The Evan Whitton Blog: After Hours

Billy Nomates 'CACTI UK Tour' Review at Leeds Stylus - Alt-Pop Songstress is One of the Most Compelling Performers in Modern Music Tor Maries AKA  Billy Nomates is easily one of my favourite artists of the past three years. Originally emerging out of the post-punk revival scene of the late 2010’s, and releasing her brilliant self titled album in August 2020, she soon made the full fledged transition into hard edged alternative pop with the great ‘Emergency Telephone’ EP the following year. Most recently, she released the album CACTI in January, without doubt her most accessible release, and all the more brilliant because of it. Although saying that, the sense of abrasive punk spikiness was still present in full force, and it’s that contrast that makes her music so interesting, on top of being a brilliant performer, vocalist, and songwriter to boot. So, given how I enjoyed the album so much, as well as how great her previous tours have been, I just had to get tickets to her new ...

Tim Vine - 'Breeeep!' Review at  King's Hall, Ilkley - New Show Sees the Dad Joke King as Daft as Ever, and Happy to Revisit the Hits Tim Vine could very much be framed as a comedian calling back to a bygone era. His repertoire of rapid-fire puns, stupid songs and daft homemade props feels like somewhat of a callback to the old-school variety performers. That's not to say that Tim is simply a novelty act though, as the pure unadulterated sense of silliness he purveys is something I think only he (and perhaps his good friend Milton Jones) could carry off. So because he was one of the first comedians I ever got into, I've been a big fan of Tim for a long time, owning nearly all of his DVDs, but despite that, I'd never seen him live. So when I learned some tickets were going spare for his new show 'Breeeep!' at the King's Hall that evening, I couldn't have said yes faster. When we got there, while not an important point, I did think it was funny tha...

RVG - Brain Worms - The Singles, Reviewed  It’s generally accepted I think that the threshold of quality for opening acts is incredibly mixed. Some can be incredibly forgettable, while others leave a serious impression despite their opening slot, and after seeing them open for Billy Nomates, I see hard-edged indie shoegazers RVG falling into the latter category very comfortably. So after their set finished, I did a quick Google, and you can imagine my excitement when I saw they had a brand new album, ‘Brain Worms’, set for a June 2nd release. So of course, I had to check out the singles. Common Ground If you’ve never heard RVG before, I’d wager this is a very good introduction, because it showcases the band’s appeal, or at least a significant part of it, in a perfectly distilled way. The reverbed, depressive guitar leads and classically post-punky bass sound very alluring, playing some very cool melodies, and the drums still have a heft and punch to them despite the ambient sound. ...

Foo Fighters - But Here We Are - The Singles, Reviewed Foo Fighters were one of my first loves in music. For a seven year old, I thought their tracks were the heaviest things on the planet at the time, and I’ll always hold the hits off seminal albums like ‘The Colour And The Shape’ and ‘There Is Nothing Left To Lose’ in very high regard, as they could be said to at least partially ignite my passion for music. Despite that though, for whatever reason, I never really kept up with their output too closely despite the seismic effect the hits had on me. However, like everyone, I was deeply saddened to learn of the passing of longtime drummer Taylor Hawkins, and was obviously unsure if they’d continue. So with the announcement of a new album called ‘But Here We Are’ set for release on June 2nd, I knew I owed it to them to give this one a proper go. Rescued This for my money does a pretty good job of being a Foo Fighters comeback single, while also paying ample respect to the contexts surroun...

Rancid - Tomorrow Never Comes - The Singles, Reviewe d  Rancid are one of the biggest names in the skate-punk genre. Led by frontman Tim Armstrong, their mix of punk, pop and ska has given them a very loyal fanbase, as well as a few genre highlight records with albums like ‘...And Out Come The Wolves’ and ‘Let’s Go.’ Now, 6 years after their ninth, the band are back with their tenth album ‘Tomorrow Never Comes’, set for release on June 2nd. So let’s take a look at the singles. Tomorrow Never Comes For all intents and purposes this does a pretty good job as an opening track. The fiery guitar riffs, punchy d-beat drums, grinding, wiry bass, all tricks straight out of the classic hardcore punk playbook, and so obviously they all work very well. The guitar solo is pretty run-of-the-mill but to be honest at the same time I’m not sure what I was expecting. Vocally and lyrically, it basically follows in the instrumentals footsteps. Tim’s rapid fire, angry delivery on the verses works well...

Underworld - *Upcoming 2024 Album* - The Singles, Reviewed Along with the likes of Leftfield and Faithless, Underworld are one of the first and best examples of purveyors of what we now know as progressive house, often using expansive, 6/7/8+ minute run times and a number of eclectic influences to construct dance floor anthems of truly epic proportions. Made up of vocalist Karl Hyde and producer Rick Smith (and formerly DJ Darren Emerson), they have a nearly inscrutable back catalogue. Starting out as a synth-pop band of all things, with the release of their 1994 classic ‘Dubnobasswithmyheadman’, they began to produce what will likely prove to be some of the best dance music of all time. Of course mega hit ‘Born Slippy NUXX’ sticks out, but there’s so much more, whether it’s with other breakout albums like ‘Second Toughest In The Infants’ and ‘Beaucoup Fish’, or indeed with much of their later material, like with the brilliant ‘Barbara Barbara, We Face a Shining Future’ in 2016, or the...

John Kearns 'The Varnishing Days' Review at  Hyde Park Book Club, Leeds - Loveable Oddball's New Show is Whimsical, Pensive Genius  It seems to have been somewhat of a trend with me in recent times that the people I'm most excited to see on the new series of Taskmaster are the people I'm least familiar with. John Kearns is perhaps the perfect example. Some people upon initial googling may have found his highly abstract character comedy incongruous with the very timid, eccentric, loveable portrayal he put across on that show, but I absolutely loved it. The one thing I knew with any certainty was that an eight year old five minute YouTube clip wasn't enough, I needed more. Luckily for me, as any savvy comedian would after becoming a fan favourite on one of the biggest comedy shows in the country, John announced his new stand-up tour 'The Varnishing Days' soon after, with a date scheduled at the Hyde Park Book Club in Leeds. So with that, I rocked up on a r...