Numb – Self Titled

September is proving this year’s most productive month for striking releases and to support the claim allow us to introduce the debut album from British outfit Numb. The self-titled introduction offers up eight slices of rousing multi-flavoured rock littered with imagination spearing hooks and ear thrilling grooves. The band is also no lightweight in casting fiery seductive melodies and a rhythmic incitement which has feet and hips as submissive as the senses to the combined temptation.

Formed in 2015, Numb was the rekindling of an already established long term musical collaboration between guitarist songwriter Darren Caven-Quantrill and multi-instrumentalist composer Barney Byron (The Calling, Audioeinstein) which quickly enlisted lyricist and vocalist Lee Rayner. With its line-up subsequently completed by drummer Damo Falkowski (Deadeye), the Northampton band took their time writing and honing the sound now lighting up their debut like a beacon.

The album instantly has ears seriously attentive with the initial groove of Common Love, the lure a riveting enticement soon supported by rhythmic tenacity and a wave of infectious riffs. Establishing a stirring surge of rock ‘’n roll, the track continues to build its body and alternative nurtured temptation. The vocals of Rayner similarly grab the appetite, his tone and words bouncing on the web of guitars and bass as a great blues spicing lines the grooving and urgency guides riffs and beats but with a control and invention which enhances the instinctive infectiousness of it all.

It is an outstanding start swiftly eclipsed by the following Love Of The Cartel (Part 2). Instantly a Latin melody hugs grooves as the track seduces with a great Breed 77 like air, indeed there is a feel of the band’s frontman, Paul Isola, to Rayner’s tone. Swinging with eager and muscular dexterity, the song is pure temptation grabbing body and spirit with swift success. Not for the last time in a Numb song there is a feel of rockabilly spiced rock ‘n’ roll at work within the tapestry of metal and heavy rock and that catchiness which again simply infests the psyche.

Everyman Deserves The Right To Choose His Own Path To Hell comes next, it too sharing a spicing of the aforementioned Gibraltar band within its more composed gait. Riffs jab as beats stab, melodic flames surrounding the potent vocals of Rayner as it heads to another contagion loaded chorus so easy to get wrapped up in. There is a great theatre to the song which is only enhanced by the Muse-esque venture of the guitar towards its tantalising finale, a spirit sparking climax perfectly setting up the appetite for the compelling enterprise of Time. The stringed temptation of the guitars is instant seduction and only accentuated by the rampaging thick tide of riffs and the tone gurning bass. The song relaxes into a stable energy as vocals enter the affair but eventually everything becomes turned on and hits top gear with mouth-watering imagination. The song is glorious, never settling down into any sense of predictability with each cycle a new and fresh adventure.

There is an industrial hue to certainly the opening bait of The Tears You Cry, its cosmopolitan suggestion aligned to thought teasing melody before it all evolves into a raptorial rock ‘n’ roll prowl led by Rayner’s expressive presence. The bolder invention of its predecessor is more subdued in the track but not absent and it does not stop it grabbing tightly ears and a by now greedy appetite for the release and increasing the pleasure. That extra strain of imagination is saved instead for successor Love Of The Cartel (Part 1). Why part 1 is after 2 we cannot say but the track is a journey of sound and emotion in its own extensive right. Caressing melodies court Rayner’s emotive voice, the bass a melancholic yet vibrant companion as the song reveals its creative and emotional drama. Like a growing battlefield within which sabre like hooks flash and fly as riffs and running grooves entwine and rhythms badger the senses, the track is sheer magnetism. In time volatility hits voice and heart, antagonism fuelling emotional outbursts before it is all pulled back into the surging infection of the thrilling encounter.

The release is concluded by the final pair of War and Burn. The first carries a steely antagonism in its riffs and rhythms, a defiant attitude which shapes the song’s physical and vocal character as well as its melodic reflection, while the second rumbles and grumbles with a Danzig like hue, twisting with irritability and turning with complimenting temptation. Both tracks leave greed for band and sound further intense and with us an already impatient anticipation for what comes next from Numb.

There are numerous times when as a reviewer you feel really blessed to have the opportunity to cover new music and there are other times when you feel truly honoured; this is one of the latter moments.

The Numb album is available now through Attic Records @ http://atticrecordsuk.bigcartel.com/product/numb

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Pete RingMaster 15/09/2017

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Some Kind of Illness – Awakening

In a time where each day and every twist within it brings some form of tension or reflection of humanity’s quest for self destruction, we need a place to escape, to embrace a calming beauty within the chaos. One such place is the new album from UK duo Some Kind of Illness. The mesmeric Awakening is an oasis in the turbulence, a realm of elegant ambiences and warm melodies and though shadows and melancholy equally line the flight of the release they are all part of the evocation guiding ears and thoughts to an experience reflecting the album’s title.

Hailing from Farnworth, Some Kind of Illness is the creation of brothers Mark and Paul Hinks. The project emerged around 2014 bringing an alternative/indie guitar sound which swiftly drew positive attention especially with the release of the pair’s self-titled debut album in 2015 By then the band had become a busy proposition on the surrounding live scene and played numerous iconic venues across Manchester and Liverpool spreading out across the UK as well as shared stages with the likes of Tom Hingley and The Jackals and going into the following year, The Primitives. 2016 also saw the again highly praised release of second full-length Souls as well as the unveiling of Nick Connors’ film Northern Lights for which they wrote the soundtrack.

With Awakening, the pair has explored the qualities and depths of a retro Roland D-50 synthesizer and an 808 Drum machine around their weaving of guitar suggestion. The album also moves within a lighter climate of emotion in comparison to its predecessors, again its title echoed across tracks which are unafraid to hug shadows and darker feelings but explore the beauty in all. It opens with the instrumental caress of its title track, keys and guitars wrapping each other’s grace in a slowly revolving flume of temptation. Its hypnotic beauty is followed by the equally calm climate of Neon Glass though immediately beats are a lively lure. There is a great eighties post punk/new wave feel to the track, bands such as Human League in its first guise and Eyeless in Gaza coming to mind as the song seduces the imagination.

No More Waiting embraces similar hues within its gentle hug of ears; its ethereal atmosphere warmly clinging to the vocal declaration before the pop kiss of Violet Dream floats over the senses like the morning mist on an autumn day. The song features the enchanting tones of Hara Su, an engaging spice on the beguiling melodies of guitar and keys which tease ears. There is a hint of discord to the track too, a whiff of unsettlement which sparks thoughts as potently as the reflective prowess of word and tone.

The captivation continues through the Slowdive-esque Memories In A Window and the instrumental whispering of Ledana, both tracks an individual province of melodic suggestiveness and emotional intimation which lure ears and thoughts away from a moment of reality. They in turn are followed and matched in temptation by Cyclone which welcomes the innocence graced tones of Daisy Davies as it immerses the senses.

The dark touches of the real world continue to be eluded with the celestial flight of Icarus, its lofty beguiling atmosphere lined with darker omens as keys and vocals float across the rich captivation while with its own off world spatial hints, Snowflakes gently falls around the poetic portrait cast by Virginia Martelozzo. Each is a bewitchment which almost haunts the senses before the shoegaze shadows of Crystal Light bring the release to a lucent close. Melodies sparkle off of its energetic slumber, vocals similarly a vibrant lure into the track’s radiant depths.

It is a fine end to an album which simply grows more beguiling and impressive listen by listen. We all need an escape from the surrounding tempest, the compelling echoes and layers of Awakening just might be yours.

Awakening is available now @ https://somekindofillness1.bandcamp.com/album/awakening-lp

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Pete RingMaster 16/09/2017

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Twelve Boar – No Forgiveness

We have no idea why they expanded the moniker from XII Boar to Twelve Boar but it has coincided with a whole new thrust of mischief and variety in the British heavy rockers sound as in mouth-watering evidence on new album No Forgiveness. The trio from Aldershot still conjure up and unleashed tides of southern fried grooves, thumping rhythms, and ravenous riffs, traits they have become acclaimed for but it all comes with a new carefree fun and adventure. Let us be clear, the band has never been anything other than the rich source of both across a host of songs and releases but No Forgiveness more than most raises the middle finger in a motion beckoning all to come in and join their riotous party.

