There Goes the Fear, a UK/US Music Web site | Live UK gigs, news, and events

Live Gig Video: The Xcerts share tour video set to new single and EP track ‘You Mean Everything’

This time last year, The Xcerts were riding high following the release of their fourth studio album, ‘Hold On to Your Heart’. The LP was the Scottish trio’s first to reach the top 40 of the UK albums chart. In a few short weeks, the group will be releasing a new EP. ‘Wildheart Dreaming’. Starring on the upcoming release is new feel good, anthemic track ‘You Mean Everything’. To go with the single release, The Xcerts have a tour diary-style video to accompany it. Directed by their mate Thomas Brooker, it follows the band on their tour campaign for ‘Hold On to Your Heart’. Go along for the ride and watch the tour video below. Stay tuned for the ‘Wildheart Dreaming’ EP, to be released on the 22nd of March on Raygun Music. To read through all of our coverage here on TGTF on The Xcerts, go here.

(SXSW 2019 flavoured!) Bands to Watch #417: The Snuts

The historic Scottish county of West Lothian occupies an enviable, green location between Glasgow and Edinburgh. Like Irish band The Academic in Mullingar, The Snuts are from Whitburn, a small town far enough away to not be influenced directly or too much by the scenes of their countries’ bigger cities. On a previous iteration of their Twitter profile, they proudly proclaimed, “So far removed from big city music. Songs for you, about you.” Sounds about right for a plucky young group whose primary professional goal has been to write good songs, and songs that connect directly to their fans’ hearts.

When (not if) they succeed, they will be following in the footsteps of fellow musician from Whitburn Lewis Capaldi, who they played with quite a bit when they were younger, later supporting the BBC Sound of 2018 nominee at Glasgow’s venerated King Tut’s. ‘Glasgow’ turns out to be the name of their debut single; the song itself isn’t a love letter to Glesga itself but rather appears to be a celebration of the way a girl pronounces the city’s name, meaning universal application and appeal. In a land where the rivalry between Scotland’s biggest cities can affect band loyalty, especially in the early days, the fact that the Snuts can play this song and elicit the kind of response in Edinburgh as you see below is pretty amazing.

At the start of 2018, they released ‘The Matador’ EP. The title track features jangly guitars and Jack Cochrane’s cocksure, swaggery vocals. In sharp contrast, ‘Summertime’ shows off The Snuts’ ability to slow things down and head straight into stadium anthem territory, Cochrane’s voice reaching heights of Bono’s early U2 years. Recent single ‘Manhattan Project’ doesn’t go down as massively as a nuclear bomb, but it takes the imagery of fighter jets and the bombers that chase them as a metaphor for waiting patiently for a girl to return. A clever concept. Do these four friends have what it takes to be Britain’s Next Big Guitar Band? I think so. You can read my previous preview of them ahead of Live at Leeds last year through here. Check them out appearing at 9 PM at the Good Karma Club showcase being put on by Abbie McCarthy of BBC Radio 1 and BBC Introducing, Thursday night, the 14th of March, at SXSW 2019.

Video of the Moment #2929: Meadowlark

Bristol duo Meadowlark have an intriguing new video out for their latest single. For ‘H.I.T.H’ (Hole in the Head), the director half of Meadowlark, Daniel Broadley, filmed this mysterious story of a young woman tortured by the memory of the man she loved. As most relationships do, things get complicated, from popping pills under the red lights of a rave to an amorous encounter that turns into a violent altercation.

Of the video, Broadley explains, “Over the past year I’ve watched Kate [McGill, his bandmate] go through some of the most traumatic experiences of her life, in every way imaginable. It felt wrong to shy away from that when it came to Meadowlark, grief is universal and something that everyone will go through throughout their lifetime and became a subject I felt was right to explore. This video doesn’t tell Kate’s story specifically, that’s hers to tell, but it depicts a particular version of grief for our protagonist, as it sends her on a path of self destruction, something she believes will numb the pain of her loss. The video is a lesson in facing up to things, no matter how hard and painful they are.” Have we piqued your interest yet? If yes, watch the video for ‘H.I.T.H’ below. This is their first release for German label Guesstimate. Meadowlark begin a UK tour on the 4th of April in Brighton. Past writings on TGTF on the duo can be read through here.

