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Singles Club - Shotgun Sunday/Rebellious Blonde/Minimal Skin/I Fell Over

Exeter Cavern - 15/6/04

More new bands battle it out.

When I see a band comprised mainly of people who look too young to be in the venue I always get a sinking feeling, because usually they are cheap and inept Blink 182 rip offs. Resonate disproved this theory to me a while back. The guitarist from Salt In Open Wounds impressed me similarly. Now I can add Shotgun Sunday to my list, because they were very impressive. They play hard, slightly grungey rock with almost Deftones style song dynamics lending it a slightly emo edge. The vocals range from very good singing to a mildly under par growl. All the musicians are technically very able and the show they put on is engaging and energetic. Not quite the finished product yet but they show potential to be very good indeed. Ones to watch out for.
7 out of 10



This was Rebellious Blonde's first gig and it didn't half show. I really don't want to be cruel, especially not to a knew band, but far more practice is needed if they are to be anything near worth watching. The music was lacklustre rock at it's best. I only use the word "best" because I'm referring to the one song they were actually both in tune and in time with each other. The vocals weren't bad, but they weren't good either, the same coud be said for the musicianship itself, which was peppered with mistakes and there was nothing on stage that really made you want to keep watching, especially when there was so much time wasted in between songs too. Part of the problem may have been in playing their first gig to a rather busy Cavern, causing a lot of nerves I'd imagine. Sorry, there's nothing to say that Rebellious Blonde couldn't be a good band in the future, but right now there's nothing to say they could be either.
3 out of 10




Minimal Skin were on next and I was pleasantly surprised. I'm not a big fan of metal music any more, and never was of having sweet vocals over heavy music, but I still enjoyed it. The music was in the new school of metal (not nu-metal, just not old metal) and the singing was very good, though the show was a little static for my liking.There was very little to complain about even if it wasn't entirely my thing, and if it is your thing you could be very, very impressed. They're certainly one of the best local metal bands you're going to find out there, and when it's so hard to escape from all the pop punk bands around at times it's refreshing to have something like this available.
7 out of 10




I rather enjoyed I Fell Over, but this was largely due to having finished my fourth glass of wine. I'm sorry, that's unfair, they were good, very good in fact, at what they do, which is play a very radio friendly, Lostprophets-esque kind of music. The vocals were spot on, the music was fast, catchy and fun, the image was perfect for that kind of music, I really believe that with the right management and a change of name (let's face it, it's hard to see anyone announcing I Fell Over coming up next on Top of the Pops) they could be huge. An exciting on stage band who play they're music very well and got a good audience response. Not my thing entirely but it is for a lot of people. Worth checking out, and worth keeping an eye on.
7 out of 10