Moon & Back Music » jmiller

WU LYF :: Just Another P.R Campaign?

jmiller — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 18:24:52 +0000

After being asked who let off the smoke bomb, the culprate evntually owned up.

Billed as the most enigmatic band of the 21^st century by some, the future of British music by others and the most pretentious outfit to come out of the north by the rest. But, what just is it that is causing such a rigours divide between the music press up and down the country about WU LYF?

In a year where the press’ ‘ones to watch’ consist largely of Eaton College drop outs on a gap year prior to taking up an executive position at Uncle William and Auntie Kate’s law firm, it would be fair to assume that Manchester is arguably the most likely place to produce creative a response from the working classes. And, in any other circumstances one would be right to assume so. However, these are not regular circumstances and this is not 1994. As it happens, WU LYF are as middle class, as educated and laden with far more pretence than any of this years ‘hype bands‘. Although, it just so happens that they are far more talented.

Any attempt at research in relation to the band falls flat at the first hurdle. A useless Myspace page that contains no information about the band and a website that combines post apocalyptic imagery with that of urban decay and famine stricken countries, in a mash up of religious iconography (pretentious enough?). Not a single interview nor press shoot exists of the band. They casually refer to their management as ‘Warlord’ and they define their genre as ‘Heavy Pop’ (also the name of their debut single). It would seem outside of a handful of well documented gigs in their managers Manchester venue ‘An Outlet Café’, that this band simply does not exist.

It is these poorly recorded videos of the bands hometown performances along with their debut single (Heavy Pop), which have saved them from being thrown upon the art school scrap heap along with proving that they do actually exist.

First and foremost, this is loud music. Never is there any hint of a lull in which a song dares to reside into brief moment of serenity. Every cymbal crashes with the vigour of the last, every scream as sincere as the first and every riff as prominent as the next. This is noise that can not be escaped.

More importantly, WU LYF have done what very few if any of their noise rock predecessors have accomplished. They have successfully managed to transcend the overwhelming noise of their live performance onto record without compromise.

On debut single ’Heavy Pop’, the lyrics are simply inaudible, possibly this is the only real shame of WU LYF however, the onslaught of noise does more than compensate. The organ swells from the start and remains a daunting presence throughout the song, whilst reverb drenched guitar jars against the crashing cymbals with its dream pop melodies. The feverous vocal enters with all the hostility of a Birthday Party era Nick Cave to create a wall of sound bigger than Phil Spector could have possibly fathomed. However it is on forthcoming single ‘Split it Concrete Like the Colden Sun God’ that the band show their versatility.

Adapting their ‘Heavy Pop’ style, the drums lead an agile samba rhythm, whilst the bass provides the platform for the surf guitar and what was an in-audible yelp becomes a tribal sing-along. The art house style video depicts the western colonisation of a rainforest tribe with scenes of gratuitous violence and a subtext with varying implications of revolution. A long way from Manchester, I am sure you will agree.

Similarly, on live favourite ‘Lucifer Calling’, the band leads the audience from a Manchester café and into the closing scenes of Apocalypse Now with all the ease of a band four times their year. Not before the song descends into an un-ending drone of feedback as the rest of the band take up sticks to provide an onslaught of cross rhythms to which audiences respond with equal animalistic enthusiasm.

There can be no doubt that WU LYF have the catalogue to support the growing fascination that surrounds them. However, this makes the bands representation all the more curious. Could it be, that WU LYF have taken it upon themselves to iron out the creases in punks flawed fundamentals by refusing to acknowledge media presence in order to make their ant-establishment ideals all the more ‘real’? Or, could it be the most carefully constructed P.R campaign of the year, the likes of which are reserved strictly for soulless ‘Brit-School’ graduates to mask their minuscule puddle of talent?

Either way, WU LYF remain 2011’ s only real interesting prospect. Whether that says more about this years wave of new bands or not, will no doubt play a factor in any conclusion. For as long as WU LYF keep refusing to provide answers, the world has no choice but to keep asking questions.

Josh Miller

Are Brother The Worst Thing To Happen To British Music In Living Memory?

jmiller — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 20:32:10 +0000

According to Brother, The Drums can 'do one', not before they leave their image first though.

“If anyone here doesn’t want to see the future of music, leave now.” Not the words of a drunken Gallagher junior circa 1994 but, more worryingly the words of Sloughs latest pop offering, Brother.

