ABOUT: Happyness

Chilled out, lo-fi vocals and lyrics of the non-conventional variety are what spring to mind when asked to describe South London trio Happyness. Their only album, Weird Little Birthday, showcases this beautifully; the light grunge, for example in the brilliant Great Minds Think Alike, All Brains Taste The Same, and ridiculously relaxed vibes in tracks such as Orange Luz create something that sounds like it's come from across the pond via a summer breeze. There is a moment of madness in there though, in the form of 1:18min long Refrigerate Her, a short but sweet break from the calm with riffs and cymbals that make you move.


Observational humour is a big part of Happyness' lyrics, as can be seen in album track Naked Patients with the line "There's something so funny about a sick body / and the things that it does that it shouldn't do" amongst others. My favourite lyric, however, comes from Montreal Rock Band Somewhere from their self titled EP. Here, they imagine scalping the frontman from Arcade Fire and fashioning the product into a wig. "I'm wearing Win Butler's hair / There's a scalpless singer in a Montreal rock band somewhere / And he's alright". Well, that's good to know.

Catch them live! View their tour dates on their Facebook here
Get Weird Little Birthday here
Written by Molly McGrath

Mixtape Monday #21

Kieran - Shake It Off // Taylor Swift

Maisy - L.S.F // Kasabian

Nana - The Writing's On The Wall // OK Go

Molly - Bloodbuzz Ohio // The National

Benny - Summer Again // The Wytches

Amy - Basic Instinct - The Acid

Laura - 26 // Catfish & The Bottlemen

Collage by Molly

FIBLAR x 

alt-J review - This Is All Yours

After the loss of a member, the release of a few singles and excitement building, indie experimental heroes alt-J have gifted the world once again with the release of their second album. This Is All Yours finally is all ours, and it's a good one. (The prize for understatement of the year goes to...)

It starts off with a track called Intro, just like 2012 Mercury Prize winning debut album An Awesome Wave, which kicks off the proceedings in the only way Leeds band alt-J know how: unconventionally. Two minutes of "lalalala" and odd noises make way for frontman Joe Newman's muffled vocals, then more odd noises and the song's over. I think it's a pretty good introduction to the band for those who haven't listened to them before. 

This Is All Yours artwork

Next are the first two in a series of three tracks on the album with 'Nara' in the title: Arrival in Nara, Nara, and the third, the penultimate track on the album, Leaving Nara. I did have to Google it but it appears that Nara is a place in Japan. My favourite of the three is Nara; a soft, drum backbone supports beautiful vocals, tinkling piano and even a bit of dubstep. 

Recent singles Every Other Freckle and Left Hand Free follow, the former featuring lyrics that could almost rival those of Fitzpleasure from their first album. ("Turn you inside out and lick you like a crisp packet." is a particularly memorable snippet.) The latter is a song I adore; the repeating acoustic guitar riff is constantly worming around inside my mind and possibly brings the listener closer to reality than other tracks. But they don't want that. Cue a trademark background-noise-filled interlude to reduce the chances even more of alt-J ever creating a "normal" record. 

Slow burner Choice Kingdom then precedes lead single Hunger of the Pine (featuring a sample from a Miley Cyrus track) and Warm Foothills, with a male/female duet that alternates within the lines; as in, they finish each other's sentences. It's definitely not cheesy though. 

Well timed handclaps and breathing movements form the background for The Gospel of John Hurt, a song written about that one scene from Alien that everyone knows about, whether they've seen it or not. It's a very catchy tune. Then comes gorgeous, melodic, falsetto filled Pusher, a certain highlight, but it's the following song that I was most excited to listen to when I first saw the track listing. Bloodflood pt.II is the follow up to the incredible Bloodflood from their debut, and has some of the same lyrics as the first, including "Dead in the middle of the C-O-double M-O-N". I was very thankful to not be disappointed; in fact, I think it's the best track on the album. It's a brilliant part of a brilliant record.

This Is All Yours is available to listen to now on Spotify, and is released officially on Monday 22nd September. Preorder it on iTunes here and on CD or vinyl here. 

Written by Molly McGrath

Mixtape Monday #20

Some tunes which we have had on our minds for ages, and hopefully the tunes that will brighten your Monday!

Laura: Cocoon // Catfish and The Bottlemen

Maisy: Praise You // Fatboy Slim

Molly:Electioneering // Radiohead

Nana: Lily For Your Pad To Rest On // Superfood

Benny: Things Behind the Sun // Nick Drake

Amy: Experiment IV // Kate Bush

Kieran: Pacifier // Catfish and the Bottlemen

Collage by Amy 

FIBLAR x

Introducing: Milk Teeth

About to head out on tour with Birmingham's JAWS, Milk Teeth are a four-piece grunge punk band from Bristol. They currently have two singles and an EP online, which are loud and angsty and feature the shouty (yet pleasant) vocals of frontman Josh Bannister. When bassist Becky Blomfield also takes the vocal reins, it creates a sound reminiscent of female-led Wolf Alice (see Swear Jar for instance), until Josh appears again to shower the listener with the remnants of his vocal chords once more. (Forty Six is a nice example).

The band cite their influences as "Wide and varied; from the obvious grunge bands like Pumpkins, Sonic Youth, Nirvana, to stuff like Slowdive, Elvis Presley... and we all love a good catchy pop song!" Clearly the grunge is the most obvious influence; shown via their prominent drums and twisting guitars in tracks like newest single Vitamins:



In an interview with thrashhits.com, they say that the band formed when Josh and drummer Olly wrote a 3-track EP, sent it to guitarist Chris who agreed to join the band, then hired their friend Becky as a bassist because, "You know bands have those". Turns out hiring her was a good decision, as the male/female vocal split works really well against their grungy backdrop. I like this band, and I think a sound like theirs would be even better live than on record. Good thing they're playing soon in a town near you...

