Category: Internet Roundup

Whirl

Another Twitter recomendation following on from my ‘noisepop’ plea. This time it’s Whirl. A more shoegaze feel to this California band. They’ve got some more information on their web presence too.  So I can tell you Whirl are a five piece and they’ve got a 7 song EP (‘Distressor’) available on Bandcamp.  It’s very much of the old school shoegaze sound – yes, Chapterhouse, My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive all spring to mind.

Didn’t Chapterhouse have an LP called ‘Whirl’?.  Ah, no their LP was called Whirlpool and was named after a brand of Washing Machine. Obviously. Back to this Whirl, then, dreamy female vocals buried in a wash of fuzzy guitars – check.  Pounding drums – check.  Slower songs building up to something recalling a crescendo – check. Yep, Whirl are shoegaze to their core. I would have gone absolutely nuts for this lot a few years ago but these days stuff in this style has to be bloody exceptional to make me to want to investigate further. All in, this lot are good and they’re bound to win over the shoegaze crowd. Me? I like it but I don’t love it. The fact that you can download this whole EP for as a little as one US dollar is pretty damn good though. They’ve got one of those pay as much as you want for the EP deals going on.  So I did.

Husband

Husband came recommended to me on Twitter when I put out a plea for good new ‘noisepop’ bands. Their My Space doesn’t tell me much. I wish bands would put a little more info on their pages. It helps. It really does.  They’re from Italy is about all I could gather. But it’s the songs that are got to me to do a wee post on the blog about them as I am really enjoying the songs they have for streaming up there. Lo-fi space filled noisepop? A little like Clinic to these ears. That’s a good thing.

I’ve not slept much this weekend and this gritty lo-fi pop is kind of perfect for my slightly befuddled state of mind. I’d like to buy something by this lot. But I can’t seem to find anything released by them, maybe they are that new that they’ve not released anything yet. The band have, at some point in the past, played Corsica Studios in London as one of their photo albums is from a show they did there. And that’s where the pic comes from. So are Husband out there?  And do they want to get in touch and let people know a bit more about themselves?

Chips For The Poor

This lot are new to me. (Where have I been? That question works on so many levels it hurts). They’re playing The Windmill in Brixton on Monday 6th December. They’re supporting the awesome Ringo Deathstarr who I saw at the Old Blue Last, last night, so fucking loud. And the male singer had a cool Cure T Shirt on too. So I decided to check out Chips For The Poor prior to going to the gig at The Windmill (this coming Monday, keep up, dummy) and I’ve been BLOWN away by their scratchy lo-fi pop punk on their My Space page. Do people still use My Space? The fucking terrible redesign has made me loathe it even more. I’m going to be moving my listening pleasure to Soundcloud, Mixcloud or Bandcamp soon. I digress.

CHIPS FOR THE POOR deserve your ears. Give them to them. Do it. I’ve just ordered two of their 7″ EPs on Invisible Spies.  Apparently this record label has been scratching away beneath the surface for 10 years now. I’ve only just discovered them.  WHERE HAVE I BEEN? WHERE? That’s a very good question. Wherever it is, my life is now enriched by having heard CHIPS FOR THE POOR.  Start with the aptly (given the weather) titled ‘I Am Warm In My Coat‘.

Lonesome Mercury

Lonesome Mercury have ricocheted into my world.   There is next to no information on the band online save their My Space saying “An album called ‘Dirty Northern Garage’ will be along soon”.  I believe they’re a band formed from members of The Chasms (also ace, but that post is for another day).   They’re from the Isle of Man.   They are superb.  If you like garage, northern soul and a tang of earthy gravel with your rock n roll you will love them.   Loads of songs for streaming/downloading on Sound Cloud.   Tuck in.

Links:  Sound Cloud |  My Space | Website

Evans The Death

Finding it hard getting into the swing of things after a couple months of busy-ness/holidays.   But there are buckets full of wonderful bands that are being stock-piled for this blog.

And jumping to the front of the queue are a new band, to me, Evans The Death.   They’re from Clapham and Chelmsford.   They’ve got big bold songs.   They’ve got their guitars set to jangle and noise.   JANGLE and NOISE.   Did you hear me?  I said JANGLE and NOISE.  This is what gets me going as you may know.  I am also happy to report that the band are not afraid to rock out either.   Their singer, Katherine Whitaker, has a big soaring voice too.   Which helps.  Based on a handful of tunes on My Space I think I am going to like this band.  A lot.

They’ve got two London shows coming up too:

22nd June @ The Macbeth in Shoreditch/Hoxton
9th July @ Baby Honey, The Buffalo Bar, Highbury and Islington.

I think I might just go along to see them.  Why don’t you do the same?