Since the release of debut EP, Split Tongue, Cloven Hoof back in 2012, Twelve Boar has made an inescapable impact on the UK rock scene. Its well-received, attention grabbing success was just the teaser for the plaudits which eagerly gathered around the uncaging of debut album Pitworthy in 2015 and the even more acclaimed Beyond The Valley of The Triclops last year. Each backed up a live presence and reputation which has equally only grown year on year until it is fair to say that the threesome of vocalist/guitarist Tommy Hardrocks, bassist Adam Thomas, and drummer Dave Wilbraham is now regarded by a great many as one of the most essential roars on the UK scene. There still maybe a few yet to discover the instinctive stomp of Twelve Boar but only something No Forgiveness will soon sort out.

Beyond The Valley of The Triclops certainly hinted at the multi-flavoured evolution of the Twelve Boar sound but No Forgiveness gives it to you unbridled and face on, so much so that the first listen, whilst stirring up the passions, has us questioning whether we missed the dirtier thunderous trespasses of times past. The second listen then revealed that nothing has changed, the band still brewing a sound caked in rock ‘n’ roll soil which leaves the body exhausted and shaking from the onslaught but with a fresh toxin of fun involved, and the third listen…that is when the lust breaks out.

Recorded with producer Chris Fielding, No Forgiveness goes straight for ears with spice loaded grooves and ear rapping beats as Steppin’ Up gets things rolling. The gravelly tones of Hardrocks stand astride the tendrils of guitar, riding the grooves as bass and beats throb and land with a brooding intent.  A slab of muscular rock ‘n’ roll the band is certainly renowned for it then throws an unexpected twist in its midst as it slips into a mellow intoxication of melody and clean vocals though the moment is just the teaser to a waiting lustily fiery stroll. It is a great start to the release but soon overshadowed time and time again starting with Golden Goose. The second track instantly shows attitude in its riffs which continues to colour its character even as rap metal flavoured vocals dance devilishly on the emerging encounter. From thereon in heavy rock ‘n’ roll and that nu-metal toned adventure collude and interact enticing further whiffs of extreme metal and desert rock into the mix.

The Curtain Call swaggers in next with hooks lining every swing of its rhythmic hips and sultry grooves. Sabbath-esque riffs are openly embraced by the band then infested with their own devilment as rhythms harry the senses throughout, often dancing like a dervish as another dose of great diversity grabs the vocals. The track is glorious, Twelve Boar at the inimitable best and swiftly matched by the album’s southern bred title track. An acoustic strum is joined by vibrating beats as Hardrocks growls, the song sauntering along with accusation on its breath. In time everything finds a new tenacity and muscle, the encounter grabbing hips and appetite like a fine, throat burning bourbon.

Stealing the best song plaudits, Elders From The Deep dives in next, the track filthy rock ‘n’ roll stomping like Motorhead meeting Gene Vincent as The Cramps bring their salacious garage rock antics to the fun. The track is irresistible, a sinful slice of addictiveness which truly had this appetite drooling long before it had to make way for the blues rock romping of Snake On A Lead. As its predecessor, the song just hits the spot with flirtatious grooves and bone rattling rhythms, it knowing all the right buttons to push to have the body bouncing and a lively spirit fuelling keen physical involvement.

The crawling almost predatory opening prowl of All the Heavy Griftin’ instantly whets the appetite but it is just the prelude to another stonking rock ‘n’ roll canter impossible not to get infested by. If you had any doubts that Twelve Boar know how to rock until the sweat flows like a river and fingers bleed, than this virulently contagious track alone will wipe them away.

The brief sweltering climate of instrumental Panama lures ears into the landscape you can imagine the waiting final track Hellspeed Truckin’ would be rolling down. In the closer tarmac punishing riffs and air cutting rhythms shape the adventure, the bass a hypnotic driver with vocals holding the wheel. As grooves sear the scenery raw adrenaline flows through sound and voice, the track in top gear never flirting with the brakes until the body lies prostrate in its dust.

