Circus of Death

Anna C dices with a couple of demos

CIRCUS OF DEATH- Demo

Here is a band that forces me to admit that new wave electro-goth is not my speciality. So, from what I can make out, this four-piece sound like David Byrne taking on David Gahan in a disco-dancing competition somewhere in a West Country village hall. A competition judged by Sisters of Mercy. If you can imagine that. Though, while this is certainly an acquired taste, and one that time stands still for, Circus of Death, whose singer more than looks "the part", perform with such passion and intensity that, if, like me, this is not your bag, it can only serve to open your eyes on what you might be missing out on. Worth an arse wiggle anyway. In all seriousness, of course.

www.myspace.com/nightsatthecircus

ZUMA- Shimmer

Portsmouth-based quartet Zuma took their name from the Neil Young and Crazy Horse album entitled, unsurprisingly, "Zuma", an album that also apparently inspired their band philosophy of creating "beautifully crafted, tuneful songs in a colourful and honest way". Unfortunately, I beg to differ. I personally always blamed Neil Young for the rather dodgy period Pearl Jam went through whilst recording "Riot Act", a time when nothing was either tuneful or colourful. Though you may be relieved to hear that Zuma don't sound like the old codger anyway. But just like Feeder. Which makes my job slightly more pleasant and fairly easy. To get to the point, although having never really been a fan of this form of British rock, I have to that the quality of this demo is impressive. Lots of crunching guitars and driving pogo-licious beats merge with some great melodic vocals to sum up something that, yes, you will have heard before, but definitely remains an uplifting song for the summer that you may appreciate. Not the most offensive thing I've heard, by any means.

www.myspace.com/zumaspace

Do some stunts of your own about this review on our message boards here