It feels like a long time since London three piece Is Tropical released their debut album Native To on Kitsuné in Summer 2011. Recently the band finally emerged from a busy touring and recording schedule with stella new single ‘Dancing Anymore’ with a saucy video that featured a teenage boy wanking.

The record opens with ‘Lover’s Cave’ which is a simple yet uplifting way to start the album. It’s quite similar to new track ‘Dancing Anymore’ and old album track ‘Think We’re Alone’ rather than their more aggressive sounding songs like old single ‘The Greeks’ and ‘What???.’  It certainly sets the album up to be a less manic, poppy affair than their previous album.

‘Lillith’ is a much darker, sombre song whilst ‘Leave the Party’ is what can only really be described as an indietronica ballad which features high pitched synth chords weaved with simple drums beats and percussive sounding synth loops and a few “oooweeeoooo”s. ‘Cry’ begins with a fuzzy, distorted guitar sound before the vocals and more guitar is added, along with some light synth whilst the lyrics are soppy, yet admittedly kinda cute. It’s quite possibly an album favourite.

‘Sun Sun’ is a TROPICAL sounding ditty about it being alright to make “adult films to kill the dull days.” Fair enough Is Tropical, fair enough. It’s the “acid trips are no vacation” of I’m Leaving.  It’s these simplistic, cheeky lyrics that are so endearing about the band. ‘Video’ is a much more slow, reflective creation about the breakdown of a relationship.

‘All Night’ is chilled out, feel good number, featuring some lush vocals from Crystal Fighters’ Ellie Fletcher; a perfect come down cure. ‘Toulouse’ is a short, kitschy number whilst album closer ‘Yellow Teeth’ is one you may already have listened to on Soundcloud and beholds a similar vibe to ‘All Night’ and is a calm way to terminate the album.

Is Tropical have calmed down a lot on this album, although their aggressive streak was fun, and is missed here a little, this is a well put together album that’s sounding fresh and could make for a fantastic soundtrack to the summer.

7.5/10

Words: Katie Wilkinson 

‘I’m Leaving’ is out now on Kitsuné / Cooperative Music

To celebrate bank holiday weekend, next Sunday infamous indie club night White Heat will be holding a big blow out at Hoxton Bar & Kitchen. It will feature sets from Chicago based producer, Mister Lies as well Giraffage (who doesn’t play the UK much so make sure you get down to this one!) whilst ‘dreamwave’ producer, Slow Magic will be headlining. They’ll also of course be the usual White Heat DJs on until late. It’s gonna be a huge night and is sure to sell out so get your tickets for a mere £8 here or enter our competition for a chance to get yourself on the guest list!

All you’ve got to do for your chance to win a pair of tickets is tell us who your favourite magician is and why in one sentence. Our favourite answer wins. Email: fsparkkatie@gmail.com

For more info on White Heat, visit www.whiteheatmayfair.com 

COMPETITION CLOSES ON TUESDAY AT 12PM.

Last year Swedish band GOAT released their debut album World Music which gradually received world wide appreciation whilst their live shows are renowned for being a magical, enrapturing and intense experience full of costumes, percussion and dancing. Here’s what happened when I caught up with Björn Ulvaeus from the band:

How do you feel about all of the positive responses the album has had? 

 We feel happy about it of course. We are very thankful.

Where did you record World Music? 

We recorded most of it in our own studio in Gothenburg. But some parts where recorded at the temple in Korpilombolo.

As a non-Swedish person, I don’t know what the middle of the album booklet says. Is it some sort of manifesto? Could you please translate it for me? 

It is a beautiful poem talking about the boundlessness of the soul. I can´t really translate it for you since my english is too limited.

If you had to pick one artist or band that’s been the most influential for you, who would it be? 

I really can´t say. We have always listened to so much music it is impossible to pick one.

Your live shows are pretty exciting. Do you feel that it’s important that live shows are so visually stimulating? 

 No, the important thing is always the music. If the music is good the show is of no importance. But how we do it works for us, we enjoy ourselves and when you do that you play better. What is important for us is to feel united with each other on stage, to feel that we are one organism.

How come you decided to release the ‘Run To Your Mama’ remix EP for Record Store Day? 

 Actually we didn´t decide that, it was Rocket’s idea but we like what the musicians have done with the song.

How was Austin Psych Fest? We love Austin. 

It was great! Lovely people and nice to play outdoors.

There are quite a few psych-rock bands around at the moment. Why do you think this is? 

