The Strypes: Rock Is Alive And Kicking!

On 4 September 2014, Gene Simmons of Kiss claimed in an interview with Esquire that rock was finally dead. Having seen The Strypes live I can tell you the present and future of rock is very much alive and in great hands!

About a month and a half ago (5 May) I had the pleasure of going to see Irish Blues Rock four piece The Strypes at the Portland Arms in Cambridge. I had wanted to see the band, made up of Ross Farrelly on lead vocals, Josh McClorey on lead guitar and lead/backing vocals, Pete O'Hanlon on bass and Evan Walsh on drums, last Summer when they were touring their first album, 2013's Snapshot, however I missed their final East Anglian gig by a couple of weeks. This time around I was going to make it my mission to see them on their Flat Out tour in support of their upcoming album, Little Victories, which comes out on 21 August 2015.


Little Victories album cover

The Strypes' debut album, Snapshot

In interviews they've said they take most credence musically from Dr. Feelgood and The Yardbirds, which is easy to tell when they play their hard paced, aggressive, 'speed blues'.

It's hard to pin down exactly what genre The Strypes fall into, but to give just a few examples of who they sound like, it's a fusion of Led Zeppelin, The Who, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Jam, Jimi Hendrix, Canned Heat and The Sex Pistols. This long and diverse list of musical royalty should give an idea of just how much range these four teenage Irishmen have, and it's a credit to their elasticity as musicians that they are able to resemble such bands in the space of just a few songs.

Unbeknownst to me (having not read the tour poster in much detail) the warm up act was a young, 1960s styled pop band called The Red Faces all the way from Sheffield. They looked no older than 14 or 15 years old but had the stage presence of men twice their age, strutting around the stage with as much swagger as the mods they were replicating had done during the height of 60s mod culture. I wouldn't say they were my cup of tea, in the same way as I'm not a big Beatles fan mainly because I prefer 60s rock over 60s pop, but they certainly have the charisma and talent to take them a long way in the music industry. The Red Faces were only on for 30 minutes or so but definitely left me intrigued.

The Portland Arms only takes 200 people inside it's venue (located outside the pub itself) but this just added to the atmosphere and meant we were all packed in like sardines just feet from the bands. I managed to get a spot right next to the technician desk (see picture below).

Portland Arms music venue

It's always tricky to adjust equipment in anticipation for the sweltering conditions that occur when you cram 200 people into a small room, and as I suspected might happen, The Strypes seemed to have problems during and after their first few songs. At first it was Ross' harmonica microphone which wasn't cutting through the other instruments, then Josh's microphone wasn't loud enough to accompany Ross', followed by Ross requiring another towel, as the frontman exclaimed, "I'm fucking melting up here!"

The Strypes start the show in front of a packed venue

There was a very friendly, laid back vibe at the gig which was made clear whenever the band had to stop due to technical problems. On a few occasions Josh would give his tech that stare which means "help me it's not working", and it would be left to Pete and Ross to keep us and the audience entertained. In one particularly awkward silence as we waited for Josh's rig to be set up properly, Pete turned to us, leaned into the microphone and asked, "has anyone seen the new Avenger's movie? I have. It was OK. Not as good as the first one though. You guys look a bit too old for that kind of thing though, right? Oh well, just chat amongst yourselves until we get our shit working. That's the problem with a room that's fucking insanely hot, strings and guitars warp, sweat gets into the electronics and the amps decide not to work, all part of the fun I guess..."

As for the gig, the set list consisted of classics off the Snapshot record such as Blue Collar Jane, You Can't Judge a Book By The Cover, What a Shame, Hometown Girls, What the People Don't See and I Can Tell. They added to these by playing a few songs off the new record, three of which are on the new EP, Flat Out; Scumbag City, Eighty-Four and Kick Out The Jams. Scumbag City is a song that starts slowly with a single strumming guitar intro that builds into a thumping, guitar screaming climax that no doubt will become a live favourite and have crowds shouting the chorus back at the lads in a live situation. Eighty-Four is a track which is more rock driven than the previous song, with driving bass and drums that barrels along like a locomotive to produce a slobber-knocker. The final single is Kick Out The Jams, a 1:27 blink and you'll miss it thrash of rock 'n' roll that has a hint of heavy metal to it with the pounding bass, screeching guitar and shrieking vocals. It was on this number that The Strypes finished the main part of the gig before the encore, leaving their amps turned up to 11 and walking straight through the crowd with the throbbing feedback of their instruments ringing in our ears and reverberating through our bodies!



