The Dust Has Settled... and Thatcher Protest Music

Dear Readers,

With dissertation duty reaching its nadir I haven't had the chance to blog for a while but that's out the way now and with almost two weeks having passed since the death of 'Baroness' Thatcher, I thought I'd have a little look back at how she's been received on both the social media end of things and in the news.

First of all I want to discuss what I believe to be my own role in her death. So strangely enough the subject of  my dissertation  was the media's role in the defeat of the unions during the 1984 miners strikes. On the day of Thatcher's death a course mate was proof reading it for me and uttered the words, 'Right I'm going to move on to Max's third chapter, 'Thatcher's Army', this should be fun'. A few milliseconds later (I kid you not) another course mate on my other side was to utter the resounding statement, 'Thatcher's fucking dead'. It was hard to believe at first and we in fact point blank refused to but the BBC News home page never lies and slowly the realisation set in that I had doomed our ex-PM. I should write dissertations about tyrants more frequently (and yes I am describing her as a tyrant). Maybe Gadaffi could have been brought down way earlier if I'd chosen the topic of British Foreign Policy in Libya.

Anyway, in 2013 whenever an event like this happens out of the blue the twitter feeds erupt and should probably be recorded for examination in 20 years time or so. Examining twitter after the Boston marathon bombings my feed looked something like this:

First ten minutes- Basic news reports.

Next twenty minutes- Sympathy for the victims/sympathy towards runners who'd put in such maximum effort for 26 miles and had their day ended in nightmare (there were reports of some of the participants going straight to the blood banks to help the victims. To call them legends would, if anything, be a bit of an understatement).

Next half hour- Journalists get involved. Start informing us of how this is 'of course a tragedy' but tragedies such as this one are happening daily in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria etc.

Following hour- Others jump on the 'this is happening elsewhere daily and no one knows anything or gives a shit' bandwagon. My feed has now been transformed from basic news coverage to wild conspiracy theories and everything in between.

It is indeed fascinating. With Thatcher's death, Facebook and Twitter were alight with arguments over whether the death of a frail old lady should be celebrated. Personally, I don't believe it should. Margaret Thatcher did some terrible things which are still impacting us today but the times to have celebrated have passed and as much as I despise her offspring (Carol is an idiot and Mark is as crooked as the leaning tower of Pisa) it wouldn't be fair on them to see such public hate towards their recently-deceased mother. The time to celebrate and demonise may have been 1990, the year the Tory Party decided enough was enough and ousted her, or possibly it was 1997 when the Tories as a whole were ousted by that wily old fox Blair. Either way, 2013 is definitely way too late to be burning model witches and drinking Maggie's own weight in beer as a form of send-off.

A couple of objections I have however. Firstly, what on earth gives the older generation the right to tell students they can't form an opinion over Thatcher. This is something I've seen on Facebook way too much in the past week. Most of the people I know at University are intelligent and intuitive enough to have formed rounded opinions on Thatcher's reign and you don't simply need to have lived through an era to have formed an opinion on it (see the 'I hate Hitler but wasn't alive in 1930's Nazi Germany' line of argument). Secondly, I have to say that I've in general objected to what the media have been saying about the woman. Her achievements have been broadcast above her failures and yet her failures were far far greater. She let us become a divided nation while doing little to solve an economic rut and was tyrannical in her dealings with anyone who objected. While headlines such as this one from the Sun are simply amusing and not worth writing about, what's more of an issue is decent establishments like the Times writing neutral obituaries of the woman which cloud the events of the 1980's. Coming across phrases such as 'she achieved so much for women' are ever-so-slightly stomach-churning. Make no mistake, Thatcher did absolutely nowt for women's progression in society. She viewed herself as a gender-neutral human being and wiped out any advancements being made in the second-wave of feminism. It wasn't until she left office that feminism gained speed again. History will undoubtedly forget this fact and in 20 or 30 years time she'll be seen as one of the most important women for the advancement of feminism in the 20th century. This is an untruth.

