| Actress Hands reviews |
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According to online record shops the single came out 20th November. Juno.co.uk has songclips. Rough Trade Shops Actress Hands are yet another band that find themselves sneaking out of the (weirdly incestuous) Brighton music scene that bought us the likes of Electric Soft Parade, Brakes, Tenderfoot, and British Sea Power. This is their second limited edition 7″ only on Life Is Easy and the pick of the tracks is b-side What’s The Name Of The Planet You’re From which is Teenage Fanclub in their prime - with multi-part harmonies, an unforgettable chorus, chimingly melodic guitars, pounding drums and a strong Big Star influence. soundsxp.com Actress Hands are getting plenty of plaudits right now and based on this single rightly so. Reminding me of Brakes clashing with The Wedding Present both sides of this limited edition single takes the form of enthralling indie pop which comes complete with a bold guitar sound and almost J Mascis like vocals to match. With their harmonies and excellent song writing I think these “hands” will not be the only ones applauding as their exposure grows. repeatfanzine.co.uk Ah. Now that’s more like it. Actress Hands’ “Half An Hour” hurtles headlong into just under two minutes of sun-drenched bliss-pop, layering Beach Boys harmonies over Gruff Rhys vocals and fumbling, stumbling guitar lines that still sound surprisingly ace. B-side “What’s The Name Of The Planet You’re From” is catchy as hell, too. 8/10 the-mag.me.uk That was quick. I popped the record on, got my ass lined up to the butt-shaped depression on my favourite seat and popped my feat up on the table. That doesn’t take a very long time, I can tell you. In fact, it takes about one minute and forty-six seconds. I’ve not been measuring, I’m too busy for that! It just so happens that it took exactly the same amount of time as it did for Actress Hands to bop out “Half an Hour”, a track full of harmonious vocals and jangling guitars. It also happens to be the amount of time you need to decide you quite like this band. “What’s The Name of the Planet You’re From” is an epic two and half minutes, but it’s equally appealing. The tactic appears to be to appear in a shower of hooky pop, get a chorus under the belt and make off into the sunset and it’s a strategy that means you can’t grow tired of any song. Of course, it also means they’ll have to write a few hundred songs if they’re hoping to headline a festival, but it’s a small price to pay. disordermagazine.com Catching the early Rock n’ Roll sound and adding a dash or sophistication, with ‘Half An Hour’ Actress Hands have a fast number that’s up for some good time action! ‘Half An Hour’ makes for stripped down fun and unpretentious music with minimum lyrics and maximum melodies. It’s one of those records you can’t do anything but jump around and enjoy the pop style harmonies sliced through with rawer guitar sounds and pure feel good factor. B side ‘What’s The Name Of The Planet You’re From?’ leans more towards a grunge sounds and wouldn’t sound out of place on an early Smashing Pumpkins record. You would be forgiven for thinking it would sound odd following on from the lighter sound of ‘Half An Hour’ but here’s the thing- it doesn’t. This is a great record to listen to if you’re looking for some fun and a kick. rockfeedback.com It’s about time we saw some artists emerge audibly influenced by Graham Coxon’s more recent, noticeably up beat dabbling, and this song has not only the basic sound of Coxon but is also influenced by a lot at the edges of his dynamic, including grungy old school punk and weird cute nineties pop. At times Actress Hands are in danger of being a little too nineties North American dull-pop rock, but they’re saved by some really satisfying off key rock chords. You know - the type that go umph. Alas, out of all doing something similar, it always seems to be the boring up ‘emselves bands that make it big. So, it’s up to all of us to turn this trend around. This means not sticking your nose up at bands just because they’re fast and not wholly serious, worthy, or boring, droll and probably dead inside. Just think about it - going to summer festivals and rather than seeing all the over hyped nonsense and staring at the crowd with contempt, actually seeing bands concentrating on rocking out, bands trying to play their songs that little bit faster than on the CD rather than worrying about how they’re missing the string section. Don’t get me wrong. Don’t. I like studio albums, and I enjoy bands being arrogant, but from watching Karate Kid over the weekend I listened to the words of Mr. Miyagi and learned that in all things there must be a balance. I will warn you however that in the case of Actress Hands, you have heard this before. Don’t go thinking that they’ll be as good as Graham Coxon. That’d be silly. But they certainly do share his need for energy in music. You could say that liking music for its energy alone is a bad reason to like it, but readers, this is not the point. This is a rock band. Energy can only be a positive. subba-cultcha.co An impressive kick to the groin of melodious wonderfulness, taking the amped up power pop glory of Supergrass and the explosive anthems of Guided By Voices... blog.myspace.com/ianc22 Jingle jangle, jingle jangle, blah blah blah. What’s that you hear? Another guitar band with a Teenage Fanclub fixation? Certainly not - go and hang your head in shame, as we’re here to talk about Brighton’s much loved power pop hero’s Actress Hands - and there’s so much more to them than mere comparisons. All is busy in the world of The ‘Hands at present - with Matt Eaton and co. fresh (or not so) from playing a handful of dates with fellow Brightonians British Sea Power, and a forthcoming split 7″ single with the Electric Soft Parade on the horizon. It all leads rather pleasantly to the release of this - the bands second single, a blistering new recording of firm live favourite Half an Hour. But does it live up the excellent previous single Snack Horse? In a word - yes… infact they’ve only gone and bettered it. At less than two minutes in length, there’s no messing around here. Just a short and sharp, guitar fuelled rocker – lyrically inspired by the dangers of walking home late at night from the pub in Kilburn. “Just remember when you leave last thing at night, near the kerb, look around, and you’ll be alright, you’ll be home in an hour and half an hour, hold on for a minute and we can have some fun” sings Matt Eaton, as the guitars propel the song along, while the trademark vocal harmonies raise their heads briefly during the chorus - and it’s a wonderful thing indeed. If a comparison is to be made then think the scuzzy, fast paced guitar sound of Bizarro era Wedding Present, raised down south – and brought up listening to the likes of Teenage Fanclub and Big Star. Oh it rocks like one mean bastard. You gotta love it. Flip things over (or not if you have a CD - obviously), and the usual rule of a slightly temperamental b-side goes straight out the window once you hear the opening guitar salvo of What’s The Name Of The Planet You’re From? Another upbeat tune, with a catchy as hell guitar line, and hints of early Electric Soft Parade material - and that’s a very good thing indeed. Once again it seems Matt Eaton and co.’s knack for writing killer tunes and melody has come out on top - but then again did we really expect anything less? Quite simply some superb Indie Rock/Power Pop (whatever you want to call it – I’m not fussy), minus the pretentious arrogant aspect of so many new bands these days. With a debut album currently in the process of being recorded at the Truck studios in Oxford, it appears the future is indeed looking very bright for Actress Hands. Half an Hour - destined for an Indie night near you soon perhaps? Oh, come on - you don’t really want to hear that Kooks tune again. |