A while ago I reviewed The Azenas’ EP ‘Darjeeling’, I loved it. I found it compelling and musically inventive. So news of another EP release was greeted with joy here in LSF Towers.

EP opener ‘Make Up My Mind’ is a Beatlesque thing, it comes in that 60s’ pop thing. Great tune, check. Slightly jangly guitars, check. Vocal harmonies, check. Harmonica break, check. Now wait a minute there, this song has a harmonica break? This gives it a slight edge of Dylan. This makes it sound derivative, sorry I didn’t mean to do that. It isn’t because it has a slight indie-pop edge that makes this something else other than a retro throwback.

And now to something else, something else completely different. ‘Lulamae’ is a piano led ballad. This makes it sound simple. In fact it’s strangely classical, 60s’ singer/songwriter and in places sounds a bit like The Arctic Monkeys would sound if they did a piano-led ballad. And this is all at the same time. You get the picture, it’s one of those ‘The Azenas do something that is quietly incredibly inventive and clever’. But it isn’t just inventive and clever, it’s brimming with emotion. The vocals are fabulous.

The EP title track – ‘Shifting Sands’ – kind of continues in the same vein. Piano is at the forefront, but it’s more uptempo. It has a feel to it that is at once 60s/70s and up to date, it’s timeless in other words. And it has a quietly brilliant guitar break, after which it builds (it includes Mellotron as it builds).

Now after these three songs, I was left somewhat amazed and, indeed, puzzled as to how The Azenas do what they do. They throw together – I say throw, but I should say carefully take – elements of all sorts of music and make of them something that is beautiful. Without feeling that they need to do a certain type of music. They just do what they obviously love. I knew this, I’ve reviewed one of their EPs before, but I continue to be amazed.

‘Right Time’ is again something different. It starts in a slightly chaotic way, twanging guitar, before becoming a kind of RnB-ish pop song (that RnB as in The Rolling Stones). But then it isn’t, it has a somewhat jazzy piano break, a full on guitar break. But not happy with that they decide to throw in an almost acid rock section. Look it does more than that. It lasts for around 7 minutes for a start. But at the end it builds into a full on blues rock thing, after noodling around for a while. It sounds like an unholy mess, but it isn’t. The way it moves between these ‘sections’ sounds entirely smooth.

I have now fallen completely musically in love with The Azenas. The quality they set in their first EP is matched, and indeed surpassed, by the four songs on this release. When described what they do sounds like they are a group of rero copyists but listening to their music – and you must do that – you hear that they’re bending and blending those sounds to make something that is all of their own. There are a few bands and artists that I am really really happy about the fact that they contacted LSF and asked us to review their releases, The Azenas are one of those.
This music isn’t flash but just calmly wonderful and beautiful. It’s music that you sit and listen to thinking ‘they’ve done that, what in the name of all that is holy are they doing’ as they mix it up. At first you sit there after listening totally flabbergasted that those elements can be melded into something as great as this, and then you just think of it as what they do. I can’t recommend this highly enough.

It’s a while – quite a long while actually – since I’ve reviewed a release from Thomas & The Empty Orchestra. In that time he’s changed musically, the music is sounding different, but it’s still recognisably him, it retains that approach to songwriting that I love about his songs.

So what’s different? Well musically, if this track is anything to go by, his songs have become wider sounding, bigger sounding, fuller sounding. They’ve shifted from that folk/americana sound to something that sounds a bit more Celtic. This may sound a strange thing to say but the first time I heard ‘Old Crow’ I thought almost immediately ‘that sounds a bit Runrig in places’ and then ‘there’s something of a Waterboys thing here’. There are layers of voices, guitars, but it’s restrained, the music doesn’t overwhelm the words. And there is the most wonderful restrained guitar break, lovely.

And vocally Thomas is stretching out, his vocals on this are yearning, and expressive. It’s still a ‘simple’ delivery but it’s less intimate than some of his previous vocals. It’s not better or worse, it’s just different.

What hasn’t changed, thankfully, is the words. The words of Thomas’s songs have always been great, and this hasn’t changed. The words of this song compel you to listen again and again.

And this song is catchy, I found myself joining in after a couple of plays.

Since I first started hearing Thomas’s music I’ve loved it, that hasn’t changed. This song is fantastic. It’s an object lesson in writing and performing a song that has class. If you’re a fan of well written thoughtful songs, played and sang wonderfully, then this is for you.

Stream/Download here https://smarturl.it/OldCrow

It was with a huge amount of anticipation that I made my way to the 360 Club that night. Mainly this was because I was really looking forward to seeing Dead Extras because I’ve loved the singles I’ve reviewed from the band, but also because it was the first time I’ve seen Uncomely playing.

Opening their set with ‘found voice’ and some rather tasteful guitar noodling Uncomely are first up. It’s the first time I’ve seen the band despite having reviewed and loved some releases. So varied are those releases I didn’t quite know what to expect. What I got was incredibly impressive.

Basically the band are an object lesson in the appliance of controlled power. It’s loud, it’s as powerful as hell but they play with nuance. Mindless thrash it isn’t. Their songs are crafted, there’s light and shade. They build. And there are relatively restrained slower songs that impressed me with melody and layers of guitar.

The found voice and guitar noodling return in the intro to a song that shifts and changes – one moment it’s heavy alt-rock, the next it’s off-kilter funky post-punky sounding, and gradually this builds into a wall of lovely sound and noise.

Uncomely live are as difficult to pigeon-hole live as they are on record. This is a great and fantastic thing. Look if you were to back me into a corner and wave a bunch of live rats in my face I’d say the band major on heavy alt-rock but this is doing them a dis-service. Because that ignores the subtleties of what they do.

That’s one big ‘loved the band live’ from me. And I was very definitely not alone in thinking that.

Next up were Coconut Mall, a band that were completely new to me. Actually they were completely new to all of us, it being the band’s first gig (I checked their Facebook Page and that mentions an open mic appearance, perhaps they don’t strictly count that).

Their first song struck me as being ‘on the heavy side progressive rock with an alt-rock edge’. It kinda had something of a Muse thing going on, just a hint. The second was rather heavier alt-rock. Indeed this seems to be a band who just do what they want and like. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

My notes say ‘What they do is interesting’. This sounds like I’m damning them with faint praise but that isn’t how I meant it. I was just somewhat confused by some of the songs in their set – they jump around genres. It made it difficult for me to get my reviewer’s head around them, so to speak.

As these thoughts raced through my head the band reached the last song of their set, and fuck it soared. It was so damn glorious.

Look musically this band know their chops, the vocals were cool, and the variety in what they do is fantastic. I think I just need to see them play again. I just know I’m going to end really liking them. I just need to get my head around them, and what they do. Go see Coconut Mall, go with an open mind.

It’s the second time I’ve seen Havanas play. The first time I was rather taken with them. This time I’m sorry to say they just didn’t quite do it for me. I’m going to try and be objective here because of that.

Havanas play loud heavy dirty rock (that’s not heavy rock but rock that is heavy and loud if you get what I mean). There are touches of indie and that Manchester swagger in there. Their songs have tunes. There are oodles of guitar. If this sounds like something that I would probably like, it is. Maybe it was just how I was feeling that night.

All of this is true until there is one song that gets me. It is a big building thing with chiming almost psychedelic guitars. And it’s lovely.

Rule two of reviewing – never give up on a band, you just never know when something may suddenly catch your attention. Rule one. By the way, is arrive on time and see all the bands playing, not just the headliners.

Wow, oh fucking wow. Dead Extras put on a show people, a full on big show. This isn’t going to come as a surprise for those of you that have seen them play before but this is the first time I’ve seen them.

Live I get the punk thing, there’s a punk energy in what they do. They play the very shit out of their instruments. Yep I still get that metal thing seeing them live, but that energy, that’s punk. The make up the band wore that night comes from the video for the single ‘Losing Streak’.

They open with the new single – ‘Losing Streak’ – and if anything it’s more frantic than the release. It’s rawer. It’s just as well played, and boy can they play, but there’s an edge.

