The Middle East - The Recordings of The Middle East

Meet Australia’s best kept secret; The Middle East.

The five-piece first released ‘The Recordings of The Middle East’ themselves back in 2008 and sold it via their website. No doubt mesmerised by the band’s irresistible magic, Spunk Records have now decided to reissue the five track delight next month; a decision likely to make ‘original’ fans produce a considerable pile of pretentious vomit at the thought of (gulp) the band becoming successful. But in reality, The Middle East are brimming with too much subtlety to hit the mainstream or duet with Timbaland and their music only reaching the ears of music snobs or industry players would be something of a criminal loss to music.

The EP itself is smothered by juxtaposing beauty and heartbreak, which are stripped back to their most addictive bare bones. From the delicate melodies and multi-layered vocals of ‘Fools Gold’ to the enthralling bleakness of ‘Lonely’, The Middle East lead you into their very own haunted fairytale as male vocals fuse with the tinkling of gentle chords.

Opening track Darkest Side perfectly embodies the balance of melancholism and spine tingling enchantment that the five-piece have down to a fine art, something further complimented by first single Blood, which sounds like the chilling progeny of Iron and Wine and Bon Iver.

Whilst on paper, the gentle tide that drapes across the band’s debut EP could risk more ennui than an ITV2 Katie Price marathon, the Anthony Hagarty (of Anthony and The Johnsons)–esque wavering of truly unique sounding vocals conjure the feeling that to peel your intoxicated lugholes away from the 5-tracks would be to miss out on something significant. An idea that is validated by the surprisingly up-tempo guitar led Beleriand, a track reminiscent of Manchester Orchestra in structure, and that leaves us chomping at the bit to hear what delightful cacophony the full length album will provide.

The Middle East is undoubtedly one of the most interesting bands to have slipped under the radar so far this year. With their gentle but inescapable hold on the listener something that seems even more effortless than their dark charm, their success is as inevitable as it is deserving.

www.myspace.com/visitthemiddleeast

Interview with The Drums (Jonathan Pierce)

The Drums are the embodiment of what a difference a year can make. Whilst some bands spend years climbing the proverbial fame ladder rungs, others - either through luck or sheer talent - are propelled to stardom at a rate that their carefully formatted MySpace pages can barely keep up with. Combining 80’s synths, beach pop and sporadic shapes that rival The Rakes’ Alan Donahoe, less than 365 days since they formed, The Drums are already part of one of the most prestigious sell out tours of the year. So Noize caught up with lead singer, Jonathan Pierce, to talk that surfing song, supporting Florence and the Machine next month and being catapulted into the limelight.
Noize: Hi Jonathan, so where in the world are you at the moment?

Jonathan: Ummmm...That’s a good question! [Asks his tour manager Aimee]. We’re in Brighton! It’s all such a blur, I don’t know where we are in Brighton [said in his best British accent] but we’re here and I think it’s my best place of the tour so far

Noize: And you’re a week or so into the NME tour, how is it all going?

Jonathan: It’s going really great, it’s all really fresh and new for us. We’ve never done any sort of touring at all so to be on this tour is pretty incredible for us and really shocking. We never dreamt of such a thing. You know, we started this band a year ago and wrote a batch of songs, thinking we’d maybe play a few shows around Florida and things have really taken off. So, it’s just really incredible

Noize: With this all being so new to you, how were you feeling about touring with some really quite established bands?

Jonathan: Well, we really believe in what we’re doing and what has worked for us in the past is sort of jumping in at the deep end. The first show we ever played was in a cake shop in New York and the whole band had only rehearsed for a couple of hours, the same day as the show. There just happened to be press people at the show who talked well of it and things started moving really quickly. So yeah, we were nervous about it but we thought, let’s just go for it. As long as we believe in what we’re doing, I think that’s what matters.

Noize: So how long after the NME tour do you come back to tour with Florence and The Machine?

Jonathan: We’ll be back in May for the Florence tour. We’re so excited for that. We think she’s really rad.

Noize: And how did the tour with Florence come about?

Jonathan: I guess she is a fan of The Drums. She asked us to tour with her so we said yes, how could we say no! I think it’s going to be really cool. It will nice to come back and see how things have grown and what has changed. It’s something that we never thought would happen so I think it will always be exciting for us.

Noize: So what else have you got planned for the rest of the year?

Jonathan: We have our first single ‘Best Friend’, which will be released in stores pretty soon (05/04/10) and our album’s done and we’ll be releasing that June 7th. As far as the rest of the year, we’ll just be on the road touring. We’ll be over here a lot; I think the UK sort of owns us for 2010!

Noize: What can fans expect from the album?

Jonathan: Well we wrote all the songs on the album pretty much the same time as the Summertime EP. What happened is we wrote about 30 songs in Florida and looked at what we had done and realised we had a whole handful of summery feeling songs. So we decided to put them all on one EP and called it ‘Summertime’ and be really blatant about it.

