SPARK TO START: The Spitfires brought their Standdown 2014 Tour to Edinburgh last month, we give the show a little review and catch up with frontman Billy!

 

The Spitfires brought their Standdown Tour to Edinburgh's Citrus Club last month. Support on the night came from Glasgow's very own Holy Pistol Club who brought with them their anthemic indie rock and roll. The Spitfires meanwhile played with a confidence and swagger that proves all too irresistible, the set itself was a mix of the old stuff and some mind-blowing new stuff that is expected to be on their debut studio album, out next year.

 

In this blog feature we catch up with Spitfires frontman Billy to chat about the debut album, the tour and some other stuff as well. We also give the Citrus Club show a review as well.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

PART 1 - THE INTERVIEW

 

Hi Billy, thanks for chatting to me. You are currently in the middle of a nationwide tour, how is it going and how has the reaction been?

 

Billy: "It's been going great. The band have really gelled with these last few gigs and the reaction from the audiences has been brilliant."

 

Lots of bands highlight Scottish audiences as some of the best in the world. What did you think of your Edinburgh and Glasgow shows over the weekend?

 

Billy: "Scottish crowds are very passionate about music I think - they don't just like something, they love it. And Glasgow was a fantastic example of that for us. A very enjoyable weekend for all involved."

 

You also have played a show supporting The Specials quite recently. I know that you are a big fan of the band so how was it supporting them?

 

Billy: "That was brilliant for me as The Specials are one of my favourite bands of all time."

 

I've also heard that there is an album on the way. How is this coming along?

 

Billy: "The album is coming on nicely. We're about 3/4 finished at the moment."

 

What can the fans be expecting from the album?

 

Billy: "I don't think anyone is going to expect what the album is going to sound like - it's definitely a progression from anything we've done before."

 

What does the rest of the year hold for The Spitfires?

 

Billy: "We're touring right through till the end of December and finishing off the album in between."

 

When can we expect you back gigging in Scotland?

 

Billy: "Hopefully be back early next year!"

 

Final question for this part of the interview - who would be in your dream supergroup?

 

Billy: "The Small Faces are my dream supergroup!"

 

 

PART 2 - THE QUICKFIRE ROUND

 

Favourite Beatle?

 

Billy: "Lennon."

 

Favourite band or singer?

 

Billy: "The Jam."

 

Favourite new band or singer?

 

Billy: "New Street Adventure."

 

Favourite song?

 

Billy: "At the moment, Gil Scott-Heron - The Needle's Eye."

 

Favourite album?

 

Billy: "All Mod Cons."

 

Dream collaboration?

 

Billy: "George Martin."

 

Vinyl, CD or download?

 

Billy: "Vinyl."

 

When you press shuffle on your iPod, what is the first track that comes on?

 

Billy: "The Clash - Clash City Rockers."

 

Style icon?

 

Billy: "Steve Marriott."

 

Favourite film?

 

Billy: "A Clockwork Orange."

 

Favourite TV show?

 

Billy: "Peaky Blinders."

 

Who would play you in a film of your life?

 

Billy: "I hope they never make a film about my life."

 

Favourite food?

 

Billy: "Indian."

 

Football team?

 

Billy: "The Style Council."

 

 

PART 3 - THE REVIEW

 

The Spitfires brought their Standdown Tour to Scotland just last month. First up was the Citrus Club in Edinburgh on a Saturday night.

 

Support was home-grown talent Holy Pistol Club who ripped through an eight song set with a certain confidence and Oasis-esque swagger. Set opener "Give Me Your Hands" was nothing short of magnificent and great to witness live, as was the superb "Get Off Your Boots". Despite some pretty extreme sound problems towards the end of the set and a less than lively crowd the Holy Pistol Club gave a good show which showcased their natural talent at what they do.

 

The Spitfires then took their places on the stage and went off with a bang with "From Cradle To Grave!". Despite being a brand new song it certainly got everyone in the mood for more mod-based punk rock and roll which The Spitfires do so well. "Tell Me" took things to an all new level and with Billy and Sam's shout of "now!" they blistered through, quite possibly, one of the best punk tunes of recent years with a menacing proficiency. The set continued in this vein - the full on, in your face,rock and roll approach with tracks including "2014", recent single "I'm Holdin' On", "Spark To Start" and the encore of "Escape Me".

 

The band also showcased a different side to their sound with the much slower "Spoke Too Soon", which features a bass line that could rival the one from "My Generation" or "Town Called Malice".

 

Throughout the night Billy showed all the signs of a natural born frontman and guitar player; he had the coolness of Paul Weller, combined with the mannerisms of Wilko Johnson, combined with the kicks and jumps of Miles Kane. Bassist Sam Long was much more restrained but still retained that coolness and confidence that signifies The Spitfires and drummer Matt Johnson was nothing less than exceptional with a style that come alternate between punk, rock and roll and ska with ease. A special mention must also go to the new addition to the band - keys player Chris Chanell who brings a whole new aspect to the sound and will be sure to add a unique twist to the upcoming debut album.

 

This band are definitely ones to watch in 2015!

 

Holy Pistol Club Setlist

 

Give Me Your Hands

Hornblower

Pray For The Stars

Closer

Get Your Boots Off

Big Bad World

By Your Side

Shake It

 

The Spitfires Setlist

 

From Cradle To Grave!

