Liverpool Music Week Returns Bigger and Better Than Ever

Before we go on to talk about how absolutely insane the line up for this years LMW is, let's take a moment to appreciate the amount of incredible bands that have been brought to Merseyside this year. We've already had Swans, Thurston Moore, The Flaming Lips, Fat White Family, Echo and the Bunnymen, Spiritualized and Anton Newcombe thanks to Sound City, LIMF and psych fest, but as we fade into autumn there's no shortage of great bands entertaining Merseyside crowds. In fact, in Liverpool Music Week we may have the strongest collection of acts we've had all year. With post-rock titans Godspeed You! Black Emperor bringing their deafening yet beautiful, hypnotic live show to the city as well as appearances from the likes of LA noise freaks HEALTH and daydreamers Best Coast at my favourite venue in the world, The Kazimier, LMW is looking stronger than ever. And there's still more to be announced. 

Mogwai and The Black Lips last year as well as a wealth of (then) rising talents such as Eagulls and Hookworms would seem impossible to top, but somehow they've done it. Also standing out on the line up are Liverpool's own psych pop darlings Stealing Sheep and a rare headline show from London kraut-toyers Telegram. The event ends on Halloween with an unbelievably  great freak fest line up of Deerhunter, Gang of Four, LA Priest and a bunch more. 

The excellent and often underestimated Shipping Forecast is also made good use of with the likes of Pixx, DMA's and The Amazons all making appearances.

Oh, did I forget to mention that Richard Hawley's playing Grand Central Hall too? Testament to the strength of the line up, eh?

All tickets for the FOURTEEN shows taking place around Liverpool between the 23rd and 31st of this month are available here

By Marty Hill 

Ought Somehow Up Their Game On 'Sun Coming Down', A Genuine Contender For Album of the Year

Under a tremendous shadow cast by their sparklingly excellent debut “More Than Any Other Day” released a little more than a year ago, Ought haven’t succumbed to any pressure, but have created an album still vividly exciting, without staying too close to their debut. That tight surging feel to their sound that we came to know and love has not been lost on their sophomore album, and yet the darker tones have been transformed into something more uplifting and upbeat. In particular the track “beautiful blue sky” feels  like  a coming of age for the Montreal collective, as they step away from the already tired Talking Heads comparisons and pen a complete masterpiece of a track on which they're at their tightest, most pensive and sounding more and more like a band that time will refuse to forget.


 On 'Sun Coming Down', Ought have formulated an artistic post-punk sound to call their own, with the keen observational lyrics of vocalist Tim Darcy at the forefront of their distinction. Cleverly written and delivered in his distinctive slightly monotone, twitching voice, Darcy is probably one of the most important songwriters of today. From the observant and witty attack on patriarchy that is 'Men for Miles' to his despair at the idea of a mediocre life on 'Beautiful Blue Sky', there's not a word wasted on the LP. His voice and the instruments come together to sound as though constantly teetering on the edge of a cliff, but the unfussy, understated confidence leaves you in no doubt that they won’t fall. The many ebbs and flows make “Sun Coming Down” a rewarding listen that announces Ought as well worthy of the hype, and I’d argue, well worthy of a lot more.

After such a short time together, Ought are already well formed and very self-aware; a promise of good things to come making it exciting to look forward to the future of this band.

18/20

By Nathaniel Wells 

Kurt Vile is at his Effortless Best on 'B'lieve I'm Going Down'

Kurt Vile never changes too much. He’s like an old friend who you bump into every few years - a little older and wiser - but the same at heart. Foregoing any radical transformations, his career has instead been a process of gradual refinement, and Vile’s songwriting has become more mature and self-assured with each album.

So to ‘B’lieve I’m Going Down’, his sixth studio album, which was recorded and mixed in a number of locations, including Malibu and Joshua Tree. The layers of reverb and fuzz that characterized his early work are completely absent here, and the tone is a little darker. It’s a nighttime album, moody and introspective, while amping up Vile’s signature brand of dark humour. This makes sense, given that the majority of the album was written and recorded in the early hours, and Vile has stated that “somewhere between midnight and three, maybe the best stuff happens.” ‘B’lieve’ is a tour of his hazy, introverted mind; a collection of late night thoughts that tumble out as Vile attempts to balance the life of an unassuming family man with that of a busy touring musician.

