Reviews
WOMEN GETTING BACK ON TOP
It's official: the female-fronted band is back on top.Years ago it was Blondie, X-Ray Spex and more recently we've had The Distillers, The Yeah Yeah Yeah's and Beth Ditto's Gossip.
Now Derbyshire has followed suit with a modern take on an old-skool American theme through Matlock's Amplifires.
Feeding on a great trans-Atlantic sound that's been chewed up and spat out, they incorporate belting female vocals backed by ripsaw guitar and beats from red-neck louts.
Kicking off the EP with three covers, including a classic Route 66 and a good stab at The Ramones' Pet Sematary, The Amplifires give you a taste of what can be expected from their own tracks.
The Johnny B Goode riding rhythm of Story Song carries you through and holds you tight in typical rock 'n' roll style.
Windspun Day and Wired are similar in tune and could easily be confused, but are set by Sharon Clancy's virtuoso vocals.
Adding in some rough riding solos to break up the rhythm guitar, The Amplifires add plenty of flavour to the tracks.
Unfortunately that buzz-saw sound can prove a bit too much at times, as it tends to drown out any other sound that is trying to make itself heard.
Mellowing down to a Lou Reed spin-off riff, Midnight Radio compliments the vocal stylings of Ms Clancy, who replicates the unusual voice of Latino pop-icon Shakira.
A true romance for rock 'n' rollers, Midnight Radio adds a touch of calm after the bar-room brawls of previous raucous tracks.
Final song Birth, School, Work, Death rounds off the boot-stompin', partner swingin' EP in a funky fashion, proving The Amplifires are not afraid to round-up some different styles to add to their Americana .
The CD is available from gigs, through MySpace or The Amplifires own website, www.amplifires.co.uk
AKIRA PAUK DERBYSHIRE TIMES THURSDAY, APRIL 12, 2007
The Boat, Scarthin, Cromford
22nd July 2006:Short on middle eights and long on vicious incisive licks is one way of describing The Amplifires approach to music. Talking to them afterwards it is clear to see how earlier stints in punk bands have shaped Steve and David's approach to playing. But punk isn't what this band do; OK, Blondie, Pixies, Weezer and Ramones songs appear in their set but so does 'Route 66', 'All Along the Watchtower', 'Tainted Love' as well as Goldfrapp and even a Jethro Tull song! The Amplifires are refreshing, they don't play the usual dull covers set fodder, definitely don't play 'All Right Now' but do play a cleverly balanced, eclectic and energetic set. Equally clever is the line-up. It can't be easy for a woman to sing songs associated with male performers but Sharon Clancy pulled it off with aplomb with a great sonic backdrop provided by Ruth on drums, David on bass and Steve 'the gunslinger' on guitar.
Support from Seratonin complemented the power and the fury of The Amplifires. Nick and Oli are two young guys from Wirksworth whose acoustic arrangements of heavy rock songs by the likes of Soundgarden and Metallica deserve to be heard.
A great night out!
(Matlock Mercury)
The Red Lion, Wirksworth
Thursday 19th October:The Amplifires hit the stage at The Red Lion playing an energetic mix of Punk, Rock and Blues to an enthusiastic crowd. Over the next two hours they played a fantastic set of covers and few of their own original songs thrown in for good measure.
They are a four-piece whose members are from Mansfield, Bonsall, Cromford and Matlock. All the musicians have got a lot of experience playing in many different bands over the years before finally getting together a couple of years ago. This collective experience is clearly evident when they play live together. Stand out songs were House Of The Rising Sun, Call Me and Birth School Work Death. Towards the end of the gig there were two cleverly executed medleys :- Peter Gunn into Shakin' All Over and Rebel Yell into Sympathy For The Devil.
The set was closed with a great original called Wired which was swiftly followed by a superb cover of The Sensational Alex Harvey Band's Swampsnake. The night was over all too quickly. One of the things that really stood out with these musicians is that they don't mess around, no sooner is one song dying then it's straight into the next number. The Amplifires choice of covers is interesting and fresh as they tend to pick slightly less well known songs by well known bands, this philosophy adds to the power of their gigs and makes for a refreshing change. These guys are well worth checking out and no doubt will soon be playing a venue near you.