Review: The Driers - Sad Party [August 2017]

It has been a while since I've written about Tel Aviv based alternative/rock trio, The Driers. Their 2015 EP, See You In Never, impressed me with its blend of punchy rhythms and beautiful harmonies (read my review here). Their long awaited debut album, Sad Party, provides very similar vibes.

Like on the EP,  Sad Party flirts with the likes of disco-tinged indie, alternative rock and even proto-punk; sometimes within the same song. Although all 10 songs on here are toe-tappers, there's still a bit of diversity among them. Songs like The Slides and Day One use interesting rhythm patterns provided by (previous) drummer Ben which'll get some hips a-shaking, while album opener Delayed, Fifty and Heartworms deliver faster and harder hitting punk rock beats which could have easily caused mass pogoing at mud-drenched music festivals in the 90's. The Invisible Girl also has a 90's feel but far more laid back, reminiscent of the Ash classic Oh Yeh! (the verses actually feel quite similar.)

Squeeze, a personal highlight from the album, teases you into thinking it's a sweet indie-pop song before erupting into an almost Weezer-meets-Violent Soho style chorus which conjures up images of long-haired teens jamming out their angst in someone's garage. The album's title track has one of the most infectious choruses which makes perfect use of guitarist Ronnie and bassist Tomer's breath-taking male-female vocal harmonies (similar to Band Of Skulls or Belle and Sebastian), a trait prominent throughout the band's work.

Although other bands do come to mind at times, The Driers are doing something very special; they manage to have one foot in the British indie scene of the last decade and the other somewhere in California in the 90's. While some Israeli bands who sing in English can come off sounding either too Israeli or like a poor imitation of their influences, The Driers sound totally natural, including some interesting and thought-provoking lyrics (e.g. The flight to my brain got delayed, And when it landed, it was too late..)

Although the mix of the drums, in particular, could do with being a lot cleaner on occasion, Sad Party still shows that the band has the potential for success abroad. Anyone who is a lover of beautiful harmonies, up-tempo beats and the odd dose of straight up rock thrown in will not be able to resist cracking a smile while listening.

4/5

Live Review: LISP/Petey's Dead/Methods @ Keoss Studios, Tel Aviv [8th September 2016]

Awww yehh! New band time! Tonight, I've come to Keoss studios in Tel Aviv (which has suddenly been doing more and more shows) to check out the debut shows for two punk trios. One is practically a supergroup and the other is a sort of reboot of a previous band.

Methods

Starting off the night is alt. rock/metal/punk/whatever trio Methods. Methods have been quickly gaining recognition and rightly so! I've already been impressed by their previous performances and their tracks online. Tonight, they start off their set a little differently than I remember, with a more progressive and jazzy instrumental, slightly reminiscent of bands like And So I Watch You From Afar and 65daysofstatic. Although not normally my thing, it still has enough groove and interesting parts to make my head sway. From there on in, the band continue with their own blend of alt. rock sensibilities and technical musicianship. Throughout their set, a mixture of different bands come to mind, including alternative legends Therapy?, post-hardcore band Quicksand, British metallers Earthtone9 and even fast melodic punk band Strung Out. The already familiar Sub-dimension and 1.1 have a few heads bobbing and the rest of the set is equally enjoyable. Drummer, Vladi, might have a few fumbles tonight here and there, but he is still one of the best technical drummers I've seen.The band are difficult to pigeonhole, but that makes them more intriguing and exciting.

3.5/5

Petey's Dead

Coming from the remains of the fairly unknown SaveIT, Petey's Dead still play the same Flatliners inspired punk. As well as new material, the band play the odd SaveIT track, such as the punchy and thought provoking Dennihalation In The Middle East from said band's first EP. The band may tackle quite political and serious subjects but do it subtly, which makes for good listening. There is nothing quite mind blowing about their performance but the material is incredibly well written. With guitarist Matan now in the ever-popular Not On Tour, Petey's Dead are getting more recognition and chances to play than SaveIT, so hopefully the music will start to speak for itself at shows and things will pick up.

3/5

LISP

While Petey's Dead is practically the same band with a new name, LISP is yet another product of different members of different bands wanting to create something new together. In this case, not only do we have Not On Tour bassist, Nir, and Kids Insane drummer, Yoni, but former Kids Insane guitarist, Assaf, is also on board.

Despite all being talented musicians from very reputable bands, LISP isn't quite the blend of hardcore and skater punk one was expecting. Instead, the songs tend to go along a more pop-punk vibe. As pleasant as the songs are, nothing quite grabs you or shocks you at all. Yoni's drumming does stand out, although not purely because of his skills like in previous bands. His heavy handed and more hardcore style comes off sounding a little out of place with the songs themselves.

