New video release by Big Music.
Truth Be Known - Boozie Britain
Hear it live!
Truth Be Known will be performing at JJ's in Hanley (bottom floor of Liquid) next Monday 1st December 2008. Not to be missed!
More: Truth Be Known
S.D.
Thursday, 27 November 2008
Wednesday, 26 November 2008
The Rough Kutz @ The Raven, Cobridge. November 23rd 2008
Review and photo by Stephen Harvey 
The Raven seemed like an unusual choice of venue for Stoke on Trent's seminal rude boys, The Rough Kutz. The pub is situated on the outskirts of Cobridge, and it is not one that I have come across before to be perfectly honest, but I had seen them play before many years ago, and I knew there would be some faces I would recognise in the crowd. I made the right decision going along, and it turned out to be one of the best gigs I have seen so far this year. That's quite a compliment with it being both late in the year, and the sheer volume of bands I have encountered on the Stoke music scene this year.
The room was packed to the rafters with enthusiastic punters waiting to dance to some original ska. The eager following from Chell Heath was in full residence as usual, although I did speak to some skinhead girls at the end of the show who had travelled from as far away as Chorley on the back of a scooter. The band somehow managed to fit themselves on the small stage provided, which was in itself a good trick given the numbers involved and that full sound was achieved beautifully, and the crowd was dancing throughout the show, me included.
The Rough Kutz have been delivering this full sound and show for over ten years now I was informed by some members of the audience who were keen to pass on their knowledge. There have been some changes in the line up over the years, but they have always stuck to their principles of playing their own original music and songs was the general opinion, and they were obviously life long fans. They have never slipped into that trap of becoming 'just another cover band' playing Madness and The Specials, which is sadly what happens to a lot of good musicians in this business, and I applaud them for sticking to their principles of being original. The Rough Kutz are anything but a cover band, and they obviously have no respect for other such bands given their comments on their own myspace page.
The influences of their sound are the same ones that have influenced the above mentioned bands and include the sound of Prince Buster, Kingstonians and Stiff Little Fingers. They have even recruited the talents of Roddy Radiation from The Specials on the video to their now classic anthem 'Chell Heath'
This highlights the respect that they have gained not only on the local circuit but nationally, and their army of fans continues to grow on the strength of their commitment to creating good original songs from scratch. Tracks like 'Teenage' and 'Popstars' show they know how to craft good bouncing dance tracks. my personal favourite was 'what did you take me for?' which had me digging out my own collection of vinyl. Memories of Tunstall Town Hall disco came flooding back listening to this track that reminded so much of early Madness, and my own roots in music.
I would recommend any music fan to get along and see the Rough Kutz live and experience their sound first hand. This is dance music at its very best. This is SKA.
Listen
The Raven seemed like an unusual choice of venue for Stoke on Trent's seminal rude boys, The Rough Kutz. The pub is situated on the outskirts of Cobridge, and it is not one that I have come across before to be perfectly honest, but I had seen them play before many years ago, and I knew there would be some faces I would recognise in the crowd. I made the right decision going along, and it turned out to be one of the best gigs I have seen so far this year. That's quite a compliment with it being both late in the year, and the sheer volume of bands I have encountered on the Stoke music scene this year.
The room was packed to the rafters with enthusiastic punters waiting to dance to some original ska. The eager following from Chell Heath was in full residence as usual, although I did speak to some skinhead girls at the end of the show who had travelled from as far away as Chorley on the back of a scooter. The band somehow managed to fit themselves on the small stage provided, which was in itself a good trick given the numbers involved and that full sound was achieved beautifully, and the crowd was dancing throughout the show, me included.
The Rough Kutz have been delivering this full sound and show for over ten years now I was informed by some members of the audience who were keen to pass on their knowledge. There have been some changes in the line up over the years, but they have always stuck to their principles of playing their own original music and songs was the general opinion, and they were obviously life long fans. They have never slipped into that trap of becoming 'just another cover band' playing Madness and The Specials, which is sadly what happens to a lot of good musicians in this business, and I applaud them for sticking to their principles of being original. The Rough Kutz are anything but a cover band, and they obviously have no respect for other such bands given their comments on their own myspace page.
The influences of their sound are the same ones that have influenced the above mentioned bands and include the sound of Prince Buster, Kingstonians and Stiff Little Fingers. They have even recruited the talents of Roddy Radiation from The Specials on the video to their now classic anthem 'Chell Heath'
This highlights the respect that they have gained not only on the local circuit but nationally, and their army of fans continues to grow on the strength of their commitment to creating good original songs from scratch. Tracks like 'Teenage' and 'Popstars' show they know how to craft good bouncing dance tracks. my personal favourite was 'what did you take me for?' which had me digging out my own collection of vinyl. Memories of Tunstall Town Hall disco came flooding back listening to this track that reminded so much of early Madness, and my own roots in music.
I would recommend any music fan to get along and see the Rough Kutz live and experience their sound first hand. This is dance music at its very best. This is SKA.
Listen
Monday, 24 November 2008
Hips Like Cinderella @ the Old Brown Jug, Newcastle-under-Lyme. November 19th.
Review by Daniel Finn 
With influences from The Smiths, The Editors and Joy Division to name a few, ‘Hips Like Cinderella’ offer subtle yet intense songs that leave you wanting more and more.
