Monday 23 February 2015

NEW TRACKS FROM RECENT AND UPCOMING RELEASES

  I came across a few tracks and videos from recent and upcoming releases by some great bands.


Millencolin - Sense & Sensibility




  Sense & Sensibility, not to be confused with the Jane Austin novel and period drama of the same name, is the first track to be released off of Swedish punk band Millencolin's upcoming album True Brew. Back in my mid teens, I was aware of Millencolin because of the music videos for songs like Fox and Kemp. I don't think I ever properly liked them back then; same thing could be said about a number of skate-punk bands. It took me until recent years to check out albums such as Pennybridge Pioneers, which I remember the release of, and For Monkeys to really get the band. This new track stays true to the Millencolin sound, including the unmistakable voice of frontman Nikola Sarcevic and the bouncy rhythm. The song tackles the subject of racism and I guess the irony behind having just as much hate for racists as the racists do against the minorities. The "You're just a racist clown to me" line of the chorus is catchy and poignant enough to get stuck in your head. The video is cool and simple, being shot in the back of a van..or at least made to look as such. For those who like videos of the band just rocking out, this will not disappoint.
If this track is anything to go by, True Brew has the potential to be another great Millencolin record for the adoring fans. Due for release April 28th.


Dead Sara - Mona Lisa




   I'm not entirely sure how it happened, but I only realised yesterday that I no longer liked Dead Sara on Facebook and had therefore completely missed the release of this single and video for Mona Lisa from upcoming second album Pleasure To Meet You. I fell in love with Dead Sara upon the discovery of the song and video for Weatherman. It's a bit of a task to label Dead Sara. They are a rock band but not simply a rock band. Their self titled debut is an array of groovy riffs, frontwoman Emily Armstrong's powerful vocals, heavy drumming and cool harmonies, managing to showcase both heavy headbanging tunes and beautiful ballads. I am hoping for the same, maybe even a tad more, from the followup. Mona Lisa, certainly seems to show off the band's more (dare I say it) "hipster" side, especially in the video. The song itself is certainly not a disappointment; it still has that familiar heavy Dead Sara sound which builds up to an "explosion" which you know must be getting everyone at their shows going nuts. I know I would be. They once again manage to come up with a catchy refrain in "I know what you want but it's not gonna be what you like". This is definitely a great easer for the album and I'm hoping to be "on it like a car bonnet" when Pleasure To Meet You drops late March.


Shredhead - Walk With The Dead 



   Shredhead are an Israeli metal band who are slowly but surely making a name for themselves abroad, having even relocated to Berlin during the recording of latest album Death is Righteous released back in January. The album was mixed and mastered by Tue Madsen (Suicide Silence, The Haunted, Sick Ot It All etc.). I haven't yet heard the album but if Walk With The Dead is anything to go by, it must be pretty damn cool. I have to admit, though, it's not really my thing. The video, however, is an absolute must-see. The South Park-esque animations show the band in different situations and encountering an absolute smorgasbord of celebrities and TV/Movie characters, including some Israeli local celebrities that I recognise who have helped the band throughout the career with both promotion, videos and shows. The video is worth seeing with friends so you can play a game where you need to write down everyone you see. The one with the most names wins!


 Bloodshot Eyes - Happy Ever After (Summer's Gone)




  I don't know that much about Bloodshot Eyes except that they are a melodic punk (I guess..) band from Hod Hasharon, Israel. If you like melodic pop punk, then check out their recent single Happy Ever After (Summer's Gone). Personally, for me, I think it may take time for me to really like it. There's something there...I just need to keep going back and looking for it. It's certainly not 2 dimensional, with dynamic changes which should appease a variety of punk/hardcore music lovers. It is, however, the vocals that I am finding slightly off putting but you can't do much about an accent. 


Raiden - The Devil's Handprint




  Finally, previewed this passed weekend, I bring you the heaviest track on this post. Raiden from Essex (which is basically very far east London, for those who don't know) are a band who I never thought would emerge with anything new. I knew they were doing the odd show here and there once or twice a year but they have actually brought out a new track. Raiden are one of those bands I was aware of in my teens when I was knocking about the HC scene in London. I believe they had a track on a compilation which at first I thought was too metal for me, but after a while appreciated it. I still never properly followed the band; I'm not even too sure I've ever seen them. They were/still are part of the EBD (Essex BeatDown) scene which is basically the insane younger brother to the LBU (London Black Up) scene. 
  New track, The Devil's Handprint, starts off with some beautiful yet also menacing classical guitar playing. Seeing as I was already familiar with the band, I knew this wouldn't last for long. As expected, after about a minute, the blastbeats, shredding and blood curdling screams kick in and we are treated to some proper metal. Also as standard, we get a beatdown near the end. It's short, which I normally prefer but I actually wish there was more. Hopefully this means there's a new record on the way and more tracks for me to check out.
  If you like death metal, black metal and/or beatdown hardcore, check out Raiden. 

