71 items...Showing 61-70...<< <Prev 4 5 6 7 8 Next> >>

Best Of The Boardwalk 2  Leadmill

First band on tonight's packed bill at the Leadmill, representing the best of the Northern Exposure showcases at the Boardwalk, is Roman Joe. Musically tight, although the band never strayed too far from tested rock territory, they did well for 6:30pm on a Sunday. Had they interacted with the audience a bit more then maybe they'd have held a little more interest.    Fixated literally leapt into their set, waking up the audience with their blend of garage rock. The band kept the throttle on full for their entire stint on stage, refusing to allow you to take your eyes off them for one second. A massive sound for a three piece, Fixated get the crowd nicely warmed up and it's still light outside...    A band who have grown, via name changes and extensive gigging, is Leon. Still not miles away from their young, sparky beginnings, the band have beefed their sound dramatically by their use of samples and keyboards in their material. There's still no "killer" track in the set, but if their accomplished stage manner is anything to go by, they've got what it takes to run with it when they have.    Ritalin are next, the nearest thing to a proper punk act tonight. You could hardly award them a prize for musical originality, but they've enough passion behind the roaring power chords to carry it off with some style. Looking better and sounding better than most of their contemporaries peddling similar wares, they sit in the middle position of tonight's line-up with their heads held high.    Will the quality ever run out tonight? With a band as established as Bhuna next, it's unlikely to be in the next 25 minutes. Here at L2SB, we remember them yonks ago. Now the band are older, apparently invested in some amps that go up to "11" and developed a keen-ness not usually associated with maturity. They've not forgotten how to write a catchy chorus though, and have some of the most hummable tunes in Sheffield. They're also one of the few bands in the city to regularly inspire chanting (the good kind, that is).    Next to last tonight is Dead Like Harry. The band take a good deal of their influences from the 1980s, with their synth strings and male/female vocals. DLH's solid songwriting is what allows their bravely unfashionable sound to transpose itself into the modern day, and you get the feeling there isn't any another band who could pull it all off quite so well.    So, that leaves us with the gutsy 1600e. The five-piece bash out their own take on Rythm & Blues standards, and, like Dead Like Harry, escape sounding at all out-of-date with pure commitment and attitude. Fun to watch with an infectious groove, the band deserve their headlining slot on sheer stage presence.    All in all a very satisfying Sunday evening. We cross our fingers for a Best of the Boardwalk 3... Tue, 29th April 2003... Review by MTM

Don't Walk  Big William

The problem when you get an album to review is that it could be awful. And instead of the usual 3-15 minutes of a demo, you have up to 74 minutes of dreadfulness to endure.    Luckily this effort from Big William is far from awful. From the first track onwards it’s a groovy funk odyssey, that’s refreshingly not po-faced and doesn’t take itself too seriously.    A lot of local bands go for the indie funk style and fall flat on their arse. Big William manage it with aplomb, probably down to some great musicianship, a good ear for a groove, and the laid back vocal style of singer Tom Jones (er, no… not that one).    ‘Homemade Soup’, ‘Summertime’ and the rather lovely ‘Unsteady Ground’ are standout tracks. The apocryphal (?!) virginity-loss nightmare of ‘Funky Chicken’ is probably the most memorable, though.    Definitely an album to get hold of on a hot summers day, throw the windows back, and play it at top volume. Good stuff. Contact: [email] Wed, 23rd April 2003... Review by PJM

Rubber Nature  Jopus

Info: Confidential Records   This lot are an Irish band now based in Rotherham, citing influences such as Hendrix, the Beatles, Stone Roses, U2 and Pink Floyd.    First track, ‘Into Forever’, is a shuffly and slightly hypnotic affair, that stays in a laid back groove throughout. Well made but forgettable.    Second track, ‘Stoner’, is better. Gomezy vocals and seventies guitars make it a quality retro stomper. Third track, ‘Future Happening’ continues this trend, and final track ‘Let it All Roll By’ turns it down a notch and is something of a lighter-waving epic with reflective verses and louder choruses.    No earth moving originality here, but a very good slice of well-written seventies-style rock. Contact: [link] Wed, 23rd April 2003... Review by PJM

Secrets/Wherever You Are  Dead Like Harry

They’re an interesting band are Dead Like Harry. While everyone else is trying to ape the great and good of 70s garage, they instead plough their own furrow, taking mainly 80s influences.    Theatrical story-telling lyrics and wilfully unfashionable keyboard sounds are their trademark. ‘Secrets’ is typical of this, sounding at times like Heaven 17, Human League, Pulp and something from the soundtrack to an 80s teen movie. ‘Wherever you Are’ is a more heartfelt piano-led ballad, interspersed with harmonica.    DLH always stand out as unique on the Sheffield circuit, and these two tracks show they’ve got this songwriting lark down to a tee. Very few demos leave a reviewer wishing they had more tracks but this was one of them. Nice one all round. Contact: [link] Wed, 23rd April 2003... Review by PJM

