Charakka, Raising Sand and Year Zero at The Garage. Tonight!

• 24th Oct 2004

It's back to our celestial home, Upstairs at the Garage on Wednesday November 3rd for another Glasswerk showcase, where some of the most buzzing bands on the local scene feature on the bill.

Charakka are a 5-piece band, currently based in Essex. With interest from a variety of labels, Charakka look to take their new breed of psychedelic rock'n'roll to the industry who are already starting to queue up. The music takes influences from psychedelic rock’n’roll such as Led-Zeppelin and the Doors as well as dance acts such the Chemical Brothers and Lo-fidelity Allstars. The mix of dirty guitars and soulful vocals with groove-heavy electronica creates the distinctive charakka sound.

Check out the Glasswerk review of Charakka’s We Are Divided single here: link

Tearing furiously out of the musical ether are Raising Sand an edgy, nitrous-fuelled sledgehammer of a band who grab you by the balls and drag you back to a time when rock was dangerous, and vital. Formed in 2003 by four young men who not only share a collective passion for everything that heavy rock should be (having raised themselves on a diet of Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, The Who and AC/DC), but who also possess the spirit, desire and the chops to embody it. The straight-ahead four-piece have quickly drawn attention to themselve with the quality of their songs and live performances.

Catching the imagination of XFM's Claire Sturgess, she immediately latched onto the band, spinning the track 'Chloe' on two occasions in as many weeks whilst citing the band as a potential buzz-band over 2004. Meanwhile every show has been met with acclaim, from the local press and What's On sections through to the tastemaker fanzines.

In a scene where ‘post-hardcore' is branded for its easy access to credibility, Year:Zero have created a true punk rock sound one which ensures everything centres around a constant musical (r)evolution. Musically, Year:Zero bind together the intelligent post-hardcore politics of ‘Fugazi' and influential emo originators such as ‘Far' and ‘Cursive', combined musically with modern day hardcore influences such as ‘Glassjaw' and ‘Hopesfall', and lyrically, the political intense of ‘Million Dead' and ‘Desaparecidos'.

Check out the Glasswerk review of the La Liberta EP here: link