The Dollfins, a three piece rock n roll/punk band hailing from the Cape recently released their self titled album on the web as a free download. The Dollfins have created a feel good sound that fuses punk and blues and tends to remind of something you’d expect to hear from the likes of The Kills or the Scott Pilgrim soundtrack. Personal favourites would have to be “I’ve Got a Head” and “In My Head”.
Check ot their album:
Also the “In My Head” Offical Music Video:
I found myself in Observatory, once again, while this seems to be happening way too often, ROAR is one of the only places that showcases undiscovered or unknown bands. I was told to drop whatever plans I had made because apparently this was a gig I did not want to miss. Entry was 30 bucks, booze was cheap, it was inevitable that Gandalf’s would be filled to its capacity with the resident ‘scene’ kids who partied to everything from 80’s rock ‘n roll to Rihanna and would probably never make the journey up the stairs to check out the live acts. However, upstairs hosted a surprisingly wide variety of society’s usual misfits, dressed in black, covered in tattoos and proudly sporting face metal, your goths, emos, metal heads, chicks in insane heels and leopard print, if it’s weird and alternative it was most likely to be found in this dodgy Lord of the Rings themed venue.
As Barrecode took the stage I couldn’t help but find it kind of sweet that there was a bunch of middle aged men all old enough to be my dad rocking it out on stage. There was no shadow of a doubt that these guys were brilliant musicians and that they knew what they were doing, however, they should probably pass the torch on and leave playing ‘rock star’ to the younger generation. No one really wants to watch middle aged men going through a midlife crisis. Naturally the music was pretty old school; from 80’s hair metal guitar solos to grungy Kurt Cobain influenced vocals. The entire concept was way too cliché, but the band was enjoying themselves and the crowd respected them for their effort.
The band that followed them was of new blood, All Guns Full Ammo (the name says it all) stepped on stage guns a blazing, bombs ticking and ready to explode. Crazy guitar riffs, and amazing drumming that was much heavier in comparison to the progressive stuff drummer Rob would later play with Black Moscow. The volcalist’s energetic presence and bluesy, rock n roll influenced vocals, along with the metal foundation laid down by the rest of the band made for an interesting sound that was difficult to ignore. It was not too heavy, and yet by no means too “sissy” to be discredited as a metal band.
Verona Walls (Photographer Unknown)
Finally it was time for the headlining band to take the stage. As Verona Walls stepped on stage and started playing (without their vocalist) some insane looking dude started dance behind me, waving his arms around like a giant bird, it was only when the song started to progress and this guy jumped on stage, grabbing the microphone that I realised he was in fact the vocalist; a strange way to start a set but interesting enough to get the crowd’s full attention. From mooning the crowd, to ripping his underpants while still wearing it, clapping his hands like a baby seal and doing random impressions of peculiar characters, vocalist Marco shows signs of what may just be the beginning of a multiple personality disorder. Yet despite the Tom Foolery on his part, the music itself is extremely intellectual. The way in which the band weaves together the melodies and the rhythms, giving the audience an out of this world performance and experience exceeds the boundaries of all your expectations. This is music in the true sense, not to be heard but to be felt and experienced. A lot like the way in which local bands Isochronous and Lark seem to almost entrance their audience so does Verona Walls by capturing the audience and allowing them to experience the music a way in which most bands don’t.
Black Moscow had both the honour and the burden of having to play after Verona Walls, however, they managed to keep up with the standard that was set. One would never have never guessed that it was guitarist Marc’s third gig of the night nor drummer Rob’s second set at ROAR (All Guns Full Ammo being the first). There was a huge difference in their sound since the last time I saw them at Rock the River. Their new material was a lot mellower compared to their older stuff, however, I was extremely impressed by vocalist Xavier who was finally using his unique vocal style to its full potential. As the set neared its close they played the song I’d been waiting for all night, Holon. Quite confident that I knew this one inside out, I prepared myself for some neck breaking, nose bashing head banging only to find myself lost in the changes they’d made to the song, forcing me to stand back and actually take a good listen and a song I already thought was quite brilliant was made better. While all of these changes in their existing set and the addition of new material seem for the better, I hope the band doesn’t end up over thinking the music.
Music should keep you on the edge of your seat, if it were too predictable a band like The Impalement Theory would find it difficult to hold a crowd’s attention. This band thrives on being different! They have a ‘beard’ as the drummer (Josh Haller), a ginger on lead guitar (Dylan Kron), a girl on rhythm guitar (Jen Jaffe), a “midget” on vocals (Paulie Rahilly), and an ‘invisi’-beard-weirdo on bass (JP Monroe). When asked what their music sounds like JP simply said, “TIT” and explained that they’re all influenced by different genres rather than particular artists. “I’ve never actually heard a band that sounds like us,” says Jen. “Every one of our songs can be classified as different [genres].”
