|
|
demos - self financed releases... page 1 |
Oct 2003 |
BLOOMINGTON ‘Kill The Rock Stars We Are’ (Aloud Music) There are few things that scare me more than opening a jiffy bag containing demos. Sod global warming and Leeds United’s perilous league position, what the hell’s gonna drop out this time? Oh, this looks all right. Nice blue cardboard digipak with a bird on. Name’s a bit dodgy but, oh, they’re Spanish. Press release mentions Teenage Fanclub and Sparklehorse. It might be alright. Like their footballing countrymen at every major tournament in living memory, the result is naturally a disappointment. Lying beneath its indie exterior (and the naturally lying press release) is a lumpen rock quagmire where the lyrics flounder helplessly in a muddy mix. Whilst it sometimes threatens to rise above this sticky mess in places, only the Boo Radleys-covering-The-Beatles noise of My Goddess Child actually clambers free for all of seventy seconds. The two instrumentals, the almost Pixies-ish Introducing The Rock and possible Radiohead tribute Edmond O’Brien (or is he an Edward?), are quirky enough but the rest tries far too hard to sound anything but Spanish. On one of my more vitriolic days I might have taken them up on their titular offer but I’ll let it slide this time. Hasta la vista, Bloomington. I won’t be back. Reviewed by James S HARMETROPOLIS Harmetropolis (Silver Rhythm Records) Not the sort of thing we usually cover, this 5-tracker is the inaugural release on the group’s own label. With the blurb wittering on about ‘rhythmic dislocation of Shostokovich superimposed onto a Varasean digital canvas’, the Pretension Detector says ‘fuck this’ and implodes. And by the way, it’s Varèse. Opener The Advance is a mess of Julie Howard’s lilting vocals, Jean Françaix-like frothy strings and classical jazz piano that descends into dissonance. Hmm….. The Idiot does at least feature electric guitar along with churchy organ and French vocal writing that owes a debt to Poulenc, but it’s stunningly awful. The Extremist Lament has banjo sounds straight out of Bagpuss, and its random percussion, electronic burblings and car engine sounds prove they have at least listened to Varèse (Ionisation and Amériques) even if they can’t spell his name. At 5:27 it’s 6 minutes too long. The title track offers some relief in the shape of uptempo modern jazz but closer Put out the Light is a dreary number with Shostokovich strings that descend into the atonality of Schnittke. If you like arty, pretentious, neo-classical, avant garde jazz, this’ll be right up your street. If I lived in that street I’d move. Can I take my classical hat off now and go back to rawwwk? Reviewed by Graham S VARIOUS ‘You’re Still Young At Heart’ (Shelflife) Celebrating their 50th release, San Francisco indier-than-thou imprint Shelflife have come up with one of those fantastically simple but effective concepts that only the best little organisations manage. Get your current roster of bands to cover their favourite song from the previous 49 records on the label. Taking the compilation of the year award by a distance greater than that that a 17 year old girl should put between herself and Newcastle United (oops!) is that easy. If you’re averse to a world inhabited by Sarah Records enthusiasts with hair slides (and that’s just the boys) you might need to be a little afraid because that world is bigger than you think. Encompassing bands from the US, Australia, Sweden and Spain amongst others alongside at least three from that twee hotspot, the Philippines, it seems that the language of unrequited love is universal. As you’d expect, parts of this record are absolutely Heavenly. Laura Watling manages to sing like Miki from Lush over ‘H. v Satan’ guitars whilst Den Baron take the keyboards from ‘The Fall And Decline Of H.’ and turn it into Bearsuit all over bar the shouting. Elsewhere, Brideshead and Simpatico take a big swig of pure Orange Juice and rip it up. Aside from the packs of shy boys and girls cooing over soppy guitars, trumpets and strings there are some gorgeous variations on the traditional musical theme. Daydream Cycle pepper their contribution with sleigh bells and static and The Sweetling offer a shimmer of twinkling harps and robotic voices, whilst Carbonado and Calories both go for some superb 80’s electropop moves. ‘You’re Still Young At Heart’ could barely be a more appropriate title. If