Flashguns Announce Split

Flashguns have announced their split.

The band, who only recently released their long awaited debut album Passions of a Different Kind, released this statement:

Flashguns

‘We regret to tell you that we have decided to end Flashguns. After five years it’s come to a point where we feel like we need to move on as musicians and people. We have loved every minute of it, but this feels like the right decision. We are sure many people will be disappointed, especially after the recent release of our debut album. All we can say is that when we started this band we wanted it to last forever, but unfortunately that is no longer possible.

We hope you will continue to enjoy our music and thank you to all those who have supported us over the years. The Berlin show at Karrera Klub on February 4th 2012 will be our last.’
Sam, Giles and Olly.

Flashguns released two tracks from their album, Come and See the Lights and Passions of a Different Kind. It also featured an early favourite Racing Race. In celebration to Flashguns successful five years, these can be heard below:

Come and See the Lights

Passions of a Different Kind (single)

Racing Race

The Grateful Dad Live Review

The other week I had the pleasure of seeing a little unknown band from Bradford-on-Avon called The Grateful Dad perform at The Pilgrim Inn, Bristol.

From their name I wasn’t sure what to expect. Were they going to be a sort of tribute act for The Grateful Dead or just a bunch of middle aged men performing old rock songs trying to act cool? Well I was pleasantly surprised as there were neither of these things.

They were fantastic. They don’t think of themselves as being anything special which is what makes them so likeable. Each member is an amazing musician but they don’t seem to realise how good they are. For a little local band, their performance was as tight as any long term professional band.

Kick starting their set with a cover of Otis Redding’s Hard To Handle instantly woke the crowd up and had everyone’s feet tapping. The audience were treated to performances of other classics such as The Beatles’ I Want Money, The Cure’s Boys Don’t Cry and the well known and loved blues song Route 66. The five piece even snuck in some newer numbers like Scouting For Girls’ Elvis Ain’t Dead and The Stereophonic’s Have A Nice Day plus an original titled Dallas Day.

For their first gig outside their county of Wiltshire, The Grateful Dad played a thoroughly enjoyable set filled with everything that puts a smile on your face. The Pilgrim Inn was almost too small a venue for such an enthusiastic and loud band. The best was certainly saved until last.

 

 

 

Amplifier Free Download

Amplifier are offering fans a sneak preview of what’s to come from their forthcoming album.

All ticket holders of the band’s UK tour will receive a free download of expected future single Silvio taken from the group’s newest album Mystoria which will be released next year.

Amplifier

A download code will be supplied to ticket holders to allow them to access their free download.

Silvio was mixed by UK master Chris Sheldon (Oceansize, Biffy Clyro and Foo Fighters) and was mastered by US maestro Steve Fallone (TV On The Radio and The Strokes).

Their UK tour kick started last night at Nottingham’s Rock City. The rest of the tour dates are as follows:

Mon 05/12/11 Glasgow Cathouse
Tues 06/12/11 York The Duchess
Weds 07/12/11 Wolves Slade Rooms
Thurs 08/12/11 Colchester Arts Centre
Fri 09/12/11 London Islington Academy
Sun 11/12/11 Manchester Academy 3
Mon 12/12/11 Bristol Fleece

Tickets to all dates are available here.

Cloud Nothings Mixtape

Cloud Nothings’ Dylan Baldi has put together a mixtape of some of the songs which influenced the band to make their newest album, Attack On Memory.

Baldi has created a half hour mixtape showcasing just some of the band’s main influences for their latest record.

Cloud Nothings

The mixtape playlist is as follows:

01. Black Sabbath “Supernaut”
02. Nina Hagen “Born In Xixax”
03. Killdozer The Pig Was Cool
04. Zounds “This Land”
05. Thin Lizzy “For Those Who Love To Live”
06. The Wipers “No One Wants An Alien”
07. Bitch Magnet “Navajo Ace”
08. Swell Maps “The Helicopter Spies”

Baldi said of the song selection: “While I was writing the songs that would become ‘Attack On Memory’, I listened almost exclusively to music that was made before I was born. This is a pretty common practice for me, actually, but I took it to a new level while making the record. I more or less memorized every guitar solo on the best Thin Lizzy albums, listened to only The Wipers for about 3 weeks, and fell asleep to Black Sabbath every night.

“This mix condenses my listening habits into an easily digestible “best of,” songs that strongly affected what I was thinking while writing my own music. Not to say that every song on ‘Attack On Memory’ sounds like Killdozer, but I do think that the influence of these particular tracks is often obvious, and hopefully sheds some light on why the new Cloud Nothings album sounds so different from any of the past recordings.”

Take a listen to the mixtape by clicking here.

Tracks two and three are, to say the least, extremely haunting and odd. These are not the most enjoyable on the mixtape. The two best tracks have to be the cover of Thin Lizzy’s For Those Who Love To Live and Swell Maps The Hellicopter Spies. Both these tracks allow Baldi’s vocals to sound the best at their full potential whereas some of the other tracks like the cover of Killdozer’s The Pig Was Cool sound terrible vocally. Musically though, they are exceptionally strong.

The mixtape is a random selection of classic rock songs that have been recreated. Some have been done really well and others I just can’t seem to break through the experimental mould and appreciate. It’s down to personal choice and I’m sure some of you will love this explicitly.

Attack On Memory will be released on February 6 2012 on Wichita Recordings.

Boy Friend – Egyptian Wrinkle

Boy Friend are best friends Christa Palazzolo and Sarah Brown. They were once known as the band Sleep ∞ Over but have since developed and changed into their current duo.

Boy Friend

Combining soft vocals and retro 80s ambience alongside lovesick lyrics and a passion for fantasy, Boy Friend are one of Work It Media’s top tips for 2012.

Now they are set to release their debut album as a duo titled Egyptian Wrinkle. You can listen to the title track here.

Egyptian Wrinkle is a song with a entrancing aura that sweeps you into it. The vocals are so distant that it really is the music that drags you into this song. With its peaceful nature, Egyptian Wrinkle is so easy to listen to. There’s no effort involved, everything just fits together perfectly leaving you with one fantastically relaxing track.

The full album will be available in 2012 so not too long to wait…