THE BEST NEW MUSIC

After a bad major label experience and a name change, People In Planes are ready to take on the world, again…

PEOPLE IN

PLANES Splendid Stuff

Formerly known as Tetra Splendour, Welsh rockers, People In Planes, changed their name after splitting with UK label EMI in the mid 00s. After regrouping and adding a fifth member, they soon found a new way to realise their ambitions by signing to American label, Wind-Up, in 05. “After EMI we just looked at our options,” says guitarist Pete Roberts. “We had a few fans in New York who knew various people in the industry; a press guy in particular took us under his wing. We played a showcase for Wind-Up and were pretty much signed straight away.” The brave decision to up-sticks to the States paid off though; a relentless touring schedule rewarded by an ever-increasing fan base, national radio and TV exposure, a featured role in the Hollywood movie John Tucker Must Die and a video directed by Joaquin Phoenix. “The past four years have been a real adventure,” continues Pete. “It’s been a different way to do things but it’s worked out better than we imagined.

LINE-UP: Gareth Jones (guitar, vocals), Pete Roberts (guitar,

vocals), Kris Blight (bass), John Maloney (drums),

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Ian Russell (keyboard)

FROM: South Wales

SOUNDS LIKE: Parts psyched-out prog, monolithic rock and

blissful indie – all elements bound together by stunning melody, soaring vocals and expertly structured dynamics.

CURRENT RELEASE: ‘Beyond The Horizon’

(album, Wind-Up. Out now)

WEBSITE: www.myspace.com/peopleinplanes

DOWNLOAD THIS: ‘Better Than Life’

We’re definitely ready to get up to speed in the UK now.” And while it’s certainly been a long time coming, People In Planes’ debut UK release – the band’s second album ‘Beyond The Horizon’ – is now imminent. An epic alt-rock record of staggering depth and musical diversity, it came together via sessions with various producers both in the US and UK. Says Pete: “Making this record was a rollercoaster experience. We had some great and significant sessions in America and really found our feet with it there but it wasn’t until we came home to finish it that it really made sense. It was a painstaking process but we’re blown away by the result. It’s musically diverse but that’s always been our approach. I’ve always been inspired by bands whose records are easily recognisable but still completely unpredictable.”

Chris Hidden

O R Y OU R S?

THE RESISTORS With their self-produced / fi nanced debut album ‘Play In The Dirt’ already available in Japan, this London-based quartet apply themselves to producing forwardly mobile, dirty anthemic rock choons, and they’re pretty damn good at it too. Why it’s out in Japan already and not here is beyond us, but if you like your bands to produce no-holds-barred rock gems then this lot are defi nitely worth checking out. As the Borg would say, “Resistance is futile”. JL WWW.MYSPACE.COM/RESISTORSMUSIC PLAY THIS: ‘Defaulter’

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ME VS HERO Blackpool is famous for its Pleasure Beach and illuminations already, but soon it’s going to have another factor to add to its already impressive list of ‘landmarks’. Pop-punk fi ve-piece Me Vs Hero formed in 07 and have already shared bills with the likes of Story Of The Year, Kids In Glass Houses, Cute Is What We Aim For and Bring Me The Horizon. Flirting with the mainstream, Me Vs Hero write melodic pop riffs and sing-along choruses, so expect them to be the soundtrack to your summer. JW WWW.MYSPACE.COM/MEVSHERO PLAY THIS: ‘What Seems To Be The Offi cer’

85 BEARS This East London trio make free-fl owing instrumental music that will keep you guessing. Powerful moments of distortion fold inwards into delicately tapped out licks, which then mushroom outwards again. In the case of the lead track on their Myspace player (and debut EP), ‘Shipwrecking’, the spiralling riffs go on and on, toying with the listener as you go through the motions: admiration, confusion, impatience… then surrender and wonderment. They’ve shared stages with Enablers and Young Widows – two bands they have much in common with, musically speaking. MH WWW.MYSPACE.COM/THEEIGHTYFIVEBEARS PLAY THIS: ‘Shipwrecking’ Want to see your band featured in these here pages? Get yourself over to www.myspace.com/rocksound pronto and add us. It could be you next month... T H E Y ’ R E

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THE BEST NEW MUSIC

WE WERE

PROMISED JETPACKS

SOUNDS LIKE: Brooding Scottish indie that explodes with youthful aggression.

