WINTER 2019
FREE
ISSUE 39
WE’RE GOING GOOEY FOR... SELF HELP INSIDE: LOW ISLAND, UPCYCLED SOUNDS, DEERHUNTER & SWERVEDRIVER ALBUMS. LIVE: SHAME, MUNGOS HI FI, THE OVERLOAD, TRAIL OF DEAD, AND MORE... OMS39 RANT N ROLL! THE SPOKEN WORD SCENE with Owen Collins RUN, STANLEY, RUN, OLD FIRE STATION “Poignantly pitiful” Rowan Padmore, one of the Old Fire Station’s associate artists, brings an excerpt from her forthcoming one-woman verse drama to the venue, with its Jim Cartwright-esque examination of the lingering lives scattered TINA TURNER TEALADY’S through a Northern seaside town. The shiraz- swilling, spliff-smoking Sarah, watching Adele STEAMY BINGO headline Glastonbury alone in her armchair, is ‘Bingo, but not as we know it’ is the tagline poignantly pitiful and is brought to vivid life by for a bizarre evening of “balls, tea, and prizes,” Padmore herself. courtesy of the Irregular Folks. Somewhere between cabaret, comedy, and a PG Tips fever dream -if you want a Good Friday like COMING SOON... no other in history, then Tina (pictured) is the tea lady for you. (Florence Park Community SK SHLOMO Centre, April 19). Spoken word, even if it’s not exactly spoken, Twitter @OGBCollins or indeed, words, the world-renowned beatboxer brings his latest tour, in support of new album Surrender, to South Parade. He’s previously collaborated with musical royalty as diverse as Damon Albarn, Bjork, The Specials, and Ed Sheeran –so if you can imagine the common denominator between that lot, throw in some electronic looping and a decent fistful of hip-hop rhythms, you’re halfway there. Definitely worth catching. (The North Wall Theatre, February 20).
EVERYTHING WRONG WITH YOU IS BEAUTIFUL A familiar face, and voice, on the Oxford spoken word circuit for many years, Sederholm is currently riding the crest of a wave following the publication of her first full-length poetry collection eighteen months ago. That book, sharing a title with this show, is as heartfelt as it is profound, and her much- anticipated evening at the BT Studio promises likewise. A poet not to miss. (Burton Taylor Studio, April 4).
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ACADEMY EVENTS & FRIENDS BY ARRANGEMENT WITH TKO PRESENTS What’s In Your by arrangement with X-Ray presents Record Collection: SAL LOVE MOVE THROUGH THE DAWN TOUR Soul, funk, disco DJ and stylist to Plus Special Guests the stars talks Thom Yorke’s iconic FULL CIRCLE TOUR hair dos & don’ts and Aretha love… + MARVIN POWELL
She’s kissed Robbie (Williams) in her ‘wild early Musically - what’s your inspiration? days’ and travelled the world cutting hair, but now A definite soul-girl at heart, Soul’s been drummed she’s back behind the decks in her signature ‘Bette into me from an early age. Aretha was huge in my Davis-esque’ all-in-one glitter trouser suit; OMS’s household, my mum was a big souly. Gladys Knight professional gossip, Autumn Neagle, poured a & the Pips, Four Tops, Roberta Flack, Marvin Gaye & prosecco and got to the heart ‘n soul of DJ Sal Diana Ross & Stevie of course to name a few, so you Love’s prized record collection, her Big Band Nan could say it’s in my blood. My nan also was big into PLUS SPECIAL GUESTS and - *tinyscream - Radiohead’s hair... jazz, she played boogie woogie on piano and was in a big band in the RAF. We would love getting her How did it all start? “It started with Edd, he came playing, mind-boggling where it came from, she was into the salon and was so impressed that I didn’t talk amazing to watch and listen to. I’m lucky to have to him about holidays, we hit it off straight away. inherited some of their musical tastes. Saturday 2nd March 2019 One by one, the band all came in, except Johnny, - Sharona always cut Johnny’s hair amazingly They Favourite album? FRIDAY 1st MARCH 2019 O2 Academy Oxford loved my creativity, and I loved that I could create It was a great sadness to say O2 ACADEMY OXFORD Ticketmaster.co.uk unique haircuts for them all. We became very good goodbye to Aretha. She’s TICKETMASTER.CO.UK the coral.co.uk f@thecoral t@thecoralband friends, I was even invited to the first ‘Supergrass/ been with me my whole life Radiohead’ Christmas party - a lot of fun was had! and a soul I would always go back and listen to. I came in doing Thom’s hair in Yeah!!! Is my favourite ACADEMY EVENTS & A NEW VIEW PROMOTIONS PRESENTS presents and around Creep - cut all that album, it’s on Columbia bleach blonde off, he said he Records 1962, she was only 16. I think you can wanted it to look like he had really hear the changes ALBUM LAUNCH done it himself... of her voice as she ages. PLUS GUESTS But I love the early/ late It was great for me, to be able to get so creative. My 60s Aretha - this album is more jazzy, it’s live with training was by Richard Thompson of Mahogany, a quartet, it’s beautiful. After this album Atlantic so I had the best start. I remember doing the video Records bought her rights, so I feel for that reason it for Just and I got to cut Phil’s hair that day, and The makes it even more special. Bends were in motion, they had no idea they would get so big. Phil drove me home in their beat-up Dancefloor must haves? PLUS GUESTS tour bus and said, ‘we love what we do, so we’ll Oh so many - Gladys Knight! Hard to choose one.. keep doing it - if people like us, that’s great!’ It’s No One Could Love You More, Heard it Through the fantastic how big they got, but they still took the bus Grapevine and Taste of Bitter Love. There’s always everywhere - very humble guys. a Jean Carn waiting on the horizon - I love the Philadelphia record label, that upbeat disco soul vibe. I was with them for Pablo Honey to The Teddy Pendergrass The More I Get the More I Want; Bends, and the start of OK Computer until I Etta James Mellow Fellow - raw as you like and a went on my travels. The best was going to game changer! A Dingwalls classic, Skindo Le Le by the Bends tour and seeing so many guys all-girl band Alive, I could go on & on, I love it!!! Ow, with the same red haircut that I had given & disco!!! Don’t get me started! Thom, I’m so proud of that - definitely my best moment! Check out Sal at Witney Music Festival events & Witney Soul Club - listen: I also loved Thom’s hair in Fake Plastic Trees - love www.mixcloud.com/witneysoulclub/ that song, no idea what it was about, but who does. SATURDAY 2nd MARCH 2019 Watch out for Seclectic Sounds with (Laughing...) I was happy to cut Thom’s hair till his Danny Prince & Aarron Hyatt coming O2 ACADEMY2 OXFORD natural colour came through. It’s such a beautiful DOORS 7PM | CURFEW 11PM | TICKETMASTER.CO.UK soon. (AN) colour. 4 5 THURSDAYTICKETMASTER.CO.UK 21st MARCH 2019 2 O ACADEMY OXFORD OMS39 RIDDIM SECTION WITH LEO B..
DREADZONE We caught long term dance dub pioneers Dreadzone (pictured) live at the Academy, showcasing their (finally, again) chart bothering SHAUN MICHAEL album Dread Times, which hails a welcome return Local-related talent to keep an eye on includes to form- doing what they do best; the groovily Shaun Michael ex-Positive Vibes, striking out on ambient mixed with the I-rie dread skank. This with his own with fresh EP Born Bad, available on all some old favourite tracks Zion Youth and Little digital platforms. A nice mash up of styles- largely Britain keep us old heads coming back, along with self penned/produced and including hip hop, a fair smattering of fresh dreadheads. dancehall and good ol’ fashioned reggae music. (Photo: Leo Bowder) Lots going on to bring cheer to your ear.
