..and you will know us by the trail of puns

...and you will know us by the trail of puns//SSD Podcast #19 by Superstar Destroyer on Mixcloud

Always the Quiet Ones

Freak Show

Self Released

Out Now

Rating: 4/5

For fans of rock in the mould of Butterfly Effect or Oceansize, albeit boiled down into bitesize four-minute prog-pop nuggets, Always the Quiet Ones have a virtual monopoly in the Northwest. More conscise than Trojan Horse, less aggressive than In Casino Out, more accessible than Cyril Snear... you get the picture. If there's going to be a Biffy-scale success from the current crop, it's going to be Battleships or ATQO. Anyway, I'm sure what you're most concerned about is how this EP stacks up compared to their excellent Headcase debut. 

 

The answer, most simply, is that it's kind of more of the same, and that's hardly a bad thing. A recent review of Metamusic's World to Come EP criticised its capriciousness; I would contend that consistency or variety are equally valid, so long as that is the intention of the artist. Freak Show is nothing if not consistently awesome. 

 

Though 'Sign of the Times' was never my favourite track live, a lashing of overdubs and Blas' trademark howl take the studio version to a different level, and 'Valentina' is a welcome change of pace somewhat in the mould of 'Beautiful Surrender', the bonus track from Headcase. Before its end it breaks down into some heavy riffing, highlighting the main progression between the records; the feeling that somehow chords have been largely eschewed in favour of a more riff-based heavy rock style, with the Smashing Pumpkins echoes now absent. 

 

The highlight of the set unsurprisingly is the title track, every bit as great as its live iterations, but with a slick, radio-friendly makeover. You've got to give it to ATQO; they aim for the big leagues, and they really do sound like they belong there. I defy you to get past the break at 0:24 and not jump onto something, air guitar in hand, power stance assumed, ready to fucking rock n' roll. 'Freak Show' is a bloody winner, and ATQO know it. Why it's the last track on here is anybody's guess, but if they play their cards right, it could well end up being their signature early career tune. 

New Podcast...

Okay, I know I've been lax at updates (God, I seem to have been saying that a lot this year...), but in fairness I had exams and moving to deal with. At the moment I'm working on an interview with Dan (of Modern Painters/Engineers fame), and about to start an internship with Mixcloud... so those are my excuses. Might be having my Amplifier review in Classic Rock Prog as well, but we'll see...!

Return of the Jake//SSD Podcast #15 by Superstar Destroyer on Mixcloud

The Prog Nouveau Revolution

Something is happening in Manchester, and it has nothing whatsoever to do with Egyptian fucking Hip Hop, The Courteeners, Beady fucking Eye or Oasis. In the dilapidated mills of Ancoats and the attics of Northern Quarter, something is happening; sounds scarce heard since Oceansize first took up amps are once again spilling out into the streets. A short distance away in Liverpool, the kids are turning out in their hundreds to see bands that are playing something familiar; whilst the sounds may be different, the attitude is the same as their Manchester comrades.

Let’s set the scene. In 1997, Radiohead released Ok Computer. Steven Wilson has been saying in interview for years that this album was the game-changer so far as modern progressive is concerned, and there’s certainly some truth in this. From my own experience, completely independently of one another, Mike Vennart and Sel Belamir have said exactly the same thing, and the second generation of post-Ok Computer progressive bands that are now springing up are usually just as quick to recognise this connexion.

Cyril Snear

In the wake of Ok Computer, a progressive rock record, becoming a worldwide phenomenon, a number of eclectic, but truly ‘progressive’ bands followed in Radiohead’s wake. The Cooper Temple Clause, Vex Red, Oceansize, My Vitriol, Amplifier, Biffy Clyro and Yourcodenameis:milo to name but a few took the alternative rock template and took it further, blending in trip-hop, electronica, post-rock, shoegaze, and, of course, classic progressive rock. These bands all emerged at around the same time, touring together and ripping each other off. There are echoes of Vex Red in Oceansize’s ‘Amputee’, just as much as early Biffy and Yourcodenameis:milo material can at times differ sonically only by the vocalist and number of guitarists.

Black Market Serotonin

Though it’s not immediately relevant, it’s worth pointing out at this juncture that two of the bands loosely associated with this ‘scene’, Muse and Biffy Clyro- the only two in fact still active besides Amplifier- are now two of the biggest bands in the world right now. Funny how things work out, isn’t it?

