Riffed

Welsh lads Catfish and the Bottlemen announced yesterday that their debut album 'The Balcony' will be released on 15th September this year, it's a good job we don't have a balcony, as if we did we'd of fell off with excitement. Van McCann and the band announced this news via Facebook and Twitter yesterday:

"YOU DON'T KNOW HOW LONG WE'VE WAITED TO SAY THIS……..

Nothing makes us more proud to announce that our debut album "The Balcony" is out September 15th.

This is by far the most excited we've ever been about this band and we can't thank you enough for everything……..honestly, I can't express how excited we are for you to hear this!

Click here to pre-order: http://po.st/e3KfWG"

The announcment came following the release of their latest single 'Fallout' which was our single of the week for last week (http://riffed.webs.com/apps/blog/show/42349835-single-of-the-week-2-catfish-and-the-bottlemen-fallout-). Not only have Catfish and the Bottlemen announced their debut album and released a new single, they've just announced their biggest headline gig to date at Koko in London on Friday 7th November. The good times keep on rolling for Catfish and the Bottlemen...

Pre-order The Balcony: http://po.st/e3KfWG

Purchase tickets for Catfish and the Bottlemen's biggest headline gig to date: http://po.st/JRsc5i

RIFFED x

Rumours have been put to bed this morning as August 18th has since been sent in concrete, this being the date The Courteeners will release their fourth studio album 'Concrete Love' and were greated with an emphatic response from fans. Rumours based on a new album have been dotted around for weeks and we even feautured Concrete Love in our top 5 albums to be released this year (http://riffed.webs.com/apps/blog/show/42361834-albums-to-look-forward-to-this-year) before it had even been announced. Liam Fray and the band announced this news via Twitter and Facebook, this being their Facebook post this morning:

"Courteeners brand new album 'Concrete Love' is set to be released on Monday August 18th 2014. The band's fourth record is unleashed the same week the band headline the BBC Radio One/NME Stage at Reading & Leeds Festival. It will be followed by a single release details of which to be announced shortly.

Fans pre-ordering the standard or deluxe version on iTunes will instantly receive new track 'Summer' as an instant download and teaser to the whole album.

Fans can pre-order their signed copies now, available as a standard CD, Deluxe CD + DVD package featuring 'Live at Castlefield Bowl' DVD, and signed Limited edition White vinyl. The iTunes deluxe version features an exclusive iTunes mastered version of the audio from 'Live at Castlefield Bowl'.

By purchasing the signed album from See Tickets via http://bit.ly/ConcreteLove fans will receive a code to gain access before anybody else to an exclusive tour pre-sale guaranteeing them an opportunity to buy 2 tickets for the band's forthcoming UK tour in October/November 2014. Details on the tour and a special booking code will be sent to you at a later date. No album purchase necessary, fans will be able to follow onscreen instructions to gain a pre-sale code without pre-ordering.

Pre-order links:

Signed Deluxe CD/DVD featuring 'Live at Castlefield Bowl' DVD, signed standard CD, and signed Limited edition White vinyl LP via http://bit.ly/ConcreteLove

iTunes Deluxe edition including instant download of 'Summer' and iTunes mastered audio of 'Live at Castlefield Bowl' via http://bit.ly/iTunes-Deluxe

iTunes Standard edition including instant download of 'Summer' via http://bit.ly/iTunes-Standard

Album track listing is as follows:

CONCRETE LOVE

1. White Horses

2. How Good It Was

3. Small Bones

4. Has He Told You That He Loves You Yet

5. Black & Blue

6. International

7. Next Time You Call

8. Summer

9. Saboteur

10. Dreamers

11. Beautiful Head

DELUXE ALBUM PACKAGE CONTAINS 'LIVE AT CASTLEFIELD BOWL' DVD

'Live at Castlefield Bowl' tracklisting

1. Are You In Love With A Notion?

2. Lose Control

3. Cavorting

4. Acrylic

5. Van Der Graaff

6. Please Don't

7. Bide Your Time

8. Scratch Your Name Upon My Lips

9. That Kiss

10. When You Want Something You Can't Have

11. Take Over The World

12. You Overdid It Doll

13. The Opener

14. Welcome To The Rave

15. Sycophant

16. Marquee

17. Smiths Disco

18. The Rest Of the Word Has Gone Home

19. There Is A Light That Never Goes Out

20. Fallowfield Hillbilly

21. Here Come The Young Men

22. Not Nineteen Forever

23. What Took You So Long?"

What can we expect from Concrete Love? Well, the band dropped 'Summer', the new single taken from their forthcoming album, on Xfm this morning. Summer has been met very positively, an upbeat track with the potential to be a summer anthem, therefore doing it's name some justice. A very catchy number, different to a usual Courteeners tune but not one of which has been frownd upon. Whilst listening to Summer you can picture a crowd of people waving their arms in sync underneath the sun with a can in hand and singing along in chorus with Liam Fray. Summer is a huge feel good tune and bodes extremely well for Concrete Love. We can't wait! All we need now is a tour.

