I was also at this gig and found the ToyPOP! set slightly surreal. I wasn't quite sure whether to take it seriously or not, if I'm honest; it seemed almost like a parody of pop but with a pure, pop heart beating within it simultaneously. The Blondie cover (Tide Is High) particularly struck me as being much closer to Atomic Kitten's version which is symptomatic of the point being made here. It's not a problem in and of itself, but a bit confusing in the context of the evening.

Hi there, obviously the crowds are a vital factor of a gig so we tend to mention them on occasion. The entire atmosphere can hinge on those fellas, so they are hard to ignore. I suppose the beauty of this is that we can all have opinions, and all are valid, we welcome the input. And, personally, I love Ms. Zacharias' material too. Wasn't there on the night myself, so can't really comment much further. I can assure you, though, the reviewer definitely was!

Cheers! And thanks for dropping us a line...

Wow! Thanks! Such kind, vaguely robotic words...

Hi Jim, and others,

I can see this review has obviously caused some distress. I, as Editor, take responsibility for that, and certainly hope there are no hard feelings here. When assessing the scores and the words, I assure you, it's not something I carry lightly, as I'll go on to explain. I will be completely honest and balanced, and hope, too, that this will be enough.

We've encountered Rusty Shackle on a number of occasions and, as you and others mention, have responded favourably to the live show. The record provoked a different response from us, but that doesn't mean we have anything against the band generally. This review was not intended to cause harm to a group who clearly have a loyal, local following. But as with all reviews, there is the sense of opening oneself up to the critical gaze to some degree and in their careers, I'm sure Rusty Shackle with have many good and bad reviews. As you say, everyone has an opinion, yourself included (which by the way is completely valid), as does JOC as do I, and as will others.

In regards to your point about nurturing the local musical community, I couldn't agree more. I, and others, started the magazine for exactly that purpose, and we've worked awfully hard at it ever since to try and cover as much as we possibly can of this brilliant city and beyond. From the start, though, we agreed that we didn't want to provide a set of glowing reviews for everything without question just because it was within the locality. As a musician myself previously, I garnered a few glowing reviews on occasion only to later realise that everyone who was also reviewed was given similar treatment. This made my sense of achievement a little more diminished, and personally, I felt my sets were normally pretty bad, so wasn't quite sure what to make of it. Our view is that to nurture the scene, you have to be honest with it. Of course, our honesty only stretches as far as our collective opinions but this LP went through a number of hands and ears before it arrived at this point.

I want to re-iterate, that as a magazine, and as a group of people, there most certainly isn't anything personal against Rusty Shackle. We'll happily come to the next live show, take on the next single review, EP review or anything else. Again, at that time, we'll feed you back our honest opinion. As I say, as someone who started this all to help the local scene, we support Rusty Shackle in the same way we support any other band from these parts. No disrespect intended.

I hope that clears anything up, but if there are any other comments, please feel free to get in touch with me on info [at] themmp.tv

Thanks,

SMR

Biting and, may I say, bitter sarcasm...

Please Jordan - get back in touch, let us know you're safe...

Hi guys,

Thanks for getting in touch - we'll have a listen and get back to you....

Thanks for all those lovely comments, Huw. I agree it is a little strange that we've not heard more about it here in Wales. Look at the Scots who are in a similar situation and you can find petitions, comment, debate, ire, frustration, a lot of it emerging from the Introducing team themselves. You'd have thought the Introducing Wales lot would be moved to some form of resistance, or at least acknowledgement of the situation, but it all seems awfully quiet and accepting.

Couldn't agree more with most of that - the shame would be felt across the rest of the United Kingdom too, as it would stretch that far. Having this sort of regional programming is crucial for emerging bands on such a major station. The Scottish started to show a bit of a fight at the time of the cuts announcements, as described here www.petitionbuzz.com/petitions/introducingscotlan...

But while the opiate of the show still running and sounding great is there, perhaps it will be hard for collective action to prosper as we don't yet feel truly aggrieved. Who knows? Personally, we're all up for a bit of a revolution here. Or at the very least a casual petition here or there...

Yeah - there's a lot of talent throughout the month, should also mention the Full Fat's team regular Hometown Heroes in Buffalo, 10 Feet Tall and Undertone too. January suddenly looks pucker musically...