ISSUE #4
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SHROP<br />
ROCKS<br />
Sep / oct | FLOREAT SALOPIA | <strong>ISSUE</strong> <strong>#4</strong><br />
Chris<br />
Rollason<br />
Photography<br />
supporting shropshire’s live music scene
Next Edition Out: 1st November<br />
Artwork Deadline: 21st October<br />
Front Cover: Funk & The Two Tone Baby - Farmer Phil’s Festival<br />
Photo By: Chris Rollason Photography<br />
Published by: Twistedego Media<br />
Contributors<br />
Editor:<br />
Kristian Wing-Penny<br />
Production Co-ordinator:<br />
Janinne Wing-Penny<br />
Writers:<br />
Beth Hemmings<br />
Michaela Wylde<br />
Dave Blackhurst<br />
Ron Penny<br />
Maurice Arnold<br />
Photography:<br />
Chris Rollason<br />
Social Media Manager:<br />
Janinne Wing-Penny<br />
Nikki Henshaw<br />
Nev Nevey Nevster<br />
Patrick Tighe<br />
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The thoughts and opinions expressed here are those of the individual contributors alone and do not reect the<br />
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E D I T O R I A L<br />
FESTIVAL<br />
TALES OF WOE<br />
Twas the 19th annual<br />
‘Farmer Phil’s Festival’,<br />
the weather was mainly<br />
kind to us throughout, although<br />
post festival early Monday<br />
morning saw the rain nally<br />
come down, on an already<br />
softened camping eld. We were<br />
camped on the noisy eld, not<br />
far from the main stage,<br />
surrounded by a lake, although<br />
thankfully some way from the<br />
toilet area.<br />
On the last night I woke in the<br />
early hours in desperate need of<br />
a wee. The thought of putting on<br />
boots heavy with mud, unzipping<br />
the tent I was sharing with my wife and wallowing my<br />
way to the toilets – or even just to the nearest bush –<br />
seemed a bit much.<br />
It was then I spied an empty Dr Pepper bottle in the<br />
corner of the tent. Perfect. Carefully I guided myself<br />
into the bottle, as it were, and began to feel the relief of<br />
an emptying bladder after a heavy weekend. I hadn’t<br />
fully thought this through though, I had denitely<br />
chosen a bottle big enough to contain the correct<br />
amount, (sorry to be graphic but this is the story) I<br />
mean know one wees more than two litres surely?? I<br />
have drank a lot this weekend, but thats still a tall order<br />
for any normal person. Anyway, nope I had forgotten<br />
the basic laws of physics instead, How Mr Simpson my<br />
deranged physics teacher would be laughing at me now,<br />
as he knows, and now I know that I’ve just formed a<br />
basic airlock … and this now had me stuck to Dr<br />
Peppers plastic rim. As I yanked myself from the bottle,<br />
a spectacular cascade of fresh urine exploded across the<br />
inside of the tent, awakening my beautiful sleeping wife,<br />
nearby tents and late passers by. We packed up and left<br />
early!!!<br />
EDITOR@SHROPROCKS.COM<br />
“I walked into<br />
B&Q the<br />
other day and<br />
this bloke in<br />
an orange and<br />
black uniform<br />
asked me if I<br />
wanted<br />
decking?<br />
Fortunately, I<br />
got the rst<br />
punch in and<br />
that was<br />
that. But<br />
others may<br />
not be as<br />
lucky, so be<br />
on your<br />
guard”
THE QUARRY, SY1 1RN
More people than ever are<br />
ocking to watch live music,<br />
with attendance at concerts and<br />
festivals at an all-time high.<br />
A new report found that there has been a<br />
12% rise in audiences at live music events<br />
over the past 12 months, bringing £4bn in<br />
to the UK economy and providing a<br />
welcome boost for the<br />
music industry.<br />
UK Music’s study,<br />
Wish You Were Here,<br />
found that audience<br />
numbers had hit 30.9<br />
million, up from 27.7<br />
million in 2015, with 4<br />
million people<br />
attending the evergrowing<br />
number of<br />
British music festivals in 2016.<br />
It is further evidence that the<br />
live sector is one of the most vibrant and<br />
protable parts of the music industry, and<br />
it is through ticket sales and merchandise<br />
that most musicians generate the majority<br />
of their revenue.<br />
The research found that people were<br />
increasingly willing to travel from other<br />
parts of the UK, and even from abroad, to<br />
attend live music events. Music tourism<br />
rose by 20% in 2016, and almost 1 million<br />
people travelled to the UK from abroad<br />
specically to attend concerts and<br />
festivals, spending an average of £850.<br />
The chief executive of UK Music, Michael<br />
Dugher, said: “Live music in the UK is a<br />
tremendous success story and makes a<br />
massive contribution to our culture and<br />
general wellbeing, as well as our<br />
economy. It showcases our talent to the<br />
world and brings pleasure to millions<br />
every day.”<br />
However, the report also found that there<br />
was a sharp fall in the<br />
amount of money being<br />
spent at smaller venues<br />
– those with a capacity<br />
of below 1,500. These<br />
are the venues that<br />
have been closing in<br />
their droves over the<br />
past decade, declining<br />
by 35% in London<br />
thanks to rising costs,<br />
pressures from property<br />
developers and strict<br />
licensing laws.<br />
“UK Music will continue to campaign to<br />
safeguard smaller music venues, many<br />
of which are ghting for survival,” the<br />
former Labour MP said.<br />
She was echoed by Juliette Carter, a<br />
British manager whose roster has<br />
included R&B singer Dawn Richard and<br />
Awful Records’ Ethereal. “Whilst it is<br />
great to see the live industry ourishing,<br />
it is vital we continue to support smaller<br />
venues which serve as the foundation for<br />
tomorrow’s festival headliners,” said<br />
Carter<br />
SHROPROCKS.COM // P5
Dugher emphasised that<br />
the smaller venues were<br />
a “vital part of the<br />
live music<br />
industry”.<br />
“As a music<br />
manager, I’ve seen<br />
rst hand how it<br />
is in these spaces<br />
that artists<br />
develop and grow<br />
and cut their<br />
teeth. Without<br />
them, the UK live<br />
music sector just<br />
becomes bland,<br />
expensive<br />
stadium shows<br />
and the whole<br />
music industry<br />
will be less<br />
diverse as a<br />
result.”<br />
The culture secretary,<br />
Karen Bradley, said:<br />
“UK Music’s Wish<br />
You Were Here<br />
report clearly<br />
shows music and<br />
the creative<br />
industries are not<br />
only central to<br />
our cultural DNA<br />
but also hugely<br />
important for<br />
creating jobs and<br />
growth across the<br />
country.”