Days Like These  The Strollers

The cover looks like a Nowaysis CD, which doesn’t bode well for this band. They’ve got the same name as a defunct Cadburys snack much missed at L2SB Towers, so that’s something in their favour.    The Strollers' influences are bands like The Stones and Beatles and, yep, Oasis. The latter is much in evidence in the Liam-isms of third track ‘The Mirror’.    These days you need more influences on board than this. This band sound like they’ve got the swagger and attitude to do all right, but are a lot like an awful lot of bands out there. Maybe they should buy some Beefheart, Velvets, Nick Drake, Kraftwerk and Prince and see what happens. Contact: [link] [email] Wed, 23rd April 2003... Review by PJM

Thousand Reasons  Substance

It’s a fair bet that the singer with Sheffield’s Substance isn’t American. It’s also a fair bet he’s not actually Eddie Vedder.    A bit of a timewarp this one, full of quivery-voiced self importance of early 90s alt rock. If it had to be compared to anyone modern, a slightly less mainstream Nickelback springs to mind.    They do what they do well though, and if you’re missing a bit of grungey rock then this could be your cup of cha. Contact: [email] Tue, 8th April 2003... Review by PJM

Alone/Lazy Behaviour  Levity

A two-track CD from soul outfit Levity, fusing hip hop, acid jazz and indie-ish guitar.    First track ‘Alone’, featuring singer Sarah McCleave, is the better of the two, with a nicely slinky groove and some great vocals. ‘Lazy Behaviour’ is a more standard acoustic track with the other half of the songwriting partnership, Darren Bancroft, taking over main vocal duties.    There’s always the possibility that music of this kind can sink into pleasant but forgettable background music. Levity, on the strength on these tracks, are able to rise above this. We look forward to hearing more.  Contact: [link] [email] Tue, 8th April 2003... Review by PJM

1-0  Ormondroyd

Ormondroyd have been played on John Peel’s show a couple of times, and we can see why.     This is a band who’s influences aren’t difficult to make out – Radiohead, Belle and Sebastian, REM, Ride and The Wedding Present are all there. They rise above imitating their forebears, however, and turn in a great EP of fine quality songwriting.    You could comment on the shoegazing nature of the music and the blatant Thom Yorke-isms in singer Ollie’s voice. But as demos go this is top notch, with lovely tunes that demand repeat listens. We look forward to hearing some more from them. Contact: [email] Tue, 8th April 2003... Review by PJM

Save Yourself/Lauren Bacall EP  RepoMen

Info: (RepoRecords)   The RepoMen are a hard band to pigeonhole, which is, of course, always a good thing. This EP sees four strong tracks, ‘Save Yourself’ being a fast, punky indie stomper with “Oi! Oi!” backing vocals, ‘Lauren Becall’ a rather nice piano-led country-rock ballad, and B-sides ‘A Calmer Moment’ and ‘Dive… Diver’ are acoustic tracks.    Listening to the EP brings to mind several diverse artists at different points, including Nick Cave, James, Puressence, The Pogues, The Fall, The Buzzcocks, The Music and the Beautiful South. This is a release that proves this is a band that can do both spiky and soft with equally good results.    I’d have to pick ‘Lauren Becall’ as the stand-out track, cos I’m always a sucker for lighter-waving epic indie ballads, but all the songs on this CD suggest good things for the RepoMen if they can keep up this form.    Very nice all round.  Contact: [link] Tue, 8th April 2003... Review by PJM

The Heavy EP  Relaxed Muscle

Info: (Rough Trade)   Well, who do we have here? Another electro-fest on vinyl is hardly a rare thing to find coming out in Sheffield. Scanning the credits we see one of the usual suspects, a certain Mr Jason Buckle. But who is the mysterious Darren Spooner on vocals?    It’s not exactly a great secret that it’s not actually Casey Spooner’s long lost Yorkshire cousin, but Jarvis Cocker, on one of his first post-Pulp collaborations. Buckle has always been the darkest one of the All Seeing I clique, his project National Bandit being the least giddy and most brooding act in the current crop of Sheffield electronica. So twinned with Cocker’s acid wit this makes for interesting listening.    ‘The Heavy’ sees Jarvis sound more menacing than he has done since ‘Death Goes to the Disco’, while on the flipside he shows the disturbing side of male/female relationships in “Rod of Iron” and “Branded!”. This is backed by hypnotic synths and distorted guitar.    Jason Buckle has finally brought out the darkness that’s been lurking in Jarvis Cocker since Pulp’s early days, and paired it with his own typically twisted beats. A far cry from ‘Babies’, but an excellent glimpse into the Dark Side of the Jarv. Tue, 8th April 2003... Review by PJM