Whitechapel – Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms

It’s difficult to write a live review these days without descending into overworn clichés due to the sheer number of zines, blogs and other general ‘stuff’ that appears all across the world wide interweb it becomes difficult to say anything which doesn’t seem vomit inducingly irritable. Thankfully, reviewing Whitechapel’s performance can be done without this risk. Well, not entirely but you see my point.

The opening ‘Breeding Violence’ is a perfect demonstration of just why this band seems to be constantly moving forwards despite their level of extremity. Whilst the (pretty short) set draws mostly on their most recent album (not a surprise though really) there  does exist a genuine (not neo-cliched) power in their performance. It’s important to stress that whilst this review is descending into the cliché ridden mess which I predicted, I have a genuine love for this band.

I’ve seen then play live on several occasions and have to admit that they are truly superb. I’ve fallen out of love with a large amount of heavy music (I mean, does anyone ACTUALLY like Metallica these days?!) but Whitechapel made me realise just how good a band can be. As overwrought as it sounds, I really can’t recommend these guys enough. Maybe there is some hope for the music scene.

More Photos 

Mr Bogle

It’s been quiet!

Hi guys, Alex here.

As you can see it’s been a bit quiet here since the new year. We’ve all been rather busy you see, but I understand that some of you still want to read about the latest releases and all that jazz.

Which is why I’m writing a quick one to inform you that my personal blog and review site has been going for about a year now. You can find it at http://www.twaddlefish.wordpress.com if you would still like to read the kind of stuff we’ve made here and previously at HeadBang. We do count on your support for all this, so please subscribe!

Thanks for reading guys,

Alex/T-Fish

Stuff you need to listen to – If These Trees Could Talk

It’s two days into 2011, my first post of the year and I’m writing about…? Post-Rock. In all honesty, I did only discover said genre properly in the year that’s just left but I feel that I start this new one fully ready to immerse myself in all it’s melancholic glory. (Ok, so I sound REALLY brown-nosed and I’ve yet hit 1,000 words… bollocks) Returning to the matter in hand, that being why post-rock is just so damn brilliant. In particular why you should give ITTCT a listen.

My first ‘post-rock’ was probably 65daysofstatic back in 2006 and in all honesty I thought it was shite. Granted I’d now happy go and punch my former self in the face before cutting off my hair, yelling ‘Iron Maiden suck balls’ before leaving to do some hardcore drive-bys. But, alas we all have a past which we’re ashamed of (otherwise we wouldn’t try so damn hard to escape it) even so, I wouldn’t be who I am now if it wasn’t for what I was in the past… You get the damned point. Anyway, in the last 12 months it would be fair to say that I’ve changed quite a bit, I’ve lost all enthusiasm for writing about music (see my last post) and I’ve remembered why I love cinema quite so much. But that’s all for another day.

Back to post-rock, now you may well know Mogwai, 65daysofstatic and God Is An Astronaut but ITTCT have a criminally low number of Last.fm listeners. True, you won’t get anything particularly unusual with this bunch. Both the album and the E.P are fairly standard, but nonetheless solid, post-rock records. The music itself moves from intricate passages to roaring crescendo’s and one track features more emotion that the entire Dream Smearater discography could ever muster. The sound quality on this track is pretty crappy, but that’s YouTube for you… just go buy the bloody thing; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3yEvKHhwqw

So there you go, a fresh slice of some post-rock magic to help bring in 2011 in true musical style. If you do just one thing this year, make it realising that metalheads take themselves far too seriously and could all do with a good kicking. Plus, Trolling is more fun than you could possibly imagine.

Happy New-fucking-Year!

Mr Bogle

Are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin.

Just over 13 months ago I, along with The Iron Eagle and Eyelicker launched Reverse Current. It had come from the ‘ashes’ of Headbang.co.uk a site which, in its last days had been run almost entirely by yours truly. With endless shitty reviews, fake opinions and general bollocks it was kept going until it finally died a death. That was when RC was launched and, for the first few months at least, it was fun. Then life took over, despite what those dicks who attacked Charles and Camilla and climbed the cenotaph tell you, some students work FUCKING HARD! Myself included, not just that, I also grew increasingly weary of metal. An awful lot has changed in my life this year and non more significant that my disaffection with ‘metal’ as a genre. I knew I was bored when I found it a stretch to watch Iron Maiden for two hours at Sonisphere.

