Lust For Youth - Behind Curtains

Single review by KevW

The alternative music world's insatiable appetite for retro electronic sounds and the synth-pop of the 1980s is showing no signs of waning just yet and this new album by Swedish electronic artist Lust For Youth (AKA Hannes Norrvide) is another one to add to the growing pile. If that sounds a little dismissive then it needn't be, because new single 'Behind Curtains', although anything but original, is a marker that 'Growing Seeds' could well be an album worth investigating. Initially inspired by friends who had formed a post-punk band in Gothenburg, Norrvide began tinkering on the only musical instrument he owned; a toy keyboard. Apparently leading to a primitive drone version of synth-pop (now that sounds amazing, let's hope he shares at some point), his sound and songs gradually began to develop, resulting in this first single.

You can still hear those primitive drones in 'Behind Curtains' which has been left pleasantly underproduced and unpolished, it's at the bleaker end of synth music, you can just about remove the word 'pop' altogether and almost label this as witch-house. The vocals are heavily treated yelps and the buzzing hum of what sound like analogue electronics smother the whole thing, giving a strange contrast between the cold human voice and warm and fuzzy drone from which it stabs out. Many would have considered this a demo and set sail for a plush studio and an expensive producer to buff it into a more valuable commodity. Thankfully Lust For Youth shunned that option and the cracks and imperfections remain, giving the song a personality instead of stripping the soul from it. Let's hope for more of the same from the album.



Lust For Youth's website

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I Fight Lions - Splendid EP

EP review by KevW

By the sounds of it, I Fight Lions is an ever evolving music project that gravitates around sole permanent member Hywell Pitts (formerly of The Dirty Words) and a rotating selection of musicians from North Wales. So we immediately just chuck in comparisons to Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, Super Furry Animals, Race Horses and Topper and then it's job done, yeah? Well not in this instance it's not. Despite this laid-back approach, fluid line-up and not taking their music as seriously as some more straight-faced bands doing the rounds, the songs on this EP are snappier, and despite a few unusual effects and general sense of anything goes, there's less of a psychedelic aspect. You could perhaps say they share a style and similar ideals to Half Man Half Biscuit, The Wedding Present or even a lo-fi Arctic Monkeys, a comparison that's been drawn before.

That doesn't mean an assault on the countries arenas is imminent, these songs are too ramshackle and frayed around the edges to win them such a universal acceptance. The hectic clatter of 'Carousel' and 'Frankie Goes To San Fernando Valley' have the potential to become a shambolic live experience, but this contagious energy lingers around for the rest of the EP and is very much a blueprint for what follows, although the pace drops just a touch. It's a bit of a whirlwind that won't be to everyone's taste (a possible admission of this comes in 'I Should Quit' when Hywell sings about "songs that don't make sense to anyone but me"). These songs will make sense to plenty of people though, it might be a chaotic racket at times but 'Splendid' is an endearing record and one that's created with bundles of enthusiasm, no small amount of wit (see 'Crooked') and a few lovably shabby indie-punk tunes. It suits us just fine.



I Fight Lions' website

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Fear Of Men - Mosaic

Single review by KevW

There's something about perfectly executed indiepop that prevents it becoming tired. Maybe the genetics of music have just evolved it that way. Anyone who's ever heard a record by Allo Darlin', Camera Obscura, Standard Fare and so on will instantly recognise the sounds crafted by Brighton/London quartet Fear Of Men, indeed we've had dozens of bands over the past thirty or so years ploughing this now familiar furrow. You know the sort: butter-wouldn't-melt girly vocals, guitars content to jangle and strum as opposed to any kind of intense fretboard polishing and not a cat in hell's chance of a drum solo, all topped off with an overdose of melody. It's a fail-safe recipe, but one that's tricky to perfect.

Whether or not Fear Of Men were striving for perfection or not, they've just about managed to achieve it on 'Mosaic'. If the music described in the first paragraph is familiar to you then you already know what this song sounds like, and by what we've said you'll already know it's a pure guitar-pop delight. 'Mosaic' has all the components present and correct and even sticks in the odd sample. It's their best track to date and if indiepop had such a thing as a 'big league' then Fear Of Men have just gained promotion to it. B-side 'Your Side' is no damp squib either. It doesn't quite scale the same heights but deserves a purchase by those thinking about grabbing the digital version of this single rather than the 7". As traditional as a roast dinner on a Sunday yet as fresh as a daisy at the same time.





Fear Of Men's website

Pre-order the single

Upcoming gigs:

30th Sept- Underground Festival, Gloucester, UK
16th Oct- Free Launch Show, Old Blue Last, London, UK
18th Oct- Stereolux w/Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Nantes, France
19th Oct- Le Trabendo w/Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Paris, France
20th Oct- Free Launch Show, Green Door Store, Brighton, UK
21st Oct- SWN Festival, Cardiff, UK






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Minor Sounds - The Humming

Album review by KevW

Although based in Brighton, two of the core members of experimental folk/electro project Minor Sounds are from Croatia and Poland respectively, something which would suggest (particularly where folk is concerned) that elements of traditional music from both countries would seep its way into 'The Humming'. However, the album feels more British than anything else, and that's not to say its bowing down to convention. Because while this record doesn't feel as exotic as you may expect, it's superbly composed and engaging, mixing together conventional songwriting with more adventurous production and a non-conformist approach to how music should be. The basis may be acoustic/folk but the end product is dreamy, plush and moving.

