Me, You and Thomas – Eventually

    With a lo-fi indie rock sound energising the air as well as the senses through potent fuzzy sonic persuasion, Eventually the new and second single from UK duo Me, You and Thomas continues the impressive emergence of a fresh sound which started with their debut single Repeat. The self-released song caught the imagination of a great many and with the new Howling Owl Records released track, the band is set to step into a brighter spotlight.

Consisting of Rhianna Berarey (vocals, guitar, piano) and Joe Sherrin (drums), the Bristol two-piece cement their emerging presence in UK indie music with a trio of songs which seduce and provoke with equal strength and accomplishment. The title track immediately takes a grip with its opening salvo of rolling drum hooks and engaging guitar beckoning, their touch wrapping an inviting arm around the shoulders of the senses, luring them deeper in the focus of the song and the impending scuzz lined bluster of its heart. As it parades its impressive presence within the ear there are loud whispers of bands such as Au-Pairs and Girls At Their Best as well as the scintillating discord challenging likes of Breeders and Throwing Muses apparent. The song is as infectious as it is aurally evocative and recruits the passion with ease to its contagious cause rewarding with intense rewards in return.

The following Stop Here has a less energetic freedom but a more imposing depth to its reserved gait. Again the rhythms of Sherrin cage and lead the intent of the song whilst the guitar of Berarey brings a steely narrative to the sound whilst her soft yet sharp vocals seduce with a lyrical embrace to match her open tones. Into its stride the track has an agitated atmosphere which soaks the ear with an inviting menace to make a distinct contrast to its predecessor but a co-conspirator in securing a solid engagement of the emotions.

Closing track Boundary takes another step into a slower emotive stirring which though it lacks the more instant attraction of the previous pair emerges as an engrossing and thought forming encounter. Again the bands previously mentioned comes to mind with elements of The Passions added, but the sound even with those references to old bands has a fresh bite to its melodic excursion.

With an extremely limited run to its CD version, Eventually is a single you need to snap up quickly but more importantly it is another step for a band we feel sure we will hear a lot more of.

www.facebook.com/MeYouThomas

7.5/10

RingMaster 08/04/2013

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Listen to the best independent music and artists on The RingMaster Review Radio Show and The Bone Orchard from

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Sparrow & The Workshop: Shock Shock

    

    2011 saw the release of Spitting Daggers, an impressive and enthralling album from Glasgow based band Sparrow & The Workshop which certainly for us triggered a lingering attraction to the imaginative indie folk sounds and invention of the trio. Now they have returned with new single Shock Shock and a new evolution of their already striking presence, the song as enthralling as anything they have produced before but with a deeper expanse and richness of ideas to fully capture the imagination.

Formed in 2008, the threesome of Jill O’Sullivan (vocals, guitar, violin), Gregor Donaldson (drums, vocals), and Nick Packer (bass guitar, electric slide guitar, basstard), soon were drawing critical acclaim with the release via Distiller Records of debut album Crystals Fall in 2010. The following Spitting Daggers elevated their reputation and recognition further with its engaging and evocative creativity whilst tours and performances alongside the likes of Brian Jonestown Massacre, British Sea Power, Idlewild, Broken Records, Sivert Hoyem, The Lemonhead, and Thee Oh Sees only further enhanced their status.

Released on Song, By Toad Records, Shock Shock is the fore taster of the third album from the band due later in the year and a compelling declaration of the new venture in sound the band is exploring. The single finds the band fusing their still vibrant folk enchantment with a feisty fuel of rock and haunting ambience. Within seconds the song offers a sinew and intensity new to previous releases though it is an evolution to their already impacting ideas and imagination which marked their previous album. From the start guitars paint an emotive fiery tapestry to wrap the melodic vocal caresses of O’Sullivan in, whilst the bass of Packer adds inciting yet inviting shadows with its throaty resonance. It is the atmospheric wash though which adds the final provocation for thoughts and senses, its passion courting sonic cloud a slightly abrasive yet golden voice to bring an additional delicious persuasion.

