Defenders of the Faith- Southampton Guildhall, December 1st 2011

It’s December 1^st and Christmas is a mere 25 days away. The season of good will is upon us and for the next five hours – as a sweet, sweet gesture of said good will – Southampton Guildhall is playing host to Metal Hammer’s Defenders of the Faith Tour, which tonight hits our shores fresh from slaying Europe.

The magazine calls it a collection of today’s ‘biggest, best and brightest’ metal talent, and Rise To Remain certainly have the potential to be all three. Despite their front man sharing his blood with a bloke called Bruce Dickenson, there can be little comparison to his father’s legacy in Iron Maiden as, at times, Rise To Remain are ball-crunchingly heavy. A suave and exciting set ends with half the Guildhall head-banging in sync, suggesting plainly and simply that there are brighter things to come.

If you find yourself in the pit knowing nothing about Swedish melodic metallers Ghost, then their arrival will be somewhat of a shock. Entering the room to a Rammstein-esque instrumental track, Swedes Papa Emeritus and his five ‘Nameless Ghouls’ in black hooded robes leave many a baffled face with what can only be described as satanic gloom rock. Tracks like ‘Elizabeth’ and ‘Last Ritual’ go down with an odd sense of success and totally captivate those who are watching. The clerical-clad front man may dance like the pope’s drunken uncle at Christmas, but ignore the bizarre, tongue-in-cheek and somewhat bloody terrifying fancy dress and what Ghost provides is half an hour of catchy riffs and blissfully satanic choruses. It’s not clear what faith these guys are defending but it’s a sermon that isn’t entirely forgettable.

In Flames are cited as an inspiration to many big names in the business and tonight Matt Heafy of Trivium fame will himself label them ‘the greatest band in the world.’ Their 10 albums and two decades of experience are evident through a fantastically heavy half hour, but you can almost feel Anders Fridén’s frustration at the short set time as he bitches about his crappy day and makes a well justified crack at the dismal English weather. It sounds like boredom. It’s probably just banter. But all is forgiven when the Swedish five-piece unleash a set of tight-as-hell classics like ‘The Quiet Place’ and ‘Take This Life,’ proving they could easily continue for hours more.

However tonight is Trivium’s and, launching into the colossal title track of their latest album In Waves, they nail it to the atmosphere as crisply as it sounds on record. What follows is a set as relentless in quality as it is in brutality and there’s barely a moment of quiet as their award winning Ascendency beauties ‘Gunshot To The Head Of Trepidation,’ ‘Dying In Your Arms,’ and ‘Like Light To Flies’ are played to perfection. There’s the odd tune that slows the crowd and it’s evident that it’s taking longer to warm to the new record, but within seconds there’s a flawless pace change and the crowd once again opens up. It’s genuinely touching to see the next generation of metal heads – some who look as though their GCSE worries are still years ahead of them– being battered, crushed and embraced in the pit, armed only with relentless smiles and pre-pubescent devil horns.

As they launch into closer ‘Throes of Perdition’ – almost an odd choice considering the calibre of what’s been played before – Matt’s comments about “Trivium returning home to England again” are at constant risk of being filed under ‘ancient cliché.’ But the Floridians took the UK scene by storm on the main stage at download back in 2005 and they have clearly not forgotten their roots. “We will always come back to your beautiful country, my friends,” Matt swoons before laying into their anthem; the absolutely incredible ‘Pull Harder On The Strings Of Your Martyr.’ And we’ll always have you, sir.

My life of live: 5/12/2004 - 7/11/2010

Nothing makes me feel they way I do when I'm clutching a barrier, inhaling a sweaty man's back hair or screaming so loud I fear my throat will impale. Which is understandable, really. At it's best it feels euphoric to me and at it's worst it just makes me feel.. good.

I've been meaning to do this for a while - a list like this is far too geeky to

be left alone in Word. Here's every band worth a mention that I've witnessed in the past six years.

*an “eh?!” moment **alright ***average ****a great time was had

*****absolutely incredible :D:D:D A life changing experience

1. Sugarcult (Wembley Arena, December 5th 2004)***
2. Blink 182 (Wembley Arena, December 5th 2004) :D:D:D
3. Hard Fi (Milton Keynes Bowl, June 19th 2005)*
4. Taking back Sunday (Milton Keynes Bowl, June 19th 2005)***
5. Jimmy eat world (Milton Keynes Bowl, June 19th 2005)****
6. Green day (Milton Keynes Bowl, June 19th 2005) :D:D:D
7. The Offspring (Brixton Academy, October 17th 2005)***
8. Exit 10 (London Astoria, October 27th 2005)***
9. Blood Simple (London Astoria, October 27th 2005)***
10. Avenged Sevenfold (London Astoria, October 27th 2005)****
11. Reggie and the Full Effect (Taste of Chaos- Brighton Centre, November 17th 2005)**
12. Rise Against (Taste of Chaos- Brighton Centre, November 17th 2005)****
13. Story of the year (Taste of Chaos-Brighton Centre, November 17th 2005)*****
14. Killswitch Engage (Taste of Chaos- Brighton Centre, November 17th 2005)****
15. The used (Taste of Chaos- Brighton Centre, November 17th 2005)*****
16. Funeral for a Friend (Taste of Chaos- Brighton Centre, November 17th 2005)***
17. Aiden (Kerrang! Tour- Brixton Academy, January 2006)****
18. Sill remains (Kerrang! Tour- Brixton Academy, January 2006)****
19. Hawthorne Heights (Kerrang! Tour- Brixton Academy, January 2006)**
20. Bullet for my valentine (Kerrang! Tour- Brixton Academy, January 2006)*****
21. The Living End (Camden Electric Ballroom, February 22nd 2006)**
22. Zebrahead (Camden Electric Ballroom, February 22nd 2006)****
23. Reel big fish (Camden Electric Ballroom, February 22nd 2006)*****
24. Bullets and Octane (London Astoria, March 2006)***
25. Avenged Sevenfold (London Astoria, March 2006)*****
26. My Chemical Romance (Edinburgh Meadow Bank Stadium, August 2006)***
27. Muse (Edinburgh Meadow Bank Stadium, August 2006) :D:D:D
28. Firewind (London Astoria, December 15th 2006)***
29. All That Remains (London Astoria, December 15th 2006)****
30. Dragonforce (London Astoria, December 15th 2006)*****
31. Thursday (Brighton Centre, March 2007)****
32. My Chemical Romance- The Black Parade (Brighton Centre, March 2007) :D:D:D
33. The Zico Chain (Give It A Name- Elms Court London, April 2007)**
34. Kid’s in Glass Houses (Give It A Name- Elms Court London, April 2007)****
35. Zebrahead (Give It A Name- Elms Court London, April 2007)***
36. Senses Fail (Give It A Name- Elms Court London, April 2007)**
37. Cute is what we Aim For (Give It A Name- Elms Court London, April 2007)*
38. Saosin (Give It A Name- Elms Court London, April 2007)*
39. Madina Lake (Give It A Name- Elms Court London, April 2007)****
40. Motion City Soundtrack (Give It A Name- Elms Court London, April 2007)***
41. Kevin Divine (Give It A Name- Elms Court London, April 2007)*
42. Enter Shikari (Give It A Name- Elms Court London, April 2007)****
43. New Found Glory (Give It A Name- Elms Court London, April 2007)*****
44. All American Rejects (Give It A Name- Elms Court London, April 2007)*****
45. Brand New (Give It A Name- Elms Court London, April 2007)****
46. Linchpin (London Astoria, July 2007)*
47. Sum 41 (London Astoria, July 2007)*****
48. Saving Aimee (London Astoria, October 18th 2007)*
49. Mcfly (London Astoria, October 18th 2007)****

