Wow, we’re very, very behind with the Ash reviews. KISS really messed things up for a few weeks and the very sad passing of Ronnie James Dio didn’t exactly help motivate the Tickets There minds. Now we’re determined to get back in full swing and what better way to make our return, but by writing our 42,000 Ash review.
Rather than going the complex or over the top route, Ash have settled on the fairly straight forward pop approach. Insects flows well, the chorus is catchy and the word Insects constantly being repeated will conjure up some images.
Not a song you could write a million words about and not the best thing the band’s ever come out with but a decent effort all the same. Towards the end things really drive home and the guitars are stand out. Some serious finger tabbing or something going on there.
Not bad lads, keep it up.
Check out Ash-Official.com to hear it. Hurry, new track coming on the 24th
Tickets There good old pals in Lluther have released a video for a new track entitled, Enough. Well worth checking out especially for those of you who attended their Button Factory show a couple of months ago….and also for anyone who didn’t 😉 Enjoy!
Formed over three years ago, Dublin four piece Sweet Jane have developed from a mistaken chat up line into one of the independents scenes highest hopes for 2010 and beyond. Originally formed by well known Dublin guitarist Danda and the soulful Lydia Des Dolles, they’ve been working overtime for the last three years carving out their own unique take on sixties psychedelic rock mixed with modern indie originated traits.
Most recently the band have been readying their debut album, Sugar For My Soul and playing shows throughout Ireland and getting people ready for their next favorite band. Tickets There was fortunate enough to get a chance to ask the wonderful, soon to be style icon Lydia Des Dolles a few questions about the bands origins, progress on their debut album and their plans for the future.
Tickets There – Sweet Jane started life in early 2007, how does it feel entering your third year as a group?
Lydia – I have a hard time answering this question normally, simply because the band has had so many stages, it was Christmas 07 / 08 when I first met Danda and we started recording on a 10-track in my apartment, and it took us quiet some time to take it into our studio and develop it into a full-time band, so this last year has felt like our first in the sense that everything seem to fall into place and we got serious.
Tickets There – In the beginning you went through several line-up changes. Would it be fair to say that Ruairi and Donagh are as much a part of Sweet Jane as yourself and Danda now?
Lydia – um, well with Ruairi he’s been in Sweet Jane since the beginning, he played guitar and we had a different bass player, it was by default that he started to play bass, we were on tour and the last date was a festival in Cork, but our bassist couldn’t play it, so Ruairi had to learn play bass, and we just stuck to it, being a four piece suited us alot better than have a stage full of people playing y’know? And with Donagh, I guess its fair to say he completed us, in the sense that we always had drummers that played with us but their heart wasn’t in it, and I cant tell you how much that sucks, Donagh came from nowhere, knew none of us, just really like our band. Tickets There – This April see’s the release of your debut album, Sugar For My Soul. You must be thrilled after all the hard work put in that it’s finally ready to go?
Lydia – It was originally scheduled for April, but we had some file problems sending the parts to our producer in LA, so instead of being rushed into an April release we chose to take our time and just put it out when its ready so, now its scheduled for June, the second week in June. But we have a single out around the end of April, to give everyone a taster of the record.
Tickets There – The albums release has been made possible by your signing to Reekus Records last November, how have they been treating you?
Lydia – Umm, I don’t think its that fair to say that it was made possible because of the record, we would have put it out independently had there have been no contract y’know, but having them on board with us has been such a blessing, its weird, because you work so hard and you fight for your place and then overnight someone else is fighting your corner for you, so its definitely a nice feeling.
Tickets There – Have you any plans for a single to coincide? And if so, what track have you picked?
Lydia – Yeah, the first single is going to be ”Close your Eyes”, it was so hard to pick a single, for us the record is all singles, but you obviously have to consider alot more when all these people are behind you now, y’know, we all had different singles, but at the end when we heard the final cut of the record, we all settled on ”Close your Eyes”.
Tickets There – Your first EP, Blackboots & Blackhearts was produced by Ryan Van Kriedt (Asteroid #4, ZAZA, Sunsplit, The Dead Skeletons), Did you rope him in again for the album or did you work with new people?