this stuff doesn’t make you feel fresh and alive then nothing ever will. It’s a big gooey chocolate cake of an album; sweet, delicious and utterly irresistible. Order it from http://www.shelflife.com/ now and tuck in. Reviewed by James S The CHANNEL Tones are Falling (C-side) Any A&R people who have only just heard the Flaming Lips and are looking around for something similar to sign should be chasing The Channel. Having been creating their own sound in Austin, Texas since August 2001 this isn’t for D4 fans, but is an altogether gentler vibe. Quite Beatlesy and psychedelic, but with a charming feel like a faster Belle and Sebastian, this is sumptuous, sunny music, all Pet Sounds harmonies and production but with odd lo-fi sounds wandering in an out like friends at a BBQ. A great voice, singing simple songs with strange but beautiful lyrics like “I left all my happiness in the lagoon” it’s the sound of contemplation in the back of a faded pick up truck. Only the occasional self-indulgence over-doing the sound effects mars a brilliant album. Learn more on http://www.thechannelsounds.com/ Reviewed by Mangusta KTD Territory This band is from Boston, and already off to a bad start even in the accompanying letter, describing gigging as “promoting our product”. I’m afraid things don’t get much better when I fire up the CD. Playing dramatic, emotional rock that ranges from Foreigner-style ballads to a harder sound more like Metallica, they’re good musicians, the songs have good solos and the singer can really belt it out. They are probably a very competent bar band, but this is as good as it gets. Firstly, every song is labouring under huge over production, the sound blanded out by processing which robs the often interesting changes of any effect. This seems to be an unsuccessful attempt to disguise the limited song writing ability, but only succeeds in smothering the weak tunes before they ever get going. The lyrics don’t stand out as saying any thing particularly new or interesting, despite the overwrought delivery, and it really becomes quite hard going. Heavy metal, like lead. Reviewed by Mangusta MODEL CITIZEN The Inner Fool EP (Citizenship Records) This crashes into your ears like an out-of-control custom van. As fresh, loud and exciting as the Stones and the Who must have sounded when people first heard them, the British Invasion has taken a long time to reach Alabama. The Who are probably the biggest influence: the windmilling power chords always have that jangle in there, and the drumming is just insane, driving the songs along but letting off little bursts of madness. The sound is stripped down and hard, never hiding behind layers of FX or LA rock tones, the voice thin in a really good way, the whole thing a distillation of all that gets you high in rock and roll. The final track ‘The Inner Fool’ is the most commercial, which I guess is why they named the EP after it, and while it’s still damn good with the same gunfight drumming and bottle-smashing guitar, the chorus is maybe just a little too nice, too obvious, like there’s a part of them that wants to be signed and turned into Blink 182. But I’m being really picky now – this is a great band, fully realised, ready to go, and as exciting as running on railway lines. For more info go to http://www.model-citizen.net/ Reviewed by Mangusta WHITE MAHATMA The Sonoramic Commando (White Mahatma)
Throughout ‘The Sonoramic Commando’, you’ll find traces of blues, jazz, country and folk – the perfect soundtrack to lazing around on a sunny day. In parts, it sounds like a verse or chorus here or there could be lifted from Rain Dogs (Half A Dram) yet at others, you wonder how you could have made such a comparison. Some tracks are over-long yet contain some amusing, hedonistic lyrics: “Chicks on ecstasy having sex by the hotel pool…that’s cool”. ‘The Sonoramic Commando’ is an album of peaks and troughs. At times its drawn out, sometimes tedious ramblings make suitable background music, but you’ll find your attention caught by the better tracks, both lyrically and musically (Wretched Perfect Girl, Wreckage of the Hudson) on more than a few occasions. I think it’s safe to say that this self-produced, extremely basic, yet utterly unique album won’t be heard on Xfm or the like anytime soon, but wouldn’t that deter from the enigma of the man known only to the public as the White Mahatma? What’s his real name? Who