Something for the weekend

We all look forward to the weekend, right? And after five days of screen staring, strip lighting and decidedly below-par coffee who can blame us. Those last few hours of keyboard bashing can really feel like they last forever (no offence intended workmates). Well. Here are three of the very twinkliest indie pop records to ease us all through that difficult transition period between work and weekend. Nothing particularly new or challenging on the ears - just what the music doctor ordered for a Friday afternoon...

Album Review - Memphis, Magic Kids

Also published over at amazing The 405.

Much like the bands’ hometown and the name of their album, Memphis, Magic Kid’s debut evokes thoughts of a bygone era, Elvis Presley, 1950’s high schools, and vintage rock and roll. The group of five’s debut provides 11 snippets of sunshine-filled surf pop that verge on the sickly sweet.

A lot has been made of the band’s Beach Boys influences, and there is no getting away from it. The lilting pop melodies, smooth vocals and backing harmonies are in full swing from opener Phone and are more than reminiscent of some of Brian Wilson and co.’s best work.

There are modern flavours too though – the electric guitars that appear in some of the album’s best tracks are the kind that have been made cool again by the likes of Vampire Weekend and the instrumentation, when it is stripped-down, is not dissimilar to the work of Dev Hynes of Lightspeed Champion fame.

Stripped-down instrumentation, however, seems to be missing from Magic Kids’ vocabulary. In some instances you wonder if while recording the album they couldn’t have benefitted from perhaps telling the best part of the orchestra to go home that day.

Horns, strings, pianos, guitars, sleigh bells, handclaps, you name it they are all thrown into the mix making a big sound which can detract from what are essentially well crafted little pop songs. Literally little, many of the songs are just over two minutes long.

Candy gets the ball rolling with the cutesy indie pop theme that runs throughout most of the lyrics and pretty melodies on Memphis: ‘There’s no baby sweeter than my baby”, they trill.

Hideout is as close as Magic Kids are willing to get to a ballad and it works to provide a quiet breather from the almost relentless cacophony of pure pop.

By far the best track on the album, however, is Hey Boy. Yes it comes complete with dreamy choir, horn motifs and other 60’s influences but it also goes to show that the fundamentals of making a brilliant pop song have remained the same for decades and Magic Kids are masters of their craft.

Sailin’ is similar in that it feels as if it could have been around forever, the lyrics are twee as ever - there is not much depth of meaning here, “We’ll cruise around the Isle of Man, I could be working on my tan.”

And perhaps therein lies the biggest flaw of this album, after a few listens some of these songs change from the endearingly sticky sweet to sickly sweet, and you do begin to hope Magic Kids might change the record.

Released August 31 2010.

Album Review - Everybody Knows It's Gonna Happen Only Not Tonight - The Go Find

Published over at The 405, here.

The latest offering from Belgian group, The Go Find is the incongruously named ‘Everybody Knows It’s Gonna Happen Only Not Tonight’ and it happens to sound a lot like, well, a lot of other bands.

The similarities and influences are just too obvious to omit, these include Kings of Convenience, Peter Bjorn and John, a rather large dose of Phoenix and even Royksopp.

The lyrics on title track 'Everybody Knows It’s Gonna Happen Only Not Tonight’ sets the theme of wistfulness and nostalgia, “Let me take you back, back to the 90s, when we were teens…with secret desires”. They are pretty but again are reminiscent of a number of The Go Behind’s predecessors.

And unfortunately when you start comparing one band to another or others, it’s very difficult to stop and this album seems to positively egg you on in doing so. It continues with ‘Automatic’, which injects a welcome dose of energy into the mix using one of pop music’s most favoured devices, the days of the week.

Perhaps channeling The Cure - the song opens, “Monday morning, I’m not able. I don’t think it’s gonna work. Friday evening, I am ready. But sleepy I’m not going out”, but of course, it reminds without being as good as Robert Smith’s 'Friday I’m In Love’.

Then there’s ‘Cherry Pie’ and ‘One Hundred Percent’ which demonstrate that The Go Find can produce as decent an indie pop tune as Peter Bjorn and John, and although pleasant enough to listen to, it’s still nothing new.

The album finishes on pop-ballad ‘Heart of Gold’. Starting promisingly enough, ‘Heart’ boasts electric guitars, big drums and key changes – all of which appear to have been transported into your ears via 1983 and with the quiet whispered singing of front man, Dieter Sermeus, this is quite a beautiful track. But without a big chorus ‘Heart of Gold’ ends up feeling a bit like the over-emotional noise playing over the credits of a Hollywood flop.

All in all The Go Find do dreamy electro pop pretty well, but this album evokes so many comparisons with bands that actually do it better that you might be better off listening to them instead.