Events : UK : Reading : England : Reading Festivall

When : August 23rd-25th, 2013
Where : Richfield Ave, Reading, RG1 8EQ
Time : 9:30am-2:00am
Phone : (512) 467-7979
Price : 2013 PreSale Weekend Tickets : $265.91 (Purchase Tickets)

Reading & Leeds organizers have revealed that they are looking to add three new stages to the event in 2013. The festival, which currently boasts six stages and was headlined by Kasabian, Foo Fighters and The Cure in 2012, would increase to nine in 2013 but keep its capacity at the same level. Festival Republic boss Melvin Benn has revealed that the plan is to "add more music" to the festivals, especially for fans of dance music.

Speaking to BBC Newsbeat, Benn stated: "We're changing the arena at Reading and Leeds quite significantly. I've got quite a strong buzz and feeling in myself in the changes that I'm making there. I'm still formulating the ideas." He adds: "There will quite a bit more dance music, quite a bit more other bits and pieces."

Benn also revealed that he is hoping to name the first of the festivals three headliners before Christmas.

It was confirmed at this year's Reading Festival that two of the three headliners for 2013 are already confirmed, though The Stone Roses are unlikely to feature. Similarly, Benn also expressed a belief that The Black Keys and Florence and The Machine will be headliners in years to come.

Reading Festival Review By Virtual Festivals
A rite of passage, a spewing sea of hormonal ecstasy and the flag-raising of the rock and roll dream to the top of the mast. Reading Festival has been here to see us through it all.

There’s no stopping the festival, no slowing it down. 2012 provides more ‘moments’ and talking points in the chapters of the musical history books than any Reading Festival before it. One poor kid in a Green Day shirt watching Los Campesinos will contest to that much. On the other side of the site Green Day (10/10) are playing a ‘secret’ set to early risers in the NME/Radio One tent. “Thanks to Green Day for supporting us,” says Gareth Campesinos. The kid looks up and around, a momentous realization of confusion, then horror, then despair spread over his face.

The scene of a flood of adolescents, running, in the early morning sun, towards the sound of Billie Joe Armstrong tuning up might symbolise Reading Festival. Their career-spanning set has encapsulated that punk spirit, a spirit that will seemingly never burn out.

At The Drive-In (8/10) rekindled their old spirit, keeping old fires burning with familiar hits ‘One Armed Scissor’ and opener ‘Arcarsenal’ proving stand-outs. Fellow punks Gallows (7/10) made history by returning without Frank Carter, who returned with Pure Love (6/10).

Elsewhere You Me At Six (8.5/10) played the crowd like mischievous puppet masters, delighting in the attention at their disposal. They succeeded in getting the crowd to strip an item of clothing each with upbeat rewards of 'Reckless' and 'Bite My Tongue'.

It might have been the first festival show for Mongol Horde (9/10) but bringing Million Dead founders back to the turf where they had one of their final rounds back in 2005 was inspired. Like the ‘Don’t Mug Yourself’ cover they treated the Lock Up tent to, it’s pure tongue-in-cheek hardcore but Frank Turner seemed as content in the shell of the punk figurehead as he does as the folk troubadour in front of the Olympic Opening Ceremony celebration.

Reading Festival will forever belong to the headliners and The Cure (9/10) returned after 33 years to preside over Friday night’s biggest slot. It was two and a half hours of sublime, brooding and dare we say it, gothic genius. ‘Love Song’ is as endearing, loved, dark-eyed and huggable as Robert Smith’s own face. Smith cast a haunting figure in his tangled jet back hair and fidgeting gaze but he hit the target with the songs that count and kept everyone’s focus.

Topping Saturday's bill, Kasabian (9/10) dished out a dose of more British brilliance with their curiously dark and dramatic set, showcasing both old favourites and recent treats from successful album 'Velociraptor!'. Capitalising on the opportunity to make the most of his Reading fantasies Meighan had the crowd scatting, moshing and singing to deafening levels through 'LSF' and 'Fire' before an emotional band hug and departure from the stage.

