DATE ARCHIVES : April 2018

Lord Salamander – ‘Sun Circle’

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I feel compelled to point you directly in the direction of this track for fear of losing you in the preamble, and thus you losing out on hearing this tune. Bear with me, it will be worth it.

Itching out from slabs of solid rock, burnt inside-out by the Southern-California-chemical-sun, comes the manic music of Lord Salamander – a foursome with devilish knack for cooking up powerfully potent and unconventional, yet irresistible psych-rock. Their latest ‘Sun Circle’ – lifted from their debut split with Garm will be out via Data Room Records on June 22 – sprawling barrage of relentless, spiralling freakout with the devil. Extraordinary searing riffs, unnatural rhythms cut through swaying bass lines, while a caustic barrage of drums keeps the unrelenting electrifying juggernaut on track, screeching through serrated layers of sonic energy. ‘Sun Circle’ is breathtaking, potent and feverish – and best consumed at high volumes.

Lord Salamander’s debut split with Garm will be out via Data Room Records on June 22. Tune into ‘Sun Circle’ below:

Melody’s Echo Chamber Announces New Album; Shares ‘Breathe In, Breathe Out’

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Melody’s Echo Chamber aka Melody Prochet has announced that her long-awaited second album, follow up to her sublime, self-titled 2012 debut, will be released in June.

The first sampling of the new material is ‘Breathe In, Breathe Out’, and it all that we would have hoped for and some. Losing none of it’s predecessors preference for dreamy and psychedelic sounds, ‘Breathe In, Breathe Out’ is an imaginative and colourful psychedelic pop song with layers of shimmering synth, frazzled electronics, fuzzed-up guitar and gritty bass tones. Echoing much of Prochet’s previous work, it is a song as joyous as a summery breeze as her recognisable soft but euphoric vocals flutter above the glittering floods of surging psychedelia which veer off into a cascading mesh of experimental, spaced-out sounds. A tremendous return which lives up to all that came before while promising much, much more.

‘Breathe In, Breathe Out’ comes with an animated video from Daniel Foothead. Watch and listen below.

New album Bon Voyage will be released on June 15 via Domino / Fat Possum Records.

No Volcano – ‘M-Ocean’

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‘M-Oceans’ is the new single from Phoenix foursome No Volcano – lifted from their recently released third record, Envy in the Valley.

Comprised of Chris Kennedy (drums), Jim Andreas (guitar/vocals), Jeremy Randall (guitarist) and James Karnes (bass), together they appear to have an innate ability to find that sweet spot between pop and indie, so splendidly well. ‘M-Oceans’ bright, infectious and exudes a smiley sense of fun. It grooves along with a joyful swagger, abundance of melodicism and pop appeal as catchy riffs made out of strange chords provide the electrical jolts that zaps an undeniable flair for pop, blurring with a quirky sense of experimentation and eclecticism. In short, No Volcano showcase a brilliance for crafting an immaculate pop song

Listen to ‘M-Ocean’ below and check out the new album here.

Eldoradio – ‘Youth Cult’

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Eldoradio teased their forthcoming new album with the dusky, soft centered, swooning ‘Pipe Dreams’ in the latter part of 2017 and the Swedish outfit are back with another intriguing taster in ‘Youth Cult’.

While its predecessor was built around a rather gentle acoustic strum and a warm organ hum that swelled to swallow all in its wake, ‘Youth Cult’ is much more of a meatier proposition. A distorted synthesizer paves the way for a propulsive kraut-inspired groove with pushes everything relentlessly through a series of soaring riffs, anthemic sing-a-long choruses and crashing percussion. The synth/kraut combo is a revelation, giving ‘Youth Cult’ its alluring edge that hums with an electricity threatens to spark and explode at any moment. There is a hint of early Toy meets Wilco’s ‘Spiders (Kidsmoke)’, and there is nothing wrong with that combo whatsoever.

Aside from the new single, there is no other update on the forthcoming new record so it still a case of watch this space. For the time being, get yourself acquainted with ‘Youth Cult’.

Kelan Galligan – ‘Snowball’

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Kelan Galligan is a singer songwriter from Derry with a precise ear for folk stylings.

The Maiden City musician has returned from a lengthy absence from music – enforced by the life’s little stumbling blocks – with new material ahead of an album he’s working on fellow Derry native and producer, Eoin O’Callaghan. Galligan’s return has been heralded by the smooth finger-picking tune ‘Brightens Me’ and latest single ‘Snowball’, two fine examples to why we should be glad he has chosen to come back. ‘Snowball’ is a beautiful song with a soothing warmth. Stemming from gentle acoustic picking with soft, lilting vocals delivering pleasant poetic lyrics and subtle backing strings, which swell, complete the sound. It is a beautiful, dreamy sequence that upon repeated listens reveals greater and greater rewards.

You can listen to ‘Snowball’ & ‘Brightens Me’ below, and keep an eye out for news on that album.

