EMERGENCY DOOR RELEASE – WHO ARE WE? (EP REVIEW)

EMERGENCY DOOR RELEASE – WHO ARE WE?

The much anticipated debut EP from Newcastle’s latest Indie Pop Rock revelation, Emergency Door Release, is released today.  The launch of ‘Who Are We?’ takes place at The Telegraph in Newcastle tonight, where they play alongside Ginger Snap & The Style Pile, Honey Chrome and The Shake Appeal.

http://www.facebook.com/events/318489318195064/

https://mallazmalcolmwhite.wordpress.com/2012/03/01/this-is-what-all-the-cool-kids-are-doing-this-saturday-night/

‘Who Are We?’ is a four track EP from an incredibly talented four-piece act with a sense of fun.  Bouncing beach balls and throwing confetti about during their live performances is not uncommon with Emergency Door Release, but this is not about the band’s live work, it’s about what they have on record that I’m telling you about here.

Emergency Door Release have a knack of introducing their songs in a way that builds up suspense and tension.  The percussionary clicking at the beginning of their opening track, ‘Stand Up’, followed by the slow, extended build-up brilliantly serves to add to the listener’s anticipation that has been created by the delayed release of this EP.  The other three tracks on the EP all follow the same flavour, build up the listener’s expectations with an intro that doesn’t just jump blindly into the full swing of the track itself, and then hit you with some cool, refreshing Indie vibes that seem to be a happy mixture of The Killers, Editors and The Smiths, among others.

Emergency Door Releases vocals are performed by James Rooney, who accompanies Adam McMeiken on the guitars.  This pair’s riffs are extremely impressive and particularly striking at times.  The title track itself displays James and Adam’s combined potential as Indie Pop stars with great effect.  The second song ‘Back Another Day’ is also a brilliantly written track.  The guitar build-ups mix well the bass and drums on ‘Back Another Day’ as well as ‘Just Begun’.  The composition of the music on any of this EP’s tracks cannot be questioned.  James Rooney is an extremely talented song-writer.

The bass is executed with charisma and style by David Lloyd in ‘Just Begun’ in particular, but his precision and rhythm are certainly noteworthy throughout the EP.  His Grungy Indie Rock style bass is versatile enough to cope with the different tempos and vibes within the four tracks on ‘Who Are We?’

The drums on the EP are perfectly timed and Daniel Mokhtari is the perfect solution to the drummer issues suffered by Emergency Door Release in their early days.  Daniel’s drum rolls and excellently executed use of the hi-hats and bass drums in ‘Stand Up’ really make an impact on me personally.  He doesn’t miss a beat in any single track from the EP and is proving to have been worth the wait that Emergency Door Release had to suffer in finding this final piece of the puzzle.

Emergency Door Release not only have a talented vocalist in James Rooney, but also an intelligently gifted lyricist and song-writer.  On ‘Stand Up’ his haunting style of vocals is not dissimilar to a happier version Tom Smith of the Editors, which fits the vibe the track creates.  Yet in the rest of the EP he manages to display enough range to compliment each track and add to their respective flavours with a unique sound each time.  His lyrics are witty and intellectual and also written with a distinct style.  James has written some really catchy tracks here (there’s not a poor track on the EP) and his poetry is awe-inspiring at times.  When listening to Emergency Door Release you’ll hear some expertly written rhymes and some great one-liners that will be stuck in your memory all day.  The EP’s opening line, from ‘Stand Up’, “In bed reading the news, politics and headlines, but the main story’s you…” sets the perfect mood for this chilled out contemporary love tale.

The final (and also title) track from ‘Who Are We?’ is the strongest track on this EP, in my opinion anyway.  The lyrics are incredible and you find yourself able to relate to them.  The tempo to this track is more up-beat than the rest of the EP, with really memorable guitar riffs, a more danceable bass-line and superbly performed drums.  You can listen to ‘Who Are We?’ by clicking on the song title below.

Who Are We?

