Who are Kula Shaker, you ask? Well, I'm guessing you weren't an indie/rock kid during the 90s, then.
Kula Shaker are a band from London, UK, fronted by Crispian Mills, son of award winning actress Hayley Mills and director Roy Boulting, who had great success in the late 90s with their throwback Indian inspired psychedelic rock. I was quite into them as a pre-teen, having liked their classics such as the more Indian influenced Tattva and Govinda and the more classic rock songs Grateful When You're Dead, Hey Dude and their cover of Deep Purple's Hush (although admittedly unaware for a while that it was a cover). The band split in 1999 but came back in the mid '00s. I'm actually pretty sure I won tickets to and went to see them at the ICA in London but it's all a bit hazy. 2016 sees the release of their long awaited 5th album, entitled K 2.0, in honour of their massive debut, K. The band have treated fans to a new track, Infinite Sun. Whereas the Indian influence was a little lost in later records, it seems to be back, as Infinite Sun uses sitars and chanting as well as pure rock to create a catchy song which harks back to the band's old sound. From this song alone, the new album sounds promising. Kula Shaker might still be playing a style which can be considered dated by some, but good music is good music!
Sometimes I post new videos separately but other times, like this, I like to just take a bunch of them and put them in one post. Now...I've noticed that sometimes I post stuff I like but this is a bit of a mish-mash.
Comeback Kid ft Poli Correia - Losing Sleep
Comeback Kid are one of those hardcore bands I always wonder whether I should have been more into. I remember seeing them at a really small show in London (at The Verge, I think) and I bought their Turn It Around album. At the time, I think I barely listened to it, so from thereon in, I never really paid much attention. A couple of years ago, due to a badly organised "hardcore"/metalcore show, Comeback Kid ended up stuck in Israel without a show until local heroes Kids Insane got in contact and hooked them up with a show at Koro, Tel Aviv. Instead of headlining, they were the first band and the place was absolutely packed and sweaty as hell. Great show, though, and since I've given the band more attention. This track from Die Knowing is heavy and groovy. Is it groundbreaking? Probably not, but I like it. The video is simply a mix of live and studio footage but shot incredibly well.
36 Crazyfists - Swing The Noose
Another band that I haven't really cared about over the years since about the release of their second album Bitterness The Star on Roadrunner. I was doing some street teaming for RR at the time and I think I had to hand out stickers for that release. I have to say, if it wasn't for a facebook friend still being really into the band (you know who you are) I probably would not have even known about this video and the new album Time and Trauma. Thing is, judging by Swing The Noose, their sound and even music video cinematography hasn't really developed since the early 2000s. Frontman Brock's vocals are a little off putting. It's similar to vocalists I do like, such as Claudio Sanchez of Coheed and Cambria and Daryl Palumbo of Glassjaw etc., but he sounds almost constipated. It's certainly not the worst thing I've ever heard; chorus is pretty decent and the last minute has some good moments. Then again, it's not brilliant, either. The video is a tad confusing although at the same time captivating. What do you lot think?
New Found Glory - One More Round
NFG's Resurrection album has been out since October, but has it been getting as much attention as earlier works? If not, I don't really know why it shouldn't. I haven't heard the album in its entirety yet, but the singles have so far been impressive. One More Round is standard NFG; it has those cool riffs and pop punk vocals mixed in with some gang chants and some heavy grooves. Video is pretty fun, with the band getting smashed to pieces. Seems to be in keeping with the song's notion of perseverance. I totally have to get this album at some point. Hell...I think I should just get the whole discography. I seem to be doing that a lot lately with a lot of bands i should have been into a long time ago.
The Offspring - Coming For You
Another comically violent video comes form yet another legendary (pop) punk band, The Offspring. Coming For You is the band's first release for 2015, with an album expected for later in the year. The song starts off with drums that sound not too dissimilar (to me, anyway) to those of Howlin' For You by Black Keys but we're then greeted by Dexter Holland's unmistakable voice. The song as a whole sounds like a number of their more commercial sounding songs from the last few albums. It's sort of hard for me to decide whether i like it or not. I was one of those people who actually didn't mind Days Go By on the whole as an album, so hopefully the next album might have some more hardcore punk stuff to go with this sort of thing. I don't want to give too much of the video concept away, but if you don't like clowns or mimes, watch with care!
Teenage Bottlerocket - Haunted House/They Call Me Steve
Punk rockers Teenage Bottlerocket are releasing new album Tales From Wyoming on 31st March and it's already kind of sounding like it's going to be a good one. They already released a video for Misfits style song Haunted House back in February and this week premiered the Minecraft inspired song and video They Call Me Steve. The latter has that ever-so-slightly-slower-paced Bouncing Souls type vibe which I kind of dig. Even the vocals make me think of Bouncing Souls...but I guess the two bands are not that different.
