Kyoto Drive are a 4-piece pop-rock band from the West Midlands who have recently completed work on their 7 track mini-album entitled 'The Approach'. The guys worked with producer Matt O'Grady who has worked with the likes of You Me At Six and Deaf Havana and the album is available from 28th May.
The album kicks off with an easy-listening piano-led prelude which progressively builds to introduce the instruments and, eventually, the vocals. The rhythm of the performance is rather broken and stabby, offering a feeling of slight unease and works really well, as the track merges into the second song which officially kicks off the mini-album.
It sounds great in all, the production is fantastic and the vocals really lead the crunchy guitars and driving rhythm section, featuring slight pop-punk flavours atop a bed of straight-forward pop-rock. It certainly sounds very current and should be well received. It's a pretty relentless journey sandwiched by two piano-led tracks, offering the listener an easy-ride home on the final straight which is well anticipated and greatly needed.
And now for something completely different! Introducing Sans Gras, a post-rock outfit from Melbourne, who dived head-first into my inbox this morning, causing a cacophonous tidal wave of blaring brass and driving drums. Check out the first single 'Sun Come Up' below from upcoming EP 'Shed Your Woes'; it's a really interesting piece of music that takes the listener on a journey through three different musical realms, kicking off with some sexy sax, easing into a real grooving, rock n roll middle and finishing off with some dance-infected pop-rock goodness. The intensity of the last movement in the piece, if you will, builds to a point ofunease before settling back in with the hook, the rocking riff, tipping off quite a different track, something that the band claim to be "not mainstream musical fodder".
If you're native to Melbourne, be sure to check out the band as they take on a residency in Melbourne's Grace Darling this May. Enjoy!
I am very happy to report that I Am Mighty Records will be releasing a compilation album, featuring artists on, and friends with, the label. I am particularly pleased to be sharing the news, having worked closely with the label over the past year in helping to bring new artists much-required exposure, sharing them with my loyal readership. I hope that, should you be a fan of the type of bands affiliated with I Am Mighty Records, you'll be excited to get hold of the CD when it becomes available on April 30th.
I Am Mighty Records have a real passion for discovering and sharing new music, and providing bands who show great promise and potential the chance to make a career out of something they love. As a label, they've always worked really hard to gain exposure and promotion for their acts, including through blogs like mine, and their Director, Dave, is a really hands-on and personable guy.
Not only does the label aspire to share new music, it is doing so, via the I Am Mighty Records and Friends' Compilation CD, free of charge. Featuring Taking Hayley, Sell Your Sky, Maycomb, Fly This For Me, ScreamDontWhisper, Piper Saint, Highrise, Pressure Kids and many more; all you need to do to get hold of a copy is to sign up to the I Am Mighty mailing list, and fans will be sent a download link. There'll also be physical copies available nationwide at various gigs and events.
To sign up to the mailing list and to ensure you receive you're free copy, just click here.
For a sneak preview of the album, check out this sample video:
Imogen's first guest-post was so successful, we've invited her to do another! This time she's introducing Spector, a five-piece outfit from London. Enjoy! -G
Spector:
Sartorial Sounds
Combining elements of everything that was
glorious about pop music from the seventies and eighties (and leaving out
everything that was bad) Spector are a five piece indie band from London who
have been causing a real stir on the music scene in the last few months. Hotly
tipped by the NME and receiving rave reviews for their live performances and
sartorial elegance they are tipped for great things this year.
Who Are
They?
The band comprises Fred MacPherson on
vocals, Christopher Burman on guitar, Thomas Shickle on bass, Jed Cullen on
synth and guitar and finally Danny Blandy on drums. MacPherson is something of
an indie stalwart (well, as much as you can be when you’re still so young and
fresh faced) having been in two other bands - Les Incompetents and
Ox.Eagle.Lion.Man both kind of folky, punky, prog rocky outfits (yeah, nice
mixture of styles there!). However, MacPherson left the latter along with
Burman to form Spector in order to create something completely different.
Completely different. Polished.
