Live At Leeds- May 2nd & 3rd

Gigwise 1+ 2

Taking on the multi-venue style of Camden Crawl or The Great Escape in Brighton Live at Leeds is a sprawling collection of the cities finest exports and a nice amount of up and coming indie bands playing in the cities myriad of pubs and clubs. Despite the fact they have played in Leeds every other week since forever both Wild Beasts 3pm slot at Joseph's Well and Sky Larkin's tea time performance at The Cockpit are full to capacity lock outs- our fault for not arriving in time 'spose. Not to worry however as the first act of the day we catch is The Joy Formidable. The Welsh trio put on an assured performance, showcasing tracks from their excellent album 'A Balloon Called Moaning'. The crowd gathered lap it up as 'Whirring' gives way to 'Austere' the band go from strength to strength. Some tracks fall away into anonymity but ultimately this set is a triumph.

Anonymity is one thing you can never accuse Pulled Apart By Horses of. By the third song ('The Crapsons') of their half-hour set a circle pit has begun spinning and flailing in front of the stage and the atmosphere never drops below jaw-dropping. Essentially playing thrash metal for indie kids their songs are brutal but come accompanied by huge pop hooks which regularly see the audience joining in and punching the air in celebration. By 'Meat Balloon' lead singer Tom Hudson has re-located his microphone to the middle of the mosh pit and leads the "We are so macho" refrain from the heart of the crowd. It's easy to forget you are in the back room of a pub at 6pm in the evening as the sheer sense of fun over takes you. 'E= MC Hammer' and 'I Punched A Lion In The Throat' burst out of the blocks and finish off a set that this reviewer feels will struggle to be beaten by anyone in 2009.

Annoyingly the most appealing line up of Dinosaur Pile Up and Grammatics supporting The Maccabees at the Metropolitan Union has led to a gridlocked que with no sign of entry forthcoming. The walk to The Faversham is soundtracked by the muffled sounds of 'No Kind Words' emitting from the venues walls. Still, in the week the band release their masterpiece 'Wall Of Arms' it can only be a good sign that people are willing to stand in the cold for a chance to see the band play live. At The Faversham Dan Black is finishing off his set with the single 'Yours'- it ticks all the boxes of a major label, watered down Hot Chip but seems dated and a bit cheesy. Nothing however could prepare these eyes for the epically terrible Ou Est Le Swimming Pool. Having seen the best gig if the year earlier in the night it was a nice symmetry to then see the worst. Sunglasses, hoodies with bare chests and frosted tips hair do's made this feel less like an alternative music festival and more like being on the set of Ibiza Uncovered. Their Lonely Island esque jock pop and terrace style chanting from the crowd contributed to a set to forget.

With Saturday's extravaganza over Sunday took a more low key turn with just the one show from the chart kings of cod-doom White Lies. In support were the divine School Of Seven Bells who beguiled the collected audience with their ethereal take on the so hot right now shoegaze. Unfortunately playing to blank stares and muted applause the likes of 'Half Asleep' and 'My Cabal' were both charming and show a great fission between the Deheza sisters vocals and Ben Curtis' expansive and intricate guitar work. With a better crowd to work with and a more focused set they will win the fans they deserve.

In front of a crowd reminiscent of a Top Gear focus group White Lies take to the softly lit stage and begin ploughing the hits. 'Fairwell To The Fairground' and 'Lose My Life' are seen off early with the latters refrain of "Let's grow old together and die at the same time" being met with blanket repetition from the fans. The band formerly known as Fear Of Flying have obviously been embraced by the commercially beneficial lad-rock market but quite how is a mystery. To all intents and purposes they are a very camp and humourless band. Kaiser Chiefs do well with that demographic as they are fun, The Enemy tap into the small town ennui, Kasabian are the sound of a beery Saturday night, so what are White Lies? Their songs are all ham-fisted odes to death and despair. Presumably people aren't listening to the lyrics and instead falling for the admittedly catchy hooks. It's probably for the best as you soon realise that not a single line in any White Lies songs means a thing. They do have the tunes though and as 'Death' brings the show and indeed the weekend to a close it would be churlish to deny the crowd and the fans their shallow moment.

Photo: Brendan Docherty.

