Camden Market - Camden Town

 Coming up the escalators of Camden station, which you could also be described as a wind tunnel, you can feel the Arctic weather before you even step outside. In the hustle and bustle of the city little puffs of peoples breath float upwards while strolling down the crowded high street. Upon approaching the indoor market the whiff of incense sticks and street food fills the air. The food court is packed full of hungry punters, luckily the amount of free food thats shoved in your face you don't have to pay for street food. While sat in the court yard of the stables I take in the sights of countless vintage stores, punk band t-shirts covering the walls of shops and shisha pipes at every turn. It maybe cold, but mulled wine keeps my hands warm as I continue to browse Collectif Clothing and the other edgy clothing stores!

The Old Blue Last- Shoreditch

 Walking through north London on a Tuesday evening in December. Feeling the crisp cold air on your lungs and the bitter wind biting your exposed skin. Its dark. Street lights and bars illuminate the way through city streets as you walk past murals of brightly coloured graffiti. At the end  35 Great Eastern Street sits The Old Blue Last. A small bar and gig venue that houses a collection of taxidermy and expensive pints. It has a warm atmosphere inside, a drastic change from the cold London streets, the sights of edgy Londoners caked in tweed jackets and skinny jeans spread across the bar. Couples sat in corners sharing drinks and the occasional band member popping downstairs to do the beer rounds. Walking up the old wooden stairs to the gig area, weaving in and out the waves of people, walking towards the upstairs bar crushed against people like sardines in a can. Old wooden bars and neutrally painted walls give the venue a cosy home feel.  The little wooden victorian style tables dotted around downstairs serve for a snug spot to sit while you enjoy a £5.90 pint of Wolf Rock.

Wilie J Healy @ The Old Blue Last, Shoreditch.

Hello 2016. We welcome you with open arms and hope for some amazing new music.

Willie J Healey, Oxford red head, beachy guitar extraordinaire and voice shocker. Playing an intimate gig at The Old Blue Last, sharing the stage with three other bands that night, Willie puts on quite a show. The little indie kid looks like he would exert a Two Door Cinema Club esque voice. But no. Deep, cordial and soothing voice oozes out as he sings ‘Palm Trees’, a song about Pamela Anderson. 

The start of the show is slightly awkward, jokes are attempted, family members are the only ones cheering. After the first song ‘Julia and I’ the crowd start getting into the swing of things. Bobbing in unison with the upbeat drums. The american beach rock guitar gives the whole show a Hawaiian Elvis Presley feel. Even his songs have tropical names, ‘HD Malibu’ was a significantly smooth song. It took a while to kick in, but when it did you really go there. His velvety voice making the crowd silent, listening in awe. 

‘Subterraneans’ fills the room with silence as the dreamy guitar echoes around walls. His deep vocals give you goosebumps as the blue lights dimmer. “Plain Jane dreams of nicer things” ripples through the room, the crowd bobbing to the slow beat and chilled out atmosphere. The whole room feels like its underwater, motionless, just captivated by his tranquil vocals. This guy is definitely one to put on the “must see” list. 

His hazy surf rock music keeps the crowd content through the whole set, ginger ringlets bouncing in beat to the bass and the backing vocals creating a perfect harmony. The emotional expressions in his face as he thanks the crowd for “appearing at his show” show his true love for music and what he's doing. This young chap is certainly one to watch. 

Frank Carter and The Rattlesnakes @ The Underworld, Camden.

If you've followed Frank Carter since Gallows you'll know he's had a tough 2014. He has returned with the super group Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes, made up of ex Heights and Pure Love members. They exploded onto the scene with album ‘Blossom’ in April 2015 and started touring the UK and Mainland Europe in November an December. Monday 30th November, the gig was initially scheduled for Dingwalls. But everybody knows the brutality of a Frank Carter gig. The venue denied FC&TRS a gig absent of a barrier. Which in Frank Carters words was “a dick move”. The venue change happened on the night of the gig and moved to the infamous Underworld in Camden. Touring with Leeds lads Brawlers and Wolverhampton duo, God Damn. 

Once the first two bands had finished warming up the already elevated crowd, the room goes silent. Waiting. Watching. Ready for Frank Carter to make his entrance. The roar of the crowd fills the room with an electric energy as Frank saunters on stage, microphone in hand and piercing blue eyes scanning the crowd. “This stage is not just mine. This is your fucking stage too.” are the first words that comes out of his mouth before playing the chaotic ‘Devil Inside Me’. Loyal fans echoing the lyrics as whirlpools of mosh pits form around the stage. Bodies being thrown off the stage and small balcony bars into the the sea of hardcore fans. The tumult continues as he powers though ‘Blossom’, ‘Juggernaut’ and ‘Fangs’. Franks terrifying stare could turn you to stone, he's like the Medusa of the rock world. He continues to thank the crowd bluntly. “You guys are the fucking greatest. I fucking love you mugs”, talking about his tough year and leaving Gallows. 

After a significant amount of carnage on the stage and floor, Frank begins ‘Beautiful Death’ probably one of his most heart felt songs he's ever penned down. Requesting the whole crowd to crouch down, not for the cliche synchronised jumping, but instead the crowd fall silent for the whole 4 minuets. Uninterrupted. The heart wrenching song was dedicated to his wife and her father who had died the previous year. Safari as emotional hardcore shows go, this one was indelible. 

Frank Carter don’t do feelings for too long though. Finishing the set with ‘I Hate You’, the whole crowd chanting “You are nothing, you are nothing to me. You're a useless fucking cunt, you are nothing to me”. The heavy metal energy tore through the crowd like a tornado leaving everyone battered and bruised. And of course covered in beer. 