Blur - Go Out/There Are Too Many Of Us
Yeh that's right! I'm moving away from punk and hardcore and going back to my Britpop roots. The legendary Blur's new album, The Magic Whip, will be out 27th April. We have so far been treated to two songs and videos; Go Out and There Are Too Many Of Us. The former has an almost new wave punk feel just with Damon Albarn's distinctive vocals over it. It's a little bit like On Your Own, a personal favourite of mine, but stranger. And then there's the video which is basically just an instruction video on how to make homemade ice cream. Incidentally, I used to have that same tupperware container... There Are Too Many Of Us is also a bit creepy in its sound but has more of a serious tone. The video is purely a performance video that looks very DIY. The band themselves look like they haven't changed a bit. It's quite solemn and I can imagine this song being used for serious scenes in film and TV.
Sleater-Kinney - A New Wave
Admittedly, this post is about a month late but I just had to post it. Sleater-Kinney are one of those bands I've always known OF, possibly since about the age of 13, but I never properly got into them. They have released their eighth studio album, No Cities To Love, on 20th January after a ten year hiatus. First single, A New Wave, has, funnily enough, a hint of new wave about it but is also essentially a catchy alt rock hit. I first heard the song as a live performance and was into it, but along with the video, I was converted. And I never really liked Bob's Burgers...
Sweatshop Boys are beginning to become more and more important in the Israeli punk scene and hopefully in the punk world in general. Consisting mostly of Haifa boys including Ofri (ex-Friday Night Sissy Fight/Barren Hope), Dean (ex-Friday Night Sissy Fight) and Itai (The Orions, The Backliners, Achim Zabari, Kuskus Records), the band also includes singing drummer and powerhouse that is Nadav (Mondo Gecko, Spit, Shifka Chiefs, Brutal Assault, Uzbecks...help if I've left something out!) Although not what everyone may consider "punk rock", the band do know how to write catchy as hell songs about things that matter to them. Their first album, The Great Depression, really helped demonstrate the Sweatshop Boys sound and this latest EP very much continues to do the same. All four songs are songs I recognise from shows because they are just so damn memorable. The EP starts off with No Pity In The City, a pogotastic anthem about moving to a big city but with no real changes. Second track, Special Mood, takes the pace down a bit with an almost 60s beat-music era jangly pop sound, equipped with organ solo and a rhythm that will have you toe-tapping away. Try Hard, again on a bit of a 60s tip but punkier, is a simple and to the point song about "wannabe scene queens" with its intoxicating "You're not special at all Ahhhh" refrain. The funny thing about writing songs of this topic is that it could be describing people who actually come to your shows. Therefore, it is remarkably ironic when you see someone at their show who has forced themselves to learn the lyrics and stand right at the front, making sure to be heard. I think that's what I love about it, whether intentional or not. Last track, Slow Dive, leans off the social commentary a bit and instead focuses on a positive message about taking life easy. The band informs us that "Sometimes you got to let it go" and instruct us to "go with the flow." Good advice, there, my friends! All songs have this fun vibe about them, almost definitely due to how everyone in the band gets a chance to sing and sing together, making everything sound more anthemic. I kind of remember somewhere near the start of the band's career that I didn't really pay all that much attention to them. I wasn't really keen on the Pet Shop Boys influenced name (I used to like the Pet Shop Boys) and I found it all a bit too "jingle jangly", for want of a term. Whether the band itself has improved or my musical tastes have broadened, this new EP is a beautiful record and I hope to hear another full length later on in the year full of more catchy twist-inducing tunes. 4/5 Sweatshop Boys play a free show tomorrow night, Sunday 8th March, at BuXa in Tel Aviv. For any readers over in mainland Europe or who will be there in the next month or so, you can catch Sweatshop Boys on tour across France and Germany:
A few months back, I had a few days listening to and watching videos of bands and songs I used to love as a kid or in my teens. I was just suddenly in the mood for hearing bands like London pop-rockers "A", British rocking dance act Apollo 440, Scottish electro-pop punk trio Bis and one of my favourite ever bands Reef. Living in Israel, I had to get used to the fact that there are some bands I might never get to see out here. I then see an event posted for a band name that I hadn't heard in quite some time. I actually had to make sure I wasn't imagining things. It turns out that 90s British electro pop act Republica, of all acts, were actually coming to Israel....of all places. I was typing on Facebook in capitals for about half a week when I found that out. I was deadly excited for a bunch of reasons. Firstly, I love it when a British band comes here. Secondly, I love it when a British band I actually like comes here. Thirdly, I love watching bands from yesteryear...so this was a fantastic combination of everything. I already saw Republica around 4-5 years at the O2 in Islington, London. That was also a reunion tour and I really wasn't expecting them this time around to ever come here. Coming into one of Tel Aviv's most well known music venues, The Barby, just a little while after open doors, there is only a handful of people here as DJs from Tel Aviv's most popular Brit Pop line, Bigmouth, are spinning tracks by bands like The Libertines, The Futureheads, Franz Ferdinand and The Smiths. It helped set the mood for the night as slowly but surely, more people started to flow in. As the Dj set grounded down to quite a sudden halt, everyone knew this meant only one thing....
