Tag Archives: Rock

BRAVE YOUNG YEARS.

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From Munich, I give you one of Germany’s most exciting bands- Brave Young Years. With the weather finally going to back to normal, Brave Young Years make the kind of music that fits the mood of the days getting darker quicker and the sky becoming more and greyer. They have this mood within their sound that is something you, after just one listen, realise it’s something you’ve needed for a while.

Brave Young Years have been going for a few years now, but they have only just released their debut record. As far as debut records go, this one is one to remember for years to come. The mood is bleak, tense and poetic. It’s a pleasure to listen to. It reminds me of very early Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds, and perhaps remnants of Rowland S. Howard’s Pop Crimes. It’s a haunting record and the darkness that flows throughout this record is something I can’t get enough of. I love the despair that comes through and seeps deep right into your soul. Bands like this don’t come around often but once you find them, you really cannot live without them.

Through is a song that has some really intense lyrics, and the sheer emotion that comes out in the vocals is something that keeps you on edge. You tense up and you feel every single word. You get that a lot on this record, but this song in particular really pushes it.  The way that the line, “I pushed you away in a slightly pathetic way, and spared us a bit of time” is sung really gets you right in the gut. The whole record is made up of songs that one could take as being painful, but at the same time you feel totally comforted by the words and how they just get you. By no means is this for everyone, but those who “get” it will never let this band and these songs go. With just one record they have created something so powerful and so moving. I can’t get enough of this record, and I think it’s something I’ve definitely been needing to hear, sound wise, for a long time. I love the atmosphere they have created on this record. It feels like it is a soundtrack to an eerie film that does not have a happy ending. It’s a truly powerful record, and it’s not for the faint-hearted at all.

Without getting repetitive and overbearing about it, I really love their music so much. It is the other side of what I love for music and what I look for in music. I absolutely adore bands like Brave Young Years because they are unafraid to show this side and to express this beautiful darkness in their sound. Some may regard it as morbid, but it’s not like that at all. Their lyrics are brutally honest and beautifully vulnerable. This fearlessness to be this open is something I really respect and love, and the way the music and lyrics go together is just stunning. Everything is so vital but nothing is overlooked. Nothing is more dominant than the other- every element of their songs is intense and created in a way that keeps you hooked.

Brave Young Years are an exceptionally passionate band who take you on this chilling journey. If they can be fearless, then so can you. I’m just in awe of how dark the lyrics can get and how even though a lot are rigged with pain, there is so much beauty in these songs. A beauty that will always keep you listening to them. I just love them, and the way they create this tension in their music is something I can’t get enough of.

TEEN CREEPS: Birthmarks

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There are some excellent things to have come from Belgium, and Teen Creeps are most certainly up there as being one of the greats. Their snarling Garage Rock sound is nothing short of addictive, and I’m going to use the last 20 minutes of my dinner break to tell you why.

Birthmarks is their latest release, and I’m fairly sure it is their first full length record. It consists of 9 songs that have been created to just melt your brain and make you do things others would question. There’s nothing wrong with that at all. The record opens with the brilliant, Sidenote which consists of the gnarling roar of “I wanna be the last thing on your mind.” A simple but massively effective lyric that is perfect on the opening of the record. It is like a ritualistic call to come listen and invest in this record. Birthmarks have an effortlessly obscure sound that may remind some listeners (musically, not vocally) or early Placebo. There is something about the guitars that hurls you way back to hearing Placebo for the first time. Again, this is by no means a bad thing. For someone like me, it’s bloody great.

 

Teen Creeps are an exceptional band, and to finally have a record that really shows us what they are made of and how powerful they are is super cool. How I feel about them is how I feel about Küken. I’ve written about them loads because their take on Garage Rock and Punk is mind-blowing. Teen Creeps in some way are a little tamer, but lyrically Teen Creeps have this real urgency and rawness to their words. They are sung as if their lives depend on it, and when a band can do that it makes you really cling on harder to what you hear.