is he? Who knows. Maybe only his mother. A glance at his website (http://www.whitemahatma.com/) confirms that he is, in fact, as barmy as this album suggests. We need more of this. Reviewed by Lauren M “A three piece band from Italy and Mexico City based in London” according to their letter, Youthe play sparse atmospheric indie, with lurching rhythms and a nice kind of ebb and flow to their music as mildly haunting vocals drift about the place. The first two tracks are very like down-tempo Pixies but they don’t quite engage as much as they should: live, this could either be captivating or painfully dull, and on CD it’s good but you can find yourself distracted from it a bit too easily. I’ve never heard a successful band described as “great for wondering what you’re going to have for dinner to”. On the third track ‘For A Girl’ they give in entirely to their lurking desire to be a low-budget Radiohead, but they should remember that even Radiohead had to do a couple of singalong numbers before they earned their licence to be the highly talented self-indulgent moaners we know and love. While being a second-rate Radiohead has been enough to get a deal for a good few recent bands, I can’t help feeling that Youthe have their own rhythm and tonality that has real potential if they look to themselves a little more. You can contact Youthe at youtheband@yahoo.com Reviewed by Mangusta MOTHER State your Intention (Roaming Gnome Records) The likes of Nickelback and Soul Asylum have showed that there's always room in this world for heartfelt, melodic, commercial rock. Not in my world, however, where bands such as these would be rounded up and fed into woodchippers. Seattle's Mother will therefore be hoping that I never take over the world, as their well-played, nicely-produced album 'State your Intention' (Roaming Gnome Records) is full of accessible, jangly alt-rock best described as 'singalong': in the unlikely event that you want to, you can sing along to most of these tracks immediately because of the boring predictability of the chord progressions and melodies. This is the kind of band that would play in a rough, rowdy rock joint in Dawson's Creek, the clean Gap-clad crowd whooping with excitement. It's not that it's bad - it's just that we're only on this earth a short time and I don't see any reason why we should waste any of it listening to this. Reviewed by Mangusta TERUO Too Wide Eyes EP (Happy Capitalist Recordings) Teruo is not going to be accused of commercialism. The 'Too Wide Eyes' EP (Happy Capitalist Recordings) is a mild reworking of four songs originally recorded on a cassette by fifteen-year-old Teruo Kobayashi in his bedroom in Essex. By adding reverby drums, minimalist keyboards, and fuzzy guitars on a four-track he's created resolutely lo-fi tunes of muddy beauty. On 'The Ballad of Anomaly Scarcode' in particular the primitive recording really heightens the vulnerability of his voice as he describes "beggars and jokers, druggies and smokers". 'Fear in the Head' drags on a bit, but 'There's a World Away' is quiet and personal like Beck's stuff on K Records in the verse and then soars like 'Loaded' era Velvets in the chorus. And he seems to use a box of cornflakes as percussion, which can't be a bad thing. Reviewed by Mangusta KELLI*SAID Ear Candy (KNKS Music) [album] Allow me to offer some advice to any budding reviewers out there. When you get anything to review sent to you, immediately throw away any press release that’s included with it. Do not under any circumstances read it because you will only end up being disappointed with what you end up hearing on the finished product. Trust me folks, I speak from bitter experience. Kelli*said’s PR document mentions comparisons to Depeche Mode and Garbage, promises of beat driven rhythms, soaring guitars and intricate melodies. Goodness me, how excited was I before putting it into my CD player! May I suggest to Messer’s Gore, Vig et al to get in touch with their solicitors immediately and insist that their groups are not mentioned in the same breath as this album. It’s the sound of 1986, soft cock, pseudo disco, lightweight pop musak. Musically at times it’s as clunky as an overdue for retirement suburban line train, except that the trains got a better set of rhythm patterns. Structure is something that obviously just got in the way during production, as some of the songs just don’t have the