Remember ‘The Empire Strikes Back’? (If you answered no – piss off). There is only one thing that could have made that movie any better- a heavy metal soundtrack over the Hoth battle scene. Well, now thanks to the awesomness going on over at Zen, you can rectify that little mistake in the comfort of your own home with this: The AT-AT Walker Boombox!
Seriously, is this not the most metal thing you have ever seen?
LINK (Zen)
While the mass media is busy touting it as a massive waste of time (because they don’t understand it, or listen to my insane plans to monetize it, he said bitterly), there’s no doubt that Twitter is still growing among the compulsive kiss n teller’s among us. Just for today though, why not stop using it to find out what Bruce Campbell had for dinner, and instead go support Twestival. Even though it has the onerous likes of Bloc Party appearing, with 175 cities hosting their own mini-fests, there’s got to be at least 1 or 2 bands worth seeing, and hey-it’s all for charidy mate, so click the link, and give generously.
That’s it. After years of being a card cerrying metalhead I have to give up. Because of this. Mark Gormley. The greatest song, by the greatest rockstar in the greatest video ever. Witness the glory of him moving from foot to foot, or talking to someone (probably a spirit guide) off screen. I am converted to his singer songwriter ways. All hail Gormley!!
LINK
As the weather turns ever colder and the nights ever darker, it seems only fitting that we get round to covering some Goth on ES, and they don’t come much Gothier than London’s (And formerly Warsaw’s) Higher Love.
While The Cure are the obvious touchstone throughout this demo, there are touches of U2 (Especially in the twangy, hangy guitar lines) and Joy Division to be had, and at least a faint glimmer of perrenial underdogs London After Midnight and some very early (Read: very odd) Human League. There’s certainly a very 80s vibe going on, and the heavily accented vocals actually help add to the generally vampiric atmosphere at times, putting me in mind of Outcast (not the “Hey-Yah!” Andre 3000 ones..), and this has the potential to be a major selling point for the band, if only they weren’t quite so po-faced (Or possibly “Poe” faced?) about it all. Goth, while being deadly serious, is also an inherently ridiculous form, and it’s best practitioners know and play on this. This failing is unfortunately particularly apparent on “Do you talk about love”, where amatuerish production and deadly seriousness combine to create humour for all the wrong reasons.
Fortunately things pick up on closer “Piece of Mind” which doesn’t just steal it’s title from Iron Maiden, with a nice “Remember Tomorrow”-esque opening riff which unfortunately then fails to go anywhere. This is a major stumbling block for the band, as a lot of the time songs noodle along as if waiting to burst into action. While this could be used to create a sense of impending dirge-like dread, here it just leaves the impression of choruses hunting for a song to join.
Overall a touch more pomp and cicumstance wouldn’t go amiss here, as songs are a little short and the aforementioned production needs some serious beefing up. If they get it right, then they could easily hang out in the graveyard with Moonspell.
LINK (Myspace)
Puck are obviously a band who have worked hard on their sound, for a demo this is super slick with a solid, clear production that showcases frontlady AmyJay’s soaring vocals. If anything however, this could be as much a problem as a bonus. Things start promisingly enough, with a chunky, stonery riff introducing opener”Fly”. Once those vocals kick in however, the heavy edge quickly rubs off. I’ve mentioned the slick production, and combined with the high end vox there’s a definite touch of 80s and early 90s rock to this, Heart and Vixen springing to mind (and bizarrely, the fictional Tia Carrera fronted band from “Wayne’s World”!).
While the band are all good musicians there’s a certain lack of direction, and a slightly dated approach to songwriting that could hinder the band’s commercial success (I could of course be completely wrong, and they may conquer the US market the way groups like Train have previously- never underestimate the power of MOR), likewise the vocals are excellent, but perhaps a little too sweet, giving proceedings a definite touch of the Miley Sirus-es. Final track “All We Got” does try to update things with an angular, jumpy verse that hints at Artic Monkeys, but then the huge 80s chorus turns the whole thing into “I’m Still Standing”-lite (If you can imagine such a thing).
Overall shows a great deal of promise and if reviews by the likes of PowerPlay and HardRockHouse are anything to go by, knows it’s audience perfectly, but a sense of direction and some updating are needed if they want to avoid living next to Asia in the melodic hard rock ghetto.
