Listen Up! No. 46: The Vaccines - If You Wanna

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Fighting off high-fidelity production values since 2010.

Listen Up! No. 13: Thomas Tantrum - The Last Kiss

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This is the best I've heard in a while of the shiny new tracks PRs occasionally feed into my inbox to break up the monotonous stream of penis enlargement and Nigerian banking emails. Yes I wish my penis were bigger, no I don't want to invest $12000 in Dr. Ernest Dadanu's 'Freebank of Lagos', nor divulge my bank account details.

This unsigned Southampton quartet mix the trigger happy guitar-smarts of Good Shoes with a more palatable take on The Long Blondes' Pulp-apeing debut.

The Last Kiss by Thomas Tantrum

Kate @ WorkItMedia made this all possible - ta. 

Listen Up! No.12: Joy Formidable - Whirring

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Remind yourself of this pristine slab of crunchy bubblegum-shoegaze whilst awaiting news of the Welsh trio's their next move (apparently a full debut LP is in the pipeline). And see them live if you get the chance.

Listen Up! No. 10: Band Of Horses - Laredo

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Band of Horses' Infinite Arms breaking the UK Album Charts at no. 21 must be the least forseeable music story of the year thus far - evidently the record buying public aren't as wearyingly ignorant as we thought. It's still slightly precious to my mind, but the driving southern rock of tracks like this one might explain the sudden boost in fortunes this side of the pond.


Band of Horses - Laredo

Listen Up! No.6: Allo Darlin' - My Heart Is a Drummer

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Clearly the chorus is 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun' by Cindi Lauper, but who's complaining? The rest of the S/T record (which drops on June 7th) isn't bad either.

Listen Up! No.2: Ted Leo + the Pharmacists - Bottled in Cork

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The key cut from his robust, breathless new record, The Brutalist Bricks, here Ted proves irrevocably he's best when channeling heart over head. And then repeating the killer hook for the 15th time.

Hot 5 at 5 - Spotify Playlist

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Spotify Playlist featuring 5 highly recommended tracks that have been tickling THE POPSCENER's eardrums today.

Hot 5 at 5 (24/3)

Laura Marling - Maid by Maid
Well-made

Amorphous Androgynous - High and Dry
Lofty

Atlas Sound - Walkabout
Skips along

Gregory Isaacs - Night Nurse
The only remedy

Kings of Leon - Knocked Up
Signs of life

Hot 5 at 5 (24/3)

Hot 5 at 5 - Spotify Playlist

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Spotify Playlist featuring 5 highly recommended tracks that have been tickling THE POPSCENER's eardrums today.

Hot 5 at 5 (16/3)

The Pains of Being Pure At Heart - Come Saturday
Pure Morning

Rod Stewart - Maggie May
Maybe baby

Polar Bear Club - Living Saints
Club Soda

Drive-By Truckers - Daddy Learned to Fly
Truck stop blues

Camper Van Beethoven - She Divines Water
Divine?

Hot 5 at 5 (16/3)

Short Cuts! 8 March 2010

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This week's batch includes Gorillaz, Titus Andronicus and Broken Bells.

Gorillaz – Plastic Beach

Plastic Beach perhaps, but this is no plastic pop – the irony of Blur’s demise is that Albarn is now too smart to push his (increasingly forlorn) hooks too far to the front.  Duly, he mixes things up with a Mick Jones here and a Bobby Womack (!) there, burying the Gorillaz-as-band continuity, but can’t resist marrying the whole together with an eco-harmonious back story. As always, no-one else would’ve dared, or bothered.

Choice Cuts: ‘On Melancholy Hill’, ‘Some Kind of Nature’, ‘Empire Ants’

7.5/10

Titus Andronicus – Monitor

Punk concept records (an oxymoron, surely?) are a bit like algebra for toddlers. Even the smarter ones, of which Titus Andronicus must rank – they like history, for chrissakes – struggle with the step-up. Unfortunately, the American Civil War deserves better treatment than “you will always be a loser, man” repeated ad infinitum, and clocking your songs in at 7 minutes doesn’t constitute ‘maturity’. Disappointing.

