Echoes and dust

We’re back from our trip to Australia, it’s an amazing place by the way in case no one’s ever told you that, and now raring to get back in the writing saddle. I thought I’d start with a quick roundup of some of the albums that we’ve missed during our little summer break, so here goes....

Firstly, from back in July, comes a perky little record from Young Playthings, ‘Back To The Future’ (20 July on Small Town America). This three piece, hailing from the south east of England, make melodic vignettes documenting modern life as they encounter it. Their sound is energetic, sparky and very English, kind of like some sort of rock Billy Bragg mixed with a dash of The Wedding Present. Mostly this is absorbing and touching, ‘Kiss Yr Voice’ and ‘Going Out, Staying Out’, but occasionally lapsing in to cringeworthy and mawkish, ‘I Like Yr Name In My Blackberry’.

Next up, in purely chronological fashion, is Knifeworld’s ‘Buried Alive: Tales Of Crushing Defeat’ (17 August on Genepool). Brainchild of modern prog maestro Kavus Torabi  (Guapo, Cardiacs etc), he’s recruited a smorgasbord of talented musicians to aid the realisation of his fervid imagination and the result is an eclectic batch of offbeat rock songs, exploring some interesting, intense and progish places and far more cheery than the title would suggest. Far more instantly accessible than many of the other projects Torabi has been involved in, songs like ‘Corpses Feuding Underground’ and the brilliantly titles ‘Pissed Up On Brake Fluid’ verge on being pop / rock but all through there’s an unsettling undercurrent of oddness that tips a nod to his prog roots.

On initial inspection it seems that On Histories Of Rosenberg inhabit similar territory to the likes of Lowgold and Longview, heavy on melody, bittersweet aching and an epic grandeur, but it soon emerges  there’s a tad more steel behind the velvet vocals than either of those bands possessed. The four tracks on this self titled EP (31 August On Function Records) display a mature songwriting talent, honed over the years touring as parts of various other bands, underpinned by a musical sensibility that takes in the normal Indie influences but also adds a post-rock edge, in the manner of Her Name Is Calla or The French Quarter, in the form of shimmering guitar lines and adventurous structures. I for one can’t wait to hear more from these gents.

While we’re talking about Post Rock, we should probably move on to take a look at ‘Chauffeurs’ (07 September, also on Function) by North London’s Nitkowski. Here we’ve gone way deeper in to darkened room territory. ‘Chauffeurs’ is a brooding and muscular record, full of twitchy drumming, anxious guitars and distant, strangulated vocals, in other words quite brilliant and disturbing. Tempos and timings are thrown around with disdain, these guys are good and not afraid to show it, ideas spill out all over the place, tension wracks this record, it is an uncomfortable and enervating listen.

Those boys and girls at Function have had a busy few weeks, out today (21 September) is ‘Contact High Wit Da Demons’ by You’re Smiling Now But We’ll All Turn In To Demons. Yes, I know they have possibly the crappest band name in history, the sort of name chosen by a bunch of lads after their fourth bong who really don’t expect to get famous, but once the music starts you forget all about that and are sucked in to the vaporous maelstrom that is their riff driven, bass heavy groove. The fact that these guys are from Portsmouth was a real surprise to me as they sound like they’re straight out of deepest California, just goes to show. Fans of The Warlocks and Fu Manchu should definitely check these young fellows out, they make seriously blissed out psyche rock and are quite willing to use it. ‘The Recidivist’ and the monstrous ‘Prismatic Reflections’ are instant classics of the genre.

That just about brings us up to date. More to follow soon.