The Sheffield Scenester

Photo taken from Myspace

The Exhibition are a four piece Barnsley band; who are releasing their EP in anticipation of their upcoming debut single, which is to be released later in 2010.

The EP opens in a true epic style with the song ‘The Boy And The Tearaway’, this is a track which deserves a live audience and wouldn’t sound out of place in any arena. With its strong build through to a hypnotic yet rousing choral chant, it leaves you gasping for more. The other three tracks on the disc are of a more traditional indie sound which in no way demeans their quality, as there is still a sharply executed edge to the sound – at times showing influences of Julien Temple. All upbeat and heavily catchy bass riffs and drums exploding behind a skuzzy guitar, my favourite track by far is ‘Things That Hide In The Dark’ – what seems like a tribute to the abyss of eternal loneliness backed by an upbeat rhythm (it’s not as depressing as it sounds!!). 'Bright New Worlds' gives the EP a more poppy feel and 'Reaction' really brings the EP to an amazing conclusion.

If their live performances are as inspired and energetic as this EP then I’m first in line for tickets, unfortunately they have nothing lined up in Sheffield as yet...not until some time in April anyway.

“It's executed brilliantly, and sounds natural rather than forced, and what's more - and this is the real clincher - the vocals are slightly low in the mix amidst a swirling maelstrom of shoegaze guitars and truly mammoth drums, propelled by some frenetic fills." 9/10
Whisperin And Hollerin

"As pure a piece of indie powered-pop as you could wish to hear" 4/5
The Beat Surrender

“There are many moments of great invention - guitars weave in and out of each other beautifully”
Tasty Fanzine

“The Exhibition have a talent for writing riffs to lighten up dark lyrics, it works well and their edgier rockier pop sound gives them something just a little different”
Sheffield Music Scene

"The instrumention throughout is uniformly great as are the quality of the vocals... anthemically catchy"
Beer And Bands

From the outset, this South Yorkshire band makes no attempt at hiding their Manchurian influences. Starting with the song ‘Times The Key’, from its opening chords and progressively built introduction you know this is a genuine contender for the alternative indie crown. You feel slowly drawn in to its hallucinogenic guitar sliding grind backing up the rousing vocals of singer Tom Statham. Reminiscent of ‘Helter Skelter’ as covered by Siouxsee And The Banshees you’ll find this rhythm sticks in your head after one play only!! ‘Atmosphere For Violence’ has a slightly heavier influenced intro before spiralling into a traditional indie rock tune, but this soon gives way to Tom’s Madchester vocal musings, despite a break for an accomplished guitar solo. With ‘I Can Take You There’ we are taken back to a more psychedelic era, in the style of early Deep Purple before being brought back to the 21st century via the slap in the face of ‘Shotgun Town’ – a song that seems dedicated to modern day survival in the urban hell we call metropolis.

Without doubt a force to be reckoned with in the future, they can be seen supporting The Harringtons at the O2 Academy, Sheffield on February 19th. I’ve listened to this EP a few times now and am totally hooked on their sound, if their live performance is half as good as their sound then put it in your diary marked ‘must do!’
(listen to the example track on the player!)

Photos taken from Myspace

From the outset the opening track, ‘The Beat generation’, for this Wakefield based group sounds more like a tribal beat rather than the punked up folk they claim to cherish so dearly but give it a chance. The bass kicks in quickly followed by the quirky up beat tempo of guitar before revealing Ran-Tan Sean’s vocals, sounding a lot like Pete Shelley of 70’s punk group Buzzcocks fame. With a song addressing the miserable existence of today’s youth and their capacity for dreaming of a better life you’d think it was a fairly depressing subject but the number itself is more beat driven then the average folk song, making it quite danceable.

In complete contrast track two ‘Tripartite Crossfire’ starts with the line “the rust on the razor that threatens the throat” leaving you in no doubt that you could be in for a rough ride. Blatantly showing their punk roots this time round with a song that pretty much screams disgust at the powers that be, it’s still very palatable on the same level that The Smiths held a tuneful torch to many of Morrissey’s cutting lyrics.

Finally sounding a lot like Billy Bragg we have ‘England Isn’t Mine’ without doubt my favourite track (hear it on the player above), with its bouncy shrill guitar amidst a steady thumping drum and bass; it’s obvious that Ran-Tan Waltz are a band with something serious to say and these three tracks only go to reinforce that opinion. Written intelligently, spiked with anger and disdain at modern society and backed by catchy punk riffs, this group are a voice that needs to be heard – this being the case they are in fact playing at The Plug in Sheffield on Thursday 18th Feb.