The Wytches added to the NME Award Tour

Grunge rock trio The Wytches have just announced that as of tonight (Feb 20th) they will be playing the NME awards tour with Slaves, Fat White Family and Palma Violets. It appears as though The Amazing Snakeheads who were originally meant to be playing have dropped off the tour, though they are yet to say anything on social media.

The rest of the tour is as follows:

February
20th - Leeds O2 Academy
21st - Newcastle O2 Academy
22nd - Glasgow O2 ABC
24th - Nottingham Rock City
26th - Manchester Ritz
27th - Oxford O2 Academy
28th - Birmingham Institute
March
2nd - Bristol O2 Academy
3rd - Portsmouth Pyramids

Interview With... Catfish and the Bottlemen (1/3)

Just 4 days before the release of The Balcony, I sat down with lead singer, Van McCann, to talk about the debut album, touring, crying and NME. It's a three-part interview so watch out for the continuing pieces.

Connor: Right, let’s start off with Reading and Leeds.

Van: Yeah mate, best place to start.

How did that feel for you? I know a bunch of lads and I were there at the front and we all started crying!

Really?! 

Yeah, it was pretty emotional. Wasn’t it?

Mate. I came off stage, right. Which one was you at? Reading? I came off stage there and our lawyers and that were crying. Our management were crying, I was nearly crying. I was doing an interview after it for a video and I couldn’t finish because I was so whelmed up because it means more than anything. Other bands don’t get it like how we get it live. Seeing that many people like you who were buzzing and I’m just thinking “no way man”. I came off stage at Leeds and I was sick. I couldn’t control myself. My hands wouldn’t stop shaking. 3 days after that I still had the shakes. People don’t understand if they weren’t there. The only people that can actually understand is you. It’s not just a job, it’s a band to us. We had nothing about a month ago. We have worked so hard for it and like Larry was just saying, back to the job centre if the album doesn’t sell – that’s what it will be. It’s what we have done for the last fucking 6 years. So many people saying ‘you’re going to be nothing’ or ‘you can’t make anything of yourself’. When I got kicked out of school, they would say ‘you’re daft, you’re a dosser’. They pretty much just vanished me. To now play to 6,000 people and have that many people waiting outside the [Festival Republic] tent to get in, this is what I got in to music for. It means everything to me.

I saw you at Barfly last June, and to see the difference between then and now. Would you say Reading and Leeds was a turning point in your career?

Yeah. Well, T In The Park was good because Scotland, we’ve always done alright there but you know “the Scottish crowd”? We never got that and then T In The Park came a long and we were all just shocked. What the hell was going on? It was just crazy. Absolutely crazy. So that, that was a bit smaller than Reading and Leeds but Leeds and Reading were just mental. I think a lot of people came because of word of mouth. People saying “I’ve heard a lot about this band. Let’s go and see them.” And I like the fact that we maybe had 1,000 people there who knew us and then 2/3,000 people who didn't actually know that much about us. I like that. It’s kind of, when we do our own gigs, it’s just a matter of going out there, enjoying it and smashing it but you have to go that extra mile when a few people are in the crowd and don’t actually want to like us. It was just insane, I can’t express how much it meant to us without physically looking like a dick and crying my eyes out on stage. 

At Reading, Catfish and the Bottlemen seemed to be the band that everyone spoke about in the camp sites. It definitely was the case at ours anyway.

Oh Really?

Yeah, everyone just kept telling everyone “you need to go and see these”.

That’s even more amazing. Nobody has said that to me yet and I’ve been in those campsites. We couldn’t afford to go to festivals so we used to sneak in. We used to buy one band and cut it then put it through the fence. To think people were in the campsites telling people to see us, is amazing. 

There was one guy running around by our camp shouting to everyone that they needed to see you.

That is genuinely amazing to me. 

There was a group of about 30-50 people who just went all together as a group to see you just through recommendation.