Inspiring loud whispers of The Pixies, Throwing Muses, and The Shangri-Las in many ways, Shock Shock is the perfect invitation and temptation to Sparrow & The Workshop and their upcoming album, a release which is sure to have much anticipation waiting for it after the single ends its own persuasion.

http://www.facebook.com/sparrowandtheworkshop

8/10

RingMaster 11/03/2013

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Listen to the best independent music and artists on The RingMaster Review Radio Show and The Bone Orchard from

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This Wicked Tongue: Provinces EP + Mick Hucknall’s Hair

    From Worcester in the UK, This Wicked Tongue is one of those bands which once heard or is that bitten they stay around with a lustful lingering. Brewing up storms of rock n roll pulsating with essences of progressive rock, grunge, and alternative rock, the band creates a thrilling fiery sound which is rife with a deviously seductive persuasion and mischief. Their Provinces EP which came out in the latter part of last year is a release which fully deserves a belated look whilst their new single Mick Hucknall’s Hair, due for release in May, is a song which defies any patience in sharing its stunning quality.

Formed in 2011 and taking influences such as Queens of the Stone Age, Nirvana, Audioslave, and Soundgarden into their creative design, the quartet of Tina V (vocalist/guitarist/ keyboards), Haydn (vocalist/guitarist), Rob (bass, and Ben (drums) has emerged with a sound which equally offers the passion of Skunk Anansie and the melodic lures of Throwing Muses. This Wicked Tongue on the evidence of these two releases and their previous self-titled EP, openly do not lack invention or imagination with the band able to craft stirring infectious and tempting songs which are veined by sculpted hooks, explosive energy, and instinctive passion.

The Provinces EP is made up of six tracks which capture the imagination with ease, their varied and compelling sounds a lingering and hungry presence in the ear. Opening song House first places a blistered sonic hand on the listener before unveiling a rich flame of stoner groove and a passion baiting funk bassline. Turning into an eager to please stroll with bass and guitar making their individual lures of invention, the vocals of Tina stroke the ear with restraint within the reserved gait of the song. Soon though the song ignites a feisty feast of impressive energy and open emotions to leave an ever tastier flavour which gains additional potency as the track writhes and twists with further craft and enterprise before it departs to lift the satisfaction levels up greater levels.

The following If This is Me teases with a heavier impacting energy and once again a blaze of sonic colour from the guitars, their bluesy swagger bold and confident without indulging in any over blown grandeur. Though the song lacks the addictive hold of its predecessor it is a heated slice of accomplished songwriting and even greater impacting realisation. With its heart bleeding emotion in every note and a delicious harmonic tease in its final few breathes, the track sets up the senses for the equally emotive and inviting Cape Pelorem. It is a vibrant rain of sizzling melodies and elegant hooks all coated with heated rock tenacity, an intenseness which compliments rather than smothers the mellower light of the track. It is a song which triggers an inflammation of the passions before passing on the next step to their rapture to next up Discontent.

The track is stunning, a riveting encounter of taunting hooks and hearty bass sounds wrapped in vocal harmonies boisterously expanding the walls of the song. Loud whispers which can be seeded in the likes of Alice In Chains and Jane’s Addiction hold irresistible sway over the passions throughout though the song and band never settles for leaving things unstirred, a melodic aside with near siren properties sending thoughts escalating in to greater ardour. With a parting sonic scorching the song is the highest pinnacle of the release.

The EP is completed by the riotous energy of Your Hands, swiftly followed by a brief piano reprise of the same song. The main track sees both Tina and Haydn vocally guiding the powerful sounds to expose further evidence that the band can issue sinews of metal and rock with the same ease, power, and invention as they can their melodic flames and entrancing sonic shards. The song is another outstanding inferno of imaginative conception and leaves a lasting burn upon the heart.

