Single Review ~ The Districts ~ 4th And Roebling

Hello, 

Welcome to this single review and today I have a band called The Districts. This four piece from Pennsylvania have been together since 2009 and got signed to Fat Possum Records in 2013 after their impressive style of indie/blues rock.

The single '4th And Roebling' is taken from their latest album 'A Flourish and A Spoil' and certainly caught my attention when I was sent this song for a review. The song starts off with some nice bass lines accompanied by some background beats and tambourine. 

When the guitar starts to enter the scene, its building up to something quite unique. This four piece are really taking your ears on a little rollercoaster. Building up the tension for a split second by cranking it up and then bringing it back down to a softer tone from the guitar. Rob Grote (vocals) has a great vocal range for the band and really gives this band an identity. 

The vocals are used with a nice tone on the microphone to not make it sound crystal clear, a little bit of distortion gives his voice that real grit. You can tell there's power in those vocals that is great to hear from an indie band as a lot tend to stay at one level, but its getting pushed to the limit. 

The chorus' are what make the song, a lot of noise, great guitar tones and getting everything turned up a notch from the verses. The band is really putting a distinct barrier between what is the verse and chorus. Though they come into each other very quickly, there is no warning when its being cranked up for those chorus'. There is a very nice instrumental/guitar solo building up to the eruption of the ending chorus to really end it on a high note.

All in all its a great track that you should go check out! I'll leave a link below for the track. "4th And Roebling" is out on the 9th/10th February on Fat Possum Records. If you can't wait till February then check out their EP they released at the beginning of this year. 


Thanks for reading and until next time. 

Lewis 


Soundcloud link: www.soundcloud.com/fatpossum/the-districts-4th-and-roebling

Fat Possum website: www.fatpossum.com

*BONUS* Single Review ~ RJ Marks ~ Calling Out

Hello, 

Welcome to blog post 33! Today I have a wicked band from Nottingham called RJ Marks who is an indie/pop four piece that is certainly writing a lot of music that is turning heads. 

RJ Marks is made up of Richard Howell (vocals, guitar), Jake Buckley (lead guitar), Dicky Fountain (bass) and John Schofield (drums).

The band have a few names they are already associated with such as Jake Bugg with the singer Richard Howell playing for him. Both supporting each other at various venues too and with Jake Buckley (guitar) a virtuoso and naturally talented musician, this band are a force to be reckoned with. 

The single called "Calling Out" raises high hopes in the future for the band with obvious signs of great song writing from each of the band members. Adding elements in the song throughout the song keeps the train rolling and the listener staying to hear what they are offering. 

The single starts off with a quiet guitar riff and starts to pick up with some pretty piano lines and powerful guitar chords struck for the verses. The verses are a great time to really focus on Richards vocals which suit the band really well for the style they are playing.

I look forward to hearing what else they can deliver with Richards heart-felt vocals and impressive song writing for such a young band. With a feature on the 'BBC Introducing' show in Nottingham earlier this year as well, I feel like this is the beginning for this band.

The single 'Calling Out' by RJ Marks will be released on the 27th October so make a note in your diaries!

Thank you very much for reading and until next time

Lewis



Website: www.rjmarksmusic.com/

Facebook: www.facebook.com/rjmarksmusic

Twitter: www.twitter.com/rjmarksmusic

Single Review - The Courtesans, 'Genius'

Hello!

Welcome to blog post 24! Today I am letting you all know about a female indie/alternative four piece band that are hitting the music business hard and not being portrayed as you're typical girl band. These girls are throwing the book out of the window on 'how to be the perfect girl band' by twisting and bending it in such a spectacular fashion that its caught the attention of many people. 

The Courtesans are Sinead Le Bella (vocals), Saffire Sanchez (guitar), Agnes D. Jones (bass) and Victoria Brown (drums). The single is the first song off their new album that will be released on 8th September called '1917'. Until then, the latest single 'Genius' is looking at the portrayal of the 'perfect girl' and that never ending search for her. Thus seeing young teens falling for the cheap lipstick, botoxing, slimming pill versions rather than one of those less genuine natural girls that get hidden in the darkness. 

From the first couple of lines in this song, you can tell this isn't your average girl band song. 

"Holding a gun to his head, she says

Do you love me? 

Do you love me?

Counting down the bullets she says

One for you, One for me

One for you, One for me"

Now, does that sound like something that Little Mix or The Saturdays will sing!? I love this dark side to the such loved cliché for a band. These girls have a fantastic image too that'll have you looking twice...once in shock and two in awe of their adventurousness. Their hair style is brilliant for the band image. Thick, long hair that has colours of red, bright blue, blonde and black, the perfect mix!

The start of the song, sounds like something from any ordinary song and then the struck of a chord on a guitar changes the mood completely. I do like the fact that all the girls in the band play a different instrument and don't all just sing otherwise that wouldn't make this band so unique. I do think that in recent years, girl bands are making a comeback for the greater good and The Courtesans are setting a great example to bring back the image in style!

