Ryan's Gig Guide - April 2019

THE VERDICT BY NICK J. TOWNSEND LEFT HAND MAN ALBUM: Strange Creations One of the most original albums of 2019 so far. A modern brit-alt-rock-pop classic filled with catchy vocals, edge of your seat guitar work, stadium wor- thy drumming and fret-wearing bass lines. Highlights include the whole damn record to be fair but let’s narrow it down to my particular favourites shall we? First of all imagine a credible ultra talented version of Robbie Williams singing with a badass rock band, boom! Just brilliant.‘WiseWords’ is a rockers delight on this album with gigantic riffs and the catchiest of choruses ever, ‘Unresolved’ is a gentle and melodic brave creation with all the dynamics of a good soap opera. There’s no dead wood here and you could easily write a dissertation on this with plenty more to say.‘Then Depart’ and ‘All It Holds’ boast an epic sound that just catapults them miles ahead of most bands on the circuit; it’s extremely rare to discov- er an act with songs as unique and as accessible as this one. They are based in Stourbridge and this is their second album release; the debut was superb but this is pure gold and worth your time. Stylish musicianship; a frontman with the perfect rock voice and incredibly diverse. Oh and ‘Valley’ is a far superi- or single than anything currently in the music charts. Boom! Everybody got that?  www. facebook.com/lefthandrecords BLACK BEAR KISS EP: Fighting Our Corner Highly recommended for lovers of Kasabian, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, The Black Keys and Queens Of The Stone Age. Midlands / Shropshire based alt rock band Black Bear Kiss release a formidably tight 5 track EP with songs ideally suited for mainstream radio playlists; all executed without losing any dignity by maintaining strong song writing and full of charac- ter. Chart worthy tunes such as ‘Hook’ and ‘Follow Me’ could even convince me to French kiss a black bear if the situation was unavoidable. Essentially what you have here are a collection of 3 to 4 minute mir- acles with distinct likeable singalong choruses over a soft grunge rock canvas bouncing along to the occa- sional bass driven funk thrown in for good measure. Tracks such as ‘Cutting Corners’ are definitely worth your attention and as far as commercial appeal I be- lieve they’re really on the ball.Although this is a fine EP release I’m assuming that their eventual full studio album will be tanked with bigger songs than what we have here as you can hear the potential; an album will definitely reveal their range and song writing talent. Black Bear Kiss are on course for great things judg- ing by this EP and I wish them every success with their music career.  www. facebook.com/blackbearkissband ALBUM OF THE MONTH EP OF THE MONTH www.ryansgigguide.com 8 rgg Apr 2019