Ralph's Top Ten Blogged Band Chart...5/1/13

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 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..... My Forever




Now Ralph's had his eye on My Forever since June of last year and since then things have escalated rapidly for this young band from Thirsk.  They've gone from almost a covers band to a fully fledged in your face rock/pop group with a stellar future in one fell swoop.  






No 2..... Wullae Wright




Everybody likes to make a comparison about artistes and Ralph's old man is no exception. He heard Wullae Wright's 'Halo Effect' playing on my laptop and next thing he was wiping the dust of his collection of vinyl, dug out Led Zeppelin I and stuck it under my nose muttering....."Babe I'm Gonna Leave You".  Chance would be a fine thing some would say, however I had a listen and low and behold Wullae Wright is capturing the same raw intensity of vocals that an early Robert Plant did. 




No 3..... Mog Stanley



The laid back, sharp dressed man that is Mog Stanley describes himself as a song singin', guitar playin', foot tappin', blues, folk, indie musician which sounds like he's got a sponsorship with Coca Cola but that really does sum up his stylee.






No 4..... Blindfolds




Looking for a good reason to visit King Tut's on Friday 4th January.....look no further.....mean and moody Glasgow rockers Blindfolds are taking to the stage and bringing you a blistering set that'll include tracks from their new Voodoo EP released in November of last year.





No 5..... The 1004's


So I got the jungle drums about this Edinburgh band The 1004's who were making big noises.....(on stage and in the press) in the music world.  Favoured by none other than the Jim Gellatly Podcast (Jim himself was heard to say  “One of the hottest bands in Scotland right now”) and they were certainly flavour of the month last August when they released their second single,  a double A side - Lights Out (gonna be an anthem) and Pull It Apart





No 6..... The Verdict






What does..... The Cavern Club in Liverpool.....The House of Commons in London.....Alice Cooper..... MP for Walton Steve Rotherham and Deep Purple's Ian Gillan have in common?  It's Liverpool band TheVerdict







No 7..... The Tea Street Band

Ralph has just been extolling the virtues of Johnny and the Giros up in Scotland for getting us up on the dance floor and getting down with our bad selves when lo and behold Liverpool lads The Tea Street Band are doing exactly the same thing!

No 8..... The Evacuees




The Evacuees come from near Bristol but have their hopes set on breaking out further afield. Given the quality of the solid rock tunes they're producing you're going to be seeing them at a venue near you sometime in 2013.   I'd been listening to their track Temper Temper on Soundcloud  and as they launched into it I thought I was going to hear The Skids Into the Valley .(favoured by Halfords in their TV ads God bless 'em).




No 9..... Everyday Goldfish


Now it's not every day a goldfish brings out an EP so Friday 26th October was a big date for young Manchester band Everyday Goldfish who released their first EP, the aptly named 'Eyes On The Prize' at The Candence Cafe Tyldesley that very night!  The band are Alex Haslam, Jack Binks, (why do I imagine his nickname is Jar Jar) Laiton Price, Lee Whittingham and Lewis Tooby.





No 10..... Bauer




Having been quiet for a bit other than the recently released cover of ‘Feels Like Heaven an ’80′s Electro-Pop classic by Fiction Factory from Perth, Manchester band Bauer have pulled a cracker out just in time for Christmas.  They've released an album of Electro-pop classics of their own, available from today and it’s the perfect stocking filler.

Ralph's last Top Ten Blogged Band Chart of 2012

Well it's been a great year for unsigned Indie music and Ralph's had the best time listening to, reviewing and trying to get everyone in Twitter Land listening to, some of the best music out there. 

Since he started blogging back in May, at no time did  Ralph expect to become so popular or to attain the level of influence with radio stations. A big thank you to Tom Robinson on BBC Radio 6 and Radio KC in particular.  


Share the Radio KC experience by listening to their eclectic music mix non-stop on Freebox (FR), Orange Live Radio, TuneIn Mobile App (any smartphone), RadioLine Mobile App or simply from any browser in the world.  Needless to say in 2013 Ralph will be striving to get even more attention for up and coming bands throughout next year. 

Not everyone can get in the Top Ten.....but a special mention for just missing out goes to Whispery Club, Vukovi, Holy Pistol Club, Slydigs, Bauer and Bent Cousin.


