A Night Out at Roxy Ball Room

Anushka Searle on 28 July 2021

With the new found freedom and cocktail nights breaking the bank it’s time to find an alternative night out…enter Roxy. Roxy Ball Room, nicknamed “Roxy’s”, is the night out that every friend will enjoy. Whether you simply want a drink, a game of pool, a pizza night or a full night of activities, Roxy’s has a lot to offer. On my visit to their Merrion street location I was lucky enough to test out their duckpin bowling and crazy pool, alongside a pizza, some drinks, and of course I brought some friends along for the ride too.

Duckpin Bowling

A fun and quick alternative to your average game of bowling. Each player gets three tries each go, in comparison to the usual two, meaning that you can rake up a pretty high score. The only downside is that the game was a tad glitchy for us as the pins often came down with the front pin missing, making it impossible to get a strike. On the upside, the game was really fun, you get lots of rounds, and it is right next to the bar! Who doesn’t want a bit of drunk bowling?

Crazy Pool

Never have I ever seen crazy golf combined with pool before, but Roxy’s made that happen. You are presented with a variation of different tables with loops and obstacles at varying difficulties and you have six tries to get the ball in the hole. We had lots of fun with this game, and it was great to try something new. My one suggestion would be that the tables are too smooth so we often ran into the problem of the ball rolling off the table or getting stuck in the exact same place, this could also be improved by changing the sides of the table so that the ball can bounce off of them.

Pizza Time

With all those games and drinks you are bound to work up an appetite and Roxy’s pizza is there to solve that problem. If you’re a bit peckish then you can buy by the slice, but let’s be honest a full pizza is always the better choice. Roxy’s has recently changed their pizza bases and my Italian boyfriend was thoroughly impressed by them. My only point of criticism is that their pizza range is very limited, with only two vegetarian options (including margherita) and no vegan or gluten free option. If they improve their menu to include a few more topping and base options, then their pizza would be incredible.

Overall, the five of us had a great time at Roxy’s and the staff was amazing and very friendly. I would definitely recommend Roxy’s to anyone that hasn’t been as it is a great location for birthdays, befriending flatmates, or a simple games night. Roxy’s is everchanging and I can’t wait to see how they develop this fantastic business further.

Squid take you on a sonic journey through the Bright Green Field

Benjamin Forrest on 20 May 2021

Brighton-based quintet Squid have slowly been releasing tracks since back in 2016, with some notable highlights being the 2018 single ‘The Dial’ released on the cult label Speedy Wunderground – who would later release their incredible ‘Town Centre’ EP, and the 2019 single ‘Houseplants’ which received a lot of airplay on BBC 6 Music. More locally, Squid made waves playing a blistering good set at Hyde Park Book Club as part of Live at Leeds in 2019. With the amount of hype built up around the band, it was very possible that their long-awaited debut Bright Green Field(released via Warp Records) would feel somewhat underwhelming, but fortunately for us Squid delivered one of the most original and exciting albums we will see in 2021. 

Squid are one of the few bands around at the moment that never seem to sit still, constantly jumping from one sound to the next – just as you think you have gotten used to their sound, you are jolted in completely the opposite direction. This is perhaps why, with every new release, Squid seem more individualist and bohemian. Bright Green Fieldincorporates elements of jazz, punk, psychedelia, funk, post-punk, dub and everything in-between; it is a beautiful sonic menagerie and an excellent listening experience. 

