BPREVIEW: The Hungry Ghosts + Goat Girl @ The Victoria 25.10.16

The Hungry Ghosts + Goat Girl @ The Victoria, Tues 25th October

Words by Ed King 

On Tuesday 25th October, The Hungry Ghosts + Goat Girl share a double headline spot at The Victoria on John Bright St – with The Terror Watts + Apathy in support. This gig is presented by Sonic Gun Concerts.main-with-web-colour-bcg-lr

Doors open at 7:30pm with tickets charged at five and a half English Pound Sterling… or £5.50 as it is known to its friends. For direct gig info & links to online tickets sales, click here.

The Hungry Ghosts… where to begin. Click here, or click here. Or you can always even click here.

In a blood stained dark leather nutshell, The Hungry Ghosts are as seductive and suspect as a devil’s tuxedo (the easiest way to discuss them is often by metaphor). Blues, rock, sordid Americana, The Hungry Ghosts are – right here, right now – one of the most exciting bands in the Midlands’ music scene. “A proper fu*king rock band”, their debut Blood Red Songs EP is something raw and ferocious – a delicious four track explosion of twisted metals and rock drawl.

Billy Ollis is an absurdly solid guitarist, who drags their ‘swamp music’ blues from the dark heart of the black magic bayous with a seemingly Faustian ease. It’s quite something. And if Jodie Laurence and Joe Joseph, The Hungry Ghosts‘ dual vocals and more forward facing faces, haven’t at least sub let their souls I’d be a little surprised. It’s rare to see a band this genuine and exciting. And I’m a cynic.

‘Super King King’ – The Hungry Ghosts

Sharing the headline spot is Goat Girl, the relatively fresh faced London quartet that feels like a David Lynch wet dream. Also turning the rivers of music red with their laconic rock and semi-drowned blues, Goat Girl recently signed to Rough Trade – releasing the dangerous swagger that is their double A side single ‘Country Sleaze/Scum’ on 7th October.

Bold bass lines, a brash rhythm guitar smacking you from cheek to jowl, a splash of dark psycadellia… it makes me think of Hope Sandoval on the last leg of a brown sugar and fury fueled road trip. Viscous, fuzzy, and nudging you over the edge of a very sheer drop. But there’s more than just a warm self destruction at play here, with Goat Girl’s unabashed lyrics making me want to 80‘s fist pump in sardonic social appreciation. Although I suspect they’re a bit smarter than that.

‘Country Sleaze’ – Goat Girl

The Hungry Ghosts + Goat Girl play at The Victoria on Tuesday 25th October, with support from The Terror Watts + Apathy. For direct gig info & links to online ticket sales, click here.

For more on The Hungry Ghosts, visit www.thehungryghosts.co.uk

For more on Goat Girl, visit www.facebook.com/goatgirlofficial

For more from The Victoria, visit www.thevictoriabirmingham.co.uk

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BREVIEW: The Garden + The Parrots @ Hare & Hounds, 28.08

The Garden @ Hare & Hounds 28.08.16 / By Rob Hadley (Indie Images) © Birmingham Review

Words by Jay Dyer / Pics by Rob Hadley (Indie Images)

For the full Flickr of pics, click here

It’s Bank Holiday Sunday and it seems nature has given us Brits one final fleeting glimpse of what summer should be. It’s hot, it’s muggy and a wave of BBQ smoke lingers on the air.The Mothers Earth Experiment supporting The Garden + The Parrots @ Hare & Hounds 28.08.16 / By Rob Hadley (Indie Images) © Birmingham Review

However the promise of a darkened room filled with sweaty people and loud music is too good to miss. Word reaches me that two of the best local promoters, This is Tmrw and Killer Wave, have teamed up to bring some exciting local and international underground bands to the Hare & Hounds in Kings Heath.

The venue’s second, smaller room is host for this evening; its floor is already nice and sticky as I take a quick trip to the bar. The first band up on stage is The Mothers Earth Experiment, a six-piece ensemble who answer the question ‘’what’s up with all these flared jeans?’’.