Guitar bands didn’t have free reign though. Azealia Banks (8/10) challenged for the top spot with her dirty hip hop tunes and ‘212’ on repeat. Likewise Santigold (9/10) gave a set that defied explanation, with a visual spectacular of hip hop robot dancing and outlandish costumes. Covering a lot of ground, 'Say Ah-ha' and 'Big Mouth' provided sing-along opportunity, which many of the crowd were brought on stage to share.

Jaguar Skills (7/10) threw a mean 'celebration' that made thousands get up close and personal in the sticky summer heat. Combining tracks that you would be unlikely to find within the same household, Skills was able to unite genres and ages.

The final word and unifying gestures were left to Dave Grohl, and his motley crew, Foo Fighters.

If genius and geniality ever went together it was with Foo Fighters (10/10) and their frontman Dave Grohl. Twenty years since Nirvana made wheelchair history here, it’s fitting Dave should return, dedicating ‘These Days’ to Kurt and Krist, and playing master of ceremonies over the only one closing ceremony everyone can agree was unforgettable this year.

They matched The Cure for set time, they beat everyone for the hit factor and blew speakers and heads to bits with moments from their self-titled debut through to 2011’s ‘Wasting Light’. They treated fans to rarities like ‘Winnebago’, harking back to their 1995 Reading Festival debut where it opened, proving Foo Fighters can still surprise as much as they can roll with the hits.

“This isn’t just a festival to me – this is the most important gig of my life” said Dave at one point. You might scoff if certain other frontmen came out with that, but from the mouth of a man so steeped in the history of the event, you could believe every word.

With set finale ‘Everlong’ the fireworks were released, and surely not for the final time, at Reading Festival. It has produced more memories, more unmissable moments and more surprises through the years than we care to remember. It remains the music lovers' festival.

Reading Festival 2012 Line Ups
The Cure | Paramore | Bombay Bicycle Club | You Me at Six | Crystal Castles | Angels & Airwaves | Coheed and Cambria | Cancer Bats | Deaf Havana | Kasabian | Florence and the Machine | The Vaccines | Enter Shikari | The Shins | OFWGKTA | Mystery Jets | Blood Red Shoes | Los Campesinos! | Foo Fighters | The Black Keys | Kaiser Chiefs | Bullet for My Valentine | All Time Low | The Gaslight Anthem | Eagles of Death Metal | Band of Skulls | Pulled Apart by Horses | The Maccabees | Foster the People | The Courteeners | Graham Coxon | Passion Pit | The Blackout | The Hives | Spector | Friends | Hadouken! Future of the Left | At the Drive-In | The Cribs | Mastodon | Billy Talent | Miike Snow | Santigold | Dry The River | Twin Atlantic | Pure Love | Post War Glamour Girls | Green Day (Secret set, Reading only) | Justice | Two Door Cinema Club | The Horrors | SBTRKT | Mark Lanegan Band | The Joy Formidable | Tribes | Django Django | Howler | Of Monsters and Men | Sleigh Bells | The Subways | Veronica Falls | Bastille | Niki & The Dove | Alt-J | Lucy Rose | We Are Augustines | Jeff The Brotherhood | Savages | Fidlar | Palma Violets | O'Brother | Funeral Suits | Bassnectar (DJ Set) | Feeder | Young Guns | Lower Than Atlantis | We Are the In Crowd | Dog Is Dead | Jake Bugg | Don Broco | Oberhofer | The Knux | Citizens! | Theme Park | The Minutes | Blood or Whiskey | The View | The Futureheads (A-Capella & Acoustic) | Benjamin Francis Leftwich | King Charles | 2.54 | Zulu Winter | S.C.U.M | Alberta Cross | Iceage | DZ Deathrays | Toy | Deep Vally | The Cast of Cheers | L.A. | Social Distortion | Anti-Flag | Every Time I Die | The Bouncing Souls | Saves the Day | Touche Amore | A Wilhelm Scream | Ceremony | Random Hand | Dead To Me | Star Fucking Hipsters | Pettybone | Metronomy | Katy B | Carl and the Drug Squad | Azealia Banks | Jaguar Skills | Modestep | Feed Me | Grimes | Japanese Popstars | Clement Marfo & The Frontline | Jagga | DJ Zinc | Less Than Jake | Me First and the Gimme Gimmes | Gallows | Turbonegro | Trash Talk | Good Riddance | The Skints | Polar Bear Club | This Is Hell | Möngöl Hörde | The Flatliners | Apologies, I Have None | Crowns |


