Savages

Every once in awhile something comes along that absolutely blows you away *. Whether music, art, or film. We’ve all experienced it. That really rather fucking special feeling. The first time I read anything by Hunter S. Thompson; at 15 when my Dad gave me the Pixies’ Surfer Rosa; the moment I finally ‘got’ Trout Mask Replica. You know what I mean. Back in February, on a night when I was there to see another band, I fell in love with Savages. Remember the name, and trust me, this year will be theirs.

Savages are Jehnny Beth (vocals), Gemma Thompson (guitar), Ayse Hassan (bass), and Fay Milton (drums). Yes, 4 girls, making the kind of music that most men can only dream of. Raw, violent and utterly electrifying. Ever since my housemate introduced me to Bauhaus last year, I’ve been waiting, hoping, praying for a band to come along and give me a similar shot in the arm, a rush of pure untempered post-punk energy. In That Flat Field era. Less theatrical, more immediate. And not afraid to go against the grain of formal song structure. Savages (such a fitting name) are one of the most complete young bands I’ve ever come across. And no, I’m not exagerrating for effect.

Where to start. In vocalist Jehnny, perhaps a classic jolie laide (look it up), they possess a strikingly intriguing frontwoman. Intense and self-possessed, there is an emotive force in her approach that says to me Annette Peacock (check this). Visually she reminds me most of Julie Driscoll though, a similar sophisticated cool. And it’s this marrying of styles that makes her so utterly magnetic. Dark and thoughtful, she twists her way through the music, cutting in and out of Gemma’s harsh serrated guitar lines. At once both lyrical and discordant, sparse and sharp. Pick scrapes, feedback and violent echoes are never far away. And yet it never feels like a put on. This isn’t just show. Her guitar almost sings. And for me there’s real feeling behind the way she plays.

On the other side of the band, drummer Fay and bassist Ayse both demand our attention every bit as much as their counterparts. Fay’s pounding, tribal drum beats - quick fire and off-kilter - bring something else to the band. Steeped in dance/garage roots, there’s an edge to her drumming that sees her standout and burst through with a real immediacy. She is as far from a classic indie/rock drummer as you might get, and yet that’s exactly what makes her the perfect fit. While Ayse’s heavy basslines almost sit at the forefront of it all, simulataneously dirty and grooving. She’s a hell of a bassist. And together with Fay, they effortlessly shift the band’s sound from something otherwise jagged and piercing, to driving and dancey, and then back again.

But it’s all about how they play off against eachother. It’s that chemistry which makes them such a dangerous prospect. Surely one of the most exciting young bands to come out of London in a long long while. They approach it all with such clarity and belief in who they are and what they’re striving for. And it’s this intellegence behind their music that makes it and them so so special.

I’m still looking for the right words to sum up just how much this band has already affected me. Holy Jesus! I get goosebumps when I listen to them. (This is where I go Gonzo). They did more than just steal my heart that night, they tore my insides out and burned me up. A timely reminder of just how much I love young music………………no point in mentioning the bats.

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Listen to their debut single here. And make sure you catch them at the Shacklewell Arms next week (May 28th). You won’t regret it. I’ll be out there in front. Most likely filming.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Farewell and Goodnight (part two)

Continued from Part One.

One year on, Show Your Bones was quickly followed by another EP in the shape of Is Is, a release that would take the band back to basics with a return to the raw, uncompromising and aggressive approach of early YYYs material. Opening with ‘Rockers to Swallow’ we are instantly hit with Karen O’s rasping yelping vocals playing against Zinner’s own typically abrasive jagged guitar howls (well and truly shedding the acoustic guitar), all the while Chase throws his heaviest and most penetrating drumming to date at us. Apocalyptic, quite possibly. Whilst ‘Down Boy’ represents a bridging of the gap between their previous two efforts, the middle ground between Show Your Bones and Fever To Tell. As sharp and seductive as ‘Gold Lion’, without losing any of the visceral power and sexual drive of tracks like ‘Date With the Night’.

Is Is points us in another direction, one that never was. Made up of songs written in 2004, this is the rightful follow up to Fever To Tell. Out of control and over the top, this is Karen at the peak of her energy. Darker, balanced and as ferocious as ever. Their most cohesive and focused release to date. It reignited my faith in the band.

