Dinosaur Pile Up will release the latest single from the brilliant 2010 debut album Growing Pains on March 14th, it will be fans favourite My Rock ‘n’ Roll, one of the first songs written for the band by frontman Matt Bigland.

You can see the video to accompany the track here:

Dinosaur Pile Up – My Rock ‘n’ Roll

Rock Sound Exposure Tour Dates featuring The Xcerts, Dinosaur Pile Up and Japanese Voyeurs:

FEBRUARY
17 – Bedford Esquires
18 – Bournemouth Champions
19 – Brighton Audio
20 – Tunbridge Forum
22 – Cambridge Haymakers
23 – Birmingham O2 Academy3
24 – London Relentless Garage
25 – Bristol O2 Academy2
27 – Glasgow King Tuts
28 – Newcastle O2 Academy2
MARCH
02 – Leeds Cockpit 2
03 – Manchester Roadhouse
04 – York Duchess
05 – Southampton Joiners

Tickets for this three band extravaganza are priced at just £7.50 representing excellent value for money!

Meanwhile The Xcerts will release their new EP on March 7th,  The Stairs To Noise: The Scatterbrain EP features some songs that were written for The Scatterbrain album that didn’t make onto the final cut, but were to good to discard.

The band have just released a video to accompany the title track from the EP, Scatterbrain and you can watch it here:

The Xcerts – Scatterbrain

Following the current Rock Sound Exposure Tour, The Xcerts will hit the road again in April 2011 with their own UK headlining tour. Full dates below:

The Xcerts UK Headline Tour

APRIL
FRI 1 Sheffield, The Leadmill
SAT 2 Stoke, The Sugarmill
SUN 3 Wrexham, Central Station
TUE 5 Dundee, Doghouse
WED 6 Aberdeen, Drummonds
THU 7 Stirling, Fubar
FRI 8 Edinburgh, Studio 24
SAT 9 Carlisle The Brickyard
SUN 10 Newcastle, O2 Academy2
TUE 12 Birmingham, The Flapper & Firkin
WED 13 Nottingham, Rock City
THU 14 Bristol, Start The Bus
FRI 15 Plymouth, White Rabbit
SAT 16 Exeter, The Cavern
MON 18 London, The Barfly
TUE 19 Cardiff, Clwb Ifor Bach
WED 20 Liverpool, Shipping Forecast
THU 21 Northampton, Roadmender

The Xcerts released their brilliant second album Scatterbrain in 2010 and have announced a new EP for release on March 7th this year which will include some of the tracks recorded for the Scatterbrain album that never made the final cut.

Stairs To The Noise – The Scatterbrain EP includes the title track from the album along with four previously unreleased songs including a specially recorded cover of Elliot Smith’s Say Yes.

Xcerts frontman Murray MacLeod says: “We had some tracks left over from the album sessions we did in New York that we really liked but didn’t work with the flow of the record so rather than just release another single, we decided to put these songs onto an EP along with a specially recorded cover Elliot Smith’s ‘Say Yes’ to sell at a reduced price as a reward for our fans loyalty.”

‘Stairs To Noise: The Scatterbrain EP’ track listing:
1. ‘Scatterbrain’
2. ‘Tear Me Down’
3. ‘Say Yes’ (Elliott Smith cover)
4. ‘Let’s Run’
5. ‘Mannequin Champion’

The ‘Stairs To Noise: The Scatterbrain EP’ will be released digitally on the 7th March through Xtra Mile Recordings.

Dinosaur Pile Up have announced the release of fans favourite My Rock & Roll as the next single to be taken from their acclaimed debut Growing Pains.

My Rock & Roll is already a live favourite of Dinosaur Pile Up fans and is indeed one of their oldest songs. Matt Bigland says, “My Rock N Roll is one of the first songs I wrote for Dinosaur, kind of when I was just working my shit out. I wrote it in an attic I was living in at the time. For me it’s about relationships and how your life works when you’ve something driving you to the edge. For me that’s music, which I guess is pretty obvious in the title. Sounds stupid maybe, but you’d be surprised how much trouble a riff can get you in!”

The single My Rock & Roll will be released on March 14th.

Excited at the prospect of hitting the road again the DPU frontman added “I can’t wait to get out on the road with Japanese Voyeurs and The Xcerts in February for the Rock Sound tour. I love those guys so it’s gonna be great to be out on the road with good friends. There’s nothing like touring with bands that you dig.”

