NEU!
TRACKS>>>25.03.09>>>The Big Pink, Asher Roth, The Enemy, Hot Knives

The Big Pink - Velvet
Two piece The Big Pink won the Phillip Hall Radar Award at this year's NME Awards, a title that is an indicator to the next 12 months' big indie hope and has previously been given to the likes of Franz Ferdinand, Kaiser Chiefs, Glasvegas (all great), The Long Blondes (bit meh) and The Twang (what were they smoking?). Out of those acts, TBP are most closely linked to Glasvegas, not just for their shared affection for leather jackets and looking moody. Both bands share epic walls of sound and more than a whiff of melancholia in their music, but whereas Glasvegas use shimmering guitar effects, TBP opt for heavy electronic backing and an equal amount of distortion on "Velvet". The song itself is droney and mournful enough to pull in fans of the shoegaze sound, but has a prominent pop sensibility, as well as hooks, to make it stand out. Definitely worthy of the award.
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[>>>The Big Pink MySpace]

Asher Roth - I Love College
Yeah, dismiss him as a second-rate Eminem wannabe. He may be white as they come with blonde hair and a voice as nasal as they come but Asher Roth "refuses adamantly to embrace rap's fixation with violence, drugs and material possessions"...well according to the man himself anyways. "I Love College" may not be completely original in sentiment or sampling (using a remix of Weezer's "Say It Ain't So") but if it isn't the best party track to come out in years, then I'm Dr Dre. Laidback but demanding of your attention, Roth provides the perfect guide to college in the US (I'm guessing so at least) and who can argue with a chorus of "I love college/I love drinking/I love women"?
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[>>>Asher Roth MySpace]

The Enemy - No Time For Tears
The Hobbits return! That may be a tad unfair, as the bassist is probably around the same height as me. It's the other two letting him down, especially Tom Clarke, a prime example of "little man, big guitar" syndrome. He's just got to tell it how it is, since noone else is doing it apparently. The Enemy's second album is entitled "Music For The People" which is a grand, sweeping statement if I ever heard one. On the basis of its lead single "No Time For Tears", it would appear the lads from Cov are aiming to go even bigger before. A dash of sombre piano, thunderous drums, a backing choir and Led Zep-esque guitars all point towards sky high ambitions. Whether they achieve this is another matter. The song is catchy, and an improvement on most of their debut, but despite having made enough money to go buy great big houses in Cheshire, you'd think they'd stop banging on about wanting to "get out the city". Evidently not.
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[>>>The Enemy MySpace]

Hot Knives - Out Of Touch
Nope, not a Bright Eyes-covering supergroup made up of members of The Hot Melts and Young Knives. Hot Knives have only been around for a matter of months, but they're still garnering attention from all over the place. The Manc band have received radio play on BBC Manchester and KCRW (pretty much the premier indie station in America, for those not in the know), they've had offers to support The Whitest Boy Alive and Broken Records and a lot of interest from the blogosphere and various management companies. In their own words they make "pop music to soundtrack the apocalypse", which is pretty damn accurate. At first "Out Of Touch" seems like a mish-mash of ideas that don't appear to fit, but as it grows every part slots into place to create an ambitious, dark pop song that builds to a huge sounding finale, complete with horns. Extremely impressive, for a band that has only publicly been in existence for a month, along with their other two tracks "Cold Morning" and "Solstice"
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[>>>Hot Knives MySpace]
[>>>Zip Folder of all 3 Hot Knives tracks]

