Leeds quartet, This Time Last Year have released their latest track Limbo, along with a music video.
The track features melodic riffs accompanied by hard hitting drums and a deep bass. Known for their anthemic style of writing, creating infectious music, Limbo delivers in all areas. It encompasses the true nature of This Time Last Year, including their unparalleled style of lyrical writing and calculated instrumentals. Since their release of Just Talk and Maple last year, Limbo emphasizes their established sound and talent, with clear production that even the slight guitar note changes brings their own intensity.
Accompanied with a music video that magnifies the guys’ passion for their music, it brings along an added tug of emotion. Taking place in a living room, switching through scenes of separate instruments, it portrays imagery of time moving as well as the effects of an overactive mind.
Limbo is now available on all streaming services including Spotify and Apple Music.
This Time Last Year has a select few concert dates upcoming, including Leeds, Cardiff and Sheffield.
Bursting with energy and melodic riffs complemented by cadenced drumming, Time, It Waits For No One, is one that is riddled with heavy talent. In the upcoming addition to Slackrr’s discography, the ten track album is brimming with flirtatious instrumentals topped with infectious vocals conveyed in such intricate harmonics, tying the tracks together in perfect symmetry. Time moves in fluid motion, exploring changes in their tempo and momentum’s.
Intensity heightened by deep bass, the counter frequency of the vocals ricochet, combining together with bouncy guitar riffs and calculated drums. ‘Asleep At The Wheel’ portrays lyrical flair in canorous rhythm. If there’s one thing to say about Time, is that it’s completely infectious in nature. Movement promoting, the bands visionary of direction in their instrumentals toys with modern techniques, establishing themselves as a staple in the current rising pop punk bands of the UK. ‘Closest To Perfect’ demonstrates Slackrr’s comfort in their talents ability, generating atmosphere suited to the theme. Producing a plethora of quality material, third track ‘Nerve’ portrays another dimension of the bands dexterity to push the boat out, featuring a more raucous tone alongside a combative attitude. In the first three tracks, it’s clear to see the intricate use of melodies drive the tracks forth, giving it a signature sound stamped sincerely, Slackrr.
In a complete one-eighty, ‘Mope’ emphasises Slackrr’s talent for a multitude of writing styles. Slowing down the tempo and softening the vocals, ‘Mope’ takes the spotlight of the album. Introducing that deep bass line, it moves in such rolling development prior to interjecting the driven pop punk sound that the rest of the album has. Instrumentally, ‘Mope’ fits perfectly to its lyrics, provoking imagery and emotion. It’s one of the most impressive aspects of Time before it throws you back into the upbeat undertones accompanied by overwhelming emotional spirit. ‘I Know’ confirms the lyrical genius behind the album, flirtatiously playing with rhymes and premeditated worded structure. It truly is an album that contorts to a multitude of playlists, expressing plenty of temperaments, posing in big attitude vital in the planning and production of any album.
In recent days, Slackrr has been announced for a headline slot for the upcoming Isle Of Wight festival on Friday, 14th June, the same day that Time, It Waits For No One is released. Isle Of Wight festival tickets can be bought here.
Cardiff based pop punk outfit, Lake Sycamore has released their latest addition to their discography, ‘Loathe’ that’s currently available on YouTube and soon to be across various streaming platforms. Since their appearance in London’s The Slaughtered Lamb, Lake Sycamore has been building anticipation for upcoming material, with the band releasing an update earlier this year displaying plans for an upcoming album alongside a 30 second teaser for ‘Loathe,” that was due for release in June. Thankfully for us, Lake Sycamore put that long wait to one side and has released the track for early listening prior to forthcoming gigs in Swansea’s The Bunkhouse and Cardiff’s Fuel Rock Club.
Featuring a melodic structure in tone, ‘Loathe’ sees Lake Sycamore contouring a canorous rhythm of guitar around a cadenced percussion, impressively tying together in a complemented ricochet. The distortion of instruments adorns the raucous vocals and magnifies the lyrical intensity, sealed together in a buoyant demonstration of apparatus. ‘Loathe’ conceives an impression of nostalgia, ostensible of influences such as TSSF and Four Year Strong, weaving through a plethora of individual seductions to manipulate the collective of the current pop punk.
To hear more of Lake Sycamore, you can find their uploaded material via Apple Music or Spotify.
To keep updated with Lake Sycamore, follow them on Facebook and Instagram.
HOLD UP. This could be the best news we’ve heard – not only has the UK seen some pretty hefty bands this year already but to hear the epitome of TBS’a discography played in full?! It’s a dream come true.
You can catch TBS on their tour for the following dates:
Released today, Pioneers have concluded their debut EP, Insecurities, with an established and solid sound that forcefully pushes them into the metal core scene as the ones to watch out for. Formed in 2016 in Southampton, Pioneers have garnered attention for their impressive display of energy on stage and weaved thematics reminiscent of Architects. Bordering upon industrial, Insecurities shows the passionate fury that the five-piece have come to master over the three years of conjunction, with instruments chemically fusing and boiling over in timed breakdowns, synchronisation and combative fluidity bound by creative talent. It’s an alchemic masterpiece for their debut release, and the momentum to rise in its stead will take Pioneers to undoubtedly deserved lengths. Album of the year? It’s a contender.