necessary beginning-middle-end to make them work. Mixing was also just an inconvenience to the recording process, as the songs never build or alter in overall level from start to finish. Maybe they just didn’t know what the sliders on the consul did. It’s easy to picture furrowed brows and oh just set them all the same for now and we’ll sort it out later discussions. If only just once they’d used a real drummer instead of a drum machine that sounds like it came out of the ark then things could have been just a bit better. There’s even the use of the poing-poing drum sound that swamped so many ‘70’s disco hits all those years ago on probably the best track on the album, “Get Serious”, where the singer (the Kelli in the band’s name) actually sounds like she’s enjoying what she’s doing and has a vocal inflection not dissimilar to Debbie Harry doing “Rip Her To Shreds”. Ah, the singer. Now here’s a bizarre quandary. She is obviously either classically trained, or has spent a large amount of her time in stage musicals. Her diction is crystal clear and pitch is perfect, but it’s blatantly obvious that she’s singing totally within herself. It’s almost too damn easy to sing these songs. It’s bordering on operatic most of the time, and it’s reminiscent of Jennifer Rush doing “The Power Of Love”. There’s no doubting the girls vocal talent, but just once I wanted her to really test her voice and really give it some gusto. If Andrew Lloyd Webber hears this album, and is thinking of doing a West End production of “The Best Days of Disco” (now there’s possibly the shortest musical in history), he won’t go far wrong in employing this lass for the lead role. The back cover of the album has a picture of the two protagonists in the band playing and singing in what looks like the guitarists bed room with bits and pieces of recording equipment around them, and in summing up this album that says it all. A college music project that got out of hand, where their mum’s have come into the room and said “that sounds nice dear, have you ever thought of a career in music?” Mothers everywhere should be banned from listening to their offspring’s attempts at musicianship, if only to stop stuff like this ever seeing the light of day. The press release promised a trip to musical nirvana. Kurt Cobain was the last person I know who experienced this and he required Neil Young and a shotgun to achieve it. If this and Ear Candy are the only two ways to reach such a lofty musical plain, I’m with Mr. Depressed of Seattle on this one. Reviewed by Micky K ARNE HANSEN & THE GUITARSPELLERS The Popville Horror Arne Hansen & the Guitarspellers are from Norway, and their CD, 'The Popville Horror' is in the humorous oddball tradition of Jonathon Richman, Robyn Hitchcock or Louden Wainwright. Song titles like 'Brand New Parka' (about his new parka) and 'Late for a Date' (about being late for a date) give you an idea. It's musically inventive, with guitars, glockenspiels and weird keyboards backing up a friendly voice and witty lyrics. Quirkiness can be a difficult thing to pull off, though, and I'm still not sure about this. It's clever, catchy, and fun, but there's just a hint of something a tiny bit grating about it...OK, I'm nearing the end of the album now ('Tabasco Queen' - about kitchen staff) and I want to kill him. Really, please just for the love of God stop you quirky, perky, plinky, plonky goddam sadist. Right, that's it, I can't take any more, I've got to stop it, I don't care if the last two tracks ('She-Brew' and the "melancholic" 'Wake Up With You') are the greatest two songs ever recorded I just need it to stop. Now. Stop, please, please stop... Losing...control... Must... Switch off... CD...Hmm. Perhaps best in small doses. Reviewed by Mangusta RICHARD MARTIN Late Night Songs EP (label n/a) [single] All non-fans of David Gray, Damien Rice and their ilk, look away now. Oh, wait, wait, come back. It’s true that new kid on the block Richard Martin openly admits to being influenced by such singer-songwriters, but with his 5-track debut, Late Night Songs EP, he proves that he can do more than your standard mushy love song. Opener See You Around is a lush, mid-paced bittersweet tune, Nobody Knows sees the most prevalent influence of the aforementioned artists brought to the fore, but the best track is easily the excellent I Am Mine, combining a catchy, upbeat tune with interesting