Defying labels

(Morning Star, Friday 23 May 2008)

ALBUM: Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
(Bella Union)

SEATTLE natives Fleet Foxes are an anomaly for the music writer. They defy pigeonholes.

The normal "pop, with an edge," or "rock with a heart" labels mean nothing in the face of such an accomplished and haunting record.

This, their debut, marries such bizarre styles as gospel, motown, folk and country to astounding effect.

Each of the four-piece bring a strange and beautiful talent which is truly breathtaking when it works - as on Tiger Mountain Peasant Song and Heard Them Stirring - and distinctly unusual when it doesn't quite.

Belle's new boy

(Morning Star, Friday 16 May 2008)

ALBUM: Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan - Sunday at Devil Dirt
(V2 Cooperative Music)

THE meeting of these two was well-discussed with their debut collaborative effort, Ballad of the Broken Seas (2006).

Sunday at Devil Dirt sees them back on top, with a darkly atmospheric collection of laments and sea shanties.

From laying with a "dark maiden" in Poe-esque The Raven to playing Campbell's "daddy" in the cheaply tawdry Shotgun Blues, Lanegan wears his "dastardly old dog" coat well.

But the real revelation here is Campbell, who achieved fame with Belle and Sebastian. She is a songwriter whose breadth of work is astounding and a singer whose charming girlish voice is strangely at home here at Devil Dirt.

Sunny whimsy

(Morning Star, Friday 16 May 2008)

ALBUM: The Heart Strings - Try Fly Blue Sky
(Grandpa Stan Records)

PLOWING the same furrow as forgotten Irish popsmiths The Thrills, Brits The Heart Strings have delivered a melodic debut for which the word "whimsical" could form a complete review.

The seven-piece seem especially gifted at multi-instrumental numbers, which just serve to add wilful kookiness to the formula.

From poppy opener Kids through wistful highlight He Wanted to Fly and He Flew, there are harmonious gems aplenty here, written with a summer day in mind. Now that's blue sky thinking.

After the Beta

(Morning Star, Friday 16 May 2008)

ALBUM: Black Affair - Pleasure, Pressure, Point
(V2 Cooperative Music)

STEVE Mason has taken a massive leap from the Beta Band and King Biscuit Time with Black Affair's debut.

Pleasure, Pressure, Point is the very distillation of sleazy 1980s clubs, taking in everyone from Depeche Mode to Gary Numan with unsettling results.

Sleaze drips from every note, like a study of Eurodisco with a light S&M twist.

BOY KILL BOY – STARS AND THE SEA

(AU magazine May 2008)

(UNIVERSAL)

Despite reacting angrily against accusations of ‘emo’, this London
four piece have not done a terrible amount to dispel the vicious rumour
with this, their second long-playing outing.
Opener ‘Promises’ has the requisite balance of angst for any
self-respecting rocker, but it’s shot through with a tunefulness that
continues in single ‘No Conversation’ and highlight ‘Rosie’s On
Fire’.
On the one hand, for a young rock band from England, there’s not a lot
to set Boy Kill Boy apart from the crowd, but it’s to their credit that
they make an immediate impression on even the most casual of listeners.

THE DELAYS – HOORAY

(AU magazine May 2008)

(FICTION RECORDS)

SINGLE REVIEW

There was a brief blip, around two years ago, when The Delays were the Next Big Thing. Their jangly indie pop was a favourite of die-hard fans, but the Southampton lads never looked close to bothering the spotlight for more than a few seconds with their Embrace retreads.
Now they’re back, bigger and better than ever before – and they’ve brought the very material of their souls for you to see! ‘Hooray’ is a bright, big tune, swamped with orchestral arrangements and positive reinforcements. It swells from the off, building like the inspirational theme song of yet another teen movie, but despite its grandiose appearance, ‘Hooray’ is a little, well, hollow. Poor Delays. It’s nice that they’re back, but the truth is, their brief hiatus went unnoticed by many, as will this tune.