Get tickets here

Find Milk Teeth on Facebook, Twitter and Bandcamp

Written by Molly McGrath

Cockpit closure

Leeds residents and visitors alike have today been saddened by the news that alternative music venue The Cockpit has closed its doors for good. Opened in 1994, the barrier-less venue was a fan favourite and has seen the likes of The White Stripes, Coldplay, The Libertines, Kasabian and Biffy Clyro to name just a few. It was also a regular member of the venues participating in annual music festival Live At Leeds.
It seems the twenty years of mayhem and madness inside those four walls have taken its toll, as the closure has been blamed on the building's "current condition", in a message on the venue's website.
However, we mustn't despair too much as a brand new venue has been promised for 2015, and all scheduled upcoming gigs at The Cockpit have been moved elsewhere. All the info is on their website.

Coming from North Yorkshire, almost all of my gigs (there have been many) are in Leeds, and The Cockpit was definitely my favourite venue. It will be sorely missed by me and the many other (generations of) music fans in and around the area. RIP. 

Written by Molly McGrath

Superfood album release

Big news for fans of Birmingham band Superfood - their debut album finally has a release date. Don’t Say That comes November 3rd on Infectious Music, and the band are heading on the road in the UK starting next month to play it to the masses. To get our mouths watering for the release, the band have put out another track, that appears, along with previous releases “Superfood”, “TV” and “Melting”, on the new record.

“Lily For Your Pad To Rest On” is another one in a row of decade-bending releases by the foursome, and features, like previous single “Right On Satellite”, a distinct sitar-esque twang and a healthily none-too-serious vibe. Evoking an avant garde-ttitude like that of 90’s Beck and with a psychedelic funkiness right at home with Talking Heads a la 1983, the track fits right in to the band’s cool and curious universe while being deliciously original. If this is what Don’t Say That is all about, then you can be sure we want a nice large helping.

Written by Nana Gongadze

Reading & Leeds 2014

Undoubtedly amongst the best festivals in the world, Reading & Leeds 2014 have just finished, and they were spectacular. Headlined by Arctic Monkeys, Blink-182, Queens of the Stone Age and Paramore, we had a few writers at Leeds who each had a different view on their favourite acts. Here are our picks of the best of the weekend, in no particular order:

Bombay Bicycle Club
London based indie-rock band BBC headlined the NME/Radio 1 stage on the Saturday of Reading and Sunday of Leeds. The band, led by angelically voiced frontman Jack Steadman, had the crowd in the palm of their hands for the entire set. The light and picture show going on behind them only exaggerated the brilliance of what was, for me, possibly the best performance I saw all weekend. Everyone lost their shit at What If, and songs like Lights Out, Words Gone and How Can You Swallow So Much Sleep prompted huge singalongs from the loved up crowd. I was a fan before, but they went so far above any expectations I had and absolutely blew me away.  - Molly 

The Hives

The Hives. Photo: Giles Smith

As soon as Peace left the main stage on the Sunday at Leeds, huge white letters spelling 'HIVES' took their place, forming the most part of the Swedish band's incredibly cool backdrop. The backdrop suited them well as they are an incredibly cool band, not least deservedly cocky frontman Howlin' Pelle Almqvist. Dressed to match the rest of the band, he swaggered and jumped about the stage, howling (hence his name) at the audience to "Cheer! We deserve more applause than that!". During the now famous freeze-frame bit of Tick Tick Boom, he spent around five minutes introducing the band and then went into the crowd to get us all to sit down, in preparation of going mental for the last part of the song. "If you're still stood up I'll come out there and make you sit down!" he commanded, and his adoring crowd obeyed. They finished with Hate To Say I Told You So, and as we showed our appreciation, Almqvist yelled proudly, "I know you're cheering in part because I've told you to, but the other part is because you fucking love me!". He wasn't wrong. - Molly

Baby Strange
Following their support slot on Palma Violets' Rattlesnake Rodeo tour last November, Glaswegian three-piece Baby Strange have built up a loyal following, and it certainly showed in Leeds; their fairly large crowd seemed to be loving every blast of punk rock they were showered with. After an extremely well performed and received cover of the Talking Heads' Psycho Killer, they expressed their wish to play "a couple more songs" which "are really short, only about two minutes each" but they were denied it, resulting in much booing from the crowd (including me), eager for more. However, the booing did turn to applause as the band left the stage - what we got from them was fantastic, and I know we'll be seeing much more of Baby Strange in the near future. - Molly

The Wytches
Filling an opening slot on the NME stage on Friday at Leeds festival, Brighton three piece The Wytches had a tough job. Their unique brand of "surf doom" could easily have fallen flat, with their heavily distorted guitar and piercing screams not being the usual fodder for this stage. However, they certainly impressed, filling their short set with pit-worthy anthems from their debut album Annabel Dream Reader. The standout moment for me was their opening song- Burn Out The Bruise, showcasing their Bleach-esque style and ability to write and perform a seriously heavy yet catchy chorus. - Benny

Mongol Horde. Photo: Giles Smith

Mongol Horde
Frank Turner's hardcore project Mongol Horde aren't what you'd call radio friendly, and of course in their sub-headline slot on Leeds' Lock Up stage, they didn't alter this one bit. Their music is effectively a massive "fuck you" to basically everything ever, full of genuine humour and brought together by Turner's deafening roar. Their set consisted of twelve songs from their self titled LP released this year, bringing huge circle pits to the adrenaline (and whatever else) fuelled crowd, with Frank frequently being hoisted in the air by adoring fans. A band which has a song about Natalie Portman's tapeworm forming a republic clearly doesn't take themselves too seriously, so they clearly don't give a shit what I think. All the same they were definitely a highlight of the weekend. - Benny

