Monday, April 4, 2011

Band of the Week: The Blackout

Ah, The Blackout. Currently rock with post-hardcore bits. Prior to the latest album, they were more post-hardcore. Welsh. Mad. Totally epically awesome. And this morning I got the aforementioned latest album and I can totally see why Blunt gave it a 4/5 star review.

I've not written a review myself yet. That can wait till I've had a few more listens. Besides, this is Band of the Week. This is my opportunity to gush about how much I love them. And I do indeed love them. The Blackout have grown on me slowly. I first looked into them about 2 years ago after I found out they were playing at Give It A Name 2009. Second billing, no less. I wasn't too fond of them then. But then, I wasn't at all fond of Enter Shikari at the time (who were headlining Give It A Name). That show introduced me to some awesome live bands. I fell madly in love with Enter Shikari. Not so much with The Blackout, but I knew then that they were amazing live. Late 2009 I found out they were playing the Kerrang! Tour in January 2010. Second billing again. Well, I knew they were awesome live, plus All Time Low and Young Guns were also playing and I was already in love with them. Once again, I loved The Blackout's live performance. Downloaded a few tracks.

Those few tracks got quite obsessively played and I spent several months trying to decide whether to buy their albums or not. In the end, I decided that while I loved them live, they didn't quite translate that energy to disc. And then comes the announcement of the line up for Soundwave 2011. The Blackout are in there. Along with a bunch of other bands I love. But The Blackout. I knew that even if I didn't get to see some of the other bands I wanted to, I HAD to see The Blackout again. Suffice to say, they didn't disappoint. If you've read my post about Soundwave, you'll know how much I loved that set. Probably the best set I've seen of any band ever. (and I totally just realised I've mispelled Soundwave in the title of that post. Oops.) So totally awesome. So awesome, in fact that I finally got my arse in gear and downloaded their albums. And then spent the next month up until today waiting for new album Hope to be released. Oh, so scrummy. The main album is brilliant, but the deluxe edition (not labelled deluxe on iTunes, but it's the deluxe for physical versions) includes four covers and two acoustic tracks. So so lovely.

Basically, The Blackout are awesome. Even more awesome live. They're on tour in the UK at the moment, but I'm pretty sure almost every show's sold out. That is how awesome they are. So, check 'em out (preferably live), let me know what you think and pass it on.

Assorted The Blackout links:
Official site
Last.FM
Myspace
Youtube or check out Epitaph Records' channel for some music vids

Recommended tracks:
From The Blackout! The Blackout! The Blackout!: I'm A Riot? You're A Fucking Riot!, It's High Tide Baby
From We Are The Dynamite: I've Got Better Things To Do Tonight Than Die, Spread Legs Not Lies, She Is Macho
From The Best In Town: Save Our Selves (The Warning), ShutTheFuckUppercut, Children Of The Night, I Love Myself And I Wanna Live, We're Going To Hell...So Bring The Sunblock
From Hope: Ambition Is Critical, Higher & Higher, Hope (Scream It Out Loud), You're Not Alone (acoustic), Save Tonight (Eagle-Eye Cherry cover)

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