Dananananaykroyd, That Fucking Tank, Pulled Apart By Horses & Cow Town @ Brudnell Social Club, Leeds, 29th July 2008

Back to the Brudnell for another brilliant gig this line up looks like a good’un. The doors opened a little later than expected so some drinks in the ye olde men’s section where in order, before slinking into the main hall. I love this room it looks like something from Phoenix Nights but with better entertainment, I’m just a little disappointed they don’t have a mirror ball…

Cow Town are a local Leeds band who are on Chinchilla Tone I hadn’t seen them before but was looking forward to it as I had heard good things and I love that little label. They play some kind of rocking spazz jazz but in the best way possible with funky ass synths, disjointed guitars and some beastly drumming. They reminded me of Fulborn Teversham but with a guitar and less sax. Enjoyed their set ever so much.

Pulled Apart By Horses are another local Leeds band I have heard a lot about and only seen at the very back of a crowed room where the sound was far to bad to appreciate at Nasty Fest earlier in the year. This time the swine’s where right in front of me and very excitable. They are bringing Grunge back with style my mate said they were a bit Screamo too so we decided to call them Sgrunge. Much riffage and hard ass rockin’ later everyone was into it pretty much and they had some infectious energy.

That Fucking Tank are a drum’n’bass outfit… well in that they are just a drummer and a bassist. They sound a bit like a post-rock battles with more straight forward and rocking tunes, or Death From Above gone post-rock. When they get into a groove the tunes where damn nice and danceable, when they were smashing out disjointed stuff I don’t think they quite pulled it off. They had some ace ideas and got a lot of people into it and grooving. Again pretty damn enjoyable band.

Dananananaykroyd are the headliners for tonight I have been gagging to see these guys ever since I heard about them a while back. Sissy Hits is an ace EP and they now have a record coming out by the end of the year, which should be nice and special. The live experience is an energy filled lightning bolt of joy filled noise with joking around with the audience and running about to join them. They had a few technical difficulties as they bust a string on the first tune but they got a guy from the audience to be a guitar tech for them for the evening. When they banged there way into One After One one guy in the audience tried to make a one-man moshpit and got well over excited. He ended up getting punched in the face by some one and a fight almost proper kicking off. After Dananan… calmed down that little incident and everyone backed off the bad vibes soon dissipated. The lead singer I think the dudes called Kyle? Was near me at the time of the fight in the crowd and we exchanged looks of confusion. They continued with some high energy beastly tunes with their awesome two drummer set-up they got the heat going so much so that. Duncan AKA ‘Land Wolf’ apparently got his top off which made the ladies swoon I can tell you right now it was pure sex. Each tune was a cracker and probably one of the most energetic and fun bands I have seen since The Mae Shi. The stuff I hadn’t heard before sounded brilliant, which gives me high hopes for an album. A bit of ramshackle audience participation with people coming up to play drums and guitar for a bit in the middle of a tune was a laugh. This was followed by more stonking tunes and then we had to go home…

Brilliant gig with many inspired bands. I think Dana went off into town for an after party later. There were flyers around saying as much any way. I would go see these bands again they rocked it all night long.

Johnny Foreigner – Waited Up ‘Till It Was Light

What an album this is thirteen songs of pure Indie rock fight pop anthems. JoFo are one of my favourite new UK bands around and their debut album doesn’t disappoint. There sound is some where close to Los Camesinos! But less twee-core and more fight pop, which is a massive relief, in-fact they can now start a fight pop axis of evil with new label mates Dananananaykroyd at Best Before. They also remind me of a warmer friendlier organic sounding Bloc Party in places. There is a bit of Sonic Youth and Fugazi in JoFo too. Their EP Arcs Across The City was sublime and some rewordings of the songs feature on Waited Up ‘Till It Was Light. The production on the album polishes the already outstanding tunes into a joyful hit ridden beast. This doesn’t take away any of their raw power or DIY style either. I love the vocals, which are much easier to hear now compared to the demos. The play off of the male and female vocalists works brilliantly and adds a real youthful energy to the songs. Waited Up ‘Till It Was Light could well be this years Indie album of choice, maybe this years Silent Alarm.

