Your Favouite Colour is actually a guy called Niel playing an acoustic guitar and singing. The first thing you noticed about the first song is what a forceful singer the guy was forsomeone so realtively young. This then went into a quite emotive song that was more upbeat, while on song three, things got serious as thr guy really began to spit out the lyrics 3with some force, and an acoustic song where you almost expect him to get to the end of the song, smash the guitar in pieces and stomp on the wreckage - and this is an acoustic singer!! - the song being delivered with controlled angst and erupting emotion as he slams the strings, still retaining melody, as that voice hammers from the PA. Up next was a tender love song with a hammer in its hand and a very personal lyric and a neat spansih guitar styled middle bit. The next track really was a love song - still sounded angry though with a slowly accelerating tension to the delivery. The next track reminded me of Blink 182 - acoustic emo, anyone? He then did a cover of a song by local band Valentine Project which had an emotive intro, choppy guitar, powerful vocal and a quite anthemic chorus. The final track featured a fast intro from thr guitar then passionate vocal enters, decerating and accelerating as the song goes on, moving into a sort of chorus, veering between verse and and chorus. The guy's got presence, for sure - and purpose and sings well - but for me, the songs aren't memorable once he's gone, but while he's there, it's good stuff.
What a difference a year makes - I think it's that long since I last encountered this band and, trust me, they were pretty average - but now - JEEZ!!! - this band cooks - and then some!!
There are two guitarists and bass player plus female drummer, all young, and they are amazing!! The first track opened with a solid guitar figure as the first sound of that crunching drumming is heard and immediately makes you take notice. Over this a lead guitar break solos over beautifully gliding rhythm guitar and deep bass, in many ways a very Frank Zappa-ish introduction - as you then realise that it was just an introduction as the band literally explode into action on a sizzling sea of guitars, as a languid, almost monotone, vocal cruises over the superlative drumming and the riffs surge with real depth to the guitars, the bass now thundering along underneath as a searing lead guitar break cuts through. The vocal sways between verses in that languid manner as a solid song comes to an abrupt end. The second track features a more relaxed intro with a brief burst of bluesy melodic harmonica, that develops into this mid-paced stomper of a song as the lurching drumming booms out of an extended instrumental section, with a brief lead guitar break. Once again, the vocal is delivered in an almost lazy manner but with passion as it soars above the thunderous mid-paced and incredibly addictive drumming and throbbing bass as the guitar cuts in briefly once more, then it's back into the song. which begins to build as the riffs strent and the guitar really takes off and now the whole band just climbs onwards and upwards. It's a seriously impressive arrangement and a solid song, superbly executed. There's a long-ish instrumental mid-section with some sizzling guitar that just seems to hang in the air, then it's back into the final part of the song."Somewhere In Between" starts deceptively with ringing guitar chords before this thunderous rhythm erupts, then stops, then the band unleashes this torrent of solid guitar riffing that decelerates suddenly with absolute dynamic effect, into another slice of lazily rolling vocalising. The dynamic drumming underpins a sea of guitars as the musical tension builds into a power surge of band-played density as the vocal returns and it's all just fantastic, very much akin to the finest early period Catherine Wheel. The song then moves between the two ranges and is simply stunning, in many ways similar to a much more powerful answer to the Wheel's "I Want To Touch You" only way more extreme. There's a great instrumental break with lead guitar flying over the now awesome firepower of the rhythm guitar riffing, the fast and amazingly solid drumming plus the river of deep, powerful bass - a truly stunning song.
If that wasn't enough, the next song just blasts you intro an immediate instrumental blitz as fierce guitars, cavernous rhythms and this time, a more yearning, almost menacing vocal ensues. As they pile on the intensity, the song has no discernible hook, but comes over as a whilwind that slows to a storm, gradually picks up the density and climbs - and climbs - and climbs - a sea of sound drowning you in glorious guitars and massive rhythms, the bass work now positively threatening to drill holes in the floor. A distant but perfect vocal puts the icing onthe cake ona song that's so short, but just sizzles. The next track started as a slower song - a sort of "teen anthem" with added strength. It's delivered with real emotion, particulalrly in the chorus, as that dramatic drumming belts all over the show, the guitars coursing through - even stopping off for a brief burst of melodic riffing before they return to the main body of the song. Then the guitar lead just blasts off over booming drumwork and it all sounds so crisp, deep, powerful, explosive and quite phenomenal. Their final track began with dual chiming guitars, crisp use of cymbals and then erupted into all-out warfare with a fury few can match. Stop-start riffing and rhythms drives the song ahead like an exploding dwarf star. As the massive blaze of guitars engulfs you in glorious sound, another wonderfully languid vocal does its stuff. The intensity drops down to the ringing guitars and deep bass, before explosing once aain into an instrumental break with a sizzling lead guitar soloing on top of the surging riffs and thunderous rhythms. This was a superb gig by anyone's standards - let alone a band as young as this.
