Mala Ruckus – Make the Monkey Watch

We have a new unexpected treat to share with you, a band and release from the modern seaport of Dalian in China. They are Mala Ruckus and they have introduced themselves to us with debut EP Make the Monkey Watch. The band is a quintet which formed in 2013 with members hailing from Canada, America, Ireland, and a pair from Britain; expatriates creating their own unique captivation of alternative and indie rock with healthy essences of folk and pop. It is a sound which flirts with ears, sparks the imagination, and in the form of Make the Monkey Watch, has triggered a keen appetite and anticipation for the band’s first album which they are currently finishing up.

Since emerging the band has played in a host of Chinese cities earning a reputation and following for their energetic live shows and irresistibly engaging sound, now rife on their EP. Times are a changing though with the band now not allowed to play live in the country but if their upcoming album sounds as full and flavoursome as Make the Monkey Watch, new spotlights and openings might and should begin stirring elsewhere.

   The EP opens with Run, a song quickly engaging ears in a lively melodic coaxing courtesy of the guitars of Alex Montyro and Caolon O’Neill Forde. The song quickly slips into vibrant stroll with Francis Carlisle’s smiling keys alongside intricate guitar flirtation cupping the distinctive voice of Montyro as darker rhythmic hues spun by bassist Ian James and drummer Sean Rollins provide the shuffle to entice feet and hips. It is a ridiculously catchy proposal, like Jim Jiminee meets Arctic Monkeys but with its own original voice and mischievous air, which as the music, just gets more infectious with each passing chorus and tenacious swing.

A great start is backed and eclipsed by Hoverboards, its medieval spiced mandolin entrance already a wink on the appetite and imagination before things get hectic. A rousingly anthemic slice of folk /rock pop, the track leaps and bounds on rhythmic revelry and vocal enterprise, a success matched in prowess and adventure by eager riffs, teasing hooks, and another great pulsating bassline. The band continues to tenaciously canter through ears until taking a side step into a harmonic daze, drifting with a smile on their faces before taking the listener back to the irresistible ride it came in on.

Words is the third of the songs making up Make the Monkey Watch, another captivating encounter though with more reserve and urgency to its nature than its predecessors. What it lacks in physical dynamism it more than makes up in adventurous vocals and melodic enterprise, saving outbursts solely for a loudly vivacious magnetic chorus.

It is a fine end to an excellent first look/listen with Mala Ruckus; the first of many we are already eagerly hoping. They might be living in a restrictive musical place and time right now but given the chance the band, and we suspect album, could be inciting wider spotlights very soon.

The Make the Monkey Watch EP is out now @ http://malaruckus.bandcamp.com/releases

http://malaruckus.com/   https://www.facebook.com/malaruckus   https://twitter.com/malaruckus

Pete RingMaster 06/10/2015

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

For more exploration of the independent and promotional services check out http://www.zykotika.com/

Mindset X – Oceans

Since emerging in 2006, US band Mindset X has never been slow in enticing ears with hook laden and inventively melodic songs, creating anthems which grip the body as firmly as the imagination. Equally though the past years and releases have seen the New Hampshire trio explore a more progressively seeded enterprise as their sound and songwriting has evolved and matured. It has been a perpetual time of potent songs and attention grabbing releases luring frequent acclaim, praise forcibly matched by their live presence and hunger. Now the Manchester band has set down another benchmark with new album Oceans, a fascinating, imagination fuelled concept album unveiling band’s most expansive and emotionally intimate sound yet.

The eleven track encounter is an absorbing proposition which around body manipulating escapades, immerses ears and thoughts in a soundscape of emotional turbulence and discovery wrapped in atmospheric and progressive rock suggestiveness. Each track has its own tale, its own unique narrative of sound and word, uniting for one gripping incitement. As most releases, certain moments have bigger success with personal tastes than others but at no point does Oceans lose its hold on the adventurer sharing its journey or leave a quickly triggered appetite feeling unfulfilled.