So there you have it. My final thoughts are that now she's been laid to the rest we can move on and consign her to the back pages of the dustiest history books. After a three-month dissertation and two weeks of non-stop broadcasting, I for one am all Thatchered out.

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Below are a few Thatcher protest songs from bands around England, Billy Bragg's 'Between the Wars' is particularly powerful. On a totally unrelated note The Crookes (subjects of my first ever blog) have released a new single and it's a good un'.Anyone who lives around the Broomhill area in Sheffield may have caught their acoustic set outside The Record Collector on National Record Store Day. It was a rare moment of sun and they greeted the good weather by playing a thrilling half-hour set while the lead singer even found time to halt the journey of a number 52 bus.

Hope you all enjoyed.

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Bastille... and To Kill A King

Hello and Happy Easter/Passover,

Been a while. Being home for Easter, I went to see Bastille at Shepherds Bush Empire the other day so thought I'd shape this blog as a bit more of a gig review, tying in nicely with the fact that the support band formed at Leeds Uni.

Bastille are a bit of an anomaly. Before gaining ludicrous mainstream success over the past month due to the success of new single 'Pompeii', they had a highly-established cult following. Listening to 'Pompeii' and new single 'Flaws' (a song which gets the award for most times the title is infuriatingly repeated in the lyrics (When all of your FLAWS/ and all of my FLAWS are laid out one by one)) this would be a difficult idea to grasp. However if you wind back to way before the release of debut no.1 album Bad Blood, Bastille had a mix tape Other People's Heartache which contained such gems as quirky little dance covers of 'Rhythm is a Dancer' and City High's 'What Would You Do' (that one about the prostitute). These covers are still included in their live sets and undoubtedly received the warmest receptions of the night. Bad Blood is good but definitely not great and there are enough fillers which could have been ditched for some of these original mix tape tracks but their live performance was pretty much faultless. While incredibly ill at ease when attempting crowd banter, lead singer Dan Smith comes into his own when singing and the climax of the show whereby he wondered around seating areas the performing a well-received 'Flaws' was really quite impressive.

Also present at Shepherds Bush on the night was Dan Smith's doppelganger Radio 1 DJ, Nick Grimshaw. Someone in the standing area spotted him sat at level 1 seating just before Bastille were to take to the stage and what followed was ten minutes of extreme neck-craning. Celebrities turning up to watch other celebrities is always enjoyable, especially when they're pretty fucking identical to each other. When Dan Smith went for a wonder up to the stalls during 'Flaws' I definitely felt there was a connection. Anyway, I've got no idea what I've been trying to say over these past three paragraphs but basically whatever your take on Bastille, they are definitely worth a watch. Here are the said doppelgangers:











In true pretentious music-blogger fashion, and despite Bastille's quality showing, the group I was really excited for on Friday night were support act To Kill A King. These guys are currently based in London but formed at Leeds Uni where their fantastically named lead singer Ralph Pelleymounter was best buddies, and shared a flat with, none other than Bastille's Dan Smith (they can be seen collaborating below for TKAK's epic single 'Choices' in what I must describe as one of the most beautiful YouTube videos I've seen in a good while) . However, if you think they were chosen as support acts purely through nepotism then you'd be very much mistaken.

TKAK are undoubtedly the best new band I've heard this calendar year. They mix the soulful vocals and lyrics of Editors with a more upbeat indie feel (think early non-shit Coldplay mixed with early non-shit Cribs), the two of which combine to form recent LP Cannibals with Cutlery  which should really be gracing most of the 'Best of 2013' lists come December. The album has been described by Q as dressed in beautiful epic indie and new wave threads while Artrocker referred to is as A broad stroke of an album- all jaunty guitars, massive choruses and intimate moments of romance, and the best news is that they're yet to catch the watchful eye of NME; the 'Sauron's Eye' of the musical world. 

Previous to Cannibals with Cutlery, TKAK released two EP's. One, Word of Mouth, contains four tracks off Cannibals along with two older songs in 'Howling' and 'Let It Die' while the other, My Crooked Saint, was released a year previous and contains the mightily impressive 'Bloody Shirt' which is one of the tunes linked below.

