Snøskred - We Are

Single review by KevW

For their debut single, Norwegians Snøskred have decided to take the wall of noise approach that's seen such a resurgence of late, particularly in northern Europe, the adoptive new home of shoegaze and dreampop. 'We Are' throws everything into its overcrowded mix; there are what sounds like numerous vocalists vying for space, but finding their voices engulfed by a barrage of drums and cymbal crashes and amounting to little more than a reverb-soaked background accompaniment. If you're getting the impression that this is a mistake then think again, because this approach lends an extra urgency and desperation to the song, creating a delicious whirlpool effect.

There are guitars aplenty of course, these also get tangled up in the mix until their sound is barely distinguishable from the rest of the din going on around them. It's as though they've set the every track on the desk to the same distant level and then cranked the resulting typhoon of distorted and withdrawn noise up to eleven. It's probably a nightmare for anyone who wants to learn to play any particular part of this song by listening alone, but it sounds bloody great. It's taken Snøskred two years to get to this point, so lets hope that in that time they've managed to whip up a few other similarly frenzied and blurry aural assaults.
 

Snøskred's website

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Five For Free #91

Animal Kingdom - Get Away With It

London trio Animal Kingdom have just released their second album 'The Looking Away' digitally with a physical release to follow in July. Taken from it is 'Get Away With It', a quite wonderful and sleek, upbeat indiepop track that's as much for the dance floor as your iPod. Their sound has seen them making headway in the US where they're soon to be touring.



Animal Kingdom's website

Pre-order the album






Bike Warrior - Whatever Nevermind

Gabriel Conti, AKA Bike Warrior is a 24 year old from Buenos Aires in Argentina who started out DJing at house parties and is now prepping his debut album 'Let It Go'. Taken from it (and also featuring on his new mixtape) is this debut single 'Whatever Nevermind' which is a rich and chilled wash of beats and twinkles that he's letting us get our mitts on for free.



Bike Warrior's website





Chains Of Love - Mistake Lover

For further celebration that the excellent garage/pop/soul collective Chains Of Love have now made their album 'Strange Grey Days' available on physical release in the UK, here's new single and free download 'Mistake Lover' which shows a more restrained side to the band without sacrificing any of their retro-pop cool and is still laced with those gorgeous Ronnie Spectorish vocals.



Chains Of Love's website

Stream the album in full

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So Many Wizards - Happy Birthday

You may have noticed the endless stream of lo-fi, jangly guitar bands emerging from Los Angeles these past couple of years, and here's another. Quartet So Many Wizards are getting set to release their debut album 'Warm Nothing' later in the summer. Until then, here's a free download of album track 'Happy Birthday' to satisfy your hazey indie needs.



So Many Wizards' website

'Warm Nothing' will be available through Jaxart





Victor Talking Machine - Sarah Laughs

We haven't been able to scrape together a great deal of info on Hackney band Victor Talking Machine. We do know that the quartet have recently released a new single called 'Tuscany' and on the B-side is featured this rather nice piece of slow-burning, shoegazey indiepop called 'Sarah Laughs' which you can stream or download from the link below.



The free download of 'Sarah Laughs' is available here

Victor Talking Machine's Website

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Future Of What - Moonstruck

EP review by KevW

Is being moonstruck a bit like being starstruck only not quite as good? Whatever, it sounds like an impressive thing to have happen to you. Considering that this quartet of Brooklynites only formed at the beginning of the year and this is their debut release, maybe they're aiming for us to be moonstruck by these four songs, before becoming starstruck once they've had the time to define their sound and gel a little better. Although to be honest you wouldn't guess this was the work of such a newly formed group, but the frontwoman Blair has previously released solo records to some acclaim, so maybe this accomplished first outing isn't such a surprise after all.

Future Of What recorded this EP without using any electric guitars of cymbals, a fact you probably wouldn't notice unless it was pointed out to you. Still, these are fairly conventional songs nonetheless, and are driven by rich synth textures which create a welcoming and warm sound. This is more pop than electronica though, and feels like an indiepop record in disguise. Most conventional is the lovable closer 'Party In Heaven', but in terms of songwriting there's little that's unorthodox. 'I Wait For You' a beautiful example of the boundaries between dreampop and chart-pop being blurred. At only six months old, Future Of What are already putting many more established acts to shame, the exciting thing will be to see where they can go from here. True to its word, this EP won't leave you starstruck, but you may feel a touch moonstruck by its grace.





