The Amber Herd

The Amber Herd are one of the unsung heroes of the local Nottingham live music scene, not given the attention they deserve they continue to offer up their unique alternative music and growing their fan base.

Their latest offering is the five track EP This Town and with its release is evidence of a band is not content to simply sit on its laurels, the EP shows a band intent on pushing themselves more and more and in doing so offers up their best work to date.

The EP opens up with the very catchy, upbeat Bonfires, that much like its name crackles and fizzles throughout with punchy riffs and beats that should make this a hugely popular track.

Leaving Home turns things down a notch, a mellower offering than the opening track it offers lead singer Neil Beards a real chance to show his vocal abilities accompanied by gentle, rhythmic guitar that perfectly complements the vocals without ever threatening to overpower them.

Track three is Catching Time which instantly bounces to life, possibly my favourite track on the EP so far this is the kind of track that gets you bouncing in your seat but can also be enjoyed during a period of downtime.

Days Like These is up next and shows yet more of the talent that this band has to offer with a real up-tempo faster paced feel than the other tracks on the album, here is a track that will get people up on the dance floor and ready to party, heads bopping up and down along to the awesome beat that backs up the high tempo vocals.

The final track on the EP is the seven minute plus stomper that is Magnolia and here is where you realise just how good a band The Amber Herd are. There probably are not many bands who can make a track stretch over seven minutes and still manage to retain the listeners interest throughout but here this band do just that. This is perhaps the best thing The Amber Herd have ever done, and they have done some good stuff. Beautifully played and song the track is almost story like in its flow and rhythm. The wonderfully delivered lyrics are brilliantly broken up by mellow guitar solos, the two blending together seamlessly. Magnolia is a track you HAVE to hear.

All in all This Town EP is a cracking piece of work from a cracking band that opens with a bounce and ends with seven minutes of the best stuff the band have ever done. The Amber Herd are one of the best bands in Nottingham and if this EP is anything to go by they are just going to keep getting better. - Nottingham Live magazine

What's the best gig you have ever played?

NEIL: We've been fortunate to play some great shows, including our support to the Delays at a sold-out Bodega. I think the moment when it really all came together was in May at the Bearded Theory festival in Derby. We were thrilled to be chosen to play on a bill that included The Waterboys and Athlete and had a generous 50-minute set on the second stage. Everything went well and, as we neared the end of the set, we were very satisfied by the size of the crowd and their reaction. With two songs to go, the heavens opened outside and we finished our set to a packed tent of folk, both escaping the rain and we hope, discovering us.

How did the name The Amber Herd come about?

NEIL: Our band peddle a kind of trippy out-there vibe so we were looking for a name that referenced the 60s San Francisco hippy scene and the early 90s Glasgow Paisley Underground. The Amber Herd is the name of an award-winning shorthorn dairy farm between Matlock and Ashover and seemed to fit the bill. We have nothing to do with the Clarkson-loving US actress of a similar name.

You recently won a competition to play at the High Voltage Festival. How was it playing there?

NEIL: High Voltage was amazing. We won a national competition to find a band to play at this major London festival in the company of Slash, Judas Priest and Dream Theatre.

We hung around after the show and were pleased to meet rock glitterati including Glenn Hughes, Rudy Schenker, Pete Way and Ian Anderson, all of whom, doubtless, were wondering who on earth we were.

Your sound is described as alternative, psych rock. What is that exactly?

NEIL: Our sound is probably an amalgam of all of our favourite bands and we tend to have a fairly broad reach, through folk to rock to indie to shoegaze to psychedelia and on to metal.

Who is your sound influenced by?

NEIL: Every record we have all separately and collectively heard over the last 20 years and some we haven't. We've been compared to the Cure, Neil Young, the Jesus and Mary Chain, the Velvet Underground and James.

MARK: One of my favourite reviews said we sound like alternative music when it was still alternative – I was more than happy with that.

You are playing at this year's Headstock Festival, are you looking forward to it?

NEIL: We are hugely looking forward to Headstock and playing with one of our all-time favourite bands, Echo and the Bunnymen. There's nothing like playing at home, so we're really looking forward to playing our first Notts show since our EP launch in early May.

What can people expect if they come to see your set at Headstock?

NEIL: We'll be playing songs off each of our first two singles and the current EP and also playing a new song, Three Ring Circus, for the first time in Notts. This will be one side of our next single, due for release around Christmas. - Nottingham Evening Post

City-based post-punk outfit The Amber Herd - and when we say "post punk", we mean like the masterclass of 1984 perfected so vehemently back in the day - released their excellent This Town EP earlier this summer. They also recorded a sombre cover of Sparklehorse's 'Painbirds' during sessions for the EP which you can hear below:- - Drowned in Sound

Being different from the crowd is possible, that is probably the first thing one would say when listening to The Amber Herd from Nottingham (UK). Neil Beards (Guitar and Vocals) and Paul Wentworth (Bass and Vocals) share the vocal part and are supported by Mark Lasbury (Drums), Ollie Powditch (Keyboard), Rob Fitzmaurice (Bass).

The voices of Liam (WHY LIAM??) and Paul could hardly be more different from each other and they are both more than impressive. The whole music takes you back somewhere to the 70s when the last Hippie-combos dissapeared and new artists like Bowie took over - and somewhere in between you could place The Amber Herd, with the only difference that they only exist since 2007.

Their EP "This Town" is a perfect compilation for getting to know the band better. Especially "Leaving Home", sung by Neil and "Catching Time" sung by Paul, offers you the chance to compare those powerful voices.

All in all the EP is a real masterpiece and if you want to make yourself comfortable on a summer evening, with a warm summer breeze and simply listening to music, The Amber Herd will be one of the best recommendations. - Static Magazine Germay

IT’S an irony of the internet age that when the potential for choice is nearly limitless, everything suddenly seems to sound the same.

But that’s not a problem facing Chesterfield/Notts band the Amber Herd.

Fresh from their appearance at the Bearded Theory Festival, the band have just released five-track EP This Town.

It kicks off with the summery lo-fi indie track Bonfires - an upbeat sound, that hides darker subject matter and a new wave snarl in the chorus.

Leaving Home conjures images of Joy Division with its guitar lines, while Catching Time hints at IRS-era REM.

Elsewhere there are subtle nods in the direction of The Cure, My Bloody Valentine and even U2 - albeit with a deeper, darker edge.

But while they may be named after one, this band certainly don’t follow any herd.

Although there are elements which throw up reflections of other bands and records, theirs is a genuinely fresh sound.

That’s in no small part to the mesmerising vocals on show here.

Neil Beards may not have the sweetest voice perhaps, but it’s one full of the character and personalities that haunt the band’s songs.

Their refusal to take the well-trodden path is further illustrated by final track Magnolia.

On a CD featuring moments of catchy indie pop, they round things off with a seven-and-a-half minute guitar/theremin wig out.

The Amber Herd prove here they won’t be led by the nose by the diktats of fickle fashion.

They are an intriguing band with an eye for drama and melody. And that’s no bull.

l This Town is available via iTunes, Amazon and the band’s website at www.theamberherd.com - Derbyshire Times