The Mothers Earth Experiment arrange themselves on stage (which isn’t easy for a six-piece) and begin their set. The word ‘experiment’ within their name is aptly chosen; the band fuses together such a variety of genres that it is both old and fresh simultaneously. A luscious blend of Psychedelia, Jazz and Blues that takes you on a journey through the best parts of the 60’s and 70’s; in parts, they sound like Syd Barrett era Pink Floyd, in others the writing process behind The Beatles Revolver.

The Terror Watts - supporting The Garden + The Parrots @ Hare & Hounds 28.08.16 / By Rob Hadley (Indie Images) © Birmingham ReviewEach segment is wonderfully brought together – from the dual percussion, to the slightly overdriven guitars to the Ray Manzarek-esque organ. You get the feeling while watching The Mothers Earth Experiment that they must have so much fun in the rehearsal studio, just their effortless ability to be in complete sync is something to be admired. Arguably some of their instrumental songs go on a bit too long, but overall the set is a good dreamscape to begin the night – even if the room is a little empty this early on.

It appears the Hare & Hounds have their AC on the ‘ARCTIC’ setting too; to warm up I take a brief look outside to see more people have arrived, which is good news. Terror Watts are up next, a band that I’ve been keeping an ear on for some time; the three-piece are highly praised around Birmingham and this will be the third time I have seen them live.

Terror Watts play a form of high paced punk rock with a few more added pop hooks than most similar acts. They seem to have nailed the three-chord-song and maintain the pop melody throughout, which is quite intriguing. The rhythm section is pretty damn brutal and the bass is full of energy, which really compliments the high end distorted guitar and the melodic vocals. The room is much fuller by this point, something that reflects in the Terror Watts’ performance – one which is all about energy.Sunshine Frisbee Laserbeam - supporting The Garden + The Parrots @ Hare & Hounds 28.08.16 / By Rob Hadley (Indie Images) © Birmingham Review

Sunshine Frisbee Laserbeam are up next, as another influx of people come up the narrow winding stairs into the still unnaturally cold Room 2. Sunshine Frisbee Laserbeam are another band I have heard quite a lot about, however I’ve not yet had the chance to see them live. Like their predecessors, Sunshine Frisbee Laserbeam focus upon delivering a fast paced, energetic set with lots of movement both physically and sonically.

They utilise dual vocals extremely well and the two very different tones intertwine wonderfully. The use of over driven, octave effects on the guitar is also worked perfectly. Many bands use this technique to varying success, but the sounds produced tonight are refined and blend well with the raw power of the rhythm section. Although it’s hard to put a finger on the style Sunshine Frisbee Laserbeam are making; in some parts I hear Palma Violets, in others I hear some Blink 182 (I apologise).

Table Scraps - supporting The Garden + The Parrots @ Hare & Hounds 28.08.16 / By Rob Hadley (Indie Images) © Birmingham ReviewTable Scraps take to the stage next; the three piece are a punky, gritty mass of noise which comforts my ears. The pace of this band is the fastest tonight, with the tempo seeming to ever rise alongside the thunderous noise. The drums are the heartbeat; they pound and reverberate around the room with much focus upon the toms.

The tortured vocals are exactly what you would wish for with this style of music, cutting through the low end noise and ringing out catchy melodies for the duration of the set. The choruses are great for the crowd to scream back at the band, and there’s a ritualistic chant behind almost every song.

Table Scraps have elements of Ty Segall running through their music (albeit a far sludgier version) with simple songs played in a way you do not hear very often. This band are great for getting the heart race and adrenaline running, which is shown when the first crowd surfers of the evening start occurring in the middle of the room. And thankfully Table Scraps seem to have made the room a little bit hotter to counteract that air conditioner.

