James Arden checks out the garage rockers latest album.
The Christian rock band from Brighton bring religion to the masses.
Recipe for modern R'n'B album: liberal helpings of guest rappers and an overdose of sexual euphemisms.
Important Festival Fact #2
Earrings, tattoos, and brightly coloured clothing might make people ‘unique’ and ‘the indie lad’ within their small group of friends, but in Leeds, it all blurred into a homogenous mass. If anyone has seen the episode of South Park where the boys tried to be non-conformists, but were told to be a non-conformist you had to wear black and drink coffee, you’ll know what I mean.
Part 2 - Day 2 - Saturday
Wild Beasts I had heard a lot of good stuff about these lads so this was a bit of a frustrating performance. Their vocals clearly are unique and sometimes it all came together quite beautifully, but it did seem as though they weren't all there, either saving themselves for Reading or worn out, as they admitted, by 9 months of touring. Some parts lagged but some parts shone. The crowd started off eager but lapsed into tedium. As I said, frustrating. 6/10
The Drums From the lead singer's semi-moonwalk onto stage, you knew this would be a good performance. They didn't play ‘Let's Go Surfing’ (or if they did, I missed it) which is their most radio-friendly song, but they had tons of energy, the crowd clapping along all the time. They reminded me of early Strokes with a little bit of Roxy Music thrown in for fun. They did really command the place. Fun. 8/10
The Like A trio of (very attractive) ladies who kept having to pull down their skirts. They were more than eye candy, with some very hummable, if fleeting, tunes, one in particular called ‘Walk of Shame’.They were definitely worth a second listen but they’re not exactly going to reinvent the wheel. The only downside was this very fat lady next to me making (what she thought were) sexy dance moves, which only succeeded in filling me with vomit, instead of desire. Yes, I’m a judgmental prick but I couldn’t help wondering if she’d picked up most of her moves from the video on YouTube of the Star Wars Kid. 7/10
Tame Impala Ok, confession time. I found out about these guys on Pitchfork. How stereotypical! But (gasp!) I think Thom Yorke is up his own arse! Explain that hipsters! Or sue me, I don't care. But they were brilliant, mixing guitar that reminded me of early Led Zeppelin with the psychedlica of Animal Collective, with vocals straight out of the Stone Roses. It sounds like a collection of homages but it gelled perfectly into a unique and, at times with its extended song lengths, thrilling experience. Echoing vocals and swirling rhythms descended into guitar riffs that were almost thrash-metal in their potency. At a particularly intense section, the canvas behind them billowed out, as if they were channeling the elements themselves. The problem was the set was only 35 minutes long, but it’ll keep them wanting more I suppose. Recommend. 9/10
Foals Played a very energetic and fun setlist. I don't know the stuff off their new album but ragged guitar riffs and anthemic shout-alongs confirmed this band as worthy Mercury Music Prize shortlisters. The crowd was packed for this one. Highlight by far was ‘Cassius’ which they played second. See them live, they're much better than on CD. 8/10
Paramore I tried to go in with an open mind. But her (Hayley Williams, if you’ve spent the last 3 years living under a rock) voice is So. F**king. ANNOYING. Every time she tried to warm up the audience and incessantly thanked everyone I wanted to cover her in duct tape and feed her through a wood chipper. Nasal doesn't begin to cover it. She played nine songs. Nine songs. I suppose the crowd cries of 'get off, you're sh*t' and 'get your tits out' didn't help. “Decode” from the Twilight movie got screams and boos in equal measure, almost split across genders. She obviously wasn’t having fun. Neither was I. 3/10
Blink 182 As with many people, when 12-14 I listened to these guys a lot. And they put on a bloody good show, with the most packed crowd I have ever seen, 360 spinning drum kit as well. Highlight was 'What's My Age Again?'. When you have that many people shouting out the songs with hands up in the air you can’t fail to enjoy yourself. The only thing that threw me a little bit was that the lead singer looked uncannily like David Duchovny, so when he came out with one-liners in ‘spontaneous’ crowd banter, I was disappointed it was just a ‘your mum’ gag. A very solid show. 8.5/10
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