Music - Singles of the Week - Monday, June 1, 2009
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 1: KASABIAN – FIRE: Kasabian return to the fray with the anthemic lead single Fire – and it sounds like they’ve never been away. The track combines the swagger and attitude of their early material (not to mention Oasis) with the tempo changing that was more evident on their Empire album. Hence, there’s a Velvet Underground/Doors style feel to the verses, which are moody and slow-burning, before the chorus kicks things to life amid dancey synths and guitar riffs. Tom Meighan’s muffled lead vocals sound as confident as ever and bring with them an inimitable sense of style, while Gorillaz producer Dan The Automator’s production touches merely embellish the polished, slick sound of proceedings. It’s epic, anthemic and a rousing return.
Available in all formats
Rating: 4 out of 5
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SINGLE OF THE WEEK 2: THE MUMMERS – WONDERLAND: Fresh from their Later with Jools Holland performance, Brighton’s orchestral pop wonders The Mummers release an enchanting new single in the form of Wonderland, a perfect showcase for Raissa Khan-Panni undoubted skill as a performer and artist. Featuring lush, orchestral flourishes, kooky catchy melodies and a classic set of vocals that are delivered in proper diva/chillout style, this is a vivid daydream of a record that’s both cinematic in scope and thrillingly intimate. The name Wonderland is no coincidence as it will transport the listener to a wonderful musical wonderland of its own. The Mummers have been extremely busy of late… in addition to the single, and a debut album Tale To Tell (due for release on June 8) they’ve also been turning Passion Pit’s recent single Sleepyhead inside-out for a rather sublime cover-version. Trust us, you need to add this act to your immediate playlist.
Available in all formats
Rating: 4 out of 5
SINGLE OF THE WEEK 3: MATT AND KIM – LESSONS LEARNED: Matt and Kim are generating a lot of attention for this single, courtesy of the accompanying video that finds them stripping down to their birthday suits and going for a stroll in New York’s Times Square. It’s a clever ploy because it will get them noticed. And once they have you hooked, they’ll probably also grab you with their music. Lessons Learned employs soaring synths, a scatter-gun drum loop and some lush vocal harmonies to hook you before Matt delivers his full-speed vocals. It makes for a strangely appealing mix, especially as Kim’s serene, trippy, “la la la” style is perfect for easing you into a good mood and keeping you there. Expect the song to feature on the soundtrack to some cool indie feature film in the coming months, too. It has that smart kind of hip appeal attached to it. If you wanted to know who dared direct the video, then Taylor Cohen is the person responsible. Trust us, it’s well worth taking a revealing peek!
Available in all formats
Rating: 4 out of 5
Official website l Matt And Kim on MySpace
THE ANSWERING MACHINE – OBVIOUSLY COLD: Following quickly on from the success of recent single Cliffer, which saw The Answering Machine become the favourite new British band of choice across the UK radio airwaves and amongst the hardcore blogging fraternity, Manchester citygazers The Answering Machine unleash another indie dancefloor anthem in waiting, Obviously Cold. Fast, melodic, breezy and highly danceable, this is an effervescent charmer of a song that arrives like a blast of energy and a dizzying head-rush all rolled into one. The band have also recently been stealing shows across the country on tour with Ra Ra Riot and Casiokids with their hugely uplifting, indie-pop songs to become one of the most talked about young acts today. The forthcoming album plots a path from the exuberant party lifestyle into the dawn of youthful realisation, those steps in-between and ultimately what comes next. Blanketed in bittersweet lyricism, the songs are emotionally charged, and fizzing with a distinctly pop sensibility. Obviously Cold is the finest example of a band hitting full stride, and is set to send these four young Manchester residents stratospheric. You’ll be singing along with those “woo hoo hoo’s before you know it!