The album kicks off with the atmospheric ‘Resolution Square’ which sets up the experimental tone of the album perfectly before blending seamlessly into the ‘G.S.K.’. The first track and its transition to ‘G.S.K.’ really signifies that Bright Green Field is not merely a collection of songs but a perfectly handcrafted album; a listening experience in which you are transported to this frantic and slightly weird world for just under an hour by the means of blaring horns and dystopian lyrics. ‘Narrator’ is a definite highlight within the album, the 8-and-a-half-minute epic encapsulating much of what is so brilliant about the band. The tempo can change on a sixpence, building to what seems like a climax before stopping dead in its tracks. The unpredictably chaotic nature of the track coupled with the contrast between the frantic vocals of Ollie Judge and the (initially) gentle tones of guest vocalist Martha Skye Murphy combine to form an exigently compelling track. Furthermore, the fact that ‘Narrator’ can exist on the same album as the experimental electronic track ‘Paddling’, the Krautrock influence of ‘Peel St.’ or the dream-like psychedelia of ‘2010’ and still have the album flow so seamlessly as though it were one continuous song is testament to the musical brilliance of Squid. That being said, Bright Green Field really works best as an album – none of the individual songs on the album would work particularly well as a single release, or at least they would not have the same impact as they do when listened to within the context of the full album.

Bright Green Field is a prime example of a genuinely exciting band at their very best. From the cover art to the mixing, there is seemingly nothing that could be improved on this album. The only worry is that it will be a difficult album to follow, but then again, if anybody can do it, Squid can! The band are set to play Brudenell Social Club on August 31st, it will be interesting to see how their new material is performed live but based on their Live at Leeds set from 2019, it will be a great show regardless. 

Screaming in Silence: ‘Sound of Metal’ Review and Analysis

Jack Denison on 15 May 2021

*this review contains spoilers*

Sound of Metal is Darius Marder’s (co-writer of The Place Beyond The Pines) tremendous directorial debut. It is a film that pulls the rug from under you and tells the story of Ruben (Riz Ahmed), a recovering drug addict and heavy-metal drummer who begins to lose his hearing.

The film is worthy of merit for many of its endeavours, particularly with its approach from the outset. Ahmed, who lassoed the spotlight with his terrific performance in HBO’s The Night Of, has raised the bar even higher in this latest project. He catapults himself wholeheartedly into his job; spending six months learning to play the drums and becoming well versed in American Sign Language, even opting to communicate with the director and co-stars in this manner and often wearing ‘auditory blockers’, saying that “I couldn’t hear anything, including the sound of my own voice”. Furthermore, his co-stars at the programme where he undergoes a profound character transformation, are members of the deaf community. Paul Raci, who plays Joe the programme founder, grew up with deaf parents and is a prominent figure in the community. This moral approach to the material pays off nobly, with a sensitive and sincere execution.

Witnessing Ruben as he tries to grapple with a world that rapidly and silently melts around him is terrifyingly tangible, jarring and upsetting. The cast (although particular applause to Ahmed) deliver an electrifying, powerhouse of performances that has our undivided attention and makes the film spark, cementing its incredibly intimate and tender depiction of his world-shattering crisis. The sound mixing adds a viscerally potent dimension to the experience. By splitting the film from the perspective of a world full of crazy sounds and his muffled, silenced world as he tries to process his grief, we are left with a tragically isolating insight and downright frightening realism.

The script excels in its incredibly profound character study and thematic philosophies, speaking volumes. It focuses on a troubled, volatile character who is haunted by his demons, calling him back to a life of heroin addiction, who eats, breathes and sleeps metal music but is then suddenly plunged into an icy world of silence and stillness. This razor-sharp radical transformation makes witnessing his hardship and internalising and rationalising of his plight both deeply devastating and harrowing. Ruben is tasked with getting up at 5am to be left alone with his thoughts, a pad of paper, a pen and no distractions. What results is a glimpse into his brittle split-personality, of his old self and his sober self, explosive yet extremely disciplined and earnest, as he is taken over by a tantrum, pummelling a donut into smithereens before putting it delicately back together, multiple times.

Image Credit: Jeff Mitchell, Phoenix Film Festival

Marder executes a profound examination of a tormented soul and the concept of inner stillness. Even though Ruben’s life thrived on chaotic, loud music, we learn that by nature his spirit is soft but misdirected; he often starts his days making healthy smoothies and listening to French Jazz. During his reconciliation with his new world at the programme, we find him in a deep meditative state over a piano melody, integrating and connecting with his new family and generally, the happiest we have seen him. However, when he gets tugged back by his old life and sees a video of Lou (breaking the no-technology rule of the programme), his meditative reformation is intercepted and he invests in an implant that will get him back to not just a life of hearing but to his old life as well.

