shit!”. This seemed to simply fan the flames and the attacks continued for the entire set. Some members of the crowd did what they could to cheer over the jeers in an attempt to quench the mood but The Slits set really suffered at the hands of the assembled gang. The band handled the situation with humour and retaliation in equal measure and could at least leave the stage knowing that, by finishing their set, they had not surrendered to the assembled hooligans.

The Cribs are known for a ferocious live performance but tonight seemed to have an added dose of vigour and unsurprisingly they berated anyone who took part in the attack against the Slits calling that “anyone who was involved in that situation shouldn’t bother calling themselves Cribs fans… we don’t need you”…

Statement from TheCribs.com:
“Just thought that we should write something about the Doncaster show last night.
Firstly, it’s pretty obvious that this band were disgusted by the way that a certain minority treated The Slits during their set. Despite putting on an amazing, powerful performance the night was marred from this point onwards by a handful of people throwing coins, beer and generally putting on a disgustingly chauvinistic display of small mindedness.
As we said from the stage last night, it reminded us of when we were opening for the Sex Pistols in Brixton a couple of years ago and we remember being really quite pissed off that the audience were too close minded to really give us a chance, so imagine how bad we felt when a band we have a lot of respect for and invited to play with us were treated in a similar way. The thing that bothered us most is that this reception can’t possibly have been anything to do with the music. Also, just to make it clear, these people didn’t bother or upset The Slits in any way AT ALL. They played on, and the show of unity from the rest of the bands on the bill, as well as the way The Slits carried themselves was not only a moral victory but also pretty moving. The only people these idiots upset or bothered was this band, The Cribs – and their real fans who had to tolerate being represented by the dick heads with the loudest mouths. It was so cowardly.
We were in 2 minds about what to do during their set, do we pull the show? No, that would be letting them win and making the night all about their behaviour. So we played.
We’ve never played in Doncaster before and we have to admit that we had been looking forward to this show maybe more than any other in our 6 years of touring, to be playing what is essentially our local arena was something that I was really excited about. I guess that when you play shows of this size you have to come to terms with the fact that you will have some people in there that have views that are way out of line to yours but it still takes you by surprise when it happens.
As we said earlier, I know it was just a small minority. We have met our fans all over the world and know that our fans are some of the best you could hope for, we’re not stupid enough to tar everyone with the same brush because of a few bad apples. We’re just disappointed that Yorkshire was represented so poorly last night to so many people. 3 of us grew up in Yorkshire and know that we are better than that. To our real fans, thanks so much for helping us salvage something from the gig, our show lived up to the aspirations we had for it, but there is no way that we can let these things pass unmentioned.
As Ari Up said “educate the person next to you”. To those who would rather treat our (or any bands) show as an excuse to indulge your testosterone – leave us the fuck alone – we have no place for you here.

The Cribs“

Well well well… It seemed a long time in coming and then… BLAM! It was gone… but what an amazing night!

After five bands, two DJs, 50 free CDs, 250 stickers and countless horrific scenes later the Destroy before Reading Hallowe’en extravaganza came to a close… Firstly, thanks! It was very busy, people were awesome to each other…

First up, on the four-band bill downstairs, were Airburst – mixing 90s grunge, 70’s groove with an alt.rock lilt to their gait they made for a perfect opener. Airburst are clearly tuned in to each others rock frequencies with each never looking for a reassuring look from another band member – and more importantly never apologising. Heads down. Horns up. If pushed, I guess you could say that the Yorkshire boys could appear dated but I think it is just testament to their approach to music and their far-reaching influences. Kings of Leon they aint and all the better for it.

Next in the saddle are SkullBone, voodoo make up ‘an all. SB rarely play so it is not a complete surprise the set is not as tight as it could be, with false starts and the odd stop for tuning – Rob even ran backstage at one point as he had forgotten to bring his guitar slide with him! It rally didn’t matter though as the crowd were on their side and their set of stripped down, ear-splitting, country-core went down like warm blood.

The unassuming acoustic guitar set of Californian Jake La Botz takes the stage (floor?) and quickly draws people in from upstairs – his blend of traditional country-blues has a real, whiskey soaked, street hardened edge to it and makes a real impression on the Rockbar crowd. This boy can holla! “Hey… it’s a full moon outside and this song tells the story of the howling wolf… hhhoooowwwwlllllllll!!!!!!” laughed Jake who quickly turned the crowd on to his bluesey drawl. California to Doncaster is a long way to come for a half hour set but I’m sure he’ll be welcomed back in a hurry should he be passing through again.