Trash Kit

Trash kit are three young ladies: Rachel A,  Rachel H and  Ros M.  They were opening band at the Trinity Hall in Dalston last week when I went to see the Vivian Girls (disappointing, fact fans).   Trash Kit were anything but.   These three youngsters certainly made me take notice.  With their slapdash face paint make-up and fiery enthusiasm.  I think they remind me of Pens, maybe that’s because they seem so young.  Musicially – they all over the shop (in a good way) – from guitar thrashes to bass heavy jerkers.

To these ears there is also something of The Slits in their sound.  Maybe that’s just the way the bass booms in their songs.    They have three songs for streaming on My Space at the moment and all three songs are addictive.  This is the way pop music should sound.  Love them.  They’ve got a whole heap of shows coming up in the next week or so.   I’m going to catch at The Windmill in Brixton on 4th February.

Link:  My Space

Yuck

I saw a young band last night at the Lexington.  I was there to see Real Estate (they were fab).   The rest of the bill wasn’t known to me before turning up.  I got there just as Yuck took to the stage.   The singers younger sister got up to sing on one song.  It was called ‘Georgia’.  It stuck with me.   It’s up on their my space as demo.  At the gig I was thinking their was something of a grunge feel to the sound that Yuck make.  Listening now to that song it’s the paw prints of J Mascis and his 80s slacker noiseniks Dinosaur Jr that loom the largest on this song. This is no bad thing.

The other song on their page is another demo.  This one is called ‘Automatic’.  A piano/keys led song.  Less to my liking.  As for their performance.  I liked them enough for them to be worth seeing again.   Luckily – the band have a whole bunch of supports slots coming up across London.  I’ll mark them as ones to watch.

Link:  My Space

My Space x5

Ok – no in depth ramblings this time around.  This is all about quality bands that I’ve recently found over on My Space.  To say this is a fertile time for kick arse guitar music is an absolute understatement:

Deserters Deserve Death (Edinburgh, Scotland)
They call the sound they make ‘death jangle’.  Think female fronted lo-fi take on The Jesus and Mary Chain.  Or Skywave.  Or a less abrasive Manhattan Love Suicides.

Helicon (East Kilbride, Scotland)
Talking of the Mary Chain – here are another pair of brothers from East Kilbride.  This time we have shimmering drone rock a-la The Warlocks or Lovelust.

French Kissing (London, England)
More of that wonderful garage lo-fi beat pop.  They’ve got a 7″ out on Sleep All Day Records.  ‘Oh Suzanne’ is a mighty fine pop moment.

Outdoor Miners (Edmonton, Canada)
They’ve a 7″ single out on Pop Echo records.  With a shimmering guitar sound that is sometimes fast and furious, other times a little more gentle.  Good stuff either way.

One Fathom Down (London, England)
Think Man or Astroman.  That’s top quality instrumental surf meets metal.  I saw them a few weeks ago.  They were very good.  Their cover of Judas Priests’ ‘Breaking The Law’ is a mighty fine thing.

The Magic Words

The Magic Words are easy to remember.   They have big bright songs.  They have bigger and brighter melodies and they have guitars that crash along like all your favourite bands.   I was taught one magic word as a kid.  It was ‘Please’.   And if I can use it just one more time today – it would be simply put at the start of sentence begging for these Magic Words to release something.  As it stands they have 3 ‘demos’ on their My Space and a song on a compilation that is no longer available and split cassette with The Vignettes which I can’t seem to find a link that works to buy it!

Enough of my pop frustrations at not being able to get my paws on their stuff – we should really concentrate on glorious pop tunes -  ‘Babe Don’t Be Blue’ is a poppy take on lo-fi garage rock.   It’s also one of the best songs I’ve heard in ages.    The other two songs for streaming  thrill me in much the same way.  This is some of the finest and freshest guitar goodness you are likely to feast upon any time soon.   There are so many good bands hitting their stride at the moment – but I rank The Magic Words up there with the best of the best new bands doing the rounds.  Think Spectrals, The Brilliant Colors, Crystal Stilts and Dum Dum Girls.   On three short songs the band have managed to capture my heart.

Link:  My Space

Edit: The compilation that I could not find to buy is not released until February 2010.  Silly me.  And the split cassette is not yet released yet.  Phew!

The Blanche Hudson Weekend

An announcement from a new My Space page:

“The Blanche Hudson Weekend is here, featuring Caroline and Darren (ex-Manhattan Love Suicides) along with a bunch of other Weekenders, and bringing to you all kinds of noise, fuzz, melody, dissonance, rawness, killer tunes and buzzsaw pop.   Take a bit of 1960′s girl group sounds,  mix with Girls in The Garage typr ramshackle production, add some gun slugging guitars and sugar sweet vocals with a keen ear for a great hook, then lock the doors, bolt the windows, switch off the phone, kill the lights, turn up the volume to ear splitting levels and enjoy The Blanche Hudson Weekend”

Debut single expected at the end of November.   The My Space page is here.

I’m officially excited by this news.