THE HORRORS STRIKE BACK

With the standard of new British music dipping in recent months it seems that the most exciting fresh music of 2009 will be coming from those who made their breakthrough a few years ago. One such band on course to release a stunning 2nd album is The Horrors who, judging by studio pictures of mountains of pedals and armies of vintage synths, have been really pushing their music to the outer limits in an attempt to create something very experimental and very special. Although when they first came into the spotlight they were treated as a gimmick I believe that this time around The Horrors will start to be taken very seriously and define themselves as a band to look back on with awe in decades to come.

Listen to: The Horrors - Draw Japan (myspace)

12/02: HATCHAM SOCIAL + special guests

Out of all the acts who played DDJY! in 2008 few bands surprised people more than London band Hatcham Social. They were relatively unknown when they played last January, and to an extent still are, but they managed to win many new fans on their trip to Wrexham with an excellent set of alternative pop tunes with a psychedelic, shoegaze edge. They now return to Central Station on Thursday February 12th with a lot more acclaim to their name and some new songs that are their finest to date. New demo’s such as ‘Wild Creatures’ and ‘Give Me the Gift’ and past singles ‘So So Happy Making’ and ‘Til the Dawn’ signal that this band are truly one of the best underground bands in Britain right now. They’ve already released a mini album in Japan and have been recording their debut album proper with producer Tim Burgess of The Charlatans; set for release this March.

Make sure you snap up tickets soon for this gig as they have already been selling fast!

Local support on the night comes from brand new Chester act Tell The King who will be making their debut live performance; early demos show signs of great promise so make sure you arrive early to watch the beginnings of a band set for bigger things.

Tickets are available from the following outlets:

In person: Yales Cafe Bar, 15-17 Hill Street, Wrexham, LL11 1SN

Via phone: 0870 444 5556

Online: http://seetickets.com/see/price.asp?code=375277&userid={164AB604-0D6C-47B6-94C9-F4F2B12E2EF3}&filler1=see&filler2=art-srch

https://secure.ticketline.co.uk/event/selectTickets/eventId/13231839

...as well as from the members of Tell The King and DDJY! promoters Ross Roberts and Matty Webber

Listen to: Hatcham Social - Give Me The Gift (myspace)

JUST BECAUSE I'M ON YOUR SIDE

New bands are a strange thing; how new is new? How long can you be new? Well in the case of The Answering Machine it seems that you can be new for at least 3 years, having been tipped to make a breakthrough for several years now. But now I really think it is their time. Not many bands will have been given this much slack when it came to causing a stir but with well over a year passing by since previous singles such as 'Lightbulbs' and 'Silent Hotels' the band are still trying to push themselves towards the limelight and after hearing their next single 'Cliffer' I think this is the tune to get them the attention they deserve. They head out on a triple-headlining tour with fellow "new" hopefuls Casiokids and Flashguns in March and we hope to get them to DDJY! in the coming months.

Listen to: The Answering Machine - Cliffer (myspace)

I THOUGHT WRONG

If you're in university at the moment then you're probably, like me, revising for your exams; and, yet again if you're like me, you're probably wondering what music best soundtracks revision. I've found that a lot of up-and-coming music is pretty irritating to try and study to due to the fact that it's often difficult and intrusive, even bands I would say I was a fan of I could simply not work to. But thanks to a revival in shoegaze and C86 influenced music on both sides of the Atlantic I have managed to concoct a soundtrack of bands that aren't too intrusive yet aren't boring, are intellectual yet aren't heavy going. I'm talking about old bands such as The Field Mice, The June Brides and The Popguns and new bands such as The Pains of Being Pure at Heart and Vivian Girls. So if you would like some musical accompaniment in those last few stressful hours then I heartily recommend checking out the aforementioned acts.


Listen to: The Field Mice - It Isn't Forever (myspace)