Artist To Check Out: Devoted Friend

Article by KevW

Devoted Friend is the nom de plume of Manchester artist James Grimshaw, a man who quite correctly describes his brand of music as "quiet indie". The songs on his debut album 'Levitates' are at times barely audible, particularly intros, and he brings a whole new aspect to the loud/quiet/loud dynamic, moving from virtual silence to fervent strumming on tracks like 'Balled Up Pt. 2'. With so many of these tunes being so distant and so subtle the intimacy is particularly important. These are songs that must be listened to. If you simply leave them playing in the background you'll likely miss out on much of the album.

Although 'Levitates' is little more than a guitar and a voice it, doesn't fit with the regular singer-songwriter shtick and the songs don't compare easily to other artists, for something so delicate there's much discord to be found. The harrowing faraway cries on 'It Doesn't Matter' or 'What We Will Do For The Rest Of Our Lives' have a unique and slightly unsettling quality. Single 'Hide And Seek' condenses the album's key characteristics into one song. From a beginning so subtle it's almost non-existent, to those echoing, remote vocals, right through to the pause and the thrashed-out ending. Devoted Friend won't be for everyone, but those looking for music with emotion and music to get lost in should cast their ears over this one.



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DIIV - Oshin

Album review by KevW

Former Beach Fossils guitarist Zachary Cole Smith has done very well for himself since parting ways with his old band and starting up solo project Dive last year. After fleshing things out to a quartet and changing their name to DIIV (in the unlikely event that people would confuse them for the Belgian industrial band Dive) they've become quite the hype stars, celebrated by both the indie and mainstream press. The streets of Brooklyn must be groaning under the weight of dreampop outfits at the moment, so is there really anything to make DIIV stick out and deserve all this attention? Or are they just another trendy passing fad?

Well longevity can never be guaranteed, but the name DIIV looks set to be more than just a footnote in 'The Encyclopaedia Brooklyn: Shoegaze Edition July 2012, Vol. III'. Debut album 'Oshin' does cut the mustard, although essentially it's a great big list of dreampop clichés. It's hazey, it shimmers alright, there are guitars that both sparkle and drone, the vocals are ghostly and sometimes seem to float around without direction, the overriding impression is, y'know, kind of ethereal. It jangles, it buzzes, it sounds like a scientific experiment where men in white coats have genetically modified genes from My Bloody Valentine, The Cocteau Twins, Slowdive, The Radio Dept. and others and grown a new band in a lab, this being the result.

It's a mighty fine result that sounds not quite of this world, existing in the strange twilight land where reality and reverie coexist. For the large part the vocals are mere wisps, faint outlines of words swirling at the back of the mix on songs such as 'Past Lives' and 'Sometime'. At other points '(Druun)' and 'Oshin (Subsume)' are largely instrumental and have the same effect on the brain as bright sunlight reflecting off the sea. 'How Long Have You Known' and 'Doused' fit into the 'future classics' bracket, but to be fair much of the album does. It may be made up of other band's spare parts and be about as unique as a virgin at a Dungeons & Dragons convention but this really is a belting record and as close to dreampop perfection as we've had all year. 'Oshin' is worth the hype, so DIIV right on in, the water's lovely.





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Fierce Creatures - Catacomb Party

Album review by KevW

In a world where half the bands on the planet like to pretend that their music can't be categorized and that there are no boundaries to their sound; a world where The Big Pink claimed to be making a hip-hop album and ended up releasing a watered-down version of their electro-rock debut instead; and a world where many indie bands falsely claim to be more influenced by Marvin Gaye than The Strokes - only to release an album of sub-Strokes dross before vanishing, it's not exactly astounding that Californians Fierce Creatures are claiming to make music "free of limitations". Yawn. There are limitations to their music of course, but you know what? They might just be on to something, and that statement rings far truer with this lot that most of the others.

Not only is 'Catacomb Party' an album with some tremendous songs on, there are less constraints, more unusual features, more variety and a actual real willingness to do their own thing and experiment. There is a freedom to their music, and although it's not out of this world in originality, it can happily rub shoulders with similarly-minded bands such as Flaming Lips, Grandaddy, MGMT and others, in that a pop heart beats at the centre, yet what surrounds it is less conventional and more playful. The opening pair of 'Ask For Lightning' and 'Babbity Abbot' are gleeful in their enthusiasm and when the pace drops for 'Lover's Vice' things are still melodiously joyful and bursting with passion, and 'Body For The Grave' is wide-eyed and full of retro organ sounds.

Essentially this album is organised chaos, an arranged racket of instruments and ideas thrown at a blank canvas and, as if by chance, forming themselves into modern psych-pop. It feels like the recording process was a hotchpotch affair and subsequently these songs feel vibrant and teeming with life. They also feel like the glue holding them together is slowly melting and could give way at any point. By the time you get to the space-pop of 'We Know It Knows' you realise the initial enthusiasm has well and truly engulfed the whole record. So while their kaleidoscopic approach to sound may ring various bells, they are at least in part avoiding those pesky limitations, and have made an album that's impressive, fun, inspiring and a great sonic workout for mind, body and spirit.





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Out This Week - 23rd July 2012

Fang Island - Asunder

More indie-rock from Brooklyn to kick off this week's new releases, and the new album from Fang Island, now down to a trio for second LP 'Major'. Taken from the album is free track 'Asunder' which is crunching guitars meeting driving beats and some powerful vocals for four and a half minutes, the time in which a lesser song would have outstayed its welcome, but sounds just perfect here.


