Tarot cards and Moon Beam Eyes,
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Tarot cards and Moon Beam Eyes,
The Who Kissed Annabel-Lee
Story
By Bowers
I first saw Who Kissed Annabel-Lee a couple of months ago now at a gig in Crosby. At first I was a little put off by the stig hole that is the Crosby social centre, it has to be the worst possible place to hold a band night with its dirty moldy walls and broken windows. But all of that was totally forgotten when WKAL stepped up on stage. Their powerful lyrics and quirky bass lines throbbed throughout the place which literally began to shake and although they mostly did covers you could already tell that they where going to be something big.
Now with their new material recorded the sky is the limit for this unstoppable four piece. The band itself seem to be unbreakable and spending the day with them really showed me how close they are together, there isn't a moment when one or all of them isn't laughing. Liz [vocals and lyrics], sweet and kind and caring also one of the best female voices I have heard in a long time, a Kate Bush in the making. Owen [guitar] very musically talented with his influences The Smiths and The cure showing heavily in the guitar and bass lines, also an absolute nut. Phil [drums] flamboyant in everything he does, his simple but highly effective drum beats with fast fills goes well with the speedy guitar. Niall [bass] great bass player and all round good guy, although he is also a bit mad.
WKAL have now recorded 3 songs and have a fourth on the way. The songs themselves seem to get better and better, each one totally different but with the same unique style running throughout. With a soft drum beat intro "Dead at midnight" lingers in your mind long after it finishes. With sweet lyrics, a strong bass line and Smith like guitar riffs this song compliments itself with the lyrics "We go away to Paris" reflecting the bass and guitar riffs. But what makes this song special is the voice; Liz makes this song what it is with her sweet but powerful voice complimented by Niall's back up on the chorus. Probably the most famous WKAL songs "Headstrong" is exactly as the title suggests. This powerful anthem certainly turned up the heat on the Crosby gig with everyone screaming along. However the recording of this does not do the song justice, the effect put on the guitar makes it seem a lot duller than what it should be. But this should take nothing away from this powerful and beautiful song, and it gives you another reason to go see them live. My favorite of the three however has to be "Cat and Mouse" amazing lyrics, unforgettable guitar, superb bass and throbbing drums you cant ask for any more. With a catchy chorus and great verse Liz really shows off with her lyrics with a song that really pulls at your heart strings and stays in your head.
After showing me the recorded songs we had a quick break in which Liz proudly whipped her pack of tarot cards. Being a bit skeptical I sat and watched for a while. It seems that fate has big plans for WKAL as well as Liz pulled out the "you will be successful in the arts" card. The spooky thing was that Phil had the exact same reading a couple of days earlier. During this supernatural prediction for 5 platinum albums and millions of scream girls (they hope) Owen was hit by an idea for a song and after messing around with several different chords he had given birth to a bass and guitar riff. After teaching the riff to Niall and playing it again and again Phil had come up with a drum beat. I was astonished as all four of them seemed to drift off into a musical epiphany, Liz disappeared into a corner and within 5 minutes she has written a verse and a chorus. A sat there, jaw on floor, whilst they practiced the new song, "Moon Beam Eyes". When they finally noticed my astonishment they at last explained that they all seem to have the gift for writing amazing songs amazingly fast and that they had written there other songs such as "Dead at Midnight" in under 15 minutes. After a couple of practices and a bit of moaning from Niall they had the song almost perfect. The song itself is an absolute master piece and to think that it was written in under 10 minutes makes it even better. With a haunting chorus, harsh verse and amazing harmonies from Owen and Liz this song is one of the best that I have ever heard. Once again this song is very lyrically strong with the repetition of the line "Wounds don't drip they pour". They plan to record this song later in year once they have some more written (which should take an hour at most) and personally I cant wait to get hold of I couldn't get it out of my head for weeks as once again WKAL pull a superb song out of the bag.
Spending the day with this band only made me love them even more; I wish I could go to every practice. This band seem unstoppable, now with a couple of gigs under their belt they are growing in confidence with a Liverpool Barfly gig lined up on Halloween supporting Betty Curse on the way. Its not often you find a local band like this but I truly believe that these guys can make something of themselves, with influences such as The Smiths, Kate Bush, The Cure and My Chemical Romance the only people they don't appeal to are the deaf.
Myspace: www.myspace.com/whokissedannabellee
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