Writer's Block

Jimmy Eat World for the most part write great rock song. In particular, they have an aptitude for epic album closers. "23" from their record "Futures" may be the finest of them all. On Futures, they built on the more accessible sound of their previous record "Bleed American" to produce a heavier, more technically accomplished record*. Over seven minutes in length and utterly compelling, the guitar solos (in particular, the one at the five minute mark is absolutely superb**) and swelling string section give the feel of floating through space. I'm seldom convinced that my interpretations of lyrics are correct, but for me the song is about both relationship anxieties and the problem and sense of being ill equipped to deal with the problems that arise in one's early twenties. The lyrics "You'll sit along forever if you wait for the right time, what are you hoping for?" resonate strongly with me, perhaps for obviously reasons. I find ...

From the moment Against Me! launched into "True Trans Soul Rebel" last night, I had shivers down my spine. Showcasing a number of tracks from last years superb "Transgender Dysphoria Blues" record (concerning singer Laura Jane Grace's transition), this was a 45 minute din in the best sense of the term, concluding with a triumphant rendition of "I Was A Teenage Anarchist" (my favourite track off their "White Crosses" album). They have many admirers in the room, as the frenzied reaction to tracks like "White People For Peace" demonstrates. Punk rock has seldom been as passionate, vital or enthralling. The Gaslight Anthem are too good to be upstaged by their support, although it's true to say that I enjoyed this set less than their Brighton gig a couple of months back. It's a solid 90 minutes of rock and roll with some stand out moments, like the entire crowd bellowing the chorus of "Old White Lincoln" back to the b...

This week has been a pleasing throwback to the days of my youth, when bands playing Reading and Leeds would do warm up gigs in London in smaller venues. Tonight, The Gaslight Anthem and Against Me! have a show sandwiched between their festival appearances at Shepherds Bush Empire. My friend James confirmed at the second New Found Glory gig this week that he was attending Reading, with a sense of weary resignation.  I have to admit that I felt too old for it in 2013 at the age of 25 and not purely because I was surrounded by scores of idiot children. The experience is very much like paying for the tasting menu at your local restaurant while your fellow diners insist on spitting in your food. Still, Biffy Clyro on the final night were terrific and I found Eminem's Saturday night headline set to be curiously life affirming. Ending with "Lose Yourself" was especially memorable, its iconic guitar riff pulsating through the night sky. I've always wanted to see Green Day...

Trainwreck concerns Amy (Amy Schumer) who works at a trashy magazine and lives a promiscuous single life in New York City. Having broken up with her occasional fling Steven (John Cena), she is sent to profile the talented sports surgeon Aaron Connors (Bill Hader). She spends the night with him and they begin to fall for eachother. Will she jettison her old life and refute her father's maxim that "Monogamy isn't realistic"? I expected more from this, I suppose. I like Schumer and Hader as screen presences but it didn't quite come together. There was a more interesting (and funnier) film in here somewhere, but it's buried under a lot of waffle. It's a little disheartening that our unconventional heroine eventually submits to the most conventional of Hollywood romcom endings, as the second half of the film collapses into a series of cliches (via Amy hitting a personal nadir that probably had conservative America bristling). Still, Tilda Swinton looks like...

The Edinburgh Comedy Award nominations have been released, with eight acts up for the main award and seven up for Best Newcomer. In my view, there are some particularly strong candidates this year. James Acaster has been nominated for the fourth consecutive year and frankly, I hope he wins it this year. He has made a consistantly outstanding contribution to the Edinburgh Fringe and to UK comedy and would be a deserving winner. Having said that, I've been impressed with Nish Kumar in the past and will try and catch his show at some point. Likewise Joseph Morpurgo, whose character driven lunacy I enjoyed last year. Lunacy is also an apt word to describe the work of Sam Simmons. Hopefully, I'll be able to see all three before the year is out. I was also one of Trygve Wakenshaw's many admirers at this year's festival and his nomination for the mime based fun of "Nautilus" is also well deserved. Seymour Mace and Sarah Kendall have been a bit below the radar thi...

So predictable. Look, sometimes in life you get the opportunity to see your favourite band two nights on the trot. And sometimes you have to take it. Dublin's Only Rivals opened the show this time around with half an hour of alternative rock. The set builds to a rousing conclusion but doesn't inspire any great feelings in me, positive or negative. True to their word, New Found Glory return for night 2 with 12 different songs and put on an equally terrific show. A young band throwing multiple copies of their demo onto the stage provides the perfect segue into "Ready and Willing", a track off their new record about following one's dreams. "I hope this life I've led will wake you up, so you could do it again", Pundik sings before launching into the chorus one last time. It's right up there with the band's best work. Elsewhere, we get a reprise of "Failure's Not Flattering" and it's absolutely enormous synth line which get...

New Found Glory are my favourite band. They are not the most technically accomplished band in my music collection (Coheed and Cambria), nor the most lyrically eloquent (The Divine Comedy), nor the most innovative (Say Anything). But they have brought me more joy than any other band I've listened to or gone to see in the past 13 years. Quite simply, New Found Glory write and perform anthemic pop-punk songs. Great ones. And there are few in the business who are better at it. Some of the people I've spoken to about the Islington Academy are rather sniffy about it, but the acoustics are solid, the sight lines are good and the gigs I've seen there have largely had good atmospheres. So I headed to N1 with a good deal of anticipation. Trash Boat were on first. My opinion hasn't changed from the Less Than Jake gig in Brighton last month. Decent riffs, too loud and fast, too much like they're ripping off The Story So Far. They seem like nice lads and I'm not saying t...