The Whip are a band of their time. A time when Paul Epworth is the hottest producer in UK indie. A time when the New Order-esque collision of dance and rock is de rigeur for all upcoming bands. It’s a time when dance music is seen to be in the doldrums while exciting new acts like The Killers, The Bravery and White Rose Movement are tipped to conquer the world. That time is 2004. Unfortunately for The Whip, it’s one thing to sound dated: it’s quite another to miss your window so narrowly you can’t even be labelled as revivalists.

The Whip are unfortunate - it’s only now that they’ve got round to releasing an album, which features several tracks released at least twice before in the past 18 months or so. ‘Trash’ is about to get a third release. This implies not only a lack in confidence in writing new material, but the material they’re relying on isn’t up to scratch either.

The reason that, of the aforementioned bands, only The Killers made it into the big leagues is that by the time the others emerged, one ’80s-influenced electro-rock band was all anyone really needed. The Whip try to remedy this by throwing in a couple of ‘now’ electro numbers, but by ripping off people who were ripping off the worst Daft Punk album, they show themselves up to be more out of touch than ever. Dean Driscoll

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

DOWNLOAD: ‘TRASH’, ‘SISTER SIAM’.
FOR FANS OF: WHITE ROSE MOVEMENT, MSTRKRFT.

The Whip are a band of their time. A time when Paul Epworth is the hottest producer in UK indie. A time when the New Order-esque collision of dance and rock is de rigeur for all upcoming bands. It’s a time when dance music is seen to be in the doldrums while exciting new acts like The Killers, The Bravery and White Rose Movement are tipped to conquer the world. That time is 2004. Unfortunately for The Whip, it’s one thing to sound dated: it’s quite another to miss your window so narrowly you can’t even be labelled as revivalists.

The Whip are unfortunate - it’s only now that they’ve got round to releasing an album, which features several tracks released at least twice before in the past 18 months or so. ‘Trash’ is about to get a third release. This implies not only a lack in confidence in writing new material, but the material they’re relying on isn’t up to scratch either.

The reason that, of the aforementioned bands, only The Killers made it into the big leagues is that by the time the others emerged, one ’80s-influenced electro-rock band was all anyone really needed. The Whip try to remedy this by throwing in a couple of ‘now’ electro numbers, but by ripping off people who were ripping off the worst Daft Punk album, they show themselves up to be more out of touch than ever. Dean Driscoll

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

DOWNLOAD: ‘TRASH’, ‘SISTER SIAM’.
FOR FANS OF: WHITE ROSE MOVEMENT, MSTRKRFT.

The man sure has a thing about fingers. Black Francis, he of Pixies fame and the artist occasionally known as Frank Black, has announced that he’ll be following up his 2007 album ‘Bluefinger’ with a mini-album called ‘Svn Fngrs’. As regards the record format, Black had this to say:

The man sure has a thing about fingers. Black Francis, he of Pixies fame and the artist occasionally known as Frank Black, has announced that he’ll be following up his 2007 album ‘Bluefinger’ with a mini-album called ‘Svn Fngrs’. As regards the record format, Black had this to say:

The Rascal’s ‘Out Of Dreams’ doesn’t so much swagger into action as lurch. The big ambitions of the tune’s lolloping bass line never quite succeeds in holding together a band seemingly intent on heading in different directions. It’s as if they’re determined to answer the singer’s “you don’t have to follow” refrain in the affirmative.

There’s a somewhat inexplicable change in tempo two thirds of the way through – a trick they repeat on second track ‘Under The Second Seal’ and several times throughout the E.P. It’s all a little too obvious – the indie-rock equivalent of when Westlife get up off their stools to herald a key change.

Meanwhile ‘Ratcatcher’ and ‘Is It Too Late’ don’t so much wear the influence of the Arctic Monkeys on their sleeves as drape it all over the band in a tarpaulin. Stewart McCullough

The Rascal’s ‘Out Of Dreams’ doesn’t so much swagger into action as lurch. The big ambitions of the tune’s lolloping bass line never quite succeeds in holding together a band seemingly intent on heading in different directions. It’s as if they’re determined to answer the singer’s “you don’t have to follow” refrain in the affirmative.

There’s a somewhat inexplicable change in tempo two thirds of the way through – a trick they repeat on second track ‘Under The Second Seal’ and several times throughout the E.P. It’s all a little too obvious – the indie-rock equivalent of when Westlife get up off their stools to herald a key change.

