Manchester has been long been associated with the 80’s and 90’s musical movements that shook the world and unfortunately, it has never been able to shake the mantle. With the rise of ‘sound-a-like’ bands that have slowly suffocated the music scene, it is a breath of fresh air that there are bands trying to raise the mancunion bar once more, and Rampage at Soundcontrol is one such night that nurtures the inevitable new sound of Manchester.

First up were local lads VOYTEK THE BEAR. Even though numbers were low (due to being the last minute replacement for ‘Arficeden’ RIP), these lads played their socks off. The bass was strong, the guitars loud and the drums tight. Playing a more rocky set than usual, leaning towards their influences of Queens of the Stone Age and early Primus, they still managed to encapsulate their signature groove-sound and keep everyone in the venue grooving and shaking. Their new EP ‘Bear Tunes’ is available from www.myspace.com/voytekthebear.

Gallops! turned up the volume and proved to be a hit with the growing crowd. Overhearing Dave Morait (drums) during the sound check, asking the sound engineer for just the Mac in his monitor, it was apparent that he was going to be more machine than man, and he didn’t fail to deliver. Steady heavy beats, along with perfectly timed electronica thrown in, alongside catchy dark riffs made Gallops! a definite band to watch for the future. Oh, and their (soon to be released) EP cover is fantastic. Check them out at www.myspace.com/thegallopsband.

Headliners Cyril Snear can be summed up in one word, once uttered by the infamous Jimmy Crankie…..fandabidosie. These hard working lads encapsulated what is great about prog/post rock. Long; engaging songs, timings that will make your head scratch, and individual enough to warrant your attention. And don’t get me started on the lighting that accompanied the set to a tee. Strobe with faultless double-kicking? Yes please. Their debut self produced album ‘Fluent in Seven Types of Monotone’ is available now on www.cyrilsnear.co.uk and available as a download from Itunes.

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Rock and Jack Daniels go hand in hand right? Well we’ve got the killer of all rock nights and a lovely sponsor from our friend Mr Jack Daniels.

Tickets are £6, although if you are one of the lucky pups with a flyer it’ll be £5.

8.00 – 2.00

And like we touched on, JACK DANIELS will be mega cheap all night, good god.

It’s about time Manchester had something new to let loose too, let’s smash it.

CYRIL SNEAR

Manchester’s Cyril Snear officially released their debut album ‘Fluent In Seven Types of Monotone’, in April 2009, through the band’s own label, Weatherface Records.

Originally from Wales, Cyril Snear moved and based themselves in Manchester back in 2007. Early boundary pushing recordings and formidable live shows resulted in them quickly becoming favourites on the Manchester music scene. Their hard-working and DIY ethic resulted in their stunning, self-recorded and self-produced album being highly regarded throughout the underground scene in Manchester and beyond.

‘This is a band seemingly unconstrained by adherence to any one genre. Cyril Snear manage something you don’t see very often – a truly individual sound which is absorbingly magnificent’ (ManchesterMusic.co.uk)

‘Weighty without being heavy-handed and intelligent without being preachy, Cyril Snear make absorbing indie rock as capable of firing the synapses as it is of thrilling the heart. They are startling, sparkling and never ever dull – and who could want more from a band than that?”’ (Chris Long BBC Radio Manchester)

‘Cyril Snear are out to mess with your head, make no mistake about that! But there is also a commitment to tickle your soul and remind you that you have one and that it is, in fact, attached to a capacity for free will’ (BBC Introducing)

GALLOPS

Gallops are impossible to sum up in a soundbite. Their music is too fresh, compulsive and inventive. It’s cyborg soul music.

ADAM WALTON – BBC RADIO WALES

Post-rock, it appears, is alive and well, and living in Wales. A packed Kaz Bar sees a muscular set by Wrexham’s Gallops, who successfully channel the riff-heavy, Oxes-style breed of post-rock, rather than Mogwai’s snowflake prettiness/sonic maelstrom template. Fat, Sabbath-esque riffs underpinned with grooving drum patterns and smattered with laptop electronica; it’s post-rock for the head and the heart, and a very promising start to the festival.

BEATRWTZ.COM

The town’s silver lining has emerged: digital math-rockers Gallops, who have inherited more than horsey wordplay from their successful precursors. While they’ve harnessed the jerky propulsion of Foals, the riffs-as-rhythm of Pivot and the synthy tomfoolery so beloved of Battles, it’s all built on a bedrock of post-rock and they’re not afraid to unleash guitars as heavy as, say, Russian Circles.

NME.COM

“Gallops; an instrumental four piece from Wrexham sounding like the four horses of the apocalypse, listening to God Speed you Black Emperor! Exclamation mark and all. ”

LOUD AND QUIET

“It’s not just their equine referencing moniker that Wrexham’s Gallops share with a band like Foals. A shared love of sonic experimenters Battles, Don Caballerro and Pivot is hugely apparent. Yet their sound is all their own. In the disorientating surroundings of a wine bar their furious, raw, motorised computer-led crank-rock proves extremely potent.”

BBC NEWSBEAT

“If Wrexham seemed like the last place to find complex math-rock leanings, then that’s because it is, making a group like Gallops all the more special and exciting. Marrying drums, guitars, sequencers, keyboards and general ‘noise’ this four piece play the sort of techno-glitchy rock synonymous with Pivot. This builds on songs like ‘Crutches’ on a dynamism akin to Foals, multiplying note patterns into an explosion of intense guitar work becoming almost a twisted club banger. Disparate layers of obsessive lilting melodies intelligently fused-Wrexham your time is now.”

SWN FESTIVAL 08

VOYTEK THE BEAR

mcr:music
Cath Aubergine
“…unlike most bands who cite such an eclectic influence list – often as a badge of how cool they are – Voytek the Bear do actually appear to have absorbed all that and more.”

“…pleasingly abrasive punk-funk indie”

Megan Vaughan
“…the soundtrack to heaps of bedraggled revellers falling asleep amongst beer cans and roaches, while a few of the remaining hardcore sit around the bonfire’s embers, nodding their heads”

Beat Promotions
“…Alternative space-jazz ambient dub cock teases.”

Rob of EFTM
“Shrink-wrapped geniuses”

Tickets are £6, although if you are one of the lucky pups with a flyer it’ll be £5.

And like we touched on, JACK DANIELS will be mega cheap all night, good god.

It’s about time Manchester had something new to let loose too, let’s smash it.