Vol. 63
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📸 (c) Denis Gorbatov / Full Pelt Music
It’s a damp and dreary Wednesday night in November, so where else would self-respecting music fans in Norwich be other than the vital Waterfront venue in the heart of the city?
After all, there is a bumper line-up on offer this evening with reformed headliners Kids In Glass Houses bringing with them not one but two of the best young bands on the circuit!
The first of those is Leicester’s Mouth Culture hot on the heels of their latest EP, ‘Whatever the Weather’ and an appearance on our own The Full Pelt Music Podcast!
This is a group who really sound like they are coming into their own, and even with a short time on stage tonight, it’s clear that the audience appreciate what they’ve seen. With a throwback groove with a modern energy, the band are undeniably on a pathway to much bigger things.
Our second opening group HIMALAYAS are a band that many have felt are on that same pathway. The band are now dropping new music following the release of their 2023 debut album, ‘From Hell to Here’, and it’s recent single, ‘What If…?’, that stands out most tonight.
The band play hard and fast this evening and certainly seem to have added a little extra edge to their performance over the last few years. Whether that added impetus will keep them on an upwards trajectory or not, only time will tell but for sure they remain a viable proposition when looking for an engaging live act.
It’s soon time for our headliners this evening to take to the stage and having returned with a nostalgic run celebrating their superb debut album, ‘Smart Casual’, Kids In Glass Houses are now fully embracing their second coming.
How does a band do so without falling fowl of becoming nothing but another nostalgia act? Release new music of course! This tour celebrates their recently released fifth studio album, the flamboyant ‘Pink Flamingo’.
This record in and of itself if a nod to times gone by with its 80’s aesthetic but also feels like a big step up in ambition from a band who perhaps feel like they have nothing to lose. ‘Theme from Pink Flamingo’ and ‘Change Your Mind’ kickstart proceedings this evening and show a band with renewed zip and swagger.
Fan favourites ‘Give Me What I Want’ and ‘Dance All Night’ then ramp things up a notch or two before a couple more new tracks, ‘Rothko Painting’ and ‘Vulnerable’ again emphasise that this is a Kids In Glass Houses enjoying themselves once more.
That is perhaps the overall takeaway from the evening, that after a decade away this group of five friends are back on stage doing what they were meant to be doing.
The likes of ‘Peace’, ‘Easy Tiger’ and ‘Saturday’ all serve as reminders of the impact the band had first time around, and as ‘Matters At All’ concludes a very enjoyable evening fans will be left to hope that ‘Pink Flamingo’ is just the start of round two with Kids In Glass Houses!
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Watch Episode 58 of The Full Pelt Music Podcast with guests Mouth Culture
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📸 (c) Denis Gorbatov / Full Pelt Music
It feels fitting that we are here to see October Drift because everything is feeling rather autumnal in Norwich this evening – it is dark, slightly damp, leaves are on the ground and The Waterfront is decked out in its finest Halloween decorations. The only scary thing this evening though is the sheer talent on stage!
Opening up proceedings on this Sunday evening are London trio Carpark, who may not have been known to many when they walked onto the compact stage, but you can be damn sure that by the time they left everyone in the venue had found their new favourite band!
With an alt-pop sound lifted straight from the turn of the millennium, the trio are instantly captivating, and it really doesn’t take long for the audience to realise that they are watching a real treat.
The likes of ‘Blow Me Outta the Water’ and ‘Happy on Mars’ indicate a band ready for much bigger things. You certainly will not have been tricked if you leave expecting them to be moving up the scale of venues in the coming years as more people learn their name!
That is of course if all was right and fair in the world, but alas the music industry is unforgiving and unfair. Case in point are our headliners this evening, October Drift, who really do deserve much greater success.
With the recent release of their third album, ‘Blame the Young’, the band have completed one of the most impressive trios of initial albums in the past decade. Much akin to Carpark earlier, their live show is an unforgettable experience – if you’ve seen the band once, you will return time and time again.
Tonight, as per usual with this band, is a visceral experience where you almost feel at one with them. This is an immersive experience, and the group can make a crowd of any size feel like it’s an intimate one on one session.
From the get-go with ‘Demons’ and ‘Tyrannosaurus Wreck’, it is new album, ‘Blame the Young’ that takes centre stage. Whilst on record the album is probably their most sonically diverse collection, on stage the songs all dynamically exude the usual passion and energy which makes an October Drift show such an outer body experience!
With frontman Kiran Roy spending ample time performing from within the equally as passionate crowd, it isn’t hard to understand why this feels like such a shared encounter. Older tracks such as ‘Insects’ and ‘Cherry Red’ still sound massive, but it is those newer tracks such as ‘Blame the Young’ itself and latest single ‘Wallflower’ which standout this evening.
It has been another special night in the company of October Drift, and with the added bonus of Carpark this show will last long in the memory. All we can say to close out this article is don’t sleep on these two fantastic bands!
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Watch Episode 56 of The Full Pelt Music Podcast with guests October Drift
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Stirring punk agitator Meryl Streek has been making a name for himself through a series of captivating live shows, but by his own admission has neglected the recorded side of things. ‘Songs for the Deceased’, his second album, puts that right!
Born and raised in Dublin, Streek is unapologetic in his love for his home, unashamed in highlighting various injustices that poison the world and is wholly unrelenting in delivering these truths with his unique sonic expansion of the punk rock genre.
One thing is for sure, Meryl Streek isn’t going to sit quietly and follow the herd. Be it in his insightful and thought-provoking words, or in his unfiltered requiem of noise Streek is undoubtedly a mould breaking and generation defining artist.
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Over the course of the fourteen tracks that make up ‘Songs for the Deceased’, Streek locks into personal, political and societal themes, tackling historical tragedies and modern concerns. Nobody and nothing is off limits with even the music industry itself rightfully coming under fire!
Whilst Streek uses these songs to tell different stories, the thread that weaves throughout is the thread of injustice. On ‘Songs for the Deceased’, Streek employs his intelligent lyricism to stand up as a voice for the voiceless. In a world bereft of fairness and equality, voices like that of Streek become increasingly vital, and this album acts as his grand statement to all those that will listen.
“Things won’t change unless the young generation stand up” says one of many samples featured on the album, and you sense that the voice of Meryl Streek will be one of those daring to stand up. Both musically and in the grander merits of this record, ‘Songs for the Deceased’ is a massive album from an artist ready to disrupt the status quo!
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