The Rock Sound Exposure Tour dates:

FEBRUARY
17 – BEDFORD Esquires
18 – BOURNEMOUTH Champions
19 – BRIGHTON Audio
20 – TUNBRIDGE Forum
22 – CAMBRIDGE Haymakers
23 – BIRMINGHAM O2 Academy 3
24 – LONDON Relentless Garage
25 – BRISTOL O2
27 – GLASGOW King Tuts
28 – NEWCASTLE O2 Academy 2
MARCH
02 – LEEDS Cockpit 2
03 – MANCHESTER Roadhouse
04 – YORK Duchess
05 – SOUTHAMPTON Joiners

Having consumed a fine blend of Nirvana, Velvet Underground, Black Sabbath, Syd Barret era Pink Floyd and classic rock and punk at an early age The Indecent are now creating their own dynamic brew of rock and roll with classic New York flavour and attitude.

It was back in 2008 when the band caught the attention of producers Tom Sommer and Stuart Chatwood.  Sommer a former VP of A&R at Atlantic records, responsible for signing Hootie & The Blowfish and Duncan Sheik, recalls;

“What appealed to me is that they didn’t sound or look like kids playing a rock band in a TV movie, they were just this very dark, very poetic, grinding, riffing band who happened to be under 18. I didn’t think it was that big a deal, since they were about the same age Dave Davies was when he formed the Kinks, Paul Weller was when he formed the Jam, and George Harrison was when he joined the Beatles.”

The Indecent are currently brewing up a buzz at bars and clubs in the tri-state area and Los Angeles, and in late summer 2010 they independently released their debut CD, Her Screwed Up Head.  The album is produced by Sommer and engineered/mixed by Mark Dearnley (AC/DC, Ozzy Osbourne, Paul McCartney, Motorhead, The Damned).

The Indecent have digested everything they have ever heard or learned musically and are now regurgitating it in the very own version of NYC based metal grunge. This really is the future of rock music, now!

Check them out on this latest video Lucky Ones, which finds singer Emily in exceptional form somewhere between Kurt Cobain and Grace Slick.

The Indecent – Lucky Ones

grouplove

Appearing in the Top Ten Bands of 2010 lists of such illustrious publication’s as NME and Nylon Magazine, the Los Angeles based alt-indie quintet Grouplove will release a six track debut EP/mini album on February 7th.

Grouplove will be making their first trip to the UK to support the EP with a handful of highly anticipated live performances, commencing with a support slot with Los Campesinos at the O2 Shepherds Bush Empire in an NME Awards show on February 2nd.

Grouplove were the band of choice to support Florence & The Machine on their USA west coast tour and later joined the excellent Joy Formidable  for a run of east coast dates.

The band is comprised of Brooklynite duo Christian Zucconi (vocals/guitar) and Hannah Hooper (keyboards/vocals), who met the three other members of the band, Sean Gadd- bass/vocals, Andrew Wessen – guitar/vocals and Ryan Rabin – drums, at an art residency in Crete one fateful summer and haven’t looked back since.

See what all the fuss is about with this video to accompany the lead track of the EP;

Grouplove – Colours

Excellent stuff, Grouplove are set to make a huge impact in the UK with the release of this six track EP, if you like Colours then you will be in for a rare treat with the remainder of the songs.

An amalgam of folk, alternative and indie pop amongst others, the EP represents a stunning showcase for the band that simply gets better with each listen as each of the tracks unfolds and builds into its own mini masterpiece.

Order the EP and tickets for a show near you now to avoid disappointment!

Grouplove will be playing at the following UK venues in February 2011;

Feb 2nd    O2’s Shepherd’s Bush Empire w/ Los Campesinos
Feb 3rd     Hoxton Hall (Chess Club show)
Feb 5th     Start The Bus, Bristol
Feb 6th     Ruby Lounge, Manchester
Feb 8th     Nice n Sleazy, Glasgow
Feb 17th   Old Queen’s Head, London

Debut EP tracklisting:

1.  Colours
2.  Naked Kids
3.  Gold Coast
4.  Getaway Car
5.  Don’t Say Oh Well
6.  Giddy

The Joy Formidable - The Big Roar

It’s only January but The Joy Formidable have already set the bar for new album releases of 2011 with their excellent debut The Big Roar.