Consisting of vocalist Ad Price, guitarists Paul Walker and Graeme Salt, bassist Larry Moore and Drummer Andy Todd, ‘Hips’ create something refreshing to hear in an age of guitar-driven indie. Tunes coated in reverb and orchestrated delay along with dark yet somehow funky riffs and dance like drumming give Hips quite a unique sound something that is not often heard in local unsigned music.
Playing only to a half-full Brown Jug, their set captured the audience from the off and didn’t let them listen to any songs that were not brilliantly tight or annoyingly addictive. Some however more so than others with ‘This Room’ and ‘Love will appear’ in particular sounding brilliant.
What impressed me the most about Hips Like Cinderella was Ad Price’s Vocal talent. With signs of Morrissey and Editors’ Tom Smith at his melodic best Ad’s singing was constantly on the mark with no sign of wavering. With his distinct sound and emotional melodies along with the toe tapping backing track hips create I’m surprised they are not better known and supported.
Their set came to a close with fan favourite ‘Andula’. This song for me can only be described as an anthem which sums up ‘Hips Like Cinderella’, a must see for any lover of great music.
Listen
Hips Like Cinderella
With influences from The Smiths, The Editors and Joy Division to name a few, ‘Hips Like Cinderella’ offer subtle yet intense songs that leave you wanting more and more.
Consisting of vocalist Ad Price, guitarists Paul Walker and Graeme Salt, bassist Larry Moore and Drummer Andy Todd, ‘Hips’ create something refreshing to hear in an age of guitar-driven indie. Tunes coated in reverb and orchestrated delay along with dark yet somehow funky riffs and dance like drumming give Hips quite a unique sound something that is not often heard in local unsigned music.
Playing only to a half-full Brown Jug, their set captured the audience from the off and didn’t let them listen to any songs that were not brilliantly tight or annoyingly addictive. Some however more so than others with ‘This Room’ and ‘Love will appear’ in particular sounding brilliant.
What impressed me the most about Hips Like Cinderella was Ad Price’s Vocal talent. With signs of Morrissey and Editors’ Tom Smith at his melodic best Ad’s singing was constantly on the mark with no sign of wavering. With his distinct sound and emotional melodies along with the toe tapping backing track hips create I’m surprised they are not better known and supported.
Their set came to a close with fan favourite ‘Andula’. This song for me can only be described as an anthem which sums up ‘Hips Like Cinderella’, a must see for any lover of great music.
Listen
Hips Like Cinderella
Gordon Hendricks with Red Alert @ The Victoria Hall, Hanley. November 23rd.
Review by Clare-Marie White
Burslem old-timers would have you believe Elvis appeared at the Queens Theatre in its heyday, along with *everybody* else. It’s one of those local myths, like Askey’s Giant Wartime Fish or the Revised Town Centre Masterplan. The truth doesn't really matter, no-one would be a true Boslemite if they didn’t find it perfectly credible that if Elvis had made a secret call to England during his GI days, he would have included the Mother Town in his visit.
It’s also not hard to believe that if anywhere should produce a voice to come close to matching the King’s, it should be Stoke-on-Trent. In common with certain other cities across the globe, we have a deep understanding of soul; of dispossession, anger and hope.
Having only heard of Gordon Hendricks a few days ago in the Focal Radio studios, I was nevertheless excited to be in the retro environment of the Victoria Hall, squashed into my metal seat with a proper Stoke crowd, people from across the six towns who find Hanley the best meeting ground to revive old friendships, romances and fights.
And when Gordon took to the stage, this was proper rock n roll, exploding sound systems and all. Like Elvis himself, nobody was taking this too seriously, despite the obvious talent on the stage. Gordon himself was delighted to be “back where it all started” with the people who had given him confidence to unleash what has become one of the most renowned Elvis tribute acts in the world, not least by Presley’s band and writers. Indeed, it was his familiarity with the crowd that hopefully lessened any hurt he might have felt over the unseemly stampede to the bar well before the end of the first half.
And in this unusual theatre environment, part Memphis, part Cheshire Cheese, a truly amazing show emerged. Gordon and the band’s style avoided too much basic imitation and were great performers in themselves. Gordon’s voice needs to be heard to be believed, absolutely authentic and without a hint that the most epic of Elvis’s classics were a strain to imitate. And while we can recreate moments from Vegas for generations, it was the single ‘Where Would I Be’ which really makes one dare to dream. Written by Geoff Morrows, this is unmistakably Elvis, but its freshness sparks the possibility that we could stretch even further than what we were lucky enough to get before Elvis died in 1977. Incredible, of course, in his own right, Elvis was also part of a package. A product of tumultuous times, Elvis was the individual bold enough to stand at the front of a stage and change the world. What else might be sitting in a writer’s cupboard, waiting to be recorded? How might That Voice interpret more of the greatest songs of the last three decades?
In Gordon Hendricks, Stoke has produced another great talent of whom we can be proud. We might have got more of a glimpse of his innate creativity in his home town - it is hard to keep up an American accent when you’ve got people shouting “‘iya Gordon, ‘ow’s yer dad?” - I hope he allows that spark to really flourish.
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