Listen to Summer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hc-IOuwqUN4

Pre-Order signed deluxe CD/DVD featuring 'Live at Castlefield Bowl' DVD, signed standard CD, and signed limited edition White vinyl LP: http://bit.ly/ConcreteLove

Pre-Order Concrete Love via iTunes:

Standard: http://bit.ly/iTunes-Standard

Deluxe: http://bit.ly/iTunes-Deluxe

RIFFED x

We chatted to Kassassin Street recently. The five piece from Portsmouth are the defintion of psychedelia, a sound of which sends you into a subconcious daze. They're Temples but with their own twist. Having recently featured in NME's Radar, RIFFED stepped in to grab an interview with the lads.

1) Who are Kassassin Street?

Kassassin Street are a Psychedelic band from Portsmouth, Hampshire. Birthplace of Charles Dickens and exactly 9,366 miles from Ayer's rock, Australia…

2) You've recently released your new single 'The Royal Handkerchief Ballet', tell us a little about that?

Ah The Royal Handkerchief Ballet. I was sat up one night, pretty hazy at 3 am watching old episodes of Button Moon (as you do) and an episode came on entitled 'The Royal Handkerchief Ballet', it kind of really stuck to me, like art imitating life. I suppose we're all part of The Royal Handkerchief Ballet to a degree. We're all performers, and no one ever gets the joke...

It's been great to get our first track out there. It was a pleasure to record at Konk in London with producer Tristan Ivemy (Frank Turner/Tubelord). We've had an amazing response, far better than we anticipated! It's all still very fresh to us, we feel like we're right at the beginning of the road and we've got so much more to prove...

3) You're playing a few festivals this summer, how excited are you?

We love playing live, it's what we do best! Taking our circus to festivals this summer is going to be something else. We've got some amazing line up slots, some of which we're still not allowed to announce, so I must keep my mouth shut slightly. We are very excitable, though that could be a side affect of the hay fever drugs...

4) Where do you see yourselves in 5 years time?

Hmmm that's tough. I'm a simple soul, alive would be good. Alive and playing music would be better. Alive and playing music to someone who wants to listen would be bloody perfection!

5) What can we expect next from Kassassin Street?

Apart from all of the great shows we have lined up, you can most certainly expect another single before the summer is out! We're very excited about the next one...

Huge thanks to Kassassin Street for the interview. Expect to be hearing plenty more of these lads in the future.

Kassassin Street's debut single ‘The Royal Handkerchief Ballet’ is OUT NOW:

Purchase via iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/royal-handkerchief-ballet/id867463933

Watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rvmmh6T1Weo

Follow Kassassin Street on Twitter: http://twitter.com/kassassinstreet

And like their Facebook page: http://facebook.com/kassassinstreet

Visit Kassassin Street's webpage: http://www.kassassinstreet.com/

RIFFED x

Suffolk lads Cemetery Junction spoke to us this week. The alternative rock band as they brand themselves upon have recently released their new single 'Eighteen' and were willing to chat to us about it:

1) Who are Cemetery Junction?

We are a four piece band, all mates from school. Toby Mills (singer) Leon Bishop (guitar) Tom Ashby (bass) Craig Barrott (drums). The band formed in 2011 playing just covers. In 2012 we started to write and perform our own material and it went down well so we pushed that side more. We consider the covers gigs as our apprenticeship and they have helped us to craft a professional live performance.

We are kind of 'what you see is what you get'. When we play we like to absolutely have it! Loads of energy. Loads of movement and we try to get the same out of the audience. Love a good bit of banter and when asked opinions we'll give a straight answer.

2) You've recently released your debut single 'eighteen', tell us a little about that?

Eighteen was written about a particular lad, touch on the nuts side. Basically it's about being young, bold, stupid, naive, but at the same time very free. The line 'I'm yours forever' is something I'm sure plenty of people have said to another at that age and whilst its nice to hear, I'm sure it's said without massive thought and wisdom. It's a bit of a party tune too to try and celebrate being young, embrace it and not to over think your future to early.