Wrapped in the striking artwork of Rahadil Hermana, No Forgiveness is quite simply one of the major treats of the year. It is relentlessly energetic, hungry, and fun from a band driven by those self-same attributes as well as an instinct and the craft to turn it all into one rousing experience. XII or Twelve Boar, they are still helping drive the UK heavy rock scene from the frontline.

No Forgiveness is out now and available @ https://xiiboar.bandcamp.com/ or http://xiiboar.bigcartel.com

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Pete RingMaster 15/09/2017

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Bool – Fly With Me

Frustratingly it is far too easy for things to fly under the radar in a time where nothing is secret thanks to the extensive landscape of the internet, but one proposition we insist you do take notice of is Fly With Me, the new album from Bool. The German outfit roar in ears with a strain of alternative rock which infests the appetite with its grunge character and grips the imagination with an array of nagging hooks and rousing enterprise; it all coming together here for one of the year’s most compelling moments yet.

The band’s sound is maybe best described as Bush meets Morphine harassed by Damn Vandals and Fatima Mansions but from that mix thrills with its own unique personality of sound and craft. It demands attention and rewards with every passing second of bold and impassioned rock ‘n’ roll. Formed in 2007, Bool stirred up acclaim and an already growing reputation with the My Spirit, their third release realising the potential already heard in its predecessors. Recorded with producer Jon Caffery (Die Toten Hosen), Fly With Me hits and owns a whole new plateau for the band’s sound and invention, offering a relentlessly harassing and addictively creative trespass to lust over.

It opens up with Here We Are and a flame of guitar before, and not for the last time, a swiftly compelling bassline with its growling tone entices courtesy of Marc Fröhlking. The initial blaze settles down a touch as the vocals of lead guitarist Karsten Dittberner step forward, the bass continuing to offer delicious bait alongside as the crisp beats of Jens Geilert descend. Soon the fiery adventure of Dittberner and fellow guitarist Michael Malfeito rise again, the cycle repeated throughout with increasing energy and adventure.

It is a boldly striking start quickly matched by the more composed but no less sonically seared Soul Train. Emotion drenches every note and each syllable dropping from Dittberner’s throat with a crystalline melody a glassy temper within the growing tempest. Commandingly contagious and wonderfully irritable in many ways, it too lingers in ears and thoughts just as successors Shut Up and Kick Arse do. The first of the two is even more reined in which brings a tension and drama especially to its brewing crescendos which is raw seduction. Dittberner is a magnetic vocal presence potently backed by his companions, while together the quartet unite in imagination and dexterity with that earlier Bush reference at its enjoyable strongest. The second of the two has a Nick Cave like edge to its opening Doors-esque climate, hues which caress the brooding heart of song and sound before the track slips into an almost predatory stroll of primal rock ‘n’ roll at its inventive best with a rolling energy more than living up to its title.

My Own Heaven is a melodically grilled pyre of emotion which ebbs and flows through calm and volatility, each passing moment a web of arousing catchiness and suggestive enterprise around the addictive dynamics of Geilert while the following Revolution uncages a riveting holler of punk ‘n’ roll which has the body bouncing and spirit roaring. It is testy and flirtatious, a true treat among many within Fly With Me.

Bool equally show they are adept at caressing the senses as the dark yet elegant serenade of Hey You shows, its melancholic beauty and melodic croon pure enticement before You and Me stomps in with its own tenacious rock ‘n’ roll. Again Gavin Rossdale and co feels a big inspiration to the track but one which is easily welcomed within its infectious incitement. Essences of metal and heavy rock add to its theatre, a potent incitement more than matched by the rawer edged and dramatically textured Desire where again rhythms simply grip the instincts as the guitars create a web of sonic flames to be trapped by as vocals share their plaintive heart.

Through the even tempered if again tempestuous sonic reflection of Same Mistake, a song which feels very familiar for no obvious reason, and the similarly intimate balladry of Yesterday, there is no urge to pull away from the album, each rich captivation even if not quite reaching the heights of those before them. Fair to say both easily get under the skin as too next up Love is the Answer, a theatre of sound and temptation which barely hides its tension within keys and string woven melodies. The song is certainly a slow burner but over time grows to be one of the most memorable and essential lures of the album.

