The Devil Has The Best Tuna

This Is The Modern World

2012-02-17T17:35:00.001+01:00

From: London, United Kingdom

There is an old saying that the cream will always rise to the top. Let me tell you it's bollocks, it's usually the shit that rises to the top while the cream remains unhidden, undiscovered and unfortunately unloved. Take the crop of female electro poppers that surfaced a couple years ago can you honestly say that Gaga's increasingly bizarre posturing was the cream? Was Florence & her rather rusty machine the cream? Was La Roux really the cream? If the cream does truly rise to the top then Misfit Mod aka Sarah Kelleher would be the name on everyone's lips.

Where Gaga's brash over produced pop gets in your face demanding your attention Misfit Mod creeps up behind you and whispers sweet nothings in your ear. Her minimalist whisper pop is probably a little too sensitive, a little too understated and a little too introverted to push the Gaga's and the La Roux's from their electro pop thrones. Which not only proves that the real cream doesn't rise to the top it shows that, despite the teaching's of the Devil's arch nemesis, it's the brash who inherit the earth while the meek are merely resigned to obscurity.

Go Try

1980 by sarahann

Q.L.Z by sarahann

Sugar C by sarahann

Go Visit

Misfit Mod : Facebook : Website

Go View

Misfit Mod
Sugar C

Acid Baths

2012-02-16T18:06:00.001+01:00

Royal Baths
From: Brooklyn, New York, United States

Royal Baths have decamped from San Francisco to their spiritual home of Brooklyn, a move that brings them closer to their muscial forefathers the Velvet Underground. Their new album Better Luck Next Life is a more confident, grown up, dare I say polished affair than sludgy, lo-fi debut Litanies. Their new found confidence is personified in the impressive VU reloaded, effortlessly cool Faster/Harder. This is a track so cool it could freeze the balls off a gang of street toughened brass monkeys wearing thermal underwear. If Andy Warhol was alive today he'd be immortalising Royal Baths in synthetic polymer and building them a factory.

It's time to take a dip in the invigoratingly cool waters of Royal Baths.

Go Try

Drudgery by Royal Baths

After Death by Royal Baths

Nikki Don't by Royal Baths

Go Visit

Royal Baths - Facebook : Last.FM

Go View

Royal Baths
Faster/Harder

Wired Up

2012-02-15T17:50:00.000+01:00

Wire
From: The Past, The Present and the Future, United Kingdom

In a post nuclear world I swear that the only things left alive will be cockroaches and art-punk survivors Wire. Most of their contemporaries are dead, retired or treading the nostalgia circuit reduced to re-playing their best albums in their entirety like extras in a musical version of Dantes Inferno. Wire however are as fresh, progressive and full of vim and vigour as they were when first holed up in the studio recording debut Pink Flag in 1977. New live album The Black Session captures the band performing a mix of tracks from their latest critically acclaimed album Red Barked Tree and classics from their vast back catalogue in front of an invited, and very polite if the applause is anything to go by, audience in Paris in May last year.

Performing a set consisting of tracks from their latest album interspersed with classics could easily have shown up their later songs as poor imitations. Impressively it does exactly the opposite. While some tracks do suffer by comparison most notably the slow, sluggish and inconsequential 'Adapt', a poor choice of album opener, in the main the Red Barked Tree tracks more than stand their own. In fact a couple of them, the stomping, distorted 'Moreover' and spunky, punky 'Smash' have a decent claim to the title of best track on the album despite the presence of Wire classics like 'Kidney Bingos' and 'Map Ref. 41ºN 93ºW'. Damon Albarn would give up his ex-girlfriend's collection of Wire rarities to have written a track like 'Clay' another contender for best track on the album. It's choppier than a butchers window with more angles than an east end spiv. The album ends with extensively extended versions of the title tracks from their first and latest albums a nice piece of symmetry which serves to consolidate the impression that Wire in 2012 have as much to offer as their younger, hairier, skinnier, hungrier selves of 1977.

If the Black Session was released by a gang of bright young things with the right haircut and shoes they'd be lauded as the saviours of guitar music and invited to join the NME radar tour. But because it's a bunch of old guys on their 13th album it'll probably do little more than consolidate their status as THE cult band to name drop when you want to impress your less cool friends.

7.5/10

This review was originally written by the Devil for The 405 and is published with permission.

Go Try

08 Moreover by WireHQ

03 Smash by WireHQ

13 Pink Flag by WireHQ

Go Visit
Wire - Facebook : Website : Last.FM

Go View

Wire
Please Take

Lurve is in the air

2012-02-14T17:50:00.003+01:00

Kayln Rock
From: Hudson, New York

Happy Valentines Day from the Devil

The Devil has received one valentine card this year which incidentally is one more than last year and the year before and the year before that. So thank you to New York troubadour Kayln Rock for spreading the lurve. Not entirely coincidentally she also happens to have a lovely little tune called Valentine the perfect gift for that special someone in your life.

Go Try

MP3 - Kayln Rock - Valentine
This track is published with the permission of Green Light Go so please don't claim breach of copyright.

Go Visit

Kayln Rock - Facebook : Website : Last.FM

Go View

Kayln Rock
Alex The Great

Hospitality Pass

2012-02-13T17:47:00.001+01:00

Hospitality
From: Brooklyn, United States

You might be the best band in the world with a set of songs that could change music for ever but if you choose a bad name you may as well resign yourself to mid table obscuirty at best. Just ask Dumpy's Rusty Nuts, Splodgenessabounds and Ned's Atomic Dustbin. Brooklyn trio Hospitality have avoided the name choosing pitfalls by opting for a name that chimes perfectly with their friendly, generous, entertaining sound.

They don't come more friendly, generous or entertaining than Friend of Friends a song that's bouncier than Mr Bounce on a space hopper and more uplifting than a jet powered hot-air balloon. With more like this it won't be long before Hospitality have the world at their feet begging for more of their welcoming sound .

Go Try

Hospitality - Friends of Friends by NYLONmag

Hospitality - Betty Wang by NYLONmag

Go Visit

Hospitality - Facebook : Last.FM

Go View

Hospitality
Friends of Friends

Video Killed The Radio Star 12th February 2012

2012-02-12T22:41:00.009+01:00

Here are this weeks's videos that caught the Devil's eye...

The Remainers
House

The Sharps
My Love Ain't Gonna Save You

Abstraxion
Moribayasa

Bombay Bicycle Club
How Can You Swallow So Much Sleep

Get People
Macaw

The Devil's Round Up 12th February 2012

2012-02-12T18:01:00.013+01:00

Tonight the Devil's round up takes you on a musical tour around the British Isles...

Bear Response Team
From: London, United Kingdom

Pop doesn't come much poppier than this. There's more life in this song than a millions Coldplay albums in a tramp's vest.

Go Try

Bear Response Team - Always Have Some Yes! by FADED GLAMOUR

Eleventy Four
From: Dublin, Ireland

If Juno had been set in Dublin Eleventy Four would have supplied the soundtrack.