J<br />
P8 | SHROPROCKS.COM<br />
A<br />
I N A BO<br />
C<br />
x<br />
K<br />
Shropshire’s indie<br />
pop rockers Jack in<br />
a Box, perform their<br />
own blend of modern<br />
indie music, fused<br />
with punchy backlines<br />
and melodic<br />
choruses.<br />
Formed in late 2015,<br />
they began writing<br />
and released their<br />
rst single “Pages”<br />
in the following<br />
spring.<br />
Actively gigging<br />
around Shropshire<br />
and the West<br />
Midlands, Jack in a<br />
box have played on<br />
the same bill as the<br />
likes of, Reef, Space<br />
and Razorlight, just<br />
a few to mention.<br />
With the highly<br />
anticipated deput EP<br />
‘The Ringmaster’<br />
just released, it’s all<br />
go for this<br />
Shropshire 4 piece.
The Ringmaster is an<br />
extraordinary piece of work<br />
penned by Jack Norcup, the Ep’s<br />
produced to a beautiful high standard by<br />
Ryan Pinson at RML studios,<br />
Wolverhampton. Jack in a box music<br />
sees them in several different styles all<br />
held together by the unmistakable voice<br />
of Norcup with band members Sam Cook<br />
on lead guitar, George Treherne on bass<br />
and Ben Bruce, percussion. The<br />
Ringmaster is<br />
fascinating,<br />
straight from<br />
the off ‘Bone<br />
Fever’, a deeptoned<br />
underpin<br />
which works<br />
superbly against<br />
Norcup’s<br />
constantly scale<br />
moving voice.<br />
The acoustic<br />
guitar is clean<br />
and bright and<br />
holds the song<br />
together nicely.<br />
There’s an<br />
essence of indie<br />
folk outt<br />
‘Turin Brakes’<br />
here for me.<br />
The Ringmaster<br />
EP is a lush bubbly collection of tracks<br />
laced in beautiful zealous guitar lines and<br />
heavenly melodies blended with some<br />
grittier elements at times that keeps the<br />
sound refreshing and radiant. ‘Pages’ has<br />
a bright sparkling indie pop soundscape.<br />
Sharp guitar jingles playfully throughout<br />
with the sweetest tone and refreshing<br />
spurts of zest while the soft beat and<br />
honeyed melody glide with a daydream<br />
tempo and hazy atmosphere. It’s smooth<br />
and soothing tune while also packing a<br />
nice little punch between the dreamy<br />
wisps, with a great chorus, ‘waiting on a<br />
good life’ Norcup sings. Third track on<br />
the EP ‘Fading Dreamer’ bursts with<br />
oodles of catchy upbeat guitar lines while<br />
the track bounces with a peppy beat and<br />
lush melody soaked in a lazy day somber<br />
tone. It’s a bopping sway like delight<br />
packed with emotion and lush sweetness.<br />
Smooth vocals ooze passion while<br />
instrumentally this track places you in a<br />
mellow state of melancholic peace once it<br />
fully kicks in. ‘Dirty Love’ takes a<br />
heavier approach. a cheeky bass riff start<br />
which is dominant throughout, added<br />
with keys, jagged guitars and punchy<br />
drums that make a danceable quality<br />
track with gritty texture. Snippets of<br />
distortion give a<br />
thrilling dramatic<br />
effect while the<br />
melody and<br />
candied guitar<br />
elements glimmer<br />
through with<br />
bright upbeat<br />
scintillation and<br />
sun kissed<br />
luminosity. A little<br />
more aggressive<br />
than its<br />
predecessors this<br />
mosh friendly<br />
track displays Jack<br />
in a box heavier<br />
rock side with<br />
sprinkles of indie<br />
pop embroidered<br />
on top. ‘Masks’<br />
closes the EP with<br />
tender delicate<br />
guitar ickers between acoustic strums<br />
and sweet dainty vocals. It’s a twinkling<br />
beautiful and emotional track that pulls<br />
at the heart strings and places you on a<br />
soft uffy cloud of euphoria. Cool breezy<br />
tones, sweet lush harmonies and call and<br />
response vocals create a oaty feathery<br />
light approach with very subtle hints of<br />
ower power psychedelia.<br />
Jack in a box ‘The Ringmaster’ EP takes<br />
you on an emotion journey whilst<br />
showcasing their knack for sweet<br />
delicious melodies nimble rened guitar<br />
work and slick musicianship. It’s a laid<br />
back beautiful EP that is perfect for<br />
summers evenings or that all important<br />
unwind time. We’ll look forward to<br />
hearing more from these guys !!!
cameron<br />
corbyn groupie<br />
Name: Wilderness.<br />
Age: Seven.<br />
Notable guests:<br />
David Cameron.<br />
wine<br />
fag<br />
avid Cameron isn’t in the<br />
Dwilderness. I just saw him posing<br />
with a £25,000 shed. No,<br />
Cameron wasn’t in the wilderness. He was<br />
in Wilderness, an Oxfordshire music<br />
festival.<br />
What was he doing? Smoking fags,<br />
downing booze and hugging Jeremy<br />
Corbyn groupies? Yes, exactly that.<br />
I was joking. And yet it might have<br />
happened. Someone posted a picture of<br />
Cameron on Instagram, glass of wine in<br />
one hand, fag in the other, accepting a<br />
hug from a pink-haired lady in a glittery<br />
Corbyn top.<br />
Is it a real photo? It’s hard to say, but<br />
Cameron was denitely there. There is<br />
another photo of him looking slightly<br />
glum in a crowd, accidentally<br />
photobombing a sele taken by a man<br />
with a bowler hat, ower crown and<br />
waxed moustache.<br />
Those last 14 words make me never<br />
want to go to Wilderness. Well, no, it<br />
does have a reputation for attracting a<br />
certain kind of crowd. This weekend, the<br />
BBC posted a video entitled How Posh is<br />
Wilderness? If you can get past the man<br />
in the Papa sweater bemoaning<br />
Glastonbury’s mud, you did better than<br />
me.<br />
So is that why Cameron went? Because<br />
it’s posh? No! Cameron loves a festival.<br />
There is a picture of him attending the<br />
P10 | SHROPROCKS.COM<br />
equally posh Cornbury festival with<br />
Samantha in 2008, sporting an enormous<br />
pair of jeans. And who can forget that<br />
photo of him chatting to Jeremy Clarkson<br />
while wearing a baby sling at Alex<br />
James’s cheese festival, Harvest, in 2011?<br />
Those last 18 words make me want to<br />
brick myself into my house for ever.<br />
Look, I never said he went to good<br />
festivals.<br />
These sound like the most Tory festivals<br />
ever. Not the most Tory, though. Mid<br />
Norfolk MP George Freeman is planning<br />
a “Tory Glastonbury” for September that<br />
he envisions as a “cultural revival of<br />
grassroots Conservatism”.<br />
What does that mean, exactly? He sees<br />
it as a “cross between Hay-on-Wye and<br />
the Latitude festival”, which admittedly<br />
does sound spectacularly conservative.<br />
Are people actually going? Apparently<br />
it’s invitation only, and 150-200 people<br />
will attend.<br />
Will Cameron be one of them? That<br />
depends on whether there will be<br />
cigarettes to smoke or Corbyn groupies<br />
to embrace.<br />
Do say: “David Cameron, absolute lad.”<br />
Don’t say: “Next year, look out for<br />
Theresa May getting dreadlocks outside<br />
the legal-high tent.”