50. Army Of Freshmen (Get Happy Tour- Brighton Centre, October 20th 2007)***
51. Zebrahead (Get Happy Tour- Brighton Centre, October 20th 2007)****
52. Bloodhound Gang (Get Happy Tour- Brighton Centre, October 20th 2007)****
53. Bowling For Soup (Get Happy Tour- Brighton Centre, October 20th 2007)****
54. Engel (London Astoria, November 19th 2007)***
55. Still Remains (London Astoria, November 19th 2007)****
56. Atreyu (London Astoria, November 19th 2007) :D:D:D
57. Black Tide (Brixton Academy, January 24th 2008)***
58. Bloodsimple (Brixton Academy, January 24th 2008)***
59. Avenged Sevenfold (Brixton Academy, January 24th 2008) :D:D:D
60. Sonic Boom Six (London Astoria, March 2nd 2008)**
61. Streetlight Manifesto (London Astoria, March 2nd 2008)****
62. Reel Big Fish (London Astoria, March 2nd 2008) :D:D:D
63. Phil Campbell (Hammersmith Apollo, March 20th 2008)****
64. Kathryn and Steven (Hammersmith Apollo, March 20th 2008)*
65. David Gray (Hammersmith Apollo, March 20th 2008):D:D:D
66. The Jonas Brothers (London 02 Arena, June 4th 2008)***
67. Avril Lavinge (London 02 Arena, June 4th 2008)****
68. Go Audio (Tunbridge Wells Forum, June 6th 2008)***
69. Sherwood (Tunbridge Wells Forum, June 6th 2008)*
70. Zebrahead (Tunbridge Wells Forum, June 6th 2008) :D:D:D
71. Hi-fi Hand Grenade (London Camden Koko, 20th August 2008)***
72. Alkaline Trio (London Camden Koko, 20th August 2008) :D:D:D
73. HORSE The Band (London Astoria, October 15th 2008)**
74. MUCC (London Astoria, October 15th 2008)*
75. Story of the Year (London Astoria, October 15th 2008)***
76. As I Lay Dying (London Astoria, October 15th 2008)***
77. Atreyu (London Astoria, October 15th 2008)***
78. Imperial Leisure (London Astoria, November 12th 2008)****
79. Beat Union (London Astoria, November 12th 2008)***
80. Pepper (London Astoria, November 12th 2008)***
81. Less Than Jake (London Astoria, November 12th 2008) :D:D:D
82. Machine Head (Hammersmith Apollo, December 3rd 2008)****
83. Slipknot (Hammersmith Apollo, December 3rd 2008) :D:D:D
84. Decoder Ring (Burswood Dome, Perth WA, February 28th 2009)**
85. Mercury Rev (Burswood Dome, Perth WA, February 28th 2009)*
86. Coldplay (Burswood Dome, Perth WA, February 28th 2009) :D:D:D
87. Madina Lake (Soundwave- Steal Blue Oval, Perth WA, March 2nd 2009)****
88. Less Than Jake (Soundwave- Steal Blue Oval, Perth WA, March 2nd 2009)***
89. Goldfinger (Soundwave- Steal Blue Oval, Perth WA, March 2nd 2009)****
90. The Subways (Soundwave- Steal Blue Oval, Perth WA, March 2nd 2009)**