3) Favourite gig of which you've played?

Cliche, but we love them all. Gigs local to us are decent as we get a good, familiar crowd. Camden Crawl on the 21st June is going to be mega and we are really looking forward to that! Couple of festivals last year were good too.

4) Where do you see yourselves in 5 years time?

Hopefully still doing what we love. Our fan base is growing and we want to keep it that way. Best way to achieve this is to keep writing good songs and stay very true to who we are. Two things we don't plan to change. Maybe sailing into a Caribbean island on some rich fuckers yacht because he likes one of our tunes. One can dream. But in all seriousness, it would be great to make music a living as well as a massive hobby so yeah, we would like to be doing that.

5) What's next for Cemetery Junction?

Well, we have a single release on the 8th September and a couple later in the year. Then hopefully jan of 2015 we will have another EP out with more tracks so more material is coming. We are working on establishing ourselves in other areas around the country and giving people the chance to hear us and hopefully they will like us.

Big thanks to Cemetery Junction for the interview.

Like Cemetery Junction on Facebook: Facebook/cemeteryjunction

Or follow them on Twitter: @cemeteryjunc

Follow Cemetery Junction on Instagram: cemetaryjunction

Listen to Cemetery Junction: soundcloud.com/cjunction

Keep up to date with gig announcments on Bandsintown: Cemetery Junction

RIFFED x

Superfood this week released their new track 'Right On Satellite' via Zane Lowe on Radio 1. The Brum band have recently finished the recording of their debut album and Right On Satellite provides solid evidence that it could be a cracker.

Right On Satellite possesses the vibey-ness Superfood are known for, it begins with a raw guitar solo that sets the trend, an extremely catchy tune, hints of Temples mashed with Peace. The chorus follows the catchy trend, very powerful and upbeat. Right On Satellite as we said offers hints of a Temples and Peace combo which couldn't ever be a bad thing. This catchy number has the potential to be a huge summer track within the indie music scene. It already has plenty of ravers and has made many excited for the release of their debut album. 

Superfood appear to be following in the footsteps of fellow indie bands from Birmingham, Peace, Swim Deep and Jaws to name but a few. But could they be set to top them?

RIFFED's Rating: 7/10

Listen to Right On Satellite here: https://soundcloud.com/superfood/right-on-satellite-1

RIFFED x

Peace this week released their new single 'Money', but is it worth your money?

Purchase Money and all you're getting is a half price Peace. There are glimpses of the Peace from a year ago that we all loved, but this is overshadowed throughout via the cheap chorus of 'Money, do you need it, do you eat it, when you're hungry' which is emphisised greatly to the point it becomes extremely tinny, this is followed by the rapping of lead singer Harrison Kossier which clearly implies a change in direction for Peace, but we feel this change in direction has led them down a cul-de-sac of which there's no turning back from, as their debut album 'In Love' also wasn't as impressive as EP's such as Delicious previously implied and if Money is anything to go by, their second album could be set to follow this trend. There are positives within Money, such as the funky tune which occasionally offers that groove that Peace used to forever possess. But, on the whole Money is a huge dissapointment, we at RIFFED are fans of Peace, but like a lot of people wish they'd revert back to the Delicious era, when Peace were the freshest indie revelation, but now seem to be slowly devaluing themselves.

RIFFED's Rating: 3/10

Listen to Money here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-69_ncALA0

Purchase Money via iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/money-single/id848984494?ign-mpt=uo%3D4

RIFFED x

Hull band Breeze spoke to us this week. Branded by themselves as an alternative rock band, the yorkshire lads have already supported bands such as SKATERS , Drowners and Girls Names and are set to support Catfish and the Bottlemen next month. The future is looking bright for the 'ull boys, so we grabbed an interview with Aron from the band and here it is:

1) Who are BREEZE?

We're a four piece band from Hull, two guitars, one bass, one drum and three vocals. We don't really want to categorize ourselves as a certain type of band because that's for every body else to decide but we quite often get the words grunge and lo-fi slung about in there.

2) You're set to release a new single and EP soon, tell us a little about that?

Yeah we're releasing a 3 track single/e.p in August called Post Youth, it's quite exciting really to think about as it's the first time any of us will of ever had our music in a physical and digital form. In terms of sound it's sounding really heavy and dirty. The guy who produced it (Paddy Tobin from Mountain Sound Recording Studio in Hull) kept giving us these baritone guitars to record with to give it that extra bang. Sounds really cool though, we'll be releasing it after the first music video.

