Posts Tagged ‘Single Review’

Dog of Man – Hello MI5!

Posted: 27 March 2022 in Singles and EPs
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29th April 2022

Christopher Nosnibor

No, you’re not paranoid. This shit is real: you’re under surveillance, 24/7. London is one of the most surveilled cities in the world, but it’s by no means so far ahead of many others. Living in York, I noted walking past no fewer than thirteen cameras on my twenty-three minute walk to work – a stretch of precisely a mile. But you’re under surveillance without leaving the house, too: practically every keystroke you make is feeding the big data, and your mobile phone shows where you’ve been, as does your bank and credit card.

Brighton purveyors of psychedelic punk, Dog of Man are on a narrative path with their new single, ‘Hello MI5!, and you can’t help but wonder if the video concept preceded the song. Regardless, it’s three minutes of spiky indie-punk that’s so fast and furious it trips over itself at every step in its rush to pack everything in. It’s got one of those stringy, noodly, knotty guitar lines that’s positively addictive but also trips you up every other bar because it’s so busy it’s impossible to keep up.

Keeping up with Dog of Man is another problem, and it’s difficult. ‘Hello M15’ is eye-popping – arch, punky, poppy. It’s difficult, it’s frenetic, a sonic spasm inducing the same kind of jolting, jarring headache as early Foetus while bringing the chaotic snarking of Menswe@r and Selfish Cunt and driving into a head-on collision with This Et Al and S*M*A*S*H. Or something.

I suppose what I’m attempting to convey is that Dog of Man throw down everything all at once, and do so and a hundred miles an hour. This is mental shit, a frenzied chaos it’s… mayhem. There’s no real sense to be made here. ‘Hello MI5!’ is dizzying, and it’s brilliant.

Hello MI5! montage - Dog Of Man

A Cause In Distress – Submission

Posted: 25 March 2022 in Singles and EPs
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Cool Thing Records – 25th March 2022

Christopher Nosnibor

Cool Thing isn’t just a name: it’s essentially a manifesto. Established in 2014 as a conduit for Asylums to release their music, the label is truly a beacon of DIY independence, with in-house PR, the lot. One suspects the success they’ve achieved is in no small part to the calibre of the releases they’ve put out, not only for Asylums and side-project BAIT, but also the various acts from their locale of Southend-on-Sea, and occasionally London that they’ve given a home through the years.

The latest is ‘Submission’ by Southend electronic duo A Cause In Distress’, the follow up to the band’s third single, ‘Paraffin’, released just short of a year ago.

The band describe themselves as ‘The lovechild of Nine Inch Nails, Fugazi & Radiohead, if it was fathered by David Lynch’, and on the basis of previous press coverage, they’re everything all at once, which sounds like a tightrope walk that could be spectacularly amazing, or the most disastrous plunge into a catastrophic platter of shit imaginable.

Cool Thing know how to pick ‘em, and this is an outstanding hybrid that packs a throbbing synth that weaves and waves, propelled by an urgent shuffling beat and a vocal reminiscent of Morten Harket: it’s as if Factory Floor had perfected soaring melodic pop instead of running out of steam and ideas after just two EPs. At three minutes, it’s succinct, and it feels like half that. The cyclical groove just sucks you in, and tugs you along, and you’re completely immersed. It’s not music, it’s alchemy. Give in to it.

A Cause In Distress - ‘Submission’ _ Artwork

JW Paris – Electric Candle Light

Posted: 20 March 2022 in Singles and EPs
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25th March 2022

Christopher Nosnibor

For the uninitiated, JW Paris is a band, rather than a person, and a band who’ve been described by 6Music’s Chris Hawkins as sounding like Joy Division.

It was around fifteen years ago when there was a huge buzz around emerging acts Interpol and Editors where all the hype was that they ‘sound like Joy Division’, and I rushed to check them out, and while I immediately loved both bands, my first reaction was ‘no, they don’t really.’ Yes, baritone vocals and post-punk guitars, throbbing bass… the elements were there, the influence was clear… but neither band sounded like Joy Division. But then, such is the length and darkness of the shadow cast by Joy Division, comparisons are invariably likely to build unrealistic expectations.