91. Straylight Run (Soundwave- Steal Blue Oval, Perth WA, March 2nd 2009)**
92. HelloGoodbye (Soundwave- Steal Blue Oval, Perth WA, March 2nd 2009)***
93. Funeral For a Friend (Soundwave- Steal Blue Oval, Perth WA, March 2nd 2009)****
94. Bloodhound Gang (Soundwave- Steal Blue Oval, Perth WA, March 2nd 2009)***
95. Billy Talent (Soundwave- Steal Blue Oval, Perth WA, March 2nd 2009)*****
96. Alkaline Trio (Soundwave- Steal Blue Oval, Perth WA, March 2nd 2009)****
97. Lamb of God (Soundwave- Steal Blue Oval, Perth WA, March 2nd 2009)**
98. Silverstein (Soundwave- Steal Blue Oval, Perth WA, March 2nd 2009)***
99. Finch (Soundwave- Steal Blue Oval, Perth WA, March 2nd 2009)****100. Soil (Sonisphere- Knebworth House, August 1st 2009)**
101. Alien Ant Farm (Sonisphere- Knebworth House, August 1st 2009)*
102. Taking Back Sunday (Sonisphere- Knebworth House, August 1st 2009)***
103. Bjorn Again (Sonisphere- Knebworth House, August 1st 2009)****
104. The Used (Sonisphere- Knebworth House, August 1st 2009)****
105. Bullet For My Valentine (Sonisphere- Knebworth House, August 1st 2009)****
106. Linkin Park (Sonisphere- Knebworth House, August 1st 2009)*****
107. Lamb of God (Sonisphere- Knebworth House, August 1st 2009)****
108. Machine Head (Sonisphere- Knebworth House, August 1st 2009) :D:D:D
109. Limp Bizkit (Sonisphere- Knebworth House, August 1st 2009)**
110. Corey Taylor (Sonisphere- Knebworth House, August 1st 2009)****
111. Avenged Sevenfold (Sonisphere- Knebworth House, August 1st 2009)****
112. Metallica (Sonisphere- Knebworth House, August 1st 2009)*****
113. Mentallica (Mr Kyps, October 31st 2009):D:D:D
114. Green Day (LG Arena, October 28th 2009)*****
115. Legend (Mr Kyps, December 19th 2009)****
116. Combichrist (LG Arena, February 3rd 2010)***
117. Rammstein (LG Arena, February 3rd 2010) :D:D:D
118. Chris Murray (Mr Kyps, February 7th 2010)***
119. Random Hand (Mr Kyps, February 7th 2010)***
120. Mouthwash (Mr Kyps, February 7th 2010)***
121. The Skints (Mr Kyps, February 7th 2010)***
122. New Grove Formation (Mr Kyps, March 20th 2010)***
123. Imperial Leisure (Mr Kyps, March 20th 2010)****
124. Set Your Goals (Bournemouth 02, May 28th 2010)****
125. Out of Sight (Bournemouth 02, May 28th 2010)**
126. Four Year Strong (Bournemouth 02, May 28th 2010)*****
127. New Found Glory (Bournemouth 02, May 28th 2010)*****
128. Mentallica (Mr Kyps, October 22nd 2010)****
129. Hellyeah (Brighton Centre, November 7th 2010)****
130. Avenged Sevenfold (Brighton Centre, November 7th 2010) :D:D:D
131. Stone Sour (Brighton Centre, November 7th 2010)*****

