Home Taping Is Killing Music #6
As usual, it's been a despicably long time between this article and the last. However, I'm hoping that the nice weather has distracted you from this fact (and you all probably run a mile when you see the words 'Home Taping...' crop up on the Rockfeedback homepage now anyway), and isn't it lovely out? Larks singing, animals frolicking, planes falling out of the sky due to clogged engines - summer is definitely here. So I'd like you to read this article and listen to the tracks in the garden, reclining in a hammock, with a glass of lime cordial by your side and your skin reeking of sour sun-tan lotion. And if you don't want to bring thunder and hail on yourself, probably best not to listen to track four.
Yuck – Suicide Policeman
The press release for 'Suicide Policeman' comes with the boasting that Yuck's last single 'Georgia' is currently "running laps around almost every other pop song released this year", something which, if you've heard 'Georgia', you'll probably agree with. However, don't come to 'Suicide Policeman' expecting another blast of gleeful fuzz - this is an altogether different beast, more subdued and wistful, but also prettier. The track opens sparsely - merely a lilting acoustic guitar and breathy, double-tracked vocals that whisper "I could be your suicide policeman". It's in the same field as their track 'Automatic' - lo-fi, personal and melancholic - so don't expect any of the cheap punk thrills you may have come to expect from Yuck, but if you're for something to just put on while you stare at the early summer sky, you could do worse than 'Suicide Policeman'. [DOWNLOAD HERE]
Mi Ami – Latin Lover
Mi Ami is a San Franciscan trio who have just released their second LP, Steal Your Face, on Thrill Jockey, with ‘Latin Lover’ being the first cut to be let out of the cage. Indeed, the track initially sounds like a wild animal let loose, with screechy guitar and screechier vocals pummelling you from the off. The real payoff is how the untamed treble instruments work against the super-tight rhythm section, which underpins everything with a spindly bassline and metronomic disco-tick drums. On the (sort of) chorus, vocalist Jacob Long perfectly sums up the heart-versus-head conundrum that so many of us go through daily, be it to do with love, music or buying groceries; “I felt something/I felt excited/Is it cool?”. Ok, maybe not buying groceries, but when you’re next weighing up a couple of kilograms of Chard in Sainsbury’s, why not liven it up with a little bit of Latin Love? [DOWNLOAD HERE]
Mystery Jets – Flash a Hungry Smile
The Mystery Jets are back! Hooray! Everyone's favourite father-son-led band are set drop their third album Serotonin on July 5th, and on the evidence of 'Flash a Hungry Smile' it’s another dose of the killer pop that made Twenty One so special back in 2008. The band cheekily toured Berlin as 'The Crystal Wolf Fighters' last year (n.b. why are there so many 'Crystal' bands around at the moment?) to road-test songs for the new record, and it seems to have done them no harm at all - there's still the sparkling melodies that have made them so easy to love these past few years, but more of an element of light and shade than they had previously exhibited; 'Flash a Hungry Smile' wallows in much murkier lyrical territory than they've found themselves in before, talking as it does of femme fatales and leacherous boys, and birds and bees with STDs. Don't let the catchy tunes fool you - this time, the band have the bite to match their bark. [DOWNLOAD HERE]
Beak> – Wulfstan
Beak> is the latest project from Portishead's Geoff Barrow, and has been morphing and expanding since last year's low-key LP release. This month, they play a very special show with Chris Cunningham to commemorate him having made a career out of being a bit weird. As you might expect, 'Wulfstan' is mega-brooding, but also mega-awesome. There's a hyper-distorted bassline that is guaranteed to send shivers up your spine; there're some very creepy harmonies that are guaranteed to send shivers up your spine; there are some gloopy, moany vocals that are guaranteed to send shivers up your spine; there's a synth solo that sounds like a snake-charmer being thrown into a well that is guaranteed to send shivers up your back - basically, it's spine-chilling stuff. No, it's perhaps not as great for the summer as 'Suicide Policeman' (unless your idea of a perfect summer jam is the latest Sunn O))) release), but it will make you feel like you're trapped in a cave without food or warm clothing while the wolves howl in the distant night, which is just as good. The 12" is out now, and for people who can't wait another 734,723,897,412 years for the next Portishead record then this will more than satisfy your cravings. [DOWNLOAD HERE]
The Middle East – Blood
The Middle East is a collective from Townsville, Australia, which is hardly the likeliest place for a band to come from, but hey, Johnny Cash was born in a village of 500 people. It might be the vast emptiness of the country they come from, but 'Blood' is imbued with an impeccable sense of space and time even at the moments of gorgeous, crushing close-harmony. Starting off as it does with just a simple plucked guitar line that evokes the spirit of Bon Iver, the track grows to a swell of cymbal and exuberant children before falling back down again. It's perfectly weighted, each line melting together with seeming effortlessness, while singer Jordan Ireland more holds his own with all the other instruments enmeshing around him. I've heard from reliable sources (well, the Rockfeedback lair) that the band absolutely killed it at SXSW this year, which usually bodes well for future good things. With tracks like 'Blood', I should imagine we'll be hearing more from The Middle East sometime soon. [DOWNLOAD HERE]
Dr. Cortex – Platform Four
Currently causing something of a stir in South London, Dr. Cortex headlined one of the biggest indie nights south of the river last week when they played New Slang at Wimbledon’s Watershed. Considering the members haven’t finished their A-Levels yet, I’d say that’s pretty good work. With recent new recordings ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ and ‘Platform Four’, it’s easy to see why people are making a fuss. The latter, in particular, is a quite brilliant pop song – opening with singer Toby Hasler-Winter’s punchy vocal over some keyboards that sound a bit like they’ve been nicked from the soundtrack to an 80s period drama about a jousting competition, the track builds to a chorus that nods to Animal Collective in the chord sequence and Talking Heads in the intricate vocal harmonies, capped off by an astonishing falsetto turn from the singer. The rhythm section of Tom Baxter and David Rochman keep things moving nicely, occasionally throwing in a little melodic or rhythmic curveball to add further interest to the proceedings. Ultimately though, the track’s charm lies in how utterly unpretentious and charming it is – earnest in a way that isn’t worthy, accomplished in a way that doesn’t spill over into unnecessary showmanship. At the base of it, ‘Platform Four’ is a song you won’t be able to get out of your head all week. [LISTEN HERE]
Ok, that's your lot. I don't know how long it'll be until the next article (on recent form probably ages), but let's say "bye for now".
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Artists in this article: Yuck, Mi Ami, Mystery Jets, Beak>, The Middle East, Dr. Cortex