       Recorded with multiple Grammy Award winner Jay Frigoletto and featuring guest appearances from Paul Bielatowicz and Simon Fitzpatrick of The Carl Palmer Band and John Wesley of Porcupine Tree, Oceans opens with the brief Zero 220. The track sets the album’s scene, the charm and solitude of coastal waves lapping the senses as a gentle melody courts the air. The imagination is on alert and quickly fed with the hard rock grooves and bluesy spicing of I Imagine straight after. Typical Mindset X in that it is a swiftly engaging stroll of inventive hooks wrapped in a melodic wine that intoxicates as it colours the growing context of the song. The distinctive voice of Steven Haidaichuk is as equally expressive as his guitar enterprise whilst the swiping beats of drummer Adam Cote provide a textured grounding to match the throaty growl of Paul Davidson’s bass.

It is an accomplished and highly enjoyable full start to the album but soon outshone by the band’s new single Shockwave. Striding in on a rhythmic magnetism cast by Cote, the track soon entangles ears in spicy sonic scythes and a moody bassline, all as contagious as they are suggestive. A fresh snarl lines the tones of Haidaichuk as he proceeds to prowl the persuasive web cast by the predator like encounter. Two thirds in and an apocalyptic aftermath sizzles, providing more food for thought with the lyrical side, before things are back in a virulent swing hard to resist let alone ignore.

From one peak to another and the glorious incitement of Flatline where again bass and drums spring a highly compelling and provocative trap that thoughts grip greedily, before a gentle caress of guitar hugs emotive vocals. The hypnotic lure of the track increases as crescendos erupt and caustically sizzle on the senses, the tribalistic rhythms continuing to provoke and bewitch as the heart of the protagonist theming Oceans melancholically flows out.

An electronic ambience makes a thicker presence in Island next, the keys of Davidson shadowing the melodic and emotion drenched croon of the classic rock spiced song. Though it does not quite light the same spark inside as its predecessor, the track is a ripe bloom of resourceful invention and creative colour which only feeds ears and mind with lingering enjoyment. Being placed within the might of the previous song and The Bends which follows does it no favours though; the new track a spellbinding wash of sinister atmospherics and sonic intrigue around more personal and intimate introspection from the album’s character voiced impressively by Haidaichuk. Around him, keys and guitar create a cloud of temptation, a climate stalked by the moody lure of the bass and graced by subsequent celestial harmonies.

The infectious rock ‘n’ roll of You and Me takes over next, its easily accessible yet precisely sculpted swagger a quick and unshakeable persuasion leading to a brewing addiction whilst the initial exotically sultry ambience of War and Crime lights a fresh fire in the passions with its smouldering seduction before breeding a glorious infestation of grooves and spiky hooks for gnarly rock ‘n’ roll drawing on angst and social inspirations for its virulent tempting.

The flowing elegance and melodic prowess of Castaway is another which does not tickle personal tastes as firmly but still leaves ears full of potent temptation. For others it will undoubtedly be one of the highlights and easy to see why with its emotional charm and melodic beauty, but for us The Great Divide Part I quickly steals attention from it with its instrumental theatre whilst setting up the imagination for the triumph of The Great Divide Part II. The closing song on Oceans, it is also the most inventive and experimental, Mindset X spinning a tapestry of numerous styles and flavours into an emprise of craft and heart which just gets stronger and more delicious, not forgetting irresistible, with each and every listen. The pinnacle of a consistently thrilling album, it is also quite possibly the best any song written by the band, ingrained favourites aside, a slice of invention as emotionally provocative as it is contagious. At times it is raw rock ‘n’ roll, in other moments a cinematic adventure, and persistently a progressive lined exploration to enthral and incite.

Mindset X has had a potent and increasingly growing sound for a fair few years now but they have tapped into something deeper and fresher within their imagination with Oceans, with us the listener reaping the rewards.

Oceans is out now through most online stores with the single Shockwave available as a free download @ http://mindsetx.bandcamp.com/track/shockwave

http://www.mindsetx.com  http://www.twitter.com/mindsetxband   https://www.facebook.com/mindsetx

Pete RingMaster 06/10/2015

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

For more exploration of the independent and promotional services check out http://www.zykotika.com/

The Rooz – Fairweather EP

Whilst we might not be too taken with the name, their music is something to eagerly welcome as proven by Fairweather, the new EP from UK rock band The Rooz. The release is a slice of mature and rousing alternative rock which gives little hint of the band’s tender years, all aged between 16 and 19, but loudly declares the reasons why they are making a bit of a stir right now.