The night is now in full swing… the sounds of the 50s and 60s are wafting down from “Night of the swinging dead” under way in the upstairs bar…

OFM are drunk. Really drunk. It’s Ben’s (vocals) birthday today and he has consumed lord knows bottles of Newcastle’s finest export. We are all unsure at this stage if this set will actually happen at all…

Thankfully, the band are used to alchohol-induced obstacles and they launch into a set of their trademark alt-rock popness without hesitation. The songs written for their, as yet unreleased, second album sound great and it is testament to the quality of the tunes that, even played as loosely as they are tonight, sound every bit the hit factory that they do on record.

Once the downstairs bands had cleared, the party continues upstairs at Swingers… The five pieces of the Black Lightnings are crammed in a corner, pushed for time (aiming for a midnight start) and receiving little help from the aggressive bar manager – but eventually, after much pushing and shoving, get set up and ready to play. Rock n Roll covers are the order of the day and is perfect end to the night.

This is a band with people who play proper instruments, sax, guitar, drums (well, not all proper instruments obviously), upright bass and piano and make a rousing noise. Furious foot-tapping ensues.

Thanks to those who played a part.

GALLERY

Some photos stolen without permission from Nichola Stephenson’s Facebook. Thanks

I’ve decided to go into Doncaster town centre. On race night. I alight the bus from outside my flat at 7.30pm, having taken in sustenance in the form of two cans of lager, are we allowed product placement in reviews? It was Carling, not as pleasant a beverage as Kronenbourg, but it provides the necessary lubrication for my impending journey. The first few stops are incident-free, but alas, all this changes when we get outside the Dome. Three broads, of advancing years, totter onto the bus with all the grace of a dying wildebeest. All mutton dressed as lamb, the wrong side of ten stone and clearly well over their quota of racecourse campari and soda for the day. One of them offers the driver sexual favours instead of the one pound and eighty pence! At these sorts of prices, it’s a wonder any of the ‘established’ prostitutes in Doncaster are getting a look in!

Having avoided eye contact with any of these ‘women’ I get off the bus in town and begin the short walk over to the Priory, where I’m meeting Daniel at 8pm. Doncaster is packed. In the five minutes it takes me to get to the venue I encounter some unbelievable things, including, but certainly not limited to: Two people urinating in the street, one of which was a woman, a young charge atop a phone box bellowing obscenities at startled passers-by, and two of our towns licensed doorman indulging in what I believe used to be known at school, as a ‘dead-arm competition.’

As you can imagine, I am relieved when I get into the Priory and downstairs, where I purchase a pint of lager for two pounds ninety. After that journey I just do now care about the ridiculous overpricing. Having met Daniel the first act is on the stage (btw when did the barriers get moved? A splendid idea ). This young lady (Sarah Mac I presume?) with the strikingly blonde hair is belting out a few tunes at a keyboard, which are inoffensive, well crafted and tuneful , and seem to go down well with the crowd, which in number is pretty good for the first act on. I remember one of the tunes sticking in my head for a bit (admittedly it’s gone now but as the night went on I got gradually more drunk), and she seemed to interact well with the crowd, displaying a confidence which was reflected in her performance.

Now the next act on did something to me which very few bands do, especially now I’m older and mellow. They made me angry. Now I’m quite an advocate of the school of thought that music should be an art form , no real purpose apart from itself, merely an outlet for a persons expression. I do not know why these people are allowed access to guitars. Quite honestly, the worst band I have seen in a very, very long time. The singer looked like a line-dancing lesbian (despite being male) and the din they made sounded like sixth formers jamming in their dinner break. When the singer and guitarist broke into a rehearsed dance routine I had to go outside for fresh air. I could wax lyrical for many pages about why this band should never be allowed to play gigs again, but quite frankly, it is a waste of my time and yours, dear reader. I am not sure what they were called, so I have deliberately avoided naming them, in order to not embarrass the other band who could be confused with them!

Once I have sufficiently calmed down, we come in to watch Airburst. Wow. They were impressive enough the last time I saw them in Retford, but the improvement is immediately recognizable as soon as they are four bars into the gig. Playing with a joyous confidence, it is obvious that they are extremely well-practised, each has faith in the others ability to get the job done, which they do with some aplomb. The drumming is frenzied yet tight, the bass drives like bass should, and the faultless guitar never fails to amaze. The crowd is sparse, and it is to Airburst’ great credit that it didn’t affect their performance one iota, they may as well have been on stage at the Leadmill. On this performance, it won’t be long before they are gracing stages much more prestigious than the Priory. As Daniel said in an earlier post, one of the best gigs in Doncaster.

