Ignore the comparisons. Take these guys as they are--the second "perfect band" that we have ever heard.
The Long Weekend - Long Weekend
LW jumps from genre. OZ Beat fell for the band’s ability to write and perform a tight, hook-laden pop song.
Linear - Moondisco
Linear continues to surprise us with their growth. Edgy and angry, their new EP, Moondisco, is available now.
Bass! Guitar feedback! Lyrics! It wasn’t long ago when OZBeat heard the latest twenty-something Franz Ferdinand ripoff, we decided to shut off the music stations and sweat out the retro fix for fear that the 80s had set in for good. Wasn’t it bad enough to live through the 80s, let alone be forced to re-live them? What the fuck happened to intelligent noise? So many questions, so many Quaaludes, so little hope. Until an unknown three-piece band out of the UK blew out our Inbox. An Untitled Musical Project (AUMP) has gotten back to basics with a three-piece auditory mindfuck that hits the ground brawling. Go ahead and compare them to Mclusky. OZ Beat did right after the seventh orgasm and that was just the first song we heard. Chalk that up to three, yes, only three slamming tracks totaling 7 minutes it works out to a 21 shot salute. An Untitled Musical project offers some of the best stripped bare, no nonsense three piece action we’ve heard in some time. Mclusky, Ikara Colt, even a little Von Bondies and AC/DC riff influence tearing up the treble in AUMP but it’s not as if anyone can pull off the sound. AUMP is no Mclusky rip off, these kids have the goods. Try not to bob your head to the initial bass riff. Match up the rolling drum beats that follow in tow and take in some winding raunch guitar riffs. Soon enough you’ll be coiling up like a rusty rattlesnake in a oil slick. Providing the perfect release, Kieran’s vocals push out screaming pent up anger sure to send a mosh pit into a frenzied street fight, fists punching air, pillaging the town for total destruction is the goal of AUMP – nothing less will do. The delivery is tight, fast and merciless, driving at the speed of meth, AUMP offers no room for lag time. Lyrics to match an already established swell of guitar insanity that hovers all over the sliding tarmac, stark one-liners that make you laugh out loud and savor the cynical bite of just plain pissed off. OZ Beat features An Untitled Musical project for the musical balls we’ve been sorely missing in the wake of radio hit wonderland.
The Long Weekend is an odd band, in that they play in three wildly different styles." OZ Beat copped this line from another review of the band. We agree. This band jumps from genre to genre like all music is their oxygen. OZ Beat fell for the band's ability to write and perform a tight, hook-laden pop song. What we never expected was their ability to write a seven-minute song that kept our attention every second. Not many bands can do that well; it's usually a sign of a directionless band searching for an end. Not so with The Long Weekend. The track, Fall From Grace harkens haunting Pink Floyd dimensions also found in bands like British Sea Power and The Cooper Temple Clause. Kenny's Stomp takes a sharp left and pulls into back alley grit with the handles held tight on hard driving head bobbing beats. Try guessing what they will do next. We couldn't, and that's why we love them. Crank them up in a dark room and let go. Rumor has it they occasionally record that way. And the music, well listen for yourself at our Media page. Raw power and intelligence combined with so much talent; they sure look like babies to us, right at the stage of break free and growing up.
Linear, named after a lunatic asylum, is an amazingly sane band. Rich Wise and his mates understand that the stakes have been raised the past couple of years. No longer can bands present themselves as an alternative to crap nu-metal. Nu-metal is dead, except in US suburbs. Linear knows that it has to have the goods, and this band does. OZ Beat not only wanted to review this release, we feel very lucky to have the opportunity to feature this band. We leave it to you to name the influences. We suggest that you focus on the stellar guitar work and interplay, extremely solid drumming, and vocals with a sense of urgency that is so frequently absent with many new bands. So many bands out there are extremely competent: but without a sense of urgency. Linear puts it all together and makes your short hairs stand up. Each song starts with a solid, creative riff leading to better and much bigger things. “Bad Dreams” starts with great guitar, reminiscent of (you fill in the blank). OK, so we said that you should name the influences, but we are hearing a band worthy of comparisons to Television in its heyday (Marquee Moon). So many bands are compared to Television—this band is worthy. But, Linear has so much more going on. Give them a few listens; we know you will agree.
