Lick Online - Demo Reviews

>> In Concert With The Mirror

Firmly rooted in high-octane, belt-driven metal Attica Rage come with a strict ‘No Compromise’ stamped on their foreheads. The riffs are brutal… a bit like being hit with a shovel during a storm, but the effect is gratifying. Touches of humour- like the title ‘In Concert with the Mirror’- and the deft cap-tilting debt they owe to Metallica make them even more likeable, and my metal days are long gone! If yer likin’ old school metal in the vein of Metallica and Machine Head then dive in- and if you don’t then dive in anyway because sometimes you just need to let your hair thrash in the speakers.

>> Russell Moore

Untitled EP

Drinking from the same sweet Californian fountain of four part harmonies and pedal steel guitar as the Beach Boys and Teenage Fanclub, Attic Lights have been around for about five minutes and have been making some mean waves already. They have been played on all the Scottish radio stations that matter and have been on telly a few times, including as the subject of a special, on Scottish TV’s Nochd Gunn Chadal (what do you mean you’ve never heard of it?!).

They sound like The Thrills with balls (which to be fair, wouldn’t be hard), with a strong lead vocal embraced by the harmonies and a lovely Neil Young-esque crunchy guitar. A little less saccharine than the Cosmic Rough Riders but with their same pop sensibilities.

This EP has three cracking little nuggets of sunshine, each one the perfect antidote to the fast approaching winter.

Visit www.atticlights.com to hear lots of their tunes including their lovely soundtrack to recent indie movie ‘Midnight Oil’.

>> Paul Bamford

Dirty Endings EP

The Valor have been a mainstay of the Glasgow live circuit over the past 5 years, although you would never know it. Various name and line up changes have left the band running in circles for a while. However, with the new line up seeming like the dream team and the release of this, their strongest set of songs to date, things are looking up.

Kinda like Black Rebel Motorcycle Club with better melodies and twiddlier guitars, The Valor know the importance of a hook and even if the genre’s not your thing, the catchy melodies will at least have a foot tapping.

‘Yesterday’s Gone’ is the only one I have a problem with on the EP, it takes too long to get started on the catchy chorus. And then, just when your getting into it, it breaks back down again, leaving one with an itchy fast forward finger.

Despite its shortcomings, ‘Dirt Endings’ is a charming lad-rock record, with all the pigeon chested strutting you would expect from a group who cite Oasis and the Stones as influences. And with some cracking hooky singalong chants, (especially on ‘The Extra’ which out ‘nah-nahs’ Kasabian at their best), should have you whistling the refrains for weeks to come.

www.thevalor.co.uk

>> Paul Bamford

Chase (Single)
TVT Records

Supposedly, Cinematics singer Scott Rinning was discovered by the rest of the band two years ago busking on the streets for food, God bless him. Well, its better than selling the Big Issue, I suppose. I can just imagine him belting out Jeff Buckley covers behind the open guitar case full of loose crisps and half sandwiches.

Any beggar Ive ever offered food to usually throws it on the ground in front of me and stands on it before saying something like "That’s no gonnae get us a tenner bag, is it, ya prick?" before stealing my new Nike Air Dub Zeros off my feet.

Anyway, fast forward two years and a presumably well fed Rinning delivers dreamy vocals on this gorgeous slice of indie pop, released via the band’s new home at TVT Records (also, bizarrely, home to King of Crunk, Lil’ Jon). The track was on the soundtrack to the recent Transporter 2 movie and with the video playlisted on MTV2 it is fair to say that great things await this filmic foursome.

>> Paul Bamford

>> While We Fall

The white casing, the plain white cd… what to expect? The mystery was too much so I headed to the website (www.thetraces.net) where all was revealed. The Traces are continuing this month’s theme of well-crafted eps with a solid Joy Division / Interpol / Verve view of guitar brilliance. The three tracks here are all pretty top notch; ‘Calling All’ grabs you but then you fall for ‘The Other One’ and feel like you’re two timing! A short and snappy cd that, at eleven minutes, leaves you wanting maybe one more track – the sneaky blighters know how to play the game. In any case The Traces do not, as the name implies, leave a wispy outline on an existing template – they have a beating heart and a blueprint of their own.