Then naturally, what’s left is the more darker, more brooding, serious, introspective kind of stuff. It’s more personal, it definitely sounds like The Drums but it’s not all handclaps and whistles, it’s a much more serious.

Noize: Do you think fans of The Drums will be able to get to see a new side to you with the new album?

Jonathan: That’s what we’re hoping. We put out that ‘Let’s go surfing’ song as our first song off the EP and we just thought it would be a fun little thing to put out and it kind of took off and became this big thing that everyone knows. We kind of just don’t want to be considered a surf band, you know.

We have a bunch of songs and there’s only one out of all of them that mention the word surfing, so to be called a surf band is not the worst thing in the world, it’s just not who we are. If anything, we just want to be a rock and roll band that writes pop songs. Perhaps more of a tender side of rock and roll; our own sensitive brand. I think the full-length will sort of put out that sort of surfing flame so that people can sort of see what we really are.

www.myspace.com/thedrumsforever

Interview with Bombay Bicycle Club

Few sounds can evoke such instantaneous goose-bumps as the vocals that Jack Steadman purrs. These heart-melting lyrics, combined with Bombay Bicycle Club’s own brand of lo-fi indie pop, are the ingredients that have lead these introverted young musicians to achieve critical acclaim with their debut album and a series of celebrated live performances last year. Now supporting The Maccabees on the NME Awards Tour, BBC’s very tired guitarist Jamie MacColl and even more sleep depraved drummer Suren de Saram put aside their touring exhaustion (more or less..)to speak to Noize about their plans for a new album and what 2010 has in store for them.

Noize: Hi guys, so how is the NME tour going so far?

Jamie: Yeah it’s been going good.

Suren: It’s been a bit messy the past few days, a lot of people being sick.

Jamie: Yeah, there’s been a bit of a stomach bug going around.

Noize: Is that a cover story for alcohol induced illness?

Jamie: [laughs] yeah it’s alcohol induced as well.

Noize – So have there been any nights that have been especially enjoyable or memorable so far?

Suren: There’s been a few really good ones.

Jamie: Birmingham was a really good gig.

Suren: you all really enjoyed Nottingham didn’t you?

Jamie: Yeah and Leeds. I enjoyed last night as well. I’ve enjoyed all of them to be honest.

Noize: Were there any bands looking forward to meeting or playing with before it kicked off?

Suren: Yeah, The Maccabees. We’d met them a couple of times before and they’re really nice guys.

Noize: And is this the first time you’ve done something like this?

Jamie: Yeah, in fact it’s the first time we’ve done a support tour so it’s quite unusual for us, not being at the top of the bill [laughs] But it’s quite nice. It takes the pressure off a bit and adds a bit of healthy competition.

Noize: Ahh so there’s a bit of competitive banter between the bands on tour about sets and who played best?

Suren: Hmmmm...I don’t think so.

Noize: Oh, so it’s just you then, Jamie?

Jamie: [laughs] Yeah, it’s just me!

Noize: And you’ve been doing a lot of free gigs and in store signings throughout the NME tour, is this something that comes with the tour or something that’s just important to Bombay Bicycle Club?

Jamie: Well yeah, it’s just what we wanted to do. We like doing acoustic gigs and we like doing them in unusual locations. One of them was in a Barber Shop in Bristol.

Suren: And we played in a couple of canteens in universities which was pretty crazy.

Noize: What are your plans after this tour? Am i right in thinking you’re doing an acoustic album?

Jamie: We are, yeah. I don’t know when that’s coming out, June probably. Then we’re going to Europe the week after we get back and then we’re recording again.

Noize: And what will the second album be like? Will it be influenced by any bands your into or anything on tour?

Jamie: I’d hope it wouldn’t be influenced by one band, no.

Suren: One is the song is about sleeping actually (laughs)

Noize: Finally, you’re up for Best New Band at the end of the month at the NME Awards and are up against tour mates The Big Pink, who do you think should win?

Jamie: I think we should win! [laughs] But I don’t think we will. I think the XX will. It would be nice to win but we always have quite low expectations really so just to be nominated we were like ‘oh that’s nice’. Plus we get to go to the Awards show and make fools of ourselves!

www.myspace.com/bombaybicycleclub

Interview with The Big Pink (Robbie Furze)- Noize Makes Enemies

After winning the prestigious Phillip Hall Radar Award at the NME Awards last year, The Big Pink unapologetically grabbed 2009 by the lapels and hurled it into their statically charged world of gloomy electro-rock. The band’s debut album ‘A Brief History of Love’ articulated all emotions along the spectrum of romance; from love-bite lust to wandering eye uncertainty. All the while validating the critical acclaim the band had earned. Now bringing a welcome dose of grit and murky rock to the NME Tour, Noize sat down and chatted with lead singer Robbie Furze and his dog, Alfie, to find out what The Big Pink have got lined up next.

Noize: Hi Robbie, how’s tour going? Any shows really stood out so far?

Robbie: Yeah it’s been amazing. Really fun. Glasgow was really cool and Brighton last night was awesome. I think every time we have a day off, it seems to take us a day to get back into it. We hate days off. We’ve been getting better and better but we’ve done so many shows now that it’s weird for me to say that. It’s quite pathetic to think we’ve done over 400 shows and still getting better; maybe you always get better, I don’t know...or worse!

Noize: And so what are the dynamics like between the bands on tour?

Robbie: To begin with everyone didn’t really communicate and stuff. Maybe a few people were quite shy , but now we’re all mates. We already were mates with The Maccabees but didn’t really know the other bands.

Noize: What are your plans for rest of the year once this tour is over?

Robbie: After this, we go to Australia and then from there, we go on almost a two month tour of America. Then we come back and we do a UK Tour. That starts on the 7th May and that’s like our biggest headlining tour so far.

Noize: And how are you feeling about that?

Robbie: I can’t wait. We’re playing the Forum in London and the tour will be that sort of size capacity and it’s a little daunting but I’m sure it’ll be fine. Only a year ago we were playing sets to like 500 people so it’s really taken off.

Noize: Do you think you’ll be looking to do any new material towards the end of the year perhaps?

Robbie: Yeah, well we’re thinking about putting a new tune in the set for Australia. We wrote it just before we came on this tour and we really like it. We’re just going to see if it works.

Noize: So is this new track typical The Big Pink or is it slightly different?

Robbie: Yeah it is kind of different. I guess it is a bit more about beats and stuff. But it has piano in it and a big chorus.

Noize: Has anything sort of inspired that change in direction?
Robbie: Well we love hip hop, we love beats and we love simple melodies. I think for the next record, we have been talking about cleaning it up a little bit in its production perhaps. It’s hard because when I say a bit more hip hop production, it’s not at all like it sounds.

I mean, you know songs like ‘Crystal Visions’ or ‘Count Backwards’, like less of that and more of a beat driven kind of thing. That’s just where our heads are at at the moment.

www.myspace.com/musicfromthebigpink

By Laura Routledge

Album Review // Errors - Come Down With Me

Errors are a band that know how to move you; a fact that ‘Come Down With Me’ perfectly embodies. The second album from the Scottish four-piece lures the listener across a spectrum of varied musical terrain but in a way that seems entirely organic and not some contrived rebellion against being categorised.

Instead, the ten tracks trace the steps of Lo-Fi Do Say Make Think-esque noise rock on ‘Sorry About The Mess’ and ‘Germany’, before grabbing and tugging their sound onto the sticky dancefloors of Indie meets Electronica. Here the melancholic murmurs are replaced with all the compulsion of Foals on ‘Rumours of Africa’ and mesmerising string twanging of ‘The Black Tent’.

The invisibility of Errors is something that wholly adds to the appeal of the follow up, with the instrumentals typically needing no words to conjure pathos or evoke the desire to dance. The end result is a journey showcasing simplicity at its finest and the seemingly effortless fusion of Errors that fans of their previous work and label mates Mogwai will not want to miss.

Release Date: 01/03/2010

Interview with Hugo, The Maccabees

The Maccabees are a band that will woo you. Everything from their jangling guitars and demanding bass lines, to the romantics that lace their lyrics, delicately tug at all the heartstrings you possess until you find yourself fully intoxicated by the Brighton-hailing five-piece. Resistance is wholly futile. So The Maccabees kick-starting 2010 by headlining the NME Awards Tour seems a fitting tribute to a band that has softly seduced fans across the country since their 2005 debut.

And what a journey it has been. From the band’s debut album, the progression of The Maccabees is as clear in their physical evolution from fresh-faced boys to experienced musicians, as it was apparent from the change in tempo when ‘Walls of Arms’ was release in May last year. Two years since the hormone ridden ‘Colour It In’, the eleven track follow up left no uncertainty about just how far The Maccabees had come. Tales of Chlorine, Colgate and Lego had been replaced with a believable despondency and a new found maturity that somehow still brimmed with all the trademark Maccabees charm.

This collective development is not something that the band is oblivious to. Instead, catching up with guitarist Hugo White ahead of the Glasgow leg of their 14 night prestigious tour slot, he cant quite seem to believe it:

“We went to see some of these shows on the NME Tour with The Killers and The Futureheads and Bloc Party. That was years ago when we were standing in the crowds watching the bands and we didn’t expect that we’d be headlining it a couple years down the line. So we’re in a good position and we’re pretty happy about that."

Touring with the likes of The Big Pink, Bombay Bicycle Club and The Drums, it’s only a day in and Hugo is already suffering from burning the proverbial rock candle at both ends:

“We did the first show last night in Newcastle and it was great. I’ve already got a headache and feel a bit dazed, but it’s alright! The other bands are really cool and it’s nice to play with good bands really.

