Australian outfit Midnight Juggernauts arrived in Edinburgh as part of the Edge Festival, just one date on their jet-setting autumn tour that will take them from destinations as diverse as Guadalajara, Texas, and well, err, Creamfields in Liverpool.
After completely deriding the full concept of this festival in my review last year, it may seem a little hypocritical to trundle through the hospitality section once more to partake in the festivities. After all, how much can an event of this magnitude re-invent itself, when it has adapted an ‘ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ attitude towards its design and implementation? more… “T in the Park 2008”
Sound Familiar?
Perhaps you’ve heard Jupiter One in one of the following synch-licensing placements?
Solareye is out to bring hip-hop to the mean streets of Airdrie. Instead of riffing about bitches and bling, MC Dave Hook tells of “ripped trackies and hi-tecs”, just to quell any idea that he’s hailin from Brooklyn.
Everybody, and I truly mean everybody, will know the type of self-absorbed twat that obviously pissed off Modern Cliche, to the extent that they retorted with their brilliant ode to the musically banal on opening EP track ‘You don’t know what you want to be’. They tear into the tediousness of band members that have enough pretention to make Johnny Borrell blush.
Whilst previous track sounded more like a Placebo B-side (in the least offensive way possible), the new single from Tripwire has more of an English brogue, although they maintain their mix of powerful guitar riffs and underlying synth, interluding with some shouting, by the sounds of it from the recording studio next door. It just doesn’t really fit.
‘Just so you know’ is hard work, and difficult to digest. So much so, in fact, that I found myself hitting stop after about ninety secondsm on more than one listen. It isn’t terrible, indeed it sounds slick and well produced, but it lacks soul and in no way engages your attention as a record ought to.
In the end, it becomes an effort-crammed listen.
Busy boys, are the Displacements.
Following an impressive 150 gigs last year, they have amassed quite a following on support dates, and single ‘Down and Out’ represents their attempt to gain emergence in their own right.
It’s a juxtaposition of lament-filled lyrics and that inescapable guitar-jangle that is completely of the moment, and it jinks along pleasantly, even rousing to an inappropriately rousing chorus, which tells the tale of how excess can leave you cold and lonely. But looking past the mismatched tone, it’s a happy little head bobber.
Arguably, the two B-sides, ‘Pirates’ and ‘Lady Loss’, are more complete tracks in comparison, but certainly lacking in the hook of the lead track. By no means life-changing, but a decent enough single nonetheless.
Padma is about as far removed from British popular culture is it possible to be these days. Polar opposite to the fame-craving generation, Padma’s story is as bizarre and intriguing as his music.
Penny Blacks have been plying their trade on the relatively sparse Edinburgh scene, where venues are at a premium when compared with Glasgow’s ‘buy bar, get stage free’ attitude to towards arranging gigs.
Described as ‘Oasis for the noughties generation’, the Underclass harbour ambitions to have their name added to the list of Manchester bands that brought them together to start making music. more… “The Underclass”