Despite only having played one show, LISP are already in the process of making an album. It could very well be that their songs are just growers, so they might sound better on record. Either way, I'm looking forward to checking it out.

2.5/5

Live Review: Liberating Justice Mini-Fest @ Gagarin, Tel Aviv [29th July 2016]

Ganza

Eternal Struggle

Knees Please

Methods

Almonim Metim

Elephant Hive

Tonight, the Gagarin club in south Tel Aviv sees a coming together of bands of different genres in order to collect donations of tinned food, clothes, condiments and other such items for refugee children. The event has been put on by Eternal Struggle members for the Elifelet charity.

Elephant Hive

First on tonight is Elephant Hive. They are a crazy rock duo who play really short cuts of instrumental experimental rock. The idea and the energy is great but, from a drummer's point of view, the drumming is a little too over the top and sometimes doesn't sit well with the guitar. It feels at times that the drummer's choices are kind of unnecessary. He even uses an upside down champagne bucket (of sorts) at times which mostly sounds great but has its moments where it is out of place. The guitar riffs are actually good but there are some "songs" which feel totally unfinished, such as Tom Shush, which suddenly stops as it was just getting going. They certainly have talent but just feels too much like a jam band at the moment.

3/5

Almonim Metim

I've reviewed noisy punk outfit Almonim Metim (Anonymous Dead) before and even played a show with them (with Woolly Boy) but each time I tend to hear something new. On the surface, they are just a "shouty band" but beyond singer Anastasia's screams, there is Amit's jangly guitar, Benjamin's soulful bass lines and Ben's interesting drumming that give them something a little different. It even sometimes brings up elements of surf or 60s rock which not many expect to hear in "screamo hardcore punk." 

The screaming does get repetitive at times and this isn't the most energetic I've seen Anastasia (one time she came up to me and screamed in my face). The band in general are a little agitated already by the age restriction hindering friends from coming in, so that might have something to do with it. I think they have something special musically but the vocals could do with more dynamic changes to keep in with the dynamics of the music itself and just to keep things that little more enticing.

3.5/5

Methods

Methods are another band I've reviewed before and I liked them then and I like them now. The music they do is quite refreshing, not just in the Israeli music scene but in general. Their music reminds me of bands like Therapy?, Incubus and even Three Days Grace all sort of mashed up together. They use dynamics and sometimes changing time signatures which are interesting but sometimes sound messy. They nevertheless do have some catchy songs, like Sub-dimension, which makes me smile!
 The sound in the venue isn't helping them all too much. It could just be where I am standing but it all sounds pretty scratchy and unclear. The rest of the crowd, as small as it is, are moving a bit but I think might be going through the motions. Methods' sound could be considered a little too mature for some show goers. Sometimes, people just like to switch their minds off when they go out and listen to very angry people play very angry music... angrily. Methods have melody, precision (at least try to) and follow almost pop-standard writing formats. Hence the name, probably. It's methodic and well thought out. Although there are a lot of bands that you can say that about, with Methods, it's somehow more apparent. They've got to get tighter playing-wise, but musically, they have something good going on.

4/5

Knees Please

I've reviewed Knees Please before, both live and on record, I've seen them a bunch of times and even did a show with them and I've tended to really love them. Now, however, I'm not all that into it.
This show in particular consists of all new material that I am just not feeling. Besides Barry The Lizard, which is an interesting groovy number, everything else is just a bit too long and uneventful for me. They're still a heavy band and have great stage presence, but sometimes my head can't deal with 30 minutes of only 5 songs. This is unfortunately one of those times. I may be alone, though, as others are headbanging and "moshing" away and simply liking the heaviness. 

3.5/5

Eternal Struggle

I only recently reviewed their latest EP and am most likely going to do more of a write up of their upcoming EP release show, so I'll keep this short. Eternal Struggle are doing groove based tough guy hardcore and they are doing it pretty damn right. I think it's still lost on most of the crowd here tonight who, again, are just enjoying the intensity of the music. The Sick Of It All cover of Take The Night Off only sees a few people, like myself, actually singing along to it. There is still some movement and audience participation but I am never going to stop finding the fist raising and the "hey" chanting misplaced and generally quite annoying. That's just me. Call me a snob, if you will, but I just think there's a time and a place for it and an Eternal Struggle show isn't it. There should just be bodies running about the place and high kicks and bloody faces. These guys need to get to Europe and they'll get the reaction they deserve.