As with any turn in decade, an overwhelming over use of the phrase ‘next big thing’ parades the music tabloids. So much stress is put on the industry, that one can be lead to compromise taste in a desperate attempt to avoid nostalgia. So much so, that The Darkness (remember them) achieved un-paralleled success in the early years of the previous decade, until everyone realised that they were just well; really, really terrible.

Luckily enough, The Libertines came to Britain’s aide. In direct response to The Strokes new- found glory as the world’s favourite band. Thus, Pete and Carl became Britain’s saviours from the spandex clad invalid that is Justin Hawkins and sure enough all remained well on the good ship Albion until, heroin and Kate Moss rained on everyone’s parade, subsequently forcing Arctic Monkeys to take hold of the reins as Britain’s ‘band of the noughties‘.

As Britain’s sentiment has withered over these last ten years or so, with the absence of the above bands, music fans and journalists alike have been forced to look elsewhere to get their kicks.

Last year for example, the world seemed to get caught up in the media shit-storm that surrounded The Drums, and for some time it looked like the world had found it’s ’pin-up’ band. They appeared to be the group that everyone (for the next ten years at least) were going to dress and cut their hair like until, the more fickle amongst us decided that white socks and bowl cuts just aren’t practical on a northern council estate and Blackpool pleasure beach isn’t exactly the ideal place to go ‘surfing‘.

With this in mind, Britain has turned to a band that evoke the true spirit of an era so barren of originality, that it had no choice but to be dominated by the most successful Beatles tribute act of all time (Oasis). With a seamless naivety and a worrying lack of understanding for what they are representing, Brother have thrust themselves into the media limelight with all the swagger and bravado of a Gallagher.

In their homemade video for their forthcoming Stephen Street produced album, the band parade around with guitars in front of a Union Jack wearing sunglasses indoors, whilst a naked women dances in a bath. This chauvinistic, arrogant and downright awful image represents everything that was wrong with Britpop and highlights why a return to such a period can only serve in doing more harm than it can good. Few would disagree that, any band that feels the need to affiliate themselves with a Union Jack in order to seek any real sense of identity as a British act compromise both their quality and their ideals. And quite frankly, unless you are Roy Orbison you can by no means wear sunglasses indoors and expect any credibility afterwards (just ask Glasvegas).

I realise this is largely dominated by criticisms of the bands image however, if this was to be a criticism of the bands music then very little would need to be said. As it is, as you can imagine a loutish and lethargic attempt at an anthem that bands like The Enemy and The Courteeners only as recently as 2009 have tried and failed to achieve. Both debut single ‘Darling Buds of May’ (named after the 1970’s T.V show) and album track ‘New Years Day’ boast choruses the size of Knebworth but are delivered with the conviction of a middle class twenty something from Slough …

I also realise that to give attention to bands that lack any substance and sense of reason is nothing but counter productive. But, if British music is going to respond whatsoever to the transatlantic acts that are currently dominating its music scene then it must realise that the 90’s and more specifically Britpop is not the place to source inspiration. What we can gather from Brother is the knowledge that there is nothing more un-appealing than a middle class Oasis and we can hope, just like The Darkness did not so long ago, they fade into nothingness until one day we can look back and ask ourselves ‘what were they thinking?’

Josh Miller

Gig Review :: The Chapman Family @ Masque Theatre, Liverpool – 10/11/10

jmiller — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 23:56:45 +0000

: Kingsley mid asphixiation. Possibly taking the Ian Curtis comparisons a tad too seriously.

Just over a year ago, The Moon and Back ran an article on Teeside post- punk outfit, The Chapman Family. Currently embarking on their largest UK tour to date, the band are louder, more confrontational and ever more relevant than they were not so long ago.

By mid-day on the 10^th of November 2010, the ‘peaceful’ protest against the Tories rise in tuition fees has descended into anarchy. The Conservative headquarters have already been destroyed, and the first of the protests fifty-seven arrests have been made.

Meanwhile, back up the north. The Chapman Family quietly unload their van in preparation for their not even quarter full gig in Liverpool’s Masque Theatre. All of which is a rather morose commentary on the state of twenty -first century Britain. To make matters worse, little over a mile down the road, yet another American band so barren of substance, it physically hurts (Paramore) prepare to play to a 10,000 capacity crowd in one of the UK’s largest venues.