Having grown their reputation through their rip roaring no holds barred live set over the last year or two, the band have applied a DIY approach to finding ways to visit places as far flung as Australia and USA with no outside support, financial or otherwise, in a bid to get their name out there.

Signing up to Canvasback Music/Atlantic Records has allowed the band the luxury of a budget on the new album and Rich Costey’s mixing skills have helped the band to realise its potential with a collection of 12 songs bursting with power and energy.

The scene is set from the opening track The Everchanging Spectrum Of A Lie, an epic track that erupts into an amazing crescendo of proper mental noise that appears to increase in volume the longer it goes on.

It is the mix of sweet melodic pop and ambient soundscapes with the attack of heavy metal breaks and sheer noise fests that lift The Big Roar into the realms of album of the year, there are examples of their take on the loud/quiet dynamic throughout the record.

The singles I Don’t Want To See You Like This and Austere which struggle to stand out on radio play, suddenly come into their own within the confines of the album, appearing much more powerful,  in keeping with the overall sound of The Big Roar.

A Heavy Abacus and Whirring are punchy rock/pop singles in waiting, blistering sing along anthems for the festival season perhaps, the latter enjoying the now familiar overdrive finale that becomes the essence of The Big Roar.

Llaw = Wall is a rare intimate interlude that allows Rhydian Daffyd an opportunity in front of the microphone before erupting into its over-driven guitar led finale.

The Big Roar closes with the brilliant song The Greatest Light Is The Greatest Shade, again demonstrating the bands take on the loud/quiet dynamic of grunge music, re-presented in their own unique way for a new generation.

The Big Roar is confident, classy, exhilarating and simply a quite brilliant debut album from The Joy Formidable, turn it up loud and enjoy.

The Joy Formidable – Whirring

The Big Roar is the debut album by Joy Formidable and is released via Canvasback/Atlantic Records on January24th

Catch The Joy Formidable at the following live dates in February:

FEBRUARY

Tuesday 1^st -           Bournemouth, Old Fire Station

Wednesday 2^nd -           Bristol, Thekla

Thursday 3^rd -           Birmingham, O2 Academy

Friday 4^th -           Manchester, Club Academy

Sunday 6^th -           Edinburgh, Electric Circus

Monday 7^th -           Glasgow, King Tuts

Tuesday 8^th -           Newcastle, O2 Academy

Wednesday 9^th -           Leeds, Cockpit

Friday 11^th -           Sheffield, Plug

Saturday 12^th -           Cambridge, St Paul

Sunday 13^th -           Leicester, O2 Academy 2

Monday 14^th -           London, Koko – PLEASE NOTE: Rescheduled to May 10^th

The Joy Formidable are Ritzy Bryan (Vocals / Guitar), Rhydian Daffyd (Bass) and Matt Thomas (Drums)

the joy formidable - austere

Having built an enviable reputation as one of the ‘must see’ bands in the UK over the last year with their amazing live show, The Joy Formidable are set to become one of the major hits of 2011 with their upcoming album The Big Roar which is released next week on January 24th.

As a pre-cursor to the album release, the single Austere provides a realistic taster of what to expect on a track rippling with power and energy.

Fronted by the Ritzy Bryan, The Joy Formidable made there presence known in a series of outstanding live performance in 2010 including two heart stopping sets at Reading and Leeds as well as their high profile slot on the NME Radar tour in October.

The singer is destined to be the Face of 2011 already appearing on the NME Cool List and News Of The World’s Women To Watch.

The Joy Formidable – Austere

The Joy Formidable will be touring the UK in February, catch their unmissable live show at the following venues:

FEBRUARY

Tuesday 1^st -           Bournemouth, Old Fire Station

Wednesday 2^nd -           Bristol, Thekla

Thursday 3^rd -           Birmingham, O2 Academy

Friday 4^th -           Manchester, Club Academy

Sunday 6^th -           Edinburgh, Electric Circus

Monday 7^th -           Glasgow, King Tuts

Tuesday 8^th -           Newcastle, O2 Academy

Wednesday 9^th -           Leeds, Cockpit

Friday 11^th -           Sheffield, Plug

Saturday 12^th -           Cambridge, St Paul

Sunday 13^th -           Leicester, O2 Academy 2

Monday 14^th -           London, Koko – PLEASE NOTE: Rescheduled to May 10^th

For further information visit The Joy Formidable website.

On the road as promotion for their forthcoming album Bones of the Twilight which is scheduled for release in 2011, Fighting With Wire will be selling a new EP titled I Am Ursus exclusively at the UK shows, giving fans a taster of whats to come on the album.

Fighting With Wire released their first album Man vs Monster in 2007 and have spent much of the last three years touring with the likes of Reuben, Biffy Clyro, Million Dead, Seafood, YCNI:M and Future Of The Left.

Fighting With Wire – Everyone Needs A Nemesis

That experience allowed the band to hone their live show into a ferocious explosion of sound and during this last year they have also been busy writing and recording new material for the soon to be released album.

The new 4 track EP ‘I Am Ursus’ contains previously unreleased material and will only be available at the UK shows, the band are excited about getting back on the road again and working towards the album release in 2011.

Fighting With Wire – Sugar

Fighting With Wire will be playing the following UK dates in December:

15/12/10 Scala, London, UK (with Helmet + La Faro)
16/12/10 Club Academy, Manchester, UK
17/12/10 Cathouse, Glasgow, Scotland, UK

Tha band released their quite brilliant second album Scatterbrain earlier this year to critical acclaim, certainly a contender for my personal best albums of 2010.

Having spent a vast amount of this year fine tuning their awsome live performance it is fitting that should close the year with headline status as they return to their native Scotland.

The Xcerts have recently returned from New York where they played to packed crowds at two special CMJ showcases for the music industry. Not only did the band get to perform in the city where their new album ‘Scatterbrain’ was recorded, but were personally invited to see a secret performance by Bad Books in a secluded loft space in Brooklyn and got to hangout with Justin Beck of Glassjaw who continue to be a huge inspiration for the band.

NOVEMBER
27th Aldershot West End Centre
29th Guildford Boilerroom
30th Oxford Jericho Tavern

DECEMBER
1st Exeter Cavern
2nd Bath Moles
3rd Reading South Street Arts Centre
6th Chatham Tap n’ Tin
7th Coventry Kasbah
8th London Barfly
15th Dundee Reading Rooms
16th Edinburgh Sneaky Petes
17th Inverness Mad Hatters
18th Thurso Skinadis
19th Aberdeen Lemon Tree

Look out for details of the Rock Sound Exposure Tour in February next year, where The Xcerts will be joined by Japanese Voyeurs and Dinosaur Pile Up for a full on concert experience.

Up and coming band What Now, already massive in their homeland of South Africa will be supporting The Xcerts on some of their upcoming dates, the bands Take Control EP is available now. Check out the brilliant track Toy Soldiers here:

What Now will be supporting The Xcerts and Amy Can Flyy on the following dates:

NOV
Sat 27 – Aldershot West End Centre w/The Xcerts
Sun 28 – Southampton Joiners w/Allbright
Mon 29 – Guildford Boileroom w/The Xcerts
Tues 30 – Oxford Jericho w/The Xcerts
DEC
Wed 1 – Exeter Cavern w/The Xcerts
Thurs 2 – Bath Moles w/The Xcerts
Fri 3 – London Relentless Garage w/ Inme
Sun 5 – Newcastle Academy 2 w/Amy Can Flyy
Mon 6 – Chatham Tap & Tin  w/The Xcerts
Tues 7 – Coventry Kasbah w/The Xcerts
Wed 8 – London Barfly w/The Xcerts
Thurs 9 – Sheffield Academy 2 w/ Summerlin
Fri 10 – Birmingham Academy 2 w/Amy Can Flyy)

dinosaur pile-up @ joiners southampton 14/10/10

The Joiners in Southampton is an excellent venue in the heart of the city regularly showcasing up and coming bands in an intimate and normally hot and sweaty atmosphere, allowing fans to get up close to their performing heroes.

For Dinosaur Pile-Up the Joiners was packed full with a weird array of people, safe to say that the appeal of this band reaches out to music fans of all ages.

I think the venue was a great choice, people couldn’t sit around, making it easier to get the eager crowd involved and when they kicked off their set the sound was amazing instrumentally, stacks of noise from the three piece from driving drums, bass and guitar.

Maybe it was down to a dodgy microphone or perhaps the normally good sound system, but when frontman Matt Bigland launched into his vocals they were distorted and weak, particularly against the crispness of the music.