The penultimate slot goes to Madrid 3-piece, The Parrots. And I will get the following comparison out of the way, because the band (or their fans) are most likely bored of hearing it… and with my limited knowledge of Madrid’s music scene… The Parrots sound very similar, in terms of style, to Hinds. Absolutely no bad thing, but rather a look into what the Spanish are up to. But I love it, I really do. The harmonic distorted vocals, the jangling guitar lines, the galloping bass and the swinging drums; it all just fits so, so wellThe Parrots @ Hare & Hounds 28.08.16 / By Rob Hadley (Indie Images) © Birmingham Review.

The Parrots also have elements of psyche rock bands such as The Allah-La’s, and their overall sound is just overwhelmingly feel good. Yes, it is simple, but that’s the joy because they make it sound so fun. It’s not over laden with noise and over-experimented on the effects; it is honest and completely to the point, which is right up my street.

The Parrots’ front man, Diego García, is eye catching – running about the stage, ending up on his back whilst screeching out a guitar line. This is the craziest I have seen the Hare & Hounds‘ crowd tonight and it’s a great surprise to discover a band I really, really, want to see again.

But this is it. I have overheard, at various points this evening, how much people are looking forward to tonight’s second headliner The Garden. Somehow I’ve not listened to this band before either, but once again I am looking forward to see what all the fuss is about.

The Garden @ Hare & Hounds 28.08.16 / By Rob Hadley (Indie Images) © Birmingham ReviewAs I stand right next to the stage right speaker, I am shocked to see Trent Reznor (straight from the ‘March of the Pigs’ video set) and a young Dave Gahan wearing French regency makeup walk onto stage. One sits at the drums and the other picks up the bass, as they tear into a set which both confuses me and intrigues me equally.

The Garden are, almost definitely, the most polarising band I have ever witnessed live. I would understand that a lot of people would absolutely hate them, but I am not one of them (…I think). The Garden seem to cross genres nearly every second – starting with cataclysmic death metal style bass lines, then intertwining jazz, electro, new wave and beyond. It is madness, absolute pure unadulterated madness; you have to be completely open-minded and expect nothing.

Inexplicably, midway through a song, The Garden ‘twins’ (brothers Wyatt and Fletcher Shears) both drop instruments and embark what I can only deem as electro/dubstep karaoke which the crowd absolutely loves. If I were to attempt to define the sound I would suggest beginning with Devo, then imagining that Devo took some really awful acid and spawned some brutal dark Devo baby. Then you’d be close.

But there has been a lot on stage tonight, as The Garden end our Bank Holiday mayhem with simply a really strange set. One which has an incredible reaction from the crowd surfers, but something I was not expecting to witness on a Sunday.

For more on The Garden, visit http://www.thegardenvadavada.com/

For more from The Parrots, visit www.facebook.com/theparrots1

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For more from Killer Wave, visit www.facebook.com/kllrwv

For More from This Is Tmrw, visit www.thisistmrw.co.uk

For more from the Hare & Hounds (Kings Heath), visit www.hareandhoundskingsheath.co.ukFollow-Birmingham-Review-on-300x26Facebook - f square, rounded - with colour - 5cm highTwitter - t, square, rounded, with colour, 5cm high

THE GALLERY: The Garden + The Parrots @ Hare & Hounds 28.08

The Garden @ Hare & Hounds 28.08.16 / By Rob Hadley (Indie Images) © Birmingham Review

Pics by Rob Hadley (Indie Images)

For the full Flickr of pics, click here

On Sunday 28th August, Killer Wave and This Is Tmrw presented a Bank Holiday bonanza of bands – bringing Orange County’s The Garden and Madrid’s The Parrots to the Hare & Hounds as joint headliners.

Bolstering the 5pm line up were enough local luminaries to make the show twice as worth the cover charge, with The Mothers Earth Experiment, Table Scraps, The Terror Watts & Sunshine Frisbee Laserbeam filling the Bank Holiday bill.

Rock, roll, punk and pints of Sunday cider… Birmingham Review’s one-man-photo-machine (or Rob Hadley as he is known to his more human compadres) was there to capture an extensive picture spread to go into THE GALLERY.