So I don’t expect ‘Electric Candle Light’, the fourth single from the ‘90’s grunge and Britpop inspired three-piece’ to sound like Joy Division – which is perhaps as well, because it doesn’t. But I’m not disappointed, and there’s certainly a Manchester vibe about them, despite their London base.

‘Electric Candle Light’ is a ramshackle lo-fi chunk of shaking rockabilly post-punk with a raucous lead guitar line that needles its way over a loose swaggering rhythm and has some catchy backing vocals zooming around in the mix.

‘Are you / see thru?’ Danny Collins questions, sounding more Mark E Smith than Ian Curtis, although the overall effect is a collision of The Fall and The Dandy Warhols. forging a zesty, spirited tune with bags of energy. Woohoo indeed.

JWParis _5 by c24photography

Pic by c24photpgraphy

Lustmord & Zola Jesus – Prime

Posted: 20 March 2022 in Singles and EPs
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Pelagic Records – 15th March 2022

Christopher Nosnibor

Is there anyone Lustmord hasn’t collaborated with, or otherwise touched (metaphorically) in some way?

Lustmord, aka Welsh-born Brian Williams embarked on his musical career back in 1980: that’s a forty-two year span now, and the range of artists he’s collaborated with while forging a staggering output of solo releases is beyond staggering. Having emerged from the early industrial milieu and the circlers of Throbbing Gristle, Coil, and SPK, of which he was a member for a time, Lustmord is generally hailed as the progenitor of the dark ambient genre.

A tribute / covers album feels appropriate, then, and the selection of contributors to The Others – Lustmord Deconstructed includes Ulver, Enslaved, Godflesh, Zola Jesus, Katatonia’s Jonas Renske, Jo Quail, The Ocean, MONO and more.

It’s noteworthy that the tracks are credited to ‘Lustmord &…’ as if in collaboration – but then again, isn’t any cover a collaboration of kinds, albeit distant and disconnected? A meeting of minds across time and space.

And so, ahead of the release of The Others – Lustmord Deconstructed, Zola Jesus has shared her cover of ‘Prime’, from the 2020 album Stockholm, recorded live in 2011 and released in 2014. She comments, “As a longtime fan of Lustmord’s work, the opportunity to combine landscapes was like a dream. I’m so inspired by the space and stillness within his music. I wanted to experiment with his way of keeping music on a slow boil, mostly to challenge my own propensity for maximalism.”

It’s certainly a departure from ZJ’s usual style of epic, string-soaked theatrical dramatics, but at the same time, it has all of the rich atmosphere you’d expect. Her gothic, operatic vocal is very much kept in check here, echoing ethereally around a dark rumbling growl of abstraction is melded to a heartbeat. It’s tense, and channels a dark energy that’s almost spiritual. It’s the haunting, otherworldly sound of decay, of tremors from the depths of an ancient sepulchre. It’s mystical, magical, and magnificent.

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PEL183-V the others - trifold v08 print.cdr

The Virginmarys – The Meds

Posted: 16 March 2022 in Singles and EPs
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18th March 2021

Christopher Nosnibor

The Virginmarys have been knocking around for a while, and released their debut album King of Conflict back in 2013. You couldn’t exactly say they’ve been flying under the radar, since that aforementioned debut hit #3 on the Billboard New Artist Alternative Chart and #8 on the Billboard Heatseekers Chart, as well as their being dubbed the buzz band of SXSW. Like so many of the best bands, they’ve found the most appreciation overseas rather than at home, where it’s taken them rather longer to build up – but build up they have. It’s perhaps just a matter of time having released three albums (KoC was followed by Divides (2016) and Sitting Ducks (2017), as well as throwing down Northern Sun Sessions in 2018), and played with Queens Of The Stoneage, and been championed by Slash, and collaborated on stage with Frank Turner.

