Hair Traffic Control – Let’s Do Lunch EP

Hair Traffic Control – Let’s Do Lunch

Following reasonably hot on the heels of last year’s thoroughly enjoyable ‘These Are The Dogs In My Life’ EP, spiky Norwich trio Hair Traffic Control return with another helping of angular guitar pop. You could be forgiven for switching off at the sight of all those earlier adjectives – British indie rock is creaking under the weight of similar bands after all – but, as it happens, Hair Traffic Control have enough in their armoury to make them a worthwhile addition to an overstocked genre.

The effervescent opener ‘The Hobo Gauntlet’ picks up where the band’s last EP left off and is packed with rambunctious math-pop thrills, the band seemingly on a mission to cram as many ideas into just under three minutes as possible. It works, though; Edward Wells drums as if he’s falling down the stairs, whilst Daniel Harvey’s impassioned vocals fight for prominence over his own hyperactive guitar work.

Importantly, ‘Let’s Do Lunch’ doesn’t sacrifice tunes and charm for self-indulgent musicianship. The jokey beatbox intro to ‘Boots and Cats’ is an endearing touch, and the song itself is another winner – the formula here is much the same as the previous song, but when the energy is this relentless and the melodic hooks come so thick and fast, it’s hard not to be swept along. … Continue Reading

The Vaselines – Enter the Vaselines

The Vaselines - Enter The Vaselines

Unfairly more famous for being a favourite of a certain Seattle grunge rocker than anything else, The Vaselines juxtaposed endearingly ramshackle and indie pop with the kind of scabrous lyrics to make their more twee mid-80s indie contemporaries flinch and whimper. Enter the Vaselines (note the double entendre) is the third retrospective of the Edinburgh duo’s recorded output, dating from 1986 to 1990.

Given the recent glut of 80s twee pop revivalists (Vivian Girls, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart etc), Enter the Vaselines sounds surprisingly current – although that’s partly down to the remastering treatment its source material has been given – and crucially, the songs stand up just fine. The hazy jangle of ‘Molly’s Lips’ is as playful and charming as ever, and ‘Son of a Gun’ is an instant classic, falling halfway between The Raincoats and the Velvet Underground. … Continue Reading

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart

Taking in all the twee 80s British indie you can think of (The Vaselines, The Field Mice, Shop Assistants, 14 Iced Bears, etc) and more besides, New York’s The Pains of Being Pure at Heart’s debut full-length is an impressive serving of bedsit indie rock for the 21st century.

As if the band’s name wasn’t an obvious enough pointer as to what to expect, the album is littered with references to its influences – ‘This Love is Fucking Right!’ is a dead ringer for My Bloody Valentine’s ‘Paint a Rainbow’ (albeit in slowed-down form), whilst the song’s title tips its hat in the direction of The Field Mice’s ‘This Love is Not Wrong’. As pleasant as all that sounds, it’s for the best that The Pains of Being Pure at Heart have enough tricks in their locker to ensure they don’t slide aimlessly into retro fanboyism.

Lead singer Kip Berman certainly sounds the part, his studiously British vocal mannerisms falling somewhere between Morrissey and, curiously, The Charlatans’ Tim Burgess, with the odd hint of Ride’s Mark Gardener thrown in. Although he sticks resolutely to the C86 blueprint, his self-consciously fey affectations feel totally at home here, aided and abetted by some (though more would perhaps be welcome) lovely backing vocals from keyboardist Peggy Wang. … Continue Reading

Wavves – Wavvves

Wavves - Wavves

Slotting neatly into the array of no-fi garage rock outfits that have emerged out of the US over the last couple of years (Times New Viking, The Hospitals, Blank Dogs, Sic Alps, Eat Skull et al), current bloggers’ favourite Wavves âaka San Diego native Nathan Williams has whipped many ‘net indie rock heads into something of a lather in recent months.

Let’s get it out in the open, then: Wavvves is a good record, but it’s too sketchy to be anything more than a solid effort. There’s no shortage of hooks not what you’d call terrace anthem material and you’ll need a resilient ear to pick them out, but they are plentiful and they are there but from this self-titled effort, Wavves isn’t quite the finished article yet.

Aside from having his/their own title track (not enough bands do), Wavves main selling point is his more obvious pop sensibility. He’s no Psychedelic Horseshit, put it that way, and that’s probably just as well because one of those is enough. But to get back on point, Wavves the song is the standout here, Williams’ vocals distorted to high heaven over a Spectoresque drumbeat and the obligatory guitar scuzz.

Racking my tired, addled brain to avoid applying the obligatory ‘sun-kissed’ adjective to a Californian artist is proving a tougher task than I’d anticipated, but Williams does have a keen ear for a pop melody. The breezy ‘The Boys Will Love Us’ is a case in point and another highlight, almost giddy and infinitely more charming than anything The Hospitals have knocked together, for example.

There is, it has to be said, the odd moment of aimless noodling bordering on filler disrupting proceedings here. ‘Yoked’, a pointless two minutes of nothing in particular, is what the fast forward button was invented for, whilst ‘Intro Goth’ and ‘Spaced Raider’ are similarly pointless. But Wavvves does hit the mark (for example, the chirpy infectiousness of ‘Lover’ and ‘Beach Goth’) often enough to make it a worthwhile diversion.

What does set Wavves apart from the pack, other than the fact he’s not afraid of a pop tune, is his sense of fun. In comparison to his often po-faced contemporaries, Williams comes off as likeably goofy. Wavvves sounds like the work of a bedroom anorak, and without wanting to make too many assumptions about Mr Williams himself, it probably is, and this makes it a little easier to excuse its shortcomings.

Although Wavves is a slightly inconsistent introduction to Nathan Williams, he has the tunes, and his blend of Brian Wilson and the abrasive guitar squall of early Dinosaur Jr is a potent one. With a proper debut LP due to follow early in 2009, hopefully this is just an enjoyable prelude to bigger and better things. He’ll need to up his game for the full-length, but there’s plenty of potential here.

Little Lungs – Hoist Me Up!

Little Lungs - Hoist Me Up!

Comprised of members and ex-members of various New Jersey indie outfits – irrepressible pop-punks Cheeky and the lovely (but completely different) Tin Kitchen foremost among them – Little Lungs specialise in the kind of indie rock knocked out with such irresistible force by the likes of Superchunk and Archers of Loaf back in the day. … Continue Reading