The Wonder Years- ‘No Closer To Heaven’

*punches air* *stage dives* *punches air once more*

Philadelphia emo six piece The Wonder Years have never been shy to perform open heart surgery on themselves to create albums. ‘No Closer To Heaven’ is every bit prepared to undergo the scalpel following in the footsteps of the four albums released before it (2007’s Get Stoked On It!, 2010’s The Upsides, 2011’s Suburbia I’ve Given You All and Now I’m Nothing, 2013’s The Greatest Generation).

Some bands spend years trying to find that progression and perfection, however The Wonder Years have nailed that and keep banging out the goods their fans demand. ‘No Closer To Heaven’ focuses on more gargantuan subjects, other than his usual angst, suburban lassitude and general necessitous. The band have kept those head bopping drumbeats that every pop-punk kid strives on and those sickening guitar riffs that transport you to the suburbs of Philly during autumn evenings. Lyrically the album is so cloak and dagger, at first listen you'd just think front man, Dan ‘Soupey’ Campbell, is shouting about the classic hatred for his home town and adult anxieties. However listening to the whole album closely you realise how dark it really is. “Thanks For The Ride” for example, a song thats catalyse was cored around a deceased friend and the question “what life would be like if she had lived?”. A “What if you'd woken up from the coma?” kind of scenario. The whole album is definitely Soupey’s most unrestricted album to date. 

‘No Closer To Heaven’ kicks off with 1 minute 32 second song “Brothers&”. An unearthly musical song, the only lyrics spoken are the repletion of “We’re no saviours if we can't save our brothers”. 

“Brothers&” starts with a simple journey through The Wonder Years classic guitars and slow drums it picks up once the crying vocals come in. And like a lot of things in life. Stops abruptly. 

“Cardinals” the second track on the LP, named after the iconic red bird, is not the most uplifting song on the album but is very deep and authentic. The truths of troubled America and broken promised are the main basis of the song. “Cardinal crashed into my window, think he might die. I’ll plan him a funeral, I’ll read his last rites. Cause I know what he saw in that reflection light. On the glass was a better life” speaks of the idea of the bird not knowing the difference between reflection and reality. So basically he's saying that at some point in your life you will have the same fate as that bird. You crash into what is a very literal glass window.

“A song for Patsy Cline”&”A song for Ernest Hemingway” paired songs about hitting that writers block and convincing yourself you're doing terribly at something you're supposed to be good at. Dan Campbell is quite simply singing about the struggles he had writing the album and comparing it to the constant difficulties Patsy and Earnest faced during the last few years of their lives as musicians. Musically the song is a progressive pop-punk. Starting with signature slow eerie guitars and eventually moving to a stronger harder hitting melody. The basic definition of pop-punk is melancholy lyrics over merrier melodies. Every song that The Wonder Years bang out hit this right on the mark. “A song for Earnest Hemingway” almost sounds like a gospel choir and yet again, quickly hits back into those violent drums and mellifluous vocals. 

The closing track “No Closer To Heaven” is the only acoustic track on the album, laced with calming acoustics that make you want to sink into a mattress. The song references previous songs on the album, this is a tendency of The Wonder Years Albums. Mentioning the death of birds once again and Ernest Hemingway and their matching forehead scars . The guilt riddled song may be soul destroying to listening but is oddly calming. The humble acoustic guitar sits gently on the ear. Any fan of The Wonder Years would agree that no matter what, you would catch a serious case of the feels listening to this album alone.

Lyrically the Philly hexad have matured, even if it is in the “death is inevitable and everyone hates me” kind of way. The stories behind this set of songs are hard hitting, leak authenticity and show the true colours of Dan “Soupey” Campbell. Any pop-punk fan would end up spiralling into an existential crisis after submerging themselves in the lyrical realness of ‘No Closer To Heaven’. The album screams pop-punk and defies the genre with surgeon precision. They have grown along side their listeners and have a devoted spot on top of the alternative music scene. 

*punches air* *cries into pizza*

Crom Dubh- “Sedition”

Taken from their new album ‘Heimweh’, “Sedition”, the love child of Biffy Clyro and Rammstein. With distorted beats and gruff vocals this London spawned  band have blown the roof with this song. Combining melodic guitar riffs and repetitive drums. The fitting name of Crom Dubh is coincidently translated to “King Idol of Ireland”, knowing this you cant tell they have that Kingly confidence this song and the album for that matter. ‘Heimweh’ is the bands first full length album but they've apparently existed since 2003. That said Crom Dubh definitely seem ready to throw more albums our way. They have that melodic metal sound and hit it right on the arse. As well as the progressive metal guitars the backing music has some traditional Scottish bag pipes. Crom Dubh, despite coming from London, have a Gaelic/Irish root sound. We can undoubtedly expect more fervent music from this London lot.

Frank Carter And The Rattlesnakes- “Blossom”

Gruff. Brash. Heavy. Three words to describe the new band of ex-Gallows lead singer. Frank Carter the former Gallows frontman has finally resurrected his music career and shat out ‘Blossom’. Yeah thats right, shat out ‘Blossom’ like a tattooed metal unicorn. The Rattlesnakes are a venomous bunch of musicians themselves. Made up of ex-Heights guitarist, Dean Richardson, and former Pure Lovers Tom Mitchbber & Memby Jago. The album itself is typical Frank Carter, with him spitting lyrics like “You’re a useless fucking cunt, you are nothing to me”. It weeps authenticity. These lot aren't trying to be edgy. They're not trying to sell records. They are simply just being Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes. The albums power song ‘Juggernaut’ consists of screeching “Even on my own you cant stop me”, herculean drums and those Gallows-esque guitars. The more philosophical, ’Rotten Blossom’, questioning immortality, the afterlife and death, showing Carter’s true musical talent. Overall the album is lyrically genius, musically superlative and we hope to hear more monstrous tracks from the band.