Future Of What's website





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Metric - Synthetica

Album review by KevW

There must be temptation for Emily Haines and co. to plot a course for arenas, mega sales and the ethically dubious path towards selling out. It's clear this is a viable option: Metric write big songs, they use big production, their records garner much acclaim and decent sales. They're just a mega hit away from a couple of years worth of raking in some filthy lucre and sitting pretty for the rest of their lives. It's a route they refuse to take, and they deserve much respect for remaining an "alternative" band, brave enough to churn out album after album of immaculately produced indie-rock that inhabits a credible middle ground between lo-fi cool and commercial credibility suicide. But that's what they do best, and on new album 'Synthetica' they may well have nailed their style more firmly than ever.

These tuness are huge without being distasteful, pristine in every way, not a hair out of place and still as appealing as ever. In an ideal world it would be songs like 'Artificial Nocturne' and 'Breathing Underwater' that would be filling mega venues, not soulless, insipid filth like The Red Hot Chili Peppers and U2, but human nature doesn't allow genuine and properly realised ambition to flourish. As well as these perfectly executed widescreen anthems-that-will-never-be, Haines goes all Suzi Quatro on us with the glam stomp of 'Youth Without Youth', and the album's title-track is exceptional alt-rock that Belly or The Breeders would have sold their grannies for. 'Dreams So Real' is exquisite in its simplicity, carried along on a gentle electric fuzz, it's the antithesis the album's grander moments. Essentially it's this kind of musical understanding that ensures Metric stay not only credible but bloody fantastic with it. They know not to overstep the mark.

The real high point on 'Synthetica' is 'The Wanderlust', maybe even a contender for song of the year, that features a heart-warming collaboration with Lou Reed, going some way to making up for the whole Metallica debacle. Metric, although capable, will never join that band in setting their sights on the stadiums of the world and the millions of album sales that come with it, they have too much integrity for that, too much of an understanding of what music stands for. So while 'Synthetica' is an ambitious album with some colossal sounding songs on it, it never crosses the line and, for those who care about this kind of thing, it never loses credibility. Metric have shown here that you can aspire to great things without jeopardising your principles along the way. It's not an approach that many master with such aplomb, and for that reason 'Synthetica' is an album that should be cherished by many.



Metric's website

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Wyatt - Wyatt

EP review by KevW

Finding herself in New York, a city not short of a musician or two, singer-songwriter Maddy Wyatt decided to expand from solo artist to full band by calling on her brothers Paul and Alex to form the genesis of Wyatt. With the addition of Zach Lane and Dana Haynes they were ready to go. Building upon their experience of improvising together as children, using household objects to create sounds, along with musical ability picked up at school (they don't shy away from using flute, clarinet and other music lesson staples) they began to flesh out the sounds of Maddy's songs. This self-titled EP is four examples fairly conventional indie-folk, but with a glint in its eye, giving it a likeable and humane touch.

Beginning with the aforementioned flute, 'Octopus King' is a reasonably routine strum through familiar singer-songwriter territory but the addition of occasional wind instruments and tambourine lend a plesent quirkiness. 'Nobodys' could almost be Nouvelle Vague covering Fleetwood Mac. Again it's likeable without being overly remarkable. The real highlights of this EP are the countryish, picked and slightly moody 'Good Fight' and, best of all, 'Leonah' which is the closest Wyatt come to sounding like a complete band rather than a backed singer-songwriter. The melody is stronger and the slow build creeps up on you gently, bringing a subtle force. And this subtlety is the key; it would be all to easy to go over the top here, but the restraint only adds to the power. If they keep this up they might really be on to something.