(SXSW 2019 flavoured!) Bands to Watch #416: Seazoo

Yes, Wales may be a small country, but it has produced some massive, internationally-known bands: Manic Street Preachers, Stereophonics, Los Campesinos!, The Joy Formidable, Catfish and the Bottlemen. Like Van McCann and co., the band I want to bring to your attention today are also from North Wales. Conveniently, Seazoo hail from Wrexham, which most British UK industry people know as the city that hosts the annual Focus Wales music festival in May. At first glance at their name, they sound like a surf rock band. While I was doing my usual listen-through of the UK bands given a shout to SXSW this year, I was surprised to hear that in fact, Seazoo are much more of a pop band than I ever would have guessed. They are a guitar-driven band, yes, but two major parts of their music make them much more endearing than most.

2018 saw the self-described “psych indie pop” group self-release their debut album ‘Trunks’. Appearing far less threatening than the Rolling Stones’ big red mouth and tongue, mouths flashing blinding-white smiles repeat on the album cover. The smiles are a good harbinger of what’s inside: feel good guitars and instrumentation accompanied by wry lyrics. They’ve named Grandaddy as one of their influences, and I can clearly hear that. The winsome vocal delivery of Ben Trow also has that wonderfully wistful, disarming quality associated with the twinkling tunes of Scottish pop architect Stuart Murdoch and his band Belle and Sebastian. Listen to ‘St Hilary Says’ to see – and hear – what I mean. Seazoo will be the opening band at the Focus Wales showcase Wednesday night at 7:45 PM at Swan Dive (indoor stage) at SXSW 2019. I’ll be there: I don’t know any Welsh (except for ‘diolch’) so I’m hoping I learn some through osmosis.

Video of the Moment #2929: The Beautiful Monument

I am definitely in the minority when it comes to how I perceive and prefer to denote women fronting bands and bands of all women. While I understand the argument for having to say “female-fronted” or “girl band” as pejorative, I also see a positive flipside. Because bands of all men or outnumber those of all women or those with a female lead singer, to me, pointing out who’s out front or who’s in the band is actually giving more positive emphasis. When I wrote about The Beautiful Monument on my best bets list talking up BIGSOUND 2017, Australia’s answer to SXSW, I didn’t call then “an arse-kicking, all-girl group” to be insulting or snarky. The Melbourne band’s hard-rocking ways speak for themselves, as evidenced by the promo video for their latest single ‘Deceiver’. Shot in black and white and with a hell lot of hair flying, their metal slash punk tinged with just a bit of pop is just what we need to get us through the winter doldrums. Check out the video below. ‘Deceiver’ is out now on Greyscale Records.

Live Gig Video: Demob Happy share international tour video set to single ‘Less is More’

It was bound to happen sooner or later. Brighton via Newcastle band Demob Happy have admitted that their latest video is the realisation of “…the Holy Grail of band videos that is the ‘International Tour Video’ – It’s simply a must-have for any band.” Ha! It’s for their new single ‘Less is More’, out now. The promo chronicles their touring life in 2018 across Europe with Frank Carter and The Rattlesnakes, a sold-out UK headline tour, 27 dates through America supporting Nothing But Thieves, their own headline American shows and recent UK gigs with Jack White. Full of live performance clips in color and black and white, plus some trippy overlays to boot, the video for ‘Less is More’ captures the excitement generated from Demob Happy’s live shows and the band’s own passion when performing for their fans. Watch the video for ‘Less is More’ below; the single is out now on SO Recordings. Past coverage of Demob Happy here on TGTF can be found through here.