Matt stalks the stage, doing those rock frontman things. He is a compelling visual presence, as well as a great vocalist. Liam never stops moving while he rips out guitar and provides the other vocal. The contrast between him and Matt vocally is something special. James does his bass thing. And Joe provides the drum foundation to their sound.

I did try, honest I did, to take a reviewer step back, and I managed that, not for long to be honest, it was way too exciting for that. But in that time I managed it, I got that there was nothing ‘average rock band’ about what Dead Extras do. It’s not just the playing but the songs are so well put together. Their songs are not just one thrash out but they have structure and change. And musically there is nuance and real skill in their playing.

Look you can take all that as read, and just enjoy the show. It’s the show that is the thing. The energy coming off the stage is something I’ve only felt a few times in my gig-going life. Dead Extras played like they were playing a huge venue.

At the end Liam asked me what I thought, and all I could manage was ‘wow’. A rather weak summing up of the experience but I was feeling rather drained physically and emotionally.

Look people Dead Extras are a band you should see, must see.

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

What an absolutely fantastic night! Two great bands and a buzzing crowd. Despite my love of jazz and jazz based music this is the first time I’ve reviewed that music live. This is something I intend to do again.

The first, and only, time I’d seen Narcle live before they had a singer. Here they didn’t. This was initially disappointing but actually their set turned out to be a joyous thing. They play I guess what you’d call soulful jazz, and jazz it very definitely is. Although they play with an up to date edge, so it’s not old-school. But if you’re a fan of old-school jazz you won’t be disappointed.

Basically I let myself be taken by their playing. And their playing is amazing, this is a bunch of people who really know what they’re doing. Each player is individually fantastic – I was especially drawn to the saxophonist and keys player but that isn’t putting down the others in any way.

In that jazz way (natch) the players took solos which the crowd appreciated. As somebody who attends jazz gigs I’m used to the applauding of solos, but somehow that night the crowd doing that surprised me. It’s lovely to have a crowd that appreciates the skill of individual musicians.

Look they played pieces but honestly in terms of the enjoyment the names of those pieces didn’t matter, what mattered was the lovely sounds coming from the stage. All you needed to do was just dig it and let yourself go. People danced, smiles were all around.

Suitably warmed up, and with a filling room, we were hit by the groove behemoth that is TC & The Groove Family. There are a lot of them, huge amounts of them. I had a vague idea of what to expect but the full force wasn’t what I expected at all. This band groove, they groove to fuck, they groove so hard you could use them as a weapon.

So for those of you that don’t know TC & The Groove Family are something of a Leeds supergroup featuring members of bands including Necktr, Project Hilts, Long Legged Creatures and Fall Quintet. They play fusion but what a fusion – you hear elements of Nigerian Afro-beat, Brazilian Samba, Ghanaian highlife, Latin Jazz and UK electronic beats including Garage and Broken beats, not to mention dub and reggae. And yes there’s jazz. It’s a heady mix, a mix that is heightened by the way their music goes off in all directions, you think you have a handle on a track but then it does something entirely unexpected – brilliant, just brilliant.

As a ‘supergroup’ (look I’m sorry to describe them that way but you suggest something different) you’d expect the individual musicians to be fantastic and they are, Delve past the fantastic groove and you hear people playing with incredible skill. But what they do is lock together, the combined force of those musicians is amazing.

Visually with so many musicians on stage they’re exciting, but I was drawn, in a couldn’t take my eyes off her way, to their frontperson, who provided great vocals, played some sort of drum with a force that was compelling and what I’m going to describe as a wooden flute (which probably has a name but sorry I don’t know it).

Sometimes (all too frequently I’m afraid) I review a band and I wish that I wasn’t reviewing them, that I could just listen and watch and get into it. It’s at those times I get jealous of the crowd. Seeing TC & The Groove Family was very definitely one of those times. There was out of control dancing, people, but this band are a band you can really dance to.

I left Headrow House with what I can only describe as a huge grin on my face. Look people, just go and see this band, see them because the playing is amazing, see them because they groove so hard, see them to let yourself go and get loose.

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