Music - Singles of the Week - Monday, April 7
IndieLondon gleefully checks out the cream of the week’s singles. All you have to do is click on the pictures to order them…
SINGLE OF THE WEEK: ROGUE WAVE – LIKE I NEEDED: Fans of early REM and up-to-date Death Cab For Cutie, The Shins and Nada Surf pay attention! Like I Needed is the brilliant new single from California-based quartet Rogue Wave, and the first to precede the release of Asleep At Heaven’s Gate, their first album for Island. Born out of a tumultuous year for the band, the album promises an infectious blend of ethereal vocal harmonies, lyrical mystique, evolving rhythm and structure, all comprising of the hidden gifts of an album that reveals itself over time and continues to surprise. Coming into existence in 2002, Rogue Wave released two critically acclaimed albums on Sub-Pop, Out of the Shadow and Descended Like Vultures, both of which garnered widespread critical acclaim and lent songs to TV shows such as The O.C., Nip/Tuck, Scrubs and Heroes. Having amassed a strong following in the States, they now look set to conquer the UK. Like I Needed embodies the feel-good sound of American indie-rock and is rich in melody, contains an effortlessly sunshine vibe and the type of hooks and vocals that are certain to appeal to fans of the aforementioned Shins and company. We’re digging their vibe an awful lot, so roll on the new album.
Rating: 4 out of 5
BLACK KIDS – I’M NOT GONNA TEACH YOUR BOYFRIEND HOW TO DANCE WITH YOU: Bernard Butler produced this updated version of Black Kids’ jangly, deeply melodic indie-pop debut that comes complete with mild synths and cheerleader chants. The result is an endearing blend of Robert Smith-style vocals and manic, off-kilter funkiness that’s vaguely reminiscent of The Go Team. And, needless to say, it’s pretty compulsive, ear-catching stuff that goes some way to explaining the buzz surrounding this Jacksonville five-piece. Coming at the start of the spring, it’s also placed perfectly to become a sunshine anthem, given the upbeat nature of its focus and the knowingly catchy “do, do, do”’s that accompany those cheerleader moments. The lyrics, too, demonstrate a playfulness that’s both knowingly reflective of the awkwardness of youth and wise beyond its years.
Rating: 4 out of 5
A FINE FRENZY – COME ON COME OUT: A Fine Frenzy is 22-year-old Seattle born singer-songwriter Alison Sudol. Early influences from Aretha Franklin and Ella Fitzgerald coupled with Beth Orton style piano driven arrangements shape an atmospheric, alluring and melodic sound. With debut single Come On Come Out now available and the album One Cell In The Sea set to follow on April 21, A Fine Frenzy are poised to become one of the key chillout sounds of 2008. Come On Come Out is a beautifully disarming listen, built around some lush melodies and a really striking set of laidback vocals from Sudol, whose ability to calm and reassure is genuinely appealing. An anglophile at heart, Sudol grew up listening to staples of British music Radiohead and The Smiths, influencing A Fine Frenzy’s distinctive sound. We’re certain you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
Rating: 4 out of 5
SAM SPARRO – BLACK AND GOLD: Sydney-born, LA-based Sam Sparro delivers a suitably catchy slice of hypnotic electro-pop that does enough to suggest why there’s so much hype surrounding his imminent UK arrival. Boasting a soulful voice that would make Cee-Lo proud, Sparro then marries it with a pulsating backbeat that’s by turns glam-influenced (a la Goldfrapp) and heavily electro (MGMT). Black And Gold is very mainstream, of course, and set to make a major splash across several radio stations, but it remains to be seen whether he can follow it up with more material that truly makes him special. Black And Gold is a promising start and it’s easy appeal should ensure that it remains with us throughout most of the year as the summer club scene prepares to get into gear.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
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SCOUTING FOR GIRLS – HEARTBEAT: Try as hard as I might but I just can’t bring myself to dislike this band, no matter how upbeat their melodies, cheesy their sentiment or unrelentingly cheerful their songwriting. Heartbeat, their latest single, is a classic case in point. It’s insanely catchy, but impossible to hate. The song begins with a pumping heart and proceeds to balance breezy piano chords with some hopeful, lovelorn lyrics (“every time that we meet I skip a heartbeat”/“I’ll walk you home safe from the dark, I’ll give you my jacket, I’ll give you my heart”) that can’t help but make you go “aaah”. It remains to be seen how they go about following up their debut album, and hopefully they’ll avoid coming back with anything as dreadful as The Feeling’s follow-up, but for now sit back and savour a genuine guilty pleasure.
