What's Going On Elsewhere?

Here's what's happening with some of our friends.

As mentioned in the previous post Documenta have finished recording their album and its set to be released on October 15th with a show in the Pavilion.

Last week Not Squares signed off on the final mixes of their debut album 'Yeah OK'. Its set for release in October (I think) and from what i've heard of it it's fixing to be album of the year. A lot more dancy than their initial incarnation this album is set to send them through the roof. And now that Ricki is (almost) done with his schooling they're gonna be playing everywhere. The only one they're letting on about though is with Adebisi Shank in the Button Factory in Dublin on 20th November. More Adebisi news later.

Girls Names have all but finished their debut album and will hopefully have it out by the end of the year. They haven't said when they're releasing it, I just hope it's out by the end of the year.

Neil from Girls Names has ANOTHER side project on the go (at last count I think that makes 23 various incarnations he has). This ones called Sea Pinks and he played his debut show last week in an intimate and delightful venue. To use the modern parlance he pwned (are the kids still using that?). Needless to say he's hit the mark again and may well be set to overtake Girls Names as 'The next Big Thing'. Apologies to Cathal if he reads this ;) You can download the fantastic Japanese Knotweed HERE!

South of the border news sees Hands Up Who Wants To Die finishing their new album in Berlin. If you can't wait for that you can swing by to band camp and buy their split ep with I'll Eat Your Face. Such wonderful names!

Logik Party released High Risk Narcissist last week. You can buy it here. We'll hopefully be dragging them back north for a show one of these days. I love those guys.

Adebisi Shank have released their second album and it can be bought here. 

Can't think of any more news about other bands but i'm sure that'll do you for now.

If you want to get out and about in Belfast this weekend (and why the hell wouldn't you), Jogging are playing Animal Disco in Auntie Annies on Friday. I haven't made it to Animal Disco yet but I hear its a hell of a party.
Saturday sees Girls Names and the wonderful Third Man Theme play the Mermaid Bar in Belfast with Deformative and the debut of Hit Butties, the newest, hottest DJ duo in town.

LaFaro - Leeds or Reading

Its great to see another Belfast band make it to Leeds and/or Reading this year. This time it was LaFaro's turn.

BATS - Star Wormwood

Here's BATS. They're from Dublin and they're awesome. I first saw them at Curfew a few years ago when my old band shared the bill with them. I've seen them a few times since then and they seem to be getting better every time I see them. Which is kinda scary.
The made a video for NO MONEY and it looks like this.

BATS - Star Wormwood from Digital Beast on Vimeo.
Their talent is seemingly endless... the wankers.

Corrigan - Medicine Stick

One of my favourite all time 'local' bands are the mighty Corrigan. They were one of the first Belfast based bands I saw and the first I made a point of going to check out whenever they played. Unfortunately they kinda went off the boil, played less and less frequently, wrote songs that weren't up to par to the first album, and they split. They still leave a pretty awesome legacy in their album 'How To Hang Off A Rope' and with the bands that formed after their demise - LaFaro, Cashier #9, and John Edgar Voe.

To this day I still say Martin Corrigan is the best front man Belfast has seen (go ahead and name me someone better) and his lyrics are second to none with their twisted humour and downright disturbing notions ("Well I sent for my sister. And they sent me her cousin. I said she sure is quite good looking. Send me half a dozen!")

With songs like McArthur, Water Ballad, and Sometime I Think About, Corrigan will forever live in my heart as the founders of the modern music scene in Belfast. And yes, I do realise how ridiculous that statement sounds.

They never amde any 'official' videos but here's one Martin, 'Uncle Senator' Joe Greene (Documenta / Olympic Lifts), and Neil Hughes (Driving By Night) made while on a drunken trip to L.A. a few years ago.

THEY'RE THE IRISH PUPPETS!

Evel

I was asked tonight what We Want Blood sound like and why we have no recordings on this here blog yet. Well the simple answer is because we don't have any recordings. But to give you a taste of what We Want Blood are like, here's a clip which I feel sums us up nicely.

Loretta Lynn

So my housemate Kim has been listening to Loretta Lynn flat out lately which has in turn got me listening to Loretta Lynn flat out. My favourite song of her's is 'She's Got You' (originally by Patsy Cline) but the only video of it I could find has that horrible 80's production on it where it seemed to be a good idea to use a cheap keyboard set to 'piano' instead of using a piano. I guess country music was trying to be more relevant by using modern instruments. It failed. Stick to your guns country music, acoustic everything works better for you.

Anyway, here's Patsy Cline singing 'She's Got You'.

Yakuza

Here's the video for 'West of the Best' by Yakuza taken from their still unreleased second album. These guys are stalwarts and I think the longest running band in Belfast. I'm pretty sure Yakuza were the first local band I went to see way back in 1997 (how depressing is it that 1997 is "way back"?) back when they were playing Pixies covers. In fact i've known most of these guys my entire life. I've known Davy and Philly since I was four years old and used to sit beside Roni in GCSE French - that's neither here nor there though.

