British Wildlife Presents
Shield Your Eyes
Blacklisters
Super Luxury
Oporto, Call Lane
8pm / Free
Shield Your Eyes (London)
Shield Your Eyes are easily one of my favourite bands to watch live for their astonishing guitar playing, catchy yet complicated riffs and boogie math stylings, a truly unique band in any sense of the word. They are launching their latest album 'Volume Four' right here in Leeds for your eyes and ears!
“Volume Four is the most recent album by Shield Your Eyes; the UK's most commonly misunderstood and ill represented underground band; lumped into an imagined post-hardcore and math-rock 'scene' that bears little relation to their sonic horizon; Shield Your Eyes' roots are in a much more organic and native soil. This is no better demonstrated than with their latest offering that successfully shakes off any remnants of USA noise-rock mimesis instead allowing their classic rock and progressive blues influences shine through.
In the vein of the great power trios of the 60's and 70's such as Taste and early-Thin Lizzy, through Mahavishnu Orchestra and Black Sabbath, and taking only the prime cuts of contemporary underground noise-nicks such as Hella, touring partners Pneu and the Warp records output, Shield 'Em strip rock music back to its basics; inventive song writing, astonishing musicianship and plenty of passion in amongst the boogie.
On this record the songs have been left as open structures to allow room for the extended outros and spontaneous jamming that has made SYE such a legendary live experience. Likewise the recording has taken place in an off-season hotel on Jersey with their sometimes bassist Dan Pedersen at the helm as engineer and producer. The roomy and vintage sound as well as the unconventionally relaxed surroundings in which the recording was made manifest themselves as a record of remarkable sincerity and authenticity.
The album kicks of with Larkspur, a deceptively laid back number that aptly sets the assured and confident tone. Elsewhere tracks like 'Tryna Lean a Ladder Up Against the Wind' demonstrate a grasp of nuanced dynamics that moves beyond the overused clean/quiet verse and loud/noisy breakdowns of much contemporary rock, harking back to a more sensitive and sophisticated era. On 'You Merit High Hopes' the squealing guitar and mind battering drums that characterised previous Eyes-output is swapped for a groove with which to truly appreciate the songwriting. Brno, the penultimate number, is a thumbs-in-belt-loop boogie that gives space for the rhythm section to blast off with drum and bass runs to turn John McLaughlin's band green
Without doubt this is Shield Your Eyes' finest album to date and with no signs of slowing down their industrious pace of writing and touring it hopefully marks the beginning of a glorious mid-career period. Volume 4 should finally set Shield Your Eyes apart from the skinny-jeaned crowd and shows they are playing a long game that will outlive the momentary trends and fads of the internet age."
On this record the songs have been left as open structures to allow room for the extended outros and spontaneous jamming that has made SYE such a legendary live experience. Likewise the recording has taken place in an off-season hotel on Jersey with their sometimes bassist Dan Pedersen at the helm as engineer and producer. The roomy and vintage sound as well as the unconventionally relaxed surroundings in which the recording was made manifest themselves as a record of remarkable sincerity and authenticity.
The album kicks of with Larkspur, a deceptively laid back number that aptly sets the assured and confident tone. Elsewhere tracks like 'Tryna Lean a Ladder Up Against the Wind' demonstrate a grasp of nuanced dynamics that moves beyond the overused clean/quiet verse and loud/noisy breakdowns of much contemporary rock, harking back to a more sensitive and sophisticated era. On 'You Merit High Hopes' the squealing guitar and mind battering drums that characterised previous Eyes-output is swapped for a groove with which to truly appreciate the songwriting. Brno, the penultimate number, is a thumbs-in-belt-loop boogie that gives space for the rhythm section to blast off with drum and bass runs to turn John McLaughlin's band green
Without doubt this is Shield Your Eyes' finest album to date and with no signs of slowing down their industrious pace of writing and touring it hopefully marks the beginning of a glorious mid-career period. Volume 4 should finally set Shield Your Eyes apart from the skinny-jeaned crowd and shows they are playing a long game that will outlive the momentary trends and fads of the internet age."
Blacklisters (Leeds)
Looking for something you can dance to? Keep walking sugarbritches, ‘caus yer not going to find it here. Not now. Described as Leeds’ “strongest and most handsome men,” Blacklisters deal in righteous, teeth-grinding, white-knuckle noise rock. All riffage akimbo and neck-snapping time changes, this is a hardcore din that you’re advised to keep concealed from your friends and neighbors lest you be labeled “socially undesirable.”
'Add to that, a burst of murder from Blacklisters and Bad For Lazarus would have had to have pulled something seriously stinking out of the hat to bring down the mood of these Monday night free-gig shenanigans. Blacklisters, for the record, seem to be growing more and more monstrous by the gig. Only catching them every few months is kind of like realising your little baby nephew grew horns and developed three times your IQ score since the last time you saw him.' - Hayley Avron
As a prelude to their new album due out in 2012, Blacklisters have a new single out titled I Can Confirm. After a quick shot of drum, the guitars verb into a dirty tempo, before Billy launches into his vocals. There is something a little more subtle about Billy’s vocals in comparison to Swords, which was their giveaway single when they signed to Brew Records. If you imagine your clench fist is a microphone and you aggressively taunt your vocals inbetween the fingers, you are getting close to how Billy’s vocals come across. It’s that constrained ire of someone who is in control, but still raging about it all. The other band members are more than happy to join Billy in ranting their instruments, although there are moments of lightness when either guitar or Alistair’s drums provide ample support. However, its when Blacklisters let go and rock that the real enjoyment shines through, none more so when I Can Confirm begins its final climb to the moment when Billy is left in a haze of distortion almost crying “I can’t help it” as though we should have suddenly found some sympathy for him. I Can Confirm offers the kind of controlled brutality of hardcore rock which when balanced the Blacklisters way is an exciting anticipation for the future.
Although traditionally a quiet time year in terms of musical output, I Can Confirm is a wonderful antidote to lashings of Christmassy Slade, Wizard and the no doubt obligatory X-Factor Christmas Number One (sadly Rage Against The Machine is seemingly that one swallow which doesn’t make a Summer). After hearing I Can Confirm, you'll be wishing the year away and looking forward to 2012 and Blacklisters full-length debut album.
Super Luxury (Leeds / Sheffield)
Super Luxury are a real band. Described as 'Alan Partridge & Phil Collins crashing a dodgy blues jam night and amping it the fuck up', this 'whatever' piece are a bunch of adequate musicians playing balls out stadium party noise rock. So basically they sound like AC/DC or The Cult mixed in with Big Black, US Maple or Suicide or something. It's extremely difficult to write about your own band in third person without looking like a big headed fool, but it's also easy to get on the bill for your own gigs... Swings and Roundabouts.
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