Choice Cuts: ‘A More Perfect Union’, ‘Theme from Cheers’

5.5/10

Broken Bells – Broken Bells

James Mercer (Shins’ voice/strummer) and Danger Mouse (ubiquitous producer type Brian Burton – see Gnarls Barkley; The Good, The Bad and the Queen) team up for this debut collaboration. Muso matchmakers expect a soaring majesty of cred and class, substance and sheen. Neither materialises – Mercer’s vocal yelp is familiarly adequate, whilst Burton feeds everything through the usual washed-up electronic filter (then tacks on dub bass), but the results are uncharacteristically stilted.

Choice Cuts: 'Vaporize', 'Your Head is on Fire'

5/10

BRMC – Beat the Devil’s Tattoo
Shouty garage rock noise meets blues stomp with the occasional point of interest – namely ‘Bad Blood’ and the meditative ‘The Toll’, which sounds like the Jesus and Mary Chain singin’ the country-blues. As is customary with this vastly over-egged band, however, their couldn’t-care-less disappointment and ability to make two chords sound like such a chore eventually conspire to grind out another failure.

Choice Cuts: ‘Bad Blood’, ‘The Toll’

4.5/10

Hot 5 at 5 - Spotify Playlist

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Spotify playlist featuring 5 highly recommended tracks that have been tickling THE POPSCENER's eardrums today.

Hot 5 at 5 (6/3)

Mariachi El Bronx - Cell Mates
Prison break

At The Drive-In - One Armed Scissor
Sharp

...And You Till Know Us By The Trail Of Dead - Eight Days of Hell
Heaven

The Cult - She Sells Sanctuary
Safe and warm

Wavves - So Bored
So bored so good

Hot 5 at 5 (6/3)

Hot 5 at 5 - Spotify Playlist

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Spotify playlist featuring 5 highly recommended tracks that have been tickling THE POPSCENER's eardrums today.

Hot 5 at 5 (5/3)

The Housemartins - Happy Hour
Housetrained

Four Tet - She Just Like To Fight
Fighting spirit

The Rain Parade - Talking In My Sleep
Hazy slumber

Emma Pollock - Acid Test
Dish of the day

LCD Soundsystem - All My Friends
Populist 

Hot 5 at 5 (5/3)

Gecko - New Bands

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New music highly recommended by The Popscener.

Today's hotshots: Gecko

Not necessarily the usual fare The Popscener vibes, but two beautifully sunny days to start this week mean that Bristolian duo Gecko have my stolen my affections with their acoustico-pop and bonhomic cheer. However, that's not to damn them with the faintest praise; they certainly know their way around a melody and are refreshingly neither surf, shoegaze or folk - perhaps making them unique amongst their current peers.
In short: Mariachi El Bronx + Jamie T + Summer boozing = Gecko

Try: Guanabana Juice (live) below, but there are far better tracks (What You Gonna Do?) on the myspace.



http://www.myspace.com/gecko

Introducing...MONTAGE POPULAIRE

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More highly recommended new and underground music from The Popscener.

Today's hotshots: Montage Populaire

With that winning, oft-desired mix of hook-heavy tunes and an air of arch detachment, Montage Populaire are an indie blogger's wet dream. The brainchild of singer-songwriter Luke Donovan, their pleasantly underproduced demos approximate elements of post-punk and jangle-pop for the laptop generation - to thrilling effect. In fact, they're so good that even though they only formed last Autumn, Montage Populaire are already making their way around the South-East's nether regions and popping across the channel in March for 3-day Gallic excursion. Misery for every jobbing indie-rocker from Birmingham or Leeds; delight the rest of us.

Try: Break up the Band on their Myspace or Last Among Equals below

http://www.myspace.com/montagepopulaire

Introducing... EVERYBODY WAS IN THE FRENCH RESISTANCE...NOW!

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More highly recommended new and underground music from The Popscener.

Today's hotshots: Everybody was in the French Resistance...Now!

Any work featuring the considerable talents of Art Brut's Eddie Argos - the indie Stephen Fry - has a better than average chance of tickling the ribs whilst stimulating the ears, and this new side-project, imaginatively entitled Everybody was in the French Resistance...Now! doesn't disappoint. This effort is less garage rock and more baroque pop, and may feature the lumbering frontman's most energetic vocal yet, whilst losing none of his usual acerbic wordplay and dry charm. All of which would have made a late charge for the TOTP appearance Argos so craves a possibility had the show not been defunct for almost four years...oh well.

Try: G.I.R.L.F.R.E.N.

http://www.myspace.com/fixingthecharts

Introducing... MIXTAPES AND CELLMATES

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More highly recommended new and underground music from The Popscener.

