TROF & THE SKINNY PRESENT: MENACE BEACH,WEIRDS,FALSE ADVERTISING & FRUIT BOMB
All of this for just £3 (with no booking fee at Dice.fm), and you’ll be able to pick up a copy of The Skinny Student Handbook. Then you get to see Leeds’ grunge band MENACE BEACH on the same day new EP ‘Super Transporterreum’ is launched. Then there’s fellow Leeds outfit Weirds, a band whose ‘Off The Hook/Heavy Rain’ 7” single on Rough Trade sold out in a matter of days. False Advertising fly the flag for Manchester – their debut album is due out on... Read More
LIVE: FALSE ADVERTISING – 19/09/2015
False Advertising – ACADEMY 3, MANCHESTER – False Advertising are my favourite band in Manchester at the moment. This three piece took their time crafting their fuzzed up brand of grunge pop and got us all excited when they dropped their stunner of a debut single ‘Wasted Away’ back in March. Since then the band have only gone and made a bloody album! The self-titled effort was self-released at the start of the month and has been getting rave reviews thanks... Read More
INTERVIEW: THE WEATHER STATION
The Weather Station Tamara Lindemann (The Weather Station) has had to rush off for lunch, after being stuck in hours of traffic on her way to Gullivers (gig reviewed here). This makes interviewing her rather difficult – my explanation of why I’m here to the woman on the door goes down badly and I receive a lot of suspicious looks. Glances are cast my way and emails to the Weather Station’s manager only inch me slightly closer to the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow... Read More
LIVE: THE WEATHER STATION – 18/09/2015
The Weather Station – GULLIVERS, MANCHESTER – As a Manchester based website it would be rude to ignore Mother. The last time we saw this act, there were just two of them and their broth was slightly under-cooked. Tonight though Mother have added two members to make a quartet, and their witches brew is thicker and leaves a taste in the mouth that leaves you wanting more. I call it a witches brew, as their music sounds mystical and could easily have sound tracked the... Read More
LIVE: JOANNA GRUESOME – 18/09/2015
Joanna Gruesome – FAT OUT’S BURROW (AKA ISLINGTON MILL), SALFORD – In Islington Mill’s small but perfectly formed space, Welsh noise-popper Joanna Gruesome can’t even all fit on the stage. All dressed in black turtlenecks (a couple of which will be discarded along the way…’stupid turtlenecks’) a bassist and a guitarist are forced to stand off stage, playing with their backs to the audience. It all adds to an endearingly ramshackle performance on the... Read More
LIVE: FOXTALES – 17/09/2015
Foxtales – SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – You know it’s going to be a good night when you’re greeted by friends with a free pint – the best kind of pint there is – even if it’s infused with ham as this one was. Thankfully I’m not here for the pork beer, I am here to sample a bit of Manchester’s finely brewed emerging talent in the form of Foxtales. A band barely a year old, Foxtales have had a year of playing some of the best intimate venues around including... Read More
LIVE: THE COMPUTERS – 17/09/2015
The Computers – THE CASTLE HOTEL, MANCHESTER – Tonight is about one band. The Computers. A London based outfit who have wowed crowds all over the land with their sharp stage wear, energetic live shows and razor sharp rockabilly pop songs complete with a punkish snarl. Today we’ve all packed into the delightful sweat box that is The Castle Hotel to see this one band bill as The Computers give us an exclusive look into their forthcoming album. The band have come... Read More
The Silent Radio Show 19/09/2015 with Sleaford Mods
A weekly audible version of the North’s best independent music website, SilentRadio.co.uk. Featuring the bands and acts gracing our hand-picked gig guide and hitting the Silent Radio headlines. This week we were lucky enough to have a chat with Jason of Sleaford Mods on the phone while they waited to board a flight to Ireland to kick off their Key Markets tour. The Silent Radio Show is Live every Saturday 3-5 on Fab Radio International.Correction: Vic didn’t see Ezra... Read More
Album Review: Battles – La Di Da Di
La Di Da Di is an interesting choice of name for Battles’ third album. Where Mirrored had those weird, indecipherable, pitch-shifted syllables and Gloss Drop had fairly traditional guest vocalists, La Di Da Di is wholly instrumental and all the better for it. If anything the vocals were distracting on Gloss Drop. This record feels like it all makes more sense as a whole. It’s as if they’ve boiled down the respective elements that make up the Battles sound to... Read More
LIVE: RICHARD DAWSON – 15/09/2015
Richard Dawson – ISLINGTON MILL, SALFORD – In the belly of Salford tonight is one of the year’s most diverse, eclectic gig line-ups. First are Liverpool’s Ex-Easter Island Head, a trio of deviant experimenters who concoct swathes of ambient, shimmering textures and feedback primarily from four guitars laid flat atop two tables. Alongside a conventional drum-kit, they strike their guitar bodies with drumsticks, they use the same drumsticks as bows, they form vibrations... Read More