Larry!! Have you heard that? At Reading, everyone was talking about us in the campsites and there was a guy running round telling everyone about us and then a huge group all went together. How mad is that?
That’s amazing mate. You don’t see that anymore, do you? I’ve noticed that people tweet at the end of ours gigs “that was one of the best gigs of my life!” and “that was better than seeing Oasis in an arena or stadium” but they have millions of pounds for light shows and that, we’re just scruffy little kids playing with gear that barely works. I’ve had the same guitar for years and cost about £100. So fucking mint when you can go out and give it to someone and then just know that the only reason people were at that gig is because people were talking about it. Not because magazines have said “go see this band” or whatever. Nobody at Reading and Leeds; NME, magazines, TV, nobody said to their audiences that we were the band to go and see and it really wound me up. Apparently they don’t want to say anything about us. Just because we’re not paying to get in magazines or bending over to be popular, doesn’t mean we’re not worthy and the fact that people like you guys and people around that campsite were saying “come see this band”, that means more to me than anything money can buy – you know what I mean? 

Are you more proud of what you’ve achieved because you haven’t had that exposure? You’ve had Zane Lowe and a few other DJs supporting you but not much else.

Yeah, definitely. The thing is with radio, the head of BBC Radio 1 come see us and I can see them in the crowd singing our lyrics and it’s like, they’re not playing us because it’s ‘popular’. Like they’ll play One Direction because that’s what the kids want and that’s what Radio 1’s job is at the end of the day but they play us because they like us and that means so much to me. The head of Radio 1 flies out to our gigs and he comes to watch us and he gets drunk with us. He’s a normal guy. I can’t afford to give him anything though, but I can’t give him enough credit. All I can say or do is, if we sell a couple of records, I’ll give him one of those discs. It’s just amazing. It’s so fucking funny. We love negative press, we don’t actually read press really but we get people to send us the negative stuff like our mates. NME wrote “twatfish and the cockmen” in their magazine, so we pulled up outside our local shop just after we got a sleeper bus for the first time. It took up like 9 parking spaces, we all got off the bus, went in to our local, read this paper all in a huddle – about 8 of us – going “look at this! We’re in the NME man.” It’s fucking funny. If they’re giving us shit, we prefer it. To us, you know when you used to draw dicks on a board in school? And you would get told off by the teachers? Then all your class would laugh and think you’re dickheads, we’re doing that now but on a massive scale. You know what I mean? We’re normal lads. We’re not stars. So the bands who are making loads of money already, there is no desire to become something. Like they think if what they’re doing doesn’t work, they can just start another project. But with us, like Larry said, it’s over. If it’s going to end, I want to be the one that ends it and I want to end it because we gave it everything. I’d hate to go and bow down and just kiss NME and be on the front cover all year. If the album flops, I want to know it flopped because people gave up on it and luckily, it doesn’t seem like they are. I’m fucking well excited man. It’s unreal.

Interview by Connor Willis (@connorpwillis)

Wolf Alice stream their new to-be-released EP "Creature Songs"

Wolf Alice's new EP will be released next Monday, but you can give an exclusive pre-listen to it on NME's page. You just have to click HERE and let this heavenly music roll.

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The Libertines officially confirm reunion and release Hyde Park details (ticket links)

The Libertines have this morning officially confirmed that they will reunite for a summer show in London's Hyde Park.

The long awaited confirmation comes after a week of endless speculation and rumours - predominantly fuelled by an array of hints and clues released by both the band members and their social media sites.

One of the last 'hints' to appear on the bands Facebook page. A picture of Julius (July) Caesar - the FIFTH Roman General.

Finally breaking the news just moments ago, the four-pieice wrote on their Facebook page, ''THE GOOD SHIP ALBION IS SETTING SAIL SOONER THAN YOU THOUGHT. We're HEADLINING BST Hyde Park, 5th July.''

You can read more about how the band slowly but surely drip fed fans the news of their comeback via  Carl Barat says 'keep July 5th free' and  The Libertines to reunite for Hyde Park shows?

The London band, who last played together when they reunited back in 2010 to play at the Reading and Leeds festivals, have also released the full event details - including the gigs line-up and ticket release date.

Tickets will go on sale on May 2nd but can be pre-ordered as of Monday from The Libertines Hyde Park Tickets Pre-Order.

