Album Reviews: March's Top Of The Pops

Here's a round-up of what's gone under the NME-E microscope in March, plus a few other bits which you might think worthwhile.

The Rakes: 'Klang' (Rating: 6/10)
Ten tracks in little more than 30 minutes, means 'Klang' is almost over before you've got into it and, whilst it's no classic, it does its best to keep you entertained. Read more


Starsailor: 'All The Plans' (Rating: 8/10)
Four albums into their career, Starsailor have well and truly estalished themselves as one of the UK's top pop acts. The blend of inoffensive melodies, haunting ballads and water tight, often melodramatic lyrics are on show once again. Read more

U2: 'No Line On The Horizon' (Rating: 6/10)
Maybe the word desperate is a bit too strong, but Bono and Co's latest offering 'No Line On The Horizon' is, at best, lightweight. Read more


Its A Buffalo: 'Don't Be Scared' (Rating: 8/10)
Ten tracks of pseudo-folk, cum rockabilly akin to the likes of The Coral or Clap Your Hands Say Yeah hustle and bustle along for just over 30 minutes and have certainly put a spring in my step on the way to work this week. Read more

The Trestles: 'Hard Faced Town' (Rating: 9/10)
After a week of having my ears invaded by The Prodigy, I needed something to heal my aural wounds and, despite the challenging title, 'Hard Faced Town' fits the bill perfectly. Read more

The Prodigy: 'Invaders Must Die' (Rating: 8/10)
The hairline may be receding, but the attitude is still there. The Prodigy have sent out a warning to all invaders... It's their fat, their land and they're living off it. Read more


Here's a couple of other soundbites too (if only I had the time to review them all!)....

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart: 'The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart' (Rating 8/10) Quality indie-pop from NYC. An unexpected, yet much appreciated discovery.


Empire Of The Sun: 'Walking On A Dream' (Rating 5/10)
Aussie glam-rock? Nah, didn't work for me either, but it takes all sorts...


Read February's review summary.

E.P. Review: The Trestles

The Trestles: Hard Faced Town E.P. (Sonica)


1. A Shot Of Wonder
2. Heavy Heart
3. Hard Faced Town
4. Where's The Glory?


After a week of having my ears invaded by The Prodigy, I needed something to heal my aural wounds and, despite the challenging title, 'Hard Faced Town' fits the bill perfectly.

The Liverpool boys' first real release is quite simply a gem of a record, four tracks of exquisite pop each with its own mood and message.

The opener, the appropiately named 'A Shot Of Wonder' is the sort of track we should all wake up to on a Monday morning to remind us that the weekend is not far away. Simple no nonsense pop, with a hint of fellow homeboys Amsterdam in there

'Heavy Heart' is a sweeping ballad with a touch of Irish folk, while title track 'Hard Faced Town' is all about having everything but feeling nothing and how we can change that.

The final track 'Where's The Glory' shows that The Trestles have a message behind their music as they relate the pain of the sectarian troubles in Ireland and leaves is asking ourselves if it's all really worthwhile.

'Hard Faced Town' is not just the hair of the dog to a techno hangover, it's a compact work of art which makes you realise there is still hope. They have found their glory.

Top Track: A Shot Of Wonder
Rating: 9/10



Last 5 NME-E Reviews:
The Prodigy: 'Invaders Must Die'
Lily Allen: 'It's Not Me, It's You'
Morrissey: 'Years Of Refusal'
The View: 'Which Bitch'
The Rifles: 'The Great Escape'

Read all NME-E reviews

Weekly Round Up (02 Mar 2009)

Hi everybody. Another week of intense music activity is summarised here!

Festival Fever
It's been a week of confirmations, with many a festival finalising its line-up for this year. As keeping you up-to-date of all the latest developments would require full-time dedication, an impossible task, I've kindly added some links to the top festival sites on the sidebar. More will be added as and when their festivals start to take shape.

As an exception, I feel I should go into a little more detail on the SOS 4.8 festival, seeing as though it's taking place on my door step. It would appear the line-up is now definitive, which means Duffy was the last minute surprise - it certainly was totally unexpected, indeed many would say unwanted. One piece of better news, however, is that local boys Second will again take part.

NO times have been confirmed yet, but the official webpage has revealed the distribution by day and stage:

Friday 1st May
Main 'Estrella Levante' Stage
The Prodigy
Babyshambles
Duffy
Spiritualized

Stage Two
Boyz Noise
Those Dancing Days
Peaches
El Guincho
Klaus & Kinski

PJ Harvey & John Parish will appear in the Auditorium.

Saturday 2nd May
Main 'Estrella Levante' Stage
Underworld
2ManyDJs
Matthew Herbert (DJ Set)
Keane
Los Planetas

Stage Two
The Wombats
Ladyhawke
Second
Russian Red
Catpeople
Ross

Saturday's Auditorium appearance is reserved for The Matthew Herbert Big Band.

At first glance, the Saturday appears to look more promising, but then I'm biased 'cos that's the day I can go! However, with the Los Planetas moving to Saturday, as far as I'm concerned there's no weak link (and NO Duffy!). My mouth is watering! There'll be a special SOS feature as we get closer to the festival.