Lydia – We recorded we different people this time, but we always knew in our hearts that we’d have Ryan come back on board with us, when we done the ”Blackboots & Blackhearts EP” we could only afford to record 5 songs, had we have had the money to be in the studio for a full record we would have done it back then, but things work out for the best in the end, I guess. Ryan is hands-down a genius when it comes to mixing, he knew from the start exactly our sound, how we wanted each vocal or guitar part down, he’s a very dear friend to our band.
Tickets There – In the past you’ve mentioned there’s buzz around the band from America and Europe. Are there any plans set in stone to tour abroad?
Lydia – Nothing set in stone, its all about the record right now, we are in the UK in May for a little bit and then home for the release, then your into festivals for the summer, I think the itinerary is getting the record out in as many territories as possible, so naturally when that happens, we’ll tour around it.
Tickets There – Your lead guitarist, Danda has long been credited as the bands chief song writer. Has this changed at all for Sugar For My Soul?
Lydia – No, it hasn’t, it’s kind of text book at this stage y’know? How we write our songs is done the same way every time, Danda has the initial concept, we’ll work it out together on an acoustic guitar, and then we go into the studio and he’ll show the guys a rough bass-line or drum beat and we jam it out until it works. For this record, I was living with Danda for a little bit while I was moving house, so we really submerged ourselves into writing, and recording all our ideas onto a 10-track again, y’know, 3am in the morning ”Wake up, what do you think about this vocal”….
Tickets There – We’ve read through alot of old interviews with you and your sound’s constantly being compared to bands like The Jesus and Mary Chain and The Velvet Underground. Has this started to become frustrating at all considering you’ve worked so hard to carve out your own identity?
Lydia – Yeah I know, Kind of boring right? I mean not really boring.. because I can think of alot worse bands, but it bores me personally, y’know when you go to do another interview and someone just hasn’t researched our band at all, its just ”so you all love the velvet underground?” I don’t like it because it was one or two people that put that tag on us and it stuck, sometimes it embarrasses me because I’m terrified someone will interview me about a VU record, and I wont have a clue how to answer them [laughs] But when you mention working hard to create our own identity, I don’t think its relevant for a band to carve their identity, I don’t think you get to choose that ownership, I think you just be, y’know, you be the best band that you can and your identity will naturally get carved for you.
Tickets There – If you had to pick one musical influence that made you want to become a professional singer, who would it be?
Lydia – Considering I was born in the mid-eighties, I was pretty late on the ”cool” rock bands train, so I grew up on a pure-pop music, I think the Spice Girls gave me my edge, and I mean all kids grow up on their parents music too right? My mom owned one record, Rod Stewart, not even the Faces, just Rod Stewart in his cruise-liner days, [laughs] my Dada was a little cooler, he had lots of records from bands like The Pogues, Dexy’s, The Eagles, I have a deep rooted obsession with Billy Joel, Roberta Flack, and Linda Rondstadt because of him, god bless him. Actually here’s a funny story when I was a kid he used to sing ”Lydia” by Dean Friedman to me, I posted it on twitter and THE actually Dean Friedman tweeted me back!!!! I died, I swear. But , umm, to answer your question, I don’t think a ”Professional Singer” was ever what I wanted, I just really wanted to be in a rock & roll band, if had to give you an answer on who could have influence me, I guess, y’know those really charismatic front men, who just command your attention… Phil Anselmo, Liam Gallagher..Bono.
