VultureHound - Issue 08

VULTUREHOUND DECEMBER 2015 ISSUE 8

Drummer Pat Thetic of

Oscar-winning GRAVITY director

ANTI-FLAG

ALFONSO CUARÓN

Utopia + Capital's

FRANK R E N R U T LOWER THAN ATLANTIS

Frontman Mike Duce chats

ADEEL AKHTAR

Exclusive 'House Party' photos

DON BROCO

20D1O5F EN

YE AR AWARDS

playing …and out come the wolves

Me First & the Gimme Gimmes FRANK TURNER AND THE SLEEPING SOULS Sick Of It All © Less Than Jake Four Year Strong Dillinger Four 30 years anniversary

excl. benelux

excl. mainland eu

Biohazard © Dag Nasty © The Movielife © Emmure © Letlive Saosin (with Anthony Green) © Juliette & The Licks © No Fun At All Youth Of Today © BlessTheFall © The Aggrolites © burn Modern Baseball © Venerea © Flatcat © Success © Night Birds Rozwell Kid © Siberian Meat Grinder © Bad Cop Bad Cop © Pears

APRIL 29 & 30 | MEERHOUT (BE) TICKETS FRIDAY €65/€75 SATURDAY €70/€80 DOORS: FRIDAY 15.00 SATURDAY 11.00 CAMPING THU 18.00 COMBI €98/€115 CAMPING €15/€20 CAMPING TICKETS ARE NOT SOLD SEPARATELY

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IL L U S T R AT I O N A N D D E S I G N : © D O MINI C VA N H E U P E N

+ more to be announced

HELLO

WELCOME

EDITORIAL David Garlick Editor / Design david.garlick@vulturehound.com

Michael Dickinson Online + Film Editor

A

nother year has been and gone, so as tradition dictates we are looking at the best of 2015, and reveal our Top 10 albums, films and TV shows.

Days after the shocking events in Paris we spoke to cover star Frank Turner who shares his feelings on the situation and lighter subjects. Anti-Flag, Lower Than Atlantis and Heck also spoke to us and feature.

This issue also features two interviews for film and TV; one is with rising star Adeel Akhtar who you may have seen on Channel 4’s Utopia, and the other is with Oscar-winning Gravity director Alfonso, and son Jonas Cuaron who discuss their politically charged action thriller, Desierto with us.

TV editor Grae Westgate managed to binge Marvel’s Jessica Jones in one sitting and shares his descent into madness. He has never been the same since.

michael.dickinson@vulturehound.com

Sarah Carter Music Editor sarah.carter@vulturehound.com Shane Bayliss Deputy Music Editor shane.bayliss@vulturehound.co.uk Grae Westgate TV Editor grae.westgate@vulturehound.com Kimberley Bayliss Live Music Editor kimberley.bayliss@vulturehound.co.uk

ADVERTISING To discuss advertising please contact advertising@vulturehound.com

Lastly, thanks to everyone for reading this issue and continued support on the site. We have some great writers working on it all so hope you enjoy! Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

David Garlick (@davidgarlick) @VultureHound

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HIGHLIGHTS

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MARTIN IMPOSSIBLE Words: Martin Harper

Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation (DVD & Blu-Ray release) As part of the upcoming release, I got to try out a VR experience at Victoria Station this afternoon, in which I was rigged up in the air with an Oculus Rift and thrown into the scene where Tom Cruise hangs onto the side of an airplane as it takes off. Despite screens promising involvement in the actual scene, sadly it was just a poor CG render (the wind machine didn’t work either). It was a bit of a laugh though.

For those who haven’t seen the film, I’d highly recommend it. You can read my original review on the website.

VultureHound.com

JOIN US @VULTUREHOUND 04 VULTUREHOUND DECEMBER 2O15

NEWS

We got David Bowie back, hallelujah When will the guy run out of ideas? A career spanning over four decades and he’s still giving it a right good effort. His 26th, yes 26th record ‘Blackstar’ will be with us in early January and was marked with a 10 minute long title track. Of course. Most of his stuff these days has become pretty experimental, and apparently this could be his strangest work yet. Let’s face it, Bowie level of weird is unparralled.

WE ALSO GOT ADELE BACK...

HALLELUJAH? Love or hate the emotional songstress, there's no denying she sent shockwaves through the music world when her first bit of material since 2011 surfaced, breaking all sorts of records, the fastest selling album in UK chart history a record 3.38 million copies sold in its first week in the states, the largest single sales week since Nielsen began monitoring sales in 1991...Alright, Adele.

FESTIVAL NEWS We got our first taste of what's coming at next year’s festival circuit

The Prince tour that never was

Download didn't mess around, announcing all three headliners, and what a mighty trio it was.

Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath and Rammstein topping the bill at the 'spiritual home of rock'.

W

Having Prince-shaped dreams dangled in front of our faces to be suddenly torn away seems to be an all-too-familiar feeling. The great enigma announced an extremely rare “spotlight, piano and microphone” solo tour to everyone's delight, only to postpone the tour due to the risk of ticket touts rinsing the pockets of real fans.

At least it was done with the right intentions, but the wait for the great purple one goes on.

KING BLUES REFORM The King Blues returned Perhaps when we most needed them. In a year where discontent with most things surrounding downing Street has been higher than ever, The King Blues have given a voice to those who otherwise might not have had one. The band’s honest lyric play has always given a genuinely informed and interesting insight into politics, turning younger audiences onto something they may otherwise have never taken notice of. It’s going to be properly intriguing to hear their views on what really has been a pretty sorry year for the country in a lot of different regards.

EL VY CAME INTO OUR LIVES The new project devised by The National's Matt Berninger and Menomena / Ramona Falls' Brent Knopf turned out to be something truly stunning. Their debut album 'Return To The Moon' took the best bits of the duo’s musical background and intertwined to create an insanely impressive and interesting debut record.

The iconic Isle of Wight festival were also one of the first to show their hand, announcing rock royalty, Queen along with Adam Lambert for their Sunday slot, then not waiting too long in announcing a co headline spot on the Friday night being filled

by Faithless and Sterophonics. T in park will bring the Scots, The Stone Roses who announced their return to Strathallan Castle along with a new album and tour.

Reading & Leeds announced that Red Hot Chilli Peppers would be returning nine years after their last appearance as a festival exclusive.

The wait for the Glasto headliners goes on though. Coldplay, Radiohead, Stone Roses.. err Madonna?

DECEMBER 2O15 VULTUREHOUND 05

FRANK TURNER

FRANK TURNER ou’d think that going from playing the Opening Ceremony of the 2012 Olympics to playing Nottingham’s Rock City would be a fall from grace for some artists. Frank Turner however is at his happiest playing the legendary ‘toilet circuit’ venue, and we were lucky enough to catch up with him on the second of two consecutive nights in Nottingham, touring his latest album ‘Positive Songs for Negative People’.

Y

We chatted touring, music critics and also spoke briefly about the events of Friday 13th 2015 which saw the deadly attacks on Paris*.

Last time we saw you was headlining the Festival Republic stage at Leeds Festival, and it was just you on a guitar and a tent full of people and it felt like one of those 'Leeds moments'.

Yeah definitely, Reading & Leeds have been incredibly good to me over the years. It’s almost been a mile marker for me, because I’ve done it for >

06 VULTUREHOUND DECEMBER 2O15

R U O S I S I H T , Y T I N U M M CO Y M S I THIS E R ' E W , Y L I FAM N R E D O M E TH D N A S U C R I C T O G T S U J E W T I D N A D E K C A T T A !

S K C U S G N I FUCK MUSIC

DECEMBER 2O15 VULTUREHOUND 07

FRANK TURNER

IT JUST SEEMED LIKE IT WOULD BE MORE FUN TO DO TWO NIGHTS AT ROCK CITY. I AM FIERCELY IN LOVE WITH THIS VENUE, I THINK IT IS THE BEST VENUE IN THE UK, IF NOT THE WORLD 08 VULTUREHOUND DECEMBER 2O15

nine years now, albeit some Mongol Horde shows in there, but every year wherever I am on the bill is kind of like one of those height things people do in their kitchen on the wall. Wherever I am on the Reading & Leeds bill is how tall my career is now. But I love the people who run it and I’m very happy to be closely aligned to it, and it was a special moment because it’s the first solo show I’ve done and it felt like family, felt like a camp fire sing-a-long.

After that, outside of releasing the new album; you've just been seemingly solidly touring, first in America and now over here quite extensively. How has the tour been? Do you ever have time to have a break?

I’m not very good at sitting down and stopping, plus we had a bunch of time of the end of last year and beginning of this year to work on the new album and mostly to do with how to make the new album and where and with who. I really didn’t enjoy it very much, it’s the most time I’ve had off the road since I was 19, and I discovered I’ve got the living habits of the 19 year old when I get home and it’s a bit undignified for someone of 33. Touring is the thing I’m good at and the thing I enjoy, and we’ve got a new record out and I want to share the new album with as many people as possible. We’re booked through until 2017 now, we’re going to be busy for some time but it’s okay because I love it. The tour has been going great, I really feel that the Sleeping Souls and I are at the top of our game right now, I really do quite strongly feel that. Yeah it’s good!

You’ve sold a lot of venues out for your UK tour, and put on a number of 2nd shows. Do you feel you've under sold yourself in terms of the size of the venue, or did you want to play these venues because they mean something to you?

I think it is a bunch of different stuff. We did an arena tour last year, which went well but was a bit of an experiment in some ways. We did the Wembley show which went well, but it is different presenting your music in that kind of an atmosphere. The most important thing for me is trying to make sure that everybody can get in who wants to get in, but this is the 1st tour for this album in the UK you know what I mean? There will be more! But we did Nottingham Arena last February and it was great and we had a really good time, but it just seemed like it would be more fun to do two nights at Rock City. I am fiercely in love with this venue, I think it is the best venue in the UK, if not the world and I had that opinion very much confirmed to me last night. I fucking love that room! The people who run this venue are brilliant. I

MUSIC

always try and change it up as well, I’m quite sensitive to the idea of repeating myself and doing multiple nights is slightly different to doing arenas.

What is it like playing the same venue twice in a row?

It’s a bit weird because you feel like you are revisiting the scene of a crime when you show up in the morning the day after a gig.

The whole function of touring is waking up

in a new place every day, that’s the defining feature of it logistically.

I woke up this morning in a hotel, and walked back over here and was like “uhh, we were here yesterday” so it is a little bit weird. But it’s nice, we mix things up set list wise. Funnily enough I was expecting a lot of people to be coming to both shows, thus far there really hasn’t been. Like we did two nights in Southampton and there was like 10 people that came to both, which is

cool.

playing twice as hard.

It would be remiss not to mention what happened on Friday night, because it is something that has hit the music industry hard. I know you knew Nick Alexander, who we met the weekend prior at the Birmingham Eagles of Death Metal show. Is there anything you want to say? I know you've been vocal on twitter about bands cancelling shows, and instead you've been

That has been slightly misinterpreted I think, I wasn’t particularity referring to the Foo Fighters; cancelling shows in France this week is completely legit. I think Coldplay cancelling a show is less legit. The thing is if there are bands cancelling shows because they feel unsafe, and want to be at home with their families that is completely > legitimate. But

DECEMBER 2O15 VULTUREHOUND 09

FRANK TURNER fucking say that, don’t offload your reasons onto people who are dead, that is extremely distasteful. ...For instance The Deftones, because I know

some of those guys were at the show.

Again legit! But I have seen bands, and also friends who work in the industry have seen tours cancelled that hadn’t even been announced yet by American bands who are just not going to come to Europe, German tours because of something that happened in France that kind of thing. Personally I think that’s kind of lame, but everyone gets to make their own decisions in life, that’s not my reaction to the situation. But, in particular, trying to justify that kind of behaviour by saying “it’s respect for the dead” really boils my shit, because you know what? I know a few people who died at that show, and if you include people who got shot I know a lot of people at that show, and I know for a fact that they would all want to keep playing and doing what they do. I was talking to a friend of mine about this last night. In life there are certain circles of connection, and on some levels I feel bad about Paris and indeed Beirut and all the fucking rest of it because I’m a human being and people dying is bad, but I feel it on a personal level because my friend Sham got shot in the leg and Nick died, Nathalie died and all the rest of it. But there is also a level, and I don’t mean to be exclusionary in saying this but the touring community is a small one internationally, backstage at Reading every year is amazing because it is like a gathering of the crew tribes.

There are online crew networks, and that’s where I’ve been getting my news on what happened in Paris, from crew space and we all know each other, and it’s not down to people who come to shows because they are the most important people at the show on some

10 VULTUREHOUND DECEMBER 2O15

MUSIC levels, but this is our work space, this is our job, it’s what we do every day!

The morning after we were loading in Newcastle, and it felt very fucking strange that morning because I knew the Eagles were doing that same thing 24 hours before.

I suppose there is an element of family because you’re constantly around these people...

And it is an extremely intense way to get to know people on tour, there is such a thing as tour friendships. I’ve got people who I did a two month tour with in 2010, who I’ve seen once a year since then who I would consider some of my best friends, because you get to know each other unbelievably well. So I don’t mean any of this to be exclusionary, but there is another circle of affectation on that level. This is our community, this is my family, we’re the modern circus and we just got attacked and it fucking sucks!

The album ‘Positive Songs for Negative People’ has been out for a little while now, are you happy with how that came out? Because reading some of the reviews one statement which stood out was that it was “derivative of ‘Tape Deck Heart’ and other works” which seems a stupid and slight archaic statement because it’s a Frank Turner album.

Yes! Incidentally arguing with reviews is undignified and pointless because everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and the nature of the game I’m in is that I present a piece of creative work to the world and people have opinions on it. If I’ve got a problem with that then I need to stop presenting creative work to the world. To me the links between Tape Deck Heart and this album are interesting, on one hand it is the flip side of that album thematically but both logistically, methodologically > DECEMBER 2O15 VULTUREHOUND 11

FRANK TURNER

and I think even musically it was quite deliberately very removed from ‘Tape Deck Heart’ for me so it is weird that people see that many continuities between it. ‘Tape Deck Heart’ was very introspective and morose and a little mid-paced in places, and I wanted to make a record that was immediate and angry and a slap in the face. But people can have their opinions, I’m fiercely proud of ‘Positive Songs’. ‘Tape Deck Heart’ is problematic for me looking back, I don’t like being publicly critical about my own work because I know it means a lot of things to a lot of people and I don’t want to piss on anybody’s chips on that level. I feel like I slightly got a bit lost on ‘Tape Deck Heart’ in the studio, there are parts on that record and I listen back and think “what the fuck was I doing that for,” I think there are too many songs on the album and stuff like that and would probably swap in some B-sides with some tracks on the 12 VULTUREHOUND DECEMBER 2O15

record if I was doing it again but it is what it is.