Queens Of The Stone Age
Possibly the best stadium rock band currently touring, Queens Of The Stone Age destroyed this years' Leeds festival, which isn't surprising as their latest album Like Clockwork is amongst their best. New songs such as Fairweather Friends and If I Had a Tail sat comfortably among their old classic songs from Songs For The Deaf and Rated R, with godlike frontman Josh Homme delivering them with his trademark swagger. Ending on the near satanic Song For The Dead, this band seem as good today as they've always been, and look unwilling to stop. My only criticism (and no fault of the band) is their short set, caused as a result of their headline slot being shared with the simply cringeworthy pop-punk of Paramore.  All in all however, Queens shone; their catchy desert rock being my personal highlight of the festival. - Benny

Peace
After standing through Dry The River (a very good folk band) Peace took to the main stage. I'd headed down early to get a good spot - I was in an alright place, quite far left of stage left. The crowd was pretty chilled out throughout their set. Each member walked on one at a time, starting with Dom who started playing a drum line, followed by Sam with a bass line, then Doug with some chords and finally Harrison. They burst into 'Lovesick' their last single from debut album 'In Love' and I must say it's a crowd pleaser. The band continued to play through some older album and EP tracks including 'Float Forever' and 'California Daze'. The guys didn't fail to impress with new songs 'Money' and 'Lost On Me' and they, as they have been recently, replaced '1998' with rap track 'World Pleasure', but who can complain when there's a groovy bass solo? No one. This was my fourth time seeing Peace and I've never been so proud of them; seeing them play on the main stage made my festival. - Laura

Wolf Alice

Wolf Alice. Photo: Victor Frankowski

When Wolf Alice took to the stage in the Festival Republic tent on the Sunday of Leeds festival, they did so in matching white outfits. I must say I was surprised; that was one thing I was never expecting a young indie rock group to do. As always, they didn't fail to impress. Ellie's vocals blew me away; how she can go from singing a quiet slow song such as 'Blush' to having loud, wild vocals in 'She' amazes me. At one point Ellie and Theo started doing their swaying side to side type dance while they played a solo together, and this always manages to make me smile. The band played through well known EP tracks and followed these up with a couple of new tracks, closing with a sped up version of 'Fluffy' as they were about to get pulled off stage. - Laura

Superfood
These guys were one of my favourite acts of the festival. After chatting to frontman Dom Ganderton (he remembered me from a few months back and gave me a slighty wobbly, possibly drunken hug), they played the BBC Introducing stage on the Thursday night. This, like Peace, was my fourth time seeing them, and they really did blow me away. It was nice to be surrounded by hundreds of people there to see them and being in a Superfood-loving crowd was incredible. The band played well knows tracks 'Melting', 'Bubbles' and 'Right On Satellite', a couple of album songs and finished with debut song 'Superfood'. Superfood really never fail to put on a good show. - Laura

Feel free to comment with your favourite acts of the weekend! 

Introducing: Dolomite Minor

Forget the four-piece, the regular singer-guitarist-bassist-drummer arrangement. The past few years have seen the rise of a less conventional layout for a band: the duo. Of course, we had The White Stripes, and we had The Black Keys, but the recent chart storming of bands like Deap Vally, Drenge and Royal Blood show that the love for the duo is stronger than ever. Now, fresh from great sets at Reading & Leeds, Dolomite Minor are hoping to be the new carriage in the duo success train.

Consisting of long haired singer/guitarist Joe Grimshaw and drummer Max Palmier, the Southampton rock band currently only have three songs on their soundcloud, but each one is a corker.



The first, Let Me Go, showcases straight away Grimshaw's sleazy vocals atop a thick bed of grinding guitar and a matching progressive drum beat, as he sings about nights on the town where "The night's still young but the police have been rung." It's a head-banging, foot stomping piece of grit.



Uploaded second was Girl of Gold, a live track which sounds, nevertheless, like a studio version (or maybe that's just the terrible sound quality on my crappy laptop). It's a fairly long one, and features a fantastic riff supported once again by strong drumming from Palmier.




The true excellence, however, doesn't come until most recent track Talk Like An Aztec (now available on Spotify and iTunes as well). Its gentle build up leads to a brilliantly articulated drop which I can imagine moshpits going mental for, but even so, it's more melodic than the previous tracks and will stick in your head for a while afterwards. As the band progress, this song will become a classic and without doubt a live favourite.

I caught their set at Leeds festival without knowing anything about them at all so I had no idea what to expect, but I was very pleasantly surprised. If truth be told, I'd heard the name before but for a reason unbeknownst to me I'd always thought Dolomite Minor was the name of a black, bespectacled, buttoned-up shirt wearing solo artist. You learn something new every day don't you?

Check out their tour dates here and the music video for Talk Like An Aztec here.

Written by Molly McGrath

Mixtape Monday #19

Nana: alt-J // Every Other Freckle

Kieran: Jamie T // Zombie

Laura: Peace // Lost On Me

Molly: Biffy Clyro // The Rain

Maisy: Fat White Family // Is It Raining In Your Mouth

Design by Nana 

FIBLAR x 

Neutral Milk Hotel live review

When I bought my ticket to see Neutral Milk Hotel at Leeds uni for 13/08/14, I didn't really know what to expect. I'd never seen them before, I'd never been to the venue before and I didn't even know who the support act was going to be. I went into the venue with an open mind, and, weirdly, without my ticket being checked at all.

The posters told me that the support act was a guy called Mick Turner. He arrived on stage with a guitar and did an entirely instrumental set, with the aid of a drummer that constantly looked vaguely possessed. They looked like how I'd imagine Drenge would look in 30 years, but certainly didn't sound like it. Admittedly, they were both quite skilled at their individual instruments, but I was kind of expecting Turner to sing, especially considering he was stood behind a microphone. Their set finished after 20 minutes, by which time I think they'd realised the crowd found them more bizarre than anything. And then we waited.

Let me set the scene: the venue was packed, with hipsters and balding men filling every nook and cranny (including the staircases). It was as though they'd carried on selling tickets regardless of whether they'd gone over capacity or not. The stage was littered with instruments, most of which were brass, and atop a keyboard sat a glowing plastic sheep.

