Soundcloud is a wonderful place. You jump from band to song to producer and there’s still more to go! You sit there feeling like a true A&R scout and quickly realise the glossy idea of what that role is dissolves. 99.9% of what they find ‘needs work’…but when you do find something that’s great you really do want to be a part of the story. That’s exactly what I felt with London based band Cheap Meat. It doesn’t matter how many times people proclaim rock is dead, it only takes someone a few hours at a festival like 2000 Trees in Gloucestershire to see that bands such as this still have a very clearly defined place in modern playlists. Classic influences are aplenty and you could waste a whole article comparing their sound to a bunch of 90s and 00s legends but at the end of the day these are an exciting fresh band that stand proudly up there with Vant, FIDLAR and Moose Blood as tomorrow’s festival headliners.
They channel the brilliance of punk pop, alt. rock and grunge into a modern mix, with throwbacks to Weezer, and Jimmy Eat World whilst easily straddling the worlds of Kerrang, Rock Sound and NME with no trouble at all. “Sweetness, Take Me Back” is definitely the anthem if you need one to latch into, with power chords, catchy chorus lyrics to get stuck into and a supercharged riff to launch into a mosh pit with if you ever needed one. “The Distance Between You And Me” is much more of an American lazy drive tune with some great air guitar opportunities and a solo that will definitely inspire teenagers playing guitar in their room to practice more and emulate these brooding rock stars.
Their debut EP The Parts That Show was released earlier this year and is one of the best ‘samplers’ of a newer act that I can recommend for 2016 thus far. It’s a bit scary that if this is the beginning then the full potential of this trio is just bubbling up and it’s prime time to get on board with the journey. Having seen them headline the House Of Savages gig earlier this year, play to a festival crowd at 2000 Trees and followed their tweets and Facebook as they’ve toured around the UK and Europe I can vouch that this proper stadium sound you hear in production definitely translates live. For those attending Fort Fest in Bedford pop these guys on your clashfinder, and keep up with them on socials as a full UK tour for autumn is on the cards!