We love that album, so watch it!

That’s the thing, and that’s why I don’t want to go too far down this road. Like a more extreme example I cannot stand the way Mars Volta rip on At The Drive-In about it being “childish bullshit.”

You know what fuck you! I bought your albums and travelled to see your shows and you were much better than Mars Volta, you know what I mean.

The album charted at number two.

We forgot about Dre!

That was about to be my question, were you a little bit gutted that Dr. Dre announced a new album a week before it was released?

Yeah, mother-fucker! I don’t care about it on a particularly

profound level, but the record label was very keen for us to go for the number one and we had everything lined-up to get it, and then mother-fucking Dr. Dre goes and announces an album.

If you look at the record sales we would have been number one by a country fucking mile if it hadn’t been for Dre. But the man’s a modern legend, you can’t argue with him and I’ve no interest in doing down Dr. Dre I think he’s very good at doing what he does, but it was slightly annoying. If he’d announced it a month before we could have moved a week or something, but it was literally six days before.

It seems annoying because this is something labels do then to look into, 'this is the prime release date' type thing.

We actually license to Interscope in the US, which is the same label as Dre so we called them and

MUSIC

E R D T U O B A T O G WE FOR said “really?” and they told us he didn’t run the release dates past his label either, he just announced it himself on his own social media, so nobody knew it was coming. But fuck it, must be nice to be in a position where you can do that kind of thing.

The two artists you've got on this tour are label mates, and we spoke about the whole 'family' aspect of things.

Do you like to take out bands that you know?

I can’t say I knew the Skinny Lister guys particularly well before we did the States together, I knew their music because they are on Xtra Mile. First of all support slots are a way for me to try and help out bands that deserve it. I’m not officially part of Xtra Mile, although I’m very tight with them. I’m not on the board or anything but Charlie who runs the label is my manager and one of my best friends. I definitely threw Will Varley his way, and he threw Skinny Lister mine. I’ve always been very suspicious of the idea of “scenes” and am proud of the fact that my music came up unattached to any particular scene. The Indie kids weren’t sure what to do with me, the Folk scene didn’t want me and

the Punk scene were being rude about me which was cool because it meant those kids who came to my gigs wanted to be there because they liked the music and wanted to be there, not because they felt they should be there. I grudgingly did recently concede though, we had an Xtra Mile Christmas Party and I was standing in the Monarch with my flat mate watching Skinny, Will, Beans on Toast and people like that and knowing all the bands and knowing most of the audience as well. Everyone knew all the words to everything, and I had a moment where I went “hmm, okay maybe this is a scene.”

The Xtra Mile scene?

Yeah! But fuck, we’ve built it ourselves and I have no problem celebrating that.

I was going to ask about your overall involvement with Xtra Mile because you do a lot with them. I know you produced Billy The Kid's album.

Yeah, I produced Billy The Kid and I produced the Beans on Toast record as well. It’s a funny thing, Charlie did ask if I wanted to come partner into the label and I said no because for the

time being I did want to have some daylight between me and the label. But I’m fiercely fucking loyal to Xtra Mile I’ve been there since day one and I will not leave them.

2016 you are booked up touring.

Reading and Leeds?

I can’t say just yet, but it would be remiss of me to miss my tenth year, I can say that.

Big anniversary party?

Yeah! It’s funny because I know hipsters and people who read Vice too much like to be down on Reading & Leeds and it makes me really defensive. You know what, fuck off and go to your boutique festival and the rest of us who like rock music for rock music will go to Reading & Leeds. It’s unpretentious and I love it for it.

Huge thanks to Frank for being welcoming and open as ever.

‘Positive Songs for Negative People’ is out now at all the usual places. *This interview took a place on 16th November 2015 3 days after the Paris attacks.

DECEMBER 2O15 VULTUREHOUND 13

DON BROCO

Words + Photo: Kimberley Bayliss

DON O C O R B

Y T R A P HOUSE 14 VULTUREHOUND DECEMBER 2O15

I

have a confession to make… The craziest, wildest, sweatiest show I’ve ever been to/night I’ve ever had, was a Don Broco show. And I’ve not lived a sheltered giglife, so that really is saying something.

Saturday night- one hour’s notice, Don Broco are doing a house show in Nottingham. Book and PJs (I’m so rockin’…) pushed to one side; it didn’ t take a seconds contemplation.

Playing the most debonair of hosts, the guys were mingling for hours before they started their set. Sharing drinks, setting up their kit, chatting and photo taking with everyone, they didn’ t hide out- get ushered in, play and leave. No. They came as just four guys ready for a good night, and they made sure the rest of us had one too.

JOIN US @VULTUREHOUND DECEMBER 2O15 VULTUREHOUND 15

Words: Grae Westgate

ADEEL AKHTAR 16 VULTUREHOUND DECEMBER 2O15

Photos: BBC/Kudos/Hal Shinnie

ADEEL AKHTAR

A

deel Akhtar is quietly becoming a familiar face in the world of film and television. Having worked with the likes of Hugh Jackman, Sacha Baron Cohen and in his most recent project River, Stellan Skarsgard, we were lucky enough to catch up with the Utopia star as he took a well-earned break from Christmas Carol rehearsals…

Pitch River to us in your own words.

River is the story of a guy, John River, who is a policeman, but he suffers from an undiagnosed mental condition which forces him to communicate people in his life who have died. They can be interpreted as him not having had any sort of emotional closure over these people who have died, and him having unanswered questions surrounding their deaths, so he manifests them as real people.

At his desk at work he has conversations with these imaginary ghosts.

It's much darker than a lot of what you've worked on before. Do you prefer doing drama or doing comedy?

I don’t mind either really. As long as I have a connection with it; if I like the writing or the project in general, I really don’t mind which it is. Ideally you want to find something that has a bit of everything in it!

With your role in Utopia, people are starting to know who you are a lot more now. How does it feel to be becoming more of a household name?

Well, people still don’t really recognize me all that often. You’ll get the occasional person, but not massively. Just every now and again!

You've recently appeared in Pan too. Is Hugh Jackman as awesome in real life as he seems to be on screen?

Yeah, he’s a lovely man. He’s the sort of fella that knows he can walk into a room and heads will turn, but he never plays on it. He’s really sweet and down to earth and really approachable. I suppose you have to be though in that position, otherwise you’d probably lose touch with who you are and those around you.

If you could choose any actor, director or writer to work with, who would be your dream collaboration?

Anybody that I can sit down in front of and just have a really good conversation with, no matter whether they’re a writer or an actor or a director. I respect any actor who puts themselves in front of a camera and makes themselves emotionally vulnerable and communicates some sort of truth about the part they’re playing. I’m very lucky that I’ve never had to work with anyone I didn’t like! It all hinges on the kind of person that you are, not necessarily the experience you have. Lars Von Trier though, I would love to be in one of his films but I could sit down with him and have a conversation and then realize we’re not gonna be a good fit. But then there could be a guy who’s just come out of film school and I have a really good chat with him and he’s got an exciting idea that I just want to jump on. It always comes down to what you feel really. I love Lars Von Trier’s films, but you never know if that’s going to turn into a good working relationship. It always comes down to a conversation and how you respond to a person in that conversation.

DECEMBER 2O15 VULTUREHOUND 17

Words: Shane Bayliss | Photos: Kimberley Bayliss

d n a r e m m u r d h t i w e k o p s s s i Shane Bayl c i t e h T t a P r e b m founding me 18 VULTUREHOUND DECEMBER 2O15

DECEMBER 2O15 VULTUREHOUND 19

Words: Shane Bayliss - Live Photos:Kimberley Bayliss

f you want to get political with a Punk rock band, there is without

Yeah for sure, it’s been great. We actually played in London

question only one band you should

release day or right after release day, we did two small shows

do it with. Anti-Flag have been using

so we’ve had a little chance to play in London but it’s nice to

music as a platform for over twenty

play in some bigger rooms and play to a few more people.

years, with 2016 marking the 20th anniversary of début album ‘Die For The Government’. We managed to catch drummer and founding member Pat Thetic ahead of their Birmingham show at the end of October.

The new album has been out since May, are you happy with how that’s been received and how the new tracks have been going down?

Yeah, it’s been great. We’ve actually been playing a lot of the new songs and it’s great to go from writing something in your

You played the Warped Tour UK, a couple of days back how was that? Different vibe to a headline tour?

Yeah, Warped Tour is a weird thing because the name sounds like a Punk Rock festival but the reality of it is it’s a new music festival, so depending on how you look at it it’s a weird mix of bands. But the show was great, we had a lot of fun, lot of old punk rockers there who wanted to run around in circles and have a great time.

Did you gear the set towards more well known tracks?

basement or practice room and then being able to play it in front of people and have them sing a-long.

No, we do what we do. If you don’t like it, fuck off.

This is the first time you’ve played a lot of them in the UK.

This your first record on Spinefarm, were they supportive

20 VULTUREHOUND DECEMBER 2O15

in just letting you get on with things?

Yeah, that’s what we always want. We’re not really loyal to record companies, I’m not a big fan of record companies, I own a record company and I’m still not a big fan of them. I think record companies are a necessary evil, it is very difficult to release a record and do all the things you need to do while you are on tour supporting the record and playing songs, which I like to do more than anything.

Releasing records is fun, but playing shows is significantly more fun. We can’t really release Anti-Flag records ourselves, so it’s always good to find different partners and have different ideas on how to put the music out and how to communicate with different people.

I know going back, when you signed for RCA way way back, certain people were giving you the whole “you sold out” thing. But surely, to be able to get your message out you need to utilise that reach?

Yeah, I can say what I want to say all

meat heads. In the States what we’ve

the time and if they don’t like it then

learned is that any time that revolution

unhappy is what they’ll be, I can’t help

or demonstration turns violent, the

that. There’s no point releasing an Anti-

government always has more ability for

Even in today’s world with the internet,

Flag record if you don’t like what Anti-

violence than the population does. When

you still need a record company on some

Flag has to say.

revolutions remain non violent, they have

level or a group of people willing to do that work. What I don’t like is when a band signs for a company for ten records, what’s the point you’re not getting anything new, you’re not getting any new ideas. At least for us we are always looking for new ideas, and new people and new challenges, so we like to jump around record companies and see what they can do. Music is a communication, and if you’ve already communicated one way and you’ve talked to those people, you want to try and communicate in a

a much higher chance of success and

The new album ‘American Spring’ references the Arab Spring movement, do you think there is something similarly on the verge in America and is that why you said it?

that’s a discussion that we have in the States as well with Black Lives Matter and the American police shooting young black men in alarming numbers and just the fucked up situation that in Chicago there is a police station that makes people disappear for days on end. Those

Well there was a whole discussion about

kind of things we really need to stand

revolution, and how the revolution in the

up and confront and the only way to do

Middle East and a lot of places came out

that is by getting people in the streets.

of freedom and justice, and changing

Change never comes from the top down,

the social fabric of economics of these

it comes from the bottom up.

different way.

countries and putting forward that

It seems like you always keep the ball in your court, because if you sign your life-away so to speak there is that chance they will try and censor you.

than anything else. In many ways they’ve

freedom and justice is more important turned into violent civil wars. How do you go from peace activists in the streets trying to change dictatorship into a

The way I saw the idea of an American Spring would be a revolution of gun culture, do you ever see that happening?

civil war, where everyone is turning into religious extremists and fucking

It’s a very different perspective in the

>

DECEMBER 2O15 VULTUREHOUND 21

States about the gun culture, because

very weird, and in the States it is a non

idea in the world, you should say it really

from the outside, and small pockets

starting argument because there are

loud so that rest of us can say “That is

on the inside everybody thinks this is

people so intrenched on both sides of the

the dumbest fucking thing I have ever

fucking incredibly stupid that we have

issue that nobody can really have a real

heard in my life.” I’m not in favour of

this many guns, but from the American

discussion about it.

suppressing anybody’s ability to say what

perspective it is a revolutionary thought, Americans believe they need weapons to protect themselves from the government and I think that is a valid argument and I think it is a theory that is very true.

The reality is your neighbour who’s a fucking alcoholic and a schizophrenic and can’t afford mental health treatment is much more of a danger to you than the government is in 2015, now 2016 the government may be more dangerous.

Right now the schizophrenic with the gun is going to kill more people than the government is going to kill. So it’s

22 VULTUREHOUND DECEMBER 2O15

they want and I think the more people

You’ve always been very vocal with your views as a band, and something I did see the other day in relation to the gun culture was Austin Carlisle from Of Mice And Men making comments that were maybe a little questionable. Do you think that as a person with a lot of young fans he should be not censoring himself, but maybe taking a step back?

No, you should say whatever you want.

I don’t care if you have the stupidest

that say stupid things the more rational people will realise that it’s a dumb idea and get away from it. Now having said that; where the issue lies is if you say stupid things and have more guns than everybody else, then that is scary and that becomes problematic. If you are just a guy in the streets saying stupid things and you don’t have any weapons, then say whatever you want to say.

Going back to the album in terms of writing, I know that #2 wrote a lot

a painting without a message, without something that makes you passionate, angry or frustrated. There’s no point to me! Now that’s my opinion, other people have different opinions but my feeling artwork should Do work.

As a band you’ve had the same line-up since 1999?

Yeah, the new guys been with us for 20 years! Haha!

of personal stuff. Are you involved in terms of lyrics?

The way it works with us usually, either Justin or #2 will have an idea and then it’ll come into the group and we will either change or modify it or discuss different points of view and what the message is and how we want to say it.

Within the band it is never a discussion of “Should this be said” it’s always a discussion of the most effective way to say it. In a lot of #2’s songs there is also a lot of the rest of us, because we’re like ‘Maybe we don’t want to say it this way, maybe we want to say it that way or maybe this is a better way of doing this’ or maybe ‘What you’re saying is great, we should stick with that.’

In terms of content, you’ve always been very politically charged and we actually went on our first protest last weekend.

school and going to protest because there is a waste incinerator in Ohio burning chemical waste and burns right up into Pittsburgh. It’s been something we’ve done since we were young, and it’s fucking fun. That’s what a lot of people don’t realise. We were just over at Nottingham, and there was a protest there because the crazy BNP, is it BNP the fucking fascists?

Could be BNP, Britain First or EDL...

They were having a rally about how they didn’t want to allow immigrants into the country and all that bullshit, there were a bunch of rational people there who were standing up against them and I was like “This is awesome” these guys are telling me “I’m an asshole” and we can say “Hey, we’re not going to let you assholes spew your hate speech” that’s a really fun and exciting thing to do. So I’m like lets go to the protest, it’s like a show without the music, with a lot more anger and you get to get rid of all that rage you have

Oh brilliant, well done.

When did that kind of thinking and activism start for you?

against these people with backwards

What’s the secret to that? Is it down to you all having the same ideas and opinions politically?

Well that helps, but I just think that we all have similar points of view on life. We love playing music, and we like hanging out with each other and playing music.

We’ve been very lucky with that, we’ve all figured out a way to keep playing music to the detriment of our families who aren’t very happy that we are still playing music all the time because it’s hard when you go away for 6 weeks at a time and everybody else is just left at home. But we’ve found four guys that think music is the most important thing, and that we need to continue to do it to make our lives whole.

Next year marks 20 years of ‘Die For The Government’ anything planned?

Yes, we’ve been talking about that. I don’t know if it’ll be a whole tour, maybe just a couple of cities but we’ll do some stuff around that. It’s funny because being in an activist band you listen to Woody

ideas.

Guthrie or Pete Segar who are activists

Was that something you always wanted to get into the music?

the struggles that they talk about are still

We came from Pittsburgh, and it has a long history of social justice and

Yeah, yeah! For us music without

activism. I remember being in high

activism, there’s no point to it it’s just like

from previous generations and you see relevant today, and the unfortunate thing about many songs from ‘Die For The Government’ is many of them are still relevant today.

DECEMBER 2O15 VULTUREHOUND 23

LOWER THAN ATLANTIS

24 VULTUREHOUND DECEMBER 2O15

Words: Shane Bayliss

LOWER THAN ATLANTIS MUSIC

I

t’s been just over a year since Lower Than Atlantis released their self-titled album, which has been followed up with headline tours and festival sets across the UK. The band are now “back” with a new ‘Black Edition’ re-issue of the album which features a selection of new tracks and covers, plus a tour to support it. We caught up with front-man Mike Duce as he was half way

through a packet of Pringles...

The re-release of the self titled album is out, what was the decision behind going down a re-release route? I know there is new music on there, was it a case of wanting to get that out sooner rather than later?

What it was, when we released the album originally iTunes wanted some bonus stuff, Amazon wanted some bonus stuff so there were three versions, the original, iTunes and Amazon. The annoying thing there is never like “that’s

a b-side that’ll do” we put 100% effort into everything and it was a shame because we felt like a lot of those tracks got lost. After the album came out we did a couple of good Live Lounge’s and we love covering songs it’s something we’ve always done so it was kind of like, let’s put everything in one place. So if you want everything from this campaign you’ve got it there neatly packaged.

In respect to the covers, you've got four new ones on the album with you >

LOWER THAN ATLANTIS all choosing a different one. Which one did you choose, and what was the reasoning behind that?

I chose ‘Strong’ by Robbie Williams because it’s got interesting chord choices, it just sounded like an LTA song anyway and lyrically; junk food in bed, being pissed, shagging birds... it just hit home I thought.

Did you do it and approach Robbie, because he's tweeted about it praising it. Did you have to approach him first, or did you record it and ask ''can we put it on our album?''

No, with covers you are allowed to cover any song as long as you don’t change the structure of it. I don’t know how he found out about it, I guess people were tweeting him or something but that was a cool little nod. We also had an email from Vanessa Carlton’s manager from back in the day saying it was sick as well (the Vanessa Carlton cover) which was pretty cool.

The first time I saw you was supporting A Day To Remember, and the only thing I'd heard from you was the self titled album which is a little outside of my tastes, but it surprised me how heavy you were live.

We are a lot different live, if you wanna hear a band sound like the CD, just go and listen to the CD. Things are always a bit different, you need a bit of 26 VULTUREHOUND DECEMBER 2O15

balls live.

We always aim for want of a better word, a more metal sound live we just think it hits a lot harder and sounds a lot better.

Do you think this latest album is a little bit softer?

Yeah, of course it is. I mean I was chatting to some other guy a minute ago and there are some songs on the album that I didn’t necessarily have my own band in mind when I was writing them. We LTA’d them up a bit and they serve their purpose, we’d never release anything we weren’t happy with.

The album, although you've been around for 7 or 8 years, feels like your breakthrough album. Do you think that is down to softening the sound a little, or was it just down to the fact you'd paid your dues and it was time regardless?

Maybe, I think possibly it’s a bit of both. It’s definitely a lot more commercially accessible but there was no body saying “we’ve sold out” with this album because like you said we’ve been a band for so long.

When the album was being

written we’d recently been dropped from our label, we didn’t have a manager, there was nobody, we did everything on our own.

We wrote it for ourselves, and people seemed to like it.

It must have been gratifying that you did do it all yourselves, and then a label picked it up. Because there is always that fear/worry of a label getting involved and interfering. So you put the album together, and then presented it to a label?

That’s exactly what happened, it was like “this is it, this is the album” and they were like “sounds fucking great, let’s go”. We had something to

NAH, FUCK YOU W E WILL NOT BE TOLD THIS IS THE END OF OUR BAND prove after the whole ‘Island situation’, it’s easier to say we were dropped; although we weren’t really- they just didn’t want to release any records yet let us keep all the money we’d been paid to make one, so we were laughing, built a studio with it and recorded an album. It was like we had something prove again at that

time with the label, the manager jumping ship, my girlfriend binned me, everything went horribly horribly wrong and we were like “nah, fuck you we will not be told this is the end of our band, we’re going to go do it” and we did, we showed everyone.

...Phoenix from the ashes type of moment.

I believe there have been hints at you returning to the studio, is there anything set in place? This is potentially the last headline tour on this cycle, and then there's festival season. Have you got songs written? > DECEMBER 2O15 VULTUREHOUND 27

LOWER THAN ATLANTIS

What's the future looking like?

tour and then jump up?

There is absolutely nothing mate, there are no plans at all. We don’t really know what we’re doing. We’ve had fun with this, so we’re just going to take some time off and see what happens. Not really thought about it really.

I’ve been writing some pretty heavy stuff off the back of the success of ‘Hear We Go’ and ‘Get Over It’ it seems like the heavier LTA songs are the better received ones, so we’ll see what happens. I’m always writing in the band, outside the band, that’s what I do it’s the one thing I love about music is creating it, so we’ll see what happens.

No, we don’t really think like that. We started this campaign back to basics in clubs doing like 200 capacity shows, we could have done bigger ones but we don’t really care. There was a fear we wouldn’t sell out this Roundhouse show and there is literally a handful of tickets left and it’s not until Christmas, it’ll be cool because they are venues we’ve played before but we’ve never headlined before so it’s just ticking off that box I suppose.

You are about to go out on tour again in the UK, you've had a bit of a venue upgrade from earlier in the year.

Was it always the plan to do a smaller 28 VULTUREHOUND DECEMBER 2O15

I know when we saw you in Nottingham earlier in the year and your brought Pvris out with you, the show was sold out and literally everyone was already in the room when they played. That must be nice as a thing of giving back to other bands.

Photo: Kimberley Bayliss

We always pick bands that we think people should check out, or want to check out. I can’t stand it when I go to a show and all the pubs around the venue are completely full, and then people go “fuck, they’re on in five minutes” and go just to watch the headline show. We want to make it an evening of entertainment and fun, like a big party. We’ve got Brawlers doing half the tour, and Black Foxes doing the other half, then we got Moose Blood and As It Is rotating as main support each night. We could have just brought one new band along to open the tour, but we thought we’d give a couple the opportunity to play to some people.

Lower Than Atlantis are out on tour throughout December, and ‘Lower Than Atlantis: Black Edition’ is out now.

HECK

Words: Shane Bayliss | Photos: Kimberley Bayliss

30 VULTUREHOUND DECEMBER 2O15

MUSIC

HECK ot many interviews start with discussion and viewing of Shia LaBeouf watching 72 hours of his own movies in reverse order, but this one did. That’s because we were sat down with three quarters of a band called Heck, the Nottingham boys once known as Baby Godzilla.

We caught up with Matt, Paul and Jonny in Derby as they came towards the end of their current headline tour to chat about the new single, album plans and probably some other random stuff (wouldn’t be a Heck interview without it).

N

(Once the dicta-phone is turned on, there is at least 5-10 mins of random chatter and a viewing of Shia LaBeouf’s #AllMyMovies. This is a Heck interview after all...)

Shall we get started?

Matt: I thought we had!?

The new single ‘The Breakers’ was released the day before you started the tour. How has that been received? Is it going down well, because it is a pretty solid single...

Paul: Yeah, I think it is going

> >

DECEMBER 2O15 VULTUREHOUND 31

HECK

down really well. People seem to be yanking Matt’s mic away to try and join in.

Matt: People seem to know it which is weird because that doesn’t happen that often.

People know the words, and there are a lot of words, so I’m quite impressed with people screaming it back when it’s only been out a week or so. It took me longer than that to learn them!

You have videos for both 'The Breakers' and 'Brain', which like all your videos seems to have a very high production feel and strong concept. Are they your ideas, do you go in and pitch ideas?

Matt: It’s always a bit of a mix. ‘The Breakers’ one wasn’t our concept at all, it was Dan Sturgess who directed us, we already knew him from doing photos and stuff- he’s the DJ for Skindred. He came to see us in Bristol a couple of years 32 VULTUREHOUND DECEMBER 2O15

ago, really liked what he saw and took some photos of us and then later we did some press shots with him, eventually we got onto the subject of him wanting to do a video for us and he pitched us the idea, and thought ‘yeah, this is awesome.’

Then we worked with him to develop it into what you saw.

Usually we pool ideas and come up with something, because I think there is absolutely no point doing a music video without a good concept for it. There’s no point shooting yourself in a room, because what’s the point in seeing that?

Jonny: Boring!

Matt: The idea of a music video is another avenue to express something, so make it interesting for gods sake. I think we succeeded with that, we don’t usually do a straight up performance, and that was kind of performance with a twist, that had something else to it. Hopefully we managed to get over what we do with

MUSIC performance, with something else to it that was interesting.

Matt: We were in bits!

It is very much a Heck video.

Matt: Our Gary has been shooting moments of us whenever he gets the camera out and stuff, just capturing us doing the tour thing.

Unfortunately what you do on a tour is sit on a van, sometimes you go outside and have a nice time but not very often.

Paul: It would have been really nice to get one out everyday, but it would take the gloss off touring.

Matt: People would be like “... you’re sat in a van again, you’re on your phone, you’re reading a book, you’re playing pool on your phone...”

Paul: Tom what you doing now mate?

Tom (from the corner of the room): Playing pool!

Matt: And that’s tour, you’re all bored of each other, you’ve all said all the words you know and there’s nothing more to talk about. Yup!

Matt: There has got to be some personality to it always, and that’s rule number one. If we don’t get our personality across in the video then you’ve lost the battle.

It feels like a Heck show, but in a really cinematic way.

Paul: I think we were going for a bit more, because it is obviously the first video that we’ve released for the album and it is a new chapter. We wanted to be like “this is going to be good.”

Matt: What Dan kept saying to us is “what I’m going to do is capture that live element of you, and put that into the video” and we all had our doubts and thought it would look a bit conceited and it won’t come across at all, but I think it works so well and we trust Dan as well. He’s so talented as a videographer and a photographer as well, we just left the ball in his court and said “we trust you- GO!” and he didn’t let us down.

The tour it's self is coming to and end, you've only got a handful of shows left...

Paul: Three to go, tonight, Leicester and then Burnley.

How has the tour been as a whole, you've had pretty much two solid weeks on the road?

Matt: Really good actually, we’ve all held up really well.

Paul: We had a day off late on, and I think we really needed that because we were a bit haggard.

The tour videos have been fun.

We've discussed it off the record, but the new album.. you can't say too much, but you've finished the recording?

Matt: The record is finished, and we know when it is going to come out but we’re not going to tell You when it is going to come out.

Paul: We know what it’s going to be called, but we’re not going to tell You what it’s going to be called.

Matt: We know everything about it, we know it inside out, upside down and back to front. But we can’t say anything! Yet. Jonny: We’re almost bored of it by now.

Matt: We’ll announce something very very soon via Facebook and

abandcalledheck.com as soon we humanly can- which I imagine will be soon, but until then we can’t say anything.

Can you say anything about the sound of it? It is very much the Heck sound?

Any surprises? The odd ballad?

Matt: (Laughs) Imagine a ballad.

Paul: There was talk, because with an album you can experiment.

Matt: It definitely goes from one end of the spectrum to the other, and it takes you through a few different twists and turns. There is a little bit of everything we like, all jumbled into one big pot. It’s different to everything else we’ve gone before, because this is the first time we’ve done an album.

Not like an EP where you have to jam a short burst of everything in, here we’ve got space to explore and experiment and I think that comes across.

Were you pretty much left to your own devices because it's a new label?

Matt: It’s all us!

Paul: It’s our label, we’ve started a label! We announced it via a small feature by Kerrang! So yeh, we’ve started our own label and it’ll be released via that.

So definitely no interference.

Matt: It lets us do anything we want without anyone sticking their oar in.

Paul: It’s really nice when the guy who produced it gives you a few pointers, but it’s pointers not “you can’t do this, or you can’t do that.”

Matt: And we always say “fuck off, > we’ll do it anyway” anyway.

DECEMBER 2O15 VULTUREHOUND 33

HECK It's interesting that you've done it via your own label, but not gone down the crowd funding route like a number of bands do these days.

Paul: Correct me if I’m wrong, but if you do the crowd funding it isn’t actually yours...

Matt: If you do it through something like Pledge or Kickstarter, all incredible websites and do really good things, but you are still under their bracket and under their label and we just wanted to be ourselves and be completely independent of that.

Jonny: I think key here is that we were in a position where we could just do it completely on our own terms, and we weren’t before. It’s not to say that using any of those crowd funding sources wouldn’t have worked just as well, but it’s the romanticism of knowing it is all yours- we completely control everything. We don’t have to talk to anyone about numbers and stuff because the numbers are all ours. It’s exciting!

Matt: It’s very liberating and free.

Paul: To go back to earlier, when we said we were bored, we’re not bored of it but we’ve been sat on it a while.

Matt: I’m not bored of it, I play it all the time! I’m like the most narcissistic person in the world.