They started with Two Headed Boy, during which, for the start, bearded frontman Jeff Mangum stood alone on the far right of the stage. Then, just as it does on the album, came The Fool; for this, the rest of the band emerged onto the stage to play their respective instruments, including that beautiful brass section. The band's adorable accordion/bass/banjo/saw player (yes, saw) Julian Koster introduced them by saying "Hello everybody!" in the goofiest voice I've ever heard anyone speak in, and then they went straight into Holland, 1945 with the familiar "1, 2, 3, 4" which was not only shouted by Mangum, but by every member of that overpacked audience. It was sensational. Koster was leaping about the stage and the crowd was moving almost as much (which I wasn't sure they would do), and singing along wholeheartedly.

Since we weren't allowed to take pictures of
the band, here's one of my friend with
the poster he nicked 

Of course, the biggest singalong came later, for King of Carrot Flowers parts 1, 2 & 3 (particularly part 2) which they played in sequence. Hundreds of people around me yelling "I LOVE YOU JESUS CHRIST" at the top of their lungs was almost enough to turn me vaguely religious.

Littered throughout the setlist were songs from On Avery Island and various EPs, including the riotous Song Against Sex, but as you'd probably imagine it was the songs from second and most critically acclaimed album In The Aeroplane Over The Sea which got the best reception. In fact, I'm not sure anyone in that 500 strong crowd would have opposed to them simply playing it in full.

During the encore, the band again left Mangum alone on stage to play Two Headed Boy part 2, and I was sure that would be the end of the gig; a nice full circle with all that brilliance stuffed inside. But no, they came back on again to end with Engine, and left with huge applause and many cheers of "We love you Jeff!".

Whoever you are, I would absolutely recommend that you seek out a Neutral Milk Hotel gig near you and buy a ticket for it. Right now. It's for your own good!

10/10

Written by Molly McGrath

Childhood review - Lacuna

Founded in 2010, London based indie haze-pop band Childhood had built up quite a fanbase even before the release of more than a couple of singles, thanks mainly to various festival appearances and a support slot on Palma Violet's 2013 'Rattlesnake Rodeo' tour. This fanbase can only get bigger, and will do quickly now that debut album Lacuna has been revealed to the world.

The album has a strong start, in the form of a re-recording of first ever single Blue Velvet. Catchy guitar melodies and soft drums lace singer Ben Romans-Hopcraft's lazy vocals on this lo-fi recording, giving it a sweet, summery feel.

 

The same summery feel carries on throughout the record, through the angelic backing vocals and singalong chorus of second track You Could Be Different, to the melodically brilliant saunter of As I Am, and onwards. Unfortunately, listening to the next two tracks is a much more forgettable affair; they shows how varied their influences are but, with no stand-out moments, don't sound like the Childhood I've come to know and love. I can't see them being live highlights, either.

Thankfully, things pick up again after that. Sweeter Preacher is a joyful bound through layers and layers of noise as Ben demands "Show me the way to your soul!" as though he's lost amongst the layers too. It's straight past the cymbals and left at the distortion, Ben. Tides provides a nice cool down period after the excitement of the previous track, sounding more smooth R&B than indie rock, but still with the Childhood slant plastered all over it.

My personal highlight of the record is previous single and potentially best known song, Solemn Skies. A gentle build up provided by a constant drum beat brings the listener swirling into the fantastically uplifting chorus section, with plenty of backing vocals and just the right level of echo.




Pay For Cool is the song on the album that most makes me want to dance; its strong riffs and funky backbone allow an upbeat transition into final track: the hazy, almost trance-inducing When You Rise. It's as though they placed it last in order to hypnotise you into thinking "Wow, that was the best album I've ever heard" because the last minute and a half of distortion and fuzz is certainly show-stopping enough to make you forget about the weaker points.

Live, Childhood are a treat. On record, maybe less so, but enough, I hope, to make you want to get tickets to see them. With this album they've proved that they're not just the pretty faces of the indie-pop world.

Get Lacuna here and see tour dates here. 

Written by Molly McGrath

Browsing Through My Parents Record Collection

I went searching through my parents record collection to find some good albums. It didn't really happen but I decided to write about a few of my finds.

Wham!

Yes, I found two Wham! records, fabulous. Sadly, neither of them are Music from the Edge of Heaven so that means there won't be any loud playing of Last Christmas in the middle of August, however if I do bother to listen to one of these records it will be Make It Big, just because Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go and their cover of Careless Whisper are on there.

Duran Duran
I was very, very happy to find that Rio is still in my dad's collection. When I was eight, so almost ten years ago, I'd ask him to play it for me. So he'd bring it down to the living room and put it on and I'd sing along.

Frankie Goes To Hollywood

The three FGTH albums we own are probably, as a group, my second favourite find. Last year me and my mam found it in the collection and decided to play it while my Granda looked for Men At Work albums to put on.






David Bowie
To my delight, I found Scary Monsters - my favourite Bowie album. This has saved me approximately £8 and a trip to Newcastle or Sunderland. 

Linda Ronstadt 

There's a story behind these three records. My mam has had two for years, and the other she bought at Pop Recs while I was away at a friend's house. I told her if she was going, to pick up a Pink Floyd record, but instead she called me saying "I've been talking to Dennis at I've bought Linda Ronstadt" - thanks mam, that can go in the sectio of records I will never listen to. 

Prince

This once belonged to my dad before I found it and put it in my collection. I fell in love with Prince within a few seconds of listening to 1999. Once you go black (purple??) you never go back. 

                  

Those compilation albums that are there to attract dust

Here we have 'Breakout', 'Chart Stars' and one of the earlier classic 'Now That's What I Call Music' albums. Filled with Depeche Mode, Genesis, Culture Club and Status Quo these albums supply me with the greatest hits of the 80s and as you may have guessed, I haven't bothered to play them.

