SHIVA- The Horrors and The Stooges....just a couple of their influences. Definitely a punk rock vibe with edgy post punk n indie tendencies.
SHAKELLERS- Get some real funky grooves a going, and spice it up with some synth rock action...a bit of Incubus, a bit of Bowie...
HANS ISLAND- Manchester based chappies with an Interpol, Killers and Maximo Park sound. The urgent frenetic guitar sound with masterful male lead vox.. very well done, very good.
SMART SOUTANE- Inspired by Radiohead/Beatles ….also makes me think about PJ Harvey. But that could be something slightly different, to do with the sun and too much vino. There’s a rather cool Cure-ish air here too….
STRANGE FOLKS- melodic rock
THURSDAY 2ND JULY
VEIL CASSINI- From Exeter, with driving bass and stuttering grunge guitars recalling Biffy Clyro. Rock a busy but tight sticksman and showcase a very English take on Fugazi ,with the more unhinged aspects of the Pixies, especially the vocal interplay which also harmonizes to lovely effect. Also marry grunge and west coast as well as the Lemonheads ever did.
THE LIEUTENANT’S MISTRESS- Easy on the ear poptabulous indie, jaunts along to the left of the middle of the road quite nicely, full of jingly guitar riffs. Very British, very charming, Sunday morning easy living stuff. Shades of New Order, maybe The Smiths.
1877- Post punk meets Husker Du. Sonic Youth in there too...Joy Division in big servings and some post rocknessness...All good, brittle, shiny hard assed sound with experimental touches.
SHUFFLE- The sexy mix of sampledelics, garagey pop tunes and boy/girl vocal interplay, all done with a swish finger poppin’ grooviness that embraces Hip Hop and jazz without ever being anything like either genres.
FRIDAY 3RD JULY
THE GUTTER BRAVADOS- Americana female fronted rock n roll... They do have a bruce sprignsteen element to their music... Could be a Wendy o Williams via Joan Jet hybrid!
THE CIRCUS SANDS- Jim Jones's last outfit Black Moses were somewhat in this post MC5 white boy blues hollerin’ ball park, or you could say Blue Cheer via The Stones with a little help from Johnny Thunders, at other times sounds like they’ve been rocking on a Thin Lizzy theme….anyroad, sizzling sleaze rock with an Exile On Main Street vibe.
STAND DOWN- US of A style alt rock/punk rock. Biffy Clyro thru Foo Fighters via Death Cab For Cutie. Have some interesting passages of experimental Floydiness also. Perky work all round. Supported The Distillers on tour apparently.
INFREQUENCY- Red Hot Chilli Peppers via Queens of the Stone Age...
SATURDAY 4TH JULY
BODYFACE- They call it ‘Creep Rock’ not sure why, sounds like powerpop a-la Weezer but with a harder (Nirvana-inspired) edge, vocalist Joseph Brennan is somewhat in the vein of a contemporary Ozzy, maybe that's the creep rock element…still, we’re at the melodic side of post-grunge-sub-pop-metal. The New York act top off their European tour with tonite’s Independence Day special…
OLD SCHOOL TIE- Excellent musicianship marks these boys out, as do their impassioned jazz tinged acid rock workouts and dance culture informed four to the floor passages. Intense shape shifting music somewhere between Talk Talk and Snow Patrol, but always original.
PISTOLA KICKS- The Coral via The Strokes via The Arctic Monkeys via Franz Ferdinand …Nice tunes featuring some wicked layered backing and main vocals and catchy choruses...Very radio friendly (not in a bad way though) Something reminds me of Hi-Fi too and even the Kooks...Indie pop to the bones as you can see...
THE DECCAS- Inspirals shaped 60s informed indie with an even more so Clint Boon swirling keyboard thang. Got real good energy these Deccas, a bit Clashy, a bit Stone Roses, a tad Julian Cope. Rousing and garagey, and stuffed fulla poptastic whistlability. Nice. Let's also mention The Stranglers here…
THE HARD FOX- Wibbly wobbly vocals and angsty acoustic based rock pop, Bowie must be an influence but then again Joy Division and Radiohead too. Then on 'The Crown' they turn into old school Fleetwood Mac -ish doods via 'Summer breeze' like guitar breaks. . Confused?. Maybe, but never mind the eclecticism, feel the width…....
SUNDAY 5TH JULY
THE JUNK FOOD SESSIONS
WHAT EVERY WOMAN WANTS
+
PETS IN HEAVEN
+
YEARS OF SALT AND RICE
+
QUAINTWAYS
MONDAY 6TH JULY
GUILTY FAWN- Female fronted melodic indie.
