Young Knives- Sick Octave

I’ve not pledged anything to a kickstarter project before, but some bands- you owe something. I’ve been to hundreds of gigs over the past 8 years seeing 95% of anyone I could have wished to, I’ve gained some sort of vague respect from and hung out with a lot of great bands and it all began that night with these guys (fresh from winning the road to v) and the rumble strips, who were on the same bill and to whom I wish I could have some sort of impact on their revival but it’s all gone a bit quiet on that front. Young Knives however, we all can.

Kickstarter is a way of funding projects via pledges and getting something more back than you usually would when you support an artist. In addition to the music, you can get anything from a selection of rewards dependent on the amount you pledge, involvement in each step of the project and the knowledge you have actually made a difference to the band rather than paying a HMV staff member’s hourly wage, you know- while that’s still possible.

Voices of Animals and Men soundtracked the peak and decline of Summer 2006 (This. Is. The. End. Of. The. Summer) musically, lyrically, englishnessily the album was so good that potentially inaccessible tracks like tailors and half-timer which, if placed in another band’s back catalogue may be lost to the annals of time, are requested fervently at their shows.

I guess there isn’t too much point reviewing an album that came out 7 years ago but there is no new album to review as yet and that’s because there won’t be unless they reach their target before the 22nd May. Help a drummer and a couple of brothers out.

While a sickening amount of bands from the mid-zeroes have let life get in the way of their music, YK have taken the normal stuff in their stride and continued their relentless march through touring and music making. Over the past half a decade, they’ve lost a ‘the’, released two albums and added sheen to their sound which now they want to remove. Your reward is your choice, along with their upcoming album and EP (Oh Happiness) you can be in a music video, be on their guest list for 10 years and pretty much anything else in between. What’s more you could get your e-hands on their formerly presumed mythological demo album, ”Nolens Volens”. Insane.

Support Young Knives’ next album.

Young Knives through the years

Reproduction (2013)

Weekend and Bleak Days (2006)

Terra Firma (2008)

Human Again (2011)

Torrent

Direct Download

Dropbox

AJ Croce Right on time

Ace Reporter Untouched and Arrived

Alpine Gasoline

American Fangs Le Kick

Amerigo Gazaway

Barcelona Slipping Away

Beware of Darkness Howl

Bobby Bare Jr. The Heart Bionic

Bombay Show Pig Mañana Forever

Bronze Radio Return Shake, Shake, Shake

Buck 65 Fairytales

Cars & Trains Nations

Chaos Chaos My Hands

The Crookes Afterglow

Crowns Four Walls

Dame Holy Moly

Daria Prove me Wrong

Delorentos Did we ever really try?

Dessa Dixon’s Girl

The Dirty River Boys Raise Some Hell

The Dolly Rots Hyperactve

Dual Core All the things

East Cameron Folklore Salinger is Dead

Edison Chair I Think I’m Into You

Elle King Playing for Keeps

The Enemy This is Real

The Evaporators Busy Doing Nothing

Everything Everything Cough Cough

Four Minutes Til Midnight Cold Lonely Train

Frank Turner I Still Believe

The Giving Tree Band Cold Cold Rain

Grace London Rocketship Girl

Gypsyhawk Hedgeking

Henry Wagons Unwelcome Company

Hickoids Stop it you’re killing me

The Hounds Below Chelsea’s Calling

Ian Moore Second Hand Store

IRONTOM Mind My Halo

Ivan and the Parazol Take my Hand

Jackson Firebird Cock Rockin

Jillette Johnson Torpedo

Jim Lockey and The Solemn Sun England’s Dead

Kinski Conflict Free Diamonds

Kongos I’m only Joking

Kosha Dillz Hangin’ Out

Lacuna Coil Trip The Darkness

Language Room Kerosene

The Last Bison Switzerland

Lemuria Cannonballs to Hurt

Less Than Jake Goodbye r. Personality

The Limousines Very Busy People

Local Natives Breakers

LostAlone Do you get what you pray for?

