It’s a while since I reviewed a DENSE release, I’ve missed them. DENSE make music that is dense, it’s dense and heavy. This track is so dense and heavy you could cut it with a knife. It has a physical presence. You can feel yourself drowning in those waves of sound, of glorious beautiful noise.

Look I’m already gushing and I haven’t even attempted to tell you what it sounds like, that’s impossible to be honest. It sounds like a nightmare in audio form. Bass heavy guitars grind out wave upon wave of sound, there are frankly scary strangled vocals. But in that DENSE way they give us these period of respite, these periods of relative sparse calm before it starts to build again, build to levels of noise and sound that terrify and leave you with nightmareish visions in your head, and in my case a building pressure in the front of my head.

But there’s something addictive about this, something that makes you want to throw yourself back in, but this time deeper than you did before. To play it louder and louder just to experience that glorious beautiful noise again with more intensity.

To mark this out as merely noisey sound would be wrong because it’s unmistakably a song. It has structure, and even a tune at times. And the playing on this is amazing. It’s hard to imagine quite how three people manage to make that sound.

DENSE aren’t going to be for everyone, but if you want, no need, a regular dose of noisy sound that takes over your head and batters it into submission, then this is very definitely for you. This is fucking fantastic.

‘Fever Dream’ by DENSE is released on 7” vinyl via Leeds based record label Come Play With Me on the 6th December 2019. Limited signed copies of the vinyl can be ordered from http://cpwm.awesomedistro.com/. The track is backed on the other side by Sea Leg’s ‘Favourite Doll’. Sea Legs are a wonderfully intricate indie band, full of catchy chorus’, melancholy, folk-rock touches and Beatles-esque harmonies. They have been tipped by Futuresound as ‘Ones To Watch’ in 2019.

The info

Speaking about the track, Sam (Drums) explains “Fever Dream is based on a dream our singer Charlie had when he was really ill a couple years ago. In it, a withered man was left to die by a burning window before being dug up and forced to relive the tormenting experience all over again. The artwork relates to the introduction and later repetition of the agonising circumstance which the protagonist is in, left immobile in a chair being burnt by the scorching sun and unable to break the cycle of his suffering. The rocking chair left in the unused wasteland represents the isolation of this suffering against nature’s elements, visually encapsulating the track’s overall atmosphere”

DENSE are Charlie Fossick (guitars and vocals), Dylan Metcalf (bass) and Sam Heffer (drums).

Yipee I thought as I made my way to Wharf Chambers, three bands I’ve never seen before. I love seeing new bands. Distorted Sky I only knew from their single release – ‘Burning Parish’ (read our review) – and the two support acts I’d never even heard of before. So it was very much a case of ‘open mind at the ready’ for this gig.

Tower Place were impressive. They do that kinda rap influenced alt-rock thing or raucous punk influenced indie thing. The thing that made me really sit up and listen, because indie however raucous isn’t my usual sort of thing, was the words. Their songs have really good words.

Having been hooked in by the words I really began to start liking what Tower Place do. The playing was cool. Their guitarist is fab, and I noticed that their bassist plays a six string bass. Tower Place are the second band I’ve seen who play raucous indie who have that.

And the crowd were really into Tower Place, there was moshing. I was won over by Tower Place, very definitely a band to catch if you get the chance.

I’d been looking forward to seeing The Palarva since I’d looked up what sort of music the band play (I know this is unusual for me but sometimes I do actually do pre-review research). Right from the start of their set I really liked what they do, I liked them so much I quite forgot to take notes for some time (this is a good thing people, a very good thing thing). They do two types of song. The first has a sort of indie vocal with a fuzzy grungey musical feel, and the second is dark vaguely goth songs with of all things a touch of folk. The first are sang by their guitarist and the second by their bass player. This mix really grabbed me.

And they back this up with really great playing. The playing was way way good. I loved the fact that they went about making this fantastic music with something that my notes describe as ‘being completely unflashy’.

