Guided by Voices – The Great Man
Probably one of the most productive bands in the planet seemingly releasing an album every time I turn around, whether in the guise of Guided By Voices or offshoot Cub Scout Bowling Pins. The Great Man comes from the bands 41st album The Universe released in February and is a comment on all the “great men” in world politics… ahem.
The Cides – The Rebel
Latest single from The Cides who have appeared in the roundup a few times. The song harks back to the old mantra in the late 70s that punk wasn’t a style of music but an attitude, with lyrics acknowledging that there is a “rebel inside me” and with a desire to make a difference…to take action against injustice. No gods, no masters…
English Teacher – Not Everybody Gets to Go to Space
This month saw the release of the live Pinterest Predicts version of 2024 Mercury prize winners English Teacher’s song Not Everybody Gets to Go to Space from their excellent album This Could Ne Texas.
Onat Önol – To the Siren
Unfortunately I’ve not been able to get to one of the mixed bill gig nights they’ve put on yet, I hope I will resolve that in 2025, but I will say that I thoroughly enjoyed Onat Önol’s recent single To The Siren from the upcoming album No Problem Here, there is something about the song that gives me a warm fuzzy feeling, maybe it’s the angelic voices in the background or maybe it’s just the overall all enveloping layering of the instruments and the affecting vocal.
Middle Class Guilt – Trowie Song
The new louche lo-fi tune Trowie Song from Middle Class Guilt has a charmingly fragile and eccentric folky feel complete with banjo and strings. It’s initial seeming nonchalance opens up to an engaging tale with lyrics and melody that, despite the laidback nature of the song give a sense of unease. Brilliant.
Everyone Says Hi – Walking in the Air
I can’t have a December singles round up without a Christmas song, so here is Everyone Says HI’s version of the old classic from The Snowman.
Lightnin’ Truck – A Bit of Blue
Scorpio Leisure’s vocalist and main lyricist Hettie revealed her own project Lightnin’ Truck recently, A Bit of Blue is the first fruits of their labours and the positive signs are all there for more good things to come in 2025…
benefits – Missiles
It seems only right that the last single in the last month of this year’s round up is benefits and their song Missiles, in a year which the genocide of Palestine by a corrupt and fascist Israeli state. The horrors being undertaken in Palestine overshadowed everything else, and much of the world has overlooked it, or to be fair, many of the people of the world supported Palestine while their pleas fell on deaf ears, as their governments time and again take the side of Israel with the most often quoted phrase being “Israel has a right to defend itself” when nothing about the incessant attacks on Gaza (and far wider) was about defending itself and everything about wiping out a people and land grabbing.
The lyrics of Missiles talk of the so called problems we all face on a daily basis that we stress and get frustrated and angry about, the pointless situations and circumstances we boast and argue about when in reality everything pales into insignificance when your world involves missiles raining down on you day in day out. And yet “we applaud ourselves, we laugh, and cheer”
#freepalestine #stopthegenocide