One of the first 'hints' to appear on official Libertines Facebook page. A map of London's Hyde Park,

The full line-up has now also been officially announced after it was leaked by Sheffield band, Reverend and The Makers in the early hours of this morning.

The official line-up

Late last night, both Georgehenryking.com and Itsallindie.com were some of the first to break the news of the Hyde Park shows rumoured line-up as well as an early reunion confirmation after the following information (see imagine below), was quietly placed on the ticket part of NME.com - who appeared to refrain from publicising it.

By George Henry King

@GeorgeHenryKing

Carl Barât says 'keep July 5th free' for potential Libertines reunion show

Carl Barât has subliminally confirmed The Libertines will reunite for a show at London's Hyde Park - after recently suggesting that fans ''keep the 5th July free.''

The Libertines co-frontman is reported to have told Gigslutz that it is now "very much a possibility" that the band will reform.

Talking of the potentional reunion during his recent DJ set at Ladbroke Grove's KPH, Barât allegedly said ''keep 5th July free'', after being pushed for a live show date.

Speculation amongst fans was first initiated over the weekend after a status saying, ‘Albion?’ was shared on the band’s official Facebook page.

The possibility of The Libertines reforming was then made even more likely after an image of Hyde Park was also posted on the London bands social media site.

Carl Barâts comments follow a series of reunion implications from fellow frontman Pete Doherty.

Read more on that here:The Libertines to reunite for Hyde Park shows?

(source: NME.com)

By George Henry King

www.georgehenryking.com

Damon Albarn open to making an album with Noel Gallagher

They were once at each others throats during the infamous Oasis vs Blur Britpop rivalry back in the 90's.

But with over twenty years having now passed, it appears that Noel Gallagher and Damon Albarn's relationship has taken a complete U-Turn, and it's leading them straight into the studio - together.

This week, Damon revealed that making an album with the former Oasis man is a ''distinct possibility'' and that it wouldn't be ruled out. He claims that the pair have spoke about making music together at least once and at some point in the future, it's likely to happen.

Damon and Noel have spoke about making an album

Last year the pair appeared to bury their two decade hatchet when they performed together at a Teenage Cancer Trust gig at London's Royal Albert Hall.

Speaking exclusively to NME, the Blur frontman said: "I still see Noel from time to time. We text a bit," Albarn says. When asked if the pair would be making a record together, he replied, "I can imagine that being a very distinct possibility at some point in the future. But, as yet we haven't really talked about it…"

Damon continued: "OK we have a little bit. We're talking. It's not anything to get excited about yet. I mean, he's doing his thing. He's finishing a new record. I've got my record coming out, but the principle of us making music together is something…you know, it would be fair to say, we have discussed it at least once."

Damon Albarn will release his debut solo album 'Everyday Robots' on April 28th and Noel is said to be currently working on a follow-up to 2011's, 'Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds'.

(source: NME.com)

By George Henry King 

www.twitter.com/georgehenryking

www.georgehenryking.com

Arctic Monkeys reveal video for new single, 'Arabella' (watch here)

Having just come off the back of what seemed like a two week awards ceremony residency, in which the band dominated at both the Brit and NME awards, you'd think the general public would be the last thing on the minds of the Arctic Monkeys.  

You can watch the brand new Arctic Monkeys video below

But conveniently, the Sheffield four piece have revealed the brand new music video for their upcoming single, 'Arabella' just in time to banish your Monday morning blues - how nice and thoughtful of them. 

So whack it on, kit yourself out in leather, gel your hair and then strut into work and tell your dickhead of a boss to stick his job up his arse. 

By George Henry King

www.twitter.com/georgehenryking

The Horrors confirm completion of fourth album

Banishing the curse of the difficult third album, 2011's 'Skying' was released to critical acclaim and helped to put The Horrors on the pedestal that they deserve to be on. Now, just under three years on, the Southend five piece have finally given fans the closure they have so eagerly been awaiting.  

Talking exclusively on Zane Lowe's Radio 1 show last night, frontman Faris Badwan confirmed the albums completion and admitted naming their creation is always the hardest part of the process. He said: "The record is finished now - we're deciding on a running order and the artwork.'' He went onto add: ''The hardest thing of all is coming up with the name - it's a nightmare, and it's the worst part of being in a
band, or at least the most time consuming."

