I don’t normally post stuff like this but I can imagine it would affect a fair few people that might read this site (including me!).

From Kilomanjaro Events

SUNNY DAY REAL ESTATE have been forced to postpone their highly anticipated debut UK show which was due to take place on 22nd April at London’s Forum. The show has been re-scheduled for 31st May. All tickets purchased for the original show are transferable and remain valid.

Not sure if you can get your money back on tickets (I’m trying!), but it’s a bad date as it’s a couple of days after Primavera Sound (thankfully I’ll catch them there).

Shame it was announced so close to the event, just hoping I can claim all expenditure back!

It gives me great pleasure to announce that the first entry in the “Sessions @ Snug” series is finally done! The session was recorded earlier this month and is now online for your viewing pleasure!

MASSIVE thanks go out to Robbie at The Snug Recording Co, the band themselves and to all those that gave positive feedback to the whole idea of these sessions.

We all agreed that there wasn’t much point in uploading just the audio as it takes away the complexity of what both members actually perform live, so enjoy the videos below!

And for those of you who want to be able to listen to this on the move then here’s the audio.

What did you lose?

Crushing Blows – What Did You Lose? from Basic Text on Vimeo.

Lucy

Crushing Blows – Lucy from Basic Text on Vimeo.

Nightworker

Crushing Blows – Nightworker from Basic Text on Vimeo.

Liberate Yourself

Crushing Blows – Liberate Yourself from Basic Text on Vimeo.

Next up is the arduous task of trying to get two bands (Grown Ups/Into It. Over It.) done in a similar time scale so expect that session to be up mid June.

Once again, thanks to everyone who offered support for this little project.

Originally intended for release in February as part of the launch for British Label Big Scary Monsters’ US arm, Castevet’s “The Echo & the Light” is finally seeing the light of day via Tiny Engines Records (Tigers Jaw, Look Mexico, and Everyone Everywhere).
The Tiny Engines version sees the original 6 track ep being not only re recorded but also expanded to 8 tracks via 2 brand new songs and for the collectors out there, the record is being offered in 2 flavours. 200 copies on 180 gram black vinyl and 300 copies on white, whilst for those in the East, Japanese Label Stiffslack Records is issuing a cd version of the release.
Pre-orders for the record can be found here, whilst over on the band’s Myspace they’re streaming 2 of the re recorded tracks plus one of the new songs.
The records are expected to ship in late May, and as soon as I’m back from Primavera, I’ll be placing my order!

I really enjoyed the original version of the ep but I felt that the production let it down somewhat so hopefully the re recordings will do the songs more justice.

Apologies for the pun.

“The Last Place You’ll Look” finds We Were Promised Jetpacks taking a much more evolved form than that of their debut effort “These Four Walls”, in the sense that most of the conventional dynamics that the band employed have been ditched in favour of a darker, more brooding tone.

Of the 5 tracks on “The Last Place You’ll Look” only 3 are new, with 2 being tracks from the aforementioned debut, however we do get to witness the band revisiting them in their newly evolved form. This means seeing them in a much more intimate environment, stripping down the songs and rebuilding them with the aid of strings and the same driving force as before but with a revitalised sense of energy about them.
Short Bursts sees it’s pace and thumping drums dropped in favour of a sparse yet beautiful twinkle accompanied by sustained strings that could bring a person to their knees, whilst This is my House, This is my Home sees it taking a very similar path to the original only minus the distorted freak out towards the end.

As for the new music, only A Far Cry and With the Benefit of Hindsight offer any form of insight into what the next full length will contain as The Walls are Wear Thin serves mainly as a prelude to the latter of the two. A Far Cry would certainly be the lead track, easing the listener in via the more typical aspects of the band we’ve come to expect but also hinting at the changes to follow in due course.

My only worry for the future is that despite their progression as a band that’s shown here, they now evoke stronger comparisons to their fellow Scots Frightened Rabbit and The Twilight Sad with this sound. I found “These Four Walls” to be a breath of fresh air with this current run of bands and that it offered something that these two bands didn’t, hopefully WWPJ can still retain their identity whilst constantly moving forward on the next record.

The record is currently being streamed via Fat Cat Records if you fancy a listen!

A couple of weeks ago I had the good fortune of being able to see Franz Nicolay in small intimate environment for the bargain price of £2 thanks to Dean & Rob (Check out the Derby DIY Collective for future gigs). It also marked the first gig in a long time whereby I didn’t end up wasted and am subsequently able to remember most of the evening!

We arrived a little late and ended up missing most of the supports although we caught the last bit of Giles’ set which sounded pretty ace.

Rather than playing in the corner out of sight like the supports, Nicolay decided to move the stage so to speak to the centre of the coffee house (and also ending up accidentally blocking the route to the toilet, something he later apologised for), allowing all 25 or so people there to get a full view.

Nicolay is a true entertainer (something he informed us had been declared official by two governments), aside from the music he is a brilliant story teller who had the attention of the whole crowd with his tales of tours and his song writing process.

