Bearsuit - Steven F***ing Spielberg (single)
If
you go down to the woods today don't be too surprised to find a slight
twist on
the usual Bearsuit brand of senseless optimism and giddymaking indie pop
fracas. This Stephen Spielberg themed single is the first new material
proper
since their stunning debut Cat Spectacular! of a couple of years ago and
feels a
little harder edged than their previous works. It's stabbingly melodramatic
and
perhaps not as riot-twee as previous standout songs of theirs. Don't take
this as
a drop in quality though, the song still stormrolls through your house
like a freight
train full of cuddle toys. On fire. The real treat of this single for
me, mind, is first
b-side (double a-side?) Shhh Get Out. This minute and a half assault on
the
senses screams into life like a warped and sped up tape of cute Brit-pop;
words are bearly distinguishable from each other, melody and tune whipped
up
into a tremendous frenzy and bleeps, bips and basslines pepper the explosion-
in-a-band-factory mayhem. Frankly, it's about all the music you can cram
into the time alotted and is all the more life affirming for it.
Review by Aidienn Ellison
Be Your Own Pet - Adventure (single)
It’s always
difficult to like someone younger than you who has achieved far more
in their short time on this planet. Step up Be Your Own Pet; so much potential
for hate and resentment to ooze from my every pore, but alas, they’re
actually
quite good. You can’t argue with the quality and suitability of
Jemina’s vocal
and in conjunction with the other band members they youthfully exude short
sharp bursts of garage punk. Try it, you might like it, or you might just
be old and
bitter.
Review by Holly Wild
Graham Coxon - You and I (single)
What does Graham
Coxon do now? What can he do? He’s already proved he
can produce beautiful songs whilst sounding like in a gutter in his 1st
album,
mingled with metal on his 2nd, showed how to play an acoustic guitar on
his
3rd, decided to go country western on his 4th and then wrote ‘Freakin’
Out’: a
song that crosses off all his prior works and gives him a standard to
live up to.
His 5th album, may I mention, was claimed as being ‘alt-pop perfection’.
With ‘You
and I’, from his 6th album ‘Love Travels at Illegal Speeds’,
he decides
to go sentimental and produces guitar pop paradise. With his cheeky cockney
accent it all sounds too easy for him as he starts with catchy muted chords
and
a vocal tune that gets stuck in the head in an instant. It’s such
a laid back
environment for Coxon when we’ve heard him produce such angry punk/metal
songs in the past that it seems that it isn’t as good as we expect.
But that’s the beauty of Coxon. Every album and every song is a
chance for him to exhibit all the music he wasn’t allowed to do
in Blur. And with ‘You and I’ he allows himself to do, what
seems like the simple, and produce another example of ‘alt-pop perfection’.
And although it won’t get as played as much as ‘Freakin’
Out’ and won’t be played at clubs on a Friday night, you know
you can see Coxon smiling when he’s allowed to do his own thing;
and that’s a good thing.
Review by Joe Amos
Ray - Daylight in the Darkroom (album)
Accomplished third
album of gloomy slo-burn pop from London soul-searchers
Ray. At once melancholy and peculiar, Ray’s songs occupy the moody
middle-
ground between Tindersticks and Lambchop. This is the sound of smoky hotel
lounges in long-forgotten towns. Over 10 songs singer Nev Bradford croons
his
apocalyptic lyrics and doomed obsessions over choice pain-wracked ballads
–
never better than on ‘Godspeed To You The Avalanche’ –
which is stripped
down but bordering on spectral.
Review by Tom Leins
Televise - Songs to Sing in A & E (album)
Superior dream-pop
from ex-Slowdive drummer Simon Scott’s new band. After
a brisk spell in former Coldplay-tour buddies Lowgold, Simon has returned
to
his musical roots with Televise. Televise are at the forefront of the
burgeoning
Shoe-gazing-revival scene – wryly acknowledged by the band as ‘nu-gazing’!
Described by the band as a process of them “writing imaginary soundtracks
to
NASA’s space-exploration videos” the excellently-named ‘Songs
to Sing in A &
E’ is fortunately more energetic and textured than the work of many
new
lightweight drone-pop pretenders. The album’s climactic 14-minute
post-rock
peak is ‘Never Alone’ – a genuine tour de force. Televise
are in grave danger
of making Shoe-gazing cool!
Review by Tom Leins
Camera - Ashes & Dim Light (album)
Chiming, melodic
indie-pop from well-regarded Wrexham quartet Camera. You
may have already heard some of Camera’s songs without even knowing
it,
because assorted tunes have already been used to soundtrack the BBC’s
coverage of the Winter Olympics and Golf! On the whole, Camera peddle
a nice
line in charmingly-retro knock-abouts. Unfortunately, nothing else in
their
repertoire reaches the giddy heights of cracking early single ‘Hurt’
– a blistering
nu-New Wave nugget that really marked them out as contenders. The jury’s
out.
Review by Tom Leins