Ralph's Top 10 Blogged Band Chart - 12.7.14

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                                                    OK bands you know the score.....

the more hits your blog gets by the fans..... 

the higher you go.....

So Tweet it, Facebook it.....

and generally expose yourself.....

Now Mr Snuggles and me have been sitting with our heads down counting the hits on each bands blog to see who's got which place.  

So here it is.....

The Top Ten Blogged Band Chart .....

No 1.....The Bordellos

The Bordellos are the kind of quirky, lower than lo-fi band that John Peel would have featured and their current offerings, like the sultry 'Between Forget and Neglect' (think Morrissey on Prozac) leading in to the subtly funky 'Elastic Band Man' would probably have seen them playlisted on a regular basis.

No 2..... Wullae Wright

Ralph's previously blogged Wullae Wright and it's proved to be the most well read of any over the last couple of years. Needless to say it was good news when Wullae Wright got in touch to say he was releasing 'Superhero' as a single. The story of the song is no less poignant than Wullae Wright's plaintive vocal which, overlaid on subtle acoustic guitar with an orchestral background is just as heart wrenching as the single's message. 

No 3.....Snippet

Snippet aka Johnno Casson is the quintessential English musician.  Prolific, diverse, entertaining, clever, wistful and whimsical (no more so on his previously released mini-album 'DIY' and the track 'Let's Talk About Us' on which he comments on his winkle (and he isn't introducing us to his pet mollusc Bria

No 4....Wullae Wright

Wullae Wright is capturing the same raw intensity of vocals that an early Robert Plant did.  Not only that his almost psychadelic guitar on the track also has the same haunting tones found on early Zep tracks.  An old rock soul in a young body.

No 5.....Cormac O'Caoimh

It's second time round for Ralph having a listen to Irish singer/songwriter Cormac O'Caoimh. A year ago he'd released his second solo album since leaving The Citadels called 'A New Season For Love' and this time round it's 'The Moon Looses It's Memory' and he's bringing us 14 tracks of love and regret, hopes and dreams, cars and girls, (OK, OK,  I've run out of descriptive song titles). Speaking of 'Love and Regret' and 'Cars and Girls I'm getting hints of...

No 6..... Millie Manders 

Having met the effervescent Millie Manders at the Ralph's Life All Day Charity gig in Proud Camden it seemed like the release of 'Little Big Mouth' was as good a time as any to ask a few questions and see how and why her music matches her outgoing personality.

No 7.....The Holy Orders 

It's almost exactly a year since Ralph first checked out Hull band The Holy Orders and the good news is that The Holy Orders announce the release of their brand new single, the 3 minute feel good 3 minute summer pop song: The New Asbestos on August 4th.  Well, it's a cynical, pessimistic, feel good summer pop song but anyone who is already familiar with last year’s debut album For the Ears of Dogs to Come from Ralph's blog, will expect nothing less.

No 8....The Actions

Normally Ralph only blogs unsigned UK Indie, but now and again some mainstream goodness drops in the kennel that peaks his interest and when 'Indefensible', the new EP by London based Alt/Rockers The Actions arrived it was time for some rule bending (Their first album 'Real' was licensed to Nikita Music, a Brazilian record label and released in Latin America).

No 9... The Backhanders

It's always nice when a hard copy of someones latest release drops through the letterbox, as is the case when; courtesy of the enigmatic Mr Peeps, the niftily designed CD just out by The Backhanders in the style 

No 10.....Book Group

It's been a hectic time in the kennel for new tunes and it was with great interest that news of the new EP by Book Group (due for release may 17th) appeared in the inbox. Ralph took a look last year when they released the 

Ralph's Chart 25.5.13

OK bands you know the score.....

the more hits your blog gets by the fans, the higher you go.....

So tweet it, Facebook it.....

and generally expose yourself.....

Now Mr Snuggles and me have been sitting with our heads down counting the hits on each bands blog to see who's got which place.  

So here it is.....

The Top Ten Blogged Band Chart .....

