Lower Slaughter @ The Loft

Marsh Gibbon. Queen Camel. Lickfold. Curry Mallet. Throop. The English countryside is liberally sprinkled with odd sounding places, quaint hamlets with weird names, that lend themselves easily to naming your new favourite band (though I'll admit Throop does have a bit of a "Brian Pern" feel about it). The Cotswold village of Lower Slaughter, an outpost better known of late as being a no-go area for selling ice cream, might not feature amongst the odder patronymics but, yes, it has indeed named a band.

The musical version of Lower Slaughter are an indie-rock foursome, three quarters of which are based in Brighton (with singer Sinead Young now residing in her home town of Glasgow), who release their second album Some Things Take Work via Newcastle's Box Records later this month. With the new long player imminent the band are taking to the road, stopping off at The Loft in Portsmouth on Friday 5th April.



Support comes from the magnificently monikered You're Smiling Now But We'll All Turn Into Demons, a band who take their name from a comment in documentary about female wrestling (and not, as I previously thought, from a badly translated Anime), Horsefiles and Dad Hair.



Advance tickets are available online from WeGotTickets, priced £7 plus booking fee.

Calamity Cratediggers: Horseflies EP launch

For nearly forty years the brutalist magnificence of the Tricorn Centre dominated the heart of Portsmouth's commercial quarter, a confection of concrete and reinforced steel that stirred opinion, for and against, in all who saw it. In latter years the dank, grey structure looked more like somewhere Rick Deckard would hang out but, in its heyday, the Tricorn was host both to one of the first Virgin Megastores and a venue which the likes of Marc Bolan, Sigue Sigue Sputnik, The Wedding Present and Hothouse Flowers all played.

After years of neglect, and despite the protestations of its architects and the locals that loved its strong presence, the Tricorn was demolished in 2004. However since its destruction the building's legend has grown, becoming the subject of a short documentary, lending its name to an electronica duo and proving to be an inspiration for local artists. Its angular logo features on custom apparel, prints of its likeness have proven popular and now it has inspired the city's newest label, Brutalist Records.

Brutalist are a cassette-only outfit, a format which easily lends itself to DIY releasing despite splitting opinion nearly as much as the architectural oddity that inspired the label's name and logo. The label's initial offering is from Horseflies and to mark its release Brutalist have teamed with local collective Calamity Cratediggers for a launch party at The Birdcage.
  
Horseflies, if you've not yet encountered them, are a magnificent noise machine that consists of both current and ex-members of Deluxe Flamingos & Attack! Vipers!. The band released Fist, the first track from their new Lucidity EP, earlier this year with the song subsequently getting a spin from Tom Robinson on his BBC Introducing 6Music show.
 


Joining Horseflies on the bill are recent These Bloody Thieves signings The Howlers, purveyors of alt/desert rock hailing from east London. If you missed seeing them play the Edge of The Wedge in February, or fancy checking them out ahead of their set at this year's Portsmouth Psych Fest, here's your chance.



Rounding out the line-up are local acts Make Them All Smile and the quite magnificently named Dad Hair (finally, a band name that I can aspire to).



Things get real at The Festing on Saturday 23rd March; entrance is £5 OTD, details of advance ticket information are available via the Facebook event page.

The 7th Annual St Valentine's Day Massacre

A joyous celebration of the most cheesiest of tuneage, the love song, the annual St Valentines Day Massacre event has been a staple on the Southsea musical landscape since 2013. The Massacre has grown in popularity since its inception, selling out original venue Edge of The Wedge so regularly that it moved to the larger confines of the Wedgewood Rooms last year (filling the venue and raising over £2000 for its chosen charity in the process).

All proceeds from the event are donated to the National Foundation of Youth Music, a national charity which invests in music-based projects, helping children & young people to develop personally, socially and musically. Monies raised will help provide musical education & equipment to children who would not otherwise receive it.

The rules of the Massacre are simple enough, all acts get 15 minutes on stage to perform their favourite soppy tunes; they can play whatever they like but the songs must "deal in love, lust or heartbreak". Simple enough, yet it opens the door wide on a vast amount of surprising, interesting or just plain weird cover versions.

The line-up for this year's Massacre includes the likes of Battery Hens, Cyprian Sceptre, Glorious Bulletheads, Guilt Trippin, Halliwell, Horseflies, Hooch, Make Them All Melt (a Make Them All Smile/Melt Dunes supergroup), Waif & Stray and.. some Mystery Guests!

If the possibility of hearing a speed metal version of A Million Love Songs or a funked up I Just Call To Say I Love You is tempting (and it is to me) then you should point your feet in the direction of The Wedgewood Rooms on Saturday 16th February. Tickets for this possibly romantic shindig are priced at a very reasonable £5, plus there's a mega raffle where prizes donated by a variety of local businesses could be won, and a good time is pretty much guaranteed. Which is nice.

Horseflies - 'Fist'

Sometimes, after a bad day at life's coalface, all a body wants to do is sit at the back of the bus, earbuds securely seated, and listen to something loud and/or shouty enough to abate the demons resident on each shoulder. If this is you right now might I suggest you quieten the devils by cranking up the latest release from Horseflies.

Fist is the first track lifted from the Portsmouth alt-rockers imminent new EP, Lucidity, and a frenetically joyous assault on the ear it is too. Chunky riffs and chords combine to produce an energy packed rollercoaster of a tune; if the opening bars are a call to the mosh-pit the body of the song provides a soundtrack to a flailing mass of bodies, the piano coda allowing for the briefest of warm-downs. It's an intense three minutes of guitar and bass and drums and, yes, the other people on the bus aren't going to like it.

What to see at Dials...

Albert Road will be alive with the sound of music this weekend; if Sunday's charity event at the Wedgewood Rooms is the feel-good coda, Saturday's Dials Festival is the magnum opus. Dials 2018 takes place across five venues on Southsea's favourite thoroughfare, all conveniently within ambling distance of each other, with a hand-picked selection of acts performing.

The organisers' sterling efforts have produced a line-up that is fair full to the brim with aural delights and, after some poring over the event's Clashfinder this week, I think I've just about worked what my pick of the pops are (one of whom, Yassassin, have unfortunately had to withdraw under doctor's orders), so without further ado here are the bands I'm looking forward to seeing at Dials 2018:

Temples of Youth (The Wine Vaults, 1330-1355)
Jo Carson and Paul Gumma are Temples of Youth, purveyors of moody yet delicate electronica that combines gorgeous vocals, synthesizers and guitar. They've received airplay locally via BBC Introducing and nationally on both BBC Radio 1 (Huw Stephens) and BBC 6 Music (Steve Lamacq). Did I mention that they're excellent? No? Oh, well they are so you should make sure you're at the Vaults in plenty of time to see them.



Dani Uziel (Bar Acapulco, 1400-1430) 
Portsmouth singer-songwriter Dani has played several of the city's smaller venues over the past year, garnering plaudits and gaining fans along the way. 



Lauran Hibberd (The Loft, 1445-1520)
If, like me, you like a mix of snarky lyrics and fuzzed-up guitar, you should direct your feet to The Loft (above The Kings pub) for Lauran Hibberd's set. Whilst her earlier material had a more delicate, folky feel the newer material rocks out a treat (will there be moshing during Call Shotgun? Hopefully).



Curxes (The Loft, 1700-1730)
At first listen Curxes' sophomore album, Gilded Cage, appears to be a mellower affair than 2015's Verxes. Yet, as the album unfolds, it soon becomes apparent that a dark and melancholic heart beats beneath the gorgeous synths and crisp production. A soundtrack waiting for an as-yet-unmade Netflix dystopian sci-fi fantasy? Definitely.



Krush Puppies (The Loft, 1900-1930)
London's Krush Puppies have a line of grungy fuzzed-up rock that's hard not to like, catch them at Dials ahead of their set at The Great Escape's FirstFifty gig in Hoxton next month. Of course, one of the things about festival is the clash and, yes, Krush Puppies clash with...



Horseflies (Bar Acapulco, 1900-1930)
Take a pinch of Deluxe Flamingoes, add a soupçon of Attack! Vipers! and what do you have? Horseflies. Lovely lovely Horseflies.



Bokito (The Wine Vaults, 1930-2000)
Once the clashes start there's no stopping them; so it is then that Bokito, hirsute suppliers of memorably quirky indie pop, are on at the same time as another band I'm hoping to see. Will Bokito have the edge as they appear to be named after a somewhat anti-social gorilla? Possibly.