Accomplished. Just a few of the words that spring to mind when hearing them for
the first time. Considering they’ve only been together a short time, the sound
they produce is nothing short of electric. MacPherson has such an assured and
competent vocal – a rich, strong sound that really draws you in. That’s the
sort of voice that can only improve over the coming years and it surely will
(so long as he stays off the lemonade). As with any new bands comparisons have
been drawn with all sorts of other acts – reviewers saying they sound like The
Vaccines (MK II) or Franz Ferdinand (again MK II). There are elements of Roxy
Music in there, for sure – a slight nod to Brian Ferry here and there in
MacPherson’s treatment of the songs, the way he sings certain phrases.
Chevy Thunder is a real energetic pop
stomp, brilliant punchy vocals – powerful synth vibes and it straddles so many
genres it’s untrue – hard to know even where to begin with what it alludes and
pays homage to. It’s the sort of thing you could imagine picking you up when
you felt really bad – a stomping song.
Sartorial
Matters
But aside from the music (at the moment,
they’re writing and recording a debut album for release later this year) one
thing has to be said about their look. In a society that’s becoming more and
more obsessed with looks rather than sounds, Spector look the part. Smart Smart
Smart. Dressed in sharp suits for their video performances as seen here:
They’re sharp haircuts and edgy moves just
look so good. MacPherson’s geeky glasses make him look like the musical
equivalent of Harold Lloyd. They just seem so out of kilter with the rest of
the musical world, but in a good way. Sometimes it’s good to be different from
the crowd and these guys are. It’s nice to be reminded that it’s cool to dress
smartly and look the part as well as sounding the part. You could imagine them
in a cliff hanging tense situation in a black and white movie – some sort of
bank heist or share
dealing scene, in which they’ve got literally moments to save the
financial world from collapse and they do it with seconds to spare. And then
get the girl. Or something.
Can They
Cut It Live?
Oh boy, they can cut it live:
It takes real talent and strength to be able to not
only sound good in the studio but to be able to replicate that in front of a
live audience. They manage it so well. It’s hard to find a critical angle on
them – some bands you see and you think they’re just OK; the singer wasn’t that
good– off key, shouted rather than sung or whatever. Here, you’ve got a singer
who can definitely hold a tune, not a flat note in the performance – seems so
assured on the stage and oozes confidence without being cocky or full of
himself. It’s a rare thing, but one to enjoy. Hopefully Spector will keep up
the good work with the coming of their debut studio album this year. In the
meantime, seriously, do yourself a favour and check these guys out properly.
They deserve your time, your ears and your downloading finger.
New to both When We Were Beautiful and the I Am Mighty Records family are Lower Lands, a new alternative rock band from Lincoln, UK whose sound features some punk influences with an alternative rock undertone. The band have shared the stage recently with the likes of Iron Chic, Crazy Arm, Talons, Shapes and Deaf Havana and are set to release their debut EP entitled 'Growing Pains' on April 14th this year.
'Reality in Routine' is the lead-single and, ahead of the EP release, is enjoying exposure with thanks to the low-budget, garage-rock feel video accompanying it. The band's punk influences are evident in the track, which fuses more modern-sounding pop-punk guitar sounds that are clinging onto the older punk-sounding melodies. It's the same story with the gnarly vocals which hold a very English punk quality with underlying pop-punk backing vocals. The band have a great energy and an interesting and, most importantly, slightly different sound to showcase. You can enjoy the video for yourselves below:
You can have a listen to the EP for yourself here, but if you do have a listen be sure to pre-order a copy from I Am Mighty Records here and help to support up and coming talent. You can check out Lower Lands on Facebook here; try and catch the guys out on the road soon!
As I've said before, maintaining the blog has proven a little tricky in my final few months of uni where my workload has shot through the roof...that said I'm very excited to introduce When We Were Beautiful's first Guest Post! Imogen Reed is a great writer who has written an article below on Lowline. Enjoy! - G
Lowline
Probably one of the more exciting new bands to hit the scene in the last couple of years, Lowline are steadily providing a brilliant alternative to much of the sterilised safe pop that’s currently flooding the charts. Still they are yet to get the chart success that they really deserve…
Who Are They?
