EP Review - My Crooked Saint, To Kill A King

Written and published for The 405, here.

Having already made some small waves on the folk scene, thanks largely to their signing to legendary London label Communion, To Kill A King look set to make a name for themselves with their extremely competent EP called My Crooked Saint.

Hailing from Leeds the band did some early gigs at Communion and have since won praise from Zane Lowe among others. So what’s all the fuss about? Well we begin with ‘Bloody Shirt’ a stomping and upbeat tune that shows off the bands musicianship and the brooding voice of singer Ralph Pellymounter, which incidentally has got to be one of the best names I’ve heard in a while.

‘Wrecking Crew’ runs with Pellymounter’s moodier side and confirms this band have rock running through their veins as well as the folksier stuff, which have lead to the inevitable comparisons with Mumfords and Sons, Noah and the Whale etc.

Perhaps what makes To Kill A King stand out though is that they are keen not just to make a good song but to tell a story too. The band have talked about releasing four music videos to go with each of the tracks, where the same characters pop up and the narrative develops with each video. This approach goes some way to proving the thoughtfulness behind Pellymounter’s songwriting and how this band put songs together.

To Kill A King aren’t all doom and gloom though, ’We Used To Protest/Gamble’ is a joyous and multilayered number, the jangly piano really helping to lift this song to approaching anthemic territory. ‘Family’ is more stripped back but there’s still plenty of evidence of careful arranging and orchestration, perhaps why the Guardian dubbed the band’s music orch-folk.

To Kill A King have all the tools they need to carve out a name for themselves in the folk circuit as a band that offer little of what we know and like about the genre already, but with perhaps a little something extra.

3 new bands making 'old' music

If you've visited IWAOS before you might know I like new music and that I love tracking down new bands but what you may not know about me is that I also love old music. In fact nothing makes me happier than if Shirley Ellis' 'The Clapping Song' comes on while I'm on the dance floor. So in some ways this is a post on two of my favourite things - new bands who make 'old' music. One I have followed for a while and two are brand new to me but all of them have blown me away with their new take on an 'old' sound.

First up is the Allah-las, who must be pretty new as they only have two songs out, this one 'Catamaran' and the equally jangly and brilliant 'Long Journey'. According to one of my favourite music blogs Aquarium Drunkard (the reading of which makes me want to move to California immediately) the Allah-las are resident band at the Echo club in San Francisco where they play a free gig every month - it's just the getting there that will set me back then.

Then a band which I have sort of tried to follow for ages. I say tried to because every time I go to check them out they've changed their name. I think at this stage they were called Jack Lewis and the Cutoffs but now they're named Jack Lewis and Awkward Enemy. Anyway, I love the low-fi sound of this track 'Shadow Party' and the video is cool too.

And finally to Nick Waterhouse who I get the impression is something of a dude in his hometown of San Francisco, and with a soul sound like this you wouldn't expect anything less.

It's got me thinking that soul and rhythm and blues could well be on the up, perhaps the genre might even enjoy a massive revival a la folk music. American acts like Janelle Monae and Aloe Blacc have already made an impression on the charts in the UK and drew impressive crowds at Glastonbury. But if not I'll have to continue tracking down retro nights and the best of the new 'old' stuff coming out of the USA's west coast.

Album Review -For Each a Future Tethered, Butcher The Bar

Originally written and published for Amelia's Magazine, here.

Butcher the Bar by Cheryl Windahl

Butcher the Bar's album For Each A Future Tethered is Joel Nicholson's second stab at this album malarky and if, as I suspect, this time he set out to create a collection of sweet and sunny folk-pop songs then he has succeeded.

There are a few artists that Nicholson in his Butcher The Bar incarnation brings to mind and many come from across the pond. His sweetly sung, breathy songs definitely evoke Elliot Smith but perhaps without the darker edge – from the amount of sunshine that comes bursting through the songs on this album it’s certainly difficult to believe that Nicholson is of a similar disposition to the late Smith.

Butcher the Bar by Emma Carlisle

Shoegazey ditties like Alpha Street West conjure Josh Radin or Jason Schwartzman’s band Coconut Records and there’s definitely something Eels-esque in the rousing Lullaby. As for a homegrown influence then you wouldn’t be far off if you imagined the best of Badly Drawn Boy’s back catalogue.

Butcher The Bar’s sound is quite a full one – layers of clarinets, keyboards, glockenspiels, trumpets, and guitars all pile up to make for some pretty hefty choruses. It would definitely be interesting to check them out at a gig to see if they can translate this big sound into their lives shows.

