Xilla - You Crawl

The 'nu-grunge' revival that's been kicking off around the UK is a bit of a misnomer. Bands like Fizzy Blood and Dinosaur Pile-Up take more from fuzzin' up the power chord pop of 90s alt-rock bands like Weezer and Presidents Of The United States Of America, rather than following in the footsteps of the intricate, sludge style riffs that Alice In Chains and Soundgarden managed to compose so easily. Birmingham band Xilla may label themselves as progressive rock, but on their debut single You Crawl, they come across as spiritual successors to the slower and more driving style of grunge that the Big Seattle Four popularised.

Flowerpot April Tour Press Release

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FLOWERPOT ANNOUNCE APRIL UNIVERSITY COLLEGE TOUR - STREAM THEIR LATEST SINGLE BROKEN STILETTO ON SOUNDCLOUD

Bristol based all-female alternative rock band Flowerpot are heading out on an April jaunt around the UK, playing shows on the UK university and college tour circuit. The band are warming up with a few dates in the south of England towards the end of March before beginning their tour on the 6th of April. 

LIVE DATES
March 22nd - South Devon College
March 23rd - Birmingham ATM
March 24th - Plymouth University
April 6th - UWE Bristol
April 7th - Richard Huish, Taunton
April 7th - The Attic Bar, Bristol
April 12th - Broadlands Academy, Keynsham
April 18th - Oxford Brookes University
April 20th - Exeter College
April 22nd - Bath College
April 23rd - The Lanes, Bristol (EP Launch)
April 27th - Weston College


In addition, Flowerpot's debut single of of hot molten fuzz rock, Broken Stiletto, is currently available to stream on their Soundcloud. Broken Stiletto was released in November 2015 and was described as "surely a great sign of what’s to come" by National Rock Review. Stream it at https://soundcloud.com/flowerpot_official

With their heavy fuzz and crashing guitars, powerful driving rhythm section and , Flowerpot come across as a cross of Red Hot Chili Peppers and Juliette and The Licks, with a healthy dose of Deap Valley and Dead Sara thrown in for measure. The band were formed in January 2015, and finalised their linuep of Louisa Baker (guitar/vocals), Morgan Pearce (bass) and Ellie Daymond (drums). Since then, the band have played with The Bots, CJ Wildheart, and Cherrie Currie (The Runaways), making a name for themselves with their heavy alternative offerings, classic rock riffing and quirky cover versions on popular musical numbers. With their debut EP coming out in April, Flowerpot are looking to make their mark on the UK's alternative music scene. 

As December Falls - When You Figure Out You're Wrong, Get Back To Me

As December Falls have been going since 2014, released their debut EP in December that year, were listed as one of Scuzz's top unsigned bands of 2015 and have been riding high since then. They're looking to build on this success with their latest EP, When You Figure Out You're Wrong, Get Back To Me, released this February. On this release, As December Falls build on their experiences as a band in the last year and make a bid for proving themselves to be able to stand amongst their influences.

David J. Harvey - Cinderella

David J.Harvey has been making music under his own name since 2013, striking out from the Chelmsford scene. Backed up by fellow musicians Laura Kearns (vocals/guitars/piano), and Matt Wilkinson (guitar/bass), Harvey plays a relaxed, chilled out acoustic style of alternative pop-rock that calls to mind early noughties artists like Damien Rice and James Blunt on his debut album Cinderella. Luckily, Harvey largely avoids the vacuity of the latter artist, and strikes out for a meaningful, reflective release that helps shine due to the variety of musical styles and quality mix, provided by Chris McCormack (3 Colours Red).

The Boston Shakers - Black Magic (Single)

Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not is ten years old this year. Damn. Time goes fast, eh? But the thing is, that album still remains fresh in my memory for one good damn reason; it pulled up the quality of British indie-alternative rock significantly, and the few years following saw some ace releases from bands such as the Maccabees, Razorlight and Foals, all branching off into different directions and releasing well-received, commercially successful albums, triggering a revival of British indie rock. But more importantly, Alex Turner's brilliant lyrics on social commentary helped to ground these songs into reality. Although they may have been musically and lyrically influenced by the cool of American bands like The Strokes and Queens of the Stone Age, the Arctic Monkeys took that cool and used it as the backdrop for witty songs about crappy nights out, drunken disappointments and lyrics about learning life lessons the hard way.

