Mary Has A Gun - France

Mary Has a Gun

Introducing Mary Has a Gun all the way from France! French bands have been a strong presence in the background of Riff Media for quite some time with French metal band Holding Sand being the very first featured artist on our website and many more bands coming to us for features. We figured we would launch the Riff Global part of business with a look at one of France’s finest Pop-Punk bands Mary Has a Gun.

Mary Has a Gun first came onto the scene in 2010 with their debut album titled ‘PM’ which ranked number 1 on the I-tunes rock chart for several weeks, due to the albums success they managed to grab the attention of number one French rock magazine ‘Rock One’ who proclaimed the album to be the number one French album of the year and Mary Has a Gun the number one French band of the year.

With the publicity received and the high praise the band were given the opportunities to tour Europe with the likes of All Time Low, Four Year Strong, Young Guns and Madina Lake to name a few.

In 2012 the band took a big decision to stop composing in French and instead begin composing in English to reach out to a larger fan base, their debut album ‘PM’ was released through Japanese label ‘Bullion’

In 2013 the band flew over to Montreal, Canada to produce their second full length album which will consist of 11 tracks that will really drive the band forward in their attempts to take over the world, or at least be able to tour the world efficiently.

We believe that Mary Has a Gun are most definitely a band to keep an eye on after listening to a few of their tracks, it is clear to see that the decision to move from writing in French to English was a huge success and that their sound will most definitely travel further a field as opposed to just being popular in France. It has always been common knowledge that America produces the finest Pop-Punk bands but maybe it is time for a change, maybe it is time for France to represent themselves on the Pop-Punk front and with Mary Has a Gun being the flagship band I can imagine many more French bands stepping up to the plate to try take on the world.

Click here to see for yourselves - : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdOqA2f3Lfw Mary Has a Gun – Easy Way music video.

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Riff Final Rating: R R R R R *A strong and capable band that are ready for the world*

Adam 

City Of Lights - Don't Give Up

City of Lights – Don’t Give Up

Leeds based pop-rock band City of Lights recently wowed us at their show in Hull (19^th May 2013) so we purchased their CD to give it a blast, here is what we think of it!

The EP is 5 tracks long, or short depending on what type of person you are, it also includes two live recordings which I always say is a daring move and shows how confident a band or artist is in their live sound as you may come across a lot worse than you are recorded on a stage.

The EP kicks off with title track Don’t Give Up, which is an absolute belter on and off stage opening very energetically and enticing, drawing us in to the bands sound and showing just how beautifully brilliant they are, built up with very punchy, up-beat instrumental and lyrics that will have chanting along, everything a band needs to do right to draw in a listener is done in this track.

Milestone is the second track and continues the up-beat rhythm and brilliant lyrics that again will have you singing along, the band are highly capable of writing amazing songs that would not be out of place on the radio, it is surely only a matter of time before they become somewhat larger than they are, who knows if they keep this up they could easily break out of the local scene and on to larger things.

The rest of the EP follow suits really, This Isn't Easy is the third track and maintains the bands sound with the addition of a great little crowd interaction part, which we witnessed in Hull.

Wait For Me is the fourth track and first of the live recorded tracks, now like I said before putting live tracks in releases is a risky thing to do as it may not sound as perfect as you would like it to, but more often than not bands pull it off perfectly, and this is most definitely the case here with City Of Lights.

Did I Stutter is the final track, again live and again perfectly recorded and mastered and it really does reflect perfectly how brilliant the band are live, all in all they were an absolutely awesome find and shows that you really need to go out there and support local bands because most of the time they are brilliant at what they do.

Final Riff Rating: R R R R *Ones to watch*

-Adam

Jonny Gill - It's Summer Lets Go Home

Its Summer Lets Go Home – Jonny Gill

Yorkshire’s favourite son has returned with his latest masterpiece ‘Its Summer Lets Go Home’

We here at Riff Media have spent the last four years or so keeping our eyes on Jonny, since our launch he has been a cornerstone to our gigging and live experiences, not to mention his friendship has really helped us grow as a company, so to see him consistently deliver beautiful and witty tracks year after year gives us the proudest feeling in the world.

Its Summer Lets Go Home is the follow up to Gill’s debut release ‘Thieves, Ghosts and Giants’ which was released last year.

Humans Make For Terrible People

The album opens up with a short and witty number titled Humans Make for Terrible People which gives a great opening to the album with a huge Frank Turner influence glowing through, the track is pretty much about narrow mindedness in today’s music industry and how even the smallest acts can make a big dent in their scenes, just like Jonny has done in recent years.

This Town Aint Big Enough For the Both of Us

 One of the two tracks taken from the debut album that Jonny has decided to carry over to the second release, also one of Jonny’s live favourites and huge crowd pleaser's  a beautiful song that pays homage to his home town of York and everything he holds dear within it.

Willow Drive

Unfortunately this is not a song demanding the fictional character portrayed by Warrick Davies’ to get behind the wheel of an auto-mobile  it is however a very lovely, slow paced song that you can just sit and chill out to on a lonesome evening. However I can’t stop imaging how cool a song demanding a dwarf to drive a car would have been... album number three perhaps?