This feeds into an incredibly impactful scene where Ruben bids farewell to Joe saying that he has to “save his life” and that he can’t just “diddle around” and “have nothing”. Naturally, Joe is distraught by this insult saying that Ruben “looks and sounds like an addict”. This integrally powerful scene demonstrates how Ruben’s self-destructive ego pushes him away from achieving inner stillness, whilst hurting those around him, much like how he acted with his blaring, frenzied past life and how can’t make peace with himself. Ruben returns to the outside world to rekindle his relationship with Lou, to find that she has moved on, unshackled by her demons and has found her inner stillness.

This final act revelation is nothing short of tragic and pulls on the audience’s heartstrings when we learn with Ruben that after burning the bridge with his best shot at inner peace, he actually integrated better with his family at the programme, than when he forcefully tries to reintegrate back into the spoken world. Ruben justifies his exit by saying “that’s life, it just passes” and we truly feel for him because he hasn’t made peace with the fact that the world keeps spinning and as we see, it doesn’t wait for him. This leads to a strong symbolic bow as the film’s curtains close, showing Ruben pensively entranced by the ringing of a bell tower, before he decides to remove his hearing aid; back to silence.

Sound of Metal is the most genuine and raw story Hollywood has had to offer recently and deserves every ounce of praise. A film that screams in silence, and it should certainly not go unheard.

Image Credit: Substream Magazine

This is Telex: Belgian electro-pioneers receive the Mute treatment

Benjamin Forrest on 11 May 2021

Ask somebody about the early days of electronic music and people are likely to mention groups like The Human League or Depeche Mode who helped to popularised synth-pop in the UK. Some might mention Kraftwerk, Throbbing Gristle, electronic experimentation in Jamaican dub music, or perhaps the early 1970s era of progressive rock. A music historian might even cite 1920s composers such as Joseph Schillinger. The origin and evolution of electronic music is a rich and varied topic, but one band that often gets left out of the story is Telex. 

Formed in Belgium, 1978, Telex aimed to create something entirely different from the mainstream music scene of the time. Determined to differ from rock music, Telex refused to incorporate guitars within their music, opting instead to use exclusively electronic instruments. Whilst this might not seem like such a revolutionary idea in 2021, in 1978 this really went against the grain of popular music. Electronic pop was often seen as a novelty and treated with suspicion. Electronic music was by no means a widespread concept- and received little mainstream attention. The electronic experimentation Telex were doing had not been done before, aside from a small handful of isolated artists. 

Despite releasing five albums between 1979 and 1988, as well as a reunion album in 2006, producing remixes for Pet Shop Boys and Depeche Mode and collaborating with Sparks for their 1981 album Sex; Telex never really achieved mainstream success. The band’s only commercial success in the UK was their slow, dispassionate cover of the rock n roll classic ‘Rock Around the Clock’, which peaked at number 34 in the UK singles chart in 1979. The biggest exposure Telex received over here was likely their Eurovision performance in 1980, in which they reportedly hoped to finish in last place with their deliberately banal and cliched song ‘Euro-vision’ (although the entry actually finished in 19th, thanks to 10 points from Portugal). 

Telex officially disbanded in 2008 after the death of band member Marc Moulin. A compilation album, Ultimate, was released in 2009 but received little attention and the band appeared to have been lost to obscurity. That was until legendary independent label Mute Records – whose previous releases include the likes of New Order, Depeche Mode, Inspiral Carpets, Yazoo, Moby and Wire, to name but a few – announced a compilation This Is Telex. 

The compilation features tracks from throughout the band’s career including two previously unreleased tracks: covers of The Beatles’ ‘Dear Prudence’, and ‘The Beat Goes On’ by Sonny & Cher. All tracks are newly mixed and remastered by the two remaining members of the group, Dan Lacksman and Michel Moers, and they sound utterly incredible! This compilation really goes to show just how ahead of their time Telex were, and hopefully with the distribution powers of Mute they will finally gain the widespread recognition they so rightly deserve. This Is Telex also excellently portrays the versatility of the group: from the moody post-punk atmosphere of ‘The Number One Song in Heaven’ to nightclub floor fillers such as ‘Moskow Diskow’, stopping in between for some wonderfully weird off-beat electro in ‘Dance to the Music’ and ‘Radio-Radio’. A punk attitude, disco tendencies and elements of experimental electronic music combine in order to form some of the greatest, most idiosyncratic tracks of the 1980s – and they still hold up in the 21st Century. According to Mute, This Is Telex is the precursor to a full series of reissues of Telex’s back catalogue. This is excellent news as many of Telex releases have not witnessed official reissues in decades and given how high quality This Is Telex is, we are definitely in for a treat! 

Cherry review: An epic and sobering tale

Jack Denison on 10 April 2021

Cherry is an epic and sobering tale of a misfit-turned-war veteran-turned outlaw, who is demonised by his PTSD and free falls through the horrors of opioid addiction and performs heists to fuel his dependency. Tom Holland plays our protagonist, whilst Ciara Bravo is our supporting actor who gets entangled in her husband’s crisis.

Directors, Anthony and Joe Russo (Avengers: Endgame, Infinity War) quickly suck audiences into the character’s world. For the most part, it has our attention in a jaw lock (a third act that wallows a bit too much, overstaying its welcome) as we witness the whirlwind of tragedy contaminating the lives of our characters. It’s a rollercoaster of an experience and wildly entertaining. Holland delivers a powerful performance, graduating from the superhero, tight-suit genre promisingly. With Bravo’s performance thrown into the equation, we quickly latch onto the characters’ decaying romance and are thoroughly invested.

At its nucleus, Cherry targets some solemn, ambitious themes and voices some political comments, illustrating their dramatic ramifications. We are pushed through the film’s skeleton with our misguided protagonist through the betrayal of the military, the ensuing silenced horrors of PTSD and washed up effects of dehumanisation and disassociation; being victimised by the wrath of the opiate crisis, turning to criminal activities and generally falling through the cracks, the execution of its subject material is hard-hitting and unflinching, especially in its depiction of the military’s unsavoury ego.

Image Credit: Hideaway Entertainment

From a directorial perspective, the Russo Brothers effectively put us behind the eyes of our protagonist. The portrayal of his alienation from the world, whether it may be silhouetted bankers rejecting him with disembodied voices or all of his uncanny-looking colleagues at work coming from the same bloodline, is captured creatively and as audiences, we are won over. Similarly, in the first act, the hyper-colourised sequences represent a poignant comment on the vision of nostalgia, mummified with an aesthetic that’s doused in gloss. The slightly slow-mo movements, the muffling of background clatter, the blurring of the peripherals and dream-like score rings louder and glistens further for those through the looking glass of a crippling addiction.

However, throughout Cherry, we are hit with ambivalence over how the story’s substance is decorated in such an artificial aesthetic. With the Russo Brothers’ victory in wrapping up the Avengers franchise with a bang, its confetti has drifted over into their next project here, resembling some heavy political issue arrows being fired from hipsters. Simply put, the project is over-directed and over-polished, resulting in a vain film that loves itself just a bit too much. Consequently, the film’s loyalty to its subject matter and the authenticity that it delivers comes into question. By choosing to topple in favour of its envisioned aesthetic, in its battle scenes, for example, it falls on its own sword. The perfectly stable boom that sways through the battlefield in a single take illuminating different perfectly choreographed frenzies makes us feel like we’re watching a multimillion-dollar, highly stressful Hollywood film set, rather than immersed and lost in the chaos of the battlefield. Similarly, it feels like at times it overcooks its drama, resulting in some overly theatrical sequences that are impaled by redundancy and some tough drug depiction that assassinates expected discretion, ultimately endangering itself as a gimmick.

