Out This Week - 3rd September 2012

California Wives - Purple

They've been knocking around for a couple of years, as has this song in various forms, but now it's time for California Wives (who, incidentally, are from Chicago) to release their debut album 'Art History' in the US (25th in the UK). Not heard them yet? Then download free track 'Purple' and see if they tickle your fancy. If you like upbeat and melodic indie-rock then they most probably will.



California Wives' website

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Fantasmes - Redness Moon

This pair of Puerto Rican psychedelia lovers have been trekking back and forth to New York to put the finishing touches to their record, and now Fantasmes have a finished album to share with the world. 'Redness Moon' is out this week and you can download the title-track for free. It's an insistent and hypnotic piece of mid-paced psych-rock that grows with each listen.



Fantasmes's website

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Poor Moon - Birds

Poor Moon have their eponymous debut album out this week too. The band consist of long-time friends Christian Wargo and Casey Wescott as well as brothers Ian and Peter Murray. The former pair are also members of Fleet Foxes and it shows. 'Birds' is delicate and harmonious and will appeal to anyone who's found themselves intoxicated by the Foxes blend of traditional Americana and widescreen sounds.



Poor Moon's website

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Sauna Youth - PSI Girls

It could be that these Londoners took a little inspiration from Sonic Youth when deciding to call themselves Sauna Youth. Both share a passion for discordant guitars and minimal production. 'PSI Girls' is from their mini-album 'Deamlands' which is out this week and is the sort of lo-fi punk racket that's seen such a resurgence in recent years. This lot seem like the real deal though.



Sauna Youth's website

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OBLIGATORY RECORD OF THE WEEK

The Vaccines - Teenage Icon

The Vaccines debut album was great. It didn't kickstart a scene or reinvent rock 'n' roll as people like the NME had claimed, but it was chock-full of stellar guitar-pop songs. However uncool it is to like band who actually sell records and get played on the radio and stuff, the lure of their simple but effective melodic indie-pop was too much to ignore. There was always the suspicion they'd be a one-album wonder though. They'd done that trick, where now? They're hardly experimental. So we were all set for a watered-down version of the debut and then an ignored third effort before they ended up on the scrapheap. The Vaccines had other ideas. They haven't really changed tack, the style is the same, but what they've managed to do is repeat the trick, only this time do it even better. The songs are stronger, harder, more confident and more consistent. One-trick ponies maybe, but it's a hell of a trick and no sign whatsoever of that difficult second album here. 'Come Of Age' is a triumph. Here's new single, the awesome, contagious singalong of 'Teenage Icon'.



The Vaccines' website

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Anomaly - Rush Hour

Single review by KevW

No, sadly not a cover of Jane Wiedlin's 80s rock classic, but that's no reason to dampen the spirits. This particular 'Rush Hour' is unlikely to achieve such legendary status but it's worth its moment in the spotlight. Anomaly is an electronic singer-songwriter from London who's teamed up with Bristol production team Apollo & Soulsa who've taken one of her tracks and given it a dusting of their electronic wizardry for a single release on the eclectic Sick Music Records label. There's nothing astonishing about the song itself, in fact it feels more like a forerunner of great things to come in the future. Kind of like the simple starter at a forthcoming five course banquet if you will.

The song is put together in a reasonably routine way, it's what's added to it that makes it more interesting. The buzzing beats, the electronic bleeps and the whispered "wake up" take a quite traditional song structure and ordain it in classy production make-up. Kind of like like the plain girl-next-door suddenly taking off her glasses, letting down her hair and turning into the sexy beast you never expected her to be. Whether this lot have plans to collaborate again in the future we don't know. Going on the strength of this though, it'll be interesting to hear what else they can come up with.



Anomaly's website

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Cat Power - Sun

Album review by KevW

It may be the case that problems with drink, drugs and mental health have been the catalyst for some truly affecting and inspirational music, but eventually they take their toll. Rock music's history is littered with premature deaths, breakdowns and artists such as Syd Barrett, Brian Wilson and Peter Green simply disappearing for years for treatment in an attempt to get their lives back on track. Charlyn Marie Marshall (Cat Power to you and me) has certainly had her fair share of troubles of this kind, and 'Sun' is her first album of original material for six years. Without wishing to assess the health of someone I've never met, it would appear that this album shows Cat Power back on top form with what could well be her strongest set of songs so far.