lyrics. It’s with the up-tempo material that Martin is at his best; in all, a strong debut offering from the young Dubliner and certainly one to watch out for. Reviewed by Lauren M CHIBA SPRAWL three track demo (own pressing) I have heard some good things about this band in that they are solid and very good live. However these three songs do nothing for me. All are highly polished and the band are obviously aiming for higher things but these recordings are very middle of the road, almost “folky” and reminds the reviewer of U2 crossed with Travis with David Gray thrown in for good measure. All tracks follow the same formula and sound very dated. Not my cup of tea at all. The band can be contacted via their website at http://www.chibasprawl.co.uk/ and songs reviewed “Night Watchman”, “Beautiful Friend” and “Catherine St” can be downloaded in mp3 format. The demo is also available on request from info@chibasprawl.co.uk Review by Tom B MILLHOUS It’s hard To Say Goodbye In Punk Rock (Infect) Another blistering offering from Infect. Like label-mates Lopez, Seattle 5-piece Millhous play 200 mph punk rock with all the subtlety of a herd of elephants tap dancing on porcelain; Under A Minute is just that. They boast a lead guitarist called Anus Penis. An asshole and a dick; surely that’s a drummer? They belt through 14 tracks with no let up. Stand out tracks are Addiction, Bumps, We Feel Better Now and an instrumental sensitively titled Fuckin’ Guitarists. This one left scorch marks on my CD player. Review by Graham S MINUS ONE Raver Into The Sun/Deadbeat Town (demo) Ah, this is more like it. Ethereal female vocals over a thumping bass line with nice indie style guitars, reminiscent of early trip hop crossed with Goldfrapp’s latest offerings. “Into The Sun” is the rockier of the two with “Deadbeat Town” being a more laid back affair. Well experimental and recommended, especially lead singer Trace’s vocals – makes me wobbly! The band is due to release it’s “Big in Romania EP” shortly and lead singer Trace has her own album out now. More information and a download of “Into The Sun” is available on the bands website at http://minusoneraver.com/ where contact details are also available. Review by Tom B |
|
THE ETHNOBABES Thoughts On Barbecuing (Perfect Pop) Yes, I know, there’s no way round it. I cannot even begin to review this record without mentioning how gut-wrenchingly awful their name is. The only excuse I can begin to offer is that they’re Norwegian and that their interestingly-titled EP is surprisingly good actually Lead track The Tongue Song, appears to be named after the inedible cold meat rather than the version found in the human mouth as it details the contents of the band’s fridge in sweet female harmonies over a jangly guitar backing. A Bike is a twee, almost C86-like fairground waltz but quite adorable at the same time and Number Eight is a cute tale of falling in love on a slightly too-regular basis reminiscent of one-time Neighbours and Home and Away background music uberlords, Frenté. Now, about that name, guys. Review by James S |
|
ALL STARS I’ve Seen You All Before (American Brothers) Not to be confused with our own atrocious Saturday morning tween-poppers, All Stars are actually from the rock and roll hotbed that is Finland. Hence, the press photo is a fantastic array of bad hair, beards and glasses that would normally scream ‘no chance of success’ but have you opened a copy of the NME lately? Exactly. I’ve Seen You All Before is a mixed bag of influences; some dear to our beloved music press, past and present, and some quite frankly not. The handclap intro to Critical Mass gives way to a Scandinavian take on punk-funk and Big Dreams On White Clouds and Premiere are the kind of prog-rock that would have been laughed out of town till about two weeks ago. The most apparent reference point running through the album lies somewhere between The Cardigans and the underrated oft-forgotten power-pop charms of Salad, particularly in the enunciation of vocalist Mary Christmas (stop it, you guys!) Happy As A Man Can Be lets the side down a bit though as the band themselves describe it as ‘the first part of our Scorpions trilogy’ with it’s “wings of change” lyrics coming uncomfortably close. All in all, it’s Finns that make you go hmmm. Review by James S |
|
