Live Review: Yuck @ The Electric Ballroom 24th November 2011

Clear Distortion just had to go back there. And Yuck were fantastic.

By the sheer number of people crammed into the venue it's clear that Yuck actually have quite a following, and although the crowd was generally made up of civilised people who stood still and enjoyed the music, there was a small circle near the front of thrashing teenagers to make it authentic. The band opened with their heavier tracks, much to the delight of the teenagers in their mosh pit, who succeeded in intensly irritation those around them when songs like Georgia were played, but they then contrasted by closing with Rubber, the seven minute long track at the end of the album, which fuzzed out leaving a crowd that had clearly appeared almost hypnotised. Yuck's unique sound may not bring them chart topping fame, but they have clearly established themselves as a force to be reconned with. Clear Distortion can't wait to see what the next album will be like.

He should have been on the list...

Browsing Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest guitarists of all time list, I decided that there are at least 200 guitarists missing from it. And that there isn't a 100 Greatest bassists of all time list. And that Freddie Mercury wasn't at the top of the greatest singers list. Rolling Stone are moving down on my favourite magazines of all time list! If I did my own version of such a list, this man would definately feature somewhere near the top.

Yes, this is My Chemical Romance's Ray Toro. This picture should be self explanitory -  Ray Toro is pretty damn awesome. And he's a bloody good guitarist. Having seen My Chem live, Clear Distortion has witnessed the beauty of his guitar playing, and was frankly gobsmacked by it. Guitarists honestly don't get much better than this. And the guy doesn't even have his own Wikipedia page! He deserves a hundred times more credit! All NME could say was that he had love handles!!!! Probably jealous that they aren't as good as he is.

While MCR may not come back to the UK for a while, the sheer extent of Toro's skill can be appreciated by listening to Dead, an album track off the Black Parade. While it may not have been successful as songs like Teenagers and Famous Last Words, the solos are nothing short of epic. I'd like to see the guy from Bombay Bicycle Club attempting to play this song.

Up and coming alert! Rebel Territory

Sorry for the excessive up and coming band stuff. However irritating it may be I just keep finding interesting new bands. Like Rebel Territory for example. I promise they aren't just another boring alternative band. If you don't have this song in your head by the end of the very exciting video you obviously have some kind of aversion to catchy choruses. And I like the guy's voice.

Up and coming alert! Dog is Dead

Were supporting Tribes last night. You know those gigs when the support act is really awesome? A great band; interesting, happy indie pop with a hint of jazz and great lyrics. Their singer's voice reminds me of Charlie Fink (in a good way). And their bass player also plays the saxophone. Love them!

Live Review: Tribes @ The Electric Ballroom Camden

Tribes made their debut on a roof in Camden so they should have felt pretty at home playing at the Electric Ballroom, which has to be one of my favourite small venues. While their sound may not be the most original of all things, their lyrics make up for it, and the whole thing exceded expectations of how fun it was going to be. If you go see a metal band you are basically guaranteed a good time, but with an indie band like Tribes there is always the chance that the crowd and the band will be lifeless and boring. Tribes performed some great songs, closing with the nostalgic "We were children", with emotion and life you would not expect from the indie lot. While they may not reach the mainstream alternative status of bands like Two Door Cinema Club, they are a band with charisma and should produce some good stuff in the years to come. A great band, a great gig.

Up and coming alert! White Powder Gold

These guys have a seriously interesting sound... check out their fb for more of their music (youtube was devoid of original versions -  it was either this or acoustic)

The beauty of the Telecaster

Yes Clear Distortion came into possesion of one. Just ignore the Squire part of it. Combined with a monster amp I doubt I will have any possitive relationship with my neighbours left by the end of the week.

THIS IS WHAT SHE COULD HAVE BEEN

Top three film soundtracks ever (Clear Distortion isn't quite as good as NME who managed to think up something like 30)

Juno

The basic acoustic sound of the Mouldy Peaches and Kimya Dawson somehow manages to perfectly capture so many aspects of the film, from the quiet American town to the relationship between Juno and Paulie. And the songs are great. Clear Distortion has wasted many hours strumming along to their two chord genius.