By this point in the evening I am tipsy to the say the least, I apologize for missing Girlspit, I have heard many good things about them, and I will endeavour to catch them live in the near future. We wander down to the Vintage Rockbar where Milli and Guy indulge us with some requests which we drunkenly boogie and sing along too. At half past twelve I decide enough’s enough, I’m running the line at kiddies football in the morning, it doesn’t look good to be throwing up on the touch line at 9.30am!

Many thanks
James x

Available on the jukebox now

Admittedly this is my first taste of Sheffield natives Dark Sparks. New single “We Are Just Flies” has a claustraphobic, darkly 80’s feel to it. Think along the lines of Depeche Mode and The Cure. In fact lyrically the song reminds me of The Cure’s “Lullaby” all spider webs and nightmareish visions albeit with heavy stop start guitar riff driving the song. Recently (according to their myspace) the band have added keyboard and a extra guitar to bolster their sound. It works, the band sound tight and dynamic, the song is well produced and singer Leigh Greenwood delivers a strong vocal performance.

With “Dark Pop” seemingly gathering a following in the last few years with Interpol, Editors and more recently White Lies garnering both critical and mainstream acclaim there is no reason Dark Sparks cant go on to find their own audience. The band have already racked up an impressive list of support slots and i hope to check them out live as soon as possible.

Dark Sparks on myspace

Geoff Rogers

Katsen | Let’s build a city

Plinky, plonky electro-pop still seems the genre of choice amongst the cool kids and I’m sure Katsen’s latest offering will slot right in. ‘Let’s Build A City’, taken from the forthcoming album ‘It Hertz!’, kicks in with what sounds like a mixture of the loading music from a Commodore 64 game and a 70’s science programme. With appearances on compilations such as “Bot POP” (Happy Robots) this is probably what they take their influences from but once the dual male/female vocals begin it just becomes linear and slightly monotonous.

The duo’s vocals do work well together and the music is well layered and constructed but personally I would have liked to have seen some more interesting twists and turns and more use of dynamics to whole sound (as illustrated on other tracks on the album) Don’t get me wrong, as a 3 minute pop song it does work to some degree and is quite in-offensive, its just a bit…obvious

I’m not the biggest fan of the electronic indie pop but I feel that this just doesn’t offer anything we haven’t heard before or does anything to push the genre.

Give me Clor or early Hot Chip any day.

Katsen on myspace

Adam Nicholson

Smokers Die Younger | I spy dry fear

Available on the jukebox now

Smokers Die Younger are the newest newest cool band in town to like. They are the kind of band that your cool step sister you have feelings for rocks out to before she hits the town cruising for like-minded flannel wearing dude called Curtis. They are a hard band to define, swaying from art-rock to hardcore to grunge with a spattering of dub.

“I spy dry fear” is one of the standout tracks from their debut album “X wants the meat” it’s not particularly revolutionary music, but all the band are ridiculously young, and I can’t tell if they are being ironic or not… it’s another take your brain out triumph, an obnoxious aggressive spaz-out that sounds even more outrageous after the third or fourth listen.

Sheffield’s art-rockers Smokers Die Younger are gearing up to release their follow up to their 2006 debut “X want’s the meat” with their new self titled effort this September.

I got beat up and hospitalised after their gig in Sheffield, July 2009.

Smokers Die Younger on myspace

Bobby Techno

Skeletons – Folks at home
That Fucking Tank – Awesome magnet
the beaus – class that drives the way (doyà remix)
Goodbye Good – Success
The Thieves – the Carnival
Mount Fabric – Drop Dead Girl
Guy Honeymoon – Worse things happen at sea
Smokers Die Younger – Spy Dry Fear
Dark Sparks – We are just flies
The Unfortunate Incident – Surrounded

Wowza… check it out!
Hit the link in the right hand menu to take a listen !

9 years on and 3 albums later (’00s The Art of Drowning, 03’s Sing The Sorrow and 06’s Decemberunderground) not to mention a considerable amount of mainstream success AFI release new single “Medicate” taken from their forthcoming 8th album “Crash Love”.

The first thing that strikes me about the song is how familiar it sounds, I wont go as far as to say its half arsed but a band like AFI should by now be able to knock a song like this out in their sleep, and maybe they did? It ticks all the right boxes in its genericness, Rocking intro?:Check, Shout along chorus?:Check, quiet middle eight that builds into yet another shout along chorus?:check big solo at the end for kids to impress their friends when the song inevitably ends up on the next Guitar Hero?:Check and don’t get me started on the clunky lyrics, sample line ”Can you describe what it’s like? I feel nothing.Can you feel this? Does its thing”

I guess the good news is that this is only a taster of whats to come from the new album so it remains to be seen if AFI are still a creative force or just another in a long line of bands that put an album out every few years because “its about that time to do so”. I still have my fingers crossed.
Crash Love is released September 29th.