So what does this have to do with the music scene in the North-West right now? A lot, as it turns out. Though there are no direct parallels with the bands I’ve just mentioned, it’s impossible to say, separate out the Oceansize from the Yes when listening to a band like Trojan Horse, currently making waves in Manchester. Similarly, the post-grunge of Vex Red looms just as large in Liverpool’s Always the Quiet Ones’ sound as does Porcupine Tree. These are bands taking both old and new sounds, of any genre, and creating something as original as they can in the resulting racket.

Always the Quiet Ones

In Manchester labels have even sprung up- the Mind on Fire Collective, Akoustik Anarkhy, as well as my own, Superstar Destroyer, and besides the great bands represented by these (the motorik-riding waltzing melodies of Plank!, or Nine Inch Nails meets King Crimson tones of Black Market Serotonin, to name but two), there are still more bands that are fiercely DIY; the aforementioned Trojan Horse, as well as math-progsters Cyril Snear come to mind. Recently these two gained coverage in the national music press when they packed out an speakeasy-style back alley art gallery for an album launch gig.

The 'Snear live

A brief look down the Trojan Horse-curated ‘Japanchester’ fundraising shows is a who’s who on the leftfield right now; the dream-pop Patterns, Goddamn Electric, Day for Airstrikes and incredible From the Kites of San Quentin are all there, with a few bands (Go Lebanon, Nasdaq, Gnod) slightly conspicuous for their absence. From Huddersfield, there’s Charlie Barnes, who frequently travels to the city to peddle his own brand of bizarre prog-pop. As a one man show, he’s looping in the vein of Imogen Heap, albeit with spectacular vocals and an ear for the cinematic; with his band (‘the Geekks’), he’s like the love-child of Heap and Thom Yorke playing Oceansize covers. His debut album, Geekk, was as strong in my opinion as anything released by Kscope or any other label in the world last year.

Barely out of their mid-twenties, Trojan Horse are a band that are as established as any on the current scene. Their roots lie originally in hardcore, and sometimes this shows; for the most part though, their bearded frontman Nicholas Duke is content to associate with the scene that he named- appropriately- ‘Prog Nouveau’. He explains:

“Prog Nouveau is an umbrella term for what we see going on in the left field of the Manchester music scene right now. There are so many musicians bringing stuff out that is experimental, and challenging the status quo that is the bog standard crap in Manchester at the moment. It holds the reigns because of this nostalgic rose-tinted view of Manchester from 1977-’98 “the glory days” and there are plenty of bands flogging that dead horse, so it's become a mush now. Prog Nouveau is all those people who are willing to stick their necks out and push themselves and the music they are making to mean something more than just a 2-3 minute single that is about going out on the pull. Great bands and producers creating great music that isn’t restricted to a specific genre; the key is being forward thinking [enough] just to do it for themselves.”

Second from right: Nick Duke, in slightly less beardy times

In Liverpool there’s also a thriving scene, based both around musicians in the city and those studying at LIPA; what’s most interesting is that many of the most prolific bands on the scene have one or more members in common. As near as I can tell, Battleships, Pteropilot, Always the Quiet Ones, and In Casino Out all share one or more member in common; bassists moonlight as singers or guitarists and vice-versa, depending on which band is playing that night. Loosely speaking, the bands all mix and match from a broad palette of atmospherics beholden to early post-rock like Slint, as well as the obvious space rock of Pink Floyd et al, and then blend in one or more of the early 2000s bands mentioned earlier.

For Battleships, it’s Biffy Clyro; for Always the Quiet Ones, Vex Red, The Butterfly Effect, Oceansize and perhaps even a pinch of Failure or The God Machine (if we briefly dip back into 1990s space rock); In Casino Out wear their At the Drive-In pedigree on their sleeve and add early Cooper Temple Clause, Yourcodenameis:milo as well as Porcupine Tree’s more heavy turns. Pteropilot stand out as markedly more atmospheric in approach; I want to make the Hawkwind connection, but I fear that might be presumptuous; they are not lacking in riff-writing skills, however, and can pack a punch easily as hard as their louder cousins, despite often wandering off into Hammock or Sigur Ròs territory.

In Casino Out live at Hub Festival, May 2011

As Nick summed up the day Oceansize announced their split, “it’s up to us to wear the shit trainers now.” We’re ready; are you?

P.S. As you may have noticed, there are at least three free downloads available via the links above- you literally have nothing to lose by checking out these bands!

Always the Quiet Ones

Headcase

Self-Released (out now)

Rating: 4/5

Alright, so I'm going to be clear here: if you download this record, you'll get a bonus track ('Beautiful Surrender'), but I'm going to work on the basis that you're wanting to know about the three-track CD EP. A further bonus in the form of a live video of 'Freak Show' is also present in the package, but I'm not going to review that because it will apparently be the band's next single, so watch this space. 

