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April 27, 2018April 27, 2018

THE GALLERY: Mallory Knox @ Mama Roux’s 24.04.18

Words by Yasmine Summan / Pics by Eleanor Sutcliffe

Mallory Knox have returned from their brief hiatus to shed any doubt or dismay, as they charge through the UK on their self-titled tour of 2018 – joined by JUDAS and Dead! Playing a series of more ‘intimate’ shows, the now four piece band are back on the road for six dates throughout April, ready to rock out until they tear the whole room apart from Brighton to Glasgow.

Tonight is Mama Roux’s turn, as Birmingham hosts the penultimate gig before Mallory Knox close out their tour at the Bodega in Nottingham. JUDAS are first to kick in, and whilst I enjoy their typical indie rock style of stripped down, guitar riffs, and continuous drum set loops – that shifts attention onto the ‘tom toms’, bringing an elevated, pop element to their music – the harmonies are scathed by off-pitch, out of tune rhythms and a lackluster vocal range from lead singer, John Clancy.

The man clearly appears to be trying his hardest, but rather than having his vocals crisply cut through thin air they crunch into the microphone and even become inaudible at times. Although JUDAS maintain a vivacious stage energy throughout their set and gain quite humbling crowd engagement, albeit with sadly off par vocal ranges that somewhat scorn their talents and on occasion left me to painfully cringe.

Bursting through the doors of the mainstream industry to alight the new age of rock and roll, Dead! dominate as the main support act – immediately blowing the roof clean off the Mama Roux’s. Bordering between alternative/punk rock, Dead! omit the typical nonchalant, wild and chaotic personality of 70’s rock in their performance. Whilst screeching guitar riffs burn through every strum of the finger, heavy kick drums create a low thumping rhythm to head bang to – alongside Alex Mountford’s enthralling vocals that cling to every corner of the room.

Dead! strategically play slower verses that intensely build into high energy, fast tempo choruses, with mosh pits opening up left, right and center. Pandering to the crowd with fan favorite songs (as Sam Matlock shreds his guitar solo to ‘Enough, Enough, Enough’ whilst balancing on Louis Matlock’s drum kit, in true rock and roll style) I feel that their set list underwhelms their talents. Their performance tonight is perhaps mellowed out for Mallory Knox’s crowd, but songs like ‘Off White Paint’ and ‘Enemy’ hold an evident absence during the show.

But now it’s time for the headline act, playing one of their first live shows since the departure of vocalist Mike Chapman in February this year. And there’s no messing about from tonight’s crowd, with fans practically diving onto the stage as Mallory Knox kick in with their new single, ‘Black Holes’. Bassist and now vocalist, Sam Douglas, captivates the room as he rushes onto the stage, blaring his gnawing bass riffs with every burning strum. Moving as one body, the room responds and elevates into chaos, as everyone jumps around and seemingly quite literally loses their minds.

Bouncing around the room, Mallory Knox perpetuate boundless stage energy, with guitarist, Joe Savins, leaning into the crowd to sing along with fans. Radiating a humble nature, Douglas and the rest of the band thank everyone for coming out – with the now front man even delving into his personal life, to openly admit he is struggling but the fans are helping him through.

As off the wall moments of insanity among the audience sway through the show, including lots of crowd surfing and mosh pits, the momentum of the set moves like a rollercoaster. And whilst their track list tonight also features fan favorites, including some of their best hits such as ‘Beggars’ and ‘Better Off Without You’, upon reaching the forth song the show mellows out almost too drastically.

The pace set by their lively start takes a seriously low drop as Mallory Knox reach the middle of the set, picking up with a few newer tracks towards the end. But the ball begins to properly (rock and) roll again when they brake through with ‘Wake Up’, sending the Mama Roux’s back into uproar once more. Since the departure of Chapman, Mallory Knox appear to be shedding their 2013 alternative rock cage – one that has arguably overshadowed their sound for years – and are advancing into heavier rock, incorporating lower riffs and fast tempo beats. It does feel that Mallory Knox’s newer singles, ‘Livewire’ and ‘Black Holes’, gain popularity from the audience as they drive the band’s creative direction into new horizons, possibly paving an exciting future for the band’s sound.

