New Promo Pix added - 25 June, 2008

Check out the promo shoots for Shofar Symphonic, The Long Weekend and Mellow Yellow. HERE

Windowtreeandlight now has a facebook group!! - 25 June, 2008

Check out the group here. If you’re on facebook, make sure you join the group. Cheers. x

Babies Night at The Hope, Brighton - Feat ‘Tired Irie’ and Joan Pope - 25 June, 2008

Presidents Of The U.S.A - 23 June, 2008

Recently I was asked to review a number of bands playing in Brighton but sadly these never saw the light of day. So with the beauty of blogging I present these for your delectation…

—–Presidents Of The United States Of America – Concorde 2, Brighton – 16/04/2008—–

If there was any band that defined my musical upbringing then the Presidents of the United States of America would be up there as one of my masters. From my first listening of ‘Lump’ and ‘Kitty’, both singles from their seminal self-titled debut album I was hooked. The pop-punk, Seattle trio with a creative approach to making good solid, fun tunes out of as little as possible (namely a 2 string basitar, 3 string guitbass and no-string drums) have a penchant for the absurd, surreal and obscure, ditching the angst of that which had gone before in the Seattle scene for songs about cats, buggy-driving spiders and obsessions with various fruits. What could be more endearing? When I found out I had the opportunity to see them in my hometown after a gap of at least 10 years, I jumped at the chance. But after such a long break, and barely an ounce of knowledge of what had happened to them over the years I enter the venue apprehensively. Am I to be blown away, transformed back to a care-free 16 year old or will their humour be lost on me now? Only one way to find out…

Within seconds of Chris Ballew, Dave Dederer and Jason Finn, aka the Presidents of the United States of America, launching into their set, my fears have subsided as I realise I’m in for a real, old-school treat, along with the rest of the sell-out crowd here tonight. Playing a mix of songs from their arsenal the old songs of ‘Kitty’, ‘Peaches’, ‘Dune Buggy’ and ‘Mach 5′, are integrated seamlessly with the new including ‘Flame Is Love’ from the new album ‘These Are The Good Times People’. It’s not long before a wide grin is emanating from between my ears (almost touching in places) as the good-times truly begin to roll.

The Presidents antics onstage are choreographed solely to further the fun being had tonight. Chris and Dave synchronise their pogo-ing and with giant rock and roll swinging guitar arms play their instruments with vigour, bouncing round the stage like it might be their last ever gig. With short interspersions of chat, high-pitched voices, a complete PUSA history rolled into 15 seconds and an onstage fashion show (whereby a member of the audience is called up onstage to model the Presidents latest merchandise) there doesn’t seem to be a trick missing from the diversity of their entertainment skills.

As they play through the meticulously planned set the responsive crowd become more and more intoxicated by the music, singing along, dancing, jumping and, to my happy surprise stage diving to show their enjoyment of this band. The band play through to the impressive cover of MC5s Kick Out The Jams and on that high leave the stage amid raucous applauds and shouts for more. As the darkness remains on stage the crowd work themselves into a frenzy, clearly part of the Presidential plan as you just know there is more to come. The anxiety builds and builds until finally Chris and Co. return to finish what they came here to do with a finale that leaves no stone unturned. Straddling the other side of the encore PUSA launch into their most recognised cover with ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’, nasal voices included as standard, and finishing with the appropriately ironic ‘Were Not Gonna Make It’. This time however Chris makes the point that “we’re gonna make it after all” as the final line brings closure to an epic return for possibly one of the most creative and eminently fun-loving bands around. And just by way of a cheeky little goodbye The Presidents drop a fast and heavy snatch of “The Ace of Spades” for good measure. A band I feel guilty for having forgotten about but with a performance like tonight’s they have jolted themselves back to the forefront as if they’d never been away. And with a bit of luck are here to stay for a little while longer.