Go Try

Forklife by eleventyfour

Edinburgh School For The Deaf
From: Edinburgh, Scotland

Ironically Edinburgh School for the Deaf's 13 Crowns is best played loud, really loud.

Go Try

13 Holy Crowns by bubblegumrecords

The Method
From: Cardiff, Wales

This couldn't be more retro if it was pressed on acetate and found in David Dickenson's attic.

Go Try

The Method - Art Gallery by See Monkey Do Monkey

Toy Horses
From: Cardiff, Wales

If Chas & Dave were an indie band from Wales they'd sound like Toy Horses, probably.

Go Try

Howl by Toy Horses

Robinson
From: Worcester, England

England's Bleeding sounds like Fiddler on the Roof written by Jeremy Kyle and Richard Littlejohn.

Go Try

England's Bleeding by Robinson Music

Deaf Tones

2012-02-11T18:34:00.003+01:00

Deaf Club
From: Wales

Welsh goth poppers Deaf Club (first featured on the Devil's blog back in August last year Going Deaf For A Living) are releasing their debut single on their own White on White label later this month. Sunday sounds like a successful cross breeding experiment involving The Cure and Zola Jesus. A year or so ago this would probably have been called chillwave now we're more mature about these things we simply call it brilliant.

Back in August I predicted that the media clamour about Deaf Club was about to get deafening and with such a stunning song as their debut single for once I might be right!

Go Try

Sunday by Deaf Club

Go Visit

Deaf Club : Facebook : Bandcamp : Soundcloud

Yrrs Truly

2012-02-10T18:28:00.000+01:00

YRRS
From: New Milton/Christchurch, New Zealand

What is pop music? In it's purest form it's a shortened form of popular music which tends to equal common denominator music that is designed to appeal to a mass market.

It has also come to denote a certain type of catchy, upbeat music that lodges itself in your brain and refuses to leave. It's the sort of tune that milkmen whistle while leaving your daily pint of milk on your doorstep.

New Zealand's vowelly challenged YRRS' distorted slacker anthems are not designed for mass market appeal and your milkman unlikely to whistle any of their tunes and yet underneath all the fuzz there are melodies poppier than a needle in a balloon factory. Your gran won't like them, your botoxed up sister won't like them and they'll probably turn your milkman sour but they're a proper pop band.

Go Try

DON'T YOU by YRRS

STAIN by YRRS

YRRS by YRRS

Go Visit

YRRS - Facebook

Remix It Up

2012-02-09T17:29:00.000+01:00

Wooden Shjips
From: San Francisco, United States

In the age of the re-invention it may sound like sacrilege to admit that I've never been a lover of remixes. Ruining an otherwise serviceable track by adding loads of unnecessary bells and whistles is not my idea of art or entertainment. There are also far too many remixes which are little more than mutton donning lamb's clothing which has never been a good look. So I approached San Franciscan wierdos Wooden Shjips' three track ep of "remixes" with that sinking feeling you get when pushing open the door to the dentist's surgery. You know that it's going to hurt but it's something you have to do. The only bright spot among the gloom was that one of the tracks has been remixed by Andrew Weatherall who single-handedly rescued Primal Scream from fey indie hell with his remix of Loaded one of the only examples of a remix actually enhancing a song.

Thankfully Weatherall's remix of 'Crossing' is the first of the three tracks and it's an absolute monster. It makes the original, which I rather liked, sound thin, weedy and a little malnourished. The remix master general transforms it into a meaty, beaty psychedelic dancefloor smash. It's like one of those before and after ads for protein shakes. It's enough to make me think that maybe I'm wrong about remixes and they can actually be a force for good.

For an EP titled Remixes Weatherall's is the only true remix of the three tracks. Sonic Boom's bewildering, headache inducing 'Wiking Stew (aka Red Krayola-ing)' is more a collage of bits of Wooden Shjips' last album West than a remix. The 12 minute long instrumental "Ursus Maritimus (Last Bear's Lament)" is a new track, a transatlantic collaboration between Shjips Erik "Ripley" Johnson and kandodo (aka Simon Price from English stoner rockers The Heads). Trade Descriptions Act anyone?

Unfortunately neither 'Wiking Stew' or 'Ursus Maritimus' quite live up to Weatherall's tour de force. Sonic Boom's track sounds exactly as you would expect, a Spacemen 3 b-side. The collaboration with Price is a buzzing, clanging, doomy drone rocker that is unlikely to get none Wooden Shjips aficonados on board (I promise that's the only vaguely ship related pun you're getting from me today).

Has Remixes changed my mind on the value of the remix? No it hasn't, I still think that 99% of remixes are rubbish but I have to admit the impressive 'Crossing' did introduce a smidgeon of doubt.

6/10

This review was originally written by the Devil for The 405 and is published with permission.

Go Compare

Wooden Shjips "Crossing" - Andrew Weatherall Remix- (Thrill Jockey) by samplermagazine.com_bymtz

Wooden Shjips: "Crossing" by alteredzones

Go Visit

Wooden Shjips - Facebook : Website : Last.FM

Gummere Bare

2012-02-08T17:53:00.000+01:00

Bare Mutants
From: Chicago, United States

The Pony's Jered Gummere must have a form of musical ADHD, he's been in so many bands he makes Jack White look lazy. The Muggles, Defilers, Real Cool Killers, Guilty Pleasures and The Ponys. He collects bands like other less diligent souls collect records. Inside My Head by Gummere's latest venture Bare Mutants is cooler than fuck fuzzy punk that sounds like the Jesus & Mary Chain at their best.

Go Try

Bare Mutants - Inside My Head by HOZAC RECORDS

Go Visit

Bare Mutants - Facebook : Last.FM

Go View

Bare Mutants
Scars

Free Tickets!

2012-02-07T18:20:00.001+01:00

Drag Your Heels
From: London, United Kingdom

Drag Your Heels (first featured on the Devil's blog in January 2011 Drag Queens, and featured in one of my weekly round ups in November The Devil's Weekly Round Up 6th November 2011) are finally getting the attention that they deserve. They're playing HMV Next Big Thing (don't forget you heard about them here first !) this Sunday 12th Feb at Barfly. You can find out more about the event and the full and line-up here.

The 'Heels are on at 7.30pm, so plenty of time for a vegetarian roast beforehand and not too late to be tucked up in bed by 10pm (for anyone that way inclined). If you want to see the next big things as predicted by the Devil in the flesh and save yourself a tenner in these straightened times there are some free tickets up for grabs. Simply send an email to deadspacebookings@live.co.uk with your name, and you'll be added to the draw. Your chances of success are infinitely more than if the lottery and you get to see a kick ass band as well. You've nothing to lose.

