Seen It>> Reading Festival- Saturday, August 25

Green Day>>NME/Radio 1 Stage>> The festival's worst kept secret became reality, as Green Day took to the mid-sized NME stage at 11am to deliver a pulsating retelling of their large back catalogue. Everyone in the audience was enjoying every minute, even those who had gone off Green Day in recent years (yours truly), but had growm up listening to them. Anyone who was lucky to be inside witnessed something special, and something that won't be re-encountered again for sure.

The Shins>>Main Stage>>The last time the indie pop five-piece were at Reading in 2007, James Mercer was fronting a different band. However he is now the sole remaining original member and the Portland-based quintet were here to support new record, Port of Morrow. The likes of "New Slang", "Phantom Limb" and "Simple Song" ensured that it would be a blissfully enjoyable late afternoon set in the sunshine.

Billy Talent>>NME/Radio 1 Stage>>The Canadian quartet have become something of a cult band at Reading over the years and they only added to their popularity, with another entertaining set full of hits such as "Devil in a Midnight Mass", "Viking Death March" and "Red Flag".

Mastodon>>NME/Radio 1 Stage>> Metal bands are becoming something of a water in the desert at Reading these days: hard to find. Mastodon were included in the line up after Sonisphere went belly up and they showed that metal bands still have a place at Reading, with an entertaining set that had the tent headbanging in unison.

The Cribs>>NME/Radio 1 Stage>>The Cribs are recent Reading legends and they seem to enjoy the festival more than any other band and they showed why they keep getting booked to come back. "Men's Needs" got its usual lairy crowd response, whilst Ryan Jarman was up to his usual crazy antics, as he seemingly didn't want to leave the stage. And why would you, when you're having such a great time?

At the Drive-In>>NME/Radio 1 Stage >> The year's most hyped up reunion (along with Refused), saw the El Paso post-hardcore quintet back at Reading Festival, after their 2000 appearance cemented their reputation as one of the most exciting live bands. 12 years, however, is a long time and the band looked painfully out of sorts. But that didn't stop their small but passionate crowd giving it everything and making sure they enjoyed every second of what looks to be a short reunion.

Seen It>> Reading Festival- Friday, August 24 2012

O'Brother>>Festival Republic Stage>>The post rockers from Atlanta, Georgia had the dubious honour of opening 2012's festival. They had a loud, atmospheric set which suited their surroundings perfectly, with songs such as "Machines Part I" and "Lay Down" gaining warm applause.

Cancer Bats>>Main Stage>>The Canadian hardcore punk rockers were more at home on the Lock Up stage, as their set looked flat, and whilst their usual crowd would have been energetic, the atmosphere was anything but. Their "Sabotage" cover due the biggest reception.

Coheed & Cambria>>Main Stage>>Again the atmosphere around the main stage had a flat and early morning feel to it, which clearly affected the band's set. Set closer "Welcome Home" had everyone headbanging and air guitaring though. 

JEFF the Brotherhood>>Festival Republic Stage>>Nashville, Tennessee's brotherly duo were the first band to liven the audience on the (usually) groggy first day. Rockin' numbers such as "Shredder", "Heavy Days" and "U Got the Look" were like being thwarted back to the 70s with their heavy distortion. The perfect band for an early afternoon beer. 

The Hives>>NME/Radio 1 Stage>>Howlin' Pelle Almqvist and his mad cap band were back at Reading after an eight year absence. Quite how such an entertaining festival band as The Hives were away for so long is anybody's guess, but they showed just what Reading was missing with a jam-packed set featuring classics, inane banter and freeze frames. Fagersta, Sweden's number one export (besides steel) were fantastic as they delivered song such as "Main Offender", "Hate To Say I Told You So" and "Tick Tick Boom", which featured the aforementioned Hives freeze frame. 

Touche Amore>> Lock Up Stage>>The post-hardcore quintet from Los Angeles were in town to play tracks from most recent album, Parting the Sea Between Brightness and Me, including "Home Away From Here" and "~". The boys seemed delighted to be at Reading and the audience were delighted to have them. 

Graham Coxon>>NME/Radio 1 Stage>>Former Blur man was back at Reading and, well, it wasn't one of his best days. A set containing mostly new material failed to grab the somewhat (shamefully) small crowd's attention, with only "Freakin' Out" getting the audience moving. 

Every Time I Die>>Lock Up Stage>>The mentalist crowd of the day went to Buffalo, NY's Every Time I Die. The metalcore quintet were making their first appearance at the festival and they didn't disappoint, delivering a brutal set containing "Holy Book of Dilemma"and "Wanderlust" amongst others.

