Archive for the ‘Singles and EPs’ Category

Third Lung – Lo-Hi

Posted: 29 June 2022 in Singles and EPs
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1st July 2022

James Wellls

Third Lung have been kicking out singles at a remarkable pace over the last year or so, and continue their forward trajectory with ‘Lo Hi’, a song that’s cut from the core of emotional turmoil that’s likely relatable to many. ‘Lo-Hi’ is about how people can find themselves ‘alone not knowing how to move forward. Until, they find the courage to ask and faith in their friends and loved ones to utter the 3 most beautiful words, I Need Help.’

That those words are beautiful, I might question, and would probably disagree with – they’re clunky, awkward, and to many of us, embarrassing, uncomfortable, desperate, a last resort, an admission of failure. But, as the band say, ‘One of life’s most encouraging yet hardest lessons to learn is to trust the people closest to you, with you’.

There’s nothing clunky, awkward, embarrassing, or uncomfortable about the song, though. ‘Lo-Hi’ straddles influences from U2 to The Associates; it’s another big-hitter with arena potential, and surely it’s only a matter of time before they achieve it.

Third Lung Artwork

Insolace – I Won’t Cry

Posted: 29 June 2022 in Singles and EPs
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1st July 2022

Christopher Nosnibor

London / Brighton quartet Insolace consist of Millie Cook (vocals), Conor Hyde (guitar), Sam Bryant (bass) and Onyi Olisa (drums), and I suppose you could reasonably summarise ‘I Won’t Cry’ as one of those ‘strong’ songs – one whereby the ultimate message is one of empowerment, despite it’s primary theme being of mental struggle. Here, against a backdrop of busy, accessible math-orientated jangle Cook pitches lyrics about being in the place of the supporter to someone who’s struggling.

Sonically, on the one hand it’s kinda buoyant emo, and even a bit poppy, but on the other, it’s got a bit of a 2004/5 vibe that I have a certain nostalgia for, which is something I never expected – a time when every other band was jangly, noodly, mathy, and some if it was fun, but ultimately you only need one Explosions in the Sky, and so many Spokes style acts, and probably only one Wintermute…a nd then my brain pokes me with a reminder of Everything Everything. And then you reach a point where less is more, and actually, just a little variety goes a long way.

But it’s easy to be critical, and over time, things do change. Where’s all the noodly math-rock now? Some of it’s here, it seems, and ‘I Won’t Cry’ feels like a 21st Century response to The Cure’s seminal classic ‘Boy’s Don’t Cry’. I Won’t Cry I Won’t Cry’ is busy, and a shade technical. But it’s crisp, and has a solid hook, and for that alone it deserves a wide audience.

Insolace

Ivory Skies – Bring Me Up

Posted: 22 June 2022 in Singles and EPs
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17th June 2022

Christopher Nosnibor

Blackpool isn’t exactly a roaring flame on the musical map, hanging in the shadow of Manchester and being more geared toward tourism than seemingly existing as a place to live in its own right. Sure, Jethro Tull originated in Blackpool, along with – although some time apart – The Membranes, and Alfie Boe – but it’s hardly indicative of a cultural melting pot with a thriving scene to represent it.

Ivory Skies may – or may not – change that. Formed in 2019, they’ve released a couple of singles already, and scored support slots with Kyle Falconer from The View, and The K’s, which puts them on the fringes of the bigger leagues.

Perhaps it’s a coastal town thing: ‘Bring Me Up’ calls to mind the uptempo punk / indie crossover sound of Southend-on-Sea’s Asylums, and it’s buoyant, energetic – inoffensive, but certainly not lacking in a bit of bite, yielding four minutes of melodic, guitar-driven joy with a dash of realism.

AA

Ivory Skies - Artwork

Panic Lift – Stitched EP

Posted: 22 June 2022 in Singles and EPs
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6th May 2022

Christopher Nosnibor

This latest four-tracker from Panic Lift continues the trajectory of themed EPs that it’s been pursuing for a while now.

With two new cuts and a remix of each, it’s reminiscent of the old-school 7” and 12” formats, and ‘Every Broken Piece’ accompanied by ‘Bitter Cold’ would make for a perfect 7”, with the additional tracks – remixes respectively from Mechanical Vein and Tragic Impulse – fleshing out a 12” and CD… Such reminiscences are relevant because Panic Lift’s harsh industrial dance sound is rooted in the 90s when multi-format releases were de rigueur. Much as they were clearly a way of milking fans and boosting chart positions, I do kind of miss those days, since the majority of releases don’t even come in a physical format.

For Stitched, James Francis, aka Panic Lift, revisits the kind of sound that defined his debut, Witness To Our Collapse, and talking of the physical, there’s a strong physicality to both ‘Every Broken Piece’ and ‘Bitter Cold’ – not just their thumping hard as nails grooves and pounding beats, but the overall density of the sound hits with a physical impact, while the forced, rasping vocals equally hit hard, the sound of anguish and rage and a host of mixed and conflicting emotions aflame.

