I LIKE TRAINS/TSDOLE Live @ The Wedgewood Rooms, 24/10/2009

I have to hit the ground running this evening as the moment the barmaid hands me my Jack Daniels & Coke than local post-rockers Aeroplane Attack take to the stage built on the rock solid foundation of Rusty Sheriff’s drums and K.O. Desai’s throbbing bass, their three guitarists overlap, supporting each other one moment and clashing the next to create captivating soundscapes. This is music to lose yourself in and the swelling crowds are lapping it up. Next are Nottingham boys Swimming, the material is solid but they don’t seem to capture the audience until their final number, when they finally break out the more interesting sound that runs throughout their recent album.
When The Strange Death Of Liberal England appear there is an immediate hush, it’s clear who this audience are here to see. As Andrew Wright dances around, one hand fastened to his keyboard and front man Adam Woolway’s unique vocals fill the room even those huddled in the bar are quiet and attentive (well, relatively). Having seen them last with an orchestra supporting them, it takes a couple of songs to get used to them just being a band again but by the time of ‘Like A Curtain Fallin’ my feet are joining everyone else’s in tapping along involuntarily. TSDOLE are sometimes labelled the best band to emerge from Portsmouth in recent years and on this evidence it’s a compelling argument!
By the time I Like Trains start their set the audience is buzzing and the doom and gloom of the Leeds quartet’s music seems to struggle to make an immediate impact. These guys are clearly very good, but I can’t help but wonder if others feel as I do, that after the joy of Strange Death’s set, I Like Trains are bringing me down a little. Nonetheless the songs are very well written and the band, ploughing the same furrows as the likes of Editors, write some impressively melancholy songs. Perhaps they’d have affected me more if they’d swapped places on the bill with the guys who had preceded them though?

NEWSFLASH: I Like Trains and Strange Death Of Liberal England Co-Headline Gig

I Like Trains are a band reborn, well known for their unique brand of forlorn and world weary music, this Leeds based collective have discovered a ray of light as evidenced by their new single ‘Sea Of Regrets’. It’s not exactly a happy track, but gone is the despair of the past, replaced with a glinting glimmer of hope! Inspired by the work of environmental scientists like George Monbiot and James Lovelock, the new single questions humanity’s place in nature’s cycle. It’s the first track from an album due early next year and one of many fresh new tracks the band will be debuting on their tour.
The Yorkshire pessimists will be joined onstage by a beaming ray of uplifting music care of The Strange Death Of Liberal England. The antithesis of I Like Trains’ gloom, TSDOLE’s music seems to come from another place entirely, with even their more downbeat tracks strangely heartening. To those who regularly attend local shows, these guys will need no introduction having played a sell out show at The New Theatre Royal this year and taking the prize for the first band of the day to have people queuing to try and catch them at Southsea Fest.
If that isn’t enough, there will be support from Nottingham’s own Swimming whose tunes recall Pixies, Animal Collective and all points in between. Portsmouth’s own Aeroplane Attack will be playing too, their epic, sprawling post rock instrumentals the perfect way to take an audience to another place and get them in the mood for a brilliantly diverse evening’s music.

Check out I Like Trains: http://www.myspace.com/iliketrains
Check out TSDOLE: http://www.myspace.com/tsdole
Check out Swimming: http://www.myspace.com/swimmingband 
Check out Aeroplane Attack: http://www.myspace.com/aeroplaneattack

SINGLES CORNER! 25/05/2009

Jelly Maid

Portsmouth’s own electro-rockers return with a track that sounds like the lead up to the evening out it celebrates. We weren’t too impressed by their live set, but this is a slice of synth driven loveliness that really works. If your idea of a good Saturday night involves prowling bars looking for the right person, this is your new anthem!

OLIVER KOLETZKI – Yes We Can

Hell Yeah

Berlin based techno/house maestro Koltzki returns with this infectious slice of layered sound to your ears. Better than I’d have hoped, this is an atmospheric track that really makes the listener think, the only problem is that it doesn’t seem to have a home, it’s not really suited for the dance floor, but neither is it the sort of music you can imagine listening to at home. Pity as it’s a great little track.

SWIMMING – Panthalassa

Colourschool

A big bundle of synths and a swathe of eighties influences. So far, so much like everything else coming along at the moment. These guys ignore the po-faced miserablist approach and sound like they’re actually enjoying themselves. If you have a listen I think you might too…

RANCID – Last One To Die

Hellcat/Epitaph

Rancid are, lets be honest, the punk act that most polarise the listener, you either love or hate them. This isn’t likely to change the doubters mind, but if you’re already pro- Tim Armstrong then there’s a lot to like on this back to basics tune!

BLATTA & INESHA – Revolution

Hell Yeah

Big bouncy bass lines, choppy vocal samples and more bleeps and whoops than you could shake a shiny stick at. Fidgety Italian electro dons Blatta & Inesha have crafted a track that will have heaving dance floors everywhere jittering away while strobe lights flicker overhead. Not my bag, but done very, very well indeed.