Wolves At Heart

Hot on the heels of yesterday's Brit-pop-punk feature on Maycomb, today we're here to talk about Wolves at Heart. They're Scotland's premier pop punkers and are about to play with their idols, Senses Fail, in Glasgow tomorrow and the day after with New Yorkers Such Gold.

Aside from having the honour of being our first Scottish band to have a feature, the boys have also been making a name for themselves within the scene through their pay-what-you-want record, Be Your Own Best Friend, as well as opening up for bands like Transit, Man Overboard and I Call Fives. 

Their sound is reminiscent of mid 90s Blink (think Cheshire Cat...) with swathes of classic Drive-Thru bands (such as Allister and Home Grown) thrown in for good measure, whilst their lambaste lyrics match up to the likes of Hit The Lights with songs like 'You Can't Buy A Backbone' and 'Sorry Excuse for a Scene'.

Kiki Vs Everyone had a cheeky little word with Shug (drums) and Keir (guitars/vocals) about what it's like over the border and their upcoming Senses Fail show...

Roundup Rodeo

So it's been all quiet on the blog front of late and I can only apologise. This post might be a little late but here's Kiki vs Everyone's brief round up of 2010:

Senses Fail - The Fire

Always when I think that Senses Fail can't get any more impressive, they always come and knock me right out with another belter of a record. I thought they'd peaked at 'Still Searching' - I remember putting that record on and thinking 'where can they go from here? This is bloody brilliant!'. Then came their last CD 'Life Is Not A Waiting Room' and it was just another effortless step towards greatness. Now they hit me with their 4th full length studio album, 'The Fire'.

Developing the thematic issues of 'Life Is Not A Waiting Room'; title track and album opener,'The Fire', gives the reassurance that "It's okay to feel lost", a topic that runs through the record clearly with tracks like 'Saint Anthony' named after the patron saint of lost things. A lyrical talisman for all those like-minded troubled youth out there.

After hearing lyricist and frontman Buddy Nielsen's side project, (the amazing) Bayonet, I expected a stronger deviation towards a heavier sound on the new Senses Fail record, but it maintains the band's infallible balance of 'post-hardcore' and 'screamo', stacked with equal amounts positivity and angst. Even throughout the turmoil of line-up changes and record label commotion, Senses Fail have managed to hold it down and continue to improve as a band. With the risk of sounding like a complete fan-girl, this band just keep getting better and better. Lyrically, vocally and instrumentally. 

 

'The Fire' is out now on Vagrant records in the US and Hassle in the UK.

Check out the boys MySpace and Facebook for more details on their current tour, 'Out With The In Crowd'.

Kiki Vs The Newbies

Last week a bunch of new people started at my work and it got me thinking about how first impressions and the impact you make within that first week window of meeting someone can really last. The exact same thing goes for new bands and rising stars. 

Bands are like the tonnes of people paying their couple of quid each week to play the lottery; only a small handful win the jackpot - some deserving, others not so much. So I've compiled a short list of 'do's and do not's' for those wanting to make it big in this horribly competitive industry. Although mostly a compilation of the obvious and common-sense kind of things, it's these very things that sadly far too many people overlook: