On The Radar : The HARA

 

 

Genre defying is one way THE HARA have been described by numerous others but to me that’s just the start of the sound of something quite special.

The 3-piece formed from an advertisement bringing together a multitude of influences and sounds, consisting of frontman Josh Taylor, Zack Breen on guitar and Jack Kennedy on drums.

‘Bite Down’ on first listen bought me back to the first time I’d heard Cardiff hip-hop/rap outfit Astroid Boys which then closely followed up with Brighton based rock 2 piece Royal Blood joined by St Albans very own Enter Shikari and if that’s not a whirlwind tour of the UK music scene then I challenge anyone to tell me otherwise.

The HARA already amass a huge back catalogue of tracks ranging back to 2018 including iTunes most listened indie rock influenced ‘Be Somebody’ lyrically driven roaring rock banger ‘Off The Edge’, hugely successful social commentating cracker ‘Tramp Brain’ and recent ‘Play Dead’ EP opener ‘Until It Happens’ co-written alongside You Me At Six’s Max Heyler.

At this point I’m feeling a little late to the party knowing The HARA have already topped multiple online charts, narrowly missing out on numbers 1s because of Artic Monkeys, but here I am. With a total 18.5k followers on Twitter, 14k subscribers on YouTube and an ever growing loyal fan base (Just the mention of them on my own Twitter produced 20+ retweets) it’s not an if but when The HARA hit the road that they’ll start to make even bigger waves.

 

 

On The Radar : The Mysterines

88 days to print that we went into lockdown as a country and maybe about 6 or so months later from my discovery, The Mysterines have released another single into the wild and it’s a banger! Shame on me for not writing about them when I heard their debut EP ‘Take Control’ way back when, but I’m not one to be looking into the past in the current climate, more to a positive future and the release of ‘I Win Everytime’. 

A little background on The Mysterines...Female fronted, Liverpool based gritty rock band who fall somewhere between The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Them Crooked Vultures and the lyrical stylings of Nick Cave, Karen O and observational skills akin to a certain Alex Turner. ‘Take Control’ pulled me in the first time round because I felt my ears twang to the sound of a female vocal I felt I’d heard before, was that Kate Jackson of The Long Blondes fame under a different guise...Surely not...A google later and I found it to be Lia Metcalfe, front woman and force behind The Mysterines. 

To the point and subject of the blogpost, track ‘I Win Everytime’ is 3 minutes of a whirling undulating ruckus built on hooking basslines and memorable lyrical pairings that’ll be perpetual to the mind. The moody acrimonious slurring vocal is neoteric while latched to those likened in style only, ‘I Win Everytime’ is by no means a slow burner as it bombards it’s way through verse and chorus, it is the current and it is the future. 

88 days to print that we went into lockdown and how many more weeks until we are back in our most loved music venues, one thing is for certain is that the future isn’t bleak on the British music scene with bands like The Mysterines at the helm.

On The Radar : The Roly Mo

Guitar music is dead, long live guitar music…A statement literally shouted from the rooftops more times in the last decade than Alex Turner has changed hair styles. Alas, we might be falling into the next decade with a glimpse of hope in the form of Glasgow Indie-Rock 4 piece The Roly Mo. 

Now I’m not going to claim that I know anything about the Glasgow music scene, because it’s completely lost on me but from a few clicks I’ve found out that there is a dirty underbelly of clubs that are absolutely brimming with musical talent. In a day and age where we are losing venues quicker than gaining them, it was refreshing to know such things exist, and are thriving. 

Back to the subject matter The Roly Mo, named after a once famous kids television mole and sounding somewhere between ‘Beneath The Boardwalk’ Arctic Monkeys, ‘Era Vulgaris’ Queens Of The Stone Age and according to the band themselves Jeremy Kyle. It’s lairy bass lines seamed together with gritty lead vocals and that signature rhythm guitar sound. Featured song ‘I’ll Be Happy When You Die’ is a 2 minutes and 20 seconds rollercoaster of lyrical emotion, a top to bottom sure fire smash hit that you could mistakenly find yourself in a sweaty mosh pit come festival season singing along to at the top of your lungs.

