Revl9n - Walking Down the Heat

The ten track album opens with Night Vision a reverberation of guitar trampolines against the vocal which is so reminiscent of Feargal Sharkey as to be uncanny. I thought I was listening to Jimmy Boy, but I found myself moved away from Ulster to wide open fjords.

When Mercury Hits Red bounds out of the speakers with the expectant wagging of a tail and slobbering licks of a young puppy and how can the listener not become engaged with the infectious electro-beats.

Revl9n like to take the ears on a roller-coaster and from the highs we come to the depravity of exotic bass lines that hall-mark  Some Medicine, with some chutzpah. I think this is the charge point for the album as it wallows in such emotional context.

Trip finds us in a triangulation of sounds, Bhangra, hits New York indie and rebounds against Swedish avant-garde. Whilst the head is working to keep up with the diversity of the release thus far, the body is in happy mode.

Walking Down The Heat marks the half-way point with a more mainstream sound of the world of indie-electronica rock. I am completely engrossed in the release which demands nothing of the audience other than an open mind. Revl9n has the ability to take your hand gently whilst jarring it with an electric shock to wake up the sensibilities. I am reminded of children’s electric palm buzzers.

Racking up a few BPM,  Divine Wind flutters across the room as if wrapped in oily black smoke as the band tear apart all before them in a cataclysm of powerful chord constructs and a beguiling vocal.

KoKo is another shift of gear, which by now the head is anticipating, but like a decent Chinese grip return on the table-tennis table, once again the mind is wrong-footed. The review thus far, may appear to make the release sound discordant, but far from it. Walking Down the Heat is practically a ‘Day in the life of…’ which is never easy to replicate on release, but here sits well documented, each and every twist engraved with sharpness.

A Drifting Ship is classic Revl9n big rock guitar opening before the wrapping in spider silk. Yet another vocal to die for.

Despite the twee sounding title Bijou finds the band in gothic rock mode.

The final track  Ch-ch-check It Out and Die is a delight of speaker exploding bass and percussion whilst the vocal shreds the tweeters.

Oh and how to pronounce the Revl9n - Revolution and for once I find the normally grating use of numbers and letters absolutely appropriate, I just wish this were a 20 track release.

Walking Down The Heat is available on *

Join the indie bands blog on twitter for more of the best new releases.

*Purchases made through the link will result in the indie bands blog earning a commission.

Emergence

What happens when you combine an  English guitarist, a French Bassist, a French Drummer and an Indian Violinist with Solitude Farm in Auroville, well it is called Emergence.

The music is riven with influences of disparate cultures with Western Style constructions interwoven in to Indian thematics, all is encased within the concept of the Auroville Community. The combination of acoustics and electric bass along with violin catches an inspiring musical concept that delivers a gentleness which doesn’t stray in to sentimentality, but draws the listener in to the space with a sense of exploration. The compositions are highly recognizable as rock rooted songs, but it is the way that the four members of the band manage to take it away from the mainstream that gives Emergence the added value.

Switching tempos and front instruments the band is able to provide a mixture of sounds, that keep the listener engaged.

website

Join the indie bands blog on facebook for more of the best in indie rock from around the world.

Panic Dance

There is nothing to do other than dance when Panic Dance hit the play button, which makes writing a review a bit of an issue. The music ploughs out of the speakers straight in to the Osseocarnisanguineoviscericartilagininervomedullary.

Whilst evidently enjoying creating the music, the trio are genuine and capable musicians, who pull neatly in to the sound-scape, ska, without actually having a drum kit and it doesn’t sound like a plasticised beat either. The infectious enthusiasm rubs off on to the listener who is left with a beaming smile across the face as Panic Dance continue to pull-out of the repertoire a kit-bag of diversity, that has the feet demanding more, even though lungs are burning and so we have an aptly named band.

The use of multifarious vocal adds to the over-all freshness of the band, as each track brings forth a new dimension. Not something to play when you are planning a romantic evening dinner, but certainly one to put on at the start of a party night and preferably keep it playing all night too.

I must add, Quite Great Music PR is coming up with some entrancing acts recently.

website

The Beautiful Struggle is available on *

Join the indie bands blog on facebook for more of the best emerging bands from around the world

*Purchases made through the link will result in the indie bands blog earning a commission.

The Jacobins

High notes and staccato drums  are the template within which The Jacobins operate. The music has an idiosyncratic sound which is light of feel, yet skilfully composed. This is a sound which reminds me of the smell of freshly squeezed lemons, sharp and bright. In keeping with the mood, the tracks are brief, typically running at just under the three minute mark, hooking in the listener to ask for more. Which the band delivers with yet another flourish.

That isn’t to suggest the music is flotsam, as they are able to inject an emotional integrity in to the material as well as turning to a more serious sound as they deem fit.

With a couple of self released EPs behind them it should only be a matter of time before they start to gain deeper traction in an industry they evidently take (quite rightly) as a serious business. Whilst there is an underlying desire to carve out space, that is not allowed to compromise the material which has a natural and genuine sound to it.

I look forward to hearing more of The Jacobins over the summer and hope they secure more festival spaces where they will, I am sure, be well received.

website

The eponymous EP is available on *

Join the indie bands blog on twitter for more indie music from around the world.

*Purchases made through the link will result in the indie bands blog earning a commission.

Alistair the Optimist

1. Alistair the Optimist (England)

2. Ill Murray (England)

3. The Heartbreaks (England)

Funtimes by The Heartbreaks is available on *

4. Union General (Canada)

Union General by Union General is available on *

5. Out Like Pluto (USA)

Take Cover by Out Like Pluto is available on*

Join the indie bands blog on Google+ for more of the best indie chart music from around the world.

*Purchases made through the link will result in the indie bands blog earning a commission.

Hello Vegas

The band has a new LP No One Knows which sees them on a new lease of life. The big rock sound that is Hello Vegas, is made far more accessible to a wider audience by the slight paring back of the tempo, which enables the band to glide majestically through their material. The thumping drums, of course sound well in my ears, speaking of which my tinnitus has now cleared up of its own accord, a bit like when a head-ache wears off, for some inexplicable reason everything seems different, then you remember the irritation.

There is always a danger to music fans that such elegantly played rock music sounds a little tame, but with a nice side-step Hello Vegas inject sufficient earthy determination to maintain an edge to out-put. I am drawn to the guitars, which sing out in a quick-step of chord changes, each playing off the other with purpose. The bass neatly folds the music together and a distinctive vocal rounds off the quartet.

This is an ideal band to take a listen to at home with a glass of fizz, I have been led to believe that in performance they shine on-stage and I would envisage their wide open rock would play well at festivals.

website

Join the indie bands blog on Google+ for more of the best in rock music from around the world.

Hollow Mountain

Sometimes the less written the more understandable the reason for the review.

Generative looping enables the duo to create and record live their ambient drone atmospherics. A delightful excursion from the mainstream to the edges of musical composition.

website

Join the indie bands blog on facebook for more of the best experimental music from around the world.