Go Try

Crossbone Boy by Drag Your Heels

Go Visit

Drag Your Heels - Facebook : Website

Go View

Drag Your Heels
Some Other Dream

See Urchins

2012-02-06T17:25:00.000+01:00

Urchins
From: St Helens, United Kingdom

It's not clear if St Helen psych rockers Urchins are still in existence or on some form of lengthy sabbatical. They haven't logged into their myspace site since August (not that unusual these days I know), their last Soundcloud upload was 9 months ago, their facebook page hasn't been updated since September and there hasn't been a tweet from them since 2009! All of which is slightly ironic (are you taking notes Alana) since they set their sites up under the monicker Urchinsmania. This may have been wishful thinking on their behalf but with a sea shanty garage rock schtick that sounds like the handsome progeny of an illicit drunken fumble between The Cramps and The Coral it seems more like an opportunity spurned.

Go Try

Heebie Jeebies by urchins..

Cabin Fever by urchins..

Funeral March by urchins..

Go Visit

Urchins - Facebook : Myspace

Video Killed The Radio Star 5th February 2012

2012-02-05T22:00:00.000+01:00

Modeselektor
Evil Twin

An early condidate for video of the year.

Modeselektor - Evil Twin from MIAOU on Vimeo.

Band of Skulls
Bruises

Band Of Skulls - Bruises Official Video from Joseph Connor on Vimeo.

Angus & Julia Stone
I'm Not Yours

Another early contender for video of the year

I'm not yours - Angus and Julia Stone (2011) from Nick Murray Willis on Vimeo.

How To Loot Brazil
Shout Out Love

The Devil's Round Up 5th February 2012

2012-02-05T17:56:00.012+01:00

This week's round up of the tracks I haven't had the space to post...

Range Rover
From: San Diego, United States

Mind from San Diego teens Range Rover is distorted and a little fuzzy round the edges.

Go Try

Range Rover - Mind by Fat Cat Records

Vasco Da Gama
From: Liverpool, United Kingdom

Liverpool experimentalists Vasco Da Gama explore musical lands that have been rarely visited.

Go Try

Teach the Young Team by Vasco Da Gama

The Black Dove Experiment
From: London, United Kingdom

They say "post apocalyptic cinematic electronic schizophrenia" I say the claustrophobic, intense siblings of Radiohead and in a way we're both right.

Go Try

The Black Dove Experiment - 'This Town's A Battleground' by December Sessions

Fox The Cat
From: Chicago, United States

Fox The Cat's Electric Wires is whisper in a beautiful room. It's special, it's so fucking special.

Go Try

Electric Wires by Fox The Cat

She Makes War
From: London, United Kingdom

Hypnotic.

Go Try

She Makes War - delete by Strummerville

Dissolved
From: Glasgow/Vancouver

Woozy.

Go Try

X-Ray Collection at the Jumble Sale by Dissolved

The Future's Theirs

2012-02-03T18:40:00.000+01:00

SULK

From: London, United Kingdom

Madchester returns. Yes The Stone Roses, The Happy Mondays and The Inspiral Carpets are back. All we need now is a Charlatans album and the rebirth of Northside (well maybe not) and we could host our own version of the musical antiques roadshow. Londoners SULK have clearly been reading the runes. They may have been born within the sound of the bow bells but with their shaggy bowl cuts, youthful arrogance and psych lite tunes Afflecks Palace is clearly their spiritual homeland. They couldn't be more Madchester if they donned a pair of 20" flares a tie die shirt and a fishermans hat.

Would you rather listen to a bunch of bloated old guys trying to revisit past glories or a young, hungry, band with more tunes than a chemist's wholesaler? The past was theirs but the future's SULKs.

Go Try

SULK - 'Wishes' by December Sessions

Go Visit

SULK - Facebook : Website : Last.FM

Go View

SULK
Back In Bloom

Surrender To Howler

2012-02-02T18:32:00.000+01:00

Howler
From: Minneapolis, United States

In 1961 Decca Records told the Beatles that guitar groups were on their way out. With only one genuine honest to goodness guitar band making it to the BBC's influential Sound of 2012 final 15 long list it would appear that they were a mere 50 years out. If the BBC are to be believed all that's left to do is order the coffin, draft the obituary for the Times and dust down the black suit and tie. But hold on a moment since when has the BBC ever been the arbiter of taste? Aren't they the establishment we're all supposed to be challenging and isn't the guitar the ultimate anti establishment weapon of choice for young rebels through the musical ages? It's time for the fight back to begin.

Minneapolis four piece Howler could be the band to lead the insurgency and topple the self satisfied enemies of the guitar band. Their debut album America Give Up sounds like it's been specifically designed to call the BBC's bluff and snatch the zeitgeist back from the potty mouthed rappers and beanie hatted, haircut challenged dub step jockeys. Hell with lines like “I wanna get dressed, make a scene” and “I wanna girl and a new car/I need a drink and a guitar” they've even written the manifesto for the guitar band counter revolution.

With a cover that looks like a Lucky Strike cigarette packet it's fitting that America Give Up is loaded with tracks as addictive as nicotine. None more so than the explosive, and perhaps controversially titled, 'Beach Sluts' which sounds like The Strokes after a red bull overdose and makes you glad to be alive. It's a two fingered salute to the BBC and others gleefully dancing on rock 'n rolls grave.

On The fuzzy Strokes meets the Vaccines 'Wailing (Making Out)' Jordan sounds like Julian Casablancas gargling barbed wire. It's 2012's 'Post Break Up Sex' and is destined to own this year's festivals. The fuzzy slowie 'Too Much Blood' sounds like Jordan's been mainlining the Jesus & Mary Chain's back catalogue and 'Told You Once' is a two and a half minute pop gem culminating in the withering put down “I wish there was something I could do ‘cause I hate myself more than I hate you”. Morrissey would kill for a line as good as that.

America Give Up is a bona fide rock 'n' roll album with more energy than a Duracell bunny with ADHD. Is it the album that will single-handedly resurrect guitar music from it's BBC declared grave? Maybe. Is it the first truly great rock 'n' roll album of 2012? An unqualified yes.

This article was originally written by the Devil for The 405 and is published with permission.

8.5/10

Go Try

Howler - 01-Beach Sluts by poupeedeplastique

Howler - 06-Wailing (Making Out) by poupeedeplastique

Go Visit

Howler - Facebook : Website : Last.FM

Go View

Howler
Back Of your Neck

Pure Filth

2012-02-01T18:04:00.000+01:00

Filthy Boy
From: London, United Kingdom

With two Morrisseys in their ranks you might be expecting Filthy Boy to be a gang of gladioli twirling miserabilists and you'd be half right. With lyrics like "You look as pretty through the window magnificently kneeling between those men" these boys behaving badly share the young Mozzer's love of the dubiously erotic double entrendre. But there's a playfulness about Filthy Boy that owes more to Momus or the Divine Comedy than Moz's alma mater and they don't come more playful than the quite frankly bonkers Jimmie Jammies.

Filthy Boy nice 'n sleazy does it.

