Hometown Glory is the new EP from young indie band Albion, which is the first big stepping stone to getting themselves into our ears. After supporting the likes of Twisted Wheel, Exit Calm and Missing Andy, the band now feel it’s time to step out of other peoples shadows, and release their debut EP.
The EP is something that you would expect from an up and coming indie band, with the lo-fi sound, high trebles sounding guitars and the odd cliché in a lyric. However this should take nothing away from their EP as they have executed it with minimal flaws, and shown they are more than capable of piecing together a decent song.
‘Times are changing’ opens up the EP, and with the song having some rough parts around it, you can sense that they’re fresh from the packet. Although this introduction song is a strong one, it seems that it lacks the bit of energy that the early Cribs, Libs and Monkeys did, which played a huge part of their road to stardom (and other things).
Second song ‘When I get Mine’ is the best on the album, entirely because of the thunderous solo that seems to go on for a lengthy amount of time. As ripping as the solo may be, it just needs that extra drive and be brought to the front of the song, as it plays such an integral part. This is one of the flaws in the EP, as the guitars are present, but just seem to linger in the back ground, where they would be more effective if they had a little bit more spotlight brought onto them.
Pub rave-up song ‘Hometown glory’ also suffers from quiet guitar syndrome, but it still turns out to be a highlight of the album, as the pace and life of the song would bring most people to their feet. One agonising problem with the song is the breakdown, as it slows the pace down and loses the energy that the lads built up throughout.
‘What You Need’ wraps up the entire EP, with its lengthy intro and lo-fi sound, it follows suit by sticking to the code of the EP, which is stick to the indie roots. The song is neatly packed along with some clever lyrics on display, which is something that features throughout it.
The debut EP is always the hardest bridge to cross as an unsigned acts, but Albion have done it without tussling with the troll that lurks beneath. Although it is slightly under produced and has it’s little mistakes, the EP expresses that the band have a good base of songs to build on, which will only get better with time and practice.
This is a rock/indie trio hailing from the Northern part of England, that being Huddersfield. They begun in mid 2012 when there vocalist/guitarist Matt Dryden had been away rattling away writing songs and planning it all out, as soon as that was done he recruited a drummer in Matt Porter and they started to work on stuff in a bedroom. All that was needed then was a bass player, which they found in Corey Clough-Howard after advertising for one in their merry town Huddersfield. Soon after the band recorded in luck lane studios their first track ‘White Gold’, and began to gain airplay from BBC Introducing along with receiving excellent feedback on reviews. So all in all not a bad start for band who are still quite young, but from first glimpses it looks like they’ve got to give.
‘Somersault’
A friend of mine that interviewed stated that Ferals were a band to adore, just after one track. Well after listening to the second track, that statement still stands as I believe it’s trumped their first track undoubtedly.
It’s hard to believe that this could only be the second track that they’ve released purely because of how polished and complete it sounds, nothing seems to be out of place or missing. The clear opening to the song with a slight glisten to it is most pleasing to your ears, and as the beat drops the whole song gains vitality and exuberance, however there’s still a hint of vulnerability that lingers their giving the song some depth to it. Matt Porter’s drums in this are something to be appreciated because this plays and imperative part on this fresh sound. The vocals are also capital reason to why this song stands out from so many others that I’ve heard, those clean cut, astonishing dramatic vocals play over this song in such style you can’t help but acknowledge the talent he is showcasing on the track. There are definite influences from the Foals, especially from the sound they have, but with the those vocals on top it distances itself from this influence, making it stand alone and not like a rip-off.
Hugely anticipating their next release because of what they’ve come out so far have been incredibly well received, and there’s no disbelief that their next track won’t equal what their previous tracks have.
I know this bands music quite well, and I really struggle to see why they haven’t been picked up by a bigger label and given a pot full of money to make even more brilliant music. It’s really a joy to be doing this review, and also being granted permission to do this review on the song by the band is even more exciting, so would just like to say thank you to the band for that. The Fallows are getting regular gigs and beginning to get recognition for main stage festival bookings. The band have already produced one album on a small independent label, and that album was called ‘Face the Wolves’.