Two things stand out. The asking for a guest vocalist – the guitarist from Tower Place – on their cover of a Nirvana song. And the fact that their bassist left the stage for their last song because she apparently ‘see didn’t like the song’.

The Palarva are going to be a band I want to see again and again, I just know that’s going to happen. I adored their music. It’s inventive and compelling. See this band.

Before this gig all I knew about Distorted Sky’s music was their very recent single release – ‘Burning Parish’ – which had really impressed me. I like alt-rock that’s heavy on the guitar and riffs. However going on one song from a band isn’t a good idea, haven’t we all been caught out by that at one time?

The good thing is that the single really does indicate what they do. Song after song of soaring vocals, heavy guitar led alt-rock filled their set. And Distorted Sky bring a touch of sophistication to this, they use pre-programmed sounds – including voices – on their songs. The live experience is really impressive. They are a big sounding band, their sound is big enough to fill a larger venue than Wharf Chambers, not just in volume but in the layers of sound.

The playing, natch, was really great. The vocals really fantastic. Their set left me hugely impressed and somewhat reeling, it was that good.

The single and indeed this gig marks a return for Distorted Sky. Let’s hope this will continue because if you’ve never seen them and you like heavy alt-rock this is band that should be on your must-see list.

All photos on this page © Frank Roper Photography – see more on his Facebook Page

As I was making my way to my first gig at the Belgrave Music Hall (Yes I know, it’s bad of me, it’s one of those iconic Leeds’ venues) I was musing about It being a long time since I last saw The Elephant Trees – November 2017 at Kazoopa Festival to be exact, so basically two whole years ago – and sadly I’ve really only been keeping a rather lazy ear out for them. Two years is a long time, time enough for a band to change, and boy have The Elephant Trees changed. But before the full impact of quite how much they’ve changed I had three support acts to see. Let’s get into this shall we?

Sadly I missed the first part of Gloria’s set, I’d guess around a third. This was a great pity. What they do is cool. As I went to get my usual non-alcoholic drink (you can’t drink and handle an infeasibly large camera at the same time) the band launched into a mash-up which featured at least one part ‘How Many More Times’. Brave choice I thought, and then, oh wow nice one. I helps that they feature two guitarists (I think, sorry if I’m wrong), a singer who has a fab voice, and who occasionally plays a floor tom. Sound wise I kinda had them pegged as playing vaguely 70s style songs, they have that feel to them.

The short experience I had of Gloria really didn’t give me a real lasting impression, I did however make a mental note to catch them again. That short impression was enough to do that, the songs, the playing rocked people.

Next on stage were 100 Fables. Listening to them I got this overall impression of something of a 80s’ electro feel. And there’s all sorts of that kind of thing – sometimes they do dark-ish synth pop, sometimes it’s sort of pop-rock, sometimes it’s that full on synth led pop ballad thing. It’s just I can be strange about 80s influenced music, and I’m not that keen on big synth led pop songs (of which there’s a couple in their set). Sometimes it just leaves me cold, probably a ‘been there, got the t-shirt’ thing.

People, as you might have worked out, this isn’t the sort of thing I usually like but they sort of won me over. Partially it’s the vocals – the vocals were stunning, partially it’s the what my notes call ‘the driving beat’ and partially it’s because this band put on a show. They pull themselves inside out to put on a show. And at least a small part of it was that some of their stuff reminded me of a band I liked in the 80s called Pride of Passion. They did kinda pop-rock or rock-pop sounding music. Strange that I liked them, they were not my usual sort of band then at all for then.

The impression I’ve given, and I’m sorry, is that I was completely won over, I wasn’t. Some of what they did I really liked, some not so much. But the spark of liking them is there, and if I get to see them again I’ll probably be raving about them. And what I can be definite about is that this is band who know their stuff, the vocals were fantastic, the playing way cool and the show was brilliant. If electro/rocky pop/synth pop is your thing go see 100 Fables OK.

Seeing Artio was a wonderful surprise, in my usual ‘bad gig reviewer’ style I had failed to notice who the support bands were until the afternoon of the gig day. Given that I was suffering from Artio withdrawal symptoms them playing was good thing, a very good thing.

I was, predictably as you might have worked out, captivated by Rae’s vocals right away. And that was it I was swept away by Artio’s songs. Yes, they do big synth songs but they’re not as simple as that might imply. Their music is full of wonderful touches that raise it above ‘mere synth pop’. And yes, I know a lot of their music is pre-programmed but the addition of live guitar and bass (on some songs) make it organic and live. Add in Hol’s voice and you have something wonderful.

And the other thing to really like about Artio is that they write songs about important things – notably that night they played a new song that is about ‘protecting our NHS and our planet’, ‘basically it tells Boris Johnson to f**k off’ as Rae succinctly put it. And this is a band who walk the walk as well as talking the talk, they’d spent the afternoon and played at the environmental protest, they buy old t-shirts to print band t-shirts, they mean the things they write and sing about.

The thing is that they have me reeling at how good they are, and also at the fact that I like the music they make so much – it really isn’t my sort of thing at all. But somehow they won me over from the first time I ever heard their music. And yep I was worried that the live experience would be a let down the first time I saw them play live, or that it would just sound like they do on recorded stuff, but no this is band who bring something extra and different to the music when they play live. Mainly I think it’s the vocals, but it isn’t just those, there are other things I just can’t quite put my finger on. Their set that night was equally as impressive as the first time of seeing them live.

If you’ve not seen Artio play live, go see them, go see them as soon as you can, they’re brilliant.

The Elephant Trees have changed, they’ve changed a lot. OK so I’m going to admit that if I’d been keeping a closer eye on them I might have known this much much earlier, much much earlier. But for me, bearing in mind the last time I saw them live was two years ago, and haven’t really given much time to playing any of their recent releases, it came as somewhat of a surprise, a really great surprise.

If like me you haven’t been keeping up, The Elephant Trees have turned into a madcap rock band who play around with kinda hip-hop beats, and at the same stripped down to Martha on vocals, acoustic and keyboards, a guitarist and a drummer.

I say rock although that’s not exactly true, some of the new stuff is kinda big synth pop-rock sounding, But the thing is that the songs just go anywhere – unexpected crazy drum based beats or way out there guitar.

The thing that remains the same is Martha’s vocals – and yes while she uses that rap singing type vocal style that featured in some of the old songs rather more, her voice is still fab. And you still can’t take your eyes off her, she’s a brilliant front-person. And the interplay between the three band members is exciting, exciting and electrifying.

This being a homecoming gig, the night had a special atmosphere, friends and family of the band were very much in evidence. You could feel it in the room people. Martha announced ‘an old song’ and started ‘Monster’ only to be joined by the crowd almost before she actually started singing. Oh wow that was special, and her surprise at this was a great thing to see. Given that this was my fav old song this was fantastic.

The new songs rock people, given that for me it was basically the first time I’d heard them. They’re inventive and played incredibly well. I wish I’d been keeping more of an ear out for the band than I have over the last two years. So changed are The Elephant Trees that seeing them that night was almost like seeing a band for the first time, and I was completely won over by the band. Musically it’s brilliant and visually the set was fantastic.

The set ended with Martha making her way down into the crowd and singing unamplified with her guitar. She sang a beautiful song and some of the crowd joined in, magic. And at the end the three band members hugged. It was all very special and rather emotional.

If you’ve not seen The Elephant Trees for ages like me, go see them. They are fabulous.

All photos on this page © Frank Roper Photography – see more from this gig on his Facebook Page

This is the third in a series of singles leading up to the release of Bloodhound’s album ‘Fragile Skeleton’ on the 31st January 2020. If the singles so far have been any indication that album promises to be a fantastic one.

Enough of the album, what about the single I hear you say. It starts in an almost Manchester Sound way, it has something of a Stone Roses vibe going on. But before long – about 1 minute in – it explodes into guitar driven noise, there’s a brief respite and then it’s riff heavy to the end. But it’s changing, it’s not the same riff, and those vocals well they are just fab.