In the build up to their third studio album, It’s Blitz!, we’d all seen the interviews, Nick Zinner was to continue what had started with Show Your Bones and take a further step away from the guitar. This time picking up the synth or at the least a guitar that would sound distinctly like a synth. How could they take this guitarist away from us? I once heard Nick Zinner’s guitar described as one of the most dangerous weapons in rock. And it really was. As incisive and inventive as it was brutal and noisy. You wondered how one man could kick up so much of a racket. Without doubt, one of my favourite modern day guitarists. I was in shock. And I know I wasn’t alone.

Still, I wasn’t going to give up on them yet. They were still my band. And I had to trust that they knew what they were doing. The album opens with singles ‘Zero’ and ‘Heads Will Roll’, both hits that were always waiting to happen and yet lacking almost everything that made the YYYs so special when they first burst onto the scene in 2002. The messy garage-punk swapped for a far more polished synth-pop sound. Chase simply chugs along through much of the album, offering little of the creative and non-conformist drumming we’d become so accustomed to on their previous efforts. While newly disarmed Zinner, now oddly in charge of “drum-programming” too, is at times almost a footnote to what ultimately feels like a Karen O solo project.

Runaway (headphones compulsory) is one of the few tracks that hints at what they are all still capable of, giving me a last glimmer of hope that the band I love are still in there somewhere. A slow burner with a hauntingly eerie and atmospheric feel. The keys and violin are (just this once) a welcome addition, but here crucially not at the expense of Zinner’s soaring layered guitar sound and Chase’s thundering beats. Progressive as it takes us in a new and interesting direction. Similarly ‘Dull Life’ has a good drive to it, with Zinner let loose on guitar just one more time. And though incomplete in feel, ‘Shame and Fortune’ tries to present a more interesting sinister side to the sound.

But for an old time fan, it is an album that ultimately hurts for me to listen through. Even now after all these years. What the album makes apparent is that this isn’t really the Yeah Yeah Yeahs anymore. The addition of 4 bonus acoustic tracks giving the clearest indication that this is much more about Karen now. Of course, she was always going to be the main focal point. But when I first picked up on them they were all so important to the band. Each playing off the other. Without one the whole sound would collapse. Karen used her voice like no other I’d heard before her, more than a way to emote feeling to an audience, it was her instrument. She could be just as loud and abrasive as anything or anybody out there. And as she twisted and turned, in and out of Zinner’s guitar lines, mimicking, jostling, and dueling. A star was born. And in Nick Zinner she had an equal. Someone not afraid to stand up to her, to wield the guitar in a utterly unpredictable manner, simultaneously carnal and precise. Finally we had Brian Chase, the metronome, his pseudo-jazz drumming bringing it all together to create one of the most exciting three-pieces you’re likely to see in a long time. Each member representing one “Yeah”.

From New York’s underground to the reaches of the mainstream. They made their choices. I don’t want to criticise them anymore. I’d rather remember them for what they were. There was no other band like them, they were incomparible, fresh, explosive and not afraid of doing or saying whatever the fuck they wanted. They were an unstoppable force…at least I thought so at the time. Now, I can only dream of what might have been.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Farewell and Goodnight (part one)

Once upon a time, I fell for a rather oddly named band called the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. I was completely obsessed with them. I owned all their albums (and EPs), I saw them live anytime I could, I would pick up every single magazine that even mentioned their name, I had their 2002 John Peel Session recorded straight off the radio. And to top it all off, I was madly in love with Karen O (weren’t we all). Then, something changed.

Let’s wind back a little. I think it was 2001 and I was reading an interview with Sonic Youth where Kim and Thurston called (relative unknowns) the Yeah Yeah Yeahs the future of the New York scene. They were on my list, that was for sure. So I rushed onto Youtube and Myspace to see what I could find out about them. Oh…right, neither of these actually exist. So, I waited. In the meantime, an interview from underground anti-heroes the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion again urged us to watch out for them.

In July 2002 I finally got my first taste of the YYYs, picking up an Uncut Magazine compilation which opened with ‘Miles Away’. I remember excitedly running to my dad to tell him that this was the band Sonic Youth had tipped all that while ago. I must have listened to it 100 times over. Those screeching breathy vocals were unforgettable, matched only by a spiky off the wall guitar sound and pounding off-kilter drum beats. I was completely hooked.

