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TRAPS
`Darker’
(Self-released)
Having called it a day with a final headline show
at the Academy last month, Traps leave us with
this farewell EP, a little online evidence that,
while they might not quite have set Oxford on
fire, they were here and their time among us was
worthwhile.
In stark contrast to the prevailing mood in the
city for fidgety dynamics and oblique lyricism,
Traps were unabashed rock romantics with a
predilection for the epic and melodramatic. This
EP’s lead track, `Particles’, pretty much sums
the band up: from questing All About Eve-like
gotharama, it billows and expands by way of a
serious overdriven crescendo into a towering
climax, with Lex’s soaring yet slightly clipped
voice giving it everything amid the Euro-gothgrunge
guitar storm. Further in they add hefty
amounts of cello to `Blood Is Warm’ for extra,
extra gravitas and repeat the old billow’n’build
dynamic on closer `Bore War’.
It feels like Traps, having decided to split,
decided to put every ounce of effort and
emotion they’d have expended over a ten-year
career into three final songs. They might not go
down in local music history as much more than
a footnote, but we can safely say, they were
never knowingly understated.
Dale Kattack
PHOEBE ROSE
`Fledgling’
(Self-released)
We think that just once in a while we shouldn’t
have been sent something to review. It’s going
to do neither side any good.
Phoebe Rose’s debut EP is a case in point.
Phoebe, her publicist tells us, is 14 years old,
has been writing songs since she was 9, was
invited to take part in The Voice but was still too
young and has performed as part of Joseph &
The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Chitty
Chitty Bang Bang. She cites Taylor Swift as a
chief influences. Nightshift is a broad church
but we’re the sort of cruel bastards who think
Einsterdende Neubaten tended to be a bit too
tune-heavy at times. Some types of music tend
to make us want to break stuff.
The stand-out track from Phoebe’s EP, `Angel’,
is an epic piano ballad that sounds like it was
ripped straight off the Frozen soundtrack, with
its starry-eyed lyrics and rousing chorus. She
sounds like a cross between Jewel, Alecia Keys
and Feist, with a pure, shrill bird-like voice
and you can just imagine a nation of Saturday
evening prime-time TV watchers thinking she’s
a talented lass as they shovel another fistful
of Pringles down their throats, but we’re sat
wondering when it’ll finish so we can stick the
Sextodecimo album on again. So let’s leave it at
that. Phoebe’s good at what she does, and we’re
not in the habit of upsetting 14-year-olds.
Phew. Do you think anyone noticed we just
completely avoided the issue
Dale Kattack
SUNDAY 30TH NOVEMBER
Doors 7.30pm - Tickets £12 adv
thevenuecollective PRESENTS
FRIDAY 5TH DECEMBER
Doors 7pm - Tickets £16 adv
SUNDAY 22ND MARCH 2015
Doors 7pm - Tickets £17.50 adv (on sale 10th October)
SATURDAY 20TH DECEMBER
Doors 6.30pm - 10pm - Tickets £18 adv
TICKETS AVAILABLE FROM WWW.WEGOTTICKETS.COM
WWW.THEBULLINGDON.CO.UK