 I dont know. I dont see us as a psych band. I dont know what a psych band is. I think we play World Music.

Where did you get your on stage outfit ideas from? I’m in a band that wears costumes called Gaggle. I’m a big fan of dressing up for performances. 

They are ritual robes and masks from our homearea and our past.

You’re playing a few festivals this summer. Which ones are you looking forward to the most? 

Thanks for your time! 

I look forward to them all equally.

Thank you too!

Words: Katie Wilkinson

I’ve had the pleasure of attending Live at Leeds many times and I have never been disappointed by the lists of acts that have graced its stages and from 2013′s line up it will be yet another triumphant year! 2012 saw acts such as Alt-J, Lucy Rose, Lianne La haves, Toy, Bastille, Pale Seas and Jessie Ware to name a few. Could it really be any better than last year? The answer to that question is yes, yes it can! At just £22.50 a pop, what a bargain I hear you cry, you can feast your eyes and open your ears to some of the best talent around.

To get the ball rolling were fresh Brighton based band The Wytches who brought their own trippy yet reasonably heavy psych-rock to London, visuals and all. Vocals are scrappy and urgent in an endearing, we wouldn’t have them any other way, manner that makes them unique and recognisable whilst guitars and drums were sounding fantastic and gell really well together.  The balance of distortion to psych pedal is sounding pretty perfect. This band are certainly one to keep an eye on and be sure to get involved with their forthcoming debut release ‘Beehive Queen’ which is out on Hate Hate Hate Records soon. This release has certainly redeemed HHH Records after the horrendous Loom single they put out.

At 9:30pm sharp, Temples arrived on stage to face a now fully packed, sold out venue dressed in full sixties inspired attire from head to toe. Good effort boys. They launch into a new song which is sounding just as exciting as the likes of ‘Prisms’ and ‘Shelter Song’ which went down like a dream for the band and even provoked sing a longs which is quite a rare thing at a gig of this nature. Perhaps this suggests that they’re more The Doors than Hawkwind  or Jefferson Airplane and they do still have a pop element to their music. This is not a bad thing at all though. As the crowd reactions and the fact that the gig was completely sold out suggest, the Temples boys are bringing back late 60s and early 70s psychedelic rock in full force; they’ve got a more commercial streak to them than the likes of Hookworms and Wolf People which is a good thing as it means that it will bring more people’s attention to the new bands of this growing psych-rock revival. I’m fully on board with this. Despite a few technical problems, they really smashed The Lexington, expect all of their London gigs to be sold out from now on.

Words / photo: Katie Wilkinson 

Last week Uniqlo, in co-operation with Vice, launched their pop up shop at Hoxton Gallery in Shoreditch. The night featured performances from the likes of 2 piece electronic band Age of Consent and glitzy, nutbag pop star Gabriel Bruce as well as a full free bar all night. That’s right, none of that trying to give you almost out of date cans of Fosters stuff but a bar with a decent selection of drinks that contributed massively to the fun, celebratory vibes of the event.

A main attraction was the UT photo booth competition which gave attendees the chance to win a brand new bass guitar. To take part people had to put on a Uniqlo T shirt and move around for 10 or so seconds and a video was taken of it on an iphone and it joined the other videos up on the site. Here is mine and my friend Ange’s:

You can join the competition too using your smart phone. Just download the app from the website.

In terms of the collection, as you can see, it’s a t shirt collection. Some of them were by brands such as MTV, Coca-Cola and Disney whilst others were by designers such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring and Lulu Guinness. Styles ranged from baggy to cute fitted, more girly numbers (such as those by Lulu Guinness). I guess you could say that there was something for everyone there. To see the collection visit the site.

All in all, it was a pretty fun and interesting night whilst the collections were really awesome too. I’d certainly recommend you drop into your nearest pop-up shop if you can!

The shop at Hoxton Gallery is open 12-7pm every day.

Words: Katie Wilkinson 

Four years ago, Yeah Yeah Yeahs released the brain smashing album It’s Blitz! and the world fell at the bizarrely decadent feet of Karen O, Nick Zinner and Brian Chase. since then the New Yorkers have been covered by none other than Glee… But less of that. 2012 may have been heralded as the end of the world, but 2013 marks the coming of Mosquito and despite the terribly nightmarish album artwork, it’s actually a pretty decent record.

Lead single ‘Sacrilege’ is a spectacular return to the past and I always find that if a band has been squirreled away for a number of years, it is always best to return with a similar yet more in your face comeback. Everyone loves a gospel choir and I defy anyone not to want to stand on tables screaming the words ‘Sacrilege, sacrilege you say!!’ at the top of their lungs. It’s all that we missed from chief kook Karen O and her plethora of colour and glitter.

‘Subway’ is a much more subdued affair that reminds people that for all of the screaming and raving, Karen O is a very competent singer and that YYYs have more weapons in their armoury than the mainstream hits played at every indie night in life ever. The gentle clacking of Subway sound effects in the backing of this track make it soothing in a way and I bet you never thought you could have entertained the idea of having a YYYs track on a bedtime playlist.

‘Under The Earth’ is all bass and is bound to earn itself many a music fan head bob upon first listen. The subtle bass may not sound much in the presence of the track, but it’s this that carries what otherwise could have been a very dull track from a band who like to dress like bananas every now and again. The deeper you get into this album, the more it feels like YYYs are growing up.

Dedicated to the aliens, ‘Area 52′ is the contradiction to this. Sounding like a rave in an aircraft hanger, Karen O is snarly, agitated and ready for an extraterrestrial assault on the ears of millions. It soars like a spaceship powered by a savage guitar shred that Billie Joe Armstrong would give his right arm to have.

The chops and changes in tempo on the album are well planned and seem less like it’s been thrown together as some previous albums have appeared. ‘Always’ is the light relief or comedown from previous tracks and take listeners to a head space of relaxation and jingle bells of all things. I was expecting ‘Wedding Song’ to be some kind of punk protest as to the sanctity of this ideology, but I was shocked to discover a song you could actually play at a wedding… And not in some kind of ironic ‘Things Can Only Get Better’ way.

This LP may have frightened the crap out of me in both name and cover art, but what YYYs have done is wrapped something truly incredible in a not so attractive packaging… Perhaps an unintentional social commentary on how we view society in this age we live in and it’s already on track to be number one in the album chart this week. Mosquito certainly gets my vote.

8.5/10

Words by Rachael Scarsbrook

‘Mosquito’ is out now. 

Heavy psych-rock band, Wolf People are releasing their second studio album this month on Jagjaguwar and to promote it they’ve been touring the country. I attended their sold out London date at The Sebright Arms; a hot underground basement beneath a constantly busy pub. As you can imagine, it was a sweaty one, fittingly so for the loud psychedelic metal sounds that the four piece create.

They open the set with some older material that’s welcomed warmly by fans. The venue is perfect for the band as their sound emulates that of seventies rock and roll; punk music that also steals from sixties psychedelica. Small, sweatbox venues like the Sebright are where they belong. The band seem comfortable (despite feeling a little hot) here.

After a couple of older songs they start to test water with the new songs which are sounding absolutely incredible and people respond well to them. These are not people that are here half heartedly to hear a band that they’ve heard are good but they’re  proud fans of a band that are only just creeping out of the post-internet remains of the music industry’s underground scene. They’re fans that are actually interested to hear the new album. It’s refreshing to see so many people totally immersed in what’s going on in front of them.

Every song is so impressively tight whilst riffs are actually really mind blowing. Their songs could contain no lyrics at all and I’d still have enjoyed it just as much. The sound that the band create is just so engaging and the the two guitars and bass gel so well together and seem so well thought out and practised. Despite their set being nearly an hour and half long I did not get bored which is really saying something as my attention span is nothing to brag about. The new LP is seemingly absolutely magical and I can’t wait to hear it. Hopefully it will be an album to bring the band out of the underground and into the forefront and show the young buzz bands around them how playing guitar and making exciting music is really done.

Words: Katie Wilkinson

‘Fain’ is out on the 29th April on Jagjaguwar. 

After the longest winter in the UK in a very long time, spring finally seems to be upon us – everyone is starting to eat ice lollies and feel a bit relieved and Philadelphian singer / songwriter has provided you with the perfect soundtrack to continue to welcome this sunshine into your life. Wakin on a Pretty Daze is Vile’s fifth studio solo album and it’s one of the strongest releases of the year.

The album opens with its deliciously mellow tempoed title track which is awash with chilled out psychedelic riffs whilst the lyrics are about how uplifting a beautiful day can be. This is certainly relatable to the spring feeling sweeping the nation right now and he manages to get away with not sounding cliché or cheesy throughout the whole nine and a half minute song but absolutely beautiful. This already is an achievement in itself.