MUNGOS HI – FI, THE BULLINGDON I often wonder what the venerable and blessed St Mungo - Patron Saint of Glasgow (their home town) - would have made of a session run by the heavyweight Hi-Fi that bears his name. One of the UK’s biggest - in every sense of the word- sound systems- with the kind of bass pressure that headbutts you back against the wall, and a sell out crowd of lively wee rapscallions, this was classic Mungos. They, (or at least Mungoman DJ Craig McLeod) were joined tonight by tuff soul cookie Eva Lazaras on vox - and a special D’IRIE appearance from mic man Solo Banton. They The next Bullingdon dance involves Scottish/Indian took to the cramped DJ booth well after 2am, chanteuse (and Mungo’s collaborator) Soom T and and were preceded by DJ Binge, Mr Benn, Oxford regular, the ubiquitous Count Skylarkin’ Count Skylarkin’ and livewire vocalist Parly B. and his partner in crime DJ Wrongtom, all on The style and fashion was mostly upbeat digi- the massive Mancunian Dub Smugglers Sound roots, before it finally breaks into jungle at around System on Saturday March 23. Before that, Friday the 4am mark. Not one for the weakhearts: March 15 - in the same venue, is- whilst not exactly Mungos show how it’s done. (Photo: Guy Henstock) reggae, but certainly quite spacey and dubby - the Keep it riddim-wise and not otherwise… mighty Orb on their 30th Anniversary Tour. Expect Little Fluffy Clouds, and Towers of Dub, I know I will.
REGGAE ON TAP A newish regular soundsystem gig is to be found in Reggae on Tap at the Tap Social (North Hinksey, off the Botley Road) 3 to 10 on the first Sunday of the month. On March 3, myself, Leo B will be playing a dub selection for your delectation alongside local regulars Garvin Dan and Nico D, and Dan-I, plus the long serving Desta*Nation. April 6 is brasstastic ska-heads The Dualers at the For more of what’s going on locally, alongside O2 Academy, supported by the battle hardened, some excellent and informative features on yet still zesty hometown heroes Zaia. Also, not the scene, check out The Dub magazine strictly roots is OMS pal Dan Ofer’s Bossaphonik thereggaediscography.blogspot.com. Hard night at the Cellar (bossaphonik.com) with DJ copies available on request. Boomshank from Dutty Moonshine Band.
6 7 OMS 39 OMS39 GIRLS IN THE BAND - “Modern girls, moderns boys – it’s tremendous” - high level social commentary BAND RECOGNITION! from Gregory in Gregory’s Girl, speaking about girl A look at our favourite local band monikers footballers. Similarly the band landscape (bandscape?) is for the better with more girl rock ‘n’ rollers evident – #2 LOW ISLAND so how do they all get on? Danny “It works pretty well. “Living on it would be horrible - when there’s a It was semi – conscious. When there was us three, I storm, you pretty much can’t even see it!” heard Lizzie was looking to join a band I thought it’d be ideal. Silke – “He said, oh it’ll be nice for you if we What came first the name or the band: had a girl bassist. I said I really didn’t care.” – they all The band, by a long, long way. We’ve been making laugh. Danny - “We didn’t seek out A GIRL - it was just music together for more than half our lives. lucky, it just happened. It’s been really useful for me because hearing their experiences when we’re playing Why Low Island: I go on holiday to the south west gigs there’s certain things I would never have picked coast of Ireland. The band would sometimes come up – people tend to ask them ‘you’re in a band, are you along and we’d go out to sea in a tiny boat. There’s this the singer’ or ‘are you the backing singer”. Silke – “They big rock covered in seals called Low Island. There are always assume you’re the singer, and when you say no roads or buildings; it’s just a mound of stone and you’re not, they assume it’s an all – girl band. It’s not grass sitting in the Atlantic. We’ve had so many great necessarily bad but some guys refuse to let me carry memories in that place. Next to it is High Island, which my own things, which is sometimes annoying.” we could have used as a name, but people might have got the wrong idea... BREXIT BAN - The Self Help star is clearly on the rise in Oxford, but what about outside - there’s been some 6 Would you consider living on a Low Island? Music play…Danny - “When the second EP came out, We’ve all been to the Low Island but I definitely we did March to June doing one or two shows every wouldn’t want to live on it. I think monks used to live week. Silke – “We went to France – that was really fun. on it for the sole reason that it would have been totally It was pretty epic – it was the night France won the f@in horrible...when there’s a storm, you pretty much Oxford’s going Gooey for... World Cup and it was outside in the park – they were can’t even see it! liked our band. We got Lizzie (bass – not present letting off fireworks and everything. Lizzie and I played today, the voice of reason in the band) from Facebook; with this band from Japan who were all in spacesuits.” Ever been misspelled on a poster: SELF HELP she came along to a gig.” Silke - “When I went on Danny – “We’re off to Austria this year with one of the Love Island...all the time! joinmyband.com he had 2 demos on his page – one bands who played. We’re leaving on the day of Brexit Danny – “We’re leaving [for Austria] on of them was Gooey which is on our new EP – that was – Sean reckons they’re not going to let us back in. Your previous band was Wild Swim – what is it with the first song we played together, and then we did a We’ll have to have a fundraising appeal to get us back.” the sea? That was the name of a book we found in the day of Brexit – Sean reckons they’re gig a week after.” The first gig was at the inauspicious Silke -”Steve Lamacq came to one of our gigs at the that same area. As a band, there’s not really a big not going to let us back in.” surroundings of Culham – Culham Village Fete. Good Ship in London, to see the band and we freaked connection with the sea, given that we come from Silke – “There were about 3 toddlers dancing and some out – we tweeted him the next day to thank him for Oxford, which is about as far from the coast as you can We’re fittingly sat in the newly re-inhabited, soon- of my old teachers from school, that was the whole coming…and then he played us on his show.” get. I love swimming in the sea and I’m hoping to swim to-be venue again - the Port Mahon at St. Clements. audience”…”and the promoter” adds Danny. “It went from the mainland to Low Island this summer! Annoyingly handsome peroxide moptopped pretty well!” FESTIVAL RIDERS - And with the days getting longer frontperson Danny points out that a flat just across in these parts, we’re starting to dream of who we’ll be Favourite band name ever (not yours!) - and the worst? the road is the setting for one of the first songs they THE SOUND - Danny tells me he discovered the band’s seeing at the local festivals, minus of course Common Favourite name is CAN. Worst is Bowling for Soup... made - Gooey (think Beach Boys bubblegum with sound, for which they are increasingly known and People which they played. Silke - “We did some last chainsaw guitars) – it’s about an ex of his that loved almost by accident – “I had always been in bands year, Truck was really fun, but we had three power cuts Ever started liking a band just for the name? DJ Seinfeld - we DJ’ed before him at The Bullingdon. lived there. at school so I had a lot of bits and bobs [written] – they in the middle of our set and it was raining. Common were never fast punk songs, but one day I tried playing People, we were on first on a Sunday morning at about The Four Tops Reach Out