JOHNNY BENNETT- LA based blues wailin’ rocknroller with proper Americana in his steely style- no arch country here, this is all Doorsy groove, with a touch of Hendrix and some peerless slide guitar. A modern reference point might well be Cake, but this is rootsy stuff securely based in the soulful end of RnB.
CRAIG SHIELDS- This fine singer-songwriter has a very Liam Gallagher like nasal power in the voice, and there’s an Oasis feel to some of the tunes too.
WEDNESDAY 8TH JULY
ANDERSON- Bloc Party shaped shenanigans. Lots of icy intent and brooding mood pieces.
HELLO SUPERHERO- Predominantly a pop rock band but there is an indie twist to their sound. some great get-up-and go songs with electro whacked out tinges.
THE BRACKETS- Somewhere between Maximo Park and The Jam..a bouncy , quirky , jerky and powerfully wrought place to be, no doubt…
REMODEL- Maximo park and The Kaiserchiefs shagging The Jam is how one personage around these here parts described this act. Great, perhaps they’d like to have a crack at The Brackets too [see above].1st and 2nd generation punkishness gets blended very well.
THURSDAY 9TH JULY
PROSPECT LANE- Take a little jaunt along it for emo shaped shoe-gazey rock a la indie.
HELLA CHOLLA- Skiffly jazzbo acoustic strumming as a chick does a warmly warblesome Winehouse shaped thing. Actually she has a lot more of that Nelly Furtado feel in her voice. Nice. Add trumpet and stuff and it’s all rather lovely. Contemporarily you're in Kooks/ Macabees territory....but with a swish jazzbo feel.
THE HAPPY ENDINGS- Think Thirsty Merc (and yes! these lads are also from Orstrahlia)... Bits of Silverchair too... Verging on a commercial tip though, 3 Doors Down (remember "Kryptonite?")... "Talkin to you" nods towards ska/reggae territory, and it really works for them... Theie arrangements are pretty well darn immaculate...
BOP SOCIAL- Electro Indie outfit although the 'electro' element is more about adding interesting colour than out and out squelchy pulsations… rock it with poptastic zip.
FRIDAY 10TH JULY
THE ROADS- Heavy blues rock with a vaguely Detroit feel... Sounds like they might be into Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and their ilk, see also Kings of Leon. Led Zep's worth mentioning too... and yes! they do it well!
COPPERS FOR KARMA- 3 piece folk/rock acoustic band with easy melodies and easy words, simply smooth chilled out music without any kind of pretension, similar to the likes of early Kid Harpoon.
THE VETA CORPS- 4 piece London band with a sound paying tribute to PJ Harvey, The Arcade Fire and Interpol. Some nice moments , executed very well.
THE ROKETTES- Cool Italian chick songstress Elena is somewhat redolent of a Chrissie Hynde meets Pat Benatar type performer, now fronting this new hot to trot new new wave combo.
SATURDAY 11TH JULY
KOLO- A kool and kooky if not a little Kokksy quaint pop is the order of the day. Some stridently rocking songs with hooks agogo too…
ZODIAC N BLACK- Chug a lugga mathed out blues rock- ZNB create cleverly clipped riffings with bluesy vox atop- Free, ZZ Top, AC/DC...
DEAD MAN’S ROOT- Metallica's old stuff is obviously a big influence. Forceful but intelligent work.
CHEKHOVS RIFLE- Indie rock.
SUNDAY 12TH JULY
JUKE BARITONE AND THE SWAMP DOGS- Excellent take on the old gypsy punk stylings of Gogol Bordello….very similar infact. Oi Va Voi likewise. Guaranteed to get yer plates spinning.
THE UTOPIANS- Leicester based geezer rock kids [they use that term themselves], a bold and brassy sound recalling early Supergrass. Something of Babyshambles and The Clash...fat but raw edged guitar sound, big drums and a half decent singer all goes a long way to make for a bountiful act.
THE CHAMBERS- Rock/Blues. Influences GnR, Oasis, Kings of Leon. Quite Rolling Stones. Loud, catchy, sexy beasts with grinding guitars.
BORIS AND THE SPIDERS- Rage Against the Machine meet The Fools. And The Who of course…Quintessentially good!!
MONDAY 13TH JULY
DA MUSHROOMS- Like Tom Waits and The Pixies on some sort of hallucinegic drug... oh wait, magic mushrooms! very well executed too!
SPIRAL 25- Indie rock.
MY FIRST RADIO- Anthemic indie a la Embrace.
DAN DUNNE AND THE REELS- Soulful , emotive pop.