School of Rock

Nearly all the best classic rock in one film? How is that possible? ACDC, Led Zep, Black Sabbath, The Clash, The Doors, Cream, The Ramones... you get the point.

Good Morning Vietnam

James Brown, Louis Armstrong, The Beach Boys... yeah basically the soundtrack is American '60s music in a nutshell and if you get the CD you have entertainingly satire dialogue breaks between songs.

Leave Black Veil Brides Alone!

Honestly just because their look slightly plagurises Kiss all the indie types are being so mean about this band! Focus on the music for once jeez! This band are a hundred times more exciting than your boring emotionless skinny jean clad lot, and their music is good!

Oh help it's X Factor season again

Lock all doors and windows. Stay away from the magazine rack at the newsagent (of course being non conformist you would never go near it anyway). Don't even flick past ITV 1 on a Saturday evening. You may add yourself to the millions of mainstream types conforming to what Simon Cowell wants and watching THE X FACTOR
Saying this I did find myself curious as to who the finalists would be, so Clear Distortion took a little trip to the X Factor homepage. The whole thing was quite badly designed as the names of the poor souls having to be humiliated every Saturday were written in the same colour as the talktalk adverts in the background so they were quite hard to read. Clearly there have been budget cuts to ITV's marketing. Clear Distortion then investigated on Youtube, then decided that as in the future at least one of them will be poisoning the mainstream, some verdict should be decided on them before they become totally X Factorified.

The Girls (with Kelly Rowland. What happened to Destiny's Child???)

Misha B (apparently her surname is Bryan)

Has quite a good singing voice but will predictably be "the soul singing one" and will be paired with someone like Alexandra Burke if she gets that far. If she wins, I can already see the horrible David Guetta collabaration.

Sophie Habibis

Just a bit boring. Is giving the stink eye in the picture. Wouldn't like to meet her on a dark night.

Amelia Lily

 Her musical inspiration is Pink and her party trick is headbanging. Sorry Amelia but there is little difficulty to headbanging. Surely your party trick should be something a bit more skillful? Will probably be the "rocky" one judging by this, and her "alternative" looks and voice. Oh dear.

Janet Devlin

No. NO NO NO NO NO. WHY? WHY WHY? JANET DEVLIN IS ACTUALLY A GENUINELY TALENTED SINGER. WHAT IS SHE DOING? The fact is, Janet, that by taking part in this crap you are outruling any chances of anyone taking you seriously. Even if they don't commercialise and plasticise and mediaise and Xfactorify you, and you come out still being your amazing self, you will have no future on the music side where you belong. You could have been so fantastic. People like you break my heart.

Stay tuned for more on the X Factor and it's victims...

Ah such a beautiful song

Genre crossover: is it the way forward?

Anyone will tell you that there is no music around to day that can truly be called "revolutionary". This is simply because since Nirvana there have really been no new movements, no new genres. New bands pop up with "new and exciting sound" that is actually "new and exciting sound that sounds exactly like some band from the '80s that sounds pretty similar to some band from the '70s". Rock and pop are genres obsessed with their own past. Experimenting is no longer an option what with the uniform mainstream where everything sounds the same and is ruled by a song structure bible (verse + chorus +  verse + chorus + bridge + chorus x2 + autotune + a video involving a party and some skantily clad dumb looking models), and on the alternative side everything can be traced back at least 20 years. Even a genre as strange and interesting as dubstep sounds horribly similar to some of the rave music from the '90s and other experimental stuff from the '80s. The question is, how do you create a completely new sound when you have over 50 years of rock and pop installed in your brain? There is possibly one answer to this... genre crossover! Take Sleigh Bells for example. Their music is a slightly messed up combination of barbie style vocals, heavily distorted metal guitar, and even some really odd synths that just make it that little bit wierder. Even their album cover (cheerleaders with their faces blotted out) seems to say it all. This band's sound is a combination of contrasting genres that have created something that sounds pretty much like nothing else ever done before. And it's pretty multifunctional -  you can headbang to it, robo dance to it, what more could you want? Please music industry, don't let the beautifully unoriginal sound of American alternative rock die out, but make way for Sleigh Bells and others like them. We may have a combination of jazz and dubstep anytime now.

