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However, since the Brit Pop years of the mid nineties, Manchester has produced little in the way of significant bands. All this, however, is beginning to change. Whilst the mainstream media look for the next band wearing leathers, shades and a scowl (see Libertines, Hoggboy), the Manchester scene has been slowly growing of it's own accord, affording a number of local bands the time they needed to mutate into genuine challengers in the music business.
First up, are the delicious Oceansize. They sound like nothing before. An amalgamation of influences, blended into something truely original. From trippy time signatures and floating melodies to all out rock and back, Oceansize seem to take everything they have heard and step it up a notch. Unified guitars picking out wandering counter melodies before leaping into riffs that are heavier than anything Limp Bizkit could produce. Angelic vocals take leaps into the abyss and back. Oceansize are so special, that in some respects I really don;t want to tell anyone else about them. I want them to myself, and if their music was tangible, it would sell for millions as auction.
Secondly, Fi Lo Radio swagger along with a wave of Pixieseque cool. You get the impression that they'd steal your pint before playing, only to throw it on you half way through the set. The three piece have the knack of welding killer melodies to dischordant, powerful, juttering guitar work, whilst the drums clatter and pound in equal mesures. Gloriously noisy, no matter what the NME tell you, THIS is the sound of youth.
Finally in this feature (as Kinesis are banned...), we have the post RAWK musings of Amplifier. Long hair and loud guitars are the order of the night here. Walls of noise, thundering bass, layers of guitar... It's all here in spades. With nothing released as of yet, these are definitely ones to watch.
Releases
Oceansize's A Very Still Movement EP is out now through Soviet Union Recordings.
Fi Lo Radio's Pretty Bones EP is out now via Action Records.