And those quieter bits just add to the power of the noise as it comes in, as it blasts into your ears with a power that threatens to rip them off. That initial explosion of sound is brutal, so brutal it takes your breath away.

Bloodhound continue to surprise. The singles are different but there’s something that makes them hang together. This is the sound of a band exploring the edges of grunge-y alternative rock to brilliant effect. This is incredible, go listen right now.

The info

Speaking about the track, the band explained: “’Worn Down’ is the oldest song on the album. It’s roughly two and a half years old now and used to be a 6+ minute travesty that we chopped up and made into a 4-minute song we were happy with. It’s a song that tells a story of being constantly overworked and the consequences of that”.

The band have also now announced details of their album launch night at HULL POLAR BEAR on SATURDAY 1st FEBRUARY 2020. This will be their biggest headline show to date and will be celebrated with a psychotically twisted line-up that includes their closest friends FAUX PAS and BROODERS. The night will showcase the breadth of the BLOODHOUND sound with cuts from the album, classic songs and brand-new songs. The night will also be sprinkled with Special Guests to mark the momentous occasion of the release of their debut album.

SATURDAY 1 FEBRUARY 2020 | DOORS 7.30PM | £5 ADVANCE | WITH FAUX PAS + BROODERS Tickets: https://www.hullboxoffice.com/event/bloodhound-polar-bear-hull

The debut BLOODHOUND album, FRAGILE SKELETON, will be released on 31 January 2020. Speaking about FRAGILE SKELETON, the band said: “The album is a journey through all of the material we have chopped and changed over the last three years. It’s more a story of personal experience and how a person can appear strong on the outside but, inside, they are fragile and afraid. It covers a lot of emotional experiences and delves into the delicate problems that so many people hide”.

The album features contributions from Ru Cowl, the indomitable, driven vocalist with Faux Pas; Fiona Lee, the captivating singer songwriter whose work is grabbing attention far beyond her Yorkshire base; and Leeds psyche-grunge trio Brooders, whose singer and guitarist Adam Bairstow recorded and co-produced the album with BLOODHOUND themselves.

Pre-order FRAGILE SKELETON here: https://bloodhoundhull.bandcamp.com/merch

FRAGILE SKELETON | TRACKLIST

• Everyone Is My Friend
• Again
• Praise
• Short [feat Ru Cowl]
• Cold [feat Fiona Lee]
• Try (Interlude)
• Am I Okay?
• Worn Down
• FRSTRTD [feat Brooders]
• If This Is the Way It Is

I like a bit of garage rock and roll, I like it even better when it comes with 60’s psychedelic pop influences, and ‘Run & Hide’ has that. Ever better for me, and this is very much a personal thing, I really like that it has a hint of The Monkees, and something of The Small Faces. This makes it sound retro, and you’d be right, it is. But sometimes it’s right to do retro sounding music. Even better the production of this track is spot on.

So what else is there to like about ‘Run & Hide’, plenty. It has a jaunty earwormy tune, spot on vocals, a lovely jangly thing going on. Oh and that’s not forgetting the rather lovely piano, and a fab guitar break.

Look people, this isn’t high musical art but it’s a fantastic piece of 60s influenced pop that’ll have your toe tapping, a big smile on your face and a certain joy in your heart. And don’t we all need that sometimes, get to it.

The info

The Big Peach is a garage rock and roll group from Manchester. Their music gathers a lot of influence from the burgeoning garage and psych scenes of the 1960s and beyond. With influences deep in Laurel Canyon, hints of Tamla Motown and and a splash of Mod from the streets of London.

This release is the first of a series of four which helps round off a busy period packed full of gigs, appearing on line-ups with Triptides, The Dandelion, Levitation Room and The Blank Tapes. The Big Peach also played at the Bingley Weekender last summer and created their own festival PeachFest that caught attention of many bands, record labels and promoters.