So, not only do I now listen to more hardcore than ever before I take genuine pleasure in attempting to piss off at may metalheads as I can. Sure call me a cunt, but I’m no more one than you. Music taste is insignificant now, because whatever I listen to I find I hate it from the outset. Maybe  I do only listen to a couple of tracks before classifying it as worthless shite but that’s my prerogative! I don’t get paid for this shit! Hell, I fucking pay to do it half the time! It’s because of this disaffection with the majority of what I listen too that I’m less likely to write on music than movies, why? Because I love movies and I haven’t had that enjoyment ruined by some prick telling me that I wear the wrong clothes to walk into a fucking cinema.

The main reason why I stopped writing before was because it had become such a struggle to do so, if I’m not enjoying it I see no reason to continue! It would be unfair to say that I haven’t had fun writing for these sites, course I have! At the end of the day I’ve done some awesome things as a result and I’ll always be grateful for those memories. However, I can’t ultimately bring myself to ruin any more music for myself. If you want to criticise me for making that choice. GO AHEAD.

Sure, I’ll write about music when I want too but right now? I don’t want too. Sorry if that spoils the illusion but this just ain’t as fun as it used to be.

Mr Bogle

Dillinger Escape Plan @Brighton Concorde 2 4/11/10

Unfortunately owing to the company kept at the gig (that being your humble author) I have been able to keep a brilliant memory of this gig. Of course I’m neglecting to tell you that I would have remembered such a fucking incredible show regardless of who was there and who wasn’t. Kicking off the evening was The Ocean, who I’d previously been unaware of, admittedly I was expecting a show resembling the old Concorde2 toilets, but I remembered that they were on tour with DEP so they can’t have been terrible. And they weren’t, they were really damn good, tight as hell with some awesome tunes. Resembling a mix of The Defiled and DEP themselves, I’m sure I would have largely ignored them had they been presented to me via Youtube, but live they made a great impression. One to look out for. UK fuckingmentalyetsomehowawesome-core band Rolo Tomassi were next up and while it’s clear they are a band in their infancy, it’s also clear that they are aware of the underground fuss being made of them, after their awesome album ‘Cosmology’ was released earlier this year, their frantic blend of hardcore, metal and electronics is beginning to take the shape of something slightly more coherent with a hint of something special waiting in the wings. And if the mutters of ‘Wow she’s hot… holy shit she’s growling’ are anything to go by they’ll be getting plenty of attention anyway.

Dillinger Escape Plan burst onto the stage with ‘Farewell, Mona Lisa’ the opener from this year’s album ‘Option Paralysis’ and literally tore the place apart. (It’s really surprising how the Concorde is still standing after all these hardcore and metal bands threaten to tear it down and usually near on do). The epic-ness of ‘…Mona Lisa’ showcases their unquestionable skill in the first 5 minutes of the gig, leaving those wondering how they were going to pull off their insane songs live slapping themselves for being so stupid. They tore through favourites ‘Fix Your Face’ and ‘Milk Lizard’ straight after and then continued to plough through their set, a good mix of old and new songs, including the spectacular ‘Good Neighbour’ and the bonkers classic ‘43% Burnt’. During the hour or so they were on stage, nothing stood still, the whole place was just a sea of people going mad. Frontman Greg Puciato wastes no time in whipping the crowd up and even goes for a little jump during the last song.

Dillinger are on fine form and hopefully it won’t be too long before they come and destroy our seaside resorts again.

Come back soon, lads.

10/10

Gwar – The Bloody Pit Of Horror

As you can probably see, I’ve been on a bit of melodic stint lately. Roughly since…2001, so I thought it’s about high time we shook things up a bit with everyone’s favourite B-movie extras Gwar, and their new record. Catching these guy at Bloodstock was…enlightening, certainly with thoughts of “Is that…yes, yes that’s Hitler and he’s…he’s ejaculating green into the crowd. Well, the members of the yacht club won’t stand for that!”

While a large part of Gwar’s live show is the shock factor of the stage antics, and the admittedly great costumes and personas, it’s significantly harder to put that across on record. The album begins with the four part title track, a violent fusion of thrash, early hardcore and all the low budget horror violence a man could wish for. Therein is the essence of Gwar, there are no giant memorable riffs that pull a song out from the rest, but the throaty shouts of songs like Tick-Tits and the question “What could be better than ticks on your tits?”.  I’ll give it to them, Gwar a very crude, but very funny band. Without lying on the outright clinical horror of death metal, although Litany Of The Slain might just be the one semi-serious song on the album.

