Ain't no rest for the wicked...

As you can probably guess this post may be slightly Cage the elephant related! Last Wednesday I made the trip to Northampton Roadmender (which has become something of a ritual over the past few weeks!) to see what I can only describe as one of the best alternative bands of today. My friends who had been to see them last year were regaling me with stories of lead singer Matt Shultz's crazy stage antics, I could only hope for the same kind of action this time!

Luckily it was just as, if not better, than I had anticipated! From the first song every member of Cage the elephant was in perfect form, mixing perfectly executed tracks with an amazing amount of energy. Highlights of the set had to be 'Ain't no rest for the wicked' every single person singing along, the atmosphere was amazing and definitely worth getting crushed by everyone behind me. 'Tiny robots' bought about the same amount of energy by now the audience was in full swing with crowd surfers making their way overhead. The finale of the night was anthem 'Free love' which had not one person in the room standing still and finished with Matt Schultz jumping off stage and into an adoring audience which nearly swallowed him up. Cage the elephant are an act full of energy and genuine musical talent, something which is so rare in a band of their age in today's music scene. Check out the video of them playing 'In one ear' on Later live and let me know if you agree!

Now on to the not so brilliant. I know I'm probably going to get some hatred for this but can someone tell me what the deal is with The horrors? Seriously I have friends that adore them and I can't see the pull with them? Their debut album 'Strange house' sounded like a mishmash of unorganized synths and screeched vocals. I have to admit I never quite made it through 'Strange house' because of this. Just something about them didn't click with me, they seemed like they were trying way too hard to have that air of Camden coolness about them. They seemed more interested in crazy hair and ridiculously skinny jeans, than making good music. I mean for fucks sake one of them dated Peaches Geldof! Anyway their new offering 'Primary Colours' is verging towards actual music so I'll give them some credit there. They've ditched the ridiculous goth names (lead singer used to be Faris Rotter....nice) and have changed directions musically. I still can't say I like it but it's definitely listenable, so for the sake of my Horrors loving friends I will give them a go!

Other Stuff I've been listening to:

Nine inch nails (recently rediscovered my love for 'With teeth' and 'The Downward Spiral)

Alex Dunn Trio (Check out Milton Keynes based Alex Dunn at http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fpages%2FAlex-Dunn-Trio%2F56253893112%3Fsid%3Dbd61ba142f12dcb58f760872e62800fb%26ref%3Dsearch&h=3b12f199beb508932469d63e7ece2d4f for his acoustic tracks influenced by John Mayer and REM amongst others.)

Friendly Fires (resisted them for years writing them off as 'modern indie trash' however new offering 'Skeleton Boy' is just too catchy to resist!)

That's all for now, I apologise now for any spelling errors my computer seems to be doing odd things every time I type....how very irritating!

x

The difficult first post.

On this blog I intend to bring you the best new indie/alternative/rock and metal music. The reason for this? Music is my absolute passion in life; I would probably prefer to be homeless than not be able to listen to music forever. Get the picture? On with the first post then.....!

The first band I'm going to champion this week is The Maccabees (www.myspace.com/themaccabees). If you haven't heard their debut album 'Colour it in' then you are quite clearly mad. A mix of eclectic indie ballads and catchy soft rock it was definately one of the albums of 2008. In reality who else can write a song about going swimming at their local leisure centre and still stay credible? This week the Maccabees realeased the difficult second album 'Wall of Arms.' After going to see them in concert last week I have to say they have very nearly outdone themselves. Opening with lead single 'No Kind Words' it's textbook Maccabees and by the chorus not one person is standing still. Throughout the concert I forget that I do not know this new material as well as the old songs; but it doesn't matter because it's just as imaginative and irresistably catchy as anything from 'Colour it in.' Good luck to them with this album, I really hope its well recieved.

I'm on an Indie roll today as the second artist I've been listening to is Buick McKane (http://www.myspace.com/buickmckane.) Buick Mckane are a two man band merely known as 'The Rabbit' and 'The Box'. They are supporting Cage The Elephant at Northampton Roadmender tomorrow night, I am looking forward to seeing if they can prove themselves live and impress me as much as their myspace demos have. They are a noisy indie two piece, with obvious influence from Biffy Clyro, Kings Of Leon and Bloc Party. Razor sharp guitars mixed with a distinctive vocal style (most likely borrowed from Simon Neil of Biffy Clyro) they should appeal to a wide audience. With spots on BBC introducing... on their resume I would not be surprised if they don't turn up in the pages of NME in the next few months.

Other stuff I've been listening to recently is; We Are The Ocean (lightweight hardcore band); Deftones (an all time favourite); Yeah Yeah Yeah's (the new album, despite mixed reviews is a grower)

Any good new music that you can recommend leave me a link in the comments please, I am open to any genre of music pretty much!

Cheers!

P.s if your wondering about the name of this blog it's the name of my favourite Smashing Pumpkins album : )