Thomas Millet: 'I am the Enfield scene!!!'

music in Enfield realy seems to have had a kick up the arse recently, with the Rock For Change gigs showcasing bands, strong acts like Paris Rabone, Deeds Of The Dying and Kids Uncanny shining through, and more gigs upcoming, like the second Sel-Out @ Bar Form, 9 Blind's album launch @ The Bush Hill Park Tavern and Rock For Change's big gig at Millfield


and so we proceed, with another submitted Enfield Advertiser article and another Enfield talent...


Those Handsome Animals @ Bar Form 19.02.10


Bob Dylan sang that 'The time's they are a-changing'

Thomas Millet sang that 'i hope tonight's the night that she won't have a headache'

in just a few short years, Retro Crooks had become an Enfield mainstay, and it was usual to find me and my girlfriend drunkenly dancing by the front of the stage whenever they played their anthem of teenage yearning, 'Waiting Games'.

but like Robert Allen Zimmerman reminds us, things can't always stay the same, and Retro Crooks called it a day last December.

despite this, Thomas Millet has been hanging around the Enfield music scene like schoolkids will always hang around outside McDonalds after half three on a schoolday.

Music is an itch he needed to scratch, and helping to give him a good rub are Crooks former drummer Gary Batt and ex-Waterloos guitarist, Gavin Hankins.

together they formed Those Handsome Animals.

The obligitary myspace and facebook group has been set up, a couple of demos are online already and everything was building up towards unveiling their new material live at the new band's very first gig.

Those in attendance were treated to a short set of songs detailing the price of following trends, the collonising of mars and liasons with a lady of the night, as well as their newest new song that was barely 2 hours old, all delivered with the usual dry English humour and wit that Retro Crooks fans had come to expect.

Millet's familiar yelping singing style still stands firm, backed by an 80's esque alt-indie-pop sound that brings to mind Orange Juice and The Cure, but given a post-modern tilt when the vocal delivery leans towards that of Art Brut's Eddie Argos.

squeeling surf punk guitars ring out and the drums pound, the frenetic energy is dizzying as songs slip from a rock n roll standard into chaotic assault on the ears and the joyful pop sheen is torn asunder by ravaged guitars.

And those gathered in Bar Form have witnessed the return of Thomas Millet and the birth of Enfield's newest musical hope.

fridge freezer

i seem to be in danger of losing my girlfriend's interest in my blog due to the heavy dosage of large music articles that have sprung up over the past couple of weeks, i do try to keep the blog fairly general but i had noticed myself that my pieces for the Advertiser had started to dominate recently

and i'm guessing that she probably wasn't too thrilled with the comics related posts that went up earlier this week either (edit: she wasn't)

ok, i've got another music review that i was thinking of posting up tomorrow but for now let me try and find something slightly random to fill the gaps

hmmmmmmmm.....

how about a japanese advert for noodles featuring robocop?

stay tuned for the beach workout and the robocop dental hygene kit that may or may not have anything to do with noodles... all i know is i want one for my bathroom!



is that enough random ish to keep you happy?

why don't we try this as well?

a twilight 'manillow'




oh god, the sight of this thing actually makes me feel a little bit ill... it's horrible!

urgh, check out the other images from the listing, she really seems to be getting cosy, with not one, but two of them ?!

and it has sold out!!?

if me and the girlfriend are getting a place together i'm all for the robocop addition to the bathroom but there is no way i am having one of those creepy 'manillow' things in the 'painted french furniture with pink walls' ideal bedroom she is dreaming up

maybe this week. maybe next week

ok, so the official story is that the arts editor of the Enfield Advertiser had been away, which meant the articles i've been submitting got a little waylaid and are running a bit behind schedule.

so that the articles don't become hopelessly irrelevant i thought i'd get them posted on my blog ahead of publication, this weeks edition features my Tinnitus Awareness article, and keep an eye out for the following piece coming soon...



Rock For Change vol.4 @ The Hollybush 15.02.10


It's half past 7 and an eager queue of youngsters has amassed outside The Hollybush as local gig organisers, Rock For Change, host another successful night in town.

The campaign to get under 18s into local gigs has clearly struck a chord as both legal age drinkers and those resigned only to soft drinks mingle in the pub's backroom waiting for the bands to start.