Also keep an eye out for our full BREVIEW from Jay Dyer – coming to screen near you soon. So here. And later today.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch… here are a couple of tasty pictorial morsels (if you were too ruined by Sunday to see clearly for yourself). To check out the full Flickr of pics click here or on the link above.

 

The Garden @ Hare & Hounds 28.08The Garden @ Hare & Hounds 28.08.16 / By Rob Hadley (Indie Images) © Birmingham Review

The Garden @ Hare & Hounds 28.08.16 / By Rob Hadley (Indie Images) © Birmingham Review

For more from The Garden, visit www.thegardenvadavada.com

 

The Parrots @ Hare & Hounds 28.08

The Parrots @ Hare & Hounds 28.08.16 / By Rob Hadley (Indie Images) © Birmingham Review

The Parrots @ Hare & Hounds 28.08.16 / By Rob Hadley (Indie Images) © Birmingham Review

For more from The Parrots, visit www.facebook.com/theparrots1

 

The Mothers Earth Experiment @ Hare & Hounds 28.08

The Mothers Earth Experiment supporting The Garden + The Parrots @ Hare & Hounds 28.08.16 / By Rob Hadley (Indie Images) © Birmingham Review

The Mothers Earth Experiment supporting The Garden + The Parrots @ Hare & Hounds 28.08.16 / By Rob Hadley (Indie Images) © Birmingham Review

For more from The Mothers Earth Experiment, visit www.facebook.com/themothersearthexperiment

 

Table Scraps @ Hare & Hounds 28.08

Table Scraps - supporting The Garden + The Parrots @ Hare & Hounds 28.08.16 / By Rob Hadley (Indie Images) © Birmingham Review

Table Scraps - supporting The Garden + The Parrots @ Hare & Hounds 28.08.16 / By Rob Hadley (Indie Images) © Birmingham Review

For more on Table Scraps, visit www.facebook.com/tablescrapshq

 

The Terror Watts @ Hare & Hounds 28.08

The Terror Watts - supporting The Garden + The Parrots @ Hare & Hounds 28.08.16 / By Rob Hadley (Indie Images) © Birmingham Review

The Terror Watts - supporting The Garden + The Parrots @ Hare & Hounds 28.08.16 / By Rob Hadley (Indie Images) © Birmingham Review

For more on The Terror Watts, visit www.facebook.com/terrorwatts

 

Sunshine Frisbee Laserbeam @ Hare & Hounds 28.08

Sunshine Frisbee Laserbeam - supporting The Garden + The Parrots @ Hare & Hounds 28.08.16 / By Rob Hadley (Indie Images) © Birmingham Review

Sunshine Frisbee Laserbeam - supporting The Garden + The Parrots @ Hare & Hounds 28.08.16 / By Rob Hadley (Indie Images) © Birmingham Review

For more on Sunshine Frisbee Laserbeam, visit www.facebook.com/sunshinefrisbeelaserbeam

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For more from Killer Wave, visit www.facebook.com/kllrwv

For More from This Is Tmrw, visit www.thisistmrw.co.uk

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For more from the Hare & Hounds (Kings Heath), visit www.hareandhoundskingsheath.co.ukFollow-Birmingham-Review-on-300x26Facebook - f square, rounded - with colour - 5cm highTwitter - t, square, rounded, with colour, 5cm high

 

BPREVIEW: The Garden + The Parrots @ Hare & Hounds, 28.08

14054201_946347345474602_5516814521916213764_nWords by Ed King

On Sunday 28th August, local promoters Killer Wave and This Is Tmrw join forces for an ‘all dayer’ live music event at the Hare & Hounds (Kings Heath) – with The Garden + The Parrots sharing the headline.Birmingham Preview

Elsewhere on the bill are Table Scraps, Sunshine Frisbee Laserbeam, The Terror Watts, Mothers Earth Experiment – with DJ sets from Terror Twins, Killer Wave + This Is Tmrw.

Doors open 5pm (so, an ‘all afternooner..?’) with advance tickets at £10 – which as far as Bank Holiday Sundays go, and considering the line up, is pretty bloody reasonable. For direct gig info & online ticket sales, click here.