and I’ll be There is playing over a fast drum beat and that was it.” 10 o’clock. We drank all the beer, all day – to the point What’s your favourite design you’ve used the name gently in the background and it seems like a million Danny expands - “When I was a teenager I was where they said we couldn’t have any more.” Danny - or logo on? In our initial shows, we had these big hanging miles away from the aforementioned Gooey and the obsessive about The Libertines and The Strokes” Silke “At the end of the day they realised they had way too canvas drapes with a stencil silhouette of a falling man. We’re demented surf of their 1,000,000MPH (one million - “…that’s how we bonded”. Danny - “I was also getting much so they gave it back to us, trying to get us to now cooking up some really exciting tees with our new logo and miles per hour – got that?) from their latest Organic into American ‘90s stuff like Weazer, stoner rock and drink the Koppaberg fruit cider”. artwork by Tom Noon (@nonono.design). Noise Kitchen EP. I last saw them bring the roof down punk – we wanted to be a bit light hearted”. at the Academy last year, a superb, packed gig – the Guitarist Sean is glaringly different in his influences. And so they’re off – they’re doing some demos for a Jamie Jay talking to Stewart Garden – Low Island perfect time to see them in action for the first time. When you see them on stage it’s a bit like Black Flag next release. Before they go Silke tells me “We really head out on national tour this month. They also have joined up with the Shop Assistants - “[I’m into] a bit want to do an album – we can’t really afford it – but a new single In Person, out now. FIRST SONG - It all began for them two years ago harder guitar stuff like System of a Down, Slipknot – we we want to do one”. Whatever they concoct in their and they tell me how, by a mixture of part-design, had a jam with System of a Down” he says. kitchen next, it’s bound to be tasty. coincidences and blind dates they came to be… Danny – “I remember after that rehearsal we thought Danny – “We met Silke [drums – the powerhouse] on we should turn Sean down – he was way too heavy, SELF HELP talking to Stewart Garden joinmyband.com, [with Jacob, previous bassist], we but we sort of gave up - we met him in the middle. Next playing Divine Schism featuring No Violet went to record a demo at SAE– that’s how we met Sean’s the crazy one when we play live, so I’m and Ciphers at the Wheatsheaf on March 6. Listen Sean (kindness is his special power they tell me – he constantly worried about his safety – at our last gig, to their latest EP Organic Noise Kitchen at https:// drives Silke home from gigs). We said we were looking I thought he was going to break his neck when he youneedselfhelp.bandcamp.com for a guitarist and he said he could play and that he jumped into the crowd.” Photos & cover pic by Helen Messenger
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OMS38 OMS39 LIVE REVIEWS GIGS&CLUBS AT BENNETT, WILSON,
WED 6TH FEB FRI 15TH FEB POOLE SPICE LOUNGE PRESENT... SOUL SESSIONS REAL CHRIS POWERS DISCO / SOUL / FUNK THE BULLINGDON, OXFORD + PYSCH0NAUT + 11PM – 3AM • £5 ALL NIGHT ROBEK + DJ SAT 16TH FEB After an extensive length-of-the-UK run of RD SHIBBOLETH INDICA BLUES + SAT 23 FEB gigs, Bennett, Wilson, Poole return to the TECHNO / ELECTRO / DUB PITCH BLACK: 11PM - 3AM • £4 ADV / £5 OTD SUPPORT Bullingdon for a typically low-key kind of PSYCHEDELIC STONER DOOM 2019 LAUNCH triumph. Showing the benefit of all that TH THURS 7 FEB 7:30PM - 10PM • £6 ADV / £7 OTD TECHNO / TECHNO / TECHNO touring by being tighter than ever but BAD RAP X SU - TH JGP + JOEL KANE + TREETOP FLYERS, SAT 16 FEB JOHN SWEDE also somehow looser, our intrepid and CELLAR SHINDIG MASP & FRIENDS 11PM - 3AM • £5 OTD HOUSE / TECHNO / ELECTRO distinguished trio wowed an audience 11PM - 3AM • £4 B411/ £5 AFTER 11 S.A.E + SOUND AFFECT TH LOUD MOUNTAINS, + BAREHAM THURS 28 FEB of Oxford’s musical cognoscenti with a TH 11PM - 3AM • £6 IAATM PRESENT... THE BULLINGDON, OXFORD homecoming performance of high-spirited FRI 8 FEB FIRST RESERVES + OXROX PRESENTS… TUE 19TH FEB charm, consummate musicality and old- SONS OF LIBERTY CHALK + LOVELACE + The Treetop Flyers have evolved. The + DIVINE SCHISM PRESENT... OCTAVIA FREUD + fashioned bon temps roulez. TROUBLE COUNTY + BIG JOANIE + SECRET ANDY ROBBINS West London outfit have been impressing ECHO4FOUR POWER + DEATH OF 7PM - 10:30PM • £7 ADV audiences with their lovingly created blend of Kicking off with the soaring vocal democracy OXROX LAST EVER GIG IN husband and wife team Holly Ross and David THE CELLAR! THE MAIDEN ND West Coast country-folk-rock for a while, but of Soon Enough, a set drawn mostly from 8PM - 11PM • £6ADV Blackwell, areSAT a joy. 2 AMAR crunchy power pop 7PM - 10PM • £8 ADV / £10 OTD this was definitely something new. Tonight their eponymous debut album flew by in TH two-piece thatFREERANGE Jack White can only dream of FRI 8TH FEB WED 20 FEB sees them them showcasing their latest, and the BullingdonUKG / GRIME Arms / isBASSLINE in raptures. a time-warp of Rickenbacker harmony. OCS PRESENT… CHERRY BOMB 11PM - 3AM • £5 ALL NIGHT eponymous, album with an expanded line-up, Highlights for me were Funny Guys, the DISCO / FUNK / SOUL RISE UP AND TH a more soulful vibe and a fresh emphasis on GET DOWN ALL FEMALE CL RESIDENT FRI 8 MAR brilliant Wilson General Store (complete with KWAITO / CARIBBEAN DISCO / DJS BÖTLEY CRÜE + the rhythm. It’s still rooted in the late 60s/early affectingly down-home intro from Danny W) 80S HOUSE 11PM - 3AM • £5 ADV / £6 THE MOTHER FOLKERS 70s, but now as much Santana as CSNY, it and a ferocious Lifeboat (Take a Picture of DJ DUFF + GUEST DJS THURS 21ST FEB INDIE / NEW WAVE / BRITPOP worked a treat. 11PM-3AM • £5 ADV / £6 OTD CLASSICS Yourself) but, genuinely, it was all great. THE DANCINGMAN PRE- 7:30PM – 10PM • £4 ADV / £5 OTD Reid Morrison leads the band with assured, SAT 9TH FEB SENTS A NIGHT OF PUNK TH textured vocals and the swagger of a natural MOVE – BEAVER FUEL + SAT 9 MAR With massive respect to the many well- UK BASS MUSIC ORDER 66 + RICHIE PUNK PANIC! frontman. Beside him, Sam Beer is able to attested talents of Robin Bennett and Danny DRUM & BASS / HIP HOP / STIX AND THE PUNK / POST-PUNK / juggle guitar, keyboards and vocals with a Wilson, the main man on the night was GARAGE / HOUSE BRAINMEN GARAGE-SURF PUNK swarthy aplomb. Their duetting on I Knew 11PM - 3AM • £6 ALL NIGHT WHO KILLED NANCY undoubtedly Tony Poole, chops undimmed PUNK / ROCK I’d Find You was one of the evening’s many and a real force now live as well as in the TH 7:30PM - 10PM • £4.50 ADV / £6 OTD JOHNSON? + SPINNER TUES 12 FEB highlights. Laurie Sherman adds finely judged ST FALL + SMALL GODS studio. This reviewer first saw him play with INTRUSION THURS 21 FEB 7:20PM - 10PM and beautifully controlled lead guitar and the Starry Eyed and Laughing, let’s just say a while DOKTOR JOY + BOOK- HARD DRIVE £1 OTD AT EXACTLY 7.20PM / rhythm section of Matthew Starrit and new HOUSE + GUESTS TECHNO / ELECTRO Another bag search£3 B4 7.50PM back /£5 at AFTER the Academy 7.50PM for ago, so hearing him lead the band through GOTH / EBM / INDUSTRIAL KLANDESTINE + MBS + TH drummer Rupert Shreeve embraces the new One Foot in the Boat, for all the world as if the 8:30PM - 2AM • £4 OTD another local bandSAT 9 of MAR the moment - Catgod are DIAMOND + WET PAINT temporal complexity with deft and precise last 40 years never happened, was a particular 11PM - 3AM • £4 ADV / £6unique OTD and CatgodBURT COPEare special. PRESENTS… They surf across WED 13TH FEB CAN YOU COPE? playing. Joined on the night by sax player