The Scaramanga Six - The Terrifying Dream (2015)

Genre - Hard Rock / Alternative

Label - Pledge Music / Self Released

 

Track listing:

01 - Rules

02 - The Man Who Couldn't Sing

03 - Out Of My Tiny Mind

04 - The Outsider

05 - Arabella

06 - Citadel

07 - Seven Chances

08 - Starring At The Accident

09 - Tempest

10 - Blood On My Hands

11 - Be Nothing

And finally the wait is over, hot on the tails of the awesome three new E.P's, the brand spanking new album from The Scaramanga Six has arrived in the form of The Terrifying Dream.
And boy was it worth the wait!
Opening with the almost instrumental 'Rules', the band waste little time in setting the scene for what is to follow. Next up we get 'The Man Who Couldn't Sing' with its bond theme esque moments.  A terrific start to the album. 'Out Of My Tiny Mind' follows, slowing the tempo a little with its almost sixties psychedelic feel. Next we have 'The Outsider', an acoustically driven atmospheric track, with a real haunting feel. three minutes of eerie tripped out-ness! The absolutely awesome 'Arabella' follows, with its Jim Steinmen esque intro that builds into an instantly recognisable Scaramanga classic!
The mighty 'Citadel' is up next and what a track it is. Definitely the heaviest (and longest) track on the album with lots of bottom end! Opening up with a piano and whistled intro before all hell breaks loose! This song brings to mind some of Bill Ward's (ex Black Sabbath drummer) solo work as it definitely has a similar style and feel to it! No matter how you look at it this is one hell of a track, a true epic in every sense of the word.
'Seven Chances' follows, which sees the band return to their more familiar blue print with a great mid-tempo rocker. 'Starring At The Accident' is another instant Scaramanga classic, a truly wonderful song with some great lyrics throughout. Eerily haunting too.
'Tempest' is up next, a typical quirky Scaramanga track, with its stop start rhythm, which breaks into an almost ska / reggae beat in places.
The albums penultimate track comes in the form of 'Blood On My Hands'. This has to be one of my favourite Scaramanga Six songs to date, absolutely brilliant. Another brilliantly epic track.
The Terrifying Dream closes with 'Be Nothing', a beautiful slow track that builds into something really special.

I have to say that when coupled together with its three prequel E.P's, (Eye and Skin Machine, Worm Necklace and The Sleeper Must Awaken), The Terrifying Dream is a strong contender for the release of the year award!

Very Highly Recommended!!

Rating 10/10

The Scaramanga Six - Worm Necklace EP (2015)

Genre - Rock / Alternative

Label - Pledge Music / Wrath Records

 

Track listing:

 

01 - Seven Chances

02 - The House Of Hell

03 - Grave Peril

04 - Stagefright

So here we have Worm Necklace, the second of the prequel Ep's to the forthcoming new album by the mighty Scaramanga Six, and one again its a stonker!
The Ep opens up with the brilliant Seven Chances, which is a great melodic rock track that manages to blend that unique Scaramanga Six swagger and seventies influences into the perfect four minute track!
Next up we have The House Of Hell. This one opens up with a great little riff and steadily builds into another great melodic rocker.
Grave Peril follows, this track is a great Jazzy workout and really switches the pace and tempo of the Ep, its also my favourite track too!
Stagefright closes out the Ep, is a great mid to up tempo rocker in the typical Scaramanga Six fashion, with a sport of spaghetti western feel in places.
Worm Necklace is another great Ep, and if the songs that are available across the too prequel Ep's are anything to go by then we are really in for a treat with the album!
I sincerely recommend pledging for this new album, hell you cant get better value for money, one album and three Eps!

Highly Recommended

Rating 10/10

Eureka Machines - Brain Waves (2015)

Genre - Hard Rock / Pop / Punk / Power-pop

Label - Pledge Music

 

Track listing:

01 - Paranoia

02 - Television

03 - Sleep Deprivation

04 - Brainwaves

05 - Human

06 - Every Day I Thank The World I Cut You Off

07 - Welcome To My Shangri-La

08 - The Golden Lonely

09 - Vulture Of The Culture

10 - Neuro Bolero

11 - I Miss You

12 - We're Going To The Future

Ladies and Gentlemen, the mighty Eureka Machines are back with a brand spanking new album, and what an album it is too! Brain Waves, the bands forth long player to date is quite possibly their strongest and most rounded album so far! its not to late for you to become a part of it by pledging before its full release date!
The album opens with a real powerhouse in the form of Paranoia, with its blisteringly quick punk-ish riffs and pretty self explanatory subject matter. Pretty much a straight ahead rock that is guaranteed to go down well live! Next up we have Television, a great song that I see being a (hit) single at some point, it has a few great tempo changes, plenty of great harmonies and a subject matter that we can all relate to at times, that of escaping into a fantasy world of Tv, even though most of it is a load of bollocks (TV that is!), only this time Chris has created a kind of TV spirit guide. A Truly great song!
Sleep Deprivation follows, and this is quite possibly the best song that the guys have produced so far across their four album career. I absolutely love everything about this album, from the subject matter of the lyrics, which is something that I can really personally relate too, to its quirkiness, its awesome harmonies, too well you get the picture right?
Next up we have the albums title track, Brainwaves, another song where lyrically Chris explores that "seesaw between normality - whatever the fuck that is - and weird". Quite possibly the most straight up classic rock track that the band have recorded so far, a great song that kind of stabilises the albums tempo, and gives the listener the chance to take a breather so to speak. This track has some great soloing and gentle tempo changes too!
Human come up next, battering its way into the listeners brain. I great and as Chris puts it, silly song, pretty much about the human condition. Constant subtle tempo changes in a song that has a real punk feel to it, again with some great harmonies.
Every Day I Thank The World I Cut You Off slows the tempo right down to a crawl, with its gentle but moody intro before exploding into a great chorus and settling into a great plodding verse. A song about depression and quite possibly several people. Another great song with Chris' great take on the classic pop art line, its better to burn out than fade away, Chris's version being, its best to fuck off than fade away, classic.
Next we have Welcome To  My Shangri-La, the albums lead single, has already become a Eureka Machines classic. A really great song that you SHOULD HAVE fallen in love with by now!
The Golden Lonely is a great melodic rocker that deals with the worlds obsession with money and the consequences that such an obsession brings!
Vulture Of The Culture deals with the world of record companies and the irony of failed musicians telling a successful one what they should be doing. Another great melodic work out, with plenty vocal harmonies throughout. A truly awesome song.
Neuro Bolero starts with some great drums and guitar intro before dropping off into what is almost a ska beat / rhythm.  As a song this one deals with "the realisation that the outdated concept of the rock n roll dream is now a myth, and in fact its demise is no bad thing whatsoever as it removes the corporate ties from the art and frees it up to be as it was intended to be". Another really great song.
Penultimate track I Miss You, is a slower song altogether, almost a ballad, but not a ballad, dealing with darker emotions and the black dog again. Once again this song weaves itself through some great musical twists and turns and constantly builds into something truly magnificent. Another personal favourite for me, as is pretty much most of this album!
The album closes with We're Going To The Future, a track that starts out nice and slow like and gently builds into a melodic masterpiece! A song that pretty much says everything will be ok, the longest track on the album and well, just bloody brilliant.

So there we have it, Brain Waves, twelve brilliant songs from a band that really are at the very top of their game.
Great cover art work courtesy of Rich Jones and a production job that places this album up there along side anything that will be released by absolutely anybody this year. 2015  has already delivered some great albums, but ladies and gentlemen I honestly believe that Brain Waves is going to  be my top album of the year!

Very Very Highly Recommended!!

Rating  - 10/10 (I would give it 20 if I could!)

