iForward Russia! - 'Give Me A Wall' (Dance To The Radio) Released 15/05/06

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iForward Russia! don’t make nice music. Nobody will listen to ‘Give Me A Wall’ whilst they try to get to sleep and it seems almost certain that a couple will never choose the band to soundtrack their first dance as a married couple. The term ‘Disco Metal’ has been banded about as a way of describing iForward Russia! As vague as that moniker is it goes somewhere towards describing the cacophony of noise this Leeds based band produce.

The album kicks off with a trippy, intergalactic keyboard intro which gives way for the raucous ‘Thirteen’. Tom Whiteheads unique vocals, rabid dog one minute, twisted angel the next, are instantly striking. The track develops into a  ferocious stomper and sets the pace for the rest of ‘Give Me A Wall’. ‘Fifteen Part 1’ is monumentally ferocious, literally a million times louder than anything you will hear this year. Katie Nicholls may look angelic but her drumming is as far removed from Meg Whites simple beats as possible. She provides the ample background for Whiskas riffs and licks to pound the listener into submission. ‘Nine’ is perhaps the bands most accessible song yet still remaining as visceral as anything on the LP. Starting with a deep bass line and developing into a Bloc Party meets At The Drive In disco metal masterpiece.

‘Give Me A Wall is not quite perfect though. As a live band iForward Russia! demand attention, grabbing audience by the throat and attacking them with their aural prowess. On record though some tracks grate with the bands pure white noise climbing to ear bleeding levels. Tracks such as ‘Nineteen’ and ‘Seventeen’ could well have the listener reaching for the skip button. This should not however detract from what is a ground breaking and superb album. Released through guitarist Whiskas own label ‘Give Me A Wall’ is an independent success story, showing that bands don’t have to kiss corporate arse to make it. ‘Disco Metal’ maybe the general term used to describe them but we think Tom Whitehead sums it up best in ‘Fifteen Part 1’ when he barks “ and it came, and it blew out my fucking brains”. Couldn’t have said it better ourselves.