The 9 track album is one that builds an epic suspense, harbouring and releasing its acrimony in indefectible timing. It manufactures anticipation like a machine, using distortion and truculent styles of drumming techniques. Opening with an elongated intro, Insecurities builds upon atmosphere with the use of heavy drumming ricocheting from a weighted bass. Checkpoint brings a gnarly breakdown worthy of a circle pit, but ultimately has a balanced alignment of instruments that pulls throughout. What Pioneers have managed to achieve throughout Insecurities is equitable stabilisation that displays talent of each vital note that comes together to create this overall ominous ambience surrounding their combative technique. The mixture of pugnacious and clean vocals give Insecurities a narrative, generating pertinent bridges that ties it together in solid structure. A favourite taken from Insecurities is Shadow Link, pushing forth the use of guitar to open the track and slow down the tempo for an infectious intro.
The album varies in tone, experiments and pushes boundaries within their chosen direction. Insecurities feels like the love child of Fear Factory’s The Industrialist and ArchitectsHoly Hell, layering nostalgic hints towards nu-metal like sprinkles on a cake. It could easily be considered an essential feature in any metal playlist, bringing a combination of fundamental components that metal fans have become accustomed to over the years. Taking a hybrid-style approach, Insecurities is a must listen, and the creativity that Pioneers have displayed is nothing short of astonishing.
Croatian quintet, Trophy Jump, are about to release their upcoming EP, haphazard on March 29th that’s teasing an overall nostalgic vibe, toying with convivial senses. Growing as a band since formation in 2014, haphazard displays a combination of wistful tones characterised by their influences such as Rancid and NOFX in a contemporary mannerisms of the current punk rock scene.
Kicking off the album with Comfort Zone, the perky and light melodic nature is captivating, lyrically infectious and heavy on the bass. The short run-time of the track is teasing, leaving more to be desired, but quickly moving into the next track, Not That Kind Of Guy. The most appealing aspect of Trophy Jump’s haphazard is it’s lively chords, complimented by a sturdy, bouncy bass line that steals the spotlight. It’s a well-rounded installment for Trophy Jump, offering upbeat and nearly nostalgic tones representative of when the scene exploded on social media back in 2009. Chicago Kid, one of two of the longer running tracks of the EP, is by far a favourite. Experimenting with melodies and harmonies, it moves in linear motion with fluidity and providing more insight to the chemistry and talents of each instrument. It really does give the EP more depth, playing with different resonances in well-constructed verses. Taking this progression into the next track, Trophy Jump feels like an entirely different composition by the time you read the end of the EP, establishing themselves in their sound and dominating their talents. Remete Hills ends their installment, verifying their dynamic configuration.
haphazard is currently available to preorder via Horn and Hoof Records, Croatia’s JeboTon and Punk & Disorderly Records. Due for release on March 29th, the EP was recorded, mixed and mastered with Dominik Kisić, and the design art by Korana Jelovac.
Bassists. The most vital role in any band composition, yet overlooked as much as hidden sugars in your cereal. A band forms with a guitarist and singer, finding a drummer and then filling in the bass as and when it becomes necessary. The industry filled with names of guitarists, vocalists and even drummers, with only a handful of bassists cutting it. Les Claypool from Primus, Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tool’s Justin Chancellor and John Young of Dream Theatre. They’ve become known for their style of playing, their funky bass lines and the way they beef out the tracks bringing depth and girth. It’s crazy to think that an instrument that brings a level of intensity to tracks, that moves them with fluidity and is literally what attracts your neurological sensors.
Researchers at McMaster University in Canada have found that one of the reasons that basslines seem to cease into the melodic architecture of the song, placing high frequency notes more poignant is because lower tones are easier for the brain to understand. If the bassline isn’t moving in fluid motions and creating an overall structure of the track, our minds find it difficult to comprehend the motion and rhythm. With our brains instinctively syncing with these lower frequencies, bassists are acclaimed for their talent of keeping the low tone frequency rhythm in tact. If a drummer was to hit too early or late, or a guitarist was to cut a chord short, it’s less likely that we will recognise, but due to the low end registry, we’re able to detect cadence of the bass with more attention that can throw us completely off track. It was noted due lead author Laurel Trainor hooking up participants to an EEG to monitor their brain activity while they heard stimulating streams of two piano notes – one high-pitched and another low. Researchers would sometimes play one of the note fractions too early, effectively proving that participants were more likely to recognise the errors that occurred in the bass notes. It was also noted that when the participants were asked to tap their fingers to the unpredictable note rhythms, the subjects were much better at adjusting their tapping when the lower tones began to arrive early than they were with the higher frequency.
In 1980’s History of the Science of Music, Robert Challoner wrote “the bass part… is in fact, the foundation upon which the melody rests and without which there could be no melody.” Establishing and defining the chords that sets the songs melodies – while it doesn’t always define the chord’s root – it frequently commands the role. “You know, the piano player can play a C chord, but it’s only a C chord if I play C on the bass,” Sting, vocalist and bassist of English rock band The Police, says. “If I play something else, it’s a totally different chord. For instance, an A. So, you control the harmony. If you are also a singer, you control the top. So, everybody performs within your parameters.”
As if that wasn’t enough to provide you with enough evidence that bass is a vital role in successful music writing, Northwestern University researches found that bass-heavy music is far more likely to provoke feelings of power and drive in listeners. The study that discovered this were made to listen to pieces of music with altered bass line. Dennis Hsu, one of the studies authors said “we chose to manipulate bass levels in music because existing literature suggests that bass sound and voice are associated with dominance.” Reporting feelings of influence, subjects also chose more power-related words on a world completion test aiming to assess implicit, or unconscious, feelings of power.
Criminally overlooked, bassists often fits into the background of our day to day music, but is essential to shape and structure our favourite tracks. It doesn’t avert song writing either, with Paul McCartney and Roger Waters of Pink Floyd primarily being bassists and making it into the hall of fame with their writing talents.