Occasionally a band comes along and both ears prick up within the first few second of their song, The Roly Mo are that band, if guitar music is dead then The Roly Mo have just set fire to the funeral pyre and they are the oncoming resurrection. 

EP Review : Biffy Clyro : Black Chandelier

The calm before the double album storm has been brewing in a settled sea just off of our fair coast, and it’s debatable if the double edged storm will cause any damage at all. Many will be holding doubt around the release of Biffy Clyro and their now imminent outing with ‘Opposites’ but for now we can sit and watch it brew nicely on the horizon with the EP release of ‘Black Chandelier’.

The rock 3 piece come sailing in gently with EP opener and title track ‘Black Chandelier’, everything we expect from the ever existent badge of approval we continuously hold for our flag baring Scottish counterparts. Spinderley (even if that isn't a word) guitar riffs we expect of Neil are present throughout, the bass build and drum break, the gentle ease and final all round smash...It’s all included within ‘Black Chandelier’, the perfect Biffy Clyro song. Lyrically Simon Neil is still driving us around the houses, plucking verses of confusion then translating them into simplicity. ‘Black Chandelier’ is the perfect medicine to follow their epic previous return of ‘Stingin' Belle’.

Following the opener is ‘The Rain’ a ballad of sorts, the expected bubble wrapped commercial based X factor chart pleaser, the most simple of songs which is a complete disappointment but not what we shouldn't expect of the only out and out rock band in the UK (minus Band Of Skulls and a few others). For if it wasn’t for a certain Matt Cardle and the over filling wallet of Simon Cowell, the ever growing plethora of fans from previous album release ‘Only Revolutions’ would cease to exist and the hardcore would still remain, for what thanks we have.

 The subject of weather continues to dawn on us with ‘Thundermonster’, which wouldn't have been out of place on the ‘Infinity Land’ track-list  A thrashing riff-driven rock track of which we expect from Biffy of the past, something that some still long to return. It’s nothing short or long of acceptance and if this is what is expected in the contents of ‘Opposites’, those fans who have just got a ticket and joined the Biff bandwagon could soon be in for a shell shock. The final track on the EP is a live version of ‘Many Of Horror’, the track plucked from ‘Only Revolutions’ and propelled into the public eye, the EP filler and fan collectible  We all know the real lyrics, sit down Cardle.

In a rocking chair on the front porch of a city somewhere non-existent, we all sit and wait with baited breath, a 90-minute storm named Biffy Clyro is waiting to hit land. We can all batten down the hatches or lovingly embrace, ‘Black Chandelier’ is the tornado taster which causes minimal damage, sit tight as the blackened sky approaches.

ClubNME : The Sheepdogs preview

You could probably count on you’re hands the amount of bands who have played The Wedgewood Rooms AND graced the front cover of Rolling Stone Magazine, Now we can add The Sheepdogs to the list.

The Canadian 4-piece headline the ClubNME stage Saturday (12th May) sounding of what can only be  likened Psychedelic-Boogie-Rock. Described by Kings Of Leon front man Caleb Followill as ‘timeless from song to song’  alongside being mentored by every bodies favourite rocker Kid Rock, an endless line of plaudits transpires on.

It’s not always been plain sailing for The Sheepdogs, 6 long tough years has nurtured a flawless sound which has now paid off and led to tours with Kings Of Leon, appearances at numerous festivals (Coachella, The Great Escape, Bonnaroo) and gain television exposure across the America and worldwide.

Album ‘Learn and Burn’ has won Juno awards for ‘Single Of The Year’ ‘Best Rock Album Of The Year’ and ‘Best New Artist’ and have also just toured Australia.

If you are looking to be able to say ‘I saw them before…’ then this is certainly that band.



Support comes from local Portsmouth rockers Kassassin Street, a 5 piece band formed in 2010 who have supported the like of 2.54, Art Brut and The Big Pink. Exposure comes nationally from BBC Introducing and Amazing radio and they are currently recording a new EP ‘In a barn in the middle of nowhere’.

ClubNME DJ’s play between and after bands, tickets are available from The Wedgewood Rooms box office(Or click to website) at the bargain price of £4 and doors are at 10pm.