THE DAWN CHORUS – The Carnival Leaves Town

The Dawn Chorus are an act we’ve had our eye on for some time, ever since we got our grubby little paws on their debut album (reviewed here) we’ve been excited by their ability to weave the mundane and everyday into something rather lovely.
With this, their second album the band – aided and abetted by guitar toting cult punk-troubadour Frank Turner – have expanded their sound and also taken it to some intriguing, dark places. If the first disc introduced The Dawn Chorus, then this is their Empire Strikes Back, a much more complex and interesting piece.
The carnival theme runs throughout, as do topics and characters touched up on in earlier songs, and the album flows much better as a whole than as a set of songs. The exception to this rule would be first single Carnivalesque. I won’t go into too much detail on this track as I’ve already reviewed it here, but suffice it to say that it’s a great introduction to the themes of this set of songs. Other tracks well worth a look include Heartbeats in 5/4 and Green, Unpleasant Land but, as previously stated, it is as a cohesive whole that this album is strongest.
Once again The Dawn Chorus prove to be exciting and interesting in equal measure and I, for one, can’t wait for the third instalment!

Check out The Dawn Chorus here: www.myspace.com/thedawnchorusuk

SINGLES CORNER! 13/01/2010

Apoloies for the delys folks, this edition of singles corner should have gone up on Monday, but with the tracks we’ve got for you we think you’ll agree that it was worth the wait. So, without any further stalling, let’s check out this weeks singles.

WHITE RABBITS – Percussion Gun
TBD Records

Starting with, as the title might suggest, machine gun drumming this track kicks off straight away with a momentum that isn’t slowed by the addition of vocals, guitars and handclaps. This isn’t by any stretch an amazing track but it’s a good introduction to the band and gives a flavour of what to expect from their new album.

ASH – Space Shot
Atomic Heart Records

Filing into the cosmic canon of Ash singles alongside Girl From Mars, this initially sounds like Muse-lite, but once that familiar vocal kicks in, you could almost turn the clock back to the late nineties. This songs kicks up regularly on the radio and it fits there beautifully, but grab a copy of the single for some cracking remixes too!

SUB FOCUS – Could This Be Real
Ram Records

A change of direction now and we head away from guitar central into turntable territory. This is an anthemic track, I can almost imagine it as the anthem for the first wave of dance music in 2010, it certainly has a staying factor about it.

THE DAWN CHORUS – Carnivalesque
Jelly Maid Music

We loved the Dawn Chorus’ debut album and this track, opening with trumpet and swiftly establishing the jaunty rhythms and melancholic vocals that have become somewhat of a trademark. The addition of more aggressive vocals courtesy of Frank Turner adds a new element that takes the band up a notch. We were already looking forward to the new album, now we’re downright excited!

GIL CANG – Gotta Be A Way
myspace.com/soundsofgil

Drizabone production team member Gil has worked with the likes of Michael Jackson and Amy Winehouse and here, he seems to have found his muse in Swedish/Trinidadian Bluey Robinson, a recent signee to Sony Records. This soulful R&B track has a mellow vibe that’s accentuated by Bluey’s melted chocolate vocals and the simple production. This is a winner!

SOUTHSEA FEST: Liz Croly’s View

As I wander to The Wine Vaults to get myself and a few friends our tickets, I’m already aware that it’s going to be a long day, I thought I’d made a reasonably early effort by arriving at midday, the already intoxicated seemed to disagree. I’m queuing to receive my band and hear a familiar voice, as we get chatting I realise he’s just one of the many people trying to scam themselves a free wristband through friends of friends and multiple involvements in bands, then again if you can- why on earth not?

Having “ahoy matey” on my wrist I make it back to visit a friend at work in The Fat Fox where The Boy I Used To Be is already half way through their set. Previously I’d heard only good things about them and therefore stayed to listen, in a reasonably empty room it was a pretty good set and calm at that. The first drink of the day is underway and it was off to a pleasant start. After a few more drinks we head straight to LJR where we appear to walk in on what looks like a confusing set up for The Racketeers, here I found myself a bystander in a conversation between a friend and Keith from The Dawn Chorus, as they discuss the bands success in playing Bestival I begin to research when and where they’ll be playing and am intrigued to heard what this seemingly coy band has to offer.

A friends younger brother was playing Wine Vaults, having not heard them in a while I went to see The Unknown Soldiers and was surprised by the improvement the boys had made and continued to enjoy the youthful bands strong and obvious Doors influenced sound. Beau Curtis’s deep and dark vocals gave an interesting feel to the room and it was nice to see them playing again. Dragon Eye Morrison on the other hand have never been a great passion of mine and once again I thought I’d try and enjoy their set but it’s simply not for me, with their great popularity I completely understand that something about them must be attention grabbing and enjoyable but I’m yet to notice this. The Edge of the Wedge had a brilliant atmosphere during their performance however I failed to stay for the whole set purely because I felt that the first half had shown me all I needed- and this was that not matter how much I want to, I won’t understand the great attraction to Dragon Eye Morrison.