Jonny: I listened to it twice in Glasgow.

Matt: If I’m ever alone at work we’ve got a big PA system and I’m like “cool I’ve got an hour” ...not that it’s an hour long or anything...

I suppose you'll be free to release it when you want, because you aren't competing with other bands and artists on the label?

Paul: Never even thought about it like that, I think for us it’s just we want to release it when is best for us. There are always times of the year when it’s not very good to release an album, and there are times of the year when it’s better to release an album.

Like if it is Christmas themed?

Paul: If it’s not Christmas themed then a Christmas release would be bad.

''One Heck of a Christmas'' Matt: Yes! Give us a couple of years, after we’ve run 34 VULTUREHOUND DECEMBER 2O15

out of ideas and we’ll put out a Christmas album ‘One Heck of a Christmas’ !

Paul: To be honest we definitely should do a Christmas song, because the best one ever written is by The Darkness.

Matt: And that’s a rock song, with rock guitars in it.

Jonny: So there is no point in trying any more, because they nailed Christmas.

Will you be looking to sign other bands?

Paul: At the moment I would say no.

Matt: I’ve been signing bands everyday this tour., our rosters huge mate.

Paul: I had a band we played with not so long ago message us as soon as we announced it, and was like “Oh my god, can you release our album? You don’t need to give us money, we’ll give you money!” and things like that. So I was like “That’s really kind, but no we wouldn’t want to take your money.” I think it is a lot of work, and it would be unfair of us to be like “Yeah, we’ll release this.”

Matt: It’s very early days to be going down that route, for the time being we’ll dip our toes in the water and see what happens.

Jonny: Let’s not rule it out, for the distant future.

Paul: While we’ve all still got full time jobs, and struggle to do the Heck stuff.

Matt: If we are ever in a position to do it in the future it would be incredible.

Paul: Just look at Venn, they just started doing their own stuff. It’s labels like Venn and Ambush Reality where you take,... er not their “ideas” from but...

Jonny: Inspiration?

Paul: Inspiration! That’s the one! Because they’ve done their own, it’s allowed them to do singles, which we’ve released through both of those. It’s just a cool way to do it, and everyone was dead cool.

Everyone was Netflix’s and Chill.

Is it not tainting the "rock and roll" having to be a bit more business now?

Paul: Makes it more fun for me, we’ve got spreadsheets !

Jonny: (Showing us a full colour coordinated Excel spreadsheet) Look at that and tell me it isn’t cool!

Paul: There are colours on that spreadsheet, but yeah it just makes it more interesting. But again it gives you more control, because you aren’t leaving it to someone else.

It was such a shit situation that we had to make sure we didn't come back with a whimper, and that we came back with a bang.

Jonny: It gives you more incentive to do really well as well, and want to put more into it that you were doing. It reinstalls that energy in you to go out and do the All that you can, and now we can see figures and things behind it, and we are entirely in charge, we’re not kind of “condemned” to rely on someone else. I think you run the risk of if you sign to a big label going “Cool, don’t have to do anything” lean back and let those guys for the work, and that is where apathy sets in, and it becomes a bit shit. Hopefully that won’t happen to us now, because we’ve got to keep going or we’ll die.

Paul: We do merch, and when I’m selling the merch, I haven’t left someone else to sell it because I’m interested in not only selling the merch, but hearing peoples stories and hearing about their day and stuff, and I’ll give them

MUSIC

advice on stuff and because I have a vested interested in the merch; because it’s ours, it makes me want to do it more. I do have to keep apologising to people because I have to mark the stock figures off as I go.

want to delete it, because it was our twitter, but we did have to hide it because while we were under that kind of legal embargo, we couldn’t do Anything.

Moving onto the name change that was forced upon you. Reading about it, it seems like that was a very quick thing, and that you didn't get a lot of warning. It must have been a bit surreal that you just had to disappear off the face of the earth, because I remember looking and there was nothing.

Matt: We weren’t allowed to do anything until we knew how we were going to come out of the other end of it. Kind of by our own doing, and knowing what direction we wanted to go in. We eventually kind of launched back in with the record label, then an album. So we thought “until we know the future of this band, we can’t say anything”.

Matt: Yeah, we just finished.

Paul: Some clever clogs kept finding the twitter, and we had to keep changing the name of the twitter.

Matt: Because obviously we didn’t

Was it a proper legal situation?

It did make it a nice launch, because you didn't just announce everything in one fell swoop.

Matt: It was a lot of hard work, > DECEMBER 2O15 VULTUREHOUND 35

HECK

we pretty much nearly weren’t a band over it because we just couldn’t see a way out. What we were going to be called, how we were going to manage it and the longer we left it and the longer it took to decide, the more we thought we were disappearing.

Luckily with the whole explosion of putting everything back out there, it made enough noise to get us straight back out where we were in the first place.

Paul: It was such a shit situation that we had to make sure we didn’t come back with a whimper, and that we came back with a bang. That’s what people keep saying “it’s really good all those merch ideas came straight away”, it was a very quick turn around for us.

Matt: It was a blessing and a curse because we had to make snap decisions, and had no time to mull over anything. It was like “Name charge- quick fuck, idea, idea, idea” you don’t have time to be um’ing and ah’ing over things.

So that’s why it looked like quite a lot at once, because it had to be quite a lot as we had quite a lot in the past and we didn’t want to 36 VULTUREHOUND DECEMBER 2O15

water anything down, we wanted to come back the same band.

Paul: If not more!

Matt: Twice as strong!

There is also I suppose the flip-side in that you reach a point where you are on Toho's radar, I think we can say that right?

Matt: Don’t worry I think it’s fine.

You reached a point where they’d heard about you.

Matt: I’m not sure how they heard about it but they did, and that is something.

Paul: In the grand scheme of things they were quite cool about it, it could have been a lot worse than it was. They were a bit more pissed off than they should have been because the original email was sent to an old email address...

Matt: One that was hacked that we had no access to...

Paul: When we went back and explained it to the lawyers based in the UK they were really reasonable really because a

boring as that sounds it was shit and it was serious but it was fair.

Looking into next year and the future, more tours? Festivals?

What's the plan for 2016?

Paul: As I announced yesterday we are playing every single festival in the UK and the world next year.

Matt: We’ll be touring, we’ll be doing festivals, we’ll be doing everything we can lay our grubby little hands on because we want people to hear this album and we want to force people to listen to it. Ram it down peoples throats essentially, you think of a festival then we’ll be there.

Paul: Or at least try! Basically there is nothing solid in there, but it will all become clear soon. We toured our first EP to absolute shit, so we might as well the album too.

Heck will be announcing more details of their album “very soon” and more than likely along with that details of more shows, so check out their social media sites for all the latest news.

"Featuring interactive roundtable discussions on prowrestling, including the Monday Night War Timeline series, the SCG Trials, current events analysis and random topics a melting pot of opinion, wisdom and humour"

CUARON

Words: Michael Dickinson

We spoke with Oscar winning GRAVITY director Alfonso Cuaron, and son and co-writer Jonas about new thriller 'Desierto'

INTERVIEW: ALFONSO + JONAS CUARON hen he won the Academy Award in Directing for Gravity Alfonso Cuaron made history by being the first Mexican to win the accolade. After a litany of masterpieces from A Little Princess, Children of Men and Y Tu Mama Tambien it was a longtime in the coming. Now he re-teams with his Gravity co-writer and son Jonas to produce Desierto a politically charged action thriller.

W

Gael Garcia Bernal stars as Moises, a Mexican migrant trying to cross the border back into the US to see his son. The crossing is fraught with peril which turns to a life and death struggle as gun toting racist Sam, played

by Jeffrey Dean Morgan, aims to take out anyone he sees illegally crossing the border - with his rifle.

Desierto has received acclaim across the international festivals it has already played at. It was screened at the London Film Festival in October where we had the privilege to sit down with director/co-writer Jonas Cuaron and producer Alfonso Cuaron.

When did Desierto begin, because it started before Gravity?

38 VULTUREHOUND DECEMBER 2O15

Alfonso Cuaron (AC): For me it was I read Jonas first draft, he showed it to me and at that point we had written another script and quite quickly it fell apart. So I said “okay we need to do something like this”. I would like to something like that, exactly like that and then we started talking about expense.

If I can a bit a little cinephile it reminds me very much of ‘Most Dangerous Game’ but in some ways it so similar to Gravity, because in some ways Sandra Bullock is a returned immigrant to the Earth and in this case we are talking about a Mexican who is trying to go over the border. How did you develop this particular process because it’s quite a complicated movie, talking about genre.

Jonas Cuaron (JC): Well I was very interested in the thematics of migrations, like seven years ago. So I tried to think of the best ways to tell the story that would best reflect that subject matter and I realised that an interesting approach would perhaps be to do it through a genre, thriller, a pure distilled action movie just because the idea was that it would create a format in which you could engage a wider audience that you usually wouldn’t think to much about that subject matter and engage with that. So doing it in a way that through the actions and

FILM the characters they could think about that.

In terms of audience do you think it's important these days to frame it as a genre piece for people to bother watching a film?

JC: I think it’s very effective with thrillers and action, particularly in the sense they’re visceral. They connect on an emotional level with audiences and what I wanted to do with this film - is that that connection is with migrant characters. With a lot of migration, migrants are seen as foreign entities and so suddenly the idea of having your main character be a migrant in an action movie and for you to connect with him as a hero to me sounded very interesting.

There's a huge problem with migration right now. What was it about migration that you wanted to show in the film?

JC: I guess the brutality of it. With the character of Jeffrey, being a metaphor of the discourse of hate.

I should say that the actions of Jeffrey are not common, there’s been isolated cases of murder but it’s not like there’s been one vigilante going around killing people. To me the discourse that I hear all the time in the US and now in Europe and everywhere against migration is a discourse that could very easily push to those actions.

AC: But it has historically, a very similar discourse in this continent a few decades ago. When people start seeing them as “the other”.

It happened more recently in the Balkans and it happens all around the world. The thematics are universal.

Do you think there is a lesson to learn in Europe from what is happening in the US and Mexico?

AC: Well, I think, from my stand point, that Europe will see whatever the US is doing is not working. You can build all the walls you want, and by the way they’re built by illegal workers, build all those walls but the spirit is bigger than walls. You can see it wherever walls are built.

See it in Hungary a couple of weeks ago, they put up all these walls and fences and people when they are in need they are not going to ask permission. Going back to this to the thriller, genre aspect of it I believe, and what Jonas did very effectively, is that he made a genre that he enjoys very much and as a cinephile came a very tight film that is very striped down from characters in which he’s involving you. He has a star that’s Gael playing the role that is conceived as “the other”, you know the rhetoric that migrants are these dehumanised masses, devoid of humanity and now for audience to engage with “the other” in a role that you usually follow “the white man” being chased by savages. In ‘Naked Prey’ in that film you can see this white man being chased by savages, or even you can see Mark Wahlberg being chased by the Taliban. And that is fine, you know? You know it doesn’t matter how many Africans Connor Wilde kills in Naked Prey or Afghanis Mark Wahlberg kills in order to save himself. Audience accept that and Jonas has reversed the whole thing and also creating solutions in which the character is not going to take that vigilantes action.

All the other great Mexican directors have come in the last 15 years, with Inarritu and Del Toro. It’s strange for Europeans to see so many great American movies by Mexican

directors…

AC: There are films. I don’t know if they’re American, like if you think of some of the films we’re mentioning, don’t forget two movies ago Alejandro was doing Biutiful that shot in Spain. Children of Men, I don’t know if it’s American, everything takes place in Europe. Let’s not forget that one thing that Hollywood is an industry, but Hollywood doesn’t only do American films. Let’s not forget that historically Hollywood has been fuelled by immigrants. Since the silent era half the film makers were from different countries and you have the great period of the 30s/40s/50s you have all these amazing German, Austrian, Hungarian film makers escaping from attitudes that are now repeating in a very mainstream way.

All the speeches are now accepted as mainstream speeches and people are not horrified by those rhetorics so I think that Hollywood is a pragmatic beast. If it feels that as a business it can do it, it’s going to do it like any other industry. It’s funny because there’s so much rhetoric by the people that have a rhetoric of hate against immigrants and people that are “the other”, they don’t mind taking the money from “the others” or selling to “the others”.

Are there any historical cases of the films events happening?

JC: Obviously the vigilante figure is very common in the US. The Minute Men and there’s lots of cases of people moving across the US just to patrol the border. They don’t go around killing people generally. In isolated cases there’s been murders, rubber bullets that accidentally kill people. In general I case it’s more that there’s vigilantes that push migrants so they have to find alternative routes and they end >

DECEMBER 2O15 VULTUREHOUND 39

CUARON up dying in the desert. To me what really intrigued me was the hatred.

Whenever I watch documentaries, unfounded hatred that vigilantes have, I could tell that hatred game from political discourse. It’s truly what I find scary, not only in the US, but now across the world.

AC: The media is a part in that rhetoric. By the way, now so many European countries are in a state of shock because of something that’s been ruined for ages. In many instances, in the specifics of Europe there’s interventions that just didn’t help and you don’t have to be as extreme as the Jeff’s character in the film to… a couple of weeks ago you have this footage of these Hungarian journalists just kicking migrants as they are running. You can tell those guys are not crossing the border because of the weather. You can see that they are desperate.

Because Jeffrey Dean Morgan's character Sam is so unrepentantly evil, he could be seen as a cypher for American attitudes. Are you concerned with alienating US audiences?

AC: Yeah, look I think when you talk about the US as such a broad entity and you can see the rhetorics of the politicians and it goes from one side to the other. Yes there’s a big, big group that’s follow a dangerous rhetoric but it’s counteracted by many who do great work. So yes there’s going to be people that are bothered. So people more from a moral standpoint who will be uncomfortable because they’re used to seeing their American hero being tormented by these others and now it’s the other way around so it’s going to be interesting as well.

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JC: The character of Gael has been living in the US a long time, has a kid in the US also. To me the rhetoric that’s very alarming is… having spent time in the US and being very proud to say that they’re a country founded on handwork of immigrants and at the same time they also find time to say that they are quite overcrowded.

But yes, in that sense I think it’s a complex subject matter.

from the inside see this as a cliche.

It’s not a cliche when you generalise about Mexicans or Muslims but if you generalise about Americans, that’s really bad.

Also Sam's character has a heavy allegiance to the confederate flag.

