Singles Of The Week! Darwin Deez, Youthless and Gold Panda

All of these are OUT THIS WEEK.

Darwin Deez – Constellations

The old adage may be ‘Don’t judge a book by it’s cover’ but bloomin’ heck Darwin, that is one ratty cover you’re sporting. Maybe it’s t he tatty headband unsuccessfully pinning down a full head of eerily static curls (The raging debate over whether it is permed or otherwise continues) or maybe it’s the paedo moustache, or affinity for clothes that look like they stink of spliff and have been hoked from the very hellish depths of some Godforsaken charity shop bargain bin,but there’s something about poor Darwin that sets him squarely in the ‘Individual’ category – and by ‘Individual’, we mean less of a hip, gold lamé-wearing, Natasha Khan-esque maverick, and more of The Crazy Cat Lady from The Simpsons who babbles incomprehensibly and flings yowling moggies at unsuspecting passers-by. No offence, Darwin. … Continue Reading

Singles of The Week: WHY, KE$HA, WHY?

JLS

Flipping heck tucker, I never thought I’d say this but maybe Bob Geldof had a point when he gurned ‘I don’t like Mondays’ – bar one very special individual, today’s singles are by and large a motley bunch. Maybe not motley enough to induce a psychotic shooting spree á la Brenda Ann Spencer, but certainly motley enough to make one want to burrow under their covers, resurfacing only when the tyranny of the summer singles is but a distant memory – but, hey ho, might as well get the worst over us… … Continue Reading

Operator Please – Gloves

Operator Please - Gloves

Flip through the pages of the 2007-2009 indie rock yearbook and it seems like everyone’s making a comeback. Take chief twats of nu-rave obnoxiousness Klaxons – it only seems like recently we’ve been able to scour the irksome strains of ‘Golden Skans’ from our TV screens and they’re already back with another dosage of Godforsaken electro-nonsense. Or take The Pipettes. Once purveyors of the kind of witty, polka-dot embossed retro-pop Kate Nash would torch her vintage dress collection for, now reduced to two members and playing watery, futuristic pop like an anaemic Robyn – automatic booty applications not necessary.

But heck, it’s not all bad. Win Butler & Co have come storming back into our hearts with an edgy (read: atrocious) new haircut, and soul-tinged torch-song ‘The Suburbs’ and once-bratty indie-pop collection Foals have sanded down their jagged edges and come up with the diaphanously euphoric ‘This Orient’. And lately, class of 2008 indie-pop group Operator Please have been showing all the symptoms of releasing a ‘mature’ second album –they’ve ditched the neon leggings and wacky facial expressions in photo shoots, and have appeared donned in black and solemn-faced, like Arcade Fire at their ‘Neon Bible’ epitome of bleakness. The diagnosis? MGMT-syndrome – in which the band ditch the tunes in favour of tailing some poe-faced vision of indie credibility. … Continue Reading

Shearwater – The Golden Archipelago

Shearwater - The Golden Archipelago

‘Wanderlust! Relentlessly craving/ Wanderlust! Peel off the layers/ until you get to the core…’

Björk had it. So did Jack Kerouac. Wanderlust has been driving artists to pack up their bags and embark on hedonistic, hitch-hiked, cross-country jaunts or to jump on boats and set off to sea for God knows how long. Think of Bon Iver, who retired from the bustling city of Raleigh, North Carolina into his father’s wood cabin in Wisconsin’s desolate Northwoods, in order to try and sift his way through heartbreak, rejection and illness – it’s no secret that a change of scenery is sometimes just the ticket to get the creative juices a-flowing. … Continue Reading

Blue Roses – Does Anyone Love Me Now?

Blue Roses

Let’s get this straight – Blue Roses (aka singer-songwriter Laura Groves) is in possession of a ‘voice’.

And not just a pretty voice, not even just a strong voice – but a voice with a remarkable, unique quality which may have warranted legions of favourable Kate Bush comparisons, but ultimately means Laura transcends them.

… Continue Reading

Johnny Flynn – Sweet William EP

Johnny Flynn - Sweet William EP

Another brethren of the insanely prolific London anti-folk scene, Johnny Flynn has always seems more mature than his counterparts, always vying towards medieval majesty rather than twee strumming – in short, far more likely to stay up all night studying Shakespeare than crying over a breakup.

His debut album A Larum was all Appalachian, old-soul weariness, punctuated by his lucid lyrical flights of fancy. His style can be compared to US freak-folkie Joanna Newsom’s, however, while Joanna is happy to witter on about Sawdust & Diamonds, Johnny Flynn is far happier dwelling on rubbish dumps and vagrancy. If Joanna Newsom is the archetypical medieval princess, then Johnny Flynn is the impish, impoverished court minstrel.

His achingly wholesome, plaid-clad and golden-haired good looks only add to this idealistic image; it’s easy to image him as the straight-A, golden boy of his school – perhaps the head boy and captain of the rugby team. He’s a new strain of folkie – rather than emulating the slightly grotty, bearded, Will Oldham-ish unkemptness of US folkies, Johnny Flynn is clean-shaven and squeaky-clean – he’s the kind of boy your mother would love. … Continue Reading