It’s clearly been a tough time for Mallory Knox since the recent departure of their long-time vocalist, Mike Chapman. And whilst they power through their performance tonight, I’d argue that the band are still not fully rehearsed or together since this event. Moments of vulnerability, unknowingness, and confusion peak through their performance – as microphone stands fall over mid-song, off-time rhythms weave through their guitars, and Douglas’ voice strains itself to reach the capabilities that Chapman could.

I respectably applaud Mallory Knox for continuing with this tour despite all odds, and there are clear moments were their talents shine through. But perhaps a more sensible response would have been to postpone the tour until the band were fully ready to perform without Chapman. In fact, their unsparing mistakes tonight only emphasise the absence of Chapman, leading some including myself to think ‘would this happen if Mikey were here?’

Reflecting on tonight’s show, Mallory Knox are clearly trying as best as they can to make ends meet; plunging into a year-long hiatus would realistically have only tarnished their popularity and most likely upset fans, so the band have pushed through despite their recent loss – one that has clearly impacted their live performances.

And whilst they may still be finding their footing as a four piece, shreds of their former glory did flutter through their set, especially with Douglas’ heightened confidence when performing new tracks. I feel that with time this band will be back on their feet again.

Mallory Knox @ Mama Roux’s 24.04.18 / Eleanor Sutcliffe

For more on Mallory Knox, visit www.malloryknox.com

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Dead! – supporting Mallory Knox @ Mama Roux’s 24.04.18 / Eleanor Sutcliffe

For more Dead!, visit www.theinternetisdead.co.uk

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JUDAS – supporting Mallory Knox @ Mama Roux’s 24.04.18 / Eleanor Sutcliffe

For more on JUDAS, visit www.wearejudas.com

For more from Kilimanjaro Live, including further event listings and online ticket sales, visit www.kilimanjarolive.co.uk

For more on Mama Roux’s, including venue details and further event listings, visit www.facebook.com/mamarouxs

April 27, 2018April 26, 2018

ALBUM: The Great Untold – Scott Matthews 27.04.18

Words by James Attwood

On Friday 27th April, Wolverhampton’s Ivor Novello award winning songwriter, Scott Matthews, is set to release his sixth studio album, The Great Untold – out via Shedio Records. Scott Matthews will be also performing at St Paul’s Church in Birmingham on Sunday 20^th May, as part of The Great Untold UK Tour – as presented by Moseley Folk. For online ticket sales from Skiddle, click here.

Recorded over a winter spent at home, The Great Untold is very much a milestone for Matthews and sees him starting a new chapter in life as a married man and soon to be father.

Title track, ‘The Great Untold’, opens the album with a tender, intimate affair between Matthews’ soft vocal and guitar intricacies. Accompanied by nothing more than flourishes of piano, it certainly sets the tone; Matthews goes back to his roots as an acoustic act, with inspirations such as Tim Buckley and Nick Drake ringing through loud and clear.

‘As the Day Passes’ also puts Matthews’ stunning vocal delivery at its forefront; with a lullaby like piano outro, and soothing picked Spanish guitar part that harks influence from world music, it’s the kind of song you would expect to hear in a Wes Anderson film.

The hazy vocals of ‘Silence’ create the atmosphere of a summer’s evening. The chorus sees Matthews muse, “Silence, nothing’s complicated in my solitude, where I can hear myself…” in a statement that confirms his re-kindled solace as an acoustic artist, away from his full band environment.

‘Something Real’ is euphoric and joyous in its musical arrangement, with bold acoustic guitars providing a counterpoint for Matthews’ vocal powerhouse. His mastery of melody and harmony is at the forefront of this track and it would be no surprise to find this particular gem as a Jeff Buckley B-side, its ringing guitars and soaring vocal falsetto harking back to Buckley’s iconic Grace album. The same goes for The Great Untold’s lead single, ‘Cinnamon’; subtle soundscapes and drone like vocal delivery create an atmosphere that creates imagery of the time in which the album was conceived.

Tracks such as ‘Goodnight Day’ and ‘A Song to a Wallflower’ particularly stand out for me and help to diversify the album, which dare I say is needed at times. ‘Goodnight Day’ shows a darker side Matthews’ songwriting; a Gold era Ryan Adams-esque ballad, Matthews is accompanied by a choir of vocal harmonies in this big screen noughties film soundtrack worthy affair. Whilst the steady beat of ‘A Song to a Wallflower’ sounds as if it came straight from the Help soundtrack, with strummed acoustic guitars and Beatles bass sound it could easily have been penned by Lennon and Mcartney.