'The Humming' doesn't begin with a whimper or a bang, it starts by laying down some of the rich effects that shroud these acoustic tracks in a mysterious fog for the duration. Opening trio 'Different Kind', 'Everything You Need' and 'Three Legged Dog' aren't just about sound, the writing is mightily impressive, moving from dreampop to countrified plucking, yet each track has a twist or a little something extra. Many artists would use these separate parts as other songs, but Minor Sounds have enough ideas to be able to throw them around at will, marking many of these tracks out as truly grand. 'Hailstorm' is particularly captivating, stirring up a deep and brooding atmosphere as if it's second nature.

Along with the expertly engineered sound and accomplished writing, the vocals of Mirna Stanic go a long way towards preventing the mind from wandering, her alluring tone provides the perfect foil for the spacious planes of the title-track, 'Behind The Scenes' and the fuzzy alt-rock of 'Gravity' alike. Minor Sounds try their hand at several different styles here and not once do they come unstuck, there are no weak links in the chain and this willingness to abandon the rule book could stand them in good stead should they continue (solo projects are also in the pipeline) and it would be a travesty if they chose not to. 'The Humming' could end up becoming a real lost treasure.

   
Minor Sounds' website

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Five For Free #118

Heart Of Hearts - Unbound

Heart Of Hearts is the project of Greg Hatem and the 'My Society' album documents his time working as an aviculturist, breeding and caring for finches and doves. Taken from is the the soft and spacious electro-pop of 'Unbound' which deals with birds becoming eggbound, a potentially fatal condition, and the subsequent relief felt when the egg is finally laid, therefore becoming unbound. We haven't made that up.


Heart Of Heart's website

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Jack Stanton - Don't Worry

 
Looking at slightly more conventional subject matter (we think) is Oxford's Jack Stanton who was formerly in three-piece band Smaller Pores. Still studying at University, the tracks available currently are all bedroom demos that take inspiration from Depeche Mode, Joy Division, The Knife and Julian Casablancas. Our favourite is the excellently layered and heavily 80s-indebted 'Don't Worry'.



Jack Stanton's website





Manett - Spider

It's telling that Manett's facebook handle is "/whoismanett" because frankly we don't really know. There are a few scraps of information. She's currently based in New York and is planning to release her debut EP 'The Sea Urchin' early next year. You can get a taster of what to expect in the shape of free download 'Spider'. A wonderful, psychedelic piece of folky dreampop.


Manett's website





Everglade - Orchid

 
Experimental Dutch duo Everglade take Balearic sounds and transform them from your house/trance-by-numbers club bangers into actual interesting music you can listen to when you're not off your tits. There's a definite retro aspect to what they do and you can hear the influence of the likes of Kraftwerk and also the Chemical Brothers' more ambient pieces. Check out free track 'Orchid'.


Everglade's website





The Dirty Nil - Hate Is A Stone

Ontario garage punks The Dirty Nil have a new 7" single out called 'Little Metal Baby Fist', it's a ferocious little beast that could do severe damage to your ears if played too loud. Which is kind of the point. But we actually prefer B-side 'Hate Is A Stone' with its more grungy, slacker vibe. Both tracks are available for free to download or you can grab the vinyl from the link below.


The Dirty Nil's website

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Champs - St. Peters

Single review by KevW

Well these guys have got us guessing a bit. Not every band chooses to plaster every ounce of information about themselves across the internet, and wisely so. From what we gather, Champs are a trio from the Isle Of Wight and this is their debut single, available on 7" for fans of music in physical rather than bit form. According to Rough Trade, the enigmatic lot include members of The Bees and The Shutes and there's no reason to doubt that. 'St. Peters' sounds like the work of people who know their way around a tune, either that or this track is an astonishing example of beginners luck. Not that 'St. Peters' is a particularly complex song, in fact its greatness is in the simplicity and the way that such basic ingredients (a guitar, some voices and a production desk) can transform this into such a wondrous piece.

With a title like 'St. Peters' we might be entitled to expect something heavenly (although this notion is contradicted if you listen to 'St. Peter' by hard rock band Black Spiders) and something heavenly is what we receive. It's the vocals that really make things shine. Comparisons aren't easy but try thinking of a less contorted Wild Beasts or Antony Hegarty and you're close. It's ethereal alright, and both voice and plucked guitar are filtered through a dreamy layer of reverb that adds a further otherworldly quality. When the other voices join in it almost becomes choral, but not in a gospel way. It's the sort of hazy, soft sounds that characterized Laurel Canyon's more tender exports. Best listened to with everything switched off and you eyes closed. Gorgeous.



Champs' website

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Kevin - Standing On A Rubber Band

Single review by KevW

Finnish space cadets Kevin might have the greatest band name in the world, but that doesn't mean they have to compensate by making below average music. Their latest album in a reasonably lengthy career (they formed in the late 90s) is out this month and is titled 'Ebb And Flow'. As ever it's picked up some superlative reviews already, and if you like your psych-rock to not drift too far into the indulgent and abstract it will be worth your while giving it a little of your ear time. Despite an average track length of five minutes plus, they have an understanding of psychedelia and what makes it work, as well as how to subtly bring its influenced into more conventional alternative rock tunes. The latest single from the album is 'Standing On A Rubber Band' which comes with a suitably mysterious video that neatly avoids any kaleidoscopic, flower-power hippy nonsense. We haven't quite figured it out, but it involves lots of shoes and a mysterious bubble of light.