Left to right; Josh, Evan, Me, Dan, Pete, Ross

The lads told us afterwards this gig was part of a tour visiting small venues to prepare them for their big festival tour over the summer, and in the process get rid of the cobwebs that build up having been in the sanctuary of a recording studio for months beforehand. I took by this that they didn't feel bothered about having the problems they did, seeing as it was in front of a crowd of 200 rather than of tens of thousands.

I should have guessed, them being Irish, that they would be incredibly easy to talk to and friendly but I didn't and was blown away when after the gig, my friend Dan and I asked Evan's father if we could have our LPs signed and the band duly obliged, and also asked if we wanted a photo! I suppose they are used to this kind of thing, having toured all over the world and taken pictures with thousands of people, but to meet a bunch of young musicians who are clearly only in the industry for the pleasure of playing music and not the money is very refreshing.


My signed copy of Snapshot




The Women's Tour Visits North Essex

Yesterday my father and I decided to follow stage two of the Women's Tour from Braintree to Clacton-On-Sea, stopping at Sudbury and Great Bentley en route to catch the Queen Of The Mountains and Sprint sections of the course.


The start in Braintree town centre



Pearl Izumi Team with Team GB riders Dame Sarah Storey, Katie Archibald and Joanna Rowsell



The peloton move through the neutralised high street

To think it's been a year since I went to see a stage of the Women's Tour in Bedford feels absolutely mental but even more so is how the popularity of the event has grown in that time. Even at the start in Braintree town centre the streets were packed with people trying to get a look at the immense spectacle that is professional road cycling. You may have thought that the absence of Lizzi Armitstead following her crash the day before would have put fans off but that couldn't be further from the truth.

Leading the race through neutral zone of the town centre and out onto the main road were children from Beckers Green Primary School, who all looked around in amazement as they saw the throng of people all paying attention to them and the world class riders they were processing. The 138km course would be going via Halstead, Sudbury, Hadleigh, Kirby Le Soken and Great Bentley before turning 180 degrees and heading for the Essex seaside resort of Clacton-On-Sea.

 

QoM finish line on Finch Hill

Once the race had left Braintree we hurried back to the car and patiently crawled through the back log of traffic left behind by the road closures. Free of the mass of traffic the road opened out towards Halstead and Sudbury. Just before Sudbury we turned off to journey through winding lanes to the point where the first QoM section would be decided on Finch Hill. This was a perfect spot for spectators because the climb was long and straight, meaning we could see the riders coming from about 300 metres away.

The race was through in seconds and we dashed off to reach our second destination, Mistley, where the second QoM section was. However, it became apparent as we crawled through yet more back log into Sudbury that we weren't going to make it as the race was matching 85-90% of it's target time. So instead my father redirected us and we cut through to Great Bentley via some of the prettiest lanes I've ever driven in my life!



The break away come through Gt Bentley 1:42 ahead of the peloton

 We arrived in Great Bentley with about 30 minutes to spare and made the most of it by getting a much needed coffee from the pub and settling down with a picnic on the village green, the largest in Great Britain by the way! Proceeding the race to perform a rolling road block was a convoy of around 10-20 motorbikes, some of which were carrying cameramen and photographers. Most of these blokes were serious and didn't even crack a smile to the crowd, however one biker broke the trend, slowing down metres from the Sprint finish line, wiping his forehead and rocking his motorbike side to side in the same way a cyclist would in a sprint to the line. Safe to say it brought a chuckle.



The peloton speed across the sprint finish




Sprint finish on Clacton seafront

The finish on the waterfront in Clacton-On-Sea was barely 10km away now but with the race averaging over 20mph we didn't have long to get there. Luckily the traffic was kind and we managed to park and walk to the bustling finishing straight with 5km for the peloton still to race.
The big giveaway that the race is close is the TV helicopter following the race. As we stood on the finishing straight we could see said helicopter above the houses and slowly making its way towards us, and sure enough as it came into line with us the front of the race came bursting into view round the corner and sprint up the hill towards us and across the finish line.

Once the race had finished we headed up the road to where the presentation ceremony was. Being used to the pomp and circumstance of the aftermath of a professional cycling event, my father and I were ready in front of podium before anyone else in the crowd knew what was going on. 

Stage two winner Jolien D'Hoore - Belgium National Road Race Champion

Overall race leader Lisa Brennauer - World Time Trial Champion

 
The atmosphere at cycling events is always fantastic and yesterday's stage was no different, and I certainly cannot wait until next year's Women's Tour!

