Tilt 360 - Point Blank

N: Hailing all the way from Ohio, which seems a mighty long way as I sit here in the East Midlands and from the outset, I think we've found that "X-Factor", namely passion. Described as "energetic-metal-funk-ass-kicking-rock", I'll be honest and admit that 'Tilt 360' might not be on my usual playlist and I can't even pitch them alongside band's like 'Alice In Chains', 'Sound Garden' et al who might, this band are rough, ready and most of all honest - maybe veering of course when they break the whole thing down and try "sensitive", but overall remaining true to themselves and kick-ass.

T: Yeah that about sums it up I reckon. This music appeals to me as much as poo pudding but they certainly have gonads the size of spacerockets and in their genre they deserve to be huge. 7/10

website - myspace

Polydream - Rigid Shard Of Balance:1

N: Love the name, love the packaging, not quite so gushing when it comes to the understated music. Yeah ok, very good staging, timing and a polished feel, but it's just that, it's too polished, the band have come to us as a finished product, no slightly tarnished bodywork. I'd like to hear them warts and all, before I take them seriously.

T: I'm just popping to the shop. Now, I know we're short on Lemsips and I could do with another loaf of bread or two, but I think we're ok for milk. If there's anything you want, I can pick it up for you if you like.

N: So, exactly what I said then. 3/10

website - myspace

Armstrong - Re:iNVENT The Scene

T: I thought we'd already reviewed Fall Out Boy...

N: Kicking off with the most pretentious, epic introduction, can the band sustain the pace they've set for themselves?

T: To be fair, although to your ears - and mine, for that matter - this is an absolute pile of shite, you have to be honest and say that's just because this kind of thing ain't really our bag. If we're assessing their merits in the field of music they've chosen to play, they're a damn good prospect. 6/10

website - myspace

Lecain - Suffocate Me

T: I think this guy's making far too much effort to slur his words - perhaps hoping to sound like Morrissey. He doesn't. He sounds like a drunk has walked in off the street and grabbed the microphone. Musically adept, but rather aimless.

N: The whole thing's a slurred mass of chords, bass and vocals. Ummm, handed in the homework, but could do better, great cover though. 5/10

website - myspace

rent - ps

T: WAY too clean for my liking, and perhaps a little too geared towards an adult audience. Having said that, it does get better. I thought initially it sounded like The Beautiful South and that it was going to be rather lacklustre, but it actually goes off on a different tangent which makes the whole thing more palatable, and the piano toward the end is rather grandiose and appealing, but I'm not bowled over, to be honest.

N: A single that came to us with dark, slightly seedy undertones [a feather and a card, a la certain phone boxes] or maybe that was just my mind adding one and one and making three! Certainly a single with theatricasl overtones, but as Tone has suggested, maybe not quite enough.

T: Nice feather though. 6/10

website - myspace