This weeks musical cavaliers are, Manchester-based, Well Wisher.

I first heard of the band Well Wisher, working with vocalist Michael Cahill who, in his eternal drunken wisdom, once imparted on me a piece of advice I will take to the grave:

“People need to realise to early 90′s emo music was the best kind of music ever and just start listening to it again.”

Well Wisher’s greatest strength isn’t on record, (not that the recorded stuff isn’t wicked!) but during their live shows. They have such an incredible dynamic, you’d think watching Black Flag was a laid back gig. There is humour, great audience interaction and such raw energy in every members enthusiasm for the music they play, not to mention some D.I.Y stunts throughout the set.

Luckily, and the reason this has come out a little earlier than planned, WW are playing at the Oxford this Thursday 29/07/2010 along with half a dozen other awesome bands. No words I write could describe just how cool it is to watch this band play, you can only truly believe it first hand. With such great live sets and an upcoming E.P (which the band aim to have out by late August, if any band was gonna bring back a music scene that truly deserves reviving, Well Wisher are your men.

I give them 5/5 Special Brews, with bonus points for being so damn old school.

Details of Thursdays gig can be found via this link:

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/event.php?eid=126357054069516&index=1

You can listen to Well Wisher via their Myspace which can be found at:

http://www.myspace.com/wellwisher10

First on the agenda is a beautiful band called Above Them.

Above Them have been flying just below radar for sometime now, but since the release of their “now-nearly-a-year-old” album, Blueprint For A Better Time, the trio have been well and truly making a name for themselves in the punk scene playing with other greats such as Chillerton, The 255s and even the almighty Chuck Ragan.

The bands sound itself is a hard one to pin: It’s slick, smooth and melodic but at the same time featuring all the rawness of true punk rock or a chapped arse, but in a good way. Above Them have totally found their own sound. They’ve a uniqueness that is so relieving when compared to the many ‘might-as-well-be-tribute’ bands that occupy the punk scene.

As a live act the boys don’t hold back, with high energy, hard-hitting sets and some half decent banter to boot. Go and listen to the boys from Pontefract on Myspace, buy their album, go watch them live, whatever. Just make sure you sample the sweet sound that is Above Them. Oh, and buy a t-shirt, they’re smart as fuck.

I give Above Them 4/5 Special Brews, they lose a point because they’re from Yorkshire.

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/event.php?eid=111334772244725&ref=ts

You can buy Blueprint For A Better Time on i-Tunes by clicking this link:

http://itunes.apple.com/uk/album/keep-smiling/id367479798?i=367479828&ign-mpt=uo%3D6

Lissie Maurus

With a refreshingly similar trend towards the great folk rockers of the Los Angeles underground movement in the 1960s comes the debut album Catching a Tiger by Lissie Maurus. Compared by many to the great Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac and general notoriety fame, Lissie is taking huge leaps and bounds towards establishing herself as THE adult oriented rock scene’s up and coming artist.

Having grown up in the American Mid West, it is hard to believe that this soft voiced young girl with locks of spun gold and a demeanor that would put even a daffodil to shame for extroversion, is already holding her own amongst the ruff and tumble of the music industry. With a seemingly unfathomable innocence and very marketable naivety, Lissie Maurus describes her own music as part folk and country rock and part “Freeway rock”. The latter of these descriptions more than aptly encapsulates her debut album Catching a Tiger which delivers fourteen tracks worth of her soulful voice and expert backing from Seattle southern rockers Band of Horses.

Kicking off this AOR based album are the harmonic duo of “Record Collector” and “When I’m Alone” two tracks that immediately demonstrate Lissie’s imaginative and considerable lyric writing and imagery ability. With a sound that is very warm and friendly, Maurus’ vocals add a wonderful sense of depth and completion to what is a strong musical opening. Ben Bridwell and the rest of the Band of Horses begin with strong performances here “When I’m Alone” paying particular attention to their strong percussion ability, the result a haunting, up beat ballad that gets both the head bobbing and the mind thinking.

The album then stalls somewhat, not picking up again until the eighth track “Cuckoo” Here the pace takes a much needed injection, the true potential of Maurus’ so called “Freeway Rock” description really coming into its own. A nostalgic and positive look back at misspent youth with just a pinch of regret thrown in for good country measure, “Cuckoo” is a perfect embodiment of Lissie and Band of Horses potential to fulfill a large gap within the current musical market. Rather than be bogged down by the all too easily exploited morbid and unhappy memories that plague every creative genius, this song celebrates the defiance of youth and its petulance, delivering this message in an upbeat, subtly produced number that could very well and perhaps should be the independent, folk anthem of this summer.

