thisistmrw Archives -

August 4, 2017

BPREVIEW: Sunshine Frisbee Laserbeam – album launch ‘all dayer’ @ Hare & Hounds 05.07.17

Words by Ed King

On Saturday 5^th August, Sunshine Frisbee Lasterbeam (SFL) host and headline an ‘all dayer’ at the Hare & Hounds in Kings Heath – launching their double LP, Sink or Swim / The Mirage.

Joining SFL will be a bevy of the great, good and decidedly gifted of the Birmingham DIY scene, with Black Mekon, YR Poetry, Sonne Mond, Burning Alms, Bad Girlfriend, Repeat of Last Week and Exotic Pets all playing live alongside DJ sets from This is Tmrw and Victories at Sea. Blimey.

Doors open at 4pm with tickets priced at £7 (advance) and £10 (otd) – as presented by This is Tmrw. For direct gig info, including venue details and online ticket sales, click here.

Sunshine Frisbee Laserbeam have been out on the road with YR Poetry, touring their latest double release since the 25^th July. The August 5^th gig at the Hare & Hounds is a stone’s throw from the end of their oddly alliterated tour and a chance to see the MAMMOTH 20 track LP get some serious stage time. Plus check the wider line up… for a tenner downwards you can’t really go wrong there.

So what’s the ‘ere LP all about then? Littered with short, sharp shocks the Sink or Swim / The Mirage double whammy is the fourth/fifth long playing endevour from SFL. Opening with the twisted garage rock of one of the album’s title tracks, we slide into some kick drum led punk pretty quick and then bounce around the two.

The other title track delivers a longer wall of sound and pedal kissed rock, before introducing a second half that would have felt right at home on the sticky Hummingbird and Black Horse dance floors of yore… that’ll separate the men from the older men. Then there’s the album’s closer, ‘Drunk in the Sea’, with a psychedelic kiss goodnight.

But it’s live you want to see this band. The last time Birmingham Review stood in front of Sunshine Frisbee Laserbeam was back in May this year, again at the Hare & Hounds, when they supported Victories at Sea. Ouch. Then there’s the wider line up to this ‘all dayer’ album launch who are, for the most part, pretty high on our ‘I’ll call in sick tomorrow’ list.

Can’t argue at that for a crinkled Charles Darwin; but if you need a little more twist to your arm…

‘Sink or Swim’ – Sunshine Frisbee Laserbeam

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The Mirage – Sunshine Frisbee Laserbeam

Sunshine Frisbee Laserbeam headline and host their ‘all dayer’ album launch for Sink or Swim / The Mirage at the Hare & Hounds on Saturday 5^th August – as presented by This is Tmrw. For direct gig info, including venue details and online ticket sales, click here.

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

For more from the Hare & Hounds, including full event listings and online ticket sales, visit www.hareandhoundskingsheath.co.uk

For more from This is Tmrw, visit www.thisistmrw.co.uk

June 7, 2017June 7, 2017

BREVIEW: The Growlers @ O2 Academy 24.05.17

Words by Giles Logan / Pics by Rob Hadley

A disappointingly half full venue for the first show of The Growlers’ UK tour; what will the laconic extremists from Southern California make of it? No sweat. Lights dim, intro music and the band shuffle on stage in City Club macs (they must be melting) and instantly the dreary functionality of the O2 Academy transforms into what could be a Vegas lounge.

“Let’s do this”, announces front man Brooks Nielsen and the band breeze easily into ‘Big Toe’ from 2014’s Chinese Fountain album – a trademark tune of uplifting misery, the breezy rhythm hosting a pained song of suicidal heartbreak. “She’s got me on the bridge looking down at the old cold river”. Who opens a set with a song about self destruction? This is the dark beauty of The Growlers. Their mischievous lyricism is delivered with a cute self referential nod and a wink; Nielsen has an enormous cheeky glint in his eye with lines such as “she can hex like a crow”. It’s a theme that runs through their music: hey guys, shit happens but we’ve got this.