To stream 'Wyatt' in full and get a free download of 'Leonah' head to Wyatt's website

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Echo Lake - Wild Peace

Album review by KevW

Since hearing 'In Dreams' back in 2010, Echo Lake had been on my personal radar and I'd been looking forward very much to hearing their debut, a promo of which I was lucky enough to receive prior to release. After listening to the album repeatedly I began to gather my thoughts with regards to writing a review. Part way through doing so, the tragic and shocking news broke that drummer Peter Hayes had passed away just days from its release. This puts a rather different perspective on the album and the way in which it could be reviewed. What follows is the review as it would have been from a totally objective point of view and without the sad news that broke this weekend, although naturally my thoughts and condolences go out to Peter's family, friends and band mates.

As with much music that comes under the shoegaze/dreampop banner, getting the mix right is crucial, and the genre's past is littered with tales of months of tweaking in the studio and pushing back release dates in the quest for sonic perfection (hello My Bloody Valentine, Spiritualized and more). It's fair to say that this debut album from London's Echo Lake has been a while in construction, and it's pretty clear that much of that time has been spent getting it to sound just right. Initially formed by Thom Hill (producer/songwriter/instrumentalist) and singer Linda Jarvis, the band began to flesh itself out for live dates, but studio-wise it was very much Hill who masterminded the project.

As for that all important mixing, well that works a treat. Jarvis' vocals are mainly pushed back to be engulfed by the other numerous layers of sound. The effect is a bit like deliriously seeing a mirage of Elizabeth Fraser appearing in a scorching desert of reverb. While the voice and depth feel warm, the clanging guitars and snappy drumming are far more chilling. 'Wild Piece' is an icy record and you could say that the warm colours covering the snowcapped mountains on the sleeve is a suitable visual metaphor for the music. Even when the compositions are relatively barren, as on 'Monday 5AM' there are no gaps in the sound, a gentle and comforting hum is always present. Right from the off the treated vocal washes drift back and forth, swirling around like ghosts in the ether.

As lovely as the more atmospheric pieces are (and really, they're done incredibly well), it's when Echo Lake spring in to song mode that they're at their most memorable. 'Another Day' is indiepop forced through several echo chambers, 'Last Song Of The Year' is otherworldly and haunting, 'Even The Blind' is post-punk played through the tinniest of AM radios and the sublime 'In Dreams' is still truly wonderful with it's motorik beat, distant voices and sharp, simple guitar chimes. While 'Wild Peace' isn't quite as solid as could have been hoped, it's no let down either. The impression here is that Thom Hill is finding his feet, discovering new ways to manipulate sounds and combining them with traditional pop. It's a commendable album but you suspect the very best is yet to come.





Echo Lake's website

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Pale Man Made - Red Box Secrets

Album review by KevW

For their second album, Newcastle's Pale Man Made are offering up a whopping fourteen tracks. Now that's pretty good value for money, but it's also a lot to digest and you could argue that 'Red Box Secrets' would have been better slimming itself down to a less daunting ten or twelve tunes. There's no real need for such a culling though, as there's no real excess weight and with an average song time of around two and a half minutes the album flies by and you're barely given the chance to consider changing the record. The only downside it that 'Red Box Secrets' isn't the most diverse album you'll hear all year.

The default setting is something akin to a more British, more indiepop Dinosaur Jr, shorn of the gruff masculine singing and replaced with more appealing boy/girl vocals. They're not afraid to use their guitars but they never let them run the show either. Much of this album seems influenced by alt-rock bands of that vintage from both sides of the Atlantic. For example to outstanding 'Trojan Horse' contains DNA from The Breeders, Pixies etc. but packs a mighty melodic punch for the chorus, whereas the equally great '901' is a direct descendent of the UK's indie heroes of the late 80's as well as 90's icons The Delgados. It's also not short in the tune department.

Single 'In Your Bed' possesses earworm qualities that ensure it burrows deep in to your subconscious, after a few listens you'll find yourself randomly humming it. It's here that the real quality of Pale Man Made shows; the melodies of 'B-Line', 'Cut Out' and 'It Started In 1966' are sweet and infectious and the permanent buzz of guitars is the ideal accompaniment. They may not win awards for originality or diversity but on the strength of the songs alone these guys deserve plenty of acclaim and you could do a lot worse than to open up their Red Box and sample some of the Secrets that lie within.





Pale Man Made's website

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