Now you would have thought it would be an unenviable task for a band to have to follow Mason - but you'd have reckoned without 3 Times Over!! The quartet - again bass, drums and two guitarists - started where Mason had left off - only this was even more ferocious. Choppy rhythms began over which the way more powerful vocal delivered the song with intensity as the guitars scythed a path all over the place, lurching bass underpinning the whole thing. The main lead guitar - for it was as much two lead guitars sharing lead and rhythm duties - possessed real depth as the song twists and turns, both singers delivering a surging layer of vocal harmonies over a blazing musical backdrop, the tension and intensity of the sound, increasing to near breaking point. All of this then climbs higher as the explosion never seems to end, a towering musical cliff with the vocals right on the edge. ON track 2, a guitar rings out as the band erupts, the bass thunder exploding from the PA, the drumming a rollercoaster as the rhythm guitar chimes. Then it all drops down to a slower pace for the song, as bursts of drumming herald the arrival of the second guitar as the pace accelerates and the band pile on the pressure as they whip up a storm. The song has a choppy feel to it as the changes come in subtle ways, while the arrangements are not as twisted as The Floor with more of an elongated instensity and seriously powerful, managing to come across as highly hypnotic, despite - or even because of - the awesome power which the band has unleashed. Their stage presence here, in stark contrast to Mason, is really striking as the three guitarists move around the stage wielding the guitars like out of control axe murderers. A song calleed (I think) "Meditation 7" exudes total anger in the ferocity of the intro, slower delicacy in the power of the verse, and positively thunderous in the two combined. The vocal is really wrought out to cope with the backing onslaught as, instrumentally, the band changes pace and dynamics throughout, without losing any of the song's momentum. There's a briefly heated high-end guitar lead break as the vocal is almost spat out with anger, shared between the two singers, as the power eclipses even The Floor, and the reason this band have you utterly hooked in its sea of sound.
Fourth track in and by now, you're electrified by a band that's got the National Grid running through its veins, as the explosive drumming holds together a choppier, more changing piece, the twin lead guitars going in opposite directions, then entwine as the bass thunders above. The vocal is shared, taut but not as angry, as it all leads towards a mesmerising false ending, only for the song to erupt in a cataclysm of guitars before moving to a more restrained final point. Next up and you're in absolute awe of a band that's combining fury, passion, power and pace in a musical hurricane. This time, the lead guitar break is simply jaw-dropping as it twists and turns with an almost psychedelic feel, only sharper and thunderous, before the whole thing coalesces to deliver a massive rush of guitars-driven adrenaline, the rhythm so intense, leading to another red hot guitar break, as the song segues into a slice of dramatic drumming, piledriving a sea of guitar riffing and soloing, into this fast nuclear bomb of a song. The arrangement drops down a notch, as another verse is wrung out of the singer in a kind of grandiose anthemic quality, on top of the musical inferno all around. A mid-paced rhythm with some blistering guitar work accelerates as the band builds tension before dropping it down once more.
The final track starts with a more structured intro, the lead guitar soloing over crunching rhythms, as the song lurches and roars into life, this time sounding almost commercial for this lot. It changes and twists once more with effective, scary, dual-strength vocals and keeps you hooked in a really catchy way, despite the fact that the band is driving all over the place, the rhythm fire keeping it from self destruction. The song veers between slower verse and massive chorus with a weird mid-section spoken word vocal, ringing guitar work, the cue for the vocal to get angry before the band flow into one final cataclysm of guitar-driven sound.
Two quite incredible bands, all young guys (and gal), who, along with The Floor, are currently breaking the ice of alt-rock and are just the breath of fresh air that an overcrowded, more established, musical market is demanding.