NEU!
TRACKS - 10.02.09 - The Maccabees, Flashguns, Hatcham Social

The Maccabees - No Kind Words
"Colour It In", The Maccabees debut album, was one of the best British debut of recent times (which mean it was pretty damn good going on the quality of many other first albums that have been released in the last five years). Despite every song having the potential to be a chart hit, the band never hit the heights of, say, Kaiser Chiefs. But now they return, with "No Kind Words" taken from their yet-to-be-released second album. "Wall Of Arms". It's a definite change from the sound of debut, coming on Joy Division; all low bass, prominent drums and a spacey echo on both the guitars and Orlando Weeks' voice. But where The Maccabees differ from Curtis, Hook, Sumner and Morris is the amount of hooks throughout, as well as the typical Maccabees racket that ends the song. It's also a free download, so what have you got to lose really? Get it and be enlightened.
DOWNLOAD IT FROM HERE
FOR FANS OF: The Futureheads, The Cure, The Rakes
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Flashguns - Locarno and Ro Shambo
This young London-via-Brighton mob are almost like a melting pot of a selection of some of the best bands over the last 30 years. There are elements of The Smiths, The Cure, The Killers and so many more in these two songs, and the future looks bright for them. "Locarno" is a jangly, jittery slice of smooth, synth-infused indie, which could become a big hit. "Ro Shambo" on the other hand, is the perfect vehicle for Sam Johnston's plaintive yet soulful vocals, with the band restraining themselves, whilst demonstrating their talent for creating something as danceable as it is melancholy. They'll go far if they keep to this standard.
FOR FANS OF: The Killers, The Maccabees, Cajun Dance Party
7.5

Hatcham Social - Murder In The Dark and Mimicking Me
It's been 22 years since The Smiths officially split. Whether you're looking for something to fill the void or you can't stand Morrissey, but like Marr then this lot are for you. Comprised of three of the best-named people ever in Tobias & Finnigan Kidd (ex-Klaxons drummer, don'tcha know) and David Javu, Hatcham Social are inspired by children's fiction and 1980s indie, and it certainly shows. "Murder In The Dark" could be taken straight from "The Queen Is Dead". The drums gallop relentlessly throughout the track, the bass is funky and elastic, the guitar sound is as jangly as a bin bag full of 20ps. To add to this, the song has a distinct air of melacholia and its subject matter is straight from the "Morrissey Book Of Songwriting". "Mimicking Me" is pretty much more of the same, and makes for a great listen.
FOR FANS OF: The Smiths
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NEU!
TRACKS - 04.02.09 - Pete Doherty, Ida Maria, U2, Dananananaykroyd

Pete Doherty - Last Of The English Roses
It was a little obvious that old Pete would have something patriotic-sounding, some "dreaming of Albion" schtick somewhere on his solo album. But it ain't what you'd expect from the tabloids second favourite crackhead (the first being Winehouse), which I'm guessing is soft acoustic strums and a couple of lullaby strings. "...English Roses" has quite a dubby feel overall, sounding more like Franz's "Blood" than Doherty's previous efforts, but that's the only point of interest in the whole song. The chorus is nowhere near as catchy or anthemic as Pete would like to think, and the song ends up as a dirge. Stick to the day job mate.
4

Ida Maria - Oh My God
Nope, not a Kaisers cover (like I thought at first) and a world away from the plastic pop-punk of "I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked", which is all the better. Ida Maria is yet another Scandanavian popstrel, she's the slightly more dangerous alternative to her contemporaries, such as Annie and Lykke Li. Catchy as a STD covered in glue, this should have you joyously pogoing around wherever you are (although I advise against doing it in school/work). If you don't, you have no soul...either that or have no taste for good old rock 'n' roll fun.
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U2 - Get On Your Boots
Yep, they're back. Just as the world has gone into recession, Labour stumbles from crisis to crisis once again and many many other things to worry about, U2 return to heap more MOR rock misery on us. Maybe I'm being a little unfair, as they have made some great songs and provided a soundtrack for so many TV adverts with "Vertigo" and "Beautiful Day". I'm guessing they're trying to reinvent themselves as camp glam-rockers this time around, although they're a bit late seeing as the Manics did that two years ago. Musically it's average for a band as talented as them with The Edge chucking out a second-rate Jimmy Page riff, presumably with his eyes closed. There is one sign of hope though, with Sir Lord Saint Bono proclaiming "I don’t want to talk about wars between nations". Thank fuck for that.
5.5

Dananananaykroyd - 1993
Try saying that when you're pissed. Or even sober. I'm just about getting my head around it now. One of the big names being tipped by those on the alternative side of the the music spectrum to make it relatively big this year are a shouty and loud bunch. "1993" seems to be like they've gone through a pick 'n' mix of some of the best music of the last couple of years going from the choppy guitars of Maximo Park to pounding drums The Hold Steady and a hell of a lot of elements of Biffy Clyro's sound. It ends similarly to Grammatics' "The Vauge Archive", slowed down, much calmer and softer before one last crunch of distortion. Promising, if not entirely original to these ears.
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NEU!
TRACKS - 01.02.09 - Esser, Frank Turner, Tommy Reilly, The Wombats