‘KV Crimes’ is a bit more upbeat psych-rock affair and what I’d imagine a great driving song to sound like (I don’t have a car any more so I can’t test water on this one – feel free to and report back yeah?).

‘Girl Called Alex’ is a bit more folk inspired but whilst riffs are replaced with picked chords, vocals are just as dreamy and to Vile’s signature style. It’s more of a chill out number than a waking up in the morning and embracing the day kind of song but it’s an incredible one to get up and amongst if you’re anything like me and have music / candles time regularly.

‘Pure Pain’ starts pretty upbeat but then there’s a weird yet wonderful break a minute in where it goes a lot more folky whilst also being layered with slide guitar that adds to the bewitching surrealism .

‘Shame Chamber’ has a classic sixties rock vibe reminiscent of some of The Rolling Stones’ softer material and closes with a fading, long guitar solo and a vocal sample.

‘Snowflakes Are Dancing’ continues in this style and also perhaps shakes off the psychedelia a little, heading the style more towards indie pop.

‘Air Bud’ switches modes completely with its bizarre crackly My Bloody Valentine-esque electronic riff and a high pitched sample but also still being distinctly a guitar based track. It’s probably the most clever song on the album as there’s a lot going on yet it’s not overbearing and the listener is never lost. There’s ‘whoops’, there’s string samples and lots more interesting stuff in there that all gels perfectly well together. It’s quite magical.

The album terminates with ‘Goldtone’ which is a calmer, more stripped down song that has some lush slide guitar quietly flowing through its glorious depths throughout whilst also featuring some complimentary female vocals. It’s a charming conclusion to an absolutely stunning album.

10/10 

‘Wakin On A Pretty Daze’  is out now on Matador Records. 

After not released an album in five years, influential Seattle punk band Mudhoney have returned with a new album entitled Vanishing Point. 

The LP opens with ‘Slipping Away’, a strong start to the album as it’s laden with impressive psych-rock riffs. It’s a little different to their older material but good all the same. Next track  ’I Like It Small’ is more of a melodic number with the catchy chorus line “I like it small” being something that could potentially stay whirring around the listener’s head afterwards for the rest of the day.

‘What To Do With The Neutral’ is a slower, moody Pixies-esque, bassy track with a fantastic guitar solo bang in the middle of it whilst ‘Chardonnay’ contrasts completely to it by being a quick, angsty punk song with few lyrics other than “I hate you Chardonnay.”

‘The Final Course’ is perhaps the best track on the album as it’s fast yet skilful rather than sloppy whilst the vocal delivery is also really playful as well as the structure of the song.

Guitars head more towards a psych-rock vibe again for ‘In This Rubber Tomb’ whilst ‘I Don’t Remember You’ has one of those simple choruses that makes you think “why didn’t I think to write this?” Rhythmically and lyrically it may be simple but the guitars are just as impressive as on all the other songs on the album so far.

‘The Only Son of the Widow from Nain’ is another loud one, moving away from psychedelia and harking back to the band’s older, grungy, punk style. ‘Sing This Song of Joy’ is then completely different and is a much slower track. If there’s one thing that Mudhoney like to do on this album then it’s to stick contrasting sounding songs side by side. I like their style.

The album terminates with ‘Douchebags on Parade’: a track that seems to mix together the record’s punk elements as well as it’s psych-rock aspects skilfully whilst also being an angry and actually slightly humorous number.

This is a strong come back for Mudhoney and what I’d image will be a great record to catch live so make sure you catch them live with fellow Subpoppers Metz, on their UK tour in June:

7/10

Words: Katie Wilkinson 

‘Vanishing Point’ is out now on Subpop. 

Photo by Zena Zerai

It’s day 1 of SXSW and I’m sat in the sun on a curb sandwiched between two Wet Nuns. It’s their first time over in America and it all seems pretty surreal. They played in New York before heading over to Austin but admit that it’s “only now that it all seems real. It’s really cool and it just feels like we’re in a film here in Austin.” Before this visit they toured the UK which was their first ever headline tour which they describe as “amazing” and  the show I went to at Birthdays was “probably the best one and perhaps one of the best shows we’ve ever done” in Rob’s opinion. “I don’t know why I did it but I just sat down and went ‘thank you London.’ I think I just got a little bit carried away” Alexis adds.

