Swim Good – ‘Yeah Yeah Great Yeah’ [Review]
Three minutes and thirty-five seconds ago, I was knackered. As in, ready to drop and not get up again for a good few weeks.
Then, this song happened. Read more…
Tall Ships / Northsee / Ornament Tournaments [Live Review – The Boileroom, Guildford, 19/6/14]
Let’s be honest here – when it comes to the football, England never learns. 1966 was a long time ago – almost half a century ago, actually. Football is the beautiful game…as long as Spain are playing. Or Brazil. Or Italy. Or…well, anyone but us.
The crowd at this gig had the right idea. Although the venue took a while to fill, fill it did – and just in case anyone spent the show glued to their Facebook feeds for the duration of the show, The Boileroom had the England v Uruguay game streaming on one wall. Spoiler alert: The bands were better than the game. Read more…
Trails – ‘Egos At The Door’ [Review]
When I first heard of Trails (via the title of their tune SHT FKR), it seemed somewhat tempting to write them off as silly, immature kids and move on ASAP. I didn’t, though – and I’m glad I chose the less obvious path. Far from being the Blink 182 / Bloodhound Gang crossbreed I’d expected, an actual listen to SHT FKR showed me just how Trails really work. There’s plenty of fun-having, yes, but Trails definitely stay on the right side of the line between humour and playschool-level childishness. The real order of the day here is straightforward rock awesomeness with a bit of flamboyance and serious attention to songwriting detail. Read more…
Bare Jams / Indigo Children / Backwoods Creek / Taygan Paxton [Live Review – The Boileroom, Guildford, 11/6/14]
When you get to a small venue and see security standing outside, you know it’s going to be a busy night. It’s a neon-jacketed signal that tells you this show has already sold a significant number of tickets before it’s even opened its doors. Latecomers are likely to find themselves missing out. However, it’s also quite common for pre-booked punters to take their time preening and perfecting their looks before heading down to the venue – meaning that the opening acts may still end up playing to a fraction of the crowd drawn by the headliners.
It’s a common assumption that opening acts are opening simply because they’re not very good – but this evening’s headliners were also its organisers, and it’s very safe to say that Bare Jams have fantastic taste! Every act on this bill was high quality. So much for common assumptions, then…
If you took your time getting to this show, prepare to commence kicking yourself. The acts you missed were: Read more…
Bare Jams – ‘Rigglet EP’ [Review]
As I write this, I’m sitting outside in the sun. Birds are sitting on branches in the shade, there are no clouds in sight, and the temperature is just right. This EP is in my ears, and right now it feels like nothing else on Earth could soundtrack these moments better. Read more…
Inner Pieces feat. Hayley Chalwin – ‘Guided Meditations’ [Review]
As a writer, having a mind that’s always on is kind of a good thing. Writing has been described as thinking on paper – but as horror maestro Stephen King points out, writing is actually more than that.
Writing is telepathy. Read more…
Nick Oliveri / Prosperina / Welcome The Howling Tones / Yeti Love [Live Review – The Boileroom, Guildford, 3/6/14]
Last night, I left this show in an ambulance. Now, given Nick Oliveri’s reputation as a hellraising rock demon, you’d be forgiven for jumping to conclusions here – but the truth is a lot less rock ‘n’ roll than whatever you’re thinking right now. More on that later. Before we get into why my exit was so dramatic, and of course how immense this show was, you need to know a little bit about the state of grassroots live music in the UK today. Read more…
A Plastic Rose / In Dynamics / The Cottonettes [Live Review – The Boileroom, Guildford, 1/6/14]
The Cottonettes
After a long, very tiring day, I needed a proper full-on rock pick-me-up with a little bit of complexity. The Cottonettes delivered on that first count with a ton of punk rock energy. A little too straight ahead for my liking, but you have to admire their passion; not to mention a knack for some really solid punk songwriting. If punk is your thing, The Cottonettes will tick all your boxes, and you must click their social media link ( provided in the list below) immediately.
In Dynamics
These guys really did it for me. As a longtime Biffy Clyro fan, it’s really heartwarming to hear their influence coming through via the music of a new generation of musicians. The world needs more music that lies a little to the left of centre, and Biffy and their devotees deliver precisely that.
When a band’s first notes gently lull you into a false sense of security before brutally punching you full on in the ear-guts, you know a stellar set is going to follow. If I’m being totally honest, when In Dynamics really got going my inner Cynical Critic Copycat Alarm was triggered for a song or two, but it wasn’t long before the sheet weight of their sound, passion, and confidence – not to mention their tunes – won me over.
It’s official – I am now a fan of In Dynamics. Nicely done, guys!
A Plastic Rose
This set was great fun to witness. A Plastic Rose really know how to relax in front of a crowd and work around the silliest technical difficulties (too-high mic stands, for instance) without getting flustered. A Plastic Rose just seem at home onstage – the mark of a well-experienced band who are going to be doing very big things in the future.
Musically, there’s plenty of grungy riffage with hints of Feeder, Biffy Clyro, and the kind of pissed-off punk energy that harkens back to the roots of modern rock as we presently know it. A Plastic Rose know their history, taking influence from a range of eras – but there’s something about the way they mix it all together that marks them out as something just different enough to really pique our interest.
Although I’d heard of A Plastic Rose prior to this show, I’d never heard them on record. This set was more than enough to make me kick myself for my complacence and rectify that sacrilege ASAP. All the self-kicking meant I had to hop home, but hey – learning from your mistakes is the best kind of learning.
Natives / A.J. Ellis / Distal Keys / Faux [Live Review – The Boileroom, Guildford, 31/5/14]
Regular readers will know how much I love the Boileroom. TMMP’s list of live reviews offers many, many examples of how gigs should be – and most of the standout shows in there took place at the Boileroom. So this review is very rare, because I’ll say this upfront: This gig was ok. Read more…
Maxi Curnow – ‘STEM’ [Review]
Prepare to have your brain broken.
Maxi Curnow is, I suspect, not really human. As a guitarist, he’s capable of channeling Guthrie Govan, Alex Machacek, and Steve Vai; as a vocalist, Curnow can give any leading tech-metal frontman a run for his money. Calling Maxi Curnow “talented” just doesn’t work. The only option here is to go nuclear and pull out “virtuoso” instead. It may be an overused phrase these days, but it has to be said: Maxi Curnow is a virtuoso. Full stop. Read more…