You can shove your repetitive dance beats and auto tuning.

Metal.

\m/.(•_•).\m/

Mentallica: Mr Kyp's, October 22nd 2010.

Mentallica are hailed as Europe’s finest Metallica tribute act, recreating the live experience of a real Metallica gig for fans across the continent. They spend their weekends thrashing out their favourite ‘tallica tracks, gathering new fans and making new friends at every turn. And sampling local beers at every opportunity, of course. No surprise then that our catch up backstage at Mr Kyp’s in Poole is riddled with positivity.

So how’s your year been?
Dave (Bass): It’s been really good; we’ve played more gigs than we ever have so we’ve had a great year.
Aid (Guitar): Sixty by Christmas!
Dave: Yeah and we’ve had some really good ones, we played the Channel Islands and had some great beers and picked up loads of disgusting stories - they never stop!
Aid: It’s been a very good beer!

Aid’s witty pun was naturally followed by mass laughter and an offer for an unfortunate looking kiwi fruit.


No, thank you. So have there been any stand-out gigs?
Dave and Aid in unison: Guernsey!

What makes it so memorable?
Chris (Guitar and Vocals): Coming off stage knowing we’ve done it right.
Dave: Seeing that people have enjoyed it. We played a gig a few weeks ago, a tiny place but it was rammed and I loved that. And we played a great rally in Guernsey and basically their clubhouse was an old German Bunker. It was so fantastic just drinking through the night in this two-roomed bunker and I said to the guys who run it that they should knock the two walls in and he said ‘well they’re eight foot thick of concrete so and full of dead bodies!’

Epic!
Aid: Maybe suggest they put a serving hatch in!
Dave: They probably won’t do that. [More mass laughter]
Aid: Once some guy fell into a pile of broken glass! Cut his hand and it dripped everywhere... and another guy had to call an ambulance for a back injury.
Dave: So that was really memorable!
Chris: Another time this one bloke had both his teeth knocked out in a mosh pit...
Dave: And who was that girl who was carried out to an ambulance?!
Chris: Oh yeah!

A lot of passion then!
Dave: Yeah, you always know it’s been a good night for us when somebody gets hurt!

Describe your average day as a tribute act.
Aid (assigning various tasks to the band members): Drive. Sleep. Sleep. Sleep... and then on the way back; sleep. Sleep. Sleep. Drive!
Dave: It’s a long day for us really; we usually meet up about twelve o’clock.
Aid: Then it’s an eighteen or nineteen hour day.
Dave: But we have a great time, few beers and a good laugh.

How many gigs do you do a week?
Aid: One or two, Fridays and Saturdays mostly. We’re too extreme to play five nights a week!
Extreme is the right word. Mentallica do what they do so incredibly well that it’s impossible to find fault. Many tribute acts could be branded disappointing or subpar simply because they’re not the real thing, but the Dudley foursome are impeccably tight from start to finish. The crowd embrace every second of classic tracks ‘Seek and Destroy,’ ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’ and ‘Enter Sandman.’ They’re lead by an inspirational gang of head banging school children at the barrier who, in Chris’ words, do, in fact, ‘speak fluent shout.’

How’s the set list put together and do you have favourite ‘tallica songs to play live?
Dave: We do it five minutes before we come on! But we always keep our set lists so we know what we played at the gig last time - there’s probably five of the big ones we have to play every night, everyone’s favourite songs, but we swap it around and try to play different things every time.
Aid: A bit like Metallica do really, they tend to keep six or seven songs in every night off the new album and the classics.
Chris: I like ‘Hit the Lights.’
Mort (drums): To play at the minute- ‘Motorbreath’!
Aid: ‘Fade to Black’!
Chris: I like the likes of ‘Sanitarium’ and the thrashier stuff like ‘Ride the Lightning.’
Aid: He likes the ones where he can sing quietly and see the girls looking at him.
Chris: Yeah, gota get laid somehow!

Indeed! Did you like the new one?
Chris: Yeah it’s great. It’s challenging but I love it.
Dave: There’s at least one album that people say isn’t so good so this one’s a real return to form really. They’ve sold out gigs all over the world so you can see how popular they are. Fair play to them!

Have you seen them this year?
Dave: We saw them last year at the NEC, was a great gig.
Aid: Yeah I saw Dave down the bottom going [wave’s arms frantically] ‘ahhhhh!’
Chris: He’s always doing that though.
Dave: (laughs) that was on the way there!
Aid: He was disappointed he didn’t get a beach ball though. You know in’ Seek and Destroy’ there’s the huge black beach balls?
Dave: But I got a plectrum! It bounced off this woman’s head next to me and right into my hand.

Do you use it?
Dave: No I don’t, I’ve kept it somewhere safe.
Aid: It’s so secret he doesn’t know where it is!

So have you ever met them?
Dave: No but we played at a University three or four years ago and everyone was asking if we’d seen the interview with [Metallica Guitar legend] Kirk Hammett. I hadn’t seen it but in it Kirk was asked who his favourite band was and he had said ‘Oh its Mentallica.’
Chris: His favourite tribute band.
Dave: Hmm I haven’t seen the interview. See you made me look a liar now! That’s it! [Dramatic rock star-style tantrum]
Aid: “I wanted cheese and onion crisps!”

