Wow, that blend of rock and shoegazing seems to be the coolest underground sound in the North East at the moment doesn’t it!? Not that that’s a bad thing? It certainly offers something more substantial than the infantised pop nonsense which seems to have been the only music genre shifting units for the past 4 or 5 years.

One of the current kings of the local alternative rock scene are ‘A new nowhere’ who seem to have caught the bug of rock/shoegazing and fancied writing content about something deep, painful, socially consciously content.  Imagine that.

New track ‘You and me’ finds the band with relationship matters in mind and a tale of a, seemingly, jilted lover re-finding their purpose in life and attacking their heart-breaker “cause you babe we always wrong”.  It’s the kind of sentiment we’ve all probably always wanted to say to an ex at one point or another- especially one who has left us broken and damaged.

Whether we’d say it with quiet as much anger is up for debate.

Blending the poppier side of Nirvana’s punk, with the multi-layered guitar palate of Faith no More, the track offers a suitable sound to their message.  Interestingly, a very masculine sounding, Scott Weiland-esque, lead vocal takes the sound of the record away from traditional, softer, shoe gazing vocals and produces a, heavier, rock, feel.  It’s an interesting blend, which works well.

With such a local scene bubbling up, and with the potential of the bands sounding so good, it can make you wonder why the government still chose not to take their arts spending back to the 1990’s level of investment and subsidy.  Bands like A New Nowhere, I’m sure, would thrive if their art was properly supported; and the rest of us, well we could hear music which wasn’t just about how well an artist’s marketing team was doing.