“I was quite interested to see the Drums, I’d heard a lot about them but hadn’t really listened to much. You know one of those bands where you hear a lot of hype about them and then you want to see if they’re living up to it, but they were great last night. I really enjoyed it. So yeah, I wasn’t disappointed by that. And then The Big Pink are great, it’s all cool. It’s gonna be fun.”

In of all the media hype that has built like a resilient hurricane around these indie pinups over the past year following their powerful festival performances, The Maccabees have yet to let their feet leave the floor. Instead, the band remain humble and being pitched against the likes of Oasis and Arctic Monkeys for Best Video at the NME Awards later this month is something the band aren't taking too seriously:

“Yeah, its a good video that one. But it’s not really anything to do with us, that whole nomination thing. It’s nice to be nominated. It’ll be good if we win because we’ll get it for the kid in the video, he’s pretty amazing. The award can go to him.”

The 'kid' Hugo is referring to is seventeen year old, Thomas Allan, and the music video for ‘Can You Give It?’ follows his success at the 2009 cheese-rolling championships. The end result is something that each band member agreed on. An occurrence, which Hugo admits, is something of a rarity:

“I think it was Orlando’s idea and we got talking about this cheese-rolling event and filming it in a documentary style and trying to capture it like that. The guy that went to film it all and the director just kind of hit the nail on the head. It was one of those videos where you sort of watch it and for the first time, everyone agrees on it being great. That doesn’t usually happen with us so everyone was happy.”

It's been a crazy year and a half for The Maccabees and with plans to now start work on a new album, things aren’t likely to slow down anytime soon. But with the transition from ‘Colour It In’ to the so-called difficult second album so recognisably poignant, how will the band dig even deeper to produce another record that is equally, if not more, mesmerising? Hugo recognises just how difficult it will be:

“We’ve decided to write this one in a different way. With the last one, a lot of it was just sort of battled out in rehearsals or whatever and I think we’ve just sort of decided to take a bit more time before we go and battle it out. I think we’re going to write a bit more individually and then bring the pieces together a bit later on.

“It feels like a pretty huge task because the other record doesn’t seem like that long ago and we really pushed it to be the best it could possibly be and now to sort of up that is going to be challenge, you know.”

And Hugo is right. The Maccabees have got a seemingly unsalable task ahead of them, with reinvention of course being the key to longevity. Thus, the band will need to release an album that demonstrates further progression but continues to nurture everything we’ve been so enchanted by since it all started. It’s undoubtedly a tall order but there is something about the quiet confidence The Maccabees exudes that leaves us convinced they can do it.

Album Review - First Aid Kit - The Big Black and Blue

Typically, teenagers spend more time applying clumpy mascara to their hungover eyes than actually thinking about anything substantial. Or do they?

Swedish sisters, Klara and Joana have caused quite a frenzy among Britian’s twenty-something music lovers. As their gentle European vocals purr over twee guitars, First Aid Kit tap into the disenchantment of every mortgage-burdened man and his unappreciated wives. But with their median age reaching just over seventeen, their maturity as they delicately exclaim /Life is tough on me/ is enchanting but somehow wholly believable.

Perhaps it’s because as we cast our minds back to our misspent youth, we remember how we saw the disappointment of marriage firsthand and endured the backbreaking pain of losing a first love. We felt everything Klara and Joana feel. We just lacked the nomenclature and inordinate musical abilities to articulate it in the way that the likes of Laura Marling and First Aid Kit do so well.

Combining the spine-chilling simplicity of ‘The Morning’ and stripped folk gloom of ‘Hard Believer’, First Aid Kit’s debut album is dripping with preverbal sepia tones and miserabalism in a way that serves as a welcome reminder that not all teenagers are as toxic to society as Lady Sovereign. Honestly.

Release Date: 25th January 2010
Label: Wichita
Rating: 7/10


By Laura Routledge

Album Review // Good Shoes - No Hope, No Future

When you’ve been away for three years, the pressure is on for you to grab the notorious second album by the proverbial horns and drag it into a world where you’ve matured, the fans from your debut still burst with adoration and hordes of new listeners become hooked. But it can be bloody hard, which is demonstrated by a catalogue of one hit wonders throughout musical history and unfortunately Good Shoes’ follow up is no exception. In a contrived attempt to feign that they’ve gone and ‘done a Maccabees’, the second album has been stripped of the staple prepubescent charm that once made this London four-piece so endearing, leaving the ten new tracks drip rather bleakly with disenchantment. The pheromone-rich ‘Under Control’ leans towards the boy-ish charisma of pastures once visited and nostalgic ‘Do you Remember?’ smacks of their previous tales of Landan Town. But whilst rich with sporadic guitar riffs and snippets of familiarity, the rest of the album is smothered by a melancholy miserablism that hovers like a rather disappointing shadow.