4.5/5

Ganza

With a new vocalist and new drummer, Ganza are practically a new improved version of the band I saw a while back. Whereas I previously likened them to basically trying to be Alice In Chains/Guns n Roses tribute act, new singer, Max, takes their sound into more Pantera territory. Despite having the same songs, everything just somehow sounds a lot heavier and I am digging it more this time around. Butterflies, especially, comes out sounding great and everything is made even more entertaining with Max spinning his hair around.
By this point in the night, there isn't much of a crowd left, but those who have stayed are running around and some even singing along. Ganza might still be nothing special, but they have improved.

3.5/5

It may not have been the biggest turn out I've ever seen for a show like this, but it was a massive result for the Elifelet charity. Well done to all involved.  


Thank you to Assaf Bergerbest for the photos (where labeled). 

See Jeronimo's session for Live From The Garage

Some years back, I was impressed by a fairly unknown band called Jeronimo after seeing them play a show (pretty much to no-one) at Koro. A few years, one EP and hundreds of shows later, the band are just moving up and up. They recently won the Kochav Met (A Star Is Dead/Dead Star) competition and are soon (I hope) releasing some new material. Instead of waiting for the next release, the film crew of Dybbuk Studio and the Garage rehearsal room in Tel Aviv bring to you Jeronimo playing 3 of their latest songs. 

Despite having a more garage rock feel on their self titled EP, the band's newer songs really showcase the band's more post-punk influences, adding more groove, jazzier chords and an all round darker edge. Dear Tee 'O almost touches upon stoner rock, with a massive pounding groove which suddenly involves into a more progressive sound while still being punk rock. Fast Walker manages to start off in a Fugazi fashion, with a solid bass line and shouting yet veer off into Muse-like operatics, courtesy of bassist and joint vocalist Auriya. Final song, Lions Suspended In The Air, is an erratic number, as it goes from being crazy to trippy and laid back, then to being more aggressive again.

Jeronimo have definitely evolved musically, garnering a maturer and more experimental sound. It's not all my cup of tea (just because I don't really like long songs too much) but they are certainly a band to look out for.

Artist Promo: This Be The Verse!!

Back in my college days, I met a guy on my Music Tech course who shared an interest in some similar music and we have continued contact for 10 + years. Having had a band at the time called Muswell and then somehow ending up in the more DJ world, he is still making hard hitting music with his industrial influenced project This Be The Verse.

Started back in 2014, This Be The Verse is pretty much the brainchild of "Cyrus King", who, at least on the debut Consequences EP, did most of the musicianship himself. Although obviously heavily influenced by the likes of Trent Reznor/Nine Inch Nails, Cyrus King's vocals lead more towards the shouty hardcore  side of things a la Frank Carter or even Rou Reynolds. It certainly has that very British flavour to it.

A few months back, This Is The Verse released the track Stubborn Youth and more recently posted an audio only video of Unveil. Whereas the former takes in prog rock influences, flipping in between being almost Muse-like to Mastodon riffage and headbanging, the latter sticks to the industrial script, incorporating an intense funky beat, crunching bass, synths, heavy guitars and a gloriously anthemic chorus.




This Be The Verse may not have discovered its unique sound as such yet, but everything that has been put out so far is enjoyable and of great quality and musicianship. Hopefully, a full length album will emerge some time in the near future. 

  If you like what you hear and want to check them out, they will be headlining a Camden Rocks show on 5th March at Camden Barfly, Chalk Farm, London. For more info see here.

Live Review: Jim Adkins (Jimmy Eat World)/ Yotam Ben Horin @ Barby, Tel Aviv [31st August 2015]

Tonight sees me at Tel Aviv's Barby Club, one of the main venues for big acts just below stadium status, to see an acoustic set by Jimmy Eat World's Jim Adkins. Although only properly getting into Jimmy Eat World's back catalogue recently, I decided that this would be too much of an opportunity to miss out on.

Yotam Ben Horin

   Due to not expecting the show to start on time and having to come to the Barby straight after work, I end up missing a good percentage of Useless Id's Yotam's acoustic set. I walk in to the sounds of Yotam's calming soothing vocals and gentle strumming to find the rock venue transformed into a vegas night club, with people seated around circular tables under the Barby's huge chandelier. I have a feeling that the set itself was not too different to that of a few days ago at the Not On Tour show (see review). However, there is less of the local punk scene here tonight, besides Useless ID bandmates and some who may have liked the band "back in the day". There's not as much singing along to hits such as Blood Pressure and Symptoms but there is still a good response and enthusiastic cheers as Yotam screams "Take, take, TAAAKE" during Blood Pressure. There's basically no-one else more perfect to support the solo outing of a popular band's front man than that of a local popular band's front man. I am pretty sure they are both equally honoured.