SGT. PEPPERS<br />
37-37a Church St Oswestry SY11 2SZ
Indie rock artists<br />
traditionally<br />
aspire to<br />
commercial and<br />
artistic autonomy,<br />
selectively selfmarketing<br />
their<br />
music as<br />
inexpensively as<br />
possible outside the<br />
elaborate<br />
mechanisms of the<br />
music industry.<br />
Spun on college and<br />
local radio and<br />
distributed on cheap<br />
cd’s, Indie<br />
Alternative has<br />
ironically provided<br />
the rock mainstream<br />
with some of its<br />
most inuential<br />
albums. R.E.M.'s<br />
"Murmur" and the Replacements' "Let it<br />
Be" became cult sensations in the 1980s,<br />
while the Archers of Loaf's "Icky Mettle"<br />
and Elliott Smith's "Either/Or" achieved<br />
success in the '90s. All of this helped<br />
pave the way for the commercial success<br />
of bands like Oasis, Pulp, Blur and<br />
Coldplay in the new millennium.<br />
aware. Chris<br />
Leech posses a<br />
strong lyrical<br />
frontman status<br />
and with the<br />
excellent<br />
songwriting<br />
capabilities from<br />
fellow band<br />
members, Rob<br />
Jones, Rich Sach<br />
and Chris Bagnall,<br />
it’s all something<br />
completely<br />
different entirely.<br />
Black Bear Kiss<br />
are the project for<br />
the voice of the<br />
people, a voice that<br />
cares. When they<br />
play and when they<br />
are present, people<br />
have the habit of<br />
listening. A debut album or EP is sure to<br />
only draw more attention to this popular<br />
growing 4 piece. Hint Hint, Hurry ....<br />
It’s rare that a band can inspire<br />
conversation inside and out of a certain<br />
Internet hype machine for both their<br />
musical prowess and a certain radical<br />
personal-as-political rhetoric that gives<br />
fans something to not only enjoy, but to<br />
believe in. Black Bear Kiss are our<br />
saviors, with their big fat riffs and<br />
diary-esque retellings of life and love<br />
gone away making them a voice of a new<br />
generation. It was awesome to listen to<br />
this band unnoticed at the back of ‘The<br />
Sunower lounge’ in Brum, they are<br />
exactly what this uncertain country<br />
needs in these uncertain times.<br />
For those with an ear to the ground in<br />
Shropshire’s music scene, Black Bear<br />
Kiss are a relatively new name but they<br />
have all existed as successful musicians<br />
for a lot longer than you may be fully
‘ ’<br />
Sneering raspy coated vocals<br />
add an aggressive<br />
compelling swagger while<br />
irresistible seizure.<br />
Shropshire’s Liam<br />
Millward’s creation<br />
Vulgar Latin has<br />
announced the release of<br />
his new EP ‘Why be happy<br />
when you could be<br />
interesting’. This is<br />
his 3rd EP released<br />
since the debut self<br />
titled EP was brought<br />
to my ears in February<br />
2016. ‘Solsting’<br />
followed 6 months later<br />
in August 2016. So since<br />
producing, Vulgar Latin<br />
have been busy perfecting<br />
their hybrid of muscular<br />
Alt-Rock whilst blowing<br />
away audiences on the<br />
buzzing Shropshire music<br />
scene. With the help from<br />
p14 | SHROPROCKS.COM<br />
talented musicians, Ben<br />
Pugh, Sean Ecclestone,<br />
Danny Jewkes, the boys<br />
quickly developed a sonic<br />
formula live with great<br />
musicianship and with a<br />
growing fanbase across<br />
the shire and further a<br />
eld.<br />
‘Why be happy’ is an EP<br />
brimming with raw ruckus<br />
causing rough and tumble<br />
alt punk goth rock.<br />
Millward slaps up a plate<br />
of frantic gritty no<br />
nonsense rock to sink our<br />
teeth in to, and boy it is<br />
good. The shrilling oh so<br />
thrilling ‘Rose Crown’<br />
kicks off the EP. Slick<br />
razor sharp riffs pierce<br />
throughout while elastic<br />
bass bounces against<br />
punchy drums creating a<br />
hair raising coarse wall of<br />
sound. Sneering raspy<br />
coated vocals add an<br />
aggressive compelling<br />
swagger while irresistible<br />
seizure.
inducing guitar licks cause a<br />
rush of blood to the head. It’s<br />
a bitter bite but hugely<br />
satisfying start to the EP.<br />
‘’Do Better, Say Nothing’<br />
follows, just as raw and<br />
bloody but perhaps with a<br />
little more sweat and leather.<br />
Excellent vocals reel while<br />
slick steamy guitars crash<br />
and stride throughout the<br />
track leaving burn marks<br />
behind. Next up ‘Asinine’<br />
and It’s probably the most<br />
commercial tune on the EP a<br />
punchy aggressive beast,<br />
rugged and fuzzed, exuding<br />
re and brimstone strut<br />
quality and swagger.<br />
‘Culture’ has a great feel and<br />
a rey punk post rock feel<br />
with sharp catchy guitar and<br />
shining chorus. Drowned<br />
with it’s unusual start fools<br />
the listener and twists and<br />
turns into a heavy crescendo<br />
distorted guitar nish and<br />
leads perfectly into<br />
‘Platform 8’ and to the end<br />
of the EP. With Kasabian<br />
hints and anthemic chorus,<br />
this one is sure to go down<br />
well at a live show. It’s<br />
jagged and bristly soaked in<br />
attitude and brawn with<br />
nimble silky slick guitar and<br />
infectious groove, its<br />
sensual, punchy and sexy,<br />
leaving the listener wanting<br />
more.
