Album Review: Little Comets - Life Is Elsewhere

Album Rating: B

It'd be interesting to know how Little Comets feel about their current situation. Now reasonably respected with a nationwide UK following, the Newcastle-based trio have nevertheless experienced their fair share of setbacks - an ill-fated stint on Columbia Records being chief among them. Upon signing the contract in 2008, their young imaginations must have been rife with promises of sales and exposure, so the fact the major label severed ties before they'd even got around to releasing a record must have come as a brutal kick in the nads. In the words of singer Rob Coles, they "just didn't sound enough like Ke$ha," but while the episode left a sour taste there was silver a silver lining in that it left the group with a measure of self-control they were otherwise deprived of.

Album Review: Little Comets - Worry EP

EP Rating: B-

Many a band will purport to have had a whirlwind year, but Little Comets can lay down a stronger case than most. The Newcastle-based indie-pop troupe have endured many of the highs and lows that life in the music industry can bring, having been dropped by major label Columbia, unveiled a marvellous debut album and lost their drummer all in the space of the past twelve months. It's a culmination of events which would prove the unraveling of many, but this quartet-turned-trio have displayed the inner mettle to overcome the setbacks. With temporary replacements on the stool, they've continued to excel in the live arena - with their summer festival slots in particular going down a storm - but perhaps more importantly they're also continuing to flourish in the recording studio, something that this EP of new material goes some way towards proving.

Live Review: Little Comets, Northumbria University, 10/12/2011

It's a sad fact of life that no matter how great the band on stage is, a bad crowd always has the potential to spoil a show - something Little Comets found out at Northumbria University last Saturday. This should have been a great occasion, the homecoming of an excellent local act after a whirlwind twelve months, but sadly - inexplicably - it was almost completely ruined by a minority of those in attendance who completely killed the celebratory atmosphere before it even had the chance to rear it's head.

Live Review: Leeds Festival 2011, Part 1 of 3

Reading may receive all the plaudits for being one of the UK’s premier music festivals, but it’s younger sibling Leeds is developing just as fine a reputation, if not more so. The two share identical lineups, and although all the media coverage comes from the south, Leeds has it’s own benefits including a better site and generally more active crowds. Since it’s inception in 1999, the festival has attracted some of music’s biggest names, and this year provided yet another stellar lineup, with a range of established faces alongside fresh acts looking to follow in their footsteps. It all promised for another fabulous weekend of music fit to round off anyones summer.


FRIDAY (26/08/2011)

Of course, it wouldn’t be a British summer without torrential rain, and right on cue the heavens opened as the first day commenced. This duly turned the entire site into a quagmire and caused most punters to head to the tents for shelter. No one seemed to choose the Lock Up Stage, though, where we got our festival off to a low-key start by watching up-and-coming punk band Fighting Fiction along with about 50 others. The Brighton quartet overcame the lack of an audience, though, to deliver a solid set of impassioned punk anthems which by and large went down well. Their debut album is out next month, and if the bulk of it can match up to the singles 'Rock And Roll Is Dead And It's Corpse Is For Sale' and 'We Will Not Forget,' then they could go far.