
A hair-raising taster in the form of Strange Fruit to the forthcoming album 144,000 due out on the 27th of October. Strange Fruit pays particular attention to the scourge of black on black violence. It’s a 4.42 minute hard hitting social documentary and it’s one of the best to tackle the subject. But don’t think for a minute that it’s filled with preaching and clichés. The story telling is powerful and M9’s vocals are overwhelming. Read the rest of this entry »
Ahead of the release of their next full length album, Chicago based Alkaline Trio have released part of the album in the form of an EP early, perhaps in an effort to keep leaked versions of the album away from the internet, but either way having 3 of the 10 slated tracks available so early is a strange move. Read the rest of this entry »
I don’t know what you would class the band as but to me they are a folk band, which means that so far this is the first folk E.P I’ve received to review this year, and I’ve been looking forward to it. Hailing from Manchester the Dukes of Portland are an energetic foursome and this is their third E.P release in 6 years. Coming from a city that has so much musical heritage you’d be forgiven for thinking that they weren’t actually from Manchester. Going their own way in terms of sounds they’ve delivered a fairly sedate, relaxed E.P. The vocals are good, apart from the unnecessary deliberate(?) distortion at times on some of the tracks. They’ve been criticized for a lack of vocal direction in the past but they seemed to have gotten this sorted.
Instrumentally they are tight, apart from one track that kept messing with my head and that was Snapped. You always get one track where you think, why the fuck did they have that annoying instrument in the background, and this track is one of them. What is up with the string instrument, I think it might be a cello or violin, it’s a total distraction.
The band have stated that they have removed themselves from their previous country sound and turned up the energy levels a notch or two. The folk / country sounds are still evident, but perhaps not as strong as the previous E.P. There is a slight resemblance to Pearl Jam in terms of overall delivery. I tried not to say it, or even suggest it, but it’s true.
For more information or to get in touch with the band check out their MySpace or their home page.