Today's hotshots: Mixtapes and Cellmates

Actually formed back in 2005, this Swedish quintet are now starting to make a bit of a splash. Their unfathomable name might make them sound like a bedroom-emo band, but fear not - they actually mix a driving alt-rock sound with equal parts noisey guitar squeaking and pop hooks. One Little Indian have picked them up, so based on the law of record label averages they must be at least OK.

Try: Soon

www.myspace.com/mixtapesandcellmates

Hot 5 at 5

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***5 highly recommended tracks that have been tickling THE POPSCENER's eardrums today ***

Hot 5 at 5 (28/1

Magazine - Shot By Both Sides 
Compulsive reading

The Hollies - Poison Ivy
Flowery

Siouxsie and the Banshees - Hong Kong Garden
Taste of the Orient

These Animal Men - This is the Sound of Youth
This was the sound of youth. In 1995.

Yeti Lane - Twice
Twice as nice

Hot 5 at 5 (28/1)

Short Cuts! New Releases 25/1/10: Part 1

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*** Short Cuts Special - as there are a ridiculous amount of new records warranting review, this week's short cuts have been split into two parts. Apart from that, it's business as usual. Enjoy!

Fools Gold – Fools Gold

As unconcerned with geographical legitimacy as Vampire Weekend, but far more faithful to source material, Fools Gold’s energised debut traverses Kingston, Istanbul and Rio before settling somewhere between Fela Kuti’s Africa 70 and the house band on a week’s cruise down the Nile. Despite the scattered approach, the musical voyage seldom hits rocky waters, and the surf-tastic guitar tones provide breezily welcome reminders of home at regular intervals – sublime.

Choice Cuts: ‘Surprise Hotel’, ‘The World Is All There Is’, ‘Nadine’

8/10

Good Shoes - No Hope No Future

Where Think Before You Speak was a study in laissez-faire arrogance and relationship insouciance, No Hope No Future’s humbler themes of longing and relative heartache necessarily require a darker tone. Nonetheless, the hooks, whilst fewer and farther between, still can’t help but jostle their way to the forefront. And so, whilst clumsily politicised rumblers like ‘I Know’ are missteps, tracks like ‘The Way My Heart Beats’ and ‘City by the Sea’ are up there with the best from their excellent debut. Meanwhile, ‘Do You Remember’ shows off hitherto unseen guitar-smarts, with licks wound tight enough to befit obvious musical forebears XTC.

Choice Cuts: ‘The Way My Heart Beats’, ‘City by the Sea’, ‘Do You Remember’

7.5/10

Hadouken - For the Masses

Not as smart as These New Puritans, and not as authentic as ‘proper’ grime acts Wylie and Mr Rascal, this lot are destined to languish in chart and critical purgatory unless they up their game substantially.  Nonetheless, the realignment from nu-rave to more overt ‘grindie’ at least shows they’re thinking – now think about writing more than a splattering of listenable songs.

Choice Cuts: ‘Turn the Lights Out’

4/10

Tindersticks - Falling Down A Mountain

If love is a drug, Stuart Staples doesn’t half make it sound like heroin – and I’m not just talking about ‘Black Smoke’. Unfortunately, his seemingly impending descent into comatose arrest is the only thing which threatens to enliven the instantly forgettable lounge-jazz-cum-elevator-music which backs his mumbling inertia for the first half of this record. Having said that, I’m genuinely enthralled by the vocal-less ‘Hubbard Hill’, part of a better second half that goes some way to explaining why these nouvelle vag(ue)abonds still seem to retain the rub of the critical green.

Choice Cuts: ‘Harmony Around My Table’, ‘Hubbard Hill’

5.5/10

Spoon – Transference

Whilst by no means fully conversant with these highly acclaimed indie-rockers’ back catalogue, I’d nonetheless hazard a guess that this effort lies strictly in the middle of their creative road. Whilst Britt Daniel’s vocals are as pleasing whether he’s quietly composed (‘Who Makes You’re Money’) or carefully straining (‘Trouble Comes Running’), only the attendant clatter of the latter song type threatens to raise the excitement bar beyond a solid ‘B’. In short – half a dozen spoonfuls of sugar where one or two would have sufficed.

Choice Cuts: ‘Got Nuffin’, ‘Trouble Comes Running’

6.5/10