Words: Kate Allvey  //  Photos: Penny Bennett // Korn Photo: Andrew Whitton

Harpy

Harpy makes an early morning start absolutely worth it. “There is no redemption, only damnation!” She screams, the sophisticated older sister to Bambii Thug, and strips off her coat to reveal her PVC lingerie. Her Download debut is an impressive one, with ‘Medicine’ casting witchy rave pop waves that enchant her new converts. She’s seductive and destructive in equal measure, whether she’s howling with rage or letting her magnificent voice take centre stage.

Bleed From Within

Bleed from Within rouse the lunchtime crowd in style, especially the ‘old school metalheads’ that they dedicate ‘Into Nothing’ to, their self-assured pit-noise containing a daring ring that bursts through the smoke to give us the first anthem moment of the day. Scott Kennedy fondly recalls his first visit to Download in the crowd twenty years before, dedicating a tumbling throbbing ‘I Am Damnation’ to those in the position he once was in. They make metal for the people, by the people, expressed in the most brutal style. 

The Ghost Inside

The Ghost Inside are here to unite those who want to keep their day heavy, with leonine roars and seismic rhythms, a constant explosion of focused urgency. ‘Wash It Away’s’ tangled riffs send nods of approval across the hillside, a sense of motion and yearning connecting us. ‘Aftermath’ soars with refreshing melodic moments in the middle of the distortion, and we’re absorbed by a band who get stronger every time they visit the UK. 

Jinjer

The complex sound of the Ukrainians is dominated by Tatiana Shmayluk, the vocalist with the hugest range of the weekend. ‘Green Snake’ brings sparkling intelligence and a prog tint to their expansive narratives, the vocalist skipping merrily as she growls like a raging beast, “I know from experience that you like hardcore,” she laughs before weaving ‘Fast Draw’s’ soundscapes from guitar riffs that sound like barbed wire wrapped in silk. A sea of hands grows as quickly as the ever-present dust is kicked up, fuelled by our love for Jinjer. 

Alien Ant Farm

Alien Ant Farm’s appetite has been renewed since their last trip to the UK, and ‘Movies’ hits the sweet spot between nostalgia and summer fun, sending beach balls flying across the sky. Karaoke moment abound, fuelled by pop punk guitar squeals adding sparkle to ‘Last dAntz’. It’s Fathers’ Day, after all, so a “mosh pit for dads only” feels like a sweet gesture, and ‘These Days’ taps into the spirit of noughties youth. Of course, their version of ‘Smooth Criminal’ is iconic, and Alien Ant Farm truly have made it their own. 

House of Protection

Let’s throw rave vibes into the best underground party of the weekend, shall we? House of Protection throw their hardcore influence into the controlled chaos of the Avalanche stage, ignoring genre boundaries with a protest attitude and vocals like shouted slogans. ‘Fuse’ wins us over with a classic hardcore bounce that bursts from tightly wound electricity and a surprisingly soft chorus. When you’ve got Fever 333 and the Cancer Bats on your group CV, you’re bound to make appealing noise, and House of Protection make rowdy, uplifting Rottweilers of songs that throw caution to the wind. 

President

The crowd stretches so far beyond the Dogtooth stage for the most hyped band on the Download bill. It’s President’s first show, and sixty percent of it is made of new songs, a very bold move for the masked political hopefuls. The singalong for ‘Fearless’ breaks from an awed hush, before the long, lonely tones of ‘Dionysus’ betray a combination of Corey Taylor and Sleep Token on their playlist. ‘Rage’ has a rockier edge to drops that feel new and essential, and the huge scream on ‘Destroy Me’ jolts us into the President fandom. “Let it be known; this is merely the opening chapter,” announces the grandiose voiceover, and we truly hope it’s right. President have tapped into the zeitgeist with a sound that’s fresh and has already captured the hearts of seemingly half the arena. 

Jerry Cantrell

For those not enraptured by President, the ex-Alice In Chains founder offers a comforting rock presence, his old school outlaw energy channeled into his iconic voice. His guitar feels like raking a zen sand garden at times, an essential approach that reaches out to fans go reworked rock with its solid steel grunge heart. ‘My Body Breathing’ proves his role as a hero to older rockers suits him, and each song on his set is a road trip through post modern Americana.

Spiritbox

We’re greeted with an instant blast from a band who can’t be expected to accept an afternoon slot for much longer. There’s an epic scale to Courtney LaPlante’s screams as she floats angelically in a white dress above us onstage, ‘Fata Morgana’ quenches our thirst for deep riffs, and our love of Spiritbox peaks with ‘The Void’, the beats shaking loose our inhibitions. We scream out the chorus to ‘Secret Garden’ as one before ‘Circle With Me’ hits like a sandstorm; grinding and beautifully destructive. 

