Record Label: Ecstatic Peace!

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Somewhat puzzlingly signed to Thurston Moore’s label, Violent Soho are an Aussie quartet who want to pretend it’s 1992. Grunge it seems is back, however it’s not the Mudhoney/Nirvana/Tad sound that made the world fall in love with it, it’s the formulaic dreck that came after when every major label on the planet rushed to Seattle with open chequebooks to sign anything wearing a lumberjack shirt. It’s a bit Pixies, a bit Weezer, contains no hooks, and could be passed off as novelty, other than that it’s on Ecstatic Peace! – whether bad or good, Sonic Youth are at least always evolving and Violent Soho are retrograde in the extreme. If you bring nothing new to the party, then at least be damn good at what you do. If this had appeared in 1992 it’d have been passed off as bad grunge, so there’s certainly no cause to celebrate it now just because some time’s passed. And no props for that attention seeking title – if you’re in a rock band and Jesus stole your girlfriend – a dude whose musical friends are Cliff Richard, Stryper and the Jonas Brothers – then your girlfriend’s telling you that your band’s hopeless. As am I.

‘Growing Pains’, the debut album from Leeds trio Dinosaur Pile-Up, will be released via Friends Vs Records this September.

Led by the single ‘Birds And Planes’, released on digital download and limited-edition 7” vinyl, available just prior to the album on July 26, ‘Growing Pains’ is the sound of a one of the UKs most exciting bands hitting their stride. It comes, following a handful of introductory independent releases over the past year and a bit, after which the band’s frontman and creative force Matt Bigland entered Bridlington’s Lodge Studios with producer James Kenosha to record the debut, taking place over January and February this year. The result is a storming rock powerhouse of big pop songs driven by the kind of wall shaking undercurrent only a three piece can muster.

Bigland says of the album: “I know it sounds bent but I liked the idea of people to be able to sing along to the songs, even if they were singing about being hated or upset. I wanted to make a record that kicks people in the face whilst getting stuck in their head.”

Their career to date was led by the January 2009 debut 7″ single ‘My Rock N Roll’, followed by a second single ‘Traynor’, and last year’s summer release, modestly titled ‘The Most Powerful EP In The Universe’ – which spawned songs such as ‘Summer Hit Single’, ‘Beach Bug’ and ‘Cat Attack’.

Their live plot to date has seen them tour with a rich cast of bands including a UK/European jaunt with the Pixies in December, and a French tour with Violens for the coveted Les Inrocks tour last Spring. On the festival circuit the band has shared stages with Them Crooked Vultures on the Radio One tent at last year’s Reading and Leeds festivals, and they headlined NME’s Halloween spectacular at Koko last October. Elsewhere they have performed alongside Future Of The Left, Pulled Apart By Horses and The Automatic, and last summer stormed the festival circuit performing at Bestival, Oxegen, T In The Park, and aforementioned Reading and Leeds festivals.

They will return to the live stage this September with a headline run ahead of the album’s release. ‘Growing Pains’ will be available digitally and on CD / Vinyl.

Dinosaur Pile-Up on tour:

Sep 13^th York Stereo

Sep 14^th Manchester Ruby Lounge

Sep 15^th Notts Bodega Social Club

Sep 16^th Bristol Cooler

Sep 17^th London KCLSU

Sep 19^th Exeter Timepiece

Sep 20^th Birmingham Hare & Hounds

Sep 21^nd Liverpool Masque

Sep 22^nd Edinburgh Electric Circus

Sep 23^rd Glasgow King Tuts

Sep 24^th Leeds Cockpit

Sep 27^th Stoke Sugarmill

Sep 28^th Brighton Coalition

Sep 29^th Cambridge Haymakers

Sep 30^th Sheffield Plug

Oct 1^st Crewe The Box

Record Label: Sounds Of Caligula

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Grungy boys Kingskin got hold of the legendary Steve Albini—previous credits including Nirvana and Pixies—for production duties on this, their second LP, and it’s not hard to see the stamp of that ‘90s scene all over this baby. Dirty riffs permeate throughout, with Trevor Lynes’ bass growling away like a guard dog who has just spotted a man carrying a SWAG bag entering his yard. ‘Stoner Girl’ offers a funky groove worthy of the Chilli Peppers, while ‘Sister’ is a ferocious and unabashed stomp through a garden of sludgy riffing and caustic feedback. Kingskin are at their best when they leave the somewhat dull messing around with such things as choruses and verses in favour of blasting out waves of unadulterated funk. “I’ve started, so I’ll finish,” croons vocalist Chris Lamb in ‘Side By Side Stereo’, and you’ll be wishing he’d just let the guitars steal the show entirely. The band’s tag-team of grunge and funk sounds does hold a certain cool, like Nirvana or Soundgarden through a glass (bong) darkly, but the album’s undoing is simply that its songs are not quite interesting enough, on the whole, to demand repeat listenings.

Bad Lieutenant will be continuing on the back of their sell out Manchester and London shows performing as very special guests on the forthcoming UK leg of the Pet Shop Boys “Pandemonium” tour in December.  This will follow 2 headline shows in Chicago and New York plus playing support on the Pixies “Doolittle” tour in both cities. Founder members – New Order’s Bernard Sumner (guitar and vocals), Phil Cunningham (guitar) and Jake Evans (guitar and vocals) will be joined live by former Joy Division/New Order drummer Stephen Morris and bassist Tom Chapman (who also played on the new album “Cry Another Tear”).  According to Sumner, “The bulk of the set will be Bad Lieutenant songs, but we’ll also play some songs from my past, some New Order songs, some Joy Division and a few other surprises.”

The UK Pet Shop Boy support dates are:

December 17                        Glasgow SECC
December 18                        Birmingham NIA
December 20                        Manchester Evening News Arena
December 21                        London O2 Arena

Tickets are priced £30 from www.livenation.co.uk

(All tickets subject to booking fee)

US dates are:

November 18                                   Headline – Park West, Chicago, IL (18+ show)

November 19                                   Pixies support – Aragon Ballroom, Chicago IL

November 21                                   Headline – Webster Hall, New York (18+ show)

November 23                                   Pixies support – Hammerstein Ballroom, NY

www.badlieutenant.net