Masked Intruder Heart Shaped Guitar

Mikal kHill R. Dorothy Wayneright

Mister Loveless Wild Summer

Mystic Knights of the Cobra Pink and Destroy

Naja Rosa When the smoke clears

Neon Lion New Politics

Nicki Bluhm Little Too Late

Oh Whitney These Bees

Okapi Sun Johnny Kiss

The Orwells Mallrats (La La La)

Paceshifters Davis

Plaided My Heart is on Desire

The Polyphonic Spree You Don’t Know Me

Purple Double Nickels

The Royalty Bartender

Sadistik Save Yourself

Sahara Smith Circuity

Said The Whale Loveless

Scorpion Child Polygon of Eyes

Sick/Sea Robot

Skewby Go Figure

Strangers Bred for Breeding

Teenage Bottlerocket  Freak Out!

Texas Hippie Coalition Turn it Up

The Thermals I don’t believe you

The Tom Fun Orchestra Animal Mask

The Weeks The House we grew up in

White Lung Take the mirror

Wild Child Tale of you and me

The Wilderness of Manitoba Echoes

8 Kilometros No fnjas mas

24-7 ALIVE

The Neighbourhood

Recently these guys are in the press for making the statement that “Kanye West is the Beatles of rap“. Now, if you compliment Kanye West, he’s going to have a lot of time for you, so I was sceptical at best of these guys.

Truth is though, their sound is quite unique. Mixtures of Local Natives and Alt-J plus their videos are weird and creepy. So is their sound. I dig it, ok.

Hearts Under Fire

Villagers- Earthly Pleasure

While Villagers debut was sublime I didn’t expect much from the follow up, not for any other reason than i’ve grown weary of anything new, this comes with the labouring of time.

This is from their new album {awayland} sure, putting wavy brackets around the title of your album is pretentious but this unique and haunting track makes up for it-

Season 5 Disc 3 Episode 19 (Last watched- one last fling. Next up- dog bites cliff)

pretty exciting.

I’ve thought about this quite a bit and can confirm green day’s uno! dos! tre! trilogy as my album of the year. 

That’s it, no picture, no music, no explanation- just me saying it.

Happy new year. Enter it with hope.

In 2012 the world didn’t end, it rained at christmas and all the best albums with a few pleasant exceptions were by already well travelled artists.

2013 means all the usual expectations of a new arctic monkey or amy winehouse, i’m usually fairly indifferent to hype but i dunno, i like these guys. Watch this video and try not to have your curiosity piqued. And yeah, they are good enough for me to bother writing about-

Green Day- Night Life

Not a typical Green Day song by any means but one of the best in recent times and man, I loved 21st Century Breakdown it was a great album but this one is even better. It’s definitely in the running for my album of the year and this track is a big reason. The guest vocals are from “Lady Cobra” from “Mystic Knights of the Cobra”, you know- I know nothing about this band, the singer or whatever but she does make it next level.

As I become even more disinterested in all the bands nme and the press talk about and my e-mail inbox becomes a waste land for press releases i’ve found myself hanging onto new tunes by the artists that I was into half a decade ago and it has been with a huge sense of relief that great albums by Bloc Part (four), Green Day (Dos!) and Ben Gibbard (Former Lives) have somewhat restoked my fires even a little bit.

It is with a sense of trepidation that I say Alt-J’s awesome wave is probably the best new album i’ve heard this year as it contradicts everything i’ve just said, also everyone else is saying that, rendering my opinion pointless. Anyway…

Bloc Party- And So He Begins To Lie

This performance on Jools Holland was the first I’d even heard about a new Bloc Party album. Silent Alarm was a magnificent and articulate debut but misdirection since then has made them hard to follow. After seeing this performance, I declared it “flawless”. I’ve heard the album since then and so is that.