Sugar For My Soul is coming out in June folks, pay attention and catch Sweet Jane around the UK and Ireland this summer! (and Don’t forget to check out their MySpace)
[UK Tour Date] The Windmill Brixton, UK, UK
09-May-10
[IRL Tour Date] Bray Music Video Festival The Harbour Bar, Bray, IE
15-May-10
[IRL Tour Date] Antics! [Late Show] Crawdaddy, Dublin, IE
19-May-10
[IRL Tour Date] Electric Avenue Waterford, Ireland, IE
18-Jun-10
[IRL Tour Date] Crane Lane Crane Lane, Cork, IE
19-Jun-10
[UK Tour Date] Spring & Airbrake Belfast, Northern Ireland, GB
25-Jun-10
[IRL festival Date] Spraoi Festival [31st On The Plaza] The Quay, Waterford, IE
30-Jul-10
The Plaza [On The Quay] Waterford, n/a
31-Jul-10
[IRL Festival Tour Date] Indie-Pendance Festival Mitchelstown, Co, Cork, IE
01-Aug-10
[UK Tour Date] Death Disco London Notting Hill Arts Club, London, GB
15-Sep-10
[UK Tour Date] Death Disco London Notting Hill Arts Club, London, GB
God, as soon as oneAsh review goes up there’s another to be done. We were 100% sure single O wasn’t coming till next week but here we are, another two weeks over and another fecking single review to do. Thank god the song in question is damn right savage.
While Single N, Dare To Dream was lacking in the ass kicking department, Mind Control has gone and given the second half of Ash’s incredible A-Z Singles the kick off it needed. It’s got guitars, it’s got solo’s, it’s catchy and there’s swear words, one of Rock’s most beloved and mourned siblings. What the Fuck is going on? Ash are kicking ass left, right and centre, that’s what.
Excellent addition to the series and one that’s gotten Tickets There excited all over again. Thanks to Mind Control, we won’t forget single P’s release date. See ye in two weeks.
The last couple of months have been anything but quiet in the Ash camp. After the mega selling Free All Angles, the well received and much heavier Meltdown and the slightly underwhelming Twilight of the Innocents (Lads, you never gave that album any proper attention so shut the f**k up – Ed.) and the loss of guitarist Charlotte Hatherley, it seemed Ash were on the decline. Like, how long can three guys all in their thirty’s write songs about summer romances and Star Wars?? When the band reappeared in 2009 and announced plans to release 26 singles over the course of a year, Tickets There didn’t exactly hold the highest of hopes. Goes to show critics, even under-experience, untrained ones like us can get it wrong.
Ash do everything on this record. If it’s hard dance basted floor fillers, gritty guitar grundge classics, catchy pop rock highlights, heavy guitar driven bruisers or stripped back, piano and acoustic ballads you’re after, you’re guaranteed to find it here. Tracks like Arcadia, Space Shot, Dionysian Urge, War With Me, Return of White Rabbit, Ichiban, Neon, The Dead Disciples and Command really drive this album home and prove Ash can write and release singles as easily as the rest of us breath. Bigger ballad numbers like Joy Kicks Darkness, Pripyat, Song of Your Desire and Tracers give the individual singles a connecting quality that brings them together enough to work surprisingly well as an album.
On top of the first 13 singles and Return of White Rabbit, the band have lashed on four extra bonus tracks and aside from the stench of cheese coming from Coming Around Again, they prove to work quite well. The Creeps is easily something the band could have written in their early Jack Names the Planets days which CTRL-ALT-DEL comes from the same family of A Life Less Ordinary.
We’re stumped for words. We have given Ash an excessive amount of space on Tickets There since last year and there’s a lot left to go. In short, these first 13 singles are the finest musical outputs Ash have released in almost a decade and with another 13 to go, we’re sure we won’t be stuck for words for long.
Follow Tickets There’s A – Z Singles Reviews Fortnightly by Clicking Here
Tickets There is currently doing its best to come out of a cursed slump which seems to have been lounging around for a long time now (damn Karma for the Slash review probably). In an effort to get back on our feet we decided a whole bunch of not-so-selective My Space Reviews is in order and luckily for us, The Ambience Affair are a pretty good way to start.
As usual, we’ve never seen the band live or heard their record.
Kicking off with Parting Patterns, the band’s sound is made up of melodic, soulful acoustic guitars, heavy percussion and a driving crunchy sounding bass. There’s alot of mythical themes in the lyrics that are also reflected in the music which leaves this piece a very relaxing, easy on the ears number.
Devil In The Detail is a little rawer and more direct. Alot of the same traits from Parting Patterns but it’s almost like the band have asked Joy Division for help reconstructing the delivery. As a song, it’s far more involved and less transcendent that the previous number but alot more appealing to a listener looking for some action. Another winner…in an odd, atmospheric kind of way.