Album Review // Chew Lips - Unicorn

Chew Lips debut album is a record of erotically charged pop that grabs you by the hips and pulsates against you until every part of your body longs to dance, with ‘Slick’ a clear standout track exuding as much effortless sexuality as a lover tracing their fingers on the inside of your arm. The album dispels the lazy musical comparisons to Karen O as whilst lead singer, Tigs, is brimming with exuberance when she’s hurling herself around stage, her musical style a lot more tame. Partly in that there’s an innocent inexperience to Tigs that Karen O’s inclination for deep-throating unsuspecting microphones wholeheartedly stamps out. It’s refreshing to see Chew Lips aren’t trying to be ‘the next [insert full-of-its-own-importance band name here]’, but by ‘Seven’ the album seems to peak, evoking the feeling of a break-dancer who’s used already thrown out their best head spinning moves and is only half way through a dance-off, especially by ‘Piano Song’ a ballad that feels like it’s trespassing in the form of a monologue from the seventies. A debut seemingly brimming with potential but falling at the last hurdle like an over-confident horse in the last ten seconds of a race.

Interview with Kasabian (Chris Edwards) - Noize Makes Enemies

After a whirlwind year for one of Britain’s most effortlessly cool rock acts and an incredible live tour, Noize caught up with Kasabian bassist, Chris Edwards to find out what 2009 has been like for the four-piece and what is next for the band who’ve taken the country by storm.

In terms of going from strength to strength, there doesn’t seem to be a band that can do it much better than Kasabian. Yet, the band have appeared quietly underrated and heaped with other mainstream acts in a way that subtly undermined just quite how good they are at what they do and quite how unique they are. But these latter factors have been entirely forced to the musical forefront with their current tour off the back of the band’s third studio album, leaving us in no disillusion just how ready for this Kasabian are.

The latest record ‘West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Album’ propelled Kasabian to a level of success that was previously unthinkable as it sat smugly at number 1 in the Top 40 for a number of weeks. The album seemed to appeal to a larger demographic than its predecessors as it fought for a much bigger sound, whilst still maintaining all the characteristic swagger that has always made the four-piece so intoxicating.

But in spite of such great achievements, talking with bassist Chris, his natural humility is something that pours over his dulcet northern tones as he describes their hectic tour schedule so far in a way that effortlessly plays it down. “It’s going really well. We’re right in the middle, which seems a little weird as we’ve already done the London ones and they normally come at the end as a sort of a climax and a pinnacle.

“But since about May we’ve been non-stop. When we started off, we were doing little shows and then we supported Oasis in the Summer. The thing is with this tour, we’ve had this whole concept of the West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum so we’ve took that concept and put it on stage for these arena tours and really gone to town with ideas.”

With the new concept on board, it seems Kasabian have kicked their live shows up a notch to truly demonstrate their progression from small band who are seen to have a few similarities to Oasis, to a band that can cut it in a whole new league of their own. “There’s a gig, and then there’s a show. Anyone can buy a laser or loads of screens and put lots of concept on them but we’ve actually really thought about our concept. We’ve got props, we’ve got giant screens and we’ve painted all the floors. It all links to the album cover.”

The thing that is most clear about Kasabian and what, along with their musical prowess, seems to be the secret to their unmistakable longevity is there ability to reinvent. They're a band who know how to move forward and evolve, without alienating the fans who have loved them since the beginning. This is reiterated not only by their success with the third album, but according to Chris, by the industry’s reaction. “When our first album came out, Q Magazine voted us as one of the top 50 most overrated band of all time, so winning Q Best Album of the Year 2009 from them was an award in itself, you know what I mean!

But editors change, it’s not the magazine that hated us . You know, you release a new album, they get to like you a bit more and then this album has just been really widely accepted by everyone to be honest. Our families, friends, fans. It’s got to a much wider spectrum of people as well, a lot more people seem to like us.”

With this year seeming like a hurricane of success for the band, who haven’t seemed to have been able to stop and admire the hysteria they’ve stirred up among fans all over the country, things don’t look set to slow down as we see in the New Year. “It’s been quite a busy year for us and next year’s just as busy. We’ll be out the country for the first few months touring in Japan, New Zealand, Australia and Europe. Then we’ll come back and build up to the festivals.”

In some ways, the grip that Kasabian have taken on 2009 has come as a pleasant surprise to many people. But you can’t help but feel that the band’s convinced strut and quiet confidence from the beginning eluded to the knowledge that even if we hadn’t realised, they were always going to become huge. And deservedly so.

EP Review - Cats and Cats and Cats - Oh Boy! - This is Fake DIY

Cats and Cats and Cats are as difficult to listen to as their name is to type after having to listen to Ben’s strained vocals yell over what could be quite good guitar chords and melodies...maybe. Whilst the band is undoubtedly innovative, sometimes there is a reason why it hasn’t been done before, or at least it hasn’t reached our ears before. And that is because it doesn’t work.

