BANDCOCKTAIL.COM

In any English town or city, on any Friday or Saturday night, you will always be able to walk in to a pub and be entertained. And usually for free, as one of the thousands of that musical phenomena called the covers band can be found performing to revelling audiences.

Covers bands are not a new thing; although their origins are difficult to trace, they have been around for decades. In that time they have become favourites at wedding receptions, in pubs and clubs everywhere and even as support acts for original bands.

One of the reasons for this is the enormous variety that these bands offer. Cover bands tend to specialise in a genre such as heavy metal or country and western, for example, or they might focus on an era, such as the 70’s. But almost without exception their playlists include the best and most popular songs of their chosen field.

And this is where they differ from their close relation, the tribute band. Whilst there are tributes to current bands, many formed to pay homage to an original band who may have split or who may no longer tour, focusing solely those bands songs on, replicating the style, look, sound closely, sometimes even gaining the approval of original band members.

Indeed, many tribute bands have become successful in their own right; most are content playing to relatively small audiences in clubs and music venues, but some of the more polished examples can be seen at larger events and multi-day ‘tribute’ festivals that have sprung up to cater for budget conscious music fans by mimicking Glastonbury type festivals with multiple stages simultaneously hosting a range of genres.

There is a growing demand for cover and tribute bands alike and agents market them in just the same way that they handle original bands.

Tribute bands have been around longer than their cover cousins, but the debate will continue as to whether the Beatles or Elvis Presley were the first artists to be honoured by tribute equivalents.

The Association of Independent Music (AIM) is holding a special event to celebrate 50 years of successful independent music which will include a gig, a five part television series, a one off auction on ebay and the release of a double CD full of “independent” covers. Artists including The Prodigy, The Charlatans and Maximo Park have all given their backing to the cause and plan to donate songs for the album. Songs to be covered include Joy Division’s Love Will Tear Us Apart, PIL’s Public Image and Ghost Town by The Specials.

Independents Day marks the anniversary of Chris Blackwell and Graeme Goodall’s indie label, Island Records. The Jamaican-born label signed giants U2 before selling to Polygram in 1989, a trend which many independent labels followed. Creation and Factory records disappeared in the 1990’s whilst others folded through a calamity of errors from over expansion to cashflow problems.

Independent music is responsible for more than 25% of the UK’s music scene and is claimed to have pioneered the music industry for many years. Alison Wenham, Chairman for AIM stated that [independents] had been “at the forefront of every single new musical movement over the years.”

For proof of this, just take a look at every popular music scene over the last 50 years: There was the DIY punk scene in the seventies, the indie guitar sounds from New Order in the eighties and the massive dance music boom in the nineties.

Today, we are seeing the independent label make a comeback. Domino Records have given us two recent chart toppers; Scottish band, Franz Ferdinand and northerners, Arctic Monkeys. The internet has provided a new platform with which to promote this music. Sites such as Myspace, Youtube and Facebook all promote bands young and old, signed and unsigned for general consumption. These social networking sites have allowed users to access new music much easier than ever before with some 40% of users embedding music within their pages.

Russell Hart, chief executive of Entertainment Media Research added “Social networks are fundamentally changing the way we discover music… the dynamics of democratisation, word of mouth recommendation and instant purchase challenge the established order and offer huge opportunities to forward thinking business.”

Local label, Signature Tune is making the most of these sites and one of their bands, Lakes is reaping the benefits of using an independent label. Scott Byatt, the band’s drummer said “As a band on an independent label, advances in communication and technology mean we can communicate with bands and promoters the world over helping us network and get shows with ease… Our CDs can be bought in many high street stores and our tracks can be downloaded from iTunes, once again without the help of a major.”

Radiohead were perhaps the first big band to see the change in direction and act upon it. After the end of their contract with music giants EMI, the band went solo with the release of their latest album, In Rainbows. The album was released as a digital download in October 2007, allowing customers to pay as much, or as little as they liked for it. The group took ownership of their own songs and released ten tracks online more than one month before the tangible album was released in the shops.