JC: No to me obviously with the subject matter and to do to a movie that was almost stripped down of any language was to do a universal movie because I believe cinema is universal and particularly this subject matter. I think of many Mexican directors who do this and directors worldwide obviously manage to do a local story but talk about it in universal ways.

JC: Only more recently did the confederate flag become a big issue in the news but I wrote the script six years ago and to me I was always really shocked about this tradition of hate in the US. The confederate flag represents a lot of that. The actions of Sam in this particular instance is isolated, but there’s something oppressive about this and the mass shootings that happen in the US. AC: Someone commented on the film “oh yeah, it’s so cliched he has a confederate flag”. Well don’t worry about the film. Worry about the real cliche. It’s not a cliche it’s a reality. So much our reality that there was stories a few months ago about the confederate flag and it’s very interesting how the Americans

This film reflects a European attitude toward immigrants. It talks about these themes in a universal way. Do you think it’s just specific to Mexico?

What are the plans for the film after the festvials?

AC: It’s great, the whole thing that’s been fantastic is that it’s been greatly praised by audiences and Jonas got his award in Toronto.

And for us the triumph because the percentage of Mexican films that get worldwide distribution is very small and our hope is that the film will have a healthy life around the world.

VULTUREHOUND

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YEAR S D R A AW ALBUMS, FILMS + TV

TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2015 10

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WOLF ALICE MY LOVE IS COOL those beautiful drumbeats and seductive guitar lines are plentiful and endearing, complementing the wonderful vocal work from Roswell – a voice that is calming and tuned finely.

‘Turn To Dust’ opens proceedings. It’s haunting and lyrically gratifying. Roswell sings as the beat rises, giving a calming start to an album that holds louder and more complex songs. ‘Bros’ begins with an acoustic guitar influence that doesn’t falter or become lost, it becomes even more apparent. The vocals are beautifully melancholic too, with sadness rubbing the underbelly of the track. ‘Lisbon’ offers the same vibe: punchy, and the tight musicianship is clear as the guitar sound is lifted during parts of the contribution. It starts to become louder as it progresses. ‘Silk’ dazzles. It opens with powerful interlude. Then Roswell sings about lost love and sickening feelings. Her voice rises at points and the instrumentals becomes even more progressive and razor-sharp. It ends softly. ‘Freazy’ commences with an infectious guitar lick flowing well and executed with great lyrical meaning.

Wolf Alice are becoming a force. They’re also shooting for the stars with their distinctive sound, pushing their art to the front line of rock scene. And with ‘My Love Is Cool’, the act from North London have created an album that will live long in the ears.

Words: Mark McConville

Words: Sarah Carter

olf Alice are becoming a colossal outfit.

Bit by bit, they’re infusing the music scene with their quirky, atmospheric songs that are bold and lyrically vivid.

Front-woman Ellie Roswell showcases beautiful subtlety throughout the band’s debut album ‘My Love Is Cool’ but also rises with attitude and flair, throwing her music like a grenade, exploding colourful confetti.

And there are plenty of bands out there that try to dance for the alternative rock crown. Wolf Alice seem like frontrunners. They seem different, obscure and original, marking their territory, opening up musical pathways and ‘My Love Is Cool’ is a statement of intent, a debut that has been fixed into place and radically made to entertain and to provoke a response.

The album can be soft then rush into mania. The sound represents a story that could be perceived as being pessimistic, a fable that has been churned like a stomach full of butterflies. And if you’re accustomed to music that makes you want to write down your feelings on a notepad covered in stale beer and cigarette burns, then Wolf Alice are your go-to band. They also have that sound you’d hear in the movies that showcase love being ruined and guilt festering like a rotten apple.

The instrumentals on the album are composed with competency. They strike an urgency into the heart and

OUR SONGS OF THE YEAR

ALBUM OF THE YEAR

9

LAURA MARLING SHORT MOVIES

B

ritish folk singer songwriter Laura Marling released her 5th studio album in March, 2015, entitled “Short Movie”, Marling produced the album herself alongside studio engineers Dan Cox and Matt Ingram. Being the first record Marling has written on an electric guitar (her father’s old Gibson 355), there is a distinguished difference in this record from the previous, it sounds more grown up.

The opening track of the record is soft, fluttering, and incredibly innocuous. Marling’s vocals have an intensity and confidence to them that can be piercing, her lyrics are heart achingly honest, and at times verge on feeling like they are secrets being whispered in your ear. “Warrior” sings the story of men as purveyors of violence, warriors riding out to war, positioning women as the steeds they mistreat.

It has a certain sense of mountain ranges to it, there is something grand about the gestures the music, and the lyrics make.

Words: Rhian Wilinson

Clearly influenced by her time in America, the record invokes the feeling of a long road trip, it isn’t rough or difficult, the road, and the music just flow away.

One of the faster, quick strum filled, tracks on the record, ‘Strange’, appears to address an affair with

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FIDLAR 40OZ

Selected by Tom Staniszewski

ENTER SHIKARI ANAESTHETIST Selected by Emily Mee

a married man, and implores the listener to question the good in people, with the lines of “no I don’t believe we were born equally” and “those who do good will be treated accordingly”. The lyrics on the album are all quite jaded, like relationships run over by 16-wheeler trucks. There is a distinct feeling that some of the songs are very much targeting people in Marling’s life, which is a recurrent theme in her writing. She likes to warn boys (some would say men, but can men ever be warned?) of the perils of falling in love with her.

Previously described as the queen of the nu-folk scene, Laura Marling’s new sound is less plugged into a socket, and more plugged into an electrical storm, thunderclouds a plenty. ‘Easy’ feels particularly honest with its lyrics, Marling sings “when we were young we belonged to someone, it was easy”. It is a statement both heartbreaking and true. Many dubbed this record Marling’s quarter life crisis, she travelled a lot prior to its inception, taking time off from music completely, before finding herself full circle back in the recording studio with more to say.

‘Divine’ is my favourite track on the record, it is slightly more upbeat than the others, though the lyrics are a touch cheesy, and simply rhymed, they are divine in their own right. Plus the repetitive strum throughout is one of those familiar sounds that is instantly relaxing.

Each song on “Short Movie” plays out like a scene, each its own vignette of life. They circle around each other without ever touching, relatives that do not speak. That’s not to say they don’t compile a beautiful album - just that each seems to have been thought of as an individual, without a consideration for the whole.

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Y EAR AWARDS

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THE MACCABEES MARKS TO PROVE IT

hree years on from ‘Given To The Wild’ The Maccabees this year returned with the much anticipated ‘Marks To Prove it’.

The record marked a big change of pace for the outfit, a much more grown up, considered with great precision kind of record that highlighted how far they have come from the ‘Toothpaste Kisses’ days of 2007.

‘Spit It Out’ shows a much more intense attitude, the steady build

Alongside the intensity there’s an added drama to the whole production of the record. Beautifully epitomised by ‘River Song’. Chained together with orchestral horns and an atmospheric, chant like vocals; “You’re not getting any wiser, truth is we’ve all done the same” ringing throughout, suggesting a newfound seriousness.

The all-round seriousness of the lyrics side of things is something that’s a recurring factor throughout.

‘WW1 Portraits’ marking a high point in the world play, a stunningly poetic ode of appreciation and love “You live your life to the letter writ on the back of your hand” a particular stand out line.

‘Marks To Prove It’ really is a massive stand up and be counted record for The Maccabees. One that could have so easily catapulted them into a complete different universe musically, a hugely impressive different one at that.

Take nothing away from the band for their past work, not at all, they were undoubtedly one of the mightily impressive stand outs of the whole noughties indie influx. This though proves they do have the tools behind them to survive the depleting want for upbeat alternative bands which has taken so many of their predecessors.

Much more than that it’s proof what stunning songwriters and musicians The Maccabees are. As it genuinely is one of the most impressive, exciting, calculated and all round stunningly put together albums we’ve heard for a while.

DECEMBER 2O15 VULTUREHOUND 45

Words: Bradley Lengden

The title track was the first indication of a vastly modernised sound, a hectic, fast paced whirlwind of a track. Not just a stand out track on this record, but easily a stand out track of 2015 as a whole, one that oozed genuine excitement around their latest piece of work.

from the deceptively calm opening chords, progressively grows into something fearsome compared to the more lackadaisical, happy go lucky tunes that seemed to be the bands niche earlier on.

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BRAWLERS

ROMANTIC ERRORS OF OUR YOUTH

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rawlers hit the scene running this year at Nottingham’s Hit The Deck festival, coming onto the stage harbouring a precious commodity, a brand new album.

These guys looked kind of intimidating; with their stature, turned up jeans, beanies and a general serious-guy demeanour... Then they hit into this crazy album. And everything changed.

Making it unlike other albums of its genre, this record speaks to your feet, your head and your heart. Super sweet, super fun and ridiculously addictive, if I only listened to one album this year, ‘Romantic Errors Of Our Youth’ was it, and it may be next year’s too.

46 VULTUREHOUND DECEMBER 2O15

ately I’ve been spending a lot of time researching, reading, and learning about the Riot Grrrl Movement. Having grown up in the 90s and early 00s, I was influenced by pop princesses who bared their midriffs and had glitter coming out of their eyeballs to act a certain way and to become a certain type of woman. I was supposed to be polite, wear makeup, and (most importantly) be thin. For so long, I idolized women like Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera because I thought that’s what I was supposed to look and act like when I grew up.

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Well, I wasn’t that girl then, and am not that girl today (even though society really wanted me to be a glitter-covered, brainwashed wet dream). Much to my mother’s dismay, around 2008, I started to found solace in bands like Sonic Youth, SleaterKinney and Bikini Kill, though bummed out that two out of three of these bands were not touring nor even still a band at that time. Not only were they females who were completely turning the punk and indie rock scene on its head, they were addressing issues that women were bringing to light at that time, such as rape, sexuality and female empowerment.

Words: Jaclyn O’Connell

Words: Kimberley Bayliss

‘Romantic Errors Of Our Youth’ is the perfect title for this record, it’s everything you’d want from a Punk (with a slight Pop edge) album. It’s a blast of icy air, it hits you and before you know it, it’s gone, and you need more. The music is thrashy and spunky and the vocals are sweet and smooth whilst still somehow manly and gritty. But the real beauty of these tracks and the record they create combined is it’s sentiment, sounding like it’s based on someone’s life, the lyrics follow a very romance focused path.

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SLEATER-KINNEY NO CITIES TO LOVE

I remember watching SleaterKinney in volume 3 of Burn to Shine, a series of music DVDs as a result of the collaboration between Christopher Green and ex-Fugazi drummer Brendan Canty. They performed ‘Modern Girl’ and I had never felt so emotionally close to a band before. The way that guitarist Carrie Brownstein, lead singer and bassist Corin Tucker, and drummer Janet Weiss released all inhibitions and emotion through their music was so powerful to watch, even through pixelated fog of my living room television.

So grew my love of Sleater-Kinney.

But, my dreams came true when I heard they were releasing a new album. This band I had been jamming for years was finally going to make new music—and they were going to on tour? Holy. Crap. I picked up ‘No Cities to Love’ as soon as I possibly could, and dropped the needle on this record so fast.

Granted, I had high expectations as ‘The Hot Rock’ and ‘All Hands on the Bad One’ are two of my all-time favorite albums.

Damn, was I impressed. These girls still had a lot of fight left in them, and the Riot Grrrl Movement was still pulsing through their veins.

The album jets off with ‘Price Tag’ with Tucker’s high-pitch, sopranowrapped lyrics present a sharp case against consumerism and ‘the man/ establishment’. Whipping right through to ‘Fangless’ and ‘Surface Envy’, the band has clearly adapted their unwashed 90s vibe to 2015’s minimalist aesthetic.

Title track ‘No Cities to Love’ speaks strongly to the emptiness of living in an over-populated city, but feeling completely alone. Brownstein’s wiry guitar and thrashing vocals develop a moody and grey landscape, and lyrics

like “I’ve grown afraid of everything that I love” depict a story of bitter devotion and sour desperation.

Sliding back up the fret is ‘A New Wave’, which showcases Brownstein’s vocal variety and the band’s sonically diverse talent. ‘No Anthems’ and ‘Gimme Love’ spiral us back to the original Sleater-Kinney with its snaking guitars matched with Weiss’s snare-heavy drumming. If I were asked what my favorite was on the album, it would easily be ‘Bury Your Friends’. From its dirty-nailed verses to its oily chorus, I can’t help but relate highly to this track. It is, in my opinion, the most Riot Grrl song on this album. Tucker and Brownstein share lyrics, and their harmony is so on key that it physically gives me goosebumps. Weiss’s bass-to-snare ratio increases and you can distinctly hear the vivaciousness of this band’s passion flood your headphones and creep into your ears.

The album rounds out nicely with tracks ‘Hey Darling’ and ‘Fade’, which resemble the swirling vocal rhythm of Wolf Parade and Modest Mouse, but energized nonetheless. The hall effect being used in production makes a strong contrast to the remainder of the album’s static, distortion-clouded backdrop.

I am overjoyed that such a talented, meaningful band has chosen to come back together and create overwhelmingly amazing music that I can jam out to on the train to work. I can’t thank Sleater-Kinney and other bands of the Riot Grrrl movement enough for giving me to something greater to believe in than pop music and the general deterioration of music talent as a result of mainstream and societal infection.

And for this, Sleater-Kinney’s ‘No Cities to Love’ is one of my and VultureHound’s top 10 albums of 2015.

OUR SONGS OF THE YEAR

THE LIBERTINES HEART OF THE MATTER Selected by Sarah Carter

WOLD ALICE YOU’RE A GERM Selected by Martha Gregory

MAX RAPTOR DAMAGE APPRECIATION

Selected by Shane Bayliss

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YEAR AWARDS

rguably one of the most heavily published on releases of 2015, Bring Me The Horizon’s ‘That’s The Spirit’ both polarised audiences, and skyrocketed them into the charts.

BMTH has a history of splitting opinions, notably in 2009 they won both ‘Best British Band’ and ‘Worst British Band’ in a Rock Sound readers poll. And let us not forget Sandpit Turtle of 2014. ‘That’s the Spirit’ is BMTH’s most successful album yet, making it to #2 in the UK, and #1 in Australia.

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BRING ME THE HORIZON THAT’S THE SPIRIT

OUR SONGS OF THE YEAR

STRAY FROM THE PATH BADGE & A BULLET PT II

GRIMES KILL V. MAIM

Selected by Nuno Veloso

Selected by Rhian Wilkinson

Ditching metal core in favour of a more pop centric sound the album was an unpredicted direction for the band and frankly, not many people are complaining. BMTH has changed their sound with every release, and this incarnation is, in my opinion, the best fit for Oli Syke’s vocals. The songs are catchy, heavy enough to mosh along to, and importantly, accessible to the bands target audience.