HELICOPTER GIRL - METROPOLITAN

(AU magazine May 2008)

(INSTANT KARMA)

Kicking in like it's 1987, 'Metropolitan' is a notable record indeed. Hailing from Perth in Scotland, Helicopter Girl aka Jackie Joyce is channeling Ertha Kitt over a weird mix of ambient dub - as on opener Giants Building Giants - and 1980s dance - as on Blink.
HG's cosmopolitan roots - she's half Ghanaian - make her style entirely impossible to classify, so what's left is a list of influences. You name a unique, imaginative solo female artist and HG's channeling her here, with grace on 'Ballerina', with style on 'Ghosts In The Machine' and with nothing but decorum throughout. But its very ingenuity cannot cover up the one fatal flaw here - it's all a bit of a hotchpotch.

iLIKETRAiNS – ELEGIES TO LESSONS LEARNT

(AU magazine May 2008)

(BEGGARS BANQUET)

In music history, it’s not that long since pop was a big, dumb animal. Sure, there was a streetwise cunning about the Sex Pistols, and no one had more angsty wisdom than Kurt Cobain, but actual booklearning? Not since the early days of Radiohead has anyone boasted of their academic credentials as loudly as iLIKETRAiNS. And with good reason. This film version of the album ‘Elegies To Lessons Learnt’ is packed full of visually arresting imagery – an animated figure depicting everyone from a plague-era vicar to a 20th century yachtsman, an MP who faked his own death to the Puritan who served as a minister in Salem during the witch trials. Yes, yes, it’s interesting, but preaching to boot. The problem is that the music is astonishing – sweeping and somber, with a soul which reaches deeper than anyone else around at the moment – but the patronised listener is not a happy one.

THE KOOKS – KONK

(AU magazine May 2008)

(Virgin)

There’s something unintentionally funny about The Kooks. Well, one must assume it’s unintentional – it seems unlikely the young Brighton foursome said ‘We’ll get way more coverage if one of us goes out with a really asinine warbling wench. Ooh, and how about we sing really funny?’ And yet, this is the case. Luke ‘overshadowed by his ex’ Pritchard leads up The Kooks, with his strange, sort of wobbly vocal that sounds like he’s singing underwater.
After a debut album of massive appeal, ‘Konk’ is little more than a retread, but it’s not offensive. They make pleasant pop to fill the airwaves of local radio, on show here in the guise of ‘Always Where I Need To Be’ and ‘Do You Wanna’.
If you like your rock with smooth pop edges, you could do a lot worse - not least because singing along is hilarious.

MEXICAN INSTITUTE OF SOUND – ESCRIBEME PRONTO

(AU magazine May 2008)

(COOKING VINYL)

SINGLE REVIEW

There’s something strange and unusual about listening to Latin rhythms in the UK. From the repetitive ‘arriba’-style vocal to the Spanish vocals, MIS’ ‘Escribeme Pronto’ is pretty much guaranteed to leave any Brit listener feeling out of place, shot through with the sort of beats that it truly takes a truckload of tequila to be able to appreciate. After that, mind, it’s golden.
Notably, of the six versions on show here, there’s more originality – depth, soul and delight – than any of them. The remixes actually tend to verge on parody, which is a shame, because in isolation, ‘Escribeme Pronto’ will get the summertime single vote. As it is – return to sender.

ORPHAN BOY – SHOP LOCAL

(AU magazine May 2008)

(CONCRETE RECORDINGS)

Straight out of Grimsby come this three-piece, imbibed with the very spirit of yoof, Orphan Boy. Lauded for producing ‘the most played song’ on king of indie Steve Lamacq’s mp3 player in ‘Trophies Of Love’, debut album Shop Local sees them merrily making a mockery of the identikit rock which forms their contemporary battle ground.
Like those other bands, there is an element of everyday life to the subject matter here – Orphan Boy are concerned with modern life, because, well, it’s a bit rubbish. Single ‘Postcode’ makes sport of the daily drudge of housing estates with all the flair of the Arctic Monkeys, and the myriad influences of the band come into play throughout the record.

PARKA - ATTACK OF THE HUNDRED YARD MADMAN

(AU magazine May 2008)

(JEEPSTER RECORDINGS)

The ancient art of melding guitar to dance beat is a distinguished one. The heady days of Madchester taught rockers how to rave and vice versa, Parka are merely the most recent chasers of the same musical mecca.
These Scots have already scalped Alex Zane for their fanbase with breakout single 'Disco Dancer', which merrily channels Franz Ferdinand's 'Michael' with a little less style.
The jewel here seems to be 'DJ In The Corner', which sees 90s flame-haired indie-dance gulderer Saffron from Republica revisit her stock in trade.
'Attack Of The Hundred Yard Madmen' is deceptively difficult to listen to - because no matter how much your feet want to do their stuff, there is the mouldy whiff of yesteryear around the whole damn thing.