SPOTLIGHT: The Twin Dracula - Hell Hath All Fury

Let me tell you all a story. If you've ever spent more than five minutes in my company face to face you may have heard it already but that's ok because it's my best one....

When I was 11 years old I went into Virgin Megastore and picked out what I thought looked like the coolest cassette in the place. Bill and Ted liked heavy metal and I liked Bill and Ted so I made the assumption that a band called Metallica would probably be pretty cool.
The album I bought was Kill 'Em All, after I picked it up my mum had to stop in tescos and I stayed in the car and put the tape in to check it out. What happened next basically shaped me into the human being I am today. I'd never heard anything so fast and heavy and fucking awesome in my life and from that point on I became the Dan you all know and adore today.

I bring this up because I just felt the second coming of Christ listening to Liars on the brand new EP from The Twin Dracula. It shook me down to my core. I'm not talking just goosebumps I'm talking taking a shot of adrenalin straight to the heart Pulp Fiction style! This is something exceptional right here. Powerful falls short on the list of descriptors for the TTD sound. If you want to categorise it into a genre pigeonhole I guess it would sit somewhere nestled in the middle of a venn diagram with Hardcore Punk, Thrash Metal, Motorhead and Fat Wreck Chords. Does that help to pinpoint what you're getting? probably not but it's the best I can do.

This isn't for the faint of heart. Whilst not exactly the brutal ferocity of Almeida, The Twin Dracula are heavy like a freight train, they switch in and out of full on Metal riffage and Operation Phoenix style hardcore easily and without skipping a step which can be heard perfectly on Allura. You'll Never Defeat The Cobras shows that speed is something TTD are just as comfortable with too, when not dipping into epic rock operatic breakdowns. There is a lot on display stylistically from what is essentially three tracks and an intro. One thing you may notice is that the average length of a TTD song is about three times the length of most punk counterparts, again making songs feel just that bit more Metal in nature. These aren't flash in the pan moments, these are deep and extended experiences which stand well by themselves and perfectly together.

So its time for the conclusion paragraph. The Twin Draculas new effort shows that this is a band that have barely scratched the surface of what can be done with their unique and awe inspiring sound. You'll have to look far and wide to find something more accomplished than this. If like me you were that little kid that heard some band playing distorted guitars and thought it was the coolest fucking thing in the world then you'll hear this and find it hard to ever put down again.

SPOTLIGHT: Larrakia - Self Titled

So here we are in what is the third brand spanking new Melodic Hardcore offering I've been lucky enough to be able to listen to recently. This third set of song comes by way of an introductory affair for Larrakia, a band who I have been unfortunate enough to miss seeing in person on a couple of occasions despite sharing billing with them in some cases! I knew going into this that I would like what I would hear due to them having released a few super cool videos leading up to this EP.

I'll get this out the way as usual. Of course I like this. I rarely (EDIT: never) review music I don't like, but how does this offering hold up to bands I would consider their peer group. Bands like The Human Project, Darko, Dead Neck, Almeida and my newly crowned favourite band PMX? I'll do the usual and measure this up against genre tropes I've come to expect from these bands.

Straight off the bat this is more of a straight up skate-punk record than many of the others in the list above. Whilst still retaining the insane levels of tightness and the technical guitar work that are a hallmark of the Melodic Hardcore crowd this feels more at home in amongst Fat Wreck collections. I get nostalgic feelings of listening to Strung Out and Face To Face listening to this. Whereas others are more hardcore or more thrash this is very close to the heart of skate punk. We still encounter the odd metalish breakdown, especially on the second track For What It's Worth, and the general pace over the course of three songs is blisteringly fast. Larrakia have managed to create a sound that both allows them to stand shoulder to shoulder with the bands that would be considered similar but at the same time differentiate themselves enough to not feel stale or like a re run of something we've heard previously.

Song wise, Feel The Burn is a feel good record that no self respecting punk should live their life without hearing, it's got energy to spare and is something that can quite happily live on repeat all by itself. For What It's Worth is an anthemic shout a long belter with the aforementioned metal esque breakdowns. Cruel To Be Kind is kind of my favourite out the bunch, a real flexing of the bands technical muscles and a great song to behold over and over.

