Finch have confirmed that Fort Hope and Only Rivals will support them on their upcoming UK tour. Tickets are priced at £17.50 regionally and £20 in London and go on sale today.

MAY
27 GLASGOW Garage
28 NEWCASTLE University
29 MANCHESTER Academy II
31 NORWICH Waterfront

JUNE
01 BRIGHTON Concorde II
02 LONDON Koko
03 BRISTOL Marble Factory

Tickets available from www.seetickets.com

Post-hardcore favourites Finch may have kept us waiting nine years for a follow up to 2005’s ‘Say Hello To Sunshine’ but September finally saw the release of the eagerly awaited ‘Back To Oblivion’ on Spinefarm Records. And just in case you haven’t already got hold of a copy, you can now stream it in its entirety via Spinefarm Records’ Soundcloud page.

For many fans Finch peaked over a decade ago now, their seminal album ‘What It Is To Burn’ still cited as a favourite. 2005’s ‘Say Hello To Sunshine’ was far less accessible though and the momentum slowed, leading to the band announcing their hiatus in 2006. Yet time is a great healer and there’s definitely an appetite for the Californian band in the UK again, their recent headline set at Brixton Academy testament to that. Sandwiched between label commitments and a headline slot at Hevy Festival the band play the ridiculously small Underworld in Camden and we are fortunate enough to head down there.

As chants of ‘Finch! Finch! Finch!’ ring out from the keen crowd the lights dim and the band launch straight into ‘New Beginnings’ and then quickly jump into ‘Letters To You’. It’s a huge opening combo and one which quickly re-assures those who questioned whether the set would be largely new material. In fact it ends up being the equivalent of a greatest hit set as the band mix ‘What It Is To Burn’ tracks such as ‘Grey Matter’ and ‘Perfection Through Silence’ fluidly with some of the more appealing ‘Say Hello’ tracks. The band are tight, energetic, and absolutely dripping in sweat by the time they rip through new track ‘Two Guns To The Temple’. It’s still a far cry from the instant hooks of their debut album but the majority of the crowd lap it up.

The pre-encore set finishes with ‘Ender’, a track that definitely deserves a larger audience than it’s being broadcast to. It’s as enthralling as ever and plays out with guitarist Randy, an interesting character to watch it must be said, creating a wall of effects on his gear. It’s a touch too long in truth but he seemed to be enjoying it. After a short break, whilst more chants of ‘Finch! Finch! Finch’ ring out, the band head back for ‘Worms of the earth’, the underrated ‘Bitemarks and bloodstains’ and crowd favourite ‘What It Is To Burn’. It signals the end of an incredible set from the band and a real statement of intent from them.

They’ll ultimately be judged on the quality of ‘Back To Oblivion’, released this September, but this whets the appetite nicely.

12 more acts have been announced for this year’s Hevy Fest, including the first headliner Finch who will top the main-stage on the Friday. It’ll be their first UK performance since reforming for their ‘What It Is To Burn’ 10 anniversary album shows. Winners of the Atticus band competition are also unveiled as Terraform and Let’s Talk Daggers.

Other notable additions are UK exclusives for Canada’s Structures and Norwegian titans Kvelertak. Refused’s Dennis Lyxzén will be bring his post-punk outfit INVSN to festival weekend also.

Ticket’s are still available at their Tier 1 price of £59, which includes entry to the Port Lympne Wild Animal Park across the weekend. Once these sell out the next batch of tickets will go out under the Tier 2 price of £69, followed by Tier 3 at £79.

The full list of additions from this evening’s announcement is below, along with the poster showing the entire lineup as it currently stands.

Finch (UK Exclusive) (Headliner)
Kvelertak (UK Exclusive)
Structures (UK Exclusive)
INVSN
Pay No Respect
TRC
Worthwhile
Dead Harts
Show Your Teeth
Counting Days
Terraform (Atticus band comp winners)
Lets Talk Daggers (Atticus band comp winners)

www.hevyfest.com

facebook.com/hevyfest

Finch’s second album, 2005’s ‘Say Hello To Sunshine’, is getting re-released on yellow and blue vinyl via ShopRadioCast. The yellow edition is limited to 500 copies and the blue to 1000 – both beautiful 180g vinyl and both as a double vinyl piece. Get all the details over and pre-order links at http://www.shopradiocast.com/products/Finch-%252d-Say-Hello-To-Sunshine-2XLP.html

Shortly before sitting down to pen this review, an entry on Twitter jumped off the computer screen: “Bands split up. Not many people care. Bands reform. Everyone cares. Shows sell out. Band gets rich. The end.” (Courtesy of @LJBarham)

Reformation is a strong word. Finch have not reformed; they are not set to release a heap of new material, eventually pushing to reclaim the popularity they once knew. For this to happen the band would have to have initially held some high level of popularity – considering their final UK show took place at the now derelict Mean Fiddler it is easy to argue they did not.

On a similar note, the band would have to want a comeback. The lack of new material or press appearances and the comparably short tour suggest otherwise. The cynical side begins to question the motives – it is too easy to jump back to that Twitter quote that so unassumingly passed by; is tonight all about the money?