WEDNESDAY 15TH JULY
STANLEY- Coldplay style melodic indie. Keane and a bit of Snow Patrol...
THE ELEMENTS- Americana with Neil Young sans Crazy Horse backed up by some lush C.S.N harmonies, all in all the kids wont necessarily go for it but their mams n dads will bloody love it.
THE SCISSORS- I am hearing The Doors ... you know the 60s keys, the guy screaming and a maoning big and bluesy like he was Morrison reincarnate. Also could say there's some Fall in here… so literary art rocking is the key.
THE SWINDLE- My, what a good indie/punk band. Lurking amidst their influences are The Beatles, Oasis, Phonics, Madness, Small Faces, Squeeze, Feeder, The La's, Stone Roses, Beach Boys.
THURSDAY 16TH JULY
VERNER- The outwardly apparent throwayness of early Fall - and the bass playing too- but this is lofi punk pop ultimately. The Ramones meets early Wedding Present inside some 50s rocknroll group's recently zombiefied corpses. Elsewhere they have a stab at Arctic Monks like versifying …lyrical, lithe and leering at ya…
THE CANDY TWINS- The singer has a Ray Davies quality about him, but the overall sound brings Paul Weller early solo era to mind... plaintive indie pop , a bit like a stripped down Wedding Present or Orange Juice with that earthy 60s Brit rock edge.
KILL CITY DEFECTORS- LCD Sound Systemish. Mish-mash body-shaking rhythms. Cool combination of rumbling bass and weird effects. Funky indie riffs and stabbing synths. So very good.
THE LOVEBURNS- Thunking elastic bass lines and crisp drums via shirty guitar riffs and nagging vox- very very Fall inclined and I love it. Gang Of Four -ish too but also garagey Gallon Drunky bits- you gotta keep coming back to The Fall. See em!
FRIDAY 17TH JULY
THE STELLA FRAYS-Alternative/Post punk. Punky Beatles informed power pop! Mucho good!
CAV OK- Energetic five-piece with the look and flavour of an Essex Arctic Monkeys, esp in the vocals. A tight sound with plenty of guitar interplay and catchy indie riffs
IVAN DOBSKY- Ace skanking pop, white boy ska/reggae with some bloopy synth and brass bits. Demonstrate lots of adventurous ideas and still pretty pop friendly. Pitch their sound somewhere between The Killers, The Specials and Steely Dan- and it works! I see they like Tom Vek and there are indeed parallels.
AUCTION FOR THE PROMISE CLUB- An edgy female fronted indie tirio, bit like The Editors but also a bit early P J Harvey , and this girl's got an interesting voice fo sho, quite soulful, some of Winehorses' inflections, and the guitars are quite fractious a-la Sonic Youth.
SATURDAY 18TH JULY
THE CRIMSON DIXIES- The Last of the Coral Shadow Monkey Puppets said some wag in passing! It's all good, the influences are apparent but the tunes are spot on.
SHAKE!- Some Deftones in the music. Speed enthralled dynamic Rock and Roll band. And superb on stage.The glammed up pretty and indeed sexy end of neo Goth punkerama.
THE SPIRAL- Low slung groovesome rocknroll trio outta Oz.
TRILOGY- They have a lot of grunge influences, think Rage Against the Machine and some Nirvana!
SUNDAY 19TH JULY
360'S- ska/reggae.
THE FLAVOUR- Sublime via Bob Marley ska rockings straight outta Oz!!! This guys sounds f**king amazing and they do a brilliant cover of Sex on Fire by K.O.L.
THE DELICATEERS- Acoustic cello fuelled folk.
THE SCHOOLGIRLS- 3 piece garage/punk band... Fun and exciting! Very satirical and comic about their music, you can sense this band aren't taking themselves very seriously just trying to enjoy what they do...Their sound is taken from the psychedelic years and a hint of The Stooges is also present.
MONDAY 20TH JULY
MY DARK STAR- Along the lines of White Lies and Bloc Party... or picture The Wombats playing Placebo whilst The Klaxons aim rockets at the sky..
JAJUKA- A full on psych touched rocknroll with garageyness to go and a real fast n gritty approach- so it sounds halfway between Echo and the Bunnymen and anything off Nuggets...a bit Lou Reedy too, and the singer has an original voice somewhere between Mac Bunnyman and the guy in The Zutons, a bit Daltrey like in part too. Then Beefheart....Love his ooh-Ahs! Great band .....
WEDNESDAY 22ND JULY
BEAR POP- Some hints of New York Dolls, and The Vines and Sonic Youth as well! Spikily spunkily fine.