The sound is very odd and the use of the instruments is unquestionably intriguing. Lost At The Start reminds us of Jape being covered by Bell X1. Same traits as the other songs with their appealingly subtle busyness running throughout. What more can you say? It’s just good, chill-axed tunes.
We’re cutting back on this song by song style of reviewing so we’ll leave it there. Interesting sound, nice and relaxing. TT likes.
Sweet Jane have released the track listing to their eagerly anticipated debut album, Sugar For My Soul.
Originally scheduled for April, the album is now set to come out in June and judging by the bands releases so far, it’s going to be one worth picking up. Keep an eye on Tickets There for more information.
Sugar For My Soul Track-List.
1. Bleed
2. Close Your Eyes
3. Ive Been Waitin’
4. Black Eyes
5. Texas Tears
6. Something For My Soul
7. Save a Little Place
8. Where’s You’re Money?
9. You’re Making This Hard
10. War Cry
11. Don’t Hold You’re Head So Low
12. Fade to my Heartbreak
Two weeks have passed and as promised, Ash have returned with the second half of their A – Z release. With the Volume 1 singles coming out on two CD’s on the 19th, it’s time for fans to re-focus on the second batch and first single, Dare To Dream seems to be taking things in the right direction.
The song itself is a little drawn out. It’s doesn’t deliver the energetic, rockier side of the groups sound but does stick to the A – Z trademark grandness. It’s constantly develops as you listen but never uncovers any real surprises. Saying that, we prefer it to True Love 1980 (Single A of the series) – so as openers go, this ones ahead.
This series has already given fans more worthwhile material than we could have hoped and with another twelve singles to go, we know they have just as many more quality singles to go. This won’t be a stand out in the long run, but it’s a good sign of things to come.
‘EMI Ireland have put together a 2CD, 42-track monster of an Irish compilation album that will be in the shops to coincide with Record Store Day.
The New Breed features a track apiece from – deep breath! – Two Door Cinema Club, Le Galaxie, CODES, The Ambience Affair, Dark Room Notes, Cathy Davey, Messiah J & The Expert, Halves, Oliver Cole, Subplots, The Blizzards, Halfset, Fred, Stellarsound ft. Paula Flynn, The Laundry Shop, Roísin Murphy, Delorentos, Patrick Kelleher, Ham Sandwich, Vyvienne Long, Republic Of Loose, The Jimmy Cake, Mick Flannery, Lisa Hannigan, The Chapters, New Amusement, The Minutes, R.S.A.G., The Urges, And So I Watch You From Afar, The Revellions, BATS, Crayonsmith, Adebisi Shank, Declan O’Rourke, Heathers, Julie Feeney, David Kitt, Jerry Fish & The Mudbug Club, Valerie Francis and The Coronas.
Full tracklisting can be found below…now that ain’t stolen from Hotpress!
Tickets There has a saying, ‘when in doubt, go to Cork’. Bands emerging from the People’s Republic seem to have a much greater ratio of talent to toss than any other county we’ve come across. Not to dump on the rest of Ireland or anything, we’ve just found Cork to be the most reliable for finding consistently good bands and anyone looking to prove us wrong, please do so. This damn trawling through the net is finally wearing thin.
Metal, Metal, Metal! What’s going to rip a couple of X-touts out of a Whitesnake stronghold faster than anything? Metal! Five Will Die play it, we want to hear it, you’re gonna love them.
Never seen, never heard.
First track, What They Say is nothing but six and some odd minutes of unrelenting, fury fired, hardcore aggression. There isn’t a tame moment to be found and the band sound great….if you like industrial strong death metal.
Black Cloud opens a lot softer and for awhile you’re lulled into thinking the band have an auld ballad or two up the sleeves. Fear not metal alliance, before long the singers growling roar explodes and the song turns into a doom driven …what the hell would you call it? Sounds like a physiatrist patient’s mind embarking on a downward spiral to complete insanity. Next! (In a good way)
On Your Knees has much the same opening as Black Cloud, in the sense that it’s soft but the music does contain that impending danger TT just loves. For TT, the song lengths may push things as a tad but if you’re a fully fledged fan, then you’re definitely getting value for your mula.
