INTERVIEW: ARCANE ROOTSHaving finally released début album ‘Blood And Chemistry,’ we met up with vocalist/guitarist Andrew Groves to discuss the new album, being compared to Biffy Clyro and more.
INTERVIEW: NATIVESCurrently on tour with The Summer Set and a new EP set to be released soon, we caught
up with New Forest's Natives to talk about the new EP and album, the UK rock scene, the transition from being Not Advised to becoming Natives and much more.
FIVES: THE BEST WONDER YEARS SONGSThis week Lansdale, Pennsylvania’s The Wonder Years released their fourth album - ‘The Greatest Generation,’ a record that sees the pop punk quintet reach their creative peak in a number of ways. With a wealth of material in their discography, Already Heard's Sean Reid and Tom Knott took on the tricky task of picking out the five best songs from The Wonder Years. Find out what we picked and let us know if you agree or disagree?
INTERVIEW: MALLORY KNOXFollowing the release of their superb 'Signals' album, Mallory Knox have certainly become ones to watch in recent months. We caught up with the band to discuss joining Search & Destroy Records, how vital the festival season and touring are, what it feels like to be a part
of the expanding British rock scene and much more.
ALREADY HEARD RECOMMENDS: OVER THE OCEANOver The Ocean have crafted a compelling, brooding record with their latest effort ‘Be Given To The Soil.’ With intense specific precision and delicate accuracy that echoes the likes of Explosions In The Sky and Sigur Ros. Jesse Hill from the band to discusses how the
album came together, the importance of precision, being compared to post-rock pioneers and more.
VERSUS: BRING ME THE HORIZON - 'THERE IS A HELL...' VS 'SEMPITERNAL'After a top ten UK album and an outstanding UK tour with festival dates on both sides of the Atlantic to follow, Bring Me The Horizon are having a fantastic 2013 and are now featured in the latest edition of "Versus." It's ‘There is a Hell, Believe Me I’ve Seen It. There is a Heaven, Let’s Keep it a Secret’ vs the bands latest release, 'Sempiternal.'
ALREADY HEARD TRACK GUIDE: ALEXANDER - SAY HELLOWe catch up with Newcastle Indie Rock quartet Alexander to find out more about their debut album 'Say Hello' for a “Already Heard Track Guide” feature.
Something For The Weekend with Joe Hart (Close To Home Records)
Close To Home Records’ Joe Hart loved his previous spot as guest writer on “Something For The Weekend” so much, he couldn’t wait to come back. Naturally we welcomed him with open arms.
Joe is a big supporter of new and underground music, and through his labels ‘Close To Home & Friends’ compilation series he gives bands he adores the opportunity to be heard; just like us here at Already Heard.
Joe’s three picks for your weekend listening pleasure consist of a Swedish post-punk band, a New York indie/emo trio and a German band who are (probably) influenced by Run For Cover Records bands.
If your label, band or company would like to become a guest writer for Something For The Weekend - contact Sean Reid to find out more information.
“I’ve picked these three bands to share with the world as they have been absolutely dominating my iTunes (along with the new Paramore album) over the last few months and I hardly see anyone else talking about them, which baffles me as they are all great. Hope you all enjoy them as much as I do!”
Client.
For fans of: Title Fight, Seahaven, Hindsights
A friend of mine showed me this band not too long ago and I’ve been hooked on their EP ever since. They’re from Germany but had you not known that, you’d probably assume they were from Pennsylvania given how heavily influenced they seem to be by the whole Run For Cover / PA scene. That could possibly be a bad thing for some people, not for me though!
The Hype Theory Stream New Album (‘Captives’)
Ahead of its release next week, The Hype Theory are streaming their new album ‘Captives,’ and can be streamed by clicking read more.
‘Captives’ is released this Monday (27th May) on Small Town Records.
Run From Robots Announce UK Tour with Belgium’s Arizona
Run From Robots will be heading out on a UK tour in July alongside Belgium band Arizona.
July
17 Northampton, Penny Whistle
18 Glasgow, Audio
19 Dundee, Beat Generator
20 Leicester, Soundhouse
21 Bristol, Hatchet
Cytota Release ‘Generation Scared’ Music Video
Birmingham post-hardcore band Cytota have premiered their new music video for ‘Generation Scared.’
The video can be viewed by clicking read more and precedes the bands appearance at next month’s Download Festival.
