Sharkmuffin - The Lake

Single review by KevW

We daren't speculate on what a Sharkmuffin is or what the name means, instead let's focus on what we do know. Sharkmuffin are from Bushwick (hope the cleanup's going OK guys) and have had a troubled past involving love, drugs and ultimately loss which saw the demise of the band's original line-up before they'd even really had time to get started. This year has seen a rebirth, with the group now consisting of the trio of singer/guitarist, Tarra Thiessen, bassist, Natalie Kirch, and drummer, Drew Adler. This first single by the band deals with the problems and trials experienced previously, and as such is quite moving.

Musically we're looking at punky and melodic powerpop that's shrouded in a mist of fuzz and distortion. It could have been recorded at just about any point since the late 70s, but they manage to keep it fresh and modern. You could also compare Sharkmuffin to the grunge and riot grrrl scenes of the 90s; there's a hint of early Hole to 'The Lake'. On the surface it seems like a decent DIY rock track but the lyrics and the delivery suggest that this is no innocent thrashing. Talking in particular about the struggle with addiction it might not be the happiest of subjects but it's treated with pure passion and care. 'The Lake' works on two levels; it's a great garage-rock track but it has a deep emotional undercurrent that means Sharkmuffin are as real as they come.



Sharkmuffin's website

'The Lake' will be available on November 20th from Sugar Mama





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Injured Birds - Silver Birches

Album review by KevW

Nottingham's been punching above its weight of late, and doing so without focusing on any genre in particular. A few notable examples include Spotlight Kid (shoegaze), Dog Is Dead (indie), Amazing Planes (blues-rock) and chart conqueror Jake Bugg. There are many more we could list, and taking on the reigns of pastoral alt-folk (of the British variety as opposed to any Fleet Foxes stylings) are acoustic instrument wielding quartet Injured Birds. They've got interesting percussion instruments, they've got strings, they've got guitars, they've got banjos and they've even got a bleeding harmonium. In short they've got everything we're getting sick to the back teeth of.

In their defense they have a much more valuable commodity that many other traditionalists forget to include; they've got a load of good tunes. So hold fire on the bandwagon-jumping accusations, it appears we're looking at the real deal here. 'Silver Birches' is the quartet's debut album and the focus is very much on what they're doing, not what other similar bands are up to, so there's no Mumfords type stadium pretend folk, no Noah & The Whale styled TV-ready cash-ins. You could probably wheel out the old cliche that Injured Birds are making the music they want to make and if anyone else likes it then that's a bonus. But of course they want people to like their songs, it's just that they want people to like them for the right reasons.

There's a whole lot of plucking and much of this album is banjo-powered, and believe it or not they turn these sounds into a riotous racket on 'Hey Now, Hey Now', and likewise they're dab hands at gently picked storytelling as found on 'Happy As Clams' or 'Song For Bailey', and there's odd moment where they allow tradition to get the better of them, see 'Wood Is Dead' and 'K'. 'Seaside Towns' even has a touch of the Wild Beasts about it. They can turn their capable hands to many folk offshoots and each one is a success; lyrically they can be clever and witty too, the upbeat 'How You Were Beautiful' and 'In The Doldrums' being particular favourites. Injured Birds are a small fish in a big pond but their ripples shouldn't go unnoticed.







Injured Birds' website

Buy the album





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Candidate - Psychic Dissonance From The Unself

Album review by KevW

With a title like that you'd be well within your rights to expect some drone-rock, shoegaze, prog experimenting or other equally exploratory sonic travelling. That's not quite the case for this Brooklyn bunch, their debut album does at points cross over into psychedelic sounds and space-rock, but for the most part it stays within the realms of the traditional indie/guitar type band. Candidate's album is an unusual one in that respect and gives the impression of having a split personality, when they do venture into psych and let the songs take care of themselves they have a natural groove that fits in well alongside contemporaries like Tame Impala and Pond, but when they hold back it's a bit disappointing.

The opening track on 'Psychic Dissonance From The Unself' is previous single 'April Again'; it's excellent, a krautrock-influenced piece of psychedelia that opens the door into their world, one you expect to be full of cosmic musical discoveries. However, as you open more doors inside their promisingly colourful land you find mixed results. Straight away second track 'Brutal' appears more normal, although it redeems itself by letting fly with some kaleidoscopic guitar for the second part. Then comes 'Even One Day You Will Be Old Fashioned' which is fighting not to become a production-line indie-rock anthem. Those guitars try to haul it back from the brink but barely manage to, the same fate befalls 'Untimely End' which is saved by a decent chorus. After just four tracks you're not quite sure who Candidate are or where they're trying to go.

From here on in 'Psychic Dissonance...' has a varying success rate. 'Low Life' embraces a more commercial sound, losing some of Candidate's magic along the way; 'A Place For My Soul' has no place here, it's engineered for radio pap, albeit with a nice enough chorus and the same goes for 'Everything For Us' and 'The Great Within': the middle of the album really drags even though it does so with melody, but it's not the excitement we were hoping for. They hint at their power here and there but never quite take the leap back outside the capsule, because of this 'Psychic Dissonance From The Unself' doesn't live up to expectations and feels more like a whimper than a bang, but we know they're capable of better. A little less introspection and a little more exploration please.




