Gig Review - Kasabian

Glasgow SECC – 12th November 2009

As Kasabian fans left the SECC on Thursday night, the streets sounded more like the terraces of a football ground as they continued to chant the band’s final song, LSF. Fresh from success with third album ‘West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum’, Kasabian proved that they are one of the best live bands around, storming through a brilliant set lasting over an hour and a half.

For any doubters of the band’s indie-rock brand of music, one thing that can be said about them is that they know how to work the crowd. From the very beginning, ‘Julie and the Mothman’ and ‘Underdog’ sent the crowd into a beer-throwing frenzy as frontman Tom Meighan proved himself to be one of the best in the business, sauntering around the stage like a veteran. It was not only their music that went down well but the band provided a stage show that was unlike anything they had offered before. Guitarist Serge Pizzorno promised a stage set up with the theme of ‘seeing the world through a looking glass’, an idea heavily inspired by their most recent album. These newer tracks were followed by older hits such as ‘Cutt Off’, ‘Shoot the Runner’ and ‘Processed Beats’ with the strong set list proving just exactly how much hits they have had since they came on the scene in 2003. Slower songs ‘Ladies and Gentlemen’ and ‘Thick as Thieves’ offered a moment of respite before the crowd went crazy for recent hit ‘Fire’. This was followed by ‘Fast Fuse’, ‘Club Foot’ and ‘Vlad the Impaler’, also going down a storm and keeping the crowd jumping. The sound of final song ‘LSF’ could still be heard 20 minutes after the band left the stage, showing that this live show will be hard to beat for a while yet.

Kasabian have recently been quoted as saying that they would like to take Oasis’ crown as the UK’s biggest band. After this performance, it seems that they already have.

Twin Atlantic Exclusive

Since their start in 2007 Glaswegian rock quartet Twin Atlantic has always been the opening band, the support or that other band on the bill. For years they have toured across the UK playing with bands such as Funeral for a Friend and You Me at Six, playing music which they love both listening to and playing. Time and time again Twin Atlantic has proved they can win over any crowd with their relentless performances. This is one band however that seems unable to shake the comparisons to Biffy Clyro with their rough shaggy hair, energetic garage sound and blatant Scottish accents. As a band that have always shown they have potential Twin Atlantic silenced their critics in 2009 and proved their ready to take centre stage with their own tours , sell out gigs and a debut album on its way earning them prestige as a band that’s time has finally come. I recently caught up with Atlantic drummer Craig Kneale.

- Firstly how did Twin Atlantic start?
Sam and Ross were best friends from school and had been in other bands previously, after this they started Twin Atlantic in autumn of 2006. In January of 2007 they went on a UK tour with another Glasgow band called Piano Bar Fight who Barry was helping out on Cello. I knew Sam and Ross from their previous bands and had been to a couple of shows and really liked them. I told Sam's flat mate that I loved their band and it must have got back to him because not long after he asked if I wanted to try out on drums for them. Barry joined at the same time and the rest is (very minor) history.

- What contemporary artists would you compare yourself to or describe as an influence?
Mmmm, there's too many to mention! I wouldn't like to compare ourselves to a band musically, but I do agree with a lot of things that bands like Death Cab For Cutie and RX Bandits stand for. They purely make music for themselves and the joy of it, and have a really refreshing outlook on being in a band. If we could be considered in the same pool as bands like that we'd be very happy.

- You were recently involved in high profile gigs with The Lost Prophets and a tour with The Subways how important is support roles like these in the bands up rise or progression?
They are so important. I know that the first time I saw/heard of many of my favourite bands was supporting a bigger artist. That’s why when you have these supports you have to put as much into it as you would your own gig, perhaps even more. Usually, 90% or more of the crowd is not there to see your band so you have to fight for their attention. When it comes together you can actually see the crowd warming to you and some of these people can become real fans in that instant.

- How hard is it to create originality with your music in a city like Glasgow with such a fantastic music scene?
You try not to think about it! We have always tried to make the music that we wanted to make so we try not to think about what's going on in the scene around us. We don't intentionally try to be different either, I think a lot of the diversity in our music comes from the fact we're all from quite different musical backgrounds.

- How does it feel to be standing out from literally hundreds of bands as being a group with real potential and the chance of the big time?
Again, the minute you start thinking you’re bigger than everyone else is the second you lose track of what you started making music together for. We've all played in bands before where we never really got anywhere, and we do realize that our band has been very lucky and people seem to like what we're doing. We're just going to continue to keep doing what we're doing and see what happens!

- Finally what can fans expect from Twin Atlantic in the near future?
Hopefully a lot! We want to build on everything we managed to achieve in 2008, and just grow as a band. Expect an album, more tours, bigger songs, and more impressive shows - pretty much everything bigger!

Arctic Monkeys - Humbug

Arctic Monkeys
Humbug

The Arctic Monkeys are back and they’re back with their third album ‘Humbug’. Recorded in California with Josh Homme, frontman of Queens of the Stone Age, the band have created a darker sound that takes their music to a whole new level. Following the success of their highly-acclaimed debut album ‘Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not’ in 2006, and the more hard-edged second ‘Favourite Worst Nightmare’ a year later, ‘Humbug’ is a more mature album that displays the musical abilities within the band.

Throughout the album, Homme’s influence is clear as the songs are more sinister and menacing than in previous collections. Truthfully, this heavier sound is quite hard to get your head around after a first listen but ‘Humbug’ proves to be the most coherent Monkeys album to date as the tracks move seamlessly from start to finish. Alex Turner’s voice continues to improve, especially on opening track ‘My Propeller’ but it is his lyrics that remain the most striking thing about his albums. While they seem darker than before, the sarcastic sneering that characterised the earliest albums are still there, particularly in ‘Dance Little Liar’ and the more unsettling penultimate track ‘Pretty Visitors’. The album’s best track ‘Crying Lightening’, although not as volcanic as ‘Brianstorm’ on ‘Favourite Worst Nightmare’ is just as memorable and very moreish.

This is a brave move by the Arctic Monkeys who seem to have grown in confidence in their own abilities. It would be easy to create a dozen new albums full of anthems like ‘I Bet You Look Good On the Dancefloor’ and ‘When the Sun Goes Down’ but it is clear that they want to move away from this image that was then followed by a huge number of bands who just proved to be pale imitators. Many fans will wonder why the band has changed something that was working so well as they are in danger of losing the killer melodies that they are most famous for. On the other hand, never comfortable with their unofficial title as the ‘voice of a generation’, ‘Humbug’ shrugs off this burden as they take a big step forward, ensuring an interesting future.

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