Anyway, here's 'West of the Best'.

We Want Blood

I've just realised that even though this is the blog for the band I haven't really mentioned the band yet. What a maroon! Who are we? What do we do? All that bollocks!

Well we're 'Mr Wonderful' Paul McStravick (guitar), 'Iron' Ben McAuley (drums), Cathal 'Devil Anse' Cully (bass), and Ciaran 'White Dynamite' Hughes (guitar/vocals).

Hmm... I had written out a whole big thing there but it was boring as fuck so I deleted it again. Lets just say We Want Blood play rock 'n' roll... and We Want Blood have come for your children.

Panda Kopanda

I've been posting videos of bands I saw and loved while I was in Melbourne so why the hell haven't I done the same for Belfast bands? Actually its probably because there's not a lot of videos by Belfast bands I like (I hope that statement gets proven wrong btw).

Anyway, here's the video for 'Spirals' by Panda Kopanda. It was filmed by Will McConnell at a show I put on a few years ago. An interesting(?) note for fact fans is that the video features Iron Ben's special lady friend (she's one of the lovely girls sitting at the table).

During the filming Will moved a light we had set up on stage so he could have better light for his filming; well the light wasn't moved back and someone accidentally threw a cardigan on the light which almost led to the whole place going up in flames. Good times.

Curfew 2010

Pete Jez (one of the nicest men in the world) is putting Curfew on again this year; here's what he says:
"So around this time for the last 8 years I've announced the annual Curfew line up...around this time for the last 4 years I keep saying this is the last. THIS IS THE LAST!

I guess the original need for Curfew has passed over the last few years and I cant stress how great that is. With so much stuff happening in July there's something to cater for everyone; it really is no different than any other month.

Curfew has always brought together a diverse and high standard of musical endeavours and this year will be no different. As always we will be running the weekend closest to the 12th of July as always."

And here's the line-up:
FRI 9th JULY // 7pm
Slomatics
We Want Blood
Jogging
Before Machines
Wonder Villains
Selaah
Secret Teeth
Hands Up Who Wants To Die

SAT 10th JULY // 7pm
Girls Names
Strait Laces
Black Bear Saloon
SKP
Third Man Theme
The Cities We Captured
Kiriath

Yup, that's us up there between Slomatics and Jogging. Yup, I think that means we're on second last on our first show. I think other people are excited about seeing us.

This is an awesome line-up! I'm very excited about playing with our friends (especially Third Man Theme who are also making their debut) and can't wait to see the likes of Hands Up Who Wants To Die, Jogging, and Wonder Villains who i've heard great things about. All we have to do now is finish writing some songs. WOO HOO!!!

Here's the Curfew Facebook page.

Gig time bitches!

So we've finally confirmed our first show. Don't have all the details yet but it'll be as part of Curfew 2010 and is on Friday 9th July. I probably should have waited until everything was confirmed but i'm too excited.

And to whet your appetite here's some picture of us in the dungeon perfecting our magic.

Handsome devils.

Not Squares - Release The Bees

Our good friends Not Squares have just unveiled the video for their second single off their forthcoming album. Its called 'Release The Bees' and is once again directed by Andrew Wood from Bright Stem.

Not Squares - Release the Bees from Bright Stem on Vimeo.

Lovely stuff fellas.

http://www.brightstem.com/
http://www.myspace.com/notsquares

Jobs!

Who the fuck decides on what nonsense is put into a job description. The following is an actual job advert from a recruitment website. Can anyone tell me what the job actually is?

"This is your chance to be the voice of one of the largest banking, financial services organisations in the UK. Speaking to people from all walks of life every day on the telephone, you’ll take a genuine interest in each and every one of them. Listening to their needs, finding out about their hopes for the future, and answering their questions, you’ll build a real rapport with our customers. You’ll show them how much we value them. And, by proactively offering products and services that suit their situation, you’ll work towards achieving your target’s and help us create better value for them too.

Taking real ownership of every call, you’ll show pride in everything you do. Offering simple, straightforward advice, you’ll always do your best to resolve a call – but when you do need to transfer someone to a colleague, you’ll take care to make the process as smooth as possible. Striking a perfect balance between friendliness and efficiency, you’ll take good care of your own performance too and identify opportunities to develop new skills. As a team player, you’ll also look after your colleagues, by sharing advice and offering them positive support." 

What?

And this is how one company describes itself:

"Our client is a progressive membership organisation representing an industry sector that contributes significantly to the Northern Ireland economy and an increasingly important element of the future growth of that economy.