I quickly picked up their self-titled debut EP Yeah Yeah Yeahs. And that was that. This was my new favourite band. Sexual, violent, raw, dirty, energetic, sleazy, and so much more. This was garage-punk re-invented for a whole new generation (fuck The Hives). Somewhere between The Stooges and Teenage Jesus and the Jerks. Karen O could almost be the bastard child of Iggy and Lydia. Spitting with attitude, no regrets, no holds barred, she shows us all just what women can do in music. 

And no song sums this up better than ‘Art Star’, a 2 minute journey into the depths of insanity as screams of “AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRTTTTTT STAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRR” jar with the innocent and sweet little “doo-doo-doos” playing off and mimicking Nick Zinner’s angular zig zag guitar lines.

Follow up full-length Fever To Tell continued where they’d left off, with their sound expanding and becoming much bolder. In Nick Zinner, they had a guitarist that sounded like no-one I’d heard before. Simulataneously wild, offbeat, ice cold and very much on the edge/at the brink. His duels with Karen throughout the album defined the band’s sound. While Brian Chase’s jazz infused drumming style begins to take on a new form, braver and more playful, unconventional in the rock genre. Each member as crucial as the next in taking their music to the next level. Songs like ‘Tick’ and ‘Date With The Night’ capture the frenetic, savagery of their live shows, while ‘Pin’, ‘Y Control’ and ‘Rich’ are a little subtler yet no less fiery. The album has it’s ups and downs, but it underlined just how big their sound was. And I mean that in ever sense of the word. The hype was completely justified.

And in single ‘Maps’, they had one of the most beautiful yet deeply cutting rock tracks of the decade. A bittersweet love song that showed us a more vulnerable side to the uncompromising beer-spitting frontwoman that Karen O had put forward up until this point.

It would be 3 years until we saw a second album in Show Your Bones, marked by what was said to be a “pretty dark period” (Zinner) for the band. According to Spin Magazine in an interview with the band prior to the album’s release, it is suggested that two records were made and two band members stopped feeling the same way about eachother. Direct quotes from both Nick and Karen point to a tension between the two, with a friendship that was very much on the verge. Each of them pulling in a completely different direction.

We are left with a record which feels slightly disjointed, with a more mature sound attempting to develop/assert itself, and stretching the band in some unexpected ways. The introduction of acoustic guitar and keys throughout the album present us with much more of a Pop sound, at times even slipping into folk. Though both Zinner and Chase push the music in a darker grittier direction on songs such as Fancy and (bonus track) Deja Vu. While Karen’s vocals are surprisingly versatile at times. Gold Lion and Warrior stand out in particular. The wailing, howling, and rampaging of old is pretty much gone though, and even as Karen screams and growls in the closing seconds of Mysteries, it all feels a bit forced.

I like Show Your Bones. It’s a good album, but it all just feels a little lacklustre. The beats are straighter, the riffs are cleaner, and Karen has let go of much of the unhinged angst-ridden rock star that stole our hearts. This is good pop, by far better than much of what was around at the time, but it wasn’t the sonically daring garage-rock trio I fell in love with. I have nothing against pop - I consider the Pixies the greatest alt-pop band of all time - but I couldn’t help but feel disappointed by this album. It was just missing that ‘edge’ that early Yeah Yeah Yeahs always had.

To be continued…

Sserpress

Okay, that last piece took a lot out of me. I’ve been seeing a lot of gigs of late too, and all I want to say is long live the 90’s. This next band are probably one of my best kept secrets. Very few seem to know the name, yet once you hear it it’s damn impossible to forget. Sserpress. Say it aloud. S-U-P-P-R-E-S-S. I can’t stop myself. But enough wordplay, let’s get onto the music.

Loud, abrasive, and riff intensive. These guys are totally up my street. And despite having just two demos to their name, they’re already coming into their sound. Mixing that lethal combination of metal riffs, garage fuzz and punk attitude, they leave us with what we’ve now come to know as grunge. It’s hard to put a finger on who they remind me of, but I’m tempted to say Mudhoney - one of the early forbearers of Sub Pop grunge. Snarling, grimey, and spitting with attitude. They have a similar drive to their music, every ounce dripping with aggression, with Don Penny’s almost primal vocals leading the way and centering around one of the most fearsome drummers I’ve heard in a long while - dare I say Dave Grohl-esque.

