:: The Dangerfields – 21st anniversary gigs
TONIGHT sees Belfast punk 'n' roll institution The Dangerfields celebrating their formidable legacy of loud, tour-mad debauchery with the first of two shows at The Barge in Belfast.
Drummer/shouter/ringleader Andrew Griswold sez: "We've got three killer support acts each night, it's BYO, so you can load up on MD, Nobleman and High Commissioner, and it could be amongst the last live music for a while if the lockdown ghouls get their way – so get down there for a party that would put Boris Johnson to shame."
Expect to hear all your DF's faves, plus a fistful of new tunes besides. Tonight's openers are No Matter, Acid Age and Adam Grant, while OG Noise Annoys faves Rodan are among tomorrow's supporting turns along with So Long Until The Séance and Paper Tigers.
Some tickets for both nights were still available at time of press, priced £16.76 each – so check Eventbrite.co.uk before heading down on the blag for a vile guestie.
:: Exhalers – Impersonal Relations (single, self-released)
MERE months after the release of his excellent debut album, Exhalers man Alan Lynn is about to put a present under everyone's tree in the form of album number two, Tolerator, which you can look forward to unwrapping (in a digital sense) on Christmas Day.
Impersonal Relations is another catchy/crunchy alt-rock bruiser featuring an abundance of enthusiastic bash 'n' crashin' percussion and sludgy riffage contrasting with Al's great, world-weary vocal, which sits a little bit higher in the mix than on some previous Exhalers releases and helps the song to 'breathe' a little: see also the nice mood (re)setting mid-section breakdown where rocking briefly gives way to quieter, woozier contemplation before the song winds up again for a final assault.
"Be the difference in the world that you want to see," advises Alan just before things kick off again – now there's a fine note-to-self and others to carry with you through the festive period.
With just over a week to go until the full album drops, Impersonal Relations should leave fans drooling in anticipation for Tolerator's arrival. Having been privy to a pre-final mastering version of the record (cheers, Al), I can confirm that it will be well worth the wait.
For example, there's an incredible tune on there called Smiledriver which sounds not unlike QOTSA covering a lost tune off Nirvana's Bleach and also a quality country sad ballad called Barriers which opens the record by offering listeners some choice unplugged strumming and boy/girl croonage – just to completely wrong-foot them.
Have a go on Impersonal Relations now at exhalers.bandcamp.com, where you'll be able to stream/buy the album on December 25 – it should make a perfect palette-cleanser for anyone sick to the back teeth of Christmas music by then (ie, everyone).
Full review of the album coming soonest.
:: Fantasy Video – My Time (feat. Donál Kennedy) (single, self-released)
FANTASY Video man JP Reid is back with the follow-up to his rather good debut single Big Tree. Once again featuring Donál Kennedy of Drying Weather on vocals, My Time also benefits from live beats courtesy of drummer extraordinaire Stephen 'Leaky' Leacock and was recorded in an actual proper studio – Tucan Tonstudio in Stuttgart, to be precise – as opposed to Reid's home set-up.
"I haven't been in a studio since 2008, so this was a little treat to myself as I thought the song deserved the full treatment," explains the Carryduff export.
"It's a studio where some German hit singles have been recorded and it had a crazy amount of vintage gear."
As for the song itself, My Time is another deceptively upbeat confection from the Fantasy Video library, conjured from wooshy synths, chiming guitars, brooding bass and Leaky's thumping percussion, all set off by a hugely powerful chorus vocal courtesy of Mr Kennedy.
There's even an emo style bit near the end when things get all melodramatic and spoken wordy, which actually works really well.
"I have been working hard the past six months and trying to find my sound," comments Reid of the new tune.
"I'm currently working on finishing off writing the songs for a new EP that will be coming out early next year. Comparisons for the songs already recorded include The Notwist, The Wannadies and The Divine Comedy."
Should all that prove to be accurate, then it would be fair to say that the future is already looking bright for Fantasy Video.
Get hold of My Time right now at fantasyvideo.bandcamp.com.
:: Emét – Hate To See It (single, self-released)
ONWARDS to another ex-pat in the form of Limavady-bred Calgary-based indie-folker Emmét McGonagle, AKA Emét, who has been in touch to share his new country-influenced single Hate To See It.
The tune was recorded at Belfast's Half Bap Studios by George Sloan (No Oil Paintings) and features two members of local heroes Buí in the form of drummer Matt Sloan and bassist Rónán McQuillan.
Out now, it's a deceptively jaunty country shuffle based around Emét's distinctive vocal, with lyrics skewering those who cling to the past at the expense of their/our future. It makes a great appetiser for Emét's forthcoming debut album Carlin's Farm (as in the late great George, we hope), which is due out in April next year.
In the meantime, visit itsemetofficial.bandcamp.com to listen to Hate To See It and his previously released Cheers And All The Best EP, which features the brilliant (and brilliantly titled) London Irish lament, I Am A Bomb Technician (If You See Me Running Try to Keep Up).
:: Neil Brogan – Two Christmas Songs, 2021 (single, self-released)
FINALLY for this week, ex-Sea Pinks man Neil Brogan has a couple of Christmas songs for us in the form of Rolling In The Snow and I Wanted To Believe (in Christmas).
Neil says: "Hope you like these two tracks, inspired by classics such as The Pretenders' 2000 Miles and Greg Lake's I Believe In Father Christmas and imagining a Pet Shop Boys more cynical take for the b-side. Wishing you all a safe and happy Christmas."
Well ain't that nice? The tunes are pretty nice too, both eschewing Christmas clichés like sleigh bells and children's choirs as Neil works through his festive/winter blues in a much more tastefully composed manner.
The wistful Rolling In The Snow is a chiming (and, indeed, rolling) number based around an infectious decending bassline, concerned with potential white Christmas scenarios and memories of Christmas lockdowns past, while the synth-powered I Wanted To Believe (in Christmas) finds Neil getting nostalgic for the excitement which once surrounded 'the big day' in childhood.
"Try to breathe some life into the fantasy, but I don't feel Christmassy at all", he sings, which will surely strike a chord with those of us of a certain age. Bah humbug, etc etc.
Neil's Xmas release follows last month's excellent Evening Primrose EP, a non-seasonal listen that Neil describes as "four short songs about edible flowers, weedkiller [the title track's pleasingly jangly lament], dissociative states [lo-fi punk popper Holiday From Myself], social media self-sabotage [Unfollow Me's mock-jaunty social media suicide ode] and novelty regal wear [the pleasingly moody Paper Crown]."
Stop to smell the flowers at neilbrogan.bandcamp.com and try to have yourselves a merry little Christmas – see you all on the other side.