Billy Talent, Yellowcard, The Wonder Years and More Announced for Warped Tour Holland
Billy Talent, Yellowcard, The Wonder Years and Escape The Fate are amongst the names that have been announced for Warped Tour Holland, which takes place at Eindhoven Klokgebouw on 10th November.
Billy Talent
Yellowcard
Crossfaith
Escape The Fate
John Coffey
Like Moths To Flames
Like Torches
Memphis May Fire
The Charm The Fury
The Wonder Years
We Came As Romans
New Hello Lazarus Video (‘Stallions’)
Bristol trio Hello Lazarus have unveiled their new video for ‘Stallions’ and can be viewed after the read more jump.
The track appears on the bands latest EP, ‘Moving Forward Over The Next Financial Quarter’ which is available now on Scylla Records.
Interview: Hang The Bastard
Hang The Bastard are starting the second chapter of their tale. Having collated their first chapter in a collection for Holy Roar, the band recently released absolute stomper ‘Sweet Mother’ which has chilling new vocals and focuses more on the riff, steering away from the more hardcore infused sound that they started off with. They’re breaking the conventions and basically, it sounds AWESOME.
So, in the fitting Satan’s Hollow is where we found ourselves, talking to the band about their new sound, how it’s impacted the band and of course, ice cream. Apologies for the darkness but it was actually that dark. I mean, it’s Satans’ Hollow, what did you expect?!
“If I…” with Steven Martinez (The Ambient Light)
Later this month California Instrumental Post-Rock quartet The Ambient Light release the Deluxe Edition of their debut album - ‘Nostalgia Trip.’ With swooning guitars and moving arrangements, The Ambient Light have produced a compelling record which has been compared to the likes of This Will Destroy You, Caspian and Explosions in the Sky. On top of that their confident approach sees them subtly use elements of pop and even disco, giving the bands sound extra depth and texture.
We caught up with Steven Martinez from The Ambient Light as he described his diverse fantasy festival line-up, which cheesy Euro-Pop one-hit wonder he wish he’d written, which he’d Beatle he’d like to play with and more.
If your band would like to be featured as part of “If I…” full details can be found here.
If I could re-record one song it would be…
Steven Martinez: ‘Thanks for the Lift’ I would of added more layers of instruments. On the existing recording we went all out. There’s real violin, we bowed a bass guitar, and there is even some sort of frog instrument in there. I recently bought a cello and would have loved to hear that in the song.
If I could re-live one tour/show it would be…
Steven: In June of 2012 we played the Telemagica music festival. It was an awesome experience. We got to play to the open desert. We caught some very interesting acts and later in the night we all got lost in the desert. We wandered about and the highlight of the evening was running into a Mr. Eugene Dolphin. He was an astronomer that was outside with a very expensive telescope. The first thing he said to us was “Hey, do you guys want to see Saturn” so we did, and it was awesome!
If I had the chance to play one venue it would be…
Steven: The Greek Theatre. There is something about playing outdoors that seems to be very fitting to the kind of music we play. That venue is beautiful too. The first time I went there was to see Thrice, The Get Up Kids, & Dashboard Confessional in 2004.
Festival Preview: Slam Dunk Festival 2013 - 20 Must-See Bands
Finally! One of our favourite festivals of the year is upon us. As always the Slam Dunk Festival has stirred up a wealth of outstanding talent from the world of rock, hardcore, punk, ska, pop-punk, metalcore and everything else in between.
This year sees the festival expanding once again with a third English date in Wolverhampton followed by the very first overseas event in Dublin, Ireland.
With so much to choose from, the Already Heard team have picked out 20 bands you HAVE to see this weekend.
What do you think to our choices? What bands are you looking forward to seeing? Let us know on Facebook and Twitter.
Deaf Havana
In November 2011, the then quartet released their album ‘Only Fools & Worthless Liars’ and on first track ‘The Past Six Years.’ vocalist James Veck-Gilodi lamented the band’s fortunes; they weren’t anywhere near where they wanted to be and were seemingly only known for 2009 track ‘Friends Like These.’
But how things can change in the space of two years! The group opened the main stage at Reading & Leeds festival last year and embarked on a December headline tour, selling out O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London, as well as selling out all dates on their recent unplugged tour. And this year, things have only gotten better. They’ve released a killer single in ‘Boston Square,’ which is from their album ‘Old Souls’ due to be released in September and are going on yet another tour this October.