They may not be quite there yet, but I just think they’re really something fucking special. These are the long surpressed children of grunge. Let the rise of doom continue.

2012: the sounds to take to the end of the world

It’s 2012, the world is ending and somehow it feels like I’m living in the FUTURE. We got the video calling and 3D movies, but I’m still waiting for my hoverboard. Sigh. Anyway, it’s that time of the year again. Yes, it’s painful to see myself involved in the annual tipping fair, but I just can’t turn down the chance to give you an insight into some of the bands that will have my closest attention this coming year. So, here we are. These are my sounds to take to the end of the world………and back, I hope.

///// Screaming Females /////

They are quite probably my favourite (living) band, the ones that kicked this whole music blogging lark off for me. Screaming Females make the kind of lo-fi garage rock that reminds me of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs in their early days, before Nick Zinner put down his guitar. Raw, energetic and slightly off the wall. Bordering on the possessed, in frontwoman Marissa Paternoster they have one of the most talented young guitarists in rock. Matched by an incredibly tight (yet expressive) band, with drummer Jarrett and bassist Mike playing the metronome, Marissa is given the space to let loose and explode into a solo at any given moment. Her tough yet piercing vocal cutting across the music, and adding yet another layer to their sound.

Screaming Females - New Song (live on WFMU)

With their fifth album set for release in April 2012, recorded by Steve Albini, let me repeat STEVE fucking ALBINI, there is a hell of lot to look forward to. For those of you who don’t know (if I had my way you’d all be shot), he was responsible for the Pixies’ Surfer Rosa, PJ Harvey’s Rid of Me, and Nivana’s In Utero, amongst many of the most ferocious guitar albums of the 90’s. A match made in heaven. I can’t fucking wait.

///// Soko /////

I may appear to only listen to guitar music, but in actual fact my tastes are pretty diverse. I can enjoy anything from African music to electro. Soko is neither though. Singer-songwriter Stéphanie Sokolinski first burst onto the scene in 2007, creating a real stir, and soon touring with the likes of M.I.A., Pete Doherty, Daniel Johnston and Kate Nash. But in January 2009, she declared herself ‘dead’ via her myspace page, citing pressures from the music industry.

Soko - I´ll Kill Her

I remember stumbling on her and being absolutely blown away at the time. She had that classic French je ne sais quoi, both musically and visually. Out of the box and far away from any ‘pop star’ mould. Five years on and Soko is back - “ready to be a new man” - with her debut album I Thought I Was An Alien due out on February 6th 2012.

There are shades of (early) Regina Spektor about her. Although, here, we trade the piano for an acoustic guitar. And a vocal style which skips back and forth between spoken word, both delicate and angsty, with a lustful French enounciation shaping her every word. Lyrically less playful than her earlier material, there is far more darkness here as she tells us of her battles with demons, fallen relationships and loneliness.

It’s been a long wait, but her debut is sure to be one of the most interesting releases of 2012. Forget Lana Del Rey, let’s just hope we never lose Soko again.

///// Purson /////

In almost a complete u-turn, next in line are London witch rock quartet Purson who’s sound lies somewhere between psychedlia, folk, and prog, with a smattering of doom thrown in. You’d be forgiven for thinking they’d walked straight out of the 70’s. Channeling the likes of Black Sabbath and Coven.

In 21 year-old Rosalie Cunningham, they have a compelling frontwoman and one of the most enchanting voices I’ve heard in a long time. And with a strong band wrapped tightly around her, their best songs wind, build and layer upon themselves. Purson are one those discoveries that don’t come around too often. They have a bit more to go yet, but all the signs are there. They are capable of creating something truly spellbinding. A debut which could well be one of the breakthroughs of 2012.

Wool (new recording) by Purson

Spiderwood Farm by Purson

And given the impending apocalypse, it may just be the perfect time for London to oversee the rise of doom, sludge and stoner rock. Amongst others, Throne, Old Forest and Lasers From Atlantis are sure to be a part of this. These are some of my favourite young bands right here. Expect to see more from them on here in the coming year.

///// DeLooze /////

Talking about rising themes in music, I wonder if we’re about to witness a new era of female fronted bands taking centre stage. I think it’s about time. And so I move onto the music of Stacey Delooze. An artist who I’ve been holding back on for far too long now, having first picked up on her in late 2010. Two years on and we’re nearing the release of her debut album Glass Army.

Delooze make the kind of music I’m tempted to describe as stadium rock. Big, bold and daring. Singer and guitarist Stacey has something very special about her. I find myself awestruck when I see them in the flesh. With a vocal style which is almost operatic at times, she puts everything into her performance, at times visibly showing the emotional scars behind her songs. Singularly one of the most powerful and beautiful voices you’re likely to hear this year. The slow building nature of their songs, deploying a soft-hard dynamic, and their expansive approach to rock and pop remind me most of Muse, with Matt Bellamy’s own operatic vocals serving as an interesting parallel.

If this girl doesn’t get signed up then I might just start to wonder ‘what is the point?’.

The History of Apple Pie: Single Launch

So…it’s been a year of TATW blogging. In this time I’ve told you about 26 different bands and used the word fuck, fucking or fucked 20 times. Long may it continue. It’s my favourite journalistic word for emphasising. Anyway. I want to come back to a band I last wrote about in January, who I caught live (and filmed) last Wednesday for their single launch at the Shacklewell Arms. They are The History of Apple Pie and they play guitar driven indie-pop at it’s most innovative, intelligent and offbeat.

I’ve been a big admirer of theirs for a long time now, but I hadn’t seen them live since March. I arrived a little into a set from the support Old Forest - one of my favourite young bands in London. Still so raw in many ways, yet everytime I see them they throw something else at me. Tonight it was a new-ish song called Ned that showed a more patient side developing, a slow building guitar solo, which went as far as to remind me of Sonic Youth - in their own sludged up way. Barely 17-18, if I didn’t love them so much, I’d be sickened by how much potential they have.

OLD FOREST - NED

THOAP were up next, a growing crowd in wait, they blazed into their set with Strange Turn of Events. I was only half considering filming them to begin with, but after one song I was sold. I soon realised that in these last 8 months they’d turned from a group of shy talented kids into a band with the potential to make a real mark on music. And they believed it too. Every part of this band had progressed in some way. Guitarist Jerome Watson had something very special about him that night. Like a young Thurston Moore, hair flopping over his eyes, a slightly introverted demeanor. His playing is anything but. Totally self-assured, completely focused and in control, yet so incredibly free and creative in how he wields the guitar. Would it be taking it too far to talk about poetry? Possibly. Perfectly matched by the band around him, he’s given the space he needs to express himself, cutting loose at any given moment, and yet we never lose sense of the song structure. Few guitarists walk this line with so much ease.

Stephanie Min’s vocals burst through in a way that they never had before, singing and even moving across the stage (and into the audience) with a real belief in herself. As she should, with a sweet yet piercing vocal style reminiscent of Kim Deal and Bilinda Butcher. If ever it seems like Jerome is about to go off the page, Stephanie is always right there to pull him back down to earth. It’s in this way that I find myself drawn to Fuzzy (I Want More), with it’s slower pace, incredibly catchy hook, visceral guitars, and beautiful (clever) vocal harmonies. All building up to an explosion of My Bloody Valentine-esque fuzzed up guitars. There are signs here of a darker edge to their sound, one which I’d like to hear them develop more on record.

I hate the way superlatives are thrown around so easily in music, but this band deserve every word. They utterly blew me away that night. One of the best live perfomances I’ve seen from a young London band in awhile.

If these guys don’t get picked up then the music industry truly is fucked.

Pick up their latest single Mallory here from Rough Trade.

Lasers From Atlantis

I’ve been feeling a bit restless today. The fact that my flat is totally trashed and I don’t even want to leave my room probably isn’t helping. Halloween tsk. So I thought I’d put some words to the page. There are always plenty of bands in my mind, and the list just keeps growing. Somehow nothing’s quite satisfying me today though. Maybe my housemate’s doom metal playlist from the night before is to blame, but I’m craving something with a little more depth. 3 minutes just isn’t enough. So, it’s time I told you about a band that don’t quite fit in anyone’s ‘scene’ right now.