Opener ‘Pretty Pimpin’ is born out of this dislocation. A mediation on dissociation, it tells of the toll a busy life can have on one’s mental health, as Vile “woke up this morning and didn’t recognise the man in the mirror.” Interlocking layers of guitar and synth add to the sense of unease, only anchored by Stella Mozgawa’s steady drums. However, Vile’s always ready with a punchline, and he eventually laughs it off with a “oh silly me, that’s just me.” It’s a tactic he uses often, always undercutting his introspection with a dose of black humour. It helps the hour-long album to be palatable - for example, ‘That’s life, tho’ could be overbearing, with its talk of a man who “left so many loved ones behind”, but Vile just shrugs and says “that’s life, though”.

Musically speaking, it’s a simpler album than his past efforts. Banjos and soft synths have been introduced, and the songs often feel like they’re writing themselves. ‘Lost my Head there” is the most prominent example of this - its elements interlock in such an easy way that you can picture Vile and his band sat around the piano, jamming and accidentally writing a song in the process. He’s long been a master of unassuming but catchy choruses that creep in without you noticing, as seen on ‘Never Run Away’ from his last album. This is continued here, with ‘Life Like This’, a funky strut that morphs into a complete earworm.

‘B’lieve I’m Going Down’ won’t change anyone’s mind; you most likely know by now whether or not you like Kurt Vile. What it is is a charming addition to the discography of a true musician, who most likely won’t change his ways no matter what the reaction to this album is. He’s an avid record collector and music buff who’ll never really be fashionable, but that doesn’t matter. You get the sense that - whether he continues to be successful or not - he’ll just keep ploughing on; writing records at his home in Philly, spending time with his family, and getting wiser.

16/20

By Scott Brown

Wand, Shopping and Eagles of Death Metal Reviews

Shopping – Why Choose?

Most post-punk bands of late seem content with nailing all the signifiers of the genre on their records and leaving it at that. Shopping, however, offer more than nostalgia. Off-beat, frantic guitars and pulsating basslines aplenty, ‘Why Choose’ is step forward rather than a look back.

The jittery, spontaneous nature of debut album ‘Consumer Complaints’ is fleshed out throughout the second offering, with Shopping sounding more jagged than ever. There’s a Gang of Four feel to the way the East London band seem to write driving, repetitive basslines that serve as the spine of their songwriting process to which they can build upon with manic guitar lines and lyrics that feel too natural not to be improvised but are too great to be.

16/20

Wand – 1000 Days

From the moment a storm of synth notes urgently open the record on ‘Grave Robber’ to the melancholy winding closer ‘Morning Rainbow’, Wand’s third record in just over a year is a sonic utopia that flicks the switch between White Fence’s humble charm and Pond’s psych rock melt downs as and when it chooses to. You can only ever admire the haziness of the  record for a couple of minutes before a whirlwind of distorted guitars and phasered synths hit you like train, a perfect psych record.

19/20

Eagles of Death Metal – Zipper Down

How on earth could a record seven years in the making be so bad? Crawling with misogyny and male entitlement, Zipper Down would be a forgettable effort from a college band, it’s the sorta thing you’d expect Royal Blood to churn out in three years time when everybody has forgotten about them. Sure, there’s some tight drumming here and the occasional chord progression that hasn’t been taken directly from an early QOTSA record, but that’s about it. But then, what would you expect from an LP branded as an “eargasm” by a half of its creators. At least its sexist artwork ties in neatly with the music, though – there’s too much meaningless album art nowadays.

3/20 

By Marty Hill

A Short Interview With Bruising

We featured Bruising in our second edition of SOON because they're one of our favourite bands coming out of the Leeds DIY scene at the moment, and that's saying something. We were lucky enough to talk to Naomi from the band about being a duo, Leeds and curating a theoretical festival.

You recently played a bunch of headline shows across the UK, how did they go?

The shows were really great - we got to play with some of our friends' bands (abattoir blues, doe) and drank huge milkshakes in almost every place we went to.

You're a two-piece band and had touring members on bass and drums on the last tour, are there any plans to eventually have a permanent four-piece set up? 

