Air Traffic & Astro Firs

Astro Firs

 

Between the 16th and the 22nd of June, Air Traffic and Supervision Management buddies Astro Firs embarked on a 7 gigs in 7 days tour, and I was lucky enough to catch the final leg at the Deaf Institute in Manchester. Astros opened up to a near capacity crowd who welcomed the Indie Rock band wholeheartedly, despite the atmosphere suffering slightly from the fact that it was broad daylight. Heavy rock riffs, epic chant-along choruses, typically cheeky-chappy geordie banter from front man Scott and an energetic live presence ensured an entertaining set from these lads. I guess you could describe Astros as Indie for the Emo fan.. as they boast Indie-Disco beats and jagged guitar work, but their tone and production is heavier and darker than the uber-fay Indie tosh in the charts. All in all these guys are an awesome Rock band, and definitely an act to look out for in a town near you.

 

Air Traffic

 

Air Traffic hit the stage at dusk, with light still filtering in from the skylight, which contributed to an eerie half-lit feel about the Institute. As such it took the crowd a little longer than usual to warm to this Ambient Rock 4-piece, who, let’s be honest, are used to bigger stages. Still, old favourites like Charlotte, Shooting Star and Come On, as well as brand new as yet unrecorded tracks, eventually had a sold out Deaf Institue chanting back lyrics and swaying appropriately. This was my first Air Traffic show and they won me over with the key-infused introduction to the very first track. Chris Wall‘s key lines, and fairly standard soft-rock 4/4 tempos will draw comparisons to such stadium-bands as Coldplay, Embrace and Keane, but Wall‘s cracked and haunting voice, always pitch perfect; and the upbeat, jagged and distorted guitar work of tracks such as Charlotte set these boys apart as an edgier, anthemic rock alternative to the mainstream. Ethereal yet punchy, anthemic yet intimate, catchy yet sincere, and lightyears better than Indie Pop chart-wank like.. ye you guessed it.. Scouting For Girls, Air Traffic are incredible on record, and even better live. Buy their back catalogue and go and see them immediately!

The Dykeenies & Look See Proof

 

Early last week I caught Glasgow Indie / Rock 4-piece The Dykeenies rip up the Camden Underworld. The ensuing epic, stadium-worthy Pop-Rock anthem-fest cemented my belief that Glasgow is a seriously exciting place to be in terms of music right now.

Hertfordshire-based 5-piece Look See Proof provided fantastic support: their brand of disjointed, pop-infused Indie-Rock, expertly performed complete with intelligent guitar work; subtle but effective synths; tight-as-fuck drums; and The Futureheads-esque vocal antics from (at least?) 4 of the 5 members, whipped an already enthusiastic crowd into a riff-induced frenzy.

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Easy on the eyes too, it was obvious that a lot of the audience were hopeful females aged late teens / early twenties, but that didnt detract from the fact that Look See Proof put on one hell of a show. Fans of the likes of  The Departure, We Are Scientists, Maximo Park and Johnny Foreigner will love this energetic Indie-Pop act.

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By the time The Dykeenies hit the stage The Underworld was completely packed and buzzing with excitement. I haven’t seen a small venue / gig generate this much energy and enthusiasm in what can often be a hostile market for a long time and it was refreshing to feel a part of such a positive atmosphere.

Tracks like Clean Up Your Eyes, laden with trademark pop-hook synths, drowned-in-delay guitar lines, driven rhythm and bass section and rich vocal melodies, were sung back by a die-hard crowd with such ferocity that if you closed your eyes you may as well have been at Wembley. The fact that these boys aren’t filling stadiums, while perversely bands like Scouting For Girls are still allowed to make music, is testament to the fact that the music industry is seriously fucked up.

Because the fact is that The Dykeenies take all the classic tricks from the masters of soft-rock: U2 and Coldplay, employing simple but intelligent reverb-soaked guitar licks, delicate synth lines, and epic, singalong, pop choruses: they tick all the right boxes. And yet somehow, by some quirk of fate; by some administration error by a careless label / booking agent / management intern, these boys missed the boat and nearly 4 years after The Dykeenies as a concept was conceived, this band is still (only) selling out The Underworld and the like.

Incidentally, when I mentioned to a few of the guys in the office that I would appreciate guest list to see The Dykeenies, I instantly became the subject of what can only be described as a music-industry-snob hate campaign. Turns out that there is something about these guys that makes them ‘not cool’ within the industry. One person went on to clarify that ‘they are everything wrong with music’ and that ‘they try too hard’. Upon telling a friend of this bullying I was reassured with the phrase ‘dont worry.. people just dont like people that like The Dykeenies‘. Throw off the shackles people.. The Dykeenies are an epic, stadium-rock band, that just haven’t quite made it to the stadiums yet.. who cares if they’re cool or not, they damn-sure deserve a listen.