On the subject of recording plans it’s time for an album next. “It’s nearly finished” is something I’m excited to hear. “We started recording it last summer with our friend Ross in Sheffield so it’s been a few separate sessions of four or five days each. We’ll probably do one more four or five day session during the summer and then hopefully it will be finished. We’ve got enough songs for an album but we want to be able to pick the best ones and then we can use the ones left over for B sides and that sort of thing” says Rob. “It’s silly that we have such a big gap between the recording sessions though as our sounds always changing and then we’ll eventually release a 72 disk album and that’ll be our debut” points out Alexis. On the topic of a name they aren’t sure what to call it and joke about how they’ve thought about calling it Are Shit or Golden Turd. However, they do hope to have it out in around September and then tour it so they’ll have to think of one soon…

“There’s a woman dressed as a panda” Alexis points out. And so there is, a woman sat a few meters further down the curb in a panda costume. “Of course this means we’re going to come back to America if that happens here.” “Would you ever dress up as pandas on stage?” I ask. “Yeah, we’d be up for that. Maybe if it was for a panda benefit gig or something.” Alexis suggests. “But I prefer red pandas.” Rob chips in. “To be fair, you know how pandas are becoming extinct? Well, this might sound really harsh because I love animals but I kind of think that pandas should go extinct. They only eat one kind of bamboo plant and that bamboo provides so little energy that they have to eat so much of it. They also won’t just mate with any panda; they’re really picky out their sexual partners. Is no wonder that they’re not going to survive” Alexis informs me. “We dressed up as goats. We once had a rubber goat mask and Leki used to wear it at all the gigs but it got stolen in Brighton. I got a shirt stolen once as well in Brighton and it still hurts me when I see people in the same shirt. The mask got stolen at The Green Door Store and my shirt got stolen at The Hope. They were real tragedies. That was probably my favourite shirt ever.” Rob reflects.

Steering the conversation away from pandas and the thieves of Brighton (I once got a purse stolen in Brighton: Brighton is clearly a city full of thieves) and back onto the subject of SXSW. “There are so many ridiculous shows that we’d want to go to but have no chance of getting into” Rob says. “But there are also secret sets as well. I’ve heard The Black Lips are doing a set at some point” adds Alexis. “We saw The Black Lips in Sheffield at a roller disco a few years ago and I was very, very pissed and Leki’s friend Steve saw me fall over as they were playing my favourite tune and I did that thing where you just basically run on the spot for ages before falling over and Steve said that he could hear me hit the ground over the band playing, it was that loud. I’d like to see The Black Lips again, not on rollerskates. I’m pretty certain that for the first half of the set in fact, the singer was on rollerskates” Rob tells me. “After that we had to play a gig as well in someone’s front room and there were no mic stands so we just had our friends holding the mics for us. I remember our friend Tommy crowd surfing with a saucepan full of Martini.” Alexis reminisces.

The conversation then leans towards Sheffield and the band tell me about the festival that they’re putting on in Sheffield THIS WEEKEND called Detestival. They’ve got Wolf People, TOY, Bo Ningen and lots more playing. I then pose the question of why the band think that Sheffield has such a great music scene. “Virtually everyone I know in Sheffield is in a band. I don’t know why that is. It just has a rich musical heritage. I guess Sheffield has a lot of opportunities for new bands to play places and loads of people support local bands but then they don’t support outsider bands as much.” Alexis suggests. “It’s probably the same everywhere once you head out of the massive cities. People like what they know, a bit too much and can’t be bothered. It is an effort to find out what’s coming through rather than just going to see all of the same bands all of the time that you know you like. People are weird with stuff like that. People are lazy with what they know they like and they just stick to it but I think everyone’s guilty of it. I’m guilty of it as well to be honest. It’s just the way that people treat music I guess but it pays to make an effort with things like that – to go out of your way to find new stuff” adds Rob.

“You did a couple of dates with Blood Red Shoes, have you done much other support stuff?” I ask them. “We haven’t done that much no. Those dates were probably the biggest support slots that we’ve done. We did a London show with Pulled Apart By Horses once as well which was good. They’re friends of ours and they’re one of those bands that try and get their friends on support them where they can and I think that Blood Red Shoes asked us because they liked us as well. I’m quite proud of how far we’ve come without doing that many support slots. As a band we have been together for nearly five years but it’s been moving for a year and a half or so. We just spent a lot of time playing in Sheffield and getting good as I suppose looking back on the first year or so of playing, we were shit” says Rob. “I was still learning to play the drums, I still am. I never stop but I feel like I’m at an acceptable level now.” adds Alexis.