Laura (@FloatForev3r)

Ben Howard review - End of the Affair

It's been a long time coming, but yesterday finally saw the radio and online debut of singer/songwriter Ben Howard's new track, End of the Affair. After the success of his first album Every Kingdom and of the Burgh Island EP, as well as new material being played at recent festival appearances, anticipation for new studio releases has been building.

First played on Zane Lowe's BBC Radio 1 show last night (05/08/14), End of the Affair is a whopping 7 minutes 49 seconds long. Listen to it below:



With this song, Howard has moved on from the happy-skipping-through-fields melodies of Every Kingdom, to a much darker approach, which we first heard on the Burgh Island EP. The first 4 minutes 50 seconds are a slow build up with plenty of bass notes supporting the lighter plucks of his trademark acoustic guitar. There's a feel of stormy nights - perhaps a hint of pathetic fallacy - and he even mentions "the thunder's rumbled sound". Admittedly, it's easy to get a bit distracted during this first half of the song, but until you really pay attention you don't realise the true subtle beauty of it. As you get past the five minute mark, the pace picks up and drums are introduced, providing a strong backbone for Howard's ever dramatic vocals as they ask "What the hell?!" as though they're the last words he'll ever speak. I imagine this latter part of the track being ridiculously fun live; the atmosphere created through the instruments and echoes drags you into the depths of thought and emotion and whatever Howard was going through as he wrote it. Honestly, this song is beautiful. Listen to it, then listen to it again. Then tell a friend to do the same. Pass the genius of it onto as many people as you can.

Written by Molly McGrath

Alvvays

Alvvays? Yeah, pronounced Always, but Alvvays. Confusing? You'll get used to it.

Photo by Norman Wong

Alvvays are a Toronto based band, who specialise in making the sounds of nostalgia, summer and waves of the sea. All you could ever want and need from a band I'd say. It seems that many bands are opting for this 'surf rock' style but Alvvays are different, they're a 'surf rock' band that you can sing along to but one that you can also (if you want) listen to whilst feeling heartbreak and sadness.






Their self titled debut was only released earlier this month and already, positive reviews and a lot of 6 Music radio play, has boosted their popularity quite significantly. It's full of echoey vocals from lead singer Molly Rankin, a bleach blonde babe, armed with a guitar and plenty to sing about. 'Alvvays' is mainly a love-based album, with songs 'Archie, Marry Me', 'Ones Who Love You' and 'Adult Diversion' with lyrics such as 'How do I go on without you?'. But despite the lovey-dovey mood, like anything, it doesn't have to be interpreted in that way. Alvvays are a fresh new face to the 'surf-rock' side of the music industry and they certainly live up to this vastly growing genre's expectations.




Alvvays shall be playing a few dates in London next week but shall be back in Autumn with Real Estate to embark on a tour around the country!

Get tickets to see them here

- Amy 

Mixtape Monday #18: We Are Back

Here's our first mixtape since the hiatus, just for you FIBLAR fans

Laura: Flirting USA // Peace

Molly: Little Monster // Royal Blood

Amy: Men's Needs // The Cribs

Avalon: Green Fuz // The Cramps

Charlotte: You Only Live Once // The Strokes

Holly: Up My Sleeves // Death Grips

Calum: Reynard The Fox // Julian Cope

Daniel: Water Fountain // tUnE-yArDs

Kieran: Lovefool (The Cardigans cover) // Superfood 

Nina: Alex // Girls

Collage by Molly x

Arctic Monkeys - great or greatly overrated?

No matter your opinion on them, I can almost guarantee that you have at least one friend who adores Arctic Monkeys. Equally, you probably also have at least one friend who despises Alex Turner and thinks NME need to get their heads out of his perk behind. Maybe you know someone whose opinion is a bit of both, like mine.

I don't think there can be any denying that the Monkeys' debut, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, is one of the greatest albums of the 21st century. Raw and subtly poetic, the Sheffield boys stuck to their roots and sang about things that affect us all - the bands in the shabby clubs that think they're from America when in reality they're from humble Yorkshire in Fake Tales Of San Fransico, for example. 

Second album Favourite Worst Nightmare is riper; more refined, and although has some flashes of brilliance on it, such as the beautiful 505, it will never quite edge their debut for me. 

After that came Humbug, an album which I consider as their worst overall effort, but which gave us, in my opinion, some of their best singles. Pretty Visitors, for example, is dark and dreamy and has the line "What came first? The chicken or the dickhead?" which is great fun to shout (more than sing) along to. 

Fourth album Suck It And See is the one that they seem to have put the least amount of effort into. It's not actually a bad album, but the music itself is almost as bland as the artwork, which they clearly put no effort into at all. It's a bit of a "mostly-filler-some-killer" album, like Humbug, only better.

Despite the ups and downs of their career during these first albums, the only real controversy started with the release of latest record AM. They've gone all LA on us with their leather jackets and quiffs and sunglasses indoors, and despite Turner's famously egotistical speech at the BRIT awards, their music has become less rock n roll, more hip-hop. And now he's been accused of tax dodging. In light of all this, people who have been fans for a while are all of a sudden not fans anymore. This hasn't phased the Monkeys though, because after the recent huge success of single Do I Wanna Know (which, by the way, I adore), the number of new fans has increased massively. I'm sure they'll still be selling out stadium tours for many years to come. So tell that friend that you have, the one who's a massive fan, that they needn't worry... though I doubt they were anyway.

Written by Molly McGrath. All opinions are mine, not FIBLAR's as a collective. 

JAMIE T

 On Tuesday 15th July the tediously long wait for new Jamie T material was finally over. After a very long wait new single 'Don't You Find' was aired on Radio 1 as Zane Lowe's 'Hottest Record'. The song signals a musical change of direction from the 28 year old Londoner. The song which is just under four and a half minutes is a slow, melodic heartfelt song with beautifully harmonious female backing vocals. The song which has got over 160,000 YouTube hits in just over a week was officially released on Monday (21/07/14) and is the first single  on Jamie T's third album 'Carry On The Grudge' which will be released on Monday 29th September. 

