Night Of Pencils

If a lead singer can play the entirety of a gig with glasses still attached to his face, something's not right. Case in point being Kingston-spawned Tubelord, who's singer Joe Prendergast just about makes it to the end of their first song before two straps of duct-tape are hastily slapped onto his temples. Some bands make the mistake of relying on having a frenzied on-stage frisson, in order to make a name for themselves. Tubelord thankfully believe in doing things right, and back their impressive live show up with equally impressive material.



One of the first songs in the set, the gloriously named Somewhere Out There A Dog Is On Fire, gets the gig off on the perfect footing with its high-paced and frantic guitar riffs being perfectly dissected with Prendergast's vocals. From this point on the set goes from strength to strength, treating the disappointingly small crowd to a performance as tight as Mr Motivator's spandex, with barely a note being missed by all three members. This is perhaps one of Tubelords best secrets: that underneath the madness there are three very talented musicians, who even on the last night of an exhaustive tour would still be able to show up most bands that share the stage with them.



The vigour and liveliness of the gig is relentless with Propeller - and absolutely superb - Night Of Pencils gaining most applause. The real testament to how well the band was received was illustrated by how the throng of people surrounding them grew as the gig continued, with those sitting out of sight of the stage moving closer in to see what all the fuss was about. Its a safe assumption to say that none of them were disappointed, and it will be interesting to see just how much the crowd will have grown for Tubelords eventual return to a Merseyside venue.


http://www.myspace.com/tubelord

Quiet Little Voices

They follow all of the unwritten rules of how to put together an epic song. They end their album with the classic acoustic heart-felt closer, and a 4/4 structure is consistent throughout majority of their material. So, how is it that Edinburgh four-piece, We Were Promised Jetpacks, are still going to be one of your favourite new bands of 2009? It's a question that has many critics baffled, and even their signing to FatCat records was seen as a surprise to most.



The heart of We Were Promised Jetpacks genius (or Jetpacks, for short) lies in one of the most defining characteristics of their debut album, These Four Walls. Honesty. Yes, they do appear to fall into the fairly over-milked teat of a male-dominated indie band, but it feels as though this is a genre that the music wanted to categorize itself in, not the band members. The frank and astute lyrics match up perfectly to the band's powerful and dark music, giving their live performances an incredibly engaging and dominant feel. The highlight of the whole gig, however, was the vocal capabilities of lead singer Adam Thompson. Rarely can a singer have the ability to go from a yell that can fill a venue without the use of a microphone, to an awe-inspiring melodic tone, transforming the gig into a much more cherished experience.



The crowd leave the newly renovated and relocated Korova with a real sense that they have witnessed something special, safe in the knowledge that it is rare they will ever see a We Were Promised Jetpacks gig in such an intimate venue. This ability to leave such a strong in print on punters is the reason why the band are able to tour the most of Europe, and spend weeks in the US, but still know that they wont be forgotten about in their absence; a fate which many acts of the same ilk succumb to.
A band that should not be tarred with the same brush marked "wank indie-band", and deserve all the critical acclaim of any other live act currently laying waste to venues up and down the country.

http://www.myspace.com/wewerepromisedjetpacks