Lorna Shore

The award for ‘Band Who Started A Pit Before The Set After One Note’ goes to the majestic Lorna Shore. Taylor Barber of Die By My Hand joins for ‘Sun//Eater’, a song packed with drama, dignity and total savagery from a band in impeccably tailored suits. The air guitars are out in force for ‘Cursed To Die’, the bass heavy from a band who are a glorious contradiction, impressively absorbing for half of us and inspirational for the rest. Front man Will Ramos checks the pit with real concern, offering tips on hydration, before ‘To The Hellfire’ ignites the crowd, their blistering pyro adding to the wall of complicated deathcore.

Bullet For My Valentine

 The Apex stage is rammed for a least fifty metres for Bullet For My Valentine, a testament to the band’s “heavy but super accessible” stance. We’re here to celebrate twenty years of ‘The Poison’, a record that’ll be played in full “for the last time in the UK.” ‘Tears Don’t Fall’, “the song that changed our lives forever” according to vocalist Matthew Tuck, feels fresh, with gorgeous playful pauses added for buildup and for crowd surfers to rise to the surface. ‘Suffocating Under Words Of Sorrow (What Can I Do)’ is rich and bright, a well-polished call to arms, a celebration of passion. Sometimes you just want to hear your favourite songs played incredibly loud, glazed with genuine appreciation and sincerity, and that’s what makes Bullet For My Valentine’s set so perfect.

Steel Panther

Steel Panther plot a taut set, as tight as the lycra on the exotic dancers onstage. Opening with ‘Eye Of The Panther’, they give us all the hair metal excess and guitar twiddle that we hoped for. In between the hopefully fictional anecdotes and jokes which all have homosexuality as the punchline, they’re doing what they do best: wailing, rocking out, and paying their own satirical homage to the greats. For the crowd who are into Steel Panther, ‘Asian Hooker’ is a massive highlight, and the newcomers exchange awkward side glances. At the top of the hill, one of the Festival Chaplains stares on impassively while the crowd go wild for the solos and smoke that flood ‘Friends With Benefits’.

Kids In Glass Houses

Meanwhile, down the hill, Kids in Glass Houses are projecting the polar opposite to Steel Panther. ‘Undercover Lover’ brims with optimism and sincerity, the warmth, layers and Lionel Ritchie sampling giving a weekend of the Avalanche stage a joyful send off. Their set feels like a graduation, as ‘Diamond Days’ flings out Springsteen energy, and ‘Sunshine’ could be a lesson in how to create softness without mush. Kids in Glass Houses project a buzzing brit energy that surely has lured half of the crowd to already book tickets to the winter tour. 

Korn

Korn are an enigma. Despite staying out of the charts for decades, they’ve amassed a huge following, at least judging by the amount of ‘Got The Life’ tattoos spotted over the weekend. Every phone is in the air as Jonathan Davis lets out his first scream into ‘Blind’, a song that feels aggressive and vital. Korn have rid themselves of the trappings that come with the label ‘nu metal’, and we can see them as they were meant to be all along. DJ scratches have been replaced with even more guitar and we can see clearly what made them special enough to start their own sub-genre. ‘Here To Stay’ emerges fast and stormy, the bass stirring further and further as we are sucked into Korn’s set. 

There’s moments of levity, such as Davis playing the bagpipes and silly lyrics on ‘Shoots and Ladders’, but Korn focus on the raw core at the heart of their sound that needed to be stripped of its baggage to be appreciated. ‘Y’all Want A Single’ has reached classic status, the swears screamed as a pressure release, a toy voodoo doll flung across the field to a huge groove and the trademark guitar echoes.  It’s ‘Freak On A Leash’, slowed to a glacial scale, that provides the perfect close the weekend, each second stretched to significance to accumulate our voices before confetti releases us from the weekend. Korn have stamped out relic or nostalgia status to become the final headliners that we didn’t know we needed. 

If you think the name ‘Pink Flamingo’ seems a bit odd, wait until you hear what they’ve made; you might find yourself nodding in agreement. It’s bold, it’s bright, it’s neon-bathed, and practically screams Barbados and beaches with a side-order of Miami Vice. Yes, leading single ‘Theme From Pink Flamingo’ tells you everything you need to know, they’re embracing a different sound; 1980’s synth-rock. And, while it’s difficult to call the sound ‘fresh’ when they’re deliberately aping sounds from 40 years ago, it’s a departure for the band, one that suits them surprisingly well. Yes, it’s lush and indulgent but it retains much of the band’s personality, meaning it’s no albatross.