The record has been out for nearly two weeks now, and I can confidently tell you that it is one of the most brutal and loud records you’ll hear all year. It’s got everything you’d want from a proper angsty record. The loudness is so powerful, and it really does grip you. It’s like a loving chokehold (I have no idea if such thing exists, but let’s pretend it does for argument’s sake!)

Mercury is one of their softer songs, and I use that word as loosely as I possibly can. It is one of the quieter moments on the record, but it does pick up perfectly. Then it leads effortlessly timed into Will which is one of my favourites on the record. But, as usual, I will change my mind after my next listen. I’ve mainly listened to this record solidly the past few days to really get a feel for the record. It is a record that you connect with. Maybe it’s because you’ve got some rage to get out, or maybe you just love hearing something so wonderfully loud.

Good Intensions is over 5 minutes of pure bliss. I guess we’re all feeling better now the sun has made a guest appearance, and this is the perfect song to gaze off into the sunset too. It’s got something really special, and (stay with me on this) romantic feel to it. It reminds me of the early Shoegaze sound found in bands like Lush and Slowdive. It’s a beautifully crafted song. I think it’s probably now my joint favourite. I told you I’d change my mind! But I won’t change my mind on this being one of the most exciting records I’ve heard so far.

Teen Creeps are touring the record close to home and in Holland, so maybe treat yourself to a weekend away or a well-earned holiday to see this excellent three-piece band from Ghent.

Birthmarks is out now on PIAS Belgium. You can buy the record from any decent record store, kids! And if they don’t have it, make them order you a copy right now!

Play loud. Play often and let this fantastic debut record blow your mind.

LOVERS CLUB.

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If the bio for your band states that you are the best Rock ‘n’ Roll band in the world, then you’ve got a lot to live up to right? Wrong. Who cares about expectations! Who even needs them! Lovers Club have made a bold statement, and they are true to it. They are easily one of the best around and most certainly one of the best bands in the UK.

Whatever you’re expecting from Lovers Club- ignore it. There’s no point in assuming that they are a gentle band with such a loving name. Far from it. The irony. Their sound is The Cramps headbutting The Jesus And Mary Chain. They are loud, the sound is aggressive and it is all so brilliant. If you’re wanting a band that sounds like they are crashing into your skull and possessing your body, then Lovers Club are for you.

Lovers Club put their first release out in March this year. I think it was only released as cassette. The songs on this tape are heavy- they have the heaviness of Sleep and the eeriness of The Cramps. For me, they just have the perfect sound. I’d pretty sure that the top three bands in this country right now are Table Scraps, Night Shades and Lovers Club. Each band has a distinctive sound that just takes over the mind. What does it do to the body? Well if you’re questioning it, then you’re not listening hard enough.

Lovers Club have this sound that makes you wish you could continuously go to their live shows and live in this world that they have created. The world that they have created feels like a horror film from decades and decades ago with a hint of Edgar Allan Poe lurking throughout. They just have this instantly iconic sound and style- it makes you want to do what they do, but all you can do is listen. Religiously.

Lovers is possibly my favourite song by them at the moment but I am likely to change my mind as the day progresses. I love how brutal everything sounds on this song. It sure does hit you throughout in all their songs, but Lovers is the one that is a little more in your face than the others on the tape- and it is the one I keep going back to. There is something really, really special about this band. If I could describe what makes them so bloody brilliant there would be no point. They just immediately draw you in. It’s like they’ve got you in a headlock and no part of you is going to even fight an escape.

Lovers Club are more than just a Rock ‘n’ Roll band. Their sound is beyond being just Rock ‘n’ Roll- it is truly something else. Lovers Club are here to shake your skull, potentially deafen you and make you move in a way that you feel sure about doing. They make you want to join their band and add some more noise to their sound. They’ll only get better and louder, and I really cannot wait to hear more from them. They’re just effortlessly cool and they make it loud/sound so easy.

The next Lovers Club show will be at the Old Blue Last on the 13th December.

Buy the tape, and play it loud: https://loversclub.bandcamp.com/releases