Ten albums everybody needs to own:

(or at least listen to once, or twice, or thrice... part 2!)


Common Dreads - Enter Shikari
Enter Shikari embody everything exciting and relevant about today’s generation of new musical talent. Common Dreads, their second studio album, was an assault on music genres worthless boundaries - they spat out a politically charged aggression with a fusion of dub, metal, and punk as they worked their way through experimental hooks, riffs, and breakdowns. This album has its own unique, and at times barbaric, sound - songs morph seemlessly from rock to electro to metal to techno to hardcore to country & western in the blink of an eye. In terms of sheer passion, and raw emotion this album can't be touched and If you think you can handle it, get amongst it! 
Favourite Track? Zzzonked. 


My War - Black Flag
My War is a loud, volatile, and aggressive album brimming with hardcore angst and true 'do-it-yourself' punk ideals. 
Alongside frontman Henry Rollins schizophrenic vocals is some stellar guitar work - riffs, and breakdowns moving from haunting to intimidating to modern pop-punk over the nine tracks.
Favourite Track? My War. 


Reign In Blood - Slayer
Is it the heaviest album of all time? Probably. Is it an undisputed masterpiece? Definitely. 
Widely thought of as a pinnacle of heavy metal, this album packs a ruthless and aggressive punch in less than 30 minutes. The lyrics violent content is mirrored in the brutal onslaught of high intensity guitar work, and lightning fast drumming, but despite the speed and hostility the precision and skill is there in abundance. Each track is as threatening and ominous as the last. 26 years on from its release this album is still stone cold classic, and as powerful and influential as ever.
Favourite Track? Raining Blood. 


Hunky Dory - David Bowie
With the release of this, now infamous, album David Bowie made his mark as one of music's visionaries. A sparkling glam-rock album infused with touches of electro, rock, and acoustic shows off Bowie's versatility and genius songwriting. 
Favourite Track? Life On Mars? 


The Marshall Mathers LP - Eminem
Eminem's penchant for bitter tirades, lyrical play, self-referential personas, and ice cold nihilism intertwine to produce a hip-hop classic, that is perhaps his greatest achievement as an artist. Lyrically exploring his twisted mind as he ploughs through his youth, pop culture, and shape shifts through his many personas. Sonically swinging from emotive and moody to compelling and uplifting. As offensive as it is genius, and full of flair and cultural poignance this is an album that belongs in everyone's collection. 
Favourite Track? Who Knew.

Ten Albums everybody needs to own:

(Or at least listen to once, or twice, or thrice...)


The Clash - The Clash 
This eponymous debut has rage and fury in abundance, and chucked everything (including the kitchen sink) in the name of punk at the world for a rock and roll revolution. With classics like London's Burning, White Riot, Police & Thieves, and I Fought The Law all on one album you can't really go wrong can you?
Favourite Track? Police & Thieves. 

Nevermind - Nirvana
An album so raw, and relentless that it changed the world, and defined a generation. Not quite as bleak, and murky as Bleach but still rippled with beautiful distortion and that unrefined quality that made Nirvana, well, Nirvana. Nevermind showcases the tormented soul that was Kurt Cobain at his very best - his songwriting skills are as haunting as ever, and songs like Something in the Way, and Come As You Are, and Lithium proved what a poet he really was. (You can read HERE about what I think of each song in depth if ya want...)
Favourite Track? Come As You Are.

Led Zeppelin IV - Led Zeppelin
To put it simply this album has it all - thundering guitar riffs, infallible drumming, effortless vocals, and stellar songwriting. They broke the mould when they made this one!
Favourite Track? Black Dog.


Pinkerton - Weezer
The album that invented, eek, emo. So love it or hate it, you cannot deny it's creativity and genius. Each song is charged with high emotion (hence, you know, the 'emo' thing) and explores a variety of moods from aggresive, dark and cluttered to care free and bright.
Favourite Track? Tired Of Sex.