4/5

Jim Adkins

   I'm not going to lie. Despite knowing the big hits from the Bleed American era, I pretty much overlooked Jimmy Eat World all these years. I didn't even realise that they were active a lot longer before that album. I tried to brush up on their material for tonight's show, but theirs so much it was impossible. Instead, I come into this show with an open mind as if I am watching a new act.
   As Jim Adkins graces the stage, he is greeted by a warm welcome from the surprisingly small turnout. Jim is a very presentable man and comes out onto the stage looking and behaving very refined. His set starts with what seems to be a new track no-one really knows, Love Don't Wait. The beautiful ballad helps to set the scene that this tonight is going to be something special. Despite being a new song for many, his strong vocals encourage cheering from the crowd as he reaches high notes.
    After some polite words, Jim continues his set with a good deal of oldies from 1999's Clarity, as well as a few songs from 2004's Futures, 2007's Chase This Light and their last album, 2013's Damage. There seems to be some old school Jimmy fans dotted around the room, cheering when they recognise intros and singing along to a good number of the songs, but the crowd in general just seem to be pleasantly and quietly enjoying the sultry tones of all the songs played tonight.
   Due to having done a bit of homework and listened mainly to Clarity prior to the show, I recognised the infectious On A Sunday and the sub-pop-like Lucky Denver Mint, which has people joining in on the "You're not bigger than this.." chorus as Jim joyfully strums away. Other songs that catch my attention include the song that is played in between the aforementioned oldies, Please Say No, Damage and You Were Good, all of which happen to be from the Damage album. Where both Please Say No and Damage are quite emotionally intense, You Were Good is bittersweet, being a tale of lost love sung over a bouncy melody. These three acoustic versions alone proved to me that I definitely need to give that record a listen. Sounds like it must be a great break-up album.

   Among the Jimmy Eat World classic, Jim also plays brand new songs and covers, some of which he previously released through his "weekly single series" online. Hell and Get Right have more of that rocking Jimmy Eat World vibe whereas I Will Go is more reminiscent of 60s pop rock like Sunny Afternoon (The Kinks). The crowd get excited when hearing covers like Cyndi Lauper's Girls Just Wanna Have Fun (originally by Robert Hazard) and Only Girl (In The World) by Rihanna. I'm personally all for men covering songs by women and vice versa and it seems to also satisfy many others here tonight. He also plays some really old covers that go over my head, such as The Book Of Love (The Magnetic Fields), Make The World Go Away (Hank Cochran) and Give Me A Sweetheart (The Everly Brothers), but he still plays them with precision and gusto. He also plays Beautiful Is, which is a Jimmy Eat World b-side from the Chase This Light era. It sounds just as sweet and beautiful acoustically as it does on the original recording.
   The sing-alongs start up again as Jim plays Big Casino from Chase This Light, with the crowd joining in on the "Get up!" back up vocals, The Authority Song from Bleed American and Work from Futures. Personally, I wasn't expecting him to play anything from Bleed American, judging by what I had read on setlist.fm (more homework that I did.) Not only did he play The Authority Song but he then treated us all to what has to be the most famous Jimmy Eat World song there is; The Middle. As you'd imagine, this had people, especially the young women, up on their feet clapping and singing along. Let's face it, it's impossible not to enjoy this song. It would have been nice to have heard Your House or The Sweetness from the same albums, as those two are perfect for acoustic renditions. The fact he even played The Middle at all is a nice enough surprise.
 
  Although originally not knowing what to think of seeing an acoustic set of songs I am not all too familiar with, Jim Adkins deserved a much bigger audience tonight as it was definitely worth going. Hopefully, anyone who came here tonight just to hear The Middle also absorbed his writing brilliance and were then compelled to look through the band's back catalogue. His solo work is also impressive but I'm not too sure if it's anything I'd want to strictly follow. This was definitely a show for Jimmy Eat World super fans but anyone who appreciates when structured songs and a faultless performance, he is worth checking out.

4/5

The 1840s release video for new song, Smile

   Those who have read my blog before will know that I have a soft spot for Israeli '90s-style alt. rockers The 1840s. Their sweet harmonies and bouncy rhythms really strike a chord with me. I put them on a show as headliners but the turn out was disappointing. I guess most Israelis don't get this sort of thing.
    Smile is from the band's latest release, The Eighteen-Forties, which officially comes out today (review soon to come.) Both the track and the video are sweet. Technically, they're both bittersweet when you really pay attention.
    If you have ever liked bands such as Pavement and/or Guided By Voices, you will certainly appreciate The 1840s lighthearted melodies.  

Review: The Driers - See You In Never [2015]

   After a lot of hard work playing shows and writing new material, Tel Aviv rock trio The Driers finally deliver new EP, See You In Never, featuring latest drummer Ben (Mad Choice/Zaga Zaga/a bunch of other stuff). 