Vinyl Staircase (Edge of The Wedge, 1930-2000)
Is there much to do in Dorking after dark? I don't know. I do, however, know that a vinyl staircase sounds very much like the kind of interior design that I'd splurge on should I ever win the lottery. Therefore the sound of Vinyl Staircase, which has a roll to its rock, appeals to me.



Fröst (Edge of The Wedge, 2030-2100)
Skipping gently past the three-way clash that is the scheduling of Lice, Breath Panel and Thyla (a clash which might require a roshambo to make a decision on) we arrive at Fröst. This Brighton-based duo have received national airplay on BBC 6 Music, with their glacial electronica finding favour with Guy Garvey, Gideon Coe and Lauren Laverne. So, I really don't to sell that one, do I?



Estrons (The Wedgewood Rooms, 2100-2130)
I must confess that I'm somewhat on the fence when it comes to Estrons which, given my appalling centre of gravity, makes for wild teetering between love and hate feelings towards them and their brand of indie. Whilst singer Tali is, frankly, devastatingly good in the vocal department I do wonder if, without her presence, the band would just be another indie outfit. Harsh? Possibly, though I'm still keenly looking forward to hearing the album.



Art School Girlfriend (The Wine Vaults, 2130-2200)
The Margate-based Art School Girlfriend (known to her chums as Polly) is preparing for her headline set at the Vaults tomorrow by a sold out show at St Pancras Old Church tonight. This is a set I'm very much looking forward to, a dark and atmospheric way to end my Dials experience (well, until I get a second-wind and head back to the Wedge for Tigercub).



And there we have it, a selection of bands that I'm really looking forward to see (and, in some cases, see again) at Dials 2018. That isn't to say that the rest of the acts on the packed line-up aren't to my taste, far from; I'm also hoping to see Mystic Peach, Fake Empire, Los Bitchos, Grace Savage... err, maybe I need to rework my recommendations? Oh dear. Regardless of who you or I see all of the artists on the bill are deserving of our support, as is the festival itself, and if I could splice myself into several clones I'd see all of the bands on all of the stages. Perhaps one day it might be possible, for now though I'll have to be that guy scuttling between the stages, Clashfinder clutched to sausage-fingered hand, trying not to miss any of the wonderful music. I can't wait.

Sunday of Doom

Sundays.

They're all a bit samey aren't they?

Appease the hangover, vegetate on the sofa, numb the brain with something bland on the television, despair at not winning the lottery, contemplate a beer, flick through the channels again, go to bed knowing that the next Sunday will unfold in exactly the same way.

Ecch.

This Sunday, 19th August, instead of settling down to the last episode of Unforgotten, why not see out your weekend with something loud and raucous instead? Courtesy of the fine folks at Portsmouth Punk Promotions and Charlie's Big Ray Gun Records, and for the bargain price of just £5 (on the door), the Edge of the Wedge is hosting the loud collective majesties of Horseflies, Herd Mover, Human Leather and HACK JOB. Yes, all that, for a fiver.

Bargain.

Dials Festival 2018

Good news everyone! Dials Festival has returned, bringing a day of music to Albert Road, filling the hole made when Southsea Fest headed into the sunset. The Dials organisers have been hard at work behind the scenes since they tweeted their 'save the date' message, conjuring up the first wave of acts that has now been announced.

On the bill (so far) are [deep breath] Los Bitchos, Thyla, Fake Empire, Barbudo, Hotel Lux, Penelope Isles, Sad Palace, Lauran Hibberd, Art School Girlfriend, Bella Spinks, Highlights of Our Modern World, Horsefiles, Margot, Lice, Temples of Youth, Melt Dunes, Libralibra, Mystic Peach, Breathe Panel, Tigercub, Omar Baba, Attack the Fire, Jerry Williams, Bokito, Salt Ashes, Vinyl Staircase, Ugly, Sleep Eaters, Violet Mud and the most excellent Curxes.

That's hell of a line-up and, if that wasn't incentive enough to get aboard, Dials have partnered with Solent Mind, a registered charity that provides a wide range of high quality services, across the South, which support people with mental health problems. I can, from personal experience, vouch for the good work organisations like Mind do.

Super Early Bird tickets are on sale now for just £12 [sorry, all gone!], with regular advance tickets still a bargain at £16, available now from the festival website. For more information and updates check the Dials Twitter feed.