treat. ND genres on a raft made of all kinds of instruments THE ISIS X TEXTURE FRI 22 FEB GARAGE / BASSLINE / DNB Geoff Thomas Widdowson, the whole is a and rhythms and a more esoteric performance (HG) MAG: BPM 3 AATM PRESENT… BURT COPE + JAIKEA rich, multilayered and potent musical stew. TECHNO/ GARAGE / BREAKS THE PINK DIAMONDwe did not see+ all HIGGO day long + –JOCA maybe B2B we’re 11PM - 3AM • £5 ADV / £6 OTD REVUE + SUPPORTbiased, but youCRYPTIC can always SOUND trust the Oxford TH GlassHertzPhoto Support came from Loud Mountains, THURS 14 FEB 7PM - 10:30PM • £7 ADVdwellers to standHOSTED out from BY ARCHETYPE the crowd. STICKY DISCO ND + JADON tonight in trio format with the Duggan FRI 22 FEB 11PM - 3AM • £6 ADV / £6 OTD DISCO/BREAKS/OLD SKOOL MADE 2 MOVE brothers accompanied by the excellent 11PM - 3AM • £5 ALL NIGHT DISCO / HOUSE / GARAGE and, increasingly, ubiquitous pedal steel of FRI 15TH FEB DJ DUFF + MBS + @CellarOxford Kurt Hamilton. Always worth catching, their LACUNA COMMON RORTINGAH confident songwriting, inspired harmonies + 11PM - 3AM • £5 The Lovely EggsTheCellar.Oxford, husband and wife team TMA + and understated musicianship kicked off the Holly Ross and David Blackwell, are a joy. A LONGDAYLATENIGHT www.cellaroxford.co.uk evening in a satisfyingly congregational style. INDIE / ROCK / PUNK crunchy power pop two-piece that Jack White 7PM - 10PM • £5 ADV / £6 OTD (HG) can only dream of and the Bullingdon Arms is THE CELLAR • FREWIN COURT • OXFORD, OX1 3HZ in raptures – if you were lucky enough to be Photos above and right: David Humphries able to get in such was the roadblock outside
10 11 OMS39 OMS39 and then stride up for TRAIL OF DEAD, O2 their opening set. It’s ACADEMY, OXFORD early in the evening and LIVE there are still families Texan noise-rockers …And You Will Know Us by finishing their supper in SELF HELP, LACUNA the Trail of Dead have a history of decimating the pub. Oxford which dates back 20 years. Anyone Lead guitarist Jake COMMON, who was fortunate to see them at the Point or Swinhoe thrashes an E the Zodiac back when they were touring their major chord on his Gretsch and children look THE BULLINGDON seminal 1999 album Madonna the first time genuinely terrified. Vocalist Mike “The Mick” GlassHertzPhoto round will remember scenes of chaos and flying Ginger tears into the truck driving classic Six It’s 2 years to the day since their maiden voyage cymbals with equal honour and horror. While Days on the Road with its daunting vision of “little as a band and Lacuna Common furiously tore the decades that followed haven’t seen the band white pills and eyes open wide.” Kin folks, it’s through a 30 minute set, packed with distorted ALPHABET BACKWARDS, save rock and roll like it seemed they could have time to start drinking, heavily. basslines, fast-paced drums and catchy hooks. O2 ACADEMY, OXFORD done, the passing time has done nothing to dull These regular events are a pure shot of Nashville The punk three-piece clearly didn’t want to short- the impact of the album they are celebrating in the city’s arm. The Deadbeats usually take change the keen Friday night crowd, so chose to care of the open and closing sets, joined half Another BBC Uprising lands and we praise the tonight. fill their last five minutes on stage with a second way by special guests who have serious nerve musical gods for the gift-wrapped ladder that Playing through their magnum opus Madonna rendition of Lack of Knowledge. to turn up here without at least donning a ten is the Introducing team. The crowd isn’t huge from start to finish, Trail of Dead manage to Indie-grunge quartet Self Help rounded off the gallon Stetson hat. By the end of the evening though and a showcase like this carries risk: conjure up the frenetic energy of the record, night with a set that featured material from their people who should know better are up on table low ticket sales can demoralise bands who even if only two of the people on stage actually brand new Organic Noise Kitchen EP including dancing. The band’s other lead singer Michelle should be celebrating a Triumphant Hometown played on it. Frontman Conrad Keely’s emotional recent singles Get on With It and The Razz. “Alabama” Mayes spits out a fiery rendition of Show ©. Nevertheless headliners Alphabet screams on album opener Mistakes and Regrets They end up with a raucous cover of The Moldy Jackson and the group speed through Bigger Backwards gamely plough on. Sweet, slightly still send chills down the spine, Totally Natural still Peaches’ Who’s Got the Crack?, closing out the Man, Run Devil Run and other standouts from caustic pop bounces along as tales of love’s burns with intensity, the shadowy Claire de Lune night, and the year, in a spectacularly rowdy their debut LP. Another fine night in a unique labours won and all too often lost abound with still evokes an otherworldly sense of nostalgia. fashion. (TC) riverside venue and all that’s left come closing the duetting harmony of singers Steph Ward and Unfortunately the O2 isn’t a portal into the past, time is the promise of another Sunday morning James Hitchman recalling The Beautiful South and so inevitably the players aren’t full of the same piss and vinegar as they once were but coming down. (JB) (Photo Jeff Slade). LUCY LEAVE, SLUMB PARTY, (ironically, minus most of the irony). Hitchman’s GlassHertzPhoto between song bants doesn’t really match the you couldn’t ask for a much more committed DEAF & HoH INSTITUTE music though and has all the flair and romance retelling of a twenty year old album, especially of a Tuesday morning Health and Safety lecture. one as exhausting as Madonna. THE DOLLYMOPS, Lucy Leave have been moving up the gears in Thankfully the PowerPoint gets packed away and Returning for an encore, the band treat us to a THE WHEATSHEAF recent months and they are a joy to behold. Alphabet Backwards, a most tuneful troupe, carry handful of songs from their most well-known Tonight their heavy, staccato garage beats are the evening with vitality and verve. Just a shame album Source Tags and Codes, and one or two The Dollymops are confusing. delivered via the precision-tuned engine of a more people weren’t there to imbibe in it. (CF) from their lesser-loved records, rounding off an Their name could be a character band that seem telepathically tuned in to each emotional night for a lad who was too young from a kids’ teevee show about other. At times, a jaw dropping performance. to nearly get decapitated by a cymbal 20 years OUGHT, THE BULLINGDON some cutlery that goes into Slumb Party are ridiculously good entertainment. ago. From a musical stand point, better late than space and superficially they sound like a When a band commits to The Performance in Canadian post-punk outfit Ought stopped off in never. (TM) ladrock band, the likes of which exist in pretty the way these guys do you can’t help but get Oxford in support of their latest album, Room much every town in this post-Oasis-infected on board. It’s minute-long thrash punk songs Inside The World, and new EP Four Desires. land. That is until singer Sean Stevens gets with parping saxophone accompaniment as Ought’s sound pays a Greece’s GDP – sized debt DEADBEAT APOSTLES, involved and suddenly everything becomes be-jumpsuited front man Joey B provides the to the worlds of 80s post punk and 00s indie, vastly more interesting. His sincerely delivered perfect, contorted, highly mobile focal point. mashing influences such as Wire with, pre – ISIS FARMHOUSE David Gedge meets Vegas-era Robo Elvis Slumb Party’s music seethes with intent and this Sparks camp, Franz Ferdinand.. impersonation is rather fine and he is one