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| Ice Black Birds Have Their 'Ears to the Ground' With Debut Single Coming from Brighton, you'd expect a rather different sound to emerge from young band Ice Black Birds which features guitarist/lead vocalist Sam Denniston, lead guitarist George Grinling, bassist Harry Bohay-Nowell and drummer Pierre McFarlane. However, this band are looking to set themselves apart from the pack with their unique (actually nearly incomparable) mixture of organic blues/rock, modern danceable indie and slight hints of mathy elements (in certain songs) to create something that could potentially be appreciated by fans of Robert Johnson, Led Zeppelin, White Denim, The Entrance Band, Foals and Tom Vek. Nothing reflects this better than their debut single 'Ears to the Ground' which has been set to be self-released along with a fan favourite entitled 'Heavy Independent Blues' on the 29th March. The lead track presents an uncommon song structure featuring 3 distinct and very catchy parts. Starting off with a heavy funky groove, memorable guitar riff and Denniston's rugged vocals, the track's second part then kicks off on a completely different rhythm and slow-building aggressive duel vocal delivery leading to a dramatic climax with all guns a blazing that then drops into a modern indie instrumental ending with yet another well-crafted rhythm structure and expertly executed guitar parts demonstrating the creative musicianship that separates Ice Black Birds from other bands. Commenting on their sound for this release, Denniston states: 'We've each brought in our own influences from our previous bands, but there's a common appreciation of vintage rock and blues amongst us. However, we don't want to repeat history. We want to reflect the times to an extent. That's where we bring our 'indie' edge in to create what we feel is something fun yet musically intelligent. We don't care whether you can easily label it or not.' Not being able to label them hasn't made it difficult for the media to like them. Within the year they've been together Ice Black Birds have toured the UK supporting acts including Golden Slivers, We Have Band, Joe Gideon & the Shark, Post War Years plus played The Secret Garden Party, White Air & Farm festivals receiving critical acclaim for their energetic performances and received a massive endorsement from BBC Radio 1's Huw Stephens who suggests they're ones to watch for 2010. Not a bad start to the year. write your comments about the article :: © 2010 Jazz News :: home page |