PERCY’S CAFÉ BAR<br />
B R I D G N O R T H<br />
The Brewery,<br />
Great Hales Street,<br />
Market Drayton<br />
Shropshire<br />
TF9 1JP<br />
brewerytap@joulesbrewery.co.uk<br />
www.joulesbrewery.co.uk
Showers of rain were forecast for<br />
Farmhouse Blues on Saturday 5th<br />
August. The Festival, held at<br />
Wheathill Court Farm, Shropshire, by<br />
organisers of the South Shropshire Blues<br />
Club, is an event for the lovers of great<br />
live music (mainly blues) and to raise<br />
money for Cancer Research UK and the<br />
Rupert's Revenge. It was a blustery start<br />
to the morning to say the least! The team<br />
worked through thunder, lightening,<br />
heavy rain and wind, but the<br />
thunderstorms stopped on cue for the<br />
2.00pm start and the sun came out and<br />
did not stop shining! The event proved<br />
another great success, as the crowds<br />
descended we saw many familiar faces<br />
from our other events and lots of new<br />
faces too! Everyone commented on the<br />
fantastic atmosphere of the festival, as<br />
well as the brilliant food and drink on<br />
offer.<br />
The six great bands did not disappoint<br />
and, although we're still counting up<br />
we're hoping to have made a good prot<br />
for the two great causes. It was a lot of<br />
hard work for the organising team;<br />
thankfully we had a few helpers who<br />
P18 | SHROPROCKS.COM<br />
by Maurice (Moz) Arnold<br />
volunteered their time and the wonderful<br />
Howells family who made their farm<br />
available to us.<br />
The headline act, THE DAMNED AND<br />
DIRTY had come all of the way from<br />
Holland for the day, their rst visit to<br />
Shropshire, and they vowed to be back.<br />
The rest of the line up was SONS OF THE<br />
DELTA, THE LUCY HOWELLS DUO,<br />
JACK BRETT & BLUE MOON with<br />
guests, SWEET TALK and THE BIG<br />
WOLF BAND, all great stuff, we only had<br />
compliments from the crowd and people<br />
wanting to see them all again!<br />
The South Shropshire Blues Club has<br />
been running for about 5 years and<br />
despite these difcult times, is still going<br />
from strength to strength. This was the<br />
third event at Wheathill Court Farm, the<br />
second as 'Farmhouse Blues Festival' and<br />
we hope to continue the success! If you<br />
want to join us, as a member or a helper,<br />
please email us at;<br />
info@southshropshirebluesclub.co.uk<br />
and for general info visit our website<br />
www.southshropshirebluesclub.co.uk
jonathon<br />
markwoods<br />
hoo-har<br />
conspiracy<br />
Award winning actor and<br />
musician Jonathan Markwood<br />
takes his internationally<br />
acclaimed songs to the stage with his<br />
band Jonathan Markwood’s Hoo-Hah<br />
Conspiracy. Jonathan is making a big<br />
noise on the Midlands music scene,<br />
and bringing songs from his successful<br />
London theatre show ’The Hoo-Hah<br />
Conspiracy Secret Cabaret’ to<br />
audiences around the country.<br />
Described as 'Rocky Horror meets the<br />
Mighty Boosh’, the show’s story and<br />
character based songs invite the<br />
listener to follow the lives, loves and<br />
outrageous fortunes of an eccentric<br />
coterie of characters including<br />
lovelorn 'Chelsea Stacey', the largely<br />
unlovable ‘Minnesota’, weapon<br />
wielding avenger 'Catapult Kevin’ and<br />
superannuated serial killer ‘Pamela’.<br />
Jonathan is a multiple song and album<br />
award winner at successive JPF World<br />
Music Awards in the US (ofcially the<br />
world’s biggest ever music awards<br />
event), and now has four albums'<br />
worth of material under his belt.<br />
Jonathan’s music is a diverse melange<br />
of styles from pop to rock via rhythm<br />
and blues, ska, funk, rockabilly and<br />
jazz, with comparisons to Bowie via<br />
Blur, Chic, Talking Heads, Pixies and a<br />
touch of Edward Lear. Quirky,<br />
whimsical, blackly humorous,<br />
occasionally lurid, Jonathan himself<br />
describes his songs as ‘like Gerald<br />
Scarfe illustrations set to music’. Fans<br />
attending a gig may nd the biggest<br />
dilemma is whether to listen with rapt<br />
attention to the narrative tales, or<br />
dance with abandon to the spine<br />
tingling music.'<br />
SHROPROCKS.COM // | P19 P39
LF<br />
Get some LF:<br />
SOUNDCLOUD www.soundcloud.com/lf_mr55p<br />
TWITTER www.twitter.com/LF_Mr55p<br />
INSTAGRAM www.instagram.com/lf_mr55p<br />
CRAPPY SHOPPER www.lfmr55pshop.bigcartel.com/<br />
S#*T SHIRTS DON’T GO TO WORK<br />
REVIEWED<br />
The futures bright<br />
P20 | SHROPROCKS.COM<br />
the futures
“‘Britpop?’ It’s just a shittysounding<br />
word,” Jarvis Cocker<br />
once said. “I don’t like the nationalistic<br />
idea of it; it wasn't a ag-waving music. It<br />
was really distasteful when it got called<br />
‘Britpop’ because that was like somebody<br />
trying to appropriate some kind of<br />
alternative culture, stick a Union Jack on<br />
it, and take the credit for it.”<br />
But Britpop, by any other name, still<br />
would’ve been a phenomenon. Born in<br />
London in the early 1990s, in grimy pubs<br />
and bare ats, the scene offered a<br />
thrilling new soundtrack for young<br />
British life. Bands like Suede, Blur, Oasis,<br />
Elastica, and Cocker’s Pulp captured the<br />
charms and<br />
eccentricities of<br />
their country while<br />
also excising their<br />
frustrations with<br />
class and<br />
community, topping<br />
it all with a deant,<br />
tongue-in-cheek<br />
glamour. Their<br />
guitar-heavy<br />
anthems drew from<br />
the rock of 1960s<br />
England along with<br />
the pulse of waning<br />
Madchester and altrock<br />
trends,<br />
exporting this<br />
exuberant sound to<br />
every corner of the<br />
globe. By the late<br />
’90s, this once-scrappy scene was so<br />
culturally powerful, it inspired tabloid<br />
blood rivalries (Blur vs. Oasis) and was<br />
hijacked by politicians (Britpop’s star<br />
emissaries, including Cocker and Oasis’<br />
Noel SALOP Gallagher, ST were - invited BISHOPS to meet CASTLE - SY9 5BW<br />
Prime Minister Tony Blair). The cultural<br />
ash faded around the turn of the<br />
millennium, but not before Britpop<br />
reinvigorated rock‘n’roll, moving its<br />
epicenter from American grunge back<br />
across the pond.<br />
LF’S new brand of Sleaze pop certainly<br />
picks up from where the likes of Cocker<br />
and Albarn stopped, where Britpop ended.<br />
And as the sun sets on summer and<br />
responsibilities for many begin to<br />
come around again, this particular<br />
set of tracks ‘Shit shirts don’t go to<br />
work’ has to offer to LF’S listeners is<br />
enthralling, especially for sunny day<br />
drives to reminisce or mad alcohol<br />
infused house party’s.<br />
‘Shit shirts’ presents street talk lyricism<br />
accompanied by punchy chords and fat<br />
bass licks with smashed drums, that has a<br />
jagged suburbia edge to it, inspired by<br />
bands like Blur, Elastica, Pulp and Bowie<br />