of the is outsider art at its best. (CF) Darcy’s baritone vocals switch effortlessly Some of the walls are painted blood red. On more entertaining lead vocalists in Oxfordshire between slick and urgent while his less - is- others, the wallpaper peels away, betraying just now. The songs are short and thrashy but more approach to guitar playing works well decades of neglect. Thick fumes of alcohol something is lacking; they’re not quite angry throughout. Bassist Ben Stidworthy rocks a hang in the air and, above our heads, a crystal enough to be labelled punk and there is a hole playing style not unlike Hooky’s, favouring chandelier swings. Here we are again at the in the sound that could be splendidly filled similarly high - end melodic basslines. Isis Farmhouse, deep in the heart of Oxford’s with another guitar. The intensity of Stevens’ Like a well - oiled machine they play right up to Country Music world, for the bi-monthly Day of performance is somewhat undermined by the their curfew, finishing with colossal renditions of the Deadbeats. Slumped around a table near the stalling music but if The Dollymops can bulk the very Strokes-ish The Weather Song and the out of tune piano sit our hosts, the six members up and follow their front mans’ lead they could shred-fest, nothing could possibly have followed GlassHertzPhoto of The Deadbeat Apostles. For at least an hour justifiably claim a larger stage. (CF) it - Today, More Than Any Other Day. (TC) they share one packet of crisps between them, 12 13 OMS39 OMS39
Johnny Moto Photo THE OVERLOAD, THE WHEATSHEAF
“It’s Not Punk.” Poet/frontman and star-in-the- making, Arthur Osofsky, sets me straight, as he LIVE cools off after the most profoundly punk ‘n’roll performance I’ve witnessed since the Fat White Family Band rocked into town. Opening night for new album, Radio For The GlassHertzPhotos Blind, is a braille-on-tap assault on the senses, launching a manuscript for ADHD post-millenials. Gangleader-cum-bard Arthur, treads the boards SHAME, O2 ACADEMY, BEAK>, O2 with crumpled notes in hand, an oral remote flicking through observational thumbnails with OXFORD ACADEMY, the tip of his tongue. Song by song he removes OXFORD layers of clothing, whilst lyrically revealing the Shame (pictiured top) can claim the last 12 underbelly of modern life in a Netflix and quill months as theirs, with perhaps only Idles’ subversive striptease. BEAK> Normally when trajectory being more upward. They build their All the world’s a stage, and this troupe of you go to watch a sizeable pop-rock show on dual foundations - a players bring down the house. Doherty-esque krautrock or post-rock thunderously kinetic rhythm section starring guitarist, Jake Haydn, Darren Hasson-Davis on band, you’re not in for one of the best drummers around, and bass and mohawked drummer, Raf al Dedynski a night full of laughs – glowering, posturing front person Charlie Steen. pound through tracks Broadband Husbands Beak>, however, are the exception to the rule. He prowls the stage with a sardonic (or is that and Broadband Wives, Twat Next Door, maths Opening with The Brazilian and Brean Down a sarcastic) grin on his face, indulges in a spot conundrum: What are the chances of gettiing from their latest record >>>, the Bristol trio of early doors crowd-surfing and twirls his Chlamidya in a fivesome if two of em have it? brought boundary-pushing music and hilarious mic stand like a majorette’s baton. There are - and, superbly, rhyming ‘Radio Bicester’ with jokes in equal measure to a rammed upstairs at echoes of Shaun Ryder in Steen’s attitude with Halistosister - (high five right there) - the best the O2. his not inconsiderable charisma more than thing since Towers of London dicked all over the Beak> are anything but typical and, rather compensating for his pretty average vocal Sex Pistols. refreshingly, refuse to take themselves seriously. delivery. What a piece of work is a man, and this man Throughout their set, they proudly display their It’s not quite clear what, if anything, he stands delights. So, settle in for the box set, skip to the £90 eBay lights, tease a cover of Sultans of for - pure party or something more political next episide and tune-in for Chapter and Verse - Swing and even ask the crowd for requests – - but his is a young band in all senses of the our wordsmith is already penning the next must word so we all have plenty of time to figure and when one audience member shouts for see. No spoilers... ! (AN) Pic: Pat Loughnane that one out. Steen’s tour-tight team back him Wulfstan, they honour their offer and play the 2009 single. all the way and the sizeable crowd go with it Pat Loughnane Photo too, together creating an atmosphere of some Not ones for gimmicks, Beak> pass on the intensity. traditional encore and opt to spend the extra The set loses momentum towards the end time on stage, finally closing with Blagdon as the songs start to fuse into each other, Lake. Although this isn’t a band with ‘hits’, older suggesting that Shame do not yet have the cuts are met with a warm response from the material to Go Stadium, but all the necessary packed house during a set that leaned heavily on components are there. They really could be (excellent) new material. massive. (TC) (CF) 14 15 OMS39 OMS39 THE STUDIO & GEAR SPY WITH... CHRIS MONGER RECORDING WINS - THE UPCYCLED WAY
Upcycled Sounds label, which boasts the beguiling local talent Rosie Caldecott, is run by Hannah and Niko (of Upcycled’s Limpet Space Race) at a recording studio in East Oxford that LET’S GO DOWN THE STUDIO is half professional studio, half DIY WITH MIKE BANNARD from THE AVIARY STUDIO experimental audio space. “…it doesn’t mean anything without the vibe!” They recently worked with Rosie Caldecott on her There’s loads of wacky sounds; there’s some prepared latest EP, taking her away from her solo acoustic roots piano on it and some crunching walking sounds. There was nearly a recording of ants but it was vetoed.” “I What’s your favourite bit of equipment? DAWS. Digital plugins like the UAD stuff sounds so and out of her comfort zone into a much fuller and more produced, but still organic, ethereal sound. The have a fear of ants” Rosie adds “that’s not why I said MB: The Allen & Heath ZEDR16 mixing desk. I love good that it seems sensible to be mixing mostly in you couldn’t put it in, but it was very squeaky.” tracking bands with it and switching into mix mode for the box. That’s why I love the desk, with options for record is mainly the three of them, with some added strings and saxophone, but is layered in a way that is best of both analogue and digital worlds. The Mackie patching in analogue gear as well as integrating easily A couple of the tracks were recorded with a more HR624 monitors are also good and I know them well. with Pro Tools. almost orchestral in places, and almost electronic in others, while staying just far enough away from either. live approach. “One of them we did in Rosie’s mum’s Perhaps a cliché, but your ears and the environment house” explains Hannah, “on the piano she wrote it on, are the most important things for mixing!. What’s the best album/track recorded there? The songs were all written to be played solo, then we set up in her lounge and I played the piano part MB: I feel constantly lucky to work with some great so she could concentrate on the singing, it’s very free What other bits do you use? artists. If I had to choose one, then possibly Julia expanded upon in the recording process “I write then I bring them here to perform” Rosie remembers, “for the so I had to listen out for her breathing, but it was all MB: I use Pro Tools and Logic, with a few key