The Fallows are an acoustic/folk band but they have a rock attitude/edge, they have chorus songs that fit many different venues, whether it be a festival or whether it be the pub from down the road, but they also have the lyrics that suit longer term, being on CD or radio. Amongst the band is Neal Pointon who is a BBC Young Folk Awards 2012 Finalist(as fiddle player with Tri) and has held All Britain titles on 4 instruments.
The Fallows were BBC Introducing (Coventry & Warwickshire) Artist Of The Month for Feb 12, leading up to their “Face The Wolves” album launch on 3 Mar12; produced for 4Real Records. They are touring the album in 2012, with 30 plus gigs confirmed to date incfor Communion Music (Oxford) & Pull Up The Roots (London), together with Main Stage appearances at Off The Tracks (Donnington), Godiva and Napton Festivals (others pending).
The Fallows are an established band in Coventry,The Midlands and London.They regularly play venues such as Warwick Arts Centre, Ditch The TV, TheKasbah, Taylor Johns, S7VEN (Coventry) Chinawhites, Kensington Roof Gardens,The Betsey Trotwood, Bar Music Hall (London) Cox’s Yard (Stratford upon Avon)amongst others. They have played at Godiva Festival (where they have alsohosted the acoustic stage – Fallows Front Row Review – for the last 2 years),Rugby Folk n Boat, Evesham Riverside, Lechlade (Help For heroes) amongst others. Here are some the reviews the band got from these events-
In one of my previous reviews I stated that I didn’t really take acoustic/folk music, but it doesn’t really matter when the song is played with a rock edge to it, so although it does sound like an acoustic/folk band, you have that extra element to it which makes it that bit different to regular folk/acoustic bands. As catchy songs ago, this is certainly up there because when I listened to the album, this was the one that I was singing at the end of it, this was the song I seriously could not get out of my head. I think an element that made it so catchy was the strumming pattern in the song, it’s got a real bouncy strumming pattern that really sticks in your head. So as well as the story in the lyrics of the song,which was probably one the one reasons I kept revisiting it because I wanted to catch all the lyrics, find out what they were about, relate to something and see if I missed anything out. Went off point there, but as well as they story in the lyrics you have a really catchy chorus.
I’ve never really been a massive fan of the violin, especially when it’s used in indie type music, but I think when it’s used correctly and introduced in to the song correctly you really get the best out of it. I really like how the violin has it’s solo, where you can really hear it and catch the melody of the song, and just not drop it. Probably my most favourite element in this song is the vocals in it because they’re so consistent and he’s got a really nice folky voice. Sometimes when I hear folk songs, it comes across that the singer is trying way to hard to get his voice to sound like that and it doesn’t sound genuine, but that’s not the case here as it suits really well.
Overall
A band that deserves a lot more I believe, and I think it’s only a matter of time until they hit something big! So lets get behind them.
@thefallows
Another band that hail from Manchester, and having influences like, Radiohead, Spritulized, Pixies and Jason Donovan, and like the told me one of those may not be true. So looking at the list of bands their you can see their not your typical Madchester band.
They’re a psychedelic band, and they are PSYCHEDELIC, they only have the one track to my knowledge but that is enough too send you on your way for a while.
You can tell it’s quite special from the first drum beat because, it sounds different from all the other generic drum beats, then you get this little sound in the back ground, then these vocals come over it ‘walk away from a fire and start again’, which made me think wasn’t just another generic psychedelic band, that are trying too hard and it sounds awful. I really like how it’s been composed and put together, I’ve pointed this out in the past, it’s hard to create music like this because you can’t just bash chords out, the notes have to be thought about and you can tell they have been here.https://wordsformusic.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post-new.php
Overall
One of the most psychedelic songs I’ve listened to in quite a while, also it has some really good vocals on it the lead singer should be really proud. Lets get behind them.
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