Their role is to support the integrity and sustainability of our members businesses and the long term commercial viability of the industry across Northern Ireland. Whilst providing an effective advocacy with Industry Suppliers, Government and other key stakeholders on issue of interest or concern.

In partnership with key industry suppliers they are establishing an Industry Development Programme to include an enhanced range of services and resources aimed at supporting improved performance, quality and diversification within its members’ businesses."

Somebody kill me now. I'm done with this world. 

Right... here's some Dan Sartain to make me feel better again. He was amazing last night.

Super Wild Horses

Another awesome Melbourne band! What is it about that place that creates such great music? Personally I think its the climate but that's another story for another time. Anyway, here's Super Wild Horses. I saw these gals a couple of times and they never failed to impress me. I'm pretty sure there's a name for this kind of music but I'm not really in touch with that sort of thing anymore. Is it shit gaze? I really don't know. But what I do know is that Super Wild Horses were splendid every time I saw them including when they played the Lithuanian House were the room was filled with what I assume were pictures of former Latvian Presidents or Prime Ministers. Very strange venue. That night I had a slightly awkward encounter with one of them. Oh, what could have been.

And yes, I have a crush on both these girls. One slightly more than the other.

Pets With Pets

On my first weekend in Australia I was taken ended up seeing Pets With Pets. On paper there really was no reason for me to like this band. I was kinda cringing when they were setting up as I was sure I was not gonna dig them at all especially as Walshe who brought me there told me they were balls (can't help but wonder why we stayed now that I think about it). We hung around anyway and within a few minutes I was wondering how Walshe could have been so wrong about this band. They were fantastic! My language isn't pretty enough to describe their sound so just watch the video and hear for yourself.



We got talking to Zayd and Johnno after the gig (Zayd is the one who looks like he's called Zayd and Johnno is the one who looks like he's called Johnno) and it turns out that they're lovely fellas to boot.

Oh, and they had a different drummer when Walshe first saw them which might explain why they were better when we saw them again.

Rat vs Possum

I wasn't sure what to expect when I was first brought to see Rat vs Possum (another Melbourne band btw). My good friend Deformative had told me about them and reckoned I might like them. How right he was!
He can probably describe them better than me...
"...a joyous, harmonious atmosphere amongst the audience that you kind of feel that instead of playing their whacked-out, tom-heavy psychedelic anthems, these four misfits are actually the good witches of Brunswick casting blissful spells on us all, intent on converting the world to their doctrine of love for heroic apes, glitter, and communal fruit." 
Hmm, that seems more hippy than his usual work but it still sums them up.
 
And yes, that is backwards singing they're at.

Ouch My Face

So here's another Melbourne band I discovered on my antipodean adventures. I wanted to see them as soon as I hard their name but never got the chance to check them out until a week before I left. I was not disappointed. I just wish I'd got to see them more than once.

Graveyard Train

During my time in Australia I discovered a band called Graveyard Train. I read a review of their album in one of the free local music papers and while I thought it was the most pretentious piece of music journalism i'd ever read I was intrigued by it. It was essentially a four paragraph horror story that had no mention of the band, their music, nothing. Just a story. Anyway, I went to see Graveyard Train at their album launch and was blown away by them. They play 'horror country' and as soon as they started playing I tried to work out how I could rip them off. Not just rip them off a bit but totally.

I had never saw a band who's lineup included two guitars, banjo, upright bass, slide guitar, washboard, crucifix, and hammer and chain. At one point they had twelve people on stage and they were all singing. It was pretty amazing.

Well, here's their video for 'The Balled of Beelzebub'. Enjoy.



And I really want to get a read of that review again.

Cinco de Mayo

So today I learned that Cinco de Mayo isn't really celebrated in Mexico so instead of some Mexican awesomeness here's some Mexican influenced awesomeness.

Americans!

I love this band so much!

Americans, a Spaniard, and one Mexican!

Alas not even Los Lobos are Mexican. Only Cesar Rosas was born there, the rest are from LA or Philadelphia :(

A Canadian and an American soundtracked by Germans!

This whole match is worth checking out. Its El Generico vs Delirious and its awesome! The song is 'Te Quiero Puta' by Rammstein; is there anything these guys can't do?

Rainey

So we decided that our 100th fan on Facebook would get some kind of prize. Unfortunately we had no idea what the prize would be so we figured we'd play it by ear and see who the 'lucky' winner was. Well, as it turned out our 100th fan was Graham Rainey one time guitarist for Los Cabras and The Snake Charmers. Still had no idea what the prize would be but then it hit me! A Song!! Thats what we do anyway right? So it was decided that we would name a song after Graham. Lo and behold one practice later and we have a song called Rainey. I think i'm gonna call in that favour Rocky from Malibu Shark Attack! owes me and get him to do the lyrics for it. Double prize whammy!!

Anyway, that's what happened in practice tonight.

Oh, and that's Graham.