The Nimblewits, jumped on board with Final Clearance down at the Craufurd not too long ago, admitting themselves to the “acoustic-pop” side of things, they managed to bring out a couple of moments of making some good impressions despite a minimal and somewhat unorthodox set-up. Named “Playing Different Games”, their Ep has a somewhat suitable title for what is set apart from the usual MK fare, though sitting well with their Final Clearance mates.
Symbo are one of the few bands that have been on the music map in MK for a few years, the band even went through a few turns as they went from four members to just three, leading to a new learning curve that they conquered in time and got to the stage where they were comfortable with releasing an album with their name on it. Titled “Who’s Laughing? Who’s Disgraced?” the door is opened to have a closer look under the bonnet and see how their engine works.
With all respect to Last Of Our Heroes, I do sometimes wonder if they had to up their ante along the way. Their first couple of gigs shown that they already had the fan-base, a couple of cases of nudity at gigs shown they had the balls (literally…), but for some people laurels aren’t something to sit on, as is the case with the band. Their EP sheds some light that even if they didn’t need to try, they went and had a good go at it and came out with something that you can’t really ignore.
Canada Water turned a few heads when they were down with Amy Can Flyy and Casio Kid for the latter’s home-turf show during their tour. Along with their set, the guys also had some EPs around with four of their latest tracks, forming the “One Shot Farewell” CD. As ever, we couldn’t really say no to having a listen to what’s kicking around on the recordings, though if the set we seen was anything to go by, it should be a good time.
Seems a bit old school down at the Sno Bar last weekend, three local punk bands in the guises of Last Of Our Heroes, Scared Of The Ocean and last, but by no means least 1000 Hertz who have returned after a year on hiatus. Along with the bands are quite a few old MK musos which made the night begin to feel a bit like a few years back which isn’t a bad thing at all. Time to suspend some belief and believe that this the norm at the moment.
It’s a bit of a wait with the bands running a little late, but the Craufurd goes a bit lighter than the usual screamo or punk bands, with a more laid back collection of names, Final Clearance are no strangers to the area, though the support is a little new to the area. The Nimblewits are a familiar face to the Final Clearance, already playing with them for a few shows, and Uke’s Not Dead offer something a little different.
Backstage gigs are usually a bit of a surreal deal, early start times, location and the young crowd are something I probably bring up in every article on the gigs there. But tonight was a step above that, most of the acts being friends, let’s just say big man hugs from the Frantic Alice crew form the greeting before ending up in a debate with the usual posse on whether chippie chips are better than Chinese chips, yeah, you’ve been warned…
It’s kind of weird when you see bands again after a while, sometimes they change quite a bit. That was the case all over for tonight with a good few bands returning with Amy Can Flyy’s current tour hitting MK. Along with the local emo-tronic duo of Casio Kid are some familiar faces with Canada Water, plus some support from Adelaide. In other words a bunch of bands who bring out a bit of a lively side to the throes of emo.
Beatdown are back on board with some gigs for the new year, though this time it’s a little different and it’s not just down to the new neat lighting. The bands are an assortment of metalheads with the trio of Held Beneath, new post-metal quartet Keeper Of The Rifle and thrash architects Our Divide supplying a bit more of a rougher hardcore edge to round off the night. This time there’s an entry fee though, and you know what? It seems a little bit busier too.
