Monsters Are Waiting

The Monsters Are Waiting, an unorthodox name perhaps but its as unique as the sound of the band. I first discovered them from the Suicidegirls website as one of their songs ‘Monsters’ accompanies a video sequence and immediately fell in love with it. Then came the task of researching them and finding out a little bit more. I previewed some of their other songs and realised I was totally into their sound.

What is their sound though? Well it’s a sort of retro, alternative one with subtle twists and catchy riffs, oh and the vocalist Annalee Fery has a voice to die for! There’s an inner strength to their sound but not an overbearing one, it interweaves with the clever melodies of their songs and begins to captivate.

So came the wait for their debut album, released on 06.06.06 and called ‘Fascination’ which incidentally is the title of the opening track, a gem of a track too. I had to wait a couple of weeks to import the cd from the States but it’s been worth it. I used Amazon and one of their sellers called ‘Caiman’ that are a large outfit based in Florida.

Monsters are Waiting very much remind me of an 80’s band called The Passions, both vocally and instrumentally. My fave track of the album has to be ‘Monsters’ which is a ‘swing yer pants’ kind of track, its infectious, a lovely melody and great vocals, Monsters is probably the best track I’ve heard all year so far.

Go check them out at their website below where you can see their video 'Fascination' and check out some of their songs.

http://myspace.com/monstersarewaiting

Fountain of Shame

My local council have just spent 1.6 million on revamping the market place in my town. For that vast sum of money we get a fountain in front of the town hall, the war monument in the centre of the market place has been cleaned, we have a couple of new seats, new slabs/paving and some modern metal market stalls for the traders.

Personally I think it's shocking, a shambles, a complete waste of money, the overall effect adds very little to the market place. Whilst the work has been going on it is obvious that alot of market vendors have taken their trade elsewhere, and who can blame them?

A friend of mine that is a market trader said around 30 traders have left as they are no longer happy with the current set up and new market management team. It's really bad for the town as we used to have a thriving busy market with bargains galore, sadly those days seem to have passed.

Another thing is, why did the council have to spend the money on a new market image? It wasn't many years ago since it was re-slabbed and cleaned up, instead their initiative had alienated traders and met with frowns and negative comments from the towns folk. Why didn't the council use the money to build some cummunity centres for the local kids? They would have had somewhere to go at night and keep occupied instead of walking the streets getting into trouble.

Patriotism, hype and my fave team

I’m sick of seeing England flags, I really am. My neighbourhood is festooned with them, they now even hang across the street - they are seemingly everywhere. I was over at Newark a couple of days ago having a drink with my dad and a pub even had small goal posts in the gents urinals with balls dangling on string, I’m sure you can guess where you had to aim! So, with patriotism sweeping the nation, I have to ask myself, is it the right kind of patriotism?

Personally I have to say no. My reason for this is I find it sad that as a nation we get so excited about football but don’t get worked up about things that matter, take for instance the recently announced 512 Million NHS deficit or the state of public transport. We’d rather go out and support a mass marketing exercise and be sheep, follow the crowd and buy England flags. There are plenty of reasons as a nation we can be patriotic, our multiculturalism, our cities and countryside, our actors and the list could go on but why get sooooo excited about football?

Now for my actual football thoughts;

I do like football, though I’m not fanatical about it, I follow Notts County and do go and watch them occasionally but the team I’m going to look out for and cheer in this world cup is……. France. My reason for this is years ago, back in the 82 and 86 world cups they played fab football against teams like Brazil and Germany – with the gifted Michel Platini et al. I recall as a boy watching the nail biting world cup in Spain 1982 when France lost to Germany on penalties, it was a heartbreaker to watch and from that moment onwards I made a point of looking out for them.

I was to be rewarded in the next world cup – Mexico 86, when France played some more excellent Football, in the first round they beat the much fancied Hungary 3-0, then came the second round when the beat Italy, winners of the previous world cup 2-0. Then to my amazement in quarter finals they went onto beat the mighty Brazil 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw. Alas the semi final was tinged with irony as they met Germany again and lost 2-0.

Despite cruel losses France won the European championships in 1984 with Michel Platini dominating the competition as the leading goal scorer. Platini retired early aged 32 scoring a fantastic 41 goals for France over 72 matches. I’ll never forget the flair and valour of the France squad from that era, characters such as Giresse, Rocheteau, Six, Tigana, Bats, Six and of course the immortal Platini. France did of course go on to win the world cup in 1998 when they beat Brazil 3-0, of course it was a totally different squad then and watching it I found myself thinking about Platini and his squad and wishing they’d have won back in the 80’s.

Of course, I’d like to see England do well, I'm patriotic too despite the total hype, marketing overkill and bogus patriotism. Before anyone reading this thinks I’m not all there for cheering France on, remember this – Football is a world sport where anyone should be able to cheer on any team regardless of colour and country. The world cup should be treated as a celebration of football and not down to narrow minded and sometimes violent bandwagon patriotism.

Platini

06.06.06

I couldn't really let a day such as 06.06.06 pass and not mention two of my fave horror films 'House of a 1,000 Corpses' and its excellent sequel 'Devils Rejects', though the second is more of a road movie with killing, lots of killing!

For me rock singer/director Rob Zombie has created two classic films, they don't really make you jump like most conventional horror films do, you sorta see whats coming really but don't think the films will take you there - but of course they do!

So have a really good 06.06.06 from me, and of course Captain Spaulding the clown and the rest of the Firefly family.

For more info on Bill Moseley who Plays Otis go here http://www.choptopsbbq.com/

For more on Sid Haig who plays Captain Spaulding go Here http://www.sidhaig.com/

Babe of the Week No.3

Ah Miss Charlotte Church Yummy ! How could I not have her as a babe of the week. All kneel before her beauty !

Hour of Darkness

I love video games, friends know that and often berate me for it but every now and again a game comes along I feel I should mention. The game is question is 'Disgaea - Hour of Darkness' , it's a gem of a Playstation 2 game, a witty yet endearing strategy roleplay game that's truly timeless in it's appeal. It has great characters, fab music by Tsunami Bomb and if you like the more strategy / role play genre its deffo worth a look.

Don't worry, I'm not turning my blog into a video game review one, thats better left to my friend Thulsa Doom but I thought this game deserved a mention.

I’m Currently listening too … (4)

Howling Bell's - Low happening
Serena Maneesh - Drain cosmetics
Alanis Morrisette - Hand in my pocket
Kiss - Silver spoon
Platters - Sea of love
Red 7 - Heartbeat
LunaChicks - Drop dead
Jack Off Jill - Angels fuck, Devil's kiss
Fluffy - I wanna be your lush
My Dad - yep a song me dad wrote and kept playing to me, it wasn't bad too!