single – and so she thinks

Peggy Sue – Slow Fade

admin — Tue, 28 Nov 2017 14:24:27 +0000

A dreamy and poppy heartbreak tune, Slow Fade is the latest track from London duo Peggy Sue (Rosa Slade and Katy Young) and the first single from upcoming fifth album. With an aptitude for slightly off kilter but very on ear hooks, it blends sixties and nineties influences with fresh and modern energy. There’s a laconic and lazy feel to proceedings, with a little bit of relishment in there.

‘Heartbreak takes ages’ says Katy. ‘That’s kind of the best and the worst thing about it. I was pretty heartbroken and trying all these tactics to make it finish faster; going out, staying in, talking about it, not talking about. But at some point I realised that when I was ok again, it would be because the love was done. And so Slow Fade is about letting it take its time – partly because you don’t really have a choice and partly because a bit of me wanted to make that pretty sadness last as long as I could.’

The Big Moon – Pull The Other One

admin — Mon, 31 Jul 2017 07:13:26 +0000

Boisterous guitar led pop with its tongue firmly in its cheek, The Big Moon haven’t changed their formula for success on Pull The Other One. But when it sounds this vital and fun, why would you? From the debut album Love In The 4th Dimension.

Rainbow Maniac – Going Out On My Own

admin — Mon, 13 Feb 2017 11:14:15 +0000

Four pals from the Welsh valleys, Rainbow Maniac certainly don’t make the kind of sound that evokes rolling hills and fluffy sheep. Going Out On My Own is the first track from the upcoming EP1 to be released later this year on Phwoar & Peace Records. The frantic and blistering riffs combine old school rock with a modern sound, a bit like Japandroids, although with a much more amateur output as belies their years and experience. A laissez-faire cadence to the vox is reflected in the looping lyrics all about a part for one on the town. Three minutes of raw looseness that batters with a kind of optimistic angst you’ll be wanting to head straight out with them.

The Regrettes – Seashore

admin — Wed, 28 Dec 2016 13:22:13 +0000

At only 15, Lydia Night and the rest of her band The Regrettes (Genessa Gariano, guitar, 19; Maxx Morando, drums, 17; Sage Nicole, bass, 18) might not be able to remember the 60s, but that doesn’t stop them being able to play buoyant and cheeky garage pop infused by the era’s aesthetic. Based in LA, their tongue-in-cheek tunes are part diary, part humour and part therapy, but far more enjoyable to experience than a solipsistic Instagram account serving the purpose.

Having been playing guitar since the age of 6, Night cites her musical education as being grounded in classics such as The Ramones, David Bowie and The Rolling Stones, and this mingling of their youthful sounds and The Regrettes’ themes of societal pressures, school, body image and relationships results in something evocative of The Pipettes, Remi Nicole, and Kate Nash, who they’ve supported on tour.

With a similar blend of edgy and brash transparency and cutesy playfulness, Seashore’s breezy beginnings shift into reverb-heavy groove laden melodies that shimmer with the sounds of girls having fun, even through it all.

Their debut album is expected out on Warner Records very soon.

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whenyoung – Actor

admin — Tue, 22 Nov 2016 16:24:57 +0000

‘Actor is about contorting your character to fit into a disfigured view of the perfect self in order to belong. It’s about acting every day and projecting artificial images of yourself through social media and in real life interactions with others. This helps to reassure you that you are important, relevant, interesting and necessary but behind it all there’s a sinking feeling. It’s not you. It’s an act. It’s tiring.’

That’s what Irish trio whenyoung say of their fearless and bold new single Actor. Catchy and hooky, their boisterous guitar pop sounds fizzing and throbbing, the act of becoming who are you are visceral and exciting at the same time as meandering and unknown. They’re experienced musicians but unjaded, bristling with thrill and sparkle as they seek ‘the answers.’

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Sunface – Two Things

admin — Thu, 25 Aug 2016 20:47:01 +0000

With a low fi jangle and shimmering rhyhm, Two Things by Sunface is a brief but beguiling little ditty for the late summer evenings. Sunface is 18-year-old Daniel Longmore, (also in TRASH) and his bedroom is the location of all the writing and recording, where he uses only a USB mic, acoustic guitar and Garageband with programmed drums, along with an acute sense of how to make oxymoronic sounds fit. He wrote and recorded previous single Sunface ‘in a few hours while my parents were at a lame 18th birthday party.’ Overlaid with the melody is wise advice that soon comes to be a soothing presence to the strumming guitar. The Baz Luhhrman of a generation?

https://soundcloud.com/sunsunsunface/two-things

NIAGARA – Escher Surfer

admin — Wed, 06 Apr 2016 15:22:37 +0000

On Escher Surfer NIAGARA demonstrate a clear understanding of what makes pop tune and a half – electronic glitches, brooding psychedelic funk and a rousing chorus. Pulsing basslines ebb and flow underneath textured synths before building into a rave epic. The first single to taken from the Italian duo’s new album Hyperocean, to be released May 6th 2016 via Monotreme Records, it can be a wearying listen, but well worth it.

Whistlejacket – Duck Soup

admin — Mon, 18 Jan 2016 12:06:42 +0000

Whistlejacket have announced that they’ll be giving away a free download of Duck Soup another track from their upcoming What I Ate On Sunday EP, released on Feb 5th via Fierce Panda Records. Starting off like a shimmering Supersonic, it soon breaks out in urgent squealing guitars and clean drumming that merges psychedelic shoehaze and punchy rock. Early reception of Stay-N was pretty awesome, and I expect the same to be of this snarling, swirling piece of bristling and immediate superfuzz.

Lone Poets – Only The Good

admin — Fri, 08 May 2015 09:05:00 +0000

With a slight Interpol-esque kilter to the vocals and a Joy Division rumble to the melody, Lone Poets‘ post punk new single Only The Good and its b side Stay are rousingly romantic and full of malicious clatter.

Ex Hex – Don't Wanna Lose

admin — Mon, 14 Jul 2014 15:23:06 +0000

Want some frantic and fuzzy girl punk? Mary Timony is the lady to know. A central member of several punk bands including Autoclave in 1990, then through the ’90s Helium, rocking solo for a bit before rocking vocals and guitars for supergroup Wild Flag she now has a new project – Ex Hex. First single Don’t Wanna Lose is incredibly vibrant and raw, pacing along with rough urgency and intuition, and of course utters strong female sentiment.
https://soundcloud.com/mergerecords/ex-hex-dont-wanna-lose/
In her own words:
Ex Hex is what your older brother’s friends listened to. “Roxy Roller” and “Virginia Plain” rumbling from the Kenwood in the basement.
It’s what your babysitters listened to, and it’s what stuck with me.
Ex Hex is a power trio: guitar, drums, and bass.
Debut album Rips is released on October 7 in North America and October 13 worldwide.