Combining influences that include The 1975 and The Killers, Club Paradise have found a unique formula for indie pop perfection.
The four piece group, hailing from North Shields, have been slowly working their way up throughout the year, releasing singles such as Chasing The Summer and Years, both of which we have previously covered.
Those teasers definitely whetted the appetite ahead of the release, which combines everything that works on those tracks into a grander piece.
Beginning with Let Me Lose, the group immediately establishes the tone of the EP with a set of keys which feel like they could have walked straight out of a 1975 song-think I Couldn’t Be More In Love with an indie band core.
This is further elevated by a huge bridge that gets you ready for the huge gear shift the group takes you on as they increase the tempo. The vocals are a strong mixture of North East authenticity combined with a definite influence from The 1975’s Matty Healy.
The track concludes with a glitchy guitar solo that is excellently performed and provides a sign of the guitar heaven to come.
Single Chasing The Summer is next up. We covered this in depth back in July – you can read the full review here. The song still sounds like the upbeat summer banger it was when it was released and sounds great within the context of the EP.
Third track, What If These Days, continues the indie themes, winding them around an 80s pop core. The song shimmers with chorus-imbued guitars, conjuring thoughts of the neon guitar pop of the 1980s. Imagine a pop version of The Blue Nile, complete with jangly guitars and a lot of heart.
The gorgeous guitar solos take more influence from 80s rock, bringing a very classic rock feel to the sheen of the rest of the song, which works well. The overall combination of rock and pop influences works well to produce another great song.
Runaways switches things up slightly, throwing pop-punk and emo influences into the mix. This is evident at the beginning of the track, which reminded me of groups such as Blink 182. Gone is the sheen of previous tracks, replaced by chunky guitars that reach their peak in the chorus.
The track also features a great guitar solo, which illustrates the amazing lead guitar talent on show throughout the EP. This gives way to Years another song which we have previously covered. You can read my full review here.
Finisher Interstate is the perfect pick as a closer to the EP with its grandiose production and larger-than-life nature. Once again, the group taps into their heavier sides to produce a dramatic conclusion to the album.
Overall, this EP shows Club Paradise delivering on the promise of their lead up singles. If you’re a fan of groups like The 1975, you’ll love this EP.
Joyland brings the summer vibes with their slick new single, Leaving Tonight. Combining a number of different influences, the track’s shiny production hides a set of yearning lovesick lyrics.
Hailing from Newcastle, the five-piece has slowly gathered momentum over a number of years, something evident in their latest single.
Over three sun-kissed minutes, the group cultivates a catchy yet sophisticated vibe, drawing from various influences in the indie and pop genres.
The piano opening of the track echoes The 1975‘s If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know), with its stark, reverberated keyboard intro. This gives away to a guitar line washed in distortion and reverb straight out of the Sam Fender playbook.
The piano leads the track front and centre of the mix, alongside the amazing vocals, which are delivered with emotion and are well integrated into the track’s aesthetic.
As the buildup to the chorus begins, you can feel the band’s songwriting ability shining through as they expertly weave their way through the song, demonstrating their knack for producing a catchy indie pop melody.
The track’s strengths lie in its ebbs and flows, with various breakdowns building tension that is effortlessly released by the time of the chorus.
This gives way to a gorgeous guitar solo that sounds effortless. This is all enhanced by the excellent production, which boosts the track’s already strong songwriting.
This all leads to a really catchy, strong single from Joyland, perfect for the hazy weekends of festival season. The group are definitely ones to watch, and this is a bandwagon worth jumping on as they continue to head in one direction.
The big story from the Newcastle leg of The 1975’s UK tour was the appearance of Lewis Capaldi, but that was just the beginning of the fun in their most ambitious stage show yet.
The 1975 are the ultimate marmite band, to some a pretentious pop band, to others a groundbreaking pop machine.
The truth is probably somewhere in the middle, but one thing that no one can doubt is the ambition of frontman Matty Healy and co. Gone is the big visual lights show, which formed the basis of their ‘A Brief Inquiry /Notes on a Conditional Form’ Tour instead replaced by a house set, forming the core of the first half of the performance.
This section of the show draws from songs from their recently released fifth album, ‘Being Funny In A Foreign Language’ with the band committing themselves to an ambitious theatrical show.
The band inhabit a fully furnished house for the entire show, unveiled to the audience by each member of the group switching lights on, revealing sections of the stage.
The whole thing is all very reminiscent of a sitcom or drama with title cards and loose storyline, which is brought to life by Healy who starts proceedings with ‘The 1975 (BFIAFL)’. Flying through the first seven songs of the album, the group delivered an enthralling welcome to the world, with singles ‘Happiness’ and ‘I’m In Love With You’ gaining the best reaction from the Geordie crowd.
