NOTE, BOBBYSIX HAS MOVED. PLEASE VISIT OUR NEW SITE INSTEAD, WHERE YOU WILL FIND SO MUCH AWESOME CONTENT THAT YOUR EYES WON'T KNOW WHERE TO LOOK FIRST: SOMETHINGYOUSAID.COM
It seems Jamie T is never away from Sydney, yet, far from the city growing tired of him, his performance at The Gaelic Club was greeted with the kind of hysteria that suggests he is always a welcome guest. Just like when he was at The Metro a couple of months back, a packed room sang every word back at the Londoner. Anyone who is familiar with Jamie Treays' high speed, slang-ridden vernacular will know that that is an achievement in itself.
Helped by the crisp and clear Gaelic sound, the set was a familiar and high-energy run-through of material from his two albums, highlights of which were So Lonely Was The Ballad and Pacemaker. Treays was his usual cheeky self, paying out the people who chose to stand at the back of the room rather than getting involved in the melee at the front. Indeed, for set closer Sheila, he dragged one of the "middle-aged men" from the back of the room onto the stage and took part in a dance-off with him. Maybe he did it to entertain himself during a song that he must have sung a zillion times, but in truth, to the rest of us Sheila still sounded as fresh as ever without the need for such - admittedly fun - gimmicks.
By the time he encored with Sticks 'n' Stones, the crowd - from which a lot of English accents could be picked out - were going mental, crowd surfing, climbing onto the stage an then throwing themselves back off it, and hollering every word as if their lives depended on it. Treays took such fervour in his stride. Just another night out for this talented geezer from the other side of the world.
When your debut record - an exhilarating, uncompromising mix of punk, indie and hip-hop - is so highly acclaimed, what do you do next? Well, if you’re Jamie T, you get into Bob Dylan and write a load of acoustic songs. Then you listen to some US hardcore punk and throw new influences and old together to come up with something similarly eclectic to your debut. Once again, you record it in your bedroom and in a shed.
And so, a couple of years after Panic Prevention, we have Kings & Queens, Jamie Treays’ potentially Difficult Second Album. Beginning with his Joe Strummeresque vocal barking its way into an infectious chorus hook, it seems he’s developed a real ear for a pop tune. Further evidence of this comes from Sticks 'n' Stones, which is a singalong anthem perfect for summer. The album is filled with upbeat songs based more around punky guitars than urban hip-hop as Treays - a cheeky London rapscallion - fires off colloquialisms about life in boozers and getting up to no good. There are some fine examples of his acoustic tangent, although the beautiful Emily’s Heart is more Doherty than Dylan.
This sophomore effort might not be as brilliantly barmy and uncompromising as Panic Prevention, but it is an effervescent, accessible record. Impressively, it manages to be observational while still brimming with summery songs that have all the fun, madness and Englishness of a night’s binge-drinking. Only with Kings & Queens you don’t suffer a hangover and you want to do the whole thing all over again as soon as you’re finished.
Local fellow Ernest Ellis and his band offered grand folk-rock that clearly had American influences. His songs were sweeping and generally fairly classically structured, but aside from a vocal range that included an impressive falsetto there was nothing especially attention-grabbing about this warm-up set.
With a hood pulled over a baseball cap, Jamie T - Jamie Treays if we’re being formal - ambled onstage looking like the kind of dodgy youth you see stalking the streets of the less salubrious parts of London. However, Treays is no shady character but rather a chirpy troubadour and was soon ripping through a fun version of Brand New Bass Guitar. The high energy of this raw opener continued for the rest of the night, as Treays and his band, The Pacemakers, belted out a hectic mixture of hip-hop and punk. Between songs Treays chatted in his very English style, dedicating Earth, Wind & Fire to his Dad for being “a double-hard bastard,” and telling the crowd to “stop being pansies and start fucking dancing,” before newie Chaka Demus showed his newfound pop sensibilities.
Sans band, he led the all-ages crowd through a cacophonous version of Back In The Game as the singalongs got progressively louder. If You Got The Money almost ripped the roof off and every word of Sheila was roared back at the stage. By the evening’s finale, Sticks ‘n’ Stones, the crowd was going absolutely mental.