As is often the case, this single version, and therefore the video, are edited down from the full album track (well, if you can call five-and-a-half minutes edited down) and it really does pay to listen to it in its complete seven minute glory as ending is pure krautrock loveliness, it's this ending that gives Kevin their edge, rounding off a thoroughly decent tune with a glorious finale and setting the tone nicely for some of the less conventional sounds that are to come later on in the album, not least the fabulous 'A Lonely Place' whose sunkissed brilliance we covered on the site last year. With such a large amount of terrific alternative rock/indie/shoegaze/psychedelia coming out of Finland at the moment, you can't help but wish certain corners of the national music press would get off their arses and explore a little further afield, and we don't just mean an all expenses paid trip to SXSW once a year. Kevin are a band who deserve more coverage in the UK, and more fool us for not giving it to them.

 


Kevin's website

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Cold Cave - A Little Death To Laugh

Single review by KevW



It all seemed to happen at breakneck speed for Wesley Eisold's Cold Cave, a project he initially started following stints as vocalist in hardcore punk bands on the US east coast. But although debut album, the excellent 'Love Comes Close', seemed to appear from nowhere it had actually been a while in creation and had already seen a US release by the time wind of its existence reached UK shores. Since then though, he's barely let his foot off the gas, following the acclaimed debut with the similarly praised second album 'Cherish The Light Years', a superbly defined electro-rock journey that was full of lobotomised pop songs, warped and twisted so the sound was harsh and unforgiving. Following a similar course is new 7" and download single 'A Little Death To Laugh' which is being released to coincide with an autumn tour.

It barely needs saying that this track isn't exactly full of sweetness and light. It belongs in the early 80s goth movement, a blend of Depeche Mode's industrial electronic beats and Sisters Of Mercy's dark guitar tunes. If 'A Little Death To Laugh' were a person it would wear black, have backcombed hair and probably be swamped in dry ice wherever it went. It's an exceptionally realised example though, made from monotone vocals, an unstoppable motorik beat and a bed of piercing synths with more vicious electronics stabbing through a various points. Once again this has the feel of a pop song that's been hijacked by the dark side and brainwashed into being bleak and emotionless. I guess they're not called Cold Cave for nothing.

Cold Cave's website

The 7" will be sold at the following live gigs:

10/18 San Diego, CA - Casbah 

10/19 Las Vegas, NV - Beauty Bar

10/20 Los Angeles, CA - The Getty 

10/21 New York, NY - Webster !
10/22 Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer !
10/24 Columbus, OH - Newport !
10/25 Chicago, IL - Logan Sq !
10/26 Indianpolis, IN - Deluxe !

10/27 Asheville, NC - Moogfest

10/28 Raleigh, NC - Lincoln !
10/29 Atlanta, GA - Terminal West !

10/30 TBA
10/31 Austin, TX - Stubb's !
11/01 El Paso, TX - Low Brow !
11/02 Tucson @ Rock !
11/03 Pioneertown @ Pappy & Harriet's !
11/04 Los Angeles @ Fonda !

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Idles - Two Tone

Single review by KevW

Given Bristol's history of innovation and cross-pollination when it comes to making music, you'd half expect a track named 'Two Tone' to at least have some basis in ska. Yet where many of the city's recent musical exports (Tricky, Malachi, Beak> and of course Massive Attack and Portishead) have blended dub, hip-hop, jazz, soul and electronica, up and coming quintet Idles are shunning the beats and experimental production in favour of their own form of full-pelt, angular and punky guitar music. This track, lifted from their debut EP 'Welcome', sounds tiring enough to just listen to, let alone play. You expect they get through gigs by using an ultra-powerful antiperspirant or collapse shorty afterwards in a heap sweat, their insides dehydrated beyond belief. Whichever, they don't sound like the kind of band who do things by halves.

If you're thinking angular guitars and a bit of a post-punk sound marks them out as being a few years behind the times (that revival ship sailed away in about 2007), rest assured this track doesn't sound like the work of men who've missed the boat, rather that of a group determined to inject new life into a flagging guitar scene. 'Two Tone' is like having a bucket of iced water thrown in your face; crisp, refreshing and probably likely to make you scream a bit. For such insatiable thrashing this sounds remarkably controlled. Gang Of Four spring to mind as forefathers of this skilfully executed jagged intensity, but Two Tone ups the BPM a fair bit compared to them, with maybe the south-west's hardcore scene infiltrating their sound in terms of sheer pace. Idles really do sound like a band who believe in what they're doing, and we're inclined to agree with them.



Idles' website

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Automatic Writing - Falling/Continuous

Single review by KevW

London duo Automatic Writing have taken the bleaker side of retro synth music and incorporated elements of witch-house and other modern offshoots/reinterpretations for this, their debut single which explores the colder, darker side of electro-pop. Comprised of brothers Neave and Jamie Merrick, they cite Berlin-period Bowie, Wild Beasts, John Maus and others as potential comparisons and it's a pretty good call. 'Falling' begins with waves of lofty synth, calming down to let the vocals (somewhere between Bowie and Wild Beasts) take over for the verses, it's a curious intonation and comes across as being somewhat otherworldly, almost disturbed. The voice suits the music down to the ground and when it joins force with those mighty electronic sounds for the chorus its impressively sweeping.

The coarser 'Continuous' has a less human feel, this time the vocals almost sound robotic and the music harsher and less forgiving. Yet there are points where their pop heart gets the better of them and the mood is never allowed to deepen too much. It's the more experimental of the two and makes use of a what sounds like antique electronic equipment, the beats designed for a retro vibe. 'Continuous' is certainly the colder of the tracks and is also given the remix treatment courtesy of Viktor Magic who raises the tempo until we get Giorgio Moroder dancing with the devil, pushing those flimsy beats and weighing them down under a thicker layer of atmospherics. Automating Writing are a bit of an amalgamation of much that you've heard before, but they pull it of in style. Well worth a listen.