Go Try

Oh Dear (Home Demo) by Paraic Morrissey

Mental Conditions by Paraic Morrissey

Jimmy Jammies by Paraic Morrissey

Go Visit

Filthy Boy - Facebook : Bandcamp : Last.FM

Go View

Filthy Boy
Waiting On The Doorstep

Pussy Galore

2012-01-31T18:07:00.000+01:00

Catgut
From: Norway or Scotland or England take your pick

One of my favourite tracks posted last year was Pete Wylie's vitriolic The Day Margaret Thatcher Dies so in the interests of political balance here's Scottish troubadour Catgut's elegaic The Death Of Gordon Brown. While you're at it check out the incredible Black Seas & Belly Aches which sounds like a lo-fi acoustic Beck it's an early contender for the Devil's top 10 of the year.

Go Try

The Death of Gordon Brown by Catgut

Pop Song Demo (Black Seas & Belly Aches) by Catgut

Go Visit

Catgut - Facebook : Website : Last.FM

Go View

Catgut
Black Seas & Belly Aches

Angry Like The Wolf

2012-01-30T18:49:00.000+01:00

Dead Wolf Club
From: London, United Kingdom

January is a good time to take a listen to the self titled debut album from Dead Wolf Club. It's quiet/loud dynamic is just the thing to shake you out of your post festive torpor. It sounds like a missive from a deserted island where they've sealed themselves off from the rest of the world with nothing but well worn copies of the collected works of Liars, The Pixies and the early albums of Idlewild to keep them company. Disregarding the current vogue for lo-fi surf pop the Cornish quartet prefer to make your eardrums earn their money with the kind of racket that used to make NME journalists go into hyperbolic shock. It's like a double espresso for the ears blowing away any cobwebs better than a trip to a wind farm in a hurricane.

Dead Wolf Club captures the visceral, instrument wrecking, edgy feel of their live shows perfectly. Ear shredding guitars? Check. Screamed, impassioned vocals? Check. Thumping, pounding drums? Check. With its murky vocals and grungy riff album opener 'Headful of Horrors' launches Dead Wolf Club with a nihilistic bang. 'Radar' is urgent, visceral punk from the dark side pummelling your ears like a prize fighter on red bull. 'News At Ten' and final track 'Not What It Seems' are angular and angry, simmering with the barely controlled rage of a bedroom anarchist. 'Allison' is just pure anger spat out like venom from a frightened cobra. I don't know what she's done to lead singer John Othello but I suggest Allison takes out a restraining order and gets herself some personal protection.

It's not all furious, no nonsense high decibel rock 'Colossus', at 5 minutes the longest track on the album, and 'Waves' are brooding and melodic anthems that just build and build until they finally fall apart in a squall of feedback. 'Disappear' owes more to the avant-garde post punk of Liars than the Pixies. This variety sets the album apart from the crowd, lifts it above the ordinary and makes the dull days of January much more bearable.

Dead Wolf Club is energetic yet comforting, distorted yet melodic, aggressive yet sensitive, raw yet polished. It's a unique monster of an album created from the best bits of Doolittle, They Threw Us All In A Trench And Built A Monument On Top and 100 Broken Windows topped off with the righteous anger of a generation betrayed.

7.5/10

This article was originally written by the Devil for The 405 and is published with permission.

Go Try

Dead Wolf Club - News at Ten by Dead Wolf Club

Dead Wolf Club - 'Radar' by charmfactory

Go Visit

Dead Wolf Club - Facebook : Last.FM

The Devil's Round Up 29th January 2012

2012-01-29T17:18:00.010+01:00

This week's round up of the tracks I haven't had the space to post...

Black Marble
From: Brooklyn, New York, United States

With their synth driven post punk Black Marble sound like they've been created from recently uncovered instructions on how to create the perfect Factory Records band.

Go Try

Black Marble - Pretender by hardlyartrecords

The Hope Trust
From: Denton, Texas, United States

Heart on the sleeve anthemic pop from Texans The Hope Trust.

Go Try

The Hope Trust - Throw Me Overboard by Sink & Stove

Sea Pinks
From: Belfast, Ireland

Jangly lo-fi pop perfection from Sea Pinks, a Belfast band who clearly mourn the demise of Sarah Records.

Go Try

Sea Pinks - Peripheral Vision (EP Version) by CF Records

A Classic Education
From: Bologna, Italy

Baby It's Fine is pure neo psych pop that'll warm the cockles of your heart

Go Try

A Classic Education - Baby, It's Fine by A Classic Education

Au Palais
From: Toronto, Canada

With a fine line in meaty, beaty goth-pop Au Palais are a Canadian kissing cousin to Austra.

Go Try

Au Palais - Tender Mercy by TheSoundsOfSweetNothing

Fanfare For the Uncommon Man

2012-01-28T18:27:00.000+01:00

Cue Fanfare
From: Bristol, United Kingdom

With a name taken from a track off Swoon and chord squences and rhythm changes last heard at a Paddy McAloon retrospective Cue Fanfare couldn't betray their influences more if they took out a slot in the X Factor Final advertising break and spent 5 minutes shouting I Love Prefab Sprout. The Moth and Leda & The Swan wouldn't sound out of place on Steve McQueen and praise doesn't come much higher than that.

This is pop so intelligent it wears a white coat and lab specs.

Go Try

MP3 - Cue Fanfare - Ghost Ship
This track is linked direct from the Cue Fanfare Last.FM site and is therefore already freely available so please don't claim breach of copyright

The Moth by CueFanfare

Leda and the swan by CueFanfare

Go Visit

Cue Fanfare - Facebook : Website : Last.FM

Go View

Cue Fanfare
Robot

Bewildering

2012-01-27T18:44:00.001+01:00

Bewilder
From: Southampton, United Kingdom

There are a bewildering range of musical genres with new ones seemingly coined each day. It's perhaps fitting therefore that Southampton band Bewilder's music twists and turns between post rock, math rock and ambient rock with the dexterity of a double jointed snake covered in engine oil. They also have a collection of the best song titles this side of a Morrissey note pad.

If Grandaddy had been born within spitting distance of the Bargate building and had a degree in applied mathematics they'd sound like Bewilder, probably.

Prepare to be Bewildered.

Go Try

MP3 - Bewilder - What's The Most You Ever Lost On A Coin Toss
MP3 - Bewilder - I'm A Kid, That's My Job
MP3 - Bewilder - Hard Working, Alpha Male, Jackhammer
These tracks are linked direct from the Bewilder Last.FM site and are therefore already freely available so please don't claim breach of copyright

Bewilder - Would You Like To Talk About A Possible Lunch Trade? by Art Is Hard Records

Go Visit

Bewilder - Facebook : Bandcamp : Last.FM

Top Trumpets

2012-01-26T17:59:00.000+01:00

Trumpets of Death
From: Leeds, United Kingdom

Regular readers will know how much I love off the wall reworkings of classic songs. Hell my favourite track from last year was King Q4's stunning re-imagining of Shocking Blue's Love Buzz. So as you might expect I fell head over heels in love with Trumpet of Death's oddball cover of The Crystal's He Hit Me It Felt Like A Kiss. If you're going to cover a song make it your own otherwise you might as well just book a slot on Cowell's Karoake Factor and boy do Trumpet of Death make He Hit Me their own.