Free download: 'Asunder'

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Passion Pit - I'll Be Alright

This second full-length from Michael Angelakos and co. has been picking up similarly good reviews to debut 'Manners'. Judging by the two singles Passion Pit have so far released from 'Gossamer' it sounds like we're in for another batch of squiggly, sugary, experimental electro/indie/pop. Check out single 'I'll Be Alright', and if at first you're not sure then just wait. This one's a real grower.



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The Cast Of Cheers - Family

It's taken Dublin band The Cast Of Cheers a while to bring us their debut album 'Family', but by all accounts it was worth the wait. The album takes in all that's been successful about the indie/alternative scene in the past couple of years and could see them making similar inroads to the mainstream as Two Door Cinema Club or Everything Everything, and doing it without selling out.



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Purity Ring - Obedear

Also heading for acclaimed debut album territory are Canada's Purity Ring whose first full-length 'Shrines' drops this week, and much like The Cast Of Cheers have done with indie, Purity Ring have combined the most successful aspects of synth-pop, witch house, chillwave and other electronic trends to stunning effect. Get a free download of single 'Obedear'.



Free download: 'Obedear'

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OBLIGATORY RECORD OF THE WEEK

Eternal Summers - You Kill

Whatever trends come and go, you still can't beat a great bit of superbly executed guitar-pop. Be it punk, indie, shoegaze, powerpop or whatever. Good tunes rule, and in free single 'You Kill' Eternal Summers have got a real beauty. Their album 'Correct Behaviour' is out this week and contains more of the same. If it's pure excellent alt-pop you're after, then these guys have it in spades.



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Allo Darlin' - Europe

Single review by KevW

The next single to be lifted from Allo Darlin''s more grown up but just as endearing second album is the title-track, backed with an alternative version of album track 'Some People Say'. 'Europe' is one of the record's most thoughtful sounding cuts, mixing a whole heap of sentiment with their always enticing indiepop. There's a definite air of triumph about the song, but it feels like triumph over adversity so any joy comes shaded with sadness, and maudlin strings accompany the cries of "this is life, this is living". When it comes to the whole great-tune-with-meaning thing they've absolutely nailed it with this one.

On the flip 'Some People Say' is toned down from how it appears on the LP. Not always a wise move, but given the atmosphere and emotion left by the A-side this paired-down approach works beautifully. There's little more than vocals, a subtle percussive shuffle and quietly picked guitar. "Some people believe you can wish on satellites for your dreams" sums up the sense of realisation that while the world is an amazing place, sometimes things don't quite go as you've planned. The overall impression left by these two songs is one of experience and the maturity that comes with it, which is a fitting metaphor for the band themselves as Allo Darlin' seem to be effortlessly making the transition from quirky young group to accomplished guitar-pop masters.



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Exlovers - Emily

Single review by KevW

London's Exlovers proved that good things come to those who wait with their debut album 'Moth' earlier this year, and in terms of British indiepop-type bands they also proved that they're one of the best of the current crop and have enough substance and variation in their sound to hopefully stick it out longer than most (providing they all remain friends of course!). Picking 'Emily' as their new single seems a slightly unusual choice given that other songs on the album are catchier, more upbeat and generally more suited to that kind of thing, but with a record as solid as theirs just about any track fits the bill.

So the soft hum of 'Emily' it is, with its almost lo-fi, almost shoegaze and almost 90's guitar-pop strum and jingly sounding shuffle. By their standards it's fairly run-of-the-mill, although that's not to suggest that this song isn't good. What Exlovers do best is lovable indie tunes to satisfy the ears of many a guitar fan, and so that's what they do here. If everyone's average standard was this good then life would be that little bit better for anyone with a functioning pair of ears. The video was recorded by the band themselves on a recent trip to Japan. There's nothing unusual about bands recording their own videos of course, particularly independent bands, but Exlovers, unlike so many others, manage to make a decent job of it, so bonus points to them for the promo too.



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Be The Bear - Bad Things

Single review by KevW

A cursory look at the charts in the UK and US will reveal that pop music, or at least the stuff that's selling, is currently in a pretty dire state. Whether you attribute this to the fact that any dross downloaded as a ringtone now counts as a sale, or simply a generation of musicians who've given up all hope of penetrating the cack with some credible pop is up to you. What we do know is that there's some great popular music out there, and its seeming inability to prevent the existence of Pitbull and Bruno Mars is somewhat soul-destroying. Thank heavens for Sweden, a land where pop stars care about dignity and talent. The likes of The Sound Of Arrows, Niki & The Dove and Lykke Li have been a breath of fresh air in the otherwise stinking toilet of a hit parade.

Be The Bear is the work of Swedish producer Mattias Bolin and Danish singer Christina Wehage and new single 'Bad Things' is another example of how there's still some life to be found in the rotting corpse of pop. Avoiding the clichés and fading in with some bleeping electronics and no sign of autotune, this is a delightfully accessible and well made track. Wehage's sugary vocals are not dissimilar to Bjork's in their quirkiness and the blend of guitars and modern production techniques gives 'Bad Things' all the right ingredients to make for a big hit that national radio stations should be all over. On the downside, this is a very good song and therefore is likely to be ignored by the public at large. They should be very ashamed of themselves if they download anything by One Direction over this.



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