Surprisingly though, the set’s highlight was Emily’s Heart, an incongruously delicate opening to the encore. It’s a shame that large sections of the audience, who were clearly there to hear the singles and nothing else, were too busy talking really fucking loudly to notice the sheer beauty of this tiny acoustic song. Still, the main throng held lighters aloft and appreciated it for the heartbreakingly tender and sorrowful love song that it was. Ending by bursting into an epic crescendo of noise, with Treays screaming “This is what happens when you fuck around,” it showed a new, deeper dimension to the songwriter. On top of the urban punk thing that he does so well, tonight Jamie T proved he also has a knack for pop gems and gentle acoustic ballads. We wait with excitement to see which direction he goes in next.
I recently contributed to the Drum Media end of year poll in Australia. Here is an alternative version which takes into account the UK as well. Please feel free to add your own lists in the comments section:Top 10 Albums (released in the UK or Australia) 1. Myths of The Near Future - Klaxons 2. Panic Prevention - Jamie T 3. A Book Like This - Angus And Julia Stone (above) 4. Neon Bible - Arcade Fire 5. Men’s Needs, Women’s Needs, Whatever - The Cribs 6. Because Of The Times - Kings Of Leon 7. Made Of Bricks - Kate Nash 8. Fur And Gold - Bat For Lashes 9. Songs For The Road – David Ford 10. Tonight At The Arizona - The Felice Brothers
Top 10 Tracks (released as part of any single/EP/album) 1. Be Safe – The Cribs 2. Golden Skans – Klaxons 3. Sheila - Jamie T 4. Ballad Of Lou The Welterweight – The Felice Brothers 5. Umbrella - Rihanna 6. Foundations – Kate Nash 7. D.A.N.C.E. – Justice 8. Brown Paper Bag – Bridezilla 9. What’s a Girl To Do? – Bat For Lashes 10. Commercial Breakdown – The Sunshine Underground
Best Gigs in Australia 1. Angus and Julia Stone – The Great Escape Festival 2. Bridezilla - Beach Road Hotel, Bondi (above) 3. Pet Shop Boys – V Festival 4. Lou Reed - The State Theatre 5. Muse – Big Day Out
Best Gigs in the UK 1. Carter USM – Brixton Academy (below) 2. Arcade Fire – The Latitude Festival 3. David Ford – Shepherds Bush Empire 4. Laura Imbruglia – Monkey Chews, Camden 5. Kings Of Leon – Brighton Centre Top 5 Films 1. Superbad 2. The Science Of Sleep 3. Knocked Up 4. American Gangster 5. Hot Fuzz
Top 5 TV Shows 1. The Mighty Boosh 2. Peep Show 3. The Biggest Loser (Australia) 4. Extreme Makeover 5. America’s Next Top Model
Top Podcasts 1. Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo’s Film Reviews – BBC Radio 5 Live 2. The Ricky Gervais Podcast
The Emperor's New Clothes Award Facebook. Listen, I haven’t seen you for about 10 years and you didn’t talk to me at school anyway; why would I want to add you as a ‘friend’ now? And stop inviting me to be a vampire.
Best Media Moments 1. The Chaser’s War On Everything getting themselves arrested in the name of comedy (above). 2. Britney Spears’ terrifying ‘comeback’ at the MTV Awards. Yikes. 3. The Biggest Loser, Australian finale.
Highlight Of The Year The glorious, long overdue ousting of Mr John Winston Howard.
Prediction For 2008 A new buzz band to appear on the scene approximately every 3 days, each with increasingly skinny jeans and ridiculous hair. Same as 2007 then.
Quote Of The Year “Rob Townsend is inane and out of touch.” An angry reader of The Argus writes in to tell it like it is.
A Personal Review of 2007 As with 2006, I was lucky enough to split my year between Australia and England and therefore witnessed the best of Britain in Sydney and vice versa. I saw great shows from English acts such as Jamie T, Plan B, Muse and Lily Allen in Sydney. In London I was delighted to spend some time with the beguiling Angus and Julia Stone as their star continued to ascend, and also caught a couple of Laura Imbruglia’s marvellous shows in London (above). I’m a big fan of Imbruglia, and I hope that 2008 brings her the recognition she deserves as an artist.
