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Like watching Kerry Katona trying to drown a fish... The Fins: Adaptor From the depths of Hampshire come The Fins. With their debut single, ‘Adaptor’, comes Indie with a distinct difference. The title track Adaptor opens with a thumping bass beat that will get anyone’s foot stomping. The lyrics in the verse don’t really stand out from the background sound, but after a quiet interlude comes the chorus, crash landing into your speakers. Everything kicks off in an explosion of harmonies and guitars and then suddenly it’s all over and back into the dullness of the verses. This has some desired effects and eventually you can really come round to the song and get into the wailing solo.
Some may see ‘Adaptor’ as predictable but the track ‘Face Behind the Wall’ will dispel any ideas you have. The opening drum beat soon extends into an offbeat guitar rhythm, and the vocals in this track don’t merge but scream out at you. The chorus seems to inspire vocalist Ryan who brings out a huskier version of his melodic voice. Finally we come to the third track, ‘On and On’ where the sound of a synthesiser greets you and you begin to wonder if this is going to turn into some sort of Drum and Bass song, but then the reassuring sound of an acoustic guitar rings out and lets you know it’s still The Fins. It’s possibly the best track on the album and seems to dwarf the other songs with the huge power and energy that is put into the song. The Fins are well worth a listen for any fan of Rock. 8/10 Reemer: Maniac Manchester based Reemer are among the latest wave of UK Pop Rock bands. Their opening track ‘Maniac’ has all the right riffs and vocals but seems to have very little effort or heart put into it. It feels and sounds like The Wombats but the chorus lets them down as it reminds you of McFly, or any other mainstream boredom, with stereotyped lyrics about a girl and repetitive guitar lines. It all seems fairly pointless, like watching Kerry Katona trying to drown a fish. It’s difficult to see Reemer getting that far and if they do then they’ll need a serious change. More average music where the only exciting part is a cowboy style whoop. Reemer.
5/10 Black Tide: Shout The single ‘Shout’, from Black Tide’s debut album ‘Light From Above’, hits you straight away like Muhammad Ali’s bone crunching fist. The guitar and distorted vocals open and then the chugging verse enters, with pounding drums that really accentuate all the other instruments. The killer riffs catch you and you are instantly hooked. The chorus has soaring vocals over slow mosh pit worthy guitar lines. The solo, a watered down version of one of Dragonforce’s guitar duals, is amazing and the only way to describe the entire song is immense. The band’s other single ‘Shockwave’ gained coverage on MTV’s notorious Headbangers Ball. It is also a downloadable song on the game Rock Band. All this and two of the members are still only 15! A huge achievement for an epic band of the future 9.5/10 F451: Think. Fight. Live A discordant thrashing opens F451’s new album and is soon replaced by an energetic guitar riff. A fast paced Jonny Panic like verse follows with backing vocals strewn everywhere. The chorus and verse sound alike and there are no distinctive differences between the two. You can hear the political air of the band in their lyrics with lines like “I know nothing works now, especially you and your fake democracy”. It lets you know the anger and injustice felt by F451 and, unlike many modern bands, they sing for a cause that they believe in and are not afraid to voice it. One review on their MySpace compares them to “The Clash mashed up with Muse”. Whether this is true is for you to decide, but no one can deny that they have a truly distinct sound. Unfortunately that sound is exactly the same in all three songs and despite it being a good sound to hear, you don’t want three almost identical tracks.
Although this is F451’s new album they have announced they will not be touring with it and sadly the band has come to an abrupt end. 8/10 Conor Oberst: Souled Out ‘Souled Out’ is the single from the album Conor Oberst. By
all the power of Jimmy Hendrix’s guitar plucking teeth help us
if this type of country style ‘folk’ music is becoming once
again mainstream! Conor Oberst, signed to Wichita recordings, is also
a member of Bright Eyes (not that I know who they are but still). A
very interesting take on country music, especially as at one point he
breaks into what can only be described as screaming, but this bizarre
interlude doesn’t make up for the overall level of blandness. The
vocals sound a bit like Bryan Adams singing an Oasis song at an open
mic night... badly. 3/10 Steffan Bones
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