The album closes with “This Much I Know”, a plodding ballad that is, admittedly, a little clichéd and predictable despite being once more wonderfully crafted and sincere in its own belief. In all Catching a Tiger is a strong and gutsy debut album from this excellent new talent. With a strong work ethic and growing notoriety of experimentation, a recent semi acoustic performance of Lady GaGa’s Bad Romance at numerous live appearances, has only credited and developed this young woman’s talent and exposure in a positive light. What lies ahead for Lissie and her backing band is potentially very encouraging.

However, the question of “Does the music industry need another blond, plaid shirted folk singer” is unfortunately a very relevant one. Although a brilliant debut, a certain lack of originality still underlies the work as a whole, a great pity considering Maurus’ talent. Only time will tell, as it so often does, whether this dove will fly, or be crushed by corporate blood letting.

Jonathan Whitelaw

L-R: Martin, Ian, Jonah Matranga, Anthony

I bet some of you are reading this and wondering what the hell ‘Dicking Around Presents’ is and that’s what we are here to tell you. If you’re a reader of our work you’ll remember (hopefully) that, back when we interviewed Chris Farren, we mentioned “Dicking Around with Fake Problems” (we also brought this up to Tom Gabel too). Well that film is the works, but before that happens we decided to set up a little ‘production company’ and do a bit of video work for Moon & Back.

With Dicking Around Productions, we aim to bring you cool, music-based video content. Our first project was with, the lovely, Jonah Matranga. He allowed us to film some of his gig in Manchester last month and this is what we bring to you now. Sorry about the audio quality, we’ll be sure to fix that for our next video. Enjoy!

Jonah Matranga – ‘Smile’

All videos recorded and edited by Dicking Around Productions ©2010

Bad Company © John Rockwood

Taking a trip back to arguably one of rock’s heyday years of 1974, Rock’s Classics takes a gander at the hard rock classic “Bad Company” by Bad Company. Often considered by many to be a band that could and perhaps should have delivered more, Bad Company seemed to tap into a mentality and way of life that perfectly epitomised the early 70s rock scene. With their screaming lyrics and heavily amped guitars, Bad Company stood at the very edge of making a bloody charge at immortality, “Bad Company” was one of their war cries.

Formed in 1973 as the result of the remaining members of Free, vocalist Paul Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirke. Mott the Hoople’s Mick Ralphs on guitar and Boz Burrell formerly of King Crimson, it seemed that this band of plucky young rockers who had cut their teeth in what are considered some of the best seminal rock bands of their age, could do no wrong. The initial result of their meeting and cutting of their first album, Bad Company was a record deal with the newly formed Swan Song, a lucrative if not chaotic side project of Led Zeppelin. This deal also secured the services of Zep’s manager, one Peter Grant, the towersome former wrestler who is considered to be the pioneer of the rock band’s management system we know of today.

Thus in 1974, the band released their eponymous debut album much to the critics and fans of the member’s previous band’s enjoyment and pleasure. literally ladened with what are considered classic rock staples and anthems, “Can’t Get Enough,” and “Movin’ On” could probably justify a Rock’s Classics article to themselves, it was the self styled album and band leading song “Bad Company” that would secure itself as being the definitive sound for the band itself and the perfect calling card for the artists and their work.

Written by Kirke and Rodgers, the main basis for the song’s inspiration is taken from the Jeff Bridges western movie released a few years previously. Designed as an anthem for any rebelling soul and individual thinker, the lyrics deal with the somewhat regretful and remorseful narrator who acknowledges his rebellious and free way of life, ultimately not repenting but admitting it what he or she ultimately wants. This, accompanied by Ralphs guitar work in which he lumbers through the whole song with a heavy fisted dread, perfectly countering the flamboyant and wistful vocals from Rodgers. The percussion section and echoing piano/keyboard, also from Ralphs, paint the perfect picture of an Old West wilderness, the place in which the narrator has either decided or accepted will be the place of his final fight, a life spent on the wrong side of the tracks ending in the same way.

The solo, one of Mick Ralph’s best and a tribute to a rock guitarist often left off of most popular and talented lists, comes thundering out of this musical wilderness like a stampeding stallion. Erupting much like the protagonists frustration and temperamental nature, the solo works its way up and down the fret board in a controlled chaos, the voices of a thousand generations of rogues and renegades uniting as one distorted, amplified Marshall voice.