Available in all formats
Rating: 4 out of 5
POP LEVI – POLICE SI$N/TERRIFYING: After the glossy, almost baroque production of his second album, Never Never Love, Pop Levi decided that it was time to get back to basics. Recruting new drummer Hayden Scott and dragging along lieutenant and longtime bass player Lucky Beaches, Pop retreated to the Californian desert near Joshua Tree to spend his Christmas recording. The first results are Police Si$n and Terrifying – and immediately the results make you sit up and take notice. Rather than anything trippy or psychadelic, Pop has gone all garage rock with an amped up sound that’s beefier than anything he’s out out before. Police Si$n is rough blues and, in the singer’s own words, “about a roller-skating femme fatale who uses constabulary equipment to get what she wants!” It’s rocky, rousing and very strong. Terrifying, meanwhile, is dedicated to one of Pop’s heroes – underground filmmaker Kenneth Anger, and was written while watching his Invocation Of My Demon Brother. Over slashing guitar chords, Levi screams his love in a falsetto séance voice. It’s haunting, warped, aggressive and a clever change of direction from this talented and under-rated singer.
Available as a download
Rating: 4 out of 5
PLACEBO – FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH: If you can count on one thing in music, it’s that Placebo will return emphatically whenever they make a return with a new LP. Hence, For What It’s Worth, the first offering from their keenly-anticipated Battle For The Sun album, is a punchy guitar-driven anthem that really does deliver the good. The track kicks off amid a throbbing central guitar riff, before Molko drops those distinct vocals and some typically nonchalant lyrics… and then it explodes. It’s epic, layered, stop-start and rousing and a real rallying call to all Placebo fans out there to get out and support the album. On the evidence of this, it could be a really welcome return from them.
Available in all formats
Rating: 4 out of 5
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EMPIRE OF THE SUN – WE ARE THE PEOPLE: It only takes an act like MGMT to breakthrough in a big way with their new kind of sound for others to follow. Empire of the Sun, like Passion Pit to a certain extent, share many similarities with MGMT given their love of euphoric electronic pop and heightened, spacey melodies. If you were blindfolded and told just to listen to new single We Are The People without knowing who it is, you may well think it’s MGMT. Fortunately for Empire of the Sun, they’re every bit as good and this epic, trippy offering is a lush slice of chilled out folksy psychadelia that really does put your head in the right kind of place. Forget the odd make-up and even trippier video – on location in the towns of Garcia, Xilitla, and the Icamole Desert in Mexico – this remains catchy, endearing and more than a little “out there” – but in a positive kind of way.
Available in all formats
Rating: 4 out of 5
ENTER SHIKARI – JUGGERNAUTS: St Albans based Enter Shikari unleash Juggernauts as the first taster of what to expect from their sophomore album Common Dreads. It’s an oddity, taking the band’s hardcore and metallic roots and injecting them with a punishing hyperactive synth sequence that sounds a little out of keeping with the heavier guitars. Vocally, it’s also wildly all over the place, ranging from an almost cheeky chappy urban rap/talk to Goth-like wailing and typically exuberant rock flourishes. The overall result makes for a heady brew, but one that ultimately proves unsuccessful in spite of the invention that’s clearly gone into the song.
Available in all formats
Rating: 2 out of 5
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TI – WHATEVER YOU LIKE: Self-proclaimed King of the South, Ti releases Whatever You Like digitally and physically via Atlantic Records. Produced by Jim Jonson (Lil Wayne, Pretty Ricky), it has already enjoyed a phenomenally successful US release (where it became the biggest selling track of 2008 with well over 3 million downloads), and looks set to continue the trend here. It’s catchy when it comes to the chorus, particularly with the assistance of a children’s choir and a cheeky synth loop, but quite how it managed to become so successful is a bit of a mystery. It’s fun while it lasts, but kind of forgettable and there are far better hip-hop/R’n’B tracks out there.