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NME Tour- Florence and White Lies reviewed

Florence and The Machine and White Lies
Liverpool University
January 29

Originally for This Is Fake DIY

It’s become tradition that the band opening the annual NME Awards tour goes onto great things (Coldplay and Ting Tings have both played first in the past). The other notable factor for the first band on the bill is that nobody ever gets to see them. Well that may be an exaggeration but a good percentage of the crowd are stuck in queuing gridlock outside the venue as 2009’s chosen one Florence and The Machine takes to the stage.

Now working as a five piece (a harpist and keyboard player joined last Summer) Florence’s stage show is sturdier and more in depth than previously, giving ample backing to her outstanding voice. Said voice is what sets Florence Welch aside from her numerous rivals, you can play the Tenori-On or channel the 80’s as much as you like but until you can sing like that then quite frankly you might as well go home. The crowd inevitable go wild for ‘Kiss With A Fist’ but you can’t help feeling that is the weakest song in her set. A pop-punk riot it may be but it does very little different or idiosyncratic in the way ‘Girl With One Eye’ does for example. Lifted in the live arena, the soulful tale of reeking scissor based revenge on a love rival and crackles with sharp violence and an underlying sense of sadness. This segues neatly into the good Florence single, ‘Dog Days’. With its slow build up and stampeding chorus the song showcases the numerous strings to her bow (besides the harpist stage left) and creates a sense of wild abandon in the University hall. The set ends with a new song from the forthcoming and much anticipated album. It’s an odd song to end the show being that it is almost a ballad, coming off the back of two fast paced songs it’s adjusts the tone somewhat considerably. However all is forgotten when the song reaches, as Florence calls it, “really intense bit”- guitars crash against drums and orchestral swellings as Florence launches herself off the stage and into the crowd below. It’s an impressive sight and the audience accompany the bands exit with rapturous applause. The achievement of the show opener will almost certainly carry on in 2009.

After spending half an hour waiting to get served at the bar (seriously, if you can’t cater an event don’t book a massive show) many of the crowd gathered are tied between liquid refreshment and this weeks number one band in the country White Lies. Those who choose the show are treated to a clinical display in stadium ambition and the occasional killer tune. White Lies ascent to the top has been anything but a surprise. Having gone from the band you confused with tonight’s penultimate act Friendly Fires in their days as Fear Of Flying, they have re-emerged as blacker than the night anthem manufacturers. This skill is demonstrated perfectly with the opening salvo ‘Unfinished Business’, a swelling, almost holy track with a big chorus on top of a driving musical underlay. The band themselves are all dressed in the full waiting staff uniform (sans apron) and stand static on the stage opting to let the music do the talking for them. That is perhaps their only mistake though. You can’t fault the music beyond a subjective level, they are good songs played well, if you don’t like them that is fine but you can’t dispute their craft or scale of ambition. However the lack of warmth or earnestness creates less of a performance and more of a staid attempt at being a band. The electronic beat of ‘To Lose My Life’ builds into a foot tapping crescendo and the heart-string tugging ‘Fifty On Our Foreheads’ impresses but little else is conjured here tonight. As the show ends with the appropriate ‘Death’ you can’t help feeling you have witnessed everything and nothing. The ascent of White Lies is probably the beginning of something but more so it is the end of so much more.

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Andersen Ben-Hilliers

I won't be posting anything much til' Monday as I'm going to a gig and *hopefully* doing an interview. To bide you over let me introduce you to my favourite blog on the internet. Andersen Ben-Hillier has been around a while but has recently started gaining some notoriety with a mention in The Guardian the other day.

Andersen is a Danish paprazzo who takes photo's of the best bands in the world. His work is outstanding and I have no reason to doubt his credibility. Just look at his work in action below or check his full portfolio here-

The Kills-

Young Knives
Arcade Fire
Kate Nash

The White Stripes
Henry Rollins
White Lies
These New Puritans
Queens Of Noize

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White Lies- To Lose My Life

The first of the ‘Tips for 2009’ bunch strike with their debut album whilst the iron is red hot. White Lies releasing their album in January is a clever move as people are so gagging for new music they are sure of an instant chart hit (this will hit top 5 at the weekend) and to have people talking about them. This level of calculation is pretty much the reason White Lies don’t quite ring true. There is an air surrounding this band that suggests they have been created and packaged purely to exploit the relentless stream of ‘Next Big Thing!’ media that is generated at this time of year. These lists contain a mix of industry tipped, major label pushed dead certainties and hopeful punts, White Lies certainly fit into the former of these two categories. Maybe it’s that the trio’s former outfit (Fear of Flying) sounded so markedly different or the po-faced videos but White Lies appear to be all style no content.