In all, “Bad Company” is not a song that is overlooked, nor is it a song that is underappreciated or unheralded by critics and fans of the hard and classic rock movements. It is a song that is a perfect embodiment of a band, era and genre that was perfectly master crafted and delivered to the mass public, of which they ate it up. Although Bad Company would go on to produce a total of twelve studio albums, the line up changed on an almost yearly basis at one point during the 80s and 90s, the band’s spirit was never truly captured again than in this album and thus within it this track. A great pity as many rock bands before and after Bad Company would attempt to come close to encapsulating all that they stood for but in the end, none were as close as Bad Company were, all of the time.

Jonathan Whitelaw

M&B presents an alternative, urban summer playlist. Enjoy…

First up, a classic cross-over belter from ’06. Skream’s Midnight Request Line.

Closely followed by ultimate summer feel-good pick me up, Major Lazer’s Can’t Stop Now.

Now we’ve to mash things up. Alot. Girl Talk’s Feed the Animals (Part I, at least) with 23 different samples. Phwah.

Followed by my all time favourite rave anthem classic SL2′s On A Ragga Trip. Summer summer summer!

After all that bouncing around, we need something a bit more relaxed. Chuck us a mojito and whack on Massive Attack’s Risingson (Underworld Remix), a veritable marmite of a song.

To cap it all off, one you all know and should love: M.I.A’s Paper Planes

Any suggestions to add? Post below and keep the night going

The Black Keys - Brothers © Nonesuch

With a unique and groundbreaking approach to rock music, The Black Keys have been making a name for themselves since their formation in 2001. Now, with the release of their sixth studio album Brothers, the Ohio due of Dan Auerbach and Pat Carney team with notable producer Danger Mouse of Gnarls Barkley to deliver what could potentially be the climax of their musical and artistic opus.

Formed in Akron, Ohio, a city that notes Pretenders lead singer Chrissie Hynde and the smooth talking, moustached master Clark Gable, The Black Keys are predominantly a blues and indie rock band who take most of their inspiration from the likes of Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin. From their formation in 2001 and with their breakout album Attack & Release in 2008, Auerbach and Carney have steadily readied a loyal fan base that includes prominent rockers Robert Plant and Billy Gibbons. The band have also found notable fame for a number of their songs appearing in various forms of the media, the video game GTA IV and numerous TV shows in the states sampling their work. In all, The Black Keys seem to have hit their stride and are not about to take their foot off of the pedal.

Continuing effectively where they left off in 2008, Brothers has been described by critics and the band alike as feeling the most natural sounding of the group’s albums to date. At a whopping fifteen tracks, sixteen if the vinyl is bought or the track is downloaded via the band’s website, there is certainly a lot of bang for your buck when it comes to material. Opening with the lumbering “Everlasting Light”, a more than Zeppelin esque that pays a great tribute to the old delta blues and sounds like it has been put through the rusty engine of an old Mid West tractor, the album continues this strong opening offering with “Next Girl” and “Tighten Up” the later being the album’s first single.

It is not until the fifth track of the album, however, with “She’s Long Gone” that the whole work as a piece of musical and artist ability really tarts to pick up pace. This track, with Auerbach’s guitar work bleeding through the amps and speakers like the ghost of a tormented old bluesman that the true ability of this duo is really put on show. Once again a very early seventies Zeppelin feel about the song, with its grainy production and whaling vocals, which of course can be no bad thing.  This feel and moping blues laments are continued with “Ten Cent Pistol” “I’m Not the One” and “Sinister Kid” all bring the ambiance and general tone and feel of the album alive, filling it and the listener with a heartfelt confidence and attachment to the band.

Rounding out the blues behemoth is the much slower, almost ballad like “These Days”. A wonderfully crafted slow number that perfectly compliments the rest of the album, Auerbach’s sleepy vocals coupled with his whining guitar and Carney’s downtrodden drumming make the listener feel like they are back on the bayou, a fishing line tied to your toe and a straw hat resting over your face to cover you from the sun. The imagery is evocative and intensely intoxicating, a tribute no less to the master craftsmen of the band.

In all Brothers is a very enjoyable and listenable album, one which is bound to be the band’s biggest hit to date and propel them into a much wider sitting audience, an accolade they most definitely deserve. Debuting with strong download and sales, the album debuting at number three in the states alone, Brothers is a fine introductory, if a little repetitive, example of The Black Keys work.