Go Try

Trumpets Of Death - He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss) by Trumpets of Death

Trumpets Of Death - Jason by Trumpets of Death

Go Visit

Trumpets of Death - Facebook : Website : Last.FM

Go View

Trumpets of Death
Jason

Insect Symbols

2012-01-25T18:47:00.000+01:00

Termites

From: Bristol, United Kingdom

Termites is a gang of four multi-instrumentalists with a fine line in art rock so uniquely British it was probably raised on bangers and mash. It sounds like they've been holed up in the Redcliffe Caves with only the Young Knives debut album and the collected works of XTC to keep them company. There was a time when the NME would be having multiple orgasms listening to the likes of Clockwork Meat. Unfortunately they're now little more than a weekly version of Mojo so it's left to the blogosphere to wax lyrical about bands like Termites.

In an era in music when conformity is celebrated and originality is almost instant career death Termites have opted for the road less travelled.

Go Try

Termites - Clockwork Meat by Sink & Stove

Termites - Ammo by Sink & Stove

Go Visit

Termites - Facebook : Website

Go View

Termites
Lorry Crash

Totally Bogus Man

2012-01-24T18:01:00.001+01:00

Bogus Pipeline
From: Cambridge, United Kingdom

According to wikipedia the bogus pipeline is a technique used by social psychologists to reduce false answers when attempting to collect self-report data. It's also the name chosen by Russell Taysom the male half of Cambridge artrockers Micropenis (first featured on the blog back in 2008 Small But Perfectly Formed). It'll look much better on a badge and t-shirt than his previous band and googling it is a lot less embarrasing.

Bogus Pipeline are so fresh off the press that they don't have any of the standard accoutrements of the modern band. There's no Facebook, Myspace, Last.FM or Bandcamp site. The only sign that they exist is a solitary track on Soundcloud. Obsolete Currency is a sleazy electro glam stomp that sounds like Micropenis in glitter boots.

There's nothing bogus about Bogus Pipeline they're the real deal.

Go Try

Obsolete Currency by Bogus Pipeline

Go Visit

Bogus Pipeline - Soundcloud

Free The Brighton Twee

2012-01-23T17:28:00.001+01:00

Foxes!
From: Brighton, United Kingdom

Who would have thought that a cassette tape (yes it was that long ago) given away free with a weekly music inkie (the NME since you ask) would still hang like the proverbial albatross around the necks of any band daring enough to jangle rather than rock? Any vaguely twee band with cute, usually but not predominantly, female vocals are casually dismissed with the accusation that they're little more than C86 revivalists. If they can body swerve that they open themselves up to the charge that they're Sarah Records fellow travellers.

On their self titled debut album Foxes! don't really help themselves. They jangle more than a wind chime factory in a hurricane, they have more than the requisite quantity of cute, female vocals and a track called 'The Panda Bear Song'. They even include a song about breaking down in tears when a friend said he'd vote for Borderville in the battle of bands ('Alex Badamchi').They couldn't be more twee if they wrapped themselves in Cath Kidson wallpaper and performed at a Laura Ashley garden party.

But it's not all fun, sun, cherryade and summer dresses in the world of Foxes!. 'Who Killed Rob' may sound sweeter than a honey coated barley sugar twist but it's a tale of a cyclist being knocked down. 'It's Ridiculous, Adam' is Lesley Gore's tear jerker 'It's My Party' re-imagined for the 21st century, a wedge of casio pop that'll have your feet dancing while your heart breaks. The album's final track 'Descartes' includes references to headstones, drowning, suicide, canine anal cancer and dying goldfish. Not even miserable old Morrissey dared to write lyrics about anal cancer, or dying goldfish come to think of it!

What sets these cunning canids apart from their twee compadres is that they don't stick rigidly to the suffocating twee template. 'Oh Rosie' is a frantic rockabilly pace setter that rocks like it's life depends on it before reaching an anthemic climax. 'Welcome To The Jivin' starts off like a 1950s commercial before settling into a 1960s pure pop groove.

Don't be put off by the twee coating there is more to these cunning canids than meets the eye. From surprisingly dark subject matter to the occasional foray into rockier territory Foxes! is the first truly post twee album. Now can we all forget C86 and set our bands free to be twee.

7.5/10

This article was originally written by the Devil for The 405 and is published with permission.

Go Try

foxes! - The Panda Bear Song (earliest recording) by foxesfoxesfoxes

foxes! - Who Killed Rob? (original home demo version) by foxesfoxesfoxes

foxes! - Alex Badamchi (original home demo version) by foxesfoxesfoxes

Go Visit

Foxes! : Myspace : Facebook : Last.FM

Go View

Foxes!
Oh Rosie

Foxes!
Who Killed Rob?

Foxes!
The Panda Bear Song

Video Killed The Radio Star 22nd January 2012

2012-01-22T22:00:00.005+01:00

Biggs
The Drop

Gang Colours
Fancy Restaurant

gang colours - fancy restaurant from samuel craven on Vimeo.

Mr Fogg
Stay Out Of The Sun

Alright Alright
Bingo Bango

The Devil's Round Up 22nd January 2012

2012-01-22T17:26:00.016+01:00

This week's round up of the tracks I haven't had the space to post...

Useless Eaters

From: Memphis, United States

Old school punk from Useless Eaters that proves the guitar isn't dead it's just taking a short sabbatical in the birthplace of rock 'n' roll.

Go Try

Useless Eaters - At The Parkette by southpawrecs

Incredible Weapons
From: Winchester, United Kingdom

I Wanna See You Every Day fizzes like a box of alka seltzer in a bath of coke.

Go Try

I wanna see you every day (demo) by incredibleweapons

The Shamefaced Sparrows
From: London, United Kingdom

The Shamefaced Sparrows are a reminder of that buzz you got when you first heard the Libertines.

Go Try

Murder In The Dollhouse (Demo) by The Shamefaced Sparrows

This Is The Now
From: Brooklyn, New York, United States

I Wish I Was A Banker is the point at which the Velvet Underground and the Occupy movement meet.

Go Try

MP3 - This Is The Now - I Wish I Was A Banker
This track is published with the permission of Sneak Attack Media so please don't claim breach of copyright

The Hysterical Injury
From: Bath, United Kingdom

The Hysterical Injury are the best noisy brother/sister duo since the White Stripes.

Go Try

The Hysterical Injury - Maths by Strummerville

Bully For You

2012-01-21T18:51:00.000+01:00

Gorgeous Bully
From: Plymouth, United Kingdom

The more sanitised, synthetic and computerised mainstream music becomes the more the discerning music lover yearns for something a little more authentic, a little more organic. In 2012 too much music sounds like it's been factory produced and packed full of more additivies than a family sized pack of Monster Much. Thank god for labels like Art Is Hard Records who have an enviable record of unearthing genuine little hand made organic gems like the prolific lo-fi maverik Thomas Crang aka Gorgeous Bully.