Automatic Writing's website

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Redanda - Christian EP

EP review by KevW

Maybe it's the name of their motherland, Canada, that gives Hamilton garage-rock band Redanda their obsession wit the letter 'C', or maybe it's all down luck (or should that be chance?). The quartet - Chris, Curtis, Connor and Corey - are presumably using their real names and they tell us that they named this, their second EP after their friend Christian. So we're assuming last year's debut, 'Carl', was also titled in honour of another friend. And being Canadian, their next one will be called 'Chuck', right? I'm sure they'd prefer it if we concentrated on the tunes (choons? sorry, that's all now) so that's what we'll do. 'Christian' is a belter of an EP that ranges from the fervent, ragged garage of 'Ace-High' to the sumptuous and graceful slow-burn of 'Slow You Down' which dabbles in more cosmic and spacious sounds. If this had been released by The Walkmen the press would be all over it. So they have more than one string to their finely strung bow.

The opening of a lupine howl tricks you into thinking we're dealing with nocturnal, Cramps-style underworld monsters, the half slurred vocals that follow it are suitably cracked to generate an untamed feel and they crash through 'Ace-High' in some style. Then it's on to the warped, countryish 'W.A.Y.T.', a song that would feel at home on a Strange Boys album and shares their lackadaisical vibe. It is the glorious 'Slow You Down' that steals the show though, those drifting guitar twangs and broken, almost pained delivery are a perfect match (if you're into your obscure North American psychedelic alt-rock bands then this is just the sort of inspired sounds The Stevenson Ranch Davidians make). It's packed with feeling and some wonderfully distorted guitar work and is generally all-round impressive. 'Steam Woman' wraps things up suitably by taking all the aforementioned aspects of the band and slamming them together. 'Christian' is an EP that should stand Redanda in good stead and hopefully turn a few heads, and from us at least, it definitely gets three cheers.



Redanda's website

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ShiShi - So Close To You EP

EP review by KevW

And there we were thinking the glut of boyfriend and girlfriend/husband and wife couples in dreampop had passed. Philadelphia pair ShiShi are a little harder-edged than Cults, Summer Camp, Tennis, Exitmusic and so on, and on debut EP 'So Close To You' they embrace shoegaze and beats with more bite than the rest, and instead of taking their cue from 60s girl-groups, these guys have their roots buried in the 1980s and come from a far less cutsie place. It's telling that the first sound we hear is the sizeable industrial beat that drives the harsh, barbed-wire sonics of 'Nick Of Time', a song that shares much ground with The Big Pink's debut album. When we do get an obvious love song such as 'Anything For You', the passion is so warped by the sharp, almost snarling vocals and discord that it comes across as being angry in tone, which could well be the point, the two emotions can often go hand in hand.

On 'Bliss' the ticking electronic beats are taken from the synth-pop movement but the rest of the song harks back to alternative girl-fronted groups like The Go Go's or early Fuzzbox had they embraced the electronic advances being pioneered in continental Europe. It's possibly the lightest track on the EP but the snappy singing and twisted production suggest that nightmare-pop could be the most accurate description for the noise these guys make, however sweet the lyrics may be. 'Just Like Flowers' again has you wondering how The Big Pink got it so wrong on that second album. If they'd ventured further down this route they'd doubtless have picked up more praise. But when there are people like ShiShi around to making EPs like this then who needs them anyway? This mix of industrial, dreamy, scuzzy and lo-fi sounds fills the gap just fine.





ShiShi's website

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Band Of Skulls - You're Not Pretty But You Got It Goin' On

Single review by KevW

For a couple of years now, Southampton alt-rock outfit Band Of Skulls have teetered on the brink of mainstream success, picking up daytime play on Radio 1, cracking the UK top 20 with their latest album and scraping the lower reaches of charts on both sides of the Atlantic with pretty memorable and fairly impressive singles such as 'I Know What I Am' and 'The Devil Takes Care Of His Own'. A few decent festival slots in the summer, including the main stage at Reading and Leeds won't have done their cause any harm and a December headline gig at Brixton Academy is further proof that they could soon become one of the UK's premier rock bands. Of course with this reasonably substantial amount of success comes a dilemma: keep doing what we're doing or, to put it bluntly, sell-out.

I guess we'll know which path they choose when the next album comes around, but what is clear is that they've got where they are currently on their own terms. New single 'You're Not Pretty But You Got It Goin' On' isn't chart-shaped or stadium-sized, it's more of the slightly sleazy and dirty blues-rock that is becoming their trademark. It comes with a kick and has been compressed in the studio for extra power certainly, but this is merely giving the song optimum impact. Band Of Skulls work fine just as they are and if they continue along the same lines then further success may come their way naturally so there's really no need for them to change a thing, plus the only people who like a sell-out are record company bosses, so let's hope this trio tell them where to stick it and carry on doing what they do best.



Band Of Skulls' website

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Five For Free #117

Old English - We've Been Here Before

Matt Henderson says that Old English could be called an "accidental band". Originally he started work on what was to be his second solo album but it soon blossomed into a collective effort. Judging by the sound of new single 'We've Been Here Before' with its masterful blend of beats, melody and rich arrangements this is a very good thing. The album, 'Prose & Kahns is due early next year.


Old English's website





METALEG - Working Too Hard

Brooklyn's METALEG are an unusual one to get your head around, their songs a strange mixture of hard rock, punk and 60s pop. It's something that really shouldn't work but does. Have a listen to 'Working Too Hard' go from 80s metal through to garage-punk and then the jangle of a mid-60s beat group for the chorus. Abnormal and unconventional but oddly appealing.


METALEG's website

Buy the single





In Valour - Into The Light

Irish/Australian duo In Valour released their first EP just last month but it sounds like they've been making sweet music together for years in this impressive set. Taken from 'Music To Imagine By' is 'Into The Light' which is a simply beautiful track where dreampop meets electronica and proves to be a match made in heaven. Check it below or head to their website and get the whole EP for nothing.



In Valour's website

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Chase King - Bed Of Lies

More sounds from Brooklyn and a track called 'Bed Of Lies' which is a single taken from the recent album by Chase King. 'South Tropical Trail' was released in the summer and this track brings with it a warm and fuzzy glow, it's the perfect kind of hazy, dreamy, laid-back guitar-pop for listening to while the sun shines. Don't worry though, it still sounds great in the chilly sharpness of the autumn air.


Free download: 'Bed Of Lies'
(Right click, save as)

Chase King's website

Buy the album





Constables - Are We Still Here

Finally to Helsinki where you'd expect that chilliness to be even sharper, but a good bit of energetic indie-rock should go a long way to keeping the cold out and the new EP from Constables should be just the tonic. 'Are We Still Here' is thrashed out with enough fervour to blast those post-summer blues away, and if you like this you'll find more of the same on their 'Opening Night' EP.
 
Constables' website

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Dan Shears & The Velveteen Orkestra - Against A Sea Of Troubles EP

EP review by KevW

Dan Shears would like to make it clear that he is a songwriter who sings, not a singer/songwriter. A touch pedantic? Maybe, but you know what he means. The term "singer/songwriter" screams of boring acoustic musings to be lapped up by gap-year students (hello there Ben Howard) and the music made by Dan Shears & The Velveteen Orkesta doesn't fit this category at all. Firstly, as the name suggests, these songs are lushly ordained with mighty orchestral arrangements and the songs are pained and passionate, often recalling The Bends-era Radiohead or Jeff Buckley, not David Gray and Damien Rice. Shears' voice is a powerful instrument in itself, often soaring to great heights to achieve the power needed. 'Against A Sea Of Troubles' feels like quite an achievement; it's easy to over-egg the pudding when applying strings and wind instruments to your songs, but where subtlety is needed it's used and where a full-scale crescendo is the order of the day it's served up perfectly.

Lead track 'In The Shadows Of Better Men' is an ornate and sweeping piece of cinematic pop, each part carefully considered and carried out with seemingly effortless composure. That great voice at one point begins to crack with the passion and soul with which it's belted out. Musically were dealing with a film score interbred with a pop song. A contemporary comparison may be The Last Shadow Puppets although this is less mainstream, Calexico duetting with Scott Walker may be another reasonably close fit. On 'The Devil's Favourite Love Story' we're treated to contemporary pop by way of Latin doo-wop, something we didn't realise existed until now, and maybe it didn't. The brass section is allowed to take control of the atmospherics on the simmering 'Petrushka' which is so spaciously crafted you can almost hear it breathing. It's the perfect background upon which to plant those emotion-filled vocals. There's a clear talent at work here and we're not betting against some more inspired music to come from these guys.





Dan Shears & The Velveteen Orkestra's website

Stream the EP in full

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Band To Check Out: FI/SHE/S

Article by KevW

Like so many before them, Paris-based collective FI/SHE/S use music as a form of escapism, something to enliven and enrich their otherwise reasonably routine urban lives. Although based around the French capital, this group is a truly global coming merging of musical minds and backgrounds, boasting members from China, France, Cameroon and Belgium who were brought together by nothing more than chance. With half the world covered in terms of heritage you'd expect them to be doing something incredibly wrong if their songs were routine and formulaic. It's not just their varying backgrounds that give them an eclectic and genre-unifying alternative and experimental pop sound, their very name seems to be taken from their creative approach, fishing their favourite elements from their favourite bands and stitching these pieces together.

In their own words they fished out Grizzly Bear's choruses, Apparat's electronic waves, El Guincho's exoticism, Hot Chip's sexiness, Animal Collective's psychedelia and Sufjan Stevens' complex arrangements, topping things off with some Spectorish harmonies. And true enough you can hear each of those acts' influence in FI/SHE/S music which shares much in common with the alternative scenes of Portland, New York, London, L.A, Berlin and Barcelona, cities they also cite as an important influence. The mix-match approach has served them well with their tunes being playful, inventive, accessible and modern, and while the technique of borrowing ideas is clear to see, they never imitate their idols, they simply share some of their ideals. Cast your ears over a couple of songs and see if they can get you hooked too.





FI/SHE/S' website





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Shacklock Meth Party - This

Album review by KevW

"An album of gory drug pop" is what it says. An album of gory drug pop is exactly what we get, so as press releases go, New Zealand's Shacklock Meth Party have hit the nail bang on the head. But have they nailed the music? Gory drug pop can be spectacularly, beautifully messy, but it can also be pointless, lazy and muddy. What Rhett Copeland and his merry band of drone merchants have laid down here sure is messy, it's also surprisingly varied and on the odd occasion even sparkly and light. 'Frequencies Of A Half Man' is the kind of drugged-up dirge that The Dandy Warhols used to make, but strip away the gloomy vocal and it twinkles and twangs like some kind of psychedelic country and western movie soundtrack filtered through The Brian Jonestown Massacre's production system. The lyrics are indecipherable which gives them a menacing, gory feel, the groaning and distorted sounds feel like they come from some otherworldly dimension which can only be reached through, shall we say, medication. The big surprise is the 'pop' element.