Hailing from Telford in Shropshire, The Rooz since forming has been crowned in their first year, Live Band Of The Year 2013, though no idea who by, been awarded the special Award For Innovation from Music For Youth in 2014, and found themselves invited to perform at the Brit Awards Big Music Project Final at London’s Indigo2 at O2 Arena. Alongside that and an increasing reputation for their highly energetic live shows, the band has supported the likes of Lawson, Union J, Boyzone, Alesha Dixon, and Fyfe Dangerfield as well as played the Royal Albert Hall. Fair to say it has been a lively emergence for the band supported by a trio of well-received singles and the Caught In The Sun EP. Now we have Fairweather to cement their place as one exciting prospect in British rock whilst enticing more new and eager appetites the way of The Rooz.

     It opens with the mighty Sixpence and a brewing sonic tempting as shadowy as it is intriguing. Quickly it arrives in a burst of stirring brass and rampant rhythms before just as swiftly settling into a gentle but lively stroll with melodies from the guitar of Ralph Porrett and the piano of Louis Coupe aligning around the quickly impressing vocals of the latter. The bass of Peter Davis keeps darker hues around with its grizzly growl whilst the beats of Tom Russell are unobtrusive but firm to frame the freely flowing magnetic melodies. It is a powerful start to the EP which only increases weight and persuasion as crescendos erupt, invention flows, and the songwriting of Coupe, as his voice, enthrals.

Theatre in the speakers, the outstanding song finally takes its leave for the arrival of Sirens and its blues rock ‘n’ roll. Again there is an entrance to light ears and appetite, followed by a just as flavoursome canter of riffs and grooves entangled in anthemic rhythms. Across its infectious body, a harmonica sizzles and sonic enterprise blazes and though it does not have the level of invention as its predecessor, the track is pure rock ‘n’ roll to get very greedy and possessive over, as too its successor, the excellent Out On A Limb. More controlled but no less impassioned and fiery than the previous stomp, the song roars and charms with equal captivation whilst taking the listener on a heady ride which just gets more tenacious and boisterous with each passing rally of rhythms and flame of melodic adventure from Porrett within the inescapable vocal rebel rousing of Coupe.

The band’s recent single is next and if you want a teaser before diving headlong into The Rooz, Violins + Animals is the perfect tempting. Its first steps are less than spectacular compared to the songs before it, but soon its radiant lures in sound and voice are coaxing full attention as they lead ears into the brewing and ultimately dynamic catchiness of the chorus. Everything about the track is infection; the guitars a smiling incitement as the rhythms provide their beckoning shuffle, whilst vocally, Coupe is a blaze of expression and passion; it all rich bait for the fire of that incendiary chorus.

The release closes with Cold, though the CD version of Fairweather does also include the two tracks making up last single Lowlife. Coupe’s piano and voice open up the song, his inviting balladry the appetiser to an eventually arising swing of sound. After the first listen or two we would have said the track was a bit too show tune for personal tastes but over time there is no escaping the call of the orchestral roars, soulful rise and falls of melodies, and indeed the drama in the vocal delivery of Coupe as it ends the release in highly enjoyable style.

Fairweather is a big treat of a proposition, and an invigorating declaration of something rather special growing in the shape of The Rooz and easy to recommend.

The Fairweather EP and the Violins + Animals single are out now, digitally via iTunes and on CD through http://www.therooz.co.uk/store.asp

Upcoming gigs include:

26th // Norwich / B2 / with Chasing Cadence, Speaking In Shadows and Cardinal

27th // London / Nambucca / with Chasing Cadence, Speaking In Shadows and Cardinal

28th // Birmingham / The Flapper / with Chasing Cadence, Speaking In Shadows and Cardinal

29th // Manchester / AATMA (formerly Kraak) / with Chasing Cadence, Speaking In Shadows and Cardinal

30th // Leek / Infinities / with Chasing Cadence, Speaking In Shadows and Cardinal

https://www.facebook.com/theroozofficial   http://www.therooz.co.uk/   https://twitter.com/theroozband

Pete RingMaster 06/10/2015

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

For more exploration of the independent and promotional services check out http://www.zykotika.com/

She Must Burn – Self Titled EP

It is a ferociously voracious cauldron of intent, a ravenous tempest of corrosive intensity and imagination, and one of the most riveting and exciting debuts to be uncaged this year.