A Support slot with Bastille will undoubtedly increase the mainstream support of this humble quintet and it will all be thoroughly deserved. Within minutes of Bastille's closing song, Pelleymounter had taken to the Shepherd's Bush sidewalk outside the venue in order to promote his band and advertise their newly-announced headline tour (they're playing London's Scala next week and I'm thoroughly pissed I can't make it). In a brief chat with him I ascertained that humble is definitely the word. He has no idea how much TKAK are liked and critically appreciated but spent most of our conversation talking up Dan Smith and co. Pelleymounter has also developed a compilation album recorded in his flat and affectionately referred to as Ralph's Balcony- The Collection. All proceeds were donated to Great Ormond Street and features collaborations with none other than, yep, you guessed correctly, Dan Smith from Bastille.

Listen to the tracks linked below with all your heart while simultaneously admiring the decor of this room.

Away from this one random gig in Shepherds Bush, I've been listening to Birmingham indie whizz-kids Peace and their debut In Love released last Monday and it's a corker; highly recommended.

Cheers as always for reading.

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Pope Francis; The Facts... and Feral Brood

Hello again,

I'm slightly pushed for time and high on stress as I've just had to spend the last hour power-walking to a desolate Royal Mail Sorting Office to pick up a laptop charger and I'm still 8,000 words away from completing a dissertation so thought I'd throw out five fun facts about our new Catholic saviour. Yes, it will be forcibly dry, and yes, it will be forcibly witty.

1. He's from South America, pretty fucking cool, nothing to criticise on that front. It also means...

2. He's not a former member of the Hitler Youth. Anyone who read my blog from about a month ago, the old Pope was actually a child Nazi. Good on Francis for having shaken off those particular shackles.

3. He's the first ever Pope Francis so the hipsters should love him, he don't take shit  from no man. Picking a papal name for yourself must be literally the most fun thing in the world, it would be like being able to pick your own name from birth rather than having one unknowingly forced upon you. I'd love it if we had a British Pope some day and he went for a proper old-school British name... Pope Keith IV, Pope Stanley VII etc.

4. Apparently he's a pretty humble guy. Rather than taking a private car from the Sistine Chapel to the Vatican once he'd been announced the victor, he told his security guards to piss off and got on the bus with the rest of the papal lads. Some call it being humble, I call it being media-savvy (ouch).

5. He actually came second to the previous Pope in 2005. I'm immediately  making comparisons with the Blair/Brown scenario but with this guy being Blair and the old guy being Brown owing to his having all the charisma and charm of a grizzly bear. Francis had obviously been lying away for eight years stewing up a big plan to overthrow Benedict, although his remarkably short reign has made things a hell of a lot easier, it's all a bit 'Angels and Demons'-esque.

That's your lot. For more information, consult someone who actually knows something about the Catholic Church and hasn't had to solely rely on Google searches. Amen.

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When I blogged about Blue Lip Feel about a month ago, they were kind enough to both Re-Tweet me and recommend me some new and fresh up-and-coming bands from Yorkshire. These were Bang Bang Romeo, The Twin Bears and Feral Brood. While the first two will undoubtedly be mentioned in the next few weeks, this week I've been focusing on the Brood.

With a supporting slot at Sheffield's Plug tonight with Downtown Roots (another band to look out for), I thought this would be the best time to promote Feral Brood's dazzling mix of old-school guitar riffs and penchant for exciting vocals and lyrics. 

