Featured Local Bands — Fuzz Guitars

“Apparatus of Sleep sound like 65daysofstatic and Explosions In The Sky in an arm wrestling competition, whilst Sigur Ros referees. It’s astounding that a trio can straddle such a huge sound that encompasses shoegaze, electronica and post-rock.” – Notts About Dance

“Spectacularly melodramatic instrumental stoner rock, Apparatus of Sleep put loud, distorted guitars over a backing track of eerie piano and reverberous xylophone. Melodramatic can sometimes also mean ambitious, and it’s nice to see a band aim so firmly for the stratosphere, like Red Sparowes always did. They gain self-awareness points too, because the guitarist is wearing a thoroughly non-pretentious Spiderman shirt.” – killtheoutlaws.com

“Nottingham’s Apparatus of Sleep are an absolute juggernaut of distortion, keen on outright aural assault from the get-go with Ecco’s Family and the Big Spaceship. The drums and chords are almost relentless, drawing from the same well as 65daysofstatic but bashing the individual elements into a massive sound that they can call their own. Their consistent brutality and heaviness sets them apart from many post-rock bands, with their weapons of choice being more along the lines of sludge and doom. The quieter moments of this particular set were rare but haunting, with Wire Birds allowing our collective eardrums to bask in harmonics and reverb, albeit for a fleeting few moments, before punishing the atmosphere one more time with Buried At Sea.” – Ant Whitton – Leftlion

“The night, at least for us, ends with the brutal reverb of Apparatus of Sleep, whose arresting IDM/shoegaze fusion and reverb-heavy sound veers from a laptop-wielding My Bloody Valentine to a dub Fields, via Broken Social Scene and Glasvegas. Their set consists of them knocking seven shades out of the main room while somewhere precariously balancing saccharine acoustics on top, and concludes with singer Stoney launching oranges at his stood-up, overdriven guitar from the other end of the room. It’s a fitting end to a varied and exciting evening.” – This City Magazine

You can listen to tracks from Apparatus Of Sleep’s soon to be released EP and see a list of upcoming shows if you type APPARATUS OF SLEEP into Facebook.

Rescued By Wolves outshine all others with their shimmering, viscera-fuelled anthemics. Aptly named, their sound is a hypnotic shoe-gazey haze carried along in the teeth of something quite fierce. With Chief Bromden from ‘One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest’ on bass, their performance is a successful balancing act between hard grunge vigour and post-punk restraint. With a growl akin to Vex Red matched with …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead’s ear for stoner-rock melodies, Rescued By Wolves are howling at the moon with their eyes on the prize. After Amusement Parks On Fire sweeping the airwaves with Swimming soon to follow, I daresay that after a bit more time at the drawing board Rescued By Wolves will stand tall amongst the pack of Nottingham’s alt-finest. – Leftlion.co.uk

“An awesomely fresh guitar band from Notts. Their music is a deranged mix of pop’s hooks and noise rock’s instability played as loud as possible.” – Maze

“Rescued By Wolves is not just a group of young people full of good influences but devoid of any ideas. Post-Punk after a after a short detour to the American scene of the 80′s and 90′s, Specially aggressive” – Danslemurduson.com

“Rescued By Wolves are a gutsier and heavier creation born out of another Nottingham band Apparatus of Sleep. After putting their name around the city through the live rock circuit, they have bought out four track EP Observe, Dilute, Replicate to showcase what they describe as ‘melodic, raw and chaotic music’. Influenced by the likes of Sonic Youth and Jesus and Mary Chain, but with the rawness of And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, they encapsulate the post-punk sound in energetic form. The vocals are honest and calming which is the perfect match to the frenzy of noise rock melodies. The four tracks are We’ve Been Sold, Pretending to be Ghosts, Mirror Mirror and Heal or Hurt. Together they show the different moods and tones in the band. If you can’t sense for yourself their hardcore passion in the songs, then just look at the title on the EP cover is written in vocalist Loz Stone’s own blood.” – Kristi Genovese (Leftlion Magazine)

I recently came into possession of an EP recorded by a new outfit from Nottingham named Rescued by Wolves. If you haven’t already heard of this band, you will be hearing a lot more from them in the very near future. This CD (entitled observe, dilute, replicate) is a perfect demonstration that the underground of British rock music is alive and well. As opposed to incorporating electronic elements, synthesisers and pitch corrected vocals, Rescued by Wolves have created a truly great EP, sticking to the fundamentals of what a great rock recording should contain. The band spawned out of another Nottingham act “Apparatus of sleep”. In comparison to its predecessor, this group have definitely taken a gigantic step towards achieving a very unique, gratified and intriguing sound. It’s difficult to define this EP into one particular genre, influences of post hardcore, punk, metal, rock and pop are all noticeable. Although the music is driven by the duel guitars, the bass and drums keep this record going like clockwork, its extremely tight, and producer Johnny Carter has done an excellent job of capturing the energy of this band. Lyrically, Loz has written from an empathetic standpoint giving each song an honest and genuine meaning, the four tracks on this recording are all very reputable and beautifully insightful, all having their own identity – no track fillers here. Observe, dilute, replicate certainly deserves 12 minutes of your time; it’s raw, authentic and has an aroma of distinctiveness about it but at the same time sounds appropriately familiar. Who ever claimed that guitar orientated music was on its way out is full of shit, this band have the capability to move forward with their heads held high and really make a name for themselves. When you get the opportunity, make sure you give this one a listen; oh, and I forgot to mention, you can download it for free from their MySpace page. -Luke (onlyfoolsandnoises magazine)

“The second best live band in West Bridgford!” – Laurence Stone