As mentioned Mick Hucknall’s Hair has its physical release in May but we cannot wait to share its towering sound and invention. Immediately the song gnaws at the ear with ravenous riffs from guitar and bass whilst the drums bring an extra bite to their swiping punches than seen on the previous EP. The song offers strong indications that the band has evolved their sound and direction many steps on since the Provinces, the track having a richer growl and harder intensity to its rigid prowl. The band has not left their melodic beauty in the past though, the song weaving in virulent progressive radiance for the deepest fascination and invention from the band yet. Everything about the song is a marked evolution from the already impressive EP and it is hard to see the band not finding a far reaching recognition and stature in the years ahead.

http://www.thiswickedtongue.com

Provinces EP 8/10 + Mick Hucknall’s Hair 9/10

RingMaster 06/03/2013

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Listen to the best independent music and artists on The RingMaster Review Radio Show and The Bone Orchard from

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http://snd.sc/ZgyNWq

The Cellophane Flowers: Staring At The World

Ringmaster Review – “Staring at The World engages thoughts and imagination like the sun invites the day, with warm mesmeric charm veined with heated enterprise. The Cellophane Flowers is a unique melodic joy to soundtrack steamy days and sultry nights.”

Since the release of their acclaimed If I Was A Girl EP and the following impressive Freeze Me single, UK indie pop band The Cellophane Flowers has been the source of much anticipation for their debut album. Staring At The World gets unveiled upon the world on December 3^rd and without any reservations can be said to satisfy all hopes and expectations laid upon the London quartet and more. It is an enterprising and thrilling release of what the band term ‘psychopop’, not that their sounds have that deranged quality really but it does carry a certain disturbed presence which is captivating and quite delicious, a description which can be firmly applied to the album.

The four members of the London based band hail from four different corners of the world joining together to add their own distinct spice to a sound which is unique and imaginative. The first notable thing about The Cellophane Flowers is the distinctive and entrancing voice of Italian songstress Francesca Corradini, her sensual and magnetic distinct tones lighting up the heart of every song. Her vocals have an emotive caress which is as mesmeric as it is charmingly spicy to offer every song on the album a seductive flavour upon the already compelling sounds brought by guitarist Ian Sumner who grew up in Brazil, Australian-Italian-Maltese bassist Luca Napolitano, and drummer Nick Guy who has one side of his heart in Egypt and the other in Suffolk. The album was recorded with producer Dave Allen (The Cure / Depeche Mode / Human League / The Charlatans) and finds the band at their most potent and alluring yet, the ten songs it has within its distinct artwork melodic kisses of warm and tender mischievous pleasure.

 Voices is the first song to coax the ear and beyond, its initial simmering whispers a gentle breeze behind the teasing tones of Corradini and a rich sonic guitar enticement. The song has a building presence which incites the pulse and heart into adding their excitement to the rising energies of the track. As it opens its arms to their fullest melodic expanse the feeling of an imminent crescendo is realised with the energetic chorus and fairly rampant stroll the track elevates into. The teasing is repeated as the infectious charm of the song tinged with a shadowed breath overwhelms the senses for a glorious and inventive start to the release.

The following song The Promise continues the impressive engagement, its sinewy basslines and acidic sonics of the guitars combining to create an eighties gait which reminds of China Crisis at times and Au Pairs in other moments. The riffs of Napolitano has a wonderful snarl to their invention offering dark corners to songs which playfully counter the surrounding crystalline and glowing shards of melodies and rainbow like harmonies. The song finds this union at its height, though each and every track in their varied guises are fuelled by their superbly crafted companionship within the framework of sturdy and compelling skilful beats of Guy.