There’s Still a Duck Pond Here

The next track on the album is a bit more uplifting with a slight hint of The Gaslight Anthem thrown in there, a very summery sounding track that is showing off Jonny’s vocal talent and ability to switch between song tempo going from slow and smooth to vibrant and energetic.

Bones

A brilliant, near genius track from Jonny here, the lyrics are beautiful and it is performed the right way, the Jonny way, complete with long held notes and passionate shouts to really bring out the track and make the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end.

Threat Level Midnight

Isn’t this the title to a really bad movie? Probably one with Steven Seagal starring… Unlike a Seagal movie this song is actually bearable and has a better story behind it. Again another song holding some very strong independent Jonny Gill vibes that will make it a fan favourite during his live shows, I am sure of that.

The Breakfast Club

Continuing on from shit films… The next song is another short one, Jonny seems to be the master of creating short, to the point songs that can stick right into your head, writing them with a great little piece of guitar work accompanied by brilliant vocals and lyrics, the 3 minute rule does not exist in his mind, no matter how long or short it is it always, always works!

The District Sleeps Alone Tonight

Anyone who is a fan of the original will immediately realise just how shit it is after hearing this, another live favourite of mine, pure passion portrayed live and recorded showing that Jonny really puts his heart and soul into his music not just on the stage but in a small room with nothing but his guitar, microphone and other various equipment to look on at him, the world is his stage and we should all be listening in because with each release Jonny is obliterating anyone in the same field and undoubtedly deserves global recognition for his huge talent. This cover is 100% more power and passion than that of The Postal Service’s original.

Homesick

With the album slowly coming to an end we find ourselves truly appreciating this hidden gem in the local music scene, if ever the world needed a flagship to show people what they are missing by not supporting local artists then I for one believe this album could be just that, another fine song to add to the every growing, flawless collection.

Friday Night Lights

Come on, you all saw it coming! The second track to feature on both albums and by far the most popular track, or at least one of them that Jonny plays live, Friday Night Lights has been a popular choice in the past and to include it in this album is a wise choice, some people may be thinking ‘well…he has used two old songs in a new album, I feel a little cheated’ well to those people I say this, fuck off, any fan would appreciate different versions of their favourite songs on new releases, if anything it is a sign to show that Jonny is carrying his past into the future and bringing with him all the fond memories  he has built in such a vibrant playing career.

Let’s Go Home

The final track from the album, and a beautiful closing to another flawless release from Jonny Gill, to use the word mature is very cliché but I believe that in some aspects this album has shown that Jonny’s ability is evolving and growing into something even more brilliant than previously known, his writing skills are unquestionable and his vocal and playing talent are becoming very distinct, soon enough people will be able to listen to the opening seconds to a song and recognise it as one of his own, a true talent in an otherwise lacklustre music environment full of pop star wannabes and screaming fan girls all after teenage pop sensations, musicians and artists like Jonny Gill produce world class material and expect nothing in return, they perform for the love of music and to get their messages out there to anyone who will listen, its our job to ensure that everyone with functioning ears and enough brain cells to tell the difference between left and right hears these hard working artists and we can start by shedding light on Jonny and his consistent hard work and passion.

I believe there a few days left to get your hands on a limited edition release of ‘Its Summer Lets Go Home’ I have ordered myself two, what are you waiting for?

Final Riff Rating: R R R R R R *the extra ‘R’ is for RIFFDICULOUS! Amazing release and quite easily one of our favourite releases of the year’  

Inherit The Stars - Debut Release

Inherit The Stars

A while back we were a little taken back with a small band called Decode who hit onto the scene with a very tight sound and very promising future, since then there have been slight changes within the band and they have come back under the name Inherit The Stars and we have been lucky enough to be sent their debut album to listen through! Here is what we make of it.

Under Decode the band had a very ‘Fightstar’ approach to their music but they seem to have driven away from that and instead have built their own foundations for a unique sound which is made up from both clean and rough vocals and beautiful instrumental work throughout the release.

The release is ten tracks long, or ten tracks short depending on how much you enjoy listening to it, the songs all seem to blend very well giving the band a good sense of consistency which is very difficult to find these days. The band have always come across as incredibly hard working in all that they do and this album really pays off for them with an absolutely incredible catalogue of tracks, if you ever needed reassuring that the unsigned music scene is home to highly talented bands then look no further than Inherit The Stars who we are penning to carry the flag for the unsigned and unheard bands in the scene.

After speaking to front man Daniel recently it is clear to see that the band have high hopes for the imminent release.

So what can you guys expect? Well to go into a track by track review would probably bore most readers so instead what we will do instead is have an overall review, expect songs that will eventually get you singing along once you have learnt the words, expect music that will reach out and drag you, expect music that stands alone and speaks for itself and expect an album that you can easily listen to over and over again without it getting tedious and boring or without any song feeling out of place.

Inherit The Stars are showing up the entire unsigned scene and giving a highly promising performance, any fan of the music scene will thoroughly enjoy this release and definitely be wanting more, without a doubt one of the finest produced pieces of work we have ever come across in the space of four years.

Final Riff Rating: R R R R R *ones to watch this year*