Bayboards How I Wish I Was Cool Review

Do you ever feel as though you are screaming ‘Look at me! Listen to me !’ Just to realise you are whispering to yourself in a dark room. You have so many stories to share and songs to sing but no one is listening.

Bayboards explore this concept of invisibility in their latest single, How I Wish I Was Cool, a guitar infused banger accompanied with a fun video, filmed in their home city, Manchester. It’s a slow burner as it settles you into the song, exploring deeper themes of covering up your true self in order to fit in and still failing to do so. The build up before the anthemic chorus is one that bubbles in your chest, this is a song that was made to be sung- I must admit I was belting the chorus the second time through.

Bayboards – How I Wish I Was Cool (Music Video) June 28 2024

How I Wish I Was Cool is like a bedroom floor anthem that wouldn’t feel out of place at a summer festival this year. You can see the bouncing heads and mosh pits forming in the chorus you can see people causing concern for their housemates as they scream this, falling to their knees on the bedroom floor. This is a song that demands attention and will hopefully be the reason Bayboards finally start gaining the recognition they deserve.

The video for this track is a follow on from a series of music videos where the band are caught in a simulation, trapped by The Mystical World of Bart. In this video they have escaped the simulation but are forced to function as ‘normal human beings’ in order to prepare for their headline show at Manchester academy 2 in November. Get tickets for that here!

We all feel like outsiders but what about when we feel like outsiders to our own lives? stood at the window watching ourselves. You feel as though you are evaporating from your own existence, only worth something if someone is watching your performance. What is the point in your talent when it can not be perceived by others?

Bayboards

Wishing you were cool enough to feel seen by others, to be cared for by others. I wonder how many of us think, “I have so much to offer, what will it take for you to turn your head in my direction? I am searching for that spotlight but it is not looking to shine on me”, but these are thoughts we bury deep, hoping that silence will disguise them and we will shine just as those who are deemed ‘cool’ do, but we all share these thoughts, perhaps its time we started talking about them, perhaps its time we started listening.

What does cool even really mean anyway? Who determines what is popular? If you have a passion, if you have a talent you should pursue it, even if you are made to feel as though you are living an invisible existence, make the noise, drive the dream and live for yourself first.

Speaking about the song the band said “I want people to take whatever they want from the song, it will be unique to everyone’ and isn’t that just the magic of music, everyone’s ears are different but that feeling of union is always the same.

I think fans of this song will also like Get You Down and Moving to America, also by Bayboards which both boast a bouncy beat and follow and booming chorus. Bayboards make songs that boast stories, packing lyrics with meaning and a beat you can move to.

Bayboards certainly are gaining a reputation as being more than ‘cool’ with their energetic live shows fuelled with passion and full of power. On record they offer similar sounds to the likes of Circa Waves, The Black Keys and Sea Girls. Experience this banger and many others live at their up coming gig this October in London. Find out more here.

Marseille release their latest E.P , Freedom

What’s the best way to conclude a successful, 10 date, UK tour? By releasing a four track E.P of course.

Marseille by Jason Bridges

Track 1: Freedom

A crescendo of booming guitar solos, electric with a fast tempo and in your face attitude. this track is anthem with its signature Marseile high energy, from the steady drum build up, to the thumping baseline and roaring guitar feedback, this track truly sets the tone for the rest if the rock and roll E.P. You can really hear the 90’s Madchester scene that have inspired this quintet.

Inspired by the band’s hometown of Derby, the streets littered with wasted potential, peeling posters of withered dreams, dark skies over desolate lives, a City once so vibrant, full of life, now everything seems to have stopped in its stride. This track promises to bring back Derby’s beating heart.

Marseille are a young rock n roll band formed in late 2021 in Derby, England. The band consists of Will Brown, Joe Labram, Lennon Hall, Tom Spray and most recently Felix Moxey.

Marseille Freedom official video

Track 2: Only Just Begun

A heart broken as it had just began to beat. A love killed in it’s infancy, freshly bought bouquet of flowers withering before they’re received. That is what Track 2, “Only Just Begun” is all about, a break up before the love really began to blossom. This track explains why Steve Lamacq describes Marseille as having “Psychedelic sunshine beaming down on them” with the infusion of 60’s psychedelia with a mersey beat.

Marseille Only Just Begun

Optimism becomes this track with it’s upbeat guitar riffs and glorious hooks this song is great for a sing along so you can belt it out and forget the splinters of your broken heart digging into your stomach.