‘Every Broken Piece’ was a feature of Panic Lift’s online performances during lockdown, and it’s from this place of inner turmoil that these songs emerge, with the accompanying notes pointing out that they ‘continue with the familiar themes of stress, coping, and concerns of self-image’, and the rippling synth lines, juxtaposed against snarling, abrasive vocals, are the perfect expression of internal conflict. There’s a lot going on here in the arrangements, with churning metal guitar grazing against cinematic synths, and the slower chorus on ‘Bitter Cold’ brings impact by contrast.

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Acid Youth – Reverse Darkness EP

Posted: 19 June 2022 in Singles and EPs
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MFZ Records – 24th June 2022

Christopher Nosnibor

Conceived and recorded between the end of 2021 and the beginning of 2022, this set reflects ‘the everyday troubles Davide [Nicosia, aka Acid Youth], deals with as an individual but also as part of a community’.

The title refers to his ‘desire to get out of the gloom and seek for a reassuring light’, and explores this theme by the vehicle of dance music exploiting the vintage Roland TB-303, produced only for a short time between 1981 and 84. It was supposed to sound like a bass guitar. It didn’t. Of course, it would later come to be appreciated, and Reverse Darkness is a concise encapsulation of the appeal of these vintage analogue machines.

Against shuffling drums – heavy echoed with some thudding bass beats – there are simmering synths that drift and wash, and a flock of fluttering tweets, all underpinned by a thick, bouncing bass groove, ‘Vibrato Brilliance’ is simultaneously sparse yet dense, and Nicosia really starts to warp things up on the dislocated retro-futurist title track.

Acid Youth very much captures not only the sound but also the feel of those early 80s dance cuts, the kind of meandering, gloopy synth works that appeared on soundtracks of movies where computers had green text on little monitors and neon lights were synonymous with the future. Being nine or ten in 1985, it felt exciting; with hindsight, it feels like the future we ended up with is a whole lot less of a rush, but hearing this inspires a kind of nostalgia, not for anything specific, but for a feeling, a sense of a near future, thanks to rapidly evolving technologies, that held near-infinite potential. Setting aside any gloom over the disappointment that those potentials now feel chronically unfulfilled as we stumble through every dystopia ever envisioned rolled into one colossal morass of shit on shit, Reverse Darkness tugs me back to the crackle of excitement that once coursed through culture.

He goes really deep on the uptempo ‘Modded Dub’, full-on bass squelch wobbling and rippling atop an insistent kick drum – but it’s toppy, and really packs a punch towards the chest rather than the gut, and in context creates a different kind of tension by way of the contrast with the thick, bassy bass, and it’s true – they don’t make ‘em like they used to.

MFZ23_art

Sirens Of Light – Revolver

Posted: 16 June 2022 in Singles and EPs
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Christopher Nosnibor

I feel like I should keep a tally of the number of cover of Mission of Burma’s 1981 song ‘That’s When I Reach for My Revolver’. For an obscure band whose back catalogue is impossible to find, this song seems to exist in the ether, performed live on recent tours by The Sisters of Mercy, as well as Graham Coxon, as well as being subject to a truly blistering rendition courtesy of Moby during his 90s grunge phase on Animal Rights – and I have to say, that version is hard to beat. And no, not like Hard-Fi, who blow. Funnily enough, pretty much all of the covers have been better than the original, which is something of an inversion of the norm. I’m of the opinion that when it comes to a great tune you a) can’t beat the original b) can’t go wrong with a cover. So what is it with this track? Unfulfilled potential in the execution of the original? Perhaps.

Sirens Of Light slow it down and goth it up, hard – to the point that the verses are barely recognisable and the choruses are dark and grinding. It’s once of those covers where you don’t even recognise the song until it reaches the chorus. What have they done?  They’ve certainly taken ownership (note the title change, too), stamped their mark, and all that cal. In terms of execution, it’s taut, dense, bleak, brooding. It sneers and it’s imbued with a lip-curling sneer.

While it works presentationally and sonically, it feels like they’ve stripped the guts and angst out of the song. That doesn’t mean it’s bad, and it’s all a question of intent. The chorus is well-executed, and hits hard… but seems a shade lacking somehow.  Blown away? Maybe not, but it’s still got a fair bite.

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MuddiBrooke – You Don’t Own Me

Posted: 13 June 2022 in Singles and EPs
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Christopher Nosnibor

Somehow, despite being in the business almost literally forever, and having played live and supported artists such as The Beautiful South, Scouting For Girls, Luka Bloom and Dr and The Medics, MuddiBrooke has bypassed me. Perhaps it’s because of playing with the aforementioned artists.