Geoff Rogers

DAY 7

After much to-ing and fro-ing, it finally decided to be quite a nice day. The best part about Sunday is the gradual ebbing away of the weekend crown, until by 11pm the place is back to normal and you can finally find a seat in Udderbelly’s Hullabaloo. Quite fancied a game of giant Connect 4 there, but most of the yellow pieces had mysteriously vanished. Probably because they look exactly like the made-up drug Cake from Brass Eye. Who wouldn’t want their own piece of cake?

Spotted the balding one of Pappy’s FC in the Dome, and Stephen K Amos hanging round the Pleasance Courtyard. Also [a 1980s children's TV presenter who shall remain nameless - DbR Legal Robot] letching over some young girls.
“I used to watch you on telly when I was a little girl.”
“Well you’re all grown up now. Can I show you round my dressing room? Shep’s in there.”
“Wasn’t that John Noakes?”
“No, Shep’s my pet name for my penis.”

Shows seen:

Pleasance 25 Gala (Simon Amstell, Lucy Porter, Micky Flanagan, Idiots of Ants) – celebrating 25 years of the Pleasance venue at Edinburgh. The fragrant munchkin Lucy Porter hosts delightfully. Simon Amstell, looking disastrously hungover and genuinely shocked to be awake at 2pm, spins tales mostly involving his attempts to shag 18-year-old boys. Which is oddly what most of Lucy Porter’s material is about too. They must have so much to talk about. Micky Flanagan is likeably blokish with some excellent material. Starts off with the best bit about shirt buttons that Seinfeld never thought of. He stands to be a lot better known this time next year. Idiots of Ants are a four man sketch squad who’ve been gathering up awards and five star reviews like nobody’s business. Slick, slick performances and a lot of cute ideas – the finale involving all four of them romantically serenading a member of the audience is slightly Conchords-esque, but winningly played and properly hilarious. Why they haven’t been snapped up for telly yet is a mystery.

Tom Wrigglesworth. A loveable, lanky Sheffield comedian who has obviously been taking his Kitson pills – he’s even using the same intro music. Part stand-up, part story show spinning the tale of the time he stood up for an old woman being bullied by ticket Nazis on a train. Absolute comedy gold is wrung from the scenario, though it finds time to be quite touching too – celebrating the goodness in people and small victories over petty men.

Penny Dreadfuls’ Never Man: three man team who tread the line between full-on comedy play and sketches strung on a loose narrative. A thrilling tale of James Bond-style super-villainy and Prisoner-style strangeness. Maximum hilarity is wrung from the situations, and the trio frequently go off-book, enjoying far too much the chances they get to slap each other around. Smart fun – they’ve already got a Radio 4 series and the jump to telly can’t be far away, if only they can find a budget to match their grand imaginings.

Daniel Kitson’s The Interminable Suicide of Gregory Church. Dramatic monologue with giggles, in the intimacy of Traverse’s second room. Gregory Church decides to kill himself and starts writing goodbye letters to various people. This takes so long that the people start writing back, and the suicide gets delayed as Gregory gets too involved in life to think about his death. Kitson’s second show about death this year, though both are actually massively life-affirming.

DAY 8 – THE FINAL DAY

Last days are exhausting. There’s the inevitable late night before, then we have to be out of the rented room by 10am.. We’re getting the 7pm train home, so that’s a long day bobbing around with very little energy to spare. Plus, Monday is the day many shows choose to have a day off, so there’s not as much to see. We veg out in the Dome for a few hours as the weather goes sunny-rainy-sunny-rainy-sunny outside. I drag myself over to the Courtyard for Adam Riches’ Rogue Males mid-afternoon. Then force down my last Aberdeen Angus burger and meander down to the station.

Fashion styles this year: for the ladies, denim hot pants or denim skirt and black leggings or tights. Literally 8 out of 10 women are wearing this. I don’t understand fashion. Is the idea to not stand out from the herd in any way? “I look exactly like everyone else! My plan is complete!”

Meanwhile, an unusual number of young men are sporting fulsome moustaches. (Not, sadly, toothbrush ones.) Can they all be doing it for plays? Or is Burt Reynolds a bigger fashion icon than I was aware of?

