Million Dead, X is Loaded and yourcodenameis:milo at Fibbers, York 21st April 04 By Steve Rudd

As the April rains raged outside, so did Newcastle quintet yourcodenameis:milo on the inside. Strange name, you might think.. and they're an even stranger band, proudly presenting the sound of sheer carnage as three guitarists manhandle all manner of destructive and aggressive riffs, interspersed with some tender and melodic passages.

The left-handed, under-cap frontman bleeds with the spirit of Kurt Cobain, as his superb, high-energy performance mirrors a mighty force indeed, bracing all concerned for the band's tour dates with Mclusky and Ikara Colt.

I thought I'd seen the X is Loaded frontman somewhere before, a few years back - and yes, I had and wasn't hallucinating. The diminutive Jake Robertson used to be singer/guitarist for the fabulous Tenner, and now he's virtually unrecognizable, having opted for a pretty severe image change in the space between playing for both bands. He did used to have long hair, but now he's dyed it jet-black to stunning Goth effect. What is recognizable though is Jake's distinctive voice, and anthems such as Laugh, Point & Wave are imbued with the spirit of those good old Tenner cuts, though X is Loaded are a far heavier and harder rocking band than Tenner ever were.

Indeed, if anyone knows if eardrum transplants are in fact a possibility in this day and age, please let me know. Million Dead, as headliners, are far more punk-fuelled in their ways compared to their support acts. A London-living quartet, their popularity has come on in leaps and bounds in the past year after scorching tours and festival sets such as at last year's Reading & Leeds weekend.

Fronted by Frank, they breathtakingly rattled through old and new songs; old songs from their bone-cracking A Song To Ruin album such as Charlie + The Propaganda Myth Machine (Willy Wonka was a capitalist confidence trickster - if you didn't already know!), the love song Smiling At Strangers On Trains and the spectacularly epic Rise And Fall.. and new cuts such as their new single - I Gave My Eyes To Stevie Wonder. Which was a kind thing for Frank to do. Still, Million Dead are all-seeing, all-screaming, all-rocking, and their intensity and eccentricity to a large degree reflects System Of A Down's style. Julia on bass is both the coolest and sexiest woman in rock right now, with Ben battling behind her on drums and the tattoo-swamped Cameron solely in charge of the high-powered guitar riffage that so dominates their sound.

Frank's powerhouse vocals are spat out thick and fast and sound a treat, and in this instance this collective played A Show To Never Forget.

And not one single person died in the process, which is always a bonus. www.milliondead.com www.xisloaded.com www.yourcodenameismilo.com Coming up - Million Dead at the Welly Club, Hull

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