Critics talk of landfill indie and whilst this isn’t Kooks or Courteeners bad it certainly seems to hold the listener with little respect. “You like Razorlight? Well you’ll love The Killers and if you like them well there’s this wonderful new band called White Lies who sound a bit like Glasvegas and a lot like Editors”. People will never break down barriers if you keep reinforcing them. The White Lies sound is, sorry to be obvious, indebted to the likes of Joy Division and Depeche Mode- stadium gloom if you like. They are clearly a fine singles act and ‘To Lose My Life’ kicks off accordingly with 2008’s ‘Death’ a macabre and stabbing effort and one of the bands finest tracks. Following this is the single being used to promote the album both confusingly called ‘To Lose My Life’ and here is where the rot starts to seep in, on track 2. A chugging electronic buzz underlies the song with Harry McVeigh’s vocals soaring and swooping in all the right places but ultimately not saying very much at all. Following that a string of epic-pop radio friendly efforts create the spine of this album decorated with the odd blockbuster ballad to add ‘depth’ and camera moments at gigs. ‘To Lose My Life’ is by definition very single friendly with numerous efforts for the follow up single to accompany the headline tour the band no doubt have booked already, ‘E.S.T’ or ‘Farewell To The Fairground’ sounding like good early bets.

Of all the bands tipped for success earlier this month White Lies were perhaps the most traditional which in turn makes them the best bet for success. If, as predicted, the stream of indie bands that has overwhelmed music over the past decade is going to die off in 2009 then White Lies will be leading the funeral procession looking suitably dismal.

5/10

To Lose My Life

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Singles Roundup- Sept 22nd

Yo Majesty – 'Club Action'

The lewd and rude hipster box tickers from Tampa finally release a single to support the hype surrounding them. They are not quite the saviours some quarters make them out to be but do pedal a nice line of aggressive party starting hip hop. The production on show here outshines the rhymes but a promising start nonetheless/

Frightened Rabbit - 'I Feel Better' / 'The Twist'

Biffy Clyro meet The National in epic emotional rock bloodbath. Heart wrenching and lip quivering vocals set to canyon filling back drops see Frightened Rabbit creating a sound so true and honest it can only bode great things. 'I Feel Better' is the superior of the two tracks here with its stomping beat and rousing chorus stirring passion in the meekest of bellies. Stick this in your stadum pipe Followills.

Cold War Kids - 'Something Is Not Right With Me'

More bearded magic here, this time set to a disco beat. A pre-curser to the 'Loyalty To Loyalty' album due later this month 'Something...' is a frantic sprint of a song that, whilst entertaining, feels rushed. The pulsating bass line sounds eerily like Scissor Sisters and the fast pace does not suit Nathan Willett's soulful vocals at all. It sounds like classic CWK played on the wrong speed. Hopefully the album is an improvement.

Ben Folds W/ Regina Spektor- 'You Don't Know Me'

Yuck. Folds tries to claw back credibility by roping in the delectable Spektor and merely drags her into the mire with him. Sapping Regina of her idiosyncratic quirks reduces her to a hired studio hand merely backing Folds plodding vocal delivery. This radio friendly, sitcom sound track is a wasted opportunity and one to forget.

White Lies- 'Death'

Joy Dision begat Interpol, Interpol opened doors for Editors and now Edtiors lay wake for White Lies. Formerly know as Fear Of Flying the new black clad incarnation sees the band channelling the dark poetry of life to devastating effect. It's not unique but its impressive and any band with the gall to name a single 'Death' will no doubt be packing surprises in the future. If the original version of 'Death' doesn't tickle your fancy the Crystal Castles remix is a behemoth nobody can ignore.

The Airborne Toxic Event- 'Does This Mean You're Moving On?'

The Airborne Toxic Event seem to sit somewhere between good time New York bar band and an American version of Little Man Tate. It all sounds very 2002 and pretty out of place in a landscape populated by fresh sounds and invention. Nothing to not here at all.

'Death'

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