All of this, they did as a trio, and it’s been a full four years since their last album proper. ‘The Meds’ is their first release as a duo, stripped back to founder members, drummer Danny Dolan and guitarist/vocalist Ally Dickaty. How do they sound? No question, they’ve nailed it: they don’t sound like a duo on this full-throttle blues-based riffcentric rockout, hell, no: ‘The Meds’ is a dense, ball-busting rock beast that which really does pack some meat and sounds like a full band, and like (early) Royal Blood, Yur Mum and personal faves Modern Technology, they’ve gone all out to (over) compensate the lack of bodies / instruments by not only cranking it all up to eleven (good) but optimising their amps and pedals to blast out a maximalist sound that sounds live: you almost feel the air displacement from the speakers as the riff bursts forth, before Dickaty launches his raw-throated vitriol.

Ally’s vocal is strong and gritty, and it’s pegged comparatively low in the mix against the blast of guitar and pulverising drumming, and the bottom line is that this is a blistering tune.

Virginmarys Artwork

Continental Lovers – Really Doesn’t Matter

Posted: 11 March 2022 in Singles and EPs
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14th March 2022

James Wells

The first song off Continental Lovers’ forthcoming 10” vinyl E.P, ‘Pink Teeth’, which will be out in the Summer, is an old-school punk-rock blast of excitement. It’s not a blast of innovation, but then, I’m finding innovation increasingly weary. We need good tunes and energy, and that’s what Continental Lovers deliver here.

The London trio are bursting with energy and strong three-chord riffs played straight. There’s no pretence here, no production wizardry. Blink or nod and you’ll miss it, because it’s all over and done with inside two minutes and eight seconds, and that’s part of the appeal. They pack everything in – verses, chorus, guitar break, nifty hook – into that, and it’s a great tune played with real energy. It draws clear influence from vintage guitar pop in the vein of The Buzzcocks.

There’s a temptation to gush about how fresh it feels, the rush of something to immediate and direct, how it evokes memories and stirs a sense of nostalgia, but it wouldn’t exactly be in keeping with the spirit of the song. It’s in – out – clean, no messing. Perfection.

AA

Band image - Continental Lovers

10 Gauge – Demons

Posted: 28 February 2022 in Singles and EPs
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4th March 2022

James Wells

Almost a year to the day (well, the week) after 10 Gauge announced their arrival with the release of ‘I’m Broken’, they return with ‘Demons’, which sees the Hereford quintet plunge deeper into thunderous hard rock territories, and do so with confidence and aplomb.

The oblique lyrics suggest the demons may be the kind you wrestle with in the mind rather than literal, physical ones racing around on trips up from the underworld, but perhaps ultimately the two are effectively the same thing – ugly and unpleasant, they torment and torture sadistically.

But ultimately, this single is all about the hefty riffery. Christ, it hits like a juggernaut, and lands like a punch to the solar plexus. It leaves you winded, but it’s also a rush. The guitars are thick and meaty and everything about the track evokes the spirit of Sabbath. Solid, heavy, old-school but with a contemporary slant, ‘Demons’ is an absolute beast.

Christian Death – Blood Moon

Posted: 18 February 2022 in Singles and EPs
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Season of Mist – 8th February 2022

Christopher Nosnibor

Christian Death may have ridden a certain commercial crest in the late 80s and early 90s during a prolific spell with the run of albums from 1988’s Sex and Drugs and Jesus Christ, All The Love / All The Hate the following year, and 1991’s single’s collection Jesus Points the Bone at You?, but they’ve spent the majority of the their lengthy career running under the radar, both commercially and critically. Their most prolific spell was plagued by controversy, and would see many tour dates pulled and the band attract a slew of negative press. And that’s suited them just fine. Valor articulated it best on ‘Wretched Mankind’ on the aforementioned Sex and Drugs, ‘Fuck ‘em’. The point is, they’re still here, and while the output’s slowed, they’ve still released three albums since the turn of the millennium.

2022 has seen a sudden upturn in activity, starting with their online release of their cover of David Bowie’s ‘Quicksand’ to mark the fifth anniversary of his death and also his seventy-fifth birthday, swiftly followed by new single, ‘Blood Moon’, the lead single from forthcoming album Evil Becomes Rule.