In Sydney, my favourite new band, Bridezilla, continued on their inevitable road to greatness. Seeing them grow from unsigned opening act to headliners and festival stars with an EP in the shops gave me great pride, especially as I have been championing them from the very first time I laid ears on them at Candy’s Apartment in 2006. Hopefully, they will take on the world next year. If the reception that fellow Aussie teens Operator Please received is any guide, England will welcome them with open arms if they get the opportunity to head that way.It was a year of festivals for me, as I took in Big Day Out, Laneway, V Festival, The Great Escape, The Essential Festival (in Sydney as opposed to Brighton), Cornbury (where I even took to the stage) and Latitude. Aside from the already listed highlights, there were great performances from Pixies, The Killers (who I saw two days in a row and, surprisingly, loved both times), NYPC (above), Ghostwood, Mercy Arms, Magic Numbers (twice), CSS, Jarvis Cocker (twice), Damien Rice (twice), Erin Marshall, The Young and Restless… the list goes on.
Elsewhere, I queued for 11 hours overnight to see Lou Reed, got a late, late call to review The Pretenders and was lucky enough to be in the front row of The Famous Spiegeltent for M. Ward in the beautiful Sydney summertime.Of the many interviews I was part of this year, my fascinating chat with Dolores O’Riordon (above) in a Sydney hotel is the one I am most proud of. Elsewhere, I swooned like a love-struck schoolboy when speaking down the phone from Melbourne to the exquisite Regina Spektor and laughed heartily with Caleb from Kings of Leon as he regaled me with tales of love and lust. I listened intently to the ambitious and terrifyingly intelligent Perry Farrell and, as always, enjoyed chatting to Klaxons.
I continued to pontificate in my own column in The Sports Argus every week, which continues to be compiled into a book, which will see the light of day this year after a self-imposed postponement.
I just saw the full line-up for Reading for the first time. If you’re going this year, then here are my musical tips for a top weekend:Must See: Arcade Fire (don’t miss them whatever else you do) Klaxons (ooh-ee-ooh-ee-ooh-ee-ooh-ee-ooh-arrrr) Kings of Leon CSS (best party ever) Jamie T (above) New Young Pony Club (below) Bloc Party Interpol Tokyo Police Club The Gossip Albert Hammond Jr (surprisingly great frontman) The ShinsShould See: Kate Nash (is she worth all the fuss? I hope so) Ash (awesome festival band) The View (little cunts but with a few good tunes) Cold War Kids The Scare (Australian, and better than….) ….The Horrors Silversun Pickups (Pumpkins/Pixies revisited) The Sunshine Underground Peter Bjorn and John (whistle along)Maybe See: Alberta Cross (friends of Angus and Julia) Pippettes (from Brighton. Pretty dresses) Charlotte Hatherley (above) The Young Knives (tweed post punk) Operator Please (teenagers from Australia. And, no, they’re not in the same league as Bridezilla but might be worth a squizz anyways)
Don’t See: Razorlight (urggggghhh) Red Hot Chili Peppers (worst band in the world)
I've just heard the nominees for this September's Mercury Music Prize and I'm very impressed. For those of you not in the know, the Mercury is the most well-respected award in the biz for the year's best album (previous winning albums came from Arctic Monkeys in 2006, Antony and The Johnsons in 2005, Franz Ferdinand in 2004 and Dizzy Rascal in 2003). Well, this year sees Arctic Monkeys and Dizzy nominated again, as well as the marvelous Amy Winehouse and NYPC. Most pleasingly though are the inclusion of the brilliant Klaxons album and the equally awesome Jamie T. I'd love Klaxons to win as I adore them, but, if you fancy a flutter, I reckon the clever money is on London rapscallion Jamie T or Winehouse for victory.
I'm so delighted that Klaxons are being recognised that I thought I'd revisit my review from a few months back.KLAXONS Myths Of The Near Future
When I spoke to Klaxons a couple of months back, they claimed the New Rave tag that they had been lumbered with was nothing more than a media construct, and one listen to their debut long-player confirms this. While Klaxons are certainly offering something new, there doesn’t seem to be much in the way of rave within the 11 tracks on offer here.