The release is the self-titled debut EP comes from UK metallers She Must Burn, a London sextet creating a bit of a forceful stir and it is easy to hear why with this raging encounter. Theirs is a furnace of sound and flavours woven into a metalcore seeded canvas infused with further ripe essences of symphonic and black metal with rich gothic overtones. It is a searing maelstrom laying siege to the senses which just as quickly impresses as the songwriting and craft behind it. From rabidly varied vocals to debilitating blast beats, right through to symphonic beauty, the band’s music is a vicious yet poetic kaleidoscope of contrasts and textures cast into fascinating and thrilling soundscapes fuelled by intimate malevolence. It is a startling encounter as proven by a release which just gets bigger and stronger as subsequent listens lure ears deeper into unpredictable and gripping layers of invention.

She Must Burn emerged in 2014, brought to life by guitarist/producer Terry Clarke to realise his musical vision. With a line-up completed by vocalist Joseph Louis Sinclair, keyboardist/vocalist Aimy Miller, guitarist James Threadwell, bassist Kyle Bird, and drummer Rhys Andrew Cooper, She Must Burn have already made a thick impact on the British metal scene live. Now it is the turn of broader stretches of national ears to feel their potency ahead of UK tours supporting Cradle of Filth this October and Heart Of A Coward across November with their first EP.

     The encounter opens with the brief but technically and evocatively potent Ascension, its celestial melodies and ambience shadowed by a portentousness which erupts as the track evolves into the fearsome and equally enticing Possessed. From its first breath, guitars create a web of virulent hostility and enthralling enterprise upon which rhythms descend with bestial ferocity. Add the great raw and scarring vocal assault of Sinclair and hell has opened its doors, yet this is masterfully tempered and entwined with the flowing radiance of the keys and the equally alluring siren-esque voice of Miller. Across the song’s body dark and light, destruction and beauty unite, not in conflict but in a blackened and symphonic drama which has the imagination as enslaved as ears and appetite.

As shown again by the following The Misery, the She Must Burn sound is a creative and physical bedlam but one with ingenuity and control which makes everything seamless and complimentary in their collusion. In the hands of another it would most likely unravel into an incoherent stream of ideas but as the third track engulfs and trespasses in ears, there is nothing random and uncontrolled about the sonic adventures cast by She Must Burn. Predatory and seductive, the third song writhes and violently twists under the drive of the increasingly varied and impressive delivery of Sinclair but within the entrapping call of synths and their expressive dark elegance. The song constantly evolves though, never allowing thoughts to settle and expectations to get a glimpse as its infectiously busy and creative turbulence offers more rewards and layers with every trip into its maliciousness.

Into Light opens with a classic but again unique symphonic/gothic croon from the keys and voice of Miller, its warm caress prowled by brooding shadows which increase in intimidating agitation as the short song continues to shape the imagination with its melodic flame. That ruinous furnace finally erupts in Wish to Exist, its metalcore animus in full voice at the beginning but again merged into a subsequent compelling tapestry that snarls and tears at the senses whilst embracing ears in the most majestic of melody rich and emotive reflections.

The album is invigoratingly completed by the equally rabid and bewitching Eclipse, where dark and insidious rancor frees its vicious animus in perfect company with entrancing elegance and immersive beauty. It is at this point on the first listen, and only proven time and time again, that the success of the She Must Burn sound is realised to lie not so much in the corruptive or beauteous extremes, as skilful and important as they are, but how the heart of the song in rhythms and riffs for example, serve both the bases they blossom upon simultaneously and equally. It is a perfect fusion the band has honed which they then colour and shape to their imagination’s content.

After yet another fevered listen of their EP it is very easy to claim that She Must Burn are going to make a big impact on the metal scene.

The She Must Burn EP is out now via Ghost Music.

http://www.shemustburn.com   https://www.facebook.com/shemustburn/   https://twitter.com/shemustburn

Pete RingMaster 06/10/2015

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

For more exploration of the independent and promotional services check out http://www.zykotika.com/