Neil McCormick __________________________________

BBC Introducing - the top, er, 65

I was asked to help decided who BBC Introducing would put on their Reading and Leeds stages. I foolishly agreed to listen to 65 bands, and twittered my thoughts. The lucky few can be found in my Telegraph blog. But, as a service to the runners up, I am placing my full twitter review here. It may be the only review they ever get. Or, who knows, we may be packing out Wembley to scream their names in five years, in which case I will, of course, take all the credit.

1. Revere. 1st band up. My iPod may have randomly picked a winner. Epic widescreen melancholia. I should quit while I’m ahead.
2. Punch & The Apostles. Horns. Hysteria. Cabaret. Punk rockabilly showtunes. Scots. I’m in danger of enjoying myself
3. Redbook. Sharp, punky, witty powerpop (in the 70s new wave sense). Hooks. Melody. Woh-ho’s. What’s not to love?
4. AEF. And it was all going so well. Shouty metal. Good guitars. Energy. Vocals that sound like ogres in an argument
5. British Intelligence. Hip hop rock, bouncy grooves, nu metal gtrs, polemical rap. But what’s with American accents?
6. Dels. Weird trippy hip hop with distorted noise samples, dark slow groove & lonely rap. I like it
7. LightsGoBlue tricksy electro eccentric pop. Its bold & brash & with an enthusiasm that reminds me of cheesy 80s pop
8. Minnaars. Believe youngsters call it math rock. Tricksy, playful, post punk dance. BBC misspelt name (easy mistake)
9. The Ouija Birds. Lush, mad indie psychedelia. Ideas in abundance. Ragged round the edges
10. Rugosa Nevada. Guitars remind me of early U2. Dramatic 80s flavoured big rock. Winners of worst band name yet.
11. Sion. Rich guitars, intensity, but a big of a generic Big Indie Sound
12. Soft Toy Emergency. Day glo pop with electro punk attitude, somewhere between Aqua & a heart attack
13. Son Capson - mad attack dog eccentric folk punk. Song about crashing car into Stonehenge. You’ve got to be in the mood
14. Al Lewis. Sensitive singer songwriter. At least I assume he’s sensitive. He’s singing in Welsh so I can’t really tell
15. Apples. Sunny indie with a hint of Vampire Weekend world groove. Why does it remind me of Haircut 100?
16. Bears From Labrador. Actually Britpop veterans from London. Some groovy psychedelia & windswept Neil Young lamentation
17. Blank. What I really think of this amateurish eccentric punk pop should probably be left blank
18. Capture Kendal. Grungy Hendrix. “Your mind’s exploding like a gun”. Can’t be pleasant
19. Come On Gang. Enthusiastic guitar pop with high, thin female vox, quite 1981, in a good way
20. China Red. Jazz soul drum n bass club fusion thing. For people who don’t think Morcheeba is a swear word
21. Don Broco. Hardcore rock with pop melodies. They would like to be American. Actually from Bedfordshire
22. Ellen & The Escapades. Folk pop. Nice atmosphere & melodies. But maybe more Radio 2 than 1.
23. Eslam Jawaad. Its UK hip hop. So what’s with the American accent? Keeping it fake
24. Everything Everything. clever clever prog pop that never sits still. Like XTC & Sparks fighting over corpse of Coldplay
25. Flame To Fire. Badly produced rock band screaming ‘Leave us alone’. Alright, if you insist
26. Frontiers. Hate to break it to this sunny folky indie combo but there’s a Journey tribute band of the same name
27. Lights Action Sensitive rock, sonically ambitious but dated by folk meets prog rock stylings
28. Movement. UK hip hop, ever-shifting electroclub backing, sinister ambience, time switches, London accents & attitude
29. Mummblypegs. Its all in the name. Whimsical folk pop duo regressing into 2nd childhood
30. Mumzy Stranger Smoother than smooth autotuned pop soul. Does Mumzy really want to play at Reading? They’d eat him alive
