Mindsurfer | Blowholy | Disstorted Steele
If you would like your band's demo reviewed, send it to the address below. Please give a contact address / phone number / price so people can buy it.
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| Mindsurfer Mutual Insecurity / Intolerance email: mindsurfer@dial.pipex.com |
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You may remember Mindsurfer from back in issue 6. They had a great demo then, and this is yet another. The two tracks are quite different. Mutual Insecurity is thrash based like their previous demo, whereas Intolerance is a great mixture of thrash and punk. When I say great I mean great. It's full of energy, great riffs, great vocal melodies, and just enough punk to get you shouting the lyrics at passers-by. Mutual Insecurity is more of a standard late 80s ...And Justice For All style thrasher. It's more restrained though still well played and well written. If you get a chance to see these guys, I think they'd be great live. |
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| Blowholy Email: blowholy@hermetic.force9.co.uk |
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Ain’t it always the way??? Just when you’re about to review a demo that a band have slaved and paid good money over, you misplace the bloody biog bumph! A real shame too, as the guys from Blowholy have something special here. So, mucho apologies to them on that score. Sorry, but that’s what happens when Iceman’s in the middle of moving igloos. I’m also sorry that this review took so long to get online. Blowholy thought that we hadn’t reviewed it, or that we didn’t like it... wrong on both counts, guys! I hope it was worth the wait, and I look forward to reviewing your next effort. On first listen, Blowholy remind me of Glasgow’s own Valderrama (but those who know them know that Valderrama stands for Very Artificial Lifeforms Departing Earth Right up Rear of Anus Minus Ahmed), but on a much more fluid level. Imagine Beck forming a band with Roni Size’s Reprazent supplying Drum ‘n Bass, and Kirk & James of Metallica on guitars, and you’ll have something close to Blowholy. Not sure what I mean...? ‘Kay... heard of a European dance/rock crossover band called Urban Dance Squad? No?!? Right. Remember last years Spawn OST? Ah-ha! I see the mists are clearing slowly. For that LP, bands and artists were paired off from the worlds of rock and dance. Well, suppose ONE band was responsible for the entire album & wishing to make a career out of it. Actually, that’s not strictly true. The vocalist doesn’t sound like Marilyn Manson (a good thing in my book). In fact, the vocals are more reminiscent of Kula Shaker’s Crispian Mills, and seem to fit in well with what Blowholy are trying to achieve. The first two tracks, “In With The Crowd” & “Do As You’re Done By” are quite sublime. When the crossover genre finally gets a fair hearing from public & media alike, Blowholy should be one of the first to hit it big. They’ve found themselves a new fan in me... VERDICT: A must-buy demo - it may well be worth something soon enough... |
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| Disstorted Steele Only Young Email: ice_ice_maybe@hotmail.com |
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This five-track demo was pushed into my hairy palm at a gig recently, so I don’t know too much about the band except that they’ve never gigged as their line-up is incomplete, and that they’re based in Dumbarton, west of Glasgow. Seeing as they lack a band member or two, it does sound quite bare-threaded, but is quite interesting, nevertheless. Kicking off with “Haunted House”, it first made me think of early Thin Lizzy in acoustic mood. Not something I’d imagine the band would be happy with, as the next song “At The Foot Of The Mountain”, is a Paul Weller cover. It’s a pretty straightforward cover too, so I’ve no idea how The Modfather would take to it, as Disstorted Steele aren’t a Mod type band. The mood changes again with track 3, “Doldrums”. It sounds not too dissimilar to the theme from Twin Peaks by Julee Cruise. Drums are finally brought into the scheme of things with “Decorative Person”, and they sound live, which leads me to believe that these songs were recorded pretty much seperately, as opposed to during one session. The last track is pretty strange, though... it sounds like a lo-fi version of Ministry!?! Forget the song though, the title itself - “Glitter Kitty’s Revenge” is surely worthy of a band name rather than a song title. Would suit a bunch of Riot Grrrls faffing about onstage, don’t you agree? No contact details as such, but if you’re interested in joining the band, or wish more info, mail me and I can pass ‘em on, as I see the guy on an irregular basis. VERDICT: Should they ever get their act together, they could prove to be a force to be reckoned with on Glasgow’s live circuit. |
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