I keep thinking I’m getting there then something knocks me back again… so here we are in June and I’m only on part 2 of May’s singles round up’s with the remainder of April and all of May’s album reviews languishing uncomplete… Anyway here goes for part 2 of May’s singles
Something a bit different from Verse Metrics this month with the multi-textured and hypnotically atmospheric Robin Southby remix of their track Arcane Spillage. A slow burn intro breaks into delicate piano parts, before the rhythm builds and the urgency increases, the refrain of “like I’m being gently pulled apart” glitching and repeating until the full blown thunderous beats and synths opens up. Their album Descents is due out this summer.
Ahead of the release of their new EP, Delicate Thing on the 11th of June, came the third taster for the 5 track EP from pedalo. You Might Be Right follows Picture it Backwards and Hate Me and cements their place as one of Scotland’s finest purveyors of sophisticated and stylish indie dream pop. A hypnotic bass line and solid beat underline subtly singing guitar lines and Callum’s smooth vocal, before Charlotte takes over for a spoken word refrain, with the two layering as the song progresses with Charlotte contributing an angelically ethereal vocal part which soars into the ether.
May also saw the welcome return of Hadda Be with the high octane high energy single High Noon … that’s enough highs for now … suffice to say this is a exhilaratingly spirited return, Amber’s lively vocals, paired with dynamic choppy guitars and machine gun drumming come together with a compelling vitality, clearly also an enjoyable experience for the band given the smile inducing chuckle at the end.
Billy Reeves is in reflective mood on the boisterous single Encyclopedi-ite with its lyrics recalling youthful longing and envious adoration. The single is a perfect blend of acoustic and forthright punky guitars and along with Reeves muted vocal come together to create a delightfully engaging experience for the listener.
Micko and the Mellotronics released the third single from the suitably titled forthcoming album, The Trinity. For me, the driving urgent insistency of Shadow which is both reflective and introspective as Micko explores the Jungian concept of the shadow self, the dark and repressed side of our psyche, using challenging and socially unacceptable childhood thoughts or memories to illustrate the theory…for me this compelling single is the best of the bunch so far and fairly whets the appetite and raises anticipation levels for the album.
A live favourite next from Maz and the Phantasms with their absurdly engaging Pigeon Song, with an equally bizarre and fun video, which I believe was created in a hazy fuzz of hangovers. The song is ultimately about sex and obsession, and I have to say I have been fairly obsessed with the highly entertaining and addictive strident bluesy surf rock ‘n’ roll of this single.
Jody and the Jerms haven’t graced (sorry…) these pages for a while but they are always a welcome addition to my singles round ups, and new single Grace is no exception, a laidback bright and breezy melody with lyrics about falling head over heels for someone, this song has a palpable optimism about it.
Based on recent feedback, I’ll probably be accused as having TDS again (I had to look it up – and then laughed heartily at the irony) by featuring The Waterboys single Don’t Even Have to Say His Name, a song packed with righteous disdain for what he who shall remain unnamed has done to to damage the image of the US, driving culture backwards and in doing so creating a more divisive society than has been seen for decades. Much like others who shall remain nameless closer to home.
A band who have always been a welcome distraction since I first heard Take the Skinheads Bowling, Camper Van Beethoven recently shared the 1986 live version of The Kinks I’m Not Like Everybody Else to celebrate the re-elease of their II & III album with bonus 17 track live album.
Another band who have been releasing consistently good and enticingly earnest music for nearly four decades since their debut single When the Hoodoo Comes in 1987 is Diesel Park West, this single The Great Getaway is the opening track from their 13th album Jangles Up.
It’s always a welcome return when Arab Strap get back in the game and new single You You You is no exception. The single, which mixes insistent synth lines with hard and heavy crunching riffs, has Aidan Moffat in suitably irascible mood as he laments the signs of aging, bemoaning all the aches, pains, lumps and pills that come with it in his familiar brusque and scathingly barbed vocal delivery. Before long he shifts the focus of his uniquely acerbic observational wit to rage against 21st century “progress” in its various forms, including a direct hit at Spotify and the dilemma it’s dubious activities and grasp of the music industry gives to bands and musicians. But hey, everything’s OK because “I’ve got You You You” he sings with a laconic sarcasm in the chorus. A new abum is coming as well as live dates for your delectation.
The inimitable and irreverent riotous Welsh riot grrls Panic Shack follow up the success of their debut album with the brilliant punk attitude fuelled Grin and Bear It, a scathing commentary on living through crisis after crisis created by incompetent decisions made by successive governments and just having to take the hits on the chin and as the song title says, grin and bear it.
I’m slightly obsessed with the works of David Lynch, and the music he uses to soundtrack his art. So much so that when I’m listening to new music I am often drawn to songs and music that I think would be a great fit for Twin Peaks or the like It’s therefore no surprise that I’m including Xiu Xiu in this part of the round up, they are no strangers to this oeuvre having previously released an album Plays the Music of Twin Peaks. There have been several bands I love that have released their own takes on In Heaven (Lady in the Radiator Song) from Eraserhead with Pixies, Win and The Meteors among them, Xiu Xiu’s version comes from their new album Eraserhead Xiu Xiu which complements their Twin Peaks album and their version of this song is a suitably minimalistic and hauntingly affecting take on the song.
Irish alt-punks Gurriers released the title track of their forthcoming sophomore album Nobody’s Coming to Save You in May. A powerful call to action for us all to be the change that needs to happen, the slow burn intro soon explodes with a ruthlessly clamorous coming together of jittery guitars, crunching basslines and thunderous drums. Searingly defiant. The band return to Glasgow for a gig later in the year.
Toronto’s Kiwi Jr also released the title track of their forthcoming new album, Blowin’ Up, and is a glorious end to this part of May’s round up, high on hooks, joyously jangly and a frantically fervent joyride.