Candidate's website

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Five For Free #128

Frankie & The Heartstrings - I Still Follow You

There's always been a suspicion that Sunderland's Frankie & The Heartstrings came along at just the wrong time, just as the focus was shifting away from guitar bands. A few years earlier and they could reasonably expect to be much bigger. There's still plenty of hope with a new album produced by Bernard Butler on the way, and first single 'I Still Follow You' is certainly up to scratch.



Free download: 'I Still Follow You'

Frankie & The Heartstrings' website

Buy the single





Cult Of Youth - Man and Man's Ruin

Hopefully Brooklyn is getting back on its feet following the storms, and the New York area has featured as much on The Sound Of Confusion as any other city. Another set of children of that creative hotspot are Cult Of Youth whose new album 'Love Will Prevail' is out now. From it is the splendid and darkly strummed gloom-folk of 'Man and Man's Ruin'.



Cult Of Youth's website

Buy the album





John Talabot & Pional - Braves

This collaboration between Spanish DJ/producer John Talabot and Pional and has been written for the upcoming Divina Pastora marathon. Cue lyrics about being "strong" and "trying to reach your goal" etc. But then what should we expect them to sing about? This is a great piece of electronica that's catchy and has its roots in classic house. Now they need an extended four-hour mix for the runners to listen to en route.



John Talabot's website





Dent May - Best Friend

Sunshine-pop merchant Dent May released his album 'Do Things' earlier in the year and you can get your hands on the unashamedly melodic and soppy track 'Best Friend' for free. Like much of his work it sits in between genres like chillwave, indie and dreampop, I guess you could describe him as a modern day equivalent to Brian Wilson (although not quite in that league!).



Free download: 'Best Friend'

Dent May's website

Stream the album in full

Buy the album





Departures - Pillers 

Winnepeg band Departures released their album 'Still And Moving Lines' last month and freebie 'Pillars' is high-powered post-punk of the variety that Interpol used to make back when they were a bit more interesting. It's a dark and brooding song but it doesn't shirk on the tune side of things either. All in all it's a pretty epic onslaught of noisy guitars.



Departures' website

Stream the album in full

Buy the album





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Balthazar - The Oldest Of Sisters

Single review by KevW

Belgian quartet Balthazar are "hotly-tipped" according to the UK press, but to put that into perspective, try going and finding a new band that aren't claiming to be "hotly-tipped". Regardless of this, it looks as though Balthazar are already pretty darn established thank you very much. New to our ears maybe, but we'll bet a fair few who stumble upon this review will be well aware of their music, perhaps latest album 'Rats' marks what will be a push for more UK success. The group formed back in 2008 and have a sizable following according to their Facebook stats, so just what have we been missing out on?

Current single 'The Oldest Of Sisters', which is taken from the 'Rats' album, is nothing spectacular, but it impresses in a less direct fashion. Instead of grabbing you by the jugular straight away, it takes a few plays to establish itself. Even then it's more music to admire than to get excited about. Balthazar unquestionably know how to pen a unique song; there's no floundering about replicating others, 'The Oldest Of Sisters' is an interestingly structured tale that dabbles with jazz and baroque sounds as well as experimental chamber-indie. For reference you could happily file this alongside The Miserable Rich, Fanfarlo or even Wild Beasts.



Balthazar's website

Buy the album





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Desert Ships - Control

Single review by KevW

This new single from London trio Desert Ships is taken from their recent album 'Doll Skin Flag' which was recorded in an Oxfordshire farmhouse with Mark Gardener, formerly of shoegaze champions Ride, taking on production duties. So you should have a reasonable idea of where these guys are coming from sonically. Although not a shoegaze track itself, 'Control' does have a similar sound to other bands of that ilk, and is not too far away from some of Tim Burgess' recent solo work. It's a neat track; well written, nicely produced with a subtle but sweeping feel in the chorus. You can't really knock it.

If you skip to B-side 'We Write The Sound' you may find yourself thinking they've got it all the wrong way round. As strong as 'Control' is, it's the second track that the most memorable by a mile. It may be its repetitiveness that relegated it to a lowly support slot, yet it's this repetitiveness that helps make it so addictive. There's no big scientific explanation, it's simply a better track; catchy melody, baggy beat, more great production and more instant. This single is worth the money for the A-side, but it's the flip that nails it down as an essential purchase.





Desert Ships' website

Buy the single





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Kasko Lunsford - If This Is The Apocalypse

EP review by KevW

We're most likely to be inundated with references to the apocalypse these next couple of months, probably not to the tune of a jolly folky track like 'Seawall' though, a song that describes with incredible detail the end of the world, with a largely indifferent stance to the whole charade. Still, if the world is doomed then we're better off bowing out with a whistle-along acoustic ditty than a load of doom and gloom right? That's what Kasko Lunsford (the alter-ego of Scott Stutzman) thinks anyway, and we're not going to argue. In fact the most jolly of the three songs on 'If This Is The Apocalypse' is 'Seawall', the very song that imagines Armageddon in the most detail.

Things begin to sound a touch more forlorn on the gently picked 'Dust Bowl' which is all about the plant world dying out and the parched ground turning to infertile dust. So it's all merry stuff like that really. The dusty landscape soon becomes subject to a deluge of water in 'Flood', where hurricanes and breakers "come rolling through the alleys and the streets" and the city being "13 feet below the sea". So what was likely written as a slightly tongue-in-cheek dig at the end-times predictors has proved frighteningly prophetic given the events of the past week. Three great little tunes, but let's just hope no more of his predictions come true, eh?




Kasko Lunsford's website

Stream or buy the EP





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