It gets poppier too. 'Bureau de Change' is spangly blissed-out dreampop, the difference being that where many would put some ethereal vocals and take us up in the clouds, the vocals here are again little more than a pained mumble in the background. And if you're wondering, this is a very good thing. The drugs in question are unlikely to be those you'd find in Christchurch's club scene, this is more like scouring the city's dark underbelly. But it's one hell of an uplifting song nonetheless and proves that these guys can do guitar-pop with the best of them. 'Like A Murder' brings the tone crashing back down again, its truncated, repetitive rumble sounds like The Cramps played in (very) slow motion. This seam of darkness runs right through 'This' and is what binds everything together. From the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club on a bad trip opener 'This Is My Shit, Gwen' (apparently the Gwen in question in Stefani) to the almost comatose final bars of 'Burnout Lake (Brian Feary's 115th Nightmare/Dream)' it's there.

The difference between a bad drone-rock record and a good one is down to the use of the effects and the management of sludge. Sludge (sorry if that's too technical a term) can make or break a record. A muddy bottom-end indicates bad production and is likely to smother the sound and ruin it. But laying down a murky template that allows other sounds to shine through can be mesmerising. The aforementioned 'Bureau de Change' and 'Soul Acetone' are great examples of how it should be done and really suggest that Shacklock Meth Party deserve to be much better known in these circles. 'Dialtone Eyes' is like Wooden Shjips' grubby younger brother and the brilliantly titled 'Linkin Park, Kill Some Terrorists For Me' is a hallucinatory stroll through an imaginary world that you'd probably not want to visit in real life. But it's life that makes 'This' a terrific record, there's a lot going on here and this isn't directionless murmuring, these songs are teaming with life and light as well as being as black and gloomy as the artwork would suggest. 'This' is gory drug pop done to perfection.




Shacklock Meth Party's website

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Glass Animals - Leaflings EP

EP review by KevW

You get the impression right from the start of the new EP from London's Glass Animals that these songs are precision engineered. They're unlikely to be the product of lengthy jamming sessions, this sounds like hand-selected components being carefully pieced together in the studio to mechanically construct a new form of experimental electro-pop. It may sound like a sterile approach to music making (and we're speculating rather than providing facts) yet these guys manage to muster up plenty of soul, especially in the vocals which are carefully balanced at just the right place in the mix. Despite what feels like a very methodical technique for recording, Glass Animals splice genres together wilfully and as a result 'Leaflings' is more varied than you may expect. Some might call it trip-hop, others might describe a blend of electronica, soul and psychedelia; abstract sounds and an acquired taste.

It does take several plays to digest these songs properly, but that's merely a reflection of the pinpoint accuracy and, one suspects, fairly lengthy writing, recording, mixing and mastering process. The closest we get to immediacy is opener 'Golden Antlers' which is all inch-perfect beats spooky synths. It's the vocals that give these tracks their emotion and human feel. 'Cocoa Hooves' is an especially soulful example but they never let things get too smooth. In less capable hands we could be looking at the slick radio-ready trip-pop of Morcheeba and co., however the occasionally abstract structures and production see that we stay in alternative territory like on the dubby 'Dust In Your Pocket'. Glass Animals have most likely given up a lot of their time formulating these songs and if you're able to give them a little of your time in return you won't be left empty handed.





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James Cook - Arts & Sciences

Album review by KevW

Noel Fielding thinks that 'Arts & Sciences' is "a stroke of genius", but then Noel Fielding likes Kasabian. Still, there must be something about the music of James Cook that makes him worthy of our attention. He's no novice, that's for sure. Formerly the frontman of electro-rock band Nemo and also a collaborator with the hugely popular Mighty Boosh team, Cook has also won awards for his production work and this new album boasts a couple of choice collaborators in the form of Phil France (The Cinematic Orchestra) and Chris Corner (The Sneaker Pimps). While the majority of Cook's previous work has involved a more electric sound, he's also recorded a baroque pop album with Anne Marie Kirby, three tracks from which are reworked here. In short, the man is not exactly rookie in this business and we're entitled to expect something reasonably impressive from his latest work.

What we get is impressive to a point. If the Boosh connection is giving you ideas about some sort of comedy record then you can rest assured that although there's the odd witty lyric or two and songs like the title-track are definitely playful, he's not aiming for novelty here. So, baroque pop mixed with electro-rock then? Not really. For the most part 'Arts & Sciences' feels very organic despite the fact that loops and synths were used in its creation. 'Black Market Futures' and 'Sediment In Wine' are nearer to the cinematic chamber-pop of The Miserable Rich or Broken Records. Arrangements and production are laid on thick so a rich sound is abundant with even the slower tracks being loaded with a plucked violin or subtle string backing. There's not a duff track in the whole set, but at the same time there's nothing spine-tinglingly outstanding.

'Face To Face' as a song has the ability to soar and near the end it almost does, yet it never quite takes off like it should. Had this been given the full McAlmont & Butler treatment we could be looking at something spectacular instead of something good, the same could probably be said of the standout 'Wrong Empire'. 'The Self Machine' is a great alt-pop track where that electro-rock background is allowed to shine through and a few more tunes along a similar line wouldn't do the cause any harm. It's followed by 'Government Kid' which narrowly averts sounding a bit like The Stereophonics. 'Arts & Sciences' is a perfectly decent album that feels a bit like a compromise with Cook maybe holding back a little where he should push the boat out and aim higher. Listening to these ten songs you do believe that James Cook could be capable of moments of "genius", but barring the odd inspired twist he doesn't quite prove it here. Mind you, it's better than Kasabian.
 