One of their songs called “Township Jives” fuses the typical kwaaito beat with metal and you find yourself trying to jive and head bang at the same time. (Not wise, doesn’t work, it is impossible. Trust me.) According to Jen, the song is simply the result of messing around with the idea of ‘kwaaitocore’ and was originally play as an intro at gigs. It was ultimately based on the crowd’s response to it that they decided to develop it into a full length song. While all of them are influenced by different bands and genres there is however evidence that there are deathcore and grindcore influences within their music, with emphasis on Paulie’s pig squeal and guttural dominated vocals. Being face with the dilemma of the metal scene being overpopulated by bands that sound rather generic, TIT has managed to create a sound that is both unique and enjoyable. For TIT it is all about the love for music as oppose to showing off their skills.
“We don’t really wanna be the fastest, we don’t wanna be the most technical, we just wanna make people fucking groove.”
And make people groove is what they do once they step on stage. Their overly energetic stage presence is what draws the crowd and it becomes impossible to just stand and watch this band live; it is crucial to engage with the head banging masses in order to truly experience TIT live. The crowd becomes one big head banging monster, gobbling up the energy that the band radiates. For a metal band that has barely been on the scene for two years TIT has quite a fan base. I’ve witnessed this band fill up a venue and get moshpits going full force. One can be sure to spot the usual groupies at their gigs, normally chicks with huge boobs sporting t-shirts with TIT written across their chests.
Besides the cross genre influences and odd individuals, TIT has one more thing that no other band in the metal scene has to their advantage; they have the presence of an actual pair of tits as part of the band, belonging to the Jen and her “invisi-balls” on rhythm guitar. Jen is the only female guitarist in the Cape Town metal scene and quite frankly a pretty good one. Being the only chick in the band, she seems to demand a huge amount of respect from her fellow band members who tend to turn to her when guidance is needed in terms of sorting shit out. “I’ve got them all by the balls…” she laughs. “They’re the lost boys and I’m like… Wendy.” “We fear Jen,” JP adds jokingly.
While the band does have an EP recorded it is not widely accessible, however, there are a few tracks floating between the fans via mobile network. Amongst the band members there is talk of recording a full length album but nothing has been placed into action yet. TIT is still young, extremely passionate about music and they seem to have their heads screwed on tightly in terms of balancing the fun and the business. “We always have the best of times; it’s not just like a business band, we’ve created like this family.”
While they have a lot of growing to do within the scene but their determination, drive and love for music makes them a band worth keeping track of. “We’re all different people just rolled in the same sauce”, were the last words they left me with. Take that whichever way you like as long as you prepare yourself to be “Torn Apart by Bears” once you experience The Impalement Theory!
Rocking out to The Sleepers at RTR
Yes, I’ve joined the OVER-POPULATED world of blogging (finally). After a lot of nagging and hassling from my Media lecturers I’ve decided that it is about time I joined my fellow class mates and the rest of the world in the art of over sharing (haha! just kidding). And besides, they kind of have a point; blogging is one step closer to being published. Who knows who might actually stumble across this page and possibly think that it’s not half as bad as I think it is. But just as I decided that I was finally going to do this, trying to psyche myself up (starting a blog baby, starting a blog!) I realised I had no idea what I would write about. The internet is filled with blogs about anything and everything (yes, Monkeei is actually a cat. What do you mean cats can’t have their own blogs? Hmph!) What does that leave me with? Nothing much really. So I guess I’ll just stick to what I think I know best, music. I know you’re probably rolling your eyes thinking “Wow, how original!”, but come on, give me a chance. Music is universal, and quite frankly it’s the only thing in life that kind of makes sense to everyone. And it really wouldn’t hurt giving bands a platform of exposure, even if it’s “just another WordPress blog”. In Cape Town we have so many talented bands but most of them are underground because they don’t get enough exposure. These bands are constantly gigging but no one is willing to lift their butts from their comfortable couches to go and check them out. Why? Because you’ve never heard of them. We don’t want to make the effort to check out something new. We want to play it safe, it’s pathetic but it’s the truth. However, by bringing the bands to YOU it means you kind of have no excuse. You can check them out before actually going to a gig by reading reviews and having a look at their band pages. This blog will be focusing mainly on the local rock, metal (scream, growl, shred is NOT metal) and alternative scene and will be dedicated to giving you band reviews; gig reviews; gig guides; videos; pictures; tracks; links and all the rest that come with it! That’s the general idea, I can only hope that this will somehow play a part in getting people to go to gigs to check out the music for themselves. Watch this space 🙂
More Love More Music 