Forming as late as January 2012, these guys have already made waves in the Yorkshire scene with over 1000 Twitter and FB followers indicative of a growing cult-following. Unfortunately, they have very little released music but this only means there's way more to come and EP Into The Woods, released a few weeks back is already available on iTunes. Into The Woods is one of those records that I like to describe as a breath of fresh air for the music industry. It's widely influenced by a number of high-class outfits, including amongst others The Raconteurs and Zeppelin, and the interchangeable vocals of Phil Goodwin and Dan Williamson give it a consistently fresh feel. First single 'Machine' is the most fast-paced and introduces the Brood with a decent bang, there's also a happy reminder about how to spell Machines in the middle of the chorus if anyone had forgotten or struggles with spelling. 'Cold' is up next and is undoubtedly my favourite. It's a love song reeking of desperation but kind of in a good way if anyone knows what I'm on about and the closing riff is just fantastic, lowering itself to an acoustic ballad before rising back into crescendo and a final chorus, they are 'hiding in the eyes of frost bite' apparently. 'You Are The Sea' is the closer and exhibits a softer side to their sound but with an equally compelling riff.

That's the EP covered, now the important thing is to try and catch a live performance,described on their FB page as leaving crowds, 'discombobulated in a hurricane of inexorable guitars and efficacious vocals'. Whomever wrote this is great with words. Now go forth and enjoy..

Cheers as always for reading,

Max.

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Happy International Women's Day... and Joe Banfi

Hello Again,

Another two-week absence which again I can only apologise for, dissertation reading and the general stresses of life have consigned me to the continuous 'putting-off' of blogging. However, it's a new dawn, it's a new day, a new life, for me etc etc.

Yesterday was International Women's Day and I first and foremost wanted to wish everyone a good one. Looking through the FB and Twitter feeds yesterday I gauged a mixed reaction to the event, some of which came as a surprise and some slightly less so.

 It was great to see people praising the event, both males and females talking about particular people who've inspired them as, while this may sound a tad cliched, it was raising awareness which is basically the point and although I forgot to check I'm hopeful that #IWD was trending at some point- these things are important today.

Now the real cliches of the day that were literally making me tear my fucking hair out were the, 'Why should it only be one day. Doesn't this defeat the point of feminism' and even worse still, 'Does this mean we should get an international men's day... or is 'IMD' just the other 364 days of the year' (Imagine me saying said cliches in a whiny imitative voice of no one in particular). And why should these make me tear out my hair in said fashion... well what critics of IWD need to understand is that raising awareness of the basic issues which underlie our society is the sole goal of IWD and other events like it. We're going through a transitional phase as we push for equality in what is still a pretty damn unequal society (unequal pay, lack of representation in politics, everyday sexism in the media, the list goes on). If the next generation can start appreciating the struggles women have experienced, even just in the 20th century, then maybe we can go just a little further in understanding the plight of women and building towards closing the gender gap. It's happening with Black History Month in the same manner and I believe vast improvements are being made in that respect. Positive discrimination is important.

Suzanne Moore, writer for the Guardian, makes a decent point in this article that IWD feels a little bit 'cupcakey' and has recently become de-politicised with talks of the dangers of female circumision mixed with the celebration of an obscure female singer from the Far East. However, I don't really believe it need be overly political. Once you get politics into the mix, the next generation immediately loses interest. How about maybe we focus the other 364 days on the political side of things?

#rantover

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I fully appreciate the fact that I really should have covered a woman today in this section but it's Saturday morning as I'm writing this and I've found an absolute gem so that'll have to wait. I also appreciate just as much for any fans of Joe Banfi that he's in fact from Northwich in Cheshire but that's not too far a cry from Yorkshire and I refer you to the previous sentence on said time of day, apologies all round. Anyway, Banfi played the Sheffield Harley the other day and while I missed out on the gig, I heard wonderful things.

Joe Banfi's done a pretty remarkable thing and mixed in traditional folk with a dark layer of grunge. On his illustrious FB page, he cites influences as far-reaching as Bruce Springsteen, Nirvana, Nick Drake, and strangely enough the Deftones, who's 'Cleverness... influences his songwriting to date'. A fine mix, and one which has contributed to his uniqueness. I suppose all great artists are born from many.