Let’s not mess around here, the music industry is sales driven, and BMTH have hit their target audience with a bullseye. This album is full of anthem-esque absolute bangers that are just angst-fuelled enough to have crowds screaming back “WHO WILL FIX ME NOW?” Almost every track on the album screams to have its lyrics printed on t-shirts, scrawled on notebooks, and inked into regrettable tattoos. ‘Doomed’ the opening track of the album has a pulsating almost slow techno introduction, never fear though, at around a minute and a half, what you were expecting kicks in. ‘Doomed’ is my least favourite track on the album, and I wish they had opened it with the more obvious choice of track two - ‘Happy Song’.

‘True Friends’ is another one of the best tracks on the album, it is a little bit orchestral, and a lot of alt-rock. I am positive that at least one person already has ‘True friends stab you in the front’ tattooed on them (probably fake Oli Sykes TBH).

For a softer track check out ‘Avalanche’, it still packs a punch, but isn’t as in your face as the others are. Sykes’ voice really has undergone a transformation since the inception of BMTH, and while changes to his vocals may have been medically motivated, this new, softer style really does him justice.

Selected by Poppy Waring

FOALS WHAT WENT DOWN

Selected by Emma Webster

‘Blasphemy’ and the final track of ‘Oh No’ really close out the album strongly. ‘Oh No’ has a touch of disco and is the perfect way to close off what is essentially a happy-popmetal album. It makes you wanna dance and there is a touch of saxophone, isn’t that what everyone wants from Bring Me these days?

Words: Rhian Wilinson

BECK DREAMS

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2

FRANK CARTER AND THE RATTLESNAKES BLOSSOM he was ‘tired of singing about hate’ but now he is back and angrier than ever and not without good reason.

His abhorrence and repulsion of suicide bombers and the state of the world is all too clear in the screeches of ‘Trouble and Paradise’, and even more disturbingly significant in the wake of the recent terrorist attacks in Paris. ‘You coward fucking scum’ he audibly gobs at the microphone before continuing, ‘Your paradise does not exist.’

Loss provides an unexpected turn on the record, taking us down a devastating road of pain and grief including ‘Beautiful Death’. During the live performance of this song in Manchester Carter had the entire room sit down on the floor as he stood in the centre and lamented the loss of his father-in-law.

‘And I’m sorry I can’t tell you/ That I love you anymore/ Or that I care

about you more now / Than I ever did before / If you can hear my crying/ Then I’m sorry if it hurts/ Although your pain has lifted/ I feel worse.’ He fought tearfully through every word before breaking down, which brought a deafening but respectful silence upon the room. It was uncomfortable and unsettling but beautifully pure, honest rawness.

Ready to shake off the emotion Frank returned to the stage ready to scream his way through the rest of the record, including ‘Fangs’, a fierce heated recollection of a striptease he received from his wife and of course, the killer bluesy obscenity-ridden finale that gets everyone riled up, ‘I Hate You’.

So quite simply, ‘Blossom’ is exquisite. Frank Carter at his absolute best. Roll on 2016!

Words: Rai Jayne Hearse

015 saw the return of everybody’s favourite tattooed angry ginger punk, Mr Frank Carter, and this time he is backed by a riotous pit of ferocious Rattlesnakes. He is not trying to just sell another record, or to please critics, Carter is just being himself, and we love it.

‘Blossom’ is the exact polar opposite of what the word brings to mind, this brutal masterpiece is a raw, intensely cathartic, hardcore punk rock symphony. Carter has cut away all the bullshit with his latest project, no major label, no manager, he’s doing it all and funding it all himself and the opening track ‘Juggernaut’ smashes his intentions home as he spits the venomous lyrics ‘Even on my own/ You can’t stop me/ Even on my own/ I am a juggernaut.’ You know he means it.

When Carter left the Gallows he said

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YEAR AWARDS

3

N

KURT VILE B’LIEVE I’M GOIN DOWN

othing is new anymore, nothing good at least.

So this leaves us with those artists who can combine old things to new effect and cement themselves as modern greats, classics of the Now. Kurt Vile combines everything that was wonderful about sixties American folk and rock n roll with unplugged Grunge. It’s not a combination I ever thought to try, despite these being my three main staples growing up. And I am not talking about Hole covering Donovan in the early Nineties. This is something else entirely. Some sort of hybrid. Forgive me the introduction of Vile’s sound- I’m still dealing with the shock of no one sitting me down and making me listen to him until this year. I am dealing with regret that I didn’t listen sooner. I live for music like this.

Words: Hannah Golightly

The bass drum on Dust Bunnies has a lovely beaten up suitcase feel to the tone. This record is beautifully produced with beautiful riffs appearing all over the mix in layers dancing through my headphones as I listen - amazingly none of this has resulted in that sanitised effect so many records are killed by these days. This record has a soul and that soul has been preserved - the perfect combination of effortless authenticity captured, still sounding like it has enough rough edges to be real and finessed enough to be considered a masterpiece.

Kurt Vile’s voice is telling stories of his experiences and attitudes as he travels down imagined or real Midwestern highways. And you journey with him through his laid back perfectly flawed and beautiful voice. It’s

50 VULTUREHOUND DECEMBER 2O15

the perfect escapism. The sound of someone watching the world go by with acceptance of all that is, yet sarcastic opinions. Lyrically ‘That’s Life, tho (almost hate to say)’ is philosophical and resigned. It’s comforting to listen to. I love the percussion on this record.

It’s beautifully simple, mellow toned and warm. When Kurt sings about being alone in a crowd on ‘Wheelhouse’ it’s a feeling we can all relate to at times in our lives. I can imagine this album getting you through an existential crisis.

The guitar melodies are rhythmic and beautiful. This is acoustic music but in its own unique unassuming way, it has an edge than many cannot muster. The pace picks up for catchy foot-tapper ‘Life Like This’- it’s a highlight. I want to get in a car with Kurt Vile and drive across open planes of America listening to this record. The vulnerability of Kurt’s voice on ‘All in a Daze Work’ catches me off guard. If the last song was Kurt dancing at a party, this is Kurt sitting

chatting to you telling you the secrets of his soul at 5am. It’s intimate.

This is a record that deserves to be listened to on vinyl. It already sounds more vinyl than most mp3s which says a lot. ‘Lost my Head there’ is a sensitive and joyous song about mental illness that sounds like what the light at the end of the tunnel would be like to step into for those experiencing such a thing. The piano sounds warm. It sounds old and part of the digital age at the same time. ‘Stand Inside’ vocally channels a saner American Syd Barrett. The best records take you on a journey.

Your imagination is left to drift through through American scenery on instrumental interlude song Bad Omens. Kurt Vile mixes elements of the Velvet Underground, Dylan, Lemonheads, Syd Barratt, Iggy Pop, Nirvana Unplugged on b’lieve i’m goin down... The record has a pace that makes you feel like you are passing things in a car catching fleeting glimpses of them through the window as you move onwards to God-knowswhere.

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lthough it was released in February, it’s more than fitting that I’m writing about Father John Misty’s I Love You, Honeybear in what the shops call the Christmas season. Because it’s a very Christmassy album, the arrangements ringing out like multi-instrumental sleigh bells and J Tillman’s voice harmonising with the backing vocals like a well-tuned band of roving carol singers.

It’s not a Christmas album, of course. Rather it’s a deeplypersonal slice of very personal storytelling. Not so much confessional as autobiographical, although I’m sure there are secrets and lines that would shock Tillman’s close friends, it’s

a collection of set pieces about relationships – primarily with his wife, Emma – and experiences.

Some are regretful, some told in a matter-of-fact style that belies their oddness and consequence, but all beautifully-structured, and produced in a timeless style that could place their recording in Big Pink in 1972 as easily as 21st century Los Angeles.

Tillman is a rare breed – a solo artist who joined a successful band (Fleet Foxes) and left again, forming another band and hardly missing a step. From 2004’s I Will Return (self-released under his own name) to this latest, soulful opus, he started out strong and has grown with every release. I Love You, Honeybear is his highest climb yet, but you wouldn’t bet on him eclipsing it next time out.

DECEMBER 2O15 VULTUREHOUND 51

Words: Alan Boon

The record comes to a close with ‘Wild Imagination’ the rhythm to the singing in that beautiful and true voice of his is unexpected and satisfying as hell. It captures the exact kind of romance that actually counts for something in this world.

I think that’s my favourite song on the album. All these overblown love songs in the charts year in year out, all this drama and professed feelings of love... and this low key upbeat closer portrays what we really want from lover - shared moments on porches, sharing stories from our past with someone we care about and who cares about us. Those quiet little moments in life that come without fanfare but are the things that really matter... and I think Kurt Vile’s genius is in capturing the things that matter in life on b’lieve i’m going down... making it one of the Albums of the Year.

2

FATHER JOHN MISTY I LOVE YOU, HONEYBEAR

OUR SONGS OF THE YEAR

FATHER JOHN MISTY

THE NIGHT JOSH TILLMAN CAME TO OUR APT. Selected by Alan Boon

1 COURTNEY BARNETT

SOMETIMES I SIT AND THINK, AND SOMETIMES I JUST SIT

DAVID BOWIE BLACKSTAR Selected by Adam Burns

D

BRING ME THE HORIZON THRONE Selected by Emily Mee

52 VULTUREHOUND DECEMBER 2O15

ear Courtney Barnett,

I’m writing to declare my love.

In fact, I think I can safely say that pretty much all of the team here at VultureHound will happily agree with me when I say that we think you’re pretty great.

So great, that we’ve made your album our number one of the year. Even though it might pale in comparison to your Grammy nomination, but I do hope that it might charm you to think that this little magazine really really loves you.

The thing is ‘Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit’, is just really, really sort of lovely. To many people you sort of came out of nowhere, and then suddenly you couldn’t avoid hearing that wonderful Aussie lilt on every radio, and those posters on every wall and tube line. It’s sort of entirely juxtaposed to the whole persona though - you’re someone who doesn’t look or act like any famous pop OR rock stars these days, and that’s really sort of important in these days of rather all or nothing-ness in music. And I mean I don’t think you want to be do you? Which is

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2015 YEAR AWARD S

ALBUM OF THE YEAR

also pretty awesome. We wouldn’t have it any other way, believe me, Courtney.

thought out this lack of care, though to perfection. No matter what the press say, you’re definitely no slacker. You’ve made an album that already feels timeless, and its astonishing how I can’t seem to stop listening without being totally drawn in and enchanted.

Courtney Barnett, you’re really something special, and so is that little album you put out this year.

Believe us when we say you deserve the hype.

Lots of Love, Poppy and VultureHound x

DECEMBER 2O15 VULTUREHOUND 53

Words: Poppy Waring

One of the most charming things about your album, is the way you weave those little stories through all your songs. It’s like listening to an old friend tell me all the more average parts of their lives on my sofa over tea, a little bit tispy, just sort of musing about life. I think one of my favourite lines ever is yours: ‘I don’t know quite who I am, oh but man I am trying’. You’ve produced an album of songs that it’s hard not to relate to on some level, regardless of who/what/where/when you are.

You’ve written about house hunting, and not wanting to go out to parties but still being bored, and that general anxiety about life we’ve all felt at some point. It’s something we’ve all felt at some point, put into a rambling tune, told endearing and at points heart-wrenching. Witty, with a dash of black humour, like the perfect coffee. And also, let me tell you it’s wonderful to have an album of guitar music that is so effortless without being uncomplex.

It’s a real talent, poetry not just lyrically, but in all those trills and turns, it atmospheric structures and ever drifting guitar lines. I get the feeling that you’ve actually carefully

TOP 10 TV SHOWS 2015 Words: Grae Westgate

2015 has given us some great new TV shows, as well as some fantastic continuing series. Here are our writers’ picks for the best shows of 2015.

10. BANISHED

BBC’s historical drama of the British colonisation of Australia showed us the hardships faced by the convicts and soldiers sent to Britain’s greatest prison. With an all-star cast including Russell Tovey and Ewen Bremner, Banished is one of the finest period pieces the BBC have offered us in years. fiction. In his fantastic new show Humans, Lars Lundstrom introduced us to Synths, the handiest home appliance of the 21st century. A haunting portrayal of what robotics could become, Humans was a hit when it aired on Channel 4 earlier this year.

9. FORTITUDE

Surrounded by vast polar wastelands, Fortitude is known for being the safest place on earth.

Until now that is. Suspenseful, gritty and astonishingly crafted, Fortitude proved to be a fresh and original take on the age old crime drama.

8. HUMANS

Artificial Intelligence has always been a popular topic for science

54 VULTUREHOUND DECEMBER 2O15

7. JONATHAN STRANGE AND MR. NORRELL

The long-awaited adaptation of Susanna Clarke’s beloved tale of magic and morality won over critics and audiences alike when it came to BBC1 back in May. Featuring Bertie Carvel and Eddie Marsen as the titular characters, Jonathan Strange proved to be one of the best new supernatural dramas in years.

6. THE MUPPETS

There have been many incarnations of the Muppets over the last fifty years, each more bizarre than the last. Following the huge success of Jason Segel’s 2011 reboot movie, ABC commissioned a more adult incarnation of the series, following the everyday lives of everyone’s favourite vaudevillian weirdoes.

5. DETECTORISTS

Returning for its second season, the British sitcom revolving around the lives of the ragtag members of the Danebury Metal Detecting Club has rightfully earned its reputation as one of the finest British comedies in years. Written and directed

by Mackenzie Crook (making his second appearance on our list),

TELEVISION 201O5F END Y EAR AWARDS

BBC4 certainly found gold with this one.

Photos: Netflix

4. JESSICA JONES

Taking lesser known heroes and bringing them to the big screen has rather been Marvel’s penchant over the last few years, and Jessica Jones porved to be a worthwhile gamble. Dark, sexy and bleakly funny, this is arguably the best thing to come out of Marvel Studios to date.

3. UNBREAKABLE KIMMY SCHMITT

Netflix have done pretty well (indeed our entire top four have been Netflix originals), and Tina Few’s Kimmy Schmitt somehow managed to take a viral video about girls trapped in a man’s basement (Dead Giveaway) and turn it into the best new comedy of the year.

If you haven’t already, do what we all did and binge-watch it in an evening!