Lasers From Atlantis are Theo, Volkan, Aubrey and Pat, making up vocals, synths, guitars and drums between them. They first surfaced in 2008, quickly picking up shows with the likes of Bo Ningen and Invasion, and sitting very comfortably between them with a sound that’s half doom metal, half psychedlia. Since then they’ve been a little patchy with their appearances, but with a recent clutch of live dates, some new songs seeping through and a full album seemingly on the horizon, they may well be ready to pick up from where they left off. And for our sakes, I hope they’ll stick around a little longer this time.

Lasers From Atlantis - Smoke Signals by Tearing at the Walls

Now, some advice, take your time. This is headphone music. The kind you want to turn the fuck up, sit back to, listen all the way through and soak up. 13 minute Smoke Signals isn’t going to blow you away in the first few minutes, but if you immerse yourself fully in their sound, these noise-scapes, you’ll find the deepest of riches lie within.

Psychic Allies has something else about it, a step in another direction for the band, hooking you straight in with thumping quick-fire drum beats, before cooling down, and coming back at you once again. Harrowing wails, never-ending riffs, spaced out synths, and that ever-present bass line bursting through and evolving. Building, overlaying, interconnecting. At times almost droning, but always progressive. They are never out of control of what they’re crafting and where they’re taking their music. And if Psychic Allies is anything to go by, we have a lot to look forward to when the album finally hits earth. I see so much potential here. And I’m excited.

Man-flu

It’s time, it’s fucking time. I’ve been holding back on this one for too long. They are the band that are exciting me most right now in London. Impossible to label. I’d gladly use any of the following words to describe them - experimental, DIY, raw, carnivorous, untempered, eccentric, fiery, unhinged, and noisy. They are Man-flu. A bunch of misfits with members from countries as far reaching as Kazakhstan, France, Japan, England and America.

Man-flu are Aza (vocals), Dudu (bass), Pip (guitar), Sakiko (keys) and Will (drums), and they play through a hybrid of styles ranging from goth, post punk, no wave, surf and prog-rock. There is no clean description. Nothing is ever easy with Man-flu. And that’s the point. There is a real layering in their sound, as they push at the boundaries and bring the unexpected together. No waiting. They are making their own space. At the nucleus of the band sits drummer Will who’s unrelenting beats drive their whole sound forward, with keyboardist Sakiko and bassist Dudu adding further solidity and kick, giving guitarist Pip and singer Aza the necessary room to express themsleves and at times cut loose from formal song structure.

On stage, the band are fearsome - bursting with energy and immediacy - with performance at the heart of everything they do. A real chemistry between singer and guitarist adding another dimension. Aza is like some kind of caged animal, just released, almost spitting with attitude, her presence is both sexually charged and intimidating. Whilst Pip often appears colder, more thoughtful and intense, almost brooding, yet very much on the edge throughout. Both equally fascinating as they duel and jostle for dominance. It’s all a game though, or is it? I can never really tell. [Check out their 10 minute epic Tek below - shot by TATW in February]

Man-flu bring together that old equation of Sex, Death and Rock n’ Roll. And so they come to remind me most of The Velvet Underground. Musically, they’re a whole other band, but in spirit there’s something here. They represent that same fascination people have with the bizarre, the decadent, the degraded, the depraved and the dangerous. They are counter-culture. And I fucking love them for it.

Catch them at the Bull & Gate in Kentish Town this Friday (16th) at 9pm. I’ll be there, right at the front.

Gross Magic

So, what can I say. It’s been a while. I needed to take a little time off to work a few things out, not to mention getting some holiday time. Even workaholics need a break. But I’m back now, I promise. There’s too much talent out there for me to just put this down. So let’s get on with this. I want to tell you about a band who are fast picking up that dreaded tag of ‘the next big thing’. They are Gross Magic. And let me just say, I fucking love that name.

Brighton based Gross Magic is Sam McGarrigles’ latest project, accompanied by willing accomplices Will Barr and Joe Murphy. And they make lo-fi Pop, with maybe a dash of glam and a hint of grunge mixed in. I’ve heard they’ve even coined the term ‘Glunge’ for their sound. Awesome.

