March 2010
42 posts
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WatchPhantogram - Mouthful of Diamonds
Taken from debut album ‘Eyelid Movies’.
mp3: When I’m Small
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Dinosaur Bones: Ice Hotels / Royalty
Words: Gareth O’Malley
Just one mention of new music from Canada, and we get excited. With good reason, too. The place has been turning out a quite simply unfair amount of great bands in recent years (Tokyo Police Club, Broken Social Scene, Metric, to name but a few), and because of this is a hotbed for talent.
Perhaps we can add another band to this list? Well, Toronto quintet Dinosaur...
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The Futureheads: The Chaos
Words: Gareth O’Malley
If you have been living under a rock for the last two years, it’ll come as a shock to you that everyone’s saying ‘Oh no, we’re entirely screwed and the world is going to hell in a handcart’. Two words: Economic recession. Since the credit crunch hit in 2008, things have just been going from bad to worse. Oh, and don’t even get us...
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65daysofstatic: Crash Tactics
Words: Gareth O’Malley
Everything is indicating that ‘We Were Exploding Anyway’ will be a major shift in sound for Sheffield noiseniks 65daysofstatic. And we really do mean everything: the album cover; words from the band themselves; and of course, the music.
Japanese teaser single ‘Weak4’ showed that the band were moving away from the piano-heavy sound of...
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Gloria Cycles: Campsite Discotheque
Words: Emmy Droege
When a band sports a DIY work ethic, the notch of respect is raised that much higher. From videos, artwork, and promotion, Gloria Cycles seem to do it all. And I haven’t even touched upon their debut album yet. It would be easy to say, “Yeah, everything about this band is great,” which for now holds true. But that’s just a bland cop-out statement, and this four-piece...
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Django Django: WOR
Words: Gareth O’Malley
Some would say that these guys are so good that they had to be named twice. We’d be of the opinion that their music says enough in itself. This London quartet are Django Django (Dave Maclean, Vincent Neff, Tommy Grace, Jimmy Dixon) and they are a rather interesting proposition. Especially so when the band’s own press release is completely impenetrable....
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Kavinsky: Nightcall/Pacific Coast Highway
Words: Gareth O’Malley
Here’s some more French loveliness for you. This time, we’re dipping into some excellent electro house courtesy of Vincent Belorgey, or, as he prefers to be known, Kavinsky.
These two songs comprise his first original material in two years, and we’re glad to have him back, especially because the A-side, ‘Nightcall’ is one of his best...
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Acid Washed: Change
Words: Gareth O’Malley
The French are at it again apparently. At what, you ask. Well, here’s a clue. Another rather excellent electro group have just opened their account, releasing their self-titled debut to the world. I haven’t gotten around to listening to it yet, but it sounds like it is going to be a cracker.
Please welcome Parisian duo Acid Washed.
We know not whom...
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MGMT: Congratulations
Words: Gareth O’Malley
First things first: ‘Congratulations’ isn’t terrible. Are those sighs of relief we can hear? Yep, we thought so. Can’t say we blame you. After all, nearly everything that’s been said about this record in the run up to its release has been somewhat worrying.
Nor is it as good as MGMT’s debut, ‘Oracular Spectacular’,...
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Quick Fix: Harrys Gym - S/T
[Released on Hype City] Words: Gareth O’Malley
The golden rule of making music: If you are going to try being ambitious, try your absolute hardest. Norwegian quartet Harrys Gym have undoubtedly heard this at some point in their career. It would have been wise if they had taken some advice.
Unfortunately, though, the stubborn Scandinavians have gone about things their own distinctive way...
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Jukebox Collective: Icon Parade
Words: Gareth O’Malley
It might have taken a while for ‘Icon Parade’, the second single from London art-pop types Jukebox Collective to surface, but the wait has certainly been justified. The quartet have produced something raucous, rooted in the classic post-punk sound that they’ve been influenced by - while at the same time managing to sound like something all their...
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Tokyo Police Club: Breakneck Speed
Words: Gareth O’Malley
Where the fuck have these guys been. Putting the finishing touches to sophomore record ‘Champ’, many of you will be delighted to hear. The forthcoming LP is due out on June 7th, and the first taste is ‘Breakneck Speed’, an absolute knockout of a song.
The Canadian quartet have moved past the two-minutes-and-change aesthetic that they were so...
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Foals: This Orient
Words: Gareth O’Malley
Oxford’s Foals have always been a diverse bunch. The quartet started out as peddlers of spiky guitar pop, but they’ve broadened their sound palette quite considerably as time’s gone on. Debut ‘Antidotes’ was awash with atmospherics, as the band forsook their hyperactive beginnings for a sound that was lush and layered, but never once...
