| CD REVIEW The Octopussys |
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Band : The Octopussys A bold statement covers the first page of the info sheet that came along with the promo copy of the album we got from this Vilvoorde/ Mechelen area based 5-piece Melodic PunkRock act. It says, and I quote: “The Octopussys deliver the perfect soundtrack for the summer with golden hooks, great riffage and melodies that have an instant singalong character, all caught in a bunch of great PunkRock songs. Thé thing you need to give your roadtrips an extra flavour!”! Simple truth, or simple label babble for sales purposes? Let's find out whom and what's behind the name The Octopussys, shall we? Influenced by the era where bands like Lagwagon, No Use For A Name, Pulley, Ten Foot Pole and others of the same ilk rules the Melodic Punk Rock scene, The Octopussys was formed in 2005 as a quartet, in a reaction against the “disappearance” of their most beloved kind of music, the '90s American and Scandinavian SkatePunk genre (meaning: fast rhythms caught in melodic and catchy tunes). After playing some first shows time came to add an extra guitarist, and a bit later a change of lead singer established the current line-up of Thibaut Hox (lead vocals), Kevin Brondel and Jan Van Gulck (lead and rhythm guitars respectively), Mark Bolsens (bass) and Nick Boonen (drums), with Eppegem as their home base. Time was also ripe for the first recordings, and the band released their first 6-track demo in 2008. Having something recorded definitely helped the band getting gig opportunities, and not only did the band succeed in playing at a lot more Belgian venues than before, but shortly after the demo's release the quintet also went on its first international tour. At one of their appearances in the Belgian clubs the band struck a friendship with SkatePunk act State Of Mine, and the decision was made to record a split-CD, which was recorded at Penthouse Studio and released through Kickass Records in May 2009. Followed another series of live gigs, both in Belgium and abroad. In essence, the band has already played abroad shows in the UK, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Norway and Denmark. The quintet has been known to play support for the likes of A Wilhelm Scream, Useless ID, Rentokill, Bomb the Music Industry, The Undeclinables, I Against I, Mute, and many more. In other words...The Octopussys hàve been around, hàve been heard, and hàve been approved full-heartedly by those it came in contact with. And seen their musical direction it seems inevitable that the band eventually also got approved and signed by Funtime Records. For their new recordings the band first went into pre-production (purposefully stayed away from the live circuit somewhat to concentrate on writing their new material as well) with recordings done at Eppegem's BN-Studio by drummer Nick Boonen (with productional guidance of Bet Quagebhuer), but the actual recording of the album was done during February and March of late at Dé Studio in Asse, with regular Funtime producer Dirk Miers behind the knobs. The result comes to us in the form of a very nice 11-track album (total duration just under 35 minutes) in the best of Melodic PunkRock/ SkatePunk traditions: catchy up-tempo tunes with great melodies and nice lead guitar play which is never exaggerated and a singalong factor which gives the songs an almost anthemic feel. With a somewhat hoarse and slightly nasal lead singer (gives him a positive recognition factor) the band take care to put in enough backing vocals to make for the singalong factor, and that those backings are somewhat harmonic even increases the melodic side of things. In óne song the guys brought in the help of an outsider singer, Hilde Vrancken of SleeptilMay adding her affective female vocals to the ending part of “Good Guys”. End conclusions, and first question...do The Octopussys live up to the boisterous statement of this album's info sheet? Hell yeah, they dó! And all you need do to convince yourself of that, is to listen to the songs (the first 2 off the current debut full-length) posted at (www.) myspace.com/theoctopussys. Do they also deliver in a live setting? Well, a little more effort will be needed from the reader to assess that, as it involves him/her into checking out the band at one of the shows it will be playing this summer. As you will when browsing through their upcoming shows list (see also their MySpace), there's several small festivals on the band's menu, including (how could it be any different) October first's Funtime Fest in Aarschot. Be there, or be square. 88/100 Tony. |
