freedom costs money

Whilst the first instalment of this compilation around a year ago featured some great tracks, things have obviously moved on for the ‘Engine-Roomers’. More time seems to have been taken to ensure there’s an overall quality and cohesiveness to the album and the sharpness in production values implies all the bands involved believed enough in the CD’s potential merit to want to donate as good a recording as possible. So jolly well done to all involved!

Vatican Jet’s ‘Ramona Loves VJ’ is as good an opener as you could want to hear. There’s enough bravado and rowdiness in the Pixies-inspired delivery to whet the appetite for what follows and this track’s short, sweet and straight to the point. The Somatics deliver an uncharacteristically concise number with ‘Can’t Believe It’s True’ complete with blistering guitars, fiery drumming and nicely crafted harmonies that deserve repeated listening.

Enter The Sunshine Underground with ‘The Way It Is’, a treat of a track with sumptuous bass, stomp-a-long rhythms, electronic overtones, catchy funked-up guitar licks and an accomplished vocal delivery. Time for The Acutes to present us with their most accessible pop song ‘Set On You’. This is a charming number that bounces along pleasingly in a manner that displays well the appealing percussive aspects of Matt Shallcross’ drumming style as well as serving as an effective overall snapshot of the two-piece’s song-writing style.

There’s something Beefheartesque about some of the instrumentation in O Fracas’ ‘Moth To A Flame’ conjured up in the same way as The Coral did with ‘Skeleton Key’. This track manages to be curiously off the wall and catchy as hell at the same time, which, in a nutshell, is arguably O Fracas’ main strength. This Et Al have been winning plaudits locally and nationally for some time now and listening to ‘Mother Was A Vulture’ is an effective means of finding out exactly why. There’s a whiff of Radiohead and Elbow about the intro but this gives way to a dirty, clunking monster of a bass and guitar dominated passage complete with dark, wailing vocals before dropping back to the aforementioned ambient opening dynamics.

Buen Chico arrive to brighten your mood with a track that reminds you why when The Libertines broke through you liked them. It’s a boisterous, punchy and melodic number but don’t arrive at the conclusion this group are merely Libertines’ copycats because a Buen Chico set hints at a wide range of influences expressed via a pleasing array of different material. New Minds Eye get back to the roots of rock’n’roll with ‘Death By Drowning’ firing out pleasing bluesy riffing with pretty organ sounds formed around, most importantly, a strong melody. The Bad Beat Revue serve up another slice of pure rock’n’roll with ‘Still Cheating’ and this song is a fitting testament to the pure energy of their now sadly departed front-man Pat Sherry, a natural born entertainer.

Itch provide a forceful introduction to their music with ‘Do You Know What Fear Is’, a nice contrast between quiet, jangly guitar and loud sections that really allow the vocals to hit home and all done to an interesting tempo/arrangement. The Breech now possess many admirers due to their obvious knowledge of how to craft a good tune and ‘The Shores’ is another example of how coming up with an effective arrangement seems to come naturally to them.

Similarly talented in terms of penning a good tune, The Young Professionals have risen from the ashes of The Bilderburg Group to give us one of the most catchy tracks on the compilation and carrying on in the same vein of catchiness immediately after are The Smokestacks with ‘Zanzibar Jones’. This song is so pleasing to the ear it’s a shock to the system when Bilge Pump suddenly blast out ‘5ft Freebird’ and it’s probably safe to say you won’t have heard much music like this – I urge you to see them live as they’re an experience and a half.

Samsa are another act that deserve praise for their contribution to the live scene and ‘Throw My Weight’ is a real delight if you appreciate the melodic and melancholy. ILIKETRAINS do what they do best with ‘The Last Days of Winter’, epic, slowly shifting, gradually building and distinctive music.

The well regarded Downdime donate the penultimate song on the compilation. ‘Shine’ is an interesting track with some well thought out variations in structure and a mesmerising keyboard part that drifts along beautifully. It’s left to the enigma that is David Thomas Broughton to round off this stunning compilation and his intriguing brand of slightly mournful acoustic ambience is a fitting finale. Buy this CD and get to grips with what makes the Leeds music scene so highly thought of.

Will Gray

To find out more about The Engine Room music night and record label click here!