Post by Xaverri on Apr 9, 2012 19:33:00 GMT
Source: www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/dec/23/new-band-fin
Nice introduction to fiN.!
By: Paul Lester
fiN (No 1,177)
They played for the Occupy London protesters, but can this band define themselves as more than just another generic indie outfit?
Hometown: London.
The lineup: Luke Joyce (vocals), Jonny Garner (guitar), Kerry Lambert (bass), Simon Harding (drums).
The background: fiN are a rum bunch, and no mistake. And we say that not only because of their idiosyncratic reverse capitalising (it's not Fin, but fiN). We went to see them play in front of the proverbial three humans and a canine in a London pub the other week, and they performed as though they were at Wembley (Arena, not the Green Man opposite the stadium). The guitarist threw some major shapes, the drummer moved around his kit like a Bonham possessed, and the singer strutted about with the swagger of a Jagger, consistently projecting to the back of the venue – even if it was only a dozen feet away from the stage. It was like seeing U2 in a shoebox.
Talking of boxes – don't put them in one, and fully expect them to think outside such confines. "There are no rules," says frontman Luke Joyce, urging us to "throw away the rulebook". That's funny, because fiN adhere more closely than most to the manual on how to be a generic indie band with anthemic ambitions. Then again, Joyce is apparently obsessed with death, and is something of a hypochondriac with OCD. So maybe he just wants to make space on his shelves for his numerous volumes on health.
The Box was actually the name of an abandoned caretaker's house on old school grounds in Surrey. Joyce, a self-confessed former druggie, sleep-talking guitarist Garner, cider-addicted bassist Lambert, and surf-freak sticksman Harding used to meet there to write and rehearse their songs. They were songs about losing your virginity and changing the world, heavy songs that didn't shy away from the big pop chorus. Two years on, they've got fans ranging from Howard Donald of Take That to Dom Howard of Muse, although we got told that during said pub gig and it was very loud, so it might just have been the former and not the latter (or vice versa). Alt-metal band Incubus were so impressed with fiN that they invited the up-and-comers – who'd only played 12 gigs of their own – on tour with them. Joyce and co subsequently performed to a total of 100,000 people, including several thousand at Alexandra Palace, site of that famous gig by the Stone Roses.
The Roses are just one of many bands with whom fiN have been compared. Others include MGMT, Yeasayer, the Cure, Vampire Weekend, Biffy Clyro and dEus. Oh, and Muse, Radiohead and Nirvana. Needless to say, they don't really (or remotely) sound like any of them. They sound like a generic indie band with anthemic ambitions, but we're making them our last New Band of the Day before Christmas because they provide seasonal uplift, and because we wanted to reward them for being the first act – ahead of slowcoaches Billy Bragg, Thom Yorke, Tom Morello et al – down to the Occupy Protest where, on 15 October, they played a set of such revolutionary intent and seditious fervour you could feel the ground shake. Probably.
Instead of trying to come up with jokes for crackers, we should mention some of their songs. Lucky You could be Radiohead, if Radiohead had never heard Warp, hated electronica, and weren't quite so brainy, deep, inventive and intense. If they were regular indie types who stuck at Anyone Can Play Guitar. The Artisan was fiN's instrumental debut single, and a strange way to announce themselves. But while it was a less than auspicious start, it certainly wasn't atrocious. It Changes Everything is funky in an INXS way, if not in a Gloryhallastoopid or If You Want Me To Stay way. By the chorus, you're sold. fiN songs do that – they win you over/wear you down. Forthcoming single Everybody Dies Alone is even better, Joyce approximating Thom Yorke's mordant morbidity, with a pop-powerful chorus reminiscent of the Manics' Design For Life and an infectious "whoa-oh-oh-oh" refrain. Not sure about thinking outside boxes, but there's plenty of box-ticking. fiN.
The buzz: "Energised and ferocious, they're beginning to push their performance to the next level" - Trebuchet Magazine.
The truth: They have a fundamental regard for the exigencies of power-rock melodics. Sorry, fiN-demental.
Most likely to: Change everything.
Least likely to: Die alone.
What to buy: The Artisan is out now. Everybody Dies Alone is released by Artisan Records on 6 February.
File next to: Muse, U2, Mansun, Some Velvet Morning.