The Growlers’ approach to set lists is a bit like their approach to genre, happily skitting from surf, rock blues and in the instance of ‘Hiding under The Covers’, from 2013’s Gilded Pleasures album, to a greasy cha-cha-cha through more heartbreak. “It’s hard to choose the right thing to do when you’re so in love”, croons Nielsen in that glorious West Coast drawl of his.

Coming off like a weird hybrid of Jim Morrison and Elvis, snake hipped Nielsen is a great front man. An infectious personality with an inviting smile he welcomes us into The Growlers world with honest warmth. “We’re going to rush through as many songs as we can before curfew, been a long time since we had a curfew”. The whole band posses an addictive enthusiasm and swagger; with major line up changes before last year’s City Club album fans baulked, but there is a collective energy and humour about them, shared smiles and laughter – they’re having fun if we have fun.

‘Naked Kids’ from The Growlers’ third album, Hung At Heart, with its gospel keyboard, is a rousing stab at redemption and enlightenment – “I picked myself above the ground” intones Nielsen with raw Southern pain, now minus his City Club mac and wearing the coolest bowling shirt we’ve ever seen. A rapt and youthful audience with arms aloft share in this sweaty epiphany; there’s even kids on shoulders, “go for it boys” smiles Nielsen.

One of the set highlights is ‘Night Ride’ from The Growlers’ latest album, City Club – a wickedly funky rhythm and a lingering, almost yearning, look back at memories of bacchanalian excess with a deliciously sing-a-long refrain: “over and over and over again, till you can no longer pretend you are sane”. There is a charmingly shambolic nonchalance, as The Growlers enter a hazy reverie in a song that has been suggested is aimed at ex-members of the band.

With such an incredible back catalogue of material spread over five albums, the classics continue with the dreamy psychedelic sprawl of ‘Nobody Owns You’, the downbeat joy of ‘Too Many Times’ and a journey into the sleazy guilt of ‘Feelin’ Good’: “just cause it feels good, doesn’t mean it’s right”. There’s even an up tempo (ish) moment as playful keyboards guide us through ‘One Million Lovers’, as “something strange just takes over you”.

“Well let’s fucking go”, threatens Nielsen as another set highlight growls into life: ‘Vacant Lot’, again from City Club. Harder edged than other tunes, it’s lumbering pile-driving riff joins a swirl of keyboard and tribal drums, really hammering home “like a bullet train”. Cue a mini mosh pit, mass sing-a-long “way down in the valley of the mud”. There’s even time for some human beat boxing, as the whole song is accompanied by epileptic levels of strobe.

Then as if to confuse us with their rampant eclecticism, The Growlers follow this with a disco-lite rendition of ‘Pet Shop Eyes’ and the dub bop happy ‘I’ll Be Around’ – a song that confounds with its major rock out chorus. “Ignorance is complacency”, too right. For those that didn’t catch The Growlers in Birmingham, you missed a classic.

For more on The Growlers, visit www.thegrowlers.com

For more Mystic Braves, visit www.mysticbraves.com

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For more from the 02 Academy (B’ham), including full event listing and online ticket sales, visit www.academymusicgroup.com/o2academybirmingham

For more from DHP Family, visit www.dhpfamily.com

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

May 22, 2017

BPREVIEW: The Growlers @ O2 Academy 24.05.17

Words by Ed King

On Wednesday 24^th May, The Growlers play at the 02 Academy (B’ham) – with support from Echo Park music men, Mystic Braves.

Doors open at 7pm with tickets priced at £16 (+bf), as presented by DHP Family and This Is Tmrw. For direct gig info, including full venue details and online ticket sales, click here.

In Birmingham for the first of seven UK dates, the Southern California psch-rockers are on the road with album number five – the thirteen track mescaline sponge bath, City Club, that came out on Cult Records in September last year.

