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mirrorkicks

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"Mirrorkicks Turning up Single review"

I'm going to put the kiss of death on this brilliant new band by predicting a massive future for them. the four piece indie rockers have it all with a leaning towards The Police, Jamiroquai and a couple of other bands too. the vocals are superb and the music simply brilliant. Radio 1 and Radio 2 love 'em too which should give you an idea of their broad appeal. On top of this they have been invited to the South by Southwest event in Austin, Texas so the world is going to love 'em too. This is released on September 28th so get ready for this new talent from South London. MH - Classic Rock Society


"Mirrorkicks review by Steve Price"

Quirky Rage-style guitars and the intense vocals of Anil Kamalagharan combine to make Mirrorkicks' debut album one of the most original and exciting projects of the year, from the band whose commitment is matched only by their array of daring and creative videos. - The Panel


"Mirrorkicks Turning up review"

Mirrorkicks come freshly-picked from the lush musical garden that is South London. Their debut single comes as 'Turning Up', an upbeat indie-rock guitar feast that makes its intentions known from the very start.
Gloomy in the way that greyish-yellow clouds appear with the impending doom of a rainstorm and everyone runs for the hills, Mirrorkicks are at the heavier side of the aural spectrum. However, sweet backing vocals (like a rainbow...yannow, /storm, rainbow?) deeply contrast with roaring guitar hooks and fierce drumming-like-they-mean-it. Their sound is a bit like a darker Jane's Addiction if you're keen for a description.
Good stuff, it's nothing groundbreaking but it makes a change from all the twee folky-indie noises doing the rounds at the moment. Fair play to Mirrorkicks, although I think the vocals are a bit too quiet for the thrashing...I bet they're great live.
- Allgigs - online


"Mirrorkicks Turning up review"

Although they've been around for a while - in various bands, and in various incarnations, it's only relatively recently that London based Mirrorkicks have started to get it together.

2008 saw them enter the studio, and Turning Up is an excellent piece of pop / rock - not a million miles away from a The Cars for the new decade. With a My Best Friend's Girl bass line, but supplemented with a big chorus and some chunky riffs, it's a neat piece of pop / rock crossover. ***
Review by Pete Whalley
- Get ready to rock - online


"Mirrorkicks - turning up review"

The UK is over-indulged with various indie-rock bands, all creating the same by-numbers tracks day in day out. Thankfully, Mirrorkicks are not safe in any way. This South London band's debut single, 'Turning Up', takes indie-rock to a new, darker place with its grungy guitar licks.

It's very apparent from the single that Mirrorkicks' are straddling that thin line between indie-rock and just plain rock. But it's the vocals which pull this song back into the indie ranks. Soft and sweet, Anil Kamalagharan's voice is distinctive and perfect for a frontman. This is a band that are really bringing excitement back into the world of indie-rock.

Put it this way. If this band were American they might be called Weezer. Yes, that's how much of a hidden gem Mirrorkicks are. For a debut single 'Turning Up' mirrors the confidence of a band on their third or fourth album. Can you imagine just how good this band will sound live? Hopefully there will be a full UK tour before the year's out.

Rating: 3/5
- Daily Music Guide - online


"Mirrorkicks - Lego (video of the day)"

we’ve got to agree that this video is pretty immense. It is apparently entirely homemade and took 6 months, 10,000 photographs and over 100 lego men to make it – definately a far cry from the usual “performance” videos we see released by lazy bands. The song is perfectly fun spiky pop-rock stuff - There goes the fear - online


"Review of Podium by Danny Roca"

Mirrorkicks are quite feasibly the hardest working band in South London. Having been formed from the ashes of numerous bands, they have, through various line-ups, been touring for over ten years both in the UK and Europe, growing a steadily increasing base of fans. It is easy to understand why, although beginning from inasuspicious beginnings, Mirrorkicks are a tight rock band recalling post-Britpop Manic Street Preachers and The Bends (1995)-era Radiohead.

2008 saw Mirrorkicks entering the studio and though four tracks were produced (available on their MySpace page) it is “Podium” which, while still rough around the edges, hints at how Mirrorkicks are evolving both as musicians and as songwriters.

It kicks open with a funk-conscious stuttering see-saw guitar line which is sweetly juxtaposed against Anil Kamalagharan’s vocals. Residing between a keening purr and a breathy whisper, it is on the unashamedly huge chorus, that superimposes Anita Baker’s “Sweet Love” over Soundgarden, that his vocal chops are really put to the test, showing off a raspy falsetto that, if not so fragile, could have easily made the song overtly boorish.

However, it is not Anil’s vocals but the subtlety in the playing which makes “Podium” stand head and shoulders over their other songs. During the verses, brother Ingmar’s drumming is as inventive as Anil’s guitar – off-setting hi-hats and kick drums as counterpoints to the angles of Anil’s line. Edwin Pereira’s guitar harmonics add a sense of depth to the verses and Gerard De Waal’s bassline is both fluid and when required such as during the instrumental break with the raga-tinged strings, adds a much needed muscularity and weightiness.