I initially entered the show with fairly expectations. I was expecting a bout of good music but was also weary of the whole “One man and an accordion” setup, something that in hindsight was extremely naïve of me. I wasn’t prepared for the belly bursting bouts of laughter either, both his banter and songs were injected with a certain amount of humour that you couldn’t help but laugh along to.

Switching between an acoustic guitar, an accordion and a banjo, Nicolay recited songs about supporting the reformed Dead Kennedy’s (minus one crucial member) and the little lies you tell to get through the day amongst others, culminating in a cover of a Jimmy Granty song involving Nicolay dancing on tables, banjo in hand.

While not completely redefining my opinions on Singer/Songwriter gigs, Nicolay certainly eased me back into being interested in going to solo gigs, it’s just a shame that not everyone puts as much effort in as he does.

This time round the podcast has gone lo-fi! (well only because my trial of photoshop ran out so I had to make do with paint!)

A few new and (as far as I’m aware) exclusive tracks in this one, including Grown Ups (don’t forgot they’re on tour in May including Derby on the 18th), Everyone Everywhere and Castevet (this is a rough version, the tracks have been re recorded as part of a larger release) so enjoy!

As usual the Podcast can be either downloaded here (please right click and choose “Save As”) or streamed via Mixcloud Player at the bottom of the page.

Tracklist:-
1. Kudrow – Blink-182 reunion (link)

2. Mixtapes – The Mixtapes Misplaced Missed Takes (link)

3. Calvinball – Nobody Throws Me My Gun and Says Run… Nobody(link)

4. Fashanu – Bruce Lee’s Ghost Drinks Diet Coke (link)

5. Everyone Everywhere – Fld Over (link)

6. Weed Hounds – Embrace (more or less) (link)

7. Failure’s Union – Lake Erie Nosedive (link)

8. Summer People – Broken Bones (link)

9. Dear Landlord – Three to the Beach (link)

10. Castevet – Hiccups (link)

11. Direct Hit! – Snickers Or Reece’s (Pick Up The Pieces) (link)

12. Sundials – Names That Matter Most (link)

13. Tubers – These Quantum Leaps Are Killing Me (link)

14. Once There Were Dinosuars – Drum & Bass Song (link)

15. Grown Ups – Three Day Weekend (link)

16. Museum Mouth – No Offense (link)

17. Post Harbour – With a Line Graph I Can Tell the Future (link)

Will over at Sound As Language has recently started a media section of the website whereby you can download a bunch of records all well within the law.

So far there’s records from Communipaw, Fever Sleeves, Choke Up, Museum Mouth and the recently added …for science (not the pop punk band!).
So head on over and give them a download!

Right then, I’ve finally gotten off my arse and started doing something productive!
As of April we will be recording live sessions with bands at the Snug Recording Co.
The main premise is to take the bands in for 2-3 hours and come out with a live set in both audio and video form. The video side of things is going to be a little harder as we can record it all but I need to get my head around of some video editing software first so any advice is welcome.

First up is Crushing Blows the Swad/Donington 2 piece comprised of Chris & Foster who have already been covered here on Basic Text, this is being recorded on 3rd April so expect it on the site shortly after that date.

After that we have a double bill of Grown Ups & Into It. Over It. on 18th May doing a quick session before they play @ Big Blue that night.

As for the third, it’s looking like it will be Wooderson but details are still being ironed out on that one, should be June though.

The calendar is then clear, so if you’re in a band or are a label looking to promote a band, let me know and we’ll see if something can be worked out. Please spread the word as much as possible as I think it can really benefit the bands involved.

On a sad note, this may mean having a banner at the top of the site so I can at least cover either hosting fees or the studio fees, so once again if you want to advertise on the site, just let me know.

Not long now!

It doesn’t take long to realise what kind of album “The Upsides” is going to be, it even opens with a cliché that’s far too overused in the genre, a softly sung intro accompanied by gentle picking that eventually swells into the blazing drums and guitar. Unfortunately “The Upsides” is ridden with these clichés. Gang shouts and “whoas” being the main re-occurring offenders, which I can sometimes overlook but bundled with the other problems make it just too much for me.

With all that said, “The Upsides” does have a couple of redeeming features. Buried beneath the layers of cheese lie some pretty amazing riffs, especially the opening to “This Party Sucks”, and you can’t fault the band’s abilities at all, every note is executed with sheer precision but on the flip side you always feel like it’s a little too clean cut keeping you distanced from it.

Music like this has always been a guilty pleasure of mine in small doses but unfortunately “The Upsides” doesn’t really give me a reason to throw those records away, there’s no doubt that The Wonder Years are going to get pretty big, but it’s just not my cup of tea. The Point I think I’m trying to make is that if you somehow own a New Found Glory album then you don’t need “The Upsides”, not that I do.

P.s. good call on the use of “tripping balls” in New Years With Carl Weathers.

This Party Sucks

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