And if you’ve not been privy to albums 1-4, The Growlers were born from a peyote collecting lunch break and an old six string acoustic; the band have (or had) a double decker tour bus with ‘California Church Teen Choir’ emblazoned on its side. You know that question, what would Morrison have become if not dead and fat in a bathtub… Although to a boy from the British Isles, I can’t help but think of Alex Turner and the Ozric Tentacles at the dopamine tail end of an August Bank Holiday weekend.

The Growlers also gave us Beach Goth – their self described genre moniker, arguable oxymoron, and the name of their annual two day Orange County festival. As well as being my favourite music ‘label’ ever, linguistically speaking.

And aside from being the center stage poster boys for the highs/lows of recreational drug use, The Growlers have headlined Beach Goth since its inception in 2012 – attracting acts from Tricky to Bon Iver, Patty Smith to The Parcyde, to join them on last year’s October bill. I think I’ve just worked out what to do for my birthday.

But the band mean business, even if it’s scratched out in luminous paint on the side of a headless store mannequin. So get serious, or not, get weird, or not, but with 76 tracks over five studio albums (and I’m guessing a fluid approach to set lists) you’d better get comfortable. Pass ‘the juice’ anyone..?

‘City Club’ – The Growlers (title/opening track from their latest studio album)

The Growlers perform at the 02 Academy on Wednesday 24^th May, with support from Mystic Braves – as presented by DHP and This Is Tmrw. For direct gig info and online tickets sales, click here.

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For more on The Growlers, visit www.thegrowlers.com

For more Mystic Braves, visit www.mysticbraves.com

For more from the 02 Academy (B’ham), including full event listing and online ticket sales, visit www.academymusicgroup.com/o2academybirmingham

For more from DHP Family, visit www.dhpfamily.com

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

May 10, 2017May 10, 2017

BPREVIEW: Victories at Sea @ Hare & Hounds 13.05.17

Words by Ed King

On Saturday 13^th May, Victories at Sea play at the Hare & Hounds (Kings Heath) – with support from Mutes, Matters + Sunshine Frisbee Laserbeam.

Doors open at 7pm, with tickets priced at £5 (adv) – as presented by This Is Tmrw. For direct gig info and online tickets sales, click here.

Last time Birmingham Review saw Victories at Sea was back at the Hare & Hounds in January 2016, three months after their debut album – Everything Forever – was unleashed on the world. And now it’s back to the familiar Kings Heath venue, this time with a new EP and some absurdly stonking support in tow.

But the masters of maritime (…nice) haven’t been floating around aimlessly (…ok) for the past year and half, with their five track A Place to Stay EP released on Static Caravan Records on 5^th May. And shiver me techno timbers (…the last nautical reference I’m going make) it’s dark twist of brooding electronica meets meaty indie rock; all the goodness you’d expect from a Victories at Sea endevour. Fair to say it’s had its airplay at Birmingham Review HQ – with everything from Swervedriver and Explosions in the Sky to The Cure thrown around for comparison.

It’s a beautifully produced record no matter what your reference point, with some signature/ethereal melodies to send you blissfully out across the waters (accidental metaphor). But with Helen Knott, whose words I trust sometimes more than my own, citing the ‘slick and controlled’ sound from Everything Forever as a frayed edge to the sharpness of a live performance, we shall see what comes off stage on Saturday. Only a fiver an’ all; oddly accessible considering the line up would round off Day One at a small festie.

And as for the supports… Two from the FOMA portfolio: Matters, Mutes – both of whom Birmingham Review last saw at a FOMA showcase in Blotto Studios in mid March; click here for Aatish Ramchurn’s photo led feature in THE GALLERY. Both bands would be worth a fiver each, but with Mutes’ ‘sprawling debut full length album’ waiting in the wings, No Desire – out 2^nd June, this is a good chance to see them polishing the final product.

Then there’s the perennial bridesmaid and winner of the Most Syllables Award, Sunshine Frisbee Laserbeam. Or as Jeopardy would call them, ‘things that make Cannon Hill Park more fun’. Always worth a stop, look and listen. And whilst we’re on garrulous popular culture references, here’s our Graham with a quick reminder…

‘Sirens’ – Victories at Sea (from the 2016 album Everything Forever)

Victories at Sea perform at the Hare & Hounds (Kings Heath) on Saturday 13^th May, with support from Mutes, Matters + Sunshine Frisbee Laserbeam – as presented by This Is Tmrw. For direct gig info and online tickets sales, click here.

