Five For Free #168

Wildlife Control - Ages Places

We start with this little stunner from the exponentially improving Wildlife Control. Following a hit and miss album, then a decent new single, they now give us 'Ages Places', their second single of the year. It starts with Spectorish backing before moving through to a buzzing guitar ending. They've really come up with something special here, if they can improve further we'll be amazed.



Wildlife Control's website

Buy the single





Lipstick Lumberjack - Poisoner's Rag

Firstly, don't try any of the suggestions in this song at home, kids. This Californian alt-folk outfit have come up with an unusual and very fine song for us here. Lipstick Lumberjack give us a tale of a woman who seems immune to pretty much any type of poison that you can throw at her. And so 'Poisoner's Rag' is a strange track from a strange band. That's two ticks from us.


Lipstick Lumberjack's website

Buy the single





flies+flies - Later On

This electro/indie/alt-pop track from flies+flies isn't exactly your average normal tune either. This trio consists of turntable-based electronics, cello and guitar and vocals, so not your conventional band set up. They have good tunes though, that's the main thing, and for proof they're giving one away. It's called 'Later On' and is a humming mix of analogue and digital.



flies+flies' website

Catch them live:

Thurs 28th March at Strongroom bar, Shoreditch.
April 27th at Arc Festval, Bristol.





Killing Fields Of Ontario - Twisted Little Theatre

London/Birmingham band Killing Fields Of Ontario release their new album 'How the World Ends' in the summer and we're being told it's amazing. That's from their PR team, mind you, but they have given us 'Twisted Little Theatre' as a free download ahead of a forthcoming double A-side single. So if it's all as good as this great piece of alt-rock then we'll be in total agreement.

Killing Fields Of Ontario's website





Illitry - Goshen

Illitry are the brainchild of Troy Witherow, a self-confessed sound addict from Ontario (not the killing fields we hope) and with his band mate Chester Edington they give us this debut single as a free download. The idea behind 'Goshen' was to find a balance between electric and analogue, organic and digital. I don't know about you, but we think they've done a pretty good job.

Illitry's website

Buy the single

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Crash and the 'Coots - Bottle Rhythm

Single review by kev@thesoundofconfusion.co.uk

In the autumn we reviewed south-westerners Crash and the 'Coots' debut release, 'John Coles Park' EP. As a brief summary it went something along the lines of it being hard for bands from that region to escape the everlasting hardcore and metal scenes that persist and persist and that these guys had bundles of potential to be able to do that but they just needed to take that next step up, just improve a little bit more. The next track we hear from them is called 'Bottle Rhythm' and it's from their new EP. Step up achieved? Damn right it is.

This track, and it's entertaining video, sees them establish a sound that's totally their own. This is a hybrid of funk, indie, electro and pop that doesn't work on paper but sounds amazing when you listen to it. The production plays a big part here, they've mastered it. From the odd and distant vocal effect to the distorted bass it's a song taken to the next level through bundles of imagination and highly commendable use of the studio as an instrument. It's parent EP 'Hillside' is out soon, we haven't heard it, but it's worth buying for this flash of genius alone.





Crash and the 'Coots' website





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Slighter - Just A Side Effect (Feat. John Girgus)

Single review by kev@thesoundofconfusion.co.uk

It's not just us that are in a permanent state of confusion. Boston producer/musician Slighter releases all his material on his own Confusion Inc. imprint. You may be a touch confused by the sounds that he makes too, not because they're skull-splittingly awful, but because of just how eclectic his material is. His album 'The Perfectly Damaged' is being remastered with additional tracks added and you'll find many different styles from hip-hop to experimental indie and dreampop. One of our favourites, 'Just A Side Effect', doesn't even stick to one genre for the whole song.

Featuring a guest spot from Aberdeen man John Girgus, this track takes in early sampling techniques and some bass that could be borrowed from 'Blue Monday', trip-hop beats and a vocal that would suit more a indie/dreampop sound. There's even a whiff of shoegaze about some of the droning effects in the background. Then, when you're not really expecting it, the song flowers into a woozy acoustic psych number for a few seconds before ending with backwards guitar. So Slighter is a man with plenty of ideas, and he's certainly not afraid to use them.



Slighter's website

Buy the single





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Wampire - Spirit Forest

Single review by kev@thesoundofconfusion.co.uk

Portland appears to have come up with the goods once more. We were very impressed with Wampire's single 'The Hearse' not long ago, and it's now been announced that their debut album will be released on May 14th (we can therefore possibly expect it on the 13th in the UK) on Polyvinyl Records and they're serving up a stream of the track 'Spirit Forest' to prove that the previous single was no one-off. Again this is in the realms of indie music but with enough of a twist to give them a little of their own identity. If they can manage an album of this standard it'll surely be in for high praise.

Like much independent music doing the rounds, this track is like a patchwork quilt stitched together using squares from various different bands and scenes, all to create an impressive and fully functional whole. We've got 80s synths at the start mixed in with a little new-wave and a few interesting sounds brought in from the more esoteric areas of the music world. There's a hint of white soul about the vocals and a hint of funk in the bass, but the guitars are sharp, almost angular at points, leading us to believe they've got a few punk records in their collection, as well as some classic rock and prog albums which is where the song takes a brief detour to for a while. Intriguing stuff.