The follow up to 'Skying' is now complete

Badwan, who along with his band will play the first BBC 6 Music Festival later this month, also admitted that he has finally managed to obtain what he has always wanted from an album."I would honestly say it's my favourite record we've done because I feel like we finally got close to what we actually wanted from the songs... I'm happy with it, I'm really happy with it."

The band will also hit the road to promote the album - although dates and venues are yet to be confirmed. "As a band we love touring, it's very much central to our records, we write the songs to be played live," he said. "So we're going to be performing as much as we can over the next couple of years."

George Henry King

www.twitter.com/georgehenryking

(source - www.nme.com)

Album Review... Reverend and The Makers - Thirty Two

Back in the tender year of late 2005, amongst the impromptu Tsunami sized waves of hysteria that started to escalate around Sheffield's, young but constantly NME featured indie band Arctic Monkeys, Jon McClure was scouring every nook and cranny in the town for musicians to form Reverend and The Makers - and was also reportedly offered up to £150,000 from major records labels to make an album just like the debut of his Sheffield peers.

*COOL FACT* - Jons brother Chris McClure is the guy you see smoking on the cover of 'Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not' by Arctic Monkeys.

However, three Top 20 albums down the line, and with the release of fourth album, 'Thirty Two' (to be released via Cooking Vinyl) eagerly waiting in the wings, ready to take centre stage and steal the show, I say thank god Mr McClure stuck to his guns - because if he hadn't, who knows what Justin Bieber-esque, auto-tune induced shit the major labels could of had him making today in order to conform with what's currently deemed 'popular' in the industry.

Now 32, McClure, often referred to as The Reverend, has embraced his age by naming his bands very new creation after it and although a huge UK tour would usually be enough for any band, McClure has decided to take it one step further - by doing spontaneous 'decided on the night' house gigs for lucky fans up and down the country before the actual tour has even kicked off.

But anyway, let's get to the main reason you decided to open this article...

First of all, I'd be lying through my teeth if I said a 'back-to-basics' predominantly guitar driven album wasn't a preference of mine - because it is. But somehow, like every one of their albums prior to this one, Reverend and The Makers have once again created a platform that enables you to indulge in a  healthy, occasional serving of electro-pop that doesn't make you feel like a jumped-up, 'Swag' T-shirt wearing twat, who lives for the likes of 'press-play' artists, Calvin Harris and David Guetta, once the album concludes.

Explosive album opener, 'Detonator' (pardon the pun), that is the shortest yet arguably catchiest song on the 11-track LP, is a prime example of this very indie/electro-pop/rock sound that the band have so primarily come a custom to, and when you do it this well and with such conviction, there really is no need to even contemplate changing that - so lucky they haven't. 'I'll take you somewhere we can hit your detonator', McClure delivers with self-assuring poise and his remaining Sheffield twang (a trait some may argue fellow Sheffield-man, Alex Turner unfortunately is no longer lucky enough to have) as the music briefly halts before consuming you once more. Although the lyric to me screams, SEXUAL INNUENDO, it's definitely one that you can undoubtedly foresee The Reverend occasionally not singing over the course of the groups UK tour dates just because he knows the audience will do it for him. 'I Spy' quickly follows with more of the same punchy brilliance yet more lyrical content which helps to form a catchy chorus that you can really get your teeth more into - and the fact the track clocks in at just 2.51 minutes means there is no reason why that floppy haired Grimshaw fella shouldn't be playing this on Radio 1 every bloody morning.

Thirty Two will be the bands fourth album

Then comes the extremely up-beat and ridiculously (yet amazingly) audacious 'Devils On The Radio' followed by the brief trumpet (I think there is a trumpet) induced opening of 'Nostalgia' - two tracks that would sound more than at home on a Madness album and will unquestionably cause havoc amongst the audience when they both drop live. Yes, I know what you are thinking, and I would normally agree that the combination of Ska and Electro-pop on the surface sounds equally as harrowing as the combination of Miley Cyrus and 'twerking', but both songs are surprisingly superb, work really well and are definitely album highlights for their sheer execution of Ska influences alone - a very pleasant surprise that proves the band always have the odd something up their sleeves.