3) You are supporting Catfish and the Bottlemen at the Fruit in Hull in July, a gig RIFFED are going to be at, how excited are you for this?

Yeah we're quite excited to be fair, we've played Fruit a few times before and often with big bands like Skaters, Drowners and Girls Names so it's not really new to us but Catfish are a really exciting band so it'll be a good experience to share the stage with them. Plus our mates in NEED are playing and they're starting to sound mega. I've got to say that because I used to be in a band with two of them... But all jokes aside we're dead excited for it.

4) What's next for BREEZE?

Whats next for BREEZE is getting the single and the video out really and getting it around the country, we're hoping to book a series of out of town gigs and give the single a big push, but for the foreseeable future the main plan is just to gig gig and gig with us spending quite a bit of time in the studio this year. We've also got a few massive shows to announce as well in the next few weeks or so.

Big thanks to Aron of BREEZE for the interview.

You can check BREEZE out here: www.soundcloud.com/wearebreeze

And follow them on Twitter: www.twitter.com/wearebreeze

Or like them on Facebook: www.facebook.com/wearebreeze

Also you can follow BREEZE on Instagram: www.instagram.com/wearebreeze_

RIFFED x

The Libertines have followed up their Hyde Park and Bennicassim dates with the announcment of a European tour. The dates are as follows:

Tuesday 30/9/14 - France Paris Zenith

Thursday 2/10/14 - Netherlands Amsterdam Heineken Music Hall

Friday 3/10/14 - Belgium Brussels FN Club

Saturday 4/10/14 - Germany Berlin Columbiahalle

Sunday 5/10/14 - Germany Dusseldorf Mitsubishi Electric Halle

The band announced these dates via their Facebook page this morning and were greated by many very happy European contigents. It appears The Libertines fever has swarmed across the EU.  Will you be seeing The Libertines in Europe? Tickets go on sale this Friday morning and the links to purchase these via will be posted on the bands official Facebook page : https://www.facebook.com/thelibertines.

RIFFED x

Glastonbury is only 10 days away and we cannot wait here at RIFFED. After much deliberation, we've somehow managed to collate a list of the top 10 artists to see at this years festival. 

• Royal Blood - Brighton rockers Royal Blood have made a huge jump since our editor saw them on their first ever tour. Within 10 months they've gone from free gigs with 20 or so people rolling up, to supporting the Arctic Monkeys at Finsbury Park and playing at Glastonbury this year. We expect Royal Blood to storm their set at Worthy Farm and blow the minds of everyone there. Mike and Ben make the sound of 20 men, but we expect them to top that at Glasto this year.
• Paolo Nutini - Following the release of 'Caustic Love' earlier this year, Paolo will be making an appearence at this years festival. The Scott will not let down, Paolo is a fantastic live act and new single 'Scream (Funk My Life Up)' will be a treat to hear for every lucky soul witnessing his set. But expect some timeless classics thrown into his set also.
• Pixies - The Yanks are back and following the release of their latest album 'Indie Cindy', we anticipate Pixies to provide a storming set. Pixies released their first material for almost ten years, in 'Indie Cindy', so they'll be be eager to perform tracks from this as well as some golden oldies also. 
• Wolf Alice - The indie band are forever on the rise, expect them to propell themselves even further post Glastonbury. Ellie Rowsell and the lads have already built up a huge fanbase, but expect this to grow even bigger on Worthy Farm . A great live act who have a huge future awaiting them, a must see.
• London Grammar - Hannah, Dan and Dom are one fantastic live band. The voice of Hannah Reid is one that is completley unmatchable. A treat to witness, playing tracks from their debut album 'If You Wait', expect London Grammar to send shivers down your spine.
• Metronomy - Funk masters Metronomy have recently released their new album 'Love Letters' and have followed this up by earning a slot at Glasto this year. We expect Metronomy's set to be one full of groove and funk that will get everyone in the mood for a jive or two.
• MGMT - The American duo make their return to UK festivals this summer at Glastonbury and we expect them to peform a mesmerising set. Similar to Metronomy, MGMT are known for their groovy and funky style and we anticipate more of the same via classics from Oracular Spectacular, Congratulations and the self titled MGMT.
• Jack White - Former White Stripe Jack White is set to play this years festival on the back of his second solo album titled 'Lazaretto'. The dark and mysterious magic of Jack White is not to be missed. Anyone witnessing is certainly in for a special evening.
• Kasabian - The Leicester lads have recently released their fifth album '48:13', of which we rewarded a 9/10 in our review. Kasabian are going to explode onto the Pyramid, performing huge tracks from past and present. Whether you're watching from home or are lucky enough to be at Worthy Farm, Kasabian will get you jumping up and down without doubt.
• Arcade Fire - One of the greatest live bands ever to grace the Earth. 'The Reflektors' will bring the carnival of their worldwide Reflektor tour to Worthy Farm and we are extremely excited. Arcade Fire will most certainly steal the weekend performing tracks from their msot recent album 'Reflektor' and many previous classics from past albums. Arcade will be a spectacle and a half.