A first surprise was delivered early on during a performance of ‘All I Need To Hear’. Introduced by Matty Healy, the stage was plunged into darkness, revealing when the lights came up, that Tim Healy had replaced his son. The former ‘Benidorm’ star then proceeded to belt out the track to the delight of the fans.
Matty then returned on the roof of the house to perform a stripped back version of 2018’s ‘I Like America and America Likes Me’ which remains a highlight of the set.
Matty Healy Ascends
The first half was concluded with fan favourites ‘About You’ and album finisher ‘When We Are Together’.
When the track had finished, the performance art began with Healy assuming the role of a single man going through a breakdown.
Healy strips down to his bare chest to eat a piece of meat, as well as pretending to masturbate on a leather chair. This all occurs whilst images of world leaders and media personalities appear on the set’s TV. Healy then completes this section by crawling through the TV, ending quite a baffling bit of theatre, which is either pretentious or interesting depending on your perspective.
This led to an interval where the show’s biggest moment occurred. A ring of the doorbell signalled the arrival of the special guest, leading to mania in the crowd when the monitors flashed the name of Harry Styles. However, instead of the One Direction star, out stumbled Lewis Capaldi, which prompted more screams from the crowd.
Capaldi, to his credit, did what he does best for the next ten minutes. He delivered laughs, in addition to a rendition of The 1975’s ‘Antichrist’, and a rousing version of Taylor Swift’s ‘Love Story’, whilst he mocked Healy’s previous acting attempts on the big screen, completing an enjoyable interlude.
The band then began their ‘At Their Best’ section of the show, smashing through hit after hit after remerging to a sax rendition of ‘Local Hero’ complete with Newcastle shirts for the saxophonist and a Newcy Brown for Healy.
It’s at these moments, you realise that The 1975 are still amongst the finest in the pop world, delivering both excellent tunes and phenomenal show, which can rival any of their contemporaries.
Finishing on 2018’s ‘Give Yourself A Try,’ the group excelled themselves on this tour, producing one of the most ambitious shows I’ve ever seen. This makes the show well worth a watch if you get the chance.
In terms of spectacle I have never seen anything like The 1975’s live show a combination of clever visuals and impressive imagery the performance is all encompassing and can only truly be appreciated live.
The show is very much an extension of the band, progressive and showy and ultimately the pretty visuals match the pretty synth-pop which the band have perfected since the release of debut EP, Facedown in 2012.
However, to dismiss The 1975 as being simply one thing would be to do them a discredit which was proven through their opening track, People which shows the bands confidence and competence in making music.
Love Me – Joseph Jordan
The song opened the live show in raucous fashion with the lyrics from the band’s frontman, Matty Healyreflecting the feelings of many young people regarding the state of the world and the music encompassing those feelings.
The aggressive, distorted guitars did not get lost within the echoey arena with the yellow visuals and the sirens reflecting the warnings which are made within the songs lyrics.
This combined well with one of the band’s biggest hits ‘Sex’ which always goes down well live with the band dipping into indie rock and finishing the song with a big finish splashing the words ‘Rock and Roll is Dead God Bless The 1975’ across their jumbo screens, a huge statement in which to open a show
The rock energy of ‘Sex’ contrasted greatly with their third track ‘TOOTIMETOOTIMETOOTIME’ from the band’s critically acclaimed third album which acts as a celebration of pop music with the catchy hook of the song and pulsating pianos which would not be out of place on a top 10 hit.
The track went down well in the arena with the band using the visuals of their set to their advantage with a crawling Star Wars-esic title crawl to the song blending perfectly with the opening of the single.
The 1975 then progressed to their most recent single the ‘Me and You Together Song’ which sees the band dip into their past to provide a cute love song which sounds a bit like early noughties pop punk band Busted in all the right ways.
The 1975 @ Utilita Arena – 16/02/2020
The introduction of front-man Matty Healy’s now famous treadmill and hat combo during ‘Sincerity is Scary’ went down with screams from adoring fans with the forementioned treadmill providing some excellent visuals in front of the moving street from the video.
Through it did cause an uncomfortable/funny moment when the hat was thrown back from the crowd which was quite bizarre.
The next song ‘It’s Not Living (If It’s Not With You)’ is the best song the eighties never got. You get the feeling if the single had came out in 1985 it could have been a number one with the perfect pop hook to go with an amazing riff which combines reverb, chorus and distortion to create that typical eighties guitar sound.
The song always goes down well live especially with the Jaiy twins providing an amazing onstage performance to compliment the song’s danceable quality.
