A Band Called Malice
Norwich Arts Centre
27/01/2018
Anyone in any doubt about just how much The Jam mean to people needs only go and see one of their many tribute bands. And on the evidence of last night’s performance, the recently formed, Midlands-based A Band Called Malice are one of the best.
Steve Pilgrim and Danny Thompson: no, not a new Viz cartoon, but a pair responsible for one of the most enjoyable musical 55 minutes of the year at Putney’s intimate Half Moon despite both being used to backing the stars at far larger arenas.
Out now, 8/10
I’ll be honest, like many Paul Weller fans, I’ve known who original Jam guitarist Steve Brookes is for some time but have never quite got round to seeking out his solo work. All that changed with the release at the start of the month of his fourth album Hoodoo Zoo, recorded at Weller’s Black Barn studios, featuring the Modfather on two tracks, plus Ben Gordelier who plays percussion on most and Black Barn resident producer Charles Rees behind the desk.
The Weller camp have been busy this year having already released two albums, completed tours of the UK, Europe (twice), and starred in various sessions and interviews on radio and TV. The band are currently on a month-long North American tour before they head East in January to visit Japan and Australia for two consecutive nights at the Sydney Opera House. Then comes their February and March UK arena tour which finishes at London’s O2 Arena. Here’s a round-up of some of the projects Paul Weller’s band have been up to recently away from the band, plus some other juicy morsels of Weller information…
Whilst there have been some very questionable covers done in the past, there have also been some corkers. Here is a list, in ascending order, of my twenty-five favourite cover versions that I’ve discovered so far…
So, having managed a couple of listens, I thought I’d post my brief initial thoughts on Paul Weller’s album A Kind Revolution, released today. This is by no means a complete review, just what I’ve picked up so far.
It’s only eight days to go until 12th May, the day Paul Weller’s latest studio album A Kind Revolution is released on Parlophone. And after three extremely positive reviews (five stars from Pat Gilbert in Mojo and 8/10s from John Lewis in Uncut and David Quantick in Classic Rock) it’s looking like a good one. We’ve been teased snippets of most of the songs and heard several live on the recent UK tour (which I reviewed here), so here is a list of what we know about the songs on the album so far…