Don't just take my word for this band, here are some other people's thoughts too:

"...dripping with a melodrama, intellect and wispy mystery not heard around these parts since early Garbage and Shakespeare's Sister" God Is In The TV Zine
"they're tight, they're funky and they’re absolutely terrifying" Never Enough Notes
"a sensual 4 piece audio and visual experience", Hellhound Music
"..saw The Courtesans live and still have not recovered" The Von Pip Musical Express

 Looks like that's all I've got time for today! Do go check the band out and watch the video down below. Another quick thank you to everyone who has been viewing my blog and got it over the 2000 milestone! Amazing, I cannot thank you enough! 

If any artist/managers want to contact me for reviews, then my email is in the 'contact me' section up the top of the page, these guys came to me with open arms and of course I agreed! Yours could be next too!?

Until next time!

Lewis

Wesbite: http://www.thecourtesans.org/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thecourtesans

Twitter: https://twitter.com/the_courtesans

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/CatrionaVillenhardt/videos

fiN "Life Is Wasted On The Living"

Welcome to my first blog!! :)

Introduction:
I will review an album which is dear to my heart by an unsigned band that I cannot stress enough about called fiN. These 4 lads from London are certainly talent to look out for. Luke (vocals), Jonny (guitar), Kerry (bass) and Simon (drums) are all incredibly talented and it shows in their studio and live productions.They are a DIY band with their own label 'Artisan Records', they have done everything for this album from producing, marketing, sales. I give this guys a massive credit for the amount of work they put into this band.
So fiN, this indie/rock band have created a debut album that is definitely one to look out for.

Review:
Their album 'Life Is Wasted On the Living' is a collection of all the singles into one album with 5 new tracks and 2 acoustic versions of their best known songs. One of the newer songs called "The Truth Lies in Honesty" is one of their best, its catchy, simple, yet one that you could hum along to for hours. As soon as those drums come in, its an instant head bopper. Its also a song I believe could easily be in the top 40 if these guys were more well known. 

Another new track 'Where Are You Now' is a beautiful track that puts all the mayhem and rock to the side and gets everyone to sit down and listen to how talented these guys really are. Its the same with '5am', although this track has a darker meaning to it than the other songs. Luke's rough edge to his voice gives the song a real unpolished grit to it which makes it so powerful!

The one criticism I have about the album is that all the singles they've released previously are in this album. Personally I bought all the singles on vinyl and I was a little disappointed that there weren't as many new songs as I would've hoped for. None the less the new songs are brilliant.

Top Three Tracks:

3. "The Artisan", first off, its a fully instrumental track. No lyrics, just pure unadulterated brilliance. The song slowly builds up during the course of it adding parts in one by one. Starting off with the side sticking from Simon on the drums, to piano, bass, guitar, backing vocals, percussion, you name it! They even did an acoustic version for the album which I was very happy about and its just as good as the original. One of the best instrumental tracks I've heard from a 4 piece band.

2. "Life Is Wasted On the Living", one of the best openings to a song. Enough said. 8 seconds of build up and BOOM there's your song. Having it cranked up sounds like an explosion coming in. Its exactly what everyone wants is to be hit with. The lyrics are very clever and true to many life stories. "Life is wasted on the living, life is wasted on the fools that walk away", I'm sure everyone reading this has a story from those lyrics. After the first listen I thought 'let me listen to that again', it therefore earns my 2nd spot.

1. "Twenty Three" The top dog song at number 1. I was introduced to fiN with this song and boy was I sold from the moment it started. Its a good ol' indie/rock song with everything you want to have a good head bang, dance, whatever floats your boat! Cracking guitar licks again with the band trying to say "Hey! You! We're fiN, come rock out with us". That's exactly what it does with an ending that leaves you squinting your eyes with the torture of the guitar tone. Wanting more. Epic.

Conclusion:
I have been gifted to see these guys live a few times and they have to be one of the best live acts I've seen because you can tell they put 110% into every gig they do. I had a blast at a gig last year in Camden to support their new album, they performed the album live from top to bottom and it couldn't of been a better show.

I have put some photos on this blog from the gig in Camden as a perspective of the emotion and performance they put into there gigs! Including one with Luke standing on the PA system which was a cracking shot.

Please go check out their album 'Life Is Wasted On the Living' on Spotify, Itunes and Youtube. Let me know what you thought of them. Until next time, thank you for reading and I hoped you enjoyed it!

Lewis :)

Website:
http://lifeiswastedontheliving.com/ 
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/fiNuk
Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBNbi8lzANN651dfzMUQMbQ?sub_confirmation=1
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/finUK

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated since this is my first blog and I want to try make this the best it can be. Thanks!