Portland, Oregon’s finest - Parenthetical Girls brought their theatrical saccharine pop over to the UK for the first time (in a support set for Mt. Eerie and Upset The Rhythm) to play London’s Dome Hall. It’s a strange venue but one I could get used to if truth be told, and a venue which definitely suits them to a T. Their set is especially notable for vocalist Zac Pennington’s very camp over the top and melodramatic stage antics as he jumps in to the crowd and goes walkabouts, engaging with the audience - reminiscent of an Of Montreal show or to a lesser extent, The Decemberists. Also noteworthy is just how each member - Rachael Jensen (I think I’m in love), Eddy Crichton and Matt Carlson are all proficient with all sharing a variety of instrumental duties. I lost count of how many times they all interchanged and mixed and matched. Great fun all around. If that sounds like your cup o’ tea - be sure to check them out on tour – Details here. Continue Reading

Dananananaykroyd

Currently two thirds through an epic tour, Dananananaykroyd tore through Kingston’s weekly indie club night, New Slang. Not one half-drunk indie urchin was left untouched by the feelgood vibes in what was a truly explosive night of prime live music.

First up were Brontide, who my friend assures me sounded just like cult math behemoths Russian Circles. However, as I’ve never heard of that band (just thought it might be an easy comparison for those in the know), I was forced to make my own judgement. For starters, this band are tight. Where some techy bands fall a bit flat on their faces when it comes to the live performance, fretwork racing away from them as they try to keep in time with the military drumming, there was no such problems for Brontide. Nathan (bass) and Timothy (guitar) were on fire, creating intricate tapped melodies that shied away from cliche, before dropping into head-mashing breaks that could almost be described as beatdowns. William (drums) should also be commended for his ability to switch between Battles esque rabid beats and hardcore, fill heavy drops without fear of contrast. Brontide do a great job of marrying many different influences and presenting it in a package that is both pop and live performance friendly. Set highlight was the mid-point rendition of ‘Crunk Anansie’, a prime example of what makes Brontide a quality band. Strong contrasts, great musicianship, and above all instrumental songs that actually maintain interest rather than discourage.

Brontide

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Photographs by Dan Austin

Post-rock giants This Will Destroy You tore up the Music Box in Manchester last month. Here, our photographer Dan Austin, gives you the view from the front.

This Will Destroy You on MySpace

Photos by Rich Thane | Words by Rich Hughes

It’s been a while coming… unlike Mr. Richard Thane (here and here), I’ve not had the pleasure of seeing Fleet Foxes live yet. I’ve lived with the album for, what feels like, a lifetime. It’s become an essential album, one I turn to frequently when I want to drift away and escape from the confines of my Credit Crunched life. And yet, as I approached The Junction on a freezing cold night, I was worried. I know these songs inside out, how will they translate live? Will the vocal harmonies still resonate so spectacularly? By the hushed expectation of the crowd, I don’t think I was the only one with these concerns… Continue Reading

Photographs by Ama Chana

Why?’s stock has certainly grown over the last few months. Barely six months ago they were almost unknown to all but the most on-the-ball hipsters and established Anticon fans but the word-of-mouth success of third LP Alopecia has seen their fanbase expand enough to sell out the thousand-capacity London Scala. And for the most part, the indie hip-hoppers deserve the acclaim afforded to them- their engaging mix of breezy indie-rock melodies and dark, often rapped lyrics are done full justice by a unit of immensely talented musicians despite the occasional minor misstep.

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Back in June, Fleet Foxes were just finishing off their first ever UK tour. A handful of dates around the major cities, showcasing their just released self titled album and Sun Giant EP. They had lots to prove, the hyperbole surrounding them was unprecedented - everyone from Plan B magazine to Aled Jones (?!) on Radio 2 were talking about them. THE buzz band of 2008, for want of a better phrase.

After a sold-out show at London’s ULU, which pretty much left me speechless for about 30 minutes afterwards, Fleet Foxes announced a headline slot at one of London’s prime venues; the Shepherds Bush Empire. It sold out within 24 hours, as did the subsequent tour. Surely this would be one of the most important and celebrative gigs of their short career so far? Continue Reading

Wintermute

A Badge of Friendship is back at The Lexington, proudly joined by The Line of Best Fit and offering an alternative Saturday night out. Unfortunately the place is slow to fill out but the half north London, half south London Elks offer a mixture of warm post-rock harmonies and gritty Biffy Clyro-esque guitar riffs. Songs such as ‘Sorry For The Inconvenience’ are packed full of energy and angst, this time specifically addressed at the National Express for traveling difficulties! Their performance culminates in an off stage venture as they break out a megaphone for the finale before Leeds’ Wintermute takes over. With a set that is audaciously full of stop-start rhythms, infectious pop melodies and half shouted lyrics their sound is akin to the Foals jagged, angular musical formula. Their explosive energy fills out the floor and has the crowd dancing along during their short set, which is not complete without the obligatory indie “bah-bah-bah-dahs” in their final song. Continue Reading

With a sophomore album that went straight into the Canadian College charts at number 1 in August, and has been firmly nestled in the top 15 ever since, things are looking positive for Vancouver two piece The Pack A.D. With their raw garage rock’n’soul show, the band have been tearing up Europe and have just played three shows in London, drawing comparisons with the Black Keys, White Stripes and Janis Joplin along the way.

