Posted by The Met on November 10, 2004, 12:44 pm Wanted Beautiful people please apply Thursday 18th November from 8.30pm onwards The Met Lounge is pleased to announce the return of UK glam / rock / trash /sleaze artistes RACHEL STAMP to the venue on Thursday 18th November and true to form, the band have asked that the venue invite The Beautiful people of Peterborough to the show!! whats beautiful is open to discussuon but I think is safe to say is that if youve into music by bands such as Marilyn Manson / Depeche Mode / Placebo / The Cure /Goth / rock stuff then youlre exactly what the band are looking for! Tour support comes from highly rated London band Ariel X a band who have just released their debut album Bi Polar to stunning reviews Opening up the show will be Peterborough band Civilian reviews for the Ariel X album Labelled by Kerrang as a three way fight between Placebo, Nine Inch Nails and Janes Addiction Ariel-X had a lot to live up to. But as Bi-Polar opens with its beautiful Built to Spill style guitar, I realise I am more than impressed. A real nod to the early nineties and the west coast rock from the States, Ariel-X remind me of Indie-rock and the good music before grunge came and burst the bubble. There is no doubt that those bands have inspired this London quartet. But this is 10 years on, and theres not really anyone doing this anymore. I hope that Ariel-X explode onto the scene like they do over my speakers In the mist of recording the new Rachel Stamp album Ravenous, front-man David Ryder-Prangley talks exclusively to Mark Harvey Fernyhough about madness, nervous breakdowns, and being spat on. When I arrive at the haunted Kings Cross house playing host to todays Rachel Stamp photo shoot, everyone is in such good spirits that they seem oblivious to the strange presence that is rumoured to stalk the kitchen. Duran Duran videos blast out of the telly, David Ryder-Prangley attempts to seduce an antique mirror, whilst Guitarist Will Crewdson discusses the pros and cons of wearing lipstick with keyboardist Shaheena Dax. Twenty minutes later Rachel Stamp are ready to show the world how beautiful they are, but first David changes out of his trousers and into his girlfriends. In front of the lens dressed completely in black, it is clear that Rachel Stamp play the role of rock n roll outsiders like no one else - focused and healthy and ready for another shot at world domination. Speaking to David later, he talks in detail about the darker periods of his bands history that still haunt him today and seems aware that his band are lucky to still be making records when most of their contempories are now busy working in mobile phone factories in Barnet and the like. "I think its madness that keeps me going. So much stuff has happened to this band. Record labels are useless, which is soul destroying. There are points where Ive been on the verge of a nervous breakdown because life in a band depends on so many other people and if they dont do their job then youre completely helpless. Thats why were now taking control back. We dont have a manager or a record label, were just doing it ourselves so we dont have to deal with morons." Just a few years ago Rachel Stamp were selling out venues all over the UK from London to Rugley and it seemed that you were poised for a break though. Then it all went as quiet as a graveyard. "There was a certain time when we were fashionable and people came to see us before they moved on to something else. It happens with all bands. We probably reached the peak of our popularity around the release of our second album, but when our label didnt put out another single our profile went down and consequently when we toured later not as many people came." Many people dismiss Rachel Stamp, believing you to be more interested in style over substance. "Yeah and I think thats pretty accurate. I dont think you can separate style from substance, they are the same thing. A lot of people who have an opinion on us havent even heard us." You obviously somewhat polarize your audience by the way you choose to present yourselves. "I find it amazing that people react so badly to people who wear clothes that are different. But then again I suppose your clothes are an outward expression on your views on a lot of things. We once were supporting No Doubt and on my way to the gig I got spat on in the street and told I was disgusting. There are still so many racist, homophobic people who cant deal with free minded individuals who believe in the power of rock n roll." The world is in turmoil at the moment - London being a terrorists wet dream, has this affected the direction of your new material? "Not directly, though I do find it shocking that people have such extreme views and are so narrow minded they cant except that other people dont want to live the same way that they do." Maybe you will convert them to your way of thinking with your new record. How would you say it compares with your previous long players? "Hymns for Strange Children was like the diary of a band thats been on the road none stop - its our pop album. With our second record Oceans of Venus we set out with a vision of it being very cinematic. Our new album is a lot more direct. Its pop in the way that Phil Spector records are pop but its still got lots of electric guitars. Its going to be called Ravenous which sums up how were feeling at the moment. Its the ultimate vampire rock n roll album." With his first interview to promote Ravenous completed and numerous ghosts exorcised, David puts back on his own trousers and wonders off into the Kings Cross sunset. Amongst the freaks, drunks and junkies that litter the streets he almost looks normal. Rachel Stamp are on tour throughout October and November and the album Ravenous is due for release in November. MARK HARVEY FERNYHOUGH 2004
THE METROPOLIS LOUNGE
59 Bridge Street Peterborough PE 1 1 HA
Tel / Fax 01733 566100
www.metlounge.org.uk email info@metlounge.org.uk
Doors at 8.30pm and Adv tickets are £5 / Doors £6
When it comes to dark pop, there are few names that stand out as doing it well. The Cure, Placebo or Nine Inch Nails more accessible moments all set high standards for those wishing to combine the brooding mystery of goth with the glitter and glamour of mainstream appeal. With their debut mini-album however, London four-piece Ariel-X make a good start at living up to the greats. Frontman Ben Johns sinister yet seductive vocal drawl winds itself around walls of swirling My Vitriol-esque guitar noise in songs that both celebrate and bemoan that classic pop subject love and the loss of it. In standout tracks Mute, Chemical Mind and Waiting For The Fall it makes for a wonderfully unnerving experience thats indelibly marked with the all-important x-factor thanks to strong choruses and memorable hooks.
A job well done!
7/10
Victoria Durham
The whole album a cacophony of guitar pedals and articulate drumming and guitar solos. Yes, guitar solos! Not your Steve Vai a million notes per second crap, but well crafted and expertly paced solos which serve the music and not the musician.
Like Janes Addiction and the Smashing Pumpkins, Bi-Polar manages to retain a very raw rock sound without sacrificing the melody. And that melody is key here. Rather than having a band of separate musicians, playing separate tracks you really get the impression that each of Ariel-X are aware of the bigger picture. Each one of them a vital component and the songs crafted so that it wouldnt make sense without any one of them.
11/13
Erin Sherida
- Oct 30th
London quartet have almost got it spot on. They look like an MTV2 alt-rock wet dream and sound like arena tours and hordes of sallow, black-clad devotees are only a matter of time.
'Bi-Polar' throws out a number of references - the creep of Radiohead, the dark pulse of Nine Inch Nails, the caustic glamour of Placebo, the jagged schitzo riffing of bands like Reuben or Serafin. Whatever they're doing they do it well.
What starts off as another dive into the underworld of slow-burning brooding rock turns out to be something a little more surprising from Ariel-X. Produced by Paul Corkett (The Cure, TCTC, Placebo) theres a lot here to get your teeth into.
If the first two tracks were anything to go by this would have left the stereo a lot sooner but the saviour comes from Waiting To Fail onwards where it seems the effect of these chiselled, ethereal rockers come into their own.
Cranking it up and ploughing further into an abyss of seedy other worlds, heavy slabs of cut-throat lyrics seep into the mix and Ben Johns vocals flourish.
Mournful and mesmerizing, uplifting and challenging, Ariel-X contradict and confuse but are never less than captivating and with the elements of Vex Red and a measure of Janes Addiction this is definitely worth a listen.
7/10
Lucy Freeman
Rachel Stamp Interview 2004
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