It's been a busy time for the pop punk trio from Caerphilly. Fresh off the back of a hugely successful 2011 they hit the studio to record some new material and start planning for 2012. Through those studio sessions at Music Wales they managed to get their debut release, 'Turn It Up' into Tesco stores at various locations around South Wales! The mini-album as they call it was released officially this week and it fell in nicely with a couple of gigs they were due to play this weekend.
I've know these lads for about 10 years, and their love of all things 'OTM' is still just as apparent today as when I first met them and it's hard to believe that this weekend would bring not only a physical album release but their first headline show at Buffalo bar on Sunday May 6th with support from Dare You To Move (formerly High Demand) and Story To Be Told, both of whom are up and coming bands on the pop punk scene.
Kicking the night off, Story To Be Told a young 4 piece who play up tempo pop/punk. New Found Glory are an obvious influence on these guy's, the vocalist's style is very similar yet lacking slightly in confidence however very enjoyable and as these guy's get more comfortable they will be a force to be reckoned with! I would like to hear the vocalist 'belt it out' a bit more but that's my personal view, (please take it the way it's meant to be taken lads!)
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| Story To Be Told |
These guy's are a tight unit with an arsenal of catchy riffs and tracks full of vocal hooks worthy of the greatest purveyors of the Pop Punk genre! The boy's blasted through a variety of their own tracks and even threw in a cover of Bowling For Soups' track '1985'. Overall an immensely enjoyable set that you didn't have to think too hard about trying to understand (Perfect for me!) As their bassist said to me when I asked what they want to achieve as a band "Top Punk", enough said I think.
Story To Be Told will be live in The Vault at BRfm on June 20th and I'll be presenting so make sure you listen to or watch that one on the live TV stream. www.brfm.tv
Next up came Dare You To Move, I saw these guy's live last year as part of Surface Festival where they went under the name High Demand, having only very recently opted for a name change. All I can say is this band has come a long way since that show! Tight is not the word, it's like these boys can read each others mind, and the huge sound that, that creates will blow you away.
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| Dare You To Move |
Playing a selection of their own tracks including 'Don't Look Down' a track I've played a number of times over the last few shows, throwing in covers including Feeders', 'Buck Rogers' and 'My Hero' by The foo Fighters they too gave a high energy show. Their tracks translated exceptionally well from recordings to live performance, and they really are not far from perfecting what is already a very polished live performance. Edgy riffs, perfect timing and the sense that the lads on stage are enjoying playing the show as much as the crowd were listening to them left me very impressed and they're definitely a band I would go and see live time after time. Ending their set with their last single 'Take Off Your Disguise" the boys left the stage to a very warm an appreciative crowd, I'm sure they gained a few more fans there tonight!
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| OTM - Bassist - Chris Vater |
Last but by no means least were the headliners/organisers One Track Mind. Despite the gig running exceptionally smoothly, the sound engineer doing a cracking a job and the two support acts really bringing their 'A game' I think this was the most stressed I've ever seen Bassist Chris Vater. If you know him you'll know that he is one the most laid back people on the planet, but tonight I saw a different side to him, an organised side and that's not something I ever thought I would say. Every aspect of the show planned with meticulous detail which meant the whole gig was a resounding success, the bands sounded great, there was a good crowd and more importantly all the timings ran with military precision!
It was time for OTM to take the stage and do what they do best..Punk with the tiniest hint of pop! If you were to ask me who OTM sound like I would have to say it's a cross between Alkaline Trio both in the guitar and vocal tone with bits of Reel Big Fish Ska thrown in for good measure. They kick off with one of my personal favourite tracks of theirs '15 Minutes Of Fame' and as soon as it kicks in you can tell there's something different about the OTM lads tonight, something I've never really seen from them before, confidence and man did make a huge difference to their live show. They managed to take the gig up about 5 notches and I don't know how as the support acts were both awesome on the night. Karl was singing and playing guitar with almost a new sense of freedom, Rhys was as energetic as ever behind the kit and Vater played some of the best bass solos I've heard in a long time!
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| OTM - Guitar & Vocals - Karl Apsey |
The just over an hour long set seemed to fly by, as they blasted out track after track and created a huge sound, with a texture and depth that you very really get from a 3 piece band. The crowd got involved and everyone seemed to have an awesome time, especially during the trio of Ska songs in the middle of the set including 'The Bong Song', a new track which I didn't catch the name of and a cover of 'Billionaire' by Travie McCoy.
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| OTM - Drums - Rhys Morgan |
OTM ended the set with the title track to their debut release 'Turn It Up' and in true pop punk fashion got the megaphone out which got the crowd chanting along with them but as the track finished the audience weren't quite ready for the show for to be over yet so the boys broke out yet another new song, which yet again I failed to catch the name of and it went down a storm.
Overall the show was a huge success, bands and fans alike enjoyed themselves, it was one of the best shows I've been to for a while and although 'Turn it' up has only just hit stores, I can't wait for their sophomore release!
you can find the bands here:
There's also a photo gallery up on the galleries page so be sure to check it out.
Thanks for reading,
Craig.
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