Sons Of An Illustrious Father - No Mercy/Loveletting

Single review by soul1@thesoundofconfusion.com

You may recall a recent feature we published that focused on New York's Mama Coco's Funky Kitchen, a recording studio, label, promoter and general music community. One of the bands mentioned in the feature was Sons Of An Illustrious Father, a trio who pull in influences from guitar-pop, rock, folk, indie and other guitar-based genres to make their own sound. It's hardly totally at odds with what other bands are producing, but it is a powerful blend and gives them a distinct individuality, one that contains traces of The Beatles and Janis Joplin as well as any number of modern alternative rock bands; they're not only putting genres in a melting-pot and giving them a good stir, they're doing the same thing with different eras.

The most immediate and punchiest of the two songs is 'No Mercy', a close cousin of some of the music made by Heartless Bastards; the vocals are strong and a definite focal point for the track, although the sound is very full, with organ, guitar and bass all converging to create a wall of sound, one which occasionally breaks as if to give respite, before building back up again. Still making good use of the keys is 'Loveletting', a track that changes to a male lead vocal and adds a touch more soul. The slightly lazy drawl also managing to become a focal point, but musically it could be a cover of a classic soul track, reimagined with a more rocky, Waits-esque edge to it. That wall of noise does appear again for the chorus, and many voices only drive this further. Another great example of a thriving scene.





Sons Of An Illustrious Father's website

Buy the single

Catch them live:

Jan 27 Pianos, New York, NY





For more news, reviews and downloads follow The Sound Of Confusion on Facebook or Twitter

contact@thesoundofconfusion.com

GroundBoy - Echoes

Single review by soul1@thesoundofconfusion.com

Our work has very kindly been done for us on this one, as French artist Groundboy has summed it up by informing the world that he makes "peaceful music for dreamcatchers". So we could just sit here twiddling our thumbs and enjoying the tune really. After all, you all just skip to the song and ignore the repetitive, bog-standard musings we write about the music anyway, don't you? Well, it's difficult to change the habit of a lifetime, so here are a few facts and something in the way of a review for anyone who wishes to take notice of our opinion. It's not uncommon for French bands to become well known in the UK, they are after all, our closest neighbours (unless you count The Republic Of Ireland which we share a boarder with, although the two countries have generally had, musically at least, a close relationship). Much of this has been in the form of electronica and electro-pop giants like Daft Punk or Justice, and Groundboy isn't a million miles away from that.

What we've noticed, is that there appears to be a big shoegaze revival happening in the north of the country, but Groundboy is from Monpellier in the south. Ask several people to name a French band and the chances are that the name Air will crop up eventually, and 'Echoes' has perhaps more in common with that band than anyone else we've spoken of. This is very chilled electro-pop that incorporates the kind of acoustics employed by excellent Swedes Junip. So combine the two and you have yourself a fairly accurate notion of what this track is all about. There will be a debut EP soon, with this being a little something to whet your appetite. Currently it's pissing down outside, it's Sunday morning, a lot of people probably don't feel like doing much, and those with sore heads won't want anything too abrasive. So at this current time and in these current circumstances, 'Echoes' is just the tonic.



Groundboy's website





For more news, reviews and downloads follow The Sound Of Confusion on Facebook or Twitter

contact@thesoundofconfusion.com

We Are The Storm - The Rapture

Single review by soul1@thesoundofconfusion.com

When reviewing the recent second album by Swedish band We Are The Storm, we used the line "surging acts of grandeur" and suggested that they maybe had a few ideas in common with the likes of Arcade Fire. 'Wastelands' was certainly an ambitious project and it was one that worked well. New single 'The Rapture' was originally written for that record, but it was decided that it didn't quite fit the flow of the album and so was held back. It's good news that it wasn't discarded, because you'd have to say it's worthy of being released in some capacity. According to what the band say about their past and their future plans, then now is the perfect moment, as they move on from 'Wastelands' and look to where they'll venture next. To use their exact words: "'The Rapture' echoes We are the Storm’s previous efforts, but it also shows the shape of things to come."

It clearly does echo some of their past tracks, and that slight Arcade Fire flavour can still be found, as can the grandeur we spoke of, although it is toned-down just a little here. As for future directions? Well, that's a bit harder to gauge. Perhaps they'll head down a more electronic route (although by no means electronica) as this song, unless I'm mistaken, does contain synths where strings may have fitted, but it seems unlikely that they'll be departing the alt-rock world, maybe just approaching it from a different angle. 'The Rapture' is bold and confident; it's not the best song they have in their arsenal but it's still done to a very high standard. So if they can build on the solid foundations that two albums have now given them, they could be commanding a bigger audience for album number three.



We Are The Storm's website

Buy the single





For more news, reviews and downloads follow The Sound Of Confusion on Facebook or Twitter

contact@thesoundofconfusion.com

Thomas J Speight - Just Where I Want To Be

Single review by soul1@thesoundofconfusion.com

Those who dislike the current wave of actually not very authentic "authentic" singer-songwriters and folk troupes may cringe at the following sentence. Thomas J Speight has shared stages with Mumford & Sons, Ed Sheeran and Jake Bugg and collaborated with Keane. Yeah, that might read like a list of pet hates, but for someone who's yet to release their debut single proper, it's undeniably good going to be mixing it with a few million-sellers, however bland they may be. This Londoner could, I guess, be filed in a similar section in the annuls of popular music, but his debut single, 'Just Where I Want To Be' is much better than most of the acts he's crossed paths with.

Those notions you have about a man and his acoustic guitar singing heartfelt songs for John Lewis adverts? Get rid of them. 'Just Where I Want To Be' has more in common with indie-type bands than with sanitised mum-rock. The thumping beat and wealth of instrumentation put paid to that, and the fact that it takes only a few seconds to reach a chorus is also a plus point. We hear about albums having filler, well, songs do too. The clever thing Speight has done here is removed any trace of filler from this track and just got on with it. It's short, positive, optimistic, has a little more punch to it than those other acts, and it should mark the beginning of a promising career for a talented indie/pop/rock musician.



Thomas J Speight's website

Buy the single

Catch him live:

Mar 04 The Cockpit 3, Leeds, United Kingdom
Mar 05 Bodega Social, Nottingham, United Kingdom
Mar 06 The Enterprise, London, United Kingdom
Mar 07 Glee Club, Birmingham, United Kingdom
Mar 09 The Castle, Manchester, United Kingdom
Mar 10 King Tut's Wah Wah Hut, Glasgow, United Kingdom





For more news, reviews and downloads follow The Sound Of Confusion on Facebook or Twitter

contact@thesoundofconfusion.com

The Phoncurves - Heartstrings

Single review by soul1@thesoundofconfusion.com

You might be thinking that there can really be nothing particularly remarkable about an indiepop/folk group anymore, because the level of such acts has now been declared a pandemic by the international music police and people are being advised to stay indoors and only listen to Black Sabbath records as a form of vaccination to help their bodies repel this omnipresent disease. OK, joking aside, there's more than enough of that kind of stuff in the world at the moment thanks, so if you're thinking of taking your band down that particular route, then kindly reconsider, otherwise do a runner, because we're after you and we're not taking any prisoners. But wait! Have Brisbane duo The Phoncurves done the impossible and created something that fits that genre yet is not only original but also astonishingly good?

By Jove, they have! With it's circulating "ahhh-AHHHs" and lazy, bluesy beat, 'Heartstrings' is as good a single as we've heard for a while. It's indiepop mixed with folk alright, but it sounds simply gorgeous, and nothing much like any of the other bands who fall into that category. The vocals are rich, not twee, the song is firm, not flimsy, and the writing is inventive, not just aping other acts like the rest of the scene. There's soul here and there's a genuine sense of substance that can often be sorely missing. The Phoncurves will be releasing their second EP soon, but even if nothing else they ever do comes close to this, they deserve a medal simply for injecting a freshness and a welcome dose of innovation into one of the least versatile genres going. Splendid work.





