Band of the Week: Marmozets, McFly and more!

So, we'll kick off this week with Marmozets. Female fronted math rock. Very scrummy. For now, let's have their most recent single, Good Days, which you can download from their BandCamp page. There's also a great video to go with it which I posted HERE.



Then we'll have the pop-rock band McFly. Because I love them. Also, their new single is rather more awesome than their other recent material. So let's have the video to said new single, Love Is Easy.

Next up, this piece of... almost loveliness. It's a track by Neil Finn which is going to be included on the soundtrack to the upcoming film, The Hobbit. I wasn't too sure about it when I first listened, but I think it's growing on me. Have a listen - see what you think.

Finally, a band I found by accident courtesy of the latest episode of the excellent QI. They're called Maxillofacial Death Pyramid. Forgive the slightly weird name, they're actually pretty decent. Let's call it hardcore punk. Probably not quite the right genre, but that's what their Bandcamp says and I suck at genres.


That'll do for this week, I think.

Band of the Week: Sleepbringer, Silver Loves Mercury and more!

Why hello thar, lovelies. Sorry Band of the Week's been a bit AWOL the last few weeks - blame revision and my parents' poor internet connection. To make up for it, let's have a nice big BotW feature, shall we?

Let's kick off with some doom metal in the form of Canadian band Sleepbringer. Check out the only music I've been able to find by them, Compendium:


Next up,Texas-based hard rockers Silver Loves Mercury. Wonderfully dirty, female fronted sleaze. Just a Facebook link for these guys - HERE. Well, there's some videos too, but they're not the best quality, so that'll have to do.

Then, because I finally got round to looking them up a few weeks back, let's have the delicious Alice In Chains. Grungy goodness. Streams of some tracks can be found on their site HERE. Let's also have a video. Here's Would? from the album Dirt.

Following on, Ivyrise - pop rock loveliness from the main support band on McFly's recent UK tour. Here's latest single Line Up The Stars from their self-titled debut album.

And finally, the most awesome With Knives, a new(ish) project from Josh Newton (of numerous bands, including Every Time I Die) and Joe Trohman (yes, that dude from Fall Out Boy). Stoner rock? Probably. Not an area I'm overly familiar with, but I've just seen a comparison (from a trusted dude) to QOTSA and Baroness. I'm going to take that as a good sign. Here's their just-released debut EP, Schadenfreude:


Will that do, or would we like more scrumminess? More?

One more. Not exactly a band, but this is from the guys at Hat Films who do gaming videos on YouTube. They make pretty much all of the music for their vids and this materialised out of a recent Minecraft video.

Hopefully Band of the Week should go back to being regular now I have a decent net connection again.

McFly at Norwich UEA, 3/4/12

McFly at Norwich UEA, 3/4/12 (support from Lost? and Ivyrise)

First off, I feel the need to point out that I'm still pissed that the early access I should have had as a member of McFly's SuperCity never materialised. Either I was being blind/stupid or it was very poorly organised/non-existent. Not impressed. I spent an hour standing in the pouring rain to get into this gig. Now, I don't mind rain, but I was informed early access would be half an hour before everyone else. Was it? Apparently not. Ugh.

Say hello to the queue!

Rant over. On with the review!

Kicking off the night's proceedings were local band Lost?, who won the opening slot in a "Battle Of The Bands" style thingumiwotsit on McFly's website. Their brand of pop-punk is pretty generic, but they seemed to be enjoying themselves and it went down well with the audience, so it's all good there. I'm struggling, though, to form a solid opinion of them given that their set was a grand total of 3 songs long. Three songs isn't really much ground to form a decent opinion. And I'm slightly concerned I've inadvertently offended them by calling them bland on Twitter...

Moving on from random worrying about who may or may not have taken offence at what, Ivyrise took to the stage as main support. Again, fairly generic pop rock, but good, catchy, sing-along-able stuff. Strangely, one of the heavier points of their set was a rather awesome cover of Adele's Set Fire To The Rain. One moment, I'll see if I can find a decent video, because it really does warrant checking out.