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The National: Bloodbuzz Ohio
Words: Gareth O’Malley
Could the anticipation for The National’s new album be any higher? It’s reaching a sort of fever pitch now, and with good reason. The Brooklyn quartet released what was for many the album of 2007; ‘Boxer’ was the sound of the band stepping things up a notch or three.
‘High Violet’ is due out on May 10th, and it sounds like it is...
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Kids In Glass Houses: Dirt
Words: Gareth O’Malley
Some would say that the last thing we need is a British power-pop band to rival one of the American heavyweights. Did you spot something unusual there? Yes, we said ‘British’. Cue the the looks of absolute astonishment.
You wouldn’t know it from listening to their music, but Kids In Glass Houses are indeed British. The quartet are based in...
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United Nations of Sound: Are You Ready?
Words: Emmy Droege
Love him or leave him, Richard Ashcroft is fronting a new band, United Nations of Sound, and we’ll supposedly see a new album out later this month. I say supposedly because it’s been something akin to a wild goose chase trying to track down reliable bits and pieces regarding the ex-Verve singer’s latest effort.
If you think the name for the new band is cheesy, just wait...
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Spotlight: Insect Guide
Words: Emmy Droege
Dark. Indie. Shoegazer. Pop. If any of these words grab at you, then take note of Insect Guide, a three-piece band hailing from Leeds who are set to release their second album, ‘Dark Days & Nights’ this May. The band received widespread praise and recognition for debut album ‘6ft in Love’ in November 2007, and their momentum in the musical...
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Live: Yuck; Greenside Hotel, Leslie, 17/3/2010
Words: Martyn Young
Despite Yuck making some of the most thrilling, exciting, loud and melodic pop music in the UK at the moment, the audience for the this hastily arranged gig at a small pub in Fife numbers approximately 30 people, evidently the charms of Yuck have yet to be discovered by the majority of people but no matter, they will be soon, this band are going places. Yuck are a four...
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Grass House: A Cockroach
Words: Gareth O’Malley
Thinking big is quite often a good thing. Just ask London quartet Grass House, who evidently have a lot on their minds. They’re quite comfortable dealing with Big Issues, however - and thankfully ‘A Cockroach”s lyrics don’t merit any cringing. The way I see it, the song’s either about the collapse of the global financial system...
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Laura Marling: I Speak Because I Can
Words: Emmy Droege
I often find that if you listen to the buzz about an up and coming singer or band before the mainstream hype lays it on thick, you’re usually rewarded. Plus, you have the added bonus of being smug about it while the rest of the world catches up.
This seems to be the case with Laura Marling and her latest folk-pop album, ‘I Speak Because I Can’. Granted, she did...
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We Have Band: WHB
Words: Gareth O’Malley
Good things come to those who wait, or so the saying goes. We would certainly agree with that. We hoped that this London trio’s debut full-length would surface sooner rather than later, and the wait’s almost at an end. The record, ‘WHB’, is quite highly anticipated in certain circles, and quite rightly so, because its creators’ output...
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Stars and Sons: If It's Good For Me
Words: Gareth O’Malley
This lot don’t do things by halves, that much is clear. Brighton quartet Stars and Sons throw absolutely everything - including the kitchen sink - into their songs, and forthcoming single ‘If It’s Good For Me’ is no exception.
A piano-led belter of a song, it is strangely reminiscent of Elle Milano (at least to an extent), which is obviously...
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The Lodger: Flashbacks
Words: Gareth O’Malley
The juxtaposition of ideas present on the new record from Leeds trio The Lodger is quite arresting on first listen. The band have clearly tried to push themselves even further forward on ‘Flashbacks’, and it shows. The amount of instruments used pushes them into Los Campesinos! territory: they do indeed sound like a septet at times here, even though the...
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Live: Director/Fox Jaw Bounty Hunters, Bar Ritz,...
Credit goes to Keith McGreal for the rather excellent photo.
Words: Gareth O’Malley
When I last saw Director, it was quite possibly the most depressing concert-going experience of my life. Up on stage in the T.F.’s Ruby Rooms, playing to, oh, about twenty people, of whom only three (my friend, an uninitiated that he’d brought along with him, and myself) seemed to care about...
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MGMT: Flash Delirium
Words: Gareth O’Malley
Fucking hell. You have to hand it to MGMT, no matter your opinion of their new single. It would seem that the duo are about ready to board the good ship Commercial Suicide. What, no singles? Not even a radio-friendly song across the entire length of ‘Congratulations’?!?!
The suits at Columbia Records must be panicking. The problem with giving a band...
