Fighting Caravans

First of the Ralph's Life blogs after the excesses of the Festive Season is aimed at calming things down with news of the release of Exec. Style as a single by Fighting Caravans. They're a Leeds Based Alt Rock band that have been smouldering away since their formation in 2014 and variously described as 'recording political and spiritual disdain with Americana/Blues overtones'.





Exec. Style has a musicality that harks back to the heady days of late 60's, early 70's Wishbone Ash, Moody Blues and Pink Floyd mixed with a more laid back, psychedelic smidgeon of The Birthday Party. This lyrically plaintive track builds nicely to its climax and is a good intro for newcomers to Fighting Caravans.

They've been steadily garnering a steady stream of critical acclaim and radio plays so needless to say, Ralph's featuring them on his Radio KC Indie Show soon and there's news of live Fighting Caravans performances below...get on it!

Mog Stanley

It's been a while since Ralph checked out smooth indie blues man Mog Stanley (three years) and in that time he's been slowly but very surely composing an album of his unique bloozy styled tunes and he's called it Roland.

Preston based and armed with only a vintage guitar and home-made percussion box to keep him company, Mog Stanley uses an old-school, DIY set-up to stand out like the proverbial sore thumb with his catchy blues-fuelled and melody driven songs. He's about as Indie as you can get and Roland should be a stand-by in any blues fan's collection.

With thanks to trust a fox photography

There's a distinct left-field, rockier feel to Future House with Mog Stanley exploring his guitar hero bad self which leads nicely into the foot-stomping and bluesy Spinning Plates.

He goes off-base with the almost disturbing Lalala lala la la (A Bone Collector) with it's spooky chorus and disjointed almost manic guitar.

With thanks to trust a fox photography

U Turn has an Americana feel to it as Mog Stanley veers back to the more traditional and he continues in that vein with Red Yella Blues complete with his understated vocal and distinctive strumming.

He follows that up with the nicely choppy Bombscare and then slows it down with Enigma which has a distinctly 70's Wishbone Ash feel.

With thanks to trust a fox photography

Paperthin has an up-beat Americana vibe again (no bad thing) whils Like You Do reverts to Mog Stanley at his best with his smooth indie blues styling and the self-imposed backing adding an extra layer of goodness.

The album rounds off with a most excellent trio of blues tracks in Tricky Mouth Blues, Running In The Dark and Closer To Jesus - a blues infused joy!

Glass Harbours

Ralph's played Halifax based Glass Harbours on his Radio KC Indie Show recently so it was about time he introduced their self-financed EP release History Trails via the blog.

Drawing on influences like Shellac and Slint they've created two stylish Math Rocky instrumentals which will be available for download on May 5th.

The re-named Glass Harbours had reformed in 2014 after a ten year hiatus from their previous incarnation as Herrod to no small amount of critical acclaim and have featured on Simon Raymonde's Amazing Radio Show and Under The Radar.





Glass Harbours consider this to be their best work to date and Ralph's inclined to agree with them. They describe the EP's lead track Falling/Horizons as featuring - "Paranoid guitars and epic rock riffs with a stunning Post-Rock coda." Very much in the style of an early Wishbone Ash around the time of Pilgrimage in the early 70's.




Should Glass Harbours continue to showcase such impeccable musicality then future releases can be looked forward to especially if you're a fan of guitar based melodic Indie.

Glass Harbours are...

Richard Westwood - guitar/bass/keys
James Whipp - guitar/bass
Pete Bush - drums/guitar/bass/keyboards.

Ladykiller Caterpillar

Photo by r@ymond.biz

Formed in 2013 from various Scottish bands, Ladykiller Caterpillar have just released an eponymous EP which should see them take their place at the forefront of the burgeoning Scottish Indie scene. Jacob and Neil (bass and guitar) played in several bands together, mainly in Edinburgh. Jani (guitar) from Troon is also veteran of the Edinburgh scene with Raymond (drums) having started in Dundee then playing in many well known venues.






The fact that Ladykiller Caterpillar have a varied musical past has enabled them to come up with a collection of rock tracks that range from the hard hitting and memorable lead track 'Hey Mary' to the more whimsical 'All Legs, No Class' delivered in a Fat Goth stylee.  

They show their softer side with the delightful acoustic track 'Threadbare' whilst 'Eye Of The Storm' and 'Something Special' are firmly founded in the twin guitar bands of the past like Wishbone Ash.

Photo by r@ymond.biz

They're not quite as Scottish sounding as Biffy Clyro, not quite as heavy as Sucioperro but rockier than the bastard son of both Marmaduke Duke. They're the second of my three current favourite down and dirty Scottish rock bands and I can see 2014's initial success leading them onto bigger stages in 2015. In the meantime don't miss the chance to catch Ladykiller Caterpillar live at the following venues...

March 2014
THU27MAR	Ladykiller CaterpillarFunky Mo and the Debt Collectors, The Saccharines	Teviot UndergroundEdinburgh, UK	Find tickets
April 2014
FRI18APR	Ladykiller Caterpillar	The TunnelsAberdeen, UK	Find tickets
May 2014
FRI09MAY	Ladykiller Caterpillaralibis	Sneaky Pete'sEdinburgh, UK	Find tickets
June 2014
WED11JUN	Ladykiller CaterpillarFarewell Singapore	OpiumEdinburgh, UK	Find tickets
August 2014
SAT02AUG	Ladykiller Caterpillar	The Pear TreeEdinburgh, UK	Find tickets