Anyway: ‘You Don’t Own Me’, written by Philadelphia songwriters John Madara and David White and recorded by Lesley Gore in 1963, has become established as something of a classic, and it’s a good fit for Derby’s all-female alternative rockers, who know how to use a distortion pedal to optimal effect.

It’s a thumping riff-driven blast that explodes in under two and a half minutes and it perfect. To be fair, some songs are pretty much impossible to fail with – you simply can’t go wrong with some songs, and this is one of them. It’s a strong signature of female empowerment, and MuddiBrooke absolutely run with the sentiment and crank the amps up full-tilt to slam the point home in a fuck-you, taking-no-shit fashion that’s on a par with L7, Hole, and The Nymphs. Big lungs, big sass, big guitars… Yes.

Brooke, Anna and Mary may all be in their mid-twenties, but know how to channel that grunge vibe, and how not to take any shit. It may be a cover, but it feels like a manifesto.

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Muddi

Michael Haggerty – Into The Glow

Posted: 9 June 2022 in Singles and EPs
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Machine Man Records – 27th May 2022

Christopher Nosnibor

‘Into the Glow’ is the second single from Michael Haggerty’s upcoming album, Fire Behind The Paper Trees, and his second official release under his real name having previously recorded as Krebs. Perhaps stepping out and being himself is in some way liberating, but whatever the motivation or rationale, it’s fair to say that the results are thus far positive.

There’s something somewhat uncomfortable when critics speak of ‘craft’ in their critiques. Perhaps it’s because ‘craft’ connotes something one works at, and improves, honing to a point whereby a level of quality can be achieved consistently, day in, day out, up at the crack of dawn and chiselling away until sundown, manufacturing… which there is a certain sense to, and it’s valid to a point, but this is to diminish the flare of creativity, the sparks of emotional channelling, the way in which elements of chance and happenstance all combine to make art. Because music isn’t furniture.

‘Into The Glow’ is probably as close to perfect songwriting as you can get. It is crafted: the dynamic shift between the 80s-style electronic verses and more guitar-driven choruses is precise, and balances subtlety with impact. The tempo change is sweet and shifts from reflective to driven, and the production is vast – also crisp, cold, mechanical. Bleak, brooding, but shining with optimism, ‘Into The Glow’ packs so much range into its concise three-and-a-half minutes, it’s a glorious thing.

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Moses – Mad

Posted: 6 June 2022 in Singles and EPs
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3rd June 2022

James Wells

Moses – described as a ‘genre-fluid proverbial rollercoaster’ – are impossible to place. Their latest single sound nothing like its predecessors. But they still have a distinctive sound, marked by energy and exuberance. That, and a knack for nagging, stomping basslines.

‘Mad’ has hints of Jane’s Addiction woven into its rambunctious (post) punk infusion, but then there’s a lot going on in this effervescent cocktail, from fast-moving organ work that calls to mind The Stranglers to anything post-millennial indie with some zip, and no, I can’t put my finger on specifics – because as the Jubilee procession on Sunday illustrated, everything post-nineties is simply a cultural blur and no-one knows where much of the last thirty years has gone or what defines any decade.

Moses aren’t set in any time or space – they somehow bring everything together and sound so very now. Dig ‘em? You’d be mad not to!

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M O S E S

Glytsh – (Hard)core memory

Posted: 2 June 2022 in Singles and EPs
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1st June 2022

Christopher Nosnibor

It shouldn’t be a deal, really, but it is: Glytsh are a rare thing, namely an all-female industrial duo, comprising French singer Jennifer Diehl (aka Luna Blake) and Swiss guitarist Claire Genoud (aka Hella Sin). Like so many ‘rock’ and metal-orientated genres, industrial of all shades, from the electro to the metal end of the spectrum is depressingly the domain of the white male.

In this predictable, recycle-heavy world of white male angst, Glytsh are a breath of fresh air. But Glytsh aren’t a breath of fresh air because they’re women: they’re a breath of fresh air because they’re fucking exciting. While ‘(Hard)core memory’ still works with established tropes, their debut single, a cover of Nine Inch Nails’ ‘Closer’ set out their stall and managed to draw a fair bit of positive attention in the process. On the one hand, it was a pretty faithful cover, but also had enough of a slant to it to show that they’ve got game. And now, with the arrival of ‘(Hard)core memory’, Glytsh prove that they’ve got both style and substance, meshing together both electro and metal elements in an explosive three and a half minutes.

From a low, bass-heavy electronic intro, ‘(Hard)core Memory’ starts slow-grinding and sultry before tearing into a lumbering rock riff with screaming metal vocals, a collision between Rage Against The Machine and Marilyn Manson. It’s pretty full-on, and that’s before the Slash-style guitar solo blasts in near the end.

‘(Hard)core Memory’ has got the lot, and yet I somehow suspect that Glytsh have got a lot more to offer yet.

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