Out of the Ashes, Rise the Flames

To some of you, Fell City Girl will be a familiar name. I was introduced to the Oxfordshire band and their fantastic second EP entitled February Snow nearly two years ago now by a friend at Uni. They created massive soundscapes through delayed guitars, heavily reverberated drums and a voice that was as amateurish as it was inspiring. Though it faltered and his diction was less than perfect, it was the obviously personal lyrics that allowed the listener to connect with Fell City Girl, in spite of their cheesy approach.

February Snow demonstrates an intelligent approach to rhythm and dynamic, using James Pamphilion's drumming to emphasise when you should pay attention to the ferocity of the lyrics and when you should sit back and immerse yourself in a sea of delayed guitars. The song is littered with vaguely thought-provoking lyrics such as

"I said I'd be here and I am,

back home my world is falling down,

I know it's sad,

but that's the way it is"

Encouraging you to remember the times you were somewhere you didn't want to be, dealing with situations that were against your control, felling helpless but accepting that you roll with the punches and keep going. Despite it's less-than-distinctive qualities, Phil's voice carries over the chorus with a traditional message of hope

"Let's leave this town

You said as we float like balloons

Up up and away

Through the February snow"

Helplines was another stand out track for me, a simple acoustic guitar smothered with violins and white noise to fulfill all that your ears demand. The lyrics again can be taken as superficially as you want them to but the track and it's delicacy are unavoidable and the EP carries Fell City Girl over the expectation of another guitar based indie-foursome who've clearly just bought delay pedals and are having way too much fun experimenting with them. The EP provides shots of power, shots of delicacy and a massive sounding drum kit.

And that's where the story ends I'm afraid. March 2007 saw the end of Fell City Girl, a split that was supposedly amicable but the pressures of recording that final EP may have been the nail in the coffin. And so we come to The Winchell Riots.

Guitarist Phil and Drummer James joined forces again for The Winchell Riots in 2007 and made an impressive start. Their debut show at the Oxford academy sold out long in advance, they played festivals and were highly touted by industry figures and iTunes for Manchester's annual In The City conference.

Their recent EP "Histories" continues pretty much where Fell City Girl finished with all the necessary ingredients - delay, overly loud drums and Phil's vocals. This is clearest in my favourite track so far - The Man Who Mapped The Oceans. The song begins like any pretentious indie song should, with awkward rhythmic stabs from the guitarists and drummer. Eventually a theme develops and the song progresses into a soaring song that could've been lifted from any of Fell City Girl's earlier work.

Though the band are relatively new and to be fair, almost carbon copies of Fell City Girl, this is not necessarily a bad thing. Kind of like the new Pumpkins. It's the same sound with the same essential members and that's what makes me like The Winchell Riots. They have a handful of dates coming up. All information can be found here:

www.myspace.com/thewinchellriots