Both 'Happy' and 'Play Me', are the two slower and more intimate efforts on the album and personally for me they are the very moments where I think Reverend and The Makers are able to fully come into their own as terrific songwriters - as oppose to 'just another indie band' that can churn out up-beat anthemic songs again and again. Most peoples perception of a 'slow' song usually coincides with phrases such as 'slow songs are boring' or 'I can't dance to it so it's shit' - but this band have the ability to write slower songs that abolish such stereotypes - where many other bands don't. They've done it before - 'Sex With The Ex' for example from their 2007 debut in my opinion is one of their best ever tracks. The Vaccines done 'Post Break Up Sex' and judging by both titles the running theme is pretty similar, but it was the immediacy of it that for me didn't match the accompanying lyrics - there's hardly anytime for the consumer to reflect or relate. Reverend and The Makers on the other hand sold the same story but at a pace that gave you a chance to remember the very moments in your own life where you had experiences just like the ones McClure is there singing about.

And like on those previous albums, these slower numbers are also then able to play host to the emotional depths McClure can reach lyrically whilst still ensuring he, as the protagonist, is someone the audience can relate to. Because despite the illation and escapism you can get from songs that you can just get up and lose yourself to, at the end of the day once those tracks end, the problems of your reality will still be there - and that's when you need them slow, crooning numbers to help you address your own heartbreak or life issues in the company of a voice that is effectively telling you that you aren't the only one, you aren't the first and you won't be the last. Perhaps that in itself is why I am such a big fan of the slow songs and why I would have no problem in saying, 'Play Me', despite the 'get up and go' sense of euphoria you gain from the other songs on this album, is my favourite track off of this LP.

Next, opening with a vocal chant that has the very melodic power to get even the most boring of people infectiously tapping their foot and secretly humming along in the corner, 'Different Trains' is the sort of song I'd imagine could soundtrack a film montage of a married man with kids who wins a load of money in a massive game of blackjack. He then starts taking a load of drugs and starts having sex with a load of girls, ultimately cheating on his wife and eventually loses everything (cough cough music video idea for you there guys). The song is also like the bad side of your conscience - it makes you want to do something illegal but by the time you do it, get arrested and go to blame the person that made you do it, they are long gone as if they were just a fragment of your imagination all along. McClure also exchanges vocals back and forth on the verses with who I assume is another member of the band which is a very nice touch.

'Time' has yet another catchy chorus whilst the verses are quite reminiscent of those in old fan favourite 'Heavyweight Champion Of The World'. 'Old Enough (To Know Better)' is a guitar, bass and drum galloping machine and certified single with a striking alarm type sound at the start that makes you feel like you've just set the alarms off at a bank you're robbing and before you know it you are running away from half of the Metropolitan police force. So a great atmosphere resonates through this one and I particularly like the lyrics and theme - 'backside on the bar stool, will he take her upstairs?' being a certain highlight.

As the album begins to draw to a close, coming in at second from last, is recently released new single, 'The Only One' and I believe it to be somewhat of a standout track that to me truly makes me question why this band isn't ten times bigger? And despite how long you ponder on that, you won't find an answer because the truth is, it is somewhat unjustified that Reverend and The Makers aren't headlining places like the O2, because songs like this one, and the whole album for that matter has 'stadium filling' all over it.

Closing track 'Your Girl', which was also available for free to anyone that pre-ordered the album through Pledge Music when the announcement of a fourth LP was first released back in October, is for me probably the weakest of the bunch, but that doesn't mean that it's not a good song - it just means the rest of the album is borderline, sublime.

And on that note, all I have left to say is, go grab yourself a copy as soon as possible - because in order for real music like this to once again, reclaim the charts top spot (a chart that is currently riddled with manufactured poisonous pop), it's in album sales where success needs to occur and it's in the very light of success where this band in particular, truly belong.

The bands fourth album, 'Thirty Two' is scheduled for release on 24th February but can be pre-ordered right now from PLEDGE MUSIC.

ALBUM RATING 9/10

By George Henry King
www.twitter.com/GeorgeHenryKing