The recording process was fractured, taking place over the course of five years and features a guest spot from fellow battle-scarred rock hero Iggy Pop on the eleven-minute (and astonishingly good) album highlight 'Nothin' But Time', a track that bursts with defiant optimism. Like much of this record the message isn't a document of the struggles she's endured, but vision of the future, a brighter and better future. Its message is clear "you wanna reach the end... you wanna live... the world is just beginning... it's up to you to be a superhero." It's a moving and inspiring piece, Iggy's grizzled, world-weary backing only serves to intensify the message. The dalliance with trip-hop on the excellent 'Cherokee' and '3,6,9' firmly state that Power isn't resting on any laurels. The gap in her career needs to be marked with a comeback of some stature.

Maybe the story behind the album sways opinion slightly, but 'Sun' feels designed to tell a story of triumph over adversity. "Here it comes, we're all so tired of waiting", a line from the title-track could be a sly dig at her own hiatus, but in reality you could have a field day dissecting the lyrics here. There are more immediate, even radio-friendly tracks such as 'Ruin' and 'Real Life', while 'Human Being' almost toys with psychedelia. Whether her fanbase will have stuck with her through those barren years is irrelevant as this album should see her reach out to a whole new generation. The break appears to have done Power the world of good musically, and we hope personally too. It just might be that 'Sun' is the best collection she's ever produced.





Download 'Cherokee' for free from Cat Power's website

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Grass House - The Boredom Rose

Single review by KevW

On the strength of a couple of astonishingly good singles released last year, we decided to include Yorkshire quartet Grass House in our 'Bands To Watch' list back at the end of December. A few of those choices have released some terrific records, some have changed their names and some are currently AWOL. The latter of those was the case with these moody experimental rockers. Until now that is, and the announcement of brand new single 'The Boredom Rose' which is due out on September 10th. So here's another chance to prove whether or not we posses magical ears that can predict future talent at the merest strum of a guitar or bash of a drum, or that we're a handful of chancers running an average hit and miss music site and we're totally winging it.

Come on then Grass House, prove us to have some merit! All is not lost it seems, because while 'The Boredom Rose' isn't quite as powerful as tracks like 'Faun' or 'The Breeze', it still carries the dark air of a western movie about its atmosphere and generally ticks all the right boxes. The production is near perfect and the bluesy shuffle sounds authentic rather than borrowed. Everything is in its right place, the only gripe is that we've heard better from them and were hoping for progression, especially given the length of time between releases. It's difficult to criticise this song though, it would be a bit like having a pop at Neil Young because his last album wasn't as good as 'After The Gold Rush'. This is a decent track and better than most out there. It also bears their distinctive hallmarks which bodes well for the future, but even so, we're pretty sure they're capable of even better.


Grass House's website

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The City And Horses - War Paint

Single review by KevW

Given the weird and wonderful world of bonkers alternative music out there, we don't very often find something that genuinely makes us think "blimey, that's a bit odd". The City And Horses are from Brooklyn (naturally) and their head honcho is referred to simply as Marc. So he's playing the old enigmatic card, eh? Well we've seen that one a few dozen times before. What we see less frequently is a music video that has quite as much of a WTF? factor as their new one for single 'Warpaint'. Taken from their 'We Will Never Be Discovered' album released late last year (another attempt at being enigmatic in the title there?) it's a bizarre couple of minutes of footage to accompany a bizarre couple of minutes of song. We can say with some conviction that this isn't your run-of-the-mill single.

So we begin with someone talking in French over an orange introduction to the song, before it cuts to a pair of nutters who seem to have raided the wardrobe of one of Willy Wonka's oompa loompas. Not only that, we get stuffed tigers and buoyancy aids worn as clothing and a good thick coating of orange face paint. Perfect for running amok and camouflaging yourself in a forest. Some sort of water pistol fight ensues and it looks like much fun was had by all, although industrial strength make-up remover may have been needed afterwards. The track itself is equally balmy mix of indie/pop and punk that you'll either love or hate. We can only guess at what the hell they were thinking, but we're pretty sure we've just been Tangoed.