No 1 ..... The Fireflys 

Ralph's search for North West bands continues and who better to look at next than Runcorn based The Fireflys.  The current line up is the result of a number of line-up changes, much soul searching and angst but the band have come through the stronger for it.  The current line up is founding member, guitar/vocalist Lee Wylding, Stephen Roberts on bass and Andrea Packer on drums.  They feel they've found the right mix to drive forward and build on the success of last years critically acclaimed 'Cathedral For Your Ashes' album

No 2..... The Indieannas

Following up on the success of 2012 including an appearance at the Y-Not Festival, Buxton band The Indieannas recently released 'Flying High' as a single and it's saw critical acclaim from music bloggers and fast become a fans favourite on the launch tour.  Why?  Because it's a high octane, in your face, Indie guitar thrashing, pounding beat, floor filling rock 'n' rolla.

No 3..... The Tennents


Young North East band The Tennents from Hull have been showing up on Ralph's Twitter a lot lately with news of a new EP 'Belgium' coming out soonish, so Ralph invited them into the kennel for a chat to check out what they've done already and what's planned for the future.

 

No 4..... Jess Harwood

With a new EP out in May and some great gigs in the offing Jess Harwood is starting to make a real impact on the music scene.  Jess is a 20 year old singer-songwriter from Blackpool and has been writing and singing her own songs since her early teens. 

No 5..... The Bedroom Hour



Ralph's been a long time fan of The Bedroom Hour since he blogged them back in August of last year and have been following them intently ever since.  No secret then that I'm a fan of their track 'X Marks The Spot' so it's my pleasure to tell you that they've released the track on their  new EP 'Themes' which is out today. 







No 6..... Book Group

Thanks to Ralph's ever expanding empire of reviewers (OK there's two now) in Scotland I bring you a live review of the Book Group 'Homeward Sound' EP launch in Edinburgh's Pilrig St Pauls Church. 

No 7..... The 1004s



Last time I updated the blog on The 1004's I'd put out last year when they released 'SOS' was early this year after The 1004's had released 'Light's Out' and were heading to the studios to record their new single.  Well the good news is it's been worth the wait as they've just released 'Throes' with an indie folk/rock feel to it and has already been seeing some airplay both by Ralph on Radio KC and Jim Gellatly.



No 8..... Neil McSweeney


There's a bit of a trend for Indie folk/rock a la James Taylor/Neil Young (no bad thing) at the moment and one of the finest exponents currently is the Sheffield singer/songwriter Neil McSweeney.  Despite his relatively low profile, he's worked with leading lights right across the Sheffield music scene. 





No 9..... IC1s


Summer's nearly here and band's are starting to get their new releases out there and IC1s are no different.  June 3rd sees the release of their latest single 'Growing Up, Going Down'.  Ralph's had a sneak peak at the new single and it's a proper rock n rolla.  It's a guitar driven anthem that'll sit well with any Festival crowd and a definite hat tip to their musical influence

No 10..... Culann

Culann have made no secret of the fact that they want to make 2013 their year and they made a great start by winning the 'Best Rock/Alternative' category of The Scottish Alternative Music Award earlier this month.  Comprised of PJ Kelly - Vocals/Guitar, Sean Kelly - Drums/Vocals, Greg Irish- Guitar, Ross McCluskie- Keys and Calum Davis-Bass, Culann are making rousing folk/rock anthems (sometimes with a hint of prog rock like - 'Beat Your Chest') with almost alarming regularity.

Book Group - Live Review

Thanks to Ralph's ever expanding empire of reviewers (OK there's two now) in Scotland I bring you a live review of the Book Group 'Homeward Sound' EP launch in Edinburgh's Pilrig St Pauls Church. 





They were ably accompanied on the night by Rory Sutherland and Martin Donnelly, Campfires in Winter, Plastic Animals and Live From The Latin Quarter DJ's and the review is courtesy of the extremely obliging Mr Tom Wheeler.

Book Group EP Launch, Pilrig St Paul's Church

Edinburgh, 18 May 2013

Review by Tom Wheeler

Midst the constant cross-pollination of the Edinburgh music scene, there comes a time in any band's development where the shared points of reference perceptibly change.

Around a year ago, with minimal fanfare, a band called the Bad Books played a couple of support slots around the capital. Wise musical sages pointed around the stage, explaining the group's origins to the rest of us: “that's him from the Kays Lavelle; yeah, he used to be in Come On Gang!”, and so on.

Over a few months and a handful more gigs, the band – by now known as Book Group to avoid any Phantom Band-style confusion with another act of the same name – gradually carved out its own identity, culminating in a triumphant opening set at Fence Records' Gnomegame Festival this April in Anstruther.

