Given that Teens of Style is a debut of sorts, you’d be forgiven for assuming that the record’s inherent looseness stems not from aesthetic decision, but lack of experience on the behalf of Car Seat Headrest.
Monday, 9 November 2015
#515: Trust Fund - Seems Unfair
Despite coming just months after the band’s debut LP, Seems Unfair marks a surprising step-up from Trust Fund, and though the DIY twee sensibility of No One’s Coming For Us is still present in swathes, it’s far from a record comprised of that album’s cast offs.
Thursday, 5 November 2015
#514: The Cribs, Albert Hall, Manchester
Image: Katie Clare
When The Cribs last played Manchester back in February, the show was as raucous and as sweaty affair as one might imagine; the ground floor of The Ritz becoming a heaving throng, sweat dripping and limbs flailing. What else you may have noticed if you were at that show, is how the then-new tracks, 'An Ivory Hand' or 'Pink Snow' for instance, despite fitting in with established tracks sonically, brought about a lull in the proceedings thanks to the crowd's unfamiliarity with the material. But, six months have passed since then, and the material from From All My Sisters now sits snugly in The Cribs' canon, as if it had been there from the start.
#513: Bear's Den, HMV Ritz, Manchester
Image: Lee Hammond
Having followed Bear's Den for a number of years now, it's encouraging to see them grow from the little-known folk three-piece they were, in to the rapidly accelerating force they're becoming. And, as if their burgeoning visibility isn't proof enough, tonight's venue has been up-scaled from Academy 2 to The Ritz, in order to accommodate the fans that clamored for tickets. Indeed such an up-scaling in venue certainly attests to the band's popularity, whilst keeping fans happy, but where does it leave Bear's Den themselves? Can a band that thrives on intimacy make a venue such as The Ritz feel as intimate as those early shows at the likes of The Deaf Institute or Ruby Lounge?
#512: Catching Up With...Viola Beach
With the clocks going back tonight, you could be forgiven for thinking that with shorter days comes the inevitable bleakness of an English winter. And though you might be right, and I certainly wouldn’t bet against the fact, Warrington’s Viola Beach are a band for whom seasons mean nothing. Operating within a bubble of perpetual summer, their upbeat indie oikishness draws parallels to the likes of Rat Boy, and their latest single Swings and Waterslides is a perfect slice of optimistic slacker-pop that’s sure to offset the cold weather just enough to see us through to their next release.
We caught up with the band to find out a little more about them.
#511: Midcity - Honed (EP Review)
Despite not one of their four members being old enough to drink yet, Leicester-based Midcity are a band far more realised than their tender years would have you believe.
Having recorded all previous material in a garage, their aptly titled 'Honed' EP marks their first foray into the studio, allowing them to polish the rough edges of their demos whilst retaining the dynamic nature of that initial sound. As such, the finished product is one that's remarkably mature for a band of such a collectively young age; the record's three tracks veering from moody indie to ambitious post-rock with apparent ease.
#510: Cat Bear Tree - Settled (EP review)
It's somewhat fitting that first track on Cat Bear Tree's latest EP is called 'Adult'. Having come a long way since the DIY recordings of their debut back in 2013, 'Settled In Our Hearts', and indeed the track that opens it, is the sound of a band having truly found their feet, completed the maturing process hinted at on last year's 'Spaces In Between' and as such, allowed their sound to become fully-realised in the process.
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