SILVER TROPHY WITCHES

LAST night saw the Hare and Hounds packed once again for a night of musical delights brought to us by Birmingham Promoters in association with Metropolis, a trend which is swiftly seeing Birmingham's gig scene rising, on The Scale Of 1-OK, to really quite brilliant.
Finally we don't have to travel up to the Yorkshire Moors or down to the streets of Jack the Ripper to see a half decent band and this, my friends, is incredibly good news.

On to the bands and first up were Birmingham's own  (Silver) Souvenirs, a band clearly chosen due to their ability to captivate, relax, excite [and probably juggle] an audience simultaneously, a quality which is difficult to come by.  A synth-pop sundae with sprinkles of math rock [but with far better quality vocals], (Silver) Souvenirs make it very difficult for anyone, in what must have been a particularly daunting full room,  to resist dancing.

That's a lot of love from some lovely looking ladies right there.

Photo by Jade Sukiya : She's Hot and She can take damn good photos.

Next on were Oxford's TROPHY WIFE who were what can only be described as a very bizarre looking live act. This is not to say that the music wasn't of a high standard, more that their on-stage anctics were a bit of a distraction with the [passionate] drummer looking as though he'd created his own world in a stobe-lighting lit club in Ibiza and the synth player pounding his pedals in a leprechaun like manner.  Having said that, the singer's no-frills-but-deeply-sweet vocals and the contageous bass riffs and beats in the form of well-known White Horses and ever popular Microlite were enough to win the crowd over, with the end coming in the form of a soup'd up, dance cover of Joanna Newsom's Book Of Right On.

The chappies are all very lovely looking but I just really like looking at this photo.  Not staring, like a weirdo, just looking.

The final act of the night were Esben and the Witch , a deeply dark three piece hailing from sunny Brighton.  Although not much of a continuation from the other more 'lively' bands, EATW wear a welcome breath of air, albeit fresh in the loosest sense.  The hauntingly soft yet equally powerful vocals [which, i must add, sound much better live] marriaged with morose guitar punches and lighter synth sounds really create an atmosphere of uncertainty and excitement.  I've got to add though that whilst this was all very new and good [in Birmingham standards at least], the obligotary 'I'm a girl so I have to play bass drum in every song a bit like the ting tings but with more eyeliner' was something that did quite the opposite to setting them apart from the other girl/boy bands currently spending their lives on twitter. That being said, they are most definitely worth a listen, live if you can make it, with stand -out songs being Marching Song and Warpath.
Catch them today at London's XOYO and tomorrow in Brussels.

I couldn't actually see their faces at the gig because they'd all let their hair down back to front.

They're all lovely looking too.  No witches here. Jog on.

x

CYCLIN' SPESH

FOR some reason I feel inclined to say that I haven't really learnt anthing of importance within the last few weeks.
Why this is the case I have no idea, so I'm trawling through my memories like a starved scavenger in search of something to say so as not to leave this page all cold, bare and un-funny, like Harry Hill's head.

I'm sorry but I find him as funny as my feet. I don't laugh, I cringe.

Here we go anyway:

ONE] Twos-ing on a bicycle at half past four in the morning around London after a night of Espresso Martinis [I
         had to make myself fit in with the crowd somehow] is incredibly irresponsible.  I don't care though because:
                         a] It beat awkward conversation with a cab driver who doesn't agree with drinking.
                         b] I saw pretty much an entire city by night and discovered roundabouts I did not know existed.
                         c] it's pretty thrilling as several near-death experiences turn into jokes.
        Basically it was a lot of fun.
        It is not OK to do this however if:
                         a] neither of you know London [thankfully one of us did, just about]
                         b] you're not wearing ankle pads covered in bubble wrap.  I returned to my room with several
                            large greeny-blue bruises. Attractive!

This is actually what we looked like. Except I was only crying inside.

TWO] Being ill, having to stay at home and being faced with NO Man Vs Food [the only thing worth watching on
         TV] is a recipe for absolute disaster.  I have discovered that I can not stay still for more than five minutes,
         six at best.  This is annoying because:
                        a] at this point I don't really have the energy to move, but I'm trying really quite hard, dragging my
                            feet and pulling the sad face, a picture more pathetic than Bin Laden at a Human Rights
                            ralley.
                       b] once you've made it off the sofa you realise there is nothing you can do, so you make the epic
                           five minute journey back and fall asleep.
                       c] it makes me feel like a HOBO.

To be honest I think he is just attention seeking. Look at that goatee.

THREE] I have friends cooler than Anne Robinson in the Arctic eating ice cream.  This sparkly gem was
             produced by TANTRUMS and friends in what can only be described as a moment of genius. Fans of Junior Spesh and lovers of the famous fast-food outlets in Birmingham must hear this.
CHICKEN SPESH

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW.

They do other serious songs too. Really good like.

Enjoy.
I can't really say more than that.

x