OK, so it's not a "live" live version, but it'll do. It's better than a poor quality version from one of the shows. Anyhoos, great set from Ivyrise - highly recommend checking them out. I believe they have an upcoming headline tour - dates are HERE.

And so finally, we come to the headliners. McFly. And oh how I love them. Where to start? Well, I was particularly happy that their set had a good mix of old and new, especially since I'm really not keen on most recent album Above The Noise. There were a few new songs thrown in - Do What You Want, Red and Touch The Rain - all of which sounded pretty good, especially Red. Stand outs among a set of fan favourites were Everybody Knows and its descent into a medley of covers and the set finale of debut single Five Colours In Her Hair which ended in a wonderfully funky outro. Given that Five Colours turned 8 years old a couple of weeks ago, this seemed pretty appropriate. However, my personal favourite part of the set had to be the medley of POV (intro only), She Falls Asleep and Down Goes Another One. This is largely because Down Goes Another One is my favourite McFly track. It's a beautiful song and I was so happy it was included.

There was also plenty of banter. The only other time I've seen McFly live was on their first ever tour with Busted back in 2004, so it was great to see how confident they are onstage now. Plenty of humour, although I'm not sure some of the parents present would have approved, what with the talk of teabagging and numerous mentions of cock. It's also hilarious to see how they encourage the fandom of slash pairings revolving around the band. I've rarely seen a band so (apparently) aware of what goes on in the more... mature... corners of their fanbase. All in all, a great gig and McFly certainly lived up to my expectations. My inner teenage fangirl is incredibly happy.

McFly setlist:
Nowhere Left To Run
One For The Radio
Star Girl
I Wanna Hold You
Transylvania (first verse only)
Do What You Want (new song)
Broccoli
Lies
Red (new song)
Sorry's Not Good Enough
POV/She Falls Asleep/Down Goes Another One (medley)
Obviously
All About You
No Worries
Touch The Rain (new song)
Everybody Knows + cover medley (Livin' On A Prayer/We Found Love/What Makes You Beautiful/I Wanna Dance With Somebody)
Five Colours In Her Hair

Encore: Walk In The Sun
Encore: Shine A Light

Band of the Week: P!nk

OK, artist, not band, but I have a slightly pernickety personality. I like consistency, so I'm not changing titles just to fit. Ahem. Moving on.

P!nk. Not exactly a new artist. Her debut album came out all the way back in 2000 and at the time she had a totally different sound. From the more R&B oriented Can't Take Me Home, there was a marked change in her sophomore album, Missundaztood towards a more rock-influenced sound. Missundaztood was the first album of P!nk's that I owned. Someone bought it for me at Christmas one year. I don't remember asking for it and to be honest, I don't think I was all that into P!nk at the time. But that album really grew on me. It became part of the soundtrack to my teenage years. Songs like Don't Let Me Get Me spoke to my teenage angst, as I'm sure they did to others. Missundaztood was a pop album with attitude.

And that's what I love so much about P!nk. She has this amazing attitude. Moving on through third and fourth albums Try This and I'm Not Dead, that attitude moved from angst and anger towards a more grown up feeling. She takes the opportunity to poke fun at the industry as well, which I always love. Tracks like Stupid Girls (from I'm Not Dead) take all that's wrong with celebrity and just take the piss. And then there's the more political side. The beautiful track Dear Mr President (from I'm Not Dead) takes the form of an open letter to then-President George W. Bush, asking just what he thinks of certain situations: the war in Iraq/Afghanistan, gay rights, the No Child Left Behind policy, homelessness among others. The line "How do you sleep while the rest of us cry?" has to be one of the most beautiful, simple lines I've heard.

It's tracks like that which also show the power in P!nk's voice. It shows her versatility - to go from very rock-driven songs, through acoustic and R&B and still she sounds amazing.

I've not listened to Funhouse - haven't got round to buying it yet, but I'm sure, going by the singles, it'll be just as wonderful as the previous three albums. As for Can't Take Me Home, R&B isn't my thing. I've heard a couple of tracks from it and they're undeniably P!nk, but, yeah, not my thing.

