I would be reviewing Cascada's "Glorious" as that is this week's New Release, however it is a Eurovision 2013 song, and since I shall be doing a Eurovision 2013 Special, I have to wait until then. So instead, I chose The Mend, who are fairly known.
The Mend are a four-piece band who first came to my attention on Britain's Got Talent. For some unknown reason, before coming to type up this review, I thought they were young, about 15/16, but when they auditioned the age range was 21-22, so that does explain the song choice and the old style as well. The band members include Kris Evans, Dean Kelly, Craig Worsley and Jay Kontzie. They remind me a lot of The Overtones although there has been quite a few other bands who have tried something like this and been unable to do as well. I wish The Mend the best of luck, but I don't think they are grabbing their target audience.
This music video relates to the song, in the style and the choreography, however it fails to entertain, to grip and hold on to their audience.
They are four guys in their 20s, they should be influencing the same age group, however they are singing the sort of song that wasn't even popular 20 years ago. If you're going to do this then at least make sure you can bring this style back just like The Overtones are doing. Or spice it up and create something totally new like The Baseballs. If you're going to do it, swap it, change it, never copy.
The old style, the old microphones, the brown and white colouring, the braces, the singing, the dancing... It's a complete old video, it's like I've been transported back in time. The one thing that proves it's recent is the old people dancing, these dancers are 20 years older than the singers, it's like watching your parents dancing.
To make this better is to make something like Daniela Brooker's "Heartbreaker", make something old, new... They could've used young dancers, and maybe half way through The Mend could've stepped down from the microphones and did some dancing themselves.
Overall a song that will only interest a few people but enough to chart this Sunday, and an accompanying music video, that fails to entertain and fails to interest me at all. If they wish to continue, I hope their next song and music video is a lot better, or these are going to fail before they've even started.
Times Red followed me the most recently, they were one of a few reasons why I started this special, because this is an amazing song and music video, how can I not set up a special to explore my twitter followers? They followed me on 17th March.
Times Red are a three-piece band consisting of Scott Ritchie, Staz Nair and Luke White. They first came to my attention when they were on The X Factor, how can you not remember their audition (for those of you who can't, you can find it below). They got all the way to the Judges Houses, where Louis Walsh didn't put them through. I supported them all the way and even voted to try and get them in during the wildcard vote, instead Christopher Maloney won that. Now they are going their own way, and just look at what Simon Cowell has missed out on, these are going to get big quick, and be on your guard, they will be running up the chart pretty soon.
This music video is simple, and could be considered low budget compared to other music videos, BUT it is WOW. There's is such an energy when they perform, they can sing, harmonise, play instruments, dance, act, the list is endless, is there anything these guys can't do?
Two sides of this music video, this is getting quite popular recently. A performance side, which is full of energetic vibes, that makes me looking on the internet for gig tickets, unfortunately no tour dates yet as they are recording their album, but this is one band I do not want to miss.
The narrative side is interesting, we have this woman who is obviously who the band is singing about, I like the role she plays and then she gets annoyed as he thinks she's no good for him. And the apple idea is flawlessly great.
The little choreography given works well, it shows they are a new band and don't want to push the boat out just yet. But I reckon if they get a choreographer in they'll be able to dance and surprise us even more. On the other hand, the dancing is raw, and they're all in sync too.
Overall a song that is just amazing, I cannot stop listening to it. They remind me of a cross between Maroon 5 and Theory Of A Deadman, I cannot wait for their next single and music video, and I just know I'm going to be excited when their album comes out. The accompanying music video works perfectly with the song, it relates, it makes me want to see them live, and I just have nothing bad to say about it... So I guess you know where this is going...
Mixtape started following me on 12th March, they are an electric duo consisting of Pris Elias and Helen Negrão. They were previously a trio, in which they released one album in Portuguese called 'O Tormento do Tempo'. Now continuing on, they are releasing songs in English. Their most recent album, which featured 'Dancing Star' is called 'Find Your Own Way Home'. They took some time to grow on me, but they have managed to do just that. It wouldn't surprise me if they gain success in the next few years, with this sound and their theatrical videos and covers, this is one duo who we should keep an eye on.
The music video relates perfectly with the artwork that goes with their new album, it's theatrical and full of emphasis.
The light bulbs brings an eerie quality to it all, and Pris is singing about needing to let go, although she loves this person. And the setting suggests what has happened. The broken chair is definitely suggestive, along with Helen adjusting the ladder, and the tyre rolling.
A lot of suggestive content. The duo reminds me of The Ting Tings, because that duo has only one singer. I like the idea of having the other person in the music video as well, because they are equally important. Without that music, we would have nothing as the lyrics aren't that strong although Pris' voice is phenomenal.
Overall a catchy song that I can't help but sing-a-long to, and a music video that relates exactly the way we want it to. However the one thing that could be done to improve this is to make it more suggestive, they could've even added flashbacks to what did happen.
Two Weeks Running are a five-piece alternative indie rock group, the band members are Alex Goulding, Jon Wilkes, Kriss Restall, Phil Alstead and Sam Goulding. This is their first music video and have released an EP called 'Lions' which is available to download on Soundcloud. Their second EP is 'Beats For The Heart'. They are not my sort of band, and I wasn't into this song, however I can't knock them, they are growing bigger and bigger supporting well-known acts on their tours as well as featuring here there and everywhere. This is one band that won't go down without a fight, and that is exactly what makes a band... I'm interested where these guys will go to.
The music video is their first video, and so I have to hold off the harsh comments as first music videos usually aren't that great, but compared to ones I have seen this isn't so bad.
I like the split of a narrative and a performance piece. The performance piece is quite static, but that's explainable to due the crowding and the close quarters of the gig, making it difficult to spread the energetic field of playing.
The narrative side is less interesting, they are throwing rocks at empty alcohol bottles, personally I don't find that fun, unless I was a child... Before hand they drove to that place going past pubs and shops. I like how it shows the area off, so that people who know where they are could go there too.
Overall a song that has potential, but not my sort of thing, and a music video that slightly fits and slightly doesn't. The narrative and performance adds to the overall feel of the video, but it fails to keep me interested long enough.
Bauer are a four-piece band who have just released their album 'Sleeping Giant'. They followed me on twitter on 21st February. The band consists of Greg Matthews, Neil Treppas, Lee Bradbury and Michael Reed. They aren't my type of music, however I was surprised by it and intrigued in what their album includes.
I had to pick between this song and "(Feels Like) Heaven". I thought this music video was slightly better than the other one. The song has a catchy quality to it, when I had finished listening to it, it was kind of stuck in my head, so much so I wanted to listen to it again. If they manage to do that to me, they can do it to a lot of other people too, gaining the audience they need to make themselves popular.
This music video uses a lot of lighting to create a lot of tension during this performance piece. It's quite technical great, but that is how far it goes.
The lighting doesn't help at all to give across what they are like on stage, suggesting that we may not want to see them, especially since I don't get very many vibes from them, however for all I know they could be amazing live, but this video fails to portray it.
There's a few extras, plays with lighting, and some computers set up that are in striking blue, that is so different to the lighting from before that it intrigues me, unfortunately it doesn't go anywhere, leaving me unsure of what is going on.
Overall, a song that actually gets quite catchy, and an accompanying music video that is insightful to watch, but fails to keep me entertained, and I lose interest half way through, because nothing happens, it's almost repeated footage, and that is never good.