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Address Addnig Richfield Ave, Reading, RG1 8EQ | Phone 02948536

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Sources : Reading Festival Photo  | Reading & Leeds 2012: The Best Bits! Video  | Reading Festival Information | Reading Festival Review By Sam Weiss | 2012 Line Up

Videos : Frightened Rabbit : Backyard Skulls

Who Is Frightened Rabbit?
For Scott Hutchison, the songwriting inspiration can come from anywhere.

From a Scottish sitcom about a larky soldier who’s served in Iraq. A break-up, his own usually – a recurring theme, it seems, judging by the incisive, compelling accounts of heartache sprinkled through Frightened Rabbit’s three previous albums, Sing The Greys (2006), The Midnight Organ Fight (2008) and The Winter Of Mixed Drinks (2010). A shit family Christmas that only got worse come Boxing Day. Or from a room-full of American fans mainlining a long-lost Celtic connection while also hoovering up a powerful British indie-rock band with a folk heart and a soulful love of their heritage. Frightened Rabbit are proudly Scottish, and adored on native soil, but their songs also seem to take on greater resonance and power the further from home they travel.

Ideas might have come on any one of the ten or so US tours undertaken by the band, each bigger, noisier, rowdier, more special than the last – there aren’t many British bands who can match Frightened Rabbit, formed by this thoughtful former art student nine years ago, for the level and intensity of their American success. Or they can come via a hero peer on the Scottish music scene, in this case onetime Arab Strap dipso-poet Aidan Moffat.

Or Hutchison will take inspiration from the shortcomings he himself sees in the songs he wrote for his band’s last album.

“With The Winter Of Mixed Drinks and what I tried to do there…” begins Frightened Rabbit’s founding member and singer, “…and the things about that I didn’t like that I wanted to make better this time… The last record was purposefully open and vague in its imagery. But I wanted to write dense poetic songs again. And that was a kick off into State Hospital.”

Welcome, then, to State Hospital, a rousing, narrative tune, full of intertwining, racing guitar lines, and pulsing round a central image – “her heart beats like a breeze-block, thrown down the stairs” – written by Hutchison from a female perspective.

It serves as the curtain-raiser to a few things. A five-track EP of the same name. Frightened Rabbit’s upcoming fourth album, Pedestrian Verse, due out next year. And to the band’s new relationship with Atlantic, a deal forged eight years after Selkirk native Hutchison started the band with his drummer brother, and after three albums made with respected indie Fat Cat.

“I feel very creatively liberated on Atlantic,” says Hutchison, a man who – with bandmates Grant Hutchison, Billy Kennedy (guitar, bass), Andy Monaghan (guitar) and Gordon Skene (guitar, keyboards) – has almost a decade’s experience building his band, cultivating a fan-base, improving their chops, and doing these the old-fashioned way: touring.

Earlier this year, the five-piece were ready to make their fourth album. But their producer of choice wasn’t available, and Hutchison was kicking his heels. And that, too, fed into a song. Home From War was partly catalysed by the original pilot for Gary Tank Commander, a Scottish comedy that has gone on to become a cult show north of the border.

