ALT-008 - The Dollyrots, Bowling For Soup (w/ The Dollyrots + Patent Pending), Trash Monroe, The Hype Theory, Mechanical Smile, All She Wrote, Skeleton Kid, Birthrite, Darwin Theory, Drachenflug

THE DOLLYROTS
'The Dollyrots'
ARRESTED YOUTH

If your looking for an upbeat pop-punk rock album, look no further than The Dollyrots self-titled album, this features twelve tracks of the best Pop-Punk combinations that can ever be produced, from the trippy 'I wanna go'; featuring cleverly executed autotune and a get-up and party atmosphere which resides throughout the whole spine of the album, this is one band to watch out for, if The Dollyrots were a motorbike, they would be a Harley-Davidson, lively, ready to rock and full of attitude. So the resounding message is that if you have a party and your stuck for the total party anthem, The Dollyrots promise to bring their fourth album covered in American attitude to the celebrations room, fans of the Ting Tings and Bowling For Soup will drool over this album as it sums up the statement that experimenting with rock music is not dead.

[10] RHYS STEVENSON

BOWLING FOR SOUP w/ THE DOLLYROTS + PATENT PENDING
'One Big Happy'
BRANDO / QUE-SO

Usually when a split happens, the bands on it are so alike it becomes an album on its own accord, but when Bowling For Soup teamed up with The Dollyrots and Patent Pending a storm started brewing, sure the three all play similar enough types of rock but the overall sounds are different, from Bowling For Soup's laid back slick alternative rock to The Dollyrots' fired up punk rock and finally to Patent Pending's sensational Pop Punk infusion. So when Bowling For Soup are on the airwaves, the sound that comes out is a relaxing one, however when The Dollyrots get their sexual punk rock on the forefront, the mood-swing has already been activated and the feeling of letting your hear down becomes imminent and this feeling carries right on into the realm of Patent Pending who fill in the gaps of the exploded speakers, caused by this sensational masterpiece, all in all listeners will have 'One Big Happy' feeling.

[8] RHYS STEVENSON

TRASH MONROE
'Addiction Of Duplicities Part 1'

Southend quintet Trash Monroe make their next release a short and quick one, the two track single 'Addiction Of Duplicities Part 1' delivers lust, blushing beauty and the fundamental elemental sounds of pure rock music. Dedicated to the late Paul Raymond Rowe, this dedication comes with a bountiful of emotion and feeling as band connects with the listener through two sensational songs. With this now under their belt and their next major release in sight, there is no way that this musical tour-de-force will ever stop, buckle up and batten down the hatches, Trash Monroe are sure to explode on the national scene.

[7,5] RHYS STEVENSON

THE HYPE THEORY
'Glory Days'

The debut album 'Glory Days' is blasted out by The Hype Theory at such a force the River Chelmer has been reported to have tidal waves going out to sea, however for the quintet from Chelmsford, Essex, this is a sensational release, full of get-up-and-go atmospheric elements and is so funked it it would make any local rave look like the high school summer ball, but put this on full volume and let your hair down as the guitars gear up the drummers drumming for the vicious vocals to arrange the atmospheric attitude that only The Hype Theory can deliver, full of energy, gravity-defying songs and a chemical reaction that gets anyone off their feet, as for this bunch, they are truly in their 'Glory Days'.

[8.5] RHYS STEVENSON

MECHANICAL SMILE
'Into The Surface'

Scotland has had a history of producing unbelievable rock bands and that is not going to stop now, with Kilmarnock's Mechanical Smile delivering their latest offering in the form of their 2012 EP 'Into The Surface', featuring the best pop / alternative rock of the modern era, this quartet deliver the female equivalent of Franz Ferdinand and yet will appeal to fans of Nirvana and Biffy Clyro, uniquely organised, the EP starts off with the fast 'Afterlife' and then immediately drops the tempo for the second track 'Look Closer', before kicking up again for the third track 'Arrows' and the fourth 'We Are Forever', there is something for everyone here, some would say this is the perfect companion to burns night, shame they didn't do a cover of 'auld lang syne'; perhaps their next release may have this.

