 Maycomb
are the first band up tonight, they are a 4 piece
pop punk from Wolverhampton. Their sound is fairly
up beat as one would expect, but let's be honest
there is probably 50 bands and more that do the
same thing, that sound the exactly the same.
The songs aren't all that bad but there's nothing
really outstanding about them, their 3rd song,
a supposed future album song, sounds like someone
has shoved a pillow over the speakers it sounds
a bit murky and is also rather short. But the
rest of the set is more by the numbers pop punk,
they can play but it's not pushing the boundaries
of the genre. Not a bad start to the night but
rather formulaic.
 Next
up are The Hype Theory a 5 piece female fronted
power pop punk band, they sound somewhat like
Paramore, the singers style is rather Hayley Williams-esq
in the way she sings and accentuates some of the
words at the end of a line of vocals, I'm sure
this band would make a great Paramore covers band.
Their songs are quite catchy well written but
do sound like Paramore reject songs or maybe even
b-sides at a push. Everything revolves around
being catchy but there's nothing really memorable
here for me, as it's just too close of a copy
of that other female fronted band that I keep
mentioning.
 Main
support tonight are Proxies, a alternative rock/electronica
4 piece band. And like the other bands before
them playing to a quarter filled room in which
most of the crowd are up against the barrier all
3 rows of them.
They are getting a bigger reaction than the previous
two band combined, they are also a step above
the previous bands.
Their sound is much more serious in tone at times
and it's rather refreshing after all the pop,
it's nice to hear a bit of synth too, it plays
an understated but critical role in the band’s
sound. They have some really decent songs in their
set, of much better quality in not sounding like
any of the other bands tonight, and Dive Bella
will be hard pushed to beat this very decent performance!
 Dive
Bella Dive are the head liners in what feels like
quite some time since I last reviewed a gig despite
being at the recent blood stock open air festival,
I can firmly say I do not fit in here tonight!
Dive Bella Dive are a 4 piece punk rock band,
I do applaud their ingenuity in attaching a synth
board to some of their instruments, to switch
easily between the two or using both at the same
time to really fill out that sound of theirs sadly
I don't hear much use of the synth on their guitars.
They have a pop punk sound only it's has a more
classic punk sound to it, which is nice to hear
some of their influences coming through at times.
The singer sounds like Brandon flowers from the
killers only with a more punk attitude in his
voice. Their songs are a lot better than I expected
them to be, really catchy really well played while
sounding simple not over complicating them needlessly
and they are getting the best reaction of the
night, still this is poor turnout for a decent
band such as this, there hour set does fly by
which has always been a sign of a good night for
me. Non too shabby.
Maycomb 2.5/5
The Hype Theory 3/5
Proxies 4.5/5
Dive Bella Dive 4.5/5
Review By Robert Lawrence
|