Spotted: The short one from Pappy’s FC near the Courtyard – that’s very nearly the set! One of the Idiots of Ants in the Rogues Males audience (another one of the Ants plays a support role in one scene of the show). [The same 1980s children's TV presenter who shall remain nameless - DBR Legal Robot] again, in the Pleasance Courtyard, eating a baguette.
“Hey, lady! Want a bite of my ciabatta?”
“Isn’t that a baguette you’re eating?”
“No, ciabatta is my pet name for my penis.”

And Daniel Kitson leading a rag-tag bunch of friends and relatives onto the platform, like a hairy pied-piper, as we are waiting for the train to all points south. It’s almost as if he’s come by to wave us off!

Show seen:

Adam Richie’s Rogue Males. Manly character comedy involving sex addicts, anti-piracy operatives, big game hunters and Daniel Day Lewis impressions. Enough audience participation to make me very glad I’m tucked away in the corner. The centre-piece big game hunter skit goes on far too long for the number of laughs it generates, but that’s the character on the posters so it’s unlikely he’s going to cut it down. Fortunately, the Yakult-showering finale brings about a satisfying finish. It’s clearly not the five-star show Chortle thinks it is, but it’s big and brash and a lot of fun. If I heard right, the Comedy Award/Perrier judges were in the audience, but obviously they see just about everything at some point so that doesn’t mean much.

And that’s it! End of the shows! End… of the shows!

But what, I hear you ask, was my favourite shows of the year? Well, I find it hard to judge people I’ve seen before. I just wind up comparing them to all their previous stuff. And I’ve seen Kitson upwards of 25 times, so that takes time. Stewart Lee is on top of his game this year though. And my other half has now been converted to his comedy majesty, so that’s good.

Tom Wrigglesworth was wonderful – reminding me a bit of how I felt seeing Kitson for the first time. A recognition of a kindred spirit.

But the one I can’t stop thinking about is Colin Hoult’s Carnival of Monsters. So many bits stick in the mind. Not just the funny parts, but the magical parts, the eerie parts, the ‘what-the-hell-is-going-on?’ parts, and the ‘did-that-just-really-happen?’ parts. I’d happily sit through it again right now, just to check that it wasn’t all just a fever dream.

When it comes to live performances Sheffield’s Skeletons and the Empty Pockets simply ooze appeal. Strutting onstage, the former thisGIRL group instantly injects 10,000 volts into the building, leaving the hairs on the back of your neck not only raised but singed to the bone. While lead singer Liam waltzes through the crowd flashing a dazzling smile and jazz hands at unsuspecting spectators, the band’s dirty blues rattles the ceiling with delight.

Single ‘Oh Brother Oh Sister’ is an alternative gem, building into an inevitable chart smash, while ‘Pack That Suitcase’ leaves us in awe as the heavy rock riffs and honky tonk piano engulfs the venue. Then as Liam leaps to the ceiling rushing through the audience it’s clear Skeletons are the dirtiest, meanest group in the North, giving a stab of electricity to the brain that not even they can extinguish.

Ruth Offord

An oldie but a goodie from Reading 2008…

Andrew Kaye’s Edinburgh Diary – Part 2

DAY 4

Feeling increasingly blurry. Up for a stroll down the Royal Mile while the sun is out. It’s a kerrrrrazy place during the festival, if by kerrrrrazy you mean hundreds of overconfident stage school kids desperately trying to get your attention away from all the other overconfident stage school kids. Go early and they’re putting some effort into it. Go in late afternoon, it’s more, “Here’s your flyer, now piss off.”

There is also a massive quantity of street performers – mostly Australian, mostly riding unicycles. What is it with Australians and unicycles? Do they teach it in the schools over there? Period 1: Chemistry. Period 2: Unicycling. Period 3: Juggling unusual objects. The problem with the street performers is it’s always 58 minutes telling you what they’re going to do, followed by 2 minutes of actually doing stuff. I’ll tell you what I’m going to do and it’ll only take a second: I’m going to go leave.

Spotted Stephen K Amos and Phil Nichol getting interviewed in Pleasance Courtyard. John Hegley hanging around the Courtyard too. Definitely peaked too soon with the Clarke Peters thing.

Shows seen:

Colin Hoult’s Carnival of Monsters. Dark character comedy punctuated by some genuinely eerie moments and creepy little monologues. Any comedy/horror hybrid inevitably gets compared to The League of Gentlemen, but Colin Hoult is no pale imitation. Frequently spine-tinglingly good and completely unforgettable, this guy could easily become very big indeed.