Enema Of The State - Blink 182
One thing's for sure, as they point out in single 'What's My Age Again?' Blink certainly don't ever wanna act their age - and this goes for their songwriting. It's as immature as it is genius. What they lack in emotional depth they more than make up for in punchy riffs, and catchy hooks. Boys we don't want you to grow up either. Ever.
Favourite Track? Dysentary Gary. 




Oh, and guess what, you can just bloody well wait to hear the next five tomorrow... Gotta keep you on ya toes and all that! Party xo

This is a Tom Delonge appreciation post...

Blink 182 live @ 02 Arena, London.

So, I watched one of my favourite bands of all time play on Friday night, and far out it was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. Live music is the only drug worth indulging in, for reals y'all. 
Every single song they played brought back a thousand memories of being young and care free. Growing up on Blink was the best, and seeing them now as an adult just reminds that 'I never wanna act my age'.
They played the perfect setlist of old favourites including I Miss You, Violence, Always, Down, All The Small Things, What's My Age Again?, Josie, Dammit, and First Date, and new songs Snake Charmer, Up All Night, After Midnight, Wishing Well, and Heart's All Gone.

 This is Tom Delonge and he is the love of my life. 

Travis Barker has, quite literally, turned drumming into an art form. He plays with so much passion and love that watching him hammer away on those drum skins is electric - his drum solos were some of the highlights of the night, and I doubt there are many drummers that can bring a sold out arena to a stunned and awed silence. Rockstar.
The interaction and banter between Mark and Tom is still as hilarious and immature as ever - it feels like just yesterday they were running around the streets of LA naked begging to be reminded of their age, again.

Blink-182 have and always will be the pioneers of not just pop punk, but of punk itself. Punk is all about having the guts to be true to yourself, and stand up for what you believe in regardless of what others think. Punk is about screaming at the top of your lungs, and being free from the pain of the 'real world'.
Blink have always unapologetically been true to themselves, and it's a testament to the band that after a five year hiatus they're still selling out world tours, and performing to crowds of loyal fans screaming back every word.
Nothin's changed - they're still hilarious, inspiring, and total freakin rockstars in every sense of the word!

Let's make this last forever... 

Vintage Slim.

And there's a million of us just like me; who cuss like me; who just don't give a fuck like me; who dress like me; who walk, talk and act like me, and just might the next best thing but not quite me... 

The Temper Trap @ Great Escape Festival, Brighton

The Temper Trap need no introduction, but they're getting one anyway...
They are an, hmm shall we say, Indie Pop Rock band all the way from Down Under. Frontman Dougy Mandagi was busking in Melbourne when he met guitarist Jonathan Aherne. Six years later after they collected a few more band members along the way The Temper Trap was born.

The Temper Trap were one of the headliners at this year's Great Escape Festival, and played Brighton Dome on the Friday night. Their unique and mesmerizingly haunting sound was perfectly suited to the Dome's impressive acoustics. 

They played a setlist mixed with old favourites and brand new songs from their upcoming album. There was a lull in energy from the crowd in the middle of the set as the band showcased several new songs in a row. A few complaints were coming from the crowd that they wanted to hear more 'crowd pleasers'. The new songs were beautiful, and sound as if they are as high a standard as ever but a live show at a festival is NOT the place to debut new stuff! Crowds can't get into it, and when it's one after the other, and the beers have been flowing, people get pretty pissed (off).
When they did play favourites like 'Science of Fear', 'The Drum Song', and classic 'Sweet Disposition' the atmosphere was electric. Dougy's voice echoed around the room accompanied by the beautiful chanting of the overexcited crowd.
Each song was accompanied by a uniquely created light show that ranged from dim shimmers across the stage floor for the ballads to full blown strobe lighting for the more up tempo tracks. My personal favourite moment was during The Drum Song when the drum skins were covered in water so as they beat down on them the droplets were swirling around in the air bathed in the intergalactic green light. Dope.

Aside from the lapse in the middle, The Temper Trap played a beautiful, spacey set that spiced things up at the Great Escape.

Band news: We Are The Ocean.