Y'know what's really great about her though? She makes fun music. Stupid Girls, Get The Party Started, Trouble, So What and so many others are just fun songs that make you smile, make you dance and make you happy. They're a wonderful balance to the more emotional or serious moments of her music. P!nk gave me the soundtrack of my teenage years and I would be perfectly happy if she'd do the same for the next few years as well.

Assorted P!nk links:
Myspace
Last.FM
Official Site

Recommended tracks:
From Missundaztood: 18 Wheeler, Don't Let Me Get Me, Numb, Catch-22, Just Like A Pill, Get The Party Started
From Try This: Trouble, Oh My God (feat. Peaches), Hooker, Try Too Hard, Humble Neighbourhoods
From I'm Not Dead: Dear Mr President (feat. Indigo Girls), U + Ur Hand, Fingers, I Have Seen The Rain (feat. James T Moore), The One That Got Away, Conversations With My 13 Year Old Self

Review: Above The Noise by McFly

'K, so I'm actually beginning to write this before I even have the album. Partly because I'm bored as hell, mainly because I'm ridiculously over excited about getting my hands on the damn thing. OK, so not physically getting my hands on it, because it's a download, but I know what I mean.

Bahahahaha, I have it. Please bear in mind I wrote this after only 2 play-throughs, so I'm bound to pick up on different stuff after I've listened to it a bit more. Also, this is getting posted in a couple of other places, so if it reads a bit funny, that's why. Here goes.

Behold, I actually got my arse in gear and wrote a review for the first time in weeks. Happy times all round. Plus, I’ve been waiting ages for this damn album. Prepare for babbles and rambling and general fangirl-ishness.

Firstly, much as I was looking forward to hearing Above The Noise, I was a little apprehensive. I heard Party Girl months back and I hated it. I honestly couldn’t stand it. It sounded way too much like one of my favourite bands had jumped on the electro-pop bandwagon. I’ve been hoping Above The Noise wouldn’t just be more of the same. I am happy to say that it’s not. It’s made of epic awesome and has totally restored my faith in McFy.

So, OK, it doesn’t have so much of the rock edge that previous albums, particularly Radio: ACTIVE, have had, but it’s not as electro-poppy as I thought it might be. The synth elements are strong, but they’ve been used in harmony with the stronger rock elements. I noticed this particularly on End Of The World, the opening track and this rather set the tone for the rest of the album. Party Girl is still stronger on the electro/dance elements that I would like, but it’s finally started growing me. And hey, it fulfils its purpose – it makes me want to dance. I dread to think what my housemate thought when I was prancing madly around my bedroom listening to it earlier. He already thinks I’m mad (he’s right, but shush). Although, I have to agree with a number of other people – that opening does sound awfully like Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance. Not necessarily a bad thing, but the fact that when I first heard it, I thought I’d got the wrong thing playing isn’t a good thing either. If U C Kate is a good enough song in itself, but I wish bands wouldn’t play around with the “not-so-subtly-hidden-expletives” in song titles. It’s not original in the slightest, and the song doesn’t really call for it. It’s a lovely, almost laidback track and I’ve noticed a number of people pointing out that The Script have a song called If You See Kay, which was only released in 2008. They could’ve given the track a different, more original name and it would’ve avoided a lot of confusion.

Then there’s the simply magical Shine A Light. Not much to say here – I love it. It’s more like the McFly I grew up loving. So there’s still that electro element, but it’s smaller and it fits nicely into the track. Never thought I’d like a track with Taio Cruz in it, but this song has proved me wrong. Just a stunningly beautiful track.

All in all, a wonderful album. I don’t rate it as highly as McFly’s past work, but I can see it growing on me. A lot. Stand out tracks are Shine A Light, Nowhere Left To Run and This Song. I can’t resist a good 5 minutes plus track.

