dEXTRISFree for all

KIWANUKA£1.49 for iOS

RED HERRINGFree for all (in-app purchases)

WE WERE KINGSWHO: Jim McGowan (vocals),George ‘Ringo’ Aitken (guitar),Kevin ‘Speedy’ Waite (guitar/vocals), Dougie Scott (bass/vocals), Martin Walker(drums).FOR FANS OF: Oasis, PearlJam, Paul Weller.JIM SAYS: Back in March Itook on the Simon Cowell roleat the new Hard Rock Café inGlasgow for the Scottish finalof the global Hard Rock Risingcompetition.After the hotly contested

heats featuring acts who’dapplied through the Edin-burgh and Glasgow cafés,rock acts We Were Kings, TheKing Lot and Artie Ziff securedtheir place in the final.It was a tough decision for

the judging panel to select anoverall winner to representScotland.But though it was close, it

was a unanimous decision.We Were Kings’ explosive setmixing Brit Pop with ClassicRock won us over.Originally formed in the

Scottish Borders, with mem-bers scattered across the Cen-tral Belt, the win secured WeWere Kings a place in the nextstage of the competition.More than 10,000 acts had

entered worldwide with 750bands performing at over 70Hard Rock Café's across theglobe. All the winners werethen up for a public vote tosecure an all-expenses trip toplay the Hard Rock Live festi-val in Rome in July.I’m delighted to say that We

Were Kings made the final 25.

Singer Jim McGowan told me:“The heats were a great experi-ence. Our fans showed every-one why they are so special,and as always turned out innumbers.“The global stages have

been amazing. We were thesmallest nation in the competi-tion. It included winners fromcities like New York, Tokyoand London. We were the onlyUK act left in the final list.”Sadly the band didn’t quite

make it, with Seattle’s Joyfieldannounced as overall winnerson Tuesday. It must’ve beentight. The judges delayed theirdecision by 24 hours.All isn’t lost though, as We

Were Kings now play the firstcouple of dates on the HardRock Rising On The Roadtour, which will visit 15 loca-tions in Europe ahead of thefestival in Rome.We Were Kings play the first

two dates, here in Scotland. Itlaunches tomorrow from4-8pm at Soar INTU Brae-head, near Glasgow, then onto Edinburgh.Jim said: “We can’t wait to

get out there. Our goal is sim-ple. Make great music and getin front of people.”We Were Kings are nearing

completion of an EP calledThe Rising, which should beout in the next few weeks.Also, they are set to appear atJuly’s Summer Nights Festivalat King Tut’s in Glasgow.More: www.facebook.com/

wwkingsQ Jim presents Drivetime onXFM Scotland, Monday to Fri-day 4-7pm. www.xfm.co.ukwww.jimgellatly.com

VOICE CHANGERFree for Android

NEW MUSICBy JIM GELLATLY

SOME reckon this couldbecome as popular andaddictive as Flappy Bird.It really tests your hand-eye

co-ordination as you guide twoblocks through a fast-movingmaze of nasties by tapping thescreen. The graphics are crispand you’ll be battling to beatyour own score.

FANS of the original Lemmingsgame will love this. You movea civilisation of tiny colouredpeople around their world,unlocking their pals who aretrapped in little prisons. Point aray of light anywhere andthey’ll follow, turningthemselves into towers andbridges to help each other.

2

THIS might just be the toughestapp on the App Store right now.A tense, time-sapping challengeset in space which will takeevery drop of your gamingability to progress. This RPGfeels as deep as deep space,with dozens of parts and tasksto complete – all while keepingahead of chasing rebels.

SILLY fun for all the familywhich lets you record thingsand play them back in a rangeof potty voices. Crowdfavourites include the Minionsfrom Despicable Me, Smurfsand Helium. Plus you can alsorecord lines and have it playthem in reverse. Good laugh ifyou can put up with the ads.

ON

E2W

ATC

H

NEW boy George Ezrastepped into the cut-throat music worldlike he was having apint in his local.He’s come from nowhere tomake serious waves all overEurope. And this week, herocked out on Jools Holland. It’sall building up to a big summerand the release of his debutalbum Wanted On Voyage.George, 20, said: “My wholeproject has happened naturally.It doesn’t feel I’ve been cata-pulted into some weird world.It’s all moved quite gradually.“The main thing is surround-ing yourself with people you ulti-mately trust — which is what Idid. They’ll help you achievewhat you want to achieve in acomfortable way.

Buzz“I was only introducedto this industry two yearsago.“The best thing I didwas go with myinstinct.“It’s just likemeeting someonein the pub —you’re only goingto keep talkingto them if youget on withthem.“I think I’m agood judge ofcharacter and itseems to haveworked.”The Bristol folkrocker has wel-comed the buzz.But he has got abit sick of being toldthat 2014 is his year.He snapped: “Whilethis is all good fun, youhope you can do it as

long as you can.“It started towind me up a bitwhen people weregoing ‘Oh, this isyour year’.“I was like ‘What

do you mean?’“I hope I have got a

chance in 2015 as well.“I understand they’re

saying it’s my chance tobreak and show peoplewho I am. But I plan to

be here a lot longer than ayear.”The album — out on June 30 —is almost like the singer’s diary.George penned the tracks afterhe spent time dotting all acrossthe continent.He explained: “I took myselftravelling, inter-railing aroundEurope. I wrote a lot of littlestories in my notebook andwhen I came back, I wrote thesongs about then.”And while it’s going great

guns in the UK, business hasalso been brisk in Europe.He said: “You really can’tgauge how it’s going over there.“But then you do gigs andyou’re like ‘How have these peo-ple heard my music?”“You always forget the inter-net exists. The whole world canhear it if they want to.”The summer sees George goinghard on the live circuit.He’s everywhere and anywhere— and hits Liquid Room in Edin-

burgh on June 13. H added:“Before this, people had onlyseen me live with an acousticguitar. Now I have a band.“I wanted to ease them intothe idea there would be moreproduction.“I’ve had the album since Janu-ary, so now I just want everyoneto hear it and get as excited asI was when I first heard it.”Q For tour info and downloads, go to:www.georgeezra.com

