Black Spiders - No Goats In The Omen

Black Spiders
No Goats In The Omen
4/5
Dark Riders

As a band who've supported Airbourne, Kiss and Ozzy Osbourne, it’s no surprise that Black Spiders rock. After punching us in the face with hard riffs on merely an EP and a single, they’ve already built quite a name for themselves, and with their second EP, it’s not hard to see why.

No Goats In The Omen, aside from having a brilliant title, is yet another solid release. Kicking things off with tongue placed firmly in cheek, ‘Just like a woman’ is straight from a better 70’s hard rock album. Jumping straight in with a riff bound to be a show opener. ‘D&B’ follows with a deceptively tiny intro, before thundering into a sprint. But stealing the show is ‘Cold Dead Hands.’ A huge tune which demands to be sung along to and has you ready for a fist fight. A cover of Motorheads ‘No Class’ finishes things off nicely.

It’s really hard to think how a band with so few releases can be so comfortably in their stride. A no nonsense approach working in their favour, No Goats... is a short but sweet EP that smashes you across the head and has you wanting this year’s promised debut full length. Now.

Asteroid - II

Asteroid
II
5/5
Fuzzorama Records
To sum up Asteroid in one word, you’d probably have to say fuzz. A Swedish trio of promising musicians, the more psychedelic edges of stoner rock seem to run through their veins and they apply it to record with surprising confidence.

Following on from 2008’s self titled and a split with fellow fuzzsters Blowback, early adopters will be pleased that II is more polished production wise, but loses none of the haze which makes their sound enchanting. By the second track ‘Disappear’, they’ll have won most of you over. The vocals are powerful and yet the backing to these feels ripped straight from an instrumental band. For the most part, a very relaxed pace is spread across the record and even the faster paced tracks, such as ‘Lady’ never really break past a trot. The last three songs, ‘Towers’, ‘Fire’ and ‘Time’ almost blend together into one which speaks volumes for an album where not one track feels out of place.

Packed full of hooks without screaming for your attention, II is an album which fights its way into your consciousness and makes you reach for it again and again. Laid back and trippy, this could be one of 2010’s best.

Wolf w/Cauldron & Incidium

Wolf w/ Cauldron & Incidium
Moho
14/10/2009
Thomas Geddes
****

Wolf may not be the hugest heavy metal band out there, but they’re certainly big enough to get excited about, when they play a venue as small as the Moho.

Playing to a room of no more than fifty, the Swedish old-schoolers didn’t seem deterred as they powered through riff after riff, stopping only once, early into the set, to pay heartfelt tribute to Evile’s recently departed bassist. Afterwards though, they broke out the cliché’s; running into the crowd and fist pumping through an impressive greatest hits style set. But cliché’s work at this kind of gig, and the small crowd loved every second of the throwback to metal’s yesteryear

Tagging along for the ride were Incidium, a thrash metal band who, despite a solid performance, were notably out of place. Cauldron, another slice of pure 80’s, were the middle act and seemed in their element. Close crowd’s called for playful banter from Cauldron, who, based on song titles like ‘Chained up in Chains’, didn’t take themselves too seriously. Yet their set was as heavy and fast as what succeeded. Wolf certainly stole the show, but a full solid gig. If you like anything the heavy side of AC/DC, this was for you.

(Edited version may appear in Student Direct: Mancunian at a later date)

Papa Roach w/Madina fucking Lake & Heavens Basement

Papa Roach w/Madina Lake & Heaven’s Basement
Manchester Academy 1
11/10/2009
Thomas Geddes
***

Papa Roach must be counting their blessings that Madina Lake exist. If it wasn’t for their shambolic performance preceding the headline act, Papa Roach wouldn’t have looked all that great.

Openers Heaven’s Basement offered the greatest set. Ploughing through their hard rock warm up slot, seemingly determined to leave an impression. Then again so would you if your career had been reset thanks to managerial issues forcing you to change your name and start from scratch. Working the crowd as well as any band can to a filling room, everyone was jumping and clapping along. The high spirits of the crowd didn't last for too long. What succeeded them can only be accurately described in noises of disgust. A kind of shudder from within the stomach. Pure nausia. Madina Lake definitely entertained an audience strewn with young girls willing to get wet at any band with matching haircuts, but the missed high notes were glaringly obvious and the front-man’s failed stage dive was embarrassing, if not hilarious. I’d genuinely recommend a trip to the bar, as no matter how much you drink, you'll feel less sick by the end of it than if you were to watch the glorious shit stains on stage.

Because of this confirmation of evil, Papa Roach’s arrival onstage seemed more triumphant than it would have otherwise. Kicking off a set peppered with songs from newest album Metamorphosis, the Californian quartet never hit their stride, looking constantly stiff and pretty much as though they were only on stage because of contractual commitment. During classics such as ‘Blood Brothers’, they seemed just as bored with it all, despite huge reactions from the crowd. Even Jacoby Shaddix’s confusing ramblings of “Who wants to take a sh*t on the floor?’, appeared as though they’d be rehashed for the full tour. Their whole set seemed way too static, way too rehearsed. Not in a good, polished and honed kind of way either. More in an embarrassingly awkward way where there was no room to move. I Definitely would not want to see twice in one tour. If not for the fact the 'first gig' type crowd showed no respect for their peers (when someone falls over in a pit and you're the only one trying to help them up, you'll see what I mean) then for the fact that I'd fear, with all the deja vu, that there was a glitch in the Matrix.

(Edited version appears in Student-Direct:Mancunian Issue 5 dated October 19th 2009)

Bowling For Soup - Sorry For Partyin'

Bowling for Soup
Sorry for Partyin'
2/5


Every time I put on a Bowling for Soup album, I instantly feel like I'm 10 again, remembering listening to the first few albums and being overcome with mirth. However, with Sorry for Partyin', that didn't last the whole album. If anything, I felt older by the end.

The problem with this album isn't that it isn't funny (I defy anyone who says they can listen to 'No Hablo Inglés' without at least a smirk), but the hooks aren't as catchy as you'd expect in the whole from the 15 year strong Texas quartet. There's nothing even close to their earlier successes such as 'Girl All the Bad Guys Want' or 'High School Never Ends' and the first single, 'My Wena', a thinly veiled double entendre comparing the male member to a girl, is probably the least memorable on the album. The album opens with what I suspect may be the biggest success, 'Really Cool Dance Song', a song that not surprisingly is an attempt to make a poppy dance song which will be played everywhere in a few weeks.

If you dig around, there's certainly enough here to warrant a listen, such as 'America (Wake Up Amy)' a pop punk rally call for America to 'wake up' to all it's problems, 'BFFF' about loving a man (in a heterosexual way) and 'I Can't Stand L.A.', however, the people who should be buying this in droves are young teenagers more interested in a cheap laugh than music. Not a bad album by any means, but for me there's too much effort spent on the lyrics and not enough on the music. In the words of Danny Glover, "I'm too old for this sh*t."

(Edited version originally printed in Student Direct: Mancunion - Issue 3 - October 2009)