Tell Me

Disciples

Words To Say

2014

Relapse

Stand Down

Spoke Too Soon

I'm Holdin' On

4am

Spark To Start

 

Escape Me

 

 

Hope you enjoyed this feature on The Spitfires and the Holy Pistol Club! Be sure to check out our previous feature on Jeye T!

 

Check out The Spitfires here - https://www.facebook.com/TheSpitfiresUk

 

Check out Holy Pistol Club here - https://www.facebook.com/holypistolclubmusic

 

Be sure to like our Facebook page at the following link to keep up to date with all future blog features - https://www.facebook.com/aldorabritainrecords

 

AB RECORDS

ROLL UP: Last Sunday night King Tut's hosted an evening of rock and roll featuring blues rock trio Pariah Soul and the sensational indie glam rockers The Struts! Here's a little review!

 

Last Sunday one of Glasgow's most famous music venues played host to an incredible, raucous, modern rock and roll show! The venue was of course the brilliant and intimate King Tut's Wah Wah Hut and the band was The Struts! Support on the night came from Franklin and blues rock trio Pariah Soul!

 

Unfortunately we showed up after Franklin's set but we have posted a review of the remaining two acts below!

 

Enjoy!

 

 

First up were local boys Pariah Soul. The trio immediately impressed with a future blues rock anthem in the form of "45". The tune and the performance of the band demonstrated a simplicity lifted from punk rock bands such as the Ramones and the Pistols combined with a slightly more complex approach hinting towards great blues rock bands such as Led Zep. The set continued in this vein and reached a climax with the final song to be performed. The track was entitled "Let The Rain Fall" and was a definite highlight in the set.

 

All in all, Pariah Soul are definitely a band to look out for and their tunes will continue to grow and become bigger and better. But for now you can enjoy their debut EP on their Soundcloud page and hopefully front man John McGuigan will be able to invest in a new pair of jeans! For those who were there, you know what I mean!

 

 

Next up were The Struts.

 

For those unfamiliar with them, they are an indie rock group who are influenced heavily by the golden age of glam - bands like T. Rex and Slade. In interviews they have stated their sound and image to combine "the swagger of The Stones" with "the sophistication of Queen".

 

Sure, that's quite a big statement to live up to BUT The Struts do it and more. Everything from their intro music (the epilogue from Guy Ritchie's Rock n Rolla film) to the show they put on is top and incomparable to anything else around at the moment.

 

They opened with "Roll Up" and the shear catchiness of this tune, combined with Luke Spiller's energetic showmanship, certainly got the crowd going. This was followed up by a trio of the biggest, most anthemic singles of 2014 - "Could Have Been Me", "Kiss This" and "Put Your Money On Me".

 

"Could Have Been Me" was simply off the scale and that tune will certainly be filling stadiums one day soon. Anthemic is the only word that you could possibly use to describe it. "Kiss This" demonstrated the brilliance of Adam Slack's guitar licks which add a lot to the overall Struts sound. "Put Your Money On Me" did not fail to impress and the danceability (yes, that's a word!) of the track left no one in the audience stationary.

 

The rhythm section of The Struts (bassist Jed Elliott and drummer Gethin Davies) are world class also and provide the song's with their driving power. After some more crowd interaction from Mr. Spiller, containing some X-rated humour, the band launched into "She Makes Me Feel". The song's melody references "Waterloo Sunset" but a 100 miles an hour faster - so the wordy 'catchy' springs to mind again!

 

More songs from the "Everybody Wants" studio album were played, including a sensational rendition of "My Machine", before the band came to a cover. Which was of course a song from the mighty Tyrannosaurus Rex, from "The Slider" album - "Get It On". This again demonstrates the tightness and expert instrumentation of Adam, Jed and Gethin (not to mention Luke's showmanship which still hadn't let up). The rendition of this song was, quite simply put, perfect and even featured a bit of improvisation when Luke came down and (literally) sat down amongst the crowd.

The main set concluded with the high adrenaline anthem that is "Black Swan", after which Luke immediately collapsed clutching the mic stand! (all part of the theatrics I assume, I hope...) anyway, the mic was lucky to survive the fall!

 

 
 Luke and Adam returned to the stage a short while later to perform an "acoustic" rendition of Kiss This b-side, "Matter Of Time", but on an electric guitar... This was definitely a great sing-along moment though.

For the finale the whole band returned to the stage for the pogo-along, sing-along, dance-along glory that is "Where Did She Go". Which is, yep, you guessed it, catchy as hell! The final chorus seemed to be repeated endlessly and Luke found time to bring the whole venue to their knees before instructing them to "get up and dance" one last time for the final chorus!

urely amazing, most definitely the best live show of the year and my advice would be to catch this band shortly, in a nice intimate space before they take to the stadiums!
 

 

Pariah Soul Setlist

 

45

Bring Me Down

Don't Come Easy

Tears Ain't For Running

Lies

Let The Rain Fall

 

The Struts Setlist

Roll Up
Could Have Been Me
Kiss This
Put Your Money On Me
She Makes Me Feel
My Machine
You & I
Dirty Sexy Money
Get It On
Let's Make This Happen Tonight
Black Swan
-
Matter Of Time
Where Did She Go
 

Hope you enjoyed this feature on Pariah Soul and The Struts, be sure to check out our previous feature on The Empty Hearts!

You can check out The Struts at the following link - http://www.thestruts.com/

You can check out Pariah Soul at the following link - https://www.facebook.com/Pariahsoul

Keep up to date with future interviews and reviews at the following link - https://www.facebook.com/aldorabritainrecords

 

AB RECORDS