In a perfect world Crang's heart on sleeve warm, fuzzy felt bedroom pop would be the staple diet of Radio 1 DJs and potty mouthed hip hoppers and auto tuned poppets would be relegated to the musical margins.

Go Try

MP3 - Gorgeous Bully - Beauty Don't Give A Shit
MP3 - Gorgeous Bully - Gorgeous Bully
MP3 - Gorgeous Bully - The Art School Kids
These tracks are linked direct from the Gorgeous Bully Last.Fm site and are therefore already freely available so please don't claim breach of copyright

Gorgeous Bully - Never Cry by Art Is Hard Records

Go Visit

Gorgeous Bully - Facebook : Bandcamp : Last.FM

Go View

Gorgeous Bully
Beauty Don't Give A Shit

Buffalo Tom

2012-01-20T18:14:00.000+01:00

Boy or Bison
From: Manchester, United Kingdom

It's difficult being a blogger with a mission to bring you unheard, unknown, unfamiliar music from Manchester when there is another brilliant blogger from that fair city who has his finger so far on the pulse he could be a cardiologist. The Pigeon Post has already covered surf poppers Boy or Bison so you may already have stumbled across their ramshackle garage rock. If not then you're in for a treat. If the Fonz was into indie then Boy or Bison would probably be his favourite band.

Go Try

Boy Or Bison - make me go by MorrisSix

Boy Or Bison - Fog Of Love by MorrisSix

Go Visit

Boy or Bison - Myspace

Go View

Boy or Bison
Ivory Wave

The Prefab Four

2012-01-19T17:52:00.000+01:00

The Prefab Messiahs

From: The Past, United States

The past is a veritable treasure trove of brilliant unheard, unknown and downright unbelievable music. Thanks to the internet it is becoming easier to discover sounds that have been hiding their light under bloody large bushels for decades. Tonight's featured band the unbelievably amazing Prefab Messiahs formed way back in the early 80s and have been have been missing in action for far too long.

The Prefab four have just released Peace Love & Alienation a compilation of newly remastered tunes from the early 80s on Fixed Identity. Their psych garage mash up of The Television Personalities and the 13th Floor Elevators couldn't be more on trend in 2012 if they'd arrived wearing pajamas with the world's biggest scouse brow.

Put your hands together for the second coming of the Prefab Messiahs.

Go Try

Don't Go to the Party by The Prefab Messiahs

Desperately Happy by The Prefab Messiahs

Go Visit

The Prefab Messiahs - Facebook : Myspace : Last.FM

Go View

The Prefab Messiahs
Desperately Happy

Striking A Blow For Freedom

2012-01-18T09:00:00.000+01:00

Bare Wires

2012-01-17T18:24:00.000+01:00

Bare Wires
From: Oakland, California, United States

It's time to dust down your platform boots, dig out your feather boas and cover yourself in glitter because glam rock is back in the shape of California garage rockers Bare Wires. Their nu glam anthem Don't Ever Change sounds like T-Rex giving Slade a platform soled kick in the goolies. If this doesn't brighten your day then you need psychiatric help.

Go Try

Bare Wires - Don't Ever Change by Robot Elephant Records

Go Visit

Bare Wires - Facebook : Website : Last.FM

Go View

Bare Wires
Family Heat

For Better or Worse

2012-01-16T17:28:00.000+01:00

Husband
From: Bologna, Italy

I've been thinking for some time that the world needs a song that blends the Stone Roses effortless cool and pop savvy with the electronic stylings of Giorgio Moroder and lo and behold Italian duo Husband pop up with the awesome Love Song. If it was any cooler it could solve global warming. It's a little early to be identifying cast iron certainties for the Devil's top 10 of 2012 but if this doesn't feature then all I can say is it's going to be an incredible year for music.

Go Try

01 Husband - Love Song by Robot Elephant Records

Go Visit

Husband - Myspace

Go View

Husband
Slow Motion

Video Killed The Radio Star 15th September 2012

2012-01-15T21:35:00.004+01:00

Papercutz
Disintegration

Steaming Heathen
Put An End To This

PLUGS
Black Microdots

AV FOR PLUGS - Black Microdots from Alden Volney on Vimeo.

The Devil's Round Up15th January 2012

2012-01-15T17:51:00.018+01:00

This week's round up of the tracks I haven't had the space to post...

Band Of Skulls
From: Southampton, United Kingdom

When I read that Band of Skulls were blues rockers my heart sank but then I heard Bruises and my heart soared, it's a solid slab of melodic rock which deserve a special place in your ears.

Go Try

Band of Skulls - Bruises by Vagrant Records

The Oh Sees
From: San Francisco, United States

Frantic, manic unhinged psych flecked rock from San Franciscan garage rock archivists The Oh Sees.

Go Try

Thee Oh Sees - The Dream by All Tomorrows Parties

Doldrums
From: Montreal, Canada

Canadian's Doldrums electro-hallucinogenic anthem I'm Homesick Sittin Up Here In My Satellite sounds like Bjork arm wrestling Portishead. It's time to get down with Doldrums.

Go Try

Im Homesick Sittin Up Here In My Satellite by DOLDRUMS

Etc
From: Singapore

Wonky geek pop that wears glasses and gets changed in a telephone box.

Go Try

Etc - Superhero Incognito by Strummerville

Container
From: Nashville, Tennessee, United States

Breathtaking techno with more beats per minute than a jackhammer after a power surge.

Go Try

CONTAINER - "Refract" (demo version?) by CONTAINER

Someone's Gonna Die
From: Cologne, Germany

Someone's Gonna Die! were a shortlived German duo who have thankfully resuraced via Soundcloud. Their short, sweet anti-folk songs are reminicent of The Moldy Peaches, Das Schimmelige Pfirsiche anyone?

Go Try

Birds by Someone's Gonna Die!

Pamela
From: San Francisco , United States

Lo-fi scuzzy, grungy garage rock that's as raw as a skinned knee.

Go Try

Desert (I need to get out of here) by Pamelaaa

Port Salut

2012-01-14T18:04:00.001+01:00

Haiku Salut
From: The Derbyshire Dales, Derbyshire, United Kingdom

Haiku Salut are three winsome young lasses from the Derbyshire Dales who claim to be influenced by the Spice Girls which must be a joke because they are about as far from the Spice Girls as it's legally possible to be without having testicles and 5 o'clock shadow. They're the nice girls, sporty nice, posh nice and baby nice if you like.

Vowels as Clear as Church Bells is just beautiful it'll give your tear ducts a good work-out. Secret Forever couldn't be more Parisian if it wore a beret, a black and white jumper and changed it's name to Miou-Miou.