Anyone who thinks the band are nothing more than style-over-content, fluoro-clad scenesters will be surprised to learn that, in spite of the false pigeonholing, Myths Of The Near Future is genuinely exciting and visionary, and manages to experimentally fuse dark pop with elements of punk and dance. The album is filled with space-age themes, but rather than having a pessimistic vision of an apocalyptic world in the vein of Muse, Klaxons face the future armed with an Acid House smile and a pocketful of pills, making this 35-mintues of dancey, mashed-up fun of the highest order.
Current radio favourite Golden Skans harks back to the best of 80s pop, while previous singles Atlantis to Interzone and Gravity’s Rainbow are high-speed, amphetamine-fuelled dance-punk car crashes. Meanwhile, hidden away at the back of the album is a cover of Grace’s classic It’s Not Over Yet, which is a delicious piece of gurning, synth-drenched karaoke.
With Myths Of The Near Future, Klaxons have defiantly transcended the hype and created a truly dazzling album.
Last week I reviewed Jamie T's debut Sydney performance for The Drum Media. It was a top night:JAMIE T THE HOLIDAYS Candy’s Apartment, King’s Cross 08/05/07
While the evening was really all about one man from London, local boys The Holidays’ charming indie-pop was well received by the large crowd excitedly awaiting a solo performance from the man who is causing such a buzz in the UK right now.
I have never seen Candy’s more packed than when Jamie T took to the stage looking like the archetypal South London scallywag in a check shirt and baseball cap. In spite of his newly elevated profile, the young artist was wonderfully unassuming and between songs chatted affably to the crowd - constantly apologising for the fact that many of them couldn’t see him because he was sitting down, and also touching on such pressing matters as his unrequited love for Libby Kennedy from Neighbours.
Because he was playing without his band, he wasn’t able to perform some of his much-lauded debut album, Panic Prevention, so he padded out his short performance with some covers, including Billy Bragg’s A New England and White Man in Hammersmith Palais by The Clash, who, judging by his fascinating Joe Strummer-style vocal, are a big influence.While the covers were interesting, songs from his own repertoire really raised the roof. Salvador and If You Got The Money instigated massive singalongs, while Sheila amazingly sparked impromptu crowd-surfing. Who’d have thought that one man and his acoustic bass could cause such frenzied scenes?
Because there was just one vocal and a four-string bass playing compositions more suited to a full band, there was a lot of empty space in the songs which sometimes stuttered their flow. Fortunately though, this wasn’t a problem because the audience seemed to know his tracks backwards and happily joined the dots, even going so far as adlibbing the many samples that litter them. Before long it was less a solo performance and more a raucous singalong with Jamie T and roomful of new friends.
After the triumphant show, he handed out free mix tapes and promised to bring his band with him when he next comes to Australia. While it will be awesome to hear his eclectic songs in all their glory, it is also bound to occur in far less intimate surroundings, which will make the outrageously fun sing-along at Candy’s seem all the more special to those who were lucky enough to have been there.
My buddy Daniel took some much, much better photos of the gig, see them here
I recently reviewed Jamie T's debut album for The Drum Media. here is what I concluded: London’s Jamie Treays is being touted by those in the know as The Next Big Thing, and it’s easy to see why he’s causing such a stir, as his debut album attacks the senses with a crazy mix of styles which confuse and fascinate as much as entertain.
After several listens to Panic Prevention [so called because of the songwriter’s childhood panic attacks], this reviewer is still scratching his head trying to work out how to describe the sound that is beating his eardrums into submission.
Essentially bouncing capriciously between indie, dancehall, punk and rap, Jamie T’s unrelenting tales of London life give a nod to Joe Strummer, and are told with an equal amount of wit and aggression. He also proves that swearing is big and clever, and litters expletives throughout his stories, which are as close to those told by Arctic Monkeys as they are to the caricatured efforts from The Streets.
To illustrate what a bizarre collection of sounds Panic Prevention offers, the opening track is a punky, acoustic bass-led rant, whereas Treays raps bleak lyrics over Sheila’s hip-hop backbeat, and Salvador sounds like it wants to drunkenly bash Bloc Party down a dark alley.
Panic Prevention is challenging, confrontational, unclassifiable and not always easy to listen to, but there is no denying that it is also utterly exhilarating. This album is a 50-minute panic attack, and one gets the impression that Jamie T doesn’t care if it makes any sense to you or not.
JAMIE T
