The Suddenly Kate Show

Venue: 100 Club (Oxford St, London)

I have never been to this venue before and was surprised to find it located between Ann Summers & a GAME shop. There's a joke in there somewhere!

As soon as you enter the building you walk down a corridor and then there are some stairs down into the venue. The first thing I noticed was that it was much smaller than I had imagined. It was probably about the same size as the Cavern Club in Liverpool (if you have ever been there) or a 25 metre swimming pool. There was a bar at each end (only one was open) and the stage was in the centre along one of the long walls. All the walls were adorned with photographs of musicians who have played there and some of them were signed. There was a small stacks of chairs (bright orange plastic circa 1970 if you're interested) and about 4 small tables. It was pretty well lit in that it wasn't too dark and it wasn't too bright either. Most of the lighting was red though (again there is a strange…

This band only appeared as a twitter follower of mine on 10th July but after listening to a few tracks I knew that I wanted to review their latest album. As much as I like music that is different, that challenges my opinions and opens me up to a whole new genre, I was happy to hear this more traditional indie rock band.





The Chase are a five-piece band from Portsmouth made up of:

1. Michael Turvey - Guitar, Lead Vocals, Piano
2. Luke Jerome - Bass
3. Ralph Humby - Drums
4. Harry Street - Guitars
5. Ben Riley - Keyboards, Saxophone, Backing Vocals

They have been compared to The Jam, Stereophonics, White Stripes, & Oasis. The lead singers voice is very much like that of Liam Gallagher in style and I have struggled to find someone else who he sounds more like. So I scrolled their Twitter feed and someone on Twitter said they reminded them of the Bluetones! Lets see...

the Bluetones - Bluetonic



Undecided? Lets take a look at the first EP. The EP called 'Ever, Never or Now?' was…

Now for something a little different! I have probably been aware of this band since around the same time as Monsters Calling Home, which is a fair long while before the bands that I have blogged about so far. It was way back, when I reviewed the Mutineers, that I mentioned how I liked a singer with a distinctive and memorable voice. This bands singer’s voice is very deep and to me it sounds as though he has a bubble in his throat and that intrigued me. The band are originally from Croatia (now living in NYC) and the vocals are also affected by the fact that English is the singers second language. From the very first listen I immediately knew that they would be listened to a lot. It’s just a shame they only have one EP out.
The band is made up of;

Frane Paic - vocal/guitar
Allen Jurisic - guitar
Tico Jay - keyboards
Nikolai Lush - drums.


Sadly there isn't much online about them even though they have been around for 10 years and were very successful in Croatia (as Indigo), they …

All this new music has me feeling guilty about the oldies. What with me being an oldie too, I would hate to get overlooked, and also new music is influenced by the old stuff. So, this Friday is the start of Flashback Fridays - every Friday I will review a band who were big back in the day or still are or are making (made) a comeback. This first Friday I want to share with you the music of Garbage.

Why?
They have just released a new album, one which I am champing at the bit to buy – tomorrow is the big day! - they’re by no means a new band. They released their first album in 1994/5 simply called Garbage. Formed in Wisconsin, US with a leader singer from Scotland they made a splash with their first release.

I was in my teens at the time and was desperate for some contrast to the Spice Girls (who were just far too cheesy pop for me – ok, I admit it, I may have sang along to ziga zig ah on occasion). The indie bands that came out at that time such as; Oasis & Blur were very much male d…

I have posted reviews on bands from Manchester and London so far and I thought I should write one about a local band from Milton Keynes - but my (unwritten) rules are that they must follow me on Twitter to get my attention and sadly none from MK have.

But...
...there is a band called Catching Rockets from a town about 30 minutes away from here (Nothampton) So I decided to check out what they have to offer. **EDIT: ust discovered that they rehears in MK, so I am gonna claim them as my local band :P - hope they don't mine!**


Firstly, what I found out about them...
Originally a 2 piece, they are now a 3 piece stomp acoustic band made up of Steve Marshall, Jack Frankland and Sam Richardson. Their debut EP was released in April 2012 and its called 'for then, now and future reference'. If like me, you just read 'stomp acoustic' and thought, huh?! Well, there is no simple definition but I am interpreting it as acoustic music with a constant heavy beat throughout, as if you…

I first heard Narrow Plains in May after they followed me on Twitter and I decided to check them out. They are a 3-piece acoustic band, consisting of Charlie Ferriday and brothers Roger and Stuart Connick. They are fairly different to the bands that I have reviewed up till now but as I listen to a wide mix, I wanted to represent that in my choice of reviews. Narrow Plains have produced a 5 track upbeat, catchy first E.P. called 'Somewhere in Between'. So lets...

Say Hi!

 
When I first listened to them they reminded me of someone else..but I can't seem to put my finger on a single artist. Having listened to some artists/bands who I thought of whilst trying to think of the one I couldn't think of, I found these. In most cases it is a particular track, here are those that they remind me of in some way:
Streetlight - Joshua Radin

...the voice...
Stay With Me (acoustic) - You Me At Six


A funny clip and again the voice.

Clouds - Newton Faulkner

I hope those clips weren…

So, this is the last Manchester band for a while (at least I think so) but I really do need to review them and finish off the Manchester hat trick! Especially as they appeared on my radar at the same time as Amida and Mutineers.


So, lets say hello to 'The Slow Readers Club'

The slow readers club consists of;
1. Aaron Starkie - Vocals / Keyboard
2. Kurtis Starkie - Vocals / Guitar
3. James Ryan - Bass
4. Neil Turvin - Drums

Whilst Amida leaned toward being everything-esque, The Slow Readers Club (SRC) have the monopoly on the everything-ish describer. Puressence-ish, Doves-ish, early Killers, Interpol, Arcade Fire, Editors and Pigeon Detectives are all bands mentioned in reviews and on their website. Naturally, I needed to check out the comparisons.
The Comparisons
I listened to all those listed above and I personally thought that the similarity with Arcade Fire and Pigeon Detectives was too tenuous for me to include here, but feel free to disagree. There was also 12 seconds…