It’s been a while since I first heard this record on the leak, and it excited me very much, now I have the CD in my very hands that love comes right back at you like a sugar rush. My love for JoFo almost waived but putting Waited Up ‘Till It Was Light on again soon dispels this mental train of thought. I will get onto the tunes in just one moment but first, what about that artwork? Well I really like it, freaky ghostly cartoons loom over the Birmingham landscape. The inlay is sweet with its postcard style pictures just like the front cover but with song lyrics printed on the back. Just perfect for JoFo fan boys and girls to look over anytime they please.

Every single one of the tunes is a stand out in my opinion, the whole album oozes with fight pop brilliance, just good old loud indie rock pop tunes full of melody and guitars. Our Bipolar Friends, Eyes Wide Terrified and Salt, Peppa and Spinderella are maybe my absolute favourites. The drum machine and synth throb sets Spinderella off brilliantly before it kicks of in style. The production by American hardcore/rock/hip-hop producer Machine is really good and lets the band shine through really well, and manages to dodge all those twangy twee sounds English indie pop is so in love with right now. The lyrics are full of humour about nights out and all sorts of city living pass times. They seem to have a love hate relationship with Birmingham and I think we can all relate to that with our hometowns.

Johnny Foreigner are an adorable band go and enjoy them at their shows, buy them a some gin and sweets, say hello, then dance and smile.

NHG - Black Plaque

This is a mysterious dark yet silly laptop metal band named after, ‘Nervous Hugh Grant’ yeah that’s right the actor dude with the floppy bumble. I say mysterious it’s Dananananaykroyd having a laugh in their tour bus last week. They posted it for free download on DiS not to long ago, and as they are one of may favourite new bands I thought I would stick it right up here for you too.

This is how it was introduced:
‘If you hate yourself or like stupid, digitally-treated, sloppy metal music played by dumb nerds, check it out!’

So I have done and it’s exactly what it says on the tin. A tech driven evil metal mash-up, with the right amount of fun, and riffs, but you expect nothing less from Dananananaykroyd right? Yep…

This is what the liner notes say:

NHG - Black Plaque
Recorded live in an hour by Ross McGowan at Chime 2008
and processed / mixed on a laptop in a van touring the UK as Dananananaykroyd

Calum Gunn - Computer
James Hamilton - Drums/Guitar
David Roy - Guitar/Drums

1. The Day John Bonham Woke Up
2. One Does Not Simply Baseball Into Mordor
3. Baldrick
4. Shoko Nakagawa, Mai Waifu
5. We Can Be NHG
6. ...And The Wolf Was Geri Halliwell's Intestine (Parts 1 & 2)
7. When Is This Dennis Pennis Tennis, Venice
8. Mister Sister's Leather Moustache
9. Our Initials Spell CJD, Which Is What Mad Cow Disease Is Called When Humans Get It By The Way
10. Bad Body

Myspace

NHG – Black Plaque Download

Dananananaykroyd – Sissy Hits

Sissy Hits has been a long time coming Dananananaykroyd had some trouble getting it released because a record labels ran out of money and that sort of gubbins. Sissy Hits is well worth the wait though, it’s six tracks of pure fight pop, hardcore, punk, indie, rock action with balls of steel and a massive heart. I’m so glad it got a release on Holy Roar as its one of my favourite labels as they spit out Rolo Tomassi stuff along with others. In the pipeline is an album, which is being recorded in August this year and not my predicted 3006, they are also in talks with someone to be their label, which is ace news. Anyway for now lets talk about Sissy Hits…

Dananananaykroyd bring a sound to the table that I haven’t heard so well done in quite some time. The songs twist and turn yet in an entirely accessible way it’s the song structures that are really inventive and off the wall on Sissy Hits. It rocks hard yet also has its feet in the indie camp too, with an eye for hardcore to boot, a mishmash that works a treat. And wait for it they have two drummers yep that’s right two; I love bands with two drummers. I can’t even think of a band they sound like, although Dananananaykroyd use the traditional rock band set up well with added drum kit, they sound pretty unique. Live they are meant to be something else, as in brilliant not something else as in a hobo in leggings that would just be strange.