Ro Cemm went along for the ride and lived to tell the tale (and provide the pictures). Oh, and on a cold night in Tufnell Park, he managed to get Becky Black (Guitars and Vocals) and Maya Miller (Drums, Banter) to answer the infamous TLOBF Twenty Questions. Continue Reading

Lightning Bolt

Jeepers. As gigs are coming up thick and fast this time of season and after talking a good talk about having a super-cool themed costume all at the ready, I wasn’t even prepared for ‘Release The Bats’. My memory has been mush since I got taken down by the killer-man-flu fever doing the rounds though it has to be said. Better act fast. I make a phone call to my friend James the evening before, pleading with him if I can borrow his gruesome Saw-esque Pig-mask to which he duly obliges. Result. Just need to pick it up now… Cutting it a little fine though… Continue Reading

Tonight there is a new member in Lambchop’s rhythm section. Along side the bass and drums is a gilded figure of about 8 feet in height. It’s Jesus Christ. We are at St. George’s Church in Kemptown, which, frankly, is a contender for most spectacular venue in the country. It’s quite a setting for Kurt Wagner and co’s classic songwriting. Continue Reading

Los Campesinos. All photographs courtesy of Valerio Berdini and taken at the London leg of the tour.

I think me and my friends are getting boring. I should be at the peak of my young-and-aliveness, but now the golden days of spring are past and I’m just tired and contented, this once-exuberant music nerd, captured at least for now the perfect beautiful, dorky girl everything about my hobbies had been basically aimed at, and I’m left just… enjoying it? Since when is mere enjoyment something to fucking feel?

If this accelerated process of spiritual ageing is actually mostly in my head as a sort of dumbass way of processing genuine happiness (ohh god look at me, I’m such a contented cunt) but anyway, if this is anything to go by, I’ll be looking back nostalgically at ‘You! Me! Dancing!’ somewhen about next month. I don’t care whether you can maybe state a case for its ubiquity or not, it’s a really special song that basically sums up perfectly everything about the indie clubnight experience. But hey, haha, when Los Campesinos play it tonight I’m not one of the kids at the front bouncing about so alive, I’m slightly detached, jerking about, appreciating it myself in my own little bubble of “yes, this is personally significant”-ince. Continue Reading

Is this it? Apparently it is. Dirty Pretty Things announced their split and what was, until few days ago, just another tour from Carl Barat & Friends is now intended as their last.

It’s not a great night though. A dismissive feeling permeates throughout the Junction, or is it just me? Dirty Pretty Things generously cover the majority of their entire repertoire, but the fact is that half of it is quite poor. A concert that starts with ‘Wondering’, closes with ‘Deadwood’, encores with Nirvana’s ‘In Bloom’, ‘BURMA’ and ‘Bang Bang You’re Dead’ speaks volumes. Songs from their second album are lost in the middle of a set whilst all the highs are from the debut. The English public are a picky bunch, they won’t give you a second chance if you miss a single, and it goes without saying what happens if you fail with an entire album. Continue Reading

No one likes to see someone blow their own trumpet… unless it’s Prince of course, but we thought we’d bring you some photos from our very first TLOBF Gig night. Held in the wonderful premises of The Portland Arms in Cambridge, a sell-out crowd were wooed by the the line-up of The Last Dinosaur, Victoria & Jacob and Vessels. Thanks to all the bands and everyone who came - it wouldn’t have been such a success without you! Continue Reading

Frightened Rabbit

Thanks to the enterprising souls behind London’s newest and most evocatively named inner-city festival, Concrete & Glass, a drizzly Thursday night spent bar-hopping in Shoreditch suddenly looked less like a punishment for a past life’s misdeeds and more like a chance to hear some genuinely exciting live music. TLOBF staked out a prime spot at Hoxton Bar & Kitchen, cameras and pencils in hand. Continue Reading

Currently on a UK tour in support of the much loved (by TLOBF anyway) album Do You Like Rock Music?, British Sea Power rolled up to the Academy in Birmingham earlier this week. One of our trusted photographers, Jacob Saunders was there to capture the action.. Continue Reading

On a cold, miserable October night, in the dingy hole that is Brighton’s Engine Rooms John ‘Speedo’ Reis (formerly of Pitchfork/ Drive Like Jehu/ Hot Snakes/ Rocket From The Crypt) and his compadres (Formerly of Hot Snakes/ CPC Gangbangs and others) once again bring his unique take on ‘Rock or Roll’ to the UK. Fusing heavy Riffs and Reis’ paint stripper vocals this is much more the pop side of things in comparison to the brutality of Hot Snakes or Drive Like Jehu. What remains apparent however is that Reis is a charming and hugely engaging frontman, who quickly has the sparse crowd eating out the palm of his hand, despite arriving on stage more than half an hour later then scheduled. At one point he gets the entire crowd to introduce themselves to the person on their left (luckily for me, the person on my left was Reis himself.’Hi, I’m John. Nice to Meet you’). He goes on to sing the praises of Brighton’s pebble beach, the glory of living near the sea and how he was sad to see the go-karting replaced with a beach volleyball court. Continue Reading