Black Magic, the first single by Liverpool band The Boston Shakers to have received airplay, instantly transports me back to 2006. Its lyrics fit beautifully into the same vein as Alex Turner's, with lead singer Alex Pascoe twisting words into an effortlessly intoxicating tale of a drunken night out gone wrong. Pascoe's delivery is fresh - the way he spits the line "chemicals on your tongue" genuinely sounds like he's having to throw something poisonous up - and his lyrics jab and jibe at those songs you know you're gonna hear on the dancefloor. When Pascoe sings "feeling supersonic, but I'm actually quite nauseous," you've got the continuing millenial hangover to Oasis' 90's Britpop optimism. The club becomes a dangerous place, with broken glass and vomit on the floor, and I love it. Black Magic perfectly captures the feeling of a night out going wrong.

It's ironic that Pascoe is originally from California, as this song feels so distinctly 'British' in its lyrical content. But perhaps the American influence works in their favour; musically, The Boston Shakers add a healthy dose of Black Keys hard bluesy rock to their style of British indie, with Pascoe's brother Will and Jordan Kennie contributing powerful, stuttering guitar lines and tasty lead riffs. The bass and rhythm section give the song a real sense of energy and intensity that fits in with the lyrical themes of the song. As Black Magic is a song about the pay-off of losing control through alcohol, so to do the band lose control as the song develops, becoming louder, rowdier and more reckless. This is a strong opening single for the band, and I'm interested in seeing where their sound develops. My only real point of criticism is that not all members of the band get a chance to show off their talents; this is a six piece band, their electronic sounds and white noise that are usually prevalent in live performances being underutilised on this track. If the The Boston Shakers can emphasise this aspect of their sound and work around it, they have a good shot at getting some more serious air time. At the minute, although the night seems to be winding down at the end of Black Magic, it's hard to imagine that there can be any other way for the band to go but up.

ROMP - Departure From Venus

There's this style of US indie-punk that has definitely been on the high rise in the recent years, coming out of a number of DIY scenes in various states. Bands like The Front Bottoms, Tiger's Jaw and PUP have gained international recognition with their mixture of indie lyrical wit and distorted, playful instrumentation. Sleater Kinney returned last year with a No Cities To Love, a great album that just reinforced how influential they have been on the alternative music scene in the last two decades. Scranton's Petal released one of my favourite albums of last year. And bands like RVIVR, Wavves and Iron Chic have embraced this new direction, making their aggressive punk rock fun more appealing to a wider audience, whilst still staying true to their punk DIY-integrity. Into this scene come New Jersey band ROMP with their debut LP Departure From Venus. And let me tell you this, ROMP are fun. Departure To Venus is an energetic and exciting listen, full of indie-pop shine, shimmering keyboards, crunchy guitars and pounding rhythms. But below the pop sheen, Departure To Venus also has a deep, thoughtful and challenging lyrical narrative that adds a real sense of maturity to the band's compositions.

Camel Walk - The Wheel Deal

My favourite novel is Mark Z. Danielewski's House Of Leaves, a fearful meta-fictional tale about how the pursuit of knowledge and truth is ultimately a vacuous and terrifying journey into the self, revealing a nihilism that reflects upon the emptiness of existence. In its fiercely resistant attempts at being discovered, its active rejection of any meaning the reader may impart upon it, the book twists and turns, snarlingly forcing the reader to start examining themselves, redefining the relationship between text and reader.

Camel Walk's The Wheel Deal also has nothing really going for it at its core, but instead of this being something negative, it's instead super positive and awesome and happy. And, where House of Leaves breaks down the fourth wall between the novel and the reader in a violent manner, The Wheel Deal also tries to break this boundary, by just being really up-front and honest about the fact that it's, well, not really going to blow your ass off. But in a good way. It's a funny, earnest and experimental record that invites the listener in under the pretence of there maybe being something a bit deeper to it, even though at its core there's not really a lot of substance.