You would usually see me running a mile to escape instrumentals, especially those that make use of accordions, organs, ukeleles and glockenspiels, but there is something about Haiku Salut tham makes me love them.

Go Try

Vowels As Clear As Church Bells by HaikuSalut

Secret Forever by HaikuSalut

Go Visit

Haiku Salut - Facebook : Website : Last.FM

Go View

Haiku Salut
Secret Forever

Brass In Pocket

2012-01-13T17:21:00.000+01:00

The Pocket Gods
From: Londinium, United Kingdom

Scratch the surface of the stagnant British music scene and you'll uncover some hidden gems. The Pocket Gods were first championed by the late, great John Peel over 7 years ago and they're still serving up huge helpings of their unique world view with songs like Survival of the Shittest which sounds like the diary of a depressed Tourettes sufferer with a lo-fi musical companion. It's bleak and oddly beautiful. Deapite this, and the self explanatory Wierd Shit, it's not all expletive laden lo-fi indie punk. Trailer Park On Mars lands somewhere between Nick Lowe and Spizz Energi, while The Hopton Hop is pure rock 'n roll passed through a slacker filter.

They may not actually fit in your pocket but The Pocket Gods are good to carry around with you in case you need an emergency shot of wry, lo-fi indie punk.

Go Try

survival of the shittest by the pocket gods

Trailer Park On Mars by the pocket gods

Go Visit

The Pocket Gods - Facebook : Last.FM

Go View

The Pocket Gods
Wierd Shit

Tiny Timbre

2012-01-12T17:53:00.000+01:00

Tiny Ruins
From : Aukland, New Zealand

Those who know me will vouch for the fact that I'm rarely lost for words but New Zealand folkie Hollie Fullbrook, via her Tiny Ruins pseudonym, leaves me speechless. Her pitch perfect Little Note is just such a simple, well written, beautifully sung, perfectly played song. Hollie makes this music lark seem so simple you wonder why everyone can't be this good. I then stumbled across her imaginatively titled Priests With Balloons and was completely blown away.

I've decided not to do a top tips for the year in 2012 because my predictive capability is slightly below that of mystic madge on Blackpool prom. If, however, I had consulted my second hand, ex-display model crystal ball I'm sure that Tiny Ruins would have been the first to appear after the mists had cleared.

Go Try

Tiny Ruins - 'Little Notes' by SpunkRecords

Tiny Ruins - The Priest With Balloons (Live on Radiant) by RadiantSydney

Go Visit

Tiny Ruins - Facebook : Website : Last.FM

Go View

Tiny Ruins
Adelphi Apartments

Friend or FOE

2012-01-11T17:22:00.003+01:00

FOE
From: Fleet, Hampshire

FOE, the one woman pop vehicle for ex Arthur singer Hannah Shark, works with SASO to make the Breeders' Bang On sound like the Ting Tings on a downer. An intriguing re-working which works, just.

You better make friends with FOE now because it won't be long before she's massive.

Go Try

Bang On (Breeders Cover) - SASO and Foe by FOE

Go Visit

FOE - Facebook : Website : Last.FM

Flying Nones

2012-01-10T18:01:00.000+01:00

Nones
From: Chicago, United States

Nones Defectating Grey is atonal post punk which sounds like Madness being thrown down the stairs and landing on The Pop Group. Wife Meat is the type of wonky, skronky, wilfully uncommercial punk that would have burst from the radio when John Peel was alive.

It might not be your cup of char but give thanks that bands like Nones still exist because if they didn't the world would be a dull, dull place.

Go Try

Nones - Defecating Grey by HOZAC RECORDS

Wife Meat by NONES

Go Visit

Nones - Facebook : Last.FM

Do I Need To Draw You A Picture?

2012-01-09T17:52:00.000+01:00

Diagrams
From: London, United Kingdom

Side projects are usually a means of branching out from the suffocating restrictions of being a small cog in the bigger wheel of the band. They're a means for an artist to express themselves, go their own way, expand themselves musically. With his Tunng offshoot Diagrams, Sam Genders dares to be different, on his debut solo album Black Light he plants his feet firmly inside his comfort zone preferring to photocopy the Tunng template and serve up a blend of English folk and gentle electronica, or folktronica as it has been somewhat obviously termed, familiar to fans of his main groups oeuvre.

The album opens with the mid paced, riff driven 'Ghost Lit' and the faster paced 'Tall Buildings' which sound like collages created from crumbs that dropped off the Sufjan Stevens' kitchen table. Genders' warmly melodic voice is cut from the same cloth as Sufjan's making it difficult to ignore the similarities to the Detroit troubadour. 'Night All Night' is located closer to Midlake territory, its heavily repeated, and somewhat inscrutable, chorus could be kindly called naggingly insistent or, less kindly, rather annoying.

On the funky, or at least as funky as folktronica gets we're not exactly talking James Brown here, 'Antelope' Genders throws everything but the kitchen sink in an effort to raise the album above the ordinary and dispel those Sufjan comparisons. This approach succeeds as it's head and shoulders above most of the tracks on the album with the notable exception of the title track which is almost worth the entry fee on it's own. 'Black Light' is one of the few tracks on the album to break free of the folktronica straightjacket, fizzing and popping like a rice krispie cake in a glass of Coke.

A few years ago folktronica felt modern and interesting. It was a breath of fresh air bringing new life to a rather tired and unfashionable genre. Unfortunately it's quickly become as formulaic and as dull as it's progenitor. Black Light is not a bad album, if you're a fan of Tunng or Sufjan Stevens. I just wish that Sam had taken a few steps out of his comfort zone and let his hair down a little instead of producing an album that could easily have been the latest Tunng album.

5/10

This article was originally written by the Devil for The 405 and is published with permission.

Go Try

Diagrams 'Antelope' by diagrams

Diagrams - Black Light - Night All Day (full time hobby) by pdis_inpartmaint

Go Visit

Diagrams - Facebook : Website : Last.FM

Go View

Diagrams
Antelope

And here are a couple of tracks from Sam's main band Tunng

Woodcat by tunng

Run, Turn, Follow by tunng

The Devil's Round Up 8th January 2012

2012-01-08T18:33:00.003+01:00

This week's round up of the tracks I haven't had the space to post...

Obedient Wives Club
From: Singapore

Pop sieved through a fuzzy filter from a band that'll have the feminists fissing.

Go Try

Obedient Wives Club - This Is It by happyteardropmusic

The Phantom Family Halo
From: Brooklyn, New York, United States

"This stuff is useful and should be available by the vat on prescription, because it’s good for the mental health." So spake the god of Kraut Rock Julian Cope and who am I to disagree with the almighty?

Go Try

"White Hot Gun" - THE PHANTOM FAMILY HALO by AngieFigure8PR

Gutter Parties
From: Hobart, Australia

The amazing Gutter Parties make electronic music so organic it should come with a recommendation from the soil association.