Inspiration for most of the lyrics seem to be taken from the every day with many tracks recounting little stories – including walks with loved ones, imagined romances and teenaged mums – giving the album a really lovely, personal feel.

Butcher the Bar by Natasha Hughes

Stand out tracks include Sign Your Name (“sign your name upon my heart for me”) and Silk Tilts, which will give anyone in need of a instant banjo hit a great deal of pleasure – just try not to continually misread and mishear the title, as I keep doing!

Giant with it’s refrain of “you’re my favourite, favourite one” is a good example of the material on offer here – it’s not complicated stuff, but it’s so sweet and backed-up by some pretty impressive musicianship. In fact most of the songs don’t surpass 3 and-a-half minutes so there is no hint that Nicholson is trying to do anything particularly wacky or experimental. For Each A Future Tethered is simply a collection of delightful indie-pop songs, and there is nothing wrong with that.

Ear worms

Here's a little post that I'm writing for no real reason, other than wanting to share what have been my latest musical addictions. I guess that's what so-called music blogs do, right? Well here we go.

Bon Iver needs no real introduction, but this is the single from his latest record and it makes me desperate to see him play live again. He reduced a whole field of people to tears at Glastonbury a couple of years ago. This clip of him and his buddies singing a beautiful a cappella rendition of For Emma will give you an idea of how.

I've recently discovered Jon Ronson's (writer of fabulous The Men Who Stared At Goats) programme for Radio 4 called Jon Ronson On. I only really discovered the show because Adam Buxton of Adam and Joe recommended it and now I've discovered this track by Husky Rescue. I'm basically like some kind of cultural magpie. But do listen to Jon Ronson On, it's really fantastic, especially the one on Voices In Your Head, you can listen to them all, here.

I just found this version of Alela Diane's wonderful Tatted Lace, I think it probably speaks for itself. It makes me wish I was better at better playing guitar.

Album Review - In Love With Oblivion, Crystal Stilts

Written for and published on the ever so amazing Amelia's Magazine.

The new album from Brooklyn based Crystal Stilts is out now on Fortuna POP! The Joy Division comparisons are impossible to shake off, but we're still impressed by this second outing.

I was hoping to be able to stay away from the Joy Division comparisons while writing this review of New York band Crystal Stilt’s new album In Love With Oblivion, but like many before me I’ve found it basically impossible – the influence of Ian Curtis flows through the band’s second album like a vein of precious metal. It’s singer Brad Hargett’s drone-like vocal that does it, strongly recalling Curtis as well as the similarly enigmatic Jim Reid of The Jesus and Mary Chain. (And now I won’t mention the J D words ever again…promise.)

In fact quite a lot has been written about Hargett’s singing style, sometimes scathingly, and his vocals are a little monotonous. There are points on this record when I really wanted him to surprise me by stepping out of the echo chamber to give some these songs a bit of extra punch. On Silver Sun for instance, the whole band are doing some pretty great stuff – the guitars and the organs and the jangle of the tambourine but Hargett maintains his monotonal drawl. There are few upbeat tracks on this record and if Hargett switched his style up a bit on some of them, it would lift the whole album.

But perhaps I’m missing the point, this appears to be an album that is more concerned with creating atmospheres or feelings than totally nailing each individual track. Hargett’s obvious attachment to the echo effect and the whole lo-fi approach towards recording and production makes this album sound dreamlike, almost as if you could be listening to it underwater, and to over-produce or clean up the sound would mean losing some of this otherworldly charm.

There’s also a kind of filmic side to the album, thanks to the murky sound and doom-laden lyrics, not forgetting the use of sound effects. Songs open and end with gusts of wind, car crashes, and crickets – it’s totally atmospheric and a big hint that Crystal Stilts aren’t your average Brooklyn-based hipster garage band.

Illustration by Stephanie Thieullent, see more of her amazing work on her blog, here.

The band clearly includes some skilful musicians, the Johnny Cash-inspired guitar licks of opening track Sycamore Tree provides as good an introduction as any – this is a track that sounds like it’s been around for the last 50 years. In fact there are clear 1960s influences throughout and pretty convincing in places, like the band went to sleep in 1964 and woke up in 2011 and continued making music like nothing had changed, which for someone like me, who happens to love the music of the 1960s, makes this album a really interesting prospect.