We definitely develop and play around with our songs as a four, even though at the moment it's just me and Ben who write and arrange them. I would say we basically function as a four piece already! 

 It seems like there's endless great bands coming out of Leeds at the moment, do you think there's a reason why that might be?

 Probably the more bands come out of leeds, the more people are excited to start their own. There are some great communities and DIY venues in leeds at the moment, as well as a healthy house show scene, which I think contribute to people feeling like they could start a band and be supported by the community even if they aren't polished and perfect! That's what happened with me! 

Who would headline a Bruising-curating festival?

Obviously Drake would have the headline slot. Also playing would be Paul Mccartney, Hoobastank and Tobias Jesso Jr. 

Interview by Marty Hill

Check out Bruising here

Our Absolute Favourites Bruising Just Dropped An INCREDIBLE New Track

I'm sick of saying that Bruising are one of my favourite Leeds bands because I find myself saying that about everybody because there's just such a great DIY scene over there at the moment, so I'm just going to start saying they're one of my favourite bands. Anyway, the two-piece just released a new track called 'Emo Friends' and even if I wasn't really biased I'd recommend it 'cause it's great. From the moment the racket of a bassline gives way to a surging guitar squeal, Bruising attack with utterly infectious melodies both with their guitars and vocals. "When I kiss you I feel part of myself slowly slip away" croons vocalist Naomi Baguley before launching into an impossibly great chorus. The guitar work on the track sorta flicks between Thurston Moore-esque cathartic tones and the kind of warped pop sensibilities that Stephen Malkmus would kill for, which just sounds so gorgeous entwining with Baguley's saccharine vocals. Oh, and another Terrapin favourite in MJ of Hookworms is on production duties too, so obviously it sounds even better for that. We don't really rate singles but if we did this would be an easy 10/10. 

Listen to 'Emo Friends' here (and then buy a 7") 

By Marty Hill

Lyricists That Should Soundtrack Your Autumn

It's (pretty much) Autumn, which is my favourite season and the time of the year that my primary music taste changes quite dramatically. Whilst I tend to listen to a lot of music over summer that could be vaguely described as psychedelic rock, garage rock or dream pop, my music taste naturally tends to get a lot gloomier towards the end of the year. One thing I've noticed is that I tend to care a lot more about lyrics during this time, which I think is pretty natural because who cares what sweet nothings Ty Segall's coming out with when you're watching Fuzz smash a venue to bits in the middle of August? The emergence of some really exciting new lyricists such as Otis Elliott, Ellis Jones, Tim Darcy and Elliot Hayward has kick started my seasonal immersion in great songwriting, so I thought I'd write a little piece about some of my all-time favourite lyricists:


Conor Oberst 

Since I discovered Bright Eyes about three years ago, Conor Oberst has been my go to songwriter for escapism. As much as music is a huge part of my life, I find it much easier to get lost in a book and find myself in a whole new world than I do with music, but not with Oberst. Particularly in his work with Bright eyes, he writes excruciatingly intimately about often named characters, and it's impossible not to immerse yourself in the beautiful little world he builds record by record. Although it might be a bit of an obvious choice, the track 'Lua' from the album 'I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning' is a great showcase of Oberst's writing style. A typically Bright Eyes simple folk arrangement backdrops his gorgeous narration of a bit of a nothing-story, that he manages to make sound endlessly enchanting.  "I know you've got a heavy heart, I can feel it when we kiss" he croons before adding "so many men stronger than me have thrown their backs out trying to lift it". He goes on to offer "I've got a flask inside my pocket we can share it on the train, if you promise to stay conscious I will try and so the same". There's something so encapsulating about the way that Conor Oberst sees the world. 'The First Day Of My Life' from the same record is equally as youthful and touching, the line "Yours is the first face that I saw, swear I was blind before I met you" stands out as well as "Now I don't care I could go anyway with you, and I'd probably be happy". That record really is the perfect autumn/winter record, and it's great to fall asleep to. The encapsulatingly intimate way that Oberst writes is pretty much continuous throughout the Bright Eyes discography, so I couldn't recommend listening to them enough.