Links: www.lifeiswastedontheliving.com.
Nice introduction to fiN.!
By: Paul Lester
fiN (No 1,177)
They played for the Occupy London protesters, but can this band define themselves as more than just another generic indie outfit?
Hometown: London.
The lineup: Luke Joyce (vocals), Jonny Garner (guitar), Kerry Lambert (bass), Simon Harding (drums).
The background: fiN are a rum bunch, and no mistake. And we say that not only because of their idiosyncratic reverse capitalising (it's not Fin, but fiN). We went to see them play in front of the proverbial three humans and a canine in a London pub the other week, and they performed as though they were at Wembley (Arena, not the Green Man opposite the stadium). The guitarist threw some major shapes, the drummer moved around his kit like a Bonham possessed, and the singer strutted about with the swagger of a Jagger, consistently projecting to the back of the venue – even if it was only a dozen feet away from the stage. It was like seeing U2 in a shoebox.
Talking of boxes – don't put them in one, and fully expect them to think outside such confines. "There are no rules," says frontman Luke Joyce, urging us to "throw away the rulebook". That's funny, because fiN adhere more closely than most to the manual on how to be a generic indie band with anthemic ambitions. Then again, Joyce is apparently obsessed with death, and is something of a hypochondriac with OCD. So maybe he just wants to make space on his shelves for his numerous volumes on health.
The Box was actually the name of an abandoned caretaker's house on old school grounds in Surrey. Joyce, a self-confessed former druggie, sleep-talking guitarist Garner, cider-addicted bassist Lambert, and surf-freak sticksman Harding used to meet there to write and rehearse their songs. They were songs about losing your virginity and changing the world, heavy songs that didn't shy away from the big pop chorus. Two years on, they've got fans ranging from Howard Donald of Take That to Dom Howard of Muse, although we got told that during said pub gig and it was very loud, so it might just have been the former and not the latter (or vice versa). Alt-metal band Incubus were so impressed with fiN that they invited the up-and-comers – who'd only played 12 gigs of their own – on tour with them. Joyce and co subsequently performed to a total of 100,000 people, including several thousand at Alexandra Palace, site of that famous gig by the Stone Roses.
The Roses are just one of many bands with whom fiN have been compared. Others include MGMT, Yeasayer, the Cure, Vampire Weekend, Biffy Clyro and dEus. Oh, and Muse, Radiohead and Nirvana. Needless to say, they don't really (or remotely) sound like any of them. They sound like a generic indie band with anthemic ambitions, but we're making them our last New Band of the Day before Christmas because they provide seasonal uplift, and because we wanted to reward them for being the first act – ahead of slowcoaches Billy Bragg, Thom Yorke, Tom Morello et al – down to the Occupy Protest where, on 15 October, they played a set of such revolutionary intent and seditious fervour you could feel the ground shake. Probably.
Instead of trying to come up with jokes for crackers, we should mention some of their songs. Lucky You could be Radiohead, if Radiohead had never heard Warp, hated electronica, and weren't quite so brainy, deep, inventive and intense. If they were regular indie types who stuck at Anyone Can Play Guitar. The Artisan was fiN's instrumental debut single, and a strange way to announce themselves. But while it was a less than auspicious start, it certainly wasn't atrocious. It Changes Everything is funky in an INXS way, if not in a Gloryhallastoopid or If You Want Me To Stay way. By the chorus, you're sold. fiN songs do that – they win you over/wear you down. Forthcoming single Everybody Dies Alone is even better, Joyce approximating Thom Yorke's mordant morbidity, with a pop-powerful chorus reminiscent of the Manics' Design For Life and an infectious "whoa-oh-oh-oh" refrain. Not sure about thinking outside boxes, but there's plenty of box-ticking. fiN.
The buzz: "Energised and ferocious, they're beginning to push their performance to the next level" - Trebuchet Magazine.
The truth: They have a fundamental regard for the exigencies of power-rock melodics. Sorry, fiN-demental.
Most likely to: Change everything.
Least likely to: Die alone.
What to buy: The Artisan is out now. Everybody Dies Alone is released by Artisan Records on 6 February.
File next to: Muse, U2, Mansun, Some Velvet Morning.
Links: www.lifeiswastedontheliving.com.