Conclusions then. Larrakia are a band that should be on everybodies radar now. Their songs are expertly delivered and immensely entertaining to listen to, they are a credit to any punk scene you choose to associate them with and pay a loving homage to all the music I loved as a teenager. Fast, fun and instantly enjoyable. Larrakia will be taking over a scene near you soon.

SPOTLIGHT: The Drunken Ramblings - Dialectics

The Drunken Ramblings are a band I stumbled upon one night in Harrow after guitarist Victor told me he'd give me head for letting them play a show I was putting on. That show turned out to be the catastrophe known only as "The Junction disaster" and also the head was shit.

TDR are a band that put on a live show that has to be seen to be believed. Just imagine a drummer with a broken hand still smashing double time beats with a thousand mile stare only too much tremadol can give you, a guitarist who spends more time airborne than a migrating duck, a lead singer who is somewhere between a hobo and Jesus and bass player who is probably sleeping with your girlfriend right now. Smush these together and the Ramblings are born. It's an experience that can't possibly be described using our clumsy language but I'm not talking about them playing live today, instead I'm gonna talk about their almost new EP Dialectics, a term I just had to google but that I like very much now I know.

If you're one of those people who have seen TDR live then you may well be expecting this to be an 8 minute wall of noise and shouting but you would be very much mistaken. Dialectics is actually more of a thoughtful and considered record, never rushing to get to the end or desperate to be heavy enough to confirm to what the punk police are telling us is the correct distortion level. You'll find carefully laid down guitar licks and melodies which sit nicely underneath vocals that are deliberately not deliberately out of tune and time, rasped out in a stylised mumble much akin to Rancid frontman Tim Armstrong.

The Rancid parallels come quick and easy when listening to this record, but nothing is derivative enough to be able to pinpoint anything too specific which allows TDR to still shine on their own merits rather than being an outright tribute or parody. Standout tunes for me are Saturday Morning which is just the perfect punk rock chill out tune and End of the War which has an accompanying video my daughter is obsessed with and showcases lead singer Daves other talents outside of just songwriting and audio production.

It's worth talking about the audio quality of this entirely DIY record too. for something recorded in basic practice rooms and bedrooms it's awesome to pay attention to the clever flourishes and extra but understated tracks which never overpower the songs but always lend themselves very well to the overall feeling of the album. 

In conclusion this record is a charming and fun slice of punk rock life and the definition  of a "grower", something that only improves the more you listen, one for all the family to enjoy (as long as they don't mind hearing the odd fuck here and there).

Triple Sundae Special: Do I even like Ska-punk?

It's a very bold move sticking trumpets in your punk. The great ska crash of 20..... I dunno I was in Brighton when it happened and those years are fuzzy, but at some point all the ska kids became emo kids just like Home Grown predicted and all of a sudden people were definitely not "all about that brass" ..... see what I did there, it's a typographical pun! It's only "funny" when you read it because it don't make sense saying it out loud.

I've gotten wildly off topic within two sentences ....... so brass sections in punk became a very rare thing. Only very few people really truly can get away with putting brass in my punk these days, almost exclusively those people are in Less Than Jake. LTJ were perfect in their execution and any band that wanted to sound like that would be held in high esteem by me.

Enter Combust. The Trips boys disappeared at the tail of last year into a cocoon and have now emerged as the beautiful butterflies they always wanted to be. The caterpillar Triple Sundae, all gruffness and enthusiasm has been replaced with in tune three part harmonies, anthemic jams and of course, that brass. No upstrokes or comical swagger like the stereotyped ska-punk bands of yesteryear, just good old-fashioned 90s pop punk with horns that never seek to be centre stage and only help to drive things along.

I liked it. It gave me warm feelings and a nostalgia buzz from dancing in the Camden Palace to Gainesville Rock City on a Tuesday night. I'm very much looking forward to them getting back on the touring circuit and it's been well worth the wait.

