Love
Is All – Used Goods (What’s Your Rupture? 7”)
If evocation is their raison d’être then Love Is All are doing
pretty well: every twist and turn of this single ignites the senses, brings
forth its resonance, deep soulful memories even. They seem to have got
hold of one of those primitive drum pads whose toms sound like enemy craft
depositing load in some original Space Invaders machine. Dubby Clash guitars
one moment, new wave choruses the next. Imagine The Long Blondes with
colour to their cheeks, or with a tune, a killer tune to shout about.
Still, Love Is All remain agonizingly obscure and out-of-the-loop, but
few bands in this genre emit the same degree of passion. Actually, there
is no genre; I sometimes feel Love Is All have created a room of their
own.
The
Eighteenth Day of May - Cold Early Morning (Transistor
7")
Right
now this lot are probably my favourite English band. I suppose their only
rival to the UK folk rock crown would be Circulus – but Circulus
are such a silly thing, aren’t they? (Their album wasn’t up
to much; half a dozen fillers and one glorious moment in ‘Swallow’
which wasn’t really their song anyway but that of Marianne Segal.)
But The ’Day have the class to let their music do the talking not
their wardrobe department. They are no re-enactment society – but
a gorgeous folky blend of Collins, Fairport, and Paisley Underground.
Again, this is a lovely record: poised, restrained, sensitive, but vibrant
with shimmering guitars. The vocals never quite give me what I want but
that, in a strange way, keeps me hooked. The two tracks on the b-side
are pretty dazzling too. There is a part of me, a hot-head or musical
sadist, that would love to hear the results of them being locked in a
studio for the best part of a year and fed nothing but 17th Century poetry
and LSD. Can you still get LSD on the NHS?
The sentiments are so truthful and succinctly put that I can forgive
this band anything. For one, the near-fact that it’s gotta be
a rip-off of something – I don’t know what but I bet someone’s
searching their record collection for the 1978 prototype. Some Jam b-side
perhaps? (I swear I even detect a dash of Status Quo!) The production
is fantastic, raw yet evocative. Perhaps Hard-Fi, if they weren’t
so slick and over-produced, might be making records as good as this.
Why is the Fierce Panda offshoot releasing better records than the Panda
itself?
This lot seemed to have appeared from nowhere. This is a pleasant record
although it’s pretty predictable and slick. I prefer The On-Offs’s
rough urbanity. Can’t think of much else to say about it really.
In one ear and out the other. Clever sleeve concept – it’s
been thought about.
Fantastic singles are coming ficknfast at the mo. It’s amazing how
many people are missing out on this sheer joy just cos they’ve yet
to discover vinyl or have no faith in singles. The bloody fools. This
one’s really sweet. Two more deft tunes to prove that ‘Generator’
was not a one-off. More urban observations, more breadline indie-ska.
They’ve got a find a different studio, however, cos it sounds like
the vocalists have cardboard boxes on their heads. Or have flu or summit.
Anyway, buy this record and ‘Generator’ if you can still find
it! And get Les Incompetents' new one too!
The
Pigeon Detectives – I’m Not Sorry (Dance To The Radio
7”)
You know how in wine guides they talk about good vintages and poor vintages,
and how you should avoid certain grapes in certain years and so forth.
Well, similarly, I reckon 2006 is shaping up to be the best vintage
in British independent music for two decades (hell, 2005 wasn’t
bad). Like the recent Forward Russia! single I find myself moved by
this record, and what I perceive to be its underlying fragility beneath
the blistering power pop. It throbs with passion. ‘I’ll
never take it back, I’ll never take it back,’ he proclaims.
‘I didn’t mean to make you cry. No, I’m not sorry…’
The lead guitarist is on some sort of rock mission of his own (for I
suspect it’s a boy going all fiddly on us) but I can forgive them
almost anything. Well, anything, but that name. Why must a record so
grand and life-affirming be cursed with name of The Pigeon Detectives?
Of course, you know who I blame. (Suggestion: drop the Pigeon or something.
Anything!)
Considering that they’re just a duo – Steven Ansell and Laura
Mary Carter – they make a big noise. You might think of Comanechi
but I would say they’re slightly less manic, less sexy and more
local-sounding - which is not good. It’s alright though –
I quite like the b-side with its repetitive hey-hey back and forth, and
‘Stitch Me Back’ has its moments. But overall, I don’t
think Blood Red Shoes are the finished article just yet. I suspect there’s
a hint of forlorn irony in the name of the record label – Try Harder.
When you’re demo gets rejected and the label-man tells you to try
harder, well, screw them – start your own label.
I was kinda wondering why people were paying thirty quid for a debut single
by a complete unknown. Now I know. This, his second release, this whole
EP is extraordinary. If Jamie T continues in such a vein it won’t
be long before we’re hailing him as the most gifted singer-songwriter
of his generation. ‘Salvador’ is fantastic; dark, atmospheric,
brooding, yet glittering with deft touches and intertextual magic. It
also comes out of leftfield, which is always a great sign, as if to say,
‘Make way – new star coming through!’ Did I mention
it is incredibly commercial too? Judging by his haircut, I suspect Jamie
T will be the new Sting rather than Pete Libertine but, hey, that’s
a long way down the road. Having said that, this is such a varied EP that
you pigeonhole Jamie at your peril. It’s usually emotion that moves
your heart but in this kid's case it’s the sheer scale of his talent.
If it ain’t genius, what is it?
Ah, who was it who once said ‘the French Horn will never let you
down’? I think it was me. I was right. (Actually it's probably just
a bog standard bugle, my knowledge of brass being what it is.) How bleedin’
catchy is this record? It’s almost obscene. Sunny Day Sets Fire
– I can see them now: all teeth and short guitar-straps - the new
Haircut 100 perhaps. If this record had airplay and full release, a few
TV appearances etc, it would be Number One. I always feel, however, that
it is by the quality of their b-sides that one might more successfully
gauge a band’s character. And, in this case, ‘Nations Underground’
is a real treat. I reckon they’ve been listening to that classic
Beatles outro to ‘All Too Much.’ Why the hell not. It beats
listening to Oasis.
I
must admit I’m slightly disappointed by this one. I tend to thrive
on the instant fix – which is probably why I review so many 'tracks'
and so few albums. Or EPs. Not that I don’t appreciate the longer
form but it just so rarely compels you to grab the pen and write down
your instant thoughts, sprawled out Kerouac-style with so little recourse
to facts, grammar, objectivity. After the thrill-ride that was their debut
single last year this EP feels reserved. I’m not sure how much it
has to say to me. They’re similar in style to Les Incompetents but
lack the concomitant madness to drag you from your seat and down to the
mosh.
Fields
– Song for the Fields (Black Lab 7”)
Awesome debut from Fields. I love the way it noodles and doodles for the
first 90 seconds or so, not even hinting at the power about to be unleashed.
And then it kicks off and you reach for the button, steadily increasing
the volume all the time, until you’re drenched in it. The final refrain
throbs and rumbles into the ether. Impressive.