Another 6 Things You Should Be Listening To Right Now

6. Chapel Club

Naming your band in reference or tribute to a church, in this case St Luke€™s Church specifically, may not seem the most rock €˜n€™ roll of christenings. What with most of Norway doing its best to burn most of them down in ode to rock €˜n€™ roll, or rather black metal, through the 90s. Christian Rock/Metal aside, there isn€™t usually a mutual coincidence of rock and religion.

For this London based fivesome though, the name is fitting as a sign of where they came from, having used St Luke€™s Church as a rehearsal space during their formative years. Something I€™ve been a part of myself, except we were called Baby With a Beard and just played covers of LCD Soundsystem and The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster covers in between improvised grindcore jams.

Since the completion of the line up in 2008, the band have immersed themselves in their influences, which range from My Bloody Valentine to The Smiths by way of Sonic Youth through Scott Walker and New Order. However, always on the cusp of something big, something great they never quite got there, even with impressive debut Palace in their artillery.

Until now that is. Recently a new track has cropped up in the shape of Sleep Alone which portrays an altogether different beast than the Chapel Club of old. This time around their sexier, their hazy and their hypnotic, bringing to mind the likes of Flaming Lips, Animal Collective, Friendly Fires and a hint of a lush and seductive electronic direction.

Disclaimer : Baby With a Beard (or BWaB) also featured WhatCulture Music Editor Rhys Milsom on bass.

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I know I said six in the title but I've lied again. Though I'd prefer to look at it as my giving you a gift for being so well behaved and reading this far.

Now, if man is five and the devil is six, then God is...

Just like the Gods of old, you€™re hard pressed to find evidence of the existence of Old Gods. It€™s there though. If you look hard enough. Though, even when you find it, there isn€™t information there to make it easy for you, just evidence of their existence in the form of song. That is, unless you were already familiar with them of course. Perhaps by way of their day jobs.

This gathering of ancient deities you see includes members of Heads Will Roll among others, and most notably The Dillinger Escape Plan guitarist Jeff Tuttle. A former Heads Will Roll-er himself. Day jobs aside, there is a lot more on offer here than a mere vanity project.

Though there isn€™t much in the ether from Old Gods, the self-titled EP they have released is astonishing. Pumped full of venom and adrenalin, it€™s an abrasive cocktail that is punk through and through, but there€™s a lot more mixed in to.

Whether it€™s the waves of feedback, fuzz and distortion, the sludge covered grooves, the vitriol of classic hardcore punk, the cocksure swagger of straight up rock €˜n€™ roll, the nods to the day jobs, the relentless riffs or the near psychotic vocal deliveries, there is plenty here to grab your attention by the throat and not let go.