“He’s a guy back from Iraq and he’s just bouncing about, he’s got nothing to do, doesn’t know what to do with his life any more. ’Cause he’s been structured and regimented for that amount of time. It’s really funny but I found it quite interesting and sad.”

Suitably inspired, and rather than sit on their hands, in February the band hired a house in Kingussie in the Scottish Highlands, trucking a load of instruments and studio gear up from Glasgow. The then spent three weeks writing and playing and recording and writing and playing some more.

Three songs were immediate keepers: Home From War, inspired by that aimless squaddie, a Pixies-meets-Coldplay giant that’s sure to become a live favourite; Off, an intimate, chorally atmospheric tune written in one quick afternoon; and Wedding Gloves, a yarn about a couple who try to rekindle love by putting digging out and putting on their matrimonial garb. It’s narrated by Moffat, to whom Hutchison entrusted the writing of the verses.

“He totally got what I wanted,” beams Hutchison, who finagled the ex-Arab Strap man’s involvement via drunken, late-night email. “He said to me, ‘right, you want me to be a sexual Yoda?’ I was like, ‘aye, if you like!’”

Come the month of May, and Frightened Rabbit’s producer was finally available. Leo Abrahams was Brian Eno’s assistant for 11 years. So on top of being a great guitar player, he’s a man well-versed in free-thinking. “He was definitely up for shaking things up, and he has plenty of soul and understanding” – all perfect qualities for the band’s new songs and fresh perspective.

A month in Monnow Valley studio in Wales did the job. The EP’s opening two songs, State Hospital and Boxing Day – the latter a mordant yet defiant account of that Yule hell – have been pulled from those sessions.

Only State Hospital will appear on Pedestrian Verse. Hutchison is understandably keeping the just-completed album under wraps for now. But he will say that State Hospital “informed the rest of the album”, and that the bulk of the other songs “have a different atmosphere” from the remaining new songs on the EP. “I don’t know how to describe it… I mean, we did consider them all for the album, but they just didn’t work. But I was really fond of what we got out of those three weeks of creative freedom.”

Next up: an “underplay” tour, in which Frightened Rabbit purposefully slip back down a few rungs on the gig circuit ladder, playing small UK and Irish venues they’ve long since outgrown. For this British band with a huge following across the Atlantic, it’ll be a challenge, but a wholly rewarding one.

It’s just how Hutchison likes to do things – stretching himself, pushing his skills and the band, taking nothing for granted and believing, always, that there’s everything to play for. Why else give an album the title Pedestrian Verse?

“I scribbled that on the front of my notebook on the first day of writing songs for the new album,” he recalls with a smile. “It was like throwing down the gauntlet to myself. Call your album Pedestrian Verse and you just leave yourself open to people going, och, that’s a bit boring… So,” he smiles, “I couldn’t write anything dull.”

With the glorious five-track State Hospital EP, it’s the emphatic start of a job well done.

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Sources : Frightened Rabbit Photo |Backyard Skulls Video | Frightened Rabbit Biography

Eats : United Kingdom : England : London : Hoxton Grill

About Hoxton Grill
In the style of classic American grills, the Hoxton Grill is a neighbourhood restaurant in the heart of Shoreditch, East London. With comfortable banquette seating, bar, lounge and outdoor space, it is the perfect place to meet and eat in a relaxed atmosphere.

Subsequently, the bar and lounge area comes alive when the night draws in with the Hoxton being one of the more popular late night venues in Shoreditch.

Private hire is available with two private dining rooms and full DJ equipment in the lounge.

MHoxton Grill Review By Shani R : London, England, United Kingdom
I booked a table at Hoxton Grill for my birthday lunch on a Saturday afternoon for 4 girls. The place is typical Hoxton, exposed brick walls and open ceilings and completely open plan. The bar, restaurant are sort of separated but you can sit anywhere (book a booth if you are planning on staying for drinks and food). The menu carries american grills, meat and burgers and macaroni cheese. The portions are generous and the cocktails and food are lovely.

