As We Climb, Less Than Me, Operation SM, Awake The Empire and A Few To Many

Wednesday September 1st 2010 @ The Portland Arms - £4

Forming late in 2006, Plymouths Less Than Me have spent the last few years creating and twisting their wide and vivid vision of what their alternative sound should be.

The 5 piece are an incredibly hard working, individual act who constantly attempt to avoid the pitfalls and cliches laid out by so many genres. Their sound is built up around huge hooks, sublime guitar tones, strong harmonies and polished grooves. Originally starting as a pop act, the band have slowly warped and outgrown sounds to morph into their current form. They are so much more than a run of the mill Rock Band and contain more than enough depth to be worthy of your attention.

Releasing their debut album "Crawl, Walk, Party" through Lockjaw Records in late 2008, Less Than Me immediately took these songs to the people, playing a huge amount of shows between then and late 2009. Traveling the country in a variety of different beat-up vans, the act were proudly involved in many tours (Including one non-stop 17 date 2009 jaunt) as well as many one off dates and festival appearances. The live environment is where the band truly come alive, with the songs taking on a new life in this setting. The band are a tight, rehearsed and professional act that never fail get a foot tapping or arms in the air.

Taking a break from Live shows in late 2009, the band focused heavily on writing for their second album, which they are aiming to record sometime in 2010. The new sound is a massive progression into Less Than Me's sound and is stronger and more planned out then ever before. Rather than simply producing the same album twice, the band have once again completely re thought their music, attempting to get even closer towards the pinnacle of what they want to hear. Each note and rhythm is meticulously organised, each arrangement is pushed around and discussed to achieve the greatest results.

Lyrically, the band have been focusing on making these new works incredibly personal and obvious. There are no metaphors or trite nonsensical ramblings here. Each song meaning is laid out bare for the listener to hear. Tracks featured in their live shows already cover topics such as where they're from, growing up, nostalgia to what it's really like to be a UK band in 2010.

http://www.myspace.com/lessthanmemusic