Given that I’ve spent the last three days writing about gangs of kids fighting police in the streets and unprecedented looting sprees in London, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham and other English towns and cities, it’s hard for me not to see everything through a riot prism. (Ie a prism that doesn’t have any glass left because it’s all been smashed.) I go to get the milk out of the fridge for a cup of tea, I hurl it across the room at an imaginary police officer…
It’s kind of alright, but it is a waste of stage. Figo would be just as effective if he was packed away in a booth somewhere. Watching a guy in a hoody tweaking a button occasionally does not constitute a live show.
CAN I JUST SAY?! CAN I JUST SAY – how AMAZING this band is? On so many levels. The first point is that Polly Mackey & The Pleasure Principle is not just another band from London – they’re from Liverpool! (or Wrexham near Wales depending on how you look at it) Secondly, Polly is COOL AND amazing with the guitar. Thirdly – they sound like Tegan & Sara + Uh Huh Her. Fourth it’s not just another boring GUY band with guys in it. Why cant there be more bands like this?
Bridie Jackson is a singer, songwriter, and – as will become apparent – an excellent writer.She was featured on ANBAD a while ago, too. She hails from the North-East of England, and, in the article below, provides a fascinating insight into the music scene of a part of the UK that is sometimes considered remote, or backward, or – worse – both. It’s an excellent, and refreshingly positive, read…
The North-East gets a bad rep. The national belief that its grim up North combined with a few too many harrowing BBC two dramas, featuring sallow faced minors and scenes of parochial, small minded vigilantes has done nothing to help with the belief that Newcastle-Upon-Tyne and all its counterparts, are places to be escaped from at the first possible opportunity.
I’m not going to lie. I’m not the most organised person in the world. But even I feel awful that the reason that this following piece showcasing the dubious and multifarious delights of the northern English town of Wigan was that I simply plain forgot about it. Awful, awful, awful.
Still, Mike has written a snigger-worthy and idiosyncratic view of his hometown of Wigan – a place that has a number of unusual spots in the annals of pop history.
Dan Grose is a student in the dubious confines of Stoke-On-Trent, a grimy town now more famous for its extreme right-wing politicians and absence of job prospects than its music scene.
It’s also my home town – one that I left years ago – and I was interested to hear what was happening there now, and what an outsider thought. Dan spies the glint of treasure in the Potteries’ slag heap…
The lovely Slow Club are giving away their ‘Lets Fall Back In Love’ EP at their site slowclub-yeahso.com. The band also have a Mackenzie Crook staring video out for their new ‘Giving Up On Love’ single and an imminent UK tour.
What do you get the Devil who has everything? Well Woon, Filthy Little Angels and fellow scousers Dirtblonde have sent the Devil the best birthday present a fallen angel could wish for. A killer combination of two of the best things to ever to emerge from the FLA stable. A Dirtblonde cover of Colt.45’s brilliant Stockholm Syndrome. All wrapped up in a free EP from the FLA website.
Dare: try to say it five times fast. The Seal Cub Clubbing Club, who reside in Wirral, England just outside of Liverpool, are probably the most eccentric bunch of non-eccentrics I’ve ever had the pleasure of listening to. The ultra kitschy moniker, which I’ve slowly grown to both love and appreciate, and the wonderfully bizarre cover art, though not entirely reflective of the music contained therein, are are somehow inexplicably befitting.
Gossip and Rocket from the Crypt albums inexplicably reviewed together on Plan B.
Photos from a recent FOE gig - a friend of our friends Hold Your Horse Is - she’s gonna be big!!! Read the gig review after the jump.
Shots of North Carolina’s folk-rocking Avett Brothers’ stop in Glasgow - 22.08.11
Read the review of the gig here.
Take a look at the acts and art on offer at this year’s Latitude Festival in Suffolk. Included are the likes of Fight Like Apes, Lykke Li, Sea of Bees and Seasick Steve. Photos from our own...
Good time with Bad Guys. Photos from the May 29th gig at the Old Blue Last. Read the review by the Bad Guy himself, Stuart London after the jump.
Artrocker.com exclusive: for fans of White Lies and Crocodiles we’ve got some fresh pictures from their UK show at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire earlier this month, courtesy of Alessandro...
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