I KNOW A SONG THAT'LL GET ON YOUR NERVES #2

The next instalment segment you've all been anticipating like the coming apocalypse, a song to get stuck in your head!

This un's an ode to the Ermahgherd meme by the folks at the Nerdist channel on Youtube, featuring the lovely Hayley Williams of Paramore, and of course, the Swedish Chef from the Muppets, performing an epic freestyle. I challenge you to not get the chorus lodged in your cranium.

ALBUM REVIEW - 'ONE WING' by The Chariot

THE CHARIOT; ONE WING

10/10

Loud, brutal, frenetic, experimental and brilliantly downright odd - The Chariot, ladies and gents.

One of the things I love about memes is their ability to express that which words cannot; a picture is worth a thousand words etc (this is all relevant, honest). 

Recent press photo of The Chariot

This meme beneath embodies The Chariot. Many bands can claim to be experimental, but One Wing is an example of true non-conformity and experimentation in genre and sound. Remember Art Attack, and Neil Buchanan making large scale pictures out of powder? At first it's like 'huh?', then it zooms out and suddenly it's a masterpiece - that's this album. 

Opener Forget starts things at a frenetic pace, the unmistakeable screams of vocalist Josh Scogin bursting in and relentlessly continuing until the man himself is out of breath amidst a cacophony of riff and noise. This frantic energy continues until suddenly everything drops off into the short, beautiful Your (featuring guest vocalist Angela Plake), before picking back up into pure loud. And that's the album's style, the experimental side that meshes together perfectly. Later, a spaghetti-western segment is added to the equation in First, complete with trumpets, twanging guitar and even a whiplash (it's all very Knights of Cydonia), but maintaining the screamed vocals, making for one of the most distinctively superb outros in The Chariot's repertoire (at the very least). A pseudo-piano ballad also enters the mix, laying raw, emotion-laden vocals over a dark, disjointed tinkling of the ivories, creating in itself an incredibly intense track. It is, all told, a highly unusual combination of styles, and each one is a master stroke in its own manner.

This is an album equally bursting to the seams with genuine meaning , emotion and poer. Initially it might just seem like a conglomeration of several different kinds of chaos, and you'd be right to think such a thing, but there's so much more - each segment has a justified place and meaning. There's meaning hidden in the song titles too; in sequence, 'Forget Not Your First Love. Speak In Tongues And Cheek.' and the manner that the final track closes out is a thought-provoking and sombre yet powerful one.

and that is what sets this album apart from other metalcore/hardcore/etc bands. It also does that which their previous albums have come so close to doing; capturing the breathless, chaotic, intense and insane energy of their live show.  I cannot recommend highly enough that you listen to this; One Wing is a masterpiece by a band that have been at the top of their game for so long, and finally pushed even further - a 30-minute maelstrom of excellence.

Listen here!

SOMETHING AWESOME; KEMOSABE by Everything Everything

I submit to the court that it is impossible not to like Everything Everything. 

My reasoning being that they produce catchy, distinctively unusual, often beautiful and always innovative music, and they have the ability to create songs that sound like they could instantly become a classic regardless of genre. Case and point is this, ne single Kemosabe, taken from the forthcoming second album Arc, released January 14th. Press play and you'll understand; they are a jewel in the British indie scene - it contains all the aforementioned aspects that make them so good. 

I rest my case, and recommend checking out previous single Cough Cough in the meantime.

SHIT JUST GOT REAL QOTSA STYLE

Just take a cheeky gander at that photo. Look closely at the names. Dean's there, Shoes too, of course Josh is, Troy is on the right and OH SHITBISCUITS IS THAT DAVE GROHL'S NAME BY THE DRUM MARKER OR...

Josh Homme confirmed earlier this evening that Dave Grohl is drumming the new Queens record. This is the second bit of fucking amazing QOTSA news in a few days, after being confirmed for Download Festival 2013. Because remember that Dave drummed on Songs For The Deaf and everyone knows how good that album is and the ludicrous quality of his drumming. Go and listen to it if you've never heard it. In fact, this is a call to go and listen to it regardless.

Oh Dave, you've made me so happy.

BACK AND A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENTER THAN EVER

And thus, slightly reformatted (I challenge you to notice the difference), I'm officially back. Because I totally disappeared and shit and everyone missed me.

It's taken more than a month, but thanks to our generous neighbours here in Amposta, Catalunya, internet finally exists in the flat I currently reside in. There's been an ongoing debacle involving Orange being a useless company, so my access to t'internet has been sporadic at best in the last month and so my blogs haven't been a priority, but I can re-lavish my love and attention to them at last. 

I hope to have a handful of reviews coming in your direction - among others, singles from Marmozets and Blitz Kids, albums from The Chariot and Rolo Tomassi and my live review of Muse from their Madrid gig a couple of weeks back. 

Coming soon! And as ever, thank you for reading! x