With two EP's out on Communion (Ben Howard, Gotye, Michael Kiwanuka), Banfi seems destined for bigger things. First EP, 'Iron' came out in September of last year and did brilliantly on the review front, Ben Dorey of Now Then Magazine referred to it as, 'Providing a raw emotion that makes his work so captivating'. It's hard to disagree, lead single 'Guts and Bones' is soulful and deeply fulfilling and his cover within a cover in the form of Nirvana's, 'Where Did You Sleep Last Night' gives the traditional American folk song a further twist.

With 'Iron' an undoubted success for Communion, new EP 'Nomads' was released six weeks ago and, even in the limited time offered to Banfi to develop, there is a definite progression in both the vocal ability and the lyrical prowess of a record which has been occupying my headphones all week. The title track is an epic and has been linked below while 'Olive Green' is definitely a goosebump-inducer with the personability of the lyrics making the listener pause for thought- 'Only the green boots by the back door make me feel safe'. Also hang on until the final minute of closer 'Oarsmen' to hear the full extent to which Nirvana have had an influence over him.

Don't know if he'd take this as an insult but I reckon if Alt-J did purely folk-grunge rather than 'folky, poppy, psychedelic, punk, indie, grunge' then they'd sound just a little bit like Joe. The unique croaky twinge of his vocals definitely draws parallels with his namesake in Alt-J Joe Newman. Hope he's a fan.

Joe Banfi's currently midway through a mini tour of the UK and if you get a chance to see him then take it hands down, although I'm assured that he's a regular tourer. Keep on doing what you're doing Joe and keep on looking just a little bit like the ex-Doctor Who actor Christoper Eccleston.

Cheers to all for reading. Back next week,

Max

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Doing the Harlem Shake... and Blue Lip Feel

Afternoon,

I came back to Sheffield from a friend's birthday in Birmingham last weekend to be greeted with a new craze the likes of which has never been seen before. I'm not usually one for crazes but this one for reasons unknown has absolutely fucking encapsulated me.

For those of you unfamiliar with what a Harlem Shake is, I've linked one below. It's began as a mix supposedly created by a guy called Bauer who's this week been arguing with Azaelia Banks ('I guess this **** getting eaten') over copyright. Turns out she's still using the song anyway and I imagine Bauer's getting loads of coverage out of it so everybody wins it seems. The idea is that for the first ten seconds one person in a room of multiple people starts dancing and then when the drop arrives through the magical use of edit everyone in the room joins in in a variety of different and sometimes hilarious contexts.

Most of the ones I've watched have either involved morph suits, or masses of rugby lads suddenly being naked and forcing their heads against each other. Whatever you're into, there are seemingly hundreds doing the rounds on YouTube, including this one of a loan washing machine- intriguing stuff.

Linked at the bottom is the current world record holder, done by students at UCL. At last week's Tuesday Club, Sheffield resident Toddla T decided to give the Shake his own little twist and the result was pure quality, definitely one of the best I've seen.

Lord only knows why I've taken such an active interest in this most simple of crazes but there you go, it's been on my mind all week and simply had to be put in writing. 

I also thoroughly enjoyed this little meme. Cats seem to have a say on everything these days.

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My band of the week may or may not like the Harlem Shake, I really wouldn't have a clue. Blue Lip Feel practise traditional rock 'n' roll and do it with ease. Formed in Sheffield a few years ago, they've released two EP's, both of which have been well received, and their name has, in recent times, been doing the rounds at venues around Sheffield, Leeds and the surrounding towns (if anyone caught them at the Barnsley Lycorum last night then it's likely you had a cracking time). They can also be seen supporting NME favourites Tribes of late which is no mean feat, although for me they could be considered just as good as the Camden four-piece.

They've released two EP's in the past couple of years, 'Shallow Getaway' in September 2011 and 'Glitterbox' in July 2012. 'Glitterbox' being the main material they're currently drawing from on tour and the EP I've been listening to the most in the past week or so. 

Lead single 'Of The New Kind' is raunchy and delivers a startling amount of attitude. Guitars are almost reminiscent of Queens Of The Stone Age and Oliver Tooze on vocals is as powerful as anything. You definitely get the feeling they know exactly what they're capable of, don't try and overdo it but also feel no need to work within any manner of limitation. The self-titled single 'Glitterbox' doesn't stray too much from what the other tracks off the EP deliver but the chorus is ever-so-slightly more endearing and the ensuing riff in the final minutes is probably the highlight of the record.

