Johnny Foreigner added to Off the Cuff 2011

Johnny Foreigner have been confirmed to headline the Friday night of this years Off the Cuff festival at the Flapper. Also added to the bill for Saturday are Brontide and The James Cleaver Quintet. These new additions compliment the already burgeoning bill which includes returning favourites Tubelord, Tall Ships, and &U&I, as well as headlines from Dananananaykroyd and DD/MM/YYYY. This years' festival is also going to be taking place in the upstairs of the Flapper rather than the cellar gig room - the first time it will have played host to bands in a long time - increasing the capacity in the process. Keep an eye on the official OtC website for the latest updates: http://offthecuffbirmingham.co.uk/

Besides, it's Monday #1: Million Dead

I've always been a fan of the single format. Perhaps because a lot of the first records I bought tended to be cassette singles from Woolworths. Whilst some people overlook them and head straight for the album, I've always felt it was worth investing in singles for one main reason: the b-side! Whilst these days a lot of groups see it as an opportunity to bundle off a dodgy remix and increasingly, in our digital world, no b-side altogether. However, in it's hayday the other side of the wax was an opportunity for a group to display another side to their craft - perhaps a song that didn't gel with the rest of the record, perhaps a demo, or a cover. In some cases the b-side would end up almost as popular as the a-side (see New Order's 1963, originally released as the b-side to True Faith in 1987, later issued as a single in it's own right).

Right then, my first audible treat for you comes in the form of the b-side to Million Dead's 2003 single Breaking the Back. The track in question is There are Ghosts, a cover of a Karate song from their 1998 record The Bed is in the Ocean. As previously mentioned, the b-side is a great chance for a group to throw down a cover of a group that have been an influence on their music, and Geoff Farina et al may not instantly be an obvious influence on Million Dead, their take on the track shows similar regard to breaking the standard as Karate's take on indie, punk, jazz and the blues.

Million Dead

'Breaking the Back'

Integrity Records, 2003

b-side:

There are Ghosts

Recorded at Mighty Atom Studios, Swansea by Joe Gibb.

Ten Years Later #1: Nirvana 'Nevermind'

Nirvana 'Nevermind'
DGC Records, 1991
Purchased 28/01/2001
Paid £2.00

It's fitting that I begin this series of blog pieces with a classic album, and an album that has shaped my musical listening habits of the past 10 years. I started buying music in earnest back in 2001; up until this point I had mostly copied cassettes off of my Dad or bought the odd singles from Woolworths on a Saturday morning, however I now had a paper round and could afford to buy myself some records. Nirvana was an obvious place for me to start. My Dad had a few of their albums which he had picked up through Britania music club in the mid-nineties, and the tracks from Nevermind which appeared on their posthumous live album From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah had already become favourites.

I already had a CDR copy of Nevermind but didn't feel that I was doing the band justice by having an illegal copy - even at 14 I was well on my way to becoming a music snob. I didn't really go shopping in the town centre very often so most singles I had bought at this point were from Wellington, where I tended to go each Saturday shopping with family. I actually found this album on a market stall in Wellington, and as it was in good condition I happily payed the £2 asking price to get myself a proper copy. At the time it was the only official Nirvana record I owned (I would buy In Utero a week later from Woolworths) - now it is one of many albums, singles and bootlegs I have by the group, a band who I consider to be a big part of my youth and inspired many of my early purchases.

My year in lists: 2010

I was going to write this up proper with reasons and opinions and stuff, but y'know I'm lazy and never have really got around to doing so. So rather than my list of wicked records from this year being forgotten like the UK entry in the Eurovision here they are all for all eternity (unless the internet dies).