Rating: 4 out of 5
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FORWARD RUSSIA – BREAKING STANDING: Forward Russian come over all Bloc Party with the release of their new single, Breaking Standing, their first for new label Cooking Vinyl, and from their sophomore album Life Processes. Boasting production values from Matt Bayles (of Mastodon and Pearl Jam fame), the single abandons the scratchily acerbic, post-hardcore histrionics of its predecessor to drop a more melodic sound. The vocals are still a little jumpy and pained but the guitars work surprisingly well in helping to create the type of fast-paced epic that Bloc Party would be proud of. It’s by no means a classic, but it does mark a major improvement of Forward Russia’s sound that bodes well for the album.
Rating: 3 out of 5
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BLOOD RED SHOES – SAY SOMETHING, SAY ANYTHING: Blood Red Shoes drop the belting new single Say Something, Say Anything ahead of the release of their keenly anticipated debut album, Box Of Secrets (on April 14). Trading on a sound that draws influences from Nirvana and PJ Harvey, Steven Ansell (drums/vocals) and Laura-Mary Carter (guitar/vocals) create a sound that can switch from lightning fast indie rock ‘n’ roll (as is the case with this single) to soft pop in a heartbeat. Say Something, Say Anything speaks of the pain of love and loss but delivers it with a buzz saw energy that can be thrilling and intense. It’s not brilliant but it does suggest that the album will be well worth tuning into once it finally hits the record shops next week.
Rating: 3 out of 5
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LEON JEAN MARIE – BED OF NAILS: East London’s hotly tipped Leon Jean Marie boasts some impressive credentials. His new single Bed Of Nails was produced by Mark Ronson, who flew Leon to New York to work with him after picking up an early demo of Leon’s Scratch. The ensuing track is a punchy indie-pop offering that’s built around some strong melodies and a vocal style that’s not entirely dissimilar from Badly Drawn Boy and Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly. As such, it’s quite endearing, but a lot more hip thanks to Ronson’s magic touch. B-side Stay Right Right Here is more electronic and a little more leftfield, although fans of Calvin Harris’ Merrymaking might like to check it out. Both tracks provide evidence of an eclectic talent who is definitely worth keeping an eye on.
Rating: 4 out of 5
SOULJA BOY TELL EM feat ARAB -YAHHH!: Having just topped Forbes.com’s list of music’s hottest stars Soulja Boy releases his new single Yahh!, with Arab supplying guest vocals. But for the life of me, I cannot understand where the appeal lies. If his debut single was at least catchy in a guilty pleasure kind of way, this mind-numbingly awful follow-up is merely a thinly-veiled re-tread that fuses urban beats, a crank style and repetitive vocals to create something that will probably feature on countless soundtracks for movies like Step Up and Stomp The Yard. Its energetic, I guess, if you like to step, but it quickly outstays its welcome and Soulja Boy needs to do something quick to prevent himself from becoming a one-trick pony (albeit a very rich one at that).
Rating: 2 out of 5
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BLAH BLAH BLAH – DEATH TO THE INDIE DISCO: Blah Blah Blah release their debut single Death To The Indie Disco in typically brash fashion, complete with “wankers” all over the place. Supposedly indicative of the band’s satirical storytelling, it’s a pretty onerous listen that thinks just by being in your face, it’ll get noticed. But the not-so funky bass and Jay’s unexceptional vocals really didn’t do anything for me, while the supposedly intelligent songwriting (which stems from the band’s love of Monty Python and Noel Coward than musical art) isn’t as clever as it thinks it it. All in all, a disappointment – more blah, blah, blah than anything else.
Rating: 2 out of 5
THE WHITE STRIPES – CONQUEST: The latest offering from The White Stripes’ excellent Icky Thump LP is the fun and typically brash Conquest – another of its highlights. Built around some Flamenco horns and a rip-roaring guitar riff, it takes a Mariachi style approach that encapsulates a really Hispanic flavour. Jack White’s distinct vocals stand tall over the riffs, wailing out “conquest” with pained anguish, and perfectly complimenting the now trademark raw style of delivery. The cheeky video is also a blast, featuring Jack in a bullfighting competition with a bull that tricks him into showing mercy, before turning the tables in painfully hilarious fashion. It’s a cracking video to accompany a cracking single. Released: December 31, 2007.
