GIG: FINDLAY

Review by Jon Birch

Photography by John Cooper

The Soup Kitchen, located in Manchester’s trendy Northern Quarter, is a fairly busy but quiet, peaceful bar during daylight hours. At night however, it’s building a reputation as one of the places to see new talent, both local and from further afield. As you take the steps down to the cellar it becomes quickly apparent there’s no glitz or glamour to this place. With its bare brick walls, hastily constructed bar and amps propped up on beer crates, this is every inch the underground music venue. It’s a place where rock and roll stories start.

Tonight, its Findlay, ‘Manchester’s little secret’. There’s been a buzz building around her as she’s slowly built a following around her home town and the gig tonight is sold out. The support band, Temple Songs, does a decent job of warming the crowd up with a blend of fast guitars and echo heavy vocals. They go down well, the drummer in particular delivering a storming performance, but with perhaps a little too much distortion on the vocal in such a tiny venue. Even the singers ‘Thank you’ at the end of the set is virtually indecipherable. 

As the time for Findlay to make her appearance draws near, the atmosphere starts to tingle and there’s a real sense of anticipation in the room. So far, Findlay has only released one single, the filthy, riff heavy ‘Your Sister’, and even though some of the crowd will doubtless have seen other performances, the majority are here because of the hype building around her. As she enters the stage, I’m taken aback for a second at how innocent and waiflike she is. Surely this can’t be the person behind the huge voice on that track? Then she picks up the microphone and starts to sing.

She starts off acapella and her voice is stunning. It’s got the quirkiness of Bjork and the power of Amy Winehouse as she taps out a beat on the microphone. The packed room is captivated as she draws to a close before breaking out into rapturous applause and cheers. She offers a quiet ‘thanks’, the two guitars come crashing in and she unleashes the Vixen. The opening few tracks are filled with dirty blues and garage rock guitar, with her voice always the star attraction. As they build to a crescendo in one song, she pulls out a harmonica and it works perfectly, the crowd again whooping and hollering.

The big single (Your Sister) is pitched in mid-set, perfect timing to keep the momentum going and give the people something to get their teeth into. There is a surge of bodies toward the front and hands go up in the air as the piece de resistance is delivered with aplomb.

The set in total lasts only 45 minutes buts there’s not a dull moment and It leaves everybody wanting more. If there are big things in Findlay’s future, and there should be, I’ll be proud to boast that I was there at the beginning. It’s unlikely she’s going to remain ‘Manchester’s little secret’ for much longer.

For more pics head here: Findlay Photos

2013 PREVIEW: NEW BANDS

We thought we’d put together our list of bands and artists to keep an eye out for this year. In the following review if you see an artists name in bold then just click on it to bring up a track (mostly via youtube) for you to check out.

We’ll kick off with everyone’s tip for this year, Palma Violets, signed to Rough Trade records, they released a well received single and recently had some good exposure via an appearance on Jools Holland, & are expected for big things in 2013. Also signed to Rough Trade & worth checking out are another guitar based band called The Family Rain. Keeping with the guitar bands, and hailing from Akron, Ohio in the States – the same hometown as the Black Keys (and not dissimilar to the Black Keys in style) come The Heights Band.

Canada has recently had quite a few bands that we have been hearing of and can recommend you take a listen to. These include July Talk who are another bluesy rock band but with a joint male/female vocal. Theres an interesting indie pop band called Royal Canoe who are worth a look and also Mac Demarco who delivers quirky guitars and dry vocals. Stepping thing up a gear are Metz who are signed to the legendary Sub-Pop label and deliver fast heavy garage grunge. Lastly from our Canadian recommendations, and the complete opposite of Metz are the Barr Brothers – an experimental folk band with an outstanding debut album. Keeping with the ever popular folk scene are a Cornish based band called Brother& Bones, who have been compared with Mumford & Sons (who quite frankly disappointed us with their 2nd album) & have just released their 2^nd EP. And then there’s Mt Wolf who describe their music as dream folk & are another band to keep an eye out for.

Another genre that has been growing from strength to strength over the last few years is Synthpop, with a whole spate of bands coming through at the moment. Bastille and Chvrches seem to be the main two that are being touted for big things in 2013. Other synthpop artists we can recommend are Liverpool based Dan Croll and from across the pond is Los Angeles based Sir Sly. Another duo (also from the States) but on the slightly darker side of electropop who are worth a listen is MyPet.
 