 

Album artwork for Jamie T's 'Carry On The Grudge' 

Track listing for 'Carry On The Grudge' can be found below: 

Limits Lie 

Don't You Find 

Turn On The Light 

Zombie 

The Prophet 

Mary Lee 

Trouble 

Rabbit Hole 

Peter 

Love Is Only A Heartbeat Away

Murder Of Crows 

They Told Me It Rained

Jamie T will also embark on a small UK tour at the end of July / August 

JAMIE T WILL PLAY:

July 29 - Art School, Glasgow (Sold Out)

July 30 - Kazimier, Liverpool (Sold Out) 

July 31 - Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth (Sold Out) 

August 7 - Tufnell Park Dome, London (Sold Out) 

 You can find the video for 'Don't You Find' here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tmoaFAT108

Kieran 

The Words Of A One Direction Fan

One Direction fans, aren't they a strange bunch? With their fan art and fanfiction, some believing the members of the band are gay and in secret relationships with each other. It's all very weird.
Now, since watching the One Direction fan documentary on tv a while back I've wondered what goes through the minds of the fans and I thought I'd ask one. My good friend Emily from Bristol wrote a little something to explain what the band means to her etc and I thought it'd make a great comeback post for you all to get into the mind of a 'directioner'

"You know, when someone says One Direction, it's easy to guess what others would say about them. They have no talent, their music is painful to listen to and their looks are so far past the line of unattractiveness that they can't even see it anymore. But not everyone has that opinion on them. I am one of those people. To me, the band that have an ungodly amount of fate on their side, are miracles. There were an infinite number of situations that were so close to happening which would have changed the way their lives have turned out. Small things like Zayn's mother urging him, pushing him, to get out of bed on the morning of his audition, to bigger things like Liam giving it a second shot. The tiniest things have joined these five young lads together and given them the chance to achieve the things that they used to dream of as a child and in my eyes, I find that incredible. 

I have been a fan of One Direction for going on 2 and a half years now and I still underestimate just how extraordinary each member is. Their personalities are completely different from one another along with everything else that makes them unique. I didn't choose to become a fan of them, it just sort of happened. My best friend was a fan of them before me and she was the one who got me into them. Before then, if I'm being honest, I never really paid much attention to them. However, I never thought bad of them. I never thought they were awful musicians or horrible people, I just never saw them in the same way as I do now.

As a collective fandom, we are famous for our various talents that are associated with every fanbase in existence. Although we partake in our fair share of montage videos, blogs and fanart, I would have to admit that fanfiction is our speciality; so much so that one of the fandom's most well known and most popular fanfic, After, is actually being produced into a film. 

The lads have changed me, in ways I never thought were possible, and I know that makes me sound like an idiot, but it's true. I don't care what others think of them, even if the things I have heard people say about them are so disgusting and disturbing that it makes me wonder how they could ever say that about another human being, they make me happy. And to be quite honest, I don't know what I would do without them. They are my life and nothing will ever change that. So say what you like about them, I'm not planning on leaving them anytime soon."

And that's that, the weird and maybe not so wonderful mind of a One Direction fan. 

Emily's twitter: @LetItShineTT

It's good to be back,

Laura 

Introducing: Briony Sayers

Briony Sayers, aged just 17, is an up and coming singer/songwriter from York who writes melodic and heartfelt songs with the company of her acoustic guitar. At present, her recordings are limited to a few demos, but everyone who has had the chance to witness her enchanting live performances would agree that she clearly shows some very promising talent.



The best (in my opinion) of Briony's demos is the above, Constellations (The Ballad Of Icarus), of which a version without bass was posted online 6 months before this one. The bass in this current version was also written and played by multi-instrumentalist Briony, and with the aid of soothing melodies, beautiful imagery ("We'll find our way in the constellations") and her gorgeous vocals, this is a wonderful summer tune.




Majority of Forever was the first of Briony's own songs that I heard, around a year ago. It's a lovely little story of romance and promises which wouldn't seem at all out of place in a chick flick. I remember seeing her perform this live and people all around me were singing along; it's one of those songs that finds its way into your mind and stays there for a long time, somehow without being annoying at all.

This summer Briony will be making her festival debut at Galtres Park Festival in Helmsley, North Yorkshire, which is being headlined this year by The Human League, amongst others. She tells me she is very (x4) excited to play, as she loves performing, and has practised so much that her guitar strings are now bloodstained. If that's not dedication, I don't know what is.

Listen to more of Briony's music on her Soundcloud and catch her live at Galtres Park Festival, 22 August 2014, 16:00 - 16:30 on the Firkin Stage.

Written by Molly McGrath

We are back

From our new look and logo, you may have guessed that we were coming back. We can confirm that yes, we are! It took us a while to actually get everything together and make our comeback official but finally, it has now happened. We've all missed writing about the stuff we love and hopefully people have missed reading our posts. It's been way too long since we were a 'thing', as such, and so now, we can declare FIBLAR, once again, open!

Big, big thanks to Alex Cabré for our new logo
Love the FIBLAR team x

A hiatus

It may have come to a lot of people's attention that our posting became a lot less frequent over the past month and then suddenly, it just stopped. We also realised this but have now all agreed that FIBLAR should go on a hiatus, until exams are over and all the stress has been cleared. Hopefully, we shall be returning in the summer with a new, improved, and better FIBLAR. It's been a fun six months, and we hope it continues. 

FIBLAR 

Is music too convenient?

What sparked this post is reading Steven Ansell (Blood Red Shoes) writing about how bands are under pressure from fans to 'spoon feed' their fans.