Available in all formats
Rating: 3 out of 5
PET SHOP BOYS – DID YOU SEE ME COMING: The almost folksy guitar licks that herald the opening seconds of Pet Shop Boys’ latest single Did You See Me Coming are slightly deceptive, suggesting a change of direction before those trademark electronics kick in. After that, it’s a pretty ordinary and, yes, cheesy chart offering that’s loaded with melody and obvious sing-along sensibilities. The Pet Shop Boys know where their bread is buttered and have opted to keep things deliberately upbeat, as if to provide a musical pick-me-up to these worrying times. It’ll work for them and their legions of fans, but from an act who started out much darker than this with hits like West End Girls and Suburbia, this is disappointingly kitsch and cute.
Available in all formats
Rating: 2 out of 5
HOCKEY – LEARN TO LOSE: After taking the UK by storm with their co-headline tour alongside Passion Pit earlier this year, Hockey release their new single Learn To Lose from their forthcoming debut album Mind Chaos. Featuring disco-style jams, a self-consciously upbeat sense of melody and a shouty, catchy chorus, it’s an endearing slice of fun that continues to build on the reputation of this emerging band. It’s not quite as infectious as their breakthrough hit Too Fake, but it’s tailor-made for dancing along to in the warmer weather and even has enough grit about it to keep the right side of cheesy. Hockey are definitely one’s to watch as the year continues to progess.
Available in all formats
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
WAVE MACHINES – I GO I GO I GO: Described by its PR as being a slice of art rock disco brought to the boil with a Cash Converter keyboard and start-up drum kit, I Go I Go I Go is the sound of Wave Machines at their most catchy and endearing. From instinctive fits and starts of guitar, cowbell and drum loops, the song blossoms into a sparkling hook of mirrorball guitar that really gets under your skin and refuses to budge. Its funky, playful and downright flirty style may have a DIY sensibility, but it’s also a warm, breezy summer offering that’s great for playing loud and letting yourself go to. Ironically, it received a limited edition release on the Chess Club label last year, selling out before the records arrived from the pressing plant. It’s since been picked up by the likes of Xfm and Radio 1 – and deservedly so. This Merseyside four-piece clearly has bags of potential and deserves the second airing and huge success that should follow.
Available in all formats
Rating: 4 out of 5
GHOSTCAT – THIS IS A BUST: Ghostcat claim to be influenced by Madonna in her many incarnations, Trevor Horn, Some Girls era Rolling Stones during their dirty disco phase and others. Lyrically, Ali Cat found inspiration in the straight-talking bravado of 90’s female rappers such as Foxy Brown and Lil Kim and this unfussy, sassy approach is evident all over the bouncy This Is A Bust, a real calling card of a single. Featuring a thumping back-beat, some rollicking guitar riffs and synth stabs, and a volatile set of vocals (which implore you “to put your hands up”), this is lively, fast-paced and really rather rousing in a good way. What’s more, it’s also the kind of track that grows on you the more you hear it. It’s sexy fuzz-rock from an act who are clearly going places – they also recently featured with two songs in the new French indie film Stretch, which debuted at the recent Cannes Film Festival.
Available in all formats
Rating: 4 out of 5
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TIGERS THAT TALKED – BLACK HEART, BLUE EYES EP: Tigers That Talked – aka TTT – possess the ramshackle folk rock of The Arcade Fire, while being influenced by the filmic elegance of Sigur Ros and The Cure. And that’s just their PR saying it! After a number of self-released Eps, they pushed out their debut single proper last year and it quickly became Steve Lamacq’s record of the week and was hailed by Zane Lowe and Colin Murray. New EP Black Heart, Blue Eyes provides evidence of why they’re turning so many heads. It’s a rousing, tempo-changing and extremely busy offering that fully demonstrates the breadth of their skill. Lead track Black Heart, Blue Eyes is particularly endearing… shifting tempos, layering on the instruments and vocals to seamless effect, and trading on its folk and rock roots in cavalier fashion. It’s a fearless recording that grabs your attention and refuses to let go. In contrast, Smokescreen comes over all dusky and bluesy… slowing the tempo right down to prove they can deliver relaxing music that’s as expert in what it does as their more ambitious moments. It slow-builds and again layers the instruments, but it’s low-key in comparison to its predecessor and is the longest track on the EP – a quiet epic. The Electric Press and Duet are also worth hearing – the latter, in particular, wearing its cinematic sensibilities on its sleeve from the outset.