This was more a distraction rather than totally spoiling the gig, as the band almost made up for it with heaps of energy on stage  encouraging the crowd to get involved making them clap, sing along and generally have a bit of a rave.

They are a talented trio and even when the bass players bass string snapping during one of the songs it didn’t stall them, and they still managed to sound very noisy, enthusiastic and electric.

They were definitely a good band to rock/mosh to, even though you couldn’t always hear what Matt Bigland was saying but that was really down to the microphone problem.

I thoroughly enjoyed these guys, and recommend them to everyone that’s into anything a bit ‘rock and roll’ or just anyone that can listen to just about anything really. It’s very hard to label Dinosaur Pile-Up, they seem to be a very noisy, rock, pop-punky mish mash with a twist of post grunge thrown in for good measure.

They are excellent musicians with heavy noisy guitar and bass riffs with a solid Dave Grohl inspired driving drumbeat.

You could see they put a lot of energy into their performance as the sweat dripped of off them, and they seemed to care and appreciate us being their as they constantly said ‘thanks alot’ like a bit of a catchphrase, which sadly was about the only comprehensible thing we could make out from the vocals all night!

Overall they were awesome, a must see band live because of their pure energy on stage, I doubt they will be playing this size venue for much longer so make sure to catch them on their current tour.

Reviewed by Carmen Leitelmayer and Louise Newell

dinosaur pile up @ joiners southampton 14/10/10

You can catch Dinosaur Pile-Up on their current headlining tour at the following venues during October;

OCTOBER  headline tour w/support from Turbowolf
16     Sheffield        Plug
17     Nottingham       Bodega
18     Cambridge        Haymakers
19     London           KCLSU
21     Manchester       Ruby Lounge
22     Crewe            The Box
24     Edinburgh        Cabaret Voltaire
25     Glasgow          Nice N Sleazy
26     York             Stereo
27     Leeds            Cockpit

The Dinosaur Pile-Up debut album Growing Pains is out now.

The Xcerts - Scatterbrain

Given a free rein and encouraged to experiment in the studio by US producer Mike Sapone, The Xcerts have beefed up their sound with nineties grunge influences, distorted vocals and off kilter rhythms on the second album Scatterbrain.

Progressing from the comfort of alt-pop territory of the debut album In The Cold Wind We Smile The Xcerts exceed all expectations as they delve into the realms of alt rock and grunge and sheer unadulterated noise on the latest album.

Opening with one minute of feedback, crashing drums and distant twisted vocals, Scatterbrain sets its stall out early. There is much more noisy mayhem to come as the title track kicks off with its manic metal riff and screeching vocals and things start to get really  interesting.

To compliment the more aggressive musical approach on Scatterbrain the lyrics appear to have a darker edge, themes of loss, despair and despondency run through the album from start to finish, the mood lifted by the superbly crafted songs, the band retaining their pop writing sensibilities despite the directional change.

While Scatterbrain is best when heard in its entirety it has already produced the two singles Slackerpop and Young (Belane) it will also produce some new fan favourites with tracks like He Sinks He Sleeps, a lighters aloft festival anthem despite its depressing lyrics, Distant Memory and the beat your head senseless title track Scatterbrain.

There is plenty to applaud on Scatterbrain, in fact its pretty flawless, the beast within the band has been unleashed and with a little help from producer Mike Sapone The Xcerts have excelled in pushing their own boundaries and moving their music forward into the future.

Making nonsense of that often heard phrase ‘difficult second album’, Scatterbrain is straight in among the candidates for my top ten albums of 2010.

The Xcerts album Scatterbrain is available through Xtra Mile Records now

The Xcerts are currently touring the UK, headline their own tour and supporting Get Cape.Wear Cape.Fly and Anberlin. Catch them at the following venues:

Saturday, October 9th Bristol, Fleece

Monday, October 11th Stoke, Sugarmill

Tuesday, October 12th York, Fibbers

Wednesday, October 13th London, Electric Ballroom w/ Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly

Thursday, October 14th Kingston, The Hippodrome

Sat November 13th Sheffield Corporation w/ Anberlin

Mon November 15th Glasgow Garage w/ Anberlin

Tues November 16th Leed Cockpit. w/ Anberlin

Tues November 22nd London Islington Academy w/ Anberlin