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Address 81 Great Eastern St, London EC2A 3HU, United Kingdom | Phone +44 20 7739 9111

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Sources : Hoxton Grill Photo | Hoxton Grill Information   | Hoxton Grill Review

Videos : Steve Angello : Yeah

Who Is Steve Angello?
Armed with a slew of new CDs and enough confidence to rebuild Hadrian’s Wall, Steve Angello destroyed the Space terrace at the inaugural Ibiza opening on May 31st 2009. In truth, the momentum had been building for Steve Angello for some time - from his globe-straddling Moby remix of ‘Raining Again’, to the anthemic re-working of ‘Tell Me Why’ with Axwell, to the now unmistakable ‘Be’ with Laidback Luke. ‘Be’ then returned in spirit as ‘Show Me Love’ with original vocalist Robin S and Laidback Luke in tow, smashing clubs and Top Ten charts into tiny pieces everywhere it was dropped.

Jump to November 2009 and Steve Angello releases ‘The Yearbook’ – a collection of his finest production work to date - including the devious ‘Alpha Baguera’ and euphoric ‘Monday’. The Yearbook was an unforgettable milestone in Steve’s stellar career. Since this offers have flooded in and projects with Pharrell Williams, Cheryl Cole and Kid Sister have filled his diary. Steve’s ascent into the dance music elite continues with his latest remix of Magnetic Man’s ‘Perfect Stranger’ having just been named Hottest Record in the World by Zane Lowe and his latest solo offering, the bass heavy ‘Knas’ having torn up every festival arena in the world this summer.

Having now decamped to Los Angeles, where Steve spends at least 50% of his time, his creativity and inner confidence has reached new levels. When he wakes up, Angello is still very much the A & R supremo for his beloved Size Records. The label is now firing hit after hit with the most upfront talent in electronic music including releases from the man himself, his protégé AN21, Kim Fai, Max Vangeli, Afrojack, Funkagenda, Tim Berg aka Avicii, Norman Doray, Tong & Spoon, Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano, Harry Romero, Junior Sanchez and Alexander Technique to name but a few.

Steve’s hunger for success in both music and business is clear – with producing for Interscope in LA and also the birth of Size Matters in 2010, an event concept bringing to life the ground-breaking label of the same name. Huge parties at WMC in Miami, Ibiza Rocks Hotel and smash US and UK tours, a merchandise range and now a compilation to boot – Size Matter’s continues to go from strength to strength. Summer 2010 saw the launch of Steve’s amazing new Sizemic Jarag Light Wall, featuring lights that were used in the original Star Wars – demonstrating once again that Steve thinks big in everything he delivers.

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Sources : Steve Angello Photo |Yeah Video | Steve Angello Biography

Videos : Kaskade & Skrillex : Lick It

Who Is Kaskade?
“Kaskade’s signature sound is as unmistakable as it is beautiful; a combination of dewy female vocals, tough electronic underpinnings, and memorable melodies.” -- Billboard

The New York Times may have called him the “new face of electronic dance music” in a recent profile, but Ryan Raddon, known as Kaskade, has been in the trenches of the EDM scene as an original recording artist and in-demand DJ for more than a decade. He has released seven studio albums, including his latest, Fire & Ice, scored nine Top 10 hits on Billboard’s Hot Dance Airplay Chart, created chart-topping remixes for everyone from Lady Gaga to Beyoncé, appeared at all the major summer festivals, and has performed between 150 and 200 headlining shows a year for the last 10 years, building a name for himself as an innovator of the EDM scene as we know it today, which has opened doors for the likes of Deadmau5, Tiesto, Skrillex and more. In doing so, he has helped to lay the groundwork for a titanic musical and cultural shift: a post-rock EDM revolution that has captured the imagination of a new generation of music lovers across North America