Meanwhile ‘Ratcatcher’ and ‘Is It Too Late’ don’t so much wear the influence of the Arctic Monkeys on their sleeves as drape it all over the band in a tarpaulin. Stewart McCullough

The Courteeners arrive riding the crest of a wave of hype, with the likes of Radio 1 and the NME hailing them as the next big thing. Certainly, it’s hard to fault the energy and enthusiasm behind tracks like ‘Cavorting’ and ‘Bide Your Time’. Jangly guitars, a lolloping back beat and singalong choruses are the order of the day. Whilst not exactly Morrissey, singer Liam Fray does a reasonable line in observational lyrics and manages to raise the odd smile. Despite all that, it’s hard to tell what sets their winklepickers apart from the array of skinny jean-wearing indie boys competing for attention these days. Stewart McCullough

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

DOWNLOAD: ‘Cavorting’, What Took You So Long’.
FOR FANS OF: The View, The Rifles, The Rakes.

The Courteeners arrive riding the crest of a wave of hype, with the likes of Radio 1 and the NME hailing them as the next big thing. Certainly, it’s hard to fault the energy and enthusiasm behind tracks like ‘Cavorting’ and ‘Bide Your Time’. Jangly guitars, a lolloping back beat and singalong choruses are the order of the day. Whilst not exactly Morrissey, singer Liam Fray does a reasonable line in observational lyrics and manages to raise the odd smile. Despite all that, it’s hard to tell what sets their winklepickers apart from the array of skinny jean-wearing indie boys competing for attention these days. Stewart McCullough

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

DOWNLOAD: ‘Cavorting’, What Took You So Long’.
FOR FANS OF: The View, The Rifles, The Rakes.

Hero worship is a powerful thing. When Slash takes to the stage, every hardened rock fan in the Ambassador turns into a simpering adolescent, screaming their adoration at the sight of their axe wielding idol. Supported by hard rock trio Year Long Disaster, Velvet Revolver bring nothing less than pure unadulterated rock.

The crowd, awash with Guns N’ Roses t-shirts, plays witness to the powerplay of these rock legends, the strutting, Scott Weiland and the oh-so-cool Slash and Duff. Matt Sorum meanwhile sparks a memorabilia feeding frenzy, with people throwing themselves on the several sticks he launches into the crowd.

Tonight’s set list is littered with VR favourites, ‘Big Machine’, ‘Dirty Little Thing’, ‘American Man’ and ‘The Last Fight’ the standout tracks. And after ‘Fall to pieces’, VR’s epic opus, has finished reverberating through the venue, they embark on a run of G N’ R songs. ‘Mr Brownstone’ is the definite highlight, with his bandmates exiting the stage, Slash propels into a six minute guitar shredding solo, the crowd revelling in every moment.

For over two hours the band rocked and the fans rolled in what was a no holds barred orgy of hard rocking. P.J. Murray

Hero worship is a powerful thing. When Slash takes to the stage, every hardened rock fan in the Ambassador turns into a simpering adolescent, screaming their adoration at the sight of their axe wielding idol. Supported by hard rock trio Year Long Disaster, Velvet Revolver bring nothing less than pure unadulterated rock.

The crowd, awash with Guns N’ Roses t-shirts, plays witness to the powerplay of these rock legends, the strutting, Scott Weiland and the oh-so-cool Slash and Duff. Matt Sorum meanwhile sparks a memorabilia feeding frenzy, with people throwing themselves on the several sticks he launches into the crowd.

Tonight’s set list is littered with VR favourites, ‘Big Machine’, ‘Dirty Little Thing’, ‘American Man’ and ‘The Last Fight’ the standout tracks. And after ‘Fall to pieces’, VR’s epic opus, has finished reverberating through the venue, they embark on a run of G N’ R songs. ‘Mr Brownstone’ is the definite highlight, with his bandmates exiting the stage, Slash propels into a six minute guitar shredding solo, the crowd revelling in every moment.

For over two hours the band rocked and the fans rolled in what was a no holds barred orgy of hard rocking. P.J. Murray

As revealed in last month’s AU Cover Feature, Be Your Own Pet have had second album ‘Get Awkward’ censored for the US market. The band’s American label, Universal have confirmed the decision to remove three songs, ‘Becky’, ‘Black Hole’ and ‘Blow Yr Mind’ whose themes of bullying, murder and drug abuse were deemed too violent for US audiences.