Stewart Lee: Peerless comedy majesty from the crumpled Morrissey/squashed Albert Finney lookalike. Targets include Frankie Boyle’s habit of shouting down women on Mock the Week, Top Gear presenters, and the way adverts are appropriating and sullying bits of culture. He could easily be playing a big room on the back of his telly success, but he’s still at The Stand – an independent venue, and one that’s here all year round. Kudos, Mr Lee, kudos.

Paul Sinha is a gay Bengali GP who’s turned his back on medicine to be a stand-up comic. This year he’s mostly talking about his love of quizzes. (When I was channel surfing a couple of months back, I flicked over to Mastermind and said,”Bloody hell, that’s Paul Sinha sitting in the chair!” He came last.) Some really engaging stand-up, and technically he’s getting better every year.

Daniel Kitson: There are not many comedians who would kick off their show at midnight, tacking as their theme the inevitable death of everyone you love. Not many comedians would tackle the subject for a solid two hours, checking their notes openly and regularly. Not many comedians would tell a punter down the front, quite seriously, to stop laughing so much: “Could you try and stifle every third laugh? Thanks.” There are however many, many comedians who would give their left nut to be half as good as Daniel Kitson.

DAY 5

You’ll rarely see the sun shine constantly for two days (you know what I mean) in Edinburgh, but it can rain constantly for two days without even trying. That’s one annoyance. Another is the inevitable descent of the dreaded weekend crowds. I don’t want to sound like an Edinburgh snob – but I am, so that’s how it comes out.

These weekenders. They clog up the venues, buying up tickets willy-nilly; tickets I may have wanted. They have children with them – many of them – disgusting things. They clog up the streets. They get in the way.

And the weekend comedy punter is the worst. Beery groups of lads, going to see “him off the telly, you know, him. He was on Mock The Week and McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow“. The tiny-bladdered gimps sink four pints then go into a show. Suddenly you’ve got fifty people getting up to go to the toilet through the show, and in a small venue that really disrupts things. During the week people manage, somehow, to sit still for a whole hour – yes, a whole 60 minutes! Heroes! At the weekend, this skill is unaccountably lost.

Spotted Charlie Chuck sighing through the rain and crowds at The Gilded Balloon. John Hegley, Richard Herring & moustache, Ben Moor, and Daniel Kitson (finally!) wandering lonely as a cloud in the Pleasance Dome. Nicholas Parsons (again) and Marek Klang in the Pleasance Courtyard. Marek can make his face look almost human, when he makes the effort.

Killing Me Softly: there’s been a small but thriving theatrical genre these last few years at the Fringe – the dramatic verse monologue. And you won’t find many better practitioners of it than Richard Fry. Killing Me Softly starts simply enough with a man throwing a coming home party for his wife, but quickly spirals into a genuinely chilling story of family tragedy and domestic violence. And karaoke.

A-Team: The Musical: If there’s one thing more popular than turning things that weren’t musicals into musicals, it’s 80s nostalgia. Put those together and you can’t lose. A-Team: The Musical feels like half a commercial opportunity and half a labour of love. A sharper script would be nice, but if you expected anything other than a silly romp then you’ve come to the wrong place.

Pappy’s Fun Club Once you accept a certain level of shambolic gaucheness, Pappy’s Fun Club are the most innocently hilarious act on the Fringe. Open your heart to these four young comics and your world will be a brighter, less cynical place. Or, like the couple of pricks next to me, just say “This is gash” and leave half-way through. Your choice.

Rhod Gilbert and the Cat that Looked Like Nicholas Lyndhurst: Another turbo-charged near-hysterical rant about how the simple act of buying a vacuum cleaner can tip you over the edge. He sweated so much I thought he was melting. He’s playing a big room this year, on the back of last year’s success and his appearances on every panel show and stand-up showcase currently on telly. (NOTE: Rhod Gilbert is appearing at Doncaster Civic on Nov 4th – D_b_R Robot)

Andrew O’Neill: Occult Comedian: Vegan, heavy-metal loving cross-dressing political activist, Alan Moore fan and occultist. Oh no, not another one of those. This year’s theme being magick and occultism, it may not be surprising that he never ever goes for the easy or obvious laughs. The many laughs he does get are unconnected to his bright pink tights which are, nevertheless, quite fetching. A furiously intelligent hour of comedy.

DAY 6

It’s finally stopped raining. Now it’s blowing a small gale. Result? The ducks outside the back of the flat seem to be having a good time, anyway.

Saturday is crazy time at the Fringe. Not only do you have the weekend crowds, you’ve got all the locals out for a drink or 20 and a show. You’d be crazy to enter the Grassmarket without full body armour and a can of mace. There’s nearly a fistfight over a parking space as we queue up. The midnight fireworks capping off the Tattoo at Edinburgh Castle can be seen all over the city, making it look more like a warzone than it already does.

