Girl Power !

Driving synth and merry-go-round type noises do place this all female-group slightly in the realms of The Horrors. The lead vocals are haunting and pitch perfect whilst guitars and keyboards and drums cavort around. "Smoke and Mirrors" is eerie and ethereal with music which dips and dives over 60s-esque synth and carnival noises. Disturbing; but in a good way.

"Harmonise" has a darker Long Blondes style feel to it with a strong voice soaring over the slightly discordant music and "Balderdash" is made up of crescendos and flickering guitars; it's pure melodic noise. No mean feat... And to top it off it's all a bit "Phantom of the Opera" (a good thing of course), a bit baroque and very pop-noir. Ghostly noises and Gothic tendencies in a monochrome set!

On the other side of the coin is the technicolor brilliance of The Duloks. Their music has the same synth-y bits but in an uplifting way. They don brightly coloured tracksuits and songs like "Gonna Follow Your Star Trail" are twee-pop-goodness. Their songs aren't prog rock length and although it is a pity ace songs like "Boom Boom" end quickly they say what they need to say and get out. Mainly what they're saying is "If you're an instigator / Or a secret masturbater..." and other such nuggets of comedy. It's "Bad Vegetarian" though which places them in the 'legends' box- hilarious and slightly strange. Not taking themselves too seriously is a most endearing quality!

Jade xx
Harmonise - Ipso Facto

Balderdash- Ipso Facto

Smoke and Mirrors- Ipso Facto

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Gonna Follow Your Star Trail - The Duloks

Boom Boom - The Duloks

Bad Vegetarian - The Duloks

Cheeky Cheeky and the Nosebleeds

Cheeky Cheeky and the Nosebleeds- The new innovators. Yeah there are people doing amazing revivals of folk which is charming without fault but I was starting to get worried guitar based Indie was going to be forever vapid and generic. THANK GOD then for CC&N with their amazing name and nasal vocals. Their refreshing take on music seems almost like a second-cousin-twice-removed to Los Camp!.

"Slow Kids" is lyrically strange but in a quirky way ("I am the girl with no lips / But I can keep a hula going around my hips"); the angular guitars build up the listener and the chorus is a spiky and catchy damn thing. "Before We Sleep" is a more indie-dance floor-friendly number with a good beat and shouty voices and singalong choruses guaranteed to make you move you feet. The lyrics aren't as elusive as "Slow Kids" but it defiantly isn't paint by numbers indie which bands like The Enemy seem to favour.

Their best song though is "Fascinating" which has a 'The Royal We' feel to the guitars and more thrillingly strange lyrics and squeaky vocals. It should annoy, it should grate a little on nerves but it doesn't- it is purely good stuff even with guitar solos thrown in for good measure!

They're supporting Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong (big buzz band) so fingers crossed they'll be well recieved...

Jade xx

Cheeky Cheeky & The Nosebleeds - Before We Sleep

Cheeky Cheeky & the Nosebleeds - Slow Kids

Bits'n'Bobs

Rambling On: Firstly Bishop Allen (because they've just come up in Ipods delightful shuffle!). Ever since Hannah & I discovered a member of this band was in Mutual Appreciation we knew we'd be hooked- and prior to that hearing "You Ain't No Picasso" meant lovelovelove! With strained vocals, tinkly guitars and witty refrains it is on first listen ever-so-slightly annoying, but give it time because it transpires this song is one you can't live without! Refreshing every time you listen with guitar slicks and licks subtle enough to sound new with every listen. And there is out of tune, accapella-esque bits towards the end! Excellent...

Also I better say it now so I can look back on this and hopefully feel rather smug. Foals are going to become big aren't they?- annoyingly so. Like when The Wombats became transcendent with many social cliques and slightly mainstream and made us feel no longer niche but part of the masses.

If the mainstream can accept the math-rock, twee and sublime noises of Foals and truly appreciate them though well done I guess. Razorshite have dominated "indie" far too long- let some true musicians in I say...

And! speaking of new fads; thankfully the abomination that was 'neu/new/nu-rave" has gone. The last vestiges of day-glo are now in the January Topshop sales and the re-hash of the 90's Hacienda scene will only be brought up again when Klaxons attempt a second album (and lets face it we all danced along to "Atlantis to Interzone" with gutso) but now its time for a mellower sound to surge. Acoustic guitars, whimpering voices & pretty choruses in the form of Noah & the Whale, Emmy the Great, Lightspeed Champion, Laura Marling, Kid Harpoon, Johnny Flynn and the Sussex Wit, Tom Williams and Florence & The Machine are here at least for a while. Oh & that London scene like frYars, BBC & CDP! So the pretty singer/songwriters are around for a while- a lovelier sight than glow sticks. Nights (in London, poo!) like Young and Lost and Twee as Fuck look appealing and not to mention NEW MYSTERY JETS MATERIAL TO LOOK FORWARD TOO AS WELL AS AN ADAM GREEN TOUR.

Phew. Let 2008 commence!

Jade xx

bishop allen - you aint no picasso (zshare)

noah & the whale- 2 bodies, 1 heart(zshare)

noah & the whale- mary

foals- matheletics (savefile)