London-based emo outfit Sad Blood knew they had to follow their ‘Ultimate Warrior’ release with something special; a release that improved on their core sound and didn’t just feel like a retread of previous work. The resulting five tracks are somewhat special – hearing ‘Legion of Gloom’ (especially for the first time) is akin to taking a trip back two decades. A couple of chords is all that’s required before opening track ‘Heavy Petting Zoo’ – a tune absolutely drenched in a feeling of revivalism – is set to impress listeners who once found themselves enamoured with nineties emo.
Tag Archives: alternative
AMARYLLIS – Nova Initium
Following two EP releases and their own headline shows in London, UK alternative rockers Amaryllis (not to be confused with the female fronted Polish prog rock band) set to work on a full length which, in the bands own words, had to be better than anything they’d recorded before. It’s always good to encounter a band with a clear sense of drive, looking to push themselves. While that debut – 2016’s ‘Nova Initium’ – often relies on being the sum of its influences over any obvious originality, it’s hard to argue against it being well constructed and well played, especially in the guitar department, since Alex Whiteford so obviously knows how to work some solid riffs.
READYMADE BREAKUP – Live With It EP
Readymade Breakup’s third album – their self-titled release from 2011 – was, at the time of release, their best to date. It was still a little hit and miss but the good material far outweighed the bad, while the band’s newly found tougher sound was clearly a step in the right direction. Time passed. A follow up never came and the band seemed to lose the momentum built up by the release. Their drummer moved away; their bassist, Mr. Gay Elvis, put out his own EP in 2014 and with an ever expanding gap between the present and their last release, by the end of 2015, it seemed Readymade Breakup were done.
HEY HALLWAYS – Absence Makes The Heart Forget EP
Although presenting themselves in two very distinctly different moods, on their 2014 EP ‘Absence Makes The Heart Forget’, San Francisco’s Hey Hallways’ work always shows a huge DIY spirit and self-belief. Their obvious willingness to pay homage to some great punk and garage rock sounds from the tail end of the 1980s will win over fans of the style almost instantly. The first half of this release has so much energy within it’s crudely recorded material, while the second is a very different beast – one that’s almost certainly guaranteed to be a love/hate affair.
HOT MOTH – Small Fires EP
Brighton’s Hot Moth create a sound that’s a bit like experiencing an aural collision between the crunchy but song-driven aspects of the much missed Oceansize and the cerebral, clankier elements of cult heroes The Fierce And The Dead. The three songs on their 2016 EP ‘Small Fires’ aim for the gut as much as the head and combined create a fine, if far too short, voyage into arty mathrock territory.