The three track EP appears too thought out and fundamentally comes down to being around 15 minutes of music which is simply quite hard to listen to. Eve’s vocals are soft and elegant but on ‘A Boy Called Haunts’ and ‘The Boy with The Beak’, the chaos and screaming just doesn’t do her pleasant voice justice.

Like the high frequency noise that only youngsters can hear that is blasted from Co-ops late at night in dodgy UK areas to keep the Vicky Pollards and Kidulthood riffraff from loitering, there may be some element to this EP that only the seemingly young target audience can hear to appreciate. And perhaps it is a sign of my age and a lot of teenagers will love just how ‘niche’ Cats x 3 are but for more mature ears, it just sounds like a bit of a racket. Think Los Campensinos! as a bad Britain’s Got Talent entry.

Album Review - The Brute Chorus - The Brute Chorus (This is Fake DIY)

Welcome to the shambolic, testosterone exuding, over-dramatic world of The Brute Chorus. Like a bull in the china shop, the four-piece come stomping in uninvited but a few minutes in and their presence becomes welcome. Full of so much youthful energy that its almost contagious, this, their debut album, plays and distorts a plethora of musical directions and styles of lo-fi, Indie, Pop and Folk, to name but a few of those recognisable.

Recorded, rather ambitiously for a debut, at The Roundhouse’s FreeDM studios, the album maintains all the best points of a live show, without the annoying attention-grabbing girl standing behind you screaming to hear herself fill the silence, rather than to show support. The atmosphere is catching and leaves the listener wishing they were at the live show and anticipating when they might well be.

Musically, it album smacks of the newest work of The Rumble Strips with all the chaos and shambles kept mildly under raps by the binding strings of retro 60s chords. There are hints of Franz Ferdinand style theatrics and early Matt Pritchard vocals but in a way that seems wholly organic and does not in anyway undermine the far-from-mainstream sounding tracks. Think of it as Pritchard meets Kapranos’ badly behaved younger brother, who, rather than follow in his model brother’s footsteps, has turned to legal highs and Marlborough Lights.

The Brute Chorus show has arrived and be warned, once they barge into your unsuspecting little world, you’ll have trouble getting them to leave.

Album Review - Stricken City - Songs About People I Know

Despite being based in London and having formed in the Midlands, there’s something seemingly quintessentially continental about Stricken City. The misshapen arrangement and disregard for conventional musical structure becomes an insatiable format as standout track “Sometimes I Love You” effortlessly shows a darker side to the four-piece. Accompanied with an accordion, the feeling of lying in the Parisian grass is conjured, with all the painful indifference of a long-suffering tortured heart prevailing in lyrics like /Sometimes I’m dead inside/ Call me a doctor/ Get me out of here quick/.

Juxtaposingly, “Five Metres Apart” is the perfect transition from the lyrical prominence of its predecessor to a quirky upbeat whimsical and toe-tapping gem, as with “PS”, which perfectly functions as a platform to demonstrate the warbling brilliance of lead singer, Rebekah Raa’s almost Bjork-esque vocals.

Yet, the mini-album is not without its flaws. The almost draining nature of final track “Terrible Things” (ironically) finds the pitch of Raa’s vocals grating over melancholy piano notes and the eerie, over-thought capella intro track can be included in these.

What this does do is showcase the diverse capabilities of what is a fairly new band with the perfect balance of innate unconventionality, 80’s overtones and an addictive Indie personality, all seemingly fluently fused into an impressive debut that Stricken City should be proud of.

Interview with Sam Johnston of Flasguns -Noize Makes Enemies

Four boys with an equal adoration for Kurt Cobain and bursting with the-world-doesn’t-understand-me teenage angst come together to form a band. Boys leave school and grow into young men, forcing their lyrics to be all the richer from their experiences of growing up and brother-like mentality. Same old? Perhaps on paper:

“We were childhood friends and the drummer and I played in bands before and then we came together in our last year of school and started making music a bit more seriously and it just went on from there. It’s just the three of us now, seeing as our keyboard player left not long ago, but it’s just sort of some mates making music which is how it came about and it’s just sort of got more serious every month or so since we left school.”

But Flashguns are far from the same old clichéd musical outfit. With their eclectic jangley sound, it is the well-thought, mature lyrics that function as the fraying string, binding the epic chaotic synth guitars in place as its unexpected vastness hits with full force on each and every Flashguns track. Something no doubt largely inspired by the band’s impressive back catalogue of influences;

“All the stuff I used to listen to a lot is still some of my favourite music. Like Deftones and Nirvana stuff, but more recently I got more into bands like Biffy Clyro and The Killers are absolutely one of my favourite bands ever. And then stuff like Moby and Sigur Ros, which is a bit more like more musically advanced. So a big mixture of sounds.”

