GregAsh remembers fondly the week he was cool. It was late 2007, he had a leather jacket, had seen Justice play 5 times and was the proud owner of both a myspace and facebook account. These days, at 25, Greg is slightly past it. But he still enjoys ironic t-shirts, social networking, and the occasional car park rave. Tags: Another Miracle - New Education
New Education like to sing of simple pleasures, a theme that aptly describes the nature of their latest single. ‘Another Miracle’ is indeed a simple pleasure. A good old-fashioned, well-formed English rock song, it sounds like it could have been released 15 years ago, with shades of Oasis in Ryan Dooley’s no-nonsense vocals and in the obligatory guitar solo two minutes in. But simple does not necessarily mean bad. This is heartfelt rock done well. A polished, anthemic offering that will no doubt please the Brit-pop alumni’s crying out for a band with a bit more substance. Less MTV, more M40, this is a track you’d want on as you drive home along the motorway, tapping your hands on the steering wheel, the midlands sunset in your rear-view mirror.
Swimming. You don’t see many continuous present verbs in band names. But it seems like as appropriate moniker as any for this new synth-fueled rock band. There is a sense of continuous unfolding drama in both these tracks. ‘Panthalassa’ makes an invigorating splash. A stadium rock style intro that wouldn’t be out of place on a Bruce Springsteen record makes the way for some emphatic vocals and a melodic guitar riff. This is an exhilarating, insistent sound. And just when you think you’ve got Swimming sussed, they drop in a surprising and hypnotic section. Is that a sitah I can hear? Joint a-side ‘Crash The Current’ is the better of the two, featuring a similar high tempo and varied soundscape, disconcerting at first, but which harmonises to reveal an infectious chorus line. Neither of these tracks is a classic, but it bodes well for the Swimming’s forthcoming album. Amidst the waves of new bands vying to become the sound of the next decade, this single is a controlled front stroke forwards. Swimming not drowning indeed.
Listening to this somehow takes me back to the end of the 90s, being 16 and throwing my arms around in a sweaty mosh pit. There is a refreshing energy and unpretentiousness to This Beautiful Thief’s music. Combining catchy, heartfelt albeit slightly cheesy choruses, and a pure musical intensity, all five of these tracks on this EP have the potential to get stuck in your head. Sounding like a hybrid of Placebo, Idlewild, and the Editors, this is melodic pop rock at it’s best. Not particularly inventive, nor the flavour of the month, but then they are not claiming to be. There is more substance here and it is obvious why the band are developing quite a live following. They’ll make you want to dig through your old CD collection, and remind yourself of those good old days when music wasn’t about being in fashion, the Millennium Bug was looming, and all you wanted to do was bounce up and down in your bedroom listening to Brit-pop.
Who is Pop Levi? Apparently this crazy musician/composer/film-maker has been lurking just beneath the mainstream consciousness for a few years now. He’s released two albums, played bass for Ladytron and been featured on the Culture Show. Maybe I’m just not as cool as I thought. However, discovering him now seems as good a time as ever. Back with impressive energy, his single ‘Police Sign/ Terrifying’ is an assault on the senses. A raw garage-rock record that borrows heavily from the Stooges, and yet somehow feels altogether new and exciting. Surely they don’t make them like this anymore? ‘Police Sign’ is the stand out of the two tracks. The thrashing guitar, high-octane drumming and Levi’s banshee wails make you want to get up and mosh about a bit. If you’re having a house party any time soon, stick this on and watch things get broken. Just make sure to invite me so I can go round telling people I’ve known about this guy for years.
‘Deaths and Entrances’ indeed. My Latest Novel’s new album is full of both. The first track ‘All In All In All Is All’ enters the room with a bang. Uplifting harmonies, layered Scottish vocals, hints of Idlewild and The Arcade Fire. This is then followed by a succession of slower, more mournful pieces that leave you feeling a little under whelmed at first listen. Yet, given time, one begins to appreciate the intricacies at work here. There is beauty within the melancholy, and hope emerging from complaint. ‘I Declare A Ceasefire’ feels like a movement of emotion, a journey to resolution, and it is these shifts in mood, even within individual songs, that gives this album such resonance. Like the Arcade Fire, My Latest Novel have the potential to suddenly rise up from despairing melodies and create powerful, uplifting moments, most notably in the excellent ‘If The Accident Will’. ‘Deaths and Entrances’ is a beautiful, sombre album filled with brief glimpses of joy. A reflection of life one might say. And I suspect this is exactly what a band, steeped in influences from Dylan Thomas to Kurt Vonnegut, intended.
‘Heartbreak’ is a downbeat, yet infectious new offering from Magistrates. The unfortunately named lead singer Usher’s vocals are reigned here beneath his usual falsetto wails to a level that your Nan can probably now pick up. And they still sound great. The song is unashamedly built around its main chorus, and the annoying oriental synth ditty that plays throughout will be in your head all day. But musically this lacks a little depth. There is nothing new or exciting here. Ultimately ‘Heartbreak’ is a catchy 3 minute offering that will certainly get its fair share of airplay on Radio 1, but one hopes there is more engaging material to come from this band.
Hotly tipped as one of the hottest prospects of the year, and friends of the Klaxons and Lily Allen, duo the Big Pink are here to prove they are more than just hype. New single ‘Velvet’ suggests that they are indeed a band to watch. There’s a definite sound to the Big Pink, atmospheric effects combined with distorted guitar sounds which is getting labelled ‘Pink Noise’. This trademark is present here in latest single ‘Velvet’ but in a more refined, polished form than before. As the title might suggest, everything here fits together smoothly; the soft, subtle melody, punctuated by a disjointed baseline, slowly reels you in, forming a textured backdrop to the track’s powerful vocals. There is an awful lot to take in here, hints of acid house, grunge, electronica, and dub step. Yet, it still feels fresh, somehow gloomy and uplifting all at the same time. By the time the track really gets going, two and a half minutes in, and the disharmonious guitars combine with a resonating chorus, you know you are a witnessing the exciting prospect of a band living up to their hype.