Band of the Week: McFly

Thought I should probably have something that I can post regularly, to get me to remember I actually have a blog. Every week or so, I'll just pick a band I love to talk about, be it the band themselves, a concert/album/song of theirs or how I came across them. This week, I've picked McFly. They're a British pop-rock band who first gained attention in 2004. Indeed, that's when I first heard of them. Actually, the first time I heard of them was when I saw them play as support to Busted in March of that year. And, oh, they were so young. I would've been 13 at the time, it was one of my first concerts (the first being Atomic Kitten) and both my sister and I were pretty huge fans of Busted. I think we spent the time before the start of the show reading the little leaflet about the two support acts. I was amazed to find that the youngest member of McFly was at that time only 3 years older than me, just 16. I hadn't really got into music at this point and I had this perception of bands as being in at least their 20s if not older. Weird, I know. But anyway, straying from the point here.

I was much more enamoured with McFly than my sister was. I got their debut album for my 14th birthday, defended them against my friends who said they were too much like Busted and generally maintained a love of them throughout my time at secondary school, even as I started delving into more alternative music. McFly for me have always been amazing, no matter how poppy or mainstream they may be. They have a rock edge that when they first started out wasn't really visible in the British charts, at least not to my 13 year old self.

So I held onto them and strangely enough, it's some of their tracks that have got me through when I've been feeling low. And I mean, really low. Unlike so many people I know, I didn't fall back on the alternative, angry or emo. I dived straight into Radio: ACTIVE, Room On The Third Floor and Motion In The Ocean. I saw no point in hiding in music full of negative emotion when I could lighten the mood with some good pop sensibility.

There's been a slow, but noticeable progression in McFly's music. From the pop-rock, slightly Beatles-inspired beginnings of Room On The Third Floor, they've headed further down the rock route, culminating in 2008's Radio: ACTIVE, my second favourite McFly album after ROOTF. I love that progression. It shows they've matured, along with their fans, who are probably mostly around my age. Radio: ACTIVE also had some great moments in which the band acknowledged their position as a radio, chart-friendly band and laughed in the face of all the haters. One For The Radio took the comments about them being poppy and meaningless and accepted it. Yes, they are a pop-rock band. Yes, they do make music that's enjoyed by what I commonly, derogatively term teeny-boppers. But to many, including me, their music has more meaning than a lot of the chart stuff.

Imagine my horror when I heard their first single from their upcoming 5th album. Party Girl took all that pop-rock goodness and, on first listen at least, threw it away. I hated it. It's all electro, synths and POP. Just pop. And with electro and synth stuff being so big in the charts recently, I couldn't help but think that one of my favourite bands had gone and jumped on the bandwagon. Any alternative, rock, metal band had done this, it'd be called selling-out, but you can't sell out if you've already sold out, right? That makes little sense, but I know what I mean. Try as I might, I can't get myself to like Party Girl. I've listened to it so many times and every time, my brain just tells me it's not McFly. If I say anything though, especially on sites where there are other fans, I get bashed. Why? Because all bands change. I know this, I've used it as an argument against haters before. I've seen other bands I love change over their careers. But there's change and there's jumping on the bandwagon because that's what'll sell. I wasn't impressed.

I was so relieved when I heard their next single, Shine A Light. I'd decided to check out their live stream from the video shoot for the song for some reason. And, dear god, was I happy. So, OK, it's still not quite the McFly I know and love, but it's better than Party Girl. Heaps better than Party Girl. It's Shine A Light, more than anything else, that has convinced me that I need the album when it comes out. Not want. NEED. Because my library is so full of alternative, rock, metal and all that jazz (but not jazz, oddly), that it's in need of a good pop boost. So, I'm waiting not-so-patiently for November 1st and the release of album number 5: Above The Noise and another dose of McFly scrumminess.

Assorted McFly links:
Official site

Myspace
YouTube
LastFM

Recommended Tracks (album):
5 Colours In Her Hair, Surfer Babe, That Girl, Not Alone (Room On The Third Floor)
Ultraviolet (Wonderland)
Transylvania, Silence Is A Scary Sound, Friday Night (Motion In The Ocean)
Down Goes Another One, Corrupted, Lies, One For The Radio (Radio: ACTIVE)

...is it painfully obvious I'm not so keen on Wonderland?