thePULSEThe Dirty Youth’s Red Light Fix
By Jennifer Russo
I put the discovery of a band that makes my eyebrows go up and my pulse race into that same “Feels Incredible” category as sex, ice cream on a hot day, or winning money. On one of my wanderings around YouTube to find music that wouldn’t necessarily enter my radar otherwise, I found gold in the form of The Dirty Youth, a band out of the UK who isn’t quite known here in America, but damn well should be. The video I happened to find, an acoustic version of their song “This is for You,” spurred me on to find everything they had online. And yes, it made my eyebrows not just go up, but stay up.
The instrumentation is solid and in your face, delivered by band members have so much musical talent that my head was spinning trying to single out each one while listening to the songs as a whole; I wanted to enjoy each musician’s contribution but also get the full impact of what they were capable of as a group. Singer Danni Monroe leads the pack. She stands out, not just because of her blazing hot pink hair, but because of her powerful vocal ability and a range that reaches across the entire spectrum of the musical scale.
Red Light Fix is an album whose power seems like it could easily keep the entire city of Worcester lit up all night. Its energy is contagious and electric (just try to stand still while listening to it, I dare ya!). TDY’s style reminded me very slightly of Paramore, except with a thousand times more attitude and grit. If I had to throw them into a genre…I wouldn’t. In fact, I have just made one up for them: metalipopunkrock. They can do it all and they do, showing it off with delicious, uncompromising flair.
Check out The Dirty Youth’s official website, www.thedirtyyouth.co.uk. Though they haven’t made their way to the states yet, I think their impact here will be huge once they do. Say you were one of the first to jump on their music by picking up their CD on their website for £9.99 (roughly 15 bucks) or downloading their music on iTunes.
Forever Her Nightmare’s The Rebirth
By Jennifer Russo
New York’s Forever Her Nightmare is the kind of band that puts all their cards on the table, face-down. I’m a metal lover, and from the get-go the band pulled me in with their screaming and technically perfect harmony on the guitars followed by a hit-you-in-the-gut scream intro. Then I am thrown for a loop. Out of nowhere comes a pure, clean female vocal, one you wouldn’t think would fit into this genre (a relatively teen-popish one) but actually does ~ quite nicely. It provides the sort of “uneven balance” that in this case works in the band’s favor.
What impressed me the most about this band is their drummer; drummers are the band members who are all too often overlooked and not given the musical credit they should be because they’re almost always at the back of the stage. FHN’s drummer, however, makes you gasp for air on his behalf. He is absolutely insane. I found it difficult to believe that the speed at which he was hitting his bass pedals was physically possible.
Though I must admit that at first listen I thought the music was rough around the edges, the more I played it, the more I enjoyed the slightly unpolished element of the sound. Whether it truly was intentional or not, it sounds as though it were meant to be that way. With clever and amusing song titles like “Night Ate the Scum” and “The Fall of Jenga,” the band obviously has a great time doing what they do. The music mentally puts me into a dive bar setting that’s packed to the brim full of beer loving moshers looking to release the week’s tension. The band is relatively new, but I’d say they are off to a great start.
Take a minute to check out their music and ‘like’ them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ForeverHerNightmare or on ReverbNation at www.reverbnation.com/ForeverHerNightmare.
Les Racquet’s Be Water, My Friend
By Tine Roycroft
Be Water, My Friend is the latest album release from the Brooklyn, NY group Les Racquet ~ and trust us when we say that this one is a keeper, boys and girls.
The indie rock power trio ~ made up of Patrick Carroll on the guitars, Kenny Murphy on the bass and Daniel Malone on drums ~ sucks in the audience and wows them with excellent musicianship and tight three-part vocal harmonies.? There are explosively fun surges of rock n’ roll improv in Les Racquet’s songs and each piece is like a colorful burst of rainbow goodness ~ makes you wanna love, makes you wanna sing, makes you wanna scream out loud.
One of my fave tracks is “Ambulance.”? It’s a little bit Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, a little bit Franz Ferdinand, and a dash of The Killers.? Listen to the track a few times and you might catch some of the slightly morose lyrics.? The boys are telling us to “…say good-bye to a soul that didn’t have to die,” but they’re passing on the instructions in a such a catchy way, you barely notice.
And if you’re looking for an instrumental piece that you can lose yourself in, check out the song “Bruce Li.” The guys show off their remarkable guitar abilities and propel you through impressive riffs packed with passion and energy.
Les Racquet is currently on the road, jamming through a self-booked, grassroots tour that began in 2011.? And they don’t plan on leaving life on the road anytime soon, much to the delight of fans everywhere.
For more info, go to?lesracquet.com.
