Kill It Kid

The good people at the One Little Indian label have just given me the heads up on a pretty fine new album from U.K band Kill It Kid. .'Feet Fall Heavy' is the second album from this bluesy rock outfit and will be released on September 19th next. Drawing heavily from influences as diverse as vintage American Delta blues, to modern  garage rock, Kill It Kid have been marking their territory as a seriously creative force since their beginnings in Bath, England in 2008. This four piece includes Chris Turpin on Guitar and Vocals, Stephanie Ward - Piano, Vocals, Marc Jones on percussion and Dom Zozubik on Bass.

Turpin and Ward each have a vocal range capable of reaching gritty heights; accompanied with unforgiving guitar riffs and trashing percussions.  Violin, slide-guitar and piano  are also part of the sound of Kill It Kid. Chances are if you like The White Stripes, The Kills,or Mumford And Sons, you will love this band.

Here is the official video for the first single from 'Feet Fall Heavy' called 'Pray On Me' this fine three minute rocker complete with blues sampling is a good indicator of what to expect from the album throughout.

'Feet Fall Heavy' is a scorching  album that grabs you from the first listen and keeps you hooked until the last note plays out. It's the record that will define Kill It Kid as one of the steadiest new rock groups least likely to enter into mainstream territory any time soon. Stand out tracks are a plenty like 'Sweetness has A Hold On Me ' which is  probably my favourite on the album. Here is a more stripped down version of that song played for the first time live in the U.K last year.

Kill It Kid will be embarking on a U.K and Ireland tour in September to promote the album, the dates are as

follows.

September,10th - Dublin, 11th - Belfast, 12th - Glasgow,13th - Liverpool, 14th - Leeds

16th - Brighton,17th -Portsmouth, 19th - Britol, 20th - London, 21st - Manchester,22nd - Cardiff.

                                                         

                                                                      

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WU LYF

WU LYF are certainly one of the most exciting new rock bands to emerge from the U.K in quite a while.

Hailing from Manchester,this 4 piece are kicking up a storm with their self produced debut album just released called 'Go Tell Fire To The Mountain'. Members, Evans Kati, Tom McClung, Ellery Roberts and Joe Manning formed the band in 2008 and soon caught the attention of music critics with the release of some recordings made available through their website.

World Unite Lucifer Youth Foundation have managed to go against the grain of conventional studio recording by opting to make the album in a disused church in Ancotes, Manchester. They also released the album without the assistance of any established record label making the project even more unique.

Much attention is given to the fact that WU LYF have managed to maintain a kind of mystique, giving very little away to the press and refusing to do interviews, only adding of course to their growing cult following.

'Go tell Fire To The Mountain' is certainly one of the most impressive rock albums I have heard in a long time. With its instant earth shattering force it has as much angst and energy as  Nirvana's 'Nevermind' or perhaps Rage Against The Machines debut. Essentially this is a band likely to define 2011 and go on to global status while bypassing any conventional path.

This is the opening track on the album called LYF..................

Cloud Control

Cloud Control are a 4 piece Australian indie band hailing from the Blue Mountains in New South Wales, who first got together in 2007. Alister Wright is the lead vocalist, Heidi Lenffer plays keyboards and sings backing vocals. Ulrich Lenffer plays drums and Jeremy Kelshaw plays bass guitar.
They have just released their first album called 'Bliss Release' and it is available on the Infectious Records label. Bliss Release is an appropriate title certainly for this album which sounds marvellously fresh and optimistic throughout. Its an record brimming with ambition and short on austerity,which gets you hooked the more you explore it.
They could be compared perhaps to bands like Modest Mouse or The Flaming Lips for their driving melodies. My first introduction to this band was hearing this song 'Ghost Story' played on the radio by the forever adventurous broadcaster Dave Couse and it really is one of the standout tracks. I went out and bought the album because of this song alone...' I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up'....indeed!

Thankfully Cloud Control are beginning to gain the notice they deserve outside of their native Australia while currently touring across Europe. They will also play 3 dates in the U.S next month including The Knitting Factory in New York. An extensive tour of Britain follows and one date so far has been been pencilled in for Dublin's Academy on October 7th next. This is another great song from the album called 'There's nothing in the water we cant fight.'

Dead School

Dead School are a fresh new rock band from Cork who are definitely one to watch out for,especially as a live act. Formed just last year, this 4 piece group are creating quite a stir nationwide on the gig scene, recieving rave reviews along the way. The band  comprises of  Donal McDonald (vocals/percussion), James McDonald (guitar/drums /vocals), Cathal Maher (guitar/drums /keys) and Ruairi Dale (bass). Their musical influences include My Bloody Valentine, Killing Joke, Nirvana and Joy Division among others.
Last month saw the release of their debut double A side single, the 2 songs are titled 'Frailties' and 'Standing On The Edge'. Its comforting to know that it is getting plenty of airplay on alternative radio shows over here, most notibly by Paul McLoone from The Undertones fame, on his show which is aired week evenings on Today FM.
This is Dead School performing 'Frailties' live in Cork last January...