A trio of tracks in the glistening shapes of Pendulum Eyes, Forever Lost, and Tears Of A Clown sway and beckon next, the first two with a definite sixties air to their lush evocative sound. The first is a simple yet sharply defined pop song with an air of five decades ago whilst the second has a fuller soak of the same time within its smouldering elegance. Throughout there is a Donovan feel to the song within the at times scorching almost epic like indie texture of the song. The last of the three is a gentle weave of tender vocals and equally soothing sounds though again there is that miniscule of feistiness which marks all their songs.

The excellent Rock ’n’ Roll with its thumping and hypnotic drums, which the band say were recorded in a massive disused NHS hospital kitchen, sends extra thrills through the body alongside long term favourite song from the band, Belinda. The boisterous first song of the pair is a sizzling blend of raw guitar strokes and those contagious rhythms framing the ever absorbing vocals of Corradini. It is the most infectious ‘riot’ on the album which just sends tingles through the emotions when it opens up its pulse racing climaxes. It is like Throwing Muses and Whale at a teen hangout with Spinnerette and quite irresistible. Belinda is just as addictive with its calypso groove veined fiery caustic grazing of rock guitars and group harmonies. The track is a ‘collision’ of shadows and warmth lyrically and musically and quite brilliant.

Completed by the tangy western simmering Time, the persuasive Lucky Day, and the closing melodic fondle of In A Hole, the album is a release to accompany any emotion and The Cellophane Flowers a band destined to find a place in many welcoming hearts.

http://www.thecellophaneflowers.co.uk/

RingMaster 26/11/2012

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Free Download: The Cellophane Flowers offer ‘Tears of a Clown’ as an early Christmas present

Taken from their soon to drop debut album, Staring at the World, set to be released December 3rd, The Cellophane Flowers offer an early gift.

With the festive season around the corner, full of sparkly dresses, Christmas parties, spending time with friends and family and bursting with the spirit of giving a little more love this year, and The Cellophane Flowers are definitely getting all festive with their early Christmas present, ‘Tears of a Clown’.  The sensational quirky indie-pop foursome are giving the track away as a free download for you to add to those playlists, especially if you’re wanting to slow things down a bit and take a step back from the busy, glitzy and energetic time of year.

Download ‘Tears of a Clown’ free here:

http://soundcloud.com/altpr/the-cellophane-flowers-tears/s-r5hfK

Before The Cellophane Flowers get a chance to go Christmas shopping, they have a superb album launch coming up at the Paper Dress London: Thursday 6th December 2012, which they would absolutely love to see you there, so make sure you’ve penned that down in your diaries before you hit those office parties.

The band have been getting a truck load of critical acclaim from some of the music industry’s most exciting reviewers and tastemakers, so make sure you’ve got The Cellophane Flowers’ Staring at the World scribbled down on your letter to Father Christmas.

Catch The Cellophane Flowers live:

• Album Launch Party // Paper Dress London: Thursday 6th December 2012
• The Standards presents @ The Constitution: Sat 23 Feb 2013

The Story:

The Cellophane Flowers are the masters of female-fronted, driving, quirky pop, sometimes styling their sound as “psychopop” in interviews. The Cellophane Flowers songs reflect an eclectic array of influences, from tribal drumming, to alt-rock, to dark tinged 80’s pop and have name checked Siouxsie, Sonic Youth, The Stone Roses and Throwing Muses as influences. Time and again The Cellophane Flowers throw in hook after hook to support the sublime vocals of Francesca Corradini.

The Cellophane Flowers have recently completed the recording of their debut albumStaring At The World which is being released digitally on December 3rd 2012. The ten tracks of Staring At The World were recorded and produced by David M. Allen. Dave’s extensive discography covers The Cure, Depeche Mode, Human League and The Charlatans. Mastering was by Barry Grint (David Bowie, I Blame Coco) at Alchemy Studios.

Previous releases include the If I Was A Girl EP, which was played on BBC Radio 1 and 6 Music with Tom Robinson, local radio and numerous radio stations in the US, and the ‘Freeze Me’ single which gained airplay on Absolute Radio, BFBS and Recharged radio.