Spotted one of Pappy’s FC kicking back in the Pleasance Dome, that Lauren Laverne in the audience at the Frank Skinner Credit Crunch Cabaret, and Lucy Porter looking for Adam Hills outside the Assembly.

Shows seen:

Kiosk of Champions: When two stand-ups come together for a sketch show they can frequently become more than the sum of their parts. Stuart Goldsmith and Richard Sandling present lo-fi, quite geeky sketches with a good amount of amiable banter in-between. They’re a charming double act with decent material, though compared to Pappy’s Fun Club or Colin Hoult’s Carnival of Monsters it can sometimes seem a little bit pedestrian. Good clean afternoon fun.

Frank Skinner’s Credit Crunch Cabaret: Frank Skinner, Joe Wilkinson, The Magnets, Russell Kane. Skinner’s broad appeal draws an odd weekend crowd. There’s a family with two teenage kids down the front – they’ll love the paedophile jokes. There’s some goon on his stag night dressed as Rab C Nesbitt, holding a sign that says “I heart penis”. He’s going to get a shoeing before the night is over. And there’s a mouthy incoherent drunk Scots women somewhere in the back.

Skinner more or less holds the show together, looking like a little old man in his ill-fitting tux. Works the audience, hosts a little quiz halfway through. Probably just as well the audience are already on his side, though. I am predisposed to like Joe Wilkinson as he shambles on with long hair, beard and brown cardigan – he’s my demographic.

Some self-deprecating cliché free stand-up makes me want to check out his delightfully named sketch show Two Episodes of MASH. The Magnets are an acapella beat-boxing singing crew from the U of SA. Good at what they do. Russell Kane’s ‘whippet-in-a-wind-tunnel stand-up moves at a ridiculous pace. Gags and funny lines fly past every couple of seconds. An extended piece about getting caught masturbating by his gran send some of the old folks scurrying for the exits. Wish he’d stand still a bit more though, it’s very distracting (*whisper* I think he may have had a few drugs *whisper*).

Rich Hall: So well loved here he can get a laugh pronouncing Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as Army Dinner-Jazz. Playing (and selling out) the biggest room at Assembly, he has a following all out of proportion to his occasional telly appearences on QI. The Scots in particular seem to love him because he loves Scotland, and he genuinely loves Edinburgh – being one of the relatively few comedians who come here because they enjoy it rather than seeing it as a three week audition for Mock The Week. Out of the blue, a guy went to the bar and came back with two pints – one for Rich. Rich was genuinely quite touched. He finished his show by getting a man on the front row to propose to his girlfriend. There was a ring and everything. He actually did it. Sensing he couldn’t top that, Rich made a swift exit.

Andrew Kaye is a Doncaster-based journalist who has been attending the annual, world-famous Edinburgh Arts Festival for the last 10 years. Destroy Before Reading is proud to bring you his exclusive online diary from this year’s event for your reading pleasure.

DAY 1

Well, I have my laptop with me and I just about have a WiFi signal in my room – coming from an unsecured unknown source somewhere to the south-west of here – which means I can report to you on the 2009 Edinburgh Festival on a daily basis.

Yesterday a man walked right past me, close enough for me to wrestle him to the ground and whisper “You are good police!” in his ear. It was Clarke Peters (aka Lester Freamon from The Wire). I was so excited I had to ring my other half and gloat immediately. The gloating couldn’t wait. David Simon is supposed to be here in a few days, but if I see him I won’t wrestle him down. Motherf****er looks exactly like a bear.

Other things I saw include Hardeep Singh Kohli in a Superman t-shirt, a pair of Ugg boots abandoned outside my window, a tombstone in a toilet, and a sign on the church opposite the flat that says “Who is this Jesus?” This Jesus. As opposed to ‘that Jesus’, and of course ‘t’other Jesus’. I also saw a lot of complicated haircuts, and far too many popped collars. Young people today, grumble, grumble…

It was improbably busy everywhere yesterday. Hopefully that’s because it was 2-for-1 on just about everything and it will calm down for the rest of the week. Otherwise Edinburgh is going to achieve critical mass by the weekend and we’re all going to be sucked into some alternate hot, dark and airless dimension.

Two actual gigs were seen:

Wil Hodgson doing his monologues about being ‘the most started on man in Chippenham’ and doing a bit of light Danny Dyer baiting. Awesome as usual.

David O’Doherty in a big room doing his difficult ‘Year after winning the Perrier Award, everyone’s bringing their mum to see me’ show. I took my mum (and dad) to see his show. They enjoyed it and so did I. The very low energy musical whimsy was as advertised.

