Jody Has A Hitlist have come a long way in their relatively short existence with a Meteor nomination for ‘Most Promising New Artist 2010’ and numerous UK tours. Their three track EP ‘Boy Caught Envy’ is available from http://jodyhasahitlist.bandcamp.com/
The lead track ‘Boy Caught Envy’ shows the band developing and maturing their sound, not sounding as poppy as their previous releases. Its an uptempo track with a nice intro build up. Production is spot on for the genre and features a nice breakdown in the middle of the track. This gives the track a little more room to breathe and the inclusion of layers of vocal harmonies. Good musicianship, manic drumming!
‘See You Around’ immediately catches your attention. It’s melodic, great vocals, great structure good danceable tempo. Why isn’t this on the radio already? It should be, full stop. These guys know their sound and know what their potential audience want. Excellent.
The piano led ‘Remember The Forever’ shows Jody Has A Hitlist in what seems like a more thoughtful mood. The uptempo cleverly builds up and the addition of a second vocalist’s refrain adds to the track. Again, JHAH know their sound and are bloody good at what they do. If they have the legs to out run their competitors, the future will be bright.
How do you really write about a new Prince album? The Artist Formerly known as Squiggle has for the second time licensed a new album for distribution in a UK tabloid. 3 Million copies of 2007’s Planet Earth was given away with a Sunday newspaper for free but shortly after that Prince sold out the 02 in London for an incredible 21 nights, generating £11 million sterling.
Like the strange person he is, he has also recently said the internet is dead.. yeah ok. Prince Rogers Nelson, you may be nutty enough to say that or not allow your music on Youtube but you’re still clever enough to play the game. So what’s the music like?
Pretty damn good actually. 20Ten kicks off with ‘Compassion’, an upbeat track sounding like it came out of 1984. We’re talking Prince circa Let’s Go Crazy. ‘Beginning Endlessly’ is so familiar, its Prince with his signature harmonies, synth sounds and funky guitar sounds. This is basically Squiggle getting down and dirty at the ripe ole age of 52.
Originally published on Goldenplec on July 15 2010
Taylor Hawkins. Photo by Alessio Michelini
Review: Taylor Hawkins & The Coattail Riders at The Academy, Dublin
Taylor Hawkins is best known for being the drummer with Foo Fighters and like Dave Grohl he has now become a front man, albeit still from behind a drumkit. Along with his band The Coattail Riders, they visited Ireland for the first time, in support of their album ‘Red Light Fever’.
Support in The Academy came from The Shoos, a Dublin five piece who could be compared The Fray or perhaps even Matchbox Twenty. They’ve a tight sound and seem quite comfortable on stage, comfortable enough to slag the drummer off! Their songs have well worked arrangements and they make great use of a second vocalist, using him as a second vocalist rather than just a backing singer.
All round the musicians and their melodic sounds work well, the songs ‘Distance’ and ‘Do It’ stand out from their set. They chose ‘Turn Round’ to close their set, a slower tempo-ed song, again with great second vocals. Unusual choice for the last song but it worked really well.
The Coattail Riders, who also feature Chris Chaney from Jane’s Addiction on bass, come to the stage and start playing their instruments, leaving Taylor Hawkins to come to the stage last. As Hawkin’s is also the lead singer/front man of the band, the drumkit has been moved forward to the front of the stage.
The band start with ‘Not Bad Luck’ the first track from their current album. The album production is quite seventies tinged and the band transfer this to their live sound quite well, with the vocal harmonies living up to expectations. They go straight into ‘Louise’, the band then stops mid-song, ask how everyone is and if it sounds Ok before finishing the track.
The band play a selection of tracks from their two albums. Hawkins is pretty much made to be a front man, he acknowledges that most of the audience probably don’t know this band or their music but they were there to try and ‘convert you’.
The Coattail Riders give a hard hitting rock show and the appreciation for good musicianship is shown after a guitar solo in ‘You Drive Me Insane’.
The crowd are attentive but seem like they may just be here because of what Hawkin’s day job is. Hawkins seems to realize this as he introduces each song. He, himself is entertaining, calling everyone ‘Darlings and Loves’ before playing ‘Running In Place’ what he describes as the closest he’s ever been to losing his mind.
‘Get Up I Wanna Get Down’ gives the crowd some of what they came here for, Hawkins featuring on a frantic drum solo. The seventies vibed sounds of the second album are heard in ‘Never Enough’ and ‘Way Down’, a track mixing a dash of Queen and The Sweet to the mix. Despite Hawkins’ claim that it is the stupidest song he has ever written, it gets a rousing reception.
Biggest reaction of the night though, went to ‘Cold Day in the Sun’ a Foo Fighters track, written and sang by Hawkins on ‘In Your Honour’. The audience burst into life, singing the words and clapping, arms raised in the air. This was the kick the crowd needed but unfortunately came eleven songs into the show.
The enthusiasm continues for Sunshine, Hawkins says its the last for now, explaining he’s ‘Sh1t at stage etiquette’. The band leave the stage briefly before returning for a two song encore. The show ends with the crowd now looking for more. This was a hard hitting rock gig with fantastic musicianship and a great personable front man. Can’t help but feel the crowd wanted more Foos.
Following on from Plan B using my review on his site a couple of weeks ago, Elvis Costello has used my review of his gig at Vicar Street on July 1st on his site. I reviewed his gig for Goldenplec.