The Scaramanga Six - Phantom Head (2013)

Genre - Hard Rock / Indie / Alternative / Pop
Label - Wrath Records

Track listing:

01 - I Will Crush Your Heart
02 - I Am The Rain
03 - The Bristol Butcher
04 - Blunt Force Trauma
05 - The Spider
06 - We Are The Blind
07 - They Put You On A Pedestal
08 - Twist The Knife
09 - Missing
10 - The Cardinal
11 - It's Just A Matter Of Time
12 - The Stepford Bands

OK so I have to admit to the shame of despite knowing of the bands existence for many years, mainly through their connections with Eureka Machines main man, Chris Catalyst, up until know I had never actually heard any of their music. Damn what a mistake!
After hearing this album I quickly wanted to hear more from their rather extensive back catalogue (well these guys have been around since the late 1990's!) and they have quickly become one of my new favourite bands!
There is a definite quirkyness to this band and their music, which puts them right up my street. Kind of a early eighties Alice Cooper meets Frank Zappa meets Adam Ant meets The Cardiacs meets Random John Poole, a truly magnificant combination!
All twelve songs are superbly written and executed to perfection which when combined with a sublime production makes for a great sounding album. I swear that everyone should own at least one Scaramanga Six album.
Standout tracks? Well as I said all twelve are great songs but if I had to choose three I would have to go for, The Spider, It's Just A Matter Of Time and Blunt Force Trauma

Very highly reconmended

Rating 10/10

Eureka Machines - Remain In Hope (2013)

Genre - Hard Rock / Pop / Punk /
Label - Pledge Music / Wrath Records


Track listing -

01 - Good Guys Finish Last
02 - Pop Star
03 - Love Yourself
04 - Getting Away
05 - Affluenza
06 - Believe In Anything
07 - None Of The Above
08 - Wish You Were Her
09 - Living In Squalor
10 - Break Stuff
11 - Eternal Machines

OK so I have been sitting on this CD for a little while now, digesting it fully and well, bloody repeatedly playing the bugger and loving every second of it!
Remain In Hope is the third album to be released by this mighty little (completely independent) band from Leeds and to be fair, although I truly loved its predecessors, (2008's Do Or Die and 2011's Champion The Underdog), its their strongest release to date! Not bad considering that the band were on the brink of calling it a day at one point last year. Thank God that the reconsidered.
The album opens with the unusual choice of slow and mellow track, Good Guys Finish Last, with its chorus recalling certain refrains from Do Or Die's Scream Eureka, before powering in to the first single and ultra catchy Pop Star. Love Yourself and Getting Away follow, both certain to become crowd favourites with their typical Eureka Machines vibe going on throughout.
Affluenza is up next, more of a stop start track, power pop perfection, with a chorus that's guaranteed to annoy your work mates when you sing it out loud at work, and you will, trust me!
Believe In Anything slows the tempo down a little with its multi layered vocals and mellow intro, that slowly builds into something truly special, a really great track!
None Of The Above picks up the tempo alittle with its great horn section. This song is going to be lots of fun live! Wish You Were Her is another great tracks that starts of nice and slow before building into something massive and epic, (the acoustic version is pretty damn awesome too!)
Living In Squalor is reworked here, (the original being a b-side to Being Good Is Okay....), sounding even better with its beefed up guitars!
The album closes with what are quite possibly two of the best songs ever written. The brilliant Break Stuff, which features the mighty Willie Dowling on keyboards!), with its huge epic feel and the awesome Eternal Machines, a song that I just cant find the words to describe adequately. Ironic how this could have ended up being the bands swansong!
Remain In Hope is one of the best albums that will be released this year, by one of the best bands that you will probably have never heard of. Change it, check these guys out and supports a great independent Bristish band!

These guys deserve to be massive!

Rating 10/10


The band are -
Chris Catalyst – vocals, guitars, bass, keys, percussion
Davros – guitars, vocals
Pete Human – bass, vocals
Wayne Insane – big drums, lad vocals