grunge – and so she thinks

Demob Happy – Dream Soda

admin — Wed, 23 Dec 2015 13:32:42 +0000

Sometimes you’re just angry and need to get it all out. At least that’s the situation that Brighton grunge band Demob Happy seem to be in, and in getting it out they’ve made an album that is brash, visceral, and arresting. Brutally cynical about the record industry in which they operate (In an interview with the NME earlier this year frontman Matt Marcantonio said how ‘I’m sick of the smell of these self-serving psychopaths muddying the good name of the human race.’) they don’t shy away from shouting out about it. How much is a young anarchic spirit that craves attention and how much genuine punk sensibility we will come to see over time, but for now the tone is one of authenticity and primalism, rough, sleazy and distorted.
Opener Haat De Stank (Take From Me) is a messy scuzz tune borrowing from the best of the nineties. The title track from their debut EP Young And Numb still shines with its glitchy and riotous riffing under screeching vocals. Raging and thunderous Wash It Down is the sound of angst letting rip, whilst the polluted groove of Succubus is all the more sinister.

There’s a hint they might be softening when Man You’re Wrong starts out like a love song but that too soon turns into an ode to disenchantment, although later on a warbling acoustic intro to Underneath Your Tree nods at sensitivity.
But through most of Dream Soda it’s as though Demob Happy may self implode at any second under the weight of their furious darkness and blazing savagery. And you want to hear it happen. It’s 45 minutes of unadulterated riff riots and fuming rhythms – frantic, fucked up, and fantastic.
Out now on SO Records.

First published on Joyzine

Desperate Journalist – Control

admin — Sun, 23 Nov 2014 14:15:00 +0000

Their brand of urgent and tumultuous pop that London quartet Desperate Journalist have made their own is highlighted beautifully on their mesmerising new track, Control. Shadowy and chaotic, the leathery tune precedess the release of their self titled album in January, on Fierce Panda records.

Girlpool EP

admin — Sat, 15 Nov 2014 10:06:13 +0000

As the melodies drag and the chords are played with melancholy I’m transported back to sulky teenage days and dreams in the distance that seem to be drowned in bleak skies. Ominous tones and unsteady notes ring out from Girlpool, the LA duo comprised of Cleo Tucker (guitar) and Harmony Tividad (bass), whilst the twanging notes and clipped rhythms add a sense of latent fizz. Paint Me Colors is an ode to despondent evenings alone, the scrawling Jane flirts with psychedelica, and Blah Blah Blah sees the tempo revved up and the hormones racing. Think Speedy Ortiz, Shampoo, Hole and Lush, frantic and grungey. Honest, catchy, self aware and drenched in rawness, this is the DIY ethos at its best.
http://girlpoool.bandcamp.com/
Released November 17th on Wichita.

The Sunday Reeds – Jean Luc

admin — Fri, 04 Jul 2014 16:29:27 +0000

Jean Luc is a superb piece of rock’n’roll pop noir from Melbourne’s The Sunday Reeds. Taken from their EP Amour Tragique, out on August 1st on Heartgun Records, it tells of the tumultuous relationship between Jean-Luc Godard and actress Anna Karina. Their complex relationship has mirrors in a particularly bitter relationship break up in Paris, that most romantic city in the world, where founding duo Romana Ashton and Drew Jones spent three days and were evidently inspired. Joined by Jeremy Russell in 2010, the three piece toss together 90s grunge (check out the vocals), bristling blues scales and wholesome 60s pop. It’s rich and lush, dark and poised, ominously teetering on the edge of an emotional immersive collapse but all the while musically tight.

Nine Black Alps – Novokaine

admin — Mon, 14 Oct 2013 09:59:46 +0000

How long has it been? Nine Black Alps are back with their angst driven, raucous and rampaging line in brash and bold grunge, releasing new single Novokaine on Hatch Records on Dec 2nd 2013. Man, being loud and angry is good.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SaGVP29bEA&w=420&h=315]

Valentiine – Love Like

admin — Fri, 17 May 2013 13:04:37 +0000

I love a bit of dirty, scuzzy, fuzzed out rock, especially when delivered by three lovely ladies. Valentiine (for once, that is not a typo) are an Australian three piece who make have soaked up the 90s grunge that they grew up with and chucked in some modern garage to create something somehow angry yet upbeat. We’ve all been angsty and frustrated, but I have never articulated it so well. Valentiine are Vanessa (guitar/vocals), Erica (bass/vocals) and Shelly (drums/vocals), and they have earned their musical stripes in their home town of Melbourne – next up, the world. ‘Love Like’ is the first single taken from the eponymous debut album, out on Integrity Records.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXOhXj0CXGY]