the tunes stick in your head, and once<br />
there in there's no<br />
getting them out.<br />
Like it or not !!<br />
This new release<br />
combines that indie<br />
rock sound that we<br />
all know and love to<br />
an up-and-coming<br />
group’s originality<br />
to bring a truly<br />
stunning debut<br />
album to past,<br />
present and future<br />
LF fans.<br />
From songs like<br />
“BEES” and “Trying<br />
to get excited” (my<br />
personal favorite) to<br />
stark contrasts like “Drip” and<br />
“Overdraft sponsored recession session”<br />
LF’s new album has quite the experience<br />
to offer.<br />
The core of the style stays true<br />
throughout, ‘Shit shirts’ was truly like a<br />
breath of fresh air with no track sounding<br />
relatively the same to the next — all<br />
songs on the album were independently<br />
genius in their own right, with each song<br />
having it’s own take on LF’s consistent<br />
style. More from these guys would be<br />
great, Seriously we need more...............<br />
SHROPROCKS.COM | P21
P22 | SHROPROCKS.COM
WASH OUT<br />
From the Lord<br />
of the Flies<br />
vibe at Fyre,<br />
to the meltdowns at<br />
Hope & Glory and Y<br />
Not, music festivals<br />
feel more precarious<br />
than ever. Are the<br />
failures down to ‘acts<br />
of God’, or just bad<br />
leadership?<br />
Last weekend, punters<br />
turned up to Hope & Glory<br />
in Liverpool expecting a<br />
“wonderful boutique<br />
festival” that would be<br />
“stylish yet subversive –<br />
think Charles Darwin<br />
meets Tim Burton”. At<br />
least, that’s what the<br />
advert promised.<br />
It wasn’t too wrong. There<br />
was denitely a sense of<br />
survival of the ttest for<br />
event-goers trying to<br />
navigate queues and the<br />
lack of facilities, mixed<br />
with nightmarish<br />
Burtonian unease. But<br />
there wasn’t actually a<br />
festival, so to speak. The<br />
rst day was marred by<br />
overcrowding and hours of<br />
delays, and by Sunday<br />
morning the whole event<br />
had been shut down, with<br />
nothing more than<br />
printed-out posters and a<br />
tweet reading “no festival<br />
today”. Rather than being<br />
all about the headliners, it<br />
was all about the headlines<br />
that followed.<br />
Back in April, when the<br />
accid cheese sandwiches,<br />
emergency shelters and<br />
general Lord of the Flies<br />
atmosphere of the doomed<br />
Fyre festival were beamed<br />
out on social media, it felt<br />
a long way from home.<br />
After all, this was on the<br />
remote island of Exuma in<br />
the Bahamas, and with<br />
tickets selling for up to a<br />
quarter of a million<br />
dollars, it attracted a more<br />
exclusive crowd.<br />
Spain’s Tomorrowland<br />
faced a re that led to the<br />
evacuation of over 22,000<br />
people. Sweden’s Into the<br />
Factory, meanwhile, was<br />
deemed a safety risk<br />
before it even began – this<br />
was just weeks after the<br />
same organisers’ Into the<br />
Valley festival was beset<br />
with poor planning,<br />
needing volunteers to take<br />
on security tasks, and<br />
leaving ravers nowhere to<br />
shelter from<br />
thunderstorms.<br />
SHROPROCKS.COM | P23
Hope & Glory is not the<br />
only festival to go<br />
diabolically wrong in the<br />
UK. Safe as Milk was<br />
cancelled earlier in the<br />
year due to poor ticket<br />
sales, following All<br />
Tomorrow’s Parties (ATP)<br />
in the demise of holidaycamp<br />
festivals. Only a<br />
week ago, Derbyshire’s Y<br />
Not festival was cancelled<br />
a day early, with people<br />
being marooned in car<br />
parks, and<br />
performers<br />
having to edit or<br />
cancel<br />
performances<br />
thanks to the<br />
extreme weather.<br />
Perhaps “acts of<br />
God” can’t be<br />
prevented, but<br />
they can be<br />
prepared for, and<br />
the lack of hay or<br />
woodchip led to a<br />
site that made<br />
Glastonbury look like<br />
Centre Court.<br />
One of the immediate<br />
questions, asked by many<br />
of the punters put out of<br />
pocket, was whether<br />
overcapacity was a factor.<br />
Y Not Festival has gone<br />
from 8,000 to 25,000<br />
capacity in just three<br />
years, which could explain<br />
the lack of staff and the<br />
angry Facebook comments<br />
citing “greed” as the main<br />
issue.<br />
When smaller festivals<br />
become popular, there is<br />
always going to be the<br />
economic incentive to<br />
expand. Michael Baker,<br />
events co-ordinator of the<br />
P24 | SHROPROCKS.COM<br />
UK festival awards and<br />
editor of Festival Insights,<br />
sees these decisions as “for<br />
the most part not taken<br />
lightly. Obviously as<br />
capacity increases, revenue<br />
increases. But increased<br />
capacity also leads to<br />
increased responsibility<br />
and risk”. There’s a decent<br />
amount of red tape to<br />
navigate, which allows for<br />
increased audience<br />
numbers while forcing<br />
organisers to improve<br />
safety measures. When<br />
adverse weather or natural<br />
disasters do happen,<br />
however, a newly increased<br />
capacity is likely to lead to<br />
organisational disasters<br />
too. Between the councils,<br />
organisers, security and<br />
ticket companies, it’s often<br />
hard to know who was<br />
actually at fault, and<br />
although it might seem<br />
reductive to see<br />
individuals to blame for<br />
large-scale disasters like<br />
Hope & Glory, it might be<br />
not too far from the truth.<br />
John McClure from indie<br />
band Reverend and the<br />
Makers lambasted<br />
“gangsters … ood[ing]<br />
the industry, imagining<br />
themselves as latter-day<br />
Michael Eavis types” on<br />
Twitter this week, and<br />
poor decisions often derive<br />
from poor leadership.<br />
Hope & Glory’s organiser<br />
Lee O’Hanlon has a history<br />
of problems around lossmaking<br />
gigs with Tom<br />
Jones and the Jacksons,<br />
and the failed Down to the<br />
Woods festival. Baker tells<br />
me part of the problem<br />
with Fyre festival<br />
was probably the<br />
fact that it was<br />
run by tech<br />
entrepreneurs<br />
rather than<br />
anyone with an<br />
events<br />
background.<br />
Has the holidaycamp<br />
indie festival<br />
had its day?<br />
If these individuals<br />
are reluctant to<br />
take the blame, a farcical<br />
nger-pointing charade<br />
ensues. O’Hanlon’s<br />
response identied a<br />
number of problems, but<br />
alienated himself from all<br />
of them. In a 2,000 word<br />
statement, the council, a<br />
man called Richard Agar, a<br />
woman called Angie<br />
Redhead, a few alcohol<br />
thieves and a pint of milk<br />
that went off were all<br />
identied as problems; he<br />
has prompted further<br />
anger by revealing that<br />
prots, previously<br />
promised to victims of the<br />
Manchester arena<br />
bombing, won’t be donated<br />
because “there are no<br />
prots”.