The Greater Than Symbol And The Hash kicks Sissy Hits off with big beats, guitar pings and claps. The sound is really punchy and everything is damn well recorded for a little band with no cash. The first section breaks out into a mad session of rocking feedback and a tempo change that will get people moving at shows for sure. Fight Pop is an ace description, and as we get drenched in feedback not unlike some kind of Sonic Youth tune and drop back into some chugging riffs you can hear where the tag came from.

One After One has a chirpy guitar riff at the beginning that gets me smiling. Dananananaykroyd drop some dirty sounds in there before popping back into chirpy mode again, and building with percussion. The vocals go from your regular indie/rock style to gruff shriek. The line, ‘We are the party’ brings us to the end of that one, and they certainly are.

Cleaning Each Other has some rumbling beats from pretty much all the drums and a swinging guitar line that plays off it. This tune has a pretty intense rock build up filled with repeated riffs until you just want it to drop.

British Knights skits along with bouncing bass lines and driving riffs, with some speedy sung moments. To be honest I’m not really sure what these songs are about just yet, I’m just in love with the sound of it all.

1993 is a cracking tune with thumping 4x4 beats at the beginning with a hot as hell guitar motif. This stuff will get you moving for sure. The lyric, ‘We will turn your hissy fits into sissy hits’ shines through, as does the screaming of, ‘1993’. This one’s a growler, yet slows to a beautiful number at the end.

Infinity Milk (Outro Version) leaves the listener gagging for more with its teasing 50 odd seconds of perfect Fight Pop that starts just as you are ready to kick off and really go for it and screams at you too, the cheeky swine’s.

Dananananaykroyd’s Sissy Hits is a triumph and I’m so glad it has reached my ears finally; I was so surprised to see it on my doormat yesterday morning. Holy Roar has another ace release under their belts. What an EP this is, from one of the most exciting new bands around right now. Don’t just take my word for it either. Go and check out the myspace here, and some random types shouting about its greatness here, oh and the 10/10 review of Sissy Hits from DiS here. Then go to the shows, buy the T-Shirts and the EP, you will soon be gagging for them to get in the studio to record an album. Viva La Fight Pop revolution!

The Future Is Fight Pop

What the hell is Fight Pop? You may well ask, and I’m not quite sure but I like the idea of it. I’m talking about two new bands that excite me this year they are Johnny Foreigner and Dananananaykroyd. The phrase was found on the latter bands myspace page to describe their sound. I’ve gone and lobbed Johnny Foreigner in with this description to, which seems fair as they have a planed tour together. The similarities don’t end there either, both write amazing, joyful, energetic, powerful and rocking Indie Pop. They are different enough however, to have a distinct sound of their own.

Dananananaykroyd are a Glasgow six piece with plenty of balls to the wall energy and inventive tunes. They have released two 7” before and both of them have sold out, unfortunately way before I had ever herd of them. I will be making up for this by buying their new EP ‘Sissy Hits’ from one of my favourite record labels Holy Roar on 9th June 2008. I’ve only herd the songs on the myspace page and they are a real treat, plus a review on Drowned in Sound was one of the most glowing I’ve read for a new band. Who could resist the excellent name Dananananaykroyd anyway?

Johnny Foreigner are, I think a three piece, yet there are two more mentioned on their myspace, from Burmingham. They released an EP called Arcs Across The City that I have previously reviewed on this blog. Their debut album will be coming very soon and goes by the name of ‘Waited Up ‘til It Was Light’, I have a feeling it will be absolutely wonderful. The songs are again full of power and passion like all good Fight Pop.

Fight Pop Forever!