This progressed into new unreleased song ‘If You’re Too Shy Let Me Know’ which had an amazing operatic beginning to the track which I hope will be included in the album version. The track begins with some very 1975ey (I know it’s not a word) guitars in the intro. Ironically this song sounds like it could be a sequel to ‘It’s Not Living’.
Credit to Andy Luckers – If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know) – The 1975
The chorus of the song sounds like the eighties exploding however could not come from any other band than The 1975 who have perfected their craft in making addictive pop songs. Overall, the song went down well with the crowd despite it not having been released with the band adding another set of cool visual in the shape of old timey TV’s which littered the back screen.
The band continued with 2015’s ‘Love Me’ which still sounds great today featuring some of the band’s best lyrics revolving around narcissism and fame.
The group took it down a notch with ‘I Couldn’t Be More In Love’ sparking lighters and phone lights to go up around the arena to the Michael Jackson-esic track.
The band then played another new song ‘Guys’ which was written about the group by frontman Matty. The song comes off as a love-note not just to the group but to the band’s fans as well who are amongst the most loyal in music.
The song is very meta and could come across as a little wanky to those who aren’t as invested in the band however the song is cute and personal if any band can get away with it, it’s The 1975.
‘Robbers’ followed which is a fan’s favourite evident due to the reaction in the arena.
The song is perhaps too over-dramatic but in the heighten emotional landscape which is an arena gig this works for the song.
This beautifully faded into ‘fallingforyou’ a beautifully constructed love song which packed just as big a punch as ‘Robbers’ did.
Milk – The 1975 – Joseph Jordan
The mood was lifted as the band went into ‘Milk’ which shows the band can do indie if they wanted to. The track is a short burst of energy which was much needed after a slow section of the show.
‘Lostmyhead’ on paper seems a baffling choice to do live when band don’t play ‘She’s American’, ‘Girls’ or ‘Settle Down’ some of the groups most popular cuts.
However, once you see it live you realize how wrong you were. The song featured some of the best visuals of the night featuring Matty Healy melting into the jumbo screens. It is the most impressive thing I’ve seen at a gig from a technological standpoint.
October’s ‘Frail State of Mind’ followed, an excellent song showing how the band can mix genres with ease with garage beat adding to the night time aesthetic to the song.
The song tackles social anxiety in an amazing way in the lyrics showing just how the band can tackle issues in society. The song translated well live with the frantic visuals on the jumbo screens reflecting chaotic nature of the song.
The social commentary continued with ‘I Like America & America Likes Me’ confronting gun culture in the United States as well as the state of the modern world with the band bringing the energy to the arena as the screens projected various images onto the backdrop creating a powerful moment.
The pink box then descended for perhaps the band’s most famous song ‘Somebody Else’ which went down well with the crowd.
The band then finished for the encore with ‘I Always Wanna Die (Sometimes)’ which sees the band dipping their toes into Britpop with a dramatic cinematic feel to the track, making this the perfect ending.
During the encore, the group played their collaboration with Greta Thunberg in full which provided a thought provoking moment despite many in crowd playing up which is to be expected at an arena show.
The Greta Moment – Joseph Jordan
This went perfectly into ‘Love It If We Made It’ which carried on many of those themes.
The 1975 then swapped out ‘Paris’ for ‘Medicine’ in a slot which looks like it will change nightly. The song worked incredibly well and I didn’t mind the swap despite me not being a fan of different setlists every night.
However, for those who are attending multiple dates this will reward them for their loyalty which I suppose is nice for them.
The crowd went to new levels for ‘Chocolate’ where I was in the middle of standing overall I felt the atmosphere where I was seemed lacking at periods however it did pick up for the encore.
‘Give Yourself A Try’ and ‘The Sound’ really did go off and it was an amazing feeling to see the entire arena bouncing.
The 1975 continue to prove themselves as innovators pushing the boundaries of what is possible for a band to do at a concert as well as providing a stellar setlist.
Glastonbury couldn’t do much better than to get them as their third headliner.
This is something a bit new for the blog but I thought it might be interesting.
I’ve made a playlist of songs that I’m currently listening to, some of which are new and others which are older. They aren’t particularly North East based but there are a few groups from the local area.
They’re not obscure songs which you will have never heard of, but I just wanted to explain why I picked them so here it is. If you like this let me know and I’ll keep it updated every month or so.
Frail State of Mind – The 1975
I guarantee a number of people will just switch off here. I know they’re not a popular band with most people and I can understand that to an extent. I’ve had an up and down relationship with the band over the years.
But once you cut through all the bullshit of rapid fans and on the face of it an arrogant singer (not that it bothers me), they’re undoubtedly one of the best and most interesting bands about at the minute.