On record, Left With Pictures sound like a quintessential English band. Their songs stay just the right side of twee with flourishes of whimsical chamber pop - a breath of fresh air in the currently over crowded sub genre of Alt Folk/Anti Folk/Nu Folk (whatever you want to call it). We recently gave their Secretly EP a whopping 91% on the TLOBF-richter-scale - all you need do is listen to the track we gave away on last months mixtape to understand why. It’s lush. We love it so much in fact that we’ve asked the band to be a part of our first TLOBF Club Night which is being held at Old Blue Last in London on 20th October. The trio will be joined by their pals (and equally talented) Fireworks Night and the magnificent Leisure Society. DJ duties will be with Sweden’s Air France, who are flying in especially for the show. Oh, and it’s free entry too. More info here.

But back to the task in hand, a last minute email to TLOBF Towers tipped us off to a special and rather intimate performance by Left With Pictures at East End boozer The Slaughtered Lamb. We sent our faithful snapper Lucy Johnston down there to capture the action. Apparently it was a wonderful evening, looks like it too if the pictures are anything to go by.. And we’re just loving the bunting. Like I said, quintessentially English.

mp3:> Left With Pictures: ‘Super-8′ Continue Reading

Polly Scattergood. All photographs by Simon Leak.

Tonight Polly Scattergood is playing at one of these wristband events that seem to take place every week, where you get access to several venues over the course of an evening. The event is called Nail the Cross and the venue is The Walpole. It is virtually empty. On a Saturday night. In London. Which is a shame as it’s actually a nice little venue with friendly staff. On the plus side we are able to secure seats the bar. On a Saturday night. In London. The rest of the audience appears to made up of a few friends of other artists playing tonight and a couple of groups having a meal. Continue Reading

Tonight I’m seeing Dead Meadow. Now, many who are not familiar with the Los Angeles trio’s live sets might not know what that first sentence implies… those who are however, will. I know, without a whisper of a doubt that tonight I shall leave the venue (tonight its the ungainly 229) like so many times before, grinning like an inane idiot, humming and warbling bass lines and guitar riffs for as long as my eyes are awake and my vocal chords will oblige. Tonight is Dead Meadow, and I can hardly contain myself. Continue Reading

For some reason, a well known alcoholic beverage company has decided the week BEFORE the students hit town, to put on a series of gigs in Brighton town. The twist being that these are the first set of gigs to be played ‘silent disco’ style. That means electronic drums, headphones, and apparently a random Dutch radio broadcast.

The night starts badly when I am told that due to the ‘well known beverage company’ I can’t have an orange juice and lemonade. If your going to go WAAAAY over the top with your branding, then perhaps it is wise not to annoy people and prevent them from drinking non alcoholic drinks. Just a thought. Oh, and don’t give out feather boas, hats and gloves either. Perhaps I am just too old for this (at 26 I’m definitely one of the older faces in the young crowd). The whole idea of the silent disco live experience is odd- almost as if a gimmick was required to make loud music more entertaining. Then why no support band? Instead we have to endure 2 hours (yes two hours) of inane anglo-dutch djing, playing everything from old swing to hard house remixes with the occasional classic thrown in for good measure. My favourite mix of the night? That has to be going from Glenn Miller’s ‘In the Mood’ to Rage Against The Machine’s ‘Killing in the Name’. Only when you hear a bunch of drunk moron’s shouting “F**K YOU I WON’T DO WHAT YOU TELL ME” with no music, at the tops of their voices, does the pathetically adolescent nature of that song really hit home. As the ‘hits’ keep coming the occasional voice comes in and warbles along, hilariously if you, like me, aren’t wearing the headphones. This is part of the novelty of the silent disco. That and watching people dance like idiots.

However, in the live environment it simply does not work. If like me you get stuck next to the band’s biggest tone-deaf fan all you end up hearing is them droning along. The volume levels are such that the sing-along fan drowns out the music from the stage quite easily. Headphones just aren’t cut out for live sound, as anyone who has ever tried to play electric guitar through one will tell you. Everything sounds as if it’s in a cave, guitars reedy thin and keyboards virtually non existent. Only vocals and e-drum kit fair well in the mix. Not that any of this is the fault of Mystery Jets of course. It is a shame that the quality of sound wasn’t better for their polished 80’s pop tunes. During ‘Alas Agnes’ I took off my headphones to hear an effective three part harmony in accapella, which was surely the highlight of the night. These boys certainly seem to have a way with a melody, as ‘Two doors down” and ‘Young Love” testify, the crowd singing tunelessly along with every word. They too, it seems, find the whole event somewhat weird, but take it in their stride, throwing down some electronic beats on the E-drum kit while Blaine makes the sound of a Klaxon and bassist Kai Fish throws shapes while wearing an audience donated pair of barred glasses. “This is weird. We look like f***ing aliens. It hasn’t been the same same since we got back from Ibiza Rocks. What a mistake.” Continue Reading