                                                                                                             Annie Clarke/St Vincent

Where on earth would we be without Annie Clarke? Guitar goddess, one of few innovative talents that may very well go on to headline major festivals, genius. One thing I do feel like she does't get enough plaudits for, however, is her lyrical class. From the way she ingenuously observes the life of a failing artist on 'Actor Out Of Work' to the frantic assault on the mundane of 'Birth In Reverse', Clarke's diversity when it comes to writing great songs is overwhelming. Excitingly her latest track, the mellow synthesized ballad,  'Teenage Talk', has seen her step away from the post-David Bowie surrealism that she's now a complete master of and move towards a more Conor Oberst-like intimacy that hasn't really been apparent in any of her abrasive  guitar-driven output. "Katie kept the list of times, now that she had really done it" she begins, with the name making the track feel instantly more personal. She goes on to add "You know I never loved you more than when we were hiding from those sirens". The song just feels so human and brittle, which is a complete contrast to anything on her last record, maybe that's why it's so arresting. Maybe we'll see more of a nostalgic St Vincent record next time around, or maybe she'll stay five million years ahead of us, either way the thought of her writing new material is very exciting.


Kanye West

It's so easy to see Kanye West as that rapper that wrote some (fucking great, by the way) pop songs in 2005 and now thinks he's the greatest of all time. Whilst it's true that Kanye records can feature some pretty obvious songwriting at times, I honestly believe that that's just because he knows how to write a killer single. When he wants to be, he's one of the most vital and relevant lyricists in the world. I might be biased because it's my favourite record of his but HOW can anybody listen to 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy' and deny his capability. 'Gorgeous' is a great example: "Is hip hop just a euphemism for a new religion?/ The soul music of the slaves that the youth is missing" . There's fewer things in music more frustrating than people that think Catfish & The Bottlemen are gods gift and that Kanye West doesnt deserve to headline Glastonbury. The man is an absolute icon, strip away all the celebrity culture and controversy surrounding him and you're left with one of the few rappers on the world stage that have a lot to say and can articulate it faultlessly.


                                                                                                                     Thom Yorke 

The fact that Thom Yorke has been forgiven for Pablo Honey by most Radiohead fans is testament to how great his work with the band has been since. With Thom there's a lot more emphasis on the way his vocal delivery helps his writing than with the other people I've spoke about, but he's still an incredible songwriter regardless. For me, he's at his untouchable best on 'Hail To The Thief' and 'In Rainbows' but that's not to say that there aren't splashes of sheer songwriting genius on some of the band's more widely celebrated moments too. The opening stanza of 'No Surprises', for example: "A heart that's full up like a landfill, a job that slowly kills you, bruises that won't heal". On the two records I mentioned I just think Thom got the balance of abstract and crushingly raw lyricism perfect, somehow. From the eerie coming of age poetry of 'Jigsaw Falling Into Place' to the endlessly philosophical 'Bloom'. I mean, "Don't blow your mind with why", that's SUCH a great lyric and you sorta get the impression that he didn't even think twice about it. By my reckoning Thom has written seven albums worth of great records, and the fact that tracks as emotive as 'True Love Waits' and 'The Daily Mail' can be without a place on any Radiohead LP says a lot about the standard of writing that he's maintained over the years.


Wayne Coyne

Similarly to Thom Yorke, the thing that makes me care so much for Wayne Coyne's songwriting is the way in which he seamlessly ties together the absurd (and in his case heavily psychedelic) and the chokingly human. I think anybody that listens to The Flaming Lips does so largely because they have an intense relationship with the way Coyne writes songs. 'Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots' is maybe one of the most consistently great records in terms of lyrics I've ever heard. Every.single.track is incredible. 'Fight Test' has always been a personal favourite of mine, mainly because Coyne's knack of writing a deeply personal song yet somehow linking it back to the bands psychedelic imagery and making it seem natural comes through particularly well. 'Do You Realize?' is the obvious tear-jerker, and is sorta Jeff Mangum-esque in the way it just seems to make the world seem so, so simple and beautiful. 'Feeling Yourself Disintegrate' is another example of the classic 'Lips combination of brittle human emotion and otherworldly soundscapes, if you ever get the chance to see this track live you absolutely need to take it.


Other honorable mentions: Jeff Buckley, Mark Linkous, Patti Smith, Kendrick Lamar, Elliott Smith, Tom Verlaine...


By Marty Hill