We then returned to LJR to see the previously mentioned Dawn Chorus who weren’t as coy as I formerly thought, this showed a whole new light on the guys. They played a great set with plenty of stage presence and you could see the band enjoyed playing as much as the audience enjoyed listening- as my first time of hearing them I was pleasantly surprised. Continuing, I went to see Le Plat De Jour put on a confusing yet brilliant set, with witty banter from the vocalist and multiple instrument swaps from her fellow band mate, the two offered a poetic and shy performance that fit The Magic Bean Café perfectly. The audience remained quiet throughout the majority of the set, despite the slight repetitiveness I thoroughly enjoyed the peculiar noises the pair produced. Now, I’m going to be completely honest, from this point on my memory escapes me… Small details come back to me every so often but apart from that I fail to remember some of the night- especially the band names.

I remember what bands looked like, and my opinion of them, however struggle to recall the name. Wine Vaults had a show with a desirable guitarist and their folk rock sound gave a great atmosphere. However Django Django were more than memorable, the mathrock set in The Loft threw me off, and despite my drunken state I was able to enjoy their show completely. With the energy presented to the audience the band enticed the viewers to enjoy their set entirely. I then went to The Wedgewood Rooms to see Little Fish and once again wasn’t let down, I had seen them recently at LJR for the first time and thought they were great and the second time was no different. The loud and carefree set got even the “trendiest” members of the audience to forget they weren’t trying to impress the population of Albert Road and actually enjoy themselves, which was perfect for the beginning of the end to Southsea Fest. I left having sobered up and completely satisfied with the day; mostly great people, mostly great music and an unbeatable atmosphere.

SOUTHSEA FEST PREVIEW: The Gang Bang Stage

THE DAWN CHORUS AND FRIENDS – Live @ The Cellars At Eastney 17/04/09

We at Call Upon The Author have a great deal of time for Stiff Promotions, not only do they consistently put on top gigs, but they have a great reputation for looking after their performers too, so it was with utmost anticipation that we trekked to The Cellars At Eastney. Tonight’s bill sees The Dawn Chorus return from their short tour around the UK with The B Of The Bang in tow. they’ve invited some friends too, Holdfast and CM Arnold and the Delta Breaks, who are first on stage tonight. It’s front man Clym’s birthday and this seems to have fortified him with enough strength to bellow his vocals at the audience as his band play punchy blues rock and propel their vocalist to levels of energy not seen since the days of The Deads. This is good stuff indeed and a great way to start the night. Holdfast are next up, winners of The News’ Guide Award, they showed their quality with a truly beautiful set. Singer Roberta’s vocals wafted over some superbly crafted songs, this girl is the complete package, a talented musician with a truly haunting voice and enough charisma to spare. Bassist Ben and Toby on drums kept the tracks pumping with an often frenzied beat whilst guitarist Adam, the previously missing piece of the jigsaw puzzle, provided the lynchpin to their sound. These guys (and gal) were previously a band I really admired, but after tonight they’ve leapt into my absolute favourites! The B Of The Bang, old friends to this site already, were up next. It was a different set from these guys tonight, almost subdued by their standards, but in no way lacking the emotional punch they always pack. ‘Lung’ was particularly haunting with the slightly more sparse arrangement, and when Roberta joined Wit to sing ‘Dolores’ the hairs stood up on the back of this writer’s neck! Finally the returning Dawn Chorus took to the stage. I was a little apprehensive after seeing them at the Jelly Maid showcase, but tonight they showed just how foolish I can be! This was a superb set, bright and bubbly and sounding utterly lovely. In fact, on tonight’s evidence the band should  go down an absolute treat on their forthcoming festival appearances! Track after track from their brilliant debut album soared through the venue, leaving the audiences beaming and toes everywhere tapping. Vocalist Kyle Evans sounded like he was having the time of his life and judging by the way the band were playing he wasn’t the only one. With the chiming trumpet of ‘The Big Adventure (Part Two)’ filling this listener’s head and sound tracking the whole of the weekend, I have spent the last couple of days wondering if this is the best line-up I’ll see on stage this year? It’ll certainly be tough to stop it!

