singles
december '05
roc - journey to the centre of brixton
one of the most interesting pop bands ever, have a new single out, 'journey to the centre of brixton', available on ltd 7" and various download sites, the track is a fantastic combination of electro pulses and vocal sultriness that rachel stevens can only dream of. dark and rather imposing atmospheres provide the soundtrack to a train trip from hell with all manner of wobbly synths that would make william orbit proud. however, flip the record and there is a much meaner and nastier beat heavy version that kicks the original melody around the block and doesn't give a shit about any possible bruising. all of which makes me glad to have heard the forthcoming album, 'night fold around me', as i now know that this will be on my play list for a very very long time.
fucking great.
temposhark - it's better to have loved
new limited release : full review
lotek hi-fi - move your thing
full review and details : here
herbaliser - nah'mean nah'm sayin'
full review : here
weapons of mass belief - death of a nation
this band from wales are acting big and large both in stature and noise with this impressive debut. comprising of far more band members than is good for their pay checks this setup actually make a refreshing change from the usual indie fare. while the music is a mutated form of rap-rock, but taking a lot of their blueprint from 90's styled alt.rock with the opening guttural bass line and evil guitars, rather than ripping into limp park styled angst. angry, loud and proud, with a massive slogan heavy radio friendly hook, if the band came from nyc ertain media outlets would be all over this lot like a rash. a fine opening shot to the nations stereo systems.
the cribs - you're gonna lose us/the wrong way to be
jingly jangly guitars, happy melodies, and a sing-a-long in the pub with your mates styled chorus, will make this firm favourite for student indie club end of the night stomper with beered up party monsters shouting along.
fun, dumb, and could sell by the bucket load
by the way, it's nice to see edwyn collins name in the production seat for the flip track, 'the wrong way to be', the song is as expected, a typically upbeat guitars in the garage type of pop song, with a few layers of carefully controlled noise excess towards the end.
mystery jet - alas agnes
second single from this latest bunch of high hopes with a release of a supposed live favourite, 'alas agnes'. the influence of the libertines on most of these type of bands remains as strong, but mystery jets seem to have a desire to break out of their cage with the varied instrumentation on offer, and the off kilter chop-n-change rhythm. in fact, there are moments when i wondered if i had dropped an old james record (ie pre-baggy era) into the deck. i understand that for a band like the mystery jets, it's all about the bonding experience at their 'legendary' live gigs, so i'll let point you in the right direction and leave you to decide for yourselves, as i dont really find anything too exciting on record so far. the music is all very pleasant and nice, but a little too 'bunch of mates having a good time in a studio' type of thing for me.
clap your hands say yeah - is this love
apparently everyone on the internet loves this band. ooops. i dont.
music is fine, all upbeat and guitar lead power pop with touches of prog, the problem is all in the strangled cat styled vocals that are a major factor in the bands gameplan. if they really began to grate over this 3 minutes, i fear the impact that listening to a whole album would have on me.
but hey, others love'em lots. so i am obviously out of the groove with this.
vatican jet/the smokestacks
recently the influx of limited singles released from within the confines of the leeds city boundaries is beyond belief. this split 7" being released by engine room records features 2 of these such bands. as is to be expected, the music is old school passionate indie rock which given a chance would easily fit in with either zanes of jo whileys playlist.
vatican jet go for the upbeat jaunty little groove, get the feeling there's a lot of this about? blame the arctic monkeys. with a fine funky little country-rock riff via 1979 pub rock its not a bad track at all. can see this going down a storm during a gig.
flip for the smokestacks 'wecandrinkourwaythroughthis' - a more mellow and laidback opening 30 seconds lulls the listener into a false sense of security. once the real song kicks in it's upbeat guitar pop of the finest kind. wedding present guitars, buried in the mix hammond organs, and fast-n-non-furious drums propels this entertaining homage to all things alcohol based - get the feeling there's a lot of this about?
napoleon iiird - ep2
the evenings - louder in the dark
this et al - wardens/rotary queen
multi purpose chemical - cult
winter roberts - escapado