DREAMFIELD Christopher’s Dream (Dream Records) Christopher’s Dream by Dreamfield on Dream Records. OK, we get the bloody idea! Sadly, the title track is not the nocturnal nightmares of Tony’s smackhead nephew in The Sopranos but is instead a rather ordinary Dot Allison b-side over a dated Portishead backing track. Two remixes add little appeal though the Anime Mix does feature some slightly odd Japanese cartoon sound effect samples. The other track, Alive, fares little better with its passing resemblance to Black Box Recorder but without the bittersweet, dark aura of menace lurking in the background. However, the singer is called Poppy Gonzales and is therefore almost certainly drop-dead gorgeous, leading me to suspect I’m going to regret this duff review one day. Them’s the breaks. Review by James S |
|
COCKNOOSE White Trash Messiahs (Middle Class Pig) After several hours banging my head against the computer and phone in the fruitless search for gainful employment (you don’t think we get paid for this nonsense, do you?), I’m just about pissed off with the world enough to consider listening to an album by a band called Cocknoose. It seems a bit unfair to have them in the demos section considering they’ve been around ten years and this is a re-release of an album that first scared the parents of their hometown, Lawrence, Kansas, in 2000. Just in case you were still under the misguided impression that this is a pastoral folk piece, Cocknoose are heavy shit, man. They have two speeds for their punk-metal; fast and faster. There are many reasons for most normal right-minded people to absolutely detest this record, not least the thick-as-pig-shit misogyny on the likes of Get Back In The Kitchen and weaponry fixation of Bloody Chainsaw amongst others. It’s dumb, angry, predictable, clichéd and yet somehow occasionally quite enjoyable in small doses if you’ve just heard Travis or Coldplay on the radio. They’re almost certainly completely objectionable wankers but, hey, aren’t we all sometimes? Okay, just me then. Review by James S |
|
VARIOUS Name Your Poison – Volume One (Infect) A simple enough premise to this sampler from Infect Records of Tacoma, Washington. Five bands doing two songs each adds up to 22 minutes of speed punk-metal for your aural (dis)pleasure. Millhous, Lopez (who seem to be becoming regulars on this page) and Quick To Blame play pretty indistinguishable 200kph riffs with largely unintelligible lyrics whose sole purpose seems to be to make you want to throw yourself very hard at the nearest wall. The weakly-named Weaksauce rise above this quality level though by adding an intelligent slant without allowing the pace to slacken. Top marks though go to Cookie, who sound like they should be Pink’s secret punk side-project. The politics of Mr President aren’t exactly advanced but you can’t knock the presence of a good hook and chorus and a fantastic emergency-stop ending. Double Shot is a country-blues-bubblegum punk ode to the joys of whiskey and whilst they’d probably be no good in a bar-room brawl they’re as sweet as their name suggests. On the whole though, if I had to name my poison, I think I’ll stick with the ones that did Every Rose Has Its Thorn. Review by James S |
|
LOPEZ Lopez (Infect) Not to be confused in any way shape or form with J-Lo, these hardcore punksters are the antithesis of the sort of mindless pop pap purveyed by the future Mrs Affleck. Lopez have been around for 7 years and as far as I know this self-titled release is their first. Current line-up comprises JR Riffless (vocals), Bunni Rikter (bass), Drunkee Drunkerson (guitar), Milk Jerkobstein (drums) and Timmy Torture (vocals). With names like that you might be forgiven for thinking they’re a piss-take or stuck firmly in the 70s. But they’re far too competent for that as they blaze their way through 15 high octane tracks in just under 30 minutes. This is relentless three chord punk thrash (and there’s nowt wrong wi’ that) with titles like Jackie Jizzimore, Stoopit, Muther Fucker and Ass Pennies. Highlights are White Trash Tough Guy and the speed metal of Bleeder. Reviewed by Graham |
|
DC to DAYLIGHT Xmas Murder ’74 (EP) (Urban Cheese) In the hectic and lonely word of the jobbing reviewer you
spend a lot of time trawling through countless dull releases from ordinary bands that by
some miracle have managed to secure themselves a recording contract from some obscure
record label. However the editors of this erstwhile organ sometimes do allow a titbit of