The top ten blogged band chart this year has been dominated by a young Manchester band (They're only 16) who have grasped Twitter by the bollocks, squeezed very hard and due to that they're in the No 1 Spot (by over 1000 page reads).  The rest of the Top Ten has been harder fought but contains a load of quality music and therefore I give to you.....the last Top Ten Blogged Band Chart of 2012 as decided by me 'n' Snuggles.....


No. 1 Everyday Goldfish

Now it's not every day a goldfish brings out an EP so Friday 26th October was a big date for young Manchester band Everyday Goldfish who released their first EP, the aptly named 'Eyes On The Prize' at The Candence Cafe Tyldesley that very night!  The band are Alex Haslam, Jack Binks, (why do I imagine his nickname is Jar Jar) Laiton Price, Lee Whittingham and Lewis Tooby.


No. 2 Plum

I turned my nose in the direction of Plum, the alter ego of Edinburgh based Shona Maguire.  She'd just released a concept album 'The Seed' to much critical acclaim and quite rightly so.

Big news is the release on 19th of November of a new single 'Smile' from the album, with the 'B' side a result of a Tweet Ralph can remember seeing on Twitter some time back.  With some help from Auntie BeeB's Ally McCrae she's collaborated with top dubstepper TeKlo on the track, taking them both out their comfort zone.....

No. 3 Tea Street Band

Remember the spirit of 88? Dole queues getting bigger, the Tories in power and class war on the streets.  But at the same time, shining out of the gloom, came the birth of Acid House which was one of the most significant cultural movements of the 20th Century. For those of you too young to remember the first time round Jack to Phono bring us the combined musical goodness that is Tea Street Band!


No. 4 Crystal Seagulls


Crystal Seagulls bill themselves as a new London-based four piece Brit Rock band whose music holds a mixture of the infectious sounds of the Sixties, the swagger of the Nineties whilst simultaneously paving the way for a whole new style of music.  Brave words but do they live up to their swag? 

Well you only have to listen to 'Yours For As Long As You Keep Me' to pick up the Brit Pop vibe, hints of those cheeky chappies Supergrass and just a sprinkling of Blur.

No. 5 The Bedroom Hour

Oi....you....yes..... you reading this.....wanna know one of the best kept secrets on the new music scene today.....it's London band The Bedroom Hour!  One can only wonder why, when these guys are turning out quality tracks .  'X Marks the Spot' (hint's of U2/Simple Minds, one for the big venues) was track of the day on View From The Music .

No. 6 Modern Faces

A bit of a big up for Modern Faces who were in the local press after their support gigs with Kasabian in May of last year.  Below are updates tour wise for this year and hopefully the North West of England will feature again on the list (a little bird tells me it will be and I'll be checking out The Citadel here in St Helens as a suitable future venue) in the meantime give this a listen like me.

 No. 7 Transition baby!

Now here's a band that have recently come to my attention.  Transition Baby are an original indie/rock band with a dynamic sound and energetic live show. They consider their music to be a step forward in terms of their contemporaries in the indie/rock scene.  It's fresh and catchy yet its roots are clearly evident in their influences (The Strokes, We Are Scientists, Modest Mouse). They've a large and loyal fan base, ranging from 14-40+ years of age.

No. 8 Stolen Haven

Stolen Haven are a band of mates who have been performing their own brand of indie music  the Manchester and Liverpool areas since last August and as proof of their pedigree they've secured slots supporting some well known acts like  Steve Craddock , Leeds Indie rockers Sunshine Underground and local singer Danny Mahon .






No 9 Fat Goth



Ok so I saw that these guys were called Fat Goth and I thought erk, but turns out the only thing that's dark and heavy about this Dundee band are their sounds.  They recently played The Wickerman Festival  alongside other Ralph's Life favourites Campfires in Winter and Olympic Swimmers.




No. 10 The Verdict 




The last time Ralph took a look at The Verdict was just after they won the Rock The House competition sponsored by The Cavern Club and held in The House of Commons back in September.  Since then they've had some successful gigs at The Zanzibar Club in October and The Cavern Club for BBC Introducing in November plus local and internet radio play for the new track they've brought out recently 'The Same Mistakes'.

So there it is until next year.....have a very Merry Christmas and an extremely Happy New Year.....love Ralph x