That was clearly an in-joke. There are plenty of them tonight - but that’s what you’d expect from four guys who spend their weekends drinking, shredding and playing homage to the greatest metal band of all time.

Dave: The first time we ever played their sound engineer pitched up. It was really good of him to do the sound for us and he gave us tapes, all their intro stuff and plectrums and said ‘Metallica have heard of you and they say all the very best.’ That was a really nice thing for him to do. They’ve picked up a lot of their sound crew from [legendary British heavy metal band) Diamond Head.
Aid: We actually played with Diamond Head!
Dave: Yeah, which was fabulous.
Chris: We’ve actually nearly supported Metallica once or twice. There was some idea they were going to come to the country when they released [1998 Cover album] Garage Inc and we would support them doing their old stuff so they could just come on and mostly play that album. And also when they released [2004 documentary film] Some Kind of Monster we were going to play their after show party but that never happened.
Dave: So we’ve been close but never actually met them. Yet!

What does the future hold for Mentallica?
Aid: We’ve actually got gigs booked until this time next year – right up until December 2011
Dave: Yeah so we’re going to keep thrashing away. As long as we’re enjoying it we’ll keep doing it I think.
Aid: As long as my prostate holds up we’ll keep at it!

Coming back soon?
Aid: Hopefully!
Chris: This is one of our favourite places to come definitely.
Aid: I was going to ask Mr Kyp if we can play Halloween next year.
Dave: I’m getting married next week! So Halloween this year was never an option.
Aid: You sap!
Dave: Yeah I’m sure it’ll work this time, I’m sure!

What is it you like about Kyp’s?
Chris: It’s just a lovely looking venue, great place. And the crowd are mad - always mental. They just look after you really well here. Great set up and a great sound.
Dave: It’s definitely one of the best venues in the country.

Let’s just hope they provide Dave’s wedding music. Tonight’s show at Mr Kips is brilliant – so good they didn’t want to end. And, with quality, precision and a dance floor alive with devoted fan base of head banging teens and appreciative metal head veterans, who could blame them?

(After the gig) So how was it for you?
Dave: Phenomenal. Such a great place, you cannot fail to love it here, just great. I feel great! Cheers for making us feel special.

Long live the Masters of Tribute and the future generation of metallic heads.

http://mentallica.net/

http://www.myspace.com/mentallicaworld

Mentallica: Masters of Tribute

Last October Europe’s finest Metallica tribute blow me away with their Halloween show at Poole’s hottest music venue, Mr Kyp’s. That night werewolves and club-wielding metallers alike shared the pit and basked in the glow of a stunning homage to the biggest metal band in the world.

This year the foursome - collectively known as Mentallica – return on October 22nd to thwack you relentlessly with more licks and power riffs than you can handle. Even ‘tallica themselves have shown their adoration, so fans won’t want to miss out on a sublime recreation of the raw, intense and explosive sound and atmosphere of a live Metallica gig.

Are you sick of the routine of drinking cheap wine and stumbling to Lollipop on a Friday night? With modestly priced booze and entry at just £10 for an advance ticket, this night of in-your-face metal stands as the perfect alternative.

Linkin Park: A Thousand Suns

It was the first Christmas of the new millennium when I found Hybrid Theory in my stocking. I was a mere 10 years old. In my case, Linkin Park’s debut graced a distinctly impressionable boy’s portable tape player before Sum 41’s ‘All Killer...’ and before I’d heard of Blink 182. It even proceeded my ‘Now That’s What I Call Music’ phase when I realised Sisqo’s thong-inspired raps really didn’t do it for me after all. Having been part of the generation who witnessed ‘Papercut’ on what must have been Top of the Pops – the third single from an album which is now the 26^th biggest selling album of all time – I was lucky enough to see the birth of one of the world’s most exciting bands.