31. A Plastic Rose. Belfast emo. So proudly nineties they mention it in their own bio. Get with the new decade guys
32. The Rialto Burns. Interesting indie, nicely off kilter, but not yet fully formed
33. Sampras. Confident Britpop-rock swagger. Note to bands: taking name of sporting hero makes googling difficult
34. Boney Black. Groovy hip hop weaving compulsive bass and Link Wray gtrs. Plus they want to save the world. Impressive
35. Schema. Sensitive atmospheric singer-songwriterly rock. Sounds a little Old Grey Whistle Test circa 75. Possibly bearded
36. Senses. 80s U2 in head on collision with The Smiths. No survivors. ‘We’re not wanted round her anymore’ they sing.
37. Sixty Watt Bayonets. Shouty art punk. What if I don’t feel like being shouted at?
38. S.K.G folky eccentric 1 man band with scruffy electro beats & chatty talk singing. Sort of a charming joke
39. Spring Offensive. Not exactly offensive. Not making my heart spring either. Understated oversensitive emo folk rock
40. Tarka Dawn. Wonder if they are any relation to Tarka the Otter? Pop rock with prog emo leanings. There’s a lot of it about.
41. TeaSpoonRiverNeck Stoner groove somewhere between Golden Earring & Mudhoney. Big in Guernsey, apparently.
42. To The Bones Fast, hard rock. Not nu metal. Not old metal. Definitely some kind of metal, tho. That woke me up.
43. What Makes You Beautiful. Not a self help group but rave hip hop. They’re gonna have a good time even if no one else is
44. 7th Wave. Timeshifting updated trip hop switching be slo mo and sprint.
45. The Birdman Rallies. XTC in a folk club on acid. Best group in Harrogate according to North Yorkshire News & they should know
46. Boydidgood. Swaggering, confident rock band who apparently make it a point of pride not to use synths. Cause real boys don’t.
47. Dead World Leaders. More direct guitar rock. I actually thought I was still listening to Boydidgood
48. Misery Guts. quirky folk pop with real character. As you would expect with a name like that
49. Let’s Tea Party. Offbeat diverse indie pop. For some reason they have a song called Hot Chip, which confused my iPod
50. Surprise … Fire. More sub-US emo inflected rock. Always effective but overfamiliar. THERE IS A LOT OF IT ABOUT
51. Kutosis. Jagged, angular, sneery new wave. I like it cos it hasn’t got an emo bone in its body
52. Neon Fantastic. Enthusiastic uber pop punk with sweet melody. Seem quite concerned with virginity. Ah, bless
53. Cuba Cuba. clever clever tricksy angular rock meets prog pop. Nothing to do with Cuba, obviously. Band names, eh?
54. Lovvers. Refreshingly weird garage rock, scuzzy, fresh, unhinged. Misspelt.
55. The Gang. Another British hip hop posse who think they’re from New York or LA, not sarf London
56. The Teeth. Really like this groovy arty electro nonsense. Anticipate trouble with The (American) Teeth though.]
57. LaFaro. Northern Irish rock band. The synchronised riffing has a certain old school (or skool, sorry) charm
58. 360. 8 piece Brummie ska band. Good value if you like jogging on the spot in pork pie hats
59. Bear Driver. Someone said children’s party entertainment by Arcade Fire. Can’t improve on that at 2a.m. Lo fi, big ideas
60. Horse Guards Parade - psychedelic anti folk, apparently. Unless I’ve got my labels in a twist. Whatever it is, I like it
61. Hold Fast. Well, its fast. & it holds my attention. Driven post punk girlie groove thang. Any Portsmouth in a storm
62. Screaming Lights. More slightly dour but driving post punk groove. There’s a lot of it about. Apparently
63. The Living Daylights. Punk rock band either named after James Bond or A-Ha. Not a great idea, either way
64. Viva Sleep. Prog rock meets US NU metal in head on collision. Results not pretty.
65. Zebedy Rays Off kilter power trio. Go left when you think they’ll go right. Is that enough?