ISSUE #4

Indie rock artists
traditionally
aspire to
commercial and
artistic autonomy,
selectively selfmarketing
their
music as
inexpensively as
possible outside the
elaborate
mechanisms of the
music industry.
Spun on college and
local radio and
distributed on cheap
cd’s, Indie
Alternative has
ironically provided
the rock mainstream
with some of its
most inuential
albums. R.E.M.'s
"Murmur" and the Replacements' "Let it
Be" became cult sensations in the 1980s,
while the Archers of Loaf's "Icky Mettle"
and Elliott Smith's "Either/Or" achieved
success in the '90s. All of this helped
pave the way for the commercial success
of bands like Oasis, Pulp, Blur and
Coldplay in the new millennium.
aware. Chris
Leech posses a
strong lyrical
frontman status
and with the
excellent
songwriting
capabilities from
fellow band
members, Rob
Jones, Rich Sach
and Chris Bagnall,
it’s all something
completely
different entirely.
Black Bear Kiss
are the project for
the voice of the
people, a voice that
cares. When they
play and when they
are present, people
have the habit of
listening. A debut album or EP is sure to
only draw more attention to this popular
growing 4 piece. Hint Hint, Hurry ....
It’s rare that a band can inspire
conversation inside and out of a certain
Internet hype machine for both their
musical prowess and a certain radical
personal-as-political rhetoric that gives
fans something to not only enjoy, but to
believe in. Black Bear Kiss are our
saviors, with their big fat riffs and
diary-esque retellings of life and love
gone away making them a voice of a new
generation. It was awesome to listen to
this band unnoticed at the back of ‘The
Sunower lounge’ in Brum, they are
exactly what this uncertain country
needs in these uncertain times.
For those with an ear to the ground in
Shropshire’s music scene, Black Bear
Kiss are a relatively new name but they
have all existed as successful musicians
for a lot longer than you may be fully