SPOTLIGHT: Almeida - Social Media Circus

I'll admit to my shame that I've not checked out Almeida before, even though we've shared the same bill. I don't know why I never got around to it as I've seen them on the same bills as Darko and others of my favourites lists for a while and knew something of them being a band I'd probably enjoy. I guess you can just only check out so many new bands at a time. Anyway I feel guilty now and will be making a hell of a bigger effort to catch them in future, the reason is that my first ever taste of Almeida was this EP.

I feel like it gives me a nice perspective not having listened to anything by them before, yet holding them up to the Melodic Hardcore "Do I like it" template that I have done with their peers. It's not exactly going to be fair as it's fairly well pointed out that Almeida are "Progressive Thrash" and not Melodic Hardcore. What's the difference? well lets get into it:

This EP opens with the standard metal riff opening that I earliest remember MUTE doing in The Raven and thats become a fairly major staple in the bands I like to listen to. This time though it's goddamned hardcore, like way more than anything else I've heard. This opening really sets up everything you can come to expect from the EP and is actually a stroke of genius by the band. From the metal turned up to eleven opening gambit which then switches to a major key double time guitar solo and into alternate death metal growls and more standard skate punk vocals, you will have decided within twenty seconds of listening to this whether you'll like the record. Also there is a cough and you'll miss it Father Ted reference. Good stuff.

The album then settles into it's skate punk/melodic hardcore stylings, albeit with an intensity that is up at the upper limits of the genre, breaking more into flat out thrash metal more than any band I've come across before. You start to feel like you've got a handle on things and the tunes stream through at a blistering pace, fast and tight and technical all throughout. Which is a real hallmark of the top end of quality UK bands playing anything comparable.

Then "A Book Of Endless Pages" happens and oh fuck, you'd better be goddamned ready. The song is FIERCE like nothing I've known in a while. It's not exactly a total change in style but the really thrashy shit you've heard up until now is just an easy warm up for this. This song is intensity bottled and is an experience all of itself. The only thing I can liken it to is the song "Such the Fool" by Sikth, It's all deep rumbling growls and blast beasts and heavy as a tank riffs.
You'd be forgiven for being exhausted by the time it's over but you're not quite finished yet, Creed comes up as the ender and doesn't dare let up the pace and fun until you could swear that you've run a marathon.

In conclusion Almeida are far more aggressive and close to Metal than anything else I would class in a similar category and they may not be your cup of tea. To those of you that feel this way, know that you're wrong and probably a bad person. Luckily thanks to an opening intro so packed with personality it registered it's own netflix account, you'll be able to make your mind up pretty quickly about whether you're in camp right or not. To those that like the band or similar acts you'll find a deeply well crafted intense ride that will bring you back over and over as you piece together the narrative that runs throughout.

p.s. I apologise for not focusing one the words and instead just letting the vocal melody sweep me along because if I had paid attention I could probably say this with more clarity but I'm fairly certain this is a concept album, since from the opening all the way to the riffs in Creed there is a circus theme running throughout the music. Hopefully someone who actually hears the words can confirm this for me.

SPOTLIGHT: Jesus Hooligan - Touch Pure Passion

A while ago I reviewed an EP from 'Norse gods with drum sticks' ensemble Jesus Hooligan. That was a musical experience I'm never likely to forget, something so intense and against the grain that I quite happily threw myself into a feast of Touch Pure Passion - the bands (quite) new album. Admittedly I found it difficult to pull myself away from the brand new PMX EP, but like them good old pringles I popped and then couldn't stop!!

Now I've talked about these guys before, so I'll dispense with the overlong description and instead go for something a little lighter on the pallet for the TL;DR crowd.
Jesus Hooligan is the kind of music that absolutely defies any modern genre convention and instead opts to completely re write the book on everything we've come to expect from music. Part Tribal beatdown, part blues, part Danzig, part sea shanty, part rock opera, part Clash. They are at once no music that's come before and the building blocks of everything you've ever listened to. It's hard to imagine what I'm talking about until you hear it for yourself and I very much suggest you do.

