With Just A Hint Of Mayhem

Music reviews, gig reviews, fun trivia and extra added random stuff!

Colour Me Wednesday, Onsind, No Ditching, Elly Kingdon @ Wharf Chambers Leeds – Wednesday 28th August 2013 August 29, 2013


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Last night finally had the pleasure of seeing a wonderful band from my old stomping ground of Uxbridge playing live. I have championed them before on this blog and their name is Colour Me Wednesday. More them later though as there were other acts on the bill too. This was the first time I had ever visited Wharf Chambers and I will definitely be back. It is a superb venue with a great stage area and a fab little bar. Not only that but it is the only place I have been where even drinking tea could be considered very rock ‘n’ roll!WP_20130828_001

First on stage was the delightful, quirky and very entertaining Elly Kingdon. The poster described her as ukulele folk from Stoke. That much is true but there was a spirit of punk too. Elly manages to effortlessly make songs about depression sound so happy and bouncy. That has to be therapeutic right? I suggest that you check this woman out on-line. She has talent and a ukulele! I loved Elly’s sign on the merchant table, it simply read ‘Elly Kingdon has no merch as she is not a sell out! What’s not to love about that?

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Next up we’re Durham’s excellent No Ditching. A fine all girl five piece who incredibly were playing only their third gig! If that set and their demo CD (of course I bought it) are anything to go by these girls can go much further. The poster described them as Pop Punk from Durham which is a fitting description. But I suspect they have more than just pop punk if allowed to play and grow in the coming months. If they are appearing in your town then get out and show your support.

Next I must make an apology. The poster for the gig showed Onsind as second on the bill. Actually that was a typo and in fact they were top of the bill. Unfortunately having been able to see Colour Me Wednesday earlier than I expected I opted to avoid the last train from Leeds back to York. This meant I missed the whole of Onsind’s set. However after a brief chat with Harriet Doveton I decided to buy Onsind’s CD album Anaesthesiology. I have played it three times today and it’s bloody good. Especially ‘Pokemon City Limits’ with it’s wonderful ‘never trust a Tory‘ chorus. So Onsind please accept my humble apology I won’t miss you again, I promise. By the way your album will be on in the car again tomorrow!

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So on to the band that brought me to this gig; Jen, Harriet, Sam and Carmela collectively known as Colour Me Wednesday. They certainly coloured this Wednesday with their perky, punky, poppy tunes. The poster described them as anarcho-pop from Uxbridge and that is certainly true. They played a great clutch of songs from their new album ‘I Thought It Was Morning’ most of which I’m sure you know because you’ve bought the album. What? You haven’t bought it yet? Why the hell not it’s a great album. Get off your bum and go and buy it now, and I do mean immediately! Just click here and do it! Anyway my favourites on the night were “You’re Not My Number One Bastard”, “Bitter Boys” and what in my opinion should be released as a single (again?) “Purge Your Inner Tory”. This song deserves to become a classic. I am so pleased that I finally got to see this band live and I hope to see them again soon. Drop everything, change all your plans, sell your granny, do whatever it takes to see them play.

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All the acts who appeared have a great deal of talent and in a parallel universe where shit like the X Factor doesn’t exist they may already have become very succesful let’s hope they can do it in this universe. It’s on nights like this I really miss John Peel he definitely would have played all of tonights artists!

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I Thought It Was Morning – Colour Me Wednesday – New Album review (July 2013) July 30, 2013


About 18 months ago I had the pleasure of interviewing a rather excellent band on this blog. (Click here to read that interview). Well now it’s time for drum rolls and fanfares because that band have an album out. That band is the splendiferous Colour Me Wednesday and their album is called ‘I Thought It Was Morning’. Earlier this evening, before I ordered my copies, I took a listen to the album as a stream on punk news. So I thought that you might like to know what I thought of this collection of 12 rather spiffing tunes.

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The LP kicks off with “Shut”; a perfect start with a quintessentially English rocker which talks about changing the world one person at a time. There really aren’t enough English bands that sing with an accent from Albion. “Holiday From Your Life” has an 80s feel and undertones of Orange Juice in a parallel universe where Edwyn Collins was female. Two tracks in and I’m loving it! This band writes great songs and forget all that X Factor shite, they play bloody well too. A cool reggae vibe is introduced for “Carefree” and it enables the song to jump from the speakers like Lily Allen with balls! So at three songs in it’s also pretty clear that the art of the protest song is alive and well in Uxbridge. Hopefully it will spread much further afield.

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The next song I have heard before and I believe that it will become one of my favourite Colour Me Wednesday songs. It’s the supremely titled “Unicorn In Uniform” and it’s the perfect Indie Pop Punk song. What a slow pulsing,  brooding song “Lost On The High Street” is. I love the bass line and the harmonies are exquisite. ‘I Feel Like I’m Running Out Of Melodies’ is the first line of “Bitter Boys” and frankly it’s obvious this band have melodies to spare.

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Halfway through and this album already feels like one that will get plenty of plays in my collection and one that deserves wide exposure. National Radio need to pick this up! “Don’t Waste Your Breath” is laid out over a really tight reggae bed which is far more the Clash than the Police thankfully. How true is the line ‘Life’s Too Short To Piss Away’? Very true methinks! If you’re a Tory Boy I wouldn’t invite Colour Me Wednesday to your barbecue, you’ll be met with the melodic pop punk of “(I’m Not Coming To Your) BBQ“. I love the way this band draw you into some very commercial sounding tunes that have amazing lyrical bite. “Cat Hair” is no exception to that. The writing on this album belies the fact that this is still a relatively young band.

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Perhaps my favourite title on this LP record is “You’re Not My No. 1 Bastard”. I think I’ll be singing that one tomorrow at work! Another song I have heard before and absolutely love is a song that ought to be high in the charts. It’s “Purge Your Inner Tory” and wouldn’t it be fun to see those mindless bigots at the Daily Mail get hot under the collar about such a great song? The album’s title track is also the closing song and it has the makings of a mini epic.

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This is a fabulous début album from a band that most certainly dares to be different. If you like formulaic pop pap don’t buy this album. But if you like great music with pop sensibility and a great punk attitude then you’d better bloody buy it! That’s an order ok and I’ll make it dead easy for you. Just click here to buy one, or more than one, of the many formats available. Then tell all your friends about this band and be safe in the knowledge that you knew them before they were mega big! I would like to wish Sam, Jen, Hat and Carmela stacks of success with this album. They are miles better than the Saturdays and the Sundays. They are more powerful than “Blue Monday”, they pack more emotion than “Everything’s Tuesday”, they give “Thursday’s Child” a run for it’s money and they make sure “Friday On My Mind” is no longer on my mind. They are not just your average day of the week, they are COLOUR ME WEDNESDAY!

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