THE STARTS- Ian Dury meets The Ramones sez someone here abouts....very melodic though...
OVERHEAD KICK- punky indie pop, smidges of The Libs, early Blur and other such bedrock music des nos jours.
MORE THAN THIEVES- The Twang's the first thang that springs to mind, though MTT seem to verge on a more punkish than Northern indie tip. It's like a less anthemic version of Glassvegas as well... they're in the studio with Chris Potter at the moment (The Verve, Blur, U2) and they may well be destined for big things. Look out , a diplodocus! Only kidding.
THURSDAY 23RD JULY
UMPHREY BROWNE- Rock/Folk influenced by Simon and Garfunkel and The Beatles.
THE OPERATION- Very well executed uplifting melodic rock. Has a hard rockin' AC/DC thru Deep Purple element but with skipping funky pop touches all over the shop. Big powerful lurching rock and roll.
THE LEGENDARY HEARTS- Emotional instru-electro-orchestra sound. Beautiful intense poetic music. Energy to burn, dynamic, fresh and sweet as a nut.
THE VAAN CLEEF- Oasis via David Bowie.
FRIDAY 24TH JULY
HALAGOOGOO- Alt funk party pop trio, really bouncy with great fluid infectiously hooky guitar work.Led Zep elements in places but its a funked up version thereof, and most impressively they pull this off without sounding anything like The Chilli Peppers.
KARAOKE FOR BEGGINERS- Camden's very own razzle dazzle RocknRoll supergroup....ex members of The Darkness, White Russians..and on guitar , the legend that is ex Silverfish man Fuzz DuPrey. KFB are like an acid fried Sisters Of Mercy wrestling The Stooges for the poker chips....
IRONS- Spiritualized via Radiohead atmospheric rock... we all thought it was beautiful!!!
THE 27 CLUB- Funk/hip-hop rock band. Interesting stuff, definitely different. The Twang, but FUNK. Brass section, DJ, emcee, wah-wah pedal… its all there.
SATURDAY 25TH JULY
STRAIGHTEN OUT - A tribute to The Stranglers, first 4 LPs and singles thereon all being out and out classics and all covered fantastically accurately here.
KOOBIND- Heroically hard rocking pop sensible stuff.
MONDAY 27TH JULY
THE FIRESTONE- Alternative rock with some Muse in it.
THE WORKHOUSE- Sounds like Joy Division mixed by my Bloody Valentine and the editors!
VESPA- A low-slung Detroit rock n roll ....meat 'n potatoes rock 'n roll with a Primal Scream circa Rocks Off as if reworked by a slightly frazzled Oasis vibe.
WEDNESDAY 29TH JULY
BELTER- Punkish mannered indie rock...that kind of sassy pseudo public school boy singing delivery and some cute Cud style cod funky stuff too. Why not add them to the Suede inspired list of lush and louche indie rock rave ups...
THURSDAY 30TH JULY
THE HYENAS- Pop punk metal with a punky/rock nite if all other avenues are exhausted. The Damned for guitars, generally that kinda bag. The Hyenas are a fast, tight, furious, guttural, dirty-grooved, candy-Kafka-kissed[?!], maggoty piece of road-kill! ‘Bluesy-arsed, punky-trashed, gutter-fucked rock!’ This IS; ‘The sweet stench of rock ‘n’ roll
CASCARINOS- Punk/Ska band, or a rockier Jam...Think: The Clash, The Pogues. Green Day, The Misfits. Elvis Costello-ish in places too!
THE LONGEST DAYS- post experimental rock with a good dose of melody enough not to get lost in the wall of sound… Mansum's a good reference, and Muse's more melodic stuff…. Really good!
THE GRAMS- Brighton band doing an intensified Doves meets Bloc Party via Kasabian thing. Editors too. It's very emotionally delivered with plenty of fizz, ace tunes too A bit of CSN and Y in the strummy summery harmonies dept too.
FRIDAY 31ST JULY
SQUIRE- Yes, the acest of ace faces returneth to brandish their steely powerpop at us coz we do like it up us Mr Mainwaring...Mods' May Day in July....
THE COLA JET SET- Uber pop 60s swingalongs outta Spain so all with a cute little accent y'all...
PAUL BEVOIR- Marvelously kitsch artpop a la Beach Boys thru The Lovin' Spoonful and even a whole lotta Up Up And Away In His Beautiful Balloon....sweet as...
THE INVISIBLE LEAD SOUP- Arch and artful psych pop embracing all manner of garage goodies from early Floyd to The Seeds via The Electric Prunes- excellent stuff to open this massive 60s sesh.