While the band’s third record ‘In Gold Blood’ was billed as a concept record (it was all the rage at the time, blame Green Day) ‘Pink Flamingo’ actually feels like one; What if Kids In Glass Houses made the soundtrack to a 80’s blockbuster movie? It feels big and bold, using sounds tied to that era, no it’s not all power ballads but it certainly captures that aesthetic. That aesthetic might remind you of Barry Manilow  (‘Copacabana’ – is technically a 70’s song but I digress) but that isn’t a bad thing when it’s making such a strong, focused statement.  To be fair, this shift is not entirely unexpected. Listen back to their preceding album 2013’s ‘Peace’ and you can hear them softening, experimenting with processed sounds, searching for something and while that record had ten-solid songs it was a lacking in a little magic, here they found it; the production sparkles.

Having been away for eleven years, Kids In Glass Houses now exist as a band out of time. Not just out of step with their contemporaries but trying to capture – or perhaps update – sounds from their youth. Although still a rock band, and the main instruments are still guitars, the sounds are bathed in effects like flangers and chorus to give them that soft, synthy, undeniably 1980’s sound. Yet, they still bite, they’re rich and tangible, and there’s an energy to the licks, despite the guitarists using a lot of percussive muting. The bass sound also reinforces this and Andrew Shay’s contribution really stands out. As the songs aren’t built around big riffs there’s space for him to play about, adding to the whole warm, exotic vibe.

Despite it’s strong, unified sound, you can hear the hard work that’s gone into making sure each song is individual. Each has a different style and underlying idea meaning you can easily describe this as the band’s most interesting album. While their overall sound has always been influenced by Glassjaw (and by inference Head Automatica) the opening keyboard swirls of ‘Have A Good Time’ or ‘Vulnerable’ are more likely to remind you of artists like Phil Collins or Billy Ocean or even Don Henley on ‘Strawberry Sky’. It’s a compliment that their songs fit neatly with these kinds of easy, accessible hits while maintaining their integrity. Yes, there are even saxophones on songs like ‘Change Your Minds’ and while it’s not like they haven’t flirted with a horn section before, the use here isn’t just window-dressing, it’s integral to how the song works.

Singer Aled Philips has always had a distinctive manner and strong singing voice, making him an engaging frontman. Eleven years older and wiser, he’s traded much of his wicked energy for a more nuanced delivery as if he’s trying to prove how good a singer he really is. Of course, it helps that he’s found a way to sound energised without relying on being boisterous. While the album is full of powerful choruses (try ‘Rothko Painting’ ) he’s most impressive on the piano ballad ‘A Ghost To Live With’ which gives him chance to flirt with a higher register or ‘Cold Night’ where he’s a lighthouse in an ocean of gated drums and sighing keyboards. Also noteworthy is ‘Flowers In The Rain’ which threatens to be smothered by the over-the-top strings yet manages to combine his sultry vocal with the bassline to give it a sexy, nocturnal energy.

Maybe it’s because the overall sound is heavily indebted to a specific era, or maybe it’s there are only so many power ballads you can take in one sitting but by the time it reaches penultimate track it starts to feel like they’re covering old ground; The snare snaps, the Casio-style keyboards, the sense of space, the powerful chorus. Ironically the song is called ‘(Feels Like) Déjà Vu’ and yet they manage to close the record with the electronic footsteps of ‘Human Touch’ a song that’s uniquely their own, maybe the sound of them growing old gracefully.

Maybe you’re new to Kids In Glass Houses. Maybe you’re not. Returning from another era – and not the era you expect – they’ve brought a strong set of songs and very clear idea of what they want it to be. ‘Pink Flamingo’ could be the soundtrack to your favourite 1980’s movie. It’s a blockbuster.

IAN KENWORTHY

Straight off the back of this weekend’s Slam Dunk appearances, Welsh rockers Kids In Glass Houses have confirmed that Save Your Breath will be joining them on their October farewell tour.

Kids In Glass Houses announced their split back in February, stating it was both amicable, and on their own terms.