Critics are just as complimentary as I'm being, Counterfeit called the EP, 'a beautifully balanced mixture of all the instruments' (questionable grammar and writing style it must be said) and Sound of Steel referred to them as 'one of the most ferocious live acts of the city'. The reaction of the local music press doesn't particularly surprise me as this is just the kind of music their doesn't seem to be enough of. If you can deliver decent rock music and be loved on a cult level then you're definitely doing something right.

As I implied earlier, Blue Lip Feel are currently on a mini-tour of the North and 'Glitterbox' is well worth a listen. Kind of wish they'd cheer up a bit though.

That's all for now, apologies for the hurried nature of this post but dissertation stress appears to be causing me regular heart palpitations.

Max

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#LaptopProblems... and East Park Reggae Collective

Good afternoon,

Many apologies for my absence last week but I was otherwise indisposed, or as my housemate far more bluntly put it, I was on my period. The reason for this sudden rush of female hormones (just to clarify for people who are reading this for the first time I am in fact male) was totally laptop-related, hence the lack of blog post.

I was intelligent enough to leave a half open water bottle in a bag containing my laptop and various other important studenty paraphernalia and everything got covered. Thinking my laptop was destined for the scrap heap, I followed the sound advice of a friend and popped it in the boiler cupboard for 48 hours and hey presto it's miraculously fixed, albeit with a whopping great water mark in the middle of the screen. I just want to add at this juncture that I point blank refused to follow the advice of just about everybody in the world and cover it in FUCKING RICE. Next thing we know we'll be using cooked pasta to cure broken legs. If rice does in fact work then I'm highly apologetic.

In other news... The Pope retired. This is a piece of information that isn't exactly going to set my surrounding world alight with sadness but has instead been met with a flurry of paedo/ex-Benedict jokes. Also, I've been spending the week telling anyone who can be bothered to listen that, as a youngster, our Mr Benedict was in the Hitler Youth so I reckon the papal system could maybe do with a bit of a reform before we end up with one of Stalin's grandsons or the like.

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Been meaning to cover these guys for a while. I first saw this raunchy reggae troop on a freezing night at Sheffield's Tuesday Club around about two years ago and they made a cracking impression on me. General interaction with the crowd is fantastic, they got us moving like crazy and their highly-rated mix of old-school reggae fused with modern dub was of the highest quality. The reggae-dub mix is especially notable in 'Ruffneck For Real', a tune which packs an absolute punch if ever I've heard one as old-school reggae slides breezily into fast-paced dub then smoothly back to reggae.

Forming in Leeds in 2009, EPRC's rise to cult Yorkshire fame has been quick and painless and they have released a stream of records since. With ten official members, including Joel Borkin now we're talkin' (the man with the world's craziest nickname) on 'Sound Science', a word has to be said of vocalist Anna Stott whose quirky voice with a Jamaican tang shines through on each track and colours each with a slightly different feel. She's undoubtedly one of the best female vocalists I've heard for quite a while.

Modern reggae that isn't shit is incredibly difficult to come by so it's an absolute testament to these guys that they've achieved so much. The critics are full of praise, Time Out gave EPRC some seriously high praise, 'Could well be the first band since The Specials to bring reggae to the massive' while Rockers Revolt described them as 'Sensational'. What they have to say about themselves via Facebook is almost as impressive. Speaking of their live shows they claim, 'No heart is left untouched. No foot remains unmoved'. Having experienced one of their live shows, I am in total agreement.

Have a butchers at their soundcloud and you won't be disappointed. They regularly tour around Yorkshire and the North-East and you could probably get a ticket for under a tenner (I get the feeling profit matters very little for these aficionados). I've linked 'Ruffneck for Real at the bottom along with another of my favourites, 'Build a Wall'. Soundcloud exhibits a far wider range of their stuff.