As the day goes on, news coverage repeatedly regurgitates the story of the ‘anarchy’ outside the Tory headquarters, each version more dramatic than the last. Adjectives such as ‘chaos’, ‘hostility’, ‘anger’ and ‘brutality’ are terms the media begin to force feed us until the story is so filtered it is beyond the point of truth. However, these same adjectives could so very easily be applied to The Chapman Family’s entire performance that same evening.

Taking to the stage amongst an ear bleeding drone of distortion and feedback, the band storm into forthcoming album track ‘All That’s Left to Break’, before new single ‘All Fall’ explodes into his short lived and extremely angry little life. Frontman, Kingsley Chapman screams with all the gusto of a young Henry Rollins yet gazes vacantly at the baying crowd with all the vulnerability of a very troubled Ian Curtis. Needless to say, it’s the most intimidating combination of attributes since Kerry Katona and Iceland joined forces to become the greatest advocates of frozen food, the cocaine industry has ever seen.

The intensity in the live performance only increases with forthcoming album tracks ‘She Didn’t Know’ and ‘This English Life’, both of which are easily potential singles. The show climaxes with the already anthemic ‘Kids’ and concludes with Kingsley’s inevitable self destruction as he asphyxiates himself with his mic lead (as you do), for set closer ‘A Million Dollars’ which, is bluntly introduced as ‘A song about killing children’. Subtle, I know. However, it’s when one of the just shy of twenty crowd members pipes up from the barrier and requests early demo tracks ‘You Are Not Me’ and ‘Lies’, that the importance of the band becomes so blatantly apparent. It begs the question, how high a regard must a band with no album , three singles and forty miles away from their home town be held in, in order to be asked for (and play) a demo track they haven’t played in just over two years?

It would be a mistake to label The Chapman Family a band for the people (a term reserved strictly for the pending re-incarnation of soul destroying Brit-Pop). But, on the back of such a performance where so few embraced them so dearly and more importantly, so honestly, it is difficult to consider them anything but. Possibly, this is the band for the people that actually give a shit. For the people that riot when a corrupt government prices an entire generation out of education. Or, for the people with ability to see straight through a teen subculture so void of anything worthwhile and so consumed by its own vanity that it’s arrogant enough to label itself ‘Emotional Rock’. On a day when mass media struggled to define a generations backlash The Chapman Family summed it up simply as ‘the kids are not alright and the kids are not ok’. This quite simply, is music for the current generation.

The Chapman Family played:

All That’s Left To Break
All fall
You Are Not Me
Anxiety
Kids
She Didn’t Know
This English Life
Something I can’t Get Out Of
A Million Dollars
Lies

The Chapman Family are currently touring the UK the dates of which are available from their website www.thechapmanfamilyisnotacult.com where you can also find a free download of ‘All That is Left to Break’. The band’s current single ‘All Fall’ is available via Itunes.

Gig Review :: The Drums @ Sound Control, Manchester – 6/2/10

jmiller — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 23:04:39 +0000

The Summer of sadness has been and gone, now as the winter of discontent comes to a close the world looks to The Drums and asks, what next?

The Drums - the image, the sound and the cardigan

The ‘hype’ band. The label that more often than not sparks the beginning of the end of so many musical careers. Too often do floppy fringed hopefuls fall by the wayside of record label politics, collapsing under the pressure of mass press coverage, seldom having the substance to back up the exposure.

An all to familiar story for The Drums, whose earlier musical careers were quashed at the hands of a brutal industry, as they were cast adrift as nothing more than ‘cheap scene chancers’. However, fast -forward little over three years and several of those same
‘chancers’, produced the debut of 2009.

In the first of two (worst kept) secret gigs the band will play tonight, as well as their NME tour slot, the band convince a shoe box sized room full of tentatively prying eyes, that they are in fact all as they seem. A Manchester backdrop is all too fitting, as the band open with two new album tracks ‘It Will All End in Tears’ and latest single ‘Best Friend’. Suddenly, those early Smiths appearances no longer seem so distant.

Frontman, Johnathan Pierce is Morrissey’s flamboyance, Jim Morrisson’s enigmatic glare and Ian Curtis’s raw live intensity all rolled into the most entertaining frontman this side of the millennium. Guitarist Jacob Graham almost threatens to steal the show on following track (and previous single) ‘I felt stupid’ for surreal tambourine skills, and a dance that would put any would be Moz to shame.