Ja Rule similarly made the blame-shifting<br />
response of ‘I truly apologize as this is<br />
NOT MY FAULT’ after the failure of Fyre.<br />
As Baker put it, the worst thing a festival<br />
organiser can do is “blame absolutely<br />
everyone else, including some milk”. Y<br />
Not were at least exemplary in their<br />
response, and gave a generous 50% of<br />
event-goers’ money back.<br />
More important than the physical<br />
damage caused to sites, however, is<br />
punters’ trust being broken. As a darkly<br />
funny photo of Y Not’s giant stone letters<br />
– with the Y fallen over, these disasters<br />
will lead to a reluctance to attend, and<br />
fear about which festival could fall next.<br />
Baker is optimistic, however. For every<br />
festival that faces problems, there are<br />
“dozens and dozens” running smoothly.<br />
He doesn’t see a trend emerging: “The<br />
long-running nature of so many great<br />
festivals in the UK is testament to the<br />
professionalism of the system,” he says.<br />
The fact that people won’t forget the<br />
nightmares that have taken place puts<br />
pressure on organisers to do better.<br />
Baker’s main bit of advice? “Open<br />
communication before, during and after<br />
the event is paramount, and ensure there<br />
are technological solutions to mitigate the<br />
threat of weather.” And never, ever, claim<br />
that your festival was shut down by a<br />
single pint of milk.<br />
shropshirefoundation.org
* Guitar Setups<br />
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Based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire
READERS LETTERS<br />
+Post Bag Snail Mail=<br />
When people<br />
talk about David<br />
Beckham, they<br />
always say that<br />
he’s a brilliant<br />
footballer but<br />
thick as two<br />
short planks.<br />
You never hear<br />
anyone saying<br />
that Stephen<br />
Hawking is a<br />
genius, but shite<br />
at football, do<br />
you? As usual<br />
it’s one rule for<br />
ex England<br />
captains and<br />
another for<br />
theoretical<br />
quantum<br />
physicists.<br />
Adrian Jones,<br />
Shrewsbury<br />
EARN big money by<br />
displaying a “How’s<br />
my driving?” sign on<br />
your car, along with<br />
an 0906 number<br />
(£1.50 per minute)<br />
which you can acquire<br />
through BT. Then<br />
simply drive round<br />
town like a complete<br />
arsehole.<br />
T.Hind, Ludlow<br />
A cash machine in low<br />
town Bridgnorth has<br />
just charged me £1.75<br />
for a transaction but<br />
still told me to cover<br />
my PIN to prevent me<br />
from being robbed.<br />
Pretty ironic if you<br />
ask me.<br />
James, email<br />
[ Appear Here]<br />
(Send us your thoughts)<br />
Electronic Mail: editor@shroprocks.com<br />
Snail Mail: 31 Priory Road // Bridgnorth // Wv15 5EJ
SEPTEMBERS PICK<br />
SR<br />
2ND<br />
THE NEW INN<br />
RUM FESTIVAL<br />
STAFFORD RD // NEWPORT // Tf10 7LX<br />
6TH RAINBREAKERS<br />
ALBERTS SHED<br />
SHREWSBURY // 7PM<br />
9th<br />
audio riot<br />
the bear inn<br />
bridgnorth // 9pm<br />
16thmerefest ‘17<br />
cremorne gardens // ellesmere<br />
30th timedivers<br />
the swan ironbridge // 9PM<br />
smoke & taphouse<br />
All events are subject to change, please check with the venue before travelling
octobers pick<br />
SR<br />
6th<br />
the leylines<br />
whitchurch leisure // 8PM<br />
6th<br />
oktober fest<br />
beer festival<br />
quarry park // shrewsbury<br />
8TH emma &<br />
the proffesor<br />
the wheatsheaf inn // chetwynd aston // 6pm<br />
20th<br />
david busby<br />
malt shovel // highley<br />
29th<br />
pistol pete wearn<br />
the new inn // newport<br />
All events are subject to change, please check with the venue before travelling
farmer phil’s<br />
festival 2017<br />
Chris<br />
Rollason<br />
Photography<br />
Mid August is<br />
hotly contested<br />
ground among<br />
the many festivals vying<br />
for your business in the so<br />
called high summer, so<br />
why, of all the big players<br />
touting their wares on this<br />
weekend, would you want<br />
to come to little old<br />
Farmer Phil’s Festival,<br />
when, with a capacity of a<br />
mere 3000 there surely<br />
can’t be enough revenue<br />
from ticket sales to attract<br />
the big names available to<br />
others?<br />
Firstly, set amid the simply<br />
stunning scenery that is<br />
the rolling hills of<br />
Rattlinghope, within a few<br />
miles of the beautiful small<br />
town of Church Stretton,<br />
the drive alone feels like<br />
the festival has already<br />
begun (whatever direction<br />
you approach from),<br />
nothing corporate, and<br />
barely a queue to enter the<br />
site.<br />
Unlike many others this<br />
festival has genuinely<br />
grown from a marquee,<br />
with an outside bar<br />
serving beer off the back<br />
of a 40ft atbed trailer,<br />
and has the feel of a hand<br />
made with love event that<br />
is precious to staff and<br />
regulars alike.<br />
And, I’ll say it again, it’s<br />
only 3000 people, think<br />
about it! It all makes sense<br />
The gates open Monday<br />
lunchtime for camping,<br />
and the festival starts at<br />
some point in the<br />
afternoon on Friday,<br />
basically, when they’re<br />
ready.<br />
The weather was atrocious<br />
on arrival, probably the<br />
rst time I’ve seen proper<br />
rain at Farmer Phil’s, but<br />
it soon passed and by later<br />
in the week the wellies<br />
were off and dancing shoes<br />
were installed.<br />
The music started at 12<br />
noon and saw Ferocious<br />
Dog blowing away the last<br />
of the rain with a great<br />
acoustic set featuring<br />
songs from their latest and<br />
past albums.<br />
A great performance by<br />
Emma and the professor,<br />
followed by Doozer<br />
McDooze to close the<br />
Russhuntel second stage<br />
on Friday night, while the<br />
mainstage prepared itself<br />
for one of my weekend<br />
highlights, the<br />
incomparable ‘The<br />
Quireboys’.<br />
Saturday was fancy dress<br />
day, with the theme being<br />
fallen artists from the past<br />
12 months? I think? Some<br />
real effort had been put<br />
into costumes by the<br />
participating punters, and<br />
though I struggled to<br />
make the connection to the<br />
theme on a few costumes,<br />
it brightened up the<br />
atmosphere no end and<br />
brought smiles out all<br />
round!!!
have to say, I’m a huge fan of the<br />
Irotating main stage they have in<br />
place here, it considerably speeds up<br />
band changeovers which means more acts<br />
can get on during the day and night.<br />
There is also a 2nd stage and recently<br />
added cabaret tent and if there’s<br />
something on that you don’t want to see,<br />
you can take a stroll around the many<br />
stalls of clothes, craft & festival artefacts<br />
that we all love to bring home and put in<br />
the loft, or you can grab a bite to eat at<br />
many of the ne selection of food vans<br />
always keen to ll that gap.<br />
I’m always really impressed with the<br />
quality of acts here, for such a small<br />
festival, and Saturdays music was yet<br />
another fantastic mixed bag of local<br />
emerging talent and established names<br />
from across the UK.<br />
A masterclass in performance from Two<br />
faced Tom and the bootleg boys, Folk the<br />
system, The Endings and Rusty Shackle,<br />
all proving that quality can be found on<br />
any stage at any time of the day,<br />
The raucous punk-folk sound of festival<br />
veterans Ferocious Dog followed another<br />
of my stand out performances of the<br />
weekend headling on the Saturday night<br />
main stage. The Urban Voodoo Machine<br />
were in great form and drew a large<br />
crowd as the sun was setting.<br />
t no means is this a short festival,<br />
AAs mentioned before, you can go<br />
the Monday before the weekend<br />
and not get home till the Monday a week<br />
later, so the need for careful pacing comes<br />
into play, or if your like me, you can go<br />
balls out for the duration, but don’t expect<br />
to be home in time for songs of praise, as<br />
it’s not going to happen,<br />
Headlining the main stage were the<br />
excellent Wayne Martin band and looking<br />
every inch like the headline act too, it’s<br />
not difcult to see why they would attract<br />
attention, and to be fair to them, they did<br />
sound great too. Wayne has been on the<br />
Shropshire music scene for a number of<br />
years now and for the past few has been<br />
fronting one of the best blues bands in the<br />
county and beyond, they were a totally<br />
credible headliner and have been a very<br />
good friend of the festival over the years.<br />
Farmer Phil’s does always seem to be<br />
over in a ash, and it’s so hard not to be<br />
overcome by the relaxed atmosphere, so<br />
you really do have to be careful not to<br />
spend too much time on the campsite if<br />
you want to get the best of the music.<br />
All in all, it was a again a massive success<br />
and next year see’s the big 20th<br />
anniversary, which is testament to Farmer<br />
Phil himself and all the wonderful staff<br />
and volunteers who make this superb<br />
event happen!!! Hats off to you all.<br />
SHROPROCKS.COM // | P33
Frontman:<br />
Chris<br />
Johnson<br />
Today’s Judas Johnson formed in<br />
January 2007 as a down to the core<br />
three piece - though it is strictly a<br />
reformation with Ev, Chris and Mark coming<br />
together from the original line up formed in<br />
1993. A split in ‘95 saw the members go their<br />
separate ways for more than a decade. Chris,<br />
Ev and guitarist Rick Buck toyed with a new<br />
line up and a new band, while Mark, Sue<br />
Stringfellow and Ellie Arthur went on to form<br />
Evidence with Micheal McLean. Time moves<br />
on and the second coming brings the best of<br />
the old Judas Johnson along with a new<br />
vibrancy and an altogether harder, darker<br />
sound.<br />
Psycho is the band's debut album<br />
and was recorded at their<br />
Minsterley studio. It follows<br />
several single and ep releases on<br />
their own label, notably The Pink<br />
EP and The Wedding EP. The<br />
band's brooding sound can be<br />
heard in tracks as diverse as<br />
'Psycho' a bruising assault and<br />
'Silence' a melancholic death<br />
lament, ending with the strange<br />
and wonderful 'Ghost of You'.<br />
The band have gigged extensively over the last<br />
few years and are regulars in venues locally<br />
and across the West Midlands, building their<br />
reputation for musicianship, professionalism<br />
and great songs. Radio airplay on BBC<br />
introducing ‘The Friday Night Gerbil’, on<br />
Radio Shropshire and on The Severn has<br />
helped to raise the bands prole and win them<br />
new admirers.<br />
P34 | SHROPROCKS.COM
The tactile and heartfelt debut<br />
album ‘Psycho’ by Judas Johnson<br />
doesn’t simply reward repeated<br />
listens, it demands them.<br />
Over the course of their musical<br />
backgrounds, Judas Johnson perfected a<br />
painterly approach to sound construction.<br />
What makes this alt-dark rock trio<br />
exceptional is their ability to wrest<br />
seemingly endless possibilities by netuning<br />
the grain of every sound. On their<br />
debut album, Judas Johnson take the<br />
tactile dimension of their music even<br />
further while also introducing groove and<br />
drama. With Dark Silent Off bristles and a<br />
passion that you hear on their back EP<br />
catalog. It supplies you with a constant<br />
ow of sensory<br />
input, they<br />
connect with<br />
your heart and<br />
soul to<br />
mesmerising<br />
effect.<br />
The Album<br />
begins with<br />
‘Psycho’ the<br />
guitar textures<br />
building into a<br />
half-organic,<br />
half-synthetic<br />
hybrid: electric<br />
guitar chords<br />
strained<br />
through an<br />
amplier and drum sticks establishing a<br />
pattern on snare. As usual for them, the<br />
overall tone feels dark, if not cold, then at<br />
least impersonal, an exercise in modernist<br />
architecture that privileges audacity of<br />
form over comfort. When guitarist<br />
frontman Mark Johnson plays, it feels<br />
like you can reach out and touch the grill<br />
covering on his amplier. You can hear<br />
air moving behind Boon’s and Evan’s bass<br />
and drums. If the music of Judas Johnson<br />
had been painted on a canvas, you'd notice<br />
the detail in the brush strokes from<br />
twenty feet away.<br />
This album hardly lets up and you<br />
struggle to get your breath as it races<br />
through ‘Coming Alive’, ‘The Road’ and<br />
‘Silence’ all dark and twisting with much<br />
feel and plentiful ambience.<br />