By puffing out its chest over its aesthetic, it fails to delegate merit and intelligence towards the unfolding of its narrative, leaving us knowing what’s around every corner with predictable plot points. In its defence, its success in executing its biblically sized story (that we are constantly reminded about with disruptive frames bookmarking which act we are entering) is well ironed out in its sequencing that moves with a brazen pace. However, this is done at the expense of an overly comfortable voice-over narration that carries the delivery of the narrative on its back for the entire journey.

Image Credit: Empire

Women of Inspiration: Poly Styrene

Benjamin Forrest on 18 March 2021

Poly Styrene, in many ways, has fallen into a certain degree of obscurity since her band X-Ray Spex split in 1979. Prominent figures within the New Wave punk scene in the UK during the late 1970s , X-Ray Spex produced some of the greatest, most profound, lyrics of that era. Despite this, the music press only seems to remember the Sex Pistols – the punk equivalent of a manufactured boy band – and the likes of Poly Styrene and X-Ray Spex are largely forgotten, or so it was thought. Clearly many people still remember the force of nature that was Poly Styrene (or Marianne Joan Elliot-Said, to use her birth name) as a documentary film, called I am a Cliché, telling her story was recently crowdfunded (before receiving funding from Sky) and aired on Sky Arts.

The film follows Celeste Bell, the only daughter of Poly Styrene, as she retraces her mother’s steps and tells the incredible, at points heart breaking, story of her life. The story is of the first woman of colour to front a successful rock band in the UK, a tortured genius, and undoubtedly one of the coolest people of the 20th century, but mainly of a mother and how her relationship with daughter Celeste progressed over the course of Poly Styrene’s career. The story of the documentary is told mainly through diary entries (voiced by Ruth Negga), personal accounts from Bell and interviews with fellow musicians and those who knew her. The visuals of the film are simply stunning; the shots of Celeste looking through her mother’s personal belongings are cut together with an unbelievable amount of brilliant archive footage, photographs and artwork – of which Poly Styrene created most. It truly is a visual treat to watch. 

The influence of Poly Styrene and X-Ray Spex cannot be overstated, and this is shown within the documentary if only through the people who speak within it. Kathleen Hanna (Bikini Kill/Le Tigre/The Julie Ruin), Pauline Black (The Selecter), Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth), Rhoda Dakar (The Bodysnatchers, The Special AKA) all testify to how influential the work of Poly Styrene was to them and the greater music scene – without her influence over Kathleen Hanna it is entirely possible that the Riot Grrrl movement would never have happened. The film also features contributions from iconic figures of the period, including Vivienne Westwood and Don Letts, interspersed between the monologue of Celeste Bell and Poly’s personal diary entries. 

A stand-out point within the documentary was the period of time which X-Ray Spex played a series of shows at the iconic CBGB club – famed for spawning such bands as The Ramones, Blondie, Television and Talking Heads to name but a few. Spending time in New York, the film reveals, Styrene was astonished by the huge prevalence of advertisements and consumerism. These themes were obviously prevalent within her lyrics (for instance, “It’s 1977 and we are going mad / It’s 1977 and we’ve seen too many ads”, from ‘Plastic Bag’). Many of the observations made in her diary entries, read aloud within this film, correctly predict how advertising has shaped or damaged the lives of people in the modern day. 

Thankfully, the documentary is not confined only to Styrene’s time with X-Ray Spex – though that section of her life is undoubtedly fascinating – it also deals with her childhood as one of the first waves of mixed raced children in the UK and how outcasted that caused Marianne to feel. The prevalent racist attitudes in the UK during 1960s and 70s with regard to the rise of the National Front and Enoch Powell’s infamous ‘Rivers of Blood’ hate speech are not often covered from a biracial perspective, however this documentary deals with the topic in a very informative way. It is an important story to be told in terms of the social history of the UK and is far too often glossed over. 