Deaf Havana also swelled their ranks, adding Matthew Veck-Gilodi and Max Britton to the fold. This group are chomping at the bit to be let out of the starting stall; catch them on the main stage before they race off into the distance. (JT)
Where & When: 8.05 – 8.50pm (Leeds/Wolves) / 8.20 – 9.05pm (Hatfield) on the Jager Stage.
Bury Tomorrow
Metalcore quintet Bury Tomorrow are no strangers to Slam Dunk. Having played there in 2011, they’ve returned once again. The release of their 2012 album ‘Union Of Crowns’ saw them jump up into the big leagues, touring the world over and joining festival line-ups such as Download.
Having played at Vans Warped Tour last November when it came back to the UK for the first time in a long time, this lot will have absolutely no problem in whipping the crowd up into a sweaty, crazed mob. (JT)
Where & When: 6.40 – 7.20pm on the Monster Energy stage.
Live Review: The Skints, Current Swell and Gecko - Academy 3, Manchester - 21/05/2013
The sun is trying pushing its best to push away the couds so that it can reveal itself for all the summery tunes of dub, ska and reggae that are being relished upstairs in Academy 3 on Manchester’s Oxford Road. This building and the other Academy venues on this road are the big leagues before the thousand capacities of 02 Apollo and then arena efforts of the M.E.N. So, big expectations from The Skints tonight then. Let’s begin, and don’t forget your dancing shoes.
The night i initiated by Gecko who unfortunately play to a pretty small crowd to one that fills the majority of the room by the time their set ends. I’m first hit by sheer amazement; not necessarily because of Gecko (I’ll get to them, don’t worry) but because of the sound in the room. I’ve seen plenty of shows here and this is by far the best it’s ever sounded and I can’t stress how good it is; I hope everyone appreciates it as much as I do. Our lovely band in question Gecko sound remarkably crisp and every instrumentally, specifically vocal harmonies, gel together perfectly. A song about the library, possibly entitled ‘In The Library’ is a wonderful, lyrically clever tune about well, a library. It really stuck out live with the use of dynamics, dropping into a quiet deliverance reflecting a, yeah, a library. I thought it worked really well so kudos there! It’s good to see that not everything has to be played so incredibly loud. The frontman looks more into it than the rest of the band, and that’s the only criticism really; lack of energy. Crowd interaction was had and pulled off well considering the lack of crowd and the early time. Gecko aren’t quite there just yet, but in time and with more support slots like this they easily could be. (3.5/5)
Gnarwolves Post New Song (‘Melody Has Big Plans’)
Gnarwolves have posted a new song titled ‘Melody Has Big Plans’ and its video can be viewed by clicking read more.
The track will appear on the bands forthcoming ‘Funemployed’ EP.
Asking Alexandria Confirm ‘From Death To Destiny’ Release Date
Asking Alexandria have confirmed their new album, ‘From Death To Destiny,’ will be released on 5th August through Sumerian Records.
Don Broco Announce ‘Hold On’ Single Re-Release
Don Broco are set to re-release their single ‘Hold On’ via Search And Destroy on June 24th.
In additional news the band will be recording new music soon with a release rumoured to take place shortly after.
The video for ‘Hold On’ can be viewed after the read more jump.
New Last Heir Video (‘Closure’)
London noise rockers Last Heir have unveiled their new video for ‘Closure’ and can be viewed by clicking read more.
Giant Drag Farewell UK Tour Announced
Giant Drag have announced details of a farewell UK tour taking place in September.
Front woman Annie Hardy made the following comment on the tour:
“I want to engage people once again and make the rest of the world care as well. Basically the last couple years of my life were pure hell and I spent it (and my “success” period of GD) a slave to prescription drugs, only to go to rehab last October to get clean. Charlotte Froom and Tennesse Thomas from The Like will be helping me to reform GD for a select few shows to promote the record and say goodbye to the band properly so I can concentrate on my new project Annie Hardy and the Psychos as well as my pet project PnP who will also be finishing up recording EPs with Joe Cardamone of The Icarus Line.”
September
Thu 12th Brudenell, Leeds
Fri 13th Deaf Institute, Manchester
Sat 14th Kazimier, Liverpool
Sun 15th Broadcast, Glasgow
Mon 16th The Cluny, Newcastle
Tue 17th Borderline, London
Wed 18th The Fleece, Bristol
Thu 19th Green Door Store, Brighton
Giant Drag’s latest record ‘Waking Up Is Hard To Do’ is available now on Bandcamp.