Top up with some Brit-invasion harmonies and a sweetly downplayed ending and Mirrorkicks have got their anthem pretty much sewn up. “Podium” has a universality that in the hands of a producer like Ken Nelson or Nigel Godrich would be made abundantly clear to everyone. For now, definitely one to watch, but armed with a few more songs like “Podium” Mirrorkicks could see their hard work paying off.

- www.cokemachineglow.com


Discography

Due to release debut album in April 2009 on Fruit Pie Records

Photos

Bio

If ever a band was meant to be, it’s Mirrorkicks. Forget the obvious musical chemistry, the captivating onstage telepathy, the natural off-stage camaraderie; for the sheer storybook brilliance of meeting on the first day of school and going on to conquer the world, they belong together. It’s like The Goonies, but with guitars. But then again, things are never quite that simple, and while hindsight and their debut album’s whip cracking riffs and big payoff choruses make it obvious that this is their destiny, it took them a while to realise it. The Mirrorkicks story is one fate had its work cut out orchestrating.

A South London band, born and bred, Gerard de Waal (bass) met Edwin Pereira (guitar/vocals) aged 11, when they lined up next to each other for the first lesson on the first day of secondary school. Gerard then introduced Ed to brothers Ingmar (drums) and Anil Kamalagharan (guitar/vocals), who he’d known since primary school. By 14 Gerard, Edwin and Ingmar were in the first of many bands together, but it was a decade before, in mid 2008, Anil finally completed the line-up.

“Geography had a lot to do with it,” offers Ed as to why it took so long. “We all went off to different universities and did other bands. Gerard was in Portsmouth doing English, Ingmar and I stayed in London, I did music and he did Astronomy, and Anil was in Bristol studying Physics & Philosophy. It was only when Gerard came back that the three of us started taking things more seriously.”

With Anil still in Bristol - splitting his time between recording solo acoustic songs and densely multi-tracked electronica, touring as Imogen Heap’s guitarist and playing live drum’n’bass at Glastonbury with his other band The Fabrics - Gerard, Ed and Ingmar regrouped post uni, forming Muse-esque three piece, The Medicine.

Gerard: “We started writing and recording, did some good supports with the likes of Razorlight, but it was the three of us again and it felt like we needed to get someone else in to mix things up. Then Anil came back to London.”

Anil: “And I was looking to do something else. I was doing so many different things at the time, from intimate Jeff Buckley influenced songs to Bjork, Vespertine style stuff. I really just wanted to make a choice, do one thing and focus on the melody. I thought it’d help to restrict the instrumentation, to not have access to strings and sequencers and make everything raw and more rock. So I got together with these guys to record some demos and work on three songs I had to see if they’d even work as proper rock songs.”

So successful was the experiment that all concerned agreed to use the tracks as the basis for a whole new venture, the long overdue Mirrorkicks. And it’s not hard to see why. The songs in question, Podium, You and Too Slow, now highlights of their self-titled debut album, exemplify the winning alliance of mercilessly efficient melodies, achingly personal lyrics and a channelled live band energy not felt since US rock’s glorious mid-‘90s heyday.

From Too Slow’s tragic sweetness, through You’s bitter frustration to the soaring high that is Podium’s staggering, banner waving chorus, there’s no shortage of proof of the power of a killer hook and a fragile emotion screamed loud.

Recorded in the tiny basement studio, built by Anil and Ingmar’s older brothers, where they’ve rehearsed since their school days, and mixed and mastered by Wu Tang Clan and Aphex Twin collaborator Macc, the album thrives on making the deep singable. The weight of live favourite Turning Up’s internal dialogue, wrestling mental illness, drug induced paranoia and religion - like On TV’s swipe at a generation obsessed with fame and the stupor shaking command of Be Where You Are - is nothing if not a rousing call to arms made to rally stadiums.

Determined to convey their live energy and love of performance to as many people as possible, the band also embarked on an ambitious mission to produce a promo video for every song on the album. Through charm, persistence and the strength of the songs, they’ve managed to enlist a host of collaborators, many of whom, like award winning director Steve Price, who’s credits include Arctic Monkeys, Razorlight, Manic Street Preachers and Kasabian, have worked for cost purely because they like working with the band so much.

Gerard: “Steve’s amazing. He’s done three videos, Podium, On TV and You, so far, and he just keeps coming to us with all these ideas. He always says that doing a video with Mirrorkicks is like being on holiday because we actually enjoy making them. We love trying different things and getting to perform, so he’s always volunteering to do stuff. He doesn’t give a shit about the money, he just loves the band.”

The ultimate labour of love though, has to be the amazing animated video for Lego. Featuring thousands of Lego bricks and more than 10,000 photographs, the stop-motion animation which features Mirrorkicks rescuing a Lego city from th