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For more on Victories at Sea, visit www.victoriesatsea.co.uk

For more on Mutes, visit www.mutesuk.bandcamp.com

For more on Matters, visit www.soundcloud.com/mattersband

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

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For more from the Hare & Hounds (Kings Heath), including full event listing and online ticket sales, visit www.hareandhoundskingsheath.co.uk

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

March 27, 2017March 27, 2017

BPREVIEW: The Moonlandingz @ Hare & Hounds 28.03.17

Words by Steve Crawford

On Tuesday 28^th March, The Moonlandingz come to the Hare & Hounds (Kings Heath) on the first date of their UK tour, with support from Goat Girl.

Doors open at 7.30pm. But at the time of writing, this gig has been SOLD OUT with your only chance being the This Is Tmrw waiting list only. For direct gig info, including venue and waiting list details, click here.

It didn’t end well for Johnny Rocket of The Moonlandingz. Stalked by an obsessive fan since seeing him (resplendent in blue jumper and tin foil socks) and ‘his band’ play their ‘cosmic synth, Krautabilly, fuzzy Joe Meek style pop’ at the Valhalladale Working Men’s Club.

Pushed to the edge by his constant rejections and the celebratory mood in Valehalladale following Margaret Thatcher’s death (the stalker has reason to believe she is Mrs Thatcher’s love child), she eventually catches up with Johnny, stoves the side of his head in with a rock and watches as he falls backwards into a river and sinks to the bottom, until the air bubbles stop. So ends Johnny Rocket and The Moonlandingz.

Or at least the fictional versions as created by the Eccentronic Research Council (ERC) for their album – Johnny Rocket, Narcissist & Machine Music… I’m your Biggest Fan. This 2015 release saw the ERC collaborate again with the magnificent Maxine Peake – taking on the role of ‘the stalker’, alongside Fat White Family’s Saul Adamczewski and Lias Saoudi.

Over the course of 2015-16, The Moonlandingz started to make the move from fictional to semi-fictional. Johnny Rocket was resurrected by Lias Saoudi, a junkie Major Tom figure who fell to Earth as a dishevelled glam rocker in silver cod-piece with make-up gone awry (See The Moonlandingz‘ ‘Black Hanz’ video below).

Initially conceived as a recording project only, it was after a session for 6 Music’s Marc Riley that The Moonlandingz’ potential as a live act took hold. In 2016 the band played a handful of gigs and festivals including South by South West and the Liverpool PsychFest

Skip ahead to 2017 and a fleshed out Moonlandingz release their debut album – Interplanetary Class Classics, through Transgressive Records on March 24^th. Recorded in Sheffield and New York, the album sees yet more collaborations including Sean Lennon (who after re-mixing ‘Sweet Saturn Mine’co-produced the album) Yoko Ono, Randy Jones (the cowboy from The Village People), Phil Oakey and Slow Club’s Rebecca Taylor.

Already a band that are causing rips in the cosmos as a live act, a now infamous naked/dirty protest at their outset meant The Moonlandingz have gained a bit of a reputation, with subsequent gigs having been ‘riotus…feral’. Hang onto your cod-pieces Birmingham.

‘Black Handz’ – The Moonlandingz

The Moonlandingz perform at the Hare & Hounds (Kings Heath) on Tuesday 28^th March, with support from Goat Girl – as presented by This Is Tmrw. For direct gig info and online tickets sales, click here.

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For more on The Moonlandingz, visit www.themoonlandingz.com

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

For more from Transgressive Records, visit www.transgressiverecords.com

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For more from the Hare & Hounds (Kings Heath), including full event listing and online ticket sales, visit www.hareandhoundskingsheath.co.uk

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