Ryan's Gig Guide - August 2019

THE VERDICT BY NICK J. TOWNSEND Greetings puny earthlings.As you may have noticed I was vacant last issue; mainly due to an injury I suffered whilst dancing on the graves of the dead musicians not welcome of making this page (Yes, I had to disintegrate them weeks before as I found their music unworthy of review).Anyway, this month I return with my incred- ible wisdom and bring you more music reviews of independent artists from your tiny planet. I command you to download or stream all these releases as well as hunt down their music videos.These grand artists printed below all sent me music and deserved a review; others however I have had to completely destroy with my CD crusher. Enjoy the reviews humans. Hail Townsend. FirstWinter is a solo project by Stourbridge musician Matt Edwards and ‘Through The Never’ was home recorded by Matt himself. First impressions? Well after recently spend- ing time in Los Angeles with many current metal and rock bands I can see exactly the direction FirstWinter is heading for and it’s good.A mix of melodic and hard metal with that modern US commercial rock sound; I’m fairly certain the music will be welcomed by US internet rock stations and I’m sure if it becomes bigger than a solo project then it will grow further. Search for FirstWinter on Spotify.  www. facebook.com/First-Winter-187453841972628 FIRST WINTER Through The Negative OF KINGS AND CAPTAINS Broken Robots Absolutely nothing but praise for this. Highly recommended for fans of Biffy Clyro,You MeAt Six and Fall Out Boy. Terrific three track EP from experienced Stourbridge rock band Of Kings And Captains. Highlights are ‘Replay’ which is an exemplary example of a solid OKAC tune, vocally led with courage and backed with slick no nonsense guitars. ‘Old Bones’ is arguably the strongest song on the EP; a huge well thought out rock anthem which impeccably sells them and should receive a very favourable reaction.  www. facebook.com/ofkingsandcaptains EP OF THE MONTH WOUNDEDSPiRiT Taking Back Control Taken from the award winning album ‘Forever Young’ and packed to the rafters with hooks. It’s a very confident release by West Bromwich band WOUNDEDSPiRiT and, speaking as a listener, it’s reminiscent of that popular vibe which U2 delivered so exquisitely during the mid nineties.You can dance to it and there’s enough guitar to rock out to as well. Radio friendly stadium rock and modern sounding without losing their mojo; a truly credible single release that deserves divine success.  www. woundedspirit.net SINGLE OF THE MONTH AMOEBA TEEN Medium Wave Ten brand new songs from Stourbridge band Amoeba Teen. If you’ve already heard the singles released such as “Suit And Tie” or ‘(Coming On) Stronger’ then you could be expecting an up- tempo rollercoaster of pop rock n roll with nostalgic nods to the Beach Boys and The Beatles. However, whilst you do get further lashings of their well crafted sound the remainder of the album is mostly a far more chilled and slow paced affair which, although confidently demonstrates the superb song writing skills of Mark Britton and Mike Turner, almost comes across as a different band. Highlights include ‘EverybodyWants’ and ‘Wandering Bullets’. Musically a fine work of art and an absolute joy to listen to.  www. amoebateen.com ALBUM OF THE MONTH www.ryansgigguide.com 8 rgg Aug 2019