The Garden are a self described ‘constantly evolving’ rock band from Orange County – currently touring the globe, coming to the Hare & Hounds on the third date around the UK (with two more in Southern Ireland).

Never dull, never pigeonholed, The Garden’s 2013 debut LP, the gloriously titled Life and Times of a Paperclip, is 16 track DIY extravaganza chocked full of 90sec garage band sonic booms – with their latest, and eponymous, LP losing none of the raw punches but stepping up the vocal leads and production value.

The Garden’s latest release, ‘Call This # Now’, begins (and ends) with what would probably happen if the black box from Event Horizon released an accompanying soundtrack, before jumping to a funky looped production and summer mish mash. It’s great fun, absurdly catchy, and has the occasional swear word. Sold. So what to expect on stage is anyone’s guess, but I reckon it’ll be a fun way to spend your Sunday.

But don’t take our words for it, click below and work it out for yourselves.

‘Call This # Now’ – The Garden

Sharing the Sunday top slot are Spanish three piece, The Parrots.  And whilst we’re describing bands by metaphor, The Parrots are The Velvet Underground on a prolonged holiday after stealing Cliff’s double decker and driving over Lemmy’s foot. Well it makes sense to me.

Anyway… The Parrots are also globetrotting, coming to Birmingham on the second stop of their five UK dates – on the road to promote their debut LP, the also gloriously titled Los Niños Sin Miedo (Children Without Fear). Out on Heavenly Recordings from 26th August, Los Niños Sin Miedo is 10 track garage fest of summer strained awesomeness, thrown in your face from a recklessly moving vehicle whilst spanking your rear. HUGE fun.

The album’s lead single, the… titled ‘Jame Gumb’ (if you were born in the 90’s +, Google it) is a two and a half minute meander into a tripped out soundscape that should give you a taste of the other nine tracks that sandwich it.

But again, we could be talking trite sh*te for all anyone would know. Stop, look and listen for yourself – click below.

‘Jame Gumb’ – The Parrots

The rest of the Sunday service comes from a healthy array of Birmingham bands that would be worth a cover charge on their own.

But here’s a list, with some helpful URL links if you’re feeling click happy: Table Scraps, Sunshine Frisbee Laserbeam, The Terror Watts, Mothers Earth Experiment.

Phew… I’m off for a lie down. Wake me up on Sunday would you.

Killer Wave and This Is Tmrw present The Garden + The Parrots, with support from Table Scraps, Sunshine Frisbee Laserbeam, The Terror Watts, Mothers Earth Experiment at the Hare & Hound on Sunday 28th August. For direct gig info & online ticket sales, click here.

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For more on The Garden, visit www.thegardenvadavada.com

For more from The Parrots, visit www.facebook.com/theparrots1

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For more from Killer Wave, visit www.facebook.com/kllrwv

For More from This Is Tmrw, visit www.thisistmrw.co.uk

For more from the Hare & Hounds (Kings Heath), visit www.hareandhoundskingsheath.co.uk

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BREVIEW: YR Welcome 3 @ Wagon & Horses 13-14.08

YR Welcome 3 @ Wagon & Horses 13-14.08.16 / By Michelle Martin (Visual Voice Media)

For the full Flickr of pics, click here

Words by Helen Knott / Pics by Michelle Martin (Visual Voice Media)

YR Welcome, Die Das Der’s two day festival, has reached its third incarnation. The format works to perfection – over two days and two stages you’re treated to an onslaught of 30-minute sets from some of the best bands around, all while hanging out with the Wagon & Horses’ rather bemused regulars. The festival covers a range of different genres, but the quality level is reliably high.YR Welcmome 3 @ Wagon & Horses / Sat 13th, Sun 14th August

Take Manchester band Sweet Deals on Surgery for example. It’s not really my thing, but I can’t deny that it’s good. They play an enjoyable set of frantically delivered pop-punk songs with entertaining lyrics. It sounds a little bit like Johnny Foreigner.