Rating: 4 out of 5
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METRONOMY – MY HEART RATE RAPID: With their upcoming second album, Nights Out, Metronomy have attempted to craft a future electro-pop classic. The first single to be lifted from the LP suggests they’ve not quite managed it. My Heart Rate Rapid is a freakishly off-kilter dancefloor filler that’s basically a frenzied mashup of electronics, complete with falsetto-laden vocals and plenty of drum-battering. It quickly outstays its welcome and is simply too leftfield to really make the right impression – another example of why contemporary dance is mostly pretty lame. Remixes come from Maton and Primary but they don’t really add anything.
Rating: 2 out of 5
NATASHA BEDINGFIELD feat SEAN PAUL – LOVE LIKE THIS: The best thing that can be said about this new single from Natasha Bedingfield is that at least it marks a more upbeat sound to the more love-lorn style of her sophomore album, NB, which was all about the search for a partner. On this occasion, she returns with a bouncy, deeply melodic springtime vibe that’s given extra zoon by Sean Paul. And it suggests she’s in a happier place. The vibe, needless to say, is more infectious and the single is an easygoing, radio-friendly effort that wears its pop sensibilities shamelessly on its sleeve. It’ll deliver the goods for Bedingfield’s fans but never really stretches her vocally. That said, I’ve heard plenty worse this week and this year, so I didn’t mind finding myself quietly tapping my feet along with it. We can probably expect more of the same from the LP, which is called Pocketful of Sunshine.
Rating: 3 out of 5
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ELLIOT MINOR – PARALLEL WORLDS: York quintet Elliot Minor seem to be aiming for a status somewhere between Linkin Park and Fall Out Boy. New single Parallel Worlds attempts to go heavy and charming at the same time, but is nowhere near the infectious bundle of energy that its PR suggests. Rather, it’s a fast, frantic mess of a record that wears its influences a little too blatantly without measuring up to any. Just occasionally, the guitar work suggests they have some potential but they don’t seem to know whether to really go for it, or to keep things rooted in a pop-rock territory more commonly associated with McFly and Busted. Needless to say, the fruits of this latest musical endeavour are pretty laboured indeed. It’s taken from the eponymous album, which is out on April 14.
Rating: 2 out of 5
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FRAGMA – TOCA’S MIRACLE 2008: The only real miracle is how dance acts can keep recycling old material and grab high record sales. This was bad the first time, worse second time. The bland chorus “I need a miracle” just as easily replaced by “I need some ear plugs”. Needless to say, remixes are in abundance but none are any good. It’ll be one of the big dancefloor anthems of the super-club’s this summer but it really is a lame excuse for dance music. Avoid.
Rating: 1 out of 5
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MADONNA feat JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE – 4 MINUTES: Madonna continues to impress with her latest single, 4 Minutes, featuring a collaboration with Justin Timberlake (who really is getting about a bit). Featuring an urgent, funky and utterly pulsating beat, some tick tock cheekiness that’s surely a reference to the Confessions era, and production values from the likes of Timbaland and Pharrell Williams, it’s a dancefloor filler of effortlessly catchy proportions. If we’re being hard and critical (but hey, that’s our job), the track does borrow from the Nelly Furtado formula for success (especially in album form), but for the very reason that Furtado was able to enjoy such a successful comeback, this should ensure that Madonna’s status as the queen of pop remains unchecked for some time yet. It’s cool, of-the-moment and utterly infectious. We also like the brass backdrop (a touch of the Ronsons anyone?).
Rating: 4 out of 5
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AKALA – COMEDY TRAGEDY HISTORY: Comedy Tragedy History is the second release from Akala’s critically acclaimed second album Freedom Lasso and, true to form, it spits furious lyrics against a relentless electro sample from Baxter Baxter’s Straylight, together with an orgy of genre defying demonic beats straddling everything from drum‘n’bass to nu-rave. If that wasn’t enough, there’s even a live string quartet and live drums, while the lyrics play homage to literary genius Shakespeare. Whilst there’s no denying Akala’s ambition or songwriting cleverness, Comedy Tragedy History is actually undone by the weight of its ambition. It’s fast, furious and a little bit of a mess. That said, he still remains at the forefront of the urban music scene and the single itself must go down as a noble failure.
Rating: 2 out of 5
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