REVIEW BY DAVID STOCK OF www.windowtreeandlight.co.uk

Presidents Of The United States Of Americia Myspace

Unpublished Reviews. I-KOMA AND LEFT HAND RED @ CABLE CLUB, THE PRINCE ALBERT, BRIGHTON, 8th April 2008 - 22 June, 2008

Recently I was asked to review a number of bands playing in Brighton but sadly these never saw the light of day. So with the beauty of blogging I present these for your delectation…

I-KOMA AND LEFT HAND RED @ CABLE CLUB, THE PRINCE ALBERT, BRIGHTON, 8th April 2008

Swaggering onstage with clichéd, pissed, rock and roll arrogance is generally not something I really get drawn to in a band unless of course it’s Mick Jagger, Axel Rose, Bon Scott and Robert Plant onstage. This brings me to my major problem with I-Koma, they want to be these people on stage both musically and physically. They proudly point to the idea that “their reinvention of the genres will anoint them as the new kings of dirty rock” but tonight they are reinventing very little. Their songs are original in terms that they are composed themselves, but they are composed quite clearly of the limited parts that make up their CD collections. Each song almost sounds like a song I’ve heard before and for most of the intros I’m convinced they’re actually playing a cover of these songs. The first two songs could be Kings of Leon on a bad day, supported by Led Zeppelin perhaps. One of the latter songs ‘Need Somebody’ has an intro that reminds me eerily of Guns n Roses’ ‘Don’t Cry’, which by this point I almost wish it was.

It is by the middle of the set that I have cemented what I feel about I-Koma - that they are a very good covers band. This band I can now comprehend and when they play the opening notes of their actual cover, Rolling Stones’ Jumping Jack Flash, I can actually enjoy it. And what a cover it is, the notes and sounds are spot on and Dave Perry’s superbly strong voice does blinding justice to Mr Jaggers.

I-Koma are a superbly entertaining band, technically proficient musically and charged with an unrivalled energy onstage, these guys can perform. Now I’d like to see them take a decision, either stick to their current form and continue showcasing the best of their influences, amounting to little more than a covers band, or take the plunge, use their obvious talent, take a leap of creativity and start doing some actual reinventing.

I-KOMA
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In a stark musical contrast Left Hand Red take to the stage. I have a bit of an issue with bands with ‘Red’ in their name at the moment. It seems as if they were all born in an era where ‘red’ was popular, just as Ackerley, Meldrick and Wynn were once serious contenders for a newborn’s Christian title. In the past two nights we have seen My Name is Red and Blood Red Shoes grace the presence of Brighton venues, not that these bands are bad it’s just it always seems that indie music has homogonous trends in its names as well as its styles and tastes. But I digress…

Left Hand Red are nothing like I-Koma. I-Koma’s arrogant confidence gives way to a shy, introverted youngster. They are tamer in style musically, performing in the vein of your classic indie-rock. As they kick into their opening song a noticeable change of audience has occurred, younger fans move to the front, many of whom I suspect are also the bands friends. The set starts off weak and the bands nervousness is clear. Whilst they perform with energy and vigour the opening songs are just not strong enough to carry and the band seem to start loosing the un-dedicated section of the room. This is exacerbated when the drunkard to stage left calls out “That song was shit” after the first two songs. After a number of witty and not-so-witty yet light-hearted exchanges between said drunkard and lead singer Dan, the band step up a gear for the main event. Whether riled by the off-stage comments or boosted by the awkwardness being broken or simply perhaps playing better songs, the set picks up and the crowd are responsive. By the time they begin dropping songs from their 3 song ep. ‘Transition’ including the title track, a large proportion of the audience is dancing, or at least tapping and swaying, including, I was pleased to see, the drunkard from earlier.

Left Hand Red clearly have talent but in terms of experience and technical ability are lacking. However, this perceived lack of technical ability seems to work in their favour. They don’t try to over-complicate their tracks, there is no unnecessary guitar work or solos, and the out-of-tune vocals give them a roughness that appeals, just as Stephen Malkmus’ vocals do for Pavement. LRH finish their set well and bring to a close an enjoyable night at the Albert.

LEFT HAND RED

REVIEW BY DAVID STOCK OF www.windowtreeandlight.co.uk
I-Koma’s myspace
Left Hand Red’s myspace