The album closers, ‘Daydreamer’ and ‘Chapters’, take us back to the place where it began, merely an acoustic guitar and Matthews’ tender vocal delivery.

Despite its thin instrumental textures, The Great Untold is still every bit as captivating as Matthews’ 2001 debut album, Passing Stranger – a yardstick the artist has arguably been judged by since its release. But the lack of percussion on The Great Untold is perfectly subsidised by Matthews’ vocal talent, providing plenty of melodies, highs and lows to keep the listener hooked.

You could further suggest that the largely acoustic sound of The Great Untold encourages the best from the songwriter’s voice and instrumental prowess, as heard on 6 minute epic ‘Lawless Stars’. A combination of moody reverberating guitars accompany Matthews’ blanket of choir like vocal harmonies, seeing the songwriter make the most of the most of his natural vocal gift. The track is a journey, building into a crescendo of guitars and voice before it fades into an instrumental section containing just a slide guitar part – a nod, once again, to Matthews’ Bert Jansch influence.

Although an album of beauty, for me The Great Untold stays a little too much within its seemingly set format of acoustic guitar and vocals, lacking the raunchy guitars and primal beats that can be found in Matthews’ wider portfolio.

But as a relatively new listener to Scott Matthews, this latest album did not disappoint – showcasing his songwriting talent and ability to write catchy melodies that do not conform to the typical songwriter style. And in a time of overdressed pop production, an album that often contains just a voice and a singular instrument is especially refreshing.

‘Cinnamon’ – Scott Matthews

The Great Untold by Scott Matthews is out on general release from Friday 27^th April, though Shedio Records. For more on Scott Matthews, with links to online purchases for visit gig tickets and Matthews’ full catalogue, visit www.scottmatthews.uk

For more from Shedio Records, visit www.shediorecords.com

Scott Matthews will be performing at St Paul’s Church in Birmingham on Sunday 20^th May – as presented by Moseley Folk. For online ticket sales from Skiddle, click here.

April 27, 2018April 27, 2018

BPREVIEW: Opulence Presents Mother’s Meeting with Charity Kase @ Bar Jester 28.04.18

Words by Emily Doyle

On Saturday 28^th April, Birmingham’s party collective Opulence launch their brand new night, Mother’s Meeting. In honour of the inaugural event, Opulence are bringing avant garde queen and Instagram darling Charity Kase to Birmingham, for a night of performance at Bar Jester on the Queensway in Birmingham City Centre.

Doors open for Opulence Presents Mother’s Meeting at Bar Jester from 9pm, with performers scheduled to go on stage from 10pm. Tickets are priced at £4 (adv) and £4 (otd) – for direct event information and links to online ticket sales, click here.

London based artist Charity Kase gained recognition when they carried out the ‘365 Days of Drag’ challenge, a feat that won Kase the Queen of the U.K 2017 Award through WERRRK.COM. This saw the 21-year-old art student produce a new look every day for a year.

The completed gallery can be found on their website, where looks inspired by horror films and children’s toys nestle alongside the abstract and the political. Each character comes with their own snippet of a story, which could be a taste of what live audiences can expect at Mother’s Meeting. Kase’s art also spills over into their own DIY clothing label, Upperkase.

As part of their mission to showcase Birmingham’s diverse drag culture, Opulence have laid on an impressive line-up of support acts. Opulence’s own Jay Andre, Dahliah Rivers, Jenna Davinci, Yshee Black and Nora Virus will also be taking the stage, while Elliot Barnicle will be serving up his bold, graphic looks from the DJ booth. Altogether, the Mother’s Meeting crowd can expect another fresh addition to Birmingham’s burgeoning drag scene.

Opulence Presents Mother’s Meeting at Bar Jester on Saturday 28^th April, with Charity Kase as the headline act – joined by a troupe of Opulence’s own performers. For direct event info and links to online ticket sales, click here.

For more on Charity Kase, visit www.charitykase.co.uk

For more from Bar Jester, visit www.barjester.co.uk

For more from Opulence, visit www.facebook.com/opulencebirmingham

April 25, 2018

BPREVIEW: Spring at Birmingham Literature Festival @ REP & other venues 27-29.04.18

Words by Helen Knott

Spring at Birmingham Literature Festival is a weekend-long partner to the full ten day festival, running mainly at REP from Friday 27^th to Sunday 29^th April. Further events are also being held at the High Street branch of Waterstones, Birmingham & Midland Institute, and the Curzon Building by Millennium Point.