This photo makes them look pretty fucking cool.

Away from Yorkshire, I've been rather pre-occupied with The Foals new album 'Holy Fire' this week. Foals have now in my mind officially established themselves in the Max Goldbart top 5 with a record showcasing their sheer musical ability- well worth a listen. Also, swinging back to Yorkshire, Hot Since 82 who I covered a few weeks ago has just released 'Hot Jams Volume 2' and had a 15 minute takeover of Pete Tong's Radio 1 show the other day. Watch out for this house connoisseurs' continued rise to stardom.

Until next week (save for me chucking another gallon of water over my laptop and experiencing a speedy build up of oestrogen).

Max

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High Speed Fail...and Screaming Maldini/Temple Of Coke

Konnichi Wa,

I was kind of horrified by reports on Monday that the government are planning to inject billions into a new high speed rail system known as HS2- set to be completed in 2032. It's the most ridiculously British of announcements- a gigantic audacious plan set to be completed far off into the future and obviously involving trains.

Just thinking about what my life will be like in 2032 makes my stomach turn- married, kids and an annoyingly steady job; scary stuff.

The building works aren't even set to start until 2017 ( so why announce it now??) and already villages stretching from the Midlands to Northumberland are in uproar at the thought of year upon year of road works and eyesores.Alongside this, even though HS2 may well halve journey times, the stations which make up its route are miles outside the cities they're stopping at. The train to Sheffield from Birmingham will stop at Meadowhall, half an hour away from the city centre, therefore rendering the faster journey time virtually obsolete unless you're taking a train to a smaller city a hundred miles away just for a spot of shopping.

Our economy is by no means stable and I reckon the government would do better to be pumping money into unemployment schemes so that recently-graduated university students aren't all competing for ludicrously over subscribed graduate jobs. We take up enough of our time moaning about trains as it is; the building of the HS2 would leave us Brits with virtually nothing else to discuss up until at least 2032.

I might have mentioned last week that I've finally had a request for a band so without further ado I thought I'd follow up on the request which oddly enough came from a metal head on an alternative/indie band... here it coooomes.

Screaming Maldini have been present on the Yorkshire music scene for quite the while now but it's only recently that they've really hit the heights. Their steep rise in popularity can basically be attributed to the release in October of  epic release, 'Summer Somewhere'. The song is reminiscent of Arcade Fire at their absolute best. Multi-instrumental, multi-gendered bands throughout the world are currently undergoing a revolution of aiming to be as close to Arcade Fire as they humanly can be but this single has really achieved the goal. Gina Walters vocals are fantastic and are backed up by crooning backing vocals from the rest of the group alongside a wholesome piano riff which keeps the track steady. It's now been re-mixed twice, had 12,000 YouTube views on its excellent video (shot on location in the Peak District of all places) and been described by the fussy Guardian music section as, 'The poppiest, most energetic sound'. Fun fact- one of the remixes was by Matt Berry a.k.a. the boss from the later series of the IT Crowd.

The band are made up of Nick, Gina, Annie, Tim, Jonny and Ben who I believe are all part of the Maldini clan and are soon to be releasing their self-titled debut album and embarking on a UK tour. Things really are on the up and considering that these guys look like the nicest people on earth and have worked their fucking socks off to get where they are, I reckon they just about deserve it. I must confess I'm not a huge fan of their older stuff, mostly off their 2010 EP, but it's highly quirky and definitely worth giving a listen. Their description on twitter as playing 'orchestral indie' rings truer with every play.They released a new single, 'The Awakening' yesterday afternoon which I've linked at the bottom and they have a competition on their Facebook to win a signed copy of the album.

Here's a photo of them at their absolute peak of masculinity.

Through a friend of a friend I also came across Temple of Coke the other day. A humorous rock band from Sheffield, their cover of 'Pure Shores' provided at the bottom is particularly enjoyable. With over 6,000 YouTube views, it's wholly worth a watch. Their website exhibits some of their other stuff and it's pretty damn good.

Cheers as always for reading.

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