2. BETTER CALL SAUL

When Breaking Bad finished back in 2013, fans were left itching for more. The natural thing to do?

Spin-off/prequel! Following the early career of small time lawyer Saul Goodman, it has satisfied fans of the original whilst garnering a new fanbase of its own.

1. DAREDEVIL

A worthy winner of this year’s crown, Daredevil blew audiences aware when it blasted onto Netflix early this year. Long forgotten is Ben Affleck’s nonsense, and in its place stands the gritty, uber-violent vigilante. With outstanding performances by Charlie Cox, Vincent D’Onofio and Elden Henson, Daredevil firmly put Hell’s Kitchen on the map, and has raised the bar for every MCU franchise to come.

DECEMBER 2O15 VULTUREHOUND 55

TOP 10 SHOWS WE’RE GOING TO MISS Words: Grae Westgate

be sorely missed by hipsters across the globe.

8.CONSTANTINE

After Keanu Reeves managed to completely bastardise the foulmouthed chain-smoking medium back in 2005, fans of the comic were delighted to see their favourite Liverpudlian done right.

Unfortunately, Constantine failed to garner any fans aside from those who actually read the books and was swiftly cancelled after only thirteen episodes.

This year has seen the end of some great long-running TV shows. Here are a few of the shows that we’re sad to be saying goodbye to…

10. GLEE

Love it or hate it, Glee injected a saccharine shot of musical highschool exploits into the life of many a fan. Starting off with some great storylines and emotional takes on teenage problems, the show sadly lost its way (and main star) on its journey towards a happy ending.

9. AQUA TEEN HUNGER FORCE

The insane adventures of Meatwad, Frylock and Master Shake had been

56 VULTUREHOUND DECEMBER 2O15

on our screens for fifteen years when it was announced the show would be ending this year. One of Adult Swim’s most beloved shows, it shall

7. THE MENTALIST

Simon Baker’s psychic adventures kept audiences entranced for over a hundred and fifty episodes. One of

TELEVISION 201O5F

the best American police procedurals in a long time, CBS decided they had had enough this year and decided to fund CSI Droitwich instead.

END Y EAR AWARDS

6. UTOPIA

A bizarre little gem, Utopia followed a group of misfits who met online only to find themselves embroiled in a bizarre conspiracy involving comic books and cults. Sadly, another victim of the British “two season” curse.

5. BOARDWALK EMPIRE Everybody loves gangsters. Everybody loves Steve Buscemi. Steve Buscemi and gangsters? Can’t go wrong! Politics, intrigue and prohibition, Boardwalk Empire took its final hit in October.

4. PARKS AND RECREATION

The multi award-winning hijinks of the Pawnee, Indiana’s Parks and Recreation Department gathered a cult following before stepping majorly into the limelight.

Showcasing some of Hollywood’s finest comedic talent, and of course bringing a certain Mr. Pratt to centre stage, Parks will most certainly be missed.

3. SONS OF ANARCHY

There have been some peculiar pitches for shows over the last decade, and the story of a father juggling his paternal duties with those of being in a motorcycle gang is certainly one of the strangest.

That said, Sons of Anarchy proved to be one of the greatest series of recent years, and gave us a weekly dose Harley-based drama.

2. MAD MEN

Sales of old fashioneds skyrocket across the globe as audiences became intoxicated with the utterly un-P.C. world of nineteen fifties advertising. A loving look at a by-gone era, Mad Men was as addictive as its infamous cocktail.

1. HANNIBAL

Possibly one of the greatest TV shows of all times, Hannibal’s mouthwatering adventures were tragically cut short this year as, despite a hugely loyal fanbase and some of the greatest critical accolades ever given to a TV series, NBC decided to stick a knife in the back of our favourite serial killer. Mads Mikkelsen’s performance as the eponymous cannibal rivals that of Hopkins and has given us nightmares for the last three years. Everybody raise a glass of Chianti while we have a few old friends for dinner.

DECEMBER 2O15 VULTUREHOUND 57

TOP 5 FILMS OF 2015 It’s coming to that most wonderful time of year when magazines, tv channels and online outlets flood you the lovely reader with lists, countdowns and breakdowns of the year’s media. Why should Vulture Hound be any different? So here we go with our countdown of our favourite Films of the Year -in some cases choices were made based on technical ability, telling old stories in new ways, compelling storytelling and some simply because we really like them which brings us to Number 5... seems a category error as a reviewer to try and answer the question as to how many stars it should get; whether it is good or bad? The only thing that can be said with any certainty is that it is powerful.”

5

SEVEN SONGS FOR A LIFE

A recent entry, but a deserved entry no less. Seven Songs For a Life is an 80 minute reflection on the reality of living with a terminal illness, told through the stories of patients at Strathcarron Hospice.

Reviewer Ben Rogers commented that “To try and place it under the category titles of entertainment or education is to realise the utter hollowness of words, just as it

58 VULTUREHOUND DECEMBER 2O15

“The film asks us to give a lot of emotional resources to several individuals living with the pain and uncertainty brought by terminal illness and the modern science which does not so much as improve as alter the experience by increasing its longevity, albeit by indeterminable amounts. However the unique aspect at work is how the patients are encouraged to use song and music to cope with their conditions. The immense strength of the production is that it does not attempt anything approaching the gimmick or the two dimensionality of zealous or forced optimism.”

Although we only meet these people for a brief moment in their lives it is this profoundly personal and intimate aspect of song that allows us to share in their small triumphs of finding and carving out some enduring meaning amongst their suffering.

4

COMET

First time director Sam Esmail takes us on a lucid journey along the tempestuous relationship of a young pair of social misfits. Told through a disjointed dreamlike narrative, Esmail paints a serene colourscape of emotion and imagery as he transports us back and forth throughout the story of the young lovers.

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Y EAR AWARDS

What We Said In July: Comet was an early review for our TV Editor Grae Westgate - his rise to power has been swift and terrifying.

He said of Comet - “Managing to turn every cliché of the romantic genre on its head, Comet is a love story for the modern world. Hitting each note that we know of failed relationships past, Esmail breathes new life into a story that we know all too well, creating a touching and familiar tale that nevertheless keeps us entranced by its innovativeness.

Set to his dreamlike backdrop of meteor showers and Parisian cityscapes, Esmail truly captures the passion and uncertainty of an inevitably doomed relationship.

With Daniel Hart’s intelligent and evocative score coupled with a compilation of some of the most wistfully affecting pop-songs, this is a treat for all of the senses.”

“With its sharp and witty script, Comet plays out like the youthful

lovechild of Michael Gondry and Kevin Smith, nostalgic and luminescent in its delivery. Indeed, if his first film is anything to go by, Sam Esmail could very well be one of the great cult directors of the future. With outstanding performances by its two protagonists, this is without a doubt one of the most intoxicating films of the year.”

I would also add that Daniel Hart provides the film with one of the years best soundtracks that’s just been released to buy. Hooray! Giving Comet one of the most devastating cut to credits in recent memory.

3

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

Well after years of false starts, locations being washed away, actors not getting on and generally everyone questioning director George Miller’s ideas Mad Max

returned with gusto. Mad Max: Fury Road has turned into one of the years surprise critical and commercial successes. Revolving around essentially two long car chases across a desert landscape, the action and photography make for one visceral treat.

In his very first review for the site reviewer Ashley Hunt said of the film “In his years away from the action genre, George Miller has honed his skills and proved once again that he really is a mastermind. Thirty years away from the blood and guts seems to have made him hungry, the product of this hunger is one of the most bat shit crazy, jaw droppingly intense blockbusters you are likely to ever see.”

“The true star of this film is Charlize Theron, who can do more with a heartbreaking teary-eyed stare than most can with a film full of dialogue.

Whether intentional or not, the film carries with it a strong feminist message. In a male dominant,

DECEMBER 2O15 VULTUREHOUND 59

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It’s intelligent with a striking charm, an ode to some forgotten oddness; it’s that misunderstood child sitting in the back corner of the classroom.

No matter how brilliant, saint-like, introverted or outright villainous his future may be you know he will succeed in brilliant stature, whatever the outcome.”

EN YEAR AWARDS

post-apocalyptic world, women are enslaved for breeding and breast milk, which is no doubt a reflection of how George feels women are being represented in our modern society” “In an age of blockbusters where artistic direction seems to take a back seat behind box office projections, it’s so refreshing to see a large scale film where you can tell the director really cares about every single frame, every sound effect and every sequence that has been coordinated and choreographed to perfection. The colour palette, courtesy of cinematographer John Seale, is made to look gorgeously vibrant and colourful, making the dystopian wasteland come alive, almost as if it were another character.”

A two-hour assault of the senses, often leaving you with goose bumps, gripping your chair and grinning like an absolute moron, you would be a fool to miss the opportunity to see this on the big screen.”

60 VULTUREHOUND DECEMBER 2O15

2

A GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE AT NIGHT

From the city emerges the devilishly handsome Arash (Arash Marandi) who works hard to be able to afford his ever so stylish corvette.

Problems with his junkie father means he looses it to the Die Antwoord looking dealer. Meanwhile The Girl (Sheila Vand) - someone who dances in a basement to dream pop by day and cruises the streets at night in a chador on a skateboard conveniently kills and drinks the drug dealers blood… for she is a vampire. At a party later on on the boy… dressed “ironically” as Dracula meets the girl and the two begin a loving relationship.

Long-time contributor Sebastian Hayes was positively bowled over by the film: “ A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night is independent filmmaking in its best form. It has a simple and dark aesthetic styling that flows in synchronous fashion between substance and definition.

“A film that reminded me how good film can be, granted it’s a reminder seldom needed, but it’s a nice acquaintance to refamiliarise yourself with. It could be that internal mendacity of your everyday life that dulls your awareness of analysis, wit or even just appreciating the smaller things in life (if you’re in that 9-5 with ambition for other things you’ll know what I mean!) This film wouldn’t be a misstep in a re-sharpening.

With subtle mind games, simple yet effective stalking techniques and a story that holds its own, surpassing the industry standard in a genre that’s been pulverised to death by its own hands, it never attempts to be more than it is – creating within its own limitations and that’s the standout beauty of it all.”

“The mainstream typical focus of replenishing for physical sustenance is abandoned (the world is full of shitty human beings and there’s no shortage here) in place of human interactivity and connection, the void to fill is a much deeper, emotional one. This is a slow burner and it’s all the better for it and if you’re into your philosophical ironies; this is definitely one for you.”

1

WHIPLASH

Miles Teller plays Andrew a jazz drumming prodigy who is plucked from his class to join the big leagues

of conductor Fletcher (J.K. Simmons - in an Oscar winning role). Andrew’s euphoric happiness soon turns to dread as Fletcher reveals himself to be not only an exacting tutor but a domineering tyrant who terrifies all of his students. Andrew struggles not only to cope under Fletcher’s rule but his own perfectionism which drives him to extreme acts in order to prove to himself and his master that he has what it takes.

What We Said in May: I took this one for the team. Yay me!

Here’s what I apparently thought “Whiplash is fully deserving of all the write-ups and accolades it has garnered. It is a deceptively simple story about two mens uncompromising drive to be the best at what they do and they will scorch the Earth to achieve perfection. In a twist on the old story of the young man fighting to remain pure in the face of evil Andrew begins the film already tainted. Seemingly naive it becomes quickly apparent that he is willing to cheat and coerce to get what he wants. Although quieter than Fletcher he is just as twisted.

Teller’s performance is one of the strongest yet underplayed parts in a while. Just the raise of the eyebrows registers terror or pleasure.”

“Simmon’s too turns in a masterful performance. Fletcher as a character is relatively one dimensional, even going so far to state his mission statement of trying to find the new Charlie Parker (the musician whose brilliance was born from being pushed by his teacher). The subtleties Simmons brings to the role though create a fully rounded entity. You’ll come away remember the Full Metal Jacket style rants but the real joy is seeing his face when he’s fully immersed in the music he conducts, the finale in particular will linger.”

“The film is bathed in Godfather-like love for browns and oranges imbuing the film with the feel of 1970’s finest cinema, on the commentary Chazelle comments how he wanted the climax of the film to emulate how the classic 70’s films ended.

Like those older masterpieces the film keeps things lean. The story is straight, there’s nothing in the way

of superfluous characters or scenes which could have been trimmed. It’s a direct shot of well written, well acted drama which goes to show a lot of high concept tentpole movies that sometimes all you need is a good story and good acting.

“Whiplash is close to a masterpiece, certainly an improvement on the over-indulged Birdman. A story of warring student and teacher in the world of Jazz, who would have thought that could make one of the best films of the year? In fact it’s better. Whiplash is one of the best films of the decade.”

What We Say Now: Too often initial excitement over a great film gives way to analyse and afterthought. Slowly your mind tears down elements you first forgave and turn them into brazen faults.

Sometimes films just don’t live up to repeat viewings. Whiplash happily passes this test and only improves from repeat visits. The direction, script, editing and acting are all flawless. I stand by my statement “One the best films of the decade”.

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ARTIST SHOWCASE

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Words: Michelle Siddal

ART TELEVISION & DESIGN

Artist Showcase:

Modern Panic VI The perfect example of how to push boundaries in modern art ou’ve got your Marmite Emins, historical Bacons, and your crazily famous Hursts, but when it comes to punchy modern art there’s a new kid on the block ready to push your senses even further, hosting a mixture of gothic horror, really life issues and the politically incorrect; please let me introduce you to Modern Panic.

Y

The collection which is growing in popularity is run and curated by founder of Guerrilla Zoo; James Elphick since 2011, and features the likes of surrealist artist David Dellagi, controversial painter famed by the likes of The financials times ‘Le Roy aka John Currins & one of Britains most high profile prisoners turned illustrator Charles Salvador (aka Charles Bronson).

As Guerrilla Zoo state on their site the exhibition is ‘A unique and powerful collection of over 50 surreal, controversial and provocative modern artists from around the world’, and when they say controversial, they’re not ones to sugar coat it. The series is definitely one of the only places you’ll see Modern art pushed to its limits, regardless of whether some of the concepts are overly controversial, voyeuristic or perhaps a little hard to stomach.

This years Modern Panic VI curation has definitely come on leaps and bounds compared with my previous visit at MP II, making way to a much more eclectic approach of combining the very niche and ‘out there’ gothic art seen in previous years with also some of the more approachable pieces with a strange twist.