   As readers of my blog will already know, I have seen this band a bunch of times and enjoy their refreshing slab of 90s style alt. rock. The five tracks on this EP are all songs that I recognise and love. If I am not mistaken, these are also songs which have been in the band's repertoire for quite some time. Whereas some of the newer material I've heard in live shows are a little bit more along the Weezer style of alternative rock, the songs here could almost be considered pop rock.

   Contagious gets things off to a heavy start. Some thumping drums in the intro lead to an upbeat, rock-out number with a bouncy chorus. Although guitarist Ronnie sings the first verse, from thereon in we hear the now trademark sweet harmonies that her and bassist Tomer do so perfectly. Ronnie also sings main vocals for second track Who Doesn't and fourth track Porchlight. Who Doesn't is pure rock in the choruses but, due to Ben's drumming techniques, explores other rhythms and styles throughout the song. Porchlight sounds incredibly lighthearted and quite poppy. The intro is one of my favourites of theirs, as the opening guitar riff is soon accompanied by the bass that harmonises beautifully. The song can easily be mistaken as a cover of some sort of song by Shangri Las or even The Supremes, as it has a hint of that traditional style of writing plus an easy listening quality to it.
   Tomer takes up main vocal duties on third track Lipstick Buds and EP closer A.L.A.R.M, which makes sense, as they are both pretty bass led. Because of the bassline and the groovy drumming, both songs have quite an electronic/new wave sound to them. Lipstick Buds has it mainly in the first verse which then leads to the hard hitting chorus of "You want to be my never again". All Driers' choruses are easy to sing along to but this has to be the catchiest of them all. The song has interesting vocal melodies and a generally fun and uptempo nature.
  A.L.A.R.M could be considered the EP's party song due to it's disco beat in the chorus. However, Tomer's vocals and the song's lyrical content add dark undertones, making the song a little bit edgier than the rest of the EP.

   As I have heard these songs many times before, I was really hoping to hear something new on this EP. Luckily, we are promised a full length soon which will hopefully have some cool surprises. I love the band's use of harmonies, especially blending both a female and male voice together, similar to bands like Band of Skulls and Spiderbait. That, plus the musicianship and songwriting, make these songs very enjoyable, as long as you appreciate pop sensibilities in rock music....which I do.

4/5

Review: Therapy? - Disquiet [2015]

   Despite being a band since 1989, I remember really only knowing Therapy? through their hit Screamager (maybe also Nowhere) before seeing them at something called The Lost Weekend in London. I was blown away by their set and the fact that they actually incorporated different styles, like industrial and techno, while I initially viewed them as just some sort of old school hard rock band. Despite really only ever having the album Troublegum in my collection and not really paying attention to them since the song Rock You Monkeys (from Never Apologise Never Explain), I've always had a sort of sweet spot for the band. When I heard they had new album, Disquiet, on the way, I just had to check it out.

   As some of my readers know already, I posted the video for the band's first single Still Hurts (album opener) a while back and was surprised by the fact they are still churning out pretty heavy stuff. Still Hurts is pretty frantic in the verses, melodic and sweet in the bridge and groovy and catchy in the chorus. It has that iconic Therapy? snare sound (the one that sounds a bit like a trash can) which has always given them a slight industrial edge to their music. The song, as a whole, aptly sets the tone for the whole album.
   Not saying that all the songs here sound the same, but there's an ingredient that not only ties them all to Therapy? but also ties them all together to the same album. What that actual ingredient is, I'm not too sure, but could be a fusion of the aforementioned snare sound, the guitar tones, the pairing of thumping as well as groove drumming (played by drummer Neil Cooper) and frontman Andy Cairns' distinct vocals. There is nothing on this album which is too "out of the ordinary", which also means there is nothing that feels out of place. Even the incredibly named Vulgar Display of Powder (track 8) unfortunately doesn't live up to the Pantera-esque image I initially had. It still has a fat, heavy main riff, as do tracks such as Fall Behind (track 4) and Helpless Still Lost (track 6). 
   Therapy? have definitely surpassed themselves by managing to write a catchy chorus for almost every song. Tides (track 2) has one that's melodically sung and relatable, the one for Good News Is No News (track 3) will be stuck in your head for days (was for me), that of Idiot Cousin (track 5) sounds like Silverchair's Freak but cooler and the chorus for Torment Sorrow Misery Strife (track 10) is surely going to be a great singalong at shows.
    The latter, along with album closer Deathstimate, are really the only tracks that are in anyway different to the rest. Torment Sorrow... has a punk feel, reminiscent more of bands like Down By Law or Social Distortion, while Deathstimate, the album's slowest track, stands out due to its spacey stoner riff. Its change of pace makes it a great end to a pleasurable album, which is surprising for me to say as I don't normally like songs this long (7 mins). 

