Birmingham Barfly - "Best of the Festivals"

Ben Sherman’s “Best of the festivals” is mid-way through gracing the country with some of Britain’s top acts…apparently. And tonight in the Barfly there is a mixture. Veterans and rookies, new and old, and frankly, the brilliant and the down-right shit.

The social commentary of New Street Adventure opens up a proverbial can of worms with tales of muscle clad rugby-types and shallow minded fuck-nuts who waltz around, head held high, with nothing to be proud of, bar their over-sized guns and under worked genitalia.

Destroying the set with northern soul drenched riffs and the knee stomping beats its clear to see that Mr Corbin, of New Street, has a way with the pen and, even more importantly, knows his way around the stage.



But little prepared the grotty hole of Birmingham for the ramshackle mish-mash of Manchester’s Twisted Wheel. Groggy punch-drunk licks hold their own underneath the growl of Johnny Brown’s profound vocal domination. “She‘s a weapon“ bursts in like the drums of a thousand hyped up marching bands while “Let them have it all“ stomps carelessly around the room like a moody teenager..

Fresh from playing Wembley with local Manc heroes, Oasis, Twisted Wheel seem to have their heels firmly lodged into their progressive musical agenda. Columbia have hit jackpot here as even Liam Gallagher is praising Mr Brown and it’s clear to see why.

New single, “Lucy the castle”, is rinsed like a soggy towel of crass lyrical thrush while “You stole the sun” grates the walls with its rough-around-the-edges ramshackle echo. But after tonight the Wheel are hardly finished. It’s back down south for the three-piece to commence another support slot tour with Liam Fray and his Courteeners. A future rock star’s work is never done…

Headliner’s Little Man Tate, arguably not “best of the festivals”, give it their best with their mediocre mumblings and over the top hand movements. “Hey little Sweetie” and other distinctly drab tales from the second album appear and then quickly dissolve until “House Party at Boothy’s” sets the bar for yet another over-hyped LMT showcase.

It’s impossible to fault their enthusiasm. Jon Windle is all over the place like a hyper-active mutt in a kennel, but their tales of love, lost and the like lack any real hearty substance and when each song begins to blend into one another I think it’s time for a word with the organisers. Best of the festivals? I think someone’s cocked up.

The View - 5 Rebbeccas

Everyone has a crucial point in their lives which they dread. For boys it could be the tangled web of love, females and the fast approaching car crash of hormonally charged puberty. For girls, perhaps it’s whose heart to break next, who knows? But for bands it would have to be the monumentally important second album. A decider in their musical career. And in many cases, the approach of a second album will be accompanied by a music critic pointing a fully loaded gun or slander themed adjectives right at the head of the musical mind behind either the monstrosity or the masterpiece…

In this case I feel that I am going to lower my cynical weapon of words doused in negative connotations for it is the return of everyone’s favourite Dundee vagabonds, The View. Although we are only at the first single stage I feel confident in these boys. The double-dutch foursome have returned from their smoke filled odyssey with around four minutes of anthemic, riff fuelled junkie drama.

New single, 5 Rebbeccas, begins like the illegitimate love child of Wasted Little DJ’s. It scurries down the well trodden path of overdosed distortion that the carnage causing Scot’s have taken before. And as they dip into the first verse, the melodically organised ramshackle becomes chaotically poetic as the problem-posing dialect of Kyle Falconer begins to flow from his tongue.

The mixture of grubby rock and roll and beautifully melodic pop is an insight into the hard work that has gone into making this tune. After around three years of touring and making their debut album, “Hats off to the buskers”, the boys have had a wee break and are to release their second album in January 2009, with the intriguing title, “Which bitch?”

According to Falconer and guitarist Pete Reilly, the new album is “darker” and more “experimental”, a step away from their successful pop charged debut, which leaves me wondering…If “5 Rebbeccas” is a taster of things to come, well then we are in for quite a treat.

It’s a drug inspired snippet of rock angst, depicting the trials and tribulations of a young female, “Rebbecca”, apparently based on a real person. Nonetheless, “5 Rebbeccas” is not only caked in a new found musical maturity, but also a cluster of chant worthy lyrics, which like the debut, are sure to engrave themselves into the long list of View lyrics that already echo the towns past played. Dark and Experimental seems to have paid off, and believe me, The View are still very much “On Fire!”