Praise for The Cellophane Flowers:

Gold Flake Paint – “a fresh-faced blast of subtle art-rock driven forward by the charmingly unique vocals of Francesca Corradini”

For Folk Sakes – “It has a homage to Phil Spector…then morphs into a haze of lo-fi production which is lovely to fall into.”

Tom Robinson, BBC 6Music -“Female-fronted slightly offkilter driving pop from London.”

Electric Banana – “Staring At The World is an eclectic collection of everything right within indie music. From mysterious otherworldly swells to the no nonsense drive of honest rock The Cellophane Flowers enlists a great future promise” 5/5

To keep up to date with the band, check out:

• The Cellophane Flowers Official Website
• Follow The Cellophane Flowers On Twitter
• Like The Cellophane Flowers On Facebook
• The Cellophane Flowers Press Pack

Bad Powers: Self Titled

Some bands upon their introduction just make you sigh with pleasure as the flames to a permanent attachment are lit and such is the case with Bad Powers and their self-titled debut album. It is a glorious and deeply stimulating piece of creative invention, its imagination as stirring and impressive as the raging provocative sounds brewed from the distinctly unique musical minds of the band. Arguably the quality of the release is not a surprise given that three quarters of the band were in the acclaimed Made Out Of Babies which called it a day earlier in the year, but guitarist Brendan Tobin, bassist Eric Cooper, and drummer Matthew Egan, have returned with something quite different and greedily enthralling.

The Brooklyn band headed by the stunning vocals of Megan Tweed (also of The Family Curse), has unleashed a hybrid of post punk and noise rock blended into a steaming maelstrom of innovation and ingenious enterprise. It is not the easiest to describe such the unique invention at play, for example at times the album teases the ear like a dysfunctional offspring of The Creatures, with Tweed sounding like a emotionally beleaguered Siouxie Sioux, The Pixies, and Throwing Muses lined by the corrosive breath of Joy Division, and in other moments the senses are swamped with a ravenous erosion brought by a cacophonous smothering from a mix of The Raincoats, The Sugarcubes, Stinking Lizaveta, and Essential Logic veined by the chilled whispers of a Xmal Deutschland. For all those inciting comparisons though the songs are in a realm of their own, a staggering amalgam of ideas and their inventive realisation brought through craft and energy to leave one drooling within a full and eager passion.

Released through The End Records, the album sets to work on the heart with opener New Bruises, the song immediately turning the key to adoration with dramatic sonic slices across rapping beats and firm riffs whilst Tweed begins her magnetic squalls of immense vocal enchantment. Like the music she offers a warm sizzling caress which alternates with a scorched and tenacious bite, her passionate wind shifts from deliciously scarring thoughts and emotions to coaxing them with a heated elegance. Whichever the source guiding her delivery it is a continual irresistible temptation. The track pulls one into an enveloping sonic wantonness, guitars and bass manipulating the synapses with brewing melodic gasses which consume all resistance whilst the rhythms cage and ensnare with an inescapable captivation.

The following likes of the tempestuous Hit Sniffing Dog and the brilliant Eves And Eyes cast their own distinct spells, the first a mix of intimidating intensity and taunting hypnotic grooves like a blistered union of elements from Dead Kennedys and Belly and the second an expansive crawl of emotive majesty and sinister shadows which delves within the psyche like the darkened fallout from The Birthday Party meeting Breeder overlooked by Morningwood. With its dark strings the track is immense amongst nothing but titanic pieces of dare one say genius?

Throughout its ten stunning tracks the album just offers the richest of rewards from its stylish and brilliantly crafted magnificence. The erosion Black Alf with its rolling plundering rhythms of Egan and abrasive vehemence from Tweedy just sparks higher flames of desire for the staggering creativity, the bass of Cooper snarling with venom within the caustic guitar assault whilst Blueberry transports the ear into an outstanding storm of air pilfering sonic rubs and incessant incendiary grooves. It is not the fiercest of the songs on the album but burns with a melodic heat to leave one breathless and smarting from its precise intensity.

