Cougar Microbes

I do feel that a festival wouldn’t be a festival without these three things; A truly great live act, some nominal nudity and someone gravely (and most of the time deservedly) injuring themselves due to a moment of awe inspiring stupidity . We shall return to this nugget of festival wisdom in a bit.

Beach Break Live festival is nestled in a mass expanse of Welsh sand dune and pinewood forest, where thousands of students and idiotically fashionable, sexually charged young things pitch tents on the rolling hills, sleep the day through and get up underneath the stars to go crazy to reasonably priced booze and all night tuneage.

For those bothered enough to get up during the day, the beach was heaving with water sports and the fields busy with games, early chilled live acts and burlesque / pole dancing lessons. I was there for the music, however as a journalist I deemed it my duty to casually but insistently peek in the burlesque tent.

I’d been looking forward to seeing We Are Scientists for a couple of years and wasn’t disappointed to watch them blow away a strong afternoon crowd with hit after hit, with young Andy Burrows mullering the skins behind two of the stongest song writing teams around.

I hadn’t heard of Beardyman before, and naturally pictured an old man slithering to the stage in a cardie and massive beard, shitting us tales of woe. He was actually awesome. A sort of live producer and sampler, he beat boxes to synths, drum machines and other electronic paraphanalia, but not only this, he can sing; and well, morphing us in and out of his own tightly packed anthems and reworked covers such as MGMT‘s ‘Kids‘ and ATB‘s ‘Til I Come‘ (Even cooler than the XX‘s live version.)

The two musical highlights for me were from very different corners of the festival. The first was an eight piece folk band named Robbie Boyd Band, a truly charming and enthralling live act playing three times over the course of the five days in different forms. Front man Robbie Boyd is as talented as he is self-deprecating, hollering timeless The Birds and Everly Brothers-like tunes and pulling even the early hung over audience to their feet to participate his irresistible chorus’s.

Of course, the truly great live act I was banging on about at the start was a band I hadn’t even sniffed before this weekend. White Lies blew me and the already riled up crowd of mentals away. The punishing bass lines were as harsh as the beautifully haunting melodies. I’ll admit, I was probably slightly dazed at the time as some berk elbowed me in the back of the head and probably sent me into a slight state of euphoria but never the less this is one of the strongest headliners one could ask for even a slight concussion.

So I guess the injury sustained was my own, but the truly great live act was of course White Lies and I won’t bore you with the details, but the burlesque tent really was fantastic.

Cougar Microbes attended Beach Break Live 2011 as part of Lucozade‘s Play Festivals campaign. Make sure to check back as we join Lucozade in bringing you more events through the summer.

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Post by T.R. Wicks

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TRACKS:

Cougar Microbes has teamed up with Lucozade to bring you exciting coverage of some of the UK’s most interesting summer festivals.

We kick off proceedings this week with Beach Break Live which will feature performances by the likes of Professor Green, Tinnie Tempah, White Lies, We Are Scientists and Magnetic Man.

Keep your eyes peeled for the Lucozade Energy Exchange tent where the official energy drink provider to the festival will be drawing out festival goodies and handing out free bottles of Lucozade Energy to keep everyone looking and feeling fresh and…. energised.

Expect a full report and some crowd photos from our guys at the festival. For more information about our summer line up, as well as competitions and tickets check out the Lucozade Play Festivals website and FB page.

TRACKS:

At 21 Blind Pilots could already be considered veterans on the Irish scene having formed a long long five years ago.

Musically the 4-piece evoke the likes of Editors and White Lies. Whilst it is slightly akward when bands score that “big rock band sound” before actually having made it big these tracks wouldnt feel out of placer on a platinum selling album.

Keep an eye on them as they continue to build their atmospheric indie-pop sound.

TRACKS:

Blind Pilots – Rosé Cheeks

Blind Pilots – Cocktail

Ray Dar Vees only started out last summer and despite falling short of your standard four piece line-up their sound is bigger and more anthemic than you’d first expect. The youthful South London trio create melodic rock pop which attempts the same anticipation and build up that Arcade Fire are capable have shown over the years.

Debut single ‘Heart Attack‘, showcases the bands strong song writing skills as swirling tones are driven through with strong percussion to meet a very catchy chorus. More haunting than heartbroken there’s almost an Ian McCulloch quality to the vocal delivery. ‘One Day‘, another stand out track, cashes in on the formulaic pattern of a humble ambient start building to a wailing end. Some 80′s inspired guitar solos break up the track before you get lost in the reverb-echo vocals and wizardry production. In a nutshell, it is White Lies meets Coldplay; still dark and earthy but very pop accessible.

It’s an impressive start for the band and with such a comprehensive and full sound they are ripe for radio and set to infect airwaves.

Ray Dar Vees is out now on Pure Groove and Seven Sevens Recording

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Post by the insurmountable Ruby

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TRACKS:

Ray Dar Vees – Heart Attack