singles
march
graham coxon
at last. i have waited for this record. i knew it would happen one day, just had to be patient.
this is the track where graham c has at last, expurged all his personal demons, plugs in his guitars to max and lets rip with a storming 3 minute indiepunkpop classic. with riff that generate the same sonic thrills as his well known heros, and lodge in the grey cells hard and fast.
'freakin out', out on limited 7" march 8th, is by far the best thing i have ever heard him do, in fact i'd say its better than just about everything he did with his old mates band but we wont go there. all leading up to the release of his new album 'happiness in magazines' in may. and, if this track is anything to go by we are in for one helluva a fine record.
the open
second single 'close my eyes', form this liverpool set of guitars and melodrama. the lead track is a fairly standard athemic indie blast and very catchy it is. a perfect radio tune. where things take a side step are the b-sides. showing the bands passion for epic, recalling the atmosphere of u2 and doves, the band have crafted some rather wonderful moments of splendour. none more so on the 7 minute 'the view' which dips into classic era pink floyd with its mood tempo changes and piano basis. could be a serious name to watch out for in 2004. as the phrase goes .. 'shows promise'.
the divine comedy
amazing. neil hannon is back on another major label and getting all sorts of friends involved with this new single 'absent friends' which is out at the end of march. lauren lavern, guy massey and nigel godrich are all involved and yet somehow this sounds exactly like the divine comedy has always sounded like. which is fine and dandy if you like that kind of thing.
the shins
sub pop discovers power pop. this is the first single 'so says i' lifted from this albuquerque band. this is a great uptempo happy vibes blast of guitars and subtle fuzz. very nice, with some excellent b-sides making a really cool little 3 tracker. i have to say that this is the standout track from the forthcoming album, more details on that elsewhere.
stellarstar*
read a lot about this lot last year, the lp was very well received and from this single i can see some of the appeal. the opening 30 seconds of 'my coco' gave me severe audio throwbacks to prime-era psychedelic furs moodiness and spiky art school guitars and rapidly raised my interest, where the band differ though is in the off kilter vocals. quite different. recalling david byrnes talent for hiting high vocal regions and still being masculine as opposed to going all jimi sommerville-esque and catch you off guard. while the track didn't knock me over i did find it quite special and there is a strong possibility that this lot could become a long term proposition.
they hit the uk for a full tour along with other notables 'the killers'. a fine double bill.
the boxer rebellion
second single on poptones from the boxers which is due out in march, the release is backed by a full tour which will no doubt see the band raising their profile substantially. where the bands first single really came over all dark and mysterious, this one screams out that the band have listened a lot to muse in recent times. the big difference being that i personally cant stand matt bellamys overly dramtic vocals, whereas nathan nicholson vocals are as intense but somehow are nowhere near as grating. looking forward to hearing the album, lets hope it meets the expectations that these 2 fine singles have created.