There was also a lot more variety in the way of art mediums from pieces where digital met physical including a piece in the center of one of the rooms featuring a gazing and blinking character projected onto a blank statue, the graphic designer in me thoroughly enjoyed the hand embroidered chocolate bars entitled ‘Eating disorder chocolate bars’ by Charlotte Bailey and also the more finer pieces including the beautiful illustration ‘Parliament’ by Gary Alford who is a dab hand when it comes to line art.

There were also pieces that harked back to the true roots of the series including Mickey Mouse in a straight jacket entitled ‘Where dreams come true’ by Darko Zarevski, ‘Kentucky Derby’ by Ralph Steadman who’s eary illustration and letter gave for an exciting 2 piece view, plus the astonishingly detailed but slightly morbid ‘Failures Shrine’ by Peter Hanmer made entirely of animal bones measuring a massive 2.5/3 meters long.

This collection shows how gothic art still remains strong in popular culture and viewers growing thirst for punchy, entertaining and unapologetic art, with Modern Panic hosting one of the most undeniably daring collections in the art world today.

“The chief enemy of creativity is ‘good’ taste.” Pablo Picasso To see more information of Modern Panic VI and all other previous collections please visit www.guerrillazoo.com/art

DECEMBER 2O15 VULTUREHOUND 63

JON MCCLURE

ONLINE !

E V I S U L C X E

M O C .

D N U O H E R VULTU

64 VULTUREHOUND DECEMBER 2O15

JON MCCLURE: REVEREND AND THE MAKERS EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW AT VULTUREHOUND.COM DECEMBER 2O15 VULTUREHOUND 65

JESSICA JONES

Words: Grae Westgate

Photo Credit: Myles Aronowitz/Netflix

Thirteen Hours in Hell(‘s Kitchen) 66 VULTUREHOUND DECEMBER 2O15

T

hanks to Netflix, binge-watching has

first proper look at Tennant’s psychotic psychic sociopath.

become the fashion for watching TV

Tasty.

series. The days of waiting week in, week out on tender-hooks for the next

4:00pm; Shit just got real. Luke on a Power Man rampage,

thrilling episode are long behind us as

and the shocking truth about the death of the former Mrs.

boxsets and streaming have essentially

Cage. Sterling performances by Ritter and Colter in the

made serialized television redundant.

season’s best episode so far.

So, with Marvel’s latest offering Jessica Jones hitting

5:15pm; I have reached slob level five. Seven hours in

Netflix in one hefty hit on November 20th, I rather

and I’m sitting amongst sandwich crumbs and Cheeto-

recklessly decided to take it upon myself to watch and

stained fingers. Tragic death of Jess’s geeky neighbour has

review the entire thirteen part series in a day.

changed the playing field once again, and in the show’s

What resulted was a coffee-fueled decent into Marvelous

creepiest twist so far, Jess accompanies Kilgrave to her

madness…

childhood home, which he has painstakingly recreated.

Spoilers ahead.

9:15am: Coffee has been made, a bowl of Weetos is on the bedside table and I’m comfortably snuggled up in my duvet with my trusty iPad. Let’s get cracking.

10:15am: Great start. As a fan of the Alias comics, I’m impressed at how close to the originals we are. The tone is great, Luke Cage is the imposing delight we had hoped he would be, and dear God, the score is haunting. Add to that, we’ve already had our first couple of grisly deaths at the hands of a psychically controlled teen. All that’s missing is Jessica’s habitual cigarettes. Speaking of, I’m off for a fag.

11:15am: As episode 2 closes, I move to the sofa and reheat the cafetiere. We’ve had an absolutely awesome bar fight in which our two heroes have revealed their powers to each other, and possibly the most twisted piece of villainy in the MCU to date, which the mysterious Kilgrave having forced a man to donate both of his kidneys to him. Oh, and Luke Cage has just blunted an angle-grinder with his bulletproof abs.

12:15pm: Episode 3. Trish has just been beaten up by a mind-controlled cop after mocking Kilgrave on her radio show. Gripping stuff. Quick pee, cigarette and a banana and it’s on to the next…

1:15pm: Four hours in and I’m getting a bit restless. After discovering that Jones’ junkie friend Malcolm has been Kilgrave’s mole, I freshen up with a shower.

3:00pm: Back on it with a vengeance. We’ve had our mandatory flashback episode, showing a youthful and happy Jess (along with a brief and cheerful glimpse of her original Jewel spandex). Officer Simpson is stepping up to the plate in the battle against Kilgrave, and poor Malcolm gets his comeuppance. Plus we’ve finally got our

6:30pm: My bum hurts. I’ve wandered up to the corner shop to stretch my legs and pick up some fags. Eyes are getting twitchy and to be honest, as much as I’m enjoying the show, I’m now beginning to regret my mission. Only five more hours to go.

7:30pm: Kilgrave’s prison cell reminds me somewhat of the man cave I’m hauled up in. But this episode has been a cracker. His exploitative parents have been found, and his mother killed in a tense yet moving moment. Tennant is on great form. Finally seeing him as “not the doctor” at this point.

8:30pm: Dominos is on its way. Kilgrave is on the loose, and Daddy Kilgrave attempts to find a vaccine to stop his powers. Feels like ages since we’ve seen Luke Cage…

Probably ‘cause it’s been ages since we’ve seen Luke Cage.

Where the hell is Luke Cage???

9:30pm: Oh. There he is. And so’s my pizza. My second wind has kicked in. As I finish off my chicken kickers, we’ve seen Simpson begin his descent into what I’m guessing will be season two’s supervillain in the shape of druggedupped marine Nuke, and Cage’s bar has just been blown to smithereens.

10:30pm: Pizza is sitting nicely. We’re on the home stretch.

Quick pudding cigarette, and I’m ready to go. Luke is Kilgrave’s new play thing and we’ve had some awesome ass-kicking. I’m a little in love with Mike Colter right now, but that may be the mental exhaustion kicking in.

11:30pm: It’s over. My brain is frazzled, but dear god was that a good show. Arguably the best thing that’s come out of Marvel Studios since… well.. ever! I’m now gonna walk the streets for a couple of hours before bed ‘till my eyes adjust to normality. And then I’ve got a review to write...

DECEMBER 2O15 VULTUREHOUND 67

MUSIC

REVIEWS

MUSIC

Words: Tom Roden

Words:Tom Staniszewski

FAT WHITE FAMILY Whitest Boy On The Beach (Single Review)

ccording to the band themselves. their new album ‘Songs for our mothers’ is “an invitation, sent by misery, to dance to the beat of human hatred”. If the song is anything to go by, this beat must be one to get the blood pumping.

It’s centred around a very lively drum beat which doesn’t change tempo throughout the song with sloppy, dirty guitars which we automatically associate with the Fat White Family. It’s a sound that we didn’t hear a lot of on the group’s first album, but this is a good thing as it could lead to the band taking a new musical direction.

A

There are clear psychedelic influences on this track, the intro builds up rapidly to a verse full of trumpets adding texture to the song. Again something we haven’t heard the band use before.

It’s also on the lengthy side for a return single, nudging five minutes. But it sets up the album perfectly as it’s a clear sign of musical change.

With the new album on the way in 2016, the band are also touring in February/March next year too.

JEKYLL Wounds (EP Review)

4/5

here’s a trap laid out for new artists.

In the process of working to establish themselves with their own identity and sound, they’ll often fall into the following the tracks of their idols.

Inspiration is a balancing act: follow too closely and you’ll come across as a shoddy knock off; too different and you’ll miss your target audience entirely.

accurate though, they’ll never truly do justice to Jekyll’s doomed post-rock meets catastrophic shoegaze sound.

EP opener ‘The Wounds We’ve Ignored’ sets the post-apocalyptic vibe with a brooding storm of haunting guitars and fierce drums, that at times feel just a few screams short of melodic metalcore yet too intense for shoegaze. It’s a strange balance that works wonders for the band in granting them a dramatic sense of tension. It’ll also give you a really weird grasp of your own mortality, but hey, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

As Blackpool alt-rockers Jekyll demonstrate beautifully on their latest EP ‘Wounds’, there is a middle ground.

It is possible for artists to accurately do justice to their influences while carving their own identity into the face of Rock music. In the case of ‘Wounds’, this results in a brutal yet fragile storm of songs that channel Biffy Clyro as much as Muse.

The bizarre atmosphere of tension is what unites the EP despite the transitioning shades of alt rock. The rolling rhythms of ‘Unspoken’ flow easily into the whirring climax of muscular powerhouse ‘Othello’. This is a release that makes it feel like everything around you is ending, the apocalypse dawning and time slipping away. But you’ll be okay with that, because you could do a lot worse than this being the last thing you hear.

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While these comparisons might be fairly

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Frank Carter and The Rattlesnakes: Birmingham, The Rainbow Photo: Kimberley Bayliss

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REVIEWS

FILM

KARUN Dir: Rhys Thwaites-Jones

Words: Pat Fox

3/5

ravel Documentaries are weird hybrids, part anthological investigation of a people, part landscape, part adventure and part “mate-who-went-toBali-for-their-gap-year-and-can’t-shutup-about-how-happy-everyone-who-iswithout-material-goods-all-the-whileusing-their-tablet-to-find-the-location-ofthat-new-rave-site-the-has-been-all-overFacebook-recently.”

The point is that the Travel Docs tend to wear several hats and in doing so become lacklustre or pretentious.

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Karun, despite wearing more hats than an Arcade Fire front row, manages to find the balance needed to tell its story.

Crowdfunded through Kickstarter, travel

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writer Tom Allen and expeditionist Leon McCarron are not trying the make a film about river rafting or cross country, that’s just the background, the sell. The actual story is them trying to show the real Iran and her people beyond normal media presentation. This is a story about Iran’s people, her landscape and to an extent they do quite well. You will notice the word extent there, I’ll come back to it in a mo.

rival those in Greece, to the modern steel and marble towns, on par with Germany, all the while showing the hospitality, kindness and laid back attitude of the Iranian people with their ready offers of free rooms for the night, free food and free bikes. Rather than the conservative and humourless image we might have, its shows how quickly they’re ready to help someone, share tea, poetry and conversation.

Taking its name after the 450 mile long river, Karun follows Tom and Leon as they try to show Iran in details otherwise ignored, from the snow covered peaks down into forest and rivers that looked like they’ve been ripped out from somewhere in Norway, not what you would come to expect in a reportedly desert nation, they showcase the early wonders of the Persian Empire, with ancient cities that

So what about that ‘to an extent’ a paragraph ago? The films downfall is not in its story telling or their inability to set up the point of focus right (come guys, auto if you can’t). No the downfall is on the constraints and tassels added to it. Due to the government being the tiniest bit worried of foreign reporters they can only talk to a few people in areas with little police presents. Several times the cops speak to them, off

FILM Words: Michael Dickinson

THE GOOD DINOSAUR Dir: Peter Sohn

fter a rewrite and a release date of two years later than originally announced, it is easy to see why Disney Studios and Pixar Animation gave The Good Dinosaur a complete overhaul.

A

camera, and it’s treated more like heavy rain than the panic induced fear it should. They mention this limitation several times, and yes I understand the problems it can cause but there are ways around it. Also why is the water rafting in it anyway? This is meant to be about the Iranian people, though the bit when a random stranger gives them a new paddle sort of justifies this. Sort of.

Trying to write about a travel doc is awkward at the best of times and Karun isn’t any different. See, if it was bad I could let rip, if it was brilliant I could fawn, as it is, it’s okay, not bad, can’t go either way. It does show a different and positive side to Iran, its shows that its people are friendly and welcoming, its landscape is breath taking but limited by fear of the police and weighted down by obligatory adventure for the Sell is doesn’t quite grasp that OmyGoditsamazing quality.

Worth a watch or two and I would advise giving it a go.

Disney Pixar have a knack of producing really good animated films that have much more than a story at their core. Each film oozes passion and style and The Good Dinosaur does not lack. Considering this is the first time ever that Disney Pixar have released two films in one year, The Good Dinosaur had a lot of living up to do after the release of the brilliant Inside Out. It tells the story of Arlo who is somewhat the ‘runt of the litter’. It’s about discovery and the conquering of fears (as are most Pixar films). Visually it is an absolutely stunning film to watch. In particular the scenes of Arlo in the resting water are beautiful and the sweeping shots of their farm and the surrounding landscape is breathtaking, it is hard to believe that you are watching an animated feature and not something that has been shot on location.

3/5

As with most of the Disney Pixar franchise this is a film that is guaranteed to jerk a few tears but what The Good Dinosaur does extremely well is to pull those tears from you at the moments you least expect it. There is the standard moment towards the beginning of the film where you get upset and you think they have done it early, but you are then shocked when later on in the film there comes an absolutely heart wrenching moment that is full of raw emotion.

Every single emotion seems to be portrayed in this film, there are moments of humour, moments that make you jump and moments that make you cry tears of sadness and joy. Add all this into the amazing animation and scenes of beauty along with the fantastic storyline and you have a brilliant film for everyone, whether you are a fan of Disney Pixar or not.

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FINAL WORD

FINAL WORD

SHANE BAYLISS his is the first of what I hope to be many columns in VultureHound, which I’m sure at some point we'll give a cute or cult name which will go down in history but for now I want to cut to the chase. Since the

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last issue of Vulture Hound, things have happened that left hundreds of people dead and injured not just in Paris, but across the globe. As said in my interview with Frank Turner, although not to slight the other atrocities across the globe, the attacks in Paris were an attack on many things but most importantly they were an attack on our community as concert goers and music fans alike.

And the thing that has made me most proud, is that our community has pulled together in the face of much hatred from all sides of the argument, and proved that we are as strong as ever.

Zebrahead put on a show a week after the attack in Paris, and music fans stood strong and showed solidarity against terrorism and convoluted and misguided ideologies. Bono put his massive ego to one side (kind of) and allowed Eagles of Death Metal to finish what they started and play in Paris again. Musicians have voiced their opinions over our elected government’s decision to go to war. This makes me so

proud, because as a music family we have stood strong and stood up for what we believed in and not told what to do and what to think.

Now not all of my columns will be this political, trust me I’m sure they’ll be one in me where I slate Justin Bieber’s new hair cut or something. I want to sign off with a quote from somebody who I look up to as not just a comedian, but as a teacher and a thinker George Carlin.

“I don't have any beliefs or allegiances.

I don't believe in this country, I don't believe in religion, or a god, and I don't believe in all these man-made institutional ideas.” – George Carlin What I do believe in though, is the power of community and the power of rational thought. Ninety nine percent of the people on this globe think rationally, so how about we stop letting the rest of them spoil it for us and show them that as a global community we are stronger, smarter and more influential. Let’s all have a voice.

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