02 May 2008

Debbie Leggo - Car Crash Crowd
Debbie Leggo is Scot poet Gerry Mitchell and a bunch of avant-rock loving young guns. ‘Car Crash Crowd’ is a disorientating sonic trip as Mitchell’s deadpan delivery surfs calmly over a fractured, evolving kraut-punk ‘n’ roll free jazz freak out.

The Ladybug Transistor - Always On The Telephone
Elephant 6 legends keep on keeping on with a sophisticated MOR pop pastiche reminiscent of Chris Isaak at his smoothest. The Ladybug Transistor have left the 1960s behind and are now inching their way into the 1980s. Just take a listen to that beautiful wine bar rocking sax solo that comes so close to bad taste.

A Human - Black Moon
Jean Claude Van Damme referencing electro-pop that sounds similar to a thousand block rocking electro-pop acts. ‘Black Moon’ is loud, lairy and incredibly annoying like Kasabian doing a big beat cover of early Human League.

Brigade - Pilot
If A Human lack much originality then Brigade are totally anonymous. This could almost literally be any other bunch of guitar toting youngsters peddling no frills emo-pop.

Captain Phoenix - Stand By
Captain Phoenix has been compared to Led Zeppelin while NME called him a bluesman and referred to southern rock influences. If the drearily soulless indie-pop of ‘Stand By’ is anything to go by it is hard to understand where his fans have found this supposed brazen raunchiness. ‘Stand By’ is a grey mass of XFM endorsed mediocrity.

Congregation - Feel Like Crying
Strangely depressing and eerie blues-rock that does make you feel like crying. If a low rent The Gossip and ‘Dry’ era P.J. Harvey (without the ‘Repulsion’ vibe’) met in a New Cross boozer Congregation’s ramshackle soul might just be the creepy cobwebbed result.

The Getaway Team - Lost All Hope
Sparkly but shallow pop-punk made by graduated of The Academy Of Contemporary Music. ‘Lost All Hope’ is as contrived as going to a school of rock.

Our Broken Garden - Lost Sailor
Meek and mild shoegazery pop that floats by like the gentlest of breezes. The EP is full of a lovely airy fairy feeling of calm and quietude. It doesn’t exactly leave much of an impression, but for the duration it is as soothing as a hippy dippy joss stick.

The Rivers - She Gives It Around
Moderately entertaining indie-rock from The Kooks’ touring partners. You’ve heard it all before and you’ll hear it all again but The Rivers add some vivacity and pomp to the otherwise hum drum circumstances.

Walls Of Jericho - Redemption
Bombastic hard rock without the bombast produced by Slipknot and Stone Sour fella Corey Taylor. This is turgid, tedious and monotonous stuff; about as exciting as watching an Orlando Bloom movie marathon. Although the lifelessly moribund cover of ‘House Of The Rising Sun’ is for some perplexing reason strangely compelling.

Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan - Who Built The Road
This sounds a fair bit like Nick Cave and Kylie Minogue’s ‘Where The Wild Roses Grow’ but sweeter and less malevolent. It’s a pleasant unpretentious piece of maudlin fluff.