The release closes up with Right or Wrong, a song which pleases immediately but also takes its time to fully persuade and ignite the passions which, if without the stirring triumphs of its companions, it surely does. It is a potent conclusion to an album which for us has become an addiction in no time.

Fly With Me is the wake up call to one exciting band in Bool, be sure you do not miss the trip.

Fly With Me is available now through Boersma Records through most online stores.

http://boolofficial.com/    https://www.facebook.com/BOOLofficial/

Pete RingMaster 14/09/2017

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Skies In Motion – Life Lessons

It is probably fair to say that there are a couple of metal bred flavours we are finding ourselves uninspired by at The RR right now, metalcore being one. There are plenty of good and enjoyable bands emerging within the genre but few which truly break from the familiar and creatively routine. UK outfit Skies In Motion is one which defies that thought especially with their new debut album Life Lessons now leading their persuasion.  It is a ferocious magnetic collection of songs as irritable and aggressive as they are creatively and melodically captivating. Certainly plenty of its appeal is down to striking potential but equally there is an imagination and enterprise at play which only excites.

Hailing from Derby, Skies In Motion stepped forward in 2012 and has increased their reputation year on year  with their live presence alone which has seen them share stages with the likes of Killswitch Engage, Devil Wears Prada, August Burns Red, While She Sleeps, Unearth, Slaves , Skindred, Don Broco, Our Hollow Our Home, Gnarwolves and many more. Their initial sound was more hardcore driven though still embracing melodic strains. Life Lessons merges those flavours with its metalcore instincts, resulting in an assault which at times maybe embraces familiar essences but is a relentlessly fresh and intriguing proposition.

The press release for the album suggests bands such as While She Sleeps and Architects are good comparisons and it is not too hard going along with that as opener Architect bites. It initial melodic invitation is a deceit giving no suggestion of the creative carnage to follow though it is not long before an invasion of riffs and rhythms accompany enticing throat raw vocals. Intrigue is quickly gripped and fed as the track evolves into successor Cascades where djent spice predation is followed by hardcore causticity and metal antagonism, vocalist Adam Connor tenaciously riding the tempest. It is a stirring mix which welcomingly infests ears and appetite, the rhythms of bassist Dan Wheeler and drummer Sam Gaines continuing the predatory invasion as guitarists Dave Stewart and Andy Shaw weave a carnal tempest of craft and temptation. Connor is as striking as the sounds around him, the diversity of his attack thoroughly enjoyable and as potently backed by those around him.  There is also infectiousness to the track which borders on poppy, a catchiness which never undermines the ferocity.

The following Realizationship is similarly woven if even more irritable and too a web of seduction and sonic violence which never stops twisting and turning within its storm. The song lacks the final striking essences of its predecessor yet with teasing grooves and fury loaded flames of melody it masterfully hits the spot and an imagination already submissive to the inventively evolving landscapes the band shares within songs.

Another plateau is breached by next up Happy Families, its stabbing riffs and wiry tendrils an instant trap to fall into which only tightens as steely grooves and rabid riffs join rapacious rhythms and a virulence of contagious antics. Connor impressively leads into and drives the chorus of vocal spirit, sound relaxing a touch to embrace the infectious roar though that moment of unity is surrounded by a compelling net of discord and unpredictability. The track is superb and another reason to suggest Skies in Motion is a real force in the making.

Learn The Hard Way is next, its grooved body a fiery cauldron of sound and emotion with some of the most delicious melodic and harmonic lures heard in a fair time while the following Ugly lives up to its name in tone though it too has a swing and exhaustive rigour which simultaneously incites and devours the body. Both songs reveal more of the bands craft in writing and performance, the latter simply a beast of cyclonic contagion to become increasingly greedy for even before Finding Myself Lost has the chance to stamp its intense authority over the senses. It is fair to say that some tracks, like this one, needs time to truly appreciate; to explore and discover its deep qualities beneath a surface which pleasures if not overwhelms though truthfully every song has a wealth of adventure ready to share with increasing listens.