Top 12 Albums of 2010
Errors - Come Down With Me
Deftones - Diamond Eyes
Surfer Blood - Astro Coast
Wavves - King of the Beach
Abe Vigoda - Crush
Los Campesinos! - Romance is Boring
Calories - Basic Nature
British Sea Power - Zeus E.P.
Chew Lips - Unicorn
Male Bonding - Nothing Hurts
Liars - Sisterworld
Sleigh Bells - Treats

Top 11 Songs of 2010
Errors - 'A Rumour in Africa'
Tellison - 'Edith Wharton'
Cold Cave - 'Love Comes Close'
Tall Ships - 'Books'
Los Campesinos! - 'There are Listed Buildings'
Los Campesions! - 'Romance is Boring'
Errors - 'Supertribe'
Tall Ships - 'Beanieanddodger'
Deftones - 'You've Seen the Butcher'
Men - 'Big Fucker'
Only Animals - 'The Future's Gonna Be Awful'

iLiKETRAiNS at the Hare & Hounds 28/10/2010

The deafening sound of a ships horn heralds the entrance of the iLiKETRAiNS 2010, or I Like Trains as they now like to be know. Gone are the British Rail uniforms and black armbands; the band now clad themsleves as seamen, with rather dashing Officer jackets. Whilst some might see scorn this kind of gimmickery, with 'TRAiNS it's all part of their appeal - and equally as much a reflection of the thematic nature of their music. With their latest record, the band have moved away from the post-rockish, historically-informed sound of their previous records, and instead for the first time looked to the future - particularly the demise of the human race due to it's own ignorance to issues such as global warming.

Tonight the band are clearly on form, playing their set to an almost full Hare. This evening's set comprised mostly of new material from album He Who Saw The Deep, as well as a few older cuts ('Victress', 'A Rook House for Bobby', a rare outing of a (shortened) 'Stainless Steel'). Strangely, no tracks from debut 'Elegies..' were played - not even the early single (and in many ways difining track) 'Terra Nova' showed its epic head, which is a great shame. That's not to deride the new material, which shows the band are more than capable to write softer, more ballad-like tracks, relying less on the wall-of-distortion that is trademark of a lot of their early releases. In many ways tracks like 'A Father's Son' and 'A Divorce Before Marriage' recall their more tender side which came across in their demos prior to Progress Reform.

After the show, I spoke to singer David Martin about the length of time between albums; 3 years is a long space of time between albums nowadays. He was aware that people would think they had nothing left in them, but the gap was more about them trying to create material that they were happy with. And have they acheived that goal? Dave's pleased with the results, and I too have to agree that the band have put together what is a very strong rock record. Yes, it's very different both texturally and thematically than their debut, but I think it's possible to argue that with their latest offering they've become more focused as a band, and as always with iLiKETRAiNS it will be interesting to see where they set sail for next.

Shapes + Grown Ups at the Flapper 23/05/2010

Despite it being an extremely warm Sunday evening there is still a reasonable turn-out for tonight's show in the warm underbelly of the Flapper. Turning up slightly later than anticipated (it was an early kick-off) I manage to catch half of Bronze Medals' set. I don't know if they were having an off-night or if the sound just wasn't doing them justice, but tonight they didn't seem as full of vim as they had last time I caught them at the Adam & Eve. Perhaps the heat had taken it out of them? That said, they stand head and shoulders above a lot of local bands for their ingenuity, surmised in set-closer 'I Lost the Map', which has become one of my favourite tracks of the year thus far.

Next to the stage were City Hero. Whilst they weren't necessarily a bad band, I can't say that the Birmingham three-piece left me wanting more. There were brief moments where interesting riffs came into the fore, reminiscent of old-school Deftones. However where progress was made on the heaviness front, the band cancelled themselves out by lapsing into a, well, cliche and cheesy rock sound that does absolutely nothing for me. I know some people like Nickelback, and there is a place for that gravelly-throated alt-rock, but that place is not in my record collection.

Into It. Over It. acted as a solid counter-balance to the acts proceeding him, and to Grown Ups who would follow. His acoustic discourses on subjects as diverse as friends, love, and American Football went down brilliantly, and his chirpy sense of humour was almost as good as his music. Favourite comment of mine was his thoughts on how Britain doesn't understand the term "bummed' which he uses often, and has had people on the tour mistake his feeling sad as reference to anal sex, which I'm sure is not always a good thing when you're thousands of miles from home. My only regret is that I didn't pick up his 52-track double album, recorded over the course of a year (1 track a week, folks), as he was a lovely guy. I complimented his brilliant humour and he said it was due to watching a lot of British sitcoms with his parents when growing up. It was very pleasing to find a Yank who gets English comedy, so Evan Weiss, I salute you.

