17 September 2008

by Rob McCrae

Travis, Dark Captain Light Captain, Pirate Robot Midget, Pirate Robot Midget, Underground Railroad, Plastic Little, The Asteroids Galaxy Tour, Padma, This City, Bon Iver, City Reverb, Sonny J, The Infadels, Such Great Heights, Johnny Foreigner

"A number one slacker request that builds into a singalong chorus."

Travis – Something Anything
Travis operate on the precipice of Radio 4 coupling well enunciated vocals with vaguely rocky guitars that would have your average Conservative torn between changing the channel to something classical or heehawing in appreciation. This happens to be slightly less bland than plain paper, but might get them on the B playlist somewhere.

Dark Captain Light Captain – Jealous Enemies
A corona of menace surrounds the band name but this single couldn’t be more approachable, it’s basically the equivalent of a smiling lollipop man cheerfully saving children from death at a busy crossing. A delicately strummed guitar complements vocals that drift like the wisp of smoke from a distant fire.

Pirate Robot Midget – It’s My Beat Now
An Italian French electro rock combination might make you wary but if you’re a fan of Justice and you can stomach jagged synthesisers intermingling with a highly distorted vocal (complete with a syncopated whoop whoop) it will maybe please you to imagine some DJ dropping this at Space and half the people dancing more through momentum than regard.

Underground Railroad – Kill Me Now (Or You Never Will)
The trio might herald from Paris but their sound is more English shoe gaze apology especially with a number one slacker request that builds into a sing a long chorus. As with their last release the air of ambivalence is juxtaposed by some swift guitar solos and you feel that rather than making you downcast this band could provide you with some magical thrills

Plastic Little – Welcome To The Jang House
These Philadelphian hip hop trailblazers have already combed London playing venues that were dirtier than the bottom of a farmer’s shoe and that grime comes through in this cut which jerks around like a small child putting his hand in a miswired socket. It makes for uneasy listening but with a bit of a pursuit some payback will emerge.

The Asteroids Galaxy Tour – The Sun Ain’t Shining No More
Ever since Alphabeat infiltrated the charts mistrust of Danish pop bands has reached almost oppressive levels and this does have something in common with their contemporaries, the happy sounding female vocal, but that’s were it ends because this is sprinkled with the granules of a genuine tune and fulfils every promise it wantonly suggests.

Padma – Song For An Entryphone
Hailing from Sheffield and a practicing Buddhist for 10 years, Padma sounds like every word he sings has been soaked in a bath of regret and the tranquillity preaching order has actually relieved him of his ability to infuse even the quaintest guitar with anything resembling hope. And he’s called the Buddhist Billy Bragg, a pejorative description to make even the politest dinner party guest puke food into a solemn plant pot.

ThisCity – We Move
It’s a very unexciting band name that condemns them to the boring bit of a sentence which is a shame because this has several degrees agitated intensity that reminds you of The Mars Volta or five people who’ve recently been turned down for a date and want to take their frustrations out on something musical. Overlook the name on the poster and this is a band to seriously watch.

Bon Iver – For Emma
Justin Vernon aka Bon Iver seems to be in a permanent state of lament for woman as they force him to put his voice into a sorrowful gear and layer some delicious slide guitar over his sadness. While not as achingly touching as previous release ‘Skinny Love’ it’s still a masterful display of just a voice and its minimal backdrop.

City Reverb – City Of Lights
If it was possible to have a soundtrack to one of those gigantic A1 design books that stay thumbed in gallery bookshops then this would be perfect, it has got Chris Coco’s input and is as inconsequential as a toff in a knotted scarf unlocking his car. Unless you own a bijou craft shop that plays low music, then it’s absolutely essential.

Sonny J – Can’t Stop Moving
Breathtakingly close to The Avalanches but fortunately in Sonny’s case there’s less reliance on a wave of samples but the collage of a sunny pop interjection with a Wurlitzer of different musical backgrounds makes this impossible to shake out of your head. It would have been perfect for the summer that’s now finished.

Infadels – A Million Pieces
This is really trying to impress you, like a dog expecting a biscuit on the back of an average trick, but it does showcase a band that has some awareness of melody and middle eights that could manipulate even the most jaded of indie critic. If every one of their songs had this sort of tune then their set-list would be spiked with some recommendable highlights.

Such Great Heights – Would I Still Have Friends If I Believed I Was A Wizard
The best aspect about this single, from the obscenely young Middlesbrough quintet, is the female vocal which sounds like The Sundays and you can easily imagine the rest of the boys in the band having a crush on the voice wishing that just once she’d drink enough to sleep with them and how this might cement the band (wouldn’t it?) because apart from that their image needs a grave makeover.

Johnny Foreigner – Salt, Peppa And Spinderella
Birmingham doesn’t have much to recommend it, apart from the ability to remove Girls Aloud fans from the city centre by virtue of its out of town venue The NEC, but Johnny Foreigner might just be adding to the list “good things that come from…” because, after releasing a slew of mediocre singles, this sounds like it fully deserves its impressive calibre of remixers (Bloc Party et al).

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