Modern pop-punk bands can be divided into two categories: those who settle for penning copy-and-pasted pastiches, and those who pump their heart and soul into their music and make even this now-getting-quite-old-and-tired genre feel fresh and exciting again. No prizes for guessing which side Boston Manor fall on; if they were shit, I’d have just moved on and you wouldn’t even be reading this! Read more…
Dropped right before Christmas last year, Rose Coloured’s Doorstep Volume 2 compilation doubtless made great stocking filler for a number of Surrey and Hampshire’s resident music fans. It also offers plenty of great reasons to get excited about the Guildford- and Aldershot-centred music scenes in 2015. Read more…
I have a very strong emotional attachment to many of the releases listed below. Choosing this list was exceptionally tough; I’ve been fortunate to discover some incredible bands and artists over the past year, and it’s safe to say that outside this list lie a great many immense tunes that can be found via a quick browse through TMMP’s archives when you’re done with this lot. However, the following choices are the cream of the crop. Read more…
In Guildford, Monday night is student night – and normally, it’s not pretty. Last night, though, the streets were almost deserted, the freezing air probably prompting the town’s partygoers to settle for a night in front of the fire instead. Those in the know, however, headed Star-ward to check out one of the local scene’s favourite live acts, and give a chance to whoever might be supporting them. Read more…
2014 has been a good year for awesome album launches at the Boileroom. This time around, opening act Rival Empires lived up to expectations by delivering a strong set backed up with energetic stage presence and buckets of passion. Current TMMP favourite If I Was A Whale (prefaced by a short grammatical debate as kicked off here) sounds epic live, overshadowing the inevitable Paramore comparisons with nostalgic reminders of how good Lostprophets were before Ian Watkins started touching kids. It’s all about the clean sections in that tune, while elsewhere we got unexpectedly brutal riffs and shades of the Foo Fighters and Incubus. Add to that some solid musicianship and a guitarist capable of throwing up the devil horns mid-riff without missing a subdivision, and you have a brilliant up and coming British band. Read more…
According to Mike TV, Sausage Hospital is “full of sick bangers”. As wrist-slicingly bad as that pun is, I actually agree with it. Read more…
Flatline Stereo
Really cool pop punk delivered in a straight-ahead, no frills manner. Think Green Day but British, and you’re most of the way there. Read more…
Pure punk-metal grit, guts, and glory. Stick-in-the-head songcraft; one-inch-punch drums; confident and melodic guitar work; sick beatdowns – all that and more is present on opening track and lead single Follow Me alone. Personal highlights abounded on Last One Standing, but it you were to stick a gun in my ear and force three choices I’d have to pick Tell Me Something‘s epic drum work; second single I’m Not Leaving‘s slick and slinky electronic touches; and Living In A Hurricane‘s modern rock chorus-writing mastery. Read more…
The UK needs more bands who kick ass and don’t give a fuck – and Fake The Attack are a worthy addition to the ranks of serious contenders discovered by TMMP so far. Foreign Words is a delicious slice of crunchy pop-rock songwriting sure to inspire many an end-of-set singalong in venues across the country – and, if there’s any justice, internationally. I don’t get many opportunities to use foreign words these days, so I may as well finish by saying Fake The Attack sont putain de gènial! Read more…
This is really interesting. A true musical melting pot that barely contains a brew of pop, rock, and punk spiced up with plenty of brilliant musicianship and real songwriting nous, Futures is intense, solid, and gloriously beautiful. Super cool, and an unmistakable sign of greater things still to come. Read more…