Republica
As the band, consisting of original members keyboardist Tim (Dorney), guitarist Jonny (Male) and now including drummer Conor (Lawrence), ascend the stage, the crowd begins to gather and we all know that the legendary Saffron is following closely behind. She then appears and she's barely changed; hairstyle practically the same as when they started around 2 decades ago. The band kick off the night with their second ever single Bloke. I love this track and its "I'm gonna take you on" refrain, so this was a very good start for me. Saffron seems in good spirits and is really rocking out. The rest of the band, on the other hand, seem as though this is just a normal day at practice; turning up in very plain clothing and barely smiling. Looking around the venue from my spot in the corner of the balcony, I can see some people familiar with the song bouncing and singing along. I can't help but think that maybe the rest here tonight are just here for the obvious hits on repeat. As the set goes on, the band plays their other singles Rush Hour With Love, Drop Dead Gorgeous and, of course, Ready To Go. The latter two especially get the venue heaving. Almost everybody is bobbing up and down, probably in the same way that they did when they first heard those songs all those years ago. If anything, the songs actually sound a bit heavier than they once did. For Drop Dead Gorgeous, the band have added an epic sounding breakdown at the end. Drummer Conor is rocking a nice slow groove; even has him nodding his head a bit more than before. Ready To Go just sounds amazing. They warm the crowd up with a pre-recorded acapella intro and then have everyone in a frenzy as Jonny plays that unmistakable riff.
The band also play some older tracks from both the self titled album (Picture Me, Out Of The Darkness, Holly) and second album Speed Ballads (Try Everything, Millennium). There seemed to be a handful of people who knew some of these songs too. These are all new to me but sounded great, especially Try Everything and Millennium. Try Everything is a bit of slow 80s sounding rock number, a bit reminiscent of acts like Toyah, T'Pau and even Heart, just with a slightly more electronic vibe. I can see that some people aren't quite into it, but I was really liking it. The more I thought about it, I never noticed before how similar Saffron's singing style is to that of Toyah (Wilcox). Which is a good thing... The band delight us with new and more recent tracks. Titular track of last year's EP Christian Obey starts off sounding almost like a Lacuna Coil song, with Conor's heavy hitting drums and Tim's choir synth, but then leads into being a bit of a dark electro pop number. Two very new songs, German Accent and Hallelujah, also get played. Hallelujah gets a great reaction, with its joyous uptempo vibe and "I saw you there....Hallelujah!" chorus getting into everyone's head and singing along. If this song gets released as a single and doesn't regain the band recognition then there is not enough people in this world who understand what makes a great song. There were times during some songs where I felt that the pre-programmed beats were not actually in synch with the drums and generally with the rest of the band. Luckily, they were kind of quiet anyway, but as a drummer, it bothered me a bit. That aside, it was really Saffron who made this whole performance worthwhile with her energetic performance, captivating voice, great crowd interaction and, of course, sex appeal. I can't help but feel that the rest of the band is just along for the ride as they seemed less enthusiastic. They could have just been tired, I guess. Saffron continuously tells the crowd how much she loves us and how great a time they've had in Israel. She also thanks everyone involved in the show and all the fans. When they return for their encore, Saffron only very briefly gets political. She tells us how some people sent her hate mail for wanting to come to Israel but it didn't discourage her. She doesn't judge a country by its government; for that I applauded in agreement. For a band who are allegedly trying to brush off the "nostalgia" tag, I find it weird that they repeat both Drop Dead Gorgeous and Ready To Go for their encore. Everyone is still loving it. Due to the age range and amount of people here, there is a similar feel to some sort of high school reunion about 15 years on. Saffron ends the night with an incredibly heart-felt "Toda raba! Toda raba!" which has everyone even more in love with her. Over all, this show was not just a trip down memory lane but has hopefully shown people that Republica still have what it takes. 4/5 Photos come courtesy of Yuval Erel. Check out his blog here.