There are peaks and troughs with this record though, the seven minute Alien Rivers is a needless addition but those that follow like stand-out track Flying Into the Sun is a fantastic listen and includes the inspired lyrics “There’s a black hole/ behind these eyes/ takes everything with it/ when it dies.” Like the album title suggests there is a bit of an emo vibe running through much of Hargett’s songwriting.

This is the kind of album then, that may well find itself providing the soundtrack to a whole host of late night gatherings and post-party hangouts, and I suspect could sound even better when you’re burnt out but not ready to go to bed just yet.

Crystal Stilts are playing in XOYO in London on June 21 – their only UK date and by the sounds of it, well worth getting down to.

My very lazy top 3 albums of 2010

Time for the obligatory 'my best albums of the year' post. Usually I don't bother, and yet the world manages to remain spinning on its axis, so why this year? Well, actually I was a bit intrigued. And I'm more than a bit lazy. So I just checked out my 'most played' on itunes and it yielded quite a good representation of my favourite 2010 albums and my year in general. Also a lot of favourites that had nothing to do with 2010, but I'll stick to the brief.

Yeasayer's album Odd Blood came top. And just to keep things super neat their track 'ONE' was my number one most played track, which makes me think that deep down maybe I'm not an 'organised chaos' kinda girl but actually more psychotically OCD than anyone could imagine. Now, it would have been at this point that I'd have pointed out that the video below was one of the weirdest music videos of the year, but since Klaxons came along with their 'Twin Flames' video, Yeasayer's efforts may as well be an episode of Playdays.

I got to enjoy seeing Yeasayer perform earlier in the year and tracks 'ONE', 'Ambling Alp', and 'I Remember', still make me hop about excitedly if they come on in a bar. All-in-all a worthy choice for the top spot.

Arcade Fire is up next with their spectacular album The Suburbs. In contrast to Yeasayer, this was definitely not an album that got me throwing shapes all over London, but rather one that helped put my brain back together after all the shape throwing (and sometimes, throwing up) was done. In fact the lilting melodies and shimmering instrumentation of this Canadian band are partly responsible for getting me through the final stretch of my Masters. Having just been annouced as the winner of HMV's album of the year I'm ready to admit that I might not be alone in cherishing this particular release.

Finally, Stornoway and their debut Beachcombers Windowsill have snuck in as my third most played 2010 album. Not surprising that there should be a folksy entry but I think one word can sum up it's inclusion in the top 3, Glastonbury.

The Park, Saturday afternoon, glorious sunshine - the stage is set for what would be some of the best moments of this year's festival. Stornoway kicked off proceedings, and then having swayed in the sun for a little too long already that day, we retreated to the shade where we heard Biffy Clyro do a storming secret gig, had a groove to Candi Staton and the original 'You've Got The Love', and regained our strength in time for Laura Marling and a night of mischief. Clearly I've been trying to recreate that afternoon ever since as 'Boats and Trains' has racked up over 100 listens.

Right, and that's it. My very lazy top 3 albums of the year. For someone as indecisive as me that was a winning formula - letting my itunes do all the hard work.

I think I'm going to go and download a Lucky Number 8 Ball app and let it choose what I'm doing in 2011.

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.

Live review - The Strokes, Dingwalls, 09.06.10

The Strokes’ first gig in four years saw Julian Casablancas, Nick Valensi, Albert Hammond, Jr., Nikolai Fraiture and Fabrizio Moretti make a truly triumphant return with an epic gig that literally was awe-some.

The buzz of excitement was palpable outside Dingwalls, on Wednesday 9 June, everyone knew that this venue was about to host one of the most epic comebacks in recent years and The Strokes certainly did not disappoint. Hundreds of fans descended on the central stableyard in Camden Market, of course, all 500 tickets had sold out within minutes the night before, but that didn’t stop plenty more fans from turning up, touting “Will sell kidneys for a ticket” signs, or simply hanging about in the hope of catching a glimpse of Casablancas et al.

The gig, their first since October 2006, was probably one of the worst kept secrets in recent musical history. Playing under the alias of Venison, The Strokes started posting hints on their website early Tuesday morning and before the day was up the news was all over the net, as fans geared up for the scramble of getting their hands on one of the limited tickets when they went on sale later that night.

The teeny venue was packed to the rafters with punters including the young, the old, and the famous—from where I was standing I could see most of Coldplay, including Chris Martin, and Radio 1’s Edith Bowman all enjoying a drink and the electric atmosphere.