The Cure>>Main Stage>>Robert Smith and co returned to headline Reading Festival after some 33 years. The majority of the crowd would have not have even been born then, but they were still able to appreciate a legendary British band showing off their distinguishable career, with hit after hit, and a wide mixture of genres. 

Reviews>> Smashing Pumpkins - Oceania (EMI/Martha's Music)

In the five years that have passed since The Smashing Pumpkins’ last studio album, Zeitgeist, was released, there have been numerous line-up changes. Most obvious of course, being the departure of original drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, who was replaced by 22-year-old Mike Byrne, a long-time Pumpkins fan. Unlike on Zeitgeist, rhythm guitar and bass duties weren’t supplied by band leader Billy Corgan, but by Jeff Schroeder, who’s a somewhat veteran in the band, having been there since live shows in 2007, and Nicole Fiorentino, formerly of Spinerette and Veruca Salt fame, respectively. This therefore makes Oceania the first full band release for the Pumpkins, since 1995’s colossal double album, Mellon Collie & the Infinite Sadness, which incidentally, Corgan had claimed that Oceania would be their finest effort since then.

Over their long career, the Pumpkins have always fused together an amalgam of different genres and this release is no different, taking a trip through different stages of their career, from arena rock to prog to dream pop and electronica. It isn’t a completely new sound for the Pumpkins, a couple of songs could be found at home on earlier releases, but it is an attempt to make its own mark in the Pumpkins vault, rather than rehashing past glories.  

Opener “Quasar” hits you early on, with its pounding drums and soaring arena-ready guitars, whilst the ensuing “Panopticon” continues where its predecessor left off. The new wave “Pinwheels” could well be the “1979” of the album, a beautiful dreamlike composition comprised of floaty guitars and atmospheric-synths. The title track is the Pumpkins at their grandest and most ambitious; an epic, evolving nine-minute journey through dreamy space rock, progressive rock, acoustic balladry and funky basslines.  Ballads “My Love is Winter” and “Violet Rays” are melodically beautiful, whilst “The Chimera” and “Inkless” revisit the early Pumpkins, with their fuzzy, heavy progressive riffs. “Pale Horse” is a futuristic space rock odyssey.  It does tail off towards the end with “Wildflower,” but with listening to the album all the way through, it is worth enduring.  

Overall, it’s a great return from The Smashing Pumpkins, but it’s also a great prologue for them to continue off on their next release.

8/10 

Seen It>>ATP I'll Be Your Mirror at Alexandra Palace - 27.05.2012

Halfway through the final day of the I’ll Be Your Mirror weekend, was recently reunited indie punks Archers of Loaf. The North Carolina-based quartet reformed early last year after disbanding in 1998, and had played the ATP’s Nightmare Before Christmas event last December, which was curated by Les Savy Fav. They were famous for their energetic shows and, even older and balder as they were, they still showed they could still rock as hard, with bassist Matt Gentling energetically leaping around the stage like an excited child on Christmas morning. Playing the first and, so far, only show of their “tour of Palaces”, they drew a small but passionate and vocal audience, who bellow out the words to “Audiowhore,” “Plumbline” and “You and Me,” as if they had never been away. The final two songs of the set, “Web in Front” and “Nostalgia”, draw frantic bouncing and moshing from the crowd, to signal an energetic show that was highly enjoyable.

The locally-based 90s revivalists, Yuck, were at home on a bill that include three reunited bands, whose heydays were all in that decade. On opener “Chew”, with its wall-of-sound guitars, you get a feel of their My Bloody Valentine influences, whilst the ensuing boisterous “Holing Out”, is more from the Dinosaur Jr textbook and it gets the crowd bopping along. They seem to feel very nervous on stage, showing a lack of stage presence, with frontman Daniel Blumberg shyly thanking ATP for having them on their bill. The distortion-powered “Get Away” draws the loudest cheers from the crowd, before they end on the 9-minute long “Rubber”, a long lo-fi stretch of reverb and distortion. Overall, it was a decent set, but nothing special.

The Make Up, having recently reformed for I’ll Be Your Mirror following a twelve year hiatus, were greeted by a large audience. Their sound was a mixture of post-punk atmosphere, with gospel keyboards and garage rock guitars, a complete contrast to the other day’s bands. The madcap frontman, Ian Svenonious, who was previously with the Nation of Ulysses, was almost as excitable as the audience, with his high-flying scissor kicks greeting his every highly-charged word. Think Mick Jagger fronting The Strokes and you’ll get a brief image of his on stage behaviour. He spent a significant amount of time in the audience, climbing on top of audience members, in order to get closer to the crowd and spread his word like the rock preacher he so naturally is. Before long, he returns to the stage, confidently serenading the audience with the funky “We‘re Having a Baby” and “Every Baby Cries the Same”. The most eclectic band on the bill, showed why there were in a league of their own, providing the perfect spiritual rejuvenation  for a tired audience, and granting the perfect warm up. Although they were the penultimate band of the weekend, they could have easily topped the bill, which would have still left the crowd going home happy.

