Return of the Q&A - Eddie Brandoff/Razonator

Eddie Brandoff is no stranger to this business we call music. He's been playing guitar and performing since the age of 13. In his previous musical storybook, he's played in front of 50,000 people and opened for the mighty ZZ top. He formed Razonator in 2011, and released their first single 'Broken Bones' in September of that year. After just over a year, and changes to the line up, Razonator are back with  a cool new track 'Prayer of Road', which I will also be reviewing very soon. Here though, Eddie answers some questions for BritRockArmy, his fans, and the universe!!

Introduce is to the members of the band.

Eddie Brandoff  - Resonator/slide, vocals

Julio Mendoza - Guitar, backing vocals  

Felipe Ribeiro - Drums 

Pedro Victor  - Bass. 

What musical genre would you say you fit best into?

I like to call it "Southern Metal" because it's a mix of Southern Rock and Heavy Metal, theres a lot of Delta Blues stuff too in my sound but i think the blues is already in to the southern rock anyway. 

Who are your musical influences?

It goes from 1930 untill nowadays,  i must say its Robert Johnson, Elmore James, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Derek Trucks, Eric Sardinas and Doyle Bramhall II, Zakk Wylde, just to mention a few.

How did you get together as a band?

I started the band and called friends of mine musicians who i knew had the same musical influences and tastes that i do.

If you could collaborate with anyone past or present, who would it be?

Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Would you rather play arena gigs or small intimate gigs?

I already did and still do both but honestly i prefer small places.

If you could play any venue in the world, where would it be?

Royal Albert Hall in London.

Where do you see the band in 5 years? 

Somewhere in Europe or US doing lots of gigs.

Signed or independent?

Signed, i hope.

What's been your favourite gig you've played, and why?

I think it was the Opening Acts for ZZ Top, well, because its ZZ Top, u know?

Where's the worst venue you've played?

Lots of places in Brazil!

If you could cover any song what would it be and why?

Vooddo Child by Jimi Hendrix, because he was a genius.

What song would you like to be played at your funeral?

Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd.

What song would you have as your first dance at your wedding?

Love Struck Baby by Stevie Ray Vaughan.

A massive thanks to Eddie for taking time out of his busy schedule to answer the questions, and also a massive thanks to Pat Phillips-Hague for setting up the Q&A and also the review.

Review - The Sonic Revolvers - Plastic Rock - Video Review

So, this is a first for me, a video review!! I was contacted by the bands frontman, Darrell Tinsley, a couple of weeks ago and asked if I'd ever done a video review. I said no, but there's a first time for everything!!

So here we go.

Plastic Rock is the new single from Runcorn based rock 4 piece, The Sonic Revolvers. It's their first release since joining forces with BritRockArmy buddies, Freaky Pug PR and Records, and is taken from their 'Suns of Mercury' EP.

The video portrays the story of a young guy who obviously has delusions of grandeur, (surely not in this industry!). He's got it all going for him, the flash car, seems to attract the ladies, and plays guitar in a band. But everything is not as it seems. Is our protagonist all he appears to be? Is everything really going as well as it would appear? Well you're just gonna have to watch the video to find out!! (Did you honestly think I was gonna give it all away, lol!!)

The truth is, this is a great little video, for a cracking track, from one very hard working BritRockArmy band! Obviously filmed on a limited budget, it gets it's point across in both a clever and entertaining way. The extras in the gig scene towards the end were recruited via social media, which is a great way to get the fans involved! It definately tells it like it is. The world is full of people driven by their ego. People who think they automatically deserve success because they think they have a God given talent!

Sad but True!

I really like the video, and challenge you not to like it too!!

P.S watch out for the dodgy looking cleaner towards the end!

Now watch the video below!!

Lightfire - Run Aground - EP Review

It's been an exciting start to 2013 for the boys from Birmingham! I've had the privelege of having Lightfire play at a few BritRockArmy events, and they're one of the nicest bunch of lads you could meet!! Sadly, I missed the launch of their debut EP, Run Aground in February, but I managed to pick up a copy when they played a few weeks later.

Run Aground, is a 3 track EP that does a great job of showcasing the bands musical style and talent, and also of showing of Scott's fantastic vocals, gritty in parts, and sheer metal-like screaming in others. Ignorance kicks things off with a great riff followed shortly in by a pounding drum track. The power and pace are relentless, and the vocals strong throughout, including a couple of extremely painful sounding screams from Scott, it's a great way to kick things off!! Next up is The Sustem, another frantic paced piece, led by thumping drums and gritty guitar work and another fine vocal. The 3rd and final offering takes it down a notch, much slower but just as powerful and emotive.

It's clear to see from this debut that Lightfire have talent in spades, and that even more evident in their live sets. With great energy added to the talent, the guys never give any less than 110%. Even with a sore throat at their last BritRockArmy gig, Scott's vocal was top drawer.

If you like your rock with that little metal edge, these are the guys for you. Download the EP from iTunes, or pick one up when you go and see these guys live. Either way, you have to do both!!

Resin - Embrace The Fall - Album Review

There can be no denying the fact that the UK has some amazing unsigned/independent rock bands floating around and Resin, from Leicester, are no exception to this! They're a class act, professional in every way, when they play live, they are awesome! I had the privelege of having them play one if my events at the beginning of the year, and was left speechless by the quality of their performance. They performed a lot of material from their debut album Embrace The Fall that night and oh my god what a debut it is!!

It's 9 tracks, (including an acoustic version of Clouds), of moody, emotional, grunge based rock with some awesome guitar work, some amazing riffs and solos, and an amazing vocal performance throughout from front man James Botha. There's a real Pearl Jam/Nirvana vibe to the album, never more so than in Clouds. From the opening of first track Entropy, the listener is drawn in, it starts out as a mellow guitar intro, but as soon as the drums and vocals kick in, it is transformed into a powerful grunge fuelled monster of a track. There is not one track that isn't worthy of being released as a single, an acoustic version of Fallen features on the BritRockArmy/Freaky Pug Records collaboration 'The Uprising', Beskadig (which translates from Afrikaans to Damaged), is an awesome, powerful track, and is sung in Afrikaans throughout, but the sense of emotion is still very evident. Stand out track for me is Poison. There's just something about it! Again, it starts out similar to Entropy in so much as it begins as a much softer, mellow track, but when the chorus kicks in, it's an all out rockfest!!

08 Poison album version by resin

You can listen to previews of the tracks at the bands website, www.resinband.com. The album is also available on CD from the same place. You can download the album from all the usual electronic music vendors :)

Resin are:-
James Botha - Vocals
Mark Roseby - Guitar and vocals
Simon Yarwood - Guitar
David Seville - Bass
Mark Abbott - Drums

Hells Addiction - Raise Your Glass - Album Review

Ya know, sometimes, something magical comes along that restores your faith in humanity. Well this week I've had the pleasure of listening to some AMAZING music, and Raise Your Glass is an example of this. Imagine the best elements of SkidRow, GnR, and all those classic rock bands, moulded into one brilliant album. Well, thats exactly what you have here!!

The lads from Leicester, deliver on all fronts. With their take no prisoners approach, awesome riffs, ear splitting vocals, and heart pounding drums, if this album doesn't launch them into the stratosphere, then there's something seriously wrong!!

What you have here is a collection of 10 head banging, middle finger-saluting, hard rock anthems. These guys will pound your ears until they bleed!! And you'll love every second of it, I promise. From the outset, Feels Like Rock N Roll get's us off to a flyer, immediately showing what class and talent these guys have. What then follows is another 9 tracks of rock awesomeness!! Each track, even the couple of  quieter ones, is delivered with the brute strength and force of a goods train speeding along the track. Ben on vocals and guitar, Liam on lead guitar, Jason on the bass and Luke on on drums, (all hail THE beard!!), are on fine form from start to finish and the rock is relentless for the whole album. How Ben  keeps the vocals going, is amazing. (And if you think he sounds good recorded, get along to a live show, and prepare to be amazed!!)

The singles, Alcohol and Let The Good Times Roll, are definate throw backs to the classic hard rock bands of the 80's/90's, but with enough of a twist to ensure they sound like the modern rock heroes that they are destined to be.

If you love your rock with metal vocal strength, the mightiest beard in music, and filled with amazing riffs that will blow you away, get your hands on this album!!

Track Listing:-
Feels Like Rock N Roll
Let The Good Times Roll
Heaven Sent Me
Breaking Free
Feel The Fire
Big Bitch
Alcohol
Brand New Story
Raise Your Glass
Wings of an Angel

Hells Addiction are:-
Ben Sargeant - Vocals, guitar
Liam Sargeant - Guitar
Jason Green - Bass
Luke Morely - Drums

Coming soon!!

Hi all. It's been a while since there was any great amount of work on the blog, but that will change over the next few weeks.

The past 5 months have been a blast in a lot of ways, but immensley frustrating also in a lot of ways. So for that reason, the live events are taking a bit of a break while I plot my next move. They will definatley be back, they are definatley going to be what BritRockArmy is all about, but changes need to happen to make them a success, and a worthwhile excercise for bands, venues, and myself.

Over the time that plans are planned, and plots plotted, I will get back to doing what I enjoyed before the events took off. Writing about quality bands releasing quality music!! The bands that will be featured will predominantly be bands that have taken to a BritRockArmy stage over the last 5  months, but there will be a fair share of new bands, and bands yet to play a BritRock event. There will also be some more international bands taking the spotlight.

I will also make a small announcement at this point. I'm planning another BIG all day event. this time, it will be a special 'Uprising' event, so I will be inviting as many of the bands that appear on 'The Uprising' album as are available. The event will be sometime in the Summer, I just need to confirm this with the venue.

So there we have it. It's been a great 5 months of live events, time to get a bit more focus back on the blog, so get ready ROCK!!