Prior to this question being answered, Mallory Knox enjoy their biggest break to date. Standing on stage at the packed out Brixton Academy, they play through a number of tracks from their recent debut album. There is little interaction between the stage and the audience, reflected in the minimal reaction from the onlookers. The band are set to one day headline this venue, but for now they are overpowered by the monumental scale of the space and indeed the unrelenting attitude of the audience. Tonight is about Finch – nobody else.

With this notion embedded in the atmosphere, it is the audience who provide the energy as emo-heroes Finch take to the stage. From the outset, Nate Barcalow wears his ambivalence on his sleeve. Although the roaring crowd karaoke cannot help but encourage the odd smile, the majority of the gig sees the band go through the motions. It is clearly a struggle as Nate grimaces before the opening notes of fan-favourite ‘Letters To You’; a track the band have openly condemned since its release.

Interaction with the crowd is strained at best. The “highlight” presents itself when the band members choose to mock Cher’s distinctive tones on club-classic (and wedding playlist stalwart) ‘Believe’. It may only last five seconds, but it’s enough to show the band’s disinterest in their surroundings. Each band members remains rooted firmly to the spot for the remainder of the show, as the frontman spends a disproportionate amount of time with his back to the audience.

Even throwing in ‘New Kid’ and ‘Waiting’ from their debut EP does little to enthuse the band. Only ‘Worms of the Earth’ and the album title track see them pull together into a coherent ensemble – noticeably the two songs that lean closest to the likes of ‘Say Hello To Sunshine’ and their most recent self-titled EP.

Every ounce of energy that generates the atmosphere in Brixton tonight is provided by the audience. If anything tonight shows that ‘What It Is To Burn’ has grown since the band’s demise into something far more revered by the fans than by the band. Since their return Finch have played bigger shows than they ever did the first time around, and now they can seemingly reap the rewards with minimal effort. Frustratingly, Twitter has never been more accurate.

BEN TIPPLE

In the news this week was the demise of futures, who called it a day after giving it their best following a major label departure earlier in the year. Finch upgraded their London show to Brixton, and cool shows from Rolo Tomassi, Chuck Ragan and Pure Love made it a good week for gig news! New music from The Casket Lottery and Blitz Kids kept up on our toes. The music videos came thick and fast as well, with Sonic Boom Six and Lower Lands producing great efforts respectively.

We’ve restarted our Introducing features this week, with Harbour taking centre stage on Wednesday. Our preview of Warped Tour’s UK event at Alexandra Palace next weekend is also live, and our Black Shapes competition is rolling into next week.

In reviews, our picks of the week were live reviews of the Never Say Die tour and Tall Ships’ triumphant appearance in Brighton, and releases from The Swellers, Black Shapes and Rolo Tomassi carries on the Autumn awesomeness.

Next week, we’re bringing you reviews of the new Green Day and Deftones records, stacks of content from Fest 11, and the usual awesome news and interviews. Our regular streams and introducing features are coming too! For our forum users, we’re starting the Punktastic Forum Awards up tomorrow with nominations, so get thinking on your favourite and least favourite posters. It’s always a good laugh / massive shitfest regardless of who votes, so keep your eyes out for that too!

Check the comments for the full statement, and head to http://finchmusic.bandcamp.com/ to hear two new tracks (& more).

Armor For Sleep are slightly different from other pop-punk bands breaking through. Firstly they have three albums to draw from, but I never liked Dream To Make Believe and haven’t really given the latest album a chance despite What To Do When You’re Dead being one of my favourite pop-punk albums. Armor For Sleep seem to have a slight darkness to even their most upbeat songs and this makes them sound far more interesting than they actually are. Live they just don’t cut it though, and even the songs from WTDWYD sound dull after a few seconds. Musically they seem to be entertaining enough for the most part but it’s vocally where they are really let down as Ben Jorgensen (lead vocals) has no one backing him up to add any emphasis to the choruses, or any part of any song for that matter.

Tonight they give it a lot but do not come off that great. Having not listened to the new album and not seen the band live since they toured WTDWYD I cannot be sure if it’s the songs that are failing or just that the band are tired, but they were entirely forgettable regardless.

But tonight was never about the support bands anyway, tonight had room for only one headline: Finch Are Back! The review could end there and I think people would understand and then lose themselves in a torrent of giggles. When I last saw Finch they were playing the Astoria touring Say Hello To Sunshine and it was a chore watching them. The passion that I had heard people mentioning in reference to their gigs was non-apparent and they seemed to be even struggling to go through the motions. Tonight they were as people had described previously.

Drawing perfectly from both albums so as not to alienate the fans of either, they managed to race through the set as though their hiatus had been spent drinking battery acid. Playing Letters To You as their third song was a surprising and potentially risky move but, safe in the knowledge that they were playing to die hard fans and still had What It Is To Burn on the horizon, the move was a perfect way to get people involved from the off and the crowd didn’t need much encouragement. Additionally, the new songs, scheduled for a 15th July release, seem to be more like SHTS musically but vocally more reminiscent of WIITB and so sit seamlessly in the set.

The only downfall was the drummer not sitting comfortable with the WIITB songs, but this can be forgiven after a show of such fulfilled anticipation. I have waited a long time to see this band perform like this and so the abundance of smiles from myself, my friends and my mum when we left the venue left me feeling that the only thing better than Finch taking the hiatus when they did was them returning with such vigour.

Dan