I'm going to starting with when people express disappointment about a band they like not coming to their town, and the band complain; fair enough you know you work pretty hard to bring your music to as many places as possible, but why not be just a bit flattered that fans want to experience your music live? We don't want you in our town because we want you too spoon feed us your music, we want you because live music has grown so popular now and it's great to hear a band you like in the flesh. Baring in mind train ticket prices are sickening; to travel 30 miles it's £20 for a one way ticket and takes like 2 hours. Then having to leave halfway through the headline set because you're train leaves in half an hour; it's not something that's appealing at all.

Also, I think I'm allowed to be a bit peed off if a band IS coming near me, but booked an 18+ venue. Like what is the reasoning? I know it's probably cheaper but everyone in there are students or middle aged people who're bored and just out in town looking for a cheap pint and something to do.

 I must admit I have expressed to bands that I'm disappointed they couldn't play near me or whatever, but I'm not being a lazy sod just because I'm a jobless 15 year old with little money.

The next point was about how it's so easy to just listen to music and discover new bands online. I was quite baffled to see how this is a bad thing. Literally everyone by now has a presence on the internet so it is a fantastic way to get known and share experiences and interests. 

I torrent most of my music and my excuse is I just do not have the money to buy every album I want to listen to on the go. However, if I do love an album, I will buy a physical copy. I still value CDs as I love the large album art, lyric sheets and pictures in the inside cover. The average price of a CD is about £10 from HMV, and that's irrelevant to how long the album is or how many tracks are on it. While I know the reasons for the pricing, I just can't justify spending all of my small income on one CD. 

What if we go out to buy an album and it's just plain shit? There's not a feeling like the feeling of 'I've wasted my money, now I have none left and I'm sad'. It's a huge disappointment and I'd be a bit pissed off. So on that note, thank god for online reviews.

As for not 'experiencing' and narrating the music anymore (instead, just reading a track-by-track review), that maybe just with you Steven. I know when I get an album I'll try and listen to it all the way through and experience it all. I barely ever read album reviews, and if I do, it'll be a quick summary and help me make up my mind on it.

So what if we can download music online and have albums delivered? That is a convenience, and it's certainly not a bad thing, Some people don't have the time or money for bus fare and any additional prices of buying it from their local CD store. So what if it's all there ready for us? Do bands honestly appreciate the people buying or listening? Is it truly the fans fault for this 'passive' musical experience?

It's completely your choice to put your album on iTunes, yes, you'd loose out on a bit of money and people may be questioning why it isn't on there, but if you were really that bothered about people easily listening to music online, then do something about it! No one is forcing anyone to 'please the fans', because all in all it's all down to the band or artist, and what they want to do with the music they've created. Yes, it's disappointing as hell if they don't play near to you or don't have an online download, but the fans don't control how the music is distributed.

No one's demanding tour videos and signed CDs, surely that's all done for fun and out of your own enjoyment? We could wait after a show for you to sign our album if we really wanted. I personally don't mind about signed albums; but I find it weird that it's not been signed with you there handing it to them. It seems to be defeating the excitement of someone signing your record because everyone who pre-orders one will have it signed anyway. It's not rare or that exciting if that happens.

I don't request bands to come to Liverpool because I have a sense of 'entitlement' and want everything so easy for me, I want them because it's just great to be at a gig, and have a such a good time that it stays with you for ages. And I'm sure I'm not alone on that.

Comparing everything to what it was like for our parents to grow up, it's great. You'd buy the NME every week to hear about the same bands and decide if you'd spend all your pocket money on some album that may or may not be as good as they described. While that may be a more 'authentic' way of discovering new music, it's just not as relevant anymore due to our advances in technology.

I know what he was trying to say throughout the article but it just seems a really sad way to look at it and I hope not all bands feel this crap towards people that're paying for their clothes and cigarettes. 

Sometimes I'm really aware about the internet's complications of music consumption, but then I cease to care because it's basically all I've ever known and I'm glad it does exist. I'm happy about being able to discover great music that I wouldn't have been able to do without the internet, and I think bands should be happy about people stumbling upon them and liking them; I know I would be.

(Original article here)

(By HOLLY)

St Vincent - St Vincent album review & St Vincent live @ O2 Academy Shepherds Bush 20/02/14 review

St Vincent - St Vincent album review

After collaborating with David Byrne in 2012 for the fantastic Love This Giant, Annie Clark is back with yet another innovative and original effort, spewing with strange lyrics and brilliant guitar riffs. The opener, ‘Rattlesnake’, straight away springs into life, Annie singing AH-AH-AH-AH-AH-OHHH-OHHH as she asks, ‘Am I the only one in the only world?’ before the first guitar riff rips in, a truly great start – she recently spoke about how she stripped naked and ran through the desert in Texas before encountering said ‘Rattlesnake’. ‘Birth in Reverse’, the first single off the album, starts off with ‘oh what an ordinary day, take out the garbage, masturbate’ in true to dystopian St Vincent style as well as ‘remember that time we went and snorted, that piece of the Berlin wall that you’d extorted’ from the almost choir-like backing of ‘Prince Johnny’. The guitar was set aside quite a lot on this album compared to 2011’s ‘Strange Mercy’, not spewing the quirky catchy riffs on there but instead showing off the excellent vocal range Clark possesses, none more evidently so on ‘I Prefer Your Love’. The song could easily pass for one of Lana Del Rey’s as Annie sings about preferring another’s love over that of Jesus’s – a play on the heaving Christian population of the US.

‘Digital Witness’ preaches the nature of constantly imaging one’s life and posting it on social media – ‘what’s the point of even sleeping if I can’t even show it’ she sings mocking the Instagram-obsessed modern generation and the need to show everything that we do. ‘Bring Me Your Loves’ uses lots of drumming and the repeating ‘Bring me your loves all your loves, your loves I wanna’ love them too you know’ to create one of the more catchy songs on the album on a somewhat disappointing second half of the album. Closing song ‘Severed Crossed Fingers’ is somewhat a dull & anticlimactic end to the album, with none of the final four or five songs having the witty lyrics like the first half, instead focusing on much heavier guitar.