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Out This Week - 24th September 2012

The Raveonettes - The Enemy

They just keep on coming! The hectic gigging and release schedule of The Raveonettes puts, as we know, most others to shame. The latest track lifted from their excellent new album 'Observator' is the spangly dreampop of 'The Enemy' which mixes plenty of their trademark twangy guitar with woozy production that could grace a Cocteau Twins record. Check out the ace psychedelic video too.



The Raveonettes' website

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Caspian - Halls Of Summer

Massachusetts post-rock legends Caspian return this week with their third album proper which is called 'Walking Season'. As a lure to temp you in to purchasing their fine wares they're offering up a free download of 'Halls Of Summer'. It's a towering instrumental piece and feels a bit like what you'd get if you crossed Sigur Ros with Arnold Schwarzenegger.



Caspian's website

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Efterklang - Apples

The best band in Denmark award surely goes to The Raveonettes, but experimentalists Efterklang would also make the shortlist. They have a new album for us to sample and it goes by the name of 'Piramida'. It's their fourth full-length and if you with to try before you buy then you'll be pleased to know that the shuffling and slightly majestic track 'Apples' is free to download.



Efterklang's website

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Levek - Girl In The Fog

The new album from Florida's Levek is another one that's out this week. So far three singles have been released from 'Look A Little Closer' which comes a full two years after we first heard the Orlando group with the track 'Look On The Bight Side'. 'Girl In The Fog' is just as impressive but in a different way, being a gentle and magical acoustic wonder.



Free download: 'Girl In The Fog'

Levek's website

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OBLIGATORY RECORD OF THE WEEK

Exitmusic - The Modern Age

Last autumn we featured 'The Modern Age' as part of the excellent 'From Silence' EP. We also featured it at the start of the year when we marked out Exitmusic as a band to watch out for in 2012. Then we featured it again when their album 'Passage' was released in the spring. Have we got tired of it yet? Hell no. A year on and 'The Modern Age' finally gets to stand alone as a single in its own right with a video to boot. It's a staggering behemoth of a tune that twists dreampop into such an epic and powerful monster that it probably has its own gravitational force. It just keeps getting better. It was one of the best songs released in 2011 and now one of the best singles of 2012. If you don't like this then you don't like music. Simple.



Exitmusic will shortly be hitting Europe for the following gigs:

02/11/12 Reykjavik, IS - Iceland Airwaves
03/11/12 Amserdam, NL - London Calling
04/11/12 Paris, FR - L'Espace B
06/11/12 London, UK - The Lexington 
07/11/12 Sheffield, UK - The Plug 
08/11/12 Leeds, UK - Wharfe Chambers 
09/11/12 Glasgow, UK - King Tuts 
10/11/12 Dublin, IE - Whelans 
12/11/12 Manchester, UK - The Castle w/ FREE
13/11/12 Brighton, UK - Green Door Store 
14/11/12 Gent, BE - Vooruit
15/11/12 Opwijk, BE - Nijdrop
16/11/12 Cologne, DE - Studio 672
17/11/12 Munich, DE - Orangehouse
18/11/12 Berlin, DE - Magnet Club
19/11/12 Frankfurt, DE - Zoom
20/11/12 Hamburg, DE - Prinzenbar

Exitmusic's website

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City Reign - Ahead Of Ideas

Single review by KevW

To reiterate what we said about City Reign when we first heard them a year ago; people often talk about Manchester's musical heritage and mention the same old names (Joy Division, New Order, Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, Oasis...) but it of course goes much deeper and is far more varied than that. Unfortunately its name has been tarnished in recent years due to the post-Oasis glut of horrible lad-rock bands and other bunches of swaggering oafs thinking that they just need a haircut, a big coat and an even bigger gob to become the saviours of rock 'n' roll. Manchester's vibrant dance scene has faired a little better, but the city seems unable to shrug off its past completely. City Reign are three blokes who play indie-rock music and live in Manchester. For many people the story would unfortunately end there.

This trio are unlikely to change the situation much but they shouldn't be lumped in with the rest and not given a second look. Yes this is British rock music and yes it sounds like a few other bands, but crucially it doesn't sound try-hard and it doesn't seem like an attempt to emulate anyone else and come across as overly cocksure. 'Ahead Of Ideas' has a big sound but just enough rough edges to mark it out as a unpolished gem amongst the grey backdrop of rockstar wannabes. Not only is this their best song to date, it's stuffed with enough slow-burning ferocity to actually set them apart. It will appeal to your average lager and footy Oasis fan but it should also appeal to those who don't consider The Enemy to be one of the best bands in the UK right now. This is alternative enough to crossover into different markets and accessible and powerful enough to give City Reign a fighting chance of actually leaving their own mark, however small, on the city's musical map.



City Reign's website

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Band To Check Out: The Yours

Article by KevW

Being a UK-based site it's unsurprising that much of the music we feature is from the UK, North America and Europe as scenes and styles translate well and, certainly with North America, there's no language barrier preventing the music from seeping into UK press, radio, TV, websites etc. In the past five years we've been lucky enough to be pointed in the direction of some great bands from a little further afield. I think I can be fairly confident in saying that The Yours are the first group from Hong Kong to have graced our ears, and we'd like to tell you a bit about the music scene there, but frankly we haven't got a clue. If we take The Yours as a barometer then there could be some undiscovered treasure to be hunted down (and feel free to drop us an email if so...), if not then there's certainly an appetite. The Yours have supported Yuck, The Drums and even The Jesus & Mary Chain at gigs back home.