Emergency Door Release can be found on Facebook on this link – http://www.facebook.com/EmergencyDoorRelease

Emergency Door Release – Who Are We?

Genre

 Indie Pop Rock

Release

(CD)  Saturday 3^rd March 2012

http://www.facebook.com/events/318489318195064/

https://mallazmalcolmwhite.wordpress.com/2012/03/01/this-is-what-all-the-cool-kids-are-doing-this-saturday-night/

(online) Later in March

http://www.facebook.com/EmergencyDoorRelease

Track List

1 – Stand Up

2 – Back Another Day

3 – Just Begun

4 – Who Are We?

Emergency Door Release

THE TELEGRAPH, 3RD MARCH – LINE UP CONFIRMED

I have now fully confirmed the line up for my gig at The Telegraph on Saturday 3^rd March 2012.  It’s a very exciting line up, so it’s got the potential to be an awesome night.  For a paltry three of your British Pound Sterling, you can see four quality bands from a range of different genres perform live.

Proper fukkin bargain!

If you use Facebook the details of this event can be found using the link below.

http://www.facebook.com/events/318489318195064/

The Telegraph - Saturday 3rd March 2012

The final confirmed line up is Ginger Snap & The Style Pile, Emergency Door Release, The Shake Appeal and Honey Chrome.

Emergency Door Release featured in one of my previous music blogs.  See the link below.

https://mallazmalcolmwhite.wordpress.com/2011/12/26/fuck-christmas-songs-this-is-what-you-should-be-listening-to/

Ginger Snap & The Style Pile

Ginger Snap & The Style Pile

Ginger Snap & The Style Pile are a Funky Ska band based in Newcastle.  They are a reformation of what used to be Chrome Attic.  Fronted by the extremely talented Joanne ‘Gingersnap’ Robson, The Style Pile perform with an electric energy and generate the exciting party vibe that I personally believe Newcastle has crying out for.  Wind player Andy Strong is an incredible talent as demonstrated with his awe-inspiring work on the saxophone and clarinet.  The rest of the band comprises of Hal McCutcheon (Plank-Spank’ist), Eddie Hughes (the bass man) and Dan Deltodesco (drummer).  Their unique and up-beat sound is the ultimate treat for your eardrums.  Ginger Snap & The Style Pile have a groove that will blow your fukkin mind, so this truly is a gig you don’t want to miss!

Ginger Snap & The Style Pile are currently in the process of sorting out all of their internet profiles so to hear examples of their music check out their previous incarnation, Chrome Attic, and then like their Facebook page on the following links.

http://www.myspace.com/chromeattic

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ginger-Snap-The-Style-Pile/181677578554592

Emergency Door Release

Emergency Door Release

Emergency Door Release are a brand new Indie Rock band who are in the midst of preparing a full frontal assault on the North East music scene.  Their singer, song-writer and guitarist, James Rooney, is a driven individual with an incredible voice, which is reminiscent of Editors vocalist Tom Smith.  James’ determination and dedication has helped Emergency Door Release overcome early problems and keep the band running despite losing their original drummer.  The other members of Emergency Door Release are Adam McMeiken on guitar, David Lloyd on bass and their new drummer, Daniel Mokhtari.  Emergency Door Release are recording new material on Wednesday 8^th February and also have several other live performances on their horizon.

You can catch their debut gig at The Dog and Parrot on Saturday 11^th February.  Entry to that is priced at £4.  Check out the Facebook event for this on the next link.

http://www.facebook.com/events/172533106184410/

Check out Emergency Door Release on Facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/EmergencyDoorRelease

The Shake Appeal

The Shake Appeal

South Tyneside based Rock four-piece, The Shake Appeal, are also in the process of recording new material.  The Shake Appeal were formed in 2010 and consist of vocalist Georgia McRae, guitarists Joseph Inskip and Jordan Johnston, Phil Morgan on bass and Matthew Cowey on drums.