Our editor recently heard one of his favourite bands on the playlist in a Pretty Green store, this band recently split. This sparked us to collate a list of some the greatest bands which no longer exist. 

• Little Night Terrors - Leicester lads, Little Night Terrors are the band our editor heard on the Pretty Green playlist, made up of Dan Holyoak and brothers Andy and James Stone, the Terrors had a huge future ahead of them. Headlining gigs in their hometown as well as across the country, the future was looking bright for Andy, James and Dan. The Terrors played Y Not Festival in the summer of last year, soon after releasing their huge hit 'Young Lion' which propelled them on to the scene, a fantastic catchy tune. Previous releases consist of another huge hit 'Pocket Rocket' and their debut EP 'Withces'. The last action from the Leicester lads proved to be their release of 'Pure' and 'Cherryade', both with a huge groove to them which Little Night Terrors often offered. 'Pure' and 'Cherryade' both recieved plenty of air play on BBC Introducing shows across the country, but the band soon split after this. A huge shame. We can only pray Little Night Terrors put aside their differences or whatever the case may be and reform one day soon. A huge future awaited these lads. Listen to Little Night Terrors - http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE18UEZjCkq4a-Y8EhsVErw
• Oasis - Do they really need explanation? We think everyone on this planet must miss Oasis. Possibly the greatest band to grace the Earth. The Gallagher brothers, Noel and Liam were the frontiers of the splitas they were the band. The hate between the two grew with every passing day and eventually they were tipped over the edge. Millions of people across the world shed millions of tears on this day, one of the greatest bands ever announcing their split really didn't go down too well. Their was light at the end of the tunnel though, albeit dim, with the release of their 'Time Flies' album, packed with Oasis' greatest tunes. An extremely long album as you can imagine. Post split, Liam began his own band named Beady Eye and Noel followed in his footsteps with the arrival of Noel Gallaghers High Flying Birds onto the scene. Both are huge bands, but they will never top the Gallagher brothers when united. Will we ever see Oasis again? Listen to Oasis - http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUDVBtnOQi4c7E8jebpjc9Q
• Tribes - Camden band Tribes announced their split via Facebook and Twitter in November of last year which was meeted by plenty of sad replies. Tribes fronted by Johnny Llyod, consisted of Miguel Demolo, Dan White and Jim Cratchley, the quartet had previous to their split released their second album 'Wish to Scream', which we personally thought was a cracker. But, NME awarded it a harsh 2/10 in their review. Previous to this they released their debut album 'Baby', a huge debut album that really announced Tribes. Followed by the release of the video to the main track of the album 'We Were Children', which feautred the band playing on top of a building in their hometown, giving the impression that Tribes were to become that awesome band everyone loves. And everyone did love Tribes, that is why when their split was announced, one or two tears were shed by many fans. It's not all doom and gloom though, lead singer Johnny has recently begun his solo career and Jim Cratchley has joined up with Dinsoaur Pile-Up, so half of the quarter from Camden are still on the scene. Listen to Tribes - http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQIzSOhu97zai9YwXMQXbYw
  
• The Smiths - Morrissey, Marr, Rourke and Joyce. The Smiths. The hearthrobs of the 80's. The Manchester band went on to own the 80's, releasing plenty of timeless classics and headling festivals worldwide. The magic of Morrissey and Marr grasped the 80's generation, their gloominess is prominent but this didn't turn away many people. Their split in 1987, 5 years after reforming, like many splits, didn't please too many people. But many feel The Smiths reached their peak and were unable to go on to top the highs they reached during their 5 years. Post split Morrissey and Marr both began solo careers, which they're still to this day forseeing and many are enjoying. It's a huge doubt we'll ever see The Smiths peform again. Listen to The Smiths - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzexP58si0w