Self titled track next and TT is going to have to leave it on this note. Five Will Die wastes no time exploding into action. There’s so much power in the singers voice that you’ll be convinced after a few short spins.
Overall, not too bad. The length takes its toll and the lack of faster material, such as What They Say brings the pace to a very sudden stop. Aside from that the bands tight, talented and judging by these songs, they’re live shows are probably like a war zone. Worth checking out if you’re a doom / Sludge / Death metal supporter.
EMI are releasing several album to celebrate Record Store Day on April 16th, one being our very own Oliver Cole’s debut solo album, We Albatri.
Ollie’s albums was released last week and landed at number 36 in the charts after 4 days of sale. Expect this to rise over the new couple of weeks. To read our full review, Click Here.
The good people from Antics, a weekly show held in Dublin’s coziest venue Crawdaddy, have offered us a pair of guest list spots for next weeks Robotnik show (April 7th).
Kicking off at 11.00pm, the club offers band, great drink deals (all pints €3 & Jager Bombs €5) and two rooms of DJ’s. Pretty sweet for €5 and even sweeter if it’s free.
To be in with a chance of seeing the excellent Robotnik live, just answer this simple question,
Torn between loyalty and honesty, Tickets There has been dreading the thoughts of writing this review for a long time now. As massive fans of Oliver Cole’s former group, Turn, we’ve never really gotten the same excitement, enjoyment or fulfillment from the singer’s solo material. That being said, Oliver possesses a charm, style and above all, a talent that you just can’t ignore. So here we are, four years after Turns demise, still waiting for Ollie to produce something to fill the void left since their absence. Thankfully, we’re delighted to report that our fears and hesitations have finally been appeased.
Musically, the album gets harder and harder to define with each listen. Tracks like What Will You Do?, Oh My Girl and Too Many People bounce around with quietly restrained catchiness and easy going vibes. Drug Song and Little Bad Dream take their cues from a country backing while more soulful pieces like Close Your Eyes, We Albatri, Spotlight and the excellent Need You Strong are far more stripped back and powerful. Each song possess it’s own unique charm and style but they still manage to blend perfectly together giving the album a great flow.
Lyrically the album is heavy. Moth’s Wing, Need You Strong, Close Your Eyes and Spotlight are filled with sadness and themes of lamenting love, memories and regrets. Oliver’s immense talent for writing extremely personal and profound music combined with his incredibility soulful vocals give the songs a passion and an edge that few in this country can match.
Unlike other reviewers, Tickets There won’t commit that this album upstages Oliver’s past. However, we’ll say this. We Albatri continues Oliver’s great tradition of writing and recording incredibly passionate and diverse music. Thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish and only improves with repeated listens.
Check Out: Oh My Girl, We Albatri, Too Many People, Little Bad Dream…agh, just buy the album and check em all out.
If you read Tickets There regularly, you’ll have noticed a wee series of reviews called ‘MySpace Review’. These are quickly written opinions about bands we’ve never seen live or heard on record.
The very first MPR kicked off with then underground talent, Fight Like Apes and we were not impressed. So unimpressed that the reviews briefly became an outlet for attacks on various bands rather than an aid for their promotion. After some serious soul searching a while back, TT changed format and so did the reviews. Now we’re ready to eat our words about FLA simply because…they’re making more of an effort than most.
Although we haven’t fully warmed up to their music. The bands determination to standout and give fans more value for their buck is something alot more bands could do with checking out. Last year the band preformed two nights in the academy with a full sized wrestling ring and theatrical stage show. Awesome! Now they’ve released one of the coolest video’s we’ve seen from an Irish group. Well worth checking out if you’re a fan or not.