Then, at exactly 9:30 the group sauntered on and opened with a stomping rendition of “NY City Cops”, to which the crowd immediately went mental and the raucous mood didn’t abate throughout the 18-song set. The hits kept coming, the band clearly not afraid of giving the throng of fans exactly what they wanted with a fairly even spread of favourites from all three albums. By the time the group got round to playing first major single, the amazing “Last Night”, Casablancas was all but drowned out by the holler of the crowd who definitely made up for in enthusiasm what they lacked in numbers.

Casablancas was sparing with banter inbetween songs but was obviously enjoying the adoration, saying: “This is our first show in like four years, this is crazy—this is too much.” And even though it felt like a million degrees in there and the sweat was not only clearly visible on the members of the band and audience but was also forming a sweaty cloud of mist above the crowd, settling on the ceiling and dripping from the lighting rigs, until eventually the sound guys threw towels over the mixing desk, Casablancas kept his trademark leather firmly on along with big black shades, proving he operates on whole new levels of cool.

The singer also had words for some of the slightly jumpy security staff, “This is the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen, it’s feeling weird”, he said, “Are you trying to make a human barricade? I don’t think you need to, the kids are cool!”—cue a massive cheer from the ecstatic crowd.

After the gig ended—the same way the band ended their super-hyped debut album—with the now indie rock standard “Take It or Leave It”, heartfelt phrases such as “life changing” were being banded around outside and everyone who was lucky enough to have got tickets went home that night realising they had just witnessed something really special.

Published over at Strangers in Stereo, over here.

Album Review - The Good Ship, The Climbers

The Climbers debut album The Good Ship has been a few years in the making. Turns out it was definitely worth it though. This album is a joyous collection of songs covering a whole lot of ground and demonstrating a rare and wonderful talent for composition and song craft.

Full-time Climbers are Tim West, Christian Hardy and Nick Hemming but with Christian and Nick also releasing music as The Leisure Society, The Climbers have been recording in fits and starts over a period of six years.

Recorded predominantly in hired cottages in Wales and Devon, The Good Ship, as the band explain on their MySpace, was about wanting to capture the sounds of houses packed with friends just making music, as it happened. This provides a truly refreshing change from the barrage of over-produced, auto-tuned nonsense that seems to be endemic at the moment.

Second track ‘Anything’ works as a good introduction to The Climbers’ sound, demonstrating at once some truly beautiful instrumentation and yet an impression of simplicity. The pretty guitar strumming, piano, and organ is reminiscent of some prime Eels territory - even a bit of Counting Crows is conjured up in the fingerpicked banjo, which becomes somewhat of a motif throughout the album. Tim West’s tones rattle though the chorus: “I call on my brothers,” and after strings kick in what appears to have been a simple and melancholic song at the start is lifted up to being something quite impressive.

It seems then, that The Climbers are about a really full-bodied sound and that probably comes from the 19 friends they list as part-time band members on their MySpace. Mouth organs, strings, trumpets, electric guitars, banjos and a choir of voices frequently come together to lend an anthemic slant to many of the songs on The Good Ship.

In fact the title track is a great example of this, the oomp-pah-pah style piano riff and "la la las" will make you sway - by the time by the time the dramatic “You won’t sink the good ship” refrain comes in you’ll be a fully paid-up member of The Climbers crew.

The folk influence is also pretty apparent throughout so any music fans that have been enjoying the banjo touting Mumford and Sons and other anti-folk outfits would do well to give The Climbers a listen.

Lending the album some proper country influences ‘I Will Never’ is a banjo and guitar-led ditty with an almost Grizzly Bear vibe in places. But what really makes this album stand out is the voices - coming together so seamlessly that they add an extra bit of magic to each and every track. Perhaps it is unsurprising though, that this is a band which sounds almost perfect – it’s those six years of being together before releasing a debut that has done it.

Published over at The 405.

A musical mixed bag

'Mixed bag' is probably an understatement really and I'm not sure anyone could have predicted the inclusion of the Great British Ukulele Orchestra on IWAOS but all these varied musical stylings are equally brilliant in their own - and perhaps slightly eccentric - right.

Starting with the divine Snowblink and their luscious video, which totally allows me to indulge my 'one-day-I'll-be-a-beautiful-hippy-type-wondering-bare-foot-around -1970s-America-with-a-small-elfin-child' fantasy, you know the one? Well, it can't just be me. Anyway. Their MySpace labels them as belonging to that well-known Soul/Tropical/Surf genre(!) but I think I might agree with them, they're not really like anyone else around that's for sure. You can read a little bit more about them at The 405, here.

