ONES TO WATCH: Bison Hunting

How many of you watched this year’s Brit awards? Shambles, wasn’t it. It was like watching an extremely tiresome table-tennis game between Adele and Ed Sheeran. I’m bored just thinking about it. Generally, Brits today seem to appreciate lukewarm sounds from mediocre artists and I thank my lucky stars that Newcastle hasn’t caught on to this musical epidemic. We have a sackful of exciting, fresh and above all unique talent, covering everything from folk to post-rock to metal and everything in between. Speaking of metal, enter Bison Hunting, a local 4-piece who we had the pleasure of welcoming into the studio last week at Hit The North East.

The band are currently preparing for their first come-back gig since taking a break in 2011. Their shows in 2010 caused quite a stir so for them, the pressure is on to match the success. Their most recent tracks are up on their Soundcloud (links below) and if they are anything to go by, this will be one sweaty, energetic and frankly excellent show. They’ve been previously described as a “sleazed up, scuzzed up sex fiend Joy Division” but on first listen to “Eat You Alive”, I reckon there’s a touch of The Bronx in there too and I’m enjoying it! Filthy bass and aggressive drums make this particular track a hard one to turn off (and great for a bit of aggressive driving too, might I add, although we don’t advocate that sort of behaviour here – OBVS). Above all, they sound fearless and forcible; a welcome exit from the dull-as-dishwater goings on in the charts these days.

So when can you see them? Well, they’ll be tearing up The Dog & Parrot this coming Thursday (March 29th) along with the tremendous Apache Viking and Styles Make Fights (both also HTNE alumni, I might add!) and if you can make it, I’d certainly advise you to. It’s a tremendous line-up of 3 of our region’s most exciting emerging bands and for only £3, why wouldn’t you attend?

Here’s a peek at what you can expect to hear from Bison Hunting on the night: