Glasspiders Self Titled EP

As I write this, the sun is beaming down on an unusually sunny British spring day. Who would’ve guessed that I’d be outside writing reviews in the middle of April? And if the weather wasn't already enough to kick start my excitement for the summer, I can’t seem to get enough of Pink Lemonade; the 4^th track of Glasspiders’ new EP. Glasspiders is the newest side project from, pop punk band, Decade’s front man; Alex Sears. The EP is yet to be released and after getting my hands on it early, I cannot express my excitement for it to be released in the coming weeks.

After my first listen, Pink Lemonade seemed to grab my attention the most. The song itself is a shouty, punky, riot of a 2 minute track with grungy noisy elements in addition to the usual emo guitar riff expected from bands such as Pity Sex.

I have to be honest; within the first few listens of the entire EP I was immediately hooked. Something about the catchy emo riffs and the punky feel gives the entire EP its own original flair that will be extremely valuable upon release. Recently, we’ve all noticed a sudden surge for bands such as Pity Sex, Snowing and Tigers Jaw and I’m certain that Glasspiders will steadily climb to the top of the game in the coming months and really make their mark on the seemingly undercover scene.

Each song packs a punch with poignant and true-to-feeling lyrics disguised in a punky head-bang rhythm which it makes them all the more effective in conveying a raw and edgy feeling hiding behind a feel-good guitar. The tracks are evidently budget recorded, yet still carry the clear, executive, professionalism of a studio EP without removing and editing the personal flair of the band itself. The raw gritty guitar doesn’t fail to grab your attention, bum notes and all!

All I have to say is, Glasspiders are one to be watch. And before you know it, they’ll be travelling around the UK with their poppy dance beats and shouty message taking the noisy emo pop scene by storm.

Enter Shikari / 22.02.2015 / Middlesbrough Town Hall

After reviewing Enter Shikari's new album 'The Mindsweep' back in January, I was expecting great things post release. And on February 22nd, I was given the opportunity to see whether my expectations were correct. And not only were my expectations matched, they were topped.

 

In my last review of their album, I identified how strong they were and how they'd really harnessed the best version of the band and made it even better (despite it seeming impossible to many). I was incredibly impressed to see that they had not only harnessed this version of themselves for the record, but were able to put this across in their live shows and give a performance the band and every single fan should be passionately proud of.

 

Enter Shikari exploded onto the stage at Middlesbrough Town Hall to show the small North Eastern town what they were made of, and I can assure you; the crowd were impressed. A band who carries a strong fan base and impressive repertoire of combining rock, heavier elements of alternative/metal and drum & bass certainly attracts a very varied and diverse crowd. But nevertheless, the atmosphere was electrifying. I was previously aware of Shikari's epic reputation of putting on a spectacular, consistently impressive show, and I was definitely not disappointed.

 

I was noticeably impressed with the set list. A 17 song set with the combination of 5 of the band's top releases including 'Common Dreads', 'Rat Race', 'Take to the Skies', 'A Flash Flood of Colour' and their newest release, 'The Mindsweep'. This combination of older songs was seamless. This is something I do search for in live performances of established bands. I find a performance very rigid if the transition between earlier music is obviously contrasted to their newer material. But with Shikari, this was not the case at all. They had control and confidence and originality in the execution of both their older and new material. I also felt that they executed songs from 'The Mindsweep' with incredible confidence and felt that the performance was established as though they had been familiar with performing this material for much longer than they had.

 

Finally, not only was the musical performance one to be remembered, the visual show was impeccable. The light show was something else and was visually attractive and genuinely captivated your attention for the majority of the show. However, I do not think it was off putting from the show at hand. In sync with the drum and bass parts of their music that the fans admire so much, it was an impressive addition to an already electrifying set from Enter Shikari.

             

Enter Shikari / Mindsweep

Enter Shikari, a 4 piece rock band from England, are set to release their new record this month. On January 16^th, the band is releasing their fourth album ‘Mindsweep’ which is set to be better, stronger and more developed than all the previous albums. The previous album was released in 2012 leaving a gap of nearly 3 years for fans to eagerly await the next album. In anticipation of the release date, the band has released 4 songs from the album to gage fans reactions. The four released songs, “Slipshod”, “Anaesthetist”, “The Last Garrison” and “Never Let Go of the Microscope” have met incredibly positive responses from fans that are eager to get their hands on the album in its entirety.

After receiving my copy a couple of weeks prior to the release date, I was looking forward to hearing how the band had developed their sound to create something worthy of almost a 3 year wait for fans. I was quick to notice a much heavier addition to the album. The band is famous for seamlessly interweaving features of post hardcore with features of heavy metal such as metal core and alternative metal and combining that sound with other features of electronic music including drum, bass and dubstep. This original sound has continued to progress the band and allow them to stand out that little bit more than other bands who are trying to achieve a similar response. The increase of electronic features and an increase of heavy stylistic features have pushed the band to really develop their sound and create an album that shows progression but familiar development.

A refreshing feature I noticed among the songs was that they did not have the annoyingly similar structure or features, much too often I discover songs are so similar that they are just different versions of each other, it was very good to notice a good band who had been successfully together for almost 12 years were still able to produce fresh tracks for their album. Although sounding similar enough to belong to the same album and still successfully displayed traits of their developed sound, the songs sounded different and felt fresh as I switched between tracks.

All in all, this album will storm the alternative scene and will make a significant impression on all cities visited on their upcoming tour. The album will have an extreme impact on albums and artists releasing alongside the date and has set the bar incredibly high for material of 2015. I find it very reassuring that the English alternative music scene is still as strong as ever and believe that ‘Mindsweep’ will remain many people’s ‘album of the year’ despite its early release.