Front man for the band, Thom Yorke noted the growing number of pirate copies of their music being appearing online and in an interview with Wired he said, “every record for the last four – including my solo record – has been leaked. So the idea was like, we’ll leak it then.” Yorke’s attempt to beat the pirates seem to have worked. On average, the electronic download sold for 4 GBP. Not bad considering you could download it for free if you were feeling too tight to pay.

The return to indie worked wonders for Radiohead. Although the downloads from the website, inrabows were not counted in the album charts, the band did manage to create enough hype and speculation around the release of their album that when the CD actually hit the shops, it reached number one in the UK album chart, the United World Chart and the US Billboard 200.

Other groups may do well to take note of this action when considering future releases. Of the music industry, and in particular their ex record label, Yorke added “What we would like is the old EMI back again, the nice genteel arms manufacturers who treated music [as] a nice side project who weren’t too bothered about the shareholders. Ah well, not much chance of that.”

Au contraire, EMI boss, Guy Hands is keen to seize upon the opportunities presented by smaller, independent labels. These labels have always maintained a stronger working relationship with their artists and are much more keen to try their hands at new promotional techniques. With the renaissance of DIY music and bands creating music for music’s sake, independent labels cannot be ignored. EMI declared that they are planning on working like a larger version of the indie label, with many smaller labels working under their umbrella.

So they may be more willing to try new techniques, but the problem of shareholders still remains. Wenham continues, “If you have shareholders to please, inevitably it becomes about making music from the music.” Indie music is very much about the music and as long as the shareholders give the smaller labels a wide berth, we should continue to see more impressive acts pushing the scene forward.

“The Stills” are a five-piece Montreal Canadian based indie rock band. The Stills comprise of Tim Fletcher (Vocal and Guitar), Dave Hamelin (Vocal and Lead Guitar), Liam O’Neil (Keyboards, Percussion and Backing Vocal), Olivier Corbeil (Bass and Backing Vocal) and Julien Blais (Drums). Of all the members of The Stills, all members except Julien Blais knew each other since they were 12 years old as they were art students at a school in Montreal. They only formed The Stills in 2000. Throughout their life as The Stills, they have released an EP and two full length albums, called Rememberese EP, Logic Will Break Your Heart and Without Feathers respectively. In 2007, The Stills supported indie rockers Kings Of Leon during their UK spring tour.

Oceans Will Rise by The Stills is really good to have if you are looking forward to a good time rocking. Well there is nothing new to be offered by The Stills in their third installation, but i have to say, i really had a good time with Oceans Will Rise, any rock fan would definitely love this album.

The Stills’ Oceans Will Rise has a really good first impression upon hearing “Don’t Talk Down”. The music is really catchy, and The Stills’ vocals on this track was amazingly good. “Don’t don’t talk down to me, don’t don’t talk down to me, your head is moving side to side, your head is moving side to side..” Correct me if im wrong, i have a tendency to think that this song is about love-making. Perhaps suitable if you’re about to do it. I really love Don’t Talk Down, the music is very bouncy.

“Snow In California” has an opening that really resembles “Heavyweight Champion Of The World” by Reverend and The Makers. No kidding! But once it began to pick up, the guitar came in with some electronic elements to it which sound absolutely good. Throughout this whole song, there were some mixture of electronic music to it. It’s a great effort by The Stills to try to add some varieties to their music. This is no doubt, a great effort.

“Snakecharming The Masses” has a weird title. But don’t get me wrong, weird doesn’t mean bad. Non-stop playing of the guitar can be heard throughout in this track, and i really mean non-stop. At times, it sounded like some Arabian songs. One the second verse came in, it got louder. This song is like a test, testing Tim’s vocal, on different notes and pitches, having Tim to moan and yell at some points. But Tim made it worth your while, he did pull Snakecharming The Masses off.