With further heightened pinnacles in Electricity Should Be Free with its Bond like teasing intricacies and evocative swagger, and the quite wonderful and astounding closing track Bread And Butter, the album is without doubt one of the real triumphs of the year. From beginning to end it just wraps the senses and heart in a textured wash of brilliance. From its moments of crunching encounters through to the enchanting yet barbed beauty it seduces with ease through, the release is a sensation and Bad Powers in one stroke has taken sonically gifted music to a new and titanic height.

http://www.badpowers.com/

RingMaster 12/11/2012

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

 

Makar: Funeral Genius

Guitar and piano led the new album from US band Makar (pronounced Mah-Kar) is a release which soon forms a strong engagement with the ear treating it to an open weave of thoughtful melodic imagination and easily pleasing pop sounds. Ranging from indie rock to folk pop with slithers of quirky invention, Funeral Genius makes an endearing and intriguing piece of pleasure to spend time with.

Formed 2002-03, Makar consists of New Jersey girl Andrea DeAngelis (vocalist/guitarist) and New Yorker Mark Purnell (vocals/ piano). With shows at the likes of Luna Lounge, CBGBs gallery, Knitting Factory and Pianos under their belt the pair wrote and released their eighteen song strong debut album 99 Cent Dreams in 2005. Three years in the making it won immediate and lingering acclaim across radio stations, media, and the public. 2008 saw the duo begin work on Funeral Genius another three year project, and upon its recent release the band again started being soaked in full and eager enthusiasm for its sounds which now having heard it is understandable. With the addition of Mark Nilges and drummer Dawn McGrath on the album Makar quite simply light up the air with twelve excitable songs which even if indie pop is not your preferred aural medium cannot fail to leave a warm smile inside.

The title track opens up the release with an instant sunny disposition despite the theme of the personal negativity some

Andrea DeAngelis

people carry through every day. There is a underlying eighties feel to the song and the album as a whole in that it reminds of The Passions a little but more of a more restrained but no less fun Martha and the Muffins. With a melodic eagerness and the enchanting vocals of DeAngelis playing around the great bass and the striding piano, the song is a very welcoming start to the album.

The following I Wanna Know What I Don’t Know and Belong Here continue the fun and inviting beginning. The first is a resourceful mix of indie rock and bouncing show piano with a seventies vocal flavouring, like an amalgamation of Throwing Muses and The Sundays with Middle Of The Road. It captures the imagination from the start with a familiarity and open inducement to join in and though it is not as eager as its predecessor it leaves one more than satisfied. The second of the pair continues the fine blend of piano and guitar topped by excellent the angelic vocals of DeAngelis all firmly and skilfully veined by the bass of Nilges and beats of McGrath.

Tracks like Bottle of Beauty mixes things up nicely on the release with Purnell taking the vocal lead whilst I Can’t Tell You To Stay offers a compelling bluesy groove to its flow though Nilges is the star on this particular track. The song twists and turns continually throughout to make for one of the more unpredictable and delightfully thrilling songs on the release.

Mark Purnell

There are a couple of moments where the album misses the mark though it is more down to personal preference to be fair, but In The Know  with its limited breath and banshee harmonic shrieks left more puzzlement than joy whilst the closing lo-fi raw recording of Devil In A Dream seemed like a track too far for these ears. With intelligent and compelling songs like America Where Are You and Show Me That Look In Your Eyes making up the album personal tastes make a small impact of the pleasure gained from Funeral Genius.

Though not destined to be a consistent player here it is impossible not to be impressed and fully gratified with the quality songwriting, exciting melodies, and some of the best indie pop tunes heard this year. Makar have an open invitation for all to join their party with Funeral Genius it is just up to you to go an enjoy.

www.makarmusic.com

Ringmaster 13/06/2012

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