The main pull for tonight has to be Chicago's Grown Ups. Recently signed to Big Scary Monsters, and with debut More Songs currently gracing my stereo, I knew that these boys would be an absolute riot. They remind me a lot of Hot Water Music, with their infectious pop-punk hooks skittering along in reckles abandon, with the songs usually cumilating into a fantastical conclusion almost as soon as they've started. The only negative I found this evening was that it did seem a bit too loud, meaning that the vocals were often obscured by the guitars which is a real shame as it was the combination of the vocals and the guitar hooks that originally drew my attention. I was also a little sad about how short their set was - but then their record only clocks in at just over 30 minutes. I really hope these guys come back soon as they are a fantastic, summery punk-rock outfit who deserve your attention. Why not go download their first EP, Songs, over on If You Make It - you won't regret it.

Last up tonight are local boys Shapes who I've written about before on these pages. It's pretty much text book this evening, and despite the crowd becoming decidedly smaller (it's a Sunday night after all) the band plough through their set of juggernaut riffs and unexpected time changes like the prog-metal supremeos they've grown into. A couple of new songs were thrown in for good measure this evening, including one which sounded like it may have been called something to do with AC/DC, but my ears may have tricked me. Closing with live favourite 'You Butcher!' Shapes brought to an end a diverse evening of music. Whilst they are always a great act to watch, for me this evening was all about Grown Ups, who were brilliant and are well worth your investigation.

Mystery Jets at the Custard Factory 06/05/2010

This was an odd one. Apparently Chevrolet are launching a new car, called a Spark, and to celebrate this they enlisted Mystery Jets to perform a 5 date "unscheduled" tour around the country. The cities that the tour stopped at was decided by an online poll on the Chevrolet website, with the pollsters receiving tickets to go along to their chosen city if it won. Now, I only know this with hindsight after some brief researching on the internet. On the night however there was little explanation as to what was going on at all. Kicking off at around 7.30 on a Friday night is not normal practice, and myself and a couple of pals tried to get in (our names convieniently didn't show up on the guestlist) as Mystery Jets were already starting their set. Luckily we were allowed in regardless (breaking the illusion of exclusivity) we dashed into a relitively empty Space 2. This seems to be an ongoing problem with these sponsored shows: no-one knows about them. The same happened at the xBox Reverb show I went to last year. So here's the scene: Mystery Jets are playing on a stage over to the right, there are about 80-100 people standing around in the middle, and to the left are a couple of ugly cars that have been given a "cool" paint job and had a DJ booth installed on the top. I'm confused. However, Chevrolet were obviously aware this would happen and had provided a free bar (maximum of two drinks) for the punters. I got myself a cold one and tried to shut out the vehicular distractions and watch Mystery Jets do their thing.

It was clear from the outset that tonight the band's focus would be on showcasing their new material from forthcoming third album, Serotonin. Opening with latest single 'Flash A Hungry Smile' shows that the Jets are happy to continue on their excursion down the indie pop road, and this song will certainly be one that follows you around this summer. I hadn't been that much of a fan of Twenty One but you can't deny the infectious nature of tracks like 'Young Love' and 'Two Doors Down', the latter of which got the crowd going the most, albeit a near-static bop. It saddens me that they don't play material from the first LP these days, seeing how that was a fave of 2006 (corr, that long ago?), but the new material did enough to leave me suitably impressed, especially 'Waiting for a Miracle', that was a rather tasty cut. So, on walking back out onto Digbeth High Street at a little after 8.30pm with the sun still somewhere in the sky did I want to go out and buy a Chevrolet? No. But I will be keeping an eye out for Mystery Jets over the summer as they are a band made for the festivals, a sunny pop band who have got the knack of writing catchy hooks, but not selling cars.

photo via facebook.com/sparktour