Live Review: Klaxons @ HMV Forum, 16th November.

Anyone who didn't go to the gig may be somewhat bemused and puzzled as to what this picture is, but do not worry, it's Jamie Reynolds sporting a woolly Slipknot-esque hat which all the members of the band were wearing as they came on stage before launching into the first song of the night, Flashover.

The HMV Forum, a small, somewhat cosy gig venue in a secluded part of Kentish Town was filled with the scent of adolescent sweat as Klaxons set out to send the crowd into a frenzy with hits from Mercury-prize winning album Myths of the Near Future and recent album Surfing the Void.

The band, with their astronomical lyrics and space-focused songs play track after track where there's just no stopping, there's no breather for the fans as Klaxons go from hit to high-tempo hit and there's not much of a break in between.

It was always going to be a hard task for Reynolds and co. to better the first album, especially with such sing-along anthems like Golden Skans and It's Not Over Yet but also fast-paced Atlantis to Interzone, Magick and Gravity's Rainbow which will always win the crowd over, but Surfing The Void has attempted to reach the heady heights they've set themselves. Echoes, which they ended with before encore, combines thudding piano notes with a chorus so brilliantly catchy, you can't help but belt your heart out to it.

While the angst-ridden teens love such belting tunes, it would be nice to see a more slower tempo song from Klaxons with more dexterity in tempo and lyrics, although the second album does seemingly comes close to this, the recently released single of the new album, Twin Flames, is fantastically atmospheric and Venusia carries a steady beat with a belting chorus.

It will be even more of a challenge to produce an even better third album, what with the band's love for astronomy and the like, and perhaps even harder to blend this in with something a bit maturer, but with gigs like this, the fans really won't care.

7/10.

Live Review: Foals @ O2 Brixton Academy, 12th November.

Even on a cold, mid-November night and having been given the wrong type of tickets, nothing could ruin a mesmeric night where Yannis & co. were simply sublime.


The incompetence of the ticketing service Crowdsurge who Foals use on their official site as their ticket provider, who say are a "new and independent ticketing company dedicated to bringing you cheaper service charges, the best customer experience possible and innovations in ticketing." Well, in terms of customer experience, I think those like myself who bought standing tickets in the pre-sale will be greatly dissatisfied. With only a week or so to go until the gig, a great number of those who bought standing tickets in the pre-sale received an e-mail from Crowdsurge saying they had made an "unfortunate error" and had sent us seating tickets instead. Despite my best efforts, they couldn't do anything about it, and offered to refund the booking fee for the tickets and send signed Foals T-shirts as compensation (which at the time of writing, haven't arrived yet), which is less than satisfactory.


However, this really couldn't dampen what was a fantastic gig. Firstly, one of the support bands were absolutely fantastic and anyone who was there probably really enjoyed their set and would advise you to listen to them. Their name was Crystal Fighters, who had a Gogol Bordello set-up but very much had a samba-dance sound and certainly had some catchy tunes such as Xtatic Truth and Champion Sound, and they even played a dubstep song called Swallow, which I personally quite enjoyed.


As for Foals, the band have the ability to play a set which not only combines songs that will get the crowd jumping, but also have several songs which you can simply bathe in their beauty, Spanish Sahara even combines the two, a song that was simply amazing when played.


They started off the set with recently released single Blue Blood which really got the gig off to a flier which such funky guitar riffs. Songs such as Balloons, Cassius, Red Socks Pugie and Olympic Airways were played off the album Antidotes, while Miami, Total Life Forever and the atmospheric and climatic Spanish Sahara off the latest album, Total Life Forever, creating a brilliant atmosphere within the venue and all were massive crowd favourites.


Highlights included Yannis jumping into the crowd during Electric Bloom and personal favourites What Remains, After Glow and 2 Trees all being played, songs that contain such sheer beauty you had to bask in and just admire. 


The gig really climaxed during the encore, coming back on stage to play the French Open and Hummer, a song they hadn't played in a while before their recent tour for the new album. They finished with a bang, and what a bang, with Two Steps, Twice, gradually building and building the tempo before sending their adoring faithful into a wild frenzy, what a way to finish.


Considering my friend & I were in seating and not in the frenetic standing area may have worsened our experience of the gig, but in fact, it's definitely up there in the top 5 gigs I've ever been to, and I was simply lost for words at how they good they were on our journey home. After that, I'll definitely be looking to get a standing ticket for their New Years Eve gig at the HMV Forum, and you should too.

Chapel Club - Echoes of the Bunnymen and bands of old.

Chapel Club, a great new band from London, are making great waves on the alternative music scene. When checking them out on YouTube, they've been compared to a great number of bands; Echo & The Bunnymen, The Smiths, The Cure, Joy Division, the list goes on and on, however Chapel Club are in a field of their own.

Lewis Bowman, the lead singer of the band, does follow in the footsteps of the above bands and their lead singers with a distinctively deep-toned voice, but pulls it off in such a relaxed manner, it's effortless.

One of the their songs, The Shore (which is free to download off their website) provides a breathtakingly hypnotic 6-minute masterpiece , building and building before hitting a brilliantly delicious guitar riff. O Maybe I produces something similar to the vocals of Morrissey, talking of the conflicts of life, complete with pulsating guitar riffs, while Surfacing, with the constantly thunderous sound of the drums, provides an eerie feel before delivering a belting chorus. Recently released single All the Eastern Girls shows the bands diversity, able to move away from perhaps more darker, mysterious works to a song with a more lively sound and a catchy chorus to boot.



However, there is more to this band that meets the eye, a freshness that perhaps has not been seen in the music industry recently. Bowman's lyrical inspirations stem from the likes of Ernest Hemingway and Ted Hughes, while the songs aim to look at questions of religion and faith rather than the musical stereotypes of love & sex that are used far too frequently.

Their album, yet to be titled, is set to be released in January, and something which a lot of people will look forward too. This album could potentially make heads turn, what with some of their songs about that look set to make the tracklisting for the album, and could give faith to the shoegazing generation of old, complementing the rise of bands such as Editors and White Lies.

Check them out, buy their songs, listen to the album in January, and if you can, get tickets to the live shows in 2011, they are not to be missed...