‘Blood Moon’ is a stonker, too. Vintage Christian Death, it’s what you could reasonably call ‘quintessential goth’ for wont of a better summary. The bass and drums are stitched tight together in a solid four-square formation, and the bass is prominent, too. The guitar soars, heavy on the chorus and sustain, and Valor croons brooding and steely synths streak the sky and add depth to the epic chorus. Balancing dark with solid, rocking, and a catchy hook, it’s a remarkably accessible song that’s an obvious single. The chances are that if it was released by an up-and-coming new band, it’d be a breakthrough hit, but one suspects the band’s name and longevity will likely mean it’s unlikely here – but I’d like to be wrong. C’mon world, prove me wrong. For once.

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ChristianDeath-Evil-TourAdMat-2-1

Cold Comfort – Suck My Blood (Please Don’t) / I Shot The Messenger

Posted: 18 February 2022 in Singles and EPs
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Die Das Der records – 18th February 2022

Cold Comfort is, it would seem a ‘one man punk machine’. This double-A-side effort is certainly pretty punk, both in terms of musical style and approach, in that we’re talking about sub-three-minute three-chord thrashabouts with DIY production values, accompanied by a video for one of the songs that has recreated the experience of early Internet animations. And that’s a large part of the appeal.

It’s immediately apparent that Cold Comfort places some investment in quirky humour / irony: the song titles on this release are not-so-subtle inversions, although they’re a step up from sticking ‘not!’ after each of them. And it’s very soon apparent that subtle isn’t Cold Comfort’s forte, but there’s nothing wrong with that. After all, punk and subtle don’t really go together.

‘Suck My Blood (Please Don’t)’ is a two-minute blast of primitive overloading guitars and its grungy punk is rough and ready and exploding with energy. And yet there’s still time and space for a nagging lead guitar line and a hook reminiscent of DZ Deathray. On top of that, it inverts vampiric kink tropes with its parenthetical ‘Please Don’t’, as well as booting the machismo of horror conventions into touch in the video as a digitized CC runs away from bats.

‘I Shot The Messenger’ is more spirit of ’78, with heavy hints of The Fall pitched against a booming bass that’s pinned to a vintage drum machine track that’s got the ferocity of Metal Urbain and the bedroom basicness of Young Marble Giants.

It’s not pop-punk in the contemporary sense: it’s pop-punk in the way The Buzzcocks and The Adverts were punk while writing pop songs. It’s fun, but still kicks arse, and it’s a rush.

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Rendered – Must Be The Enemy!

Posted: 13 February 2022 in Singles and EPs
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14th February 2022

Christopher Nosnibor

Nothing says ‘I love you’ like a slice of blues-hued alt-rock that deals with paranoia and a sense of disconnection from other people, right? Blackpool’s Rendered land their second single on Valentine’s day, and it’s a proper punch in the kisser

It begins with a slow-build, a big, spacious guitars chime that’s bordering on shoegaze before exploiting a classic quiet / loud verse / chorus, and when the guitars kick in for the chorus, boy do they kick in strong. It’s the perfect vehicle for the lyrics which wrestle with internal contradictions and the troubles of mental health; the fear and loathing, flipping between the urge to lash out and to simply hide.

‘Paranoia’s what they tell me I got /Well it’s real to me and it won’t stop now / (Must be the enemy!)’ guitarist/vocalist Dale Ball hollers in a blend of pain and panic, articulating the anguish of decoding situations; after all, just because you’re paranoid, doesn’t mean they’re not after you, and just because you feel you can’t trust anyone, doesn’t mean you’re delusional or overly fearful, and it’s a fact, not hype, that you can’t be too careful… but then, to what extent can fear rule your life before it’s no life at all? It’s a fine line, and right now, so many people are so on edge about everything. The language of fear used to ensure compliance during lockdown gave many the jitters, and shaking that fear isn’t proving so easy. Then you turn on the news, there are stabbings and murders of random strangers all over, the government has been proven to have bene constantly lying the whole time, and now continue to lie about the fact they’ve been lying in the face of concrete evidence, and who can you believe or trust when you can’t even trust yourself or your own instincts?

Well, you can trust Rendered to deliver solid tunes with real resonance, if nothing else, and ‘Must Be The Enemy!’ is the proof.

Image 6 - Rendered

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