That trio of bands also form a tidy little descriptive package of how The Yours' own music sounds. They've been around for a while, releasing an EP in 2005, but it's taken them until now to produce follow-up 'The Way We Were'. Tracks from both are available to stream or download on bandcamp and you should find that they're inspired by punk rock and distortion heroes such as Sonic Youth and My Bloody Valentine. This is punk in structure and ideals, but fed through an array of pedals and with an ear for a big pop hook. The Yours have got this template nailed down and it sounds like second nature to them. With a natural style that fits, all you need then is the tunes and they're not short on those. We've selected 'Slip Out' and 'Straighthead' as examples but there's a goldmine just waiting for anyone who likes their guitars scuzzy, their melodies sweet and their production gracefully ragged.
 

The Yours' website

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Tom Williams & The Boat - Little Bit In Me

Single review by KevW

This latest single from Tom Williams & The Boat's second album 'Teenage Blood' is one of the best tracks they've recorded to date. Anti-folk is usually just a tag that's used by folk artists to try and pretend they're not really folk. No one likes labels to be put on their music so an anti label is a great idea! 'Little Bit In Me' is a rare occurrence of the cap fitting perfectly. Trace the ancestors of this song back through the generations and it has evolved from folk music, yet this is a mutation; a warped version of storytelling using the same traditional instruments but pushing their limits until you can no longer categorise it as folk. The imagination has been allowed to run amok on this song, dreaming up oddball tales about family and friends - "my sister was referee, reffing Sunday morning league, south of Sheffield in a park showing yellow cards to rapists and thieves" - is just one part of one character's life.

Just as the subject matter is a wee bit on the strange side and the music a variation of the norm, the video they've to go with it is hardly your average MTV fare. What is it about bands that make them want to wear masks that have beaks? The sketchy, homemade footage is the perfect partner to such a curious song and sees the band larking about in a forest, possibly getting up to dodgy pagan shenanigans. It's an insightful glimpse into their world, whether this world is real or fake (well of course it's fake but still...). Eventually all the different stories of the characters end either successfully or horrifically. "My sister got attacked by an ex-con after a match, so my sister marinated him in lighter fluid and watched his hair catch". At least we hope these stories aren't real...



Tom Williams & The Boat's website

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Chelsea Wolfe - Appalachia

Single review by KevW

You're probably not expecting a song called 'Appalachia' to be a black metal opus are you? The area has become synonymous with acoustic guitars, beards, campfires, "canoeing music" and bands and artists with animals in their name. This new single from Californian songstress Chelsea Wolfe is lifted from her forthcoming album 'A Collection Of Acoustic Songs' and that name does a fine job of describing this track. Black metal it is not. As far as we know Ms Wolfe has never had a beard but all other boxes are ticked for this to fit our categorisation fairly well, but where Fleet Foxes and so on have gone big with the panoramic harmonies and canyon-echoing choruses, 'Appalachia' is a little more subdued and a little more haunting, therefore it comes across as having an intimacy and soul-bearing quality that sucks you into its world for a few minutes.

The guitar is used in an almost meditative state, it's a droning buzz in the background as opposed to conventional strumming and this results in a wholly unique and very captivating atmosphere. Strings come and go like spirits floating around that campfire and again these are restrained and the sound held back where some would smother it. The drums are rattling instead of sharp and the occasional twang of a guitar string compliments this approach wonderfully. We're overrun with troubadours and folk groups right now, but Chelsea Wolfe is giving us a reason to believe that the acoustic guitar can be a force for good when used well and here she summons up a brilliantly dark and enchanting world. Let's hope for more of the same when the album is released in mid October.



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Five For Free #116

Jim Noir - Tea 

The most successful track released by prolific Manchester singer-songwriter Jim Noir (real name Alan Roberts) has so far been 'My Patch', thanks in part to its appearance in a TV commercial. Well fans of that track will surely love 'Tea' which is taken from his brand new album 'Jimmy's Show' and is built from the same insanely catchy DNA.

Jim Noir's website

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Sea Pinks - A Pattern Recognition

Belfast indiepop band Sea Pinks put out their new album 'Freak Waves' earlier on this month and included on it is free track 'A Pattern Recognition' which has a threadbare, DIY sound that lets the song speak for itself instead of hiding behind a studio sheen. Fans of fellow lo-fi jangle-pop bands such as The Drums or The Pastels should find much to love here.


Sea Pinks' website

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Thumpers - Sound Of Screams

Enigmatic London duo Thumpers don't have a lot of music out there yet and they're keeping information close to their chests. I'm sure we'll discover more about them in due course, but for now enjoy this brilliant piece of electro/pop/indie called 'Sound Of Screams' It's a mash of genres with a big chorus and it's yours for the price of bugger all.



Free download: 'Sound Of Screams'

Thumpers' website





Io Echo - Carnation

The lucky folks of Los Angeles dreampop band Io Echo are probably still buzzing of the fact that they were awarded Obligatory Record Of The Week recently, and it looks like there's plenty more loveliness where that track came from. They have an EP out next month but if you can't wait that long then check out this other ace freebie, 'Carnation'.



Io Echo's website





Secret Mountain - High Horse

After a brief summer sabbatical, Weathervane Music's 'Shaking Through' series returns with part 7 of 2012. This time they're featuring Baltimore's Secret Mountain who are offering up the dreamy and blissful ambience of 'High Horse', a track that mixes dreampop and Americana to make a spacious yet lush wall of sighing vocals andreverberating guitars.
 
Secret Mountains' website

Weathervane Music's website





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