10 years of looking good on the dancefloor

This week ten years ago Arctic Monkey’s debut single ‘I bet you look good on the dancefloor’ was released and thus indie was born. Okay, well it wasn’t really. Maybe it wasn’t even ‘reborn’ but it was certainly brought fully into the mainstream. I mean having your first single as a bunch of 19 year olds go straight to number 1 is no easy feat. So when a shy, scrawny, baby faced Alex Turner walked up to the microphone introduced his band and instructed the audience to not believe the hype, someone who is now long extinct, no one could have fathomed what was to become of these four teenagers from Sheffield.

What they have achieved as a band on a whole is very impressive. Listen to almost any typical guitar indie rock band around today and you’ll hear elements of their early material – all stemming from this one song. It was just so different and beautifully frank with itself, in truth it is not a ‘masterpiece’ but it has paved the way for so many bands with this two minutes and fifty-three seconds of furious riffs and witty anecdotes.

Though not long before had Oasis reached number one with ‘the importance of being idle’ they were living off the fan base from their only two good albums. They hadn’t been at their top for the best part of a decade but who else was around? Franz Ferdinand had released their disappointing second album just weeks before and exploding onto the music scene in the manner which they did breathed new life into the alternative genre with lyrics everyone could relate to. Maybe not through being in their exact shoes but it’s something everyone has seen on a night out. And that’s what made this band so universally loved, there was no fantasy world; it was relatable, true and not half bad either.  

As for the track itself it’s a storming piece of work, no messing around. What is essentially a modern love song – albeit about the lack of true love - opening with such furiosity and high energy and bustling Turner vocals crooning over. Lyrically unusually confident for a teenager with quick wit in the form of trademark Sheffield poetry. But the best moment comes 30 seconds from the end, with a slow build up just for the whole thing to break down in what would become the most chantable moment of any song in the past ten years. Not that I really needed to tell you how good it is, everyone’s heard it, everyone knows.

Definitely the most important Arctic Monkeys song from their huge back catalogue and possibly even of the last decade, it really was a true anthem that made them the pioneers they are seen as today.

(Even though AM was shit but I’ll let that slide because this really is a fucking banger.)

Baby Strange // Pleasure City review

Losing the chaos of their earlier singles Baby Strange’s latest release ‘Pure Pleasure’ shows an ever growing sense of musical maturity following on from their July release ‘California Sun’.

Ahead of a UK tour kicking off in London next month the Glaswegian band have released their 6^th single and it really is one hell of track which I feel would be translated into a live performance very well. Starting off as it means to go on with snarling lyrics, heavy drumbeat and a menacing riff which comes together to give it a really sexy feel. ‘Oh I don’t need your pity, I found a way to the pleasure city’ make for a catchy chorus which just needs to be belted out and danced to.

In December the Glaswegians are opening for Slaves at two gigs including a massive gig at Brixton Academy alongside The Skints. Having seen them support slaves at Tunbridge Wells forum in February they set the tone for a blistering gig and were best support band I’ve seen this year, so to see they were supporting again really grew my anticipation.

It is a special track with an air of Black Rebel Motorcycle about it but with a bit more punch. With each single better than the last an album is surely on the horizon and I for one cannot wait.

Reading 2015, a summary.

Fuckboys, roadmen, shit chants and some very, very good bands.

In my eyes the perfect way to describe Reading 2015. The traditional post GCSE music festival appears to be evolving into less about the music and more about the ‘social’, the generally underwhelming headliners in comparison to previous years highlights this in the clearest way possible.

The Wednesday/Thursday of sitting around nursing warm cans of cider were as expected but in comparison to last year the site seemed dead. Though this could be down to the heavy rain turning the paths into swamps and restricting the freedom to explore the camps but from the off something just wasn’t as I remembered. Wherever I looked there seemed to be a sea of stereotypical ‘lads’ wearing bucket hats shouting ‘WHAT ARE THOOOOSEEE’ in the direction of everyone despite the same wellington boot footwear being sported by all. Morons.

Friday rolled around quickly and the music (the saving grace began).

Starting off with the Districts in the NME tent, a four piece from Pennsylvania who are probably best likened to the Orwells. Opening with very impressive ‘4^th and robeling’, which was pretty much written for festivals, set the tone for a very energetic live performance combined with the upbeat atmosphere (despite getting bitten by another person!!) made it a great way to kick of proceedings and I urge everyone to give them a listen.

Running over to the main stage to catch three back to back performances by Drenge, Palma Violets and Panic! At the disco respectively. Somewhat underwhelming, Drenge were not best suited to the main stage and even the usually fierce ‘I want to break you in half’ didn’t seem to translate well. Palma Violets followed and were, as expected, chaotic and good value, the always euphoric ‘best of friends’ did not disappoint.