If you’re a fan of Scottish indie outfi t Frightened Rabbit, chances are you’ve been exposed to We Were Promised Jetpacks already – either through their Myspace friends list, their shared label (FatCat) or their gigs. It’s a touching tale of patronage, with Frightened Rabbit taking their young countrymen (average age 21) under their wing and setting them on their way. “We got to support them in Glasgow at the tiny 13th Note for an Is This Music? night,” says … Jetpacks frontman Adam Thompson of the bands’ fi rst meeting. “We loved the band, obviously, so were pretty excited. We crashed a party they were having afterwards, then played with them again a few months later and they told FatCat about us…” So it’s a case of who you know not what you know? Well, only partly. Such is the strength of the songs on …Jetpacks’ debut album, ‘These Four Walls’, that they would have been picked up soon enough anyway. The band’s sound is inherently Scottish, the power chords fl ecked with

Celtic folk and carried home by Thompson’s raw, passionate vocals. It makes you think of Idlewild, of Biffy Clyro and, yes, of Frightened Rabbit. “We’re only really infl uenced by current bands,” says Thompson. “We’re still pretty young, so have no relationship with anything particularly old. We were 16 when ‘Aha Shake Heartbreak’ came out, the Kings Of Leon album, so that was massive for us.” With a taste for commercial music as well as intricate indie, …Jetpacks’ sound is easy to digest on fi rst listen but also full of details to come back to. Not bad for a band still in full-time education. “Three of us are still at university, so we spend a lot of time procrastinating,” Thompson admits. “When we’re at home trying to do uni work the only band stuff for us to do is sit Googling our own name like losers.” They won’t have time for that soon… CURRENT RELEASE: ‘These Four Walls’ (album, FatCat. Out now) DOWNLOAD THIS: ‘Quiet Little Voices’ WWW.MYSPACE.COM/WEWEREPROMISEDJETPACKS

MIKE HAYDOCK

ALABASTER SUNS

SOUNDS LIKE: Keelhaul wrestling with DC hardcore.

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When UK underground instrumentalists Capricorns dissolved around the release of their second album, for guitarist Kevin Williams and drummer Nathan Perrier splitting was never an option. Even before Capricorns offi cially fell apart, the duo were already locked in a rehearsal room jamming as a two piece, working on riffs inspired by Kev’s love of late 80s and early 90s hardcore, the Dischord Records catalogue, a bit of post-rock and a “no ground rules” ethos to ensure anything was possible with the ‘Suns. Fans of obscure 80s hardcore may even notice where the band chose their moniker – for the rest of us, head over to Wikipedia now! “It was more like trying to do something that was removed from Capricorns, as obviously there was no point in doing something that was in a similar vein,” explains the guitarist / vocalist. “It was the

fi rst time I had had the responsibility of writing stuff [on my own] and I wanted to sing as I had never sung before. I wanted that challenge of doing something a bit new.” With the liberation of having no one else to please, the duo shat out songs in the rehearsal room, two eventually became three (with the addition of bassist Anthony Dearlove) and, by Williams’ own admission, Alabaster Suns is growing and evolving all the time. The debut mini-album, however, is a decent and honest representation of the band’s vibe so far. How would Kevin sum it up? “Dark, brooding and… something,” he laughs. Rock Sound suggests you are free to replace “something” with whatever you feel appropriate! CURRENT RELEASE: ‘Alabaster Suns’ (mini-album, Iron Pig. Out now) DOWNLOAD THIS: ‘Royal 6 In Hand’ WWW.MYSPACE.COM/ALABASTERSUNS

DARREN SADLER

BAGHERA [5]

‘Decline To Winter’ sets out the Nottingham quintet’s statement of intent clearly. Citing the likes of Norma Jean and Underøath as infl uences, as the fi rst track unfolds

it offers no surprises and sounds exactly how you’d imagine it to. Put said infl uences in a tumble dryer and out will pop a band like this one. The recording is tight, well-produced and the sound is polished, however it does little to further the genre and fails to stand out from the crowd. AB WWW.MYSPACE.COM/BAGHERABAND

THE HOPELESS ABANDONED [4]

Hopeless by name, hopeless by nature. This fi ve-track EP from Welsh three-piece The Hopeless Abandoned is so badly recorded that it’s diffi cult to listen to more

than one song at a time. All crashing symbols and not much else, someone should have told these guys to get rid of Animal before heading into the studio. The potential is there, but until they tighten up their act and budget accordingly there’s no way we can force ourselves to listen to this tat. JW WWW.MYSPACE.COM/HOPELESSPUNX

DARK SPARKS [6]

A stylish interpretation of 80s misery pop, Dark Sparks are pretty much a taste of Echo And The Bunnymen and The Jesus And Mary Chain. Stripped down

and elusive, they’re certainly reluctant to jump on the modern indie bandwagon preferring to cajole lo-fi bass rumbling songs. Unfortunately not only are the band unwilling to join the modern indie scene, they’re unwilling to do anything contemporary. It’s not the 80s and in the wise words of Echo And The Bunnymen, ‘Nothing Ever Lasts Forever’ so move on. FL WWW.ILOVEDARKSPARKS.COM send us your demo! You know we love them! Send to the usual Rock Sound address. Please mark your envelope – 'Here's our demo - don't be scared!' – just so we know!

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