Insanely long songs

Is there a small group on songs on you iPod you have frankly never listened to, purely due to the fact that they are over "normal song length" (in my mind over 6 minutes)? Songs by artists like Led Zeppelin that seem to mostly be taken up by beautiful yet lengthly guitar and drum solos, and Vaccines and Yuck who seem to feel the need to include a 7 minute long song with few lyrics and seemingly no tune at the end of their albums, are common examples of songs with the main purpose seemingly being for the guitarist to demonstrate their supreme skill. However there are some ridiculously long songs that are special in the way they can well over 7 minutes be listened to all the way through, mainly because they have lyrics that compell you, the same way a good book does, to keep listening. Stairway to Heaven is an example of beautiful and engaging poetry within a song, but frankly the best person at this is Bob Dylan. Desolation Row is over 10 minutes long, and doesn't follow any particularly catchy riff or contain any real bridges or solos. It just contains poetry that could easily be read from paper, poetry that is, in a nutshell, fascinating. There is no other way to describe it. Dylan's unique voice combined with a relatively happy guitar part weaves a surreal and twisted image of society and life in 1960s America, using figures from history, fiction, and some made up all together. I could type an essay on this song, and every other lengthly Bob Dylan composition (Hurricane is just a great story, it's worth every minute), so just listen to it. All of it.

Green Day reflections

When asked the question "do you like Green Day", the part of me that claims to be into "good, unmainstream, original" music would definately say no. I don't like Green Day. They sound and look like just about every other American alternative/ punk band. After the four year wait 21st Century Breakdown was exactly the same as American Idiot right down to the colour scheme of the artwork and speaking of the artwork they blatantly plagarised Banksy, again totally unoriginal. Why then at the prospect of American Idiot the movie am I so excited? Green Day's true gift, apart from their lyrics which are so ridiculously clever and interesting they can be read straight from the booklet, is their ability to write a concept album with a plot better than the story lines of most movies around now. The story behind American Idiot, of St Jimmy and Jesus of Suburbia and "a nation under the new media", could potentially be a really engaging film. Watch the Jesus of Suburbia video if you don't believe me you indie Green Day hater. Oh and another thing. If your definition of punk is angry, anti establishment music that is distorted yet relatively simple, then despite what John Lydon may say about them, they are punk. There is no rule that says punk bands can't be successful.

Seeing Bombay Bicycle Club and Pulled Apart By Horses live within three hours of eachother, it's easy to assume that a little known metal band will be head and shoulders below one of the most highly regarded indie bands around. Maybe when it comes to the overall quality of the music, perhaps BBC are the more preferable artists, but personally, I would pay to see PDBH any day. The 45 minutes spent being thrown around by strangers seeing Pulled Apart by Horses was certainly preferable to the 5 minutes spent straining my ears to hear Jack Steadman's voice before finally exiting the crowd and doing something else. There is no joy or rush seeing a band, however much you may like them, standing still with their guitars quietly playing music that could be so exciting and interesting if it was only performed in an exciting and interesting way. I am not denying the musical talent of Bombay Bicycle Club and others like them -  they are one of the most talented bands around today. However, the performing talent of indie groups is nothing to that of crappy metal bands.

Traditional Basque, indie and dubstep do mix...

Why Johnny Rotten?

John Lydon. Johnny Rotten. When wondering what the first post on this blog should be, this man was the only one who sprung to mind. Just about every rock or alternative song you here today releasted after 1980, from the Vaccines to My Chemical Romance, was at some point inspired by the punk movement and what came after it, and what band pretty much invented punk? Of course the Sex Pistols. Even if their sound isn't for everyone, if you're a fan of today's rock, you owe something to the Pistols and their spitting, swearing front man. And frankly, when looking for inspiration as to your attitude to the world in general, John Lydon is one of the best role models you could ask for. His ideals of standing up for your own opinions, being yourself not and caring what people think of you so long as you're happy are, whether you like the punk movement or not, about as inspiring as it gets. So close all door and windows, turn up the volume, and spend a well deserved couple of minutes howling along to Anarchy in the UK.

Johnny Rotten: Frontman of the week