Esser - Work It Out
The crown prince of good music in 2009 returns with yet another hit in a long line of perfect funky pop nuggets bound to be indie disco staples by 2010. "Work It Out" is all electro bleeps, robotic choruses and estuary vocals not seen since Damon Albarn started wearing tracksuit tops and prattling on about Parklife. It may not be as immediate as "Headlock" but it's certainly one of the best in Esser's arsenal, which is certainly saying something considering previous singles
8.5

Frank Turner - Reasons Not Be An Idiot
Apart from an amazing way with song titles (e.g. "I Knew Prufrock Before He Was Famous", "A Decent Cup Of Tea", "Thatcher Fucked The Kids", "I Really Don't Care What You Did On Your Gap Year"), Turner also makes some highly entertaining folk rock with lyrics to either make you chuckle heartily or frown at their realism. I urge you to check out his album "Love, Ire & Song" sometime soon.
7.5

Tommy Reilly - Gimme A Call
Seeing as he's the winner of the recent Orange Unsigned Act competition, there's got to be something suspicious about the young lad (see what I mean here, better explained than I ever could). But this is a sweet acoustic number that will lodge itself in to that space between your ears faster than Usain Bolt on a hyperspeed treadmill. Shall be interesting to see what he comes out with next.
7

The Wombats - My Circuitboard City
Yes, I know, I've already reviewed this and it wasn't exactly glowing with praise. But after a few weeks of listening to it, and it not being raped by TV and radio, it's a real grower. The sound has developed to a more downbeat but just as bouncy indie and the lyrics (now that I know what they are) have retained the same wit and verve from their first demos (example: "Welcome to my circuitboard city of yellow and black/We'll score WD40 so our hearts don't crack" and "Grandad George said the heroes are the ones that run away/But I wear no medals as I'm sprawled in a toilet on my birthday"). You shall be singing the hooks for weeks on end once you hear it twice.
7.5

FRANZ FERDINAND - TWILIGHT OMENS

















I would make a very poor joke about how they should have released this at the start of last year to warn us of the onslaught of shite vampire novels/films, but I can't really think of a way to make it work. Anywho, another month, another Franz leak. In terms of leakiness they're getting worse than the bottom three of the Premier League. This new album track starts off like the electrofest we've been promised with "Tonight:..." and immediately sounds like an old lost Bowie song (or Roxy Music as my uncle keeps saying, I wouldn't know being honest). In comparison to other album tracks like "Ulysses", "Lucid Dreams" and "What She Came For", it isn't as immediate and seems caught in the middle of their indie rock sound and their electro direction, neither one or the other. It could be a grower, so watch this space...
7.5/10

White Lies - Album Tracks

Well what's this?! Two new White Lies tracks from the yet-to-be-released debut "To Lose My Life" have landed in my (virtual) lap. This is yet another album I'm excited for next year (I think I'm just excited for next year in general), although it's getting a hell of a lot of hype through various DJs and the music media in general which could set the band up for a biiiiiiiig fall.

Half the album is already floating around the blogosphere, so there's a pretty good idea of what it sounds like already. Here comes the bad part. The two leaked tracks "Fairwell To The Fairground" and "The Price Of Love" aren't really anywhere near the brilliance of White Lies' earlier songs. Both songs are near to the end of the album so should be grandiose, epic statements whilst showing some development for the band, but they just come off a bit avaerage considering the talent they've shown on "Unfinished Business" and "Death".

The "new Joy Division" tag is totally unfounded though as it is with the other two bands burdened with the comparison; Editors and Interpol. Whereas JD where claustrophobic, angular and menacingly melancholy, these three modern bands have much grander ambitions with a widescreen edge to their sound, whilst keeping the gloomy feeling and deep-voiced singer.

Anyway back to my point. "FTTF" is the weaker of the two songs, something which should have been left as a B-side as best. It's two clean, polished, too Radio One really. A better chorus would improve it vastly. "TPOL" is slightly better, much more of the White Lies formula. A slow burner which evolves into a typical big, bold album closer with a dashing of Morricone-esque strings for added effect. It's good, but not as good as expected.

6/10 (Fairwell To The Fairground)
7/10 (The Price Of Love)