Wampire's website

Pre-order the album





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Julian Fulton and the Zombie Gospel - Hearts & Arms

EP review by kev@thesoundofconfusion.co.uk

Julian Fulton and the Zombie Gospel preach their word from New Jersey, and they do so by way of lo-fi and experimental alt-pop tunes. Debut EP 'Hearts & Arms' was first released last summer and word has finally spread across the ocean to our ears. Beginning with 'Prelude' (which is just that) it's difficult to know what to expect. So it's second track 'Lie' that gives us the first indication of where these guys are coming from, and it's not beyond the grave. Usual indie/pop references apply, focusing on the 60s in particular; The Beach Boys and The Beatles are clear inspirations, but this is no aping, the songs here feel modern, they're just inspired by the past.

There are some very good indie/pop tracks here too. 'And Now' is a slight departure, the muffled vocals and the coat of fuzz making you think of more modern references, but they soon return to the past and always have pop at the centre of things. The jangly guitar of 'Kiss The Sun' isn't a million miles away from The Strokes, but the vocals make it ring that bit clearer. They visit that classic chord progression of C, A-minor, F, G for the doo-wop sounding 'Junkie Song'. It's about the billionth song to use that sequence but it still sounds stunning here, particularly in contrast to the murky lyrical content and is probably the best track of the lot. After that, 'Wishing Well (A Fool's Waltz)' makes for a fitting ending for a fine EP.



Julian Fulton and the Zombie Gospel's website

Stream or buy the EP





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Younghoon Beats - Tha Blew Demos

Album review by kev@thesoundofconfusion.co.uk

You don't need us to tell you that California is crawling with beat-makers at the moment, they probably outnumber the rest of the population. It's always nice when you hear something that isn't generic hip-hop or identikit chillwave though, and this set of demos from Younghoon Beats is neither of those. Granted, you could sample some of these songs or mix them for rap, and maybe some of these samples come from that area, also these songs are very laid-back, so you could call them chilled. But chillwave this ain't, the sounds on 'Tha Blew Demos' are closer in spirit to the trip-hop scene so synonymous with the Bristol in the mid 90s.

'Only You' and 'I'm A Fool' both carry a soulful vibe on top of big beats and then 'Blew' samples, of all things, Blur's 'Country House'. It's actually quite an inspired choice and enough to make you wonder why that line hasn't been extracted before. Talking of samples (this album is probably full of so many that we'll never get them all and they will have been contorted beyond recognition at times), the sad-sounding 'Some Things' possibly takes a line or two from Nancy Sinatra. The mid-section is noticeably more downtempo and almost certainly suited to the more nocturnally minded, as that track is followed by the brain-muddling 'Feeling I Have' and the practically horizontal 'Way Out'.

Sharper beats and a bit more action are employed again on 'Become', but this still exerts a feeling of laziness, not in the music, in the feeling it gives you, and this is echoed on 'Monsters'. You begin to wonder how someone so seemingly lethargic managed to create this album at all, and the fact that he's made others is more of a surprise. There's no big shock of an unlikely high-tempo finale either, final track 'All The Game' is a mix of beats, guitar, the odd scratch and some lackadaisical bass, although the brass does give an unexpected lift for a brief moment. This is no way implying that 'Tha Blew Demos' is in any way boring, it isn't, but if you have stuff you need to do then save this one for later in the day.




Younghoon's website

Stream or download the album





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Laish - Obituaries

Album review by kev@thesoundofconfusion.co.uk

Nothing like a nice cheery title to get an album off to a good start. 'Obituaries' is the second album from Brighton band Laish, formed by Danny Green, an active member of Brighton's music scene and a presenter for the excellent Simple Folk Radio. You're more likely to get a grasp of the sounds here by looking at his other work rather than the album title. And besides, there's already a thrash metal band called Obituary, and this record isn't referencing them in any way. So, you've guessed it, we're in folk music territory on this one, and if you're thinking that the last thing you need in your life is another modern folk collective, then hear us out.

Maybe down to the fact that Green and co. have a very good understanding of the genre thanks to their other ventures, Laish won't bore you to tears, and they won't make you want to eat your own ears with inauthentic pretend-folk. The music they make may be best described as acoustic-pop anyway, this isn't your classic cliched traditionalism, these are well arranged, well written and carefully though out songs. The average pace is, naturally, fair to middling, and instead of going overboard to make a bold statement with grand orchestration, the strings, flutes and brass, while intricate and brilliantly fitting, are kept low in the mix, although given more of a central role than on the previous record. They compliment the songs, not disguise them.

In which case, these songs need to be a high calibre, and surely the jaunty (musically at least) 'Warm the Wind' or the mildly electric 'Carry Me' would work had they been just one man and his guitar; something that 'Delicate Creatures' is for the first half, before it shimmers into life. 'Choice' could almost be Belle & Sebastian. There's a stateliness about 'Visions' and 'Choices' that is very appealing. Some moments are bleak and sombre, like opening track 'Obits' with its detached vocal or the slightly barren 'Discipline', but mostly this is an upbeat album. 'Obituaries' is a step forward for the band; the arrangements are that touch more magical this time and the songs have a bit more of a glint in their eye. We're guessing there are five very satisfied people in the Laish camp right now.




Laish's website

Stream or buy the album

Catch them live:

APRIL TOUR
Friday 19th – Prince Albert, Brighton
Saturday 20th – The Wilmington Arms, London
Sunday 21st – The Cumberland Arms, Newcastle
Monday 22nd – The Castle Hotel, Manchester
Tuesday 23rd – The Bicycle Shop, Norwich
Wednesday 24th – Ort Café, Birmingham
Thursday 25th – Golden Lion, Bristol
Friday 26th – The Revelry, Exeter
Saturday 27th – Miss Peapod’s, Cornwall





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