Tickets prices vary for all events, with some already sold out. For direct information on the Spring at Birmingham Literature Festival, including full programme details and links to online ticket sales, click here.

Organised and run by Writing West Midlands, Birmingham Literature Festival celebrates its 21^st anniversary this year. And whilst the festival may have reached young adulthood, it continues to gather momentum each year with 2017’s edition featuring some of its biggest ever events – including Brummie comedian Joe Lycett and Jess Phillips MP (Yardley) in conversation at Town Hall.

2018 is a particularly interesting time for Birmingham Literature Festival, as the recent appointment of Antonia Beck as Festival Director marks the start of a new chapter (pun intended). It will be interesting to see what impact Beck, an award-winning theatre maker, has on the programming and direction of the festival in the coming years.

We’ll know more when the full October programme is announced, but on first sight the spring programme isn’t a massive departure from previous years – featuring a line-up of writer events, screenings and workshops, with a mix of star names (Alexei Sayle, Jenni Murray) and local authors.

There is, however, a particular focus on celebrating and championing female writers within the Spring at Birmingham Literature Festival programme. In the centenary year of women in the UK over 30 being guaranteed the right to vote, and with the #MeToo movement continuing to highlight the prevalence of sexual assault and harassment, it’s a fitting theme for the festival. Discussions will include the gender bias in publishing, women’s place in history, and the #MeToo phenomenon itself.

Here are some of my picks of the events to watch out for this spring, all designed, as Beck puts it, to create, “a space to learn, challenge and be inspired”.

The Boy with the Top Knot screening @ The Studio (REP) 27.04.18 / 6pm / Free (booking required)

Black Country writer Sathnam Sanghera’s critically-acclaimed memoir about a second-generation Indian man growing up in Britain, The Boy with the Topknot, was turned into a BBC drama in 2017. Here you can watch a screening of the adaptation, then join a Q&A with some of the key people involved – including director Lynsey Miller, screenwriter Mick Ford, and Sanghera himself. Sanghera is Guest Curator for the full festival in October, so watch out for hints of what he might have in store.

For more on The Boy with the Topknot, as featured in the Spring at Birmingham Literature Festival programme, click here.

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#MeToo: A Movement in Poetry @ The Studio (REP) 28.04.18 / 6pm / £8 (£6.40 concessions)

Fair Acre Press has published an anthology of new poetry featuring 80 female poets’ response to the #MeToo movement. The anthology, tilted #MeToo: A Movement in Poetry, includes work by Jill Abram, Helen Mort, Pascale Petit and Jacqueline Saphra, and includes a forward by Jess Phillips MP. At this event, poems from the anthology will be read by some of the poets themselves and by audience members in a thoughtful, and no doubt hard-hitting, response to an extraordinary movement.

For more on #MeToo: A Movement in Poetry, as featured in the Spring at Birmingham Literature Festival programme, click here.

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2018: The Year of Publishing Women @ The Studio (REP) 28.04.18 / 2.15pm / £8 (£6.40 concessions)

Back in 2015, the novelist Kamila Shamsie made a provocative suggestion – to counteract the gender bias in publishing and literary awards towards male authors, Shamsie suggested that 2018 should be the Year of Publishing Women with no new titles written by men.

Shamsie’s article has sparked much discussion and publicity, but only one publisher (And Other Stories) has taken up the challenge. In this panel discussion, the debate will be continued by Catherine Mayer (writer and co-founder of the Women’s Equality Party), Tara Tobler (Fiction Editor at And Other Stories) and Sian Norris (writer, founder and director of the Bristol Women’s Literature Festival).

For more on 2018: The Year of Publishing Women, as featured in the Spring at Birmingham Literature Festival programme, click here.

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A History of Britain in 21 Women with Jenni Murray @ The Studio (REP) 29.04.18 / 7pm / £10 (£8 concessions)

In her 2016 book, A History of Britain in 21 Women, Woman’s Hour presenter Jenni Murray tells the stories of 21 British women who have shaped the country and indeed, her own life. Each chapter focuses on a different woman, some of whom are well-known and others less so. For this event Murray will be in conversation with television journalist and presenter Sue Beardsmore. Expect plenty of anecdotes from Murray’s life, full of her trademark wit and warmth.

For more on A History of Britain in 21 Women, as featured in the Spring at Birmingham Literature Festival programme, click here.

For more on Spring at Birmingham Literature Festival, visit www.birminghamliteraturefestival.org

For more on Writing West Midlands, visit www.writingwestmidlands.org

For more from Birmingham REP, including full event listings and online ticket sales, visit www.birmingham-rep.co.uk

April 21, 2018April 21, 2018

BPREVIEW: The Academic + Sea Girls @ Mama Roux’s 22.04.18

Words by Ed King

On Sunday 22^nd April, The Academic perform live at Mama Roux’s, with a support from Sea Girls and a DJ set from Abbie McCarthy.

Doors open at the Digbeth venue from 7pm, with tickets priced at £9.90 (plus bf) – as presented by Good Karma Club and Birmingham Promoters. For online ticket sales, click here. To visit the gig’s Facebook Event Page, click here.

Hailing from Miullingar in County Westmeath, Ireland, The Academic have been firmly embedding themselves into international tour circuits, radio playlists, and music media column inches (or whatever the digital equivalent is… URL rankings?) over the past couple of years.

Forming in 2013, started by school friends Craig Fitzgerald (vocals, guitar) and Dean Gavin (percussion), The Academic embraced Matt (guitar) and Stephen Murtagh (bass) and signed with Global Publishing in 2015 – releasing their debut single, ‘Different’, the same year they joined the media conglomerate that owns half the broadcasters in the UK. Or is it all of them, we lose track. But it wasn’t a bad move for a band who seem to sneeze out uber catchy indie rock, with strong and addictive melodies that scream the more credible end of RADIO FRIENDLY.

An easy win for ‘one to watch’ listicles, The Academic needed to follow up their post-signing momentum with an album and something to drag the rest of the musical landscape into their world. So, in a stroke of genius that sits somewhere between The Matrix and OK GO’s treadmill choreography, they did just that – releasing Tales from the Backseat in January 2018, and deconstructing the first new single from their debut LP using Facebook Live’s 10 second delay as an AV loop.

OK, perhaps the latter doesn’t sound that exciting. But click here or watch the video below and if you’re not laughing, clapping, or singing along by the end of it then you’re probably a bit dead on the inside. Sheer brilliance, sheer joy. Well done lads.

Joining The Academic at Mama Roux’s, and for just over half of their Good Karma Club UK tour dates, are Sea Girls – the indie rock four piece who are neither afraid of CAPITALS LETTERS or ‘apologetic about a bold chorus, especially one that can be sung in unison by thousands of fans together of all walks of life’.

But if you’ve got it then flaunt it, and Sea Girl’s lead singer, Henry Camamile, has the kind of honey dripped husky vocals that are hard to escape from. Plus, this is another band that can churn out tracks that bite down like a bulldog – for a good case study on this, check out Sea Girl’s latest single below, ‘Eat Me Whole’. If you need more, then you can skip your fingers over to that iTunes logo on your taskbar (other music sites are available) and grab a copy of Sea Girl’s latest EP, Heavenly War. Not a bad way to spend your bus fare.

Rounding off an already damn fine Sunday night, there will be a DJ set from Abbie McCarthy – the brains and brawn behind Good Karma Club, and the presenter of BBC Introducing Kent.

McCarthy often steps in for DJs on Radio One and is somewhat of a smarty-pants-know-it-all when it comes to solid, new music. So, having her behind the decks (or whatever the digital equivalent is…) at Mama Roux’s, as well as curating and promoting the gig, is a pretty wise idea.

‘Bear Claws’ – The Academic (deconstructed using Facebook Live)

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‘Eat Me Whole’ – Sea Girls

The Academic + Sea Girls perform live at Mama Roux’s on Sunday 22^nd April, with a supporting DJ set from Abbie McCarthy – as presented by Good Karma Club and Birmingham Promoters. For online ticket sales, click here. To visit the gig’s Facebook Event Page, click here.

For more on The Academic, visit www.soundcloud.com/theacademic

For more on Sea Girls, visit www.seagirls.net

For more on Abbie McCarthy, visit www.insanitygroup.com/client/abbie-mccarthy

For more from Good Karma Club, including further event listings and online ticket sales, visit www.facebook.GoodKarmaClub1

For more from Birmingham Promoters, including further event listings and online ticket sales, visit www.birminghampromoters.com

For more on Mama Roux’s, including venue details and further event listings, visit www.facebook.com/mamarouxs