Hailing from deepest, darkest Manchester (well, Stockport – that’s dark enough) they comprise singer/guitarist Robbie Rush, bassist Mike Hosker, guitarist Andy Hewitt and drummer Sam Clarke. Following in the tradition of other great Mancunian bands they want to make music that reflects the environment they live in, and they’re succeeding really well at doing it. Their self titled debut album released last year on the Deaf Radio label shows a host of amazing influences but still sounds fresh and incredibly unique. Rehearsed and recorded over a period of eighteen months, you can see how much that has influenced the end result – still an alive and raw sound, but really accomplished. Considering they’re still only in their early twenties, they’re sound is much older (and that’s not a criticism either, that’s a really good thing in many ways – the only way they can take it is forward and keep maturing)
Their Sound
In the best tradition of all the great Northern bands – The Smiths, Joy Division, New Order – but taking inspiration from other genres such as Krautrock – Can, Neu and Kraftwerk they kind of occupy some sort of middle ground which gives them an incredibly rare sound, driving guitar rhythms and hard edged bass-lines which incorporate singer Robbie’s vocal so well. He is sometimes reminiscent of a younger Ian McCullough, a slightly less melancholic version of him, yet he still holds an incredible power that carries the lyrics really well. Their debut single “Monitors” shows a really mature strength and the video kind of matches up to that image:
It was shot at a disused warehouse in Ancoats in the band’s hometown, something which lends an extra edge of rawness to both their sound and appearance.
Which has such a crisp, catchy guitar hook the kind of thing that gets stuck in your head for days on end (in a good way, not a Crazy Frog way…). It just feels so reminiscent of everything that’s great about the Manchester music scene past and present. All Your Scars is another brilliant example of their sound, it’s almost slightly (eeeek) U2ish, but without tipping over into self indulgent, self congratulatory nonsense.
On first listen, you feel like you know all these tracks – that they’re somehow yours. The basslines are catchy, the vocals are accomplished and full of amazing power, but the more you listen the more you find something new in it that keeps grabbing on to you. Maybe it’s the fact that it feels like “coming home” in a strange sort of way,
What Else Have They Done?
Well, they do what other bands don’t. They don’t always take the safe option and play proper organised gigs in proper organised venues. They’ve started a trend for more or less DIY gigs in local places, disused warehouses and stuff, which rather than carrying lots of heavy publicity and expensive advertising has had the effect of their success spreading by word of mouth. It’s also set them up with a really loyal fan-base from the offing, something that you really don’t see that much of these days.
December last year though saw them supporting newly reformed Macclesfield band Marion on their comeback gig at the Academy in Manchester, the gig was critically acclaimed and really well received and won them a lot of praise for their tenacious play and ability to get the crowd going – also it’s seen them in talks to sign with Marion’s new record label Townsend Records, which could be a major step in them achieving the success and riches they deserve and maybe treat their parents to a holiday on one of the Fred Olsen Ships.
Really the only way for this excellent group to go is up, if they keep the standard of their debut going and follow on then success is surely theirs, a much wider audience need to hear how good they are and how they can keep the momentum going.
You may recall my post back in January sharing The Ocean's Eyes great new video for Rooms of Red. If not, why not jog your memory? Ok, gottit? Good. Now that's fresh in your mind, why not take a sneaky peek behind the scenes of the shoot, where those pesky scamps offered their thoughts into making the video and also what jumping around too much in your jeans can do. It offers a great insight into a 'behind the lens' perspective; behind the scenes footage is always something I love to watch:
Don't forget, you can catch the guys on tour later this month as they head out with Room 94, for which tickets are availble for here.
15.03 OXFORD O2 Academy2
16.03 SOUTHAMPTON Unit
17.03 BRIGHTON Hydrant
18.03 NORWICH B2
19.03 BRISTOL Thekla
20.03 CARDIFF Clwb Ifor Bach
22.03 NOTTINGHAM Rescue Rooms
23.03 BIRMINGHAM HMV Institute
24.03 MANCHESTER Roadhouse
25.03 SHEFFIELD Corporation
26.03 NEWCASTLE O2 Academy2
27.03 GLASGOW Cathouse
28.03 LIVERPOOL Elevator Bar
29.03 LEEDS Cockpit
31.03 LONDON King's College (KCLSU)