plugins Meijer’s new record (out this year) which was recorded recorded in one go.” from UAD, Izotope, Waves, Abbey Rd and a few others. at various studios then mixed here. latest EP I just gave them complete creative licence to explore and do whatever they thought worked. It was Then it runs through the desk for analogue control. SHAPE OF SONG - Despite one of the biggest There’s a couple of outboard compressors and loads Tell us about your engineers? a pretty organic process - we didn’t have much of an idea to start with and built stuff around the tunes”. challenges being to get Rosie to accept to have of pedals to play with. For recording, a choice of solid MB: It’s mostly me. I started playing in bands when percussion on her recordings, that has now started studio-standard mics and a selection of preamps! I was 15, then studied music tech at college and uni Hannah and Niko then had the task of arranging the to influence newer material, “I’ve loved the idea for about 10 years ago, and have been recording with ages but every time I tried I couldn’t imagine how What bands record there? friends and bands ever since. I worked freelance for a songs and fitting in other instrumentation. “By the time we were recording we had a very clear idea of what it was going to work. Knowing that there’s going to MB: It’s set up as a mix room and overdub studio. I’ve while, and did a stint at Cooze’s Records before setting be percussion involved changes it, I don’t have to fill recorded / mixed artists including: Flights of Helios, up my own space. I now also run Safehouse studios, it was roughly going to sound like.” Niko explains, “I’m a big believer that the recorded medium is one thing something in with the guitar, any more so I can focus Lucy Leave, Cherokii, Magique, Sebastian Reynolds, which is next door! more on the shape of the song.” Julia Meijer, Kid Kin, Masiro, My Crooked Teeth, Nico and the live thing another, and you need to treat them as separate. It’s great when there’s an exchange going Casal, Pangolin, Temple Funk Collective, The Other What’s the secret of getting a good recording? COME TOGETHER - Now the EP is out the changes in Dramas, Toothless, Youthmovies, Dagga Domes, RO. MB: Solid musicians playing well. Keeping people either way, but you don’t need to record what you see live, or play what you hear on record. the songs have flowed into the live playing. With the This weekend I’m recording with The Dollymops. comfortable and in the zone. Then capturing that the help of the Upcycled Sounds events, a band has been best you can. Mics, mic placement, gear is all relevant, put together to try and play the songs live in a way What’s special about your studio? but it doesn’t mean anything without the vibe! ANT MUSIC - Barring a few sections, the album was mainly multi-tracked, with Niko and Hannah’s belief that is closer to the recordings, Rosie recalls, “It gave MB: It makes the best of a small space, so it’s intimate me a taste of how the stuff can sound live - it was an and focused. The room’s treated and speakers Any particular moments of creativity / inspiration? that as much should be recorded from organic sounds as possible, leading to sections that sound like they accident; we did the launch of the label live at Truck calibrated, so it’s an accurate and high quality mixing MB: Every project has those moments! Sometimes Store and Niko said we should come and collaborate environment. There’s natural light and fresh air. I’m just the recording vibe being great, someone nailing a should be samples or electronics that are created with traditional, or less traditional, instruments. “I think a lot on the day and so a couple of us played on each pretty laid back but also like to get things done, so “one-take-wonder”, or just witnessing a great vocalist other’s tunes - they got so over excited with the result people seem to like working with me, which helps! perform. Possibly my favourite moment is getting the of our production is that,” Niko describes, “especially in Limpet Space Race - it’s a lot of listening to the and that’s how it happened.” “We didn’t have much of first mix done, where it all comes together and the idea a context of where we were going to end up after my Do you prefer analogue or digital? is realised.. electronic sounds and adding a performative element to it, so spending a lot of time finding sounds that you last session, but now we have a bit of a blueprint for the MB: Both! Sound waves, microphones and preamps next session”. are all analogue. I’ve learned the ropes using various Mike Bannard talking to Stewart Garden might think are electronic but are performed and just trying to manipulate the sound before it’s recorded, or as it’s being recorded.” Limpet Space Race and Grey Tapes play at Tap Social £90 track mix rate - discount for EPs & albums. Hannah continues “it’s nice to have unique sounds that on February 20. Hear the Upcycled artists Limpet Space Race, £60 half day studio rate / £120 full day studio rate / £14 per hour have been made just for your EP - not like we’ve just Rosie Caldecott and Folkatron at upcycledsounds. [email protected] / facebook/soundsoftheaviary taken a plugin and used a sample thousands of other people have used to get your own soundscape. bandcamp.com. 16 17 OMS39 BBC INTRODUCING OXFORD Lucy Leave - Act of 2018 “Quirky, awkward, and FEATURING: totally brilliant music”
They’ve carved out a place for themselves here in We’re only a few weeks into 2019, but Oxfordshire with their unique sound and unwavering Christmas and New Year already seem like a hard work and passion for what they do. It has gained lifetime ago as we look forward to another them the respect of both peers and industry players great year for Oxfordshire music. The BBC alike, and makes them a hugely deserving Act of 2018. We can’t wait to see what 2019 holds for them! DESERT STORM Introducing in Oxford team have been busy listening to all the brilliant music you’ve sent WATCH FOR THIS YEAR our way since the start of the year and - from what we’ve heard so far - it’s going to Whilst bands like Lucy Leave be a corker. are setting the standards high, there are a few artists we’ve got I CRIED WOLF CHRISTMAS SPECIALS our eyes on for 2019 who are making some pretty impressive But before any resolutions are made and plans set in waves. Jazz-influenced singer- motion, the team have been taking a look back at the songwriter Theo will no doubt last twelve months and reflecting on what a fantastic create a stir with her beautifully year 2018 was. We celebrated with a Tracks of the Year rich neo-soul music, particularly in an show, and even made Easter Island Statues take a area where R&B music doesn’t have a rich heritage; LASTELLE ‘Quiz of The Year’ on our annual Christmas special. whilst 15-year-old Max Blansjaar has also created a As well as listening back to all the brilliant music we buzz locally with his fuzzy, energetic, lo-fi indie, selling heard, one of our favourite things we get to do at out his first run of tapes with local label Beanie Tapes. the end of each year is pick the BBC Introducing Artists like Self Help, Dolly Mavies, Beth Thornton, in Oxford’s Act of The Year. We hear from so many and Premium Leisure built momentum during 2018 talented artists doing some incredible stuff, that with some incredible live shows and releases, putting it’s always a great opportunity to reflect on what them in a great position for the coming year. We’re DRORE everyone’s achieved. also excited to see where the recent songs from Oxford stalwarts Candy Says take them after having LUCY LEAVE their music featured on recent Netflix film Close.