FTL£6.99 for iOS (iPad2 upwards)

BOUND BY FLAMEPS4/PS3/360/PC, £39.99

RPG fans have been desper-ate to pit their wits on thenext-gen consoles.Bound By Flame is the first

to try to give RPGers their fix– but fails at every turn.As Vulcan, you are one of

a group of skilled warriorswho is accidently bestowedwith the powers of a demon.These allow you to har-

ness the power of fire andyou’re pushed centre stagein the war engulfing the land.Performance issues are

apparent early on on the PS4and distract from the interest-ing and varied locations.When running smoothly,

the world can be somethingto behold but character detailand animations are oftenlacking and uninspired.

Attempts to create a dark andgritty world fail due to theconstant use of swearing thatstands out like a sore thumbwith the below-par voiceacting. Very rarely doesanyone say anything with trueemotion.Combat quickly becomes

uninteresting when most ofthe time you are repeating thetwo-button combination ofattack and then dodge orparry.While you have other tools

at your disposal, this seemsto be the only true method tobe able to complete with the

mobs that are thrown yourway. For everything BBFdoes right, two things seemto be wrong.So if you’re looking for a

RPG for your new consolethis is not the one worthspending hours – or muchcash – on. JN

THE AMAZINGSPIDER-MAN 2PS4/Xbox One/PS3/360/PC, £39.99

3.5

FUN and challenging wordpuzzle from the guys behindthe hit app 7 Little Words.It’s all about grouping four

related words together into acolumn – but watch out for thered herrings.Free version has 50 levels on

easy, normal and hard. You gethints but can buy more.

MICROSOFT is releasing a £349Xbox One from June 9.The catch? It will not come withthe Kinect motion sensor, whichwas championed as the console’smajor USP over the PS4.The consoles now start at thesame price, though most gamersare still likely to prefer the morepowerful PS4. This is anothermajor step backwards forMicrosoft but though some hadlearnt to love using Kinect’s voicecommands for system navigation,all attempts to integrate thecamera into games fell short.In better news, Games With Goldis finally being taken to Xbox One,letting Xbox Live Gold usersdownload titles for free eachmonth, starting with Halo: SpartanAssault and Max: The Curse OfBrotherhood in June. We love freegames!

IT’S going on five yearssince La Roux released their

debut album. And the follow-upis finally here. The first track

being played from it, LetMe Down Gently, is a crackingway to come back. Just what

you expected from them —punchy and in your face.

Listen to it now at:soundcloud.com/

la-roux-official

ONE2HEAR

Listen to the band at:thescottishsun.co.uk

ALL too often, the latestmovie blockbusters have adisappointing tie-in game.But anyone taking the riskwith The Amazing Spider-Man 2will have something to enjoy.I’d decided not to see themovie until after playing thegame. While some may find thata dealbreaker, it’s never going toimpact on the gameplay.Attempts to always give theplayer something different to doare initially interesting — withcar chases, robberies and firesfor you to help New York’s fin-

est with. But they soon becomerepetitive — thanks to a moralitysystem you’ll have to completethese side activities every nowand again.Swinging around the city cantake some getting used to, butonce you’re clued up on how itall works it’s a wondrous thingand has never been so muchfun.Swooping past the yellow cabsfilling the streets, keepingmomentum and effortlessly arriv-

ing at your destination bringsgenuine moments of exhilaration.The city — the same as mostof the game — looks great. Viewsof skyscrapers go on for milesand as you’re swinging thestreets look alive.Get a little closer and thingsdon’t quite hold up. Certaincharacters are bland and flatand the occasional characteranimation is jarring compared toPeter Parker’s fluidity.After you get to where you’regoing, the chances are hiredgoons will be there and in needof the swift justice only a

vigilante Spider-Man can bring.Luckily after a couple ofupgrades, you’ll have quite a lotto work with.Combat is fluid and easy,while still giving the occasionalchallenge if you’re not givingthe action enough attention.For anyone fascinated with theweb-slinger or for people whohave just seen the movie, this isthe perfect way to get a regularhelping of your friendly neigh-bourhood Spider-Man.Even with a few issues — itstill provides a good experience.

JAMIE NIGHTINGALE

ByCHRIS

SWEENEY

MICROSOFTINTHEHEAD

ONCE again it’s time toditch the evening BBQs andget into King Tut’s SummerNights. It’s coming back for

the fifth time. The venue putson special jam-packed gigs,showcasing the hottest talent

from around the UK. It allkicks off on July 17 and wraps

up 10 days later. Over 20acts in total will play over

the run. Get the info at:www.kingtuts.co.uk

ONE2SEE

Friday, May 16, 2014 591S