Kaskade has been named America’s No. 1 DJ by DJ Times and Pioneer DJ. In 2012, he will appear at this year’s Coachella, for which he has a special performance planned, and will hit the road in May for his biggest headlining tour ever — 50-plus North American shows in just over three months. His own live show is a jaw-dropping spectacle that finds him performing in front of an 80-foot wide, three-stories tall LED screen that blares images synched with the music while strobe lights scan the crowd. Kaskade’s belief in the transformative power of dance music to uplift thousands of people at once has had a significant effect on the U.S. scene. His ground-breaking double residency in Las Vegas at the Encore Beach Club (which had not even been built when he signed on) and Marquee has elevated the city’s status as a premiere club-going destination on par with London, Berlin, and Ibiza, is another testament to his influence.

Growing up in the Chicago suburbs, Raddon was heavily influenced by New Wave bands like The Cure, Echo and The Bunnymen, and The Smiths that ignited his love for melody and lyrics and was strongly impacted by the house music scene that developed in Chicago. Following stints spinning throughout college and in A&R at OM Records, he began working on his own music, which includes multiple singles, EPs, and remixes, as well as the albums: his most recent 2011 release Fire & Ice – which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Dance Chart, No. 3 on the Independent Albums chart, and No. 17 on the Top 200 Albums chart, while the iTunes version debuted at No. 4 on the overall album chart. The Fire disc contains ten original songs geared firmly toward the dancefloor, while on the Ice disc, Kaskade delivers the perfect down-tempo post-club experience by remixing all ten songs. Both discs showcase the musical versatility tat has characterized his work ever since he began writing his own songs. This album was preceded by It’s You, It’s Me (2003), In the Moment (2004), The Calm (2006), Here & Now (2006), Love Mysterious (2006), Strobelite Seduction (2008), Dynasty (2010) and Dance.Love (2010).

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Sources : Kaskade Photo |Lick It Video | Kaskade Biography

Video : Dwele feat. Phife Diggy : What Profit Remix

Who Is Dwele?

Adult contemporary R&B singer/songwriter/producer Dwele grew up on Detroit's west side, listening to soul music from Motown visionaries Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye as well as jazz on the radio. Born Andwele Gardner, he began writing songs at the age of ten, after his father was murdered outside his home, and attended Cody High in Detroit. Dwele spent a year studying music at Wayne State but then opted for an informal education, making music at his home while living in Dearborn and working for AAA. His demo tape, 1998's The Rize, made waves around the Motor City, and he spent time collaborating with Detroit hip-hop group Slum Village and Philadelphia rapper Bahamadia. Signed to Virgin on the strength of his songwriting and performance skills, Dwele released Subject in mid-2003 and cemented his appeal with European audiences (he was a favorite on Gilles Peterson's influential Radio 1 program) with a tour that summer. His second album, Some Kinda..., followed in 2005 and reached the Top 10 of the R&B chart. A couple years later, he provided the hook on Kanye West's hit single "Flashing Lights" and signed to Koch/eOne to release Sketches of a Man (2008) and W.ants W.orld W.omen (2010). Both albums maintained the singer's streak of Top Ten R&B albums. Greater Than One (2012), also released on eOne, featured some of his breeziest, most pleasing grooves.

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Sources : Dwele Photo |What Profit Remix Video | Dwele Biography

Albums : Beach Fossils : Clash the Truth;

Listen To Beach Fossils : Clash the Truth  

Who Is Beach Fossils?
Beach Fossils began in 2009 as the solo project of Dustin Payseur. Before and after the 2010 release of the S/T debut LP and 2011’s What A Pleasure EP, they performed around the world with a lineup that once featured Cole Smith (DIIV) and John Peńa (Heavenly Beat). They quickly became known for their highly energetic stage show, bringing the recorded work to a volume and tempo that would make even the indie-est of crowds wind up in a frenzy. With the exception of drummer Tommy Gardner, that lineup dissolved to pursue their ambitions with the aforementioned projects. Wanting to bridge the gap between the live and recorded aspects of the band, Dustin began writing Clash the Truth determined to capture the urgency, human flow and spontaneity of the live performance.