Finally, on Saturday, Book Group launched their debut EP, Homeward Sound, in Edinburgh's Pilrig St Paul's Church. And over the course of a 50-minute set, that shift of reference points took place. Now, nobody is asking, “What's such-and-such's new band called again?”; instead, they're asking, with considerable excitement: “Have you heard Book Group yet?”

The cross-pollination theme began early in the evening, with Martin Donnelly (The Savings and Loan) teaming up with Rory Sutherland (Broken Records) in an enchanting combination of electric guitar, violin and Americana-infused melodies.

In tribute to the hardy souls who'd braved the Edinburgh monsoon to come early to the gig rather than sit at home in front of Eurovision, they opened with a stripped-down version of 'What's Another Year', Ireland's winning song from 1980. 

(Martin's reference to singer Johnny Logan as “Johnny Lynch” may have been a slip of the tongue, but it seemed rather appropriate, given the prevailing tastes of the clientele.)

The amps were cranked up for the arrival of the gloriously-bearded Campfires in Winter, who (remarkably) were playing their first ever Edinburgh show. So, for many of us, this was the first we'd seen of the Croy four-piece – to be honest, it was the first time I'd realised that Croy comprised anything more than a railway station car park – but a wonderfully raucous yet tuneful half hour shook us out of our ignorance.

Comparisons to Frightened Rabbit are understandable but they don't tell half the story; the band's sound varied greatly from one song to the next, and occasionally within the same song. To these East Coast ears, single 'White Lights' had a hint of Cancel the Astronauts about it, and closer 'Mortigi Tempo' shared the piano-led, slow-building qualities of some of Meursault's more recent offerings – which can't possibly be a bad thing.

Plastic Animals must be getting sick of all their reviews describing them as an “Edinburgh based atmospheric punk rock sludge ensemble” – notwithstanding that the line comes directly from their own website, and that they admit themselves that it “sounds like wank”. So by way of variation, I'll borrow a different description:

“Light straw coloured, assertive bitterness, erupting with US style hop character.”

(Admittedly, that's not a reference to the band, but to the Barney's Beer that bore their name for Song, By Toad's Beer vs. Records project. But hey, it's not as if I do this for a living, so cut me some slack here.)

Two songs they recorded for that project bookended a compelling set. The former, “Pizarnik”, was far more understated and melodic than their self-penned assessment would suggest; but the band reasserted its sludgey credentials in fine style with a gloriously noisy wig-out at the end of closer “Floating”. The haunting “Sundowning”, from last year's Automaton EP, was another highlight.

After three brilliant bands – punctuated by fine DJ sets, and inexplicably-costumed band intros, from the Live from the Latin Quarter crew – Book Group could have packed up and gone home, and nobody could have complained that they hadn't had their six quid's worth and more. (SIX QUID!!! For all this. It's almost obscene. With that sort of value to be had in your nearest music venue, you really can stick your Orange Wednesdays somewhere improbable.)

 

Fortunately for the increasingly expectant audience, Book Group were going nowhere ahead of their biggest headline gig to date. Most of the set may have been familiar to their growing troupe of regular attendees, but it was none the worse for that.

I could bang on at length about every song, but I'll focus on the four featured on Homeward Sound: the fabulous, feedback-strewn 'Summer of Lunches', as impressive an opener for the set as it is a closer for the EP; 'Year of the Cat', all energy and pulsing guitar breaks; the brooding menace of 'BOP', with its repeated reminder that “the vultures are waiting”; and the venomous lyrics and driving bassline of 'Seedlings'.

Plenty of bands have had commercially and critically successful careers without ever producing four songs as strong as these; so the fact that these are the very first Book Group tracks to be committed to record is more than encouraging.

Arguably the biggest surprise of the night was singer Graeme Anderson's failure to produce his trademark megaphone for traditional set closer, 'Victory Lap', a song whose final refrain of “don't you ever change” was etched on to my brain – in a good way – the first time I ever heard it.

Perhaps Graeme decided it was time to leave the whole megaphone thing behind, thinking it an unnecessary gimmick as the band moves inexorably towards international megastardom. Or perhaps he just forgot it. I can't say I cared either way: it's a bloody brilliant song, and an entirely apt conclusion to one of the gigs of the year so far.