Wednesday 18 February 2015

Review: Zaga Zaga - 2 Songs Demo + 4 Songs EP = Zaga Zaga 7 Inch (2015)



  Regular readers of this blog (pffft...who am I kidding?) will already be aware of crazy Tel Aviv noisemakers Zaga Zaga from previous articles. This week finally saw the release of the appropriately named yet lengthy 2 Songs Demo + 4 Songs EP = Zaga Zaga 7 Inch. Despite having 6 songs in total and an elaborate title, this record has a total running time of approximately 7 minutes.
  As the title suggests, the first 2 songs are the same as last year's demo. From the get go with Song About Food and Customer Service (although this time spelt ...Costumer Service, which is either an accidental error or a purposely misspelt play on word), we get a barrage of fast finger picking, frantic drumming and full bodied vocal projection AKA shouting. The rest of the EP continues along the similar musical premise. 
   Either due to the songs being short or resulting in such, there is nothing too complex or deep within the lyrical content. However, they are not just shouting nonsense; Song About Food... and The Dancer are both reflect on real experiences and are quite relatable. While the former is the sort of song you'll have running through your mind as you shout at an incompetent waiter/waitress, the latter focuses on "the scene" and how people act at shows. At least that's what i take from it. Damn That Dog and Samba Samba are less obvious to me. I have not yet asked the band the meaning behind those songs, but there must be something. Samba Samba has an amazing middle section, which somehow (although I'm pretty sure it doesn't) sounds like it has a small horn section at parts. The band also covers Charles Bronson's Youth Attack; although hardly reinventing the track, they retain the aggression of the original, adding a little "Zaga Zaga-ness" preventing it from sounding too much like a carbon copy. Last track (I Just Called To Say) I Hate Your Band, reverting back to literal titles, is again a song focusing on experiences and personal opinions. If you've ever wondered why a certain band you think are atrocious are still managing to release record after record, play shows and get countless media coverage, then you could relate to this song. It is also catchy enough to have you shouting along to it.
   When I first saw the band, I wasn't totally taken by them. I saw them as just a repeat of Pinkeye Revival, a band that featured some of the Zaga Zaga members which I was not all too impressed with at the time. However, the more I see the band live and with the tracks on this record, I am beginning to admire the passion, aggression and musicianship (as masturbatory as it can come across at times) of Zaga Zaga.
  For fans of Charles Bronson, The Locust, Dangers and other fucked up shit!

4/5 

Sunday 8 February 2015

NEW VIDEO FROM TEL AVIV NUTJOBS ZAGA ZAGA

  For those of you who like your hardcore punk absolutely mental and full of twists and turns, then Tel Aviv's Zaga Zaga are the band for you. Including current members of skater punk band Mad Choice and sludgey rockers Knees Please (ex Tape&Rape), Zaga Zaga serve up a dose of madness, both musically and in the video for The Dancer from their 2 song demo and soon to be released 4 track 7" EP out on Kuskus Records. The video features the band in a world of their own, playing away as Itai (Kuskus Records founder, band friend and member of Sweatshop Boys/The Orions/Achim Zabari/Brutal Assault/The Backliners/that one man Misfits tribute he does and I'm sure a bunch of other stuff) has a candlelit dinner for one and...well...you got to see it. 


Live Review: First Punkalovich showcase - The 1840s/Mock Up/Woolly Boy @ Koro, Tel Aviv [5th February 2015]

   Thursday saw Punkalovich put on it's first ever show. The show took place at our most loved venue, Koro. The show was initially put on to be my band Woolly Boy's first show in Tel Aviv. With the addition of The 1840s as headliners and finally young band Mock Up closing the line-up, we were all excited for this show. All three bands are different in style and this show could either be filled with all sorts of people or could be a poor turn out.

Woolly Boy


Photo by David "Doh Doh" Rosen

   Like the Haifa show, I'm not going to give my own band, Woolly Boy, a review as such. We tried a few new things this time around. I still used a hi-hat, frying pan and triangle as extra percussion but also brought my macbook with me to incorporate some samples including a purposely made recording of my friend's sister saying our name which I used as an intro. I think this worked pretty well, but the other sample I used during the show probably could not be heard above the guitar. Ah well...you live and you learn! I think our songs sounded pretty good and we even did the folk-punk type song "He Didn't Love You Anyway" which we didn't do for the Haifa show. Most of our crowd seemed to be friends of Mock Up and the other bands. I guess we were competing with a few other "punk" related events tonight so were missing some of the usual suspects. We still got a bit of "moshing" action at the beginning but I think a good number of those guys left the room as I definitely ended up with far more space to move around in. Hopefully people enjoyed us. 