Out of nowhere, the music starts to pant,<br />
sweat, and move. The sudden rush of<br />
humanity is startling. The album goes<br />
into the awesome ‘Satellite’ 7 minutes<br />
long with a trippy outro played on keys<br />
by bassist Chris Boon, and by that point<br />
Judas Johnson have covered more<br />
ground in one piece than all their<br />
predecessors. In the same vein, a piece<br />
like “Ghost of you” which unfolds like a<br />
suite, almost a mini-album unto itself, as<br />
its traverses a shifting landscape of<br />
sounds. Sufce it to say the album doesn’t<br />
simply reward repeated listens, it<br />
demands them.<br />
My personal<br />
favourite ‘In my<br />
hands’ depicts<br />
everything that<br />
is good and bad<br />
with the world<br />
and literally<br />
blows your mind.<br />
With ‘Waves of<br />
light’, ‘Promised<br />
land’, ‘Nothing<br />
ever changes’<br />
and ‘Dead bodies<br />
and broken<br />
glass’ added to<br />
the big dark<br />
whirlpool mix<br />
it’s hard to climb<br />
out once you’ve<br />
been sucked in, so my advice is to hold on<br />
and enjoy the ride.<br />
Judas Johnson brand of alt-dark rock has<br />
always gone down smoothly in pubs,<br />
clubs and festivals across the UK, and<br />
they've outdone themselves on every level<br />
here. More limber and ery than ever, the<br />
band has risen out the experimental culde-sac<br />
past with a riveting work that<br />
should appeal to both its expected<br />
audience and to new fans who they pick<br />
up along the way. All in all a truly mind<br />
bending experience and a credit to<br />
Shropshire.<br />
A MUST LISTEN & SEE !!! SHROPROCKS.COM | P35
there was<br />
a tape<br />
A SHROP ROCK<br />
CASSETTE<br />
Cast your mind back<br />
to 1995.<br />
Soundscape Studio,<br />
Shrewsbury had joined<br />
forces with a local record<br />
company Evansong Ltd to<br />
produce a cassette (yes<br />
you read this right, a<br />
TAPE CASSETTE) which<br />
was to contain material<br />
from local Shropshire<br />
musicians, an eclectic mix<br />
of local artists and bands<br />
to cut into a SUPER<br />
TAPE.<br />
Commercial director of<br />
Evansongs, Ken Evans,<br />
said '’Shropshire has a<br />
wealth of musical talent<br />
and we want to produce a<br />
cassette to show that<br />
talent off”. And so they<br />
bloody well did !!!<br />
We got in touch with Dave<br />
P36 // SHROPROCKS.COM<br />
Cowton of ‘Shrop Rock’ to<br />
see if we could still get<br />
hold of a copy of the old<br />
Shrop Rock original<br />
cassette, 22 years later,<br />
and guess what? We could,<br />
and what a little treat it is.<br />
A fully mastered copy CD<br />
(yes you read this right, a<br />
COMPACT DISC)<br />
ended up at our head<br />
quarters a few weeks later,<br />
so we thought we’d share<br />
it with you!!!<br />
The acts on the CD<br />
include; Judas Johnson<br />
(amazingly still going<br />
strong), Bogus Monk,<br />
Strange Wool, Ogre Jelly,<br />
Jonah (Paul Henshaw’s<br />
old band), Drivin’Rain and<br />
Jane Fonda.<br />
We are appealing for<br />
anyone with anymore<br />
information to come<br />
forward and share your<br />
memories.<br />
Many thanks goes out to<br />
Dave Cowton and long<br />
live Shrop Rocks<br />
taking us into the 21st<br />
century.
BEYOND<br />
THESHIRE<br />
BY BETH HEMMINGS<br />
For new talent, breaking through<br />
the mould of the music biz is now<br />
harder than ever. With declarations<br />
from many acclaimed stars that British<br />
guitar music is lost in the abyss of an<br />
insipid wave, it seems that for<br />
Lancashire’s emerging<br />
band LSP, things may<br />
be a little belligerent<br />
to begin with.<br />
LSP are a progressive<br />
emo/post-hardcore band<br />
with some shoegaze and<br />
experimental inuences, and have just<br />
released their rst full length album titled<br />
Waves. Waves features eight diverse<br />
tracks that are all extremely appealing to<br />
the ear, boasting gorgeous melodies and<br />
SHROPROCKS.COM // P38<br />
thrashing choruses alike.<br />
The musicality in the album leading track<br />
Nori is simply divine – but it is also<br />
evident in the vocal deliverance that<br />
perhaps the band is trying a little too<br />
hard to conform to the<br />
whiney stereotypes of the<br />
emo genre. This begs the<br />
question; is there room in<br />
the ever-progressing<br />
world of music for<br />
another emo/posthardcore<br />
band, and if so,<br />
what must they do to make themselves<br />
known? How can they bring fresh life into<br />
this decaying genre?
In the case of LSP there is a lot of<br />
evidence that they are conforming to the<br />
stereotypes of their genre – particularly<br />
demonstrated by the vocals – which may<br />
make it difcult for them to stand out in<br />
such a dog eat dog industry. However, the<br />
band’s new album Waves is highly<br />
commendable for its lovely mixture of<br />
slow, thrashing, screamo and guitar led<br />
tracks. For example, the inclusion of<br />
female vocals on track Wednesday<br />
compliments the album beautifully. It is<br />
reminiscent of A Day To Remember’s If It<br />
Means A Lot To You with Sierra<br />
Kusterbeck. LSP should perhaps consider<br />
using this female vocalist more often.<br />
Another commendable spectacle of Waves<br />
is the seven-minute song. It delivers an<br />
P38 // SHROPROCKS.COM<br />
abundance of emotion and vulnerability<br />
via spoken word lyrics, screamo and a<br />
delicate guitar accompaniment. The<br />
painstaking lyrics are relatable to all<br />
those who have had relationship issues –<br />
which is pretty much everyone, right?<br />
Furthermore, the prologue style track<br />
Does It Get Easier? is alluring and very<br />
well constructed. The voices on the track<br />
are accompanied with beautiful piano and<br />
guitar melodies, really giving a sense of<br />
overall professionalism to this album.<br />
Right now, LSP are in no position to burst<br />
in right at the top of the rock charts, but<br />
nor are they in the afore mentioned abyss.<br />
They are in amazing stead to shine Pictured: as<br />
they have an immense musical Evans talent (left) that<br />
is both engaging and captivating. Best (Right)<br />
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