Ryan's Gig Guide - June 2019

THE VERDICT BY NICK J. TOWNSEND ELECTUS Album: Close Encounters Wolverhampton rock warriors Electus return with yet an- other brilliant album release. Highlights in my opinion in- clude ‘Best Of Me’ with it’s shoulder shaking and exfiltrating chorus and just fantastic Rockstar appeal; some juicy riffs here, ‘Killer Joe’ in places reminds me of something dirty that Dave Mustaine would write; ‘Trial Of Man’ is a real atmospheric gem with a huge sense of profoundness along with ‘Living In Shangri La’ which is either a warm touching homage to a fictional land of peace and perpetual youth (thought to be in Tibet) or a lesser salute to the Hotels and Resorts of the same name (I wouldn’t wish living in a Hotel; it’s demoralising). Okay gloves off; Frontman and guitarist Russell Peake is a brilliant rock writer and per- former; Electus always release quality tunes and this album is offering a lot more scope than previous work; there’s still the same emphasis on the three minute single with domi- nant memorable hook choruses to please radio throughout but musically Electus are trying a lot of new things here. Yes, there’s a lot of verse chorus verse chorus solo chorus end but hey don’t most bands use that formula? It works. The 9 to 5 friendly ‘Out Of Control’ and the angelic ‘Top Of The Mountain’ are the most adventurous and experi- mental tunes on here and arguably gives Electus fans a real curveball from what they might normally expect; still both armed with the Electus signature style but going in some interesting new directions and really showing just what ex- cellent musicians they are on their own terms. Overall this is another top Electus release.Worth your attention if you love hard rock.  www. electus-music.co.uk THE CALAMITY Single: We Pass By Oh dear. Never had this happen before. So what’s go- ing on? I hear you ask.Well, it’s a solid sounding indie song, very commercial, catchy, well played, nice lyr- ics; all the hallmarks of a tune destined for greatness right? Unfortunately no matter how much I liked the song I don’t think it possibly can get big. It’s because of a massive problem which you just can’t ignore. I played it to four other people with different music tastes, I said nothing about the song, asked them for their first thoughts and they all said the exact same thing in the first minute.The phrasing for the vocals is almost identical to the 1993 hit tune ‘What’s Up’; if you imagined that Liam Gallagher had done a cover of a 4 Non Blondes single then you’d hear something similar to this. It’s so noticeable that you instinctively sing different words. ‘We Pass By’ sounds beautiful and I prefer it but there’s a real danger of acciden- tal plagiarism, the tone is quite similar, it’s not a car- bon copy but your brain hears it every time.This is a terrific Wolverhampton band with a superb retro indie sound (check out their other single ‘Lifestyle Express’) but ‘We Pass By’ will definitely get the re- action I’ve mentioned and that’s why I can’t make it single of the month; which is a shame because it’s very good.  www.f acebook.com/thecalamityband Greetings puny pathetic humanoids. This month I am reviewing first come first served style; no vetting and giving more of a reaction than a review (No one even reads this bit unless they have a complaint). Remember, this is called TheVerdict for a reason; it’s not called The Re- viewYou Can Buy AlongWith 6000 Facebook Likes, this is my genuine opinion. Not only do I have impeccably superior wisdom, years of music experience and the body of a slut but I also know what I like and don’t like similar to how you mere mortals out there reading this decide things. Let’s begin. JIM HUDSON EP: Fallen If you love minimalism or have a hatred for imagery then boy do we have a treat here for you. Person- ally rather than think of a white square I imagined a snowman had vomited hard on it just to create extra visual excitement but that’s just me. Luckily the music is extremely good. Phew; thought I was going to be lashing this musician.What we have here are three very well crafted original and deeply mean- ingful melancholy pop tunes which are spectacular- ly performed, dreamy rich with feeling and skilfully written. Each song ‘Shadow’, ‘Fallen’ and ‘Papercut’ sound like chapters of a dark but compelling story. Lyrically there’s some moving lines such as “Grab your things and run, through the barbed wire fence” and “All this son, will one day be yours”. I did find the drums for all three a little basic but after a while you don’t think about it and they kind of suit the music with their hypnotic charm so good decision made there on reflection but future stuff I believe will definitely need some variety. This is EP of the month because the songs are epic, interesting and sung so compassionately that it’s a winner hands down. Remarkable work.  www. jimhudson.bandcamp.com EP OF THE MONTH GASFOODLODGING Album: All Trashed Out Arguably what we have here is one of the most impor- tant albums in British music.A truly incredible Birmingham release and you’ll be hard pressed to find a more ground breaking album. Highly recommended for rock or blues lovers and definitely Jimi Hendrix; by that I don’t just mean for fans of the obvious chart best-of songs that everyone knows of; this album is up there with the likes of ‘Axis:Bold As Love’ and ‘Electric Ladyland’. From the opener ‘GetWith The Program’ you are whisked into a world where anything is possible again in rock n’ roll; a revolutionary anthem and fitting reflection on todays modern day perils all executed in a coat of incredible psychedelic blues. Second song ‘Cait- lin Silvers’ is a lesson in dark yet groovy story telling that will nail you to the edge of your seat with compelling lyrics, astounding rhythm playing and a solo that sums everything up.There are no lame ducks here and ‘All Trashed Out’ is 14 tracks of song writing genius; it’s modern in themes and subject matter but it’s got one well balanced foot in the past saluting the great works of music from a distant time of real musical rebellion. So why Album Of The Year? I can’t possibly order everyone to listen to this album and although some of you may scoff at a lot of the reviews I write I always say what I genuinely think. This album is what’s missing in the music scene and if you’re a real musi- cian then you should embrace this artist and thank him. I’m not going to do a track by track dissection or assassination list because it doesn’t need anything more but an audience and your attention now; I’ve said it’s album of the year.  www. gasfoodlodging.co.uk ALBUM OF THE YEAR www.ryansgigguide.com rgg Jun 2019 9 www.ryansgigguide.com 8 rgg Jun 2019