We Are The Ocean have confirmed the departure of their lead singer Dan Brown, a statement from the band can be found below: 

“It is with much regret that we announce the departure of vocalist Dan Brown from We Are The Ocean. Dan has been our best friend and band member for over five years now. However, throughout the demoing and recording of our new album, we have been faced with the difficult realisation that the band’s and Dan’s creative futures are not the same.

Dan and the band had a meeting recently where Dan agreed that his passion lies behind the scenes as a manager, as opposed to musically. We felt we would be doing him, ourselves and, most importantly, you our fans a massive disservice if we did not acknowledge this fact immediately.

Dan will always be a part of the We Are The Ocean family. We wouldn’t be where we are without Dan’s contribution, commitment and drive.

Our new album is nearly finished and we can honestly say it will be our best to date. As a four piece, we are now extremely excited about what the future holds for us. We intend to keep delivering the best music we possibly can. See you at Download!

More announcements to come soon.

Thanks.

WATO”

Billy Talent: Live Review

Concorde 2: 29th May 2012.

The queue outside of the Concorde 2 was full of punk rock fans of all ages dressed in home made punk jackets complete with studs, spikes, safety pins, badges, and patches. As the night went on, the layers of leather were slowly peeled off revealing more and more flesh until half the venue was full of naked torsos glistening with sweat. This striptease was much like Canadian punk rockers Billy Talent’s performance, as the revelations during their set kept on coming (and I’m not just talking about lead singer Benjamin Kowalewicz’s tattooed chest!)

Before we talk about unbuttoning shirts and sweat soaked fans, credit must be paid to the support band ‘Time Is A Thief’ whose job of ‘warming up’ the crowd was already being done by the venue’s scorching temperatures but they certainly got things sizzling. The Irish foursome had an impressive stage presence and commanded the rowdy crowd well, treating them to hard-hitting riffs, and searing vocals as they played their way through a striking, classic rock set. The unsigned band proved they have the potential to take the rock stage by storm, and have the energy, raw passion and song writing ability to sell out tours of their own in the near future.

After the support act’s exciting performance the anticipation in the room was electrifying, and moments before Billy Talent burst onto stage there wasn’t a person in the room who wasn’t chanting their name, clapping their hands, or stomping their feet. The quartet sprung into the venue as crowd favourite ‘Devil in a Midnight Mass’ ripped through the speakers to kick off the first show of their festival warm up tour.

The band erupted the room into a pit of rip-roaring fury as they exploded through their set list accompanied by an intergalactic light show. It’s a testament to their unrelenting energy that halfway through second track ‘Living in the Shadows’ all four band member’s black shirts were glued to their bodies by sweat. Cue unbuttoning.

Front man Benjamin Kowalewicz joked about the heat as he writhed, wriggled, thrashed, and crashed his way across the stage all night.

Throughout the set he told the crowd how excited he was to be back in Brighton: the place where his mum was born and his grandparents were married.

As a celebration of drummer Aaron Solowoniuk’s first live performance since he underwent open-heart surgery four months ago, the band chose to debut their brand new single ‘Viking Death March’. A politically motivated song that incorporates the high-energy drumming, tight guitar riffs, and unique screeching vocals that Billy Talent are famous for.

One of the highlights of the night was during the breakdown of ‘Try Honesty’ when all you could hear was a room full of adoring fans chanting the lyrics ‘Forgive me father, why should you bother now?’ with only the bass line whispering through the speakers for company. Spine tingling moments like these are what make great gigs magical, and as Benjamin Kowalewicz said what makes slugging it out on tour all worth it.

When they returned to the stage to a room full of chanting fans demanding an encore lead guitarist Ian D’Souza performed a rip-roaring guitar solo proving why he’s considered one of the best guitarists in the genre.

They saved the best ‘til last with ‘Devil On My Shoulder’, ‘Fallen Leaves’ and ‘Red Flag’ keeping the crowd slamming around for as long as possible.

Before the sweat soaked punk rockers left the stage for the last time they made one more revelation that Brighton was first on their list of places they wanted to return to on their UK tour starting later this year. After a performance as impressive, and infectious as that there is no doubt that Billy Talent tops many lists as greatest live band you could hope to see.