Anyways on to the album. Now As I mentioned I have previous experience with the JH crowd. The "Feel" EP being a journey into guttural roaring to the sound of the earth grinding on it's axel which was both pleasing to take and utterly unforgettable. It's was quite the expedition and I fully expected this to be no different. What I found though was a slightly different kettle of fish. There's more in here that we could would consider popular music. Songs such as the opening Death Of Me and I Don't Wanna See That Woman No More are pretty close to being straight up rock songs, with some old school rock and roll slide guitar in there and a structure we would all recognise. This is the lighter side of JH and would be good starters for introducing the band to friends. Then there are tunes that left me literally short of breath listening to them, and I'm sat at a desk. Songs like Woman Girl and Girl are an assault on the senses with those tribal drums crashing and the didjeridoo to a pace that must be a real spectacle to witness live.

There is an ever prevalent sense of humour I love flowing through here too. It's smutty as hell but never disrespectful, crude but not at the expense of others and shocking but only to the prudish and uptight. In essence something anyone can get behind and enjoy. Lyrics like "When you're in my bed doing things with your head" are positioned directly next to an almost instrumental drum beatdown which proclaims " For I Will Love Her" over and over with a beautifully haunting turn of Mr Hooligans real life wife singing the reprise back to him. This sense of inclusiveness is an ethos the Hooligan tribe seem to hold very dear in their hearts and it comes across as endearing for a band of fearsome dudes pounding on the foundations of the world!! You're only likely to be truly offended by what they say if you do indeed have the body shape of a Wheatabix!

All in all this is something that is worth checking out if only for the fact  that you've probably never heard the like before or will after. Personally the fun in this recording, that sounds like they just played so loudly next to a record that the music was imprinted through sheer force of will, is a delight to behold and now I'm off to play Here In My Bed to my wife now to watch her knees go weak.

SPOTLIGHT: PMX - Dark Days

Just go and listen. I'll wait......

I know right? 

Melodic Hardcore is my bag. It's the only thing really in my music collection and my collection of UK bands that create this style of music are now far reaching and all close to my heart. So what's so special about PMX that puts this latest release above heavyweight contenders in the field such as Darko,  The Human Project and the many others I love with reckless abandon?

Well it has all the hallmark calling cards I come to expect from a HM record, the metalish riffs, the blistering speed of the drums, the level of technicality I can only stare at and weep as I wish I could be so talented. They're all here in spades and all with a tightness and polish that would make a grown man blush. To call PMX talented is to do them a disservice. These are musicians for which the music they create is no less a part of their body than their lungs or heart.

These things are all true and elevate PMX up to the lofty heights which I hold the others at the top of the MH spectrum, but there's more here which as personal preference elevates them to the very top of the bunch, and that's the pop aspect. As you can guess I love me some pop punk and the rest of the recipe that creates this sublime meal that is PMX is the beautiful vocals and 90s pop punk elements that glue the MH elements together. Think NUFAN circa "The Feel good record of the year", think Jimmy Eat World circa "Bleed American", think Ataris, Slick Shoes, Strung Out and Useless ID and you're on the right track. The pop here is a way of describing an accessibility to this record that I think other bands do away with or don't care so much about. This is the sort of record I'd play to my wife and she would enjoy, without a preexisting affiliation with punk rock. This makes this record a great gateway for anyone trying to convince people of Melodic Hardcores superiority or to entice someone who may have shunned it previously because bands like Forus and A Wilhelm Scream were just too much to handle straight off the bat.

Song wise I couldn't possibly pick a favourite although title tune Dark Days sets itself apart as something truly special. An almost 7 minute rock epic that left me genuinely sad that it had finished and desperate to get to it again via the rest of the tracks. It's something incredible to feel moved by a piece of music so epic in nature and construction and it makes me happy to have found it in the first place and able to hopefully share it with you all.

In conclusion if you were saving yourself to buy one single record all of this year well then you're lucky because it's right here and it's everything you could have possibly dreamed of. A roaring, soaring, heartbeat skipping, pulse pounding beautifully crafted and executed journey which I felt nothing but gratitude for being allowed to take. It's a masterpiece of whatever style of music you'd like to attribute it to and something that no-one should miss out on.