Been a long time since Tickets There’s gotten round to a good old fashioned MySpace Review. In some ways they’re a headache to do but they’re a little more relaxing (and cheaper) than forcing ourselves to grab a new album and write a full summary in a day or two. Monday morning rambling. Was that as boring for you to read as it was for us to write? Good J
Today we’re going through the Dublin Rocks! Bands and checking out the ones we haven’t heard before. Up first is Dublin four piece, The Gandhis who describe themselves as Pop / Alternative / Other. It’s the ‘other’ that gives their sound that extra appeal that’s keeping Tickets There listening.
As usual, we’ve never seen the band live or heard their album.
After two songs (Promise Lane & The Ruby Show), The Gandhis sound like a mesh of The Coral and The Clash with a love for Ska. Promise Lane has a charming lads humor quality with a tongue in check, relaxed style of playing. The Ruby Show is more solid and direct but the Ska sound helps the song loosen up and rather than being straight punk, which it could easily be. Not bad at all.
Guy Like Me has some of the silliness from Paradise Lane and drops the Ska sound in favor of a more la, la, la acoustic harmony driven pop style. Would have felt more at home in the mid-sixties but the lads play well, there’s alot going on and they sound like they’d be alot of fun live. Final song, Don’t You Want To Be Loved By Me is back to a more direct form of song writing. The style is still quite relaxed but the quality of the song writing is on a higher level than Promise Lane and Guy Like Me.
All in all, pretty good. We weren’t expecting much but they’ve definitely cheered up our Monday morning. We recommend you have a listen to Ruby Lane and go from there. Check out their MySpace by Clicking Here.
As a seasoned Irish gig goer, you become used to the majority of shows consisting of bands dressed in hoodies and converse, standing around muttering and acting very self-conscious and shy. The quality of music differs on the band of course but Tickets There, and people in general find a band more believable when they can perform their songs with confidence and tonight’s show by Dublin Industrial / Hard Rock five piece Lluther oozes confidence.
Tonight the bands here to film video’s for their new album, Rise of the Reptile King and treat fans to a performance of the full record. After an enjoyable warm up from the The Dublin Burlesque Cabaret & Social Club, Lluther explode on stage with the fiery hard rock Femme Fatale. The bands stage presence and setup is dauntingly impressive to say the least and each member performs their part with precision and perfect delivery.
Not being a huge expert on the bands first album or much of the newer material (latter of which you can’t hold against us, no-one knows the new stuff – Ed), Tickets There have to rely on the bands showmanship to help us enjoy the night and they don’t disappoint. Singles such as In The Dollhouse, Enough and King of Nothing are delivered with the same energy, power and slickness as the recordings but the bands live presence bring the songs to life in a way records can rarely capture.
Until She Comes & Rise of the Reptile King offer further highlights to the night, despite Gerry’s guitar cutting out during the latter, and a guest appearance from Moth Complex’sAoife O’ Leary comes as a welcome treat before the band close the main set. Off course, curfew or no curfew, there’s no way the band would leave their fans hanging and they return to preform four or five tracks from the debut, Agents of Empire. An album Tickets There isn’t currently familiar with but after this show, that’s about to change.
Despite a small turn out for a gig of this size, it seems Lluther are on the right course to conquer the world of hard rock in the near future. Next time they play Dublin, you can be guaranteed people will have caught on.
Single M, War With Me marks the half way point in Ash’s colossal A – Z Single series and what an achievements it’s become. The songs so far have displayed some of Ash’s most lovable traits, some of their finest pop / rock moments and a grandness rarely seen in their previous material. We’re once again delighted to report that today’s release continues this fine line of quality, enjoyment and few frills pop rock.
War With Me is a simple slice of the bands irresistibly catchy gift for pop. Built predominantly around a heavy Piano, the song is a laid back, lighter than most little number. Short, sweet and loveable. Since we’re half way there, why don’t you just check the video below and hear it for yourself, you won’t be disappointed.
March was a pretty good month for gigs and tonight is definitely the perfect culmination/ Did we say perfect? we meant f**king annoying.
Three of Ireland’s finest acts are all playing in the capital tonight meaning you need to throw a dart and see where you’re going. Oliver Cole, The Redneck Manifesto & Lluther are all playing and you can only choose one.
Oliver Cole – The Sugar Club,
The Redneck Manifesto – Tripod,
Lluther, The Button Factory
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