Gross Magic - Can’t Ignore My Heart

Now, without wanting to sound as though I’m flexing my musical muscles, I first came across Sam a few years back when he was involved in a band called Owls (I must be feeling kind, as I won’t be embarassing him with a link). They were mostly all over the place, but there was something about them, enough to lead me to his next project. Hocus Tocus. Dreamy, fuzzy and a little bit like a boy-fronted Best Coast. I saw them play a couple of times and I met Sam myself, a year or so ago now. It’s strange, sometimes you meet someone and you just know they have something about them, Sam was exactly that. I wasn’t sure he quite had it right with Hocus Tocus, but I knew that this guy would make it one day. You could see it in his eyes. Determination, belief and even a hint of star quality. And not arrogant, not at all, just completely self-assured.

Gross Magic - Dream Gurl

And now, here we are with Gross Magic. A project that might just be the outlet needed to finally see him reach those heights. Despite a very definite feel of the 90’s via their own audacious mix of ‘Glunge’, for me this is really all about Pop, off-kilter to the extreme and teetering the edge, but still very much Pop. The very best of it. Think how the Pixies tackled Pop and you’ve got the idea. Packed full of super cool synths, guitars simultaneously playful, almost groovy (can I use that word?) and grunge-tinged, joyously sweet vocals and painfully catchy hooks. It’s a sound that is sure to warm even the most cold hearted of you.

While ‘Sweetest Touch’ is surely a contender for the sleeper hit of the Summer - if only it would stop raining. Absolute Pop perfection and I don’t say this lightly. Incredibly addictive listening. I’m seriously running out of superlatives here. All I want to do is fall in love and listen to this song on repeat.

Just go and fucking listen to them now. Teen Jamz EP.

Pet Scenes: EP Review

I’m almost scared to look at my own blog, because I know I’ve been away from here for far too long now. My life got a little too hectic for a time there, but I could never leave this place forever. I’ve missed these little moments of self-reflection, of fighting to find a way to describe the music I love and of sharing it with the few followers I have. Enough romanticizing. I’m here to talk about a new EP that just fell into my (digital) lap.

It’s not all that long ago since I first told you (here) about Pet Scenes, but with the pleasure of three new tracks via their debut EP ‘Funk’, I have good reason to come back to them. Let’s start with a little refresher though. Londoners Pet Scenes make what I want to call confrontational rock, with hints of post-punk and a smidgen of surf - grimy, sweaty, sleazy, primal and pretty damn violent. The kind of band Steve Albini would have wet dreams over. Sonically they lie somewhere in between The Stooges, Jesus Lizard and The Cramps.

Dell Sez by Pet Scenes

So, onto the EP. And with an empty house, the volume is up ridiculously LOUD - the way this kind of music is meant to be heard. “Purple Old” is a perfect introduction to the band. Furious, messy and fast-paced rock. Even if I do feel it ends a bit too soon. “Dell SEZ” has something else about it though, forever fierce in sound, but there’s more patience here. Tribal drums, (initially) hushed vocals and harsh swirling guitars are each given time to build, with a kind of tension swelling up. A touch of ‘loud quiet loud’ in approach. Finally, “Habit” flies straight in with a rock sound which is yet further deconstructed, visceral guitars fighting for position amongst the chaos, rasping vocals overlapping and shouting as if gasping for air. A fitting end to the release.

Habit by Pet Scenes

Needless to say, I like this EP. But at the same time, it isn’t perfect, it’s a sound that is clearly developing - both lyrically and musically - and there is still a sense of incompleteness in certain places. I mentioned patience and I’d like to hear them play on that in the future, particularly in broaching the 3-4 minute barrier. Just like The Stooges, who never lost any of their raw power (eugh) on their lengthier tracks, I’d like to hear what they could do with a little more room to breathe. And if my instincts are right, they’d fucking blow us all away.

Check them out live here this Wednesday (6th) at the Macbeth, 9pm ish so I hear. A night that by some coincidence I’ll be DJing, so expect anything from The Stooges, Bauhaus, Sonic Youth, Television, Teenage Jesus and more.

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And grab your free download of ‘Funk’, which is released today.