Philadelphia’s Red Means Run released their debut EP ‘All Things Said & Done‘ in 2014. Beneath the homespun recording sound, unfussy guitar work and occasionally wobbly vocals, there was a band who so clearly loved roots music and were keen to help keep Americana music traditions alive. Two years on, their ‘Love of Blindness’ EP represents a very, very welcome return. On this second outing, the vocals retain their same unfiltered and unpolished qualities, but much like their hero Neil Young’s approach from 1970 on, on some tracks, that roughness only adds to the charm. Like many of the greatest Americana acts, it’s the song writing that counts the most…and Red Means Run tackle these songs with a sense of love and understanding that no amount of polish would ever change.
Monthly Archives: July 2016
HARVEST – Omnivorous
There are literally millions of thrash and death metal bands out there on the underground scene. Some of them are as rough as hell, but once in a while, a band will come along with the possibility of knocking the listener sideways. Despite a reasonably low budget spent on their debut 2016 release ‘Omnivorous’, Panama’s Harvest are one such band. Pretty quickly, it’s clear that the bulk of their sound owes so much to pre-‘Chaos AD’ era Sepultura…right down to a many of the vocal styles. It must be something in those Central and Southern American waters.
BAD MARY – We Could Have Saved The World EP
New York’s Bad Mary were not exactly well known by the end of 2015 – even by internet standards – but they already had an enjoyable album and potentially brilliant EP to their credit and had worked phenomenally hard at building a grass roots following. For the female-fronted punk-pop/hard rockers, the world was still very much theirs for the taking.
NFU – Treason EP
Playing a distorted and heavily wah-wahed blend of bluesy hard rock, in theory, New York’s NFU are the kind of band who should draw easy comparisons to Hendrix, Zeppelin and various 90s hard rockers enamoured with both. That’s so obviously their aim. The reality, however, is somewhat shocking. Despite promising “an EP full of character”, it’s quickly apparent that these four musicians – using that word in its loosest sense – have little more than a basic grasp of their instruments. At best, listeners will be subjected to material that approximates a boring bluster. But that’s being somewhat kind, since the four songs on ‘Treason’ seem to be played by a band who have absolutely no abilities when it comes to playing in sync with each other.
Watch ‘Sulphur’, the new video clip from Stella Diana
As part of the promotion for their 2016 full length release ‘Nitocris’, shoegazers Stella Diana have put together a promo video for lead track ‘Sulphur’.