Now with a full time drummer (and co-writer of two tracks on the LP) Beach Fossils entered the studio in the fall of 2012 with producer Ben Greenberg of The Men. Instead of merely going from a "bedroom DiY" project to a "better fidelity studio project" the deliberate decision to work with Ben was determined to capture, if not in style, the spirit and enthusiasm of punk and aggressive music in general. To ensure that dynamic, the drums were recorded live in a room with Dustin on bass to give the album a driving and energetic force. Consider the titles "Generational Synthetic," "Caustic Cross" and "Burn You Down," it's easy to see how the record, while not a punk or post-punk record by strict definition, certainly nods to the first major influence of Dustin's creative spark. The first two notes of the title track that kick the LP off are a clear indicator of where his head was at.

The LP also sees Dustin stretching his songwriting muscles, with the acoustic Lennon-esque "Sleep Apnea" and the dreamy "In Vertigo", which features the vocals of Kazu Makino (Blonde Redhead). During the recording period, the studio was flooded and destroyed by hurricane Sandy and the band had to relocate to another studio to finish the LP in earnest. It all came together when the work of legendary video artist Peter Campus was finalized to be featured throughout the release and on the striking cover.

Clash the Truth marks a clear progression in the ongoing story of Beach Fossils. Drawing from the previous works' melodic strengths and uncanny guitar textures emboldened by a sound closer to their energetic and cathartic live set, it's the clear next step in the trajectory of the band and the dis-association from the home-recording boom from which it originated.


Clash the Truth Review
What is the saying? All good things must come to an end? Well Beach Fossils won’t be the first lo-fi basement do-it yourself band to move out of the cellar as group founder Dustin Payseur has spruced up his surroundings for sophomore record Clash The Truth. This includes snagging a producer in Ben Greenberg (of The Men), recording in a “real” studio, adding Tommy Gardner on drums and recording the drums and bass together live. It is a progression for Beach Fossils and a risk leaving the comfort of success but did it work?

The short answer is absolutely. Now if you listened to Beach Fossils 2010 self-titled debut and fell in love with it like so many others you might wonder why make a sonic upgrade for Clash The Truth. The answer is don’t jump to conclusions as this record successfully retains pieces of the debut like their trademark jangly guitar rhythm that provides the support of tracks along with a light overall airiness which lets Clash The Truth float.

In that same breath, Clash The Truth makes natural steps forward for the group as the tracks now have a more organic vibe and steady live feeling bounce. Purists and hipsters that claimed they heard Beach Fossils first may scoff at Payseur removing most of the lo-fi aspects but actually music enthusiasts should embrace this record just as much. The lead off title track was enough to sell me on this album as it is a solid two minute catchy indie rocker. It shows off a lyric wordplay that was not there before especially during the track’s last 45 seconds which features a list of thoughts and free-associated words that leaves the listener intrigued, charged and wanting more. On other songs like “Careless” this enhanced sound really comes through as its main theme relies on several towering guitar parts that bring the track out of your speakers as the vocals dodge in and out of a low grade reverb while “In Vertigo” features Blonde Redhead’s Kazu Makino helping out on vocals. This track once again raises your awareness of what Beach Fossils can accomplish.

Clash The Truth is a different record from the Beach Fossils debut and represents a solid step forward. I don’t think it is a better record but it also is not worse. You can spend all your time worrying and comparing the before and after of this band transformation but the end result is that Beach Fossils write quality songs, create catchy pulse driven tracks and have created a record in Clash The Truth that only gets better the next time you spin it!


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Sources : Beach Fossils Photo | Listen To Clash the Truth | Beach Fossils Biography | Clash the Truth Review

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