Second is Nika + Rory who are actually Zola Jesus and her bandmate Nick Turco. Zola has been intriguing me for a while and I just love how this track manages to sound at once utterly modern but somehow also tinged with a dose of 80s dramatic pop, which is echoed in the slightly creepy video.

The See See next, I caught them a couple of weeks ago when they were supporting the amazing Brian Jonestown Massacre. Quite a difficult slot I should imagine, warming up for the less than predictable BJM, but they were really good fun and gave the psychadelia-hungry crowd exactly what they were looking for.

And last but not least, a nod to my latest obsession - the ukulele. I bought myself one a couple of weeks ago and am quickly becoming a kind of mad ukulele band groupie. Plus the concept of this video is great - the idea of being stalked around town by a ukulele orchestra really cracks me up.

Single review - Sylvia - The Woe Betides

Published here.

The Woe Betides must have some of the most colourful names in pop and new single ‘Sylvia’ is equally as colourful.

Firstly you have founding members Simon Mastrantone and Grundy le Zimbra, but these pale into insignificance thanks to the drummer Colonel Sexlife – not his real name, just a guess.

The single ‘Sylvia’ provides some serious pounding pop rock that certainly blows away any of the proverbial cobwebs.

The words “Sylvia you’re a terrible person but I’ll never love anyone else” drone along beautifully with the thrashing guitars.

The sound is indie but with a little more bite and there is definitely a nod to American skater rock within this song. It’s the kind of music you can imagine was floating out of band practices in suburban garages circa 1992 but in a good way.

EP Review - Angus and Julia Stone -Big Jet Plane

This review is published over at the 405, here.

The Aussie brother and sister duo have produced a somewhat yin and yang record in their Big Jet Plane EP. Two tracks, including the single 'Big Jet Plane', are very good and two of the four tracks are…well, just not so good.

The habit to alternate between which sibling takes the lead vocal contributes to the unconnected feel of the record, although they at least have one excellent track each.

The single 'Big Jet Plane' (above) is beautiful — a real example of the less is more philosophy. It’s chorus, “Gonna take her for a ride on a big jet plane” is catchy and radio-ready without going all-out cheesy indie pop. Instead it’s classic Stone siblings — all melodic guitar riffs, plicky plucky strings, and punctuated by the smooth surfer tones of Angus Stone.

‘Living On a Rainbow’ has some moments of promise but disappointingly doesn’t really seem to get going and horror of horrors ‘climaxes’ with a children’s choir. Always tricky, kiddy choirs in pop songs — at best they sound sickenly twee at worst they are just downright creepy, and ‘Rainbow’ falls into the latter category.

‘My Malakai’ is a strange meander into some slightly passé musical territory but all without managing to add anything new. But ‘Malakai’ does at least serve to provide a nod to some of the band’s influences — there are hints of Neil Young, Al Stewart and Simon & Garfunkel.

But the EP’s final track is a different story altogether. A brave and bare cover of ‘You’re The One That I Want’ — yep! as in the uber cheesey karaoke classic from Grease — it provides a heart meltingly moving demonstration of the power of Julia Stone’s unique voice. It drifts up and down, echoing and shaking over the well-known lyrics and adding layers of emotion to the song that were just never there before.

‘Jet Plane’ then, is a schizophrenic record — half brilliant and beautiful, and half overstretched in its attempt to be interesting.

Single review - Dreaming, Allo Darlin'

Published online at the 405, here.

Elizabeth Morris’s sickly sweet vocals and lyrics come together to make yet another perfect pop tune.

Joined by Monster Bobby from The Pipettes, and his extreme baritone, the duo make an unlikely couple but this all just adds to the charm of this thoroughly enchanting song.

You could say this latest offering is very much in a similar vein to last year’s 'Henry Rollins Don't Dance' and 'The Polaroid Song', but we’re certainly not tired of these yet so if you liked them you’re sure as hell going to like ‘Dreaming’.

The runaway bass line and layers and layers of pretty instrumentation from ukuleles, drums and dreamy guitars stop this track turning into a boring old ballad. And all with the sort of cutesy lyrics that any romantic city dweller will relate to: “Take the night bus with me tonight, frost on the window. It’s freezing out here on the pavement, but here in your arms it’s heaven.”

Recent Discoveries

I don't know an awful lot about any of these artists other than the fact that I fudging love them and have been alternating between listening to all four on repeat over the last couple of weeks.