And now the sun is coming out! So it’s time for the ritual scouring of the second hand book shops – a venerable tradition.

DAY 2

I was optimistic about the sun coming out. On Day 2 I mostly saw rain and the insides of bookshops. Bought some David Eggars, Alain De Botton, Richard Brautigan, and Jon Ronson.

Also saw a man dressed as a demon in a dark suit chatting and walking with a perfectly normal woman with a pram. It’s the juxtaposition that does it.

They have those Dyson Air Blades in a lot of the toilets now. Nothing makes me feel like I’m living in the future so much as a Dyson Air Blade. I never used to wash my hands. Now I go to the toilet JUST to wash my hands. Too much information?

Later on I saw Dan Antopolski and Wil Hodgson, but neither of these are first-class sightings. After all, Hodgson has bright pink hair. He’s highly visible. And Antopolski is very tall. Been here nearly two days and not a single Kitson sighting. He’s going to start thinking I’ve given up stalking him if I’m not careful.

School For Scandal. Star-studded production (Lionel Blair! Stephen K Amos! Phil Nichol! Marcus Brigstocke! Er… Paul Foot!) Exuberant, silly, hugely self indulgent. Significantly, very few of the laughs came from the actual Sheridan play but from the clowning around and anachronistic references. Director Cal McCrystal used to direct the Mighty Boosh shows, don’t ya know. A peerless orchestrator of onstage chaos, he is.

Pajama Men Awesomely slick, likeable American sketch duo flitting from character to character in the blink of an eye. A tight and constantly inventive 60 minutes. Must surely see a nomination or two come their way.

Andrew Lawrence. Twisted little ginger comedy elf. The show’s called ‘Soul-Crushing Vicissitudes of Fortune!’ and fully lives up to that title. It’s essentially a series of verbally dexterous foul rants. Expect him to not be on Michael Mcintyre’s Comedy Roadshow anytime soon. At gigs like this, it’s always fun looking around and seeing who really isn’t enjoying it at all but is too polite/stuck in a row/with their partners to leave. There were a few with faces like thinder. Thinder? Yes, thinder – it’s thin thunder. <– this is a Spike Milligan joke.

It genuinely is sunny this morning. So by noon it’ll probably be hail-stoning.

DAY 3

My room is ankle-deep in flyers and free magazines. I am existing on a diet of red wine and Aberdeen Angus burgers. I think I’m getting shin splints from all the walking on wet cobbles. Everywhere you want to get to is uphill. I haven’t even seen my room between the hours of noon and midnight. I am tired.

What was the weather like today? At 11am it was sunny. At noon it was raining. At 1pm it was sunny. At 2pm it was raining. At 3pm it was sunny. And so on. It was, however, windy all day. Result?

Can a man shop for books while having his crotch sniffed by a massive dog? Yes, I can confirm that he can, or at least I can. The second hand bookshop off the Grassmarket is small and dark with narrow aisles. Not the ideal place to have a massive dog wandering free. I had to step over him to get inside, at which point he took a liking to me and followed me wherever I went. When I left, it was touch and go whether he was going to follow me down the street. He didn’t in the end, but seemed sad to see me go.

There were sightings of Mark Thomas, Nicholas Parsons, Simon Munnery, Anthony Costa (?!), and Dan Antopolski. I realise I may have peaked too soon with Clarke Peters, but that is often the way with these things.

Woody Allen’s God sees me breaking my golden rule: no student productions. But it was worth it because I’ve never seen a production of this 1970s play before. Woody very rarely allows it to be staged. Maybe he’s realised his reputation can’t go anywhere but up at this point. Anyway, excellent, inventive staging and performances do full justice to this early, funny play. Two Greek dramatists are putting on a play, when they realise that they are themselves characters in a play. And so are the audience. Then Blanche DuBois turns up, and God dies in a freak accident.

Laura Solon The former Perrier winner is a very talented character comedian. Her show is packed with sharp lines but the whole thing is hung on an uninvolving story that doesn’t really pay off. Still, deserves better than playing third fiddle to Harry Enfield on his last TV show.

Richard Herring’s Hitler Moustache He is absolutely on fire this year, with a strong theme and the material to back it up. A breakneck series of ruminations on racism and related topics, with only one or two cheap knob gags thrown in, it’s obvious that this inch of upper-lip hair has brought out the best in him. Can a comedian get a Perrier nomination after 20-odd years of fringing? Probably not, but that’s a shame.

It genuinely looks like a nice day today. It’ll probably be a tsunami by lunchtime.