[7.5] RHYS STEVENSON

ALL SHE WROTE
'Weathered'

Bit of an eclectic mix going on here, putting together the already dominant Post-Hardcore with some spicy lashings of Alternative Rock, this is of course All She Wrote's latest single 'Weathered', a promising sign that more of this great stuff is to come, designed for the fans of bands like Lostprophets and A Day To Remember, this London mob are sure to make a scene in the next year or so, with 'Weathered' now lock and loaded and ready to fire at the mainstream rock/metal fans, All She Wrote are the new kids on the block and a band to watch out for in 2013.

[7] RHYS STEVENSON

SKELETON KID
'The Graveyard Disciples'

Bournemouth's Gothic Punksters Skeleton Kid make no mistake in delivering their debut EP 'The Graveyard Disciples' in ballistic style, razor-sharp riffs cutting holes in the bleak atmosphere left by their Gothic persona and yet the EP itself characterizes itself around bands such as Motley Crue and Marilyn Manson, whilst keeping that middle-finger attitude in check. One could not help but to somehow relate them to Misfits and Wednesday 13 at the band's core, definitely the darker side of punk rock. Fresh on the scene and only been going nearly two years, the band have amassed a name for themselves and are sure to in the near future gain attention from major British media.

[9] RHYS STEVENSON

BIRTHRITE
'If It 'Ay Bost, Dow Fix It!'

So what exactly is steampunk? Well take the Victorian era, mix it with a futuristic technological emphasis (The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Atlantis: The Lost Empire are the best literary work examples) and you end up with pure excellence, and that is what Black Country quartet Birthrate are all about, excellent innovation. Take on board their latest offering 'If It 'Ay Bost, Dow Fix It!', it has clear 70's rock influences stretching from Bauhaus and the whole Gothic Rock renaissance area to fast elements residing in the Motorhead vein. Playing music their way but on the same wave-length as Suffolk's Fearless Vampire Killers, Birthrite are a class apart, full of eccentricity in their music and are sure to create a buzz for themselves, with their military style drumming on 'bullet soldier' and their funky 'square dance', this is a totally unique ensemble and a momentous release.

[8] RHYS STEVENSON

DARWIN PROPHET
'Don't Panic' w/ 'Don't Panic single'

David Bowie just got a revamp, well morphed into steampunk as Darwin Prophet take on board his classic rock style and whip it up with some excellent literary influences from one Oscar Wilde, what follows is a beautiful and elegant style of rock that is emerging slowly, steampunk is sure to grow in size and with bands like Darwin Prophet who have just released their latest offering 'Don't Panic'. The vocals are of the gothic rock style and the music is soothing yet danceable if doing the waltz, in the end 'Don't Panic' is a release that will power Darwin Prophet forward and with it, sheer brilliance will ignite. The 'Don't Panic' single is a delightful piece of musicianship too, with 4-5 tracks that acted as a build up to the album release, it truly is a work of art

[8] + [7.5] RHYS STEVENSON

DRACHENFLUG
'Blau'

Reminiscent of Subway To Sally, German quintet Drachenflug (Kite Flying) released their latest album 'Blau' back in 2009 and strange as it may seem, mixing the German language to the steampunk style of music actually is very effective, however the issue of the language barrier is there. This is the sort of album that would bode well at Oktoberfest, because it is simply relaxing and soul-soothing. That said, the immersing of traditional folk music elements adds a slight Pagan feel to it, that said 'Blau' is an album that would appeal to any music fan, it has a bit of everything, from the folk elements of the flute to the rock/metal elements in the drums and the rest of the music making a composition of pure easy listening, bring on 'schwarz', 'rot' und 'gelbe'.

[8] RHYS STEVENSON