   As someone who hasn't been following Therapy? for a long time, the album was still a great listen from start to finish. My only criticisms are that the snare sound might distract some people and the bass tone on the intro for Good News... is ridiculously 80s and quite awful on first listen. The material on here is heavier than some stuff they have done before but also not as experimental as other material from past albums. Nevertheless, I can't imagine any diehard fans being disappointed with this album. Whether it will get the band new ones is hard to say.

4/5

Live Review: Incubus @ Amphi Park, Raanana [9 June 2015]

     Out of all my reviews so far, I have done a lot of local bands and a few touring bands, including the odd fairly big name like Republica and '68, but this takes the biscuit!

   Incubus have been a part of my life since around the age of 12/13 when, after hearing from an elder whose musical tastes I admired about bands like Korn and Limp Bizkit, I discovered them along with other bands on the Family Values Tour '98 album. The song New Skin was unlike any of the other rock or metal I was hearing up until then. It had djembe, it had funk elements, it had rapping....it just really grabbed me. The album S.C.I.E.N.C.E, the band's second official full length release, became the soundtrack to my teens along with System Of A Down's self titled debut and more punk stuff like Lit's A Place In The Sun and even Sick Of It All's Call To Arms. As years went on, the band garnered success primarily with the album Make Yourself and later also had hits from Morning View. They may be one of those bands whose original fan base has been disappointed by later releases (myself included) but after about 16 years of never having seen them, I was excited to hear that they were coming here. The new material, that some of you may have heard on the blog already, has impressed me, so that was another reason to go.


   It's the evening of the show and I somehow confused myself about what time the show was actually starting. I tried to get to Ranaana from Tel Aviv as fast as I could but still managed to miss opening act Tatran, an Israeli fusion band (I guess). After finally finding the correct entrance and the box office to collect my ticket, I zoom down to the VIP area (not bragging, just explaining) which was right in front of the stage. The venue's layout is a bit different to what I'm used to. First of all, it's outdoors. I've been to outdoor concerts before but they didn't have separate areas with seating before. Normally in arenas, seated areas are to the side or further back and standing room is down by the front....this was the opposite. The stage practically faces a hill of which standing room was from the middle part of the hill upwards. Despite having seating there and an allocated seat on my ticket, I join a few other people who are standing in the aisle.

   Of course, there's massive screaming from the crowd at the sight of frontman Brandon Boyd alone. I'm going to admit, back in the day when I had band posters on my wall, I had a Brandon Boyd one. Does it mean I had homosexual feelings towards Brandon back then? Maybe. Do I have homosexual feelings towards him now?.... I think tonight I do! You can't ignore it; the man is pretty. After a dreamy introduction, the band starts things off with Wish You Were Here. Good choice! As the aisle I'm standing in starts to fill up, fans are singing along and there's a little bit of head movement. I can't help but feel the band are a bit static. For those who don't know, Incubus are known for their set up on stage having each member quite a distance away from one another. Not too dissimilar to other bands, especially on big stages, but the Incubus guys are like 5 corners of a pentagon (not pentagram). Apart from the odd convulsion from Brandon, there's not much else happening on stage. It is cool, however, that we see drummer José side on, as we can properly observe his beats and fills.