joy to slip through their fingers and into the sweaty paws of the average cave dwelling
journo. DC to Daylight’s (ludicrous name I know) debut EP is a cheeky slice of view
askew alternative music that would grace anybodies collection. Instantly enjoyable on first listen, it’s feel good
music but for reasons which are hard to pin point. The undercurrent is certainly Pavement
and The Pixies with the hint of Weezer lurking under the surface, it sounds fun and poppy
but never allows itself to descend into twee childishness. Where some bands desperately
want to be perceived as witty or clever, these guys do it naturally and it comes across in
their music. There’s an unmistakeable stamp of college radio
friendliness about the five featured tracks, but this shouldn’t detract from the fact
that this is a fine attempt at a debut. The vocal style is highly original (almost
Doolittle era Black Francis) and its delivery is almost lazy but effective. There’s
dirty sounding guitars and a great fuzzy bass all thrown into the melting pot to create
what can only be described as something that in it’s only particular way both rocks
and grooves at the same time. Throw in videos for two of the songs, three bonus tracks
from label mate bands, and you have a CD that is well and truly value for money. If I
didn’t have a free copy, I’d be rushing down the shops to buy one right now and
I recommend you do the same. This is the sort of CD that makes doing this job so
satisfying at times, and leaves you hungry for more of the same. |
|
| LOOKWELL Unhurried (Eskimo Kiss Records) The tracks on Lookwell’s first widely released EP sound as accomplished as many other bands would well into their careers. The sound is very similar to REM’s less spectacular mid-tempo moments (musically, lyrically and vocally). The track ‘The Ghost and the Courthouse’ could sit alongside the tracks from that band’s earlier albums. There’s nothing necessarily wrong with aping existing acts – after all, every new band does it in their early years however much they may claim originality – but if Lookwell want people to take notice of them – especially in the UK - a slightly more daring approach is needed. Using a different producer could do it. The press release describes their sound as "British-flavoured American indie pop" but I expect that to most Brits this would sound pure American – and be easily overlooked as a result. (Their dull name doesn’t help much on this front either.) Lookwell are a confident-sounding band and are writing good songs. I just hope they don’t end up drowning in the Atlantic. Reviewed by Alex M |
|
THE OUT CROWD Go On, Give A Damn (Elephant Stone Records) Some fairly agreeable casual rock n roll tunes stuffed on to this 7-track album. Not the sleazy and sweaty garage rock n roll that we’ve all become accustomed to these days, but the laid back 60’s bluesy British kind a la Rolling Stones. The Out Crowd unquestionably have some high quality tambourine shaking songs in their arsenal but obviously not enough to make a whole album it seems. More info: http://www.theoutcrowd.com/ |
|
THE GERMAN EXCHANGE Onward (own label)The Libertines were on to a good thing weren’t they? The German Exchange certainly think so because they sound exactly the same. Of course saying that it could be the case that TGE have been doing this for a fair while longer and just so happen to be ugly and never got a record deal. They’re capable of making a decent pop tune this lot but they’re just missing a certain spark. More info: http://www.gxch.com.uk/ Reviewed by Richard C |
|
THE VOLTA SOUND Fast Light With Radio Signal
(Elephant Stone Records) Not to be confused with The
Mars Volta this lot are a young band with one full album (‘My All American
Girl’) and another due round about now (‘This Is The Yin And The
Yang’). The play slow, ambient, psychedelic-tinged space-rock and have been
compared to Spiritualized, The Velvet Underground, The Stone Roses and The Byrds to name