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Ten Centuries: Ice Age
Words: Emmy Droege
It’s little wonder that a Minneapolis-based duo have dubbed their latest single ‘Ice Age’.
A delicate number that twists out of the bleakness of winter and turns towards the hope of spring, the track shows Ten Centuries capturing a song that recognizes darkness and acknowledges light.
The introspective song set to a gentle, mostly acoustic arrangement comes...
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We Were Promised Jetpacks: The Last Place You'll...
Words: Gareth O’Malley
I get the sense that We Were Promised Jetpacks don’t yet know what exactly they want to sound like. Or perhaps they are always striving to change from one release to the next. I hope sincerely that it’s the latter, because in that case their second album couldn’t be more highly anticipated.
There was a real sense of urgency to last year’s...
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Liars: Sisterworld
Words: Gareth O’Malley
Okay, so this is really a concept album. If that’s turned you off ‘Sisterworld’ already, I implore you, read on. You’ll find it’s not at all a bad thing. Formerly based in New York, but now with a new headquarters of sorts in Berlin, ‘experimental’ (and god, how I loathe that term) rock tri o Liars are back with their fifth...
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Gorillaz: Plastic Beach
Words: David Molloy
One thing I have noticed recently in other reviews of “Plastic Beach” is that whole “cartoon band” concept behind Gorillaz has at this point become irritating or irrelevant. I disagree. If it were not for those times I’d obsessively watch MTV as a young(er) child for a chance to see the “Clint Eastwood” video nine years ago I doubt...
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General Fiasco: Buildings
Words: Gareth O’Malley
Perhaps the most heartening thing about General Fiasco’s plans for the future, is that they actually have some. The Belfast trio have said that they realise what they do (i.e. typically Northern pop-punk) has a limited lifespan. They don’t want to become like, say, Ash, who have become stuck in a creative rut, and, in our opinion, started ‘The A-Z...
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Fenech-Soler: Stop And Stare
Words: Emmy Droege
Imagine a sweaty dance club, packed with equally sweaty people, dancing to a heavily-synthesized, highly-electronic song, and you paint the international scene of Fenech-Soler’s latest track, ‘Stop and Stare’. Whether you’re into dance music or not, the song thumps with an infectious groove that will make any music lover click their heels at least once during the...
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The Crookes: Chorus of Fools
Words: Emmy Droege
With a name like ‘The Crookes’, one might stereotype a band as a scruffy angst-ridden bunch sputtering on about drugs, sex and violence. One should know better. What you get this Sheffield-based band is a good dose of sunshine, love and peace. And what better way to welcome spring in than with ‘Chorus of Fools’, a poppy, jingle-jangle tune topped with...
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Words With: Thao With the Get Down Stay Down
After reviewing their rather excellent new single during the week, I had a word with vocalist Thao Nguyen of Thao With The Get Down Stay Down about such things as life on the road and future plans for the band.
Gareth: Hello. How have things been going? I notice the band are taking a well-earned rest!
Thao: Hi there, we are good thanks. Yes we are resting in our respective cities scattered all...
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not an Airplane: Things and People
Words: Emmy Droege
‘We love you, and we miss you. We have to, because we share your name.’ It’s not everyday that a line of an opening track holds such lyrical greatness to draw you in, but that’s exactly what not an Airplane have done with ‘As He Moved Away’: a fluttery, acoustic tune that hinges on the buckle of contemporary folk and matter-of-fact wit, this first...
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CLAPS: New Science EP
Words: Gareth O’Malley
You would think that the world doesn’t need another synth-pop band, right? Wrong: When a debut EP is as good, and as filled with promise, as ‘New Science’ is, then its makers are well worth your time.
Such is the case with St. Paul, Minnesota-based trio CLAPS (YES, UPPER CASE - it’s as if they really want to announce their presence to the...
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The Kissaway Trail: Sleep Mountain
Words: Gareth O’Malley
Before we say anything else: yes, ‘SDP’, the lead single from Danish group The Kissaway Trail’s second album, does sound like Arcade Fire. They can be forgiven that, mind, as it is pretty damn good. These bands share more than occasional similarity in sound, too, in that they both want to sound as MASSIVE as they possibly can.
This is quite a...
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Thao with the Get Down Stay Down: Body
Words: Gareth O’Malley
If you like a bit of quirk with your rock, you’re going to love this lot. Thao with the Get Down Stay Down (that’s Thao Nguyen, Adam Thompson and Willis Thompson) are a Falls Church, Virginia based trio, and seem rather difficult to pin down, and the evidence of their new single, ‘Body’, which is out over here on 29th March.
There are shades...