The Middle East really intrigue me, firstly because they are described as a 'musical collective' and not just a 'band' like everyone else and secondly because like many amazing bands I love - they really should be bigger than they are. The only album they have released, the imaginatively named 'The Recordings of the Middle East', is absolutely beautiful. Grizzly Bear obviously realised this because they got The Middle East on as support early in their most recent tour. Plus this music video is so lovely, so so lovely...

And I am totally sold on this particular track by Dan Auerbach but then I was always a bit partial to the musical stylings of Ray Lamontagne - to which this particular song sounds very similar. Having checked out his myspace, however, this is definitely a stand out track - eerie and pretty at the same time and even more so because of its simplicity.

First Aid Kit must be destined for great things, at least in the UK anyway. They manage to marry the female singer/songwriter thing with the folky thing - surely the holy grail of current popular music outfits?

Probably don't need to say much about Broken Bells, the pairing up of Danger Mouse and James Mercer of The Shins...it was always going to be this good wasn't it?

Single Review - Religious, Gloria Cycles

Now published at The 405, here.

Gloria Cycles latest single ‘Religious’ is unashamed upbeat indie pop and what’s wrong with that.

Including the Jack Penate-esque vocal stylings of Kenny McCracken – an imposing chap, with his waxed ginger moustache and waistcoat he looks like he’d be happier perched on top of a penny-farthing than holding an electric guitar.

It’s a song about proving to a lover and perhaps yourself that you’re in love with them. Nothing unusual there. The feel-good raucous chorus states: “Do I need ya? Yes I need you here my love. I’ll try to never leave ya, never make you get up and run”. And it will be in your head for days.

But there’s nothing wrong with this track, even if it is just a slightly new slant on a very well gone over theme.

The Brighton-based band have managed to provide us with little piece of musical sunshine in ‘Religious’ during what must be the longest winter on record.

Single Review - Body - Thao with The Get Down

Published over at The 405, here.

With all the ska influence and swagger – not to mention strong female vocal, of an early No Doubt, ‘Body’ is a brazen return to the sort of ‘90s pop rock sound long forgotten under a barrage of indie.

Just as easy is imagining The Zuton’s Dave McCabe belting this out or even The Coral, if switching our aural attention to this side of the Atlantic for some comparison.

“What am I just a body in your bed? You are a dead man. I just have to shoot the gun.” Thao questions with serious attitude, and you can’t help but believe her.

It’s a classic angsty study on the “why don’t you love me” theme but this band delivers it with so much punch and exuberance that it feels totally new.

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.

Album Review - IRM, Charlotte Gainsbourg

Now published over at Running In Heels.

Charlotte Gainsbourg’s new album is sexy, moody and slightly disturbing.

It has been well documented that the title track of ‘IRM’ (Imagerie par Résonance Magnétique) or MRI in English is based on the noises she heard inside said MRI machine. It probably says a lot about the artist that when faced with being scanned to establish the seriousness of the brain hemorrhage picked up after taking a fall water skiing, Gainsbourg thought —I could make music with this.

Indeed the lyrics “can you see a memory?" "register all my fear" and "tell me where the trauma lies," continue the macabre tone of the track and indeed give an impression of the moody overtones of the album in general.

Another moody although less dark track is Le Chat du Café des Artistes (above) a cover of Jean-Pierre Ferland’s classic. Gainsbourg’s trademark hushed and sexy tones, the piano chords and sweeping strings give an ominous almost film-noir soundtrack impression. And as a fan of another of the song’s incarnations, this time the French DJ Gut’s version, this is one of the best tracks on the album for me.

Other tracks such as ‘Vanities’ whip up a dreamy atmosphere with other worldly harps and orchestra sections quietly battling against each other

Then there are the songs like ‘Master’s Hands’ ‘Me and Jane Doe’ and ‘Heaven Can Wait’ which giveaway the influences and presence of American star Beck in the role of producer. And this is no bad thing, they are all pleasing and cleverly arranged pop songs with a definite leaning towards an acoustic sound.

And changing tracks entirely and literally ‘Looking Glass Blues’, ‘Trick Pony’ and ‘Greenwich Mean Time’ offer up an unashamedly indie rock vibe but even these cannot help but continue the theme of a kind of sexy moodiness which feels inherent across the entire album.

Charlotte Gainsbourg has never quite had the level of recognition she deserves in the UK despite being a popular musical figure in her native France and the States. She certainly can’t be accused of simply riding on the coat tails of her infamous Father Serge especially after her collaborations with electronic efficandos Air but maybe IRM — with its ‘something for everyone’ appeal will be the album to introduce her to British music fans.