“Being Here” sounded like The Stills are telling a story of their own. How they got to where they are today. Lovely track. I don’t know how would you feel when you listen to this song. But i can feel their pain, their joy and most importantly their journey as The Stills. This song is loud and full of guitar riff, bass, drums and keyboards. With the chorus of “Being Here…”, this song is an anthem off Oceans Will Rise.

On “Everything I Build”, The Stills slowed it down and for a moment, i can feel as if The Stills are singing acoustically. This song is like a build-up for Tim to release, there was a moment where Tim yelled, “Drink a little bit, that’s a little bit, take a chance, or lose it all, i have no remorse no regrets, when I’m hanging from the seventeenth floor”. I can feel his letting out at the exact moment. At the chorus, Tim sang, “Everything I build is breaking down…”. Despair can be heard in Tim’s voice as he sang.

“Panic” starts off with some curious-creating bass line. To me, i think this song is about being panic whenever something goes wrong. Honestly, instead of being panic, i really love this song. The guitar came in at the right time everytime to join the bass. Really amazing. And when Tim sang, “Panic… Panic”. It was just so simple, but yet you can’t help but to love this song. Enjoy panic!

“Eastern Europe” has a really catchy and infectious hook to it. The guitar of this song made it impossible not to be heard and get noticed. And the lyrics had a really deep meaning to it and i can’t tell what The Stills were trying to deliver. Meaning aside, this track scored a big time in its music, the guitar especially.

“Hands on Fire” are an indie pop rock song. Very friendly to your ear. It can be an instant radio classic and receive lots of radio airplay. At first listen, the guitar will charm you, accompanied with the constant drums playing. It’s such a suitable song for the summer holidays. When it comes to the chorus, Tim let it out, “My hands are on fire, my hands are on fire..” It’s very good!

“Dinosaurs” is another track that is full of loud guitar riff and what an indie band would do best if you give them guitars, bass, drums, keyboards, percussion and so on. In Dinosaurs, Tim sang in a draggy way to suit the track’s tempo and beat. It’s not a bad track though.

“I’m With You” is somewhat similar to Hands On Fire. It’s very radio friendly and the music has some summer elements in it, making it a perfect song for summer holidays. I just love the part, “If you believe in me, i’ll believe in you, i’m with you, if you want me to…” The repetition of “I’m with you” is really good.

“Rooibos/Palm Wine Drinkard” is the longest track on the album, spanning over 5:47 minutes long. It has two parts, where the second part comes in at approximately 1:37 minutes. The first part of this song is crunchy and loud. Filled with Tim’s yellings and moanings and at times, when the guitar was at its solo point, it felt like something with terror is coming. When it came to the second part, it quietened down. Background music were filled with sounds of the beach and bongo drums until the end. A peaceful way to end the song.

“Statue of Sirens” is a great way to end the album. It’s an acoustic track with Tim’s showcasing his husky and deep voice. You can hear the guitar on a constant playing mode to accompany Tim’s voice throughout the whole track. At times, the rest of The Stills will join Tim as background vocals. It wouldn’t be long when you realize this track closes Oceans Will Rise.

Rating: Oceans Will Rise by The Stills is not bad at all. They tried adding in some new varities to make it sounds fresher. Honestly, i like Oceans Will Rise. If you compare it with Without Feathers, definitely you’d find that The Stills have taken another step to a new approach. This time The Stills added some electronic elements to their sound, which i think was remarkable. They managed to made a difference to Oceans Will Rise. There were some really memorable tracks worth mentioning and crediting, backing up by great music playing, the true style of The Stills. Frankly, i rate them 7.0 out of 10. Cheers!

Stand-Out Tracks (My Picks): Don’t Talk Down, Snow In California, Panic, Eastern Europe, I’m With You, Being Here.

Cheers!

Darren Tan

Indiesurf.com