Mock Up


  Jeronimo were originally meant to play this show but for personally reasons had to pull out. Luckily, rock band Mock Up came highly recommended by them and were more than happy to do the show. Good thing they did as they brought the majority of the audience tonight. 
  After a short intro, the band kick off with the explosive Closing The Gates, which after the punkiness of Woolly Boy gave people a dose of almost Led Zepplin-mixed-with-Muse tinged rock. The kids here tonight seem familiar with it and completely get their "push mosh" on.  Numbers such as Quiet Desperation and Beginnings may have softened the mood a bit but still got a good reaction from fans. The former has an extremely beautiful and groovy harmonic middle melody which had me smiling. The song Weapon heavily brings the groove with a super solid bass line and slick drumming.
 The whole band are incredibly good musicians. Guitarist Nativ plays amazing riffs and uses his pedals to make the absence of a second guitarist almost unnoticeable, bassist Ilay plays cool licks and rocks out with his beautiful long hair (not going to lie...I might have a small guy crush here..) and drummer Rom is incredibly energetic and plays without fault. Singer Gooly has a vocal delivery similar to that of Kelly Jones of Stereophonics or even Matt Bellamy of Muse. The overall style he was giving off was also quite similar to "Madchester" bands like Oasis and Charlatans. I find him a bit static tonight, not really moving or showing much expression. That changed with set closer Apple, their heaviest song with a riff I find so familiar. The more I think about it, it reminds me a little of Disturbed's cover of Genesis's  Land of Confusion but i'm sure there's something else. Either way, it's a hell of a riff and got Gooly jumping into the crowd and getting them all riled up again. 
  Mock Up are definitely a great band with some beautiful musicianship. I did however feel like this was some sort of "high school prom" concert. All the fans here today just seemed to be kids from school; that may be why they all decided to leave immediately afterwards if they indeed have school in the morning. Now..I was in a band when I was at Uni so I've had fans who were mostly classmates and friends of classmates but you never really know if the fanclub comes based on merit. Hopefully they will get more recognition and more outside fans.
3.5/5

The 1840s


  As mentioned in a pervious write-up, The 1840s are a band I've always had a soft spot for. Their show the other week had a bar completely full of people checking them out. Tonight, however, a lot of people have gone and only about a total of 10 people have remained to watch. We were all actually uncertain as to whether the band started already or was still doing sound check as there was hardly anyone there when they started playing.
  The setlist was similar to the Rothschild show, including older songs like the catchy This Different Life and tonight's closer the 60s-like rocker Rainbow and newer songs like Get To Me, the bouncy Take Off Thy Clothes and the absolutely mesmerising Heart of Midnight, with it's tribal rhythms and sparse vocals. Unlike last time, the Smiths' cover (There Is A Light...) got more of a reception as I and some of the Koro owners were jumping and singing along. It still sounds so different to the original but they somehow make it sound like theirs.
  Why more of 1840s fans didn't show up tonight..I don't know. Maybe because it wasn't a free show? Maybe because it was with bands they hadn't heard of? Maybe because they all work Thursday night? Who knows? The important thing is that the band still played in a fairly empty venue and sounded great and I for one are glad they came. 

4/5

Friday 6 February 2015

NEW INCUBUS SONG

   One of the first nu-metal bands I ever got into was Incubus after discovering them through the Family Values '98 compilation CD. New Skin blew me away and then the whole S.C.I.E.N.C.E album was brilliant. Slowly and slowly with time, the Incubus "sound" evolved or "changed" album to album. At least one cannot accuse Incubus as being one of those bands that always sound the same but personally I found it harder to connect to their sound as the years went on. Now, the band are set to release 2 Eps this year and have just now put out a lyric video for new single Absolution Calling. It's certainly not the worst thing I've ever heard and has the possibility of being catchy but it initially doesn't grab me by the balls.
   What do you guys think? Leave comments below.


Wednesday 4 February 2015

NEW SINGLE AND LYRIC VIDEO FROM CANINE!

 It has been a while since I've written anything and I would like to start off with helping spread the new single from Israeli metalcore band Canine. As mentioned in a previous gig review, I have a connection to these guys and support them in their steps to world domination. Last Words Live Forever keeps the Canine vibe that we heard on the Degeneration Ep but with even added blast and thrash elements. New singer (Ben) Saada has absolutely amazing scream vocals. How he doesn't lose his voice every time beats me! The clean vocals are good too. Not too whiney.
  From what I can tell (I haven't asked the band themselves) the song seems to be from a soldier's perspective revolving around the saddening incidences where families find out their loved one has died in battle. It is a strong topic and quite important to many living in this country. I must, however, point out that "words" cannot be "dredged in blood". I think they mean drenched. Anyway..
   The musicianship and production on this track (recorded, mixed and mastered at Cast Iron Studios) is astounding. The beatdown from around 3:33 to 3:40 is pretty cool and the track ends up going into melodic heaven.


Good job, guys!