Opening act Black Danny come from a clear lineage of brit-rock acts that owe a certain debt to Oasis, evident in the swagger and posture of their lead singer but these lads were more than just pure cliche, starting with a moody instrumental piece before moving on to tight laddish rock with heart.

Deeds Of The Dying stuck out like a sore thumb on the bill, but kicked as hard as a mule. It was quite clear that they had brought there own metal-loving following as the venue swiftly turned into mass of flailing limbs while the charged screamo band revelled in the chaos unfolding around them.



While the moshers went to take a bit of a breather, The Anonymous played a set heavily bolstered by cover versions, taking in Foo Fighters, Queens Of The Stone Age and 'Misirlou', aswell as offering up a small smattering of their own material before inviting up gig campaigner Mehmet Imamzade for their final track, a runthrough of Muse's 'Hysteria'.



It seems to me that tonight's headliners, Kids Uncanny, are seriously running the risk of outgrowing their name, as they and their indie-rock sound have matured so much every time I have seen them.

Playing in support of their re-released EP and ahead of the unveiling of new material, they remain a thrilling band to watch and are still adding to the fanbase they have been amassing over the past few years of hard work.





and it seems the intimate back room can't contain Rock For Change's ambition, with the next gig being their biggest yet announced at Milfield Arts Centre on 21st March, featuring Enfield's Red Monday and Double A and headlined by Brighton based, The Auteur.

credit where it's due:

all photos by Laura Harvey

i feel cheated

hang on, according to that timeline Wonder Woman came to man's world 4 years prior to the events of Zero Hour.

so how on earth was she around in the 1940s?? i give up!



(actually i won't, i'm about ready to read infinite crisis now)

is it any wonder?

i think i'm finally coming to terms with the fact that i am getting older, i don't like it one bit, and it has been very hard for me to deal with, and with all things considered i still don't feel like an adult

and aging is a part of my latest gripe, obviously since i am now an adult and extremely grown up i have been reading an awful lot of comics recently (obviously!), trying to catch up with events in the DC universe, and i have just finished Infinite Crisis tie-in 'The Return of Donna Troy' from back in '05



The character was created in 1965 as Wondergirl (45 years ago) and has had her own back-story changed numerous times since to keep up with an everchanging retconned universe and has had her history tied (and then untied - and then tangled?) to that of Wonder Woman, who herself suffered retcon woes at the hands of higher editorial powers

in their 1994 attempt to untangle any existing mess and lay everything in order, DC devised Zero Hour, which culminated in everything being hunky dory and even printed a definitive time-line




So Donna Troy began operating as Wondergirl 8 years ago, according to 1994s Zero Hour retconned time-line, with the Teen Titans forming a year later (which makes the years in question 1986 and 1987 respectively).

In the story i've just read (from 2005) Donna comments that she has two failed marriages and she's not even 25



so lets put this in a little perspective then, Donna Troy was created before i was born but in some crazy comics continuity (possibly like dog years i'm guessing) she has only been operating since i was 3, when she would have been a teenager and then eight years elapsed between then and the events of zero hour in 1994.

i read Zero Hour when i was 11 (by which point Donna would have been 20-ish?)

and then in a 2005 story (published 11 years after Zero Hour) she was probably 24, which means that at that time Donna Troy was a couple of years older than me.

which leaves me startlingly disturbed that i seem to be hurtling further towards my eventual demise while the characters that i have read about are now enjoying a slow aging process.

ok, anyone still with me after that bizarre little alienating rant?

it must be a comics thing.

stay tuned for some more music talk...

the answer

another article that i decided to write for The Enfield Advertiser after getting thoroughly excited about discovering a new band, followed by the bitter taste of hindsight.

i don't know if the Advertiser will have the balls to print this, but i also submitted it to Glasswerk who i am considering renewing my journalistic 'career' with...




if Richard D. James ever had a nightmare about Aqua and Vanilla Ice after gorging himself on cheese all evening and watching District 9, it would be just like this.

as comparisons make easy reference for the uninitiated to understand an unheard musical artist, this is perhaps by far the weirdest yet. but when you have seen and heard the band you will truly understand.