Buy my YR Welcome 3 experience begins on the Sunday afternoon with Nasty Little Lonely, a Bristol group that features three members who look like they shouldn’t be in a band together. A guy who looks like Gruff Rhys is on guitar, Toyah Wilcox is on bass and Slash is on drums. The resulting sound is heavier than you might expect – it’s industrial, grinding and pushes the band’s sleazy bass lines to the fore.

The Double Happy are the funniest band of the evening. After the end of the first song their front man confides that he has a hole in his pocket and that his phone fell through that pocket during the song. He then fishes the phone out, much to the audience’s delight. This Wolves trio mixes heavy riffs and shouty vocals, with unusual vocal harmonies providing an effective contrast.

Nasty Little Lonely - YR Welcome 3 @ Wagon & Horses 13-14.08 / By Michelle Martin (Visual Voice Media)Bristol’s Downard are initially a bit of a shock to the system. Their opening track features heavily effect-ridden vocals accompanied by drums and bass guitar that, coming through a range of octave pedals, doesn’t always sound like bass guitar. It’s a confusingly big sound to be coming from two people in boiler suits – precise, heavy, groovy and in the case of set highlight ‘Yr Box’d’, super catchy.

The Terror Watts have emerged from the ashes of legendary Birmingham group Cedar House Band to create a vibe better suited to a sunny Californian beach than Brummie brutalist concrete. Their song ‘So Alone’ is two minutes of pop perfection that should by rights be all over the radio, inducing enthusiastic dancing at indie discos up and down the country.

Broken Oak Duet only joined the YR Welcome 3 line-up when another band pulled out, but they’re the highlight of my day. Continuing the trend for bands with limited band members, Broken Oak Duet meld math rock with metal. ‘Roger the Optometrist’, from this year’s debut album Terrain, has a catchy riff that heads off in all directions before returning seamlessly to pay off at the end.

Baby faced sibling duo Cassels have songs about the NHS, family dramas and, weirdly for the youngest band at the festival, getting old. They have a certain DIY charm, but don’t quite feel like the finished article yet. And they take awkward stage banter to a new level. Example – Cassels: “This is a song about naughty priests and what they’re allowed to get away with”. Heckler: “Sexy!” Cassels: “….Uh not really…”Nasty Little Lonely - YR Welcome 3 @ Wagon & Horses 13-14.08 / By Michelle Martin (Visual Voice Media)

But Cassels could get no better lesson in banter than from the very next band on, Idles. Idles’ charismatic lead singer tells his guitarist to “shut up” when he plays his guitar between songs. The guitarist replies patiently, “I was giving you your cue Joe”.

It’s hard to review Idles without mentioning Fat White Family. They have a similar political leaning and punk ethos. Idles though, have better songs. ‘Romantic Gestures’ is a Joy Division enthused romp about pretending to care about romance in a relationship. It, like other set highlight ‘Queens’, comes from Idles’ second EP Meat, released at the end of 2015. Hurry up with the album boys.

YR Welcmome 3 @ Wagon & Horses / Sat 13th, Sun 14th AugustIdles are the third brilliant band from Bristol of the day. Maybe we should all move to Bristol… Hang on a minute though, here’s Birmingham’s Dorcha. Featuring singer, composer and all-out music genius Anna Palmer, Dorcha create off-kilter, atmospheric experimental music. I’m gutted when I have to leave well before the end to catch the last train home.

YR Welcome 3 introduced me to some of my new favourite bands, all in a warm, friendly and ego-free atmosphere. But as we were told in Tony Appleby’s recent interview with Die Das Der – the ‘Birmingham-based community of like-minded musicians, artists, bloggers, photographers, film-makers and journalists’ who organise the annual band fest, YR Welcome is a labour of love rather than a profit-making enterprise. And it shows.

To check out YR Welcome 3 updates and line-up information, click here.

For more on Die Das Der, visit www.facebook.com/wearediedasder

For more from the Wagon & Horses, visit www.wagonandhorsesdigbeth.com

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