Eastzone Underground launched

May 8th saw the launch of the Eastzone Underground label, a spin-off of NR One Records, with a gig at Norwich Arts Centre and a give-away four-band sample CD.

The aim of the label is to provide a platform for some of the area's heavier bands and four bands provided a sample of the label's style for the launch gig.

Hunt in Packs kicked off the evening. Featuring Paul Dewbery and Lee Bowyer, from now defunct UH OHs, and Ash Collins on bass, they played an interesting set. I personally think that they need just a little something extra to make them a bit more exciting and memorable.

Next up were Claw Of Panther, a rock band from Lowestoft. Not really my taste in music, but they brought a considerable entourage of fans with them (who left immediately after their set!).

Main support came from Death Of Death Of Discotheque (pictured below in a photo from their MySpace page), who play an excellent mix of inventive and exciting sounds. Vocalist Jason Barsby provided a colourful and vibrant focus to this four-piece, who should not be missed.


The Brownies headlined the evening. One of my favourite bands for the last two or three years, they were playing what will probably be their last gig for many months, mainly because drummer Mike Sheils is now working with Dinosaur Pile-up (who were excellent when they played the NAC a few months ago).

The Brownies promise to be back with us in one form or another, but in the meantime try to see Dinosaur Pile-up live, to experience Mike's excellent drum skills.

Sennen - 'Age Of Denial' released

Norwich band Sennen released their third album, "Age of Denial", this week on Hungry Audio Records. The title track was also released as a single in March.

The album, recorded in autumn 2009 with Primal Scream/House of Love producer Pat Collier, is available to download from various sites, including emusic.



The band will be launching the album at Norwich Arts Centre this Friday (April 9th), when they headline a WombatWombat night -- and will also be introducing new bassist Tim Kelleway (brother of the band's Rich) who replaces Rew Horner, who has left the band because of family commitments.

Support for the launch gig comes from London based shoegaze/drone/krautrock band Kontakte and Norwich's Olympians (formerly Hair Traffic Control).



Sennen have also had considerable exposure of Xfm, with tracks from a studio session being aired during John Kennedy's nighttime show last week.

A busy April in prospect

After a rather quiet March, April is going to be a busy month for me, with several interesting Norwich gigs.

First up is Fever Fever's "Monster" single launch in the crypt bar at Take 5, Tombland. The single is released by Cherryade Records on 7in vinyl some time in April (although I can't actually find a release date). Hopefully promo CDs will appear on Ebay shortly after as well!

Another record launch occurs the following Friday, with Sennen showcasing their new album, "Age Of Denial", as headliners of a WombatWombat night at Norwich Arts Centre. The album is released through Hungry Audio Records on April 5th.

And the same weekend, the first of three TweeOFF! gig promotions (all at the Arts Centre) is on Sunday 11th, with Tennessee band Royal Bangs topping the bill on the UK leg of a European tour.



April 20th sees London electro-poppers Chew Lips appearing, closely followed by the second TweeOFF! night, with New York duo Shy Child headlining.

Still at the Arts Centre, Sunderland's Futureheads kick off their nationwide tour there on Monday 26th and the next night Times New Viking (from Columbus, Ohio, and nearing the end of an extensive European tour) are the main band at the final TweeOFF! gig of the month. Nice to see a band named after a typeface!



To round off the month, although I haven't got a ticket yet, an appearance by legendary New Order bassist Peter Hook, with "An Evening Of Unknown Pleasures" at the UEA on Friday 30th, sounds interesting. We'll have to see how far finances stretch!

New EP from Sennen

Long-awaited new recordings from Norwich band Sennen appeared this week in the form their new EP "Destroy Us".


Released as a 6-track CD through Hungry Audio, it's also available for download from emusic and other sites.

The two best songs are probably the title track and their rather good version of New Order's "Bizarre Love Triangle" (which is conveniently offered as a free download from last.fm).


A new album is promised from the boys in March 2010.

Future Of The Left finally make it back to Norwich

Cardiff three-piece Future Of The Left almost made it to Norwich in October, when they should have headlined one of TweeOFF's "Hell Yeah" music fest gigs, but they decided that touring in the US as support to ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead would suit them better.

Despite that, TweeOFF have stuck with FOTL and secured them to play Norwich as the first date of their UK winter tour this coming Saturday (November 28th) at Norwich Arts Centre.

Tour support comes from Tubelord, from Kingston, with wonderful Norwich band The Brownies completing the line-up.


Tickets are still available at £8 in advance from Norwich Arts Centre or £9 on the door.

Le Tetsuo are The Guardian's 'New band of the day'

Le Tetsuo, a band with Norwich roots but now based in London, receive nationwide publicity today as The Guardian's "New band of the day".


Of course, in Norwich we already know how good they are, but if you want to see what all the fuss is about, they will be headlining a gig in the crypt at Take 5 café bar, on Tombland, Norwich, this Friday (13th) from around 8pm, prior to release of their new single on November 23rd.

"Sometimes I'm walking around I feel like I'm going to open up and crack", backed with "Queare", is released by Parlour Records (PLR08) and will be available as a limited edition 7inch and also via download.

It has already had airplay on BBC 6 Music courtesy of the lovely Lauren Laverne.

If you can't wait for the new single, there's also currently a free download of another new track "Way Before You Die" available on the band's MySpace page.

UH OHs are no more!

One of my favourite Norwich bands, UH OHs, have split up – after two years of making some excellent music.

To quote their MySpace blog: "We've decided to call it a day and UH OHs is no more! Ooh, the drama! I'm sure you're wondering why oh why would we decide such a thing, well it's for lots of reasons but we're all happy this is the right thing to do. I'm sure we'll all continue to make music in various guises in the future.

The last 2 years have been a ball and we all have lots of happy memories to take with us into pastures new."

They had only just launched their third single, "Cash Rich, Imagination Poor", at Take 5 in Norwich on October 16th, making the split just that bit harder to understand.

Oh well, at least I have some CDs/MP3s of their songs and memories of several excellent gigs.