I was blown away in 2012 by Brittany Howard from Alabama Shakes there is something about her voice that has real soul in it, for 2013 we would like to highlight two artists we have recently heard of who have something special about them vocally. First up is Neighbourhood – a band from California who have released an EP called “I’m Sorry”, and their singer is a little reminiscent of Amy Winehouse. Also is Laura Mvula who has been tipped for big things by the BBC & Guardian music polls amongst others and has also been shortlisted for the BRITS critics award.  

Following on from one of the best all female bands of 2012, Savages, it seems back here on the Manchester music scene there are three female (or female fronted) artists who are looking to make a name for themselves in 2013, Pins are dark female pop, whilst Findlay (who we have previously featured on Listen Up Manchester) has a more female garage punk sound to her, and finally the Louche who are more down the lines of shoegazing indie. All three are worth checking out. Not too far away from Manchester (down in Stoke) are one of our favourite unsigned acts we have heard – psychedellic rock band Psyence, if you enjoyed the debut album from Toy in 2012, be sure to check out these guys. Also not too far away up in Leeds it seems that the punk scene is alive and well with Eagulls recently releasing a new EP and old school high energy punk from Nervous Twitch (also worth noting their guitarist Jay Churchley’s solo project of lo-fi pop Songs in the Key of Jay).
 

Heres one that’s hard to pigeonhole, a blend of soul, funk & hiphop with falsetto vocals, but with the pedigree backing of Damon Alburn (I believe he plays bass on the forthcoming album) – Child of Lov has been compared to the likes of Gnarls Barkley and Prince. Another band that have had praise from some of the rock hierarchy (Paul Weller & Jeff Beck) are The Strypes an Irish band who are clearly influenced by old rhythm & blues & Rock & Roll. But taking Rock & Roll right back to its roots is the increadible J D McPherson who delivers one hell of an authentic vintage rock & roll style performance in his work. More 60’s inspired jangly guitar indie music (think the Stones if they were born and raised on the west coast of America) are the Allah-Las. More 60’s style jangly indie are Belfast’s Sea Pinks who released their debut album ‘Freak Waves’ in 2012. Other more up to date indie guitar bands worth a look are London’s Cheatehs who have that early 90’s vibe and Wolverhampton’s The Lines who seem to be making a big name for themselves in the Midlands & have similar sound to the Courteeners. If however, you are more into the likes of Vampire Weekend and Two Door Cinema Club, then the next big band on you radar should be Peace a new four piece (or should that be four peace) from Birmingham. Some good indie pop from further afield worth checking out are Reptile Youth from Denmark and SanCisco all the way from Australia.

Next up is a duo from York called …and the Hangnails who deliver a heavy blues sound with fuzzy guitars and punk vocals. If you are into the blues then look no further than Gary Clark Jr – one of the best blues guitarists out there right now, from Austin, Texas (a hotbed for musical talent & home to the SXSW music festival). He’s been around for a few years now & hopefully 2013 will be the year he makes a big name for himself over here! On a completely different note & also from the States is a new industrial rock band described as Nine Inch Nails with the energy of the Foo Fighters – Free Medicine.

To round things up we have a trio of great UK singer/songwriters all very different from one another, but all equally deserving of your attention! First up we have Buckingham boy Nikki Murray – who releases his debut album soon and his first single I’m Coming Back has been doing well across Europe and will be followed up with the infectious She’s Electric. Next up is Sean Taylor from Kilburn, who (the legendary) Bob Harris has described as an ''absolutely superb guitarist ... reminiscent of John Martyn”. Finally we have the beautiful and melancholic Keaton Henson who’s debut album I would recommend you all to listen to. Keaton is currently about to embark on an already sold out tour playing in museums up and down the country.

So it may be quite a long list, and we hope you discover some new artists from it to get excited about, but it is testament to a potentially cracking year ahead in music of all genres. Roll on 2013! For as many of these bands as possible (not all are on there) I have put together a Spotify Playlist for you all to listen to – click here for the link: 2013 New Artists Playlist

LISTEN UP: FINDLAY

Here at Listen Up Manchester - we have just been turned on to Findlay! As her publicity says: "Findlay is a new 20-something artist from Manchester, and Your Sister and You Gave Me Grace are her first offerings - evoking a gritty and raw garage fuelled energy that could easily give her male counterparts a clear run for their money when she hits the stage. There's a limited 7" released on Manchester label Joyeux Anniversaire Records and she's already won the attention of Jake Bugg who's taking Findlay on tour around the UK in November."
We can say that having checked out her music & video online we think she is awesome!!!
You should all get down to the Castle Hotel on Oldham Street on the 12th October and check her out! (www.findlaymusic.com). If you cant make the gig then check out her video and Listen Up Manchester to Findlay: