singles
september '05
clor - good stuff
you know i like this lot by now dont you ? this is a re-release of their debut single lead track, albeit in a slighty different radio edit, as per usual, i'm sure there will be some gloriously wonderful remixes as there have been with other singles. in the meantime check the video and just buy the bloody album. this is one of the best bands around at the moment.
we are scientists - the great escape
noisy guitars, a pumped up groove, and ever so slightly distorted vocals. hurray. the killers spinoff machine kicks in now. this is very much in line with their sound, radio friendly dynamics, pop hooks aplenty, and a urgent guitar line make this head straight for the heavyt rotation button. as always however, time will tell if the band can meet the demands over a whole album. as it is, if this hits radio playlists then it'll be a fine way to pass 3.5 minutes.
infadels - jagger '67
the return of baggy continues. indie guitars, a liitle post punk attitude and a dance groove normally would make me smile and feel good, and having read a lot in recent months about this grisly gang i had high expectations when this debut ep proper (the band have been picked up b y wall of sound), dropped through the letterbox. however, the normal version has a rather annoying analogue noise that sits high up in the mix, and for headphone listening begins to grate, distracting the focus from the addictive punch drunk chorus (audio bullys meets the godfathers). luckily, the remixes remove this factor, and the b-side 'get into me' gives more indication why the band are getting serious love. a chunky bass, dance floor friendly low slung groove, a funky guitar lick and processed vocals give us all the thrills that kasabian try to achieve, but infadels manage to succeed with less of the tiresome sloganeering. remixes by eraserhead, propellerheads and someone called 'cass and mangan' add more of a dance groove to the proceedings, with more electro noises and suchlike. perfect for friday student night discos, and just so you know : this is not a slur. good stuff.
noblesse oblige - quel genre de garcon
this lot are connected to temposhark, noblesse oblige remixed them. this is all you really need to know to figure out where their sound is. dirty electro, seedy french lyrics, provocative cover and the nme declaring this duo as shit (see the bands website) - what more temptation do you need !
3 short and to the point tracks, with the lead track being a stripped down gritty minimal human league from 1970's soho type of sordid affair - lovely. on the flip 'lil dirty' they add distorted guitars and sound like a proper band a la death in vegas. and make you wish to hear more. then for those with the silver disc version they team up with leigh bowery and manage to make the man sound alive and fresh in 2005, which is rather naughty - though i wouldn't play this track with your parents around that's for sure. interesting stuff - and proves that the much hated electroclash genre still pulsates in the heat of summer.
sam and me - sonic boomerang
2 very pleasant country and western via belle and sebastian. very melodic and easy on the ear making these paeans to innocent harmony stand out from the previous akoustik anarkhy releases that's for sure.
mystery jets - you cant fool me dennis
a new london band who are getting a lot of love. while i dont subscribe to the gushing, i have spun this a few times and found myself shouting along to the catchy chorus, bearing in mind that any references to 'dennis' in my household currently mean i have images of a naughty 9 year old in red and black stripy top causing chaos. one to watch - despite their debut sounding like a more robust and reliable version of the libertines.
christiansilva - bring his head ep
7 track ep - full review tba
downdime - seeds of hopelessness
more folks from leeds with guitars and songs hoping to catch the bus to pop stardom. buzzcocks/pete shelley vocals set up against a classic 1986 jangle guitars. sweet and innocent with the odd addition of big f*ck off guitar noise creating a strange dilemma, as it becomes apparent that the band have a desire to make a alt.rock massive noise, but the thin vocals don't quite match up. luckily though this limitation makes the tracks kind of special.
this et al - you've driven for miles and not remembered a thing
as above with downdime, leeds is fit to burst with gangs of musicians. amongst the current wave, 'this et al' is a chunkier indie rock affair, with their pixies styled noise they need to get the late 90's fort apache production on board (are they still going ?) with which, they could easily rip the us college scene apart. t'otgher side 'all you'll ever be is a dancer' is a fast-n-urgent jerky monster that doesn't hang around and overstay its welcome. all in all, cracking stuff.
out on limited 7" vinyl, so quickly get down to jumbo records (arrh - the memories !) and grab this excellent piece of noise.
king biscuit time - c i am 15
steve 'i used to be in the beta band you know' mason, sorts out his first release since his previous band called it a day. of course, with steve's vocals this will obviously sound very similar to the glories of old. only with a little more of a modern dance groove to twist the popkids into new shapes, there is even a dancehall/rap vocal by topcat thrown in for good measure. so while a stack of old school analogue synths squiggle, drums do their adam and the ants styled Burundi thing, and guitars strum in the background, steve layers his trademark vocals and generally makes the world a much better place for 3 minutes.
i have no idea what 'c i am' is about, but when i sing along i care not - i love this.
ch3vy - hard massage
mellow gorgeousness from the excellent catskills label on limited 7" with more sauciness on the cover. the a side is 6 minutes of extreme chill, delicate electric piano builds the tension prior to some lovely vocal/religious chants samples adding more intensity to the laidback drama. while little really jumps out and grabs the listener, (it's a very quiet record !), the mix of jazz keyboards and 70's wah wah blasts the track along while it mutates and drifts along, taking the listener through several different moods and sonically enhanced emotions. flip it - and all changes, as boca45 rips up ch3vy's 'praise the nord' into a full on cut-n-paste, sample filled hip hop groove. excellent stuff.
mcqueen - running out of things to say
if anyone needs to fill any gaps between old school grungers like hole or l7 then this lot will suffice easily.
diefenbach - glorious
pleasant and kinda cool indie guitar pop lifted from the bands forthcoming 'set and drift' album.highly melodic with a direct to the heart vibe, there are plenty of obvious reference points, house of love meets athlete kinda spins round my head with the guitar lines and subtle studio overdubs, but if this hits daytime radio play then the band could easily sidestep a lot of the current pretenders to the thrown of guitar lead pop music and make a lot of friends.
hk 119 - pick me up
full review : here
christiansilva - bring his head ep
full review tba
envelopes - sister in love
twisted pop music from sweden, which invokes b52 type of memories with the messy production and complete disregard for how a pop song should be formed. for a while it's a mess, but when they hit the chorus everything makes sense. for a few seconds anyway. totally barking, distorted guitar chords crash in when they shouldn't, the worst guitar solo this side of the hemisphere, but somehow it still manages to become your friend for a couple of minutes. subsequently it therefore comes as no surprise to find that clor love this band, and have remixed the song, along with 'sam e danger' from the wittily named 'test icicles'. sam up the basic groove backing, adds more manic analogue synths and strips it right down to a repetition of the chorus and little else. clor however add some much needed focus and studio sparkle to the lo-fi sonics while still managing to retain the general feel and direction of the track. it is of course, totally great.
bodyrocker - round and round
splicing a zz top song and an updated electro-house groove may sound great after a few pints, or on a dancefloor, but it not coming round my way again, that's for sure.
the black velvets - once in a while
while i have said things in the past that aint too positive about this lot, i have to admit that this has grown on me. its very male, very laddish posturing rock - loud and proud with its scruffed up guitars perfectly matched by a gloriously monstrous glitterstomp beat. not polished in the slightest, coming on like a brazen glammed up fan of 70's rock. it wont get the style mags keen for more, but for 2.5 minutes i reckon that i have my fave rock homage single in quite a while.
bloodhound gang - foxtrot, uniform, charlie, kilo
i aint even going to get into this one. cant believe they are still at it.
fall out boy - sugar, we're going down
sorry, boring cover. boring name for a band. boring song.
big american rock production, 'the oc' styled emotional vocals, recent fans of greenday latest will love it. love the fact that there are 5 seconds extra between the radio version and the album version.
play spot the difference - if you manage to get through them both.
lazarus - fashion/murder/singing to the thieve
no idea how to describe this guys style. lazarus is a basically a guitar based singer songwriter from san fransisco, but he somehow approaches the music in a way that makes you feel you know where you are, but subtly twists it into whole new ways, so these 2 tracks are a perfect entry point to see if the album is one you would find enjoyable. the backing loops of weird noises, backward beats are very enticing, while the thin neil young styled vocals induce an aura of melancholy, but this is a misleading mental stereotype as when the sample loops of the choral entity kicks in then a euphoria counteracts the implied misery. flip the record for the fuzzed up to the max 'singing to the theives'. a punchy classic 90's alt.rock track that would stand out of aired on radio, strange stuff that baffles and yet still provides pleasure with each play.
kaiser chiefs - i predict a riot
you all know this now. its a fun pumped up track, that completely dominated the radio when i hada couple weeks away from the keyboard recently, yet somehow i still found it to be enjoyable against my better judgement.
sandi thom - i wish i was a punk rocker (with flowers in my hair)
well this has its heart in the right place, passion and energy. sandi has a voice that impresses, however, the stripped down simplistic beat backing while a novel idea doesn't really help get the song under your skin, and then when she starts strumming away on the b-side, 'little remedy', we begin to wonder how many kt tunstalls we will see by xmas. still,