Both the carnivorous Sword Swallower and the emotively conjured Gonvena provide a mercurial adventure of sound and imagination, the first a savage turbulence which flows into an emotionally acute oasis of calm while the second goes from poetic beauty and melodic reflection to blistering intensity. The second is especially bewitching, Connor further impressing with his melodic prowess and the band with its fluidity through extremely contrasting climates.

When Home Feels Distant (And Distance Feels Like Home) lacks some of the captivation and adventure of the previous two but still has ears gripped and pleasure lit with its Avenged Sevenfold spiced tapestry, next up Five Years finding the same success with its own heart bred tempest of sound and raw aggression. It too misses some of the keen ingredients of earlier encounters but leaves satisfaction full and a want for more, hungrier.

Concluding with Hopebringer, another track which needs time to blossom into a fascinating and invasive fury of sound and potential, Life Lessons needs no help in luring ears and attention back again and indeed again. It is a debut which more than suggests, actually declares Skies In Motion as a band able to bring a fresh breath to the hardcore/metalcore scene. Whether they can live up to its potential time will tell but we would not bet against it.

Life Lessons is out now @ http://skiesinmotionuk.bigcartel.com/product/pre-order-life-lessons-albumu

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Pete RingMaster 14/09/2017

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Andreas S Jensen – Disturbed

To this point in time, Danish born, London based Andreas S Jensen has made a notable name for himself for being a guitarist in Dub Pistols, as a writer/producer whose co-writes with the likes of Kevin Lyttle, Armand Van Helden, and Nate James have sold close to a million copies, and in collaborations as remixer, producer, session player, and engineer with artists such as Dido, Rizzle Kicks, Vybz Kartel, Sam And The Womp, Beenie Man, Nerina Pallot and more. This month though sees the singer songwriter/musician make his own individual impact, expectantly what will be his biggest one yet, with the release of a debut solo album. Disturbed is an ear pleasing, imagination stroking collection of songs combining lyrical intimacy with an alluringly broad brushstroke of sound. It is a release which makes the most seductive company note to ear and then haunts the memory once departed; that in anyone’s book the sign of something special.

Jensen has already enticed praise carrying attention with his first EP Disconnected which was released at the beginning of 2014. Embracing inspirations ranging from David Bowie, Tom Petty, and Elliot Smith to Soundgarden and The Zombies, the encounter was the first step towards the lofty heights now awaiting the senses within Disturbed. For the album Jensen drew on the talent of a group of London session players he has met through his producer and session work including drummer Adam Falkner (Babyshambles/Dido), guitarist Garo Nahoulakian (Nadine Shah), cellist Ben Trigg (Arctic Monkeys, Unkle, Jamie Collum), and Antonia Pagulatos (Gorillaz, Blur) on violin and viola as well as Jesper Lind (Jack Savoretti), Nikolai Bjerre (Lamb), Jack Cowens (Dub Pistols/Bondax) and many others. The result of this union of craft and invention is a record as rampantly catchy as it is emotionally open; each song like a big brother knowingly understanding those moments in life, love, and longing we have all hugged or endured.

Disturbed opens with its new single released a week before the album and fair to say Only Die Once instantly has attention gripped. Jensen’s voice is the first enticement, his warm slightly sandy tones soon joined by a theatre of rhythms and keys as a guitar weaves its own suggestive bait. There is drama in piano and bass too whilst instinctive infectiousness fuels vocals and the melodic coaxing hooking the senses whether in a controlled smoulder or a fiery blaze. As a sign of things to come across the album, the track simply blossoms and grows with every passing second; a crowd of instruments and sounds uniting in a fanfare of imagination and enterprise.

The outstanding start is matched by next up Trust Is My Anchor, a single released earlier this year which had us on board with real anticipation right then for what Disturbed would subsequently bring. Like the first, the song makes a gentle start, acoustic guitar aligning with Jensen’s ever appealing voice and like its predecessor a proposal which just opens up its sound and invention with every breath. Soon it roars with a robust rock pop temptation which sublimely ebbs and flows in intensity whilst increasing its hold on ears and appetite second by second. There is something of Billy Momo to the subdued moments of the track and a hint of R.E.M. in its bolder expulsions; both deliveries as compelling as the other as another pinnacle within the album is exposed.