The City And Horses' website

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A Sky Jet Black - Japanese Moon

Album review by KevW

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something 'Blue Monday'. That mildly altered wedding superstition is a bite-size summation of the third album by this Austin new-wave collective. Something old? Well their sound heavily relies on the late 70s and early 80s post-punk and new wave bands for its sound. Something new? Yes, despite aiming to make this record seem like a relic from a bygone era, unavoidably modern influences creep in and although you may be able to pull the wool over a few eyes, many people would recognise this as a recreation rather than an original. Something borrowed? Apart from sounds of yore, A Sky Jet Black tackle The Stone Roses classic 'I Wanna Be Adored' on this album. Something 'Blue Monday'? From the opening bars it's clear that New Order are a significant influence here.

Both 'Be My' and 'Sunday' are adorned with Peter Hook style bass playing, but they nail it and it actually ends up sounding preferable to anything the man himself has made for at least fifteen years. Curiosity will naturally draw attention to the Roses cover (and they couldn't really have picked a better time to do it). In format and structure it remains very faithful to the original; in terms of sound it actually manages to come across as a version that predates the 1989 release. It's cleaner than the early Roses demos but it sets its stall out in the indie/goth of five or so years previous. You may even be able to convince a newcomer to 80s alternative music that this was the original that Brown, Squire and co. covered for their debut. It's always dangerous territory taking on a song of such stature but they carry it off well.

It's then back to more Hooky-inspired bass the title-track which adds electronic beats and a heavily processed vocal. With the exception of the mediocre 'Heart On Your Sleeve' and the monotone 'So Far Away' you'll struggle to find any fault besides the lack of originality, and as that's the whole point of the album that criticism is null and void. The ancient synths, snappy beats and crisp yet fuzzy production generate the noise they're after perfectly.  A Sky Jet Black seem like a band out of time, almost like entering a time-warp that transports you back thirty years, luckily it's a nostalgia trip that's well worth taking.




A Sky Jet Black's website

The Catch Bar, London UK, Sunday, Sept 2
Dublin Castle, London UK, Monday, Sept 3
The KRAAK, Manchester UK, Wednesday, Sept 5
The Louisiana, Bristol UK, Thursday, Sept 6
Lock 42, Leicester UK, Friday, Sept 7
BAD VIBRATIONS FEST, The Shacklewell Arms, London UK, Sunday, Sept 9

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Five For Free #110

The Sheepdogs - Feeling Good

"Good ol' fashioned rock and roll" is what is says here, right next to a photo of some heavily bearded men. Usually this is enough to have us running for our Hallucinogen albums, but Saskatchewan mob The Sheepdogs aren't your typical dad-friendly bore rockers. Nope, 'Feeling Good' taps into some stellar glam stomping that's beamed in directly from 1973 and is a heap of fun.



The Sheepdogs' website

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Johan Reinhold - Heart In A Jar

Johan Reinhold also references that era, citing Bowie and Roxy Music as influences, along with more modern acts such as Daft Punk. He has an EP scheduled for early October and is having a go at tempting us to buy it by offering free download 'Heart In A Jar' which is soulful electro-pop with grand ambitions and a chorus that's bordering on the epic side of things.



Johan Reinhold's website





Future Twin - Lockits

The Lockits was/is the name of an San Francisco all-girl moped gang. Deciding to take things a step further they formed a band called Future Twin and the resulting music is heroically fun, ragged and punky. Of course they had to name a song after their gang, and so we get 'Lockits' taken recent 7" single. It's shouty, vibrant and rough around the edges, just as any track by an all-girl moped gang should be.



Future Twin's website

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Castratii - Limits 

When these globe-trotting Australians want to add power and passion they go about it with no punches pulled. Free download 'Limits' is walking the tightrope between hugely impressive synth-pop and 80s power ballads so finely that a gust of wind could blow it in either direction. As it stands, Castratii have managed to create truly epic, credible and impressive sounds here.



Castratii's website

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Simon Deer - Cow

Danish singer-songwriter Simon Deer takes his cue from all the greats of the genre; Bob Dylan, Nick Drake, Leonard Cohen... and the fingerprints of those gods are all over last year's self-titled album. We've picked 'Cow' as a favourite here, as the understated beauty and lo-fi vocals give it that extra personal touch, but if you want to hear more the album is free from his bandcamp page.


Simon Deer's website

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