St Vincent is definitely not St Vincent’s best album, but definitely second – she yet again shows the music world what a talent she is. She is definitely underrated and not well known about but is starting to become more and more popular as she collaborates with more popular artists such as The National, Kid Cudi and of course David Byrne. Maybe she lacks a catchy anthem that a wider range of people album will know, but there’s no denying that this is another solid, creative and original effort from St Vincent, full of typically-weird lyrics and exceptional guitar playing.       8/10

St Vincent live @ O2 Academy Shepherds Bush 20/02/14 Review

With St Vincent’s new album out on the 24^th, I went off to see her at the O2 Academy Shepherds Bush with high hopes – I’d already listened to the album a few times although still hadn’t listened to her second album, but heard she was good live and that she crowdsurfed (my friend touched her butt on the last tour). After arriving and a 45 minute wait with a pint, on came the support act, Glass Animals. Their songs sounded like a mix between Coldplay’s new couple of songs and Alt-J, a little stripped back and a bit trance/electronic. They were decent I would say, better than other support acts I’ve seen, but their songs seemed to all be on the same tempo without reaching any high points and it was fairly forgettable.

Just after 9 on came St Vincent and her backing band, with Annie doing a little small dance in the opening synth notes of new album opener, ‘Rattlesnake’. Clearly influenced by David Byrne on the tour of their collaboration album, she has learnt a lot from his eccentric and sometimes strange moves and talking inbetween songs. Annie’s hair was puffed up and white like a female version of Isaac Newton and her heels as per usual made her scutter around the stage in small steps, but after opening with ‘Rattlesnake’ & ‘Digital Witness’ from the new album she burst into fan favourite ‘Cruel’ from her previous album, it’s catchy guitar riff and chorus (‘CrueeEEEeEEEeeEeEEl’) being hummed and sung across the venue. She then went onto play more new stuff from the album after, including ‘Birth In Reverse’, ‘Regret’ & ‘I Prefer Your Love’, but with the album not out yet a very still crowd stood and watched as she sung her way through it but with little interaction with the crowd, albeit from comparing herself to the crowd, telling us how we both had once attempted to ‘use a bedsheet as hot air balloon’ – I can confirm that as a child I did not do such a thing.

Throughout the set she continued playing some of her greatest hits, the likes of ‘Surgeon’ & ‘Cheerleader’ from ‘Strange Mercy’ and ‘Laughing with a Mouth Full of Blood’ & Marrow from ‘Actor’ (although she didn’t play my favourite song ‘Now, Now’) and the crowd started to get more & more louder but never too much and the atmosphere was very disappointing. She ended before the encore with Record Store Day release ‘Krokodil’, a song about the cheap but very damaging drug ravaging Eastern Europe – this normally comes with a St Vincent crowd surf but she just ran about the stage disappointingly, but did accept a rose thrown at her.

She finished with an encore of ‘The Bed’ and ‘Your Lips are Red’ but I couldn’t help thinking that she lacks stage presence without David Byrne – she had little interaction with the crowd and it didn’t help that the album hadn’t been released yet with it only being a mini pre-album tour, but even with her more better-known songs the crowd were static. Her guitar playing was as per usual it a brilliant level, the notes crunching through the speakers and the backing band were excellent too, but there was definitely something missing.      7/10

Toy @ EVAC (28/2/14)

The night started with a 99p cheeseburger, a Smarties McFlurry and a ticket for TOY.
Entering East Village Arts Center and climbing up the stairs, I wondered why they'd put this gig in the little room normally where bands that have no or one album to their name play. I could hear the first support act playing as I ascended, and prayed it wasn't one of those shitty local supports whose set would seem to drag on most of the night.

On first look of the band, I recognized them right away from a Deap Vally gig last year. I loved them but I had no idea what they were called till last night. I was disappointed to catch only half their set because they're honestly one of the best local bands I've seen live. The bassist looks a lot like good old Jim Morrison, and they've said one of their influences are The Doors. Sankofa are a psychedlic band, a bit shoegazey. I know them and bands like them, are on the rise in Liverpool.

The second support band were The Proper Ornaments, these have been on the road with Toy for this tour. The lead singer reminded me of Noel Fielding. Whilst the back story to the band is quite interesting, their music however, is nothing you haven't heard before. Not at all bad, just nothing new here. Their melodic pop songs are okay and they were tight live.

Toy were on at 10, and when they came on stage I didn't know what to expect about their stage presence, they took me as quite a dark looking band They came on to Conductor (the first song off their new album), picked up their instruments and got straight into it. The lead, Tom Dougall, had the presence of Harrison Koisser and Pete Doherty combined. He stayed in the shadows until it was his turn to step up to the microphone and tunefully moan out the lyrics.
Some of their songs were lengthened and there were repeated changes to the time signature. The whole room was vibrating with the pure noise being produced onstage. The air felt thick and heavy, fog and flashing lights added to the head crushing instrumentals.
It felt like a really long set because one of the contributing factors has to be the clash of instruments and it all coming together, sounding so great you feel like you need to sit down and catch a breath.
Motoring was probably my favourite song. They had such energy without having to jump around and dance; the head banging and swaying was enough. The fact that they seemed into it, made the crowd follow suit.
Echoing psychedelic/shoegaze is definitely one to witness, and TOY do it fantastically. If you get the chance, I'd take it up.

(By HOLLY)

Mixtape Monday #17

Amelia: Neutral Milk Hotel // Two Headed Boy

Connor: The Clash // Career Opportunities 

Laura: Coldplay // Magic

Georgie: Gross Magic // Sweetest Touch

Eve: Suede // The Drowners

Avalon: Palma Violets // 14

Molly: Pulp // Disco 2000

Amy: Mystery Jets // Diamonds in the Dark

Rohanie: Arcade Fire // Wake Up

Holly: Metz // Sad Pricks

Calum: Big Black // Kerosene

Paige: David Bowie // Speed of Life