Jonathan Whitelaw

Run.From.Red are the latest in a string of cracking bands to come out of Glasgow.

I first heard this band many moons ago playing under the name The Usuals: they were okay back then. The lead singer Robert Woods had a sort of Kings of Leon lilt to his voice, there were some catchy guitar rhythms and a bit of melody that you could find yourself occasionally nodding your head along to but, to be honest, they weren’t going to set the world on fire.

I heard through the grapevine a few months ago that The Usuals had gained a few members as well as a name change and I didn’t really think much of it. Perhaps the grapevine should have been a bit more specific; not only did they gain a few members and a name change but a whole new attitude.

I listened to their debut single Jupiter Soulstar, released with Up Next Records, and it is fantastic. Run.From.Red are here and they are making some sweet, sweet sounding noise. The track is two and a half minutes of awesomeness that will make your ears bleed in the best way possible. Even better than just listening to the track, head on to Youtube and watch the video: you get all the benefits of Jupiter Soulstar as well as some acting and Glaswegian accents worthy of River City.

They may not have been world beaters as The Usuals but the new and much improved Run.From.Red are here and setting the music scene ablaze with radio coverage throughout the UK and America.

Run.From.Red – Jupiter Soulstar

MySpace | iTunes | Website

Slipknot

As a general rule of thumb amongst music aficionados, heavy metal and harder edged rock music are not the typical genres to find heart felt, ballad esque songs to evoke and pluck at the heartstrings. Often considered to be soft and, dare it be said, too emotional for long haired, uber masculine head thrashers, they like their strumming fast, drums thrashing and symbols crashing all the while listening to lyrics about death, hatred, mystical landscapes and of course, Old Nick. But looking back over the past forty or so years it has become apparent that these metal heads have a softer side to them also as the depths of hell are examined to reveal several calmer, more touching numbers from some of metal and rock’s hard men.

Kicking off this tour of the more enlightened and softer side to metal music is, quite fittingly the Prince of Darkness himself, Ozzy Osbourne. Ozzy, for most accounts can be heartily considered as one of the all time metal giants, from his groundbreaking work in the genre with Black Sabbath to his solo career and his unfathomable wit that has made him a branded global superstar. So how could this drug fuelled, raging alcoholic hell raiser ever turn his hand to something as soft as a turgid love song. That comes in the form of “Changes” from the Black Sabbath album Black Sabbath Vol. 4. With a lonesome piano from TVs Rick Wakeman, this tribute to a lost love is as far away a change in direction for the Brummy mentalist and his metal mayhem as is physically, psychologically and stomach churningly possible.

Acoustic guitars, tributes to his estranged wife and a tempo and composition that sounds more than a little like the theme song to “The Chipmunks go to The Movies” cartoon from the early nineties. Ozzy’s rap sheet expands with his 1992 effort “Mama I’m coming home”. This overly produced gag fest cannot even be saved by a considerably enjoyable Zakk Wylde solo midway through the gushing lyrics aimed at Sharon Osbourne whom he affectionately calls Mama, a psychiatrist’s field day. Hard to believe this was co-written by old wart face Lemmy of Motorhead fame, three must have really been something in the water.

Up next in the witness stand is American glam and hair metal rockers Poison. Their 1988, second studio album Open Up and Say…Ah was hailed and revered by critics at the time of its initial release. Mixing a devilishly charming blend of sexually driven, good time partying and general carrying on themed songs like “Nothin’ but a Good Time”, “Tearin’ Down the Walls” and “Look but You Can’t Touch”, listeners are then treated to the pseudo country, softest sounding rock ballad, possibly of all time, “Every Rose Has Its Thorn.” From the bowel busting lyrics, “But I wonder does he know/ Has he ever felt like this” being a particular stand out reference to a DJ playing what can only be presumed to be as wet a song as this one. Poison’s Brett Michaels would later go on to be the self styled star of another sex tape featuring Pamela Anderson, not a considerable feat of genius but it can only be presumed that this song, affectionately and squirmingly known by fans as “Every Rose” for short was kept off of his mix tape for her.