.Track 3: “Thinker”

A testament to the sadder side of life, this emotional ballad is an exploration of a darker narrative, showcasing the band’s versatile songwriting ability. With an orchestral appeal in the form of strings this song is a heart wrenched, infused with killer hooks that expose the soul. Inspired by all that is lost, this song sends them back home.

Marseille by Jason Bridges

Track 4: “Lost And Found”

Already a fan favourite this track came from the same recording sessions and had previously been an early live favourite of the band’s fans. A testament to the bend members friendship and loyalty to each other this really is an ode to the love of music, especially as it is one of the first songs the band fully fleshed out together. As a song with a lot of history, the band wanted to keep in touch with that raw, live sound. 

In 2022, Marseille had successes with the singles “Forget It All” which was played on Soccer Am and the 9 minute monster “The Jungle”. Over that summer, the band also performed at the Y-Not and Isle Of Wight Festivals. Recently seeing the end of a successful uk tour, the release of this EP and stages at up coming festival, Your City in Stoke on Trent on the 27th of May it is clear that 2023 is going to be a cracking year for this quintet.

Manchester Powerhouse The Redroom release The Woman From Nowhere.

We all have a person like her in our lives, travelling through towns, wandering the streets. Time to listen to her story.

The Redroom by Daniel Murphy

In this world we are all strangers in each others stories. Merely faces on streets to people we will never see again, their lives an uninteresting enigma, their existence barley rendered in our minds. We are all no one to nobody, as eye-catching as cracks in the pavement, a discarded cigarette on the street floor. perhaps that a little harsh, perhaps these nameless faces have an inspiring story underneath their blank expressions. After all, aren’t we all nameless?

The Redroom’s latest addition to their Neo-Soul ensemble explores some of the stories we may never hear from the perspective of a nameless woman.’ The Woman From Nowhere’ weaves an intriguing tale of mystery and woe that moves you like the swish of a skirt in the breeze, captures your ears and gets you wondering about all of the people you see but never really meet.

It is through music that we meet each other, we meet more of ourselves, who we could be and we get inspired, with songs we invite people into our world. Through music we explore ourselves, encourage change and weather internal conflict. Strangers are our friends, our lovers, ourselves, we are all those that we see and that is why the streets are an inspiring architect to pop culture, it is the people that make the art. The have stories to tell, perhaps if we just lend them an ear, and you can lend us your ears by listening to the podcast episode I did with The Redroom.

Podcast Episode

Keen people watcher, lyricist and lead singer Jess Lewis-Ward became inspired to write The Woman From Nowhere explaining how it “is a story based on a short real-life encounter. It’s a complex take on a simple interaction. A passing conversation with an interesting woman at a music festival, led to a burst of inspiration that I had to see through. The song itself encapsulates the way in which my mind works, where I’ll often create whole worlds and stories for strangers that I meet or observe along the way. I think TWFN accurately captures the variety of musical influences (from Louise Verneuil to America) that guide our
songwriting”.

Formed in late 2019, the band consists of the 20-year-old Jessica Lewis-Ward on rhythm guitar and lead vocals, Jake Elliot on lead guitar, Dominic Aldridge playing bass guitar, Matthew Dodds on keys and Charlie McDonald behind the kit.

The Redroom captured by Daniel Murphy

Causing an Indie storm in the north The Redroom combine their distinctive blues, jazz and psychedelic rock elements in ‘TWFN’ with contemporary elements to usher in anew era of songwriting. Songwriting that has seen them hit over 85,00 streams, Air Play on BBC 6 Music and sell out their headline gig in the Night and day cafe in Manchester, now their home base, success that ultimately lead them to open for Stereophonics at Hardwick live in 2022 and then playing the same festival as music giants, Madness at Lindisfarne Festival. This year they’re heading to Leeds Fest! Listen to the tracks that got them there, here.

Love Letter by The Redroom

Last year the band moved from their homebase Newcastle to Manchester,Jess describes how the move has influenced their music career “Life in Manchester is great! We’ve met some amazing people and gained some great opportunities from the move. The music scene here is a lot bigger and more diverse in comparison to Newcastle. It definitely feels like a natural progression for us. We all absolutely love the city and can’t wait to see what’s in store for us over the next year.”

We are all people from nowhere searching for our somewhere and it looks as though The Redroom has found that somewhere; from sharing the stage with industry icons, to sell-out headline shows in both their hometown of Newcastle and their new home of Manchester, it is clear that 2023 is shaping up to be a stellar year for the quintet.