Minutes to Midnight, for me, was utterly rubbish. After enduring four years of two albums worth of material, this was their 2007 comeback. Gone were the chugging guitars and screams of self loathing, and in their place were half finished power ballads and the odd profanity. It seemed the band who took the world by storm had sold out to Michael Bay. That was three years ago and the Californian sextet have taken another musical direction entirely. And, with a concept based on inhumanity and nuclear warfare, it’s been done to explosive effect.

The album opens slowly with ‘Burning Skies.’ Following an integrated speech from the father of the atomic bomb, it acts as a clear indication of where album number four is heading. Turn up the bass and take it with a pinch of salt and ‘When they come for me’ will sound truly original and be etched into the brain before you know it. ‘Waiting for the End’ has a chorus with a heart-warming reggae feel and the simple but powerfully placed and sparsely used riffs come with a bizarre appreciation. Almost like they were taken for granted for years before. Blackout is still lead by night club-like samples and a simple piano, but Chester’s screams of ‘f**k it are you listening now?’ add another dimension to an already eclectic range of tracks.

‘A Thousand Suns’ is peppered with fillers – pretentious noises and samples that would be the downfall of many other bands. But it flows so well here without a dull moment - a highlight being Wisdom, Justice and Love, which could almost be the final words of Optimus Prime. Lead single ‘The Catalyst’ sounds better on the album than as a stand-alone, as it brings the album to a beautiful close. An acoustic ballad from Chester isn’t something old school fans would ever expect but the front man effortlessly forces everything he has into closing track ‘The Messenger.’ His vocals have never been so crisp and the rock star image he’s gained over recent years seems far more deserved - if still a little unorthodox.

There is a distinct lack of hard guitars throughout, which would seem a futile move for a band once considered the pioneers of Nu-Metal. But Linkin Park have said themselves that they’re striding into the unknown. Their abrupt change in song writing style is a daring move that - in the eyes of an old school fan who has resigned to the fact that we may not hear the likes of Closer to the Edge and Faint again - has paid off with huge reward.

To the world their landmark first albums were brilliantly predictable; to some, Minutes to midnight was predictably awful; but with time ‘A Thousand Suns’ will be seen by many as unpredictably brilliant. Amongst the speech and recordings is a solid album and this time round the six-piece should be really proud of what they’ve created.

Jimmy Eat World: Invented

Best known for their 2001 self titled album which brought ‘The Middle’ and ‘Sweetness’ - tunes which still grace discos and playlists across the world today - Jimmy Eat World are the state-side experts when it comes to constructing heartfelt, melancholy -drenched hope ballads. Their seventh studio album bears few surprises or progression but I wasn’t at all surprised to find that I fell in love with it on first listen.

Invented is inventive in the most unmistakably Jimmy Eat World of ways. The emotion behind every song is flawless, the lyrics and structures are varied and original and, as always, it’s difficult to find a fault in anything they do – minus the fact that it sounds like everything else they’ve done in the last 10 years. Futures (2004), Chase this Light (2007) and their newest effort this year could certainly merge into one album. This, however, is where they succeed every time, as their current attitude to song writing cannot disappoint.

Melodies throughout are as crisp as expected, tattooing themselves into the mind and you’ll soon find yourself relentlessly humming the likes of lead single ‘My Best Theory’ and NYC inspired ‘Movielike.’ With the simplest lyrics and make up, ‘Coffee and Cigarettes’ is a real highlight and is as perfect as they come - made unique by the vocal contribution of folk singer Courtney Marie Andrews. ‘Action Needs an Audience’ sees the foursome trying something a little heavier, although it fails to be anywhere near as good as their attempt to do the same with Futures’ ‘Nothing wrong.’