Her struggles with her own mental health, her unsuccessful (or rather: unappreciated) solo career, her dedication to the Hare Krishna movement, and her glorious early 00s comeback are all detailed within the film. Aside from being a story about a pioneering and gifted poet and lyricist, it is simply a very interesting and important story; the fact it is finally being told and Poly Styrene is finally receiving the credit she is due is a cause for rejoice. I am a Cliché is one of the most interesting and well put together music documentaries in recent time. If you are a fan of the band, feminism, music history or social history in general you will likely enjoy this film. As stated by Pauline Black in the film “The world is playing catch up with Poly Styrene, not the other way around”. 

Literary Calendar: Books to Look Forward to in 2021

Emma Rivers on 6 March 2021

Emma Rivers introduces twelve of the best books to look forward to in 2021, including powerful poetry, short story collections and children’s books that are bringing neurodiverse representation to the forefront. Add these books to your ‘to-buy’ list right away!

‘News of the World’ review: Woody gets a live-action treatment

Jack Denison on 23 February 2021

News of the World tells the story of Captain Kidd (Tom Hanks) in middle America, post-civil war, who plods between small towns delivering the news and stories of the country. His equilibrium is thrown off balance when he meets Johanna  (Helena Zengel), a young girl who had been captured by the Kiowa tribe. The film follows his endeavours to take her back to her family.  

Director, Paul Greengrass, who previously collaborated with Hanks on Captain Phillips, dominates with an impressive set and costume design, making audiences feel like they’re witnessing an American Gothic painting brought to life and stretched over two hours. By night, we are presented with some fantastic stills of midnight ghost towns, moon-lit shudders, amber windows and oil lamps, sparking a dark and brooding atmosphere. By day, we are immersed into the verisimilitude of a comical Wild Wild West town; the perpetually muddy main strips, bustling saloons, neighing stables, bells chiming, people whistling, the clatter of villagers starting their day – a buzzing hive smothered by the epic American landscape.  

Dariusz Wolski’s cinematography and his use of wide-angle frames is accentuated by some gorgeous images of the twilight hours and its rising purple tones casting shadows over the hills, creating a beautifully placid fragrance in the air.  

Hanks and Zengel wear their roles well, particularly Hanks, who is renowned for his  humbleness and good nature, makes for a perfect fit as a paternal character. The film’s first old-school, fun cowboy shootout with some rugged bandits and a creatively horrific  alternative to gunpowder pushes our familiarity with Mr Beloved Worldwide as a heroic  gunslinger but does not disappoint.

Credit: Universal Pictures

Greengrass plays it very safe in News of the World, which makes it hard to flesh out any  valid flaws. However, some complacencies present themselves, such as within its  dialogue. When a shady, menacing crew try to take Johanna off Captain Kidd’s hands for  a price, which results in an altercation, one of the members threatens him saying “I’ll be  seeing you Captain…I’m coming for you as soon as I’m done with these blues”. Not only  is this on-the-nose, but it also frustratingly spoils the possible element of surprise later on  in the narrative with his return, as we already know from this confrontation that he  presents himself as a potential antagonistic conflict, resulting in what is some pretty  complacent writing.  

Captain Kidd’s quest in bringing the news of the country to these isolated, bubbled village  communities resembles a lighthouse beacon illuminating the scary unknown abyss of the  expansive lands of America for its disconnected sleepy towns in an age of tremendous  darkness before a world of technology, science (labelling the misunderstood as ‘cursed’),  mass-communication (other than ‘word is’) and humanitarian justice. This metaphorical  plague is manifested in and personified by our two protagonists, who are both isolated  and wrestling with an existential ambiguity over where they belong and where they ought  to go.  

News of the World doesn’t conquer any new grounds or put itself up to any real risk but instead communicates a very necessary sentiment. The timeless power of stories is what triumphs here. His stories are the only light that echoes through a country muffled by darkness, a country riddled by desperate turbulence, confusion and anger, in need of severe enlightenment and escapism, whilst on the brink of a new era. For these reasons,  News of the World couldn’t have come out at a better time. 

Header image credit: The New York Times