The Half Rabbits - Optimists EP

(self-release, 2011)

‘Gasoline’ starts Optimists promisingly with frenzied drumming and a sleek, subtly driving bassline reminiscent of Interpol. Singer Michael Weatherburn turns in a strong vocal performance and his voice is now immersed into the mix where it had previously been too prominent. Conversely, the most interesting element of ‘Poor Me, Poor You’ – the lead guitar part – is buried too deeply into the mix and the song fails to put enough emphasis on any particular section. ‘Extremadura’ is similar; there are interesting things going on here – we enjoy the Joey Santiago-esque guitar bends – but the song ends kind of abruptly. ‘How The West Was Won’ and ‘Gasoline’ show that The Half Rabbits can write a chorus but they continue to be a bit of a frustrating band and we wish Weatherburn would drop the mannered vocal style and let loose with the rest of the band from time to time.

[Originally printed in Oxfordshire Music Scene magazine, issue 13, April 2011]

http://www.oxfordmusicscene.co.uk/images/oms_issue13.pdf

Various Artists - Spires: A Collection of Music From Oxford Bands

(Free Download, 2011)

When NME recently ran an article on the ‘mysterious’ Blessing Force scene, it gave the nation the impression that those bands were running the Oxford music scene when in fact a lot of regular punters and hard working Oxford bands had hardly heard of most of them. Here, Aaron from Phantom Theory has taken this as an opportunity to compile a collection of those Oxford bands which are really out there, gigging, making music and working hard. If you follow the local scene then you’ll recognise the bands spotlighted here; Black Hats, Dead Jerichos, Dial F, TROT, Ute, Spring Offensive et al. This isn’t a surprising compilation by any means, and the songs collected here are among the respective bands’ most well known. It’s a simple idea - just as Jon Spira’s upcoming documentary Anyone Can Play Guitar will attempt to give a history lesson on Oxford music, Spires catalogues some of the city’s best current bands. Don’t lament the bands which have been left off this compilation, the idea behind Spires is admirable and it’s free, so go direct those who have been misinformed by NME to go download it.

http://spirescompilation.wordpress.com/

[Originally printed in Oxfordshire Music Scene magazine, issue 12, February 2011]

http://www.oxfordmusicscene.co.uk/images/oms_issue12.pdf