education – cool as you/charles
the pile of singles looks at me lost and forgotten. but when a band send me a nice picture postcard from thirsk along with their double a-side cd i cannot help but do the honourable thing. 2 cracking tracks recall the best guitar pop missives from wedding present, undertones and the buzzcocks, but rather than having a skinny voice, education have found a singer whose vocals resonate big and proud matching the chunky old school indie rock in a fine tune.
well worth tracking down just for the royal baiting family lyrical content.
my fave guitar record of the day.
more detail : here
i love poland – ‘ilp’
not so much of a single as a mini-lp, but weighing in at a brief 17 mins for the 7 tracks i’m adding detail here. first coming to attention of the masses via a dance to the radio compilation, i love poland are a new slant on all things 80s. whgile the clubbers and fashion lovers are still intent on making us remember the 80s for its dayglo happy synth pop, i love poland have decided to recall that the decade had its darkside and that story needs to be retold. for the bands minimal lo-fi synth pop is a far more grey proposition, even monotonous and rainy day like. in fact, track titles, glamour in the dark, and kill yourself drive the point home well and truly. a few listens and i was scratching my head, just whose vocals are these giving me throwbacks to – then i cracked it. edwyn collins. the vocals are large and dominant and rather at odds with the musical surroundings. still, sometimes its good to have that perma-grin being wiped off the faces of happy disco crowd, and i love poland, may just be the band to do such a wonderful thing.
more detail : here
kobai – serotonin
not a lot to say about this new scottish band, other than the normal version rocks it hard in the same kind of manner as a humanzi track. nothing subtle in the pounding indie rock groove, except plenty of urgency and a wonderful ‘lets head straight to the bar‘ attitude.
however, there happens to be a remix thats really got it going on for its 5 and half minutes. powered up and heavy with a woofer threatening psycho-ambience – this is a perfect addition to anyone who likes their electro enhanced indie dance to rock out.
more detail : here
lorraine – heaven
this is just plain wrong.
fey synth pop boy band who are supposedly on the way to superstardom, do a feather-lite cover of a classic psychedlic furs track. now, i have no issues with cover versions (one of my all time records is a civer version), but this is just too light and airy to even get bothered about.
no doubt, they’ll be massive in 12 months.
more detail : here
the wombats – moving to new york/party in a forest (where’s laura?)
second single that i’m aware of, and still impressive. gosh.
the noise is more indie rock of an upbeat nature but the doubled up layered guitars during the chorus (backed by delicious ‘ooooohs’) is a perfect adrenaline-n-smiles moment that even i cannot resist no matter how hard i try. as the man says, ‘christmas came early’, and who am i to argue with such a joyful sentiment. cracking stuff.
the flip downs the tempo, but not the quality, nor the love for a melody heavy chorus. telling the story of a unwanted night out on the hunt for a rave in the middle of nowhere, the band throw the effect pedals into overdrive for the last few seconds prior to a vocal harmony breakdown section, all while ‘laura get me home tonight’ is the ultimate intention.
i seriously look forward to the bands 3rd installment.
out on the ever worthy kids label on 23rd october.
get your order in now.
more detail : here
department of eagles – romo-goth/sailing by night
loved by a lot of the press, i didn’t really feel the recent department of eagles album. something about the ramshackle indie vs the hi-tech polish didn’t gel for me, but a few tracks definitely stood out. and lo ! these highlights have been extracted for a rather wonderful single release. backed by remixes by heros of the laptops and folk-y guitars tunng and ninjatunes own sample-meister daedulus its a snapshot and proves that a few more spins of the album may be in order.
out on the melodic label. which is good.
more detail : here
stay tuned.
mark e
ireallylovemusic