Wrapping up the interview I ask about their immediate plans for this year. “I think we just want to be keeping it rising like we are now and doing more and more things outside of Sheffield and releasing music properly and getting things out there. It would be nice to spend another year where it just steadily keeps going upwards. I don’t think we’re ever going to be a hype band and shoot up straight away to massive popularity or anything like that. It would just be good to keep motoring and feel like we’ve covered as much ground by this time next year as we can. We’re doing stuff like Detestival and that kind of thing and I think we’re starting to enjoy essentially exploiting the position that we’re in and be able to do stuff like that. Things that are related to our band but isn’t just necessarily playing gigs and recording. We’re always looking for other opportunities that benefit our enjoyment and bringing bands that we think that people should hear and maybe even start releasing records with other bands and have a label. We just want to do what we can with the stupid position that we’re in. It is stupid. We’re called Wet Nuns. It was a joke and it’s gotten really out of hand so we just have to exploit it as much as we can now. Who’d have thought four years ago when we started a band called ‘Wet Nuns’ we’d be sat in Austin doing this. It’s absolutely ludicrous. It’s crazy to have that kind of support to be doing something so blatantly stupid.” Rob concludes.

Detestival is this Saturday and Sunday at Queen’s Social Club in Sheffield. For tickets / info, go here. 

Words: Katie Wilkinson 

I then caught WALL again (why not eh?) who did a long and very pretty 45 minute set, including a cover of The Supremes’ ‘Where Did Our Love Go?’

I then made the most of the fact that I was actually in one of my favourite shops and went shopping for a bit before Arbutus signed Canadian band Doldrums took to the make-shift UO stage. Their set was as unique and energetic as ever. Psychedelica exploded within the marquee covered car park. Doldrums brought an energy to the afternoon that no other band had and that energy along with the originality of what they do is what makes them special.

Next I headed back downtown and across the river to catch My Morning Jacket’s Jim James opening for The Flaming Lips. It was outside at a festival type venue, it was different compared to the small dive bars of downtown Austin but in fact a pleasant change which (sorry to be cheesy) reminded me of home – our English festivals – and forced interesting memories of last year’s festivals to flood back to me, weirdly in the middle of a field in Texas. He performed a really great set, some of his solo material sounding quite similar to My Morning Jacket but at times a lot more stripped back. My favourite moment of the whole set however definitely had to be watching him perform ‘A New Life’   whilst watching the sun set over Austin. What a beautiful way to end the day huh?

Next on were headline act Flaming Lips whom I’d never seen before. They played their new album The Terror in full whilst front man Wayne Coyne sported some sort of ‘out of space’ outfit with a matching fantastical light show behind him. The new album is as experimental as ever but far from pop, it’s beautiful and interesting but it’s nothing catchy or singalongy… They then had a five minute break before they came on and did the ‘hits.’ Starting off with ‘The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song’ and launching into ‘Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots’ before finishing on ‘Do You Realize?’ with an added Jim James into the vocal mix. It was a truly special night; Flaming Lips certainly know how to put on a fantastic show.

The next day, I went straight to Urban Outfitters to see what was going on there again. I saw some average hippy indie pop bands that I didn’t even bother checking the name of but then, after waiting for a while I got to see Metz who I’d never managed to catch on any of their London dates. I would say that it was worth the wait but outside in the heat to a diminishing crowd is definitely not the ideal place to see Subpop signed punk band Metz but a sweaty London basement venue would have worked much better. Their set was great but it was also far too short for my liking. I’ll definitely have to try and catch them again when they come back to London.

After that I just seemed to wander around trying to get into big gigs and failing whilst grabbing food and cocktails between. If there’s anything that I’ve learned from SXSW then it’s that real fans and even journalists  (how I meant to see bands if you won’t let me in without a ‘badge?’) don’t really stand a chance of getting into any of the bigger shows and you do end up seeing some awful bands in small venues as well as being pleasantly surprised by others. It’s not an ideal situation and although SXSW is an incredible, fun experience and I urge everyone to go at least once in their lifetime, nothing is done fairly there. It’s all about who you are rather than what you do. You’re not allowed to see the bands you like because corporate people that probably don’t even work in music, they just work for one of the festival’s 3930295820 sponsors get to go and see your favourite band instead of you. Roll on The Great Escape in Brighton where music journalists get treated with a little bit more respect.

Words / Photos: Katie Wilkinson