Available in all formats
Rating: 4 out of 5
THE RAKES – THAT’S THE REASON: Taken from the band’s third album Klang, released earlier this year, The Rakes release That’s The Reason as a download only single. Both single and album were recorded at Planet Roc Studios in Berlin and produced by Chris Zane (Les Savy Fav, The Walkmen, Passion Pit), and his production skills help transform what could have been an average track into something with a little bit more zip. Admittedly, the song takes a while to get going, but by the time it hits the sing-along chorus, you should be completely won over. There are shades of Franz Ferdinand in the vocals and angular guitars, but the chorus is much more lively and infectious than anything FF have produced in a while, and guaranteed to deliver a real head-rush of a good time. Klang is The Rakes’ most critically acclaimed album to date, receiving rave reviews across the board, and tracks like That’s The Reason are evidence of why.
Available as a digital single only
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
BILLY NEWTON-DAVIS VS DEADMAU5 – ALL YOU EVER WANT: Toronto’s premiere party label, Play Records, deliver another slice of big room electro house that should be an ever-present on the Ibiza/Cream scene this summer. And that’s not really a good thing. All You Ever Want, featuring Billy Newton-Davis vs Deadmau5, is a pretty generic electro house offering that never really gets going. Dance enthusiasts will probably take to its energy and repetitive vocals, but sadly it’s a lame offering that shows up everything that’s bland about the modern dance scene… and the Ibiza one in particular. When it was released in Canada, All You Ever Want won the award for Best Dance Recording at the 2008 Juno Awards and for this release package, Deadmau5 lends his ‘skills’ to three tougher, edgier remixes with eyes fully on the grittier dance floors. There’s also remixes from Pete Tong favourite J Tease, Jackson Q, Nino Anthony and Amsterdam’s Arjuna Schiks. As a dance package, you can’t complain I suppose… but you have to like the house/dance scene, otherwise it’s pretty interminable.
Available in all formats
Rating: 2 out of 5
N-DUBZ – WOULDN’T YOU: Fresh from their No.1 hit withg Tinchy Stryder N-Dubz release new single Wouldn’t You as a digital single. Taken from their platinum album Uncle B and written and produced by the band, the track is notable for mixing street chat with R’n’B tones. There’s even an Eastern influence in some of the instrumentals. But while N-Dubz deserve praise for at least attempting to bring something new to their musical genre, Wouldn’t You ultimately goes down as an honourable failure as the mix of styles just didn’t work for us. The street rap is particularly grating and doesn’t sit that comfortably alongside the much smoother and more soulful R’n’B elements. That said, it’s no stretch, and hardly a surprise, to have heard N-Dubz labelled the British Black Eyed Peas. If you like them, you should check this act out too.
Available as a digital download
Rating: 2 out of 5
SMUDGE – WHERE I GO AT NIGHT EP: Smudge are a five-piece rock/alternative pop band from Wigan and Manchester who have already supported bands such as You Me At Six, Gallows and Aiden. The band were also selected to perform as part of the international Taste of Chaos tour in both 2007 and 2008. Their new EP Where I Go At Night reportedly showcases their ability to consistently delivering soaring melodies with big choruses and pounding drums. Sadly, while the guitar work is occasionally impressive, the songs themselves are not. The problem is they just sound a little too samey when compared with the very same acts they’ve supported, and bigger bands such as Green Day and Billy Talent. Jack Valentine doesn’t have a bad set of vocals but at the moment they’re a little wasted on this run-of-the-mill songwriting. If you had to pick out a track on the EP, then Speechless is more radio-friendly and jiggy than most. But The Thrill, The Ride is a basic rocker and We Are The Night loud and brash without being anywhere near as spectacular as they’d like to think.
Available as a digital download
Rating: 2 out of 5
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