While I wouldn’t exactly call Gwar a singalong band, choruses that are shouts of “Tick-Tits!” and/or “Genocide!” are annoyingly infectious the extent you wonder if the band haven’t put them in just to piss you off. Regardless, the few moments of melodic hook are lost in a thrash maelstrom who’s main focus is often naught but unbridled malevolence toward the listener.

I have a feeling if you own a Gwar album, you pretty much own them all. Despite the juvenile bristling energy leaping off TBPoH, it’s true that Gwar have honed their sound to an art. If, the last time someone offered you a hug, you punched them in the dick, I’d certainly recommend it, you angry angry badger.

6ish/10.

Twaddlefish

The World Is Quite Different Now

This isn’t a new post, but rather something I posted on an old blog nearly a year ago. It may just seem to be sheer laziness that has driven me to ‘republish it’ but I felt it expressed what I was saying yesterday in a less aggressive way. I also still feel it’s a valid argument. No, this won’t be happening a lot.

 

With the advent of social networking the idea of your personal life staying personal quickly became an oxymoron. These days with the likes of Facebook, Twitter and Friends Reunited its become increasing easy to find out things about people and to feel like you ‘know them’ despite having met them only once or sometimes not at all. There’s something weirdly esoteric about updating your ‘status’ or telling everyone ‘Whats on your mind?’ I’m not trying to deny that I use both Facebook and Twitter or that I’m somehow ‘holy than thou’ because of what I think (as is often how blogs can seem to be) but rather that in the last 5 years the idea and thrill of waiting to see someone to find out what they’ve been upto for the last [insert amount of time] and ‘catch up’. True we don’t share anything and everything with the wider world but at times it feels like we do.

At the end of every year there’s always a mass of ‘Best of’ lists that appear which attempt to summarise the last year in less than 300 words and try to make us wonder ‘what it would have been like had it not happened’ well…at least that’s how it can make me feel, with the end of last year and the ‘end of the decade’ there were lists cropping up everywhere telling us ‘what we didn’t have in ’99 but we do in ’09’ and some make for vaguely interesting reading. True we didn’t have social networking, Wikipedia or bluetooth ten years ago but what we do have is a world that is constantly shrinking and is being reduced steadily to a series of ones and zeros. Everything is becoming about ‘numbers’ and numbers can ultimately be described in binary and therefore become just a matrix of two different numbers.

What fascinates me most though is the seeming obsession with letting people know what you’re doing at this moment. right now. here. Me? I’m writing a blog entry. Ok so I’m not doing it as you’re there reading it but right now I’m talking to ‘you’ in the future, this post isn’t even finished yet but I’m still acting like you’re reading it as I type. Facebook has changed the way we act, now photos are all about embarrassing pictures of you dancing/drunk/singing and dancing whilst drunk/throwing up in the gutter when drunk/passed about when drunk (delete as appropriate).

I’m sure I was going somewhere when I started this……goodness knows where I’ve ended up though. Ah well I’ve probably said all that needs to be said, I’m feeling quite existentialist right now. It’s a good feeling has to be said, certainly feel better than I did twenty minutes ago. I’m just clutching at straws now.

Mr Bogle

Technology is out to get us…

Skynet is real and we’re all gonna die.

…and we’re all fucked. How you say? Well for a start #IAmSpartacus just thought we’d get that out the way. If you’re one of those twats who claim that they deliberately ignore social networking because ‘it’s gonna kill us all’ piss off and get a job. I just wanted to make it clear that I am the dude who actually threatened to blow up Robin Hood Airport. The other guy was just covering. He owned me a favour after I brought him a pint… shame it all got so out of hand.

I picked up my Uni’s local ‘Rag’ (I prefer toilet roll myself) but names aside. It contained various idiots sprouting bullshit from every orifice imaginable. This is included some choice pickings; including a review of Todd Phillips’ latest shit film (he’s the guy who made ‘The Hangover’) and before you say anything, I HATED that movie, just terrible, misogynistic bollocks.  But if you want to hear anyone on just why it’s really not worth the time of day I suggest Dr Kermode’s diagnosis. ‘Due Date’ (that’s the new one by the way) just from the trailer looks awful.  Honestly, first time I saw it I turned to my other half and said ‘well that looks shit’ trust me, I really did. ‘Bromance’ isn’t funny.

The second was the words ‘awesome 3D’ used in connection to the cinema really made me realise just how worried I am about ‘3D’ I mean when you’re getting is either bodily fluids, stupid bits of body parts, boobs or whatever else gets thrown out at us. I mean face it Avatar was really bad, just really really bad. Boring, unoriginal and vacuous. I’d much rather go see ‘Papa Smurf’s Sex Tape’ than sit through another screening of ‘Dances with Wolves in Space’.

