The formation of Eight Days dates back to the band’s school years, but like so many, they wouldn’t be ready to take their music careers seriously until a fair while later. Refusing to take the easy way out, they spurned the obvious punk pop sounds practised by so many and set about creating a ferocious sound that fused hardcore punk and metal. Although this too had been done by many bands, by the time of Eight Days’ debut release in 2014, it was nowhere as predictable – or stale, even – as the more common, identikit pop-punk mould had become. The band then toured extensively, picking up fans along the way and found time to plug a recording gap with two new songs and a demo on their ‘Surrounded By Ones Who Want Me To Fail’ release in 2015. In the first half of 2016, Eight Days recorded four new tracks; these were eventually released as the ‘More To Life’ EP in the autumn.
Tag Archives: alternative
THE DEMOS – Paramount Clouds EP
When New York duo The Demos released ‘Lovely‘ back in the mists of 2011, it was obvious that they recognised a hook and knew their way around a reasonable alt-rock/power pop arrangement. Sadly, the lo-fi nature of that recording, essentially demos passed off as a finished product, didn’t really show them at their best. There were at least a handful of tracks scattered among the dozen that wanted – even needed – a much better send off than they were afforded.
HANDS OFF GRETEL – Burn The Beauty Queen
Fronted by singer-songwriter Lauren Tate, Hands Off Gretel’s 2016 full length ‘Burn The Beauty Queen’ is unashamed in borrowing a lot of influence from the 90s. With elements of Nirvana, Hole and occasionally the more tuneful edge of various other alt-rock and grunge sources, its tracks take a trip through a world of big riffs on songs with a very female perspective. Almost like the missing link between Hole’s classic ‘Live Through This’ and their far more commercial ‘Celebrity Skin’, it’s an album that’s very well put together – the production is excellent, the playing very good, the songwriting often possessing a spirited quality – but it’s also sometimes a bit too calculated, like experiencing the riot grrrl movement through a Tim Burton filter. For all of their talent, Hands Off Gretel appear as a garish, stripy legginged, teen goth fantasy of what the grunge fuelled early-mid 90s were like, had there been no surviving archival references. The album in turn almost presenting the past as if Courtney Love were only remembered via folk tales passed down through a generation.
DOGSTRUM – Murtsgod EP
Dogstrum? Dog? Strum? It’s true – all the great band names are spoken for. You’d have to wonder how many other supposedly worse names this Seattle band discounted before deciding that Dogstrum would be their best. Luckily, though, for this particular power trio, their music shows more than a glimmer of greatness. Labelled ‘grump-punk’ (whatever that might mean) by a local paper, their sound is hard and dirty, energetic and sometimes raw in spirit, though fidelity-wise, these six tracks are well recorded with plenty of punch in all the right places.
KAMIKAZE GIRLS – Sad EP
Aiming to “stamp out gender stereotypes in music for good”, UK lo-fi duo Kamikaze Girls not only identify with the feminist anger of the 90s riot-grrrl movement, but also do so whilst being fifty percent male. Their music, an angry melting pot of riffs and social commentary, is unrelentingly vibrant.