Is Muse's 'Drones' Their Best Yet?

Muse have released their seventh studio album, Drones, and can be considered as both the most socio-politically active and best music Matt Bellamy, Ben Howard and Chris Wolstenholme have made to date.



Muse's new album - Drones

The artwork on the album cover is a perfect reflection of what this album is all about; political control. It denotes that even those we see as authority figures are being controlled and are being manipulated by multinational business bosses who use their power to influence politics to make it work for them and not the general population.

Just the title of the album alone sets the tone for what's to come, a very dark, ominous feeling of authoritarian control and a human race that has been numbed into senselessness and has no feeling left of individuality. Muse have always used their libertarianism ideologies in their music but even for them the message behind this album is very strong.

The album opens with Dead Inside. A funky, electric number with dark lyrics of a distraught couple where clearly one is giving more than the other and ends with Bellamy telling how he has become as cold and calculating as his partner.

Next is a 0:21 interlude of a Drill Sergeant screaming orders at a recruit which follows into what I consider to be the best song on the album, Psycho. Psycho is built on a tremendous rock 'n' roll riff that demands a good head banging! The lyrics behind the riff portray the anti-humanity of war and brutal way in which governments turn human beings into senseless killing machines.  

Mercy, one of three released singles, is sung from the perspective of someone who has been broken emotionally, perhaps a veteran of war who can't fit into civilian life. It tells of ghosts and shadows eating away at this soldier's soul and the tyranny of the "powers that be" who are responsible for engaging in conflict. The first verse alone is incredibly poignant and immediately makes you feel sorry for anyone who is damaged by the consequences of violence:

"Help me
I've fallen on the inside
I tried to change the game
I tried to infiltrate
But now I'm losing

Men in cloaks always seem to run the show
Save me from the ghosts and shadows
Before they eat my soul"

 

 

Fifth on the album is Reapers, which opens with the sound that has become synonymous with Bellamy's guitar technique, a legato/tapping scale, and reminds the listener that yes this is still a Muse album! Reapers talks about how drones have upgraded warfare, and how even being an innocent civilian doesn't spare you. It's a very politically motivated song, seeing as drones are being used by allied troops in the Middle East and have killed civilians. It also covers how drones are replacing human fighters and how war is becoming more electronic, digital and advanced with every passing moment.

 

Military drone used in warfare

The Handler is lyrically similar to Psycho in that it describes soldiers as drones and can be programmed to kill on demand.

 

The second half of the album does brighten up however and a feeling of humanity returns to a setting where political tyranny has the world under the thumb and war rages on.

 

As before Psycho, before Defector there is a 0:55 interlude as John F. Kennedy delivers a speech describing the means by which higher powers go about seizing control, silencing those who oppose them.

 

Defector is delivered in the first person as someone who has escaped the clutches of a damning regime and is free to go about his life the way he wants to for the first time.

 

In the same vein as Defector, Revolt is an upbeat, punchy song, which encourages others to break free from the oppression of those at the top of society, as the defector did, and explains how anyone can make of life what they want no matter what anyone says.

 

Aftermath is the most subdued song on the album, with an atmospheric Pink Floyd sounding slide guitar intro, that mulls over the end of war and a world returning back to normal civilised behaviour. It describes a world where all the States have crumbled and humans are free from oppression. Aftermath builds this feeling of relief and humanitarian togetherness and launches into a release of emotion with a great solo by Bellamy.

 

The Globalist is the longest track on the album at 10:08 and explains the rebuilding process after the dramatic war and political ideology that pretty much destroyed it. Going along with the idea of building, this track starts off very docile, slow and acoustic and builds to halfway where it dives deep into a heavily bass driven electric sound that gets faster and faster. The track slows some 02:00 later and piano comes in with Bellamy singing of a world with nothing left, including countries and culture, just the love of humanity as if the world has been cleansed of evil.

 

The close of the album, Drones, is a very surreal song. Sung in the style of a harmonic church choir with no accompanying music it describes every member of their family dead, all killed by drones.

 

Overall this offering by Muse is in a completely different musical direction to their previous album 2nd Law, which was heavily influenced by dub-step, and very much goes back to their roots of guitar, bass, drums, harmonics and electronic overdubs.

Left to right: Wolstenholme, Bellamy and Howard

It's a brilliant album and is also a reminder of how good song writing can really be when done properly. The social and political ideologies addressed in this album are very sensitive so it's good that a band such a Muse has the confidence to take it on, and at the same produce fantastic music.