Things of the Day

THREAD PULLS? NEUROSPOILER? BOTH?

December 5th 2010 

Bang that head, or pull that thread: 

SiNGLE: NEURONSPOILER – No One’s Safe (self-release) - Debut EP from a London based old-school ‘proper’ metal band, five slices of on-the-nail NWOBHM flavoured hard rock from a five piece band who declare themselves “not to be about being faster, harder, heavier, sicker, drunker or crazier than anyone else”. Five tracks and a rather professional, slick-looking, well produced self-released set of first moves. Opens with a very Dio-like slice of forcefulness called The Outcry, a rather Hungry For Heaven-flavoured slice of powerfully melodic old school metal, very very Ronnie James Dio; this of course is a very good thing. Neuronspoiler touch on early Iron Maiden with their galloping harmonised guitars, they take in a lot of that late 70’s early 80’s New Wave Of British Heavy Metal - metal that gallops without ever thrashing or crashing. In J.R. they have a classic metal vocalist, their sound is traditional metal without ever being dated or stale, no one else besides the most denim-clad sew-on patched metalhead is going to like it and there’s certainly no hint of anything anywhere near different, no new ground in danger of being broken here. 

Think old-school Praying Mantis, Tygers Of Pan Tang, Iron Maiden, Angel Witch style proper metal (this should be out on a Neat Records 7”, Neil Kay should be playing it down at the Soundhouse, Tommy Vance should be spinning it on the Friday Rock Show on Radio One, they should have a track on a Metal For Muthas compilation, they should be down the Wardour Street Marquee – that was Neuronspoiler d’ya want some more?!). Classic metal in a cold sweat, galloping riffs running down your neck (again and again and again, to that point of no return). Lost Brother opens up with more classic Maiden-style harmonised guitar galloping before the proto-prog metal of say Praying Mantis meeting Limelight. Here comes the got to find my people melodic bit, trying to find that place where they belong… Royal Standard, Friday night circa 1980 is where they belong, on the bill with More or Samson or maybe Sledgehammer, there goes a Suzi Hold On Saxon bit. Cataclysm is a galloping instrumental good enough to soundtrack a Lucozade advert, good enough for an Anvil-esque March Of The Crabs…Let us understand: this is metal, this is proper metal - proper metal that could only come from here. The five of them may have come from all over the globe but this is a London sound, the sound of the Soundhouse, the Standard, the Marquee of Maiden or Praying Mantis or Angel Witch or… hey look, no revolution here and the fifth track is rather dubious and like they suddenly took a hair metal pill or something, we’ll overlook that and enjoy the first four tracks….

Next gig is at the Dublin Castle, Camden, London on December 21st
More from www.myspace.com/neuronspoiler

Or for those of you not so metal-inclined an equally worthy, slightly different Thing Of The Day…

ALBUM: THREAD PULLS – New Thoughts (Osaka) – They’re nearly a rock band, a stripped back, less is more kind of rock band, just drums and bass, drum-kick centred and sub-bass heavy. Echoing vocals, solar synth drone textures, little bit different…  Rooted in that Sheffield sound of the late 80’s, Cabaret Voltaire and such, brought fresh and now though, fresh and now and look at me, what do you want to own? Pointy boomy post-punk repetitive polyrhythms, warm patterns that are very much of now. Based in Dublin, Thread Pulls are a duo, Gavin Duff (vocals, bass guitar, trumpet) and Peter Maybury (drums and synthesisers). The sound is warm, the sound is bass-heavy and booming, the sound is big, inviting, intriguing, a futurist post-punk primal stomp. Wave forms, front to back… Look at me, I’m wild…  What do you want to See? What do you want to be? They have seen all they know, Slits rhythms, post-punk time and space, killing Joke-sparse, nouns and names, waves form… apart… that trumpet adds a subtle bit of something… and those unexpected bits of tuneful melody, the tides, the time… next part… touch of Liars, touch of Sonic Youth, touch of stark warmth… new thoughts, different shapes… 

New Thoughts is the debut album, out now on Irish independent label Osaka and available in the UK via www.cargorecords.co.uk. More from www.osaka.ie or www.threadpulls.com