>> Russell Moore

>> Whole Animal

In certain cultures, where there are no supermarkets or chip shops, the people must strive and suffer for their sustenance. Generations pass on the secrets of survival and one of the most important secrets is that if you hunt a creature you owe it the respect of using the whole animal. The oceanfloor have an understanding of this train of thought (I trust) because, going by this ep, there is little-to-no wastage. Songs are brooding yet efficient, they sneak up on you but are sure to tip their cap before they leave. I really enjoy ‘Spill’ with its choral simplicity and aching guitar. ‘The Whole Animal’ is a sniper of a tune; it delivers a great deal and you can barely sense its presence. If this is a sign of things to come then I’m pretty excited and for those of you who still believe in music with a soul then you will not be disappointed by the oceanfloor.

Russell Moore

>> Beggarstown

With warming Celtic overtones, Hollow Horse don’t exactly gallop out of the stalls (arf!) but there is something about their optimistic, 80s-indie sound that keeps me nipping back to their album for another listen. It’s in no way an outstanding leap forward in terms of musical exploration but its foundations are so solid and it sticks so assuredly to its musical lineage it’s impossible to immediately dismiss.

Locking into a Wedding Present / Deacon Blue / Gin Blossoms vice of catchy hooks and simple harmonies you think that you recognise songs you’ve never heard – how odd. If I were going to be harsh I’d complain that, at times, the lyrics seem to have stemmed from a poetry night-class of some sort. But the care that’s gone into the work is evident and I can imagine certain low-key groove going on in a live setting. Maybe a bit more of an abstract approach would have kept me on my toes but with songs as nifty as ‘Forget the Girl’ and ‘Life Is Fine…’ I reckon the Horse popping up in an mp3 shuffle will be no bad thing.

Russell Moore

>> You’re Claimed EP
>> Smokey Bear Records

Blind Pew’s ‘You’re Claimed’ EP kicks off with ‘The Devil in I’ starts off with a little bit of mock mysterious reggae before kicking into a jaunty little number that one may imagine Inspector Gadget extending a mallet out of his hat to whist chasing one of The Black Claw’s henchmen.

‘Uh-Huh’s titular refrain sounds like a Do Me Bad Things song, a band I never thought anyone would openly admire but its clear that Blind Pew do, either consciously or unconsciously. More worryingly, the single note guitar solo brings to mind Ocean Colour Scene’s ‘Thousand Mile High City’, which can’t be a good thing. The Britpop influence is a constant, both from the good/bad old days of the mid to late 90’s right up to today’s stars. In particular, The Kaiser Chiefs’ gang-like backing vocals and merry funster stylings are imitated on more than a couple of occasions.

‘Experiment’ is an unashamed exercise in 80’s hip swinging, injecting a bit of good honest fun into proceedings, something that is woefully absent from the majority of today’s smart self referential post-post-post-modern irony-savvy music makers. However, Do Me Bad Things appear to be pilfered again as the hook sounds like a direct lift from ‘What’s Hideous’.

‘Memories for Show’ is a pleasing little Belle &Sebastien-esque semi-ballad that sounds much more natural and heartfelt than the rest of the EPs slightly forced glammy jives. The Britpop influence pokes its head up again in the solo, which is appropriated this time from Oasis’ ‘Rocking Chair’.

A cartoony sense of fun pervades the whole EP, which is fine and raises a smile at first, but it starts to wear after a couple of songs, leaving you wondering if there is much else to Blind Pew than superficial japery. They are one of those bands that if you went to a gig and they happened to be supporting the main act, you would enjoy them but probably not do anything about finding out any more about them. The EP is just such an entity. I enjoyed it, but probably wont listen to it again. That’s not to say that others wont, but some may require a little more to grab hold of.

Next time, Gadget!

Paul Bamford