Singles + EPs

Single Review Shorts: August 18-25

[Artist: October]
[Single: Houston / Listen, Move, Dance]
[Label: Caravan #CVAN005]

Julian Smith aka DJ October’s latest offering on the Caravan imprint takes up from where his last 12” ended. October is championing the broken beat techno/minimal sound at the moment and Houston / Listen, Move, Dance is no exception. ‘Houston’ is a slow-building track full of stuttering vocal samples, loose percussion build-ups, and synths reminiscent of his last release on this label. The track finally manages to drop in around the 5-minute mark (I am not sure whether that is industry standard or not?) with a subtle synth line, and reaches some sort of climax two minutes later with the sound of “Houston!, Houston!, Houston!, Houston!” Without stepping away from the sound of previous releases this track is somewhat disappointing. It fails to really grab your attention. On the B-side ‘Listen, Move, Distance’ is the opposite. It is a straight-forward, well-produced track, made for the dance floor. Word has it that many DJ’s are currently spinning advanced copies of this, and I am not surprised. Instead of being linear and atmospheric like Houston, ‘Listen…’ has a strong steady thumping tempo to which layers of keys, vinyl static and pops weave their way around the loops. It really is a cleverly-made track and one to listen out for.

For Fans Of: 2 Dollar Egg, Magda, Tim Green
Band Link: October
Release Date: 25 Aug
Reviewer: Rich E

[Artist: Severe Zero]
[Single: Silence On The Radio]
[Label: Unsigned]

With their own recording studio to hand, Devon’s Severe Zero are able to spend plenty of time perfecting their punk-rock punches and this single certainly packs plenty of them in. Yet, it’s not all flagrant aggression - with an element of emotive croon about the vocal, and a frog-hopping bass on display, they will be able to invade the conscience of the indie rock fan aswell. The gargled guitar set-up primes the drums to piston through and with lyrics of the calibre of “Don’t be scared of me / the digital rampage / I can download anything” there’s plenty to admire.

For Fans Of: The Bronx, Beatsteaks, Hot Water Music
Band Link: Severe Zero
Release Date: 18 Aug
Reviewer: John Skibeat

[Artist: Paul Weller]
[Single: All I Wanna Do (Is Be With You) / Push It Along]
[Label: Island]

The Modfather at 50 years young and still going strong. This double-A single is taken from his latest album, ‘22 Dreams’, and it’s typical Weller. ‘All I Wanna Do’ is, naturally, smoother than silk, smarter than Stephen Hawking and backed-up by the gritty, down-to-earth realism that has served him so well over his career. ‘Push It Along’ is reminiscent of ’Peacock Suit’ whilst Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie pops up on ’Big Brass Buttons’ to rattle his tambourine, clap his hands and paste his wasted vocal all over the top of Weller’s. To be honest, it’s a relatively pointless release considering how well the album was doing without it.

For Fans Of: The Jam, Style Council, Primal Scream
Band Link: Paul Weller
Release Date: 18 Aug
Reviewer: John Skibeat

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[Artist: Charli XCX ]
[Single: !Francheskaar!]
[Label: Orgy Music]

Welcome to the bright, sparkly, “look at me” world of 15-year old Charli XCX with her grim new-wave electro-rap. This is the thick florid pink puree you’d get if you threw Moby, The Ting Tings and Kate Nash into a blender. Antagonsitic Mockney shrieking over stolen samples that should come with a health warning to those with high-blood pressure. After five pointless remixes and much teeth-gnashing the veins in my temples are threatening to burst out all over my monitor. Utterly repellant.

For Fans Of: CSS, Black Affair, New Young Pony Club
Band Link: Charli XCX
Release Date: 18 Aug
Reviewer: John Skibeat

[Artist: Calexico]
[Single: Two Silver Trees]
[Label: City Slang]

Calexico’s hushed alt-country rock seems to be either sumptuous and vacuous with little in between. This single release from their forthcoming ‘Carried To Dust’ album is much more towards the former. It gently sashays along, mimicking the lazy mosey of a cowboy. It doesn’t deviate from it’s purpose of gently lulling you along with plodding bass, tapped guitar and wire-brush drums, and with the vocal turned down to a whisper it combines nicely with the Oriental-esque twinkling. Perfect hangover music.

For Fans Of: Cowboy Junkies, Iron & Wine, Lambchop
Band Link: Calexico
Release Date: 25 Aug
Reviewer: John Skibeat

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[Artist: Manda Rin]
[Single: DNA]
[Label: Island]

It seems disco is back on the menu. Well, Manda Rin seems to think so judging by this single from her forthcoming album, ‘My DNA’. There’s a pulsating back-line of electronica set to that familiar 4/4 time signature, with metallic clap then “tish” of the open hi-hat on the off-beat. It works fine on one level but what lets this release down is the mind-numbing repetition of the vocal with it’s treble-heavy elongated dipping. It wears thin very, very quickly.