To round off this name and shame list of metalers who, in their moments of weakness go over to the light side are a band who, to casual fans, would not be immediately considered candidates for a list such as this. Dressed in torn boiler suits and hidden behind macabre, hideous masks are Iwoa’s very own Slipknot. The offending material is the track “Snuff” from their typically bleak titled fourth album All Hope is Gone. This song, although admitted by the band’s frontman Corey Taylor as a “slow one” continues the over produced, rather ham fisted approach that this band have made millions from for the better part of fifteen years. Peddled as a post goth and emo anthem that had pubescent metal loving boys and girls the world over clamoring for the single as it out poured the emotions they all thought they had, the track does show a temporal maturity from a band who have now long been past their peak. Their lasting legacy disappearing in a cloud of well polished office jobs as the children who littered shopping canters and public spaces dressed all in black even in the scorching heat have at last grown up.

As bad as all of this may seem, it takes more than a few rotten apples to spoil the cider brewery. In general, metal fans are kept frothing at the mouth by their heroes on a yearly basis which almost makes some of these forays into the softer, fluffier branch of music a little more forgiving. If anything can really be taken from this venture down the industry’s dirt track it is that the vast musical ability and talent of which these musicians possess can be aptly demonstrated by their broad horizons and abilities. It still makes it hard to head bang to them though.

Jonathan Whitelaw

Anathema - We're Here Because We're Here © KScope

Continuing on their departure from the doom and death metal scene they helped pioneer, Anathema deliver their eighth studio album, We’re Here Because We’re Here. Having started this transition to a much more melodic and progressive sounding rock with their 1996 album Eternity, the Liverpool outfit deliver a beautifully crafted, progressive work of art. No mean feat in an era that has recently seen a resurgence in the prog rock scene this past eighteen months.

Although mostly known to fans of their respective genres, Anathema is a predominantly popular and ever endured band recognised throughout the prog and metal scenes. Suffering from almost uncountable line up changes since their formation and commercial debut in 1991, the Liverpool based band is consistent and resilient if anything. The testament to the core members of the group’s dedication to their music and sound is the impressive back catalogue and discography that includes eight full studio albums, three EPs, eight single releases and three compilation albums all in the space of a nineteen year career.

The somewhat turbulent history of the band can possibly be excused due to the radically different approach to varying music genres they have attempted throughout their careers, from their initial doom metal origins to pioneering the now feverent death/doom metal scene and now as a predominantly progressive unit, musical tiffs and differences of opinion are merely casualties in a war of direction changes.

This varying style and ability to play just about anything within the confines of the metal and progressive rock sounding genres is never more present than in this latest release. We’re Here Because We’re Here opens with two atmospheric songs that immediately serve as an introduction into this brand new world that the band has sought to create. “Thin Air” and “Summer Night Horizon” are standard progressive rock sounding albums that long term listeners will have come to expect from the group. To new listeners however, these tracks not only serves as a prime introduction to the album but double as excellent stand alone tracks that can almost indepednantly encapsulate the sound that Anathema have been trying to peddle now for the better part of a decade.

As the album progresses further into its substantial ten track bulk, the initial atmosphere and self contained world that the opening tracks never truly fulfils its own potential. In retrospect, tracks such as “A Simple Mistake” and “Get off Get out” have much harder sounding, more melodic metal feels about them, the lingering electric guitars of Vincent and Daniel Cavanagh give the tracks a much harder bight to them. This sound, however, transposed into the album which really does serve as one long, progressive story and not individual tracks, makes the overall picture of the album seem a little clunky and perhaps laboured. The production and instrumentation however is flawless but overall the middle crescendo tracks feel poorly placed and forced.

Closing the album are two much more progressive sounding numbers that act as a perfect symmetry, a much more aptly and properly executed piece of art by the band. “Universal” has distinctly Pink Floyd feeling qualities about it, the looming vocals coupled with immaculate percussion and a stomping guitar solo that never comes directly to the fray but more acts like a tormented voice somewhere in the distance create the ambiance and feel that the album and band seem to have been aiming for all along. “Hindsight” continues in this same vein, the much more elevated and positive sounding a song to close out the album that has attempted to take the listener on a journey of joy, loss, love and life.

In all We’re Here Because We’re Here is an enjoyable album that will no doubt have fans scrambling for its download and cd the world over. For new listeners it can perhaps be misconstrued as an attempt at a pseudo, post post modern high art that may potentially distract them beyond purchase. In the current musical climate of progressive/alternative rock and its apparent renaissance with bands such as The Gaslight Anthem, Mark Sweeney and Eden all releasing new material in the past two months or so, the competition is fierce for Anathema. We’re Here Because We’re Here is an album certainly worth a listen if there is a familiarity and fandom for the scene and certainly of their work.

Jonathan Whitelaw