With such an effortlessly unique and three-dimensional sound, even lead singer, Sam Johnston, struggles to pinpoint its description:

“It’s definitely rock. Like a grungey sort of sound I think. Quite reminiscent of the ‘Never Mind’ album, mixed in with more of a modern synth twinge which, I don’t know, is like a Killers’ sort of vibe. It’s kind of like grungey, epic, sort of soundscapey stuff. It’s cool. A lot of guitars, a lot of chorusy guitars and big vocals. It’s a sort of big imposing sort of thing. It’s hard to explain!”

As Sam stumbles over his words and amidst his neologisms exudes his youthful self-doubt, it is almost hard to believe that he is the same charismatic front man who appears on stage full of such lyrical wisdom and self-assuredness. But his vulnerability is undeniably endearing and reminiscent of the likes of the face-to-face shyness of Flashguns’ touring buddies, Bombay Bicycle Club. Talking to Noize the day of their final gig with the band following a sound check (“But I’m bunking off loading up the van so that’s not too bad”), Sam explains how it all came about:

“We’ve been on the Bombay Bicycle Club tour for about two weeks now and tonight’s the last show. It’s going to be a weird change having the go-back-to-normal life again but we’ve got tonight still which is going to be a wicked show.

We’ve played with them and toured with them a bit before and we’ve known the guys for a while now. We just happen to be on a similar sort of keel if you know what I mean.”

It’s easy to see how the two bands get on so well with the same intoxicating stage present and quiet likeability away from the bright lights. Yet, with the future looking so promising for Flashguns, it would seem that the band are likely to find their time away from the media frenzy less and less common as they plan for their debut album;

“We’ve got an EP out which is called ‘Matching Parts, Similar Hearts’ and that’s got 4 tracks on. I think we’re kind of starting to think more seriously about recording an album but for now the EP is our main thing and where people can get an idea of what we’re about. I think we’ve come a long way with our sounds since then, we’ve done a lot of growing since the release of the EP.”

Since playing Reading in 2008 and with a lot of support from new music connoisseur, Zane Lowe, earlier this year, Flashguns are now starting to see the rewards from all of their hard work pay off. But for the next few months at least, having been bitten hard by the touring buzz, the band’s plans are to stick to the open road:

“I think earlier this year was probably when I would like see the beginning of Flashguns really and it’s kind of like a slow growth kind of thing. We’ve had a lot of support from the BBC which has been amazing and has been a massive help. It’s not been like a massive hype but its been like a flow of growing and it’s been really good.” “I think we’re going to try and book another support tour which would be really cool. Probably the wrong time of the year for it but it would be great to get in another consistent session. We’ve got a lot of writing to do, I think we’re going to be trying to write a whole new bunch of songs. Preparing for recording an album at the end of the year or something, I think that will be the plan. And gigging as much as possible, just playing shows all over the place and just trying to grow the fanbase.”

But for one of Britain’s most exciting and deserving new talents, it would seem developing more fans shouldn’t be too much of a problem as we eagerly await their first major release.

Single Review - Lulu & The Lampshades - Feet to the Sky - Noize Makes Enemies

Lulu & The Lampshades are a quirky playful brand of folk pop with a wholly loveable musical style that is both rich in fun and highly addictive melodies.

Their debut single “Feet to the Sky” reveals their desire to escape. To take a gutsy spontaneous step back from everything that is familiar and throw themselves into the unknown; something that the joining of sweet indie melody tunes with poignant, smart lyrics like /Shake me from the things I think me whole/ leave the listener wishing that they could runaway with them too.

With glottal stops aplenty, their informal narrative talking-meets-singing vocal style bounces along upbeat backing in a way that instantly draws likely comparisons to Laura Marling, Those Dancing Days and most notably, Peggy Sue and The Pirates, the latter of which they have frequently shared a stage with.

As the cooler nights draw in, Lulu & The Lampshades’ quirky style of sunshine folk alongside handclapping and sharp lyrics, bring welcomed warmth to ears all over London Town this Autumn, not to mention a great deal of anticipation for the follow up from this exciting new band.

Single Review - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Come Saturday - Noize Makes Enemies

/All I know is that you’re perfect right now/ As Kip Berman’s soft vocals purr over the lo-fi pop guitar strings, the sheer vulnerability in The Pains of Being Pure at Heart is unavoidably endearing. As their heartfelt lyrics, bulging with teenage angst, ride the waves of their own personal brand of noise pop, the collision of juxtaposing extremes seem to justify the buzz that has surrounded this New York four-piece so far this year.

‘Come Saturday’ has a harsher feel than previously release tracks, with its highly distorted guitar input at times overpowering the trademark fragility of Kip’s vocals. Yet the track stands strong with their influences of The Ramones prevailing and undertones reminiscent of The Cure. But it is the subtleties in the track that make it so appealing. The intoxicating combination of dirty pop rock with the twee innocence of lyrics like /you don’t have to dress to please/ perhaps undress for me/ make it clear that these are set to be exciting times for The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. And rightly so.