Opening with 'Sleeping With Celebrity', drums sweep and roll while Oceansize-style tremolo picking and delay soar overhead; before long, riffs coalesce and the band are off, trading licks as the rhythm section carries all before it. This track is probably most like a mish-mash of Smashing Pumpkins and Soundgarden, with definite Jimmy Chamberlin vibes in the drumming (no bad thing). 

Track two, 'Hollow' is very much like the most recent Butterfly Effect album, and the vocals really do come to the fore in the fucking huge chorus. There isn't as insane a solo as in the previous track (a demented but brief passage of shred uncoiling from the speakers), but in general the song is better structured and the two guitars used to greater effect. There's even a cracking little acoustic breakdown that serves to firmly mark this as the centrepiece of the set, both melodically and in terms of sheer ambition. 

Finally, there's 'The Rats!', which at about half the length of the other two tracks and a set of well-structured vocal harmonies and counters is probably the most 'single-like' of the set, although if I'm honest I found the guitars a little less interesting than on the other cuts. 

All in all it's a brilliant little EP that's hopefully a sign of great things to come. On the evidence of this, I can't see ATQO being simply confined to Liverpool for too much longer. Fucking awesome. 

You're not in Manchester any more....

Axis Of

with Battleships

Always The Quiet Ones

This Is Two

Zanzibar, Liverpool

10/2/2011

Rating: 4/5

There was a kind of pleasing symmetry about tonight; my first (and last, unless you count the fiasco that was collecting an eBay-purchased drum kit last year) trip to Liverpool was nearly two years ago, and in a roundabout way that's exactly why I'm back. That night, supporting My Vitriol were a cracking band called Connectingflight doing that whole Oceansize/Biffy thing. I bought an EP, liked it and so occasionally checked back in to see what they were doing. That band was soon toast, but out of its ashes came In Casino Out, and through them I discovered Battleships, hence the trip over tonight (though I should add that Metamusic Phil also introduced me to Axis Of recently, which was basically "cashback", as Partridge would say).  

The problem was that I didn't see Battleships. Through nobody's fault that I can tell, the gig started pretty late (which was just as well really, as it gave the venue time to fill up), so I only had a chance to see This Is Two and ATQO, whose EP I bought and will review later (incidentally also my second pay-it-forward moment; the first was ripping up and binning a bank mini statement somebody had accidentally left in an ATM). 

Anyway, enough bullshit. First up were This Is Two. Honestly, I don't know how old these dudes are, and I think I'm probably underestimating, but they've got a pretty solid sound for their years. Yes, they need to drop that faux-Biffy intro, because everybody in the room has heard 'Living is a Problem...', but apart from that I actually rather liked what they were doing- at the end of the day, it's always very welcome with me to see any band having the balls to play real guitar rock these days. At first their singer's voice really did not click, with alternate howls and overdramatic wails being a bit much, but once they found their groove I couldn't fault it any longer. In general (my nitpicking aside), their set was killer, they had swagger (but not in the cuntish Oasis way) and I'd happily part with cold hard cash for an EP.... except it's not out yet, so I guess I'll have to wait. In the meantime google them and decide for yourself; it's 1:30am and I cannot be fucked to find a link. 

Second up were Always the Quiet Ones, who I'd heard briefly before and thought "hmmm yes, a little bit Soundgardeny, this is alright...." Live though, they are fucking ace. Like fucktacklarly brilliant. Like, they just made all the ladies in the front row pregnant. Fucking A, motherfucker. At the risk of hitting a critical mass of swearwords, I'm gonna assure you here that they really are that good; turned down is the post-2000 arbitrarily jagged style one might attribute to the Biff or the 'Size (or, equally I spose ATD-I or YCNI:M), turned up is the rock, and it's like fucking 1992 again. Except it's not, because there's lots of textures, atmospherics, math turns, post-rock turns and just really interesting shit thrown into the song structures to show you that it's a throughly contemporary sound. Besides that, the songs are all fucking long, and who ever heard of prog grunge (outside of my practice space, I mean)? The venue's also filled up, and it's been possibly four years since I've seen a room this full to see an unsigned rock band. Conclusion: I need to move to Liverpool. Anyway, like you give a fuck, their best song was 'Freak Show' which, by a cruel twist of fate, is not on the EP I bought before I had to bail back to the train station. I got there with a minute to spare, so fucking go me. 

If I were you, I'd check out every band I've mentioned here, including the ones I didn't see (and I've included a player below so you can hear the ATQO Headcase EP; if I were me, I'd fucking go to bed. Which reminds me....