    As the only Incubus records I've ever owned and/or heard in full are S.C.I.E.N.C.E, Morning View and the most recent Trust Fall (Side A) EP, I really only recognised the tracks from those releases and the obvious hits. I didn't recognise second song Anna Molly from Light Grenades but the heavy riff and the beautifully sung chorus had everyone else very enthralled. Even now, I have "I picture your face in the back of my eyes.." implanted in my brain. Following two songs were Adolescents and Absolution Calling. When I first heard Adolescents (from If Not Now, When?) four years ago, I thought it was a super boring song and ignored it up until this moment. I was slightly taken in by the dreaminess of the song and the unconventional vocal pattern. Absolution Calling, in my eyes the second best track form the Trust Fall (Side A) EP, goes down well with the crowd. I even caught myself singing "I REMEMBER FEELING THE OPPOSITE OF FALLIIIING" along with Brandon. This was then followed by a song I didn't recognise at first until the chorus. It was Vitamin, the only song in the set to come from S.C.I.E.N.C.E. Now, Vitamin is a heavy song; it has a cool build up in the verses leading to a rock out chorus along with some funky drum soloing and djembe action. I start to realise that I'm one of the few people in my vicinity (and as I look back, at the concert in general) who is properly going crazy for this song. I'm guessing most people here only know and like Make Yourself onwards, right?
   To be fair, I have the opposite problem, as people in the crowd join in on songs like In The Company of Wolves, A Kiss To Send Us Off (which I particularly enjoyed tonight and seemed to be a crowd favourite), Here In My Room and Sick Sad Little World (a heavy funky number that I also enjoyed), all of which I hadn't heard before. Obviously, bigger hits Are You In? and Pardon Me were in the set; the former getting people dancing to its sexy slow jam and joining in on the "woo hoo hoo"s while the latter, right from the quiet intro, had everyone passionately singing along to Make Yourself's second most iconic track. Nice To Know You (Morning View) and Megalomaniac (A Crow Left Of Murder) help inject a little extra does of heaviness into the set while newer songs Trust Fall and Dance Like You're Dumb seem a little lost on people. Trust Fall isn't such a great song, in my opinion, whereas Dance Like You're Dumb is not only my favourite off the new EP but one of my favourites songs at the moment. How no-one else is going crazy to this, not even clapping along to the gospel-like section in the middle, is beyond me.
    As the band goes off, we all know that they're coming back and there's just screaming galore. They return and kick back off with a lovely rendition of "the big chill out hit of about 15 years ago", Drive. Bassist Ben Kenney sits himself upon an amp and the whole performance is pretty sweet as almost the entire crowd joins in on the whole song. This is then followed by two songs I am unfamiliar with, The Warmth and set closer A Crow Left Of Murder. The warmth has a bit of a 311/reggae feel leading to a breakdown ending, all which I really liked, and ..Left Of Murder just rocked out with some cool dance beats and heavy guitars. I may have made a mistake sleeping on that album..

   Overall, the setlist is pretty decent and seemed to have most people satisfied. There was one guy shouting for I Miss You who must have been disappointed. Personally, I would have liked some more from S.C.I.E.N.C.E, although Vitamin was quite an interesting and surprising choice. It's funny... when you look back over the band's career, you notice that they were once this dreadlocked Mr Bungle inspired nu-metal band who have now turned into the epitome of clean cut modern rock. I wonder if the band's demeanor is all that different now from back then. As great as the songs were, the band in general seem pretty boring on stage. We had some nice backdrops on screen throughout the set but not really enough from the band themselves. Brandon does his best to check in that we're ok and having a good time but doesn't really talk to us. Also pretty sure he shouted "Tel Aviv!" at one point. Can't really blame him, and most of us here tonight probably are from Tel Aviv, but still...it's Raanana, dude. Guitarist Mike Eizinger just doesn't seem all that excited at all to be playing and even DJ Chris Kilmore could have been a little bit more enthusiastic.
   From where I was standing, the bass and kick were pretty overpowering throughout most of the set, but I was very near the front. I sort of wonder if I should have been humble and moved further back to see if it sounded any better. All that aside, am I glad I came?

Yes!

3.5/5

 

Live Review: Photomat/The Dries @ Tachles Bar, Tel Aviv [23rd May 2015]

   OH MY GOD! Is this actually happening? Yes, that's right! For the first time in quite some months, I am reviewing a show that's not at Koro. SHOCK HORROR! Saying that, it still involves the Koro in a roundabout way.

The Driers

   Quite some time ago, apparently since the last time I actually reviewed The Driers, Ben (Mad Choice/Zaga Zaga/part owner of Koro) was recruited for drumming duties. As seen in recent times with Mad Choice, Ben's drumming has become more creative. Drumming for The Driers has given Ben a platform to really experiment and showcase his versatility. Even with songs which originally had a very simple rhythm pattern, he has used his techniques to allocate some complex yet still very suitable beats and fills.
    Tonight, the band is great as always. Bit of a weird set up on the stage, with Ben seated down left of stage (I believe that's what it is in theatre speak) instead of in the middle as is more common at shows, which kind of makes them all seem quite distant from one another. Other than that and the unfortunate technical hiccups experienced by bassist Tomer, the band and their songs are all on point. All the catchy songs that regular watchers of The Driers know and loves are here tonight, such as set opener Porchlight, the punky Fifty, the anthemic Lipstick Buds and the rave-inducing set closer Alarm. Guitarist Ronnie and bassist Tomer's vocal harmonies never cease to captivate me. The band also play a brand new song called Squeeze, which has an awesome groove in the chorus and made my face ache from smiling. 
    Even though the guys have been getting a slightly larger audience nowadays since their humble beginnings, it was really only myself and a couple of other friends of the band who were giving them any real support down at the front. Hopefully, those standing around at the back still enjoyed them and will see them again another time.
4/5

