It’s no secret that to make it as a band, you need to be wiling to adapt to whatever is popular in the mainstream. Even new independent bands seem to be adopting this revival of the classic quiet/loud formula that dominated the 90s. Although most of these bands have a solid live sound, they don’t translate it to the studio with any passion or energy. Queasy on the other hand are proving to be standing far out from the crowd and doing things their own way.
This time last year I was getting moist over Forever In Debt’s EP, Forget Me Knot. But now, Forever In Debt is dead. Here we have the second coming; Infants.
This review was fuelled by intrigue. I was sent a tweet with nothing more than a link to this music video. I checked it out, the lovely human being that I am, and loved what I heard, so immediately gave it a re-tweet. Unfortunately, not being sent it as a proper request it slipped my mind, but here we are now. I couldn’t not share the love on this one.
This was initially just going to be me telling you why you should go and pre-order this tape based on the pleasure of hearing the preview track, but I have now been very fortunate enough to listen to the entire thing (including the tracks exclusive to the physical cassette release). And now you have to believe me when I tell you to bust out a couple of quid on this beast.
I haven’t touched on many bands from the US, but today I have a split EP from two bands bringing you some pretty beefy noise. Neither band seem to be particularly big in size, but by volume is a different story.
What is it with bands and horses these days?
There are a few labels who have quite a number of releases that I have reviewed now, and Inverted Grim-Mill Records are becoming another. This time, I had the pleasure of checking out another localish noise fest.
It’s inevitable that when you review one band, similar bands will find your post and send you their music. Somehow I have a slew of this weird indie-fuzz headed my way. I don’t know how, but it always sounds surprisingly fresh and interesting.
Regular readers will know that we like Lovely Wife and have written about their live EP, Live & Contrived, that was released earlier this year. It was great to have the essence of their live performances captured, as in the studio their sound isn’t the easiest to re-create. Problem Rock has certainly tackled that problem head on with a Sledgesaw (Dead Rising reference right there).
I have been sent a lot of music that blends two strong styles from different genres of music, which is always something that ends up being a dangerous game with who it appeals to and what it actually pulls off well. Soul Fire Saints have stepped up the game and stand out for all the right reasons.