Take My Heart and Go needs barely a breath to seize ears as a glorious gnarly tendril of sound winds around the senses, a flirtatious bassline and the caress of acoustic magnetism swiftly stepping up alongside. Mixing country flavoured rock and eagerly strolling indie pop, the track has the body bouncing and hips swaying in no time with the imagination employed by word and another rich tapestry of textures and invention. For personal tastes it is probably fair to say that the track just misses the heights of the pair before it but the pleasure loaded grin our faces during its presence each and every time reveals all and alone why with every listen Disturbed  becomes more essential.

Through the electric shimmer of Another Way Of Leaving, a proposition merging sixties psych and eighties pop in its tantalising soulful croon, and the Baroque kissed Unchanged captivation is intense and greedy. The second of the two especially bewitches with its shadowy reflection and perpetually rising crescendo of sound and endeavour, the strings which magnetically colour most tracks voraciously manipulative and rousing before And She’s There calms things a touch with its vibrant canter. It too is a tenaciously catchy enticement all the same though which imagining The Everlys and Walker Brothers born as one and breaking out today gives a sense of this superb slice of contagious pop.

Thought gets the focus over body with the balladry of next up Looking Back For Something New, though it is hard not to sway to its melancholy lined tone and melodically intimate presence, while Run with at first a similar gait brews a contagion which has body and spirit rocking as again eighties funk/pop collude with electronic and creative drama. Both of the songs have a firm hand on ears and lustful attention though each is eclipsed by the bold exploits of Dangerzone, a theatre of rock pop which surely has to be the next single. Some tracks make you greedy for more, this is one for Jensen though one among quite a few to be honest but the show stealer of Disturbed for these ears.

The album concludes with I Carry My Cross, a beguiling dark folk/ country spectacle weaving in strands of gypsy, carnival and Latin rock which with its hypnotic funereal march is reason alone to take a chance on exploring one rousing release.

To be honest as much as we loved the single Trust Is My Anchor a few months back we were maybe expecting Disturbed to just back up its striking presence rather than take things to a whole new level. Boy, were we off the mark, the album a BIG must for all rock, pop, indie fans well everyone who loves boisterously catchy and emotionally honest music.

Disturbed is released September 15^th with the single Only Die Once out September 8^th.

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Pete RingMaster 04/09/2017

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Day by day with Reverse Family

We all have different outlets for extreme emotions be they bred in grief, frustration, anxiety or romance for example. For many an artistic avenue is the release from such overwhelming trespasses and so it is with Reverse Family who are about to unleash a daunting but we can already assure you irresistible adventure for ears.

The Reverse Family is the solo project of Dermot Illogical, someone probably better known right now as Andreas Vanderbraindrain, the frontman of British outfit The Tuesday Club. Towards the end of last year, he released acclaimed debut album My Songs About Life Mid Crisis, a collection of multi-flavoured lo-fi experimental goodness which continues to hang around in the imagination and passions like an inescapable itch. It was an introduction which commanded attention and breeds real anticipation for the next epic outing with Reverse Family.

Starting in October, Dermot is releasing 365, a project made up of 52 EPs released as one a week for a whole year. Before panicking, shouting impossible, or mistakenly thinking anything that massive has to be more filler than thriller let us declare that with the evidence of the sampler sent by the man our way in our hands, it is going to be an escapade taking ears and imagination on a helter-skelter of honest and emotionally raw but instinctively fun exploration; a journey given greater intimate potency by Dermot’s diary entry of that particular day by the way of ‘sleeve notes’.

The tracks making up the project were all recorded DIY style at home between Jan 1^st 2015 and Dec 31^st 2015 with Dermot playing every instrument and sharing every syllable. Everything heard is as played and recorded; no editing or tampering made with every song bred in heart and spontaneity. It is an organic air and array of textures which grips the imagination as much as the sounds themselves; a fly-on-the-wall like climate baring the same open heart as that of their creator.