but a few, influences coming from both sides of the Atlantic. First track Henri Chinaski sets the tone nicely with some simple guitar chords. Ano Domination has a one minute intro of shimmering guitar before the organ joins in and at around 2.20 they’re joined by vocals and handclaps. Zen Is Everywhere (live) continues in similar vein; slow, simple guitars, with an Indian feel. The tempo picks up for the acoustic, country folksy You’re Nobody’s Girlfiend which has a guitar line that’s a dead ringer for Queen’s This Thing Called Love and some restrained organ playing. Closer Sleepy Crunchy (Sleepy) is the rockiest track, building gradually with plenty of spacey effects. There’s a hidden track of suburban noise; motorbikes, birds chirping, kids playing etc. Jason Pierce called The Volta Sound ‘fookin’ brilliant’, and while that’s overstating the case, they aren’t half bad. Reviewed by Graham S |
|
SUGARDRUM Sugardrum (available online at http://www.sugardrum.co.uk/) The new
10 track album from London 2 piece Sugardrum comes in at under 32mins, which in its way
sums up exactly what they are all about, stripped down acoustic guitar, percussion and a
vocal track. Get the theme across quickly and get onto the next song. There’s
little room in here for overdubs, backing vocals or big orchestral arrangements, just
simple clean and sweet tunes. It does sound like the recording process was slightly rushed
and studio time was obviously at a premium because the quality of some of the vocal tracks
recorded here are frankly cringe worthy. Somewhere in London now there’s a singer
listening to himself and saying Jesus, I wish I’d insisted on recording that again.
To have gone to such an effort to produce an album that will stay with you for your entire
career and concentrating on getting it to sound right only for it to suffer from over
driven or shoddily compressed vocals is something which will annoy both the band and the
listener for years to come. It’s
a bit of a shame really, because this could have been a very nice piece of work. Hovering
between folk light and easy listening would be a bit unfair to be honest. Reminiscent of
Kings of Convenience or even (dare I say it without being inundated by emails from
disgusted of Clapham) something that a Buckley would have put his name to. Some really
nice guitar patterns are slotted in, and the drums are suitably balanced in the mix that
they don’t overpower the songs, and there’s absolutely no doubt the singer has
some real vocal talent and range. Sometimes
the lyrics do leave the listener either completely bemused about what’s going
on, or are frankly weak and too metaphorical to be taken seriously but this is being
picky on what was obviously a labour of love for the band, and possibly just the singer
being allowed to shed his demons. Self indulgent maybe, but not to the point where
you’d want to slap him round the head and say cheer up grumpy. To sum
this album up, a word – nice. It won’t break them big in the music business nor
send shockwaves round the world, but it does deserve not to be totally ignored, but just
please book another day in the studio and redo those vocals whilst you’ve got the
chance. Reviewed by Micky K |
|
| ROSS
BEACH You make it look so easy From quirky pop to new country with the odd sprinkling of farce thrown in, Ross Beach seems to be suffering from an identity problem! Easy on the ear but ultimately unsatisfying. With 17 tracks crammed into 40 minutes too few songs hold the attention and give the impression of being unfinished. Ross is at his best on the melodic "Your Holiday Home" and the poppy "Beautiful Worms", but filler tracks such as "I Prefer Sheep" sound like The Bonzo Dog Doodah Band on a night off! Reviewed by Ian P |
|
| WOOSLEY BAND Marveling at the Rings REBECCA PEARCY Constellation Having been passed a small pile of demo albums to work my way through, I was looking forward to some prime slagging off material. So it was a bit a disappointment to find the first two were really not bad at all, if not exactly grabbing you by the throat. The mingingly named WOOSLEY BAND’s Marveling at the Rings starts with ashouty irritating college rocker, but settles down to much more acceptable American REMish country rockers. Likewise, REBECCA PEARCY’s Constellation is a good delicate country and jaunty folk solo singer songwriter effort. Eminently listenable if difficult to distinguish from a range of others. My hopes were raised by the obviously Python inspired American Beat-wannabees THE LARCH – surely they couldn’t be any cop. But even if the point of seriously lightweight ska-popsters in 2003 entirely escapes me, it would be churlish to pretend they are no good at all – the paper-thin vocal does quickly pall though. Nice records but the next big thing remains resolutely undiscovered. Reviewed by Matthew H
|
|