The question now is what’s next? Am I going to go to see ‘Pirates Of The Caribbean 4’ where Johnny Depp is going to donn his gloves from ‘Edward Scissorhands’ reach out and slice my head off for real? I’m very scared and would warn anyone against it. It’ll be a fucking massacre.

Final thing, the ‘rag’ also listed ‘DVD we’re most looking forward to’ as… no not Toy Story 3 or Inception… but Sex and (the fucking) City 2! I mean COME ON! I LET YOU HAVE THE REST BUT REALLY!!!!!!

Phew, rant over.

Mr Bogle

Michael Monroe – Another Night In The Sun/Live In Helsinki

Monroe has been fronting Hanoi Rocks since it’s inception, and has been the driving force behind their 2002 reunion with the killer 12 Shots On The Rocks.  ANITS is live from Helsinki and features Ginger from The Wildhearts on guitar and Sami Yaffa, a previous H-Rocker, on bass.

And if you do like Hanoi Rocks, you’ll be very happy, as a fair part of the set list is made up of their material. What you have on offer is a nice helping of sleazy glam rock from the early 1980s, with anthems like Back To Mystery City and Malibu Beach Nightmare. I really dislike reviewing live albums, because by and large you comment on the actual performance rather than the actual material, aside from setlist objections. The playing is perfectly good, Monroe sounds as good as he did back ten years ago, and the band sound exactly the kind of thing you’d go to a sweaty, dark shithole of a club to go and see.

ANITS oozes sex, drugs and rock n’ roll, all of which Monroe has had plenty of in his career. While his solo career will never achieve the dream of mega-stardom he’s always wanted, there is absolutely nothing wrong with a belter of hard rock band playing dirty blues like Dead, Jail or Rock N’ Roll.

6/10

Twaddlefish

Prop19- A Big Change for all of us

Potentially the fate of the dope smoking population will be change in the next coming weeks with the Bill; Proposition 19. What happens in California will affect all of us, especially since we English look much cooler if we go along with whatever decision the U.S. makes, cause son I ain’t bein’ funny, but that Iraq war made us look the shiznaz (ooooooo ain’t I clever using political humor, praises to me!). Though just to clear things up, I know that this is a site for music, but music and dope go hand in hand like Cheech and Chong (pre and post break up (break up in a career sense not in a gay way, we can’t condone everything (Joke!)). If you have any ideological complaints about smoking dope then that is fine, no one is forcing you to smoke it (in the same way no one is forcing you to hang with the cool kids) you make your own choices in life that’s  what lifting these ridunkolous laws are all about, letting people make a choice, as well as a couple of other issues (I’ll get to them in my own sweet time).

If health is a concern, well I got some bad news for you, smoking and drinking are bad for you. I think it’s only me that knows this fact, but believe it or not the very things are precious government make a considerable profit on is eventually going to kill you, so it’s either all OK or none of it is. Many studies have shown that cannabis is nowhere near as harmful as tobacco and alcohol. If you look into the illegalizing of cannabis you’ll will find that health and morality weren’t a big factor in the illegalization of the drug.

“Reefer makes darkies think they’re as good as white men.”

“…the primary reason to outlaw marijuana is its effect on the degenerate races.”

“There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the US, and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos, and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz, and swing, result from marijuana use. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers, and any others.”
Actual quotes from the Harry Anslinger (A key player in the criminalization of cannabis, god bless him for fighting the good fight).

Back to the issue of that organized racket (music), there are many artist that are for the legalizing of weed, that you funky fresh kiddie winks   can get down with, for instance Dime Bag (although only way that I could of made that anymore obvious is by spelling it out for you), Sublime  (the members that are alive at least), Colt Jackson, Tenacious D,  Thunder Strook and many more, and if you pay by credit card I’ll provide Actors who are also for Legalizing it such as Seth Rogen, Jack Nicholson, Jennifer Aniston, Johnny Depp and many, many more.

Money is also taken out of the criminals back pocket and convenience is now in the hands of the dope fiends, truly a turn for the tables, as well as money pocketed off the revenue… oh sorry literally just got word through and apparently Prop19 is a no go. Nothing changes the Californian social experiment isn’t going to happen so go about you lives as per usual.

Although there was still a fair percentage that voted yes, so although immediate change didn’t happen, the future of the wonder crop is still uncertain.

Should probably rap up with something about music ermmm… oh it was Tom Petty’s 60th birthday recently (wait who the fuck is Tom Petty).