Check out Stiff Promotions at: www.stiffpromotions.co.uk

Check out The Dawn Chorus at: www.myspace.com/thedawnchorusuk

Check out The B Of The Bang at: www.myspace.com/thebofthebang

Checkout Holdfast at: www.myspace.com/holdfast

Check out CM Arnold and The Delta Breaks at: www.myspace.com/cmarnoldandthedeltabreaks

NEWSFLASH: Top Portsmouth Bands to play Eastney Cellars on Friday 17th April

Fresh off the road from their debut UK tour, Jelly Maid record’s The Dawn Chorus return home to Portsmouth to wrap their heartfelt tunes around the intimate interior of The Cellars at Eastney. Having stockpiled praise from a number of sources in 2008, from the likes of Clash Magazine, who wrote about their “Beautifully Melancholic Songwriting” to Rock Sound lauding the band’s debut release as “A Country-Pop classic waiting to happen” these guys are certainly earning the praise. Indeed just a month ago they headlined their record label’s inaugural showcase event in a packed to the brims Wedgewood Rooms!Their debut release, The Big Adventure, is a disc designed to actually be listened to. Here is a band who crafted an album of songs that actually fit together and flow, rather than throwing eleven random songs onto a disc. In the live arena they have a fearsome reputation for providing heart rending music that envelops the audience and takes it on a journey. Coming on like the UK’s answer to The Shins there really is something unique about these guys.

Support comes from two of Portsmouth’s best loved bands The B of the Bang and Holdfast. The B Of The Bang too, have just returned from tour, supporting their lasbel mates up and down the country, providing audiences with the rare site of the same line up for consecutive gigs. No doubt now that they’re home front man Wit will have some surprises in store as his ever changing collective take to the stage! Holdfast, winners at the 2008 Guide Awards, take to the stage with a set of vice like tightness, centred around the surprisingly powerful vocals of petite vocalist Roberta and built on rock solid rhythms to present a set of post-punk/electro pop exquisiteness! 

The Dawn Chorus are at The Cellars At Eastney on Friday 17^th April 2009. 

FROM THE VAULTS: THE DAWN CHORUS – The Big Adventure

Opening an album with the title track isn’t something most bands like to do, but with the Big Adventure, it’s the perfect way to introduce Portsmouth’s The Dawn Chorus. With its Bright Eyes-esque folksy vibe and sunny disposition the track (or at least the first part of it) ease the listener into this young five piece’s sound, just to throw a curveball when track two, The Big Adventure Part Two kicks in sounding like the first track remixed by Marius De Vries (Rufus Wainwright producer known for his orchestral production) clearly this band have ambitions beyond folksy rock. The album trundles on, like the soundtrack to a lazy summer Sunday, the bands eternally bright outlook and upbeat melodies reminiscent of The Old 97s, certainly no bad thing. These lads are certainly more intelligent than the average band vying for that £10 note in your pocket that you’ve earmarked for a new CD! That they’ve titled a song Marie Antoinette is enough of an indicator, but continually articulate lyrics which capture life in Portsmouth, and especially on its music scene, perfectly, especially in Fractured City’s “I don’t mind playing empty clubs/or bleeding my heart out to football thugs/but I do have a problem when this city screams that you can’t get out/you can never escape me”. If this is the starting point, then it looks like this band really are on a big adventure!

JELLY MAID MUSIC SHOWCASE – Live @ The Wedgewood Rooms, 26/03/09

Here at Call Upon The Author we’ve been keeping tabs on the good folks at Jelly Maid Music for some time. Last year we were dazzled by the debut release by Dawn Chorus and our thoughts on B of The Bang are well documented here. So, when we realised label boss Rich Tamblyn was putting all his acts on the same bill we thought it would be rude not to pop down to The Wedgewood Rooms and see what would unfold.

B of the Bang were first up, and the larger venue seemed to do wonders for the bands sound. Wit and his rabble seemed to expand their outlook with every new song, swamping the audience with dual (sometimes even triple) layers of production and making the most of the crystal clear sound offered to them. Hints of middle eastern rhythms seeped in and out of a set that was pretty much flawless, but the highlight was undoubtedly the haunting rendition of Lung.

Next up were Autons, whose stark electronic rock was undoubtedly well crafted but, sadly, didn’t do much for this writer. Clearly I was in the minority though as the rest of the audience seemed to be loving their tunes.

Melodramas were the enigma on the line up, a band I knew of, but hadn’t heard. I’d certainly been missing out though, as evidenced by the roaring welcome the group got when they hit the stage. Frontman Matt Woolway has the rock star swagger down pat and the band have the tunes to back it up. Undoubtedly local anthem Albert Rd received a great reception (the song is about the street where the venue is located). These guys have potential by the bucket load and I can’t wait to hear more from them!

Last up were The Dawn Chorus and, it has to be said, I was a little disheartened. Their album was one of my favourites of last year, but they seemed to be a little off the pace here. Strangely, after some superb work form the sound technicians on the previous acts, these guys sounded fuzzy and a little unclear, muddying their folk tinged tunes. A shame, they have superb tunes and a great reputation as a live act, but somehow it just didn’t work for me.

Still, it has to be said, Tamblyn has some great acts and Jelly Maid certainly looks to be a label worth watching.