By the way, the inaugural NME-E poll hailed The Wombats as the most exciting SOS act with a whopping 70% of the votes. Of course, it might have been a different story had Duffy been announced earlier! (enough, give the poor girl a break). Thanks to everyone who voted, which makes about 6 of you, 'cos I voted several times to avoid total embarrassment!

Other Stories
Two of the SOS bands are also in the news this week.

The Prodigy's new release 'Invaders Must Die' has gone straight to Number 1 in the UK album charts, making it one of the fastest-selling releases this year so far having sold over nearly 100,000 copies in the first week. An NME-E review will appear later on in the week.


Back in Murcia, the eagerly awaited Second gig will take place this Saturday in the Sala Audio (kick off at 21.30, tickets priced 12€). Muricans are in for a treat this Spring as the local boys will be on stage twice in the space of two months. Must admit, I'm really looking forward to seeing their live performance. NME-E's first gig review will appear next week.

And finally, another band making a comeback. Faith No More have released a statement confirming that they will reunite for a tour this year. It appears that 10 years after they split
they've started talking to each other again and fancy a second crack at the whip.

Hmmmm, times are hard!

You can read the full statement here.

Myspace Magic
As usual, a frenetic Myspace week. After last week's interview with Liverpool's The Trestles, I managed to get hold of a copy of their new EP 'Hard Faced Town', a review of which will be posted in the next few days.

Mancunians Its A Buffalo have released their debut album 'Don't Be Scared' two weeks ahead of schedule. I was fortunate to interview them recently, so there'll be more in the next week or so. This bunch are good mates with The Courteeners and supported them on tour last year - not a bad introduction!

Fellow Manchester boys Mutineers have also uploaded some tracks ahead of a tour in May.

Across the pond, two US bands have updated their profiles with new material this week. The Constabulary and The Takeover UK have both added new tracks, the latter coinciding with the start of their US tour. If you haven't heard their stuff, I recommend a visit.

Other than that, the usual barrage of friend requests, interviews and chat. Especially pleasing to see more Spanish bands getting in touch. I'm trying to get round to covering all the bands who I've spoken to, but time is normally in short supply, so please be patient!

Reviews
The big release of the week is U2's 'No Line On The Horizon', which will undoubtedly be reviewed in the not too distant future. Another release of note is the Howling Bells second album, 'Radio Wars', which will also be on the stereo for analysis in due course.

One album I also came across this week, but which has in fact been out for about a month is Sky Larkin with 'The Golden Spike'. Seems a bit late to review it now, but any discerning Los Campesinos! fan or indie freak might be interested in having a listen.


Think that's about it. Now about those pending interviews.....

Myspace Magic: The Trestles

This week's featured Myspace Magic band takes us once more to the heart of the music world. I first came across Liverpool's The Trestles almost a year ago when I saw them supporting Amsterdam at The Cavern (I think it was bass-player Tom's first gig). Suitably impressed by their set and, coinciding with their first official release, an E.P. called 'Hard Faced Town', NME-E set about finding out a little more about the band, who were kind enough to answer my questions recently. Here's what they had to say:

NME-E: Who are you and how did you come about?
Tres: We are The Trestles, named after a lyric from Bruce Springsteen's 'Darkness On The Edge Of Town' and the author of a Socialist bible. Remember how music used to make you feel? That's why we're here...

An interesting way to come up with a name! And they have a very clear idea of what they are about.

NME-E: What are your releases to date?
Tres: 'Hard Faced Town', a four track EP, is imminent.

In fact, it is now available and once I've downloaded it there'll be a formal review. You can preview the tracks on their myspace page.

NME-E: If you could choose a band to support you, who would it be?
Tres: Damien Dempsey is a particular favourite. But we'd have to go on first - Al is usually in tears by the end of his first song.

Clearly a bunch of old romantics...

NME-E: What was your favourite album of 2008?
Tres: REM's 'Accelerate' rocked. Al loved Van Morrison's 'Keep It Simple' too and Tom was diggin' on Neil Young's 'Chrome Dreams'.

You start to get a feel for The Trestles when you see who they're "diggin'"

NME-E: What are your objectives and prospects for 2009?
Tres: To keep up our run of live gigs (Mathew Street Festival 08, MTV Liverpool Music Week, support slots with Mull Historical Society, Ian McNabb and Amsterdam were all whoppers in the past few months) and for people to hear the Hard Faced Town EP.

Well, I'm definitely gonna be one of those who hears the EP and I recommend you do the same. In fact, do it right here, right now - it's not gonna break the bank!



As per usual, my sincerest thanks to The Trestles for taking the time to talk to NME-Europe. I wish them all the best with the release and ask you all to at least check them out here.

Weekly Round Up (23 Feb 2009)

Hi and welcome once more to NME-E's weekly round up. Plenty to be going on with this week.

Top Stories
Coinciding with the release of his new album, 'Years Of Refusal', Morrissey has suggested that he might retire after five more years in the music business. Speaking to XFM, when asked if he could continue as a 55 or 60 year-old he said "I think it’s incredibly slim. For Heaven's sake! Really?"