Fans of the band may see ‘Cut’ is Invented’s take on earlier ballads ‘23’, ‘Hear You Me’ or Clarity’s ‘Table for Glasses’ and it’s a beautiful example of what they can create a decade on. Front man Jim Adkins has always provided immaculate vocals but with every new album seems to find a little extra something to add – his best is heard this time round in the serene seven minute long title track. They’ve always struck me as being like the quiet and faultlessly nice guy the pretty girl overlooks for the jock and, with lyrics like ‘Any dick can pull up in a suit, but only I know what really moves you’ and the admittance of ‘Stop’s ‘if you want to make me baby, stop ‘coz you have’, this concept works as well as ever. Jimmy Eat World are simply incapable of writing bad songs.

With all the heartache and wonder, strings and keys and the abundance of melody and hurt, it may all sound worthy of being the theme tune for trashy American teen dramas. Which it is and has been – four songs from Futures have been featured in the series One Tree Hill. But that’s what works and it works so well. Judging by the strength their past few albums, there’s really no end in sight.

Ten of Jimmy Eat World’s best:

‘Lucky Denver Mint’ (Clarity, 1999)

‘Just Watch the Fireworks’ (Clarity, 1999)

‘Salt Sweet Sugar’ (Bleed American, 2001)

‘If You Don’t, Don’t’ (Bleed American, 2001)

‘Kill’ (Futures, 2004)

‘Pain’ (Futures, 2004)

‘Always Be’ (Chase this Light, 2007)

‘Dizzy’ (Chase this Light, 2007)

‘Coffee and Cigarettes’ (Invented, 2010)

‘Cut’ (Invented, 2010)

Matt Skiba: Demos

Matt Skiba is the founder and co front man of Chicago emo pop-rock threesome Alkaline Trio. Plagued by an early life of drug abuse, alcoholism and a self professed faith in the Satanic church, his lyrics have never failed to be creative in the most hauntingly melancholic ways. It is undoubtedly his ability to write wholesome songs in a variety of styles that makes Matt Skiba so loveable and such a success in the punk genre today.

His new album ‘Demos’ compiles efforts from different stages of his song writing career – songs that were recorded into his computer whilst on tour with his various bands. It’s not an ideally easy listen due to its varied and minimally produced feel but fans will note how perfectly it conveys Skiba’s original melodic style without punk influence. And this is exactly what it aims to do.

On first listen it could sound sloppy and bizarre without a drum accompaniment, but once listeners grasp the alien sounds of Angel of Deaf and I Can’t believe you - the latter’s eclectic notes overlap to create a strange musical acid trip – it’s easy to accept Demos as an album in its simplest state. There are times songs feel unfinished and lazily crafted but that’s what demos are. Bands are too often accused of over-producing and selling out and what Demos provides are raw, unreleased examples of Skiba’s song writing ability - some of which would be lost on a modern Alkaline Trio album.

Matt Skiba is a lyrical genius and uses metaphor like a second tongue. Haven’t You conveys a hopeful acoustic sadness which hasn’t been heard since Trio classics Blue in the Face and Sorry About That and SOS has a punk melody we’ve definitely heard before.

This is not Alkaline Trio. Sceptical fans will look to this album as if it were written for the punk scene and in a way it’ll always be compared to his work in 14 years with the Trio. But ultimately this is all Skiba; a clear release of experimentation that wouldn’t fit in either Trio or Heavens which sets him apart from anything else in the genre. Because of this, Demos has the potential to be simply sublime if given the chance.

My favourite lyrical moments from Matt Skiba:

My Friend Peter- Alkaline Trio, ‘Goddamnit’ (1998)

Bleeder- Alkaline Trio, ‘Alkaline Trio’ (2000)

Next To You- Matt Skiba and Kevin Seconds, ‘Split EP’ (2002)

Blue in the Face- Alkaline Trio, ‘Good Mourning’ (2003)

Demons Away- Matt Skiba, ‘Protect: A Benefit for the National Association to Protect Children’ (2005)

Queen of Pain- Alkaline Trio, ‘Remains’ (2007)

Dead on the Floor- Alkaline Trio, ‘This Addiction’ (2010)

Didn’t Feel A Thing- Demos (2010)