Introducing: Winter

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Winter are an LA-based foursome who delight, excite and enthral with their shoegaze-meets-dream-pop sound.

Fronted by Brazilian born songwriter Samira Winter, who’s love for guitar music and nostalgic imagery inspires their dreamy cuts of pop perfection. Winter are set to release their forthcoming new album Ethereality on April 6 and judging by the singles ‘Zoey’ and ‘High School’, we may be in for quite a treat.

‘Zoey’ is blissful, beautiful, dream pop that washes over you with such an easy breeze that it is hard not to be utterly refreshed as a result. Opening with a mellow trickle and longing vocals it quickly expands, with burning guitars and steady beat engulfed in a sea of beautiful fuzz swelling to an epic climax in a quite cinematic fashion. ‘High School’ is less of a glistening daydream and more heartfelt, hazy indie-pop dripping in irresistible melodies and feelings of nostalgia. Two charming and beautifully crafted fuzzy indie-pop gems that should have you more than mildly excited about the prospect of more of the same.

Listen to ‘Zoey’ and ‘High School’ below – and keep an eye out for the new album on April 6.

Hippies Vs Ghosts – ‘No Left No Right’

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By now, regular patrons of the blog should be well aware of the esteem in which Hippies Vs Ghosts is kept around these parts.

Under the guise of Hippies Vs Ghosts, Owain Ginsberg, has routinely blown us away time after time with his kaleidoscopic, Morricone meets krautrock sound and latest single ‘No Left No Right’ is no different. Lifted from the stunning album of the same name, the new single is exhilarating, irresistible and manic.

It is a kaleidoscopic mix of feverish experimentation that blows everything else out of the water. The pace is unrelenting, frantically clamouring to one frenetic crescendo after another before momentarily offering a brief breathe with the relative calmness through some rolling drums and undulating waltz of western tones before exploding toward a frenzied finish. This is a ferocious three-and-a-half minutes of breakneck beats, scintillating riffs, off-kilter rhythms and forged together and delivered with a burning intensity – in all seriousness there is nothing quite like Hippies Vs Ghosts, and the project shows no signs of slowing under the careful stewardship of Ginsberg. Hippies Vs Ghosts continues to develop, grow and deliver outrageously good tunes.

Check out ‘No Left No Right’ below and make sure to get on the new album, here.

Pop Cautious – ‘Sunshine’

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Pop Cautious is the creative persona of Texas-born and raised singer-songwriter, Tyler Porterfield.

With his latest single ‘Sunshine’, Porterfield brings all the mellow feelings and comforting warmth as we are transported to a place amongst the clouds, for a bout of tranquillity. Creating a powerful sense of relaxation and calmness, ‘Sunshine’ flows gently by, amid a sea of soft lilting vocals, whispering lyrical poeticisms and subtle instrumentation. It is permeated by an air of richness, comforting tranquillity while shrouded in melancholy. ‘Sunshine’ reveals itself slowly, with layer upon layer of slow undulation. It requires a degree of patience, understanding and repeated listens to be fully appreciated. ‘Sunshine’ is a beautiful, simplistic and exudes the warm glow of friendship, and sometimes that is quite enough.

Get lost in the relaxing daydream that is ‘Sunshine’ below.

Hover Bored – ‘Safe Side’

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Formed in Wakefield, but now based in Manchester, Hover Bored are a quartet with a flair for fuzzy concoctions of grunge and scuzzy power-pop.

They play fast, energetic and loud, something abundantly clear upon hearing their scorching new single ‘Safe Side’. Musically, it’s a whirlwind of crunchy guitars, searing riffs, rolling bass, crashing drums and bratty vocals. These coalesce amid a sea of fuzz into a fiercely infectious two-minutes plus some. Calling to mind the likes of Dinosaur Pile-Up, Fidlar, Honey Lung and King Nun, they deliver a meaty, undeniably infectious cut of grungey wizardry. This is a foursome who do a rather redoubtable trade in the seriously potent scuzzy grungey/power-pop stakes.

‘Safe Side’ is out now, tune in below:

Eva et Ménades – ‘Le brouillard de l’alcool’

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Parisian duo Eva et Ménades do a fine line is creating great, compelling pop-rock – it is pop-rock with plenty of catchy hooks but with a raw menace to it.

The pair’s latest single ‘Le brouillard de l’alcool’ is a case in point, sounding both dangerous and irresistible catchy. The punky-rock-pop is a doozy with the primal assault led by a menacing buzzsaw riff, meaty bass, shuddering synths, screeching, glass shattering vocals – by the time the latter kicks in, resistance is futile. The formula of quiet building to epic proportions is eked out to the max and passing by at a whirlwind pace, leaving the listener struggling to catch a breathe. A compelling, full-blooded no nonsense sub three minutes of primal energy.

Watch the video for ‘Le brouillard de l’alcool’ below – and hopefully there’s more similarly brilliant belters to come in the near future.