With sweltering temperatures both outside and inside, The Afghan Whigs turned up the heat, with a blistering set that brought the house down and the event to a emotionally drained climax. After thirteen years away and a couple of prior shows, including Jimmy Fallon’s talk show, Hollywood and New York comeback shows and the Pinkpop festival, the Ohio band were back and were in scintillating form. Whilst not as big as most of their Sub Pop contemporaries in the early 90s, they made up for it in critical acclaim and cult status. Greg Dulli’s smouldering soulful rock chargers opened up with the noir-esque “Crime Scene Part I”, before launching into the highly-powered “I’m Her Slave.” But it wasn’t until the likes of “What Jail is Like” and “Gentlemen”, that the roof threatened to blow off and Dulli’s vocals were drowned out by the bellowing screams of the intoxicated, passionate audience, who seemingly had waited many years for the chance to sing these anthems again and even with the Whigs being the final band of the weekend, the energy inside wasn’t sapped. Dulli told the audience to keep dehydrated due to the baking conditions, before deciding on the draining “66” and “Debonair”, that had the entire audience bouncing for one last time. “Faded”, over 8 minutes long, gave the audience a chance to get their energy back in time for the encore. They returned to rapturous applause, delivering a four song encore. The final part, “Miles iz Ded”, proved to be the perfect parting gift, with a large congregation of singing along to ‘Don’t forget the alcohol…ooh baby’, to many a raised pint glass. Even after well over a decade away, The Afghan Whigs prove to be more in demand and as powerful as ever, leaving many middle-aged men dewy-eyed after a riveting and mesmerising show.

Overall it was a great day of music, but the show did certainly belong to The Afghan Whigs.

Incoming>>JEFF The Brotherhood - "Sixpack"

Tennessee's brotherly duo, JEFF The Brotherhood, have enlisted the help of The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach for their upcoming EP, Hypnotic Knights. The first track to be taken from it, "Sixpack", is a chilled-out departure from their usual wild, prog-punk rock; it's a Pinkerton-esque fuzzy guitar ode to getting hammered. Hypnotic Knights will be released on May 22.

Incoming>>Fang Island - "Asunder"

Brooklyn-based indie trio Fang Island have unveiled the first track to be taken from their sophomore album, Major, due out July 24 via Sargent House.  It continues from where they left off on their eponymous debut album in 2010, with more energetic power-pop metal riffs which come with accompanying headbanging and handclaps. They have previously described their sound as "everyone high-fiving everyone".

Reviews>>Silversun Pickups - Neck of the Woods (Dangerbird)

After the mass success of their sophomore album Swoon in 2009, which reached number 7 on the Billboard 200 chart, you wouldn’t be surprised if Silversun Pickups decided to stick with what they already had on their new release, Neck of the Woods. However, that couldn’t be more opposite of this album’s intention. Enlisting the help of U2 and R.E.M. producer Jacknife Lee, Silversun Pickups go for a louder and bolder sound on their third LP, which sees them dropping the distortion and fuzz-Pumpkin riffs, progressing onto a darker and brooding atmosphere, which frontman Brian Aubert previously described as sounding “like a horror movie.”

Lead off single “Bloody Mary (Nerve Endings)” may carry the name of a teenage horror movie urban legend, but its melodic synths and cinematic dream pop gives it that scary and unsettling feel, whilst the industrial “Make Believe” shows a different side to their sound. “Here We Are (Chancer)” carries Aubert’s mysterious, ghostly vocals over a mellow drum-machine beat. “Simmer“ is the album’s seven minute prog epic, “The Pit” has 80s synth-pop in the style of Depeche Mode and haunting basslines from Nikki Monninger, “Gun Shy Sunshine” generates jangly riffs and reverb, whilst “Busy Bees” is Ok Computer territory Radiohead. The gothic “Mean Spirits” is their most Pumpkin-esque track on the album, an amalgam of arena-heavy wall of sound guitars and powerful drumming courtesy of Christopher Guanlao. Final track “Out of Breath” is pretty much usual Pickups territory with its driving atmospheric guitars and robotic drum work.

If Silversun Pickups have long been compared to 90s alt-rock legends My Bloody Valentine and Smashing Pumpkins, then Neck of the Woods shows that they have moved into a new direction, following M83 into incorporating electronica into their sound. It is a beautiful flow of trancelike electronica, that shows the quartet are unafraid of trying something new with their sound and are able to tackle a variety of styles successfully.

8/10