Panic! At the disco followed and the 13 year old within me was screaming with excitement, and I was not let down. Performing a great set including classic hits and some new tracks which had more mainstream success and even a magnificent cover of Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ which was met by an anthemic sing-along by every member of the crowd. Brendon Urie proves to be a very good frontman and for me their set was a sentimental high point of the weekend.

Peace, beforehand I expected little. I had seen Peace a fair few times and they’d always been good; apart from their underwhelming set on the main stage last year. Opening with ‘I’m a girl’ and immediately I knew this was going to be different from any other Peace gig I’d ever attended before. The atmosphere was electric, violent mosh pits opened up all around me and everyone was having a good time. Their set included an excellent rendition of ‘bloodshake’ with the crowd going wild and howls of ‘you vibe so hard’ flooding the NME tent. Every track was a good as the last and culminating with Sam Koisser’s delicious bassline at the end of ‘world pleasure’ summed up the set perfectly. It really was one of the best sets I’ve ever seen and no doubt it was the best I saw all weekend.

Alt-J were the last band of the day for me and they were impressive to say the least. Their second LP ‘this is all yours’ transferred from studio to the stage much better than expected with ‘left hand free’ and ‘every other freckle’ being met with excellent receptions from the crowd. Every song seemed to be a hit and this was certainly helped by the crowd belting every word. A ‘Bloodflood’ into ‘Bloodflood pt II’ combination was a real treat and accompanied by some stunning aesthetics it really was a great live show by a great studio band. Highlights: Matilda, Breezeblocks and Taro.

Saturday started off with a bang. Fidlar, the LA skate punk rockers played a loud and rowdy half hour set powering through old hits ‘cheap beer’ and ‘no waves’ before coming to new material ‘drone’ and ‘40oz on repeat’ both of which were met with a very positive reception. Debut album bonus track ‘awkward’ provided the only sing-along moment in an otherwise brash set. I left during the closer ‘cocaine’ and from what I could hear sounds like I did miss out but I just had to get a good position for what was coming next…

The secret act. Foals. A few weeks before there was a blatantly obvious hint of ‘wild horses’ which all but revealed it to be them and it was officially confirmed on twitter that morning. As ‘Twin Peaks’ set drew to a close the NME tent had already began to fill to its brim. There was a real buzz around the place and their entry onto the stage and flourishing into ‘my number’ sparking mass cheers from the almost overwhelmed crowd.  As the Oxfordshire four piece played a criminally short 6 song set including songs from all 4 of their studio LP’s Yannis remarked how ‘it’s good to be back’ and that the NME tent feels like home, there was definitely an air of sincerity in his voice and you could tell how much playing in front of thousands of adoring fans means to this band. Closing with the eponymous song off their latest album ‘what went down’, the crowd stepped up a gear and screamed every word in response. A very, very impressive performance and if they were to return to the festival next year it would have to be as headliners as they deserve nothing less.

After the intensity of Foals there wasn’t a moments break as up next were Slaves, the Tunbridge Wells/Maidstone two piece punk outfit. As my hometown band they hold a sentimental place in my heart but my God do they deliver. Coming out of their 45 minute set drowning in my own and others sweat just showed how good it was. Opening with the acoustic track ‘are you satisfied’ before blistering into my favourite ever slaves song ‘white knuckle ride’; the boys from Kent caused carnage with more raucous hits including the trademark pre-song skit for ‘where’s your car Debbie?’; as well as debuting new track ‘facing the wall’, which I have to say sounded very good live. But the biggest cheer came from Isaac Holman instructing the crowd to watch through their eyes not their phones. Despite it being the most violent set I experienced the whole weekend it was also the most fun, slaves translate well into an exceptional live act. But the absolute highlight for their set was the tribute to Laurie's late fancy goldfish, 'Gerald'. In which the crowd responded in true football hooliganism style with the repeated chant of 'GERALLLD GERALLLD GERALLLD!' 

For me the surprise band of the weekend were Spector. After taking some heavy bruising from the last 3 sets a bit of calm was needed and Spector more than sufficed. Off the back of new album ‘Moth boys’ they put on a great show and, of course, the anthem to end all anthems ‘chevy thunder’ was the pinnacle of the set which also included ‘all the sad young men’ with an extended outro to finish. It was a really nice change of pace to have a dance and focus entirely on the music and not whether I was going to survive or not. But after seeing them live I’m hooked, and their new album is one of the best released this year.

Up next were Royal Blood who could only be described as painfully average. Now there was nothing explicitly wrong with their set it was just so bland and the crowd’s reaction showed that. Not playing the best song they’ve released ‘hole’ was a big disappointment. They played new song ‘hook line and sinker’, not that it sounded any different from the rest. The whole tone was summarised with a black Sabbath iron man outro to set closer ‘out of the black’ which just sounded like one great big faff around and as if it had never been rehearsed before, more like a gimmick than anything else.

With Catfish and the Bottlemen I got what I expected, a good live performance playing the same songs as ever. People seem to worship this band and I just don’t see it. They are a good live band but there’s just nothing special about their catchy repetitive songs. Though this may sound as if I’m slating their set at reading I am not. It was good fun and I the people around me were all enjoying themselves, it was probably one of my favourite of the weekend as I made a lovely new friend, but I just felt like I’d seen it before, song wise it was very similar to last year and likewise with performance. Though there were no dickheads with flares last year thinking they’re the dog’s bollocks. ‘Homesick’ was, as always, the peak of the set.

As an alternative to Metallica I chose to watch my childhood band ‘The Wombats’ and I most definitely made the right decision. Filling out the festival republic stage long before they came on the huge crowd was deserved. Playing a selection of tracks spreading over their 3 albums the Wombats opened with a real certified banger ‘moving to New York’ and from the off the tone was sent. Every lyric bellowed out and echoed around the tent. A basic stage setup drew no diversion of the crowd’s attention and the longer their set went on, the more people kept arriving. Personally it was heart-warming to see a band that means so much to me get such a positive reception. Ending with ‘Let’s Dance to Joy Division’ followed by an instrumental where everyone was ordered to lose as much of their shit as possible, and it summarised how much fun everyone around me was having with the response to this.

Sunday was a day of seeing very few bands. Starting off with Ska-reggae-punk band the Skints just for a little wind down and relax with joints being sparked up in every direction in the most stereotypical manner. A feel good way to start the set and it’s nice to see a band offering something different. Frontman Joshua Waters Rudge aimed a big ‘fuck you’ at Theresa May her role in banning Tyler the Creator from the UK and this no doubt received mass cheers as any anti-government comment would.

The Maccabees on the main stage drew a very large crowd and it would have been hard to find someone leave disappointed. Despite the notable absence of their largest success ‘toothpaste kisses’ the set was excellent. Mainly featuring material from their recent number 1 ‘Marks to prove it’ the atmosphere was anticipative, as I suspect many of the crowd were waiting for Jamie T but nonetheless everything they played went down well. ‘Something like happiness’ felt particularly special as did ‘marks to prove it’ before an eruptive performance of ‘Pelican’ to end affairs.

Jamie T. it is no secret how much this man means to me and he is probably my favourite artist on the planet currently, so it’s fair to say I was excited. So for this reason it is heart-breaking to me that I was slightly let down. In no way shape or form the fault of Mr Treays, but entirely down the tedious conglomerate of pricks which formed the crowd. Even before he came on people were being tossed over the barrier thanks to what looked like the stereotypical roadman who thought pushing everyone out of their way even before he came on was a considerate thing to do. Arseholes. Once he came on my mood increased slightly especially as it was one of my personal favourites ‘operation’ to open. But I was surrounded by people who didn’t know a single word. And unfortunately I discovered that this was the case throughout with only the chorus for ‘Sheila, sticks and stones, and zombie’ being sang. There was more interest in fighting their way to the mosh pits to try and maliciously attack someone. His ability to perform is not the problem, it’s the crowd. Performance wise he was unbelievable and congratulating stage predecessors and friends the Maccabees on their number 1 stating it to be ‘well fucking deserved’ was a nice touch.

The shift of Reading’s nature was summarised no better than by the choice of Libertines or Boy Better know. This resulting in a somewhat disappointing turnout for the libertines and probably the oldest crowd of the festival, but regardless Libs smashed it. It was a very emotional moment; The Libertines were a proper band again. Like an actual real band. Coming on stage to Vera Lynn’s ‘we’ll meet again’ before taking off into a blistering set, the likely lads played hit after hit from their extensive back catalogue. Obvious highlights being ‘can’t stand me now’ and ‘music when the lights go out’. During a moving version of ‘you’re my waterloo’ with Doherty wandering the stage mic in hand was when I realised how special this band really are and how they really were back and what seems for good. Despite the omission of personal favourite ‘what became of the likely lads’ the encore was the stuff of dreams including ‘what a waster, don’t look back into the sun and I get along’. With almost every member of the crowd shouting ‘FUCK EM’, you really couldn’t ask for a better way to end a festival.

Overall Reading was a good weekend down to the acts I saw but it is clear that it’s getting less and less about the music. With the price increasing year on year and the quality decreasing I feel there are so many better value for money festivals out there.