For Fans Of: The Gossip, New Young Pony Club, Le Tigre
Band Link: Manda Rin
Release Date: 25 Aug
Reviewer: John Skibeat

[Artist: Dan Black]
[Single: HYPNTZ]
[Label: Unsigned]

Formerly of indie-rockers The Servant, Dan Black has now gone solo and appears to favour a big sweeping backing onto which he can lay his steady beat-up rhythms and Grant Nicholas-esque softened vocals. There’s long-bowed violins and a cello with choral singing on this epic reworking of Notorious B.I.G.’s ’Hypnotize’ which, amazingly, suits his emotive rapping down to the ground. It shouldn’t really work this, but there’s definitely a vibe that hits the right buttons. It’s certainly an individual style and won‘t appeal to everyone, but it may well be worth checking out if you fancy a bit of happy hippy in your hip-hop.

For Fans Of: Jay-Z, Mogwai, Sigur Ros
Band Link: Dan Black
Release Date: 25 Aug
Reviewer: John Skibeat

[Artist: Les Valentine]
[Single: Nervous]
[Label: Crash Records]

Pianos, horns, and upbeat acoustic rocking. Generally a combination that works well but tends to end up sounding pretty formulaic. ‘Nervous’ is a case in point. There’s nothing particularly wrong with it but it’s not going to make your jaw drop. There must be more that the band have to offer but this, sadly, has a distinct air of accomplished pub band about it.

For Fans Of: Barenaked Ladies, They Might Be Giants, Ben Folds
Band Link: Les Valentine
Release Date: 18 Aug
Reviewer: John Skibeat

[Artist: Does It Offend You Yeah?]
[Single: Dawn Of The Dead]
[Label: Virgin]

The rise and rise of these electro-indie rockers has been, so far, mainly down to their notoriously manic live shows (and that god awful band-name), so when they finally followed it up with a sparkling debut album it seemed there would be no stopping them. This is now their fifth single release from it and one wonders if they actually plan to release all twelve tracks as singles. It’s not the best of the five but it still bristles with energy and 80s ostentatiousness. The insistent keyboards can get a bit much after a while and there is a tendency to milk the one hook to death (the instrumental B-side hammers this point home). However, James Rushent’s vocal is so suave in it’s delivery that you can almost forgive the rest of the song’s limitations.

For Fans Of: The Whip, Hadouken!, Late Of The Pier
Band Link: Does It Offend You Yeah?
Release Date: 25 Aug
Reviewer: John Skibeat

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[Artist: Lykke Li]
[Single: Breaking It Up]
[Label: LL Recordings / Atlantic]

This will inevitably be the alternative view to the one that’s shouting out nothing but plaudits in Lykke Li’s direction. This single appears to be utterly without merit. There will come a point when you will rather eat your own face than listen to another note. How could anyone possibly think that combining schoolgirl chanting with a husky, hollowed-out vocal (that’s comparable to the sound a slapping wet flannel makes) would be a good idea? The elastic-band keys and synthetic drum machine on show only serves to hammer home the belief that this may not be music at all, but instead a particularly crass attempt at modern art.

For Fans Of: El Perro Del Mar, Those Dancing Days, Anna Järvinen
Band Link: Lykke Li
Release Date: 25 Aug
Reviewer: John Skibeat

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[Artist: The Maybes?]
[Single: Summertime]
[Label: Xtra Mile Recordings]

The Maybes? are yet another band following the trend of unnecessarily adding punctuation to their bandname. The difference here, it seems, is that they aren’t solely relying on it to get them noticed and actually have some decent music to offer as backup. With this new single a rapidly pulsing bass note accompanies the vocal of Nick Ellis, yelping like a young Roger Daltrey, whilst from somewhere in the background a delayed guitar chimes out and builds to create a big blast of classic rock. You can almost see the band windmilling their arms and raising their fists aloft in triumph. Yet, this isn’t overtly brash or abrasive - there’s a downy-soft groove which smoothes the senses bringing a distinctly feel good element into play. It’s anthemic and playful and, whilst certainly toying with a generic template, it still stands far enough away from it to retain its own identity.

For Fans Of: Kings Of Leon, The Strokes, The Who
Band Link: The Maybes?
Release Date: 25 Aug
Reviewer: John Skibeat

[Artist: The Scratch]
[Single: Girls World / Sweet Surprise]
[Label: Ponyland Records]

The Scratch either play limp punk or jarring indie depending on your viewpoint. ‘Girls World’ is pushed along by a scuffed lead guitar and its warped rhythm brother, whilst scrawled upon them are the lyrics which seem to fall out of the vocalist’s mouth in a kind of half-arsed, tuneless manner. They’re very much in the style of Ian McCulloch and amble along listlessly sloshing from verse to chorus and back again. ‘Sweet Surprise’ is certainly a lot better with a good injection of energy and vocal diversity lifting the track - there’s some “whoops” and discordant yelps that really give us the short, sharp two-minute punk fix we were really hoping for.

For Fans Of: Black Wire, Dogs, Echo And The Bunnymen
Band Link: The Scratch
Release Date: 25 Aug
Reviewer: John Skibeat

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