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.
Tag Archives: alternative
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.
FUTURE TALK – The Path That Sadness Paved EP
2015 saw a lot of alt-rock bands with a slight emo slant breaking through, particularly in the UK. Few are as impressive as Gloucestershire-based quintet Future Talk, a band whom seem to recognise that huge melodies are equally as important as musical prowess. The band’s appeal is also very much helped by the fact that the four songs on their ‘The Road That Sadness Paved’ EP have less of the sheen and fewer vocal filters than is often associated with acts of a similar style.