This statement comes just a week after he dispelt rumours of a The Smiths comeback. Looks like we're gonna have to make the most of him while he lasts.

A complete review of Years Of Refusal will be posted this week.

Welsh lass Duffy is well and truly a big news story this week.

At the start of the week, she took home three of the main prizes - Best Album, Best British Female and Best British Breakthrough - at The Brits. If that wasn't enough, she's been confirmed at the SOS 4.8 Festival!

Still can't help thinking that she's a one hit wonder, though.


Back at The Brits, Girls Aloud won Best Single, Elbow were Best British Group and Iron Maiden were named Best Live Group. Kings Of Leon scooped the main international awards (Best International Album and Group) while fellow SOS 4.8 possibles, Pet Shop Boys were given a special award for their outstanding contribution to music.

Big time losers were Coldplay, who went home bemoaning their vida having failed to convert any of their four nominations into prizes.

Finally, a couple of pieces of sad news.

It has been announced that the few remaining Zavvi stores are to either be sold or shut down. The writing has been on the cards since its main distributor Entertainment UK went into administration in November. On Christmas Eve Zavvi itself went into administration and since then it has announced the closure of a number of stores. Unfortunately, the credit crunch is hitting hard.

Equally saddening is the loss of ELO bassist, Kelly Groucutt, who died of a heart attack aged 62 on February 19.

ELO are one of my first childhood music memories, Mr. Blue Sky the first song I could sing by heart (aged 6!). So, perhaps a fitting tribute would be:

"Mr. Blue, you did it right but soon comes Mr. Night Creeping over, now his hand is on your shoulder, Never mind, I'll remember you this way".

Kelly Groucutt RIP

Reviews
As promised last week, a full review of both Morrissey and Lily Allen's releases will appear soon. This week's main release is The Prodigy's 'Invaders Must Die', which will receive it's deserved write-up once I've heard it!




Myspace Magic
The main myspace news this week has been the release of The Trestles' debut E.P., 'Hard Faced Town'. A review and interview with the band will be online soon.

Elsewhere, La Chansons and Metropolitans have uploaded some new tracks which are well worth a listen.

Finally, my thanks to The Little Hydes for posting the interview I did with them recently on their page and also to all those bands who have been contacting me recently - I will deal with everyone as soon as I can, honest!

Festival Fever
As I already mentioned earlier, Duffy has been added to the list of confirmations for the SOS 4.8 festival in Murcia in May - a collective 'joder' was heard across the huerta when that was revealed. More interestingly, homeboy Ross and Gallego-Catalans Catpeople have also been confirmed. The question is whether any more big names will be unveiled or not.

Oh yeah, for all those who want to see PJ Harvey or Matthew Herbert, the official web page has announced details of how to reserve a spec for their sets, which will be held in the indoor pavilion. Given that the capacity is limited to around 1,800, it'll be interesting to see how well that's organised. I predict a riot!

Back in the UK, line-ups for all the major festivals are slowly being confirmed, but it'd take me ages to post all those details and I'm not gonna go anyway, so I can't be arsed! The dark forces at nme.com might enlighten you a little if you're interested (go on, have a look, I'll pretend I didn't see you).

More next week, until then keep yer eyes open for a reviews on Morrissey, Lily Allen and an interview with The Trestles.

Weekly Round Up (26 Jan 2009)

Welcome to this week's review. Plenty to talk about now the year's in full swing. Let's start off with two album reviews, as promised from last week.

Reviews
There will be two reviews this week, sweetly juxtaposing hype with who? Debutants, White Lies and magic Murcians, Second, will duly receive a write up in the next few days.

Myspace Magic
Myspace has been steaming this week with a host of new bands crossing my path and a load of tracks being uploaded. Here's a summary of what's been going on:

Back home, a new friend from this week, The Rackets, added 'It's All Looking Up' and 'In The Open'. They'll be in a featured article in the near future and deserve 5 minutes of your time.
Another new addition to my friends list, The Trestles (who I was fortunate to see at The Cavern last year), have also uploaded previews of a series of tracks ahead of their imminent EP release. 'Heavy Heart' is, perhaps, the pick of the bunch.
The final 'scouse' offering comes from We Make Models, who added 2 new tracks; 'Alcohol Kicks Live' and 'So Much'.
Further afield, indie clubbers, La Chansons (Atlanta, USA) uploaded a couple of new tracks including a remix of 'Brite Lite Brite I'm Waiting', while Hollywood based Glam rockers Rocket want us to check out new additions 'Gangsta' and 'Autopilot'.


And finally....
Liverpool have already been lucky twice this week - if it wasn't for Gerrard and Torres you'd be out of the cup by now, ha ha - but the icing on the cake is the announcement of The Courteeners gig in Liverpool (Carling Academy) on 7 March as part of their warm up for the US tour they'll be accompanying Morrissey on later in the Spring.

I'm not jealous though, I'll be enjoying Second in Murcia on the same night!

More news next week!