CD Reviews for Plugged In.

Maximo Park

The Newcastle-based indie lads have released their newest batch of rock-pop songs, and as expected they’ve produced a collection of simple but impressive songs that at least get your toes tapping. With “Wraithlike” opening up the album, it definitely sets up the atmosphere, and is most certainly the most energetic song there, with following track “The Penultimate Clinch” coming in close Second. The first single from the album “The Kids Are Sick Again”, has a strange gloominess that carries through the rest of the album, with the subsequent tracks fighting against it with a little more content in each one. All in all, the album appears to be another vital stepping stone in the bands forever rising career.

Livid.
Livid have come a long way since 1999, and their newest release “One” is another purely influenced dose of rock at its finest. Giving scene kids these days a boot up the rear end and proving what real rock music is made of, the album is over-flowing with Eighties-esque guitars screeching out of every song, and intertwines a mix of both heavy tracks like “Devil’s Bones” and mellower ballads such as “Deserve” that has a well-composed balance. With the vocalist and melodies hinting at a resemblance to both Motley Crue and Cinderella to top it all off, this album is a must for any fan of just pure, clean-cut rock!

The Dirty Youth.
Since clawing their way into our hearts in 2007, The Dirty Youth have become South Wales’s rising stars, with a difference. Their unique sound has been levelling them up in the limelight, and the latest self-titled release can only do more to raise them higher. With Danni Monroe’s distinctive and quirky vocals overpowering the combination of heavy rock and punk enforced through tracks such as “Sophie’s Song” and “Requiem Of A Drunk”. They sound confident and vigorous through every second of the album, with a kick-a*s attitude glaring you in the face all the way, and daring you, if you have the nerve, to keep listening.

I Am Hope
I Am Hope, the self titled mini album from Cardiff’s own experimental indie-rockers is a masterpiece of simple acoustic-like melodies, even when there aren’t any acoustics involved. Each song included has an almost tranquillity about it, with no fuss and no complications, just basic but beautifully structured songs, including “Out Of The Woods”, one of the more energetic tracks and “The Ones We Love”, an affectionately content melody that soothes the ends of your fingertips as your tapping along. The boys of I Am Hope, manage to surprise you with the  effortless but still mature and well thought out design of every song, that, when you’re through listening to them, leaves you with the tiniest blissful grin on your face.

Draven
Draven are a mixture of all kinds of rock mixed up into one bundle and expertly delivered through a range of material. The album “Eden” is here to prove that. They indulge in a collection of influences clearly seen through the album, and recreate them to their own styles so creatively, and that’s what gives them this flair of eclecticism. Fluctuating between tracks like “Eden” that’s basically laid out, but still carries out a strong and memorable rhythm, and “Itchy Finger” which gives the album a hard-hitting, glam rock type feel to it, and many of the other songs, drifting between these two borders, and even further, that results in a flawless variety of seamlessly refined  rock and roll.

Death Quit Dancing.
The first track off “No Rest For The Wicked”, the first EP from the Bridgend based sextet, lures you into a false reality as it kicks off with an electro industrial escapade that after the first 30 seconds disappears, leaving nothing but experimental rock for your ears to feast on. Contrasting throughout each song from heavier metal-like songs paired with gentler vocals, on par with that of Sean Smith of The Blackout, going to simpler, punky anthems that are guaranteed to get you up, dancing and even throwing your fist into the air in excitement.

Ice Cold In Alex
The debut album “Songs For The Champions” from these Welsh punk metallers is a wave of catchy and powerful riffs sheltered over by a strong set of vocals, that in some lights could easily be compared with those of Ian Watkins (Lostprophets). The album kicks in with an enthralling start-stopping introduction that grabs you by the wrists and hurls you in the feisty-rock action. This hijacking of you personal self is carried out throughout the many songs following, calming you with the soft touches of melodic soft-metal, then wildly awakening you from that tender situation with a punch to the face in the form of thrash-heavy guitars and angst vocals. Definitely a band to look out for this year.

The Ruskins.
The Ruskins are like the male response to Kate Nash. Pleasant tangent rambling, cleverly structured into upbeat and catchy indie songs, that your never quite sure whether to love or hate. With a sound also very familiar to that of The View, The Ruskins manage to create the kind of rambling you find loveable and quirky, and through their three track EP, they’ve managed to tell you a whole load of nonsense about who’s dad is better than who’s and such, while still keeping you happily entertained, and will even keep your Gran amused too, with songs like “6 For 5 Alive” that has the same structure you’d expect to hear in those old rock’n’roll classics, such as those of “The King” Elvis Presley, just without that mischievous pelvic-movement.

Blood Clot
Blood Clot are one of the newest metal bands to arise out of our homely valley, and with each member being at such a young age and being able to produce such angst and fury within themselves enough to produce this music, it’s a wonder they aren’t strapped into hug-yourself jackets, if you catch my drift. Kicking off with “How God Wanted It”, immediately your forced into a whirlwind of annihilation and frenzy, that boots you into the next track whether your ready or not, and “I’ll wear your face” has near enough the same intention as the previous, to heave you around in what I imagine would feel enough like Hell’s washing machine. An extreme EP for all metal heads to enjoy, just be sure to wear your knee pads and helmet while listening.