So, following in the footsteps of our previous winner So it seems that the Oxfordshire music scene is in Low Island, in December we announced Oxford pretty healthy shape as we settle into the new year, three-piece Lucy Leave (pictured) as our Act of 2018! and if you want to hear all the very best local music JUNK WHALE The self-described jazz-grunge trio has been making make sure you join us every Saturday night at 8pm! waves since they formed in 2014 with their quirky, By Katy Hills. awkward, and totally brilliant music. Over the years, they’ve become a staple within the Oxfordshire music Oxfordshire Music Scene #39 Huge thanks to all the contributors for this issue: Tom Chapman, Leo B, Cheryl FRIDAY 1st MARCH 2019 scene, setting and pushing boundaries, and 2018 saw Flynn, Ulysses Lima, Jon Blunt, Jason Warner, Chris them go from strength to strength. They released Monger, Liz Green, Owen Collins, Autumn Neagle, David their debut album Look // Listen in April, which was Humphries, Matt Chapman Jones, Guy Henstock, Helen met with high praise as it confirmed their capability Messenger, Tom McKibbin, Katy Hills, Dave Roberts. O ACADEMY2 OXFORD and potential as a band, with lead single Look// 2 Listen even gaining them support from BBC 6 Music’s Edited by Stewart Garden Tom Robinson. They played countless live shows Design by Autumn Neagle. Published by Back & to the Left Publishing DOORS: 6PM | CURFEW: 10PM throughout the year, from BBC Introducing in Oxford Contact: [email protected] festival stages to intimate acoustic sets, their skilful and Back issues at: back2left.co.uk energetic performances always enjoying the support BUY TICKETS FROM BANDS of a responsive crowd, indicating just how much love KEEP UP WITH US ON FACEBOOK ON TWITTER and respect there is for this band. WE ARE ALWAYS ON THE LOOKOUT FOR AMAZING NEW OR TICKETMASTER.CO.UK MUSIC WRITERS – GET IN TOUCH IF YOU LOVE SEEING BANDS AND WANT TO WRITE ABOUT LOCAL MUSIC. 18 19 OMS39 OMS39 and for reasons known only to him, Well, like Ride before them, Oxford released without fanfare under his shoegaze legends Swervedriver NATIONAL RELEASES name but thankfully now re-issued reformed after an extended break LOCAL RELEASES as a legitimate Prefab Sprout album. a few years ago, and Future Ruins is their second album after that JORDAN O’SHEA – THIS BLOOD RED SHOES – return. Opening track Mary Winter IS WHY WE CAN’T HAVE GET TRAGIC is a salvo of riffs and energy, though not without subtlety, and single NICE THINGS From the opening track Get Tragic The Lonely Crowd Fades in the Air Here’s the rub about Jordan is bursting with brilliantly bold perfectly channels the distorted O’Shea, who has released his and addictive, punky, synth-pop. wash Swervedriver have always new LP on a limited run of 30 Opener Eye to Eye sets the bar been known for. Alongside these, cassettes (as well as Spotify etc) high and the mood dramatic; the more introspective tracks like - before you even stick it in the in the space of ninety seconds album closer Radio-Silent and the tape machine of your gorgeous it masterfully shifts from broody title track are just as potent and vintage car you can hold the synths and sultry vocals evoking engaging. cassette in your hand and Goldfrapp, to swaggering guitar Swervedriver are clearly not just in DEERHUNTER admire the cover. The singer, rivalling The Black Keys and on to Originally conceived and recorded this to tour and make a quick buck, – WHY HASN’T I presume, is rendered in red an anthemic chorus. after Paddy was diagnosed with their new material more than holds THE AUGUST LIST – and orange in a superb Francis EVERYTHING ALREADY Blood Red Shoes exhibit a magical a form of tinnitus which seriously its own when compared to the DISTORTED MOUNTAIN Bacon smear of promise. A DISAPPEARED? creative partnership that’s been affected his hearing and vision, albums that made them famous. promise, as it happens, fulfilled. honed over their previous four not surprisingly the album is a They are all the better for the Lyrically here an artist who pays Kerraleigh Child’s unmistakable Atlanta alt-rockers Deerhunter albums. The Brighton duo of Laura- testament to the healing power nuance and wisdom that comes progressive attention to their quasi-Appalachian tones launch might finally have released the Mary Carter and Steven Ansell work of music. Started when Paddy with age. (MCJ) own lyrical content. Musically, into “The storm picked up the album to break them from as one as they move between entered a few random notes you discover someone who is desert” and we’re back in the obscurity into the mainstream. massive riffs and grinding bass lines into the sequencer of his ancient THE TWILIGHT SAD – IT melodic in all the right places, band’s world of quiet disaffection. Described by the band as all with a constant energy that is Atari computer (sic) he added and sparse where sparse is Following on from their LP, this being “concerned with the simply addictive. Lyrically they are layer after layer, building up to the WON’T BE LIKE THIS ALL deserved. What you are really tale of environmental angst takes disappearance of culture, of intimate, but musically this is crank- phenomenal 22 minute spoken THE TIME holding in your hands is the us on a journey embracing both humanity, of nature, of logic and to-10, massive, crowd-pleasing title track, quite unlike anything 80s mixtape you forgot to the epic (It started with a whisper/ emotion” this album is a product powerful pop that everyone should else in the Prefabs’ back catalogue. The Twilight Sad have always play for three decades, with a and ended with a roar) and the of its distorted times, a comment hear. (MCJ) This isn’t the sound of a band re- been introspective and at times sprinkle of Beck and a dash of bathetic (I said I might give it a on the 24 hour obsession with creating their 80’s and 90’s golden outwardly gloomy, and though that Talulah Gosh with testicles, and listen/if I ever found my phone). information and news. moments but a band making feeling hasn’t completely gone, a splash of Arcade Fire. Jordan Lyrically this isn’t completely new sounds for an audience who their fifth album feels like a change O’Shea is infectious. I didn’t skip Martin Child and producer new ground for the band but want to really listen and appreciate of pace for the band themselves a single track. It’s hard to, on Richard Neuberg’s guitars and what sets it apart is the addition something special. This may not and it shows in this new work. tape. The Moon is her Blood is Ryan Quarterman’s quietly of Welsh singer-songwriter Cate be as hook-laden as their earlier Whether it is a change in their line- awkwardly poetic. The Burning assertive bass underpin a le Bon on backing vocals, also albums, many of the tracks are up, a new label, their new celebrity House is relentless. We’re back turbulent soundscape where on production duties. This gives instrumentals, but this remains chum in Robert Smith, or none of where indie meant indie. This is Ben Heaney’s Cale-esque violin the album more international a heartfelt album, serene yet that I couldn’t say, but IWBLTATT astonishing. (JB) soars and scrapes colourfully. reference points, with hints of the touchingly sad. (DR) has more energy and drive than But the star of the instrumental Kinks - hear No One’s Sleeping, their previous offerings. show on this occasion is Tommy their touching response to the SWERVEDRIVER - FUTURE Grief and alienation are prominent Longfellow, whose drums roll and killing of MP Jo Cox, but perhaps themes throughout, but the music crash with evocative precision most influenced by the gorgeous RUINS portrays a new-found confidence; throughout. The August List build sounds of The Triffids. Elsewhere PREFAB SPROUT it sounds like the ‘Sad have lost their their homestead in an unexplored the band tackle new territory with – I TRAWL THE Rock music is perpetually on a despondent persona, and have territory halfway between the the addition of synths giving them cycle of ebb and flow; bands MEGAHERTZ come out swinging. The mood Carter Family and the Velvet a palate of new sounds, old and implode or fade away all the time is one of catharsis not wallowing. Underground. Like all great new, to work with. and someone takes their place IWBLTATT has also embraced more musical ideas, obvious when you Every now and then a great band This is an album with a lot to say in a heartbeat, but occasionally electronic elements which add to hear it. (HG) in a short space of time – it’s only releases a record which goes we see former favourites reform. the increasing energy and urgency. almost completely unnoticed. Such 37 minutes, but it offers enough The question that matters is why This is progress and change not (Local Releases was the case with ITtM, recorded beauty and timelessness to make they got back together; Greatest for its own sake, but for genuine artistic Continued over on P22) it a highlight of the year. and released in 2003 by Prefab Hits cash in, or renewed creative growth, and there are some pretty catchy (DR) Sprout’s singer Paddy McAloon, inspiration? hooks along the way to boot. (MCJ)
20 21 OMS39 strings start to rise in the mix but LOCAL RELEASES ultimately the track plateaus too early and doesn’t seem to actually end up anywhere. I feel like they might have and never quite delivered. As a whole, a poptastic, catchy melody in there the EP is a little underwhelming, some somewhere but, while pleasant, this of this being down to the very slight is not it! (UL) production, but the lead track is so good and their live show so promising that we are already looking forward to what Ciphers will transmit next. (CF)
LOW ISLAND – IN PERSON
These guys are so hot right now that it’s absolutely fine that this, their new IDEAL MARRIAGE – single, starts with the drum beat from Billie Jean. From there, sequencers BETTER NOW snap, crackle and pop, cow bells ring, Here are the lads previously known as and it gets very, very close to LCD LOWWS, The Sea the Sea and various Soundsystem territory - but thankfully SHAPES - OH YOU EP other names in a new lineup. They’re the groove is strong enough to still peddling slickly produced indie withstand the comparisons. This is club If photographic evidence is anything rock - there’s a hint of Frightened music - or music that you really need to to go on Shapes have now expanded Rabbit about the instrumental but the experience IN PERSON. Ronseal. (UL) to a nine-piece, with a sizzling brass vocal is a much more polished - it section to boot. This finds the East reminds me of mid-2000s US emo- Oxford ne’er-do-wells exploring new folk band The Snake the Cross the territory (as though having made it Crown and others of their ilk. A mildly up the Cowley Road all the way to St rewarding, if not earth shattering Clements). The title track fuses Sergio listen. (UL) Leone with a roots reggae backbeat – it’s a shame they didn’t whack the bass up in the mix - and the second ROSIE CALDECOTT – track Come Back Days trots along THE LOST GARDENS EP as might Bruce Springsteen had he ever had a demo rejected by Sarah Here’s an absolute treat - one of Records. Stars in her Eyes showcases Oxford’s most singular, yet almost Alix Champ’s increasingly strong criminally unheard voices. On vocals as it tells the tale of a singer previous releases Rosie has stuck to who “wants to be loved by Simon intricate, plucked guitar but here, in CIPHERS – FEED THEIR Cowell.” Closer No 68 is testimony to collaboration with Upcycled Sounds, the group’s eclecticism. A fine release her songs take on a completely FICTION EP from the Victor Meldrews of the new life. Opener We Could have a Oxford indie scene. (JB) Meadow has a taste of Portishead, Ciphers release their debut record and whilst parts of the rising arpeggios back it up with a big first ever headline CATGOD – FORGET TO FAIL on the title track have distant echoes launch show at the Academy. Live of early Four Tet. By the time the the band are a growing proposition I remember seeing this lot describe saxophone kicks in you realise that but this thinly produced three track EP themselves as ‘trip hop’ in the past Rosie has the kind of voice that would doesn’t quite capture the fires they are and I was always puzzled when I saw be equally at home at Catweazle igniting onstage, although lead song, them live - they’re more a curious mix Club as it would in the smoky, the borderline anthemic Howl gets of pastoral folk and po-faced, earnest mysterious environment of the very close. The Ciphers soundscape indie. And that’s exactly what you get Roadhouse in Twin Peaks. (UL) traverses a Belinda Carlisle-fronted here - no tongues in cheek at all - this Warpaint with bonus guitars; each music is important to this band and track starts slow and builds the it’s hard not to get swept along for sonic anticipation to an increasingly the ride. Robin Christensen-Marriot’s predictable Mogwai-lite crescendo. voice is front and centre here, but More is hoped for, much is promised the real star is the production - lilting 22 23 facebook.com/o2academyoxford twitter.com/o2academyoxford instagram.com/o2academyoxford youtube.com/o2academytv
Fri 8th Feb • 6.30pm Fri 1st Mar • 11pm Tue 26th Mar Sat 27th Apr • 6.30pm ...And You Will My Nu Leng Gerry Cinnamon UK Foo Fighters
Know Us by the & M8’s Tue 26th Mar Sun 28th Apr Trail of Dead Sat 2nd Mar • 6.30pm Skarlett Riot Maps & Atlases Fri 8th Feb • 11pm Kanadia + Fahran + Sertraline Sat 4th May • 6.30pm The Oxford - Album Launch Thur 28th Mar The Wedding Soul Train Sat 2nd Mar • 6.30pm Fun Lovin’ Present... Sat 9th Feb • 6.30pm The Coral Criminals Bizarro Tour
Cash Sat 9th Mar • 6pm Fri 29th Mar • 6.30pm Sat 11th May • 6.30pm
Mon 11th Feb U.F.O. - “Last Wille Blaenavon
Jimothy Lacoste Orders” 50th & The Bandits Tue 14th May Anniversary Tour + Rainbreakers Thur 14th Feb Lucy Spraggan Sat 9th Mar • 6.30pm Mon 1st Apr Alexander O’Neal Tue 14th May The Springsteen The Slow Fri 15th Feb • 6pm J Mascis Sessions Readers Club Blue October Wed 15th May • 6.30pm Tue 12th Mar Tue 2nd Apr Sat 16th Feb • 5.30pm Yak SOAK Buckcherry The Japanese Sat 18th May • 6.30pm House Fri 5th Apr • 6.30pm & Hoobastank Samantha Fish Thur 14th Mar Goldie Sat 16th Feb • 6pm Hayseed Dixie Lookin Chain Wed 22nd May • 6.30pm Omar Sons of the East with Live Band Fri 15th Mar • 6.30pm Fri 5th Apr • 6.30pm YK DMA’s Sat 29th Jun Mon 18th Feb The AC/DC Ruts DC Sat 16th Mar • 6.30pm Sat 6th Apr • 6.30pm • SOLD OUT Alfie B presents Experience - Fri 22nd Feb • 6.30pm The Dualers A Night Of Music Who’s Got Big Cypher16 Wed 10th Apr • 6.30pm Balls Pt. 4 For Under 18s KING NO-ONE & Lest We Forget Fri 20th Sep • 6.30pm Mon 18th Mar Sat 23rd Feb • 6pm Sat 13th Apr • 6.30pm Boyzlife AJ Tracey Nilufer Yanya Stone Broken Fri 4th Oct • 6.30pm Wed 20th Mar • 6.30pm Mon 15th Apr Sat 23rd Feb • 6.30pm Ady Suleiman CoCo and the Scott Bradlee’s Circa Waves Butterfields Thur 21st Mar Postmodern Thur 25th Apr The Treatment Sat 2nd Nov • 6.30pm Jukebox Under The Apple The Dualers Sat 23rd Mar • 6.30pm Mon 25th Feb Tree – Live Thur 14th Nov Sea Girls Lene Lovich Band on tour with Stateless 40th The Smyths... Fri 1st Mar • 5.30pm Wildwood Kin A Celebration Of the Anniversary Tour + Loud Mountains Debut L.P P.O.D. & Alien Ant Farm Sun 24th Mar • 6.30pm Sat 27th Apr • 6.30pm Wed 27th Nov • 6.30pm + ‘68 Bars and Melody Sleaford Mods Electric Six
o2academyoxford.co.uk 190 Cowley Road, Oxford, OX4 1UE · Doors are 7pm, unless stated. Venue box office opening hours: Mon - Sat 12 - 5.30pm ticketmaster.co.uk ticketmaster.co.uk • wegottickets.com • seetickets.com • gigantic.com