Despite her cute appearance, vocalist Georgia McRae, sings with an attitude that would not be out of place in the Yeah Yeah Yeahs or Be Your Own Pet.  The Shake Appeal have a vibrant flavour to their music and a cool, edgy style.  You can listen to some of their tracks on Facebook on the link below.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Shake-Appeal/176851872342363

My personal favourite from the tracks available is ‘A Fist in my Pocket’, which for me truly captures The Shake Appeal’s grit and attitude.

If, like me, you use Twitter you can also follow The Shake Appeal on there.

The Shake Appeal – @Shake_Appeal

I actually head-hunted The Shake Appeal for this gig after they were brought to my attention by both Chay Hobson, at North-East Rehearsal-Recording, and Eesh of DLB.  I have a huge respect for both of their musical opinions and have been an admirer of The Shake Appeal for some time.

Honey Chrome

Honey Chrome

Unclassifiable by standard definitions of any genre, Honey Chrome’s unique sound is an amalgamation of several genres.  This is an act that is oozing with individuality.  Honey Chrome bring together Punk, Rock, Grunge and Electronic Pop, among many other styles, in an incredible fusion that is mind-blowing.  You need to hear what they have to offer, because no explanation will give you the full feel of what they do.  Check out their website and like their Facebook pages on the links below.

http://www.honeychrome.co.uk/

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Honeychrome/163839323697264

These four bands will be performing on what has the potential to be an epic night.  For a bargain price of £3 you can be a part of it.  Entry is payable on the door and the doors open at 7.30pm.  The Event is being held in the function room upstairs in The Telegraph, which is on Orchard Street, located behind Newcastle’s Central Station.

But before that…

Obviously March is still some time away yet and before that I have another event at The Telegraph scheduled for Friday 3^rd February.  The February event is also charged at just £3 entry on the door.  As you can probably tell, I don’t give just any shite act a gig.  I carefully select the artists involved and unlike some promoters, I actually listen to their music before deciding to book them.  The Stroll, Baron Von Alias & MistaBreeze and Artisam will all be performing live at The Telegraph on 3^rd February, and there will also be a DubStep DJ set by L87 of SubLevel2.  This is shaping up to be an epic night.  So get down, bring some friends and have some fun!

More details about this event can be found in my blog;

https://mallazmalcolmwhite.wordpress.com/2012/01/06/my-next-gig-friday-3rd-february-at-the-telegraph/

Or on Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/events/162422163865780/?ref=ts

The Telegraph - 3rd February 2012

A couple of acknowledgements…

I’d like to say thank you to Nathan Wood of Spark FM in Sunderland for plugging my February gig at The Telegraph on his radio show.  Nathan presents The Local Music Show every Sunday from 4pm to 7pm; you can listen to it on local radio, exclusive to Sunderland on 107FM or online at http://www.sparksunderland.com/

It’s usually a highly entertaining show cram-packed with low-brow humour, smut and, of course, great music from some of the best bands the region has to offer.  You might as well give it a listen, I mean, what the fuck else you gonna do after church on a Sunday???

You can follow Nathan and The Local Music Show on Twitter.

Nathan Wood – @NathanWould

107 Spark FM – @Local_Music_Pet

107 Spark FM

While I’m mentioning Twitter, I’d also like to thank Tyneside Tweets for retweeting my blog to help my friends Clair Moore and Tahti raise money for LiNK Community Development.

Clair and Tahti are hitch-hiking from Newcastle to Marrakesh in Morocco, in April, as a fundraiser for LiNK Community Development.

LiNK Community Development works at improving the quality of education in Africa and providing children with the opportunities they deserve.

Please help them to make difference by sponsoring them and/or sharing the link below, where you can make donations online.

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=clairandtahti&isTeam=true

And if you are a user of Twitter, you can follow both Tyneside Tweets and Clair Moore.

Tyneside Tweets – @TynesideTweets

Clair Moore – @clair_moore

LiNK Community Development