E.P tracks ‘Make You Mine’ and ‘Let’s Go Surfing’ are already the soundtrack to next years festival circuit, with unashamedly surf pop chorus’ however it’s future album tracks ‘Book of Stories’ and ‘Forever and Ever’ that steal the show. The Wake influence comes hurtling through in the more post punk sounds of the new tracks, leaving the Beach Boys tag at the newer, darker post punk door. The notable absence of previous tracks such as ‘Submarine’ and the heartbreaking ‘Down by the Water’ do leave a small void in the set, as without these songs even The Drums would struggle to fill such a compromising venue.

Finally, it seems the ‘hype’ has come to fruition. The rare sight of style and substance coming together making for a refreshing change to the tired pop formula of recent years, making for an exciting prospect to say the very least. Let’s just hope the wave of success the band is currently riding doesn’t pass them by.

Gig Review :: The Horrors @ Liverpool 02 Academy 2 – 13/12/09

jmiller — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 17:50:20 +0000

If ecstasy came in 60 minutes of live performance it would probably sound like this

Primary Colours, a concept yet to be applied to the bands wardrobe

A sea of noise sweeps over a darkened room. Five hundred black clad teenagers fill a space far too small to contain the excitement generated for what awaits. Seldom does such hype surrounding a band come to fruition however, this is by no means an average band. This is The Horrors.

As most are now aware, this is the band that were cast adrift in 2007 as none other than London ‘scenesters’ with nothing more than art school attitude, back combed bouffants and Cuban heels. However, 2009 has been the year of The Horrors. Returning with an album that fused the finest moments of My Bloody Valentine, Joy Division, Neu and even The Stone Roses, they’ve swept the critical board. In the process, they have earned a Mercury Prize nomination, NME’s album of the year and have very quickly become Britain’s mainstream outsiders. Tonight, however, none of this is relevant.

The five-piece take to the stage looking like a Tim Burton doodle and as the synth intro of Primary Colours opener ‘Mirrors Image’ is joined by the wall of sound created by the rest of the band, the crowd suddenly become aware that this is no ordinary ‘post album success’ money grab and mayhem rightly ensues.

Throughout the following ‘Three Decades‘ and album title track ‘Primary Colours’, frontman Faris Badwan storms the stage with an unnerving sense of urgency, only pausing to loom over the front row like a crow over his prey, screaming and spluttering every word as if it was his last. Meanwhile the rest of the band swoon gently in the background providing the canvas for the tale of romantic woe that comes with each proceeding track.

The band maintain such form for album favorites ‘I Can’t Control Myself’, ‘New Ice Age’ and the anthem at the heart of Primary Colours, ‘Scarlet Fields‘, which is met with the sing-a-long response it deserves. The highlight of the evening however, comes from album ‘slowy’ ‘I Only Think Of You’. Left out of the set over the summers festivals, it made it’s live return only recently and rightly so, as it provided the most genuinely beautiful and poignant moment of the night. Faris suddenly mutates into the love-child of The Cure’s Robert Smith and Boys Next Door era Nick Cave to give heartbreakingly sincere account of a collapsed relationship, in which he croons ‘To the end I would defend you/ In heaven I’d suspend you’, and ‘I only want to save you/ But I’ve done all I can do’. Making for a haunting yet compelling seven minutes to say the very least.

The two tracks that follow (Japanese bonus track ‘Whole New Way’ and lead single ‘Who Can Say’) seem sadly inadequate after such an overwhelmingly brilliant performance through no fault of the band, although ‘Sea within a Sea’ does transpire as well as it does on record and rivals, yet marginally fails, to out-shine the evenings previous highlight.

The night’s encore consists of three tracks from garage rock influenced debut ‘Strange House’ as well as a Cramps-esque rendition of Suicide’s ‘Ghost Rider’. All of which are thoroughly entertaining but seem highly infantile compared to the bulk of the mature sounds of Primary Colours.

Throughout the evening’s events the band collectively seem largely underwhelmed yet provide a flawless performance of each track. However, what startles most is the complete lack of ego amongst the group. Most bands after such critical acclaim would possibly be forgiven for using such invaluable attributes for between song subject matter. Not The Horrors. In fact merely a word is uttered between tracks, the occasional “Thank you” is murmured after a particularly rapturous applause but they maintain otherwise silent throughout refusing to shatter the Byronic persona fast becoming associated with them.

Surely The Horrors can now be championed as Britain’s alternative heroes and if each album that awaits is approached with the same refreshing diversity then they will surely remain at the forefront of Britain’s alternative scene for many years to come, then again ‘who can say’.

The Horrors played:

Mirror’s Image
Three Decades
Primary Colours
I Can’t Control Myself
New Ice Age
Scarlet Fields
I Only Think Of You
Whole New Way
Who Can Say
Sea Within A Sea

Encore 1

Ghost Rider
Count In Fives
Sheena Is A Parasite
Gloves

All of The Horrors singles and albums are available on itunes.
To listen to The Horrors head over to http://www.myspace.com/thehorrors

New Dawn Fades? – Teeside’s finest say otherwise

jmiller — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 19:13:32 +0000

Thirty years ago, a poet by the name of Ian Curtis defined a generation in two legendary albums. Now thirty years on, in an equally dark time in Britain one band looks to finish what Joy Division started and that band is The Chapman Family.

The Chapman Family - they were asked to smile, this was the best they could come up with

“I’ve been waiting for a guide to come and take me by the hand”. The synonymous opening line of Joy Division’s ‘Unknown Pleasures’, mumbled in Ian Curtis’s low, hollow baritone, would little over two years after it’s release provide an epitaph for the tragic downfall of one of the nations finest lyricists

The two studio albums left behind by the band (1979’s ‘Unknown Pleasures’ and 1980’s ‘Closer’), though at the time merely a cult phenomena (despite critical acclaim) have now become an integral part of British music. Not only because of the deeply haunting lyrics, which often give a harrowing insight into the mind of a truly unhappy and unstable young poet struggling to cope with depression (believed to be caused by his battle with epilepsy), but because these albums are the sound of a nation feeling the same.

The Conservative party had just begun to tear Britain apart, in an attempt to repair the countries crippled economy, in the process leaving thousands jobless and the country feeling the effects for the next decade. Punk had failed in its attempt to bring down the monarchy and the weather was typically British. Therefore, creating the perfect backdrop for post punk to thrive, whilst maintaining it’s cult status.

Fast-forward thirty years and the above description sounds all too familiar. Britain once again finds itself in the midst of a recession and at the mercy of an incompetent government. Unemployment, violent crime and drug/alcohol abuse is rising at an alarming rate, and the weather (despite the best efforts of global warming) remains typically British. But, what sounds like the itinerary for mass suicide, has proven to be the sensory catalyst for a new wave of post punk bands, all echoing the same sentiments of discontent as their Mancunian predecessors all those years ago.

Some have achieved a degree of commercial success in post punk’s absence by ‘borrowing’ features of both Joy Division albums. Most notably though is the vocal similarity between bands such as Interpol, Editors and White Lies which both echo the same harsh tones of Ian Curtis, however what the vocal implies the lyrical quality often says otherwise.

All has not been lost however more recently, bands such as Scum, An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump and Kasms have all found themselves at the forefront of London’s ever-growing crop of post punk revivalists. Mercury Prize nominated The Horrors however lead the way, fusing elements of shoegaze with ‘Closer’-era Joy Division; they have gained high critical acclaim and have an ever-growing fan base of equally melancholic followers. The most exciting and interesting of the current crop of post punk bands however, comes from a far bleaker town, in a world away from the comfort of any London scene.

In the last twelve months, The Chapman Family, have emerged from Teeside as Britain’s darkest and most exciting prospect. With the combination of Joy Division’s live intensity and nihilistic outlook, and the noise driven aggression of America’s alternative acts such as Sonic Youth and Nirvana, The Chapman Family have become Britain’s newest and most interesting cult.

Their debut single ‘Kids’ became the first video by an unsigned band to reach number one in the MTV2 video charts and gained high radio play from Xfm and Radio 1. Yet, certain members of the band still maintain a day job, and even stranger they remain unsigned. Why? This is the band that is willing to point out that things are not as they should be in modern day Britain. Kingsley Chapman’s opening scream of ‘Kids’ reads “These days they just don’t want to know/ They say it’s alright but I just don’t think so”, and current single ‘Virgins’ boasts a chorus of “ I don’t think I like what you’ve become”.

Both of the above lyrics read like an ode to a nation in dire need of help, in an age where crime, joblessness and homelessness are all on the rise. At least (with a help of record label) we’ll have The Chapman Family to guide us through such a dark time. Lets just hope they are not met with same premature and tragic ending as Joy Division and maybe this time the full potential of such talented individuals can be realized and help provide a means to an end.

To listen to The Chapman Family head to http://www.myspace.com/thechapmanfamily