It’s not for everyone I get that and this track is not going to sway around the haters, a song which sounds a lot like 2018’s ‘TOOTIMETOOTIMETOOTIME’, one of the poppier moments (if that’s considered a bad thing – personally doesn’t bother me but each to their own) of the band which I know a lot of people dislike.
However, it is still another good song and very catchy, although I’ve got to concede that it’s nowhere near as good as the punky ‘People’ but it’s still mint give it a try.
Psycho – Slowthai featuring Denzel Curry
Rap is not my natural environment to be honest. But I love slowthai, he’s one of the best lyricist I’ve heard in a while and I personally think he was robbed of the Mercury Prize back in September.
I love this song because it’s absolutely full of energy with screeching violins really adding a threatening vibe to the track. I like it a lot even if it’s not the best lyrically.
Something Has to Change – The Japanese House
I’m not going to lie, I didn’t really like The Japanese House before this song, her debut album was average at best and didn’t really prick up my ears (though ‘Saw You in a Dream’ is a tune).
However, this song is incredible it keeps the dream pop elements but really goes to town with the pop element of the track.
The song has been stuck in my head since it was released at the end of September and really can’t wait to see what the full EP has to bring to the table when it is released.
FEET – Chalet 47
I saw FEET on Wednesday night for the third time they were incredible as always (I leave a link to the review because I’m sure you’ll all be dying to read what me someone whose never played a gig thinks) . They have such an incredible collection of fucking mental songs which I can really get on board with.
Their debut came out last month and it’s actually one of the most underrated albums of the year if you haven’t heard it. They definitely should be in bigger venues than Think Tank, with the amazing collection of songs they’ve amassed.
This song is just one of many absolute crease pop anthems which they have in their repertoire and the full album is definitely worth checking out.
Sorry – Right Around The Clock
I really love Sorry, they’re another band which should be bigger than they are. This one is a really clever concept for a song, which is based loosely off of Tears for Fears’ ‘Mad World’ with band building upon the melody to that song and running with it.
I love ‘Mad World’ so naturally I love this one as well. The song is more than just a copy or cover though experimenting with the world’s most catchy saxophones and just having a really cool groove to it.
The song is great and so is their entire back catalogue make sure to catch them at the Northumbria Institute 2 later this month.
RUNT – Hannah
The debut single from a really good local band who I’ve seen twice supporting the equally amazing Primary Colours. The song is great and has a really nice riff which goes through the entire song knitting it together well.
The band have a really good vibe to their songs, which I love so make sure to catch them live if you can.
The Cure – The Exploding Boy – Studio Demo
I’ve chosen pretty recent songs for my first six picks so I thought I’d go back to the eighties with this track from one of my favourite bands of all time.
You might ask why I’ve picked the studio demo over the actual song which appears on the 2004 compilation album ‘Join The Dots‘ and the simple answer to that is I like it more because of it’s grittier, rougher tone.
It’s quite a euphoric song, which is strange for a band who have made their living off the more depressing side of the music spectrum but it’s really good, showing off their range and why they are a legendary group.
oh baby – LCD Soundsystem
I think I found this song when I came in from a night out about a year ago and it’s really grew on me so much. It’s hardly a deep cut from him but it is so good.
The sound of the song is amazing with various synths and keyboards combining into a symphony of brilliance as well as the lyrics being just as good as the rest of the song so that’s why it’s here.
Maps – Yeah Yeah Yeahs
A proper indie classic from the New York based band’s 2003 album ‘Fever to Tell’. It’s another break up song of sorts with the song written for Liars frontman Angus Andrew, who was in a relationship at the time with singer Karen O.
Another interesting fact is that ‘Maps’ stands for ‘My Angus Please Stay’ which I suppose is a nice little detail to bring the mood down.
My auntie introduced me to this one because that’s just how rock and roll I am but I do really love it to be fair. It’s another one which has been stuck in my head for weeks so I’m now passing it on for you to all get it imprinted on your brains as well.
Slaves – One More Day Won’t Hurt
Slaves’ most recent single and probably their most heaviest to date. I love the energy and the lyrics, I think I’m gonna keep this one short like the song because I’m currently two hours deep into this.
Ask Me Anything – The Strokes
This is probably one of the least Strokey songs from the band’s large repertoire. I really love the organ on it which gives the track a really retro vibe. It’s almost certainly one of their most underrated songs.
I don’t really have any story behind why it’s on here other than I love The Strokes so deal with it. (I found this really weird 8 bit version of it on YouTube when embedding the links to the songs which I’m not too sure on to be honest but still have a listen).
Humbug North East 