Go Try

Gutter Parties - 'Glow Slowli' - 2011 (AMDD063) by AMDISCS

Female Band
From: Brooklyn, New York

And Only I, Know Why from Brooklyn's Female Band is so lo -fi it's belo-fi. It's cooler than a Velvet Underground ice sculpture.

Go Try

And only I, know why by femaleband

Video Killed The Radio Star 7th January 2012

2012-01-07T22:00:00.004+01:00

First Aid Kit
The Lion's Roar

Those Lavendar Whales
Growth In Question

Those Lavender Whales - Growth in Question from Lunch & Recess on Vimeo.

Internet Forever
Happy New Year

Happy New Year from Tape Alarm on Vimeo.

The Heavenly Spheres
Time Flies

Inspired and the Sleep
Running

Oops Oh My

2012-01-05T18:31:00.000+01:00

Oh My
From: London, United Kingdom

I know that I'm going to regret this but I just can't resist this disposable little number from Saturdays worshipping London duo Oh My! It's not the usual fare you'll find on the Devil's blog but it's lively, upbeat, throw-away pop that'll blow away your post festive blues and get you prancing round your bedroom in your pop socks and whatever else it is you young dudes wear these days. It's Shampoo's Trouble for the TOWIE generation and I like it.

Go Try

Oh My! - Bad Date by PurplePR

Go Visit

Oh My! - Facebook : Website : Twitter : Last.FM

Go View

Oh My!
Bad Date

Steps Greatest Hits

2012-01-04T18:14:00.000+01:00

Son Step
From: Philadelphia, United States

Frequently when a band describes their sound as experimental it's little more than a cover for a lack of expertise in their instruments of choice, a prelude to self-indulgent, structureless meanderings or simply evidence that what is about to follow prefers style over substance. That's not the case with Phillie four piece Son Step. Their 'experimental' folk is innovative without becoming self indulgent, meandering but within a recognised structure.

Every Son Step track includes something slightly off centre turn potentially run of the mill songs into something much more exciting. The simply stunning Forks has it's intertwining whispered vocals, Big Buck Hunter it's urgent jungle drumming, discordant guitar strumming and throat shredding vocals and my personal favourite 45 Degrees has it's funky, wonky (fonky?) guitar stylings and off key whistling.

Step out of the ordinary into the slightly twisted world of Son Step.

Go Try

son step - forks by sonstep

son step - big buck hunter (live in brooklyn, 2011) by sonstep

son step - "45 degrees" by sonstep

Go Visit

Son Step - Facebook : Website : Myspace : Reverbnation : Last.FM
Go View

Son StepForks

Joy To The World

2012-01-03T17:19:00.001+01:00

Muscles of Joy
From: Glasgow, Scotland

The brilliant Everett True may have had a little too much pre Xmas egg nog when he called Glasgow all female septet Muscles of Joy "the greatest band of 2011". They're not even the greatest band in Glasgow, that is surely the incomparable John Knox Sex Club. They are however one of the most intriguing bands to have emerged over the past 12 months. They are an uncategorisable combination of post punk, old school Americana and Celtic folk. There isn't a genre that they can neatly fit into and I'm not sharp enough to try to invent one.

Water Break-Its-Neck is the strangest track you'll hear all year, maybe even all decade, a 10 minute epic which sounds like a bath running in a monastory for about two minutes, comes to life after about four minutes and after about six minutes it starts to sounds like a Celtic choir going through it's vocal exercises before a concert. . It is ambitious and curiously hypnotic like the aural equivalent of a lava lamp. It's marmite music, there's no middle ground with Muscles of Joy, you'll either love it, hate it or scratch your head and wonder. By comparison the sinuous, sensual Au Pairs like post punk of Coins Across His Hips is trad dad rock.

Muscles of Joy the greatest band of 2011? No! Muscles of Joy one of the brightest prospects for 2012? Most definitely!

02 Water break-its-neck by Muscles of Joy

04 Coins across his hips by Muscles of Joy

Go Visit

Muscles of Joy - Myspace : Facebook : Last.FM

On Fire

2012-01-02T18:24:00.001+01:00

Tiny Fireflies
From : Chicago, United States

Tiny Fireflies are Lisle and Kristine from the Chicago indiepoppers Very Truly Yours. They are also Lisle from Fireflies and Kristine from Tiny Microphone. Together as a duo, they are Tiny Fireflies. See what they did there? That's democracy in action! Together they make beautiful music that's like chicken soup for the ears.

Your Love gently caresses your ears with melodies so sweet you'll have to floss after each listen. Kristine's child-like voice could melt the heart of a tyrant. So Sad to Say Goodbye is poppier than mile long bubblewrap in a primary school. We Made A Pact is dream pop so ethereal it's virtually see through.

Tiny Fireflies are a great way to start the new year.

Go Try

Tiny Fireflies - "Your Love" by SeeThemPlay

So Sad to Say Goodbye by Tiny Fireflies

We Made a Pact by Tiny Fireflies

Go Visit

Tiny Fireflies - Facebook : Website : Last.FM

Go View

Tiny Fireflies
Snow

If you like Tiny Fireflies check out their other bands...

Girls Tell You Secrets by Very Truly Yours

Love So Pure by misterfireflies

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://tinymicrophone.bandcamp.com/track/books"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Books by Tiny Microphone&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;am&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

Happy New Year

2012-01-01T12:00:00.001+01:00

Happy New Year From The Devil Has The Best Tuna

What better way to see in the new year than settling down with a glass of something alcoholic in the company of your nearest and dearest and listening to this weeks new year themed round-up of tracks I've not had space to post.

Cepia
From: Minneapolis, United States

Cepia's Hootenanny is a little more ambient and altogether cooler than the annual Jools Holland Hootenanny.

Go Try

MP3 - Cepia - Hootenanny
This track is linked direct from the Cepia Last.FM site and is therefore already freely available so please don't claim breach of copyright

Fox Hands
From: Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States

Here's a slice of minimalism to welcome in the new year courtesy of Virginia's experimental noise artiste in residence Fox Hands.

Go Try

MP3 - Fox Hands - New Year's Eve
This track is linked direct from the Fox Hands Last.FM site so please don't claim breach of copyright

The Leaf Library
From: London, United Kingdom

We're welcoming the new year in with a glut of instrumentals. After the ambient and experimental offerings from Cepia and Fox Hands comes a wordless slab of indie AOR from London's Leaf Library.

Go Try

New Year (Old Year) by The Leaf Library

Viva Brother
From: Slough, United Kingdom
Every New Year's party needs raucous, rocking anthem to belt out after imbibing a little too much alcohol luckily grot rockers Viva Brother have arrived fashionably late to provide just such an anthem.

Go Try

New Years Day (Demo) by Viva Brother

New Years Day
From: Anaheim, California
Now the party has really started with this pop punk cover of the Depeche Mode classic Enjoy The Silence courtesy of the festively monickered New Years Day. If this doesn't get your gran shaking her tail feathers then you need to get yourself a new gran.

New Years Day - Enjoy The Silence by pikeyjae