Review: Bandcamp / Soundcloud / Submissions Round-Up pt 9
Time for the first round-up of 2016 and a real mixed bag of sounds.
First up is some blackened hardcore from Italy courtesy of LaCasta and their 'Encyclia' EP. The band, formed in 2013 in Southern Italy, are named after the system that sees politicians, business leaders etc immune from prosecution and holding all the power, and the songs are protests at this corruptness that envelopes the world....so far so good. The Promo blurb for this states that "we can announce that 'Encyclia' will be our 'letter' of rebellion aimed at the whole world, written with feelings of anger and disdain!" (translation courtesy of Google Translate!). Well, the anger certainly comes thru....this is a pummelling, brutal EP full of attitude and balls. Musically it's hardcore punk/metal (with the emphasis definitely on hardcore) with some growling black metal vocals. Gotta say....I dug it being an old punk at heart. This is the kind of record to put on when you're pissed off at the world and just wanna howl at the moon. But the best is...it made me feel young(er) again. If you like your music loud n'heavy then LaCasta are the band for you. The CD of 'Encyclia' can be got via the bands webstore here.
The Soft Underground are a New York band who released their LP 'Lost In Translation' last October. Ostensibly tagged as a 'rock' album... but it is more than that. You can hear traces of the fuzzy wall of sound of My Bloody Valentine, the melodies of The Smashing Pumpkins and, at times, the guitar attack of Rage Against The Machine. The album is strongest when the distortion is turned up ('Dreamers' or the warm, shoegazy 'Why Can't I Sleep?') The grunge driven tracks like 'Limousine' are good, solid tracks. Personally I found some of the more straightforward 'rock' tracks (like 'Rockstars and Rzorblades') a bit meh....but that's only my taste. In all this is a fine body of work by a band who know their onions and have provided enough variation on one album that would see other bands through a career. The album can be streamed/purchased via the band's Bandcamp page
Traum Jesters are a partly London based Italian outfit who have a nice line in industrial/darkwave material. Their completely self-produced LP 'Deformed' was released in September and is pretty damned good. It artfully juggles straight-up industrial, EBM and darkwave and even throws in some neofolk at the end. While they may not have re-invented the wheel, what they do they do well and is all the more impressive for the fact that this is a completely DIY release...no label backing at all. The band say that the LP is about "awareness. It’s an act of unlimited pursuance of a rotten and lost cause" and the tracks do have an awareness and a bleak, dystopian outlook. The band work best when they adopt the same aggressive metal/noise/industrial stance as the like of Ministry or KMFDM on tracks like 'Crippled Limbs', 'Y U So Pretty' and, particularly, 'Convulsing Kids' with its tempo changes and neat electronic trickery which put me in mind of Velvet Acid Christ. Last track 'I'm Sorry' is unexpected but most welcome, it sees the band adopt an acoustic, gentle neofolk guise and the track is reminiscent of Death In June (a band/artist who wrote some fine, fine songs....shame about the dubious imagery!). In all this is a really good album...full of vim, vigour and attitude. The only downside is a lacklustre cover of Sly Fox's 'Let's Go All The Way' but then I never really liked the original. Keep this up guys and you'll have labels knocking at your door! It can be streamed/bought from the Traum Jesters Bandcamp page.
Hidden Charms have a new single out - 'Love You Cause You're There' and is well worth a listen / purchase. For those who have never heard Hidden Charms, they are a band out of London who play a neat line in bluesy garage rock'n'roll with an insight and authenticity that belys their youthfulness (most of the band are 21). 'Love You Cause You're There' is a swaggering slice of Black Keys-esque garage blues chock full of attitude and dirty fuzzy guitar. The fact that a group of fresh faced Londoners have produced something that sounds like grizzled rockers at the end of a 3 day Jack Daniels binge is admirable and bodes very well for the future of the UK garage/blues scene...ace! The vinyl can be ordered via the Hidden Charms website and digitally via itunes.
First up is some blackened hardcore from Italy courtesy of LaCasta and their 'Encyclia' EP. The band, formed in 2013 in Southern Italy, are named after the system that sees politicians, business leaders etc immune from prosecution and holding all the power, and the songs are protests at this corruptness that envelopes the world....so far so good. The Promo blurb for this states that "we can announce that 'Encyclia' will be our 'letter' of rebellion aimed at the whole world, written with feelings of anger and disdain!" (translation courtesy of Google Translate!). Well, the anger certainly comes thru....this is a pummelling, brutal EP full of attitude and balls. Musically it's hardcore punk/metal (with the emphasis definitely on hardcore) with some growling black metal vocals. Gotta say....I dug it being an old punk at heart. This is the kind of record to put on when you're pissed off at the world and just wanna howl at the moon. But the best is...it made me feel young(er) again. If you like your music loud n'heavy then LaCasta are the band for you. The CD of 'Encyclia' can be got via the bands webstore here.
The Soft Underground are a New York band who released their LP 'Lost In Translation' last October. Ostensibly tagged as a 'rock' album... but it is more than that. You can hear traces of the fuzzy wall of sound of My Bloody Valentine, the melodies of The Smashing Pumpkins and, at times, the guitar attack of Rage Against The Machine. The album is strongest when the distortion is turned up ('Dreamers' or the warm, shoegazy 'Why Can't I Sleep?') The grunge driven tracks like 'Limousine' are good, solid tracks. Personally I found some of the more straightforward 'rock' tracks (like 'Rockstars and Rzorblades') a bit meh....but that's only my taste. In all this is a fine body of work by a band who know their onions and have provided enough variation on one album that would see other bands through a career. The album can be streamed/purchased via the band's Bandcamp page
Traum Jesters are a partly London based Italian outfit who have a nice line in industrial/darkwave material. Their completely self-produced LP 'Deformed' was released in September and is pretty damned good. It artfully juggles straight-up industrial, EBM and darkwave and even throws in some neofolk at the end. While they may not have re-invented the wheel, what they do they do well and is all the more impressive for the fact that this is a completely DIY release...no label backing at all. The band say that the LP is about "awareness. It’s an act of unlimited pursuance of a rotten and lost cause" and the tracks do have an awareness and a bleak, dystopian outlook. The band work best when they adopt the same aggressive metal/noise/industrial stance as the like of Ministry or KMFDM on tracks like 'Crippled Limbs', 'Y U So Pretty' and, particularly, 'Convulsing Kids' with its tempo changes and neat electronic trickery which put me in mind of Velvet Acid Christ. Last track 'I'm Sorry' is unexpected but most welcome, it sees the band adopt an acoustic, gentle neofolk guise and the track is reminiscent of Death In June (a band/artist who wrote some fine, fine songs....shame about the dubious imagery!). In all this is a really good album...full of vim, vigour and attitude. The only downside is a lacklustre cover of Sly Fox's 'Let's Go All The Way' but then I never really liked the original. Keep this up guys and you'll have labels knocking at your door! It can be streamed/bought from the Traum Jesters Bandcamp page.
Hidden Charms have a new single out - 'Love You Cause You're There' and is well worth a listen / purchase. For those who have never heard Hidden Charms, they are a band out of London who play a neat line in bluesy garage rock'n'roll with an insight and authenticity that belys their youthfulness (most of the band are 21). 'Love You Cause You're There' is a swaggering slice of Black Keys-esque garage blues chock full of attitude and dirty fuzzy guitar. The fact that a group of fresh faced Londoners have produced something that sounds like grizzled rockers at the end of a 3 day Jack Daniels binge is admirable and bodes very well for the future of the UK garage/blues scene...ace! The vinyl can be ordered via the Hidden Charms website and digitally via itunes.
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