Photomat

    As well as coming here tonight to see The Driers (and to review a show somewhere new for a change) I wanted to check out a band I had never heard of before. That band is Photomat. I went into the show not knowing anything about them...and I still don't. 
   According to their bandcamp, their earliest recording, entitled Lekulam Yesh Ka'eleh (rough translation: Everyone Has Them/These) is from May last year but I still don't know how long they've actually been around. If their sound is anything to go by, they could have easily started in the late 90s/early 2000s. We've got here a girl bassist (Enav), a girl drummer (Noa), a guitar playing frontman with a trendy hairdo (Noam) and a samplist on the side (Alon) adding all the extra beats, keyboard melodies and other bits and bobs. That and the sound combined together had me thinking of the more electronic Britpop I used to enjoy. Actually, it sort of made me think of North and South, who I think only British people will remember from the TV show No Sweat that spawned the band.
   Photomat play electronic pop that has just enough edge to make it stand out form some of the other bands out here doing the same thing. Normally, I'm not a massive fan of Hebrew singing bands because I can't always fully understand when watching live, but that doesn't matter tonight. The melodies and the groove of the songs was enough to have me bopping along.  After checking bandcamp, the songs which really got my attention were Hakol Chutz M'ken (Everything But "Yes") and Hilacht Alay, Kesem (rough translation: You Walked All Over Me, Magic Woman). The former is an upbeat and catchy singalong (at least melodically for me, at the time) whereas the latter took the night's atmosphere down a notch to a sultry little number which beautifully built-up throughout the song.

   The band definitely have a few fans in tonight, who are standing at the front swaying and making up dance moves, but a few things bug me about this performance. Is one of them that the frontman forgot his words a few times? No. That's happened to me. Is it that he made a big deal about ruining the song? Yes. Although some people may have noticed, the most professional thing to do is just carry on. Luckily, the band continued and repeated themselves so that he could get back into it. Is another issue being the samplist? No. I even tried to introduce samples into Woolly Boy but haven't yet mastered it. Is it that the samplist was using beats which in comparison made the drummer look like she wasn't really doing anything? Yes. She seems like a very competent drummer, listening to the band through headphones and managing to hold the backbeat. However, she did just seem to be playing a simpler version of the electronic beats already provided. As a drummer myself, this just had me focusing on that a good amount of the time.
   The band in general were a nice surprise and definitely made this Britpop kid remember his youth. On further inspection, some of their lyrics are actually quite clever and relatable, which is always good. Whether this sort of thing really goes down well nowadays, I'm not too sure, but playing what you like to play is the most important thing. 
3/5

VIDEO FOR DEAD SARA'S "SOMETHING GOOD"

   If you don't know by now, I am pretty infatuated with an exciting band from LA called Dead Sara. Their latest album, Pleasure To Meet You, has been high on my playlist recently and I am generally in love with their writing style and Emily Armstrong's powerful vocals.
   Despite both the album tracks Suicidal and Mona Lisa preceding Something Good as singles, Something Good is the obvious chart topper off the album. It is beautiful, uplifting and catchy as hell. But then...I've already said this in a previous post. 
    They have now released a video for the track and I have to admit, I'm not totally blown away by it. It basically involves a lot of dancing, train stations and the band running around from place to place. It reaches a high point when the band finally join in with some contemporary dancers and everyone is just letting go and free, but I would have liked to have seen some band performance and more of Emily passionately singing her heart out. Either way, if this song doesn't finally get Dead Sara any [proper] mainstream success, I don't know what will.

             

YET ANOTHER NEW SONG FROM INCUBUS; MAKE OUT PARTY!

   Earlier today, American rockers Incubus released another new lyric video for a song entitled Make Out Party. "Make out party??" Incubus realise that their teenage fanbase has all grown up now, right? But seriously, the song itself seems to be, lyrically, an attempt at writing a Prince song. Thing is, before even getting to the lyrics and the poppiness of Brandon Boyd's vocals, you had to double check that you didn't select the wrong video. The tone on here is like nothing I've heard from Incubus before (please correct me if there was ever anything on Light Grenades, Crow Left Of Murder or If Not Now, When? that is this heavy because I haven't heard those albums in full.) It's almost Doom-y in places. It has a slow groove and quite fuzzy guitars. Compared to the other new songs we've already heard from Incubus, this is, personally, a very nice surprise and one of the coolest things I've heard from them in years.
  This track comes from the first Ep of two to be released this year, Trust Fall (Side A), which is set for release on 12th May.

   For my Israeli readers, don't forget that if you want to see Incubus, they are playing the Raanana Ampitheatre next month, 9th June. For my readers in the UK, you can see them in London at the Apollo on 16th June. For everyone else in Europe and the USA, you can check out tour dates over at Incubus HQ.