Hopefully we will see an album release later in the year from this promising band, but as yet there are no specific dates mentioned.

And So I Watch You From Afar

And So I WatchYou From Afar are a four piece instrumental rock band from Belfast, Northern Ireland, they have been together since 2005. BBC Radio 1 said of them 'If the apocalypse is televised, these guys will provide the sountrack'...NME described their music as '...the sound of someone crashing an oil tanker through Sigur Ros ice flow. They have one album to date (self titled) released on UK label Small Town America with a follow up planned for next month which will be called Gangs. They have been compared to Scottish band Mogwai and US group Explosions In The Sky, but have a harder driving guitar sound that often emerges into sonic overload. In 2009 alone ASIWYFA proved their hard working reputation as a live band by playing 170 gigs throughout Europe, building an increasing fan base along the way. This is the band playing 'Set The Guitars To Kill' one of the tracks from the album at their homecoming gig in Belfast 2009.

2010 was an extraordinary year also for ASIWYFA, with them playing at such festivals as SXSW in Austin Texas, Lowlands in the UK and Oxygen and The Electric Picnic in Ireland. They are again touring Europe right now with an album launch date pencilled in for April 29th at Belfast's Mandela Hall and at The Button Factory Dublin on April 30th. This is them playing 'K Is For Killing Spree 'live in Exeter England last year. This track is not on the debut album but on an EP released last year called Letters.

Thin Lizzy on The Old Grey Whistle Test.

This is from 1976 and is an amazing clip from the UK show, The Old Grey Whistle Test. Its testament to what a great performance both Gary Moore and Phil Lynott could develop together onstage.
Cozy Powell (Black Sabbath) is also on drums in this video. Its hard to believe that all 3 musicians are no longer with us.
Scott Gorham (guitar) is the fourth man on stage here, he joined Thin Lizzy in 1974 and was a full time member until their break up in 1984.
Gorham has also been touring with a reinvented version of Lizzy since the 1990's.

Jape

Jape is the brainchild of Dublin man Richie Egan, who is also the bassist with instrumental group The Redneck Manifesto. Their music could be best described as electronica rock with the emphases being mostly on keyboards and guitar. Jape have released 3 studio albums so far 'Cosmosphere' (2003),  'The Monkeys In The Zoo Have More Fun Than Me', (2004) and their best in my opinion  'Ritual' (2008).

I saw them play live on 2 occasions and I was really impressed with the dance energy they create, surely influenced by bands like New Order but adding their own style of originality.Here is the excellent single ' I Was A Man' from the 'Ritual' album. This was filmed live in Galway in 2009 and gives a good idea of what to expect from them onstage..

The song 'Graveyard' is also on the 'Ritual' album. I just had to post this video, because I think it;s the coolest thing I've seen in a long while. Its filmed in a graveyard of course, maybe it's a first .I would highly recommend this band's live shows, you will be in for a treat..

Seasick Steve.

I saw this man play live in Limerick on July 4th last when he did support act to Bob Dylan who was headlining on that day. Californian born Seasick Steve shares the same birth year with Dylan (1941) but had a much, much later vocation to recording, to the point that his career is very unique indeed.
Better late than never, Steve Gene Wold, aka Seasick Steve recorded his first album called 'Cheap' in 2004, he was however no stranger to the music industry from previous years,  working as a producer and engineer for various indie record labels. His CV includes production work on the debut album by Seattle band Modest Mouse.
He also as a musician toured and performed and also befriended such people as Janis Joplin, Joni Mitchell and  Nirvana vocalist Kurt Cobain along the way.
His songwriting focuses mostly on his young adventurous hobo life, living rough and riding on freight trains across America. (his step father was abusive and prompted Wold to run away from home when he was 13 years old.)

 2006 saw the release of his second album called 'Dog House Music' a collection of rugged blues songs that caught huge attention in Britain and Ireland especially after his television appearance on The Jools Holland Show. Seasick Steve puts on an amazing live show, you'll see him play various home made instruments including a one string guitar that makes as mush noise as a full band. he has played many huge rock festivals across Europe including Glastonbury, England last year to enormous appreciation. When I saw him last year he went down into the crowd after the gig and joined various fans for a chat and signed autographs. He lives in Norway today and has to date released six albums.

Long may he run.....here is a clip from the Glastonbury show, with him playing one of his home made guitars, designed from a broom handle.