EP Review - The Voluntary Butler Scheme - Trading Things In - Noize Makes Enemies

/If you were broccoli, I would turn vegetarian for you/

Yes, possibly more fitting to the lacking lyrical prowess of the likes of the Jonas Brothers, but there is something, as much as your natural instincts will fight it, quite unavoidably endearing about Rob Jones’ soft vocals and twee pop melodies.

The one-man-band’s EP hosts all the sunshine exuding Indie chirp of the early works of Noah and The Whale and latter tracks contain poignant lyrics like: /My heart’s too bored to beat without you here/ effortlessly encapsulating the dim gloom of a broken heart over a typically upbeat backing ditty that is almost, structurally, similar to the likes of The Beatles.

Final track ‘Vending Machine’ also stores the same buoyant atmospherics as the previous but a sort of lo-fi distortion over the tracks, manipulating Rob’s delicate vocals with a harder edge, a welcomed darker shade is also contributed.

Whilst at a glance, the EP stands quite forgettable amongst the plethora of exiting releases of 2009, there is something likeable about The Voluntary Butler Scheme that culminates in a cloud of intrigue around Rob and his future releases.

Single Review- Fuck Buttons - Surf Solar - This is Fake DIY

Fuck Buttons are back and ‘Surf Solar’, the first release from their forthcoming album, is just over three minutes of characteristically dark electro that storms in and leaves you up to the neck in vast unrepentant beats.

Sounding like Do Make Say Think on a particularly enthralling acid trip, the track grips you with its effortlessly addictive urgency in a sort of futuristic War of The Worlds inspired soundtrack, unapologetically invading every part of the listener.

Retaining the undertone of Mogwai-esque melodies with frustrated distortion and lo-fi drones that so defines their previous releases, the Bristol-born duo once again seem to firmly push all the right buttons with their innovative take on all that is experimental.

Album Review - Get Back Guinnozi - Carpet Madness - This is Fake DIY

Get Back Guinnozi is a quirky French-meets-English five-piece that fuse electro kookiness with European overtones. They delicately dabble with all the quirky foreign simplicity of the likes of CSS and Indie eccentrics of Those Dancing Days….but like decaffeinated coffee or food that you’ve cooked for yourself, there seems to be just something missing, something that reduces its appeal.

It’s hard to pinpoint what it is exactly, the band contains all the ingredients that work so well for the afore mentioned outfits. Yet, tracks like ‘Go Back to School’ indulges the childish chants that so toxically saturate, and ruin, pop songs of the like whereas ‘King’s Song’ sounds like Kate Bush trapped (against her will) amongst some disappointingly damaged instrumentation.

But Get Back Guinozzi are in fact, likeable, and as their diverse influences surface and comparisons to the likes of Animal Collective can also be derived, the debut pans out as a sort of schitzophrenic production with sudden lyrics demanding /Don’t get mixed up/ I am fucked/ and an entire minute dedicated to deep erotic breathing.

Credit where credit due, the band seem to drip with innovation as they continue to surprise and alter what we expect. Regardless of their lack of mass appeal, Get Back Guinozzi seem pretty bloody interesting as they dare to veer entirely from the mainstream and stick two fingers up at conventional structure and genre, leaving listeners unsure what to make of the musical whirlwind but intrigued as to what else the five-piece are will deliver next.

EP Review - The Just Joans/ The Smittens- Split - This is Fake DIY

Often when two things come together, the end result is something enhanced and something that already seemed perfect, suddenly appear even better. Think Those Crooked Vultures; the culmination of Dave Grohl, Josh Homme and Jon Paul Jones combining and utilising all their years of expertise and musical prowess to create one effortlessly brilliant supergroup.

And then there are the others. Much like when Walkers’ Crisps brought out Chicken Tikka Masala flavour crisps, the end result is something of a huge disappointment. Not only are both individually, at best, marginally enjoyable, but when forced into an unnatural proverbial blender; the taste is bitter in every sense.

The Just Joans and The Smittens fall into the latter category. The EP provides each band singing one of their own tracks, as well as covering one of the others in a hope that the Live Lounge style of production will inspire a new lease of life and exciting new version. Instead, the cutesy Scottish quintet’s Alphabeat inspired ‘ba- lit' be a lack of anything truly memorable on 'he sunshine exuding little set of ditties something endearing and fun, there seda-ba’s’ and high-pitched High School Musical happiness stirs feelings of nausea.

The Just Joan’s version of ‘Gin & Platonic’ sits better when the female vocals are non-existent but the overall feeling, as with all tracks, is that the self-indulgent joining of two groups of band buddies has overshadowed the actual compatibility or talent of combination.

Whilst fans of all-things-twee may indeed find this sunshine exuding little set of ditties something endearing and fun, there seems to be a lack of anything truly memorable on ‘Split’.