The Phoncurves' website

Buy the single





For more news, reviews and downloads follow The Sound Of Confusion on Facebook or Twitter

contact@thesoundofconfusion.com

Lykanthea + Savage Sister - Sundrowned

EP review by soul1@thesoundofconfusion.com

As you may have guessed, being the bright spark that you are, Lykanthea + Savage Sister is a collaborative project. So firstly, here's some background. Lykanthea is the solo project of Lakshmi Ramgopal, an experimental musician living in Chicago who specialises in electronic, ambient and darkwave music, which makes her the perfect match for Savage Sister who are also based in Chicago but originate from Illinois. This trio generally lurk in similar sonic realms, favouring the closely related dreampop and shoegaze genres; so the convergence of this quartet of musicians all seems like it should run like clockwork, and it does, with four ambient dreampop songs for which reviewers will forever be chastised for describing as "ethereal". Sorry guys, but that's just how it goes.

The short intro of 'Glass Orchids' is a little like waking from a dream; you're not fully in the real world yet but there is an awareness and a feeling of warm, comforting safety. 'Naked' takes this sound and adds to it with swathes of human voices drifting in and out of the mist. Whether or not any actual lyrics are involved is difficult to discern, but as an echoing beat appears it doesn't really matter, because you're still floating up in the clouds in a comforting daze. The gradual stirring continues and 'Sundrowned' slowly begins to wake. The hazy 'Orphan Wild' uses similarly lush sonics to those that made Slowdive such a great band, and here the volume, pace and vocals are all allowed to break through more. There are lyrics, but what they are is virtually impossible to decipher; the voices are as much an instrument as anything else. Perhaps the best track is left for last. 'Diving' is awash with synths, all layered over each other and with electronic beats sharply reverberating in the background as those ghostly voices lurk deep in the murk of the song. 'Sundrowned' is a quite beautiful EP that makes you want to go to sleep, and for once this is meant as a huge compliment.

Lykanthea's website

Savage Sister's website

Stream or download the EP





For more news, reviews and downloads follow The Sound Of Confusion on Facebook or Twitter

contact@thesoundofconfusion.com

Very Americans - Stereo Types

EP review by soul1@thesoundofconfusion.com

They say that a picture paints a thousand words, well words themselves are actually pretty good at painting pictures, so it works both ways. What then, would you expect a band called Very Americans to sound like? It could be a trick question, but as far as this Pennsylvanian band go, they've politely introduced a hammer to the nail's head. We featured this group's debut single back in 2012, and we learned that they've all spent time in previous bands, prominently of the punk/emo/indie-rock variety; all of which are genres that can be very good, but equally they can be quite dire. Without having heard their past music, we're judging these six men on the songs they've made since uniting in their current form. True to form, you can pick just about any form of American rock music and find traces of it lurking in the tracks of this EP. Luckily none of it is cheesy punk or geeky emo; they're a little more refined than that.

The fade-in to 'Floodgates' has a slightly emo twang to it, but if we hadn't had that genre in our minds then it probably wouldn't be noticeable. Really it's a classic US alt-rock sound that will draw comparisons to other blue-collar rock types. You get the sense of brotherly camaraderie here too, especially in the "whoa-oh-ohs". Indie is a vast umbrella, but 'Without A Trace' could be described as indie-rock, however it's not the home-made variety we hear so much of; Very Americans want these songs to burn as brightly as possible, and so they make sure that the power and emotion comes through. Slowing the place slightly is the chugging 'Not That Serious' which seems to exist at the point where Bruce Springsteen and The Killers converge. It's a highlight and gives us a good strong chorus. There's very little to choose between these four songs, so if you like one then you'll almost certainly like the lot. The consistency is impressive, and throwing in what could almost be described as power chords on 'Fast Planes To Rio' actually improves the song, perhaps making it the best of all. Really though, if this type of thing is your bag, you've probably stuck gold.





Very Americans' website

Pre-order the EP





For more news, reviews and downloads follow The Sound Of Confusion on Facebook or Twitter

contact@thesoundofconfusion.com