The catalyst to the project was the death of Terry, the drummer of The Tuesday Club. His sad passing came just as the band was deservedly stirring bigger and bolder praise carrying spotlights, a time topped by the band supporting Toyah at The 02 Islington and releasing their most successful and critically acclaimed EP to date. It was a world crushing time for the band and especially for Dermot who was also coming to terms with divorce, life dictating and changing illnesses for both parents as well as the constant struggle of being self-employed. It was a time many would have buckled under but Dermot focused all the suffocating turbulence into his music and turned it into a creative quest, one which at times you feel probably completely took over his world but gave him a survival and now the listener a spark for pleasure and thoughtful contemplation.

As the tracks we have reveal there is no ‘woe is me’ self-pity fuelling the adventure. Yes, it scratches his open wounds at times and is not always sharing smiles but every moment is an open insight and reflection on his feelings across the evolving year of those challenges and the life around Dermot in St. Albans with plenty of knowing black humour involved along the way.

The first track swiftly grabbing years was Future son – The Twa Twa’s, day 8 of the creative pilgrimage. Instantly it reminds of My Songs About Life Mid Crisis with its post punk twang and Dirk Wears White Sox era Adam and The Ants like character. A gorgeous hook lurks within the angular clamour, Dermot’s vocal delivery a swinging flirtation matching the similar allure of bass. The structurally organic design of the track alone is a web of lust clasping shenanigans, the song in its whole a psyche infesting treat.

Some tracks have an even rawer sound and temptation than others, This house is empty (day 10) one which borders abrasive in sound but within its causticity is an instinctive funkiness which has the body bouncing and appetite eagerly exploring words and emotion. There is a sense of despair and also hope carrying new beginnings felt with the track, a conflict most of us are no strangers too at some point and can grab with nodding recognition.

The clutch of songs within the sampler show the great array of styles embraced by the Reverse Family sound, the outstanding I stand alone (day 13) a post punk natured infestation managing to sound like a mix of Fire Engines, Swell Maps and unsurprisingly The Tuesday Club with Dermot’s distinctive tones yet is unique in every pore while MP3 (day 310) is a junction box of sonic wires casting a Devo meets Pere Ubu scented discord over the imagination.

The darker, grungier Faded colours (day 336) offers melancholy at its most magnetic, In my head (day 337) sharing a sonically and emotionally haunting incursion on the senses as pained as it is corrosively elegant, and both songs continue the broadening maze of flavours and emotional tempestuousness within the sampler alone. Like many tracks, each is also a relatively brief encounter; fleeting moments in an unsettled and often unsettling day though Bad cartoon (day 343) stays a little longer with its melodically jangling and evocatively persuasive as Bowie-esque toning draws the listener with seductive ease into its own personal melancholy.

The punk ‘n’ roll of Do it just for me (day 344) hits the spot just as easily, its tenacious canter a gentle cacophony of guitar, rhythms, and voice while I built a new contraption (day 356) shares a broad grin in its post punk/art rock pop. The pair relish in the addictive prowess Dermot constantly finds in his minimalistic but oh so potent grooves and hooks, though he saves maybe the most addictive for Breathy graffiti (day 365), its electronic poking the kind of inescapable nagging lust was bred for.

So that gives a hint of what is in store for us once 365 begins revealing its heart in a few weeks. It would be a little unrealistic to expect every one of the songs within the 52 EPs, each suggested to contain seven tracks, will hit the lofty heights of those on the sampler but do expect each to be the most honest and spontaneously shared temptations sure to intrigue and captivate like nothing else around today.

We for one just cannot wait!

The first of the 365 EPs will be released digitally from 2nd October 2015 through Perfect Pop Co-Op / Nub Country with one a week through to the first week of October 2018. For more information keep an eye on http://reversefamily.co.uk and https://www.facebook.com/reversefamily/ or through https://twitter.com/PerfectPopCoOp and the Perfect Pop Co-Op magazine.

Pete RingMaster 26/08/2017

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