OCTOBER
05 PLYMOUTH White Rabbit
06 EXETER Phoenix
07 PORTSMOUTH Wedgewood Rooms
09 NOTTINGHAM Rescue Rooms
10 LIVERPOOL O2 Academy 2
11 MANCHESTER Gorilla
12 SHEFFIELD Corporation
14 LEEDS Cockpit
15 ABERDEEN Tunnels
16 GLASGOW Garage
17 CARLISLE Brickward
18 NEWCASTLE O2 Academy 2
20 BIRMINGHAM Institute
21 COLCHESTER Arts Centre
23 NORWICH Waterfront
24 BATH Komedia
25 GLOUCESTER Guildhall
26 OXFORD O2 Academy 2
27 READING Sub 89
29 LONDON KoKo
31 CARDIFF Uni

OCTOBER
05 PLYMOUTH White Rabbit
06 EXETER Phoenix
07 PORTSMOUTH Wedgewood Rooms
09 NOTTINGHAM Rescue Rooms
10 LIVERPOOL O2 Academy 2
11 MANCHESTER Gorilla
12 SHEFFIELD Corporation
14 LEEDS Cockpit
15 ABERDEEN Tunnels
16 GLASGOW Garage
17 CARLISLE Brickward
18 NEWCASTLE O2 Academy 2
20 BIRMINGHAM Institute
21 COLCHESTER Arts Centre
23 NORWICH Waterfront
24 BATH Komedia
25 GLOUCESTER Guildhall
26 OXFORD O2 Academy 2
27 READING Sub 89
29 LONDON KoKo
31 CARDIFF Uni

It’s a surreal and daunting moment when you realise that you’re contemplating bringing to an end something that has given your life unquantifiable joy, satisfaction and meaning. Something that is so personal that it embodies who you are or who you have been perceived as for so long. You start to wonder what you’ll be without it. It’s a near impossible void to comprehend filling, but we feel that now is the right time for us to do move on and do just that.

This is the end of Kids In Glass Houses. Amicably and on our own terms. The way we always promised ourselves it would be.

We’re as unified in this decision as we have been with any that we’ve made together, and we’re excited by the prospect of ending things in the best possible spirit at the end of the year. We’ve known this day was coming for quite a while and have done our best to make sure that the next few months are as memorable as those years that have come before.

We really can’t thank everyone enough for their support over the years. All of the fans who stood waiting in rain or shine; who spent their money and time on us; who opened up to us and confided in us; who shared the music and the ride with us; or who forged lasting friendships based on a mutual love (or maybe hatred…) of our band. To experience any one of those things in isolation is a blessing for any band. To have experienced all of them was an overwhelming honour.

The pleasure really has been all ours and we hope to see you there one last time before the year is out. These shows are a celebration of what we’ve accomplished and the countless unforgettable nights we’ve spent in your exceptional company, in venues the world over. We’ve lived out some of our wildest dreams over the last 8 years and achieved far more than we ever thought was possible when we sat, determined and freezing, in a rehearsal-space-come-office-unit on an industrial estate in Taff’s Well.

Through the support of our fans, families, friends and the countless talented and selfless people who’ve spilt sweat and tears working on our behalf – we went from playing rugby clubs to Cardiff City Stadium; from village fetes to Reading Festival Main stage; from handing out free demos to the Taste Of Chaos queue in 2005, to securing 4 top 40 albums in 5 years. It’s been a total trip and, thankfully (and sometimes regrettably), we’ve got the photos to prove it.

With the utmost sincerity – thank you, thank you, thank you for your continued faith in us from first day to last. Without it we would never have been lucky enough to do any of this. We love you all very much and will miss you more than we can probably even comprehend at this moment in time.

We’ll be playing a Farewell Tour in October which you can pick up ticket bundles available NOW from – www.musicglue.com/kids-in-glass-houses

Stop wishing for the sunshine, start living in the rain.

Peace out, you snake bitches

Aled, Iain, Joel, Phil & Shay

X

Joining the line up today are:
The Blackout, Kids In Glass Houses, Hawthorne Heights, Neck Deep, The Maine, Kristopher Roe, Seahaven, Cytota, A Plastic Rose, The Action Plan, Adelphia, Aworlddefined, Bastions, Bats About Bats, Battlelines, Brontide, Dead Harts, Elegies, Grappler, Koshiro, Save Your Breath, St Perrier, Thomas Nicholas & Matt Kennedy, Versechorusverse, Vukovi

APRIL
19 BRISTOL
20 NOTTINGHAM

It’s taken from the band’s forthcoming album of the same name, and you can check it out using the player in this article.

It’s taken from their forthcoming album ‘Peace’, which is released at the end of next month. The band have also revealed the track listing for the album. Check out the song and the track listing further down this article.

‘Peace’ track list:
1. Peace
2. Drive
3. Set Me Free
4. VIP
5. Novocaine
6. Stormchasers
7. Runaways
8. Up All Night
9. Black Cloud
10. Nightcrawler

iTunes Bonus Tracks:
11. Drive – Downbeat
12. Set Me Free – Downbeat
13. I’m A Wake (You’re A Real Party)
14. My Def Posse 2.0
15. Kid Gloves

Check out the ‘Drive’ video below, and grab yourself an album preorder from http://kidsinglasshouses.com if you’re so inclined.