This is the second of my frantically put together reviews. It's for a DIY band called Streets of Rage, which is made up of one person. But you'll find that out in a mo. Enjoy...
20-year-old Glaswegian Alistair Clark is a one-man music maker. Using only his voice, guitar, keyboard and two Hi-Fis, he’s managed to produce this 6 minute hardcore gem. The natural talent on show is incredible, as Clark emulates the pure hardcore sound that many bands of that field are still unable to do.
The record is introduced through the passionately spat out vocals of ‘Hater’, putting the listener in the right frame of mind for the rest of the tracks. Moving on, and we see exactly what Clark is capable of. Raw and energetic, this is exactly what hardcore music should be like. Track 3 shows how each piece of his work is perfectly crafted together, moving effortlessly into track 4. Fast-paced, catchy and blunt, it’s easy to imagine hundreds of hardcore fans dancing away to this in unison. Track 5 is a tornado in song form, which is a good thing. The guitar is pushed to its limits, creating the perfect melody to back up Clark’s vocals. The record ends with a classically upbeat and frenzied offering, which would surely induce mass shouting and jumping amongst fans.
All-in-all, Beat Your Kids is a record destined for success. It may only be 6 minutes long, but those 6 minutes will stick in your head and blast your brains out for a long time.
4/5
Tuesday 16 February 2010
Cobra Starship... yeaaaaaaah [Hot Mess]
Woahhhhh it's been almost a month since I wrote on this blog! Whoopsy. I realised I hadn't written any reviews for a while, so frantically wrote a couple to make sure my editor had some to put up from me. So here's my first one. It's a review of 'Hot Mess,' their single. It's quite an awful single, not gonna lie...
Hailing from New York, Cobra Starship have already established themselves as a teen favourite, both in America and the UK. Signed to Fall Out Boy’s label “Fueled by Ramen,” they have unintentionally stereotyped themselves as emo hit-makers. But no, they want people to know that their genre is disco.
Starting with a mismatch of claps and some faint, distorted vocals, lead vocalist Gabe Saporta quickly nips in with some truly inspiring lyrics- “You were a problem child.” Lovely. Unfortunately, writing skills don’t make any dramatic improvement, with Gabe pretty much describing his last night out. The track is in no way lifted by the rest of the band either, with a basic melody being repeated throughout. On a good note, Ryland Blackinton has a way with a synthesizer, which makes it easy to see why teens all over the world would dance along to this nugget of what is essentially pop music. However, the backing vocals provided all round just echo the trash coming out of Gabe’s mouth. They may just as well have gotten studio effects on the job. “Hot Mess” comes to an unwillingly abrupt ending, as everything appears to cut off at once. At least it’s over.
It seems Cobra Starship haven’t managed to emulate the success of “Good Girls Go Bad,” with this latest offering. Still, Fall-Out-Boy-lovers everywhere will love it.
2/5
Hailing from New York, Cobra Starship have already established themselves as a teen favourite, both in America and the UK. Signed to Fall Out Boy’s label “Fueled by Ramen,” they have unintentionally stereotyped themselves as emo hit-makers. But no, they want people to know that their genre is disco.
Starting with a mismatch of claps and some faint, distorted vocals, lead vocalist Gabe Saporta quickly nips in with some truly inspiring lyrics- “You were a problem child.” Lovely. Unfortunately, writing skills don’t make any dramatic improvement, with Gabe pretty much describing his last night out. The track is in no way lifted by the rest of the band either, with a basic melody being repeated throughout. On a good note, Ryland Blackinton has a way with a synthesizer, which makes it easy to see why teens all over the world would dance along to this nugget of what is essentially pop music. However, the backing vocals provided all round just echo the trash coming out of Gabe’s mouth. They may just as well have gotten studio effects on the job. “Hot Mess” comes to an unwillingly abrupt ending, as everything appears to cut off at once. At least it’s over.
It seems Cobra Starship haven’t managed to emulate the success of “Good Girls Go Bad,” with this latest offering. Still, Fall-Out-Boy-lovers everywhere will love it.
2/5
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