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Minus The Bear

OMNI

(Dangerbird)

Seattle’s Minus The Bear have always been one of those bands whose fans absolutely adore them, but who’ve never grown into an act that sells many records.

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The Leadmill , Sheffield

With a band boasting seven live members you by rights expect to experience something above the norm. Sadly, tonight Midlake offers nothing but the norm.

Album Review

Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster

Blood & Fire

[Black Records]

9/10

Ask anybody who’s even vaguely interested in alternative music about The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster (EMBD) and their response will almost certainly be, “Oh them, I liked them, what happened to them?” The answer is a long and torturous one featuring line-up changes, a new record label, substantial amount of drugs and a spell in more conventional employment. Fortunately though, it ends with “They’ve got a new album out!”. ‘Blood And Fire’, is officially their third album, and is a return to the sound of the band’s early, pre-mock goth career in that it brings back the frenetic energy and furious pace of